They certainly did have a great deal of saddhā (faith):
"The Atthasālinī refers to a simile given in the Questions of King Milinda (35)¹: a universal monarch crosses a small stream with his army. The water has been polluted by the army but his water-purifying gem purifies the water so that mud, sand and waterweeds subside and the water becomes clear and undisturbed. The water which is disturbed by pollution is like the mind which is disturbed by defilements. Faith purifies the mind so that it becomes clear, transparent and undisturbed.
As to the characteristic of “aspiring”, the Atthasālinī uses another simile in order to explain this. A crowd standing on both banks of a great river full of crocodiles, monsters, sharks and ogres, is afraid to cross over. A hero crosses the river and repels the dangerous animals with his sword, and leads the crowd in crossing over. The Atthasālinī (120) states:
“…So faith is the forerunner, the precursor to one who is giving gifts, observing the precepts, performing the duties of uposatha² and commencing bhāvanā. Hence it has been said: Faith has purifying and aspiring as its characteristic.”
The Atthasālinī also uses another method of defining saddhā:
“…Faith has confiding as its characteristic; purifying as its function, like the water-purifying gem, or aspiring faith as function, like the crossing of the floods; freedom from pollution or decision as its manifestation; an object worthy of faith or factors of ‘stream-winning’ as its proximate cause.”
—Nina van Gorkom, Cetasikas (Zolag, 2010)
R