England, which
began in 1327 and ended in 1378; Even supposing it to have happened in
the last year of Edward, Morales must have remained forty-two years in
captivity; which is not only highly improbable, but is even contrary to
the sense of the historian, who supposes but a small space to have
elapsed between the two events; besides, the records quoted by Galvano
are said expressly to assert that Macham went himself into Africa, whence
he was sent to the king of Castile. This last circumstance may have been
invented by the Spaniards, to give them a better title to the island of
Madeira: But the former objection remains in full force, and can only be
obviated by supposing that either Morales advanced a falsehood in
asserting, that he had the account of this discovery from the English
themselves, instead of learning it from the other slaves, among whom the
tradition might have been current for many years after the event; or
Alcaforado may have mistaken the report of Morales in this particular.
The following is the substance of the narrative, as given by Alcaforado.

In the glorious reign of Edward III. Robert a Machin, of Macham, a
gentleman of the second degree of nobility, whose genius was only
equalled by his gallantry and courage, beheld and loved the beautiful
Anna d'Arfet[5]. Their attachment was mutual, but the pleasing indulgence
of ardent hope gratified and betrayed the secret of their passion. The
pride of the illustrious family of d'Arfet was insensible to the
happiness of their daughter, and they preferred the indulgence of their
own ambition to the voice of love. The feudal tyranny of the age was
friendly to their cruelty, and a royal warrant seemed to justify the
vanity of her parent. The consolation of an ingenious mind supported
Machin under confinement, and enabled him to seek after redress without
yielding to despondency. On his releasement from prison, he learned that
the beloved cause of his persecution had been forced to marry a nobleman,
whose name he could not discover, but who had carried her to his castle
near Bristol. The friends of Machin made his misfortune their own, and
one of them had the address to get introduced into the service of the
afflicted Anna under the character of a groom. The prospect of the ocean
during their rides, suggested or matured the plan of escape and the hope
of a secure asylum counteracted the imagined dangers of a passage to the
coast of France. Under pretence of deri