Calvert of Maryland - James Otis |
And now that he is dead, and the colony known as Avalon in Newfoundland has been abandoned, a number of gentlemen, among whom is my father, together with their servants, are to sail for a certain part of the New World which is to be under the rule of Lord Baltimore, and to be called Mary Land, in honor of Henrietta Maria, who, as all people in the world know, sits on the throne with our good King Charles I.
What is more, we are to journey in the old lord's ship Ark, of near to three hundred tons burden, and in our company will be the Dove, a pinnace of fifty tons or more.
When I heard my father speak of the Dove as a pinnace, I was puzzled to understand what kind of vessel she might be, for I am not versed in the ways of the sea, nor accustomed to hearing sailors speak their peculiar language.
Therefore it was I asked what kind of vessel a pinnace might be, and was told that any craft with two masts, rigged like a schooner, but capable of being propelled, in addition to her sails, by oars, was given such a name.
The Dove, which is now at anchor near by the Ark, seems a small ship to sail so far overseas as is America, but John, who is my father's serving man, declares that she will carry herself as well as does the Ark, although, mayhap, give more of discomfort to those who are on board, because of leaping about to a greater degree on such enormous waves as are to be found in the middle of the mighty ocean.
It may be well to set down here how it chanced that my father, together with sixteen other gentlemen, had any right to that new land of America of which many Englishmen, some Dutchmen, and a few Swedes had already taken possession.