276 THE LIFE AND ADVENTURES

 

formed me he had; with two pieces of fine English broadcloth, the
best I could get in Lisbon, five pieces of black baize, and seme
Flanders lace of a good value.

Having thus settled my affairs, sold my cargo, and turned al} my
effects into good bills of exchange, my next difficulty was, which way
to go to England. I had been accustomed enough to the sea, an¢! yet
I had a strange aversion to go to England by sea at that time: and
though I could give no reason for it, yet the difficulty increased upon
me so much, that though I had once shipped my baggage in order to
go, yet I altered my mind, and that not once, but two or three times.

It is true, I had been very unfortunate by sea, and this might be

one of the reasons. But let no man slight the strong impulses of his
own thoughts in cases of such moment. Two of the ships which I had
singled out to go in,—I mean more particularly singled out than any
other, that is to say, so as in one of them to put my things on board,
and in the other to have agreed with the captain,—I say, two of these
ships miscarried, namely, one was taken by the Algerines, and the
other was cast away on the Start, near Torbay, and all the people
drowned except three; so that, in either of those vessels, I had been
made miserable, and in which most, it was hard to say.
«~ Having been thus harassed in my thoughts, my old pilot, to whom I
‘communicated every thing, pressed me earnestly not to go by sea; but
either to go by land to the Groyne, and cross over the Bay of Biscay
to Rochelle, from whence it was but an easy and afe journey by land
to Paris and so to Calais and Dover; or to go up to Madrid, and so
all the way by land through France.

In a word, I was so prepossessed against my going by sea at all,
except from Calais to Dover, that I resolved to travel all the way by
land; which, as I was not in haste, and did not value the charge, was
by much the pleasanter way; and to make it more so, my old captain
brought an English gentleman, the son of a merchant in Lisbon, who
was willing to travel with me; after which, we picked up two who
were English, and merchants also, and two young Portuguese gentle-
men, the last going to Paris only: so that we were in all six of us, and
five servants, the two merchants and the two Portuguese contenting
themselves with one servant between two, to save the charge; and ag
for me, I got an English sailor to travel with me as a servant, besides
my man Friday, who was too much a stranger to be capable of supply-
ing the place of a servant upon the road.

In this manner I set ‘out from Lisbon: and our company being all
very well mounted and armed, we made a little troop, whereof they
did me the honour to call me captain, as well because I was the oldest