“I ſhall enquire more particularly”: Veracity, Uncertainty, and Narrative Structure

Abraham Keek’s ocean-wide misplacement of Van Sloetten’s discovery shows how a small amount of information can lead to a wide range of speculation. Even before we learn that the island is in the Indian Ocean, not the Atlantic, Keek demonstrates the tendency in European travel discourse to reduce uncertainty: although he allows “that there may be ſome miſtake” in locating the island, he yet lends authority to “Some Engliſh” who suppose that the discovery may be “the Iſland of Braſile which have been ſo oft ſought for.” ¹ Keek knows that something has been found, and he knows what he wants it to be: therefore, subsequent information sought by “ſeveral perſons here” will be presented in ways that tend to confirm the pattern, if not the exact goal. With interesting metatextuality, Neville has Keek promise that more information will be reported “if true.” Since more information does follow, it is thus positioned as a veracious account—not least because Van Sloetten corrects Keek within the recognizable language of science.