Abstract
The beginning of the New Atlantis is, in the first place, an account of a long voyage across the Pacific, undertaken by a crew of 51 sailors. At the same time, it serves as a brief introduction to two different peoples – the sailors on the one hand and the Bensalemites on the other. The passage also presents the narrator's first impressions of the newly discovered island of Bensalem. In addition, the opening passage of the New Atlantis is more than a simple description of an adventure which begins at sea and is triggered by a tempest. The phrase “We sailed from Peru” not only establishes the nature of the story one is about to read but also plunges the reader into a hasty and unexpected departure. “We” are caught unprepared for an adventure that tosses both reader and characters into a peculiar setting, where complete loss of orientation, purpose and identity melt together to form the basis of a questioning about the real purpose of the text.
