132
LIFE
crews failed them. of the world.
A N D
VOYAGES
OF
[BOOK I I I .
They seemed literally to have taken leave
Behind them was every thing dear to the heart
of man; country, family, friends, life itself: before them every thing was chaos, mystery, and peril.
In the perturbation of the
moment, they despaired of ever more seeing their homes.
Many
of the rugged seamen shed tears, and some broke into loud lamentations.
The admiral tried in every way to soothe their
distress, and to inspire them with his own glorious anticipations. He described to them the magnificent countries to which he was about to conduct them: the islands of the Indian seas teeming with gold and precious stones; the regions of Mangi and Cathay, with their cities of unrivaled wealth and splendor.
He promised
them land and riches, and every thing that could arouse their cupidity, or inflame their imaginations, nor were these promises made for purposes of mere deception; he certainly believed that he should realize them all. He now issued orders to the commanders of the other vessels, that, in the event of separation by any accident, they should continue directly westward; but that after sailing seven hundred leagues, they should lay by from midnight until daylight, as at about that distance he confidently expected to find land.
In the
meantime, as he thought it possible he might not discover land within the distance thus assigned, and as he foresaw that the vague terrors already awakened among the seamen would in crease with the space which intervened between them and their homes, he commenced a stratagem which he continued throughout the voyage.
He kept two reckonings; one correct, in which the
true way of the ship was noted, and which was retained in secret for his own government; in the other, which was open to general inspection, a number of leagues was daily subtracted from the