"Children's Books - Defoe, Daniel - Robinson Crusoe" - читать интересную книгу автора (Children's Books)

expense; I should be his messmate and his companion; and if I could
carry anything with me, I should have all the advantage of it that the
trade would admit, and perhaps I might meet with some encouragement.
I embraced the offer; and, entering into a strict friendship with
this captain, who was an honest and plain-dealing man, I went the
voyage with him, and carried a small adventure with me, which by the
disinterested honesty of my friend the captain, I increased very
considerably, for I carried about L40 in such toys and trifles as
the captain directed me to buy. This L40 I had mustered together by
the assistance of some of my relations whom I corresponded with, and
who, I believe, got my father, or at least my mother, to contribute so
much as that to my first adventure.
This was the only voyage which I may say was successful in all my
adventures, and which I owe to the integrity and honesty of my
friend the captain; under whom also I got a competent knowledge of the
mathematics and the rules of navigation, learned how to keep an
account of the ship's course, to take an observation, and, in short,
to understand some things that were needful to be understood by a
sailor. For, as he took delight to introduce me, I took delight to
learn; and, in a word, this voyage made me both a sailor and a
merchant; for I brought home five pounds nine ounces of gold dust
for my adventure, which yielded me in London at my return almost L300,
and this filled me with those aspiring thoughts which have since so
completed my ruin.
Yet even in this voyage I had my misfortunes too; particularly, that
I was continually sick, being thrown into a violent calenture by the
excessive heat of the climate; our principal trading being upon the
coast, for the latitude of 15 degrees north even to the line itself.
I was not set up for a Guinea trader; and my friend, to my great
misfortune, dying soon after his arrival, I resolved to go the same
voyage again, and I embarked in the same vessel with one who was his
mate in the former voyage, and had now got the command of the ship.
This was the unhappiest voyage that ever man made; for though I did
not carry quite L100 of my new-gained wealth, so that I had L200 left,
and which I lodged with my friend's widow, who was very just to me,
yet I fell into terrible misfortunes in this voyage; and from the
first was this, viz., our ship making her course towards the Canary
Islands, or rather between those islands and the African shore, was
surprised in the gray of the morning by a Turkish rover of Sallee, who
gave chase to us with all the sail she could make. We crowded also
as much canvas as our yards would spread, or our masts carry, to
have got clear; but finding the pirate gained upon us, and would
certainly come up with us in a few hours, we prepared to fight, our
ship having twelve guns, and the rogue eighteen. About three in the
afternoon he came up with us, and bringing to, by mistake, just
athwart our quarter, instead of athwart our stern, as he intended,
we brought eight of our guns to bear on that side, and poured in a
broadside upon him, which made him sheer off again, after returning
our fire and pouring in also his small-shot from near 200 men which he
had on board. However, we had not a man touched, all our men keeping