would let him know what place I came from last, and whither I was bound;
which I did in few words, but he thought I was raving, and that the
dangers I had underwent had disturbed my head; whereupon I took my black
cattle and sheep out of my pocket, which, after great astonishment,
clearly convinced him of my veracity. I then showed him the gold given
me by the emperor of Blefuscu, together with his majesty's picture at
full length, and some other rareties of that country. I gave him two
purses of two hundred _sprugs_ each, and promised, when we arrived in
England, to make him a present of a cow and a sheep.

[Illustration]

I shall not trouble the reader with a particular account of this voyage,
which was very prosperous for the most part. We arrived in the Downs[38]
on the thirteenth of April, 1702. I had only one misfortune, that the
rats on board carried away one of my sheep; I found her bones in a hole,
picked clean from the flesh. I got the rest of my cattle safe ashore,
and set them a-grazing in a bowling-green at Greenwich, where the
fineness of the grass made them feed very heartily, though I had always
feared the contrary: neither could I possibly have preserved them in so
long a voyage, if the captain had not allowed me some of his best
biscuits, which, rubbed to powder, and mingled with water, was their
constant food. The short time I continued in England, I made a
considerable profit by showing my cattle to many persons of quality and
others: and before I began my second voyage I sold them for six hundred
pounds.

Since my last return, I find the breed is considerably increased,
especially the sheep, which I hope will prove much to the advantage of
the woollen manufacture, by the fineness of the fleeces.