560 



dation. This apparent generosity of the 

 captain is further confirmed by the repeat- 

 ed assurances he artfully amuses them with 

 during the voyage : that his conduct was 

 dictated by the purest friendship ; which 

 originated, he pretends, either from the 

 acquaintance he has with the before-men- 

 tioned Welsh tavern-keeper in America, or 

 out of humanity to these poor creatures, 

 who are so burthened with taxes in Eng- 

 land, although many of them pay little or 

 none, and so distressed by the dearness of 

 provision, &c. He will, out of charity, 

 take them to this free land of plenty ! 



Every necessary of life, however, is 

 equally dear to the poor man in America as 

 in England, but much worse in its kind, 

 beef excepted ; and beef is nearly so to the 

 poor, although not to the rich, for the fol- 

 lowing reason. In the shambles, it is 

 seldom lower than from eight to ten pence 

 per pound ; in the waggons, from four to 

 five pence. The cause is, that, out of the 

 shambles, no man is permitted to sell less 



