I then took some
refreshment, and went to my rest. I slept well, and, as I conjecture, at
least six hours, for I found the day broke two hours after I awaked. It
was a clear night. I ate my breakfast before the sun was up; and heaving
anchor, the wind being favorable, I steered the same course that I had
done the day before, wherein I was directed by my pocket-compass. My
intention was to reach, if possible, one of those islands, which, I had
reason to believe, lay to the northeast of Van Diemen's Land. I
discovered nothing all that day; but upon the next, about three o'clock
in the afternoon, when I had, by my computation, made twenty-four
leagues from Blefuscu, I descried a sail steering to the southeast: my
course was due east. I hailed her, but could get no answer; yet I found
I gained upon her, for the wind slackened. I made all the sail I could,
and in half-an-hour she spied me, then hung out her ancient,[37] and
discharged a gun.
It is not easy to express the joy I was in, upon the unexpected hope of
once more seeing my beloved country, and the dear pledges I left in it.
The ship slackened her sails, and I came up with her, between five and
six in the evening, September twenty-sixth; but my heart leaped within
me to see her English colors.
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