There werenot wanting those who held that the ancient gold pieces might have beengained by piracy, such as was beginning to be known upon the Spanish main;and as for the boy Kirwan, some of his playmates did not hesitate toexpress the opinion that he had always been, as they phrased it, thegreatest liar that ever spoke. What is certain is that the island ofBrazil or Hy-Brasail had appeared on maps ever since 1367 as being nearthe coast of Ireland; that many voyages were made from Bristol to find it,a hundred years later; that it was mentioned about 1636 as often seen fromthe shore; and that it appeared as Brazil Rock on the London AdmiraltyCharts until after 1850. If many people tried to find it and failed, whyshould not Kirwan have tried and succeeded? And as to his stretching hisstory a little by throwing in a few enchanters and magic castles, therewas not a voyager of his period who was not tempted to do the same.XIVTHE ISLE OF SATAN'S HANDThe prosperous farmer Conall Ua Corra in the province of Connaught hadeverything to make him happy except that he and his wife had no childrento cheer their old age and inherit their estate. Conall had prayed forchildren, and one day said in his impatience that he would rather havethem sent by Satan than not have them at all. A year or two later his wifehad three sons at a birth, and when these sons came to maturity, they wereso ridiculed by other young men, as being the sons of Satan, that theysaid, "If such is really our parentage, we will do Satan's work.
Pages:
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109