The one chosen to act as admiral
of the fleet, for there were to be three ships instead of one, as
I had fancied, was Captain Christopher Newport, a man who had no
little fame as a seaman.
In due time, as the preparations for the voyage were being forwarded,
I was sent by my master into lodgings at Blackwall, just below
London town, for the fleet lay nearby, and because it was understood
by those in charge of the adventure that I was in Captain Smith's
service, no hindrance was made to my going on board the vessels.
THE VESSELS OF THE FLEET
These were three in number, as I have already said: the Constant,
a ship of near to one hundred tons in size; the Goodspeed, of forty
tons, and the Discovery, which was a pinnace of only twenty tons.
And now, lest some who read what I have set down may not be
acquainted with the words used by seamen, let me explain that the
measurement of a vessel by tons, means that she will fill so much
space in the water. Now, in measuring a vessel, a ton is reckoned
as forty cubic feet of space, therefore when I say the Susan Constant
was one hundred tons in size, it is the same as if I had set down
that she would carry four thousand cubic feet of cargo.
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