My father lived in the north of England, but he was not very rich. I was the youngest of five brothers and we lived on hand to mouth. I left school when I was seventeen years old. My father could not pay for me after that. So I chose my way of life. I travelled on the ship Antelope to the South Seas. We left Bristol in May, 1699.
I will not write down everything about our journey on those seas. But I will tell you this. On our way to the East Indies, a great wind carried us the wrong way. ...