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.
