During the night of December 16, 1773, the three ships carrying tea and anchored to Griffin's Wharf were boarded by thirty to sixty men from Massachusetts, some dressed as Mohawk Indians. This boarding took place within minutes of the end of a meeting of nearly 5,000 colonists who had gathered to protest the tea tax. Within hours of boarding, forty-five tons of tea in 342 boxes were tossed over board with little damage done to the ships and no harm done to the men who were on board. No other part of the ships' cargo was touched.