Vill INTRODUCTION. 
sure transferred to the hold of the buccaneer ; 
the crew rowed ashore, and their ship set on fire. 
Death seemed inevitable, when a breeze, which 
soon increased to a gale, drifting the burning 
hull on the rocks providentially proved a means 
of escape, for a raft was made, and launched. 
Upon this the men stood out to sea. 
After enduring frightful privations, a friendly 
ship picked them up, and they eventually reached 
Europe in safety. Amongst the sailors rescued 
from the raft was a Greek, Apostolos Valerianos, 
who for some reason was nick-named by his 
shipmates Juan de Fuca. Nine years after his 
escape from the raft we hear of him in Venice. 
In 1596 Mr. Locke, a merchant, and his 
friend John Douglas, a sea-captain, were residing 
in Venice, and nightly smoked their pipes at a 
snug wine-shop, the resort of sea-faring men. 
A constant visitor at this house of entertainment 
was a pilot on the Greek seas, who had attracted 
Douglas’s attention by the wonderful stories he 
related ; so much so that he induced his friend, 
Mr. Locke, to listen to the old man’s adventures.* 
* For full narrative of Apostolos Valerianos, see Samuel 
Purchase His Pilgrims. 
: 
