o the boat, and as I did not dare to
take my bag I found myself loaded with nothing but a man's clothes, which
would not have fitted me, even if I had intended to keep up my disguise.

"When I came to the custom-house I saw my possessions. There were books,
letters, linen, some suits of clothes, a sword and two pairs of pistols,
one pair of which I put in my pockets, and then I went to an inn where
the host said that if I wanted to travel to London the next morning I
should only have to pay for one horse.

"'Who are the people,' said I, 'who desire a companion?

"'You shall sup with them if you like,' said he.

"I accepted the offer, and found the party consisted of a minister of
religion and two ladies whose faces pleased me. I was fortunate enough to
win their good graces, and early the next day we got to London and
alighted in the Strand at an inn where I only dined, going out to seek a
lodging appropriate to my means and the kind of life I wished to lead.
Fifty Lisbon pieces and a ring of about the same value was all that I
possessed in the world.

"I took a room on the third floor, being attracted by the honest and
kindly expression of the landlady. I could only trust in God and confide
my position to her. I agreed to pay her ten shillings a week, and begged
her to get me some woman's clothes, for I was afraid to go out in my
man's dress any longer.

"The next day I was clothed like a poor girl who desires to escape
notice. I spoke English well enough to seem a native of the country, and
I knew how I must behave if I wished to be let alone. Although the
landlady was a worthy woman, her house was not exactly suitable for me;
my stay in England might be protracted, and if I came to destitution I
should be wretched indeed; so I resolved to leave the house. I received
no visitors, but I could not prevent the inquisitive from hovering round
my door, and the more it became known that I saw no one, the more their
curiosity increased. The house was not quiet enough. It was near the
Exchange, and the neighborhood swarmed with young men who came to dine on
the first floor of the house, and did their best to cure me of my
sadness, as they called it, though I had not shewn any signs of wishing
to be cured.

"I made up my mind not to spend more than a guinea a week, and resolved
to sell my ring if I could have the money paid to me at intervals. An old
jeweler who lodged next door, and for whose honesty my landlady answer