That The Admiral Was A Foreigner Who Had No Favour
At Court; And As So Many Wise And Learned Men
Had already condemned his
opinions and enterprize as visionary and impossible, there would be none to
favour or defend him,
And they were sure to find more credit if they
accused him of ignorance and mismanagement than he would do, whatsoever he
might now say for himself against them. Some even proceeded so far as to
propose, in case the admiral should refuse to acquiesce in their proposals,
that they might make a short end of all disputes by throwing him overboard;
after which they could give out that he had fallen over while making his
observations, and no one would ever think of inquiring, into the truth.
They thus went on day after day, muttering, complaining, and consulting
together; and though the admiral was not fully aware of the extent of
their cabals, he was not entirely without apprehensions of their
inconstancy in the present trying situation, and of their evil intentions
towards him. He therefore exerted himself to the utmost to quiet their
apprehensions and to suppress their evil design, sometimes using fair
words, and at other times fully resolved to expose his life rather than
abandon the enterprize; he put them in mind of the due punishment they
would subject themselves to if they obstructed the voyage. To confirm
their hopes, he recapitulated all the favourable signs and indications
which had been lately observed, assuring them that they might soon expect
to see the land.
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