<ol><li>Captain Burt is marked as a time traveler by his anachronistic use of the racial slur "Dago" (p. 39). According to the <span class="newpage"><a class="urllink" href="http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=dago" rel="nofollow">Online Etymology Dictionary</a> it dates from 1823, and was used of Spanish or Portugese sailors on English or American ships. But </span><span class="newpage"><a class="urllink" href="http://lists.urth.net/pipermail/urth-urth.net/2008-December/010781.html" rel="nofollow">Mark Millman on the urth list</a>
says the O.E.D. cites the word as appearing in print before 1725. I
checked the O.E.D. online, and the only early reference it cites is <a class="urllink" href="http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/diaries/jeremiah_bumstead_diary_1723.htm" rel="nofollow">the diary of Jeremiah Bumstead (1723)</a>,
which says "Ye negro Dago hanged for fiering Mr. Powell's house..."
which is ambiguous since it could be the man's name. The next reference
they give is dated 1832. I stand by my theory that this is a genuine
anachronism. (The age of pirates that Chris visits is circa 1680).</span>
</li><li>To refine the date further, we know Drake sailed around the world in the <em>Golden Hind</em> "almost a hundred years ago" (p .139). That should mean less than 100 years, and Drake's voyage was from 1577 to 1580. <span class="newpage"><a class="urllink" href="http://lists.urth.net/htdig.cgi/urth-urth.net/2007-December/008418.html" rel="nofollow">Thalassocrat on the Urth list</a> suggested a date of 1675 based on this.</span></li>
</ol>