. . . In walking across the chamber, he laughingly
put his hand on a six livre piece and a louis d'or on my table, and
with a blush asked me how I was in the money way. Blushes beget
blushes. 'If fifteen guineas,' said he, 'will be of any service to
you, here they are. You have my address in London.'"
While waiting the passports from the Empress of Russia, he was invited
by Sir James Hall to try his luck in England. The very daring of the
wild attempt to cross Siberia and America alone appealed to the
English. Half a dozen men, friends of Cook, took the venture up, and
Ledyard found himself in the odd position of being offered a boat by
the country whose navy he had deserted. Perhaps because of that
desertion all news of the project was kept very quiet. A small ship
had slipped down the Thames for equipments, when the government got
wind of it. Whether the great Hudson's Bay Company of England opposed
the expedition as intrusion on its fur preserve, or the English
government objected to an American conducting the exploration for the
expansion of American territory, the ship was ordered back, and Ledyard
was in no position to confront the English authorities.
Pages:
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339