d
boldly on until he was abreast of the place--which now showed as one
large wooden shed and about a dozen smaller ones, together with a small
stone building which had the appearance of a church; then, rounding-to,
came to an anchor, at a distance of about a mile from the shore, the
colour of the water indicating that the island was surrounded by a
shoal.

As the _Nonsuch_ let go her anchor and clewed up her canvas, a number of
people were seen to emerge from the sheds and stand gazing at her, as
though curious to learn what her business might be. But they showed no
signs of anxiety or alarm; on the contrary, when two boats, with their
crews armed to the teeth, put off from the ship, under the command of
George and Captain Basset, who commanded the small contingent of land
forces forming part of the ship's company, the islanders came sauntering
down to the beach to meet them.

A steady pull of about a quarter of an hour's duration took the boats to
the beach of the island, which was a low and parched-looking place
clothed with guinea-grass with a few clumps of palms and palmetto, and
the inevitable coconut trees close down by the water. As George stepped
ashore a tall, sallow man attired in trunk hose, gorget, and steel
headpiece, with a long straight sword girded to his thigh, stepped
forward from the little crowd of about a dozen people and courteously
greeted his visitor in good Castilian Spanish.

George, whose trade with the Biscayan ports had enabled him to acquire a
pretty thorough acquaintance with the Spanish language, returned the
greeting in due form; but there was apparently something not quite right
about his accent, for the Spaniard stepped back quickly and, clapping
his hand to his sword-hilt, exclaimed:

"Senor, you are not a Spaniard! Who are you, and what is your business
here?"

And as he did so his supporters made a movement which seemed the
preliminary to a hurried retreat. Whereupon George threw up his right
hand warningly and said--of course in Spanish:

"Stand fast, every one of you. The man who attempts to move will be
instantly shot down. As to who I am, senor, it matters not. But my
business is to examine this island, and particularly to see what yonder
shed contains. Therefore I must trouble you and your comrades to
surrender your swords for an hour or two. You are my prisoners."

"But, senor, with all submission, this is an outrage," expostulated the
Spaniard. "I cannot su