11. The boat was intended for the purpose of going closer to the reef of rocks than a large vessel could safely venture. When it was finished the captain sent several men in it to examine the spot where the Spanish ship was said to have been wrecked. They were accompanied by some Indians, who were skilful divers. 12. The boat's crew proceeded to the reef of rocks, and rowed round and round it a great many times. They gazed down into the transparent water, but nothing could they see,-nothing more valuable than a curious sea-shrub, which was growing beneath the water in a crevice of the reef of rocks. 13. "We won't go back empty-handed," cried an English sailor; and then he spoke to one of the Indian divers. "Dive down and bring me that pretty sea-shrub there. That's the only treasure we shall find." Down plunged the diver, and soon rose dripping from the water, holding the sea-shrub in his hand. But he had learned some news at the bottom of the sea. "There are some ship's guns," said he, the moment he had drawn breath, some great cannon among the rocks near where the shrub was growing." 66 14. No sooner had he spoken than the English sailors knew that they had found the very spot where the Spanish galleon had been wrecked so many years before. The other Indian divers immediately plunged over the boat's side and swam headlong down, groping among the rocks and sunken cannon. In a few moments one of them rose above the water with a heavy lump of silver in his arms. The single lump was worth more than two hundred pounds sterling. 15. The sailors now took it into the boat, and then rowed back as speedily as they could to inform Captain Phipps of their good luck. cried Captain Phipps. "We make our fortunes!" "Thanks be to God!" shall every man of us 16. Hereupon the captain and all the crew set to work, with iron rakes and great hooks and lines, fishing for gold and silver at the bottom of the sea. Up came the treasure in abundance. Now they beheld a table of solid silver, once the property of an old Spanish grandee. Now they drew up a golden cup, fit for the King of Spain to drink his wine out of. Now their rakes or fishing lines were loaded with masses of silver bullion. There were also precious stones among the treasure, glittering and sparkling. 17. After a day or two Captain Phipps and his crew lighted on another part of the wreck, where they found a great many bags of silver coins. But nobody could have guessed that these were money-bags. By remaining so long in the salt water they had become covered over with a crust, which had the appearance of stone, so that it was necessary to break them in pieces with hammers and axes. When this was done a stream of silver dollars gushed out upon the deck of the vessel. 18. The whole value of the recovered treasure, plate, bullion, precious stones, and all, was estimated at nearly half a million pounds sterling. Captain Phipps and his men continued to fish up plate, bullion, and dollars as plentifully as ever, till their provisions grew short. Then, as they could not feed upon gold and silver, Phipps resolved to return to England, where he was received with great joy by the Duke of Albemarle and other English lords who had fitted out the vessel. 19. The captain's share was enough to make him comfortable for the rest of his days. It also enabled him to fulfil his promise to his wife, by building a "fair brick house" in the Green Lane of Boston. 20. Before Captain Phipps left London, King James made him a knight, so that, instead of the obscure shipcarpenter who had formerly dwelt among them, the inhabitants of Boston welcomed him on his return as the rich and famous Sir William Phipps. SUMMARY.-William Phipps was a poor man's son who had various changes of fortune in his earlier days. In 1684 he heard of a Spanish treasure ship which had been lost near the Bahamas, and he tried to recover some of the riches from the wreck. He was unsuccessful, but was told of another galleon which had been cast away with much wealth near Porto Plata. He went to London and was able to persuade King James to furnish him with a vessel for the search. His voyage was in vain, and he was compelled to return empty-handed. His next voyage, in a vessel furnished by the Duke of Albemarle and others, was more successful. After various adventures he was fortunate enough to discover the wreck, and to obtain treasure worth nearly £500,000. Ac-quired', gained, obtained. Gran-dee', a Spanish nobleman Hew-ing, cutting and shaping Who was William Phipps? How was his boyhood spent? What happened to him in Boston? What attempt did he make in 1681? With what success? Where Plate, gold and silver ware. Treasure, money and other valuables. QUESTIONS. did he go next? Who helped him in his search for treasure? With what result? Who fitted out a second ship? Where did Phipps then go to? How did he succeed? EXERCISES.-1. Parse and analyse-During this time he had begun to follow the sea for a living. 2. Adjectives are formed by adding ary, ic, id, ical, which mean "belonging to," "of," or "like;" as, military, belonging to the soldiers (miles, militis, a soldier); oceanic, belonging to the ocean; vivid, like life (vivo, I live); astronomical, belonging to the law of stars (astron, a star). Give the exact meaning of the following wordspecuniary (pecunium, money), heroic, candid, nautical (navis, a ship). dropped knead ploughs XVIII. THE CORN SONG. rob-ber sprout-ing au-tumn change-ful fur-rows mil-dew or-chard 1. Heap high the farmer's wintry hoard! No richer gift has Autumn poured 2. Let other lands, exulting, glean 3. We better love the hardy gift To cheer us, when the storm shall drift 4. Through vales of grass and meads of flowers, 5. We dropped the seed o'er hill and plain, And frightened from our sprouting grain win-try ex-ult-ing A-pol-lo 6. All through the long, bright days of June, 7. And now, with Autumn's moonlit eves, 8. There, richer than the fabled gift Fair hands the broken grain shall sift, 9. Then shame on all the proud and vain, 10. Let earth withhold her goodly root; 11. But let the good old crop adorn Still let us, for his golden corn, Send up our thanks to God!-J. G. Whittier. SUMMARY.- Autumn has no richer gift than the golden corn. Other countries may boast of the apple, the orange, or the vine ; but we prefer the hardy gift which grows in our own fields. The seed was sown in May, and all through the bright days of June the corn continued to grow. When the autumn came it was carried home to the granary and carefully prepared for food. Whatever may happen to other fruits or crops let the corn still grow on the ground which our fathers trod. Meal of gold. According to the ancient fable, Apollo, the god of music, sowed the isle of Delos, his birthplace, with golden flowers, by the music of his lyre. Be-stow', give. Meads, meadows. QUESTIONS. What is Autumn's richest gift? What crop do we prefer? Why? When was the ground prepared? The seed sown? The fruit ripened? When was it gathered? What was then done with it? EXERCISES.-1. Parse and analyse-We dropped the seed o'er hill and plain, beneath the sun of May. 2. Adjectives are formed by adding ile, ine, ory, ese, ish, which mean "belonging to," "of," or, "like; as, infantile, like an infant; leonine, like a lion (leo, a lion); piscatory, belonging to a fish (pisces, a fish); Maltese (belonging to Malta); Turkish (belonging to Turkey). Give the exact meaning of the following words-puerile (puer, a boy), feline (felis, a cat), promissory, Chinese, British. |