Note 432-13 — Scene III.—Another part of the Island.

Sometimes in Shakespeare’s days they practiced a curious kind of insurance. If a man were going on a long journey, he put out in the hands of agents a sum of money, under the agreement that if he returned he was to have a certain number of times the money he put out. If the journey was perilous, the agreement might call for five times the sum; if a safer journey, perhaps twice the amount. If the traveler did not return, the agents kept the sum put out. Gonzalo uses the phrase “Each putter-out of one for five,” to mean each man who goes on a perilous journey. He means that every traveler returning vouches for, or gives good warrant for, the wonders he has seen.