telling them, that if it lay in my way to fend a veffel to take them in, I would not forget them.

When I took leave of this island, I carried on board for reliques the great goat's fkin cap I had made, my umbrella, and one of my parrots; alfo I forgot not to take the money I formerly mentioned, which had lain by me fo long ufelefs, that it was grown rufty, or tarnished, and could hardily pafs for filver, till it had been a little rubbed and handled; and alfo the money I found in the wreck of the Spanifh fhip.

And thus I left the island the nineteenth of December, as I found by the fhip's account, in the year 1686, after I had been upon it eight and twenty years, two months, and nineteen days; being delivered from the fecond captivity the fame day of the month that I first made my efcape in the Barco-lange, from among the Moors of Sallee.

In this veffel, after a long voyage, I arrived in England the eleventh of June, in the year 1687, having been thirty and five years abfent.

When I came to England, I was a perfect ftranger to all the world, as if I had never been known there: my benefactor, and faithful steward, whom I had left in truft with my money, was alive, but had had great miffortunes in the world, was become a widow the fecond time, and very low in the world: I made her eafy as to what fhe owed me, affuring her, I would give her no trouble; but on the contrary, in gratitude to her former care and faithfulness to me, I relieved her as my little ftock would afford, which at that time would indeed allow me to do but little for her; but I affured her, I would never forget her former kindness to me; nor did I forget her, when I had fufficient to help her; as fhall be obferved in its place.

I went down afterwards into Yorkshire; but my father was dead, and my mother, and all the family extinct; except that I found two fifters, and two of the children of one of my brothers: and as I had been long ago given over for dead, there had been no provifion made for me, fo that, in a word, I found nothing to relieve or affift me; and that little money I had, would not do fo much for me, as to fettling in the world.

I met with one piece of gratude indeed, which I did not expect; and this was, that the mafer of the ship, whom I had fo happily delivered, and by the fame means faved the ship and cargo, having given a very handfome account to the owners, of the manner how I had faved the lives of the men,' and the fhip, they invited me to meet them, and fome other merchants concerned, and all together made me a very handsome compliment upon that fubject, and a prefent of almoft two hundred pounds fterling.

But after making several reflections upon the circumftances of my life, and how little way this would go toward fettling me in the world, I refolved to go to Lisbon, and fee if I might not come by fome information of the ftate in my plantation in the Brafils, and what was become of my partner, who, I had reason to suppose, had fome years now given me over for dead.

With this view I took shipping for Lisbon, where I arrived in April following; my man Friday accompanying me very honeftly in all thefe ramblings, and proving a most faithful fervant upon all occafions.

When I came to Lifbon, I found out by enquiry, and to my particular fatisfaction, my old friend the captain of the fhip, who firft took me up at fea, off the fhore of Africa: he was now grown old, and had left off the fea, having put his fon, who was far from a young man, into his fhip; and who still used the Brafil trade. The old man did not know me, and, indeed, I hardly knew him; but I foon brought myfelf to his remembrance, when I told him who I was.

After fome paffionate expreffions of our old acquaintance, I enquired, you may be fure, after my plantation, and my pher: the old man told me, he had not been in the Brafils for about nine years; but that he could affure me, that when he came away, my partner was living; but the trustees, whom I had joined with him to take cognizance of my part, were both dead; that, however, he believed that I would have a very good account of the improvement of the plantation; for that, upon the general belief of my being caft away and drowned, my trustees had given in the account of the produce of my part of the plantations, to the procutor.

Fifcal;

Fifcal; who had appropriated it, in cafe I never came to claim it, one third to the King, and two thirds to the monaftery of St. Augufline, to be expended for the benefit of the poor, and for the converfion of the Indians to the Catholic faith; but that if I appeared, or any one for me, to claim the inheritance, it would be restored; only that the improvement, or annual production, being diftributed to charitable uses, could not be reftored; but he affured me, that the steward of the king's revenue (from lands) and the provedore, or fteward of the monaftery, had taken great care all along, that the incumbent, that is to fay, my partner, gave every year a faithful account of the produce, of which they received duly my moiety.

I asked him, if he knew to what height of improvement he had brought the plantation; and whether he thought it might be worth looking after: or whether, on my going thither, I fhould meet with no obftruction to my poffelling my juft right in the moiety.,

He told me, he could not tell exactly to what degree the plantation was improved: but this he knew, that my partner was grown exceeding rich upon the enjoying but one half of it; and that, to the best of his remembrance he had heard, that the king's third of my part, which was, it feems, granted away to fome other monaftery, or religious houfe, amounted to above two hundred moidores a year; that, as to my being restored to a quiet poffeffion of it, there was no queftion to be made of that, my partner being alive to witnefs my title, and my name being alfo inrolled in the register of the country. Alfo he told me, that the furvivors of my two trustees were very fair honeft people, and very wealthy, and he believed I would not only have their affiftance for putting me in poffeffion, but would find a very confiderable fum of money in their hands, for my account, being the produce of the farm, while their fathers held the truft, and before it was given up, as above, which, as he remembered, was about twelve years.

I fhewed myself a little concerned and uneafy at this account, and enquired of the old captain, how it came to pafs, that the truflees fhould thus difpofe of my effects, when he knew, that I had made my will, and had made him, the Portuguese captain, my univerfal heir, &cg

He

He told me, that was true; but that, as there was no proof of my being dead, he could not act as executor, until fome certain account fhould come of my death; and that, befides, he was not willing to intermeddle with a thing fo remote: that it was true, he had registered my will, and put in his claim; and could he have given any account of my being dead or alive, he would have acted by procuration, and taken poffeffion of the ingenio (fo they called the fugar-houfe) and had given his fon, who was now at the Brafils, order to do it.

But, fays the old man, I have one piece of news to tell you, which perhaps may not be fo acceptable to you as the reft; and that is, that believing you were loft, and all the world believing fo also, your partner and trustees did offer to account to me in your name, for fix or eight of the first years of profit, which I received; but there being at that time, fays he, great difbursements for increafing the works, building an ingenio, and buying flaves, it did not amount to near fo much as afterwards it produced: however, fays the old man, I fhall give you a true account of what I have received in all, and. how I have difpofed of it.

After a few days farther conference with this antient friend, he brought me an account of the fix firt years income of my plantation, figned by my partner, and the merchant's trustees, being always delivered in goods; viz. tobacco in roll, and fugar in chefts, befides rnin, melaffes, &c. which is the confequence of a fugar-work; and I found by this account, that every year the income confiderably increased: but, as above, the disbursement being large, the fum at firft was fmall: however, the old man let me fee, that he was debtor to me 470 moidores of gold, befides go chefts fo fugar, and 15 double rolls of tobacco, which were loft in his fhip, he having been fhipwrecked coming home to Lisbon, about eleven years after my leaving the place.

The good man then began to complain of his misfortunes, and how he had been obliged to make ufe of my money to recover his lofies, and buy him a fhare in a new fhip: however, my old friend, fays he, you fhall not want a fupply in your necefity; and as foon as my fon returns, you fhall be fully fatisfied.

Upon

Upon this he pulls out an old pouch, and gives me two hundred Portugal moidores in gold; and giving me the writings of his title to the fhip which his fon was gone to the Brafils in, of which he was a quarter part owner, and his fon another, he put them both in my hands for fecurity of the reft.

I was too much moved with the honefty and kindness of the poor man to be able to bear this; and remembering what he had done for me, how he had taken me up at fea, and how generously he had ufed me on all occafions, and particularly how fincere a friend he was now to me, I could hardly refrain weeping at what he faid to me: Therefore firft I asked him if his circumflances admitted him to fpare fo much money at that time, and if it would not ftreighten him? He told me he could not fay but it might ftreighten him a little ; but, however, it was my money, and I might want it more than he.

Every thing the good man faid was full of affection, and I could hardly refrain from tears while he spoke. In fhort, I took one hundred of the moidores, and called for a pen and ink to give him a receipt for them; then I returned him the reft, and told him, if ever I had poffeffion of the plantation, I would return the other to him alfo, as indeed I afterwards did; and that, as to the bill of fale of his part in his fon's fhip, I would not take it by any means; but that if I wanted the money, I found he was honeft enough to pay me; and if I did not, but came to receive what he gave me reason to expect, I would never have a penny more from him.

When this was paffed, the old man began to ask me, if he should put me in a method to make my claim to my plantation. I told him, I thought to go over to it myfelf: He faid I might do fo if I pleafed; but that if I did not, there were ways enough to fecure my right, and immediately to appropriate the profits to my ufe; and as there were ships in the river of Lisbon, juft ready to go away to Brafil, he made me enter my name in a public regifter, with his affidavit, affirming upon oath that I was alive, and that I was the fame person who took up the land for the planting of the faid plantation at firft.

VOL. I.

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This