Page:Life and astonishing adventures of Peter Williamson (2).pdf/5

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.

5

to give (illegible text)ne preference, whether to such as these, who have had the opportunity of knowing the Christian religion ; or to the savagcs hercin after described, who profane not the gospel, or boast of humanity ; and if they act in a more brutal and butcherly manner, yet it is to their enemies, for the sake of plunder and the rewards offered them for their principles are alike—the love of sordid gain being both their motives. The ship being on a sand bank, which did not give way to let her deeper, we lay in the same deplorable condi- tion until morning, when, though we saw the land of Cape May, at about a mile’s distance, we knew not what would be our fate. The wind at length abated, and thc captain, unwilling to lose all her eargo, about ten o’clock, sent some of his crew in a boat to the ship’s side to bring us on shore, where we lay in a sort of a camp, made of the saiis of the vessel, and such other things as we could get. The provisions lasted us until we were taken in by a vessel bound to Philadelphia, lying on this island, as well as I can recollect, near three weeks. Very little of the cargo was saved undamagcd, and the ves- sel was cntirely lost. When arrived and landed at Philadelphia, the capital of Pennsylvania, the captain had people enough who came to buy us. He, sold us at about £16 per head. What became of my