Once upon a time, setting out from the Pillars
of Hercules and heading for the western ocean with
a fair wind, I went a-voyaging. The motive and
purpose of my journey lay in my intellectual activity
and desire for adventure, and in my wish to find
out what the end of the ocean was, and who the
people were that lived on the other side. On this
account I put aboard a good store of provisions,
stowed water enough, enlisted in the venture fifty of
my acquaintances who were like-minded with myself,
got together also a great quantity of arms, shipped
the best sailing-master to be had at a big inducement, and put my boat—she was a pinnace—in trim
for a long and difficult voyage.