Shores of Vespucci: Or, Romance Without Fiction

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M. Tufts, 1833 - Fur trade - 240 pages
Sensational stories of bravery by and against Indians, romantic suicides, wilderness misfortunes, and society scandals, all true tales of early days in America, at least according to the author. Pirates Ann Bonny and Mary Read are here, along with the Yeoman of Pomfret, William Morgan "the Unfortunate Mason," Aunt Rachel the Pilgrim prophetess, and Amerigo Vespucci himself. Poor Tufts couldn't find a publisher for his fanciful tales, so he taught himself the art of printing ad produced the work himself.

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Page 116 - The soldier flew, the sailor too, And scared almost to death, sir, Wore out their shoes to spread the news, And ran till out of breath, sir. Now up and down, throughout the town, Most frantic scenes were acted ; And some ran here and others there, Like men almost distracted. Some fire...
Page 167 - This made it clear to me that my suspicion was right; and that whatever they pretended of meeting to learn good things, the real purpose was to consult how to cheat Indians in the price of beaver. Consider but a little, Conrad, and you must be of my opinion. If they met so often to learn good things, they certainly would have learned some before this time; but they are still ignorant.
Page 142 - Freeze, freeze, thou bitter sky, That dost not bite so nigh As benefits forgot : Though thou the waters warp, Thy sting is not so sharp As friend remember'd not Heigh, ho ! sing, heigh, ho ! &c.
Page 116 - Twas early day, as poets say, Just when the sun was rising, A soldier stood on a log of wood, And saw a thing surprising. As in amaze he stood to gaze, The truth can't be denied, sir, He spied a score of kegs or more Come floating down the tide, sir. A sailor, too, in jerkin blue, This strange appearance viewing, First...
Page 66 - And now, my race of terror run, Mine be the eve of tropic Sun ! No pale gradations quench his ray, No twilight dews his wrath allay ; With disk like battle- target red, He rushes to his burning bed, Dyes the wide wave with bloody light, Then sinks at once — and all is night.
Page 101 - Having groped his passage to the horizontal part of the den, the most terrifying darkness appeared in front of the dim circle of light afforded by his torch It was silent as the house of death. None but monsters of the desert had ever before explored this solitary mansion of horror.
Page 166 - I may as well go to the meeting too, and I went with him. There stood up a man in black, and began to talk to the people very angrily. I did not understand what he said: but perceiving that he looked much at me and at Hanson, I...
Page 136 - Person to say, I ever refused an Offer of that Sort: On the contrary, I readily consented to the only Proposal of Marriage that ever was made me, which was when I was a Virgin; but too easily confiding in the Person's Sincerity that made it, I unhappily lost my...
Page 8 - ... on account of its difficult and perilous navigation, its great obscurity, its profound depth, and frequent tempests ; through fear of its mighty fishes, and its haughty winds ; yet there are many islands in it, some peopled, others uninhabited. There is no mariner who dares to enter into its deep waters ; or if any have done so, they have merely kept along its coasts, fearful of departing from them. The waves of this ocean, although they roll as high as mountains, yet maintain themselves without...
Page 101 - ... with the blazing torch in his hand. The aperture of the den on the east side of a very high ledge of rocks is about two feet square.

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