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Title: The King of Pirates
Being an Account of the Famous Enterprises of Captain
Avery, the Mock King of Madagascar
Author: Daniel Defoe
Release Date: November 12, 2011 [EBook #37992]
Language: English
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE KING OF PIRATES ***
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THE King of PIRATES:
BEING AN ACCOUNT OF THE Famous ENTERPRISES OF
Captain _AVERY_,
The Mock KING of _Madagascar_.
WITH
His RAMBLES and PIRACIES; wherein
all the Sham ACCOUNTS formerly
publish'd of him, are detected.
_In Two LETTERS from himself;
one during his Stay at_ Madagascar, _and
one since his Escape from thence._
_LONDON_,
Printed for _A. Bettesworth_ in _Pater-noster Row_, _C. King_
in _Westminster-Hall_, _J. Brotherton_ and _W. Meadows_ in _Cornhill_,
_W. Chetwood_ in _Covent-Garden_, and sold by _W. Boreham_ in
_Pater-noster Row_, 1720.
(Price 1 _s._ 6 _d._)
THE PREFACE
ONE of the particular Advantages of the following Letters from
Captain _Avery_, is, the Satisfaction they will give the Readers how much
they have been impos'd upon in the former ridiculous and extravagant
Accounts which have been put upon the World in what has been publish'd
already._
_It has been enough to the Writers of this Man's Life, as they call it,
that they could put any Thing together, to make a kind of monstrous unheard
of Story, as romantick as the Reports that have been spread about of him;
and the more those Stories appear'd monstrous and incredible, the more
suitable they seem'd to be to what the World would have been made to expect
of Captain _Avery_._
_There is always a great Deference between what Men say of themselves, and
what others say for them, when they come to write Historically of the
Transactions of their Lives._
_The Publisher of these Letters recommends this Performance to the Readers,
to make their Judgment of the Difference between them and the extravagant
Stories already told, and which is most likely to be genuine; and, as they
verily believe these Letters to be the best and truest Account of Captain
_Avery_'s Piracies, that ever has or ever will come to the Knowledge of the
World, they recommend them as such, and doubt not but they will answer for
themselves in the Reading._
_The Account given of Captain _Avery_'s taking the Great Mogul's Daughter,
ravishing and murdering her, and all the Ladies of her Retinue, is so
differently related here, and so extravagantly related before, that it
cannot but be a Satisfaction to the most unconcern'd Reader, to find such a
horrible Piece of Villainy as the other was suppos'd to be, not to have
been committed in the World._
_On the contrary, we find here, that except plundering that Princess of her
Jewels and Money to a prodigious Value, a Thing which, falling into the
Hands of Freebooters, every one that had the Misfortune to fall into such
Hands would expect: But, that excepting this, the Lady was used with all
the Decency and Humanity, and, perhaps, with more than ever Women, falling
among Pirates, had found before; especially considering that, by Report,
she was a most beautiful and agreeable Person herself, as were also several
of those about her._
_The Booty taken with her, tho' infinitely great in itself, yet has been so
magnify'd beyond common Sense, that it makes all the rest that has been
said of those Things ridiculous and absurd._
_The like Absurdity in the former Relations of this Matter, is that of the
making an Offer of I know not how many Millions to the late Queen, for
Captain _Avery_'s Pardon, with a Petition to the Queen, and her Majesty's
negative Answer; all which are as much true as his being Master of so many
Millions if Money, which he nor his Gang never had; and of his being
proclaim'd King of _Madagascar_; marrying the Mogul's Daughter, and the
like: And, by the Bye, it was but ill laid together of those who publish'd,
that he first ravish'd her, then murder'd her, and then marry'd her; all
which are very remarkable for the recommending the Thing to those that read
it._
_If these Stories are explain'd here, and duly expos'd, and the History of
Captain _Avery_ set in a fairer Light, the End is answer'd; and of this the
Readers are to be the only Judges: But this may be said, without any
Arrogance, that this Story, stripp'd of all the romantick, improbable, and
impossible Parts of it, looks more like the History of Captain _Avery_,
than any Thing yet publish'd ever has done; and, if it is not prov'd that
the Captain wrote these Letters himself, the Publisher says, None but the
Captain himself will ever be able to mend them._
THE King of PIRATES.
YOU may be sure I receiv'd with Resentment enough the Account,
that a most ridiculous Book, entitled, _My Life and Adventures_, had been
publish'd in _England_, being fully assur'd nothing of Truth could be
contain'd in such a Work; and tho' it may be true, that my extravagant
Story may be the proper Foundation of a Romance, yet as no Man has a Title
to publish it better than I have to expose and contradict it, I send you
this by one of my particular Friends, who having an Opportunity of
returning into _England_, has promis'd to convey it faithfully to you; by
which, at least, two Things shall be made good to the World; first, that
they shall be satisfy'd in the scandalous and unjust Manner in which others
have already treated me, and it shall give, in the mean Time, a larger
Account of what may at present be fit to be made publick, of my unhappy
tho' successful Adventures.
I shall not trouble my Friends with any Thing of my Original and first
Introduction into the World, I leave it to you to add from yourself what
you think proper to be known on that Subject; only this I enjoin you to
take Notice of, that the Account printed of me, with all the Particulars of
my Marriage, my being defrauded, and leaving my Family and native Country
on that Account, is a meer Fable and a made Story, to embellish, as the
Writer of it perhaps suppos'd, the rest of his Story, or perhaps to fill up
the Book, that it might swell to a Magnitude which his barren Invention
could not supply.
In the present Account, I have taken no Notice of my Birth, Infancy, Youth,
or any of that Part; which, as it was the most useless Part of my Years to
myself so 'tis the most useless to any one that shall read this Work to
know, being altogether barren of any Thing remarkable in it self, or
instructing to others: It is sufficient to me to let the World know, as
above, that the former Accounts, made publick, are utterly false, and to
begin my Account of myself at a Period which may be more useful and
entertaining.
It may be true, that I may represent some Particulars of my Life, in this
Tract, with Reserve, or Enlargement, such as may be sufficient to conceal
any Thing in my present Circumstance that ought to be conceal'd and
reserv'd, with Respect to my own Safety; and therefore, if on Pretence of
Justice the busy World should look for me in one Part of the World when I
am in another, search for my new Kingdom in _Madagascar_, and should not
find it, or search for my Settlement on one Side of the Island, when it
lies on another, they must not take this ill; for Self-preservation being
the supreme Law of Nature, all Things of this Kind must submit to that.
In Order then to come immediately to my Story, I shall, without any
Circumlocutions, give you Leave to tell the World, that being bred to the
Sea from a Youth, none of those romantick Introductions publish'd had any
Share in my Adventures, or were any way the Cause of my taking the Courses
I have since been embark'd in: But as in several Parts of my wandring Life
I had seen something of the immense Wealth, which the Buccaneers, and other
Adventurers, met with in their scouring about the World for Purchase, I
had, for a long Time, meditated in my Thoughts to get possess'd of a good
Ship for that Purpose, if I could, and to try my Fortune. I had been some
Years in the Bay of _Campeachy_, and tho' with Patience I endur'd the
Fatigue of that laborious Life, yet it was as visible to others as to
myself, that I was not form'd by Nature for a Logwood-Cutter, any more than
I was for a Foremast-man; and therefore Night and Day I apply'd myself to
study how I should dismiss myself from that Drudgery, and get to be, first
or last, Master of a good Ship, which was the utmost of my Ambition at that
Time; resolving, in the mean Time, that when ever any such Thing should
happen, I would try my Fortune in the Cruising Trade, but would be sure not
to prey upon my own Countrymen.
It was many Years after this before I could bring my Purposes to pass; and
I serv'd, first, in some of the Adventures of Captain _Sharp_, Captain
_Sawkins_, and others, in their bold Adventures in the South Seas, where I
got a very good Booty; was at the taking of _Puna_, where we were oblig'd
to leave infinite Wealth behind us, for want of being able to bring it
away; and after several Adventures in those Seas, was among that Party who
fought their Way Sword in Hand thro' all the Detachments of the
_Spaniards_, in the Journey over Land, cross the Isthmus of _Darien_, to
the North Seas; and when other of our Men gat away, some one Way, some
another, I, with twelve more of our Men, by Help of a _Periagua_, gat into
the Bay of _Campeachy_, where we fell very honestly to cutting of Logwood,
not for Want, but to employ ourselves till we could make off.
Here three of our Men dy'd, and we that were left, shar'd their Money among
us; and having stay'd here two Years, without seeing any Way of Escape that
I dar'd to trust to, I at last, with two of our Men, who spoke _Spanish_
perfectly well, made a desperate Attempt to travel over Land to L-- having
bury'd all our Money, (which was worth eight thousand Pieces of Eight a
Man, tho' most of it in Gold) in a Pit in the Earth which we dug twelve
Foot deep, and where it would have lyen still, for no Man knew where to
look for it; but we had an Opportunity to come at it again some Years
after.
We travell'd along the Sea-shore five Days together, the Weather exceeding
hot, and did not doubt but we should so disguise ourselves as to be taken
for _Spaniards_; but our better Fortune provided otherwise for us, for the
sixth Day of our March we found a Canoe lying on the Shore with no one in
her: We found, however, several Things in her, which told us plainly that
she belong'd to some _Englishmen_ who were on Shore; so we resolv'd to sit
down by her and wait: By and by we heard the _Englishmen_, who were seven
in Number, and were coming back to their Boat, having been up the Country
to an _Ingenio_, where they had gotten great Quantities of Provision, and
were bringing it down to their Boat which they had left on the Shore, (with
the Help of five _Indians_, of whom they had bought it) not thinking there
was any People thereabouts: When they saw us, not knowing who we were, they
were just going to fire at us; when I, perceiving it, held up a white Flag
as high as I could reach it, which was, in short, only a Piece of an old
Linnen Wastcoat which I had on, and pull'd it off for the Occasion; upon
this, however, they forbore firing at us, and when they came nearer to us,
they could easily see that we were their own Countrymen: They enquir'd of
us what we came there for; we told them, we had travell'd from _Campeachy_,
where being tir'd with the Hardships of our Fortune, and not getting any
Vessel to carry us where we durst go, we were even desperate, and cared not
what became of us; so that had not they came to us thus happily, we should
have put our selves into the Hands of the _Spaniards_ rather than have
perish'd where we were.
They took us into their Boat, and afterwards carry'd us on Board their
Ship; when we came there, we found they were a worse Sort of Wanderers than
ourselves, for tho' we had been a Kind of Pyrates, known and declar'd
Enemies to the _Spaniards_, yet it was to them only, and to no other; for
we never offer'd to rob any of our other _European_ Nations, either _Dutch_
or _French_, much less _English_; but now we were listed in the Service of
the Devil indeed, and, like him, were at War with all Mankind.
However, we not only were oblig'd to sort with them, while with them, but
in a little Time the Novelty of the Crime wore off, and we grew harden'd to
it, like the rest: And in this Service I spent four Years more of my Time.
Our Captain in this Pirate Ship was nam'd _Nichols_, but we call'd him
Captain _Redhand_; it seems it was a _Scots_ Sailor gave him that Name,
when he was not the Head of the Crew, because he was so bloody a Wretch,
that he scarce ever was at the taking any Prize, but he had a Hand in some
Butchery or other.
They were hard put to it for fresh Provisions, or they would not have sent
thus up into the Country a single Canoe; and when I came on Board they were
so straiten'd, that, by my Advice, they resolv'd to go to the Isle of
_Cuba_ to kill wild Beef, of which the South Side of the Island is so full:
Accordingly we sail'd thither directly.
The Vessel carry'd sixteen Guns, but was fitted to carry twenty two, and
there was on Board one hundred and sixty stout Fellows, as bold and as
case-harden'd for the Work as ever I met with upon any Occasion whatever:
We victual'd in this Place for eight Months, by our Calculation; but our
Cook, who had the Management of the Salting and Pickling the Beef, order'd
his Matters so, that had he been let alone he would have starv'd us all,
and poison'd us too; for as we are oblig'd to hunt the black Cattle in the
Island sometimes a great while before we can shoot them, it should be
observ'd, that the Flesh of those that are heated before they are kill'd,
is not fit to be pickled or salted up for Keeping.
But this Man happening to pickle up the Beef, without Regard to this
particular Distinction, most of the Beef, so pickled, stunk before we left
the Place, so that we were oblig'd to throw it all away: The Men then said
it was impossible to salt any Beef in those hot Countries, so as to
preserve it, and would have had us given it over, and ha' gone to the Coast
of _New England_, or _New York_, for Provisions; but I soon convinc'd them
of the Mistake, and by only using the Caution, _viz._ not to salt up any
Beef of those Cattle that had been hunted, we cur'd one hundred and forty
Barrels of very good Beef, and such as lasted us a very great while.
I began to be of some Repute among them upon this Occasion, and _Redhand_
took me into the Cabin with him to consult upon all Emergencies, and gave
me the Name of Captain, though I had then no Command: By this Means I gave
him an Account of all my Adventures in the South Seas, and what a
prodigious Booty we got there with Captain _Goignet_, the _Frenchman_, and
with Captain _Sharp_, and others; encouraging him to make an Attempt that
Way, and proposing to him to go away to the _Brasils_, and so round by the
Straits of _Magellan_, or _Cape Horn_.
However, in this he was more prudent than I, and told me, that not only the
Strength but the Force of his Ship was too small, not but that he had Men
enough, as he said very well, but he wanted more Guns, and a better Ship;
for indeed the Ship we were in was but a weak crazy Boat for so long a
Voyage: So he said he approv'd my Project very well, but that he thought we
should try to take some more substantial Vessel for the Business: And says
he, if we could but take a good stout Ship, fit to carry thirty Guns, and a
Sloop, or Brigantine, he would go with all his Heart.
This I could not but approve of; so we form'd the Scheme of the Design, and
he call'd all his Men together, and propos'd it to them, and they all
approv'd it with a general Consent; and I had the Honour of being the
Contriver of the Voyage. From this Time we resolv'd, some how or other, to
get a better Ship under us, and it was not long before an Opportunity
presented to our Mind.
Being now upon the Coast of the Island of _Cuba_, we stood away West,
coasting the Island, and so went away for _Florida_, where we cruis'd among
the Islands, and in the Wake of the Gulph; but nothing presented a great
while; at length we spy'd a Sail, which prov'd an _English_ homeward bound
Ship from _Jamaica_: We immediately chac'd her, and came up with her; she
was a stout Ship, and the Captain defended her very well; and had she not
been a comber'd deep Ship, being full loaded, so that they could scarce
come at their Guns, we should have had our Hands full of her. But when they
found what we were, and that, being full of Men, we were resolv'd to be on
Board them, and that we had hoisted the black Flag, a Signal that we would
give them no Quarter, they began to sink in their Spirits, and soon after
cry'd Quarter, offering to yield: _Redhand_ would have given them no
Quarter, but, according to his usual Practice, would have thrown the Men
all into the Sea; but I prevail'd with him to give them Quarter, and good
Usage too; and so they yielded; and a very rich Prize it was, only that we
knew not what to do with the Cargo.
When we came to consider more seriously the Circumstances we were in by
taking this Ship, and what we should do with her, we found, that she was
not only deep loaden, but was a very heavy Sailer, and that, in short, she
was not such a Ship as we wanted; so, upon long Debate, we resolv'd to take
out of her all the Rum, the Indigo, and the Money we could come at, with
about twenty Casks of Sugar, and twelve of her Guns, with all the
Ammunition, small Arms, Bullets, _&c._ and let her go; which was
accordingly done, to the great Joy of the Captain that commanded her:
However, we took in her about six thousand Pounds Sterling in Pieces of
Eight.
But the next Prize we met, suited us better on all Accounts, being a Ship
from _Kingsale_ in _Ireland_, loaden with Beef, and Butter, and Beer, for
_Barbadoes_; never was Ship more welcome to Men in our Circumstances; this
was the very Thing we wanted: We saw the Ship early in the Morning, at
about five Leagues Distance, and we was three Days in Chace of her; she
stood from us, as if she would have run away for the _Cape de Verd_
Islands, and two or three Times we thought she sail'd so well she would
have got away from us, but we had always the good Luck to get Sight of her
in the Morning: She was about 260 Tun, an _English_ Frigat-built Ship, and
had 12 Guns on Board, but could carry 20. The Commander was a Quaker, but
yet had he been equal to us in Force, it appear'd by his Countenance he
would not have been afraid of his Flesh, or have baulk'd using the Carnal
Weapon of Offence, _viz._ the Cannon Ball.
We soon made ourselves Master of this Ship when once we came up with him,
and he was every Thing that we wanted; so we began to shift our Guns into
her, and shifted about 60 Tun of her Butter and Beef into our own Frigate;
this made the _Irish_ Vessel be a clear Ship, lighter in the Water, and
have more Room on Board for Fight, if Occasion offer'd.
When we had the old Quaking Skipper on Board, we ask'd him whether he would
go along with us; he gave us no Answer at first; but when we ask'd him
again, he return'd, that he did not know whether it might be safe for him
to answer the Question: We told him, he should either go or stay, as he
pleas'd; Why then, says he, I had rather ye will give me Leave to decline
it.
We gave him Leave, and accordingly set him on Shore afterwards at _Nevis_,
with ten of his Men; the rest went along with us as Volunteers, except the
Carpenter and his Mate, and the Surgeon, those we took by Force: We were
now supply'd as well as Heart could wish, had a large Ship in our
Possession, with Provisions enough for a little Fleet rather than for a
single Ship. So with this Purchase we went away for the _Leeward Islands_,
and fain we would have met with some of the _New York_ or _New England_
Ships, which generally come loaden with Peas, Flower, Pork, _&c._ But it
was a long while before any Thing of that Kind presented. We had promis'd
the _Irish_ Captain to set him on Shore, with his Company, at _Nevis_, but
we were not willing till we had done our Business in those Seas, because of
giving the Alarm among the Islands; so we went away for St. _Domingo_, and
making that Island our Rendezvous, we cruis'd to the Eastward, in Hopes of
some Purchase; it was not long before we spy'd a Sail, which prov'd to be a
_Burmoodas_ Sloop, but bound from _Virginia_ or _Maryland_, with Flower,
Tobacco, and some Malt; the last a Thing which in particular we knew not
what to do with: However, the Flower and Tobacco was very welcome, and the
Sloop no less welcome than the rest; for she was a very large Vessel, and
carry'd near 60 Tun, and when not so deep loaden, prov'd an excellent
Sailer. Soon after this we met with another Sloop, but she was bound from
_Barbadoes_ to _New England_, with Rum, Sugar, and Molosses: Nothing
disturb'd us in taking this Vessel, but that being willing enough to let
her go; (for as to the Sugar and Molosses, we had neither Use for them, or
Room for them) but to have let her go, had been to give the Alarm to all
the Coast of _North America_, and then what we wanted would never come in
our Way. Our Captain, justly call'd _Redhand_, or _Bloodyhand_, was
presently for dispatching them, that they might tell no Tales; and, indeed,
the Necessity of the Method had very near prevail'd; nor did I much
interpose here, I know not why, but some of the other Men put him in as
good a Way; and that was, to bring the Sloop to an Anchor under the Lee of
St. _Domingo_, and take away all her Sails, that she should not stir till
we gave her Leave.
We met with no less than five Prizes more here in about 20 Days Cruise, but
none of them for our Turn; one of them, indeed, was a Vessel bound to St.
_Christopher_'s with _Madera_ Wine: We borrow'd about 20 Pipes of the Wine,
and let her go. Another was a _New England_ built Ship, of about 150 Tun,
bound also Home with Sugar and Molosses, which was good for nothing to us;
however, we gat near 1000 _l._ on Board her in Pieces of Eight, and taking
away her Sails, as before, brought her to an Anchor under the Lee of the
Sloop: At last we met with what we wanted, and this was another Ship of
about 100 Tun, from _New England_, bound to _Barbadoes_; she had on Board
150 Barrels of Flower, about 350 Barrels of Pease, and 10 Tun of Pork
barrell'd up and pickel'd, besides some live Hogs, and some Horses, and six
Tun of Beer.
We were now sufficiently provided for; in all those Prizes we got also
about 56 Men, who, by Choice and Volunteer, agree'd to go along with us,
including the Carpenters and Surgeons, who we oblig'd always to go; so that
we were now above 200 Men, two Ships, and the _Burmoodas_ Sloop; and giving
the other Sloop, and the _New England_ homeward bound Ship their Sails
again, we let them go; and as to the Malt which we took in the _Burmoodas_
Sloop, we gave it the last _New England_ Master, who was going to
_Barbadoes_.
We gat in all those Ships, besides the Provisions above-mention'd, about
200 Musquets and Pistols, good Store of Cutlasses, about 20 Tun of Iron
Shot and Musquet Ball, and 33 Barrels of good Powder, which was all very
suitable Things to our Occasions.
We were fully satisfy'd, as we said to one another, now, and concluded that
we would stand away to the Windward, as well as we could, towards the Coast
of _Africa_, that we might come in the Wind's Way for the Coast of
_Brasil_; but our Frigat (I mean that we were first shipp'd in) was yet out
upon the Cruise, and not come in; so we came to an Anchor to wait for her,
when, behold, the next Morning she came in with full Sail, and a Prize in
Tow: She had, it seems, been farther West than her Orders, but had met with
a _Spanish_ Prize, whither bound, or from whence, I remember we did not
enquire, but we found in her, besides Merchandize, which we had no Occasion
for, 65000 Pieces of Eight in Silver, some Gold, and two Boxes of Pearl of
a good Value; five _Dutch_, or rather _Flemish_, Seamen that were on Board
her, were willing to go with us; and as to the rest of the Cargo, we let
her go, only finding four of her Guns were Brass, we took them into our
Ship, with seven great Jars of Powder, and some Cannon-Shot, and let her
go, using the _Spaniards_ very civilly.
This was a Piece of meer good Fortune to us, and was so encouraging as
nothing could be more, for it set us up, as we may say; for now we thought
we could never fail of good Fortune, and we resolv'd, one and all, directly
to the South Seas.
It was about the Middle of _August_ 1690 that we set forward, and steering
E. by S. and E. S. E. for about fifteen Days, with the Winds at N. N. W.
variable, we came quickly into the Trade Winds, with a good Offing, to go
clear of all the Islands; and so we steer'd directly for _Cape St.
Augustin_ in the _Brasils_, which we made the 22nd of _September_.
We cruis'd some Time upon the Coast, about the Bay of _All Saints_, and put
in once or twice for fresh Water, especially at the Island of St. _John_'s,
where we got good Store of Fish, and some Hogs, which, for fresh
Provisions, was a great Relief to us: But we gat no Purchase here; for
whether it was that their _European_ Ships were just come in, or just gone
out, we know not, or whether they suspected what we were, and so kept close
within their Ports, but in thirteen Days that we ply'd off and on about
_Fernambuque_, and about fourteen Days more that we spent in coasting along
the _Brasil_ Shore to the South, we met not one Ship, neither saw a Sail,
except of their Fishing-Boats or small Coasters, who kept close under
Shore.
We cross'd the Line here about the latter End of _September_, and found the
Air exceeding hot and unwholsome, the Sun being in the _Zenith_, and the
Weather very wet and rainy; so we resolv'd to stand away South, without
looking for any more Purchase on that Side.
Accordingly we kept on to the South, having tolerable good Weather, and
keeping the Shore all the Way in View till we came the Length of St.
_Julien_, in the Latitude of 48 Degrees, 22 Minutes South; here we put in
again, being the Beginning of _November_, and took in fresh Water, and
spent about ten Days, refreshing ourselves, and fitting our Tackle; all
which Time we liv'd upon Penguins and Seals, of which we kill'd an
innumerable Number; and when we prepar'd to go, we salted up as many
Penguins as we found would serve our whole Crew, to eat them twice a Week
as long as they would keep.
Here we consulted together about going thro' the Straits of _Magellan_; but
I put them quite out of Conceit of making that troublesom and fatieguing
Adventure, the Straits being so hazardous, and so many Winds requir'd to
pass them; and having assur'd them, that in our Return with _Bat Sharp_, we
went away to the Latitude of 55 Degrees 30 Minutes, and then steering due
East, came open with the North Seas in five Days Run, they all agreed to go
that Way.
On the 20th of November we weigh'd from Port _Julien_, and having a fair
Wind at N. E. by E. led it away merrily, till we came into the Latitude of
54, when the Wind veering more Northerly, and then to the N. W. blowing
hard, we were driven into 55 Degrees and half, but lying as near as we
could to the Wind, we made some Westward Way withal: The 3d of _December_
the Wind came up South, and S. E. by S. being now just as it were at the
Beginning of the Summer Solstice in that Country.
With this Wind, which blew a fresh Gale, we stood away N. N. W. and soon
found ourselves in open Sea, to the West of _America_; upon which we haul'd
away N. by E. and N. N. E. and then N. E. when on the 20th of _December_ we
made the Land, being the Coast of _Chili_, in the Latitude of 41 Degrees,
about the Height of _Baldivia_; and we stood out from hence till we made
the Isle of St. _Juan Fernando_, where we came to an Anchor, and went on
Shore to get fresh Water; also some of our Men went a hunting for Goats, of
which we kill'd enough to feed us all with fresh Meat for all the while we
stay'd here, which was 22 Days. [_Jan._ 11.]
During this Stay we sent the Sloop out to Cruise, but she came back without
seeing any Vessel; after which we order'd her out again more to the North,
but she was scarce gone a League, when she made a Signal that she saw a
Sail, and that we should come out to help them; accordingly the Frigat put
to Sea after them, but making no Signal for us to follow, we lay still, and
work'd hard at cleaning our Ship, shifting some of the Rigging, and the
like.
We heard no more of them in three Days, which made us repent sorely that we
had not gone all three together; but the third Day they came back, tho'
without any Prize, as we thought, but gave us an Account that they had
chac'd a great Ship and a Bark all Night, and the next Day; that they took
the Bark the Evening before, but found little in her of Value; that the
great Ship ran on Shore among some Rocks, where they durst not go in after
her, but that manning out their Boats, they got on Shore so soon, that the
Men belonging to her durst not land; that then they threaten'd to burn the
Ship as she lay, and burn them all in her, if they did not come on Shore
and surrender: They offer'd to surrender, giving them their Liberty, which
our Men would not promise at first; but after some Parly, and arguing on
both Sides, our Men agreed thus far, that they should remain Prisoners for
so long as we were in those Seas, but that as soon as we came to the Height
of _Panama_, or if we resolv'd to return sooner, then they should be set at
Liberty; and to these hard Conditions they yielded.
Our Men found in the Ship 6 Brass Guns, 200 Sacks of Meal, some Fruit, and
the Value of 160000 Pieces of Eight in Gold of _Chili_, as good as any in
the World: It was a glittering Sight, and enough to dazzle the Eyes of
those that look'd on it, to see such a Quantity of Gold laid all of a Heap
together, and we began to embrace one another in Congratulation of our good
Fortune.
We brought the Prisoners all to the Island _Fernando_, where we used them
very well, built little Houses for them, gave them Bread, and Meat, and
every Thing they wanted; and gave them Powder and Ball to kill Goats with,
which they were fully satisfy'd with, and kill'd a great many for us too.
We continu'd to Cruise [_Feb._ 2] hereabout, but without finding any other
Prize for near three Weeks more; so we resolv'd to go up as high as _Puna_,
the Place where I had been so lucky before; and we assur'd our Prisoners,
that in about two Months we would return, and relieve them; but they chose
rather to be on Board us, so we took them all in again, and kept on with an
easy Sail, at a proper Distance from Land, that we might not be known, and
the Alarm given; for as to the Ship which we had taken, and which was
stranded among the Rocks, as we had taken all the Men out of her, the
People on the Shore, when they should find her, could think no other than
that she was driven on Shore by a Storm, and that all the People were
drown'd, or all escap'd and gone; and there was no Doubt but that the Ship
would beat to Pieces in a very few Days.
We kept, I say, at a Distance from the Shore, to prevent giving the Alarm;
but it was a needless Caution, for the Country was all alarm'd on another
Account, _viz._ about an 130 bold Buccaneers had made their Way over Land,
not at the Isthmus of _Darien_, as usual, but from _Granada_, on the Lake
of _Nicaragua_ to the North of _Panama_, by which, tho' the Way was longer,
and the Country not so practicable as at the ordinary Passage, yet they
were unmolested, for they surpriz'd the Country; and whereas the
_Spaniards_, looking for them at the old Passage, had drawn Entrenchments,
planted Guns, and posted Men at the Passages of the Mountains, to intercept
them and cut them off, here they met with no _Spaniards_, nor any other
Obstruction in their Way, but coming to the South Sea had Time,
undiscover'd, to build themselves Canoes and Periaguas, and did a great
deal of Mischief upon the Shore, having been follow'd, among the rest, by
80 Men more, commanded by one _Guilotte_, a _Frenchman_, an old Buccaneer;
so that they were now 210 Men; and they were not long at Sea before they
took two _Spanish_ Barks going from _Guatimala_ to _Panama_, loaden with
Meal, Coco, and other Provisions; so that now they were a Fleet of two
Barks, with several Canoes, and Periaguas, but no Guns, nor any more
Ammunition than every one carry'd at first at their Backs.
However, this Troop of Desperadoes had alarm'd all the Coast, and Expresses
both by Sea and Land were dispatch'd, to warn the Towns on the Coast to be
upon their Guard, all the way from _Panama_ to _Lima_; but as they were
represented to be only such Freebooters as I have said, Ships of Strength
did not desist their Voyages, as they found Occasion, as we shall observe
presently: We were now gotten into the Latitude of 10, 11, and 12 Degrees
and a Half; but, in our overmuch Caution, had kept out so far to Sea, that
we miss'd every Thing which would otherwise have fallen into our Hands; but
we were better inform'd quickly, as you shall hear.
Early in the Morning, one of our Men being on the Missen-top, cry'd, A
Sail, a Sail; it prov'd to be a small Vessel standing just after us; and as
we understood afterwards, did so, believing that we were some of the King's
Ships looking after the Buccaneers. As we understood she was a-Stern of us,
we shorten'd Sail, and hung out the _Spanish_ Colours, separating
ourselves, to make him suppose we were cruising for the Buccaneers, and did
not look for him; however, when we saw him come forward, but stretching in
a little towards the Shore, we took Care to be so much to Starboard that he
could not escape us that Way; and when he was a little nearer, the Sloop
plainly chac'd him, and in a little Time came up with him, and took him: We
had little Goods in the Vessel, their chief Loading being Meal and Corn for
_Panama_, but the Master happen'd to have 6000 Pieces of Eight in his
Cabin, which was good Booty.
But that which was better than all this to us was, that the Master gave us
an Account of two Ships which were behind, and were under Sail for _Lima_
or _Panama_; the one having the Revenues of the Kingdom of _Chili_, and the
other having a great Quantity of Silver, going from _Puna_ to _Lima_, to be
forwarded from thence to _Panama_, and that they kept together, being Ships
of Force, to protect one another; how they did it we soon saw the Effects
of.
Upon this Intelligence we were very joyful, and assur'd the Master, that if
we found it so, we would give him his Vessel again, and all his Goods,
except his Money, as for That, we told him, such People as we never
return'd it any Body: However, the Man's Intelligence prov'd good, for the
very next Day, as we were standing South-West, our _Spanish_ Colours being
out, as above, we spy'd one of the Ships, and soon after the other; we
found they had discover'd us also, and that being doubtful what to make of
us, they tack'd and stood Eastward to get nearer the Land; we did the like,
and as we found there was no letting them go that Way but that we should be
sure to lose them, we soon let them know that we were resolv'd to speak
with them.
The biggest Ship, which was three Leagues a-Stern of the other, crowded in
for the Shore with all the Sail, she could make, and it was easy for us to
see that she would escape us; for as she was a great deal farther in with
the Land than the other when we first gave Chace, so in about three Hours
we saw the Land plain a-Head of us, and that the great Ship would get into
Port before we could reach her.
Upon this we stretch'd a-Head with all the Sail we could make, and the
Sloop, which crowded also very hard, and out-went us, engag'd the small
Ship at least an Hour before we could come up: But she could make little of
it, for the _Spanish_ Ship having 12 Guns and 6 Patereroes, would have been
too many for the Sloop if we had not come up: However, at length, our
biggest Ship came up also, and, running up under her Quarter, gave her our
whole Broadside; at which she struck immediately, and the _Spaniards_
cry'd, _Quarter_, and _Miserecordia_; Upon this, our Sloop's Men enter'd
her presently, and secur'd her.
In the Beginning oft his Action, it seems, our _Redhand_ Captain was so
provok'd at losing the greater Prize, which, as he thought, had all the
Money on Board, that he swore he would not spare one of the Dogs, (so he
call'd the _Spaniards_ in the other Ship) but he was prevented; and it was
very happy for the _Spaniards_, that the first Shot the Ship made towards
us, just as we were running up to pour in our Broadside, I say, the first
Shot took Captain _Redhand_ full on the Breast, and shot his Head and one
Shoulder off, so that he never spoke more, nor did I find that any one Man
in the Ship shew'd the least Concern for him; so certain it is, that
Cruelty never recommends any Man among _Englishmen_; no, tho' they have no
Share in the suffering under it; but one said, D--n him, let him go, he was
a butcherly Dog; another said, D--n him, he was a merciless Son of a B--ch;
another said, he was a barbarous Dog, and the like.
But to return to the Prize, being now as certain of the smaller Prize as
that we had miss'd the great one, we began to examine what we had got; and
it is not easy to give an exact Account of the prodigious Variety of Things
we found: In the first Place, were 116 Chests of Pieces of Eight in Specie,
72 Bars of Silver, 15 Bags of wrought Plate, which a Fryer that was on
Board would have perswaded us, for the Sake of the Blessed Virgin, to have
return'd, being, as he said, consecrated Plate to the Honour of the holy
Church, the Virgin _Mary_, and St. _Martin_; but, as it happen'd, he could
not perswade us to it; also we found about 60000 Ounces of Gold, some in
little Wedges, some in Dust. We found several other Things of Value, but
not to be nam'd with the rest.
Being thus made surprisingly rich, we began to think what Course we should
steer next; for as the great Ship, which was escap'd, would certainly alarm
the Country, we might be sure we should meet with no more Purchase at Sea,
and we were not very fond of landing, to attack any Town on Shore. In this
Consultation 'tis to be observ'd, that I was, by the unanimous Consent of
all the Crew, made Captain of the great Ship, and of the whole Crew; the
whole Voyage hither, and every Part of it, having, for some Time before,
been chiefly manag'd by my Direction, or at least by my Advice.
The first Thing I propos'd to them all, was, seeing we had met with such
good Luck, and that we could not expect much more, and if we stay'd longer
in these Seas, should find it very hard to revictual our Ships, and might
have our Retreat cut off by _Spanish_ Men of war; (five of which we heard
were sent out after the other Buccaneers) we should make the best of our
Way to the South, and get about into the North Seas, where we were out of
all Danger.
In Consequence of this Advice, which was generally approv'd, we stood away
directly South; and the Wind blowing pretty fair at N. N. E. a merry Gale,
we stood directly for the Isle of _Juan Fernando_, carrying our rich Prize
with us.
We arriv'd here the Beginning of _June_, having been just six Months in
those Seas. We were surpriz'd, when coming to the Island, we found two
Ships at an Anchor close under the Lee of the Rocks, and two little
Periaguas farther in, near the Shore; but being resolv'd to see what they
were, we found, to our Satisfaction, they were the Buccaneers of whom I
have spoken above: The Story is too long to enter upon here; but in short,
without Guns, without Ship, and only coming over Land with their Fusees in
their Hands, they had rang'd these Seas, had taken several Prizes, and some
pretty rich, and had got two pretty handsome Barks, one carry'd six Guns,
and the other four; they had shar'd, as they told us, about 400 Pieces of
Eight a Man, besides one Thing they had which we were willing to buy of
them; they had about 100 Jarrs of Gunpowder, which they took out of a Store
Ship going to _Lima_.
If we was glad to meet them, you may be sure they were glad to meet with
us, and so we began to sort together as one Company, only they were loth to
give over and return, as we were and which we had now resolv'd on.
We were so rich ourselves, and so fully satisfy'd with what we had taken,
that we began to be bountiful to our Countrymen; and indeed they dealt so
generously with us, that we could not but be inclin'd to do them some Good,
for when we talk'd of buying their Gunpowder, they very frankly gave us 50
Jarrs of it _gratis_.
I took this so kindly, that I call'd a little Council among ourselves, and
propos'd to send the poor Rogues 50 Barrels of our Beef, which we could
very well spare; and our Company agreeing to it, we did so, which made
their Hearts glad; for it was very good, and they had not tasted good
Salt-beef for a long Time; and with it we sent them two Hogsheads of Rum:
This made them so hearty to us, that they sent two of their Company to
compliment us, to offer to enter themselves on Board us, and to go with us
all the World over.
We did not so readily agree to this at first, because we had no new
Enterprize in View; but however, as they sent us Word they had chosen me so
unanimously for their Captain, I propos'd to our Men to remove ourselves,
and all our Goods, into the great Ship and the Sloop, and so take the
honest Fellows into the Fregat, which now had no less than 22 Guns, and
would hold them all, and then they might sail with us, or go upon any
Adventures of their own, as we should agree.
Accordingly we did so, and gave them that Ship, with all her Guns and
Ammunition, but made one of our own Men Captain, which they consented to,
and so we became all one Body.
Here also we shar'd our Booty, which was great indeed to a Profusion; and
as keeping such a Treasure in every Man's particular private Possession,
would have occasion'd Gaming, Quarrelling, and perhaps Thieving and
Pilfering, I order'd that so many small Chests should be made as there were
Men in the Ship, and every Man's Treasure was nail'd up in these Chests,
and the Chests all stow'd in the Hold, with every Man's Name upon his
Chest, not to be touch'd but by general Order, and to prevent Gaming, I
prevail'd with them to make a Law or Agreement, and everyone to set their
Hands to it; by which they agreed, That if any Man play'd for any more
Money than he had in his Keeping, the Winner should not be paid whatever
the Loser run in Debt, but the Chest containing every Man's Dividend,
should be all his own, to be deliver'd whole to him; and the Offender,
whenever he left the Ship, if he would pay any Gaming Debts afterward, that
was another Case; but such Debts should never be paid while he continu'd in
that Company.
By this Means also we secur'd the Ship's Crew keeping together; for if any
Man left the Ship now, he was sure to leave about 6000 Pieces of Eight
behind him, to be shar'd among the rest of the Ship's Company, which few of
them car'd to do.
As we were now all embark'd together, the next Question was, Whither we
should go? As for our Crew, we were so rich, that our Men were all for
going back again, and so to make off to some of the _Leeward Islands_, that
we might get a-Shore privately with our Booty: But as we had shipp'd our
new Comrades on Board a good Ship, it would be very hard to oblige them to
go back without any Purchace, for that would be to give them a Ship to do
them no Good, but to carry them back to _Europe_ just as they came out from
thence, _viz._ with no Money in their Pockets.
Upon these Considerations we came to this Resolution, That they should go
out to Sea and Cruise the Height of _Lima_, and try their Fortune, and that
we would stay 60 Days for them at _Juan Fernando_.
Upon this Agreement they went away very joyful, and we fell to work to new
rig our Ship, mending our Sails, and cleaning our Bottom. Here we employ'd
ourselves a Month very hard at Work; our Carpenters also took down some of
the Ship's upper Work, and built it, as we thought, more to the Advantage
of Sailing; so that we had more Room within, and yet did not lie so high.
During this Time we had a Tent set up on Shore, and 50 of our Men employ'd
themselves wholly in killing Goats and Fowls for our fresh Provisions; and
one of our Men understanding we had some Malt left on Board the Ship, which
was taken in one of the Prizes, set up a great Kettle on Shore, and went to
work to Brewing, and, to our great Satisfaction, brew'd us some very good
Beer; but we wanted Bottles to keep it in, after it had stood a while in
the Cask.
However, he brew'd us very good Small Beer, for present Use; and instead of
Hops he found some wild Wormwood growing on the Island, which gave it no
unpleasant Taste, and made it very agreeable to us.
Before the Time was expir'd, our Frigat sent a Sloop to us, which they had
taken, to give us Notice that they were in a small Creek near the Mould of
the River _Guyaquil_, on the Coast of _Peru_, in the Latitude of 22
Degrees. They had a great Booty in View, there being two Ships in the River
of _Guyaquil_, and two more expected to pass by from _Lima_, in which was a
great Quantity of Plate; that they waited there for them, and begg'd we
would not think the Time long; but that if we should go away, they desir'd
that we would fix up a Post, with a Piece of Lead on it, signifying where
they should come to us, and wherever it was, East or West, North or South,
they would follow us with all the Sail they could make.
A little while after this, they sent another Sloop, which they had taken
also; and she brought a vast Treasure in Silver and very rich Goods, which
they had got in plundering a Town on the Continent; and they order'd the
Sloop to wait for them at the Island where we lay, till their Return: But
they were so eager in the Pursuit of their Game, that they could not think
of coming back yet, neither could we blame them, they having such great
Things in View: So we resolv'd, in Pursuit of our former Resolution, to be
gone; and after several Consultations among our selves in what Part of the
World we should pitch our Tent, we broke up at first without any
Conclusion.
We were all of the Opinion, that our Treasure was so great, that wherever
we went, we should be a Prey to the Government of that Place; that it was
impossible to go all on Shore, and be conceal'd; and that we should be so
jealous of one another, that we should certainly betray one another,
everyone for fear of his Fellow, that is to say, for fear the other should
tell first. Some therefore propos'd our going about the South Point of Cape
_Horne_, and that then, going away to the Gulph of _Mexico_, we should go
on Shore at the Bay of _Campeachy_, and from thence disperse ourselves as
well as we could, and every one go his own Way.
I was willing enough to have gone thither, because of the Treasure I had
left there under Ground; but still I concluded we were (as I have said) too
rich to go on Shore any where to separate, for every Man of us had too much
Wealth to carry about us; and if we separated, the first Number of Men any
of us should meet with, that were strong enough to do it, would take it
from us, and so we should but just expose ourselves to be murder'd for that
Money we had gotten at so much Hazard.
Some propos'd then our going to the Coast of _Virgina_, and go some on
Shore in one Place, and some in another privately, and so travelling to the
Sea-Ports where there were most People, we might be conceal'd, and by
Degrees reduce our selves to a private Capacity, every one shifting Home as
well as they could. This I acknowledge might be done, if we were sure none
of us would be false one to another; but while Tales might be told, and the
Teller of the Tale was sure to save his own Life and Treasure, and make his
Peace at the Expence of his Comrade's, there was no Safety; and they might
be sure, that as the Money would render them suspected wherever they came,
so they would be examin'd, and what by faltering in their Story, and by
being cross-examin'd, kept apart, and the one being made to believe the
other had betray'd him, and told all, when indeed he might have said
nothing to hurt him, the Truth of Fact would be dragg'd out by Piece-meal,
till they would certainly at last come to the Gallows.
These Objections were equally just, to what Nation or Place soever we could
think of going: So that upon the whole, we concluded there was no Safety
for us but by keeping all together, and going to some Part of the World
where we might be strong enough to defend ourselves, or be so conceal'd
till we might find out some Way of Escape that we might not now be so well
able to think of.
In the Middle of all these Consultations, in which I freely own I was at a
Loss, and could not tell which Way to advise, an old Sailor stood up, and
told us, if we would be advis'd by him, there was a Part of the World where
he had been, where we might all settle ourselves undisturb'd, and live very
comfortably and plentifully, till we could find out some Way how to dispose
of ourselves better; and that we might easily be strong enough for the
Inhabitants, who would at first, perhaps, attack us, but that afterwards
they would sort very well with us, and supply us with all Sorts of
Provisions very plentifully; and this was the Island of _Madagascar_: He
told us we might live very well there. He gave us a large Account of the
Country, the Climate, the People, the Plenty of Provisions which was to be
had there, especially of black Cattle, of which, he said, there was an
infinite Number, and consequently a Plenty of Milk, of which so many other
Things was made: In a Word, he read us so many Lectures upon the Goodness
of the Place, and the Conveniency of living there, that we were, one and
all, eager to go thither, and concluded upon it.
Accordingly, having little left to do, (for we had been in a sailing
Posture some Weeks) we left word with the Officer who commanded the Sloop,
and with all his Men, that they should come after us to _Madagascar_; and
our Men were not wanting to let them know all our Reasons for going
thither, as well as the Difficulties we found of going any where else,
which had so fully possess'd them with the Hopes of farther Advantage, that
they promis'd for the rest that they would all follow us.
However, as we all calculated the Length of the Voyage, and that our Water,
and perhaps our Provisions might not hold out so far, but especially our
Water, we agreed, that having pass'd Cape _Horn_, and got into the North
Seas, we would steer Northward up the East Shore of _America_ till we came
to St. _Julien_, where we would stay at least fourteen Days to take in
Water, and to store ourselves with Seals and Penguins, which would greatly
eek out our Ship's Stores; and that then we should cross the great
_Atlantick_ Ocean in a milder Latitude than if we went directly, and stood
immediately over from the Passage about the Cape, which must be, at least,
in 55 or 56, and perhaps, as the Weather might be, would be in the Latitude
of 60 or 61.
With this Resolution, and under these Measures, we set Sail from the Island
of St. _Juan Fernando_ the 23d of _September_, (being the same there as our
_March_ is here) and keeping the Coast of _Chili_ on Board, had good
Weather for about a Fortnight, [_Octob._ 14.] till we came into the
Latitude of 44 Degrees South; when finding the Wind come squally off the
Shore from among the Mountains, we were oblig'd to keep farther out at Sea,
where the Winds were less uncertain; and some Calms we met with, till about
the Middle of _October_, [16.] when the Wind springing up at N. N. W. a
pretty moderate Gale, we jogg'd S. E. and S. S. E. till we came into the
Latitude of 55 Degrees; and the 16th of _November_, found our selves in 59
Degrees, the Weather exceeding cold and severe. But the Wind holding fair,
we held in with the Land, and steering E. S. E. we held that Course till we
thought ourselves entirely clear of the Land, and enter'd into the North
Sea, or _Atlantick Ocean_; and then changing our Course, we steer'd N. and
N. N. E. but the Wind blowing still at N. N. W. a pretty stiff Gale, we
could make nothing of it till we made the Land in the Latitude of 52
Degrees; and when we came close under Shore, we found the Winds variable;
so we made still N. under the Lee of the Shore, and made the Point of St.
_Julien_ the 13th of November, having been a Year and seven Days since we
parted from thence on our Voyage Outwardbound.
Here we rested ourselves, took in fresh Water, and began to kill Seals and
Fowls of several Sorts, but especially Penguins, which this Place is noted
for; and here we stay'd, in Hopes our Fregate would arrive, but we heard no
News of her; so, at Parting, we set up a Post, with this Inscription, done
on a Plate of Lead, with our Names upon the Lead, and these Words;
_Gone to Madagascar_, _December_ 10, 1692.
(Being in that Latitude the longest Day in the Year;) and I doubt not but
the Post may stand there still.
From hence we launch'd out into the vast _Atlantick Ocean_, steering our
Coast E. by N. and E. N. E. till we had sail'd, by our Account, about 470
Leagues, taking our Meridian Distance, or Departure, from St. _Julian_. And
here a strong Gale springing up at S. E. by E. and E. S. E. encreasing
afterwards to a violent Storm, we were forc'd by it to the Norward, as high
as the _Tropick_; not that it blew a Storm all the while, but it blew so
steady, and so very hard, for near 20 Days together, that we were carry'd
quite out of our intended Course: After we had weather'd this, we began to
recover ourselves again, making still East; and endeavouring to get to the
Southward, we had yet another hard Gale of Wind at S. and S. S. E. so
strong, that we could make nothing of it at all; whereupon it was resolv'd,
if we could, to make the Island of St. _Helena_, which in about three Weeks
more we very happily came to, on the 17th of _January_.
It was to our great Satisfaction that we found no Ships at all here, and we
resolv'd not by any Means to let the Governor on Shore know our Ship's
Name, or any of our Officers Names; and I believe our Men were very true to
one another in that Point, but they were not at all shy of letting them
know upon what Account we were, _&c._ so that if he could have gotten any
of us in his Power, as we were afterwards told he endeavour'd by two or
three Ambuscades to do, we should have pass'd our Time but very
indifferently; for which, when we went away, we let him know we would not
have fail'd to have beat his little Port about his Ears.
We stay'd no longer here than just serv'd to refresh ourselves, and supply
our Want of fresh Water; the Wind presenting fair, _Feb._ 2. 1692, we set
Sail, and (not to trouble my Story with the Particulars of the Voyage, in
which nothing remarkable occur'd) we doubled the Cape the 13th of _March_,
and passing on without coming to an Anchor, or discovering ourselves, we
made directly to the Island of _Madagascar_, where we arriv'd the 7th of
_April_; the Sloop, to our particular Satisfaction, keeping in Company all
the Way, and bearing the Sea as well as our Ship upon all Occasions.
To this Time I had met with nothing but good Fortune; Success answer'd
every Attempt, and follow'd every Undertaking, and we scarce knew what it
was to be disappointed; but we had an Interval of our Fortunes to meet with
in this Place: We arriv'd, as above, at the Island on the 13th of _March_,
but we did not care to make the South Part of the Island our Retreat; nor
was it a proper Place for our Business, which was to take Possession of a
private secure Place to make a Refuge of: So after staying some Time where
we put in, which was on the Point of Land a little to the South of Cape
St._ Augustine_, and taking in Water and Provisions there, we stood away to
the North, and keeping the Island in View, went on till we came to the
Latitude of 14 Degrees: Here we met with a very terrible Tornado, or
_Hurricane_, which, after we had beat the Sea as long as we could, oblig'd
us to run directly for the Shore to save our Lives as well as we could, in
Hopes of finding some Harbour or Bay where we might run in, or at least
might go into smooth Water till the Storm was over.
The Sloop was more put to it than we were in the great Ship, and being
oblig'd to run afore it, a little sooner than we did, she serv'd for a
Pilot-Boat to us which follow'd; in a Word, she run in under the Lee of a
great Head-land, which jetted far out into the Sea, and stood very high
also, and came to an Anchor in three Fathom and a half Water: We follow'd
her, but not with the same good Luck, tho' we came to an Anchor too, as we
thought, safe enough; but the Sea going very high, our Anchor came Home in
the Night, and we drove on Shore in the Dark among the Rocks, in spight of
all we were able to do.
Thus we lost the most fortunate Ship that ever Man sail'd with; however,
making Signals of Distress to the Sloop, and by the Assistance of our own
Boat, we sav'd our Lives; and the Storm abating in the Morning, we had Time
to save many Things, particularly our Guns, and most of our Ammunition;
and, which was more than all the rest, we sav'd our Treasure: Tho' I
mention the saving our Guns first, yet they were the last Things we sav'd,
being oblig'd to break the upper Deck of the Ship up for them.
Being thus got on Shore, and having built us some Huts for our Conveniency,
we had nothing before us but a View of fixing our Habitations in the
Country; for tho' we had the Sloop, we could propose little Advantage by
her; for as to cruising for Booty among the _Arabians_ or _Indians_, we had
neither Room, for it or Inclination to it; and as for attacking any
_European_ Ship, the Sloop was in no Condition to do it, tho' we had all
been on Board; for every Body knows that all the Ships trading from
_Europe_ to the _East-Indies_, were Ships of Force, and too strong for us;
so that, in short, we had nothing in View for several Months but how to
settle ourselves here, and live as comfortably and as well as we could,
till something or other might offer for our Deliverance.
In this Condition we remain'd on Shore above eight Months, during which
Time we built us a little Town, and fortify'd it by the Direction of one of
our Gunners, who was a very good Engineer, in a very clever and regular
Manner, placing a very strong double Palisado round the Foot of our Works,
and a very large Ditch without our Palisado, and a third Palisado beyond
the Ditch, like a Counterscarp or Cover'd-way; besides this, we rais'd a
large Battery next to the Sea, with a Line of 24 Guns plac'd before it, and
thus we thought ourselves in a Condition to defend ourselves against any
Force that could attempt us in that Part of the World.
And besides all this, the Place on which our Habitation was built, being an
Island, there was no coming easily at us by Land.
But I was far from being easy in this Situation of our Affairs; so I made a
Proposal to our Men one Day, that tho' we were well enough in our
Habitation, and wanted for nothing, yet since we had a Sloop here, and a
Boat so good as she was, 'twas Pity she should lye and perish there, but we
should send her Abroad, and see what might happen; that perhaps it might be
our good Luck to surprise some Ship or other for our Turn, and so we might
all go to Sea again: The Proposal was well enough relish'd at first Word,
but the great Mischief of all was like to be this, That we should all go
together by the Ears upon the Question who should go in her: My secret
Design was laid, that I was resolv'd to go in her myself, and that she
should not go without me; but when it began to be talk'd of, I discover'd
the greatest seeming Resolution not to stir, but to stay with the rest, and
take Care of the main Chance, that was to say, the Money.
I found, when they saw that I did not propose to go myself, the Men were
much the easier; for at first they began to think it was only a Project of
mine to run away from them; and so indeed it was: However, as I did not at
first propose to go my self, so when I came to the Proposal of who should
go, I made a long Discourse to them of the Obligation they had all to be
faithful one to another, and that those who went in the Sloop, ought to
consider themselves and those that were with them to be but one Body with
those who were left behind; that their whole Concern ought to be to get
some good Ship to fetch them off: At last, I concluded, with a Proposal,
that who ever went in the Sloop, should leave his Money behind in the
common Keeping, as it was before; to remain as a Pledge for his faithful
performing the Voyage, and coming back again to the Company; and should
faithfully swear that wherever they went, (for as to the Voyage, they were
at full Liberty to go whither they would) they would certainly endeavour to
get back to _Madagascar_; and that if they were cast away, stranded, taken,
or whatever befel them, they should never rest till they got to
_Madagascar_, if it was possible.
They all came most readily into this Proposal, for those who should go into
the Sloop, but with this Alteration in them, (which was easy to be seen in
their Countenances) _viz._ that from that Minute there was no striving who
should go, but every Man was willing to stay where they were: This was what
I wanted, and I let it rest for two or three Days; when I took Occasion to
tell them, that seeing they all were sensible that it was a very good
Proposal to send the Sloop out to Sea, and see what they could do for us, I
thought it was strange they should so generally shew themselves backward to
the Service for fear of parting from their Money; I told them that no Man
need be afraid, that the whole Body should agree to take his Money from him
without any pretended Offence, much less when he should be Abroad for their
Service: But however, as it was my Proposal, and I was always willing to
hazard myself for the Good of them all, so I was ready to go on the
Conditions I had propos'd to them for others, and I was not afraid to
flatter myself with serving them so well Abroad, that they should not
grudge to restore me my Share of Money when I came Home, and the like of
all those that went with me.
This was so seasonably spoken, and humour'd so well, that it answer'd my
Design effectually, and I was voted to go _nemine contradicente_; then I
desir'd they would either draw Lots for who and who should go with me, or
leave it in my absolute Choice to pick and cull my Men: They had for some
Time agreed to the first; and forty Blanks were made for those to whose Lot
it should come to draw a Blank to go in the Sloop; but then it was said,
this might neither be a fair nor an effectual Choice; for Example, if the
needful Number of Officers, and of particular Occupations, should not
happen to be lotted out, the Sloop might be oblig'd to go out to Sea
without a Surgeon, or without a Carpenter, or without a Cook, and the like:
So, upon second Thoughts, it was left to me to name my Men; so I chose me
out forty stout Fellows, and among them several who were trusty bold Men,
fit for any thing.
Being thus Mann'd, the Sloop rigg'd, and having clear'd her Bottom, and
laid in Provisions enough for a long Voyage, we set Sail the 3d of
_January_ 1694, for the _Cape of Good Hope_. We very honestly left our
Money, as I said, behind us, only that we had about the Value of 2000 Pound
in Pieces of Eight allow'd us on Board for any Exigence that might happen
at Sea.
We made no Stop at the _Cape_, or at St. _Helena_, tho' we pass'd in Sight
of it, but stood over to the _Caribbee_ Islands directly, and made the
Island of _Tobago_ the 18th of _February_, where we took in fresh Water,
which we stood in great Need of, as you may judge by the Length of the
Voyage. We sought no Purchase, for I had fully convinc'd our Men, that our
Business was not to appear, as we were used to be, upon the Cruise, but as
Traders; and to that End I propos'd to go away to the Bay of _Campeachy_,
and load Logwood, under the Pretence of selling of which we might go any
where.
It is true, I had another Design here, which was to recover the Money which
my Comrade and I had bury'd there; and having the Man on Board with me to
whom I had communicated my Design, we found an Opportunity to come at our
Money with Privacy enough, having so conceal'd it, as that it would have
lain there to the general Conflagration, if we had not come for it our
selves.
My next Resolution was to go for _England_, only that I had too many Men,
and did not know what to do with them: I told them we could never pretend
to go with a Sloop loaden with Logwood to any Place, with 40 Men on Board,
but we should be discover'd; but if they would resolve to put 15 or 16 Men
on Shore as private Seamen, the rest might do well enough; and if they
thought it hard to be set on Shore, I was content to be one, only that I
thought it was very reasonable that whoever went on Shore should have some
Money given them, and that all should agree to rendezvous in _England_, and
so make the best of our Way thither, and there perhaps we might get a good
Ship to go fetch off our Comrades and our Money. With this Resolution,
sixteen of our Men had three hundred Pieces of Eight a Man given them, and
they went off thus; the Sloop stood away North, thro' the Gulph of
_Florida_, keeping under the Shore of _Carolina_ and _Virginia_; so our Men
dropp'd off as if they had deserted the Ship; three of the sixteen run away
there, five more went off at Virginia, three at _New York_, three at _Road
Island_, and myself and one more at _New England_; and so the Sloop went
away for _England_ with the rest. I got all my Money on Shore with me, and
conceal'd it as well as I could; some I got Bills for, some I bought
Molosses with, and turn'd the rest into Gold; and dressing myself not as a
common Sailor, but as a Master of a Ketch, which I had lost in the Bay of
_Campeachy_, I got Passage on Board one Captain _Guillame_, a _New England_
Captain, whose Owner was one Mr. _Johnson_ a Merchant, living at _Hackney_,
near _London_.
Being at _London_, it was but a very few Months before several of us met
again, as I have said we agreed to do. And being true to our first Design
of going back to our Comrades, we had several close Conferences about the
Manner and Figure in which we should make the Attempt, and we had some very
great Difficulties appear'd in our Way: First, to have fitted up a small
Vessel, it would be of no Service to us, but be the same Thing as the Sloop
we came in; and if we pretended to a great Ship, our Money would not hold
out; so we were quite at a Stand in our Councils what to do, or what Course
to take, till at length our Money still wasting, we grew less able to
execute any Thing we should project.
This made us all desperate; when as desperate Distempers call for desperate
Cures, I started a Proposal which pleas'd them all, and this was, that I
would endeavour among my Acquaintance, and with what Money I had left,
(which was still sixteen or seventeen hundred Pound) to get the Command of
a good Ship, bearing a quarter Part, or thereabout, myself; and so having
gat into the Ship, and got a Freight, the rest of our Gang should all enter
on Board as Seamen, and whatever Voyage we went, or wheresoever we were
bound, we would run away with the Ship and all the Goods, and so go to our
Friends as we had promis'd.
I made several Attempts of this Kind, and once bought a very good Ship,
call'd, _The Griffin_, of one _Snelgrove_ a Shipwright, and engag'd the
Persons concern'd to hold a Share in her and fit her out, on a Voyage for
_Leghorn_ and _Venice_; when it was very probable the Cargo, to be shipp'd
on Board casually by the Merchant, would be very rich; but Providence, and
the good Fortune of the Owner prevented this Bargain, for without any
Objection against me, or Discovery of my Design in the least, he told me
afterwards his Wife had an ugly Dream or two about the Ship; once, that it
was set on Fire by Lightning, and he had lost all he had in it; another
Time, that the Men had mutiny'd and conspir'd to kill him; and that his
Wife was so averse to his being concern'd in it, that it had always been an
unlucky Ship, and that therefore his Mind was chang'd; that he would sell
the whole Ship, if I would, but he would not hold any Part of it himself.
Tho' I was very much disappointed at this, yet I put a very good Face upon
it, and told him, I was very glad to hear him tell me the Particulars of
his Dissatisfaction; for if there was any Thing in Dreams, and his Wife's
Dream had any Signification at all, it seem'd to concern me (more than him)
who was to go the Voyage, and command the Ship; and whether the Ship was to
be burnt, or the Men to mutiny, tho' Part of the Loss might be his, who was
to stay on Shore, all the Danger was to be mine, who was to be at Sea in
her; and then, as he had said, she had been an unlucky Ship to him, it was
very likely she would be so to me; and therefore I thank'd him for the
Discovery, and told him I would not meddle with her.
The Man was uneasy, and began to waver in his Resolution, and had it not
been for the continu'd Importunities of his Wife, I believe would have come
on again; for People generally encline to a Thing that is rejected, when
they would reject the same Thing when profer'd: But I knew it was not my
Business to let myself be blow'd upon, so I kept to my Resolution, and
wholly declin'd that Affair, on Pretence of its having got an ill Name for
an unlucky Ship; and that Name stuck so to her, that the Owners could never
sell her, and, as I have been inform'd since, were oblig'd to break her up
at last.
It was a great while I spent with hunting after a Ship, but was every Way
disappointed, till Money grew short, and the Number of my Men lessen'd
apace, and at last we were reduc'd to seven, when an Opportunity happen'd
in my Way to go Chief-Mate on Board a stout Ship bound from _London_ to
. . . . . .
[_N. B. In Things so modern, it is no Way convenient to write to you
particular Circumstances and Names of Persons, Ships, or Places, because
those Things being in themselves criminal, may be call'd up in Question in
a judicial Way; and therefore I warn the Reader to observe, that not only
all the Names are omitted, but even the Scene of Action in this criminal
Part, is not laid exactly as Things were acted; least I should give Justice
a Clew to unravel my Story by, which no Body will blame me for avoiding._]
It is enough to tell the Reader, that being put out to Sea, and being for
Conveniency of Wind and Weather come to an Anchor on the Coast of _Spain_,
my seven Companions having resolv'd upon our Measures, and having brought
three more of the Men to confederate with us, we took up Arms in the middle
of the Night, secur'd the Captain, the Gunner, and the Carpenter, and after
that, all the rest of the Men, and declar'd our Intention: The Captain and
nine Men refus'd to come into our projected Roguery, (for we gave them
their Choice to go with us, or go on Shore) so we put them on Shore very
civilly, gave the Master his Books, and every Thing he could carry with
him; and all the rest of the Men agreed to go along with us.
As I had resolv'd, before I went on Board, upon what I purpos'd to do, so I
had laid out all the Money I had left in such Things as I knew I should
want, and had caus'd one of my Men to pretend he was going to ------ to
build or buy a Ship there, and that he wanted Freight for a great deal of
Cordage, Anchors, eight Guns, Powder and Ball, with about 20 Tun of Lead
and other bulky Goods, which were all put on Board as Merchandize.
We had not abundance of Bail Goods on Board, which I was glad of; not that
I made any Conscience or Scruple of carrying them away, if the Ship had
been full of them; but we had no Market for them: Our first Business was to
get a larger Store of Provision on Board than we had, our Voyage being
long; and having acquainted the Men with our Design, and promis'd the new
Men a Share of the Wealth we had there, which made them very hearty to us,
we set Sail: We took in some Beef and Fish, at ------ where we lay fifteen
Days, but out of all Reach of the Castle or Fort; and having done our
Business, sail'd away for the _Canaries_, where we took in some Butts of
Wine, and some fresh Water: With the Guns the Ship had, and those eight I
had put on Board as Merchandize, we had then two and thirty Guns mounted,
bur were but slenderly Mann'd, tho' we gat four _English_ Seamen at the
_Canaries_; but we made up the Loss at _Fiall_, where we made bold with
three _English_ Ships we found, and partly by fair Means, and partly by
Force, shipp'd twelve Men there; after which, without any farther Stop for
Men or Stores, we kept the Coast of _Africa_ on Board 'till we pass'd the
Line, and then stood off to St. _Helena_.
Here we took in fresh Water, and some fresh Provisions, and went directly
for the _Cape of Good Hope_, which we pass'd, stopping only to fill about
22 Butts of Water, and with a fair Gale enter'd the Sea of _Madagascar_,
and sailing up the West Shore, between the Island and the Coast of
_Africa_, came to an Anchor over against our Settlement, about two Leagues
Distance, and made the Signal of our Arrival, with firing twice seven Guns
at the Distance of a Two-Minute Glass between the Seven; when, to our
infinite Joy, the Fort answer'd us, and the Long-boat, the same that
belong'd to our former Ship, came off to us.
We embrac'd one another with inexpressible Joy, and the next Morning I went
on Shore, and our Men brought our Ship safe into Harbour, lying within the
Defence of our Platform, and within two Cables length of the Shore, good
soft Ground, and in eleven Fathom Water, having been three Months and
eighteen Days on the Voyage, and almost three Years absent from the Place.
When I came to look about me here, I found our Men had encreas'd their
Number, and that a Vessel which had been cruising, that is to say, Pirating
on the Coast of _Arabia_, having seven _Dutchmen_, three _Portuguese_, and
five _Englishmen_ on Board, had been cast away upon the Northern Shore of
that Island, and had been taken up and reliev'd by our Men, and liv'd among
them. They told us also of another Crew of _European_ Sailors, which lay,
as we did, on the Main of the Island, and had lost their Ship and were, as
the Islanders told them, above a hundred Men, but we heard nothing who they
were.
Some of our Men were dead in the mean Time, I think about three; and the
first Thing I did was to call a Muster, and see how Things stood as to
Money: I found the Men had been very true to one another; there lay all the
Money, in Chests piled up as I left it, and every Man's Money having his
Name upon it: Then acquainting the rest with the Promise I had made the Men
that came with me, they all agreed to it; so the Money belonging to the
dead Men, and to the rest of the forty Men who belong'd to the Sloop, was
divided among the Men I brought with me, as well those who join'd at first,
as those we took in at the _Cape de Verd_, and the _Canaries_: And the
Bails of Goods which we found in the Ship, many of which were valuable for
our own Use, we agreed to give them all to the fifteen Men mention'd above,
who had been sav'd by our Men, and so to buy what we wanted of those Goods
of them, which made their Hearts glad also.
And now we began to consult what Course to take in the World: As for going
to _England_, tho' our Men had a great Mind to be there, yet none of them
knew how to get thither, notwithstanding I had brought them a Ship; but I,
who had now made myself too publick to think any more of _England_, had
given over all Views that Way, and began to cast about for farther
Adventures; for tho', as I said, we were immensely rich before, yet I
abhorr'd lying still, and burying my self alive, as I call'd it, among
Savages and Barbarians; besides, some of our Men were young in the Trade,
and had seen nothing; and they lay at me every Day not to lie still in a
Part of the World where, as they said, such vast Riches might be gain'd;
and that the _Dutchmen_ and _Englishmen_ who were cast away, as above, and
who our Men call'd the _Comelings_, were continually buzzing in my Ears
what infinite Wealth was to be got, if I would but make one voyage to the
Coast of _Malabar_, _Coromandel_, and the Bay of _Bengale_; nay, the three
_Portuguese_ Seamen offer'd themselves to attack and bring off one of their
biggest Galleons, even out of the Road of _Goa_, on the _Malabar_ Coast,
the Capital of the _Portuguese_ Factories in the _Indies_.
In a Word, I was overcome with these new Proposals, and told the rest of my
People, I was resolv'd to go to Sea again, and try my good Fortune; I was
sorry I had not another Ship or two, but if ever it lay in my Power to
master a good Ship, I would not fail to bring her to them.
While I was thus fitting out upon this new Undertaking, and the Ship lay
ready to Sail, and all the Men who were design'd for the Voyage, were on
Board, being 85 in Number; among which were all the Men I brought with me,
the 15 Comelings, and the rest made up out of our old Number; I say, when I
was just upon the Point of setting Sail, we were all surpriz'd just in the
Grey of the Morning to spy a Sail at Sea; we knew not what to make of her,
but found she was an _European_ Ship; that she was not a very large Vessel,
yet that she was a Ship of Force too: She seem'd to shorten Sail, as if she
look'd out for some Harbour; at first Sight I thought she was _English_;
immediately I resolv'd to slip Anchor and Cable and go out to Sea and speak
with her, if I could, let her be what she would: As soon as I was got a
little clear of the Land, I fir'd a Gun, and spread _English_ Colours: She
immediately brought too, fir'd three Guns, and mann'd out her Boat with a
Flag of Truce: I did the like, and the two Boats spoke to one another in
about two Hours, when, to our infinite Joy, we found they were our Comrades
who we left in the South Seas, and to whom we gave the Fregate at the Isle
of _Juan Fernando_.
Nothing of this Kind could have happen'd more to our mutual Satisfaction,
for tho' we had long ago given them over either for Lost, or Lost to us;
and we had no great Need of Company, yet we were overjoy'd at meeting, and
so were they too.
They were in some Distress for Provisions, and we had Plenty; so we brought
their Ship in for them, gave them a present Supply, and when we had help'd
them to moor and secure the Ship in the Harbour, we made them lock all
their Hatches and Cabins up, and come on Shore, and there we feasted them
five or six Days, for we had a Plenty of all Sorts of Provisions, not to be
exhausted; and if we had wanted an hundred Head of fat Bullocks, we could
have had them for asking for of the Natives, who treated us all along with
all possible Courtesy and Freedom in their Way.
The History of the Adventures and Success of these Men, from the Time we
left them to the Time of their Arrival at our new Plantation, was our whole
Entertainment for some Days. I cannot pretend to give the Particulars by my
Memory; but as they came to us _Thieves_, they improv'd in their Calling to
a great Degree, and, next to ourselves, had the greatest Success of any of
the Buccaneers whose Story has ever been made publick.
I shall not take upon me to vouch the whole Account of their Actions,
neither will this Letter contain a full History of their Adventures; but if
the Account which they gave us was true, you may take it thus:
First, that having met with good Success after they left us, and having
taken some extraordinary Purchase, as well in some Vessels they took at
Sea, as in the Plunder of some Towns on the Shore near _Guyaquil_, as I
have already told you, they got Information of a large Ship which was
loading the King's Money at _Puna_, and had Orders to sail with it to
_Lima_, in order to its being carry'd from thence to _Panama_ by the Fleet,
under the Convoy of the _Flotilla_, or Squadron of Men of War, which the
King's Governor at _Panama_ had sent to prevent their being insulted by the
Pirates, which they had Intelligence were on the Coast; by which, we
suppose, they meant us who were gone, for they could have no Notion of
these Men then.
Upon this Intelligence they cruis'd off and on upon the Coast for near a
Month, keeping always to the Southward of _Lima_, because they would not
fall in the Way of the said _Flotilla_, and so be overpower'd and miss of
their Prize: At last they met with what they look'd for, that is to say,
they met with the great Ship abovenam'd: But to their great Misfortune and
Disappointment, (as they first thought it to be) she had with her a Man of
War for her Convoy, and two other Merchant Ships in her Company.
The Buccaneers had with them the Sloop which they first sent to us for our
Intelligence, and which they made a little Fregate of, carrying eight Guns,
and some Patareroes: They had not long Time to consult, but in short they
resolv'd to double man the Sloop, and let her attack the great
Merchant-Ship, while the Fregate, which was the whole of their Fleet, held
the Man of War in Play, or at least kept him from assisting her.
According to this Resolution, they put 50 Men on Board the Sloop, which
was, in short, almost as many as would stand upon her Deck one by another;
and with this Force they attack'd the great Merchant-Ship, which, besides
its being well mann'd, had 16 good Guns, and about 30 Men on Board. While
the Sloop thus began the unequal Fight, the Man of War bore down upon her
to succour the Ship under her Convoy, but the Fregate thrusting in between,
engag'd the Man of War, and began a very warm Fight with her, for the Man
of War had both more Guns and more Men than the Fregate after she had
parted with 50 Men on Board the Sloop: While the two Men of War, as we may
now call them, were thus engag'd, the Sloop was in great Danger of being
worsted by the Merchant-Ship, for the Force was too much for her, the Ship
was great, and her Men fought a desperate and close Fight: Twice the
Sloop-Men enter'd her, and were beaten off, and about nine of their Men
kill'd, several other wounded, and an unlucky Shot taking the Sloop between
Wind and Water, she was oblig'd to fall a-Stern, and heel her over to stop
the Leek; during which the _Spaniards_ steer'd away to assist the Man of
War, and pour'd her Broadside in upon the Fregate, which tho' but small,
yet at a Time when she lay Yard-arm and Yard-arm close by the Side of the
_Spanish_ Man of War, was a great Extremity; however, the Fregate return'd
her Broadside, and therewith made her sheer off, and, which was worse, shot
her Main-mast thro', tho' it did not come presently by the Board.
During this Time, the Sloop having many Hands, had stopp'd the Leak, was
brought to rights again, and came up again to the Engagement, and at the
first Broadside had the good Luck to bring the Ship's Foremast by the
Board, and thereby disabled her; but could not for all that lay her
athwart, or carry her by Boarding, so that the Case began to be very
doubtful; at which, the Captain of the Sloop, finding the Merchant Ship was
disabled, and could not get away from them, resolv'd to leave her a while
and assist the Fregate; which he did, and running a Longside our Fregate,
he fairly laid the Man of War on Board just thwart his Hawser; and besides
firing into her with his great Shot, he very fairly set her on Fire; and it
was a great Chance but that they had been all three burnt together, but our
Men helpt the _Spaniards_ themselves to put out the Fire, and after some
Time master'd it: But the _Spaniards_ were in such a terrible Fright at the
Apprehension of the Fire, that they made little Resistance afterwards, and
in short, in about an Hour's Fight more, the _Spanish_ Man of War struck,
and was taken; and after that the Merchant Ship also, with all the Wealth
that was in her: And thus their Victory was as compleat as it was
unexpected.
The Captain of the _Spanish_ Man of War was kill'd in the Fight, and about
36 of his Men, and most of the rest wounded, which it seems happen'd upon
the Sloop's lying athwart her. This Man of War was a new Ship, and with
some Alteration in her upper Work, made a very good Fregate for them, and
they afterwards quitted their own Ship, and went all on Board the _Spanish_
Ship, taking out the Main-mast of their own Ship, and making a new
Fore-mast for the _Spanish_ Ship, because her Fore-mast was also weaken'd
with some Shot in her; this, however, cost them a great deal of Labour and
Difficulty, and also some Time, when they came to a certain Creek, where
they all went on Shore, and refresh'd themselves a while.
But if the taking the Man of War was an unexpected Victory to them, the
Wealth of the Prize was much more so; for they found an amazing Treasure on
Board her, both in Silver and Gold; and the Account they gave me was but
imperfect, but I think they calculated the Pieces of Eight to be about 13
Tun in Weight, besides that they had 5 small Chests of Gold, some Emeralds,
and, in a Word, a prodigious Booty.
They were not, however, so modest in their Prosperity as we were; for they
never knew when to have done, but they must Cruise again to the Northward
for more Booty, when to their great Surprize, they fell in with the
Flotilla or Squadron of Men of War, which they had so studiously avoided
before, and were so surrounded by them, that there was no Remedy but they
must fight, and that in a Kind of Desperation, having no Prospect now but
to sell their Lives as dear as they could.
This unlucky Accident befel them before they had chang'd their ship, so
that they had now the Sloop and both the Men of War in Company, but they
were but thinly mann'd; and as for the Booty, the greater Part of it was on
Board the Sloop, that is to say, all the Gold and Emeralds, and near half
the Silver.
When they saw the Necessity of fighting, they order'd the Sloop, if
possible, to keep to Windward, that so she might as Night come on, make the
best of her Way, and escape; but a _Spanish_ Fregate of 18 Guns tended her
so close, and sail'd so well, that the Sloop could by no Means get away
from the rest; so she made up close to the Buccaneers Fregate, and
maintain'd a Fight as well as she could, till in the Dusk of the Evening
the _Spaniards_ boarded and took her, but most of her Men gat away in her
Boat, and some by swimming on Board the other Ship: They only left in her
five wounded _Englishmen_, and six _Spanish_ Negroes. The five _English_
the barbarous _Spaniards_ hang'd up immediately, wounded as they were.
This was good Notice to the other Men to tell them what they were to
expect, and made them fight like desperate Men till Night, and kill'd the
_Spaniards_ a great many Men. It prov'd a very dark rainy Night, so that
the _Spaniards_ were oblig'd by Necessity to give over the Fight till the
next Day, endeavouring, in the mean time, to keep as near them as they
could: But the Buccaneers concerting their Measures where they should meet,
resolv'd to make Use of the Darkness of the Night to get off if they could;
and the Wind springing up a fresh Gale at S. S. W. they chang'd their
Course, and, with all the Sail they could make, stood away to the N. N. W.
slanting it to Seawards as nigh the Wind as they could; and getting clear
away from the _Spaniards_, who they never saw more, they made no Stay till
they pass'd the Line, and arriv'd in about 22 Days Sail on the Coast of
_California_, where they were quite out of the Way of all Enquiry and
Search of the _Spaniards_.
Here it was they chang'd their Ship, as I said, and quitting their own
Vessel, they went all on Board the _Spanish_ Man of War, fitting up her
Masts and Rigging, as I have said, and taking out all the Guns, Stores,
_&c._ of their own Ship, so that they had now a stout Ship under them,
carrying 40 Guns, (for so many they made her carry) and well furnish'd with
all Things; and tho' they had lost so great a Part of their Booty, yet they
had still left a vast Wealth, being six or seven Tun of Silver, besides
what they had gotten before.
With this Booty, and regretting heartily they had not practis'd the same
Moderation before, they resolv'd now to be satisfy'd, and make the best of
their Way to the Island of _Juan Fernando_; where keeping at a great
Distance from the Shore, they safely arriv'd, in about two Months Voyage,
having met with some contrary Winds by the Way.
However, here they found the other Sloop which they had sent in with their
first Booty, to wait for them: And here understanding that we were gone for
St. _Julien_, they resolv'd, (since the Time was so long gone that they
could not expect to find us again) that they would have t'other Touch with
the _Spaniards_, cost what it would. And accordingly, having first bury'd
the most Part of their Money in the Ground, on Shore in the Island, and
having revictual'd their Ship in the best Manner they could in that barren
Island, away they went to Sea.
They beat about on the South of the Line all up the Coast of _Chili_, and
Part of _Peru_, till they came to the Height of _Lima_ itself.
They met with several Ships, and took several, but they were loaden chiefly
with Lumber or Provisions, except that in one Vessel they took between 40
and 50000 Pieces of Eight, and in another 75000. They soon inform'd
themselves that the _Spanish_ Men of War were gone out of those Seas up to
_Panama_, to boast of their good Fortune, and carry Home their Prize; and
this made them the bolder. But tho' they spent near five Months in this
second Cruise, they met with nothing considerable; the _Spaniards_ being
every where alarm'd, and having Notice of them, so that nothing stirr'd
Abroad.
Tir'd then with their long Cruise, and out of Hope of more Booty, they
began to look Homeward, and to say to one another that they had enough; so,
in a Word, they came back to _Juan Fernando_, and there furnishing
themselves as well as they could with Provisions, and not forgeting to take
their Treasure on Board with them, they set forward again to the South; and
after a very bad Voyage in rounding the _Terra del Fuego_, being driven to
the Latitude of 65 Degrees, where they felt Extremity of Cold, they at
length obtain'd a more favourable Wind, _viz._ at S. and S. S. E; with
which, steering to the North, they came into a milder Sea and a milder
Coast, and at length arriv'd at _Port St. Julien_, where, to their great
Joy, they found the Post or Cross erected by us; and understanding that we
were gone to _Madagascar_, and that we would be sure to remain there to
hear from them, and withal that we had been gone there near two Year, they
resolv'd to follow us.
Here they staid, it seems, almost half a Year, partly fitting and altering
their Ship, partly wearing out the Winter Season, and waiting for milder
Weather; and having victuall'd their Ship in but a very ordinary Manner for
so long a Run, _viz._ only with Seals Flesh and Penguins, and some Deer
they kill'd in the Country, they at last launch'd out, and crossing the
great _Atlantick Ocean_, they made the _Cape of Good Hope_ in about 76
Days, having been put to very great Distresses in that Time for Want of
Food, all their Seals Flesh and Penguins growing nauseous and stinking in
little less than half the Time of their Voyage; so that they had nothing to
subsist on for seven and twenty Days, but a little Quantity of dry'd
Venison which they kill'd on Shore, about the Quantity of 3 Barrels of
_English_ Beef, and some Bread; and when they came to the _Cape of Good
Hope_, they gat some small Supply, but it being soon perceiv'd on Shore
what they were, they were glad to be gone as soon as they had fill'd their
Casks with Water, and gat but a very little Provisions; so they made to the
Coast of _Natal_ on the South East Point of _Africa_, and there they gat
more fresh Provisions, such as Veal, Milk, Goats-Flesh, some tolerable
Butter, and very good Beef: And this held them out till they found us in
the North Part of _Madagascar_, as above.
We staid about a Fortnight in our Port, and in a sailing Posture, just as
if we had been Wind-bound, meerly to congratulate and make merry with our
new-come Friends, when I resolv'd to leave them there, and set Sail; which
I did with a Westerly Wind, keeping away North till I came into the
Latitude of seven Degrees North; so coasting along the _Arabian_ Coast E.
N. E. towards the Gulph of Persia, in the Cruise I met with two _Persian_
Barks loaden with Rice; one of which I mann'd and sent away to
_Madagascar_, and the other I took for our own Ship's Use. This Bark came
safe to my new Colony, and was a very agreeable Prize to them; I think
verily almost as agreeable as if it had been loaded with Pieces of Eight,
for they had been without Bread a great while; and this was a double
Benefit to them, for they fitted up this Bark, which carry'd about 55 Tun,
and went away to the Gulph of _Persia_ in her to buy Rice, and brought two
or three _Freights_ of that which was very good.
In this Time I pursu'd my Voyage, coasted the whole _Malabar_ Shore, and
met with no Purchase but a great _Portugal East-India_ Ship, which I chac'd
into _Goa_, where she got out of my Reach: I took several small Vessels and
Barks, but little of Value in them, till I enter'd the great Bay of
_Bengale_, when I began to look about me with more Expectation of Success,
tho' without Prospect of what happen'd.
I cruis'd here about two Months, finding nothing worth while; so I stood
away to a Port on the North Point of the Isle of _Sumatra_, where I made no
Stay; for here I gat News that two large Ships, belonging to the Great
Mogul, were expected to cross the Bay from _Hugely_ in the _Ganges_ to the
Country of the King of _Pegu_, being to carry the Grandaughter of the Great
Mogul to _Pegu_, who was to be marry'd to the King of that Country, with
all her Retinue, Jewels, and Wealth.
This was a Booty worth watching for, tho' it had been some Months longer;
so I refolv'd that we would go and Cruise off of Point _Negaris_, on the
East Side of the Bay, near _Diamond Isle_; and here we ply'd off and on for
three Weeks, and began to despair of Success; but the Knowledge of the
Booty we expected spurr'd us on, and we waited with great Patience, for we
knew the Prize would be immensely rich.
At length we spy'd three Ships coming right up to us with the Wind; we
could easily see they were not _Europeans_ by their Sails, and began to
prepare ourselves for a Prize, not for a Fight; but were a little
disappointed, when we found the first Ship full of Guns, and full of
Soldiers, and in Condition, had she been manag'd by _English_ Sailors, to
have fought two such Ships as ours were; however, we resolv'd to attack her
if she had been full of Devils as she was full of Men.
Accordingly, when we came near them, we fir'd a Gun with Shot as a
Challenge; they fir'd again immediately three or four Guns; but fir'd them
so confusedly that we could easily see they did not understand their
Business; when we consider'd how to lay them on Board, and so to come
thwart them, if we could; but falling, for want of Wind, open to them, we
gave them a fair Broadside; we could easily see, by the Confusion that was
on Board, that they were frighted out of their Wits; they fir'd here a Gun
and there a Gun, and some on that Side that was from us, as well as those
that were next to us. The next Thing we did was to lay them on Board, which
we did presently, and then gave them a Volley of our Small-shot, which, as
they stood so thick, kill'd a great many of them, and made all the rest run
down under their Hatches, crying out like Creatures bewitch'd: In a Word,
we presently took the Ship, and having secur'd her Men, we chac'd the other
two: One was chiefly fill'd with Women, and the other with Lumber. Upon the
Whole, as the Grandaughter of the Great Mogul was our Prize in the first
Ship, so, in the second was her Women, or, in a Word, her Houshold, her
Eunuchs, all the Necessaries of her Wardrobe, of her Stables, and of her
Kitchin; and in the last, great Quantities of Houshold-stuff, and Things
less costly, tho' not less useful.
But the first was the main Prize. When my Men had enter'd and master'd the
Ship, one of our Lieutenants call'd for me, and accordingly I jump'd on
Board; he told me, he thought no Body but I ought to go into the great
Cabin, or, at least, no Body should go there before me; for that the Lady
herself and all her Attendance was there, and he fear'd the Men were so
heated they would murder them all, or do worse.
I immediately went to the great Cabin-door, taking the Lieutenant that
call'd me, along with me, and caus'd the Cabin-door to be open'd: But such
a Sight of Glory and Misery was never seen by Buccaneer before; the Queen
(for such she was to have been) was all in Gold and Silver, but frighted;
and crying, and at the Sight of me she appear'd trembling, and just as if
she was going to die. She sate on the Side of a kind of a Bed like a Couch
with no Canopy over it, or any Covering, only made to lie down upon; she
was, in a Manner, cover'd with Diamonds, and I, like a true Pirate, soon
let her see that I had more Mind to the Jewels than to the Lady.
However, before I touch'd her, I order'd the Lieutenant to place a Guard at
the Cabin-door; and fastening the Door, shut us both in, which he did: The
Lady was young, and, I suppose, in their Country Esteem, very handsome, but
she was not very much so in my Thoughts: At first, her Fright, and the
Danger she thought she was in of being kill'd, taught her to do every Thing
that she thought might interpose between her and Danger; and that was to
take off her Jewels as fast as she could, and give them to me; and I,
without any great Compliment, took them as fast as she gave them me, and
put them into my Pocket, taking no great Notice of them, or of her, which
frighted her worse than all the rest, and she said something which I could
not understand; however, two of the other Ladies came, all crying, and
kneel'd down to me with their Hands lifted up: What they meant I knew not
at first, but by their Gestures and Pointings I found at last it was to beg
the young Queen's Life, and that I would not kill her.
I have heard that it has been reported in _England_ that I ravish'd this
Lady, and then used her most barbarously; but they wrong me, for I never
offer'd any Thing of that Kind to her, I assure you; nay, I was so far from
being inclin'd to it, that I did not like her; and there was one of her
Ladies who I found much more agreeable to me, and who I was afterwards
something free with, but not even with her either by Force, or by Way of
Ravishing.
We did, indeed, ravish them of all their Wealth, for that was what we
wanted, not the Women; nor was there any other Ravishing among those in the
great Cabin, that I can assure you: As for the Ship where the Women of
inferior Rank were, and who were in Number almost two hundred, I cannot
answer for what might happen in the first Heat; but even there, after the
first Heat of our Men was over, what was done, was done quietly, for I have
heard some of the Men say, that there was not a Woman among them but what
was lain with four or five Times over, that is to say, by so many several
Men; for as the Women made no Opposition, so the Men even took those that
were next them, without Ceremony, when and where Opportunity offer'd.
When the three Ladies kneel'd down to me, and as soon as I understood what
it was for, I let them know I would not hurt the Queen, nor let any one
else hurt her, but that she must give me all her Jewels and Money: Upon
this they acquainted her that I would save her Life; and no sooner had they
assur'd her of that, but she got up, smiling, and went to a fine _Indian_
Cabinet, and open'd a private Drawer, from whence she took another little
Thing full of little square Drawers and Holes; this she brings to me in her
Hand, and offer'd to kneel down to give it me. This innocent Usage began to
rouse some Good-Nature in me, (tho' I never had much) and I would not let
her kneel; but sitting down myself on the Side of her Couch or Bed, made a
Motion to her to sit down too: But here she was frighted again, it seems,
at what I had no Thought of; for sitting on her Bed, she thought I would
pull her down to lie with her, and so did all her Women too; for they began
to hold their Hands before their Faces, which, as I understood afterwards,
was that they might not see me turn up their Queen: But as I did not offer
any Thing of that Kind, only made her sit down by me, they began all to be
easier after some Time, and she gave me the little Box or Casket, I know
not what to call it, but it was full of invaluable Jewels. I have them
still in my Keeping, and wish they were safe in _England_; for I doubt not
but some of them are fit to be plac'd on the King's Crown.
Being Master of this Treasure, I was very willing to be good-humour'd to
the Persons; so I went out of the Cabin, and caus'd the Women to be left
alone, causing the Guard to be kept still, that they might receive no more
Injury than I would do them myself.
After I had been out of the Cabin some Time, a Slave of the Womens came to
me, and made Sign to me that the Queen would speak with me again. I made
Signs back, that I would come and dine with her Majesty: And accordingly I
order'd that her Servants should prepare her Dinner, and carry it in, and
then call me. They provided her Repast after the usual Manner, and when she
saw it brought in, she appear'd pleas'd, and more, when she saw me come in
after it; for she was exceedingly pleas'd that I had caus'd a Guard to keep
the rest of my Men from her; and she had, it seems, been told how rude they
had been to some of the Women that belong'd to her.
When I came in, she rose up, and paid me such Respect as I did not well
know how to receive, and not in the least how to return. If she had
understood _English_, I could have said plainly, and in good rough Words,
Madam, be easy, we are rude rough-hewn Fellows, but none of our Men should
hurt you, or touch you; I will be your Guard and Protection; we are for
Money, indeed and we shall take what you have, but we will do you no other
Harm. But as I could not talk thus to her, I scarce knew what to say; but I
sate down, and made Signs to have her sit down and eat, which she did, but
with so much Ceremony, that I did not know well what to do with it.
After we had eaten, she rose up again, and drinking some Water out of a
_China_ Cup, sate her down on the Side of the Couch, as before: When she
saw I had done eating, she went then to another Cabinet, and pulling out a
Drawer, she brought it to me; it was full of small Pieces of Gold Coin of
_Pegu_, about as big as an _English_ Half Guinea, and I think there were
three thousand of them. She open'd several other Drawers, and shew'd me the
Wealth that was in them and then gave me the Key of the Whole.
We had revell'd thus all Day, and Part of the next Day, in a bottomless Sea
of Riches, when my Lieutenant began to tell me, we must consider what to do
with our Prisoners, and the Ships, for that there was no subsisting in that
Manner; besides, he hinted privately, that the Men would be ruin'd, by
lying with the Women in the other Ship, where all Sorts of Liberty was both
given and taken: Upon this we call'd a short Council, and concluded to
carry the great Ship away with us, but to put all the Prisoners, Queen,
Ladies, and all the rest, into the lesser Vessels, and let them go: And so
far was I from ravishing this Lady, as I hear is reported of me, that tho'
I might rifle her of every Thing else, yet I assure you I let her go
untouch'd for me, or, as I am satisfy'd, for any one, of my Men; nay, when
we dismiss'd them, we gave her Leave to take a great many Things of Value
with her, which she would have been plunder'd of, if I had not been so
careful of her.
We had now Wealth enough, not only to make us rich, but almost to have made
a Nation rich; and to tell you the Truth, considering the costly Things we
took here, which we did not know the Value of, and besides Gold, and
Silver, and Jewels, I say, we never knew how rich we were; besides which,
we had a great Quantity of Bales of Goods, as well Calicoes as wrought
Silks; which being for Sale, were, perhaps, as a Cargo of Goods to answer
the Bills which might be drawn upon them for the Account of the Bride's
Portion; all which fell into our Hands, with a great Sum in Silver Coin,
too big to talk of among _Englishmen_, especially while I am living, for
Reasons which I may give you hereafter.
I had nothing to do now but to think of coming back to _Madagascar_, so we
made the best of our Way; only that, to make us quite distracted without
other Joy, we took in our Way a small Bark loaden with Arack and Rice,
which was good Sawce to our other Purchace; for if the Women made our Men
drunk before, this _Arack_ made them quite mad; and they had so little
Government of themselves with it, that I think it might be said, the whole
Ship's Crew was drunk for above a Fortnight together, till six or seven of
them kill'd themselves; two fell overboard and were drown'd, and several
more fell into raging Fevers, and it was a Wonder, in the whole, they were
not all kill'd with it.
But, to make short of the Story as we did of the Voyage, we had a very
pleasant Voyage, except those Disasters, and we came safe back to our
Comrades at _Madagascar_, having been absent in all about seven Months.
We found them in very good Health, and longing to hear from us; and we
were, you may be assur'd, welcome to them; for now we had amass'd such a
Treasure as no Society of Men ever possess'd in this World before us,
neither could we ever bring it to an Estimation, for we could not bring
particular Things to a just Valuation.
We liv'd now and enjoy'd ourselves in full Security; for tho' some of the
_European_ Nations, and perhaps all of them had heard of us; yet they heard
such formidable Things of us, such terrible Stories of our great Strength,
as well as of our great Wealth, that they had no Thought of undertaking any
Thing against us; for, as I have understood, they were told at _London_,
that we were no less than 5000 Men; that we had built a regular Fortress
for our Defence by Land, and that we had 20 Sail of Ships; and I have been
told that in _France_ they have heard the same Thing: But nothing of all
this was ever true, any more than it was true, that we offer'd ten Millions
to the Government of _England_ for our Pardon.
It is true, that had the Queen sent any Intimation to us of a Pardon, and
that we should have been receiv'd to Grace at Home, we should all have very
willingly embrac'd it; for we had Money enough to have encourag'd us all to
live honest; and if we had been ask'd for a Million of Pieces of Eight, or
a Million of Pounds Sterling, to have purchas'd our Pardon, we should have
been very ready to have comply'd with it; for we really knew not what to do
with ourselves, or with our Wealth; and the only Thing we had now before
us, was to consider what Method to take for getting Home, if possible, to
our own Country with our Wealth, or at least with such Part of it as would
secure us easy and comfortable Lives; and, for my own Part, I resolv'd, if
I could, to make full Satisfaction to all the Persons who I had wrong'd in
_England_, I mean by that, such People as I had injur'd by running away
with the Ship; as well the Owners, and the Master or Captain, who I set
a-shore in _Spain_, as the Merchant whose Goods I had taken with the Ship;
and I was daily forming Schemes in my Thoughts how to bring this to pass:
But we all concluded that it was impossible for us to accomplish our
Desires as to that Part, seeing the Fact of our Piracy was now so publick
all over the World, that there was not any Nation in the World that would
receive us, or any of us; but would immediately seize on our Wealth, and
execute us for Pirates and Robbers of all Nations.
This was confirm'd to us after some Time, with all the Particulars, as it
is now understood in _Europe_; for as the Fame of our Wealth and Power was
such, that it made all the World afraid of us, so it brought some of the
like Sort with our selves to join with us from all Parts of the World; and
particularly, we had a Bark, and 60 Men of all Nations, from _Martinico_,
who had been cruising in the Gulph of _Florida_, came over to us, to try if
they could mend their Fortunes; and these went afterwards to the Gulph of
_Persia_, where they took some Prizes, and return'd to us again. We had
after this three Pirate Ships came to us, most _English_, who had done some
Exploits on the Coast of _Guinea_, had made several good Prizes, and were
all tolerably rich.
As these People came and shelter'd with us, so they came and went as they
would, and sometimes some of our Men went with them, sometimes theirs staid
with us: But by that Coming and Going our Men found Ways and Means to
convey themselves away, some one Way, some another. For I should have told
you at first, that after we had such Intelligence from _England_, _viz._
that they knew of all our successful Enterprizes, and that there was no
Hopes of our returning, especially of mine and some other Men who were
known: I say, after this we call'd a general Council to consider what to
do; and there, one and all, we concluded that we liv'd very happy where we
were; that if any of us had a Mind to venture to get away to any Part of
the World, none should hinder them, but that else we would continue where
we were; and that the first Opportunity we had we would cruise upon the
_English_ _East India_ Ships, and do them what Spoil we could, fancying
that some Time or other they would proclaim a Pardon to us, if we would
come in; and if they did, then we would accept of it.
Under these Circumstances we remain'd here, off and on, first and last,
above three Year more; during which Time our Number encreas'd so,
especially at first, that we were once eight hundred Men, stout brave
Fellows, and as good Sailors as any in the World. Our Number decreas'd
afterwards upon several Occasions; such as the going Abroad to Cruise,
wandering to the South Part of the Island, (as above) getting on Board
_European_ Ships, and the like.
After I perceiv'd that a great many of our Men were gone off, and had
carry'd their Wealth with them, I began to cast about in my own Thoughts
how I should make my Way Home also: Innumerable Difficulties presented to
my View; when at last, an Account of some of our Mens Escape into _Persia_
encourag'd me. The Story was this: One of the small Barks we had taken,
went to _Guzaratte_ to get Rice, and having secur'd a Cargo, but not loaded
it, ten of our Men resolv'd to attempt their Escape; and accordingly they
drest themselves like Merchant-Strangers, and bought several Sorts of Goods
there, such as an _Englishman_, who they found there, assisted them to buy;
and with their Bales, (but in them pack'd up all the rest of their Money)
they went up to _Bassora_ in the Gulph of _Persia_, and so travell'd as
Merchants with the Caravan to _Aleppo_, and we never heard any more of
them, but that they went clean off with all their Cargo.
This fill'd my Head with Schemes for my own Deliverance; but however, it
was a Year more before I attempted any Thing, and not till I found that
many of our Men shifted off, some and some, nor did any of them miscarry;
some went one Way, some another; some lost their Money, and some sav'd it;
nay, some carry'd it away with them, and some left it behind them: As for
me, I discover'd my Intentions to no Body, but made them all believe I
would stay here till some of them should come and fetch me off, and
pretended to make every Man that went off promise to come for me, if it
ever was in his Power, and gave every one of them Signals to make for me,
when they came back, upon which I would certainly come off to them. At the
same Time nothing was more certain, than that I intended from the Beginning
to get away from the Island, as soon as I could any Way make my Way with
Safety to any Part of the World.
It was still above two Years after this that I remain'd in the Island; nor
could I, in all that Time, find any probable Means for removing my self
with Safety.
One of the Ways I thought to have made my Escape was this: I went to Sea in
a Long-boat a fishing, (as we often did) and having a Sail to the Boat, we
were out two or three Days together; at length it came into my Thoughts
that we might Cruise about the Island in this Long-boat, a great Way, and
perhaps some Adventure might happen to us which we might make something of;
so I told them I had a Mind to make a Voyage with the Long-boat to see what
would happen.
To this Purpose we built upon her, made a State-Room in the Middle, and
clapt four Patareroes upon her Gunnel, and away we went, being sixteen
stout Fellows in the Boat, not reckoning my self: Thus we ran away, as it
were, from the rest of our Crew, tho' not a Man of us knew our own Minds as
to whither we were going, or upon what Design. In this Frolick we ran South
quite away to the Bay of St. _Angustine_'s, in the Latitude of 24 Degrees,
where the Ships from _Europe_ often put in for Water and Provisions.
Here we put in, not knowing well what to do next; I thought myself
disappointed very much that we saw no _European_ Ship here, tho' afterwards
I saw my Mistake, and found that it was better for us that we were in that
Port first: We went boldly on Shore; for as to the Natives, we understood
how to manage them well enough, knew all their Customs, and the Manner of
their treating with Strangers as to Peace or War; their Temper, and how to
oblige them, or behave if they were disoblig'd; so we went, I say, boldly
on Shore, and there we began to chaffer with them for some Provisions, such
as we wanted.
We had not been here above two or three Days, but that, early in the
Morning, the Weather thick and haizy, we heard several Guns fire at Sea; we
were not at a Loss to know what they meant, and that it was certainly some
_European_ Ships coming in, and who gave the Signal to one another that
they had made the Land, which they could easily see from the Sea, tho' we,
who were also within the Bay, could not see them from the Shore: However,
in a few Hours, the Weather clearing up, wet saw plainly five large Ships,
three with _English_ Colours, and two with _Dutch_, standing into the Bay,
and in about four or five Hours more they came to an Anchor.
A little while after they were come to an Anchor, their Boats began to come
on Shore to the usual Watering-place to fill their Casks; and while they
were doing that, the rest of the Men look'd about them a little, as usual,
tho' at first they did not stir very far from their Boats.
I had now a nice Game to play, as any Man in the World ever had: It was
absolutely necessary for us to speak with these Men; and yet how to speak
with them, and not have them speak with us in a Manner that we should not
like, that was the main Point: It was with a great deal of Impatience that
we lay still one whole Day, and saw their Boats come on Shore, and go on
Board again, and we were so irresolute all the while, that we knew not what
to do; at last I told my Men, it was absolutely necessary we should speak
with them, and seeing we could not agree upon the Method how to do it
friendly and fairly, I was resolv'd to do it by Force, and that if they
would take my Advice, we would place ourselves in Ambuscade upon the Land
somewhere, that we might see them when they were on Shore, and the first
Man that straggled from the rest we would clap in upon and seize him, and
three or four of them if we could. As for our Boat, we had secur'd it in a
Creek three or four Miles up the Country, where it was secure enough out of
their Reach or Knowledge.
With this Resolution we plac'd ourselves in two Gangs; eleven of us in one
Place, and only three of us in another, and very close we lay: The Place we
chose for our Ambuscade was on the Side of a rising Ground almost a Mile
from the Watering-place, but where we could see them all come towards the
Shore, and see them if they did but set their Foot on Shore.
As we understood afterwards, they had the Knowledge of our being upon the
Island, but knew not in what Part of it, and were therefore very cautious
and wary how they went on Shore, and came all very well arm'd. This gave us
a new Difficulty, for in the very first Excursion that any of them made
from the Watering-place, there was not less than twenty of them, all well
arm'd, and they pass'd by in our Sight; but as we were out of their Sight
we were all very well pleas'd with seeing them go by, and being not oblig'd
to meddle with them, or show our selves.
But we had not long lain in this Circumstance, but, by what Occasion we
knew not, five of the Gentlemen Tarrs were pleas'd to be willing to go no
farther with their Companions; and thinking all safe behind them, because
they had found no Disturbance in their going out, came back the same Way,
straggling without any Guard or Regard.
I thought now was our Time to show our selves; so taking them as they came
by the Place where we lay in Ambuscade, we plac'd ourselves just in their
Way, and as they were entring a little Thicket of Trees, we appear'd; and
calling to them in _English_, told them they were our Prisoners; that if
they yielded, we would use them very well, but if they offer'd to resist,
they should have no Quarter: One of them looking behind, as if he would
show us a Pair of Heels, I call'd to him, and told him, if he attempted to
run for it, he was a dead Man, unless he could out-run a Musquet-Bullet;
and that we would soon let him see we had more Men in our Company; and so
giving the Signal appointed, our three Men, who lay at a Distance, shew'd
themselves in the Rear.
When they saw this, one of them, who appear'd as their Leader, but was only
the Purser's Clerk, ask'd, Who we were they must yield to? And if we were
Christians? I told them, jestingly, We were good honest Christian Pirates,
and belong'd to Captain _Avery_, (not at all letting them know that I was
_Avery_ himself) and if they yielded it was enough; that we assur'd them
they should have fair Quarter and good Usage upon our Honour; but that they
must resolve immediately, or else they would be surrounded with 500 Men,
and we could not answer for what they might do to them.
They yielded presently upon this News, and deliver'd their Arms; and we
carry'd them away to our Tent, which we had built near the Place where our
Boat lay. Here I enter'd into a particular serious Discourse with them
about Captain _Avery_, for 'twas this I wanted, upon several Accounts:
First, I wanted to enquire what News they had had of us in _Europe_? and
then to give them Ideas of our Numbers and Power as romantick as I could.
They told us, that they had heard of the great Booty Captain _Avery_ had
taken in the Bay of _Bengale_; and among the rest, a bloody Story was
related of _Avery_ himself, _viz._ That he ravish'd the Great Mogul's
Daughter, who was going to be marry'd to the Prince of _Pegu_; that we
ravish'd and forc'd all the Ladies attending her Train, and then threw them
into the Sea, or cut their Throats; and that we had gotten a Booty of ten
Millions in Gold and Silver, besides an inestimable Treasure of Jewels,
Diamonds, Pearls, _&c._ but that we had committed most inhuman Barbarities
on the innocent People that fell into our Hands. They then told us, but in
a broken imperfect Account, how the Great Mogul had resented it; and that
he had raised a great Army against the _English_ Factories, resolving to
root them out of his Dominions; but that the Company had appeas'd him by
Presents, and by assuring him that the Men who did it, were Rebels to the
_English_ Government, and that the Queen of _England_ would hang them all
when ever they could be taken. I smil'd at that, and told them, Captain
_Avery_ would give them Leave to hang him, and all his Men, when they could
take them; but that I could assure him they were too strong to be taken;
that if the Government of _England_ went about to provoke them, Captain
_Avery_ would soon make those Seas too hot for the _English_, and they
might even give over their _East-India_ Trade, for they little thought
Circumstances Captain _Avery_ was in.
This I did, as well to know what Notions you had of us in _England_, as to
give a formidable Account of us, and of our Circumstances to _England_,
which I knew might be of Use to us several Ways hereafter. Then I made him
tell his Part, which he did freely enough; he told us, that indeed they had
receiv'd an Account in _England_ that we were exceeding strong; that we had
several Gangs of Pirates from the _Spanish West-Indies_, that had taken
great Booties there, and were gone all to _Madagascar_ to join Captain
_Avery_; that he had taken three great _East-India_ Ships, one _Dutch_, and
two _Portuguese_, which they had converted into Men of War; that he had
6000 Men under his Command; that he had twelve Ships, whereof three carry'd
60 Guns a-piece, and six more of them, from 40 to 50 Guns; that they had
built a large Fort to secure their Habitations; and that they had two large
Towns, one on one Side, one on the other of a River, cover'd by the said
Fort, and two great Platforms or Batteries of Guns to defend the Entrance
where their Ships rode; that they had an immense invaluable Treasure; and
that it was said, Captain _Avery_ was resolv'd to People the whole Island
of _Madagascar_ with _Europeans_, and to get Women from _Jamaica_ and the
_Leeward Islands_; and that it was not doubted but he would subdue, and
make himself King of that Country, if he was let alone a little longer.
I had enjoin'd my Men, in the first Place, not to let him know that I was
_Avery_, but that I was one of his Captains; and in the next Place, not to
say a Word but just _Ay_, and _No_, as Things occurr'd, and leave the rest
to me. I heard him patiently out in all the Particulars above, and when he
had done, I told him it was true, Captain _Avery_ was in the Island of
_Madagascar_, and that several other Societies of Buccaneers and
Freebooters were join'd him from the _Spanish West-Indies_; for, said I,
the Plenty and Ease of our living here is such, and we are so safe from all
the World, that we do not doubt but we shall be twenty thousand Men in a
very little Time, when two Ships which we have sent to the _West-Indies_
shall come back, and shall have told the Buccaneers at the Bay of
_Campeachy_, how we live here.
But, said I, you in _England_ greatly wrong Captain _Avery_, our General,
(so I call'd myself, to advance our Credit) for I can assure you, that
except plundering the Ship, and taking that immense Booty which he got in
the great Ship where the Great Mogul's Daughter was, there was not the
least Injury done to the Lady, no Ravishing or Violence to her, or any of
her Attendance; and this, said I, you may take of my certain Knowledge;
for, said I, I was on Board the Ship with our General all the while: And if
any of the Princess's Women were lain with, said I, on Board the other
Ship, as I believe most of them were, yet it was done with their own
Consent and good Will, and no otherwise; and they were all dismiss'd
afterwards, without so much as being put in Fear or Apprehensions of Life
or Honour.
This I assur'd him, (as indeed it was just) and told him, I hop'd, if ever
he came safe to _England_, he would do Captain _Avery_, and all of us,
Justice in that particular Case.
As to our being well fortify'd on the Island, and our Numbers, I assur'd
them all they were far from thinking too much of us; that we had a very
good Fleet, and a very good Harbour for them; that we were not afraid of
any Force from _Europe_, either by Land or Water; that it was, indeed, in
vain to pretend to attack us by Force; that the only Way for the Government
of _England_ to bring us back to our Duty, would be to send a Proclamation
from _England_ with the Queen's Pardon for our General and all his People,
if they came in by a certain Time: And, added I, we know you want Money in
_England_, I dare say, said I, our General, Captain _Avery_, and his
particular Gang, who have the main Riches, would not grudge to advance five
or six Millions of Ducats to the Government, to give them Leave to return
in Peace to _England_, and sit down quietly with the rest.
This Discourse, I suppose, was the Ground of the Rumour you have had in
_England_, That _Avery_ had offer'd to come in and submit, and would give
six Millions for his Pardon: For as these Men were soon after this
dismiss'd, and went back to _England_, there is no Doubt but they gave a
particular Account of the Conference they had with me, who they call'd one
of Captain _Avery_'s Captains.
We kept these five Men six or seven Days, and we pretended to show them the
Country from some of the Hills, calling it all our own, and pointing every
Way how many Miles we extended ourselves; we made them believe also that
all the rest of the Country was at our Disposal, that the whole _Island_
was at our Beck; we told them we had Treasure enough to enrich the whole
Kingdom of _England_; that our General had several Millions in Diamonds,
and we had many Tuns of Silver and Gold; that we had fifty large Barns full
of all Sorts of Goods, as well _European_ as _Indian_; and that it would be
truly the best Way for _England_ to do as they said, namely, to invite us
all Home by a Proclamation with a Pardon: And if they would do this, said
I, they can ask no reasonable Sum, but our General might advance it;
besides, getting Home such a Body of stout able Seamen as we were, such a
Number of Ships, and such a Quantity of rich Goods.
We had several long Discourses with them upon these Heads, and our frequent
offering this Part to them with a Kind of feeling Warmth, (for it was what
we all desir'd) has caus'd, I doubt not, the Rumour of such great Offers
made by us, and of a Letter sent by me to the Queen, to beg her Majesty's
Pardon for myself and my Company, and offering ten Millions of Money
Advance to the Queen for the publick Service: All which is a meer Fiction
of the Brain of those which have publish'd it; neither were we in any
Condition to make such an Offer; neither did I, or any of my Crew or
Company, ever write a Letter or Petition to the Queen, or to any one in the
Government, or make any Application in the Case other than as above, which
was only Matter of Conversation or private Discourse.
Nor were we so strong in Men or Ships, or any Thing like it. You have heard
of the Number of Ships which we had now with us, which amounted to two
Ships and a Sloop, and no more, except the Prize in which we took the
Mogul's Daughter; (which Ship we call'd, _The Great Mogul_) but she was fit
for nothing, for she would neither sail or steer worth a Farthing, and
indeed was fit for no Use but a Hulk, or a Guard-Ship.
As to Numbers of Men, they bely'd us strangely, and particularly, they
seem'd only to mistake Thousands for Hundreds: For whereas they told us,
that you in _England_ had a Report of our being six thousand Men, I must
acknowledge that I think we were never, when we were at the most, above six
hundred; and at the Time when I quitted the Country, I left about one
hundered and eight Men there, and no more, and I am assur'd, all the Number
that now remains there, is not above twenty two Men, no, not in the whole
Island.
Well, we thought, however, that it was no Business of ours at that Time to
undeceive them in their high Opinion of our great Strength, so we took Care
to magnify ourselves, and the Strength of our General, (meaning myself)
that they might carry the Story to _England_, depending upon it, _That a
Tale loses nothing in the carrying._ When they told us of our Fort, and the
Batteries at the Mouth of the River where our Ships lie, we insinuated,
that it was a Place where we did not fear all the Fleets in the World
attacking us; and when they told us of the Number of Men, we strove to make
them believe that they were much many more.
At length, the poor Men began to be tir'd of us, and indeed we began to be
tir'd of them; for we began to be afraid very much that they would prye a
little Way into our Affairs, and that a little too narrowly that Way; so as
they began to sollicit their Deliverance, we began to listen to their
Importunities: In a Word, we agreed to dismiss them; and accordingly we
gave them Leave to go away to the Watering-place, as if they had made their
Escape from us; which they did, carrying away their Heads full of all those
unlikely projected Things which you have heard above.
In all this, however, I had not the good Luck to advance one Step towards
my own Escape; and here is one Thing remarkable, _viz._ That the great Mass
of Wealth I had gotten together, was so far from forwarding my Deliverance,
that it really was the only Thing that hinder'd it most effectually; and I
was so sensible of it, that I resolv'd once to be gone, and leave all my
Wealth behind me, except some Jewels, as several of our Men had done
already: For many of them were so impatient of staying here, that they
found Means to get away, some and some, with no more Money than they could
carry about them; particularly, thirteen of our Men made themselves a Kind
of Shaloup with a Mast and Sail, and went for the Red Sea, having two
Patareroes for her Defence, and every Man a thousand Pieces of Eight, and
no more, except that one _Macmow_ an _Irishman_, who was their Captain, had
five Rubies and a Diamond, which he got among the Plunder of the Mogul's
Ship.
These Men, as I heard, gat safe to _Mocca_ in the _Arabian_ Gulph, where
they fetch the Coffee, and their Captain manag'd for them all so well, that
of Pirates he made them Merchants, laid out all the Stock in Coffee, and
got a Vessel to carry it up the Red Sea to _Sues_, where they sold it to
the Factors for the _European_ Merchants, and came all safe to
_Alexandria_, where they parted the Money again; and then every one
separated as they thought fit, and went their own Way.
We heard of this by mere Accident afterwards, and I confess I envy'd their
Success; and tho' it was a great while after this that I took a like Run,
yet you may be sure I form'd a Resolution from that Time to do the like;
and most of the Time that I stay'd after this, was employ'd in picking out
a suitable Gang that I might depend upon, as well to trust with the Secret
of my going away, as to take with me; and on whom I might depend, and they
on me, for keeping one another's Council when we should come into _Europe_.
It was in Pursuit of this Resolution that I went this little Voyage to the
South of the Island, and the Gang I took with me prov'd very trusty, but we
found no Opportunity then for our Escape: Two of the Men that we took
Prisoners would fain have gone with us, but we resolv'd to trust none of
them with the real and true Discovery of our Circumstances; and as we had
made them believe mighty Things of ourselves, and of the Posture of our
Settlement, that we had 5000 Men, 12 Men of War, and the like, we were
resolv'd they should carry the Delusion away with them, and that no Body
should undeceive them; because, tho' we had not such an immense Wealth as
was reported, and so as to be able to offer ten Millions for our Pardon,
yet we had a very great Treasure; and, being nothing near so strong as they
had imagin'd, we might have been made a Prey, with all our Riches, to any
Set of Adventurers who might undertake to attempt us, by Consent of the
Government of _England_, and make the Expedition, _No Purchase no Pay._
For this Reason we civily declin'd them, told them we had Wealth enough,
and therefore did not now Cruise Abroad as we used to do, unless we should
hear of another Wedding of a King's Daughter; or unless some rich Fleet, or
some Heathen Kingdom was to be attempted; and that therefore a new Comer,
or any Body of new Comers, could do themselves no good by coming over to
us: If any Gang of Pirates or Buccaneers would go upon their Adventures,
and when they had made themselves rich, would come and settle with us, we
would take them into our Protection, and give them Land to build Towns and
Habitations for themselves, and so in Time we might become a great Nation,
and inhabit the whole Island: I told them, the _Romans_ themselves were, at
first, no better than such a Gang of Rovers as we were; and who knew but
our General, Captain _Avery_, might lay the Foundation of as great an
Empire as they.
These big Words amaz'd the Fellows, and answer'd my End to a Tittle; for
they told such Rhodomantading Stories of us, when they came back to their
Ships, and from them it spread so universally all over the _East-Indies_,
(for they were Outward-bound) that none of the _English_ or _Dutch_ Ships
would come near _Madagascar_ again, if they could help it, for a great
while, for Fear of us; and we, who were soon after this dwindled away to
less than 100 Men, were very glad to have them think us too strong to
meddle with, or so strong that no Body durst come near us.
After these Men were gone, we rov'd about to the East Side of the Island,
and in a Word, knew not what to do, or what Course to take, for we durst
not put out to Sea in such a Bauble of a Boat as we had under us; but tir'd
at last, we came back to the South Point of the Island again; in our
rounding the Island we saw a great _English_-built Ship at Sea, but at too
far Distance to speak with her; and if it had not, we knew not what to have
said to her, for we were not strong enough to attack her: We judg'd by her
Course, she stood away from the Isle of St. _Maurice_ or _Mauritius_, for
the _Cape of Good Hope_, and must, as we suppos'd, come from the _Malabar_
Coast, bound Home for _England_; so we let her go.
We are now return'd back to our Settlement on the North Part of the Island;
and I have singl'd out about 12 or 13 bold brave Fellows, with whom I am
resolv'd to venture to the Gulph of _Persia_; twenty more of our Men have
agreed to carry us thither as Passengers in the Sloop, and try their own
Fortunes afterwards, for they allow we are enough to go together. We
resolve, when we come to _Bassaro_, to separate into three Companies, as if
we did not know one another; to dress ourselves as Merchants, for now we
look like Hell-hounds and Vagabonds; but when we are well dress'd, we
expect to look as other Men do. If I come thither, I purpose, with two
more, to give my Companions the Slip, and travel as _Armenians_ thro'
_Persia_ to the _Caspian_ Sea, so to _Constantinople_; and I doubt not we
shall, one Way or other, find our Way, with our Merchandize and Money, to
come into _France_, if not quite Home to my own Country. Assure yourself,
when I arrive in any Part of Christendom, I will give you a farther Account
of my Adventures.
_Your Friend and Servant,_
AVERY.
_The End of the First Letter._
A Second LETTER
_SIR,_
I WROTE my last Letter to you from _Madagascar_, where I had
continu'd so long till my People began to drop from me, some and some, and,
indeed, I had, at last, but few left; so that I began to apprehend they
would give an Account in _Europe_, how weak I was, and how easy it was to
attack me; nay, and to make their Peace, might some of them, at least,
offer their Service to be Pilots to my Port, and might guide the Fleets or
Ships that should attempt me.
With these Apprehensions, I not only was uneasy myself, but made all my Men
uneasy too; for, as I was resolv'd to attempt my own Escape, I did not care
how many of my Men went before me: But this you must take with you by the
Bye, that I never let them imagine that I intended to stir from the Spot
myself; I mean, after my Return from the Ramble that I had taken round the
Island, of which I have given you an Account; but, that I resolv'd to take
up my Rest in _Madagascar_ as long as I liv'd; indeed, before, I said
otherwise, as I wrote you before, and made them all promise to fetch me
away, but now I gave it out that I was resolv'd to live and die here; and
therefore, a little before I resolv'd upon going, I set to Work to build me
a new House, and to plant me a pretty Garden at a Distance from our Fort;
only I had a select Company, to whom I communicated every Thing, and who
resolv'd that, at last, we would go altogether, but that we would do it our
own Way.
When I had finish'd my new House, (and a mighty Palace you would say it
was, if you had been to see it) I remov'd to it, with eight of the Gang
that were to be my Fellow adventurers; and to this Place we carry'd all our
private Wealth, that is to say, Jewels and Gold; as to our Share of Silver,
as it was too heavy to remove, and must be done in Publick, I was oblig'd
to leave it behind; but we had a Stratagem for that too, and it was thus:
We had a Sloop, as you have heard, and she lay in our Harbour, 'tis true;
but she lay ready to sail upon any Occasion; and the Men, who were of our
Confederacy, who were not with me at my Country-house, were twelve in
Number: These Men made a Proposal, that they would take the Sloop, and go
away to the Coast of _Malabar_, or where else they could speed to their
Mind, and buy a Fraight of Rice for the publick Account: In a free State as
we were, every Body was free to go wherever they would, so that no Body
oppos'd them; the only Dispute at any Time, was about taking the Vessel we
had to go in: However, as these Men seem'd only to act upon the publick
Account, and to go to buy Provisions, no Body offer'd to deny them the
Sloop, so they prepar'd for their Voyage: Just as they were ready to go,
one of them starts it to the rest, that it was very hazardous and difficult
to run such a Length every now and then to get a little Rice, and if they
would go, why should they not bring a good Quantity? This was soon
resolv'd; so they agreed, they should take Money with them to buy a good
Ship wherever they could find her, and then to buy a Loading of Rice to
fill her up, and so come away with her.
When this was agreed, they resolv'd to take no Money out of the grand
Stock, but to take such Mens Money as were gone, and had left their Money
behind; and this being consented to, truly, my Friends took the Occasion,
and took all their own Money, and mine, (being 64 little Chests of Pieces
of Eight) and carry'd it on Board, as if it had been of Men that were
Prick'd-run, and no Body took any Notice of it. These twelve Men had also
now got twelve more with them, under Pretence of manning a Ship, if we
should buy one, and in this Pickle away they put to Sea.
We had due Notice of every Thing that was done; and having a Signal given
of the Time they resolv'd to go, we pack'd up all our Treasure, and began
our March to the Place appointed, which from our Quarters was about forty
Mile farther North.
Our Habitation, that is to say, my new House, was about sixteen Miles up
the Country, so that the rest of our People could have no Notice of our
March, neither did they miss us, at least, as I heard of, for we never
heard any more of them; nor can I imagine what Condition or Circumstance
they can be in at present, if they are still upon the Place, as, however, I
believe some of them are.
We join'd our Comrades, with a great Deal of Ease, about three Days
afterwards, for we march'd but softly, and they lay by for us: The Night
before we went on Board, we made them a Signal by Fire, as we had appointed
to let them know where we were, and that we were at Hand; so they sent
their Boat and fetch'd us off, and we embark'd without any Notice taken by
the Rest.
As we were now loose, and at Sea, our next Business was to resolve whither
we should go; and I soon govern'd the Point, resolving for _Bassaro_ in the
Gulph of _Persia_, where I knew we might shift for ourselves: Accordingly,
we steer'd away for the _Arabian_ Coast, and had good Weather for some
Time, even till we made the Land at a great Distance, when we steer'd
Eastward along the Shore.
We saw several Ships, in our Way, bound to and from the Red Sea, as we
suppos'd, and, at another Time, we would have been sure to have spoken with
them: But, we had done Pirating; our Business now was, how to get off, and
make our Way to some Retreat, where we might enjoy what we had got; so we
took no Notice of any Thing by the Way; but, when we was thus sailing
merrily along, the Weather began to change, the Evening grew black and
cloudy, and threaten'd a Storm: We were in Sight or a little Island, (I
know nothing of its Name) under which we might have anchor'd with Safety
enough, but our People made light of it, and went on.
About an Hour after Sun-set the Wind began to rise, and blew hard at N. E.
and at N. E. by N. and in two Hours Time encreas'd to such a Tempest, as in
all my Rambles I never met with the like; we were not able to carry a Knot
of Sail, or to know what to do, but to stow every Thing close, and let her
drive; and, in this Condition we continu'd all the Night, all the next Day,
and Part of the Night after; towards Morning the Storm abated a little, but
not so as to give us any Prospect of pursuing our voyage; all the Ease we
had, was, that we could just carry a little Sail to steddy the Vessel, and
run away before it; which we did at that violent Rate, that we never abated
'till we made Land on the East Side of _Madagascar_, the very Island we
came from, only on the other Side of the Island.
However, we were glad we had any Place to run to for Harbour; so we put in
under the Lee of a Point of Land that gave us Shelter from the Wind, and
where we came to an Anchor, after being all of us almost dead with the
Fatigue; and, if our Sloop had not been an extraordinary Sea-boat, she
could never have born such a Sea, for twelve Days together, as we were in,
the worst I ever saw before or since. We lay here, to refresh ourselves,
about twenty Days; and, indeed, the Wind blew so hard all the while, that
if we had been dispos'd to go to Sea, we could not have done it; and, being
here, about seven of our Men began to repent their Bargain, and left us,
which I was not sorry for. It seems, the principal Reason of their looking
back, was, their being of those who had left their Money behind them. They
did not leave us without our Consent, and therefore our Carpenters built
them a Boat, during the three Weeks we stay'd here, and fitted it very
handsomely for them, with a Cabin for their Convenience, and a Mast and
Sail, with which they might very well sail round to our Settlement, as we
suppose they did: We gave them Fire-arms and Ammunition sufficient, and
left them furnishing themselves with Provisions; and this, we suppose, was
the Boat, tho' with other Men in it, which adventur'd afterwards as far as
the _Cape of Good Hope_, and was taken up by a _Portugese_ in Distress, by
which Means they got Passage for themselves to _Lisbone_, pretending they
had made their Escape from the Pirates at _Madagascar_; but we were told,
that the _Portuguese_ Captain took a good deal of their Money from them,
under Pretence of keeping it from his own Seamen; and that when they came
on Shore, and began to claim it, he threaten'd them with taking them up,
and prosecuting them for Pirates, which made them compound with him, and
take about 10000 Dollars for above 120000, which they had with them; which,
by the Way, was but a scurvy Trick: They had, it seems, a considerable
Quantity of Gold among them, which they had the Wit to conceal from the
Captain of the Ship, and which was enough for such Fellows as them, and
more than they well knew what to do with; so that they were rich enough
still, tho' the _Portugal_ Captain was nevertheless a Knave for all that.
We left them here, as I have said, and put to Sea again; and, in about
twenty Days Sail, having pretty good Weather, we arriv'd at the Gulph of
_Persia_: It would be too long to give you an Account of the particular
Fortunes of some of our People after this, the Variety of which would fill
a Volume by itself: But, in the first Place, we, who were determin'd to
travel, went on Shore at _Bassaro_, leaving the rest of our Men to buy
Rice, and load the larger Vessel back to their Comrades, which they
promis'd to do; but how far they perform'd I know not.
We were thirteen of us that went on Shore here; from whence we hir'd a kind
of Barge, or rather a Bark, which, after much Difficulty, and very unhandy
Doings of the Men who we had hir'd, brought us to _Babylon_, or _Bagdat_,
as it is now call'd.
Our Treasure was so great, that if it had been known what we had about us,
I am of Opinion we should never have troubl'd _Europe_ with our Company:
However, we gat safe to _Babylon_ or_ Bagdat_, where we kept ourselves
_Incog_ for a while, took a House by ourselves, and lay four or five Days
still, till we had got Vests and long Gowns made to appear Abroad in as
_Armenian_ Merchants. After we had got Cloaths, and look'd like other
People, we began to appear Abroad; and I, that from the Beginning had
meditated my Escape by myself, began now to put it into Practice; and,
walking one Morning upon the Bank of the River _Euphrates_, I mus'd with
myself what Course I should take to make off, and get quite away from the
Gang, and let them not so much as suspect me.
While I was walking here, comes up one of my Comrades, and one who I always
took for my particular Friend: I know what you are employ'd in, _said he_,
while you seem only to be musing, and refreshing yourself with the cool
Breeze. Why, _said I_, what am I musing about? Why, _said he_, you are
studying how you should get away from us; but, muse upon it as long as you
will, _says he_, you shall never go without me, for I am resolv'd to go
with you which Way soever you take. 'Tis true, _says I_, I was musing which
Way I should go, but not which Way I should go without you; for tho' I
would be willing to part Company, yet you cannot think I would go alone;
and you know I have chosen you out from all the Company to be the Partner
of all my Adventures.
Very well, _says he_, but I am to tell you now, that it is not only
necessary that we should not go all together; but, our Men have all
concluded, that we should make our Escape every one for himself, and should
separate as we could; so that you need make no Secret of your Design any
more than of the Way you intend to take.
I was glad enough of this News, and it made me very easy in the
Preparations we made for our setting out: And, the first Thing we did, was,
to get us more Cloaths, having some made of one Fashion, some of another;
but, my Friend and I, who resolv'd to keep together, made us Cloaths after
the Fashion of the _Armenian_ Merchants, whose Country we pretended to
travel through.
In the mean Time, five of our Men dress'd like Merchants; and, laying out
their Money in Raw Silk, and Wrought Silks, and other Goods of the Country,
proper for _Europe_, (in which they were directed by an _English_ Merchant
there) resolv'd to take the usual Rout, and travel by the Caravans from
_Babylon_ to _Alleppo_, and so to _Scanderoon_, and we staid and saw them
and their Bales go off in Boats for a great Town on the _Euphrates_, where
the Caravans begin to take up the Passengers; the other six divided
themselves, one Half of them went for _Agra_, the Country of the Great
Mogul, resolving to go down the River _Hoogly_ to _Bengal_; but whither
they went afterward or what Course they took, I never knew, neither whether
they really went at all or not.
The other three went by Sea, in a _Persian_ Vessel, back from the Red Sea
to the Gulf of _Mocca_, and I heard of them all three at _Marseilles_; but
whither they went afterwards I never knew, nor could I come to speak with
them even there.
As for me and my Friend, we first laid out all the Silver we had in
_European_ Ware, such as we knew would vend at _Ispahan_, which we carry'd
upon twelve Camels; and hiring some Servants, as well for our Guide as our
Guard, we set out.
The Servants we hir'd were a Kind of _Arab_, but rather looking like the
Great Mogul's people, than real _Arabians_; and when we came into _Persia_,
we found they were look'd upon as no better than Dogs, and were not only
used ill, but that we were used ill for their Sakes; and after we were come
three Days into the _Persian_ Dominions, we found ourselves oblig'd to part
with them; so we gave them three Dollars a Man to go back again.
They understood their Business very well, and knew well enough what was the
Reason of it, though we did not. However, we found we had committed a great
Mistake in it; for we perceiv'd that they were so exasperated at being
turn'd off, that they vowed to be revenged; and, indeed, they had their
Revenge to the Full; for the same Day, at Night, they return'd in the Dark,
and set eleven Houses on Fire in the Town where we quartered; which, by the
Way, had gone near to have cost me my Life, and would certainly have done
so, if in the Hurry I had not seiz'd one of the Incendiaries and deliver'd
him up to them.
The People were so provok'd at him that was taken that they fell upon him
with all possible Fury as the common Incendiary and Burner of the Town, and
presently quitted us (for they had before vowed our Destruction) but, as I
said, quitted us immediately, and thronged about the Wretch they had taken;
and, indeed, I made no Question but that they would have immediately
murder'd him (nay, that they would have torn him in Pieces before they
parted with him). But after they had vented their Rage at him for some Time
with all possible Reproaches and Indignities, they carry'd him before the
_Cadi_, or Judge of the Place. The _Cadi_, a wise, grave Man, answered, no,
he would not judge him at that Time, for they were too hot and passionate
to do Justice; but they should come with him in the Morning, when they were
cool, and he would hear them.
It is true this was a most excellent Step of the _Cadi_ as to the right Way
of doing Justice; but it did not prove the most expedient in the present
Occasion, though that was none of his Fault neither; for in the Night the
Fellow got out of their Hands, by what Means or by whose Assistance I never
heard to this Day; and the _Cadi_ fined the Town in a considerable Sum for
letting a Man accused of a capital Crime make his Escape before he was
adjudged, and, as we call it, discharged according to Law.
This was an eminent Instance of the Justice of these People; and though
they were doubly enraged at the Escape of the Fellow, who, without Doubt,
was guilty, yet they never open'd their Mouths against the _Cadi_; but
acquiesc'd in his Judgment, as in that of an Oracle, and submitted to the
national Censure, or Censure according to the Custom of their Nation, which
he had pass'd upon them in their publick Capacity for the Escape of the
Man.
We were willing to get out of this Place as soon as we could; for we found
the Peoples Rage, which wanted an Object to vent itself upon, began to
threaten us again: So having pack'd up our Goods, and gotten five ordinary
Camel-Drivers for our Servants in the Country, we set out again.
The Roads in _Persia_ are not so much frequented, as to be well
accommodated with Inns, so that several Times we were oblig'd to lodge upon
the Ground in the Way; but our new Servants took Care to furnish us with
Lodging; for as soon as we let them know we wanted Rest, and inclin'd to
stop, they set up a Tent for us, in so short a Time, that we were scarce
able to imagine it possible, and under this we encamp'd, our Camels being
just by us, and our Servants and Bales lying all hard by.
Once or twice we lodg'd in publick Inns, built at the King of _Persia_'s
Charge: These are fair large Buildings, built square, like a large Inn,
they have all of them large Stables, and good Forrage for the Camels and
Horses, and Apartments for perhaps two or three hundred People, and they
are call'd _Caravansera's_, as being built to entertain whole Caravans of
Travellers: On the great Roads to _Tauris_ and the Side of _Turky_ they are
all fortify'd, and are able to entertain five or six Thousand People, and
have a Stock to furnish what Number of Men can come with Provisions; nay,
it has been known, that whole armies of the _Persians_ have on their March
been furnish'd with Provisions in one of these _Caravansera's_, and that
they have kill'd 2000 Sheep for them in one Night's Time.
In this Manner we travell'd to _Ispahan_, the Capital of _Persia_, where
appearing as Merchants, and with several Camels loaden with Merchandize, we
pass'd all Possibility of Suspicion, and being perfectly easy, we continu'd
here some Time, sold our Cargoes, and would gladly have remitted the Money
to other Places, as for _Constantinople_ in particular; but we found the
_Turks_ and _Persians_ have no such Thing as an Exchange, by Bills running
between them and other Nations, no, nor between one Town and another.
We were invited here by a sudden Accident to have gone Home by the
_Caspian_ Sea and _Astracan_, so thro' _Muscovy_; but I had heard so much
of the Barbarity of the _Russians_, the dangerous Navigation of the
_Caspian_ Sea by Reason of the Calms and Shoals, the Hazard of being robb'd
by the _Tartars_ on the River _Wolga_, and the like, that I chose to travel
to _Constantinople_, a Journey through Desarts, over Mountains and Wastes,
among so many Sorts of Barbarians, that I would run any Kind of Hazards by
Sea, before I would attempt such a Thing again.
It would deserve another History to let you into all the different
Circumstances of this Journey; how well I was us'd by some, and how ill by
others; nay, how well by some _Mahometans_, how ill by some Christians: But
it shall suffice to tell you, that I am at present at _Constantinople_;
and, tho' I write this here, I do not purpose to send it to you till I come
to _Marseilles_ in _France_; from whence I intend to go and live in some
inland Town, where, as they have, perhaps, no Notion of the Sea, so they
will not be inquisitive after us.
I am, _&c._
_FINIS._
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