fuch a Manner as to contain it in the Cavity under the upper Heel-piece; which we did fo, that it was impoffible for any one to difcover what had been done; and fo cautious I was, that I determined to keep it a Secret, even to my Friend Saris himfelf. If the Thoughts of my dearest Louifa had not now, ever and anon, intervened, I fhould have efteemed myself a very happy Man; but whenever her Remembrance croffed my Mind, as it frequently would, all the Acquifitions I made were Matters of Grief to me, as I was fure I could never enjoy them with my lovely, charming Maid, now no more an Inhabitant of these mortal Regions of Mifery. If I had any Satisfaction in the View of being returned to England in Wealth and Splendor, it flowed from the Regard I had to my Parents Gratification, the Joy of my Friends, and the Good of the Indigent and Unhappy.

We had been fettled here four Years, and, tho❜ I took Care to write Home by every Conveyance, yet I had received no Return, which gave me the moft touching Pain and Uneafinefs; for I looked upon the Advices I had received at my firft Arrival, as of no great Importance, being difpatched fo foon after my Departure. I knew the Punctuality of my Friends too well to doubt their writing to me by every Opportunity that offered, and therefore, unlefs Death or Sickness had happened, I was. fenfible their Letters muft fome how or other have

mifcar

mifcarried. In fhort, the Concern I was under gave me no reft; and Truman was almost as much grieved as myfelf, for he had as much Love for my Father and Mother, as if they had really been his own. Whilft we were in this Defpondency, the Arrival of a Ship from England cheared our Hearts, bringing us Letters of a very fresh Date, from all the Perfons I fo dearly loved. They mentioned their having wrote often before, fo that I concluded they had fent by Ships bound to other Parts of Afia, and that the Letters might mifcarry in the Country Veffels they were fent to me in, or in the Carriage over Land. My Father, Mother, and all my Friends were in Health, for which I returned fincere Thanks to the Almighty; and my Friend Mr. Diaper, to my great Joy, had been Home from two Voyages, and was then gone out upon his Third, and had acquired a very confiderable Fortune. He was to the laft Degree furprised to hear, that I was gone to the fame Part of the World he came from, and tenderly concerned that the Distance of the Scene of his Voyages from the Place I was fettled at rendered a Correfpondence or Interview impoffible, unless by meer Accident. His lovely Mistress and her Family were well, and, at his Return from his prefent Voyage, he intended to fettle in England, and enter into the happy Union he had fo long fighed after: All these Particulars I received in a Letter

from

from old Mr. Diaper, and Prig gave me a long
Account of Prim's Behaviour in Yorkshire, where
he came down with my Letters, and to fee him,
and gave them the greatest Satisfaction in the Know-
ledge of his having feen me and brought Tidings
from me. He had carried himself, whilft in Eng-
land, with fo much Honour and Generofity, as to
wipe out all Suggeftions to his Prejudice, and to gain
the Love of my Father, and all he conversed with ;
and they expected him, by every Ship that came
from Virginia, with his Family, to fettle there. I
took the Opportunity, upon the Return of the Ship
that brought thofe Letters, to write Answers to
them, and particularly wrote to Mr. Goodwill, to
get me an Order from the Directors to come Home,
whenever it suited my Inclination or Defires; for,
by the Time I fhould receive it, I did not doubt
but I should be eagerly fond of returning to my na-
tive Country, after which I fent many a rending Sigh,
that came from the Bottom of my Heart, crying often,
in the Height of my paffionate Remembrances,
Ah, may I yet revifit thee once more!

Once more furvey thy Thames' unequal'd Towers!
Or thro' thy fruitful Vales transported stray:
Bafk under thofe lov'd Shades I us'd to haunt,
Secure from fcorching Heats, benumbing Dews,
And all th' inclement Rage of Eastern Skies!
-But, ah! Louifa, thou art ever fled,
And Joy returns not to this tortur'd Breast!
СНАР.

CHAP. L.

He has farther good Fortune.-Obferves the fettled Melancholy of Mr. Saris.-Endeavours to footb his Difquiet.-Difcovers fomewhat of the Caufe of his Affliction.-He induces him to relate his unhappy Story.

EVERAL Things I, after this Adventure

So the Diamond Mines, undertook, with the

Affistance of Truman, had a like good Success, fo that, at the End of five Years, I found myself worth above 35,000l. fuppofing my great Jewel to be worth no more than 15,000l. which was the loweft Value I could put upon it; and all this Success accrued to us without fubjecting me to Envy, or Reproach, feeing I took all the Care in the World to merit every body's Efteem, and to execute faithfully the Orders of my Principals. Truman was looked upon as a Relation of mine, and most of our Riches were fuppofed to belong to him, which Opinion we did all in our Power to keep up. As to Mr. Saris, he had brought but a small Fortune with him; but had, however, by the Opportunities my Money gave him of good Markets, raifed it to 11,000l. and, as to Truman, he had of his own above 2,500l. which he looked upon as fufficient for him to live happily upon the Remainder

of

of his Days: In fhort, we all thought ourselves very happy, and were, unlike the Generality of Merchants, content, nor defired by ftill accumu. lating more Money to tempt Fortune too far, and bring upon ourselves a Reverse of Luck, which, could we get fafely to Europe, we thought ourfelves out of the Power of. Mr. Saris and myself lived in the utmost Harmony, and were compli→ mented with the Epithet of the Brother Factors; and I must own his Temper was fo amiable, his Notions of Things fo juft, and his Actions fo difinterested and honourable, that I felt for him as great an Affection as I had ever done for any Man' but my Friend Diaper, whom I could not help fancying he was very much like; but it gave me fome Uneafinefs to perceive, as I had conftantly done, a Gloom and Melancholy fpread over his Countenance, that for my Life I had not been a ble to fathom the Meaning of: He difliked much Company, and fhewed a Diftaste at being amongst the Ladies, which, tho' it humoured my Difpofition, yet I could not imagine he had the fame Motives for that I had. I used all the Art I was Mafter of to diffipate this Chagrine, and, that failing, did all I could to learn the Occafion of it: To engage him' to difclofe himself, at Times I gave him my own History, at the Recital of which, he expreffed a great deal of Concern, but ftill continued filent, as to what affected himself. We frequently

diverted