I discovered nothing all that day; but upon the next, about three o'clock in the afternoon, when I had, by my computation, made twenty-four leagues from Blefuscu, I descried a sail steering to the southeast: my course was due east.

I hailed her, but could get no answer; yet I found I gained upon her, for the wind slackened.

I made all the sail I could, and in half-an-hour she spied me, then hung out her ancient,[37] and discharged a gun.
It is not easy to express the joy I was in, upon the unexpected hope of once more seeing my beloved country, and the dear pledges I left in it.
The ship slackened her sails, and I came up with her, between five and six in the evening, September twenty-sixth; but my heart leaped within me to see her English colors.

I put my cows and sheep into my coat-pockets, and got on board with all my little cargo of provisions.
The vessel was an English merchantman returning from Japan by the North and South Seas; the captain, Mr.John Biddle, of Deptford, a very civil man and an excellent sailor.

We were now in the latitude of 30 degrees south.