Which untoward fate
had a great effect upon my fortunes, since, burthening myself with
his goods and effects, I found in his chest a printed proclamation
from an aged and infirm clergyman in the West of England
covenanting that, for the sum of two crowns, he would send to whoso
offered, the chart of an island of great treasure in the Spanish
Main, whereof he had had confession from the lips of a dying
parishioner, and the amount gained thereby he would use for the
restoration of his parish church. Now I, reading this, was struck
by a great remorse and admiration for our late Captain, for that it
would seem that he was, like myself, a staunch upholder of the
Protestant Faith and the Church thereof, as did appear by his
possession of the chart, for which he had no doubt paid the two
good crowns. As an act of penance I resolved upon finding the same
island by the aid of the chart, and to that purpose sailed East
many days, and South, and North, and West as many other days--the
manner whereof and the latitude and longitude of which I shall not
burden the reader with, holding it, as a plain, blunt man, mere
padding and impertinence to fill out my narrative, which helpeth
not the general reader. So, I say, when we sighted the Island,
which seemed to be swarming with savages, I ordered the masts to be
stripped, save but for a single sail which hung sadly and
distractedly, and otherwise put the ship into the likeness of a
forlorn wreck, clapping the men, save one or two, under hatches.
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