Byron's Narrative of the Loss of the Wager: With an account of the great distresses suffered by himself and his companions on the coast of Patagonia from the year 1740 till their arrival in England 1746Byron, John
History
Byron's Narrative of the Loss of the Wager: With an account of the great distresses suffered by himself and his companions on the coast of Patagonia from the year 1740 till their arrival in England 1746
Byron, John
Chiloé (Chile); Patagonia (Argentina and Chile); Wager (Ship)
We complained loudly of this piece of
villany, and insisted upon his returning to land us, when an English
man of war appeared to windward, and presently bore down to us. She
sent her boat on board with an officer, who informed us the ship he
came from was the Squirrel, commanded by Captain Masterson. We went on
board of her, and Captain Masterson immediately sent one of the cutters
he had with him, to land us at Dover, where we arrived that afternoon,
and directly set out for Canterbury upon post-horses; but Captain Cheap
was so tired by the time he got there, that he could proceed no further
that night. The next morning he still found himself so much fatigued,
that he could ride no longer; therefore it was agreed that he and Mr.
Hamilton should take a post-chaise, and that I should ride; but here an
unlucky difficulty was started; for upon sharing the little money we
had, it was found to be not sufficient to pay the charges to London;
and my proportion fell so short, that it was, by calculation, barely
enough to pay for horses, without a farthing for eating a bit upon the
road, or even for the very turnpikes. Those I was obliged to defraud,
by riding as hard as I could through them all, not paying the least
regard to the men, who called out to stop me. The want of refreshment
I bore as well as I could. When I got to the Borough, I took a coach
and drove to Marlborough-street, where my friends had lived when I left
England; but when I came there, I found the house shut up. Having been
absent so many years, and in all that time never having heard a word
from home, I knew not who was dead or who was living, or where to go
next; or even how to pay the coachman. I recollected a linen-draper's
shop, not far from thence, which our family had used. I therefore drove
there next, and making myself known, they paid the coachman. I then
enquired after our family, and was told my sister had married Lord
Carlisle, and was at that time in Soho-square. I immediately walked
to the house, and knocked at the door; but the porter not liking my
figure, which was half French, half Spanish, with the addition of a
large pair of boots covered with dirt, he was going to shut the door in
my face; but I prevailed with him to let me come in.
I need not acquaint my readers with what surprise and joy my sister
received me. She immediately furnished me with money sufficient to
appear like the rest of my countrymen; till that time I could not be
properly said to have finished all the extraordinary scenes which a
series of unfortunate adventures had kept me in for the space of five
years and upwards.
THE END.
LONDON:
BRADBURY AND EVANS, BOUVERIE-STREET.
* * * * *
Transcriber's Notes:
Maintained original spelling, hypenation and punctuation.
Obvious printer errors have been corrected.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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