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Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World

Jonathan Swift · 1726–1727

passage 150 of 203 · PART I. A VOYAGE TO LILLIPUT. > CHAPTER I. (2/5)

in brief
After mutineers strand the narrator on a beach, they refuse to say where he is, claim the new captain will dispose of him when land appears, and push off while telling him to hurry away from the tide.

Indians; but I knew not what course they took, being kept a close prisoner in my cabin, and expecting nothing less than to be murdered, as they often threatened me.

Upon the 9th day of May, 1711, one James Welch came down to my cabin, and said, “he had orders from the captain to set me ashore.” I expostulated with him, but in vain; neither would he so much as tell me who their new captain was. They forced me into the long-boat, letting me put on my best suit of clothes, which were as good as new, and take a small bundle of linen, but no arms, except my hanger; and they were so civil as not to search my pockets, into which I conveyed what money I had, with some other little necessaries. They rowed about a league, and then set me down on a strand. I desired them to tell me what country it was. They all swore, “they knew no more than myself;” but said, “that the captain” (as they called him) “was resolved, after they had sold the lading, to get rid of me in the first place where they could discover land.” They pushed off immediately, advising me to make haste for fear of being overtaken by the tide, and so bade me farewell.

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topics: conquest, plunder, and captives · supply, logistics, and encampment

Gulliver's Travels into Several Remote Nations of the World · Jonathan Swift · 1726–1727