"Then Harald said, "It shall not be thus. Go into the boat, and I will goback into the ship, since thou art so anxious to live." Then Harald wentback to the ship, while the man took his place in the boat, and after thatHarald was never heard of more.XVIITHE SEARCH FOR NORUMBEGASir Humphrey Gilbert, colonel of the British forces in the Netherlands,was poring over the manuscript narrative of David Ingram, mariner. Ingramhad in 1568-69 taken the widest range of travel that had ever been takenin the new continent, of which it was still held doubtful by many whetherit was or was not a part of Asia. "Surely," Gilbert said to hishalf-brother, Walter Raleigh, a youth of twenty-three, "this knave hathseen strange things. He hath been set ashore by John Hawkins in the Gulfof Mexico and there left behind. He hath travelled northward with two ofhis companions along Indian trails; he hath even reached Norumbega; hehath seen that famous city with its houses of crystal and silver.""Pine logs and hemlock bark, belike," said Raleigh, scornfully."Nay," said Gilbert, "he hath carefully written it down. He saw kingsdecorated with rubies six inches long; and they were borne on chairs ofsilver and crystal, adorned with precious stones. He saw pearls as commonas pebbles, and the natives were laden down by their ornaments of gold andsilver.
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