I then descended into the ship, and doubted, for awhile, whether all my
future pleasures would not end like this, in disgust and disappointment.
Yet, surely, said I, the ocean and the land are very different; the only
variety of water is rest and motion, but the earth has mountains and
valleys, deserts and cities; it is inhabited by men of different customs
and contrary opinions; and I may hope to find variety in life, though I
should miss it in nature.
"With this thought I quieted my mind, and amused myself during the
voyage, sometimes by learning from the sailors the art of navigation,
which I have never practised, and sometimes by forming schemes for my
conduct in different situations, in not one of which I have been ever
placed.
"I was almost weary of my naval amusements, when we landed safely at
Surat. I secured my money, and, purchasing some commodities for show,
joined myself to a caravan that was passing into the inland country. My
companions, for some reason or other, conjecturing that I was rich, and,
by my inquiries and admiration, finding that I was ignorant, considered
me as a novice, whom they had a right to cheat, and who was to learn, at
the usual expense, the art of fraud. They exposed me to the theft of
servants, and the exaction of officers, and saw me plundered, upon false
pretences, without any advantage to themselves, but that of rejoicing in
the superiority of their own knowledge.
Pages:
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378