by Daniel Defoe
stayed but five days; inwhich time we supplied ourselves with what the place would afford; and,pretending to be bound for China, we went on to the south through thestraits of Malacca, between the island of Sumatra and the main oristhmus of Malacca.
We had here a very difficult passage, though we took two pilots on boardat Achen, who pretended to know the straits perfectly well; twice wewere in very great danger of being lost, and once our Madagascar shipwas so entangled among rocks and currents, that we gave her up for lost,and twice she struck upon the rocks, but she did but touch, and wentclear.
We went several times on shore among the Malayans, as well on the shoreof Malacca itself, as on the side of Sumatra. They are as fierce, cruel,treacherous, and merciless a crew of human devils as any I have met withon the face of the whole earth; and we had some skirmishes with them,but not of any consequence. We made no stay anywhere in this strait butjust for fresh water, and what other fresh provisions we could get, suchas roots, greens, hogs, and fowls, of which they have plenty and a greatvariety: but nothing to be had but for ready money; which our men tookso unkindly, and especially their offering two or three times to cheatthem, and once to murder them, that afterwards they made no scruple togo on shore a hundred or more at a time, and plunder and burn what theycould not carry off; till at last we began to be such a terror to them,that they fled from us wherever we came.
On the 5th of March we made the southernmost part of the Isthmus ofMalacca, and the island and straits of Sincapora, famous for its beingthe great outlet into the Chinese sea, and lying in the latitude of 1 deg.15' north latitude.
We had good weather through these straits, which was very much to ourcomfort; the different currents and number of little islands making itotherwise very dangerous, especially to strangers. We got, by very goodluck, a Dutch pilot to carry us through this strait, who was a veryuseful, skilful fellow, but withal so impertinent and inquisitive, thatwe knew not what to say to him nor what to do with him; at last he grewsaucy and insolent, and told our chief mate that he did not know but wemight be pirates, or at least enemies to his countrymen the Dutch; andif we would not tell him who we were and whither we were bound, he wouldnot pilot us any farther.
This I thought very insolent, to a degree beyond what was sufferable;and bade the boatswain put a halter about the fellow's neck, and tellhim that, the moment he omitted to direct the steerage as a pilot, orthe moment the ship come to any misfortune, or struck upon any rock, heshould be hung up.
The boatswain, a rugged fellow, provided himself with a halter, andcoming up to the pilot, asked him what it was he wanted to be satisfiedin?
The pilot said he desired to have a true account whither we were going.
Why, says the boatswain, we are agoing to the devil, and I shall sendyou before to tell him we are coming; and with that he pulled the halterout of his pocket and put it over his head, and taking the other end inhis hand, Come, says the boatswain, come along with me; do you think wecan't go through the strait of Sincapora without your help? I warrantyou, says he, we will do without you.
By this time it may be supposed the Dutchman was in a mortal fright, andhalf choked too with being dragged by the throat with the halter, and,full heartily he begged for his life: at length the boatswain, who hadpulled him along a good way, stopped and the Dutchman fell down on hisknees; but the boatswain said, he had the captain's orders to hang him,and hang him he would, unless the captain recalled his orders; but thathe would stay so long, if anybody would go up to the captain and tellhim what the Dutchman said, and bring back an answer.
I had no design to hang the poor fellow, it is true, and the boatswainknew that well enough. However, I was resolved to humble himeffectually, so I sent back two men to the boatswain, the first was totell the boatswain aloud that the captain was resolved to have thefellow hanged, for having been so impudent to threaten to run the shipaground; but then the second, who was to stay a little behind, was tocall out, as if he came since the first from me, and that I had beenprevailed with to pardon him, on his promises of better behaviour. Thiswas all acted to admiration; for the first messenger called aloud to theboatswain, that the captain said he would have the Dutchman hanged for awarning to all pilots, and to teach them not to insult men when they arein difficulties, as the midwives do whores in labour, and will notdeliver them till they confess who is the father.
The boatswain had the end of the halter in his hand all the while; Itold you so, says he, before. Come, come along Mynheer, I shall quicklydo your work, and put you out of your pain; and then he dragged the poorfellow along to the main-mast. By this time the second messenger camein, and delivered his part of the errand, and so the poor Dutchman wasput out of his fright, and they gave him a dram to restore him a little,and he did his business very honestly afterwards.
And now we were at liberty again, being in the open sea, which was whatwe were very impatient for before. We made a long run over that partwhich we call the sea of Borneo, and the upper part of the IndianArches, called so from its being full of islands, like the Archipelagoof the Levant. It was a long run, but, as we were to the north of theislands, we had the more sea-room; so we steered east half a point, oneway or other, for the Manillas, or Philippine Islands, which was thetrue design of our voyage; and, perhaps, we were the first ship thatever came to those islands, freighted from Europe, since the Portugueselost their footing there.
We put in on the north coast of Borneo for fresh water, and werecivilly used by the inhabitants of the place, who brought us roots andfruits of several kinds, and some goats, which we were glad of: we paidthem in trifles, such as knives, scissors, toys, and several sorts ofwrought iron, hatchets, hammers, glass-work, looking-glasses, anddrinking-glasses; and from hence we went away, as I said, for thePhilippine Islands.
We saw several islands in our way, but made no stop, except once forwater, and arrived at Manilla the 22nd of May, all our vessels in verygood condition, our men healthy, and our ships sound; having met withvery few contrary winds, and not one storm in the whole voyage fromMadagascar. We had now been seventeen months and two days on our voyagefrom England.
When we arrived, we saluted the Spanish flag, and came to an anchor,carrying French colours. Captain Merlotte, who now acted as commander,sent his boat on shore the next day to the governor, with a respectfulletter in French; telling him that, having the King of France'scommission, and being come into those seas, he hoped that, for thefriendship which was between their most Christian and catholicmajesties, he should be allowed the freedom of commerce and the use ofthe port; the like having been granted to his most Christian majesty'ssubjects in all the ports of new Spain, as well in the southern as inthe northern seas.
The Spanish governor returned a very civil and obliging answer, andimmediately permitted us to buy what provisions we pleased for oursupply, or anything else for our use; but added, that, as for allowingany exchange of merchandises, or giving leave for European goods to bebrought on shore there, he was not empowered to grant.
We made it appear as if this answer was satisfactory; and the nextmorning Captain Merlotte sent his boat on shore with all French sailorsand a French midshipman, with a handsome present to the governor,consisting of some bottles of French wines, some brandy, two pieces offine Holland, two pieces of English black baize, one piece of fineFrench drugget, and five yards of scarlet woollen-cloth.
This was too considerable a present for a Spaniard to refuse; and yetthese were all European goods, which he seemed not to allow to come onshore. The governor let the captain know that he accepted his present;and the men who brought it were very handsomely entertained by thegovernor's order, and had every one a small piece of gold; and theofficer who went at their head had five pieces of gold given him: whatcoin it was I could not tell, but I think it was a Japan coin, and thevalue something less than a pistole.
The next day the governor sent a gentleman with a large boat, and in ita present to our captain, consisting of two cows, ten sheep, or goats,for they were betw
een both; a number of fowls of several sorts, andtwelve great boxes of sweetmeats and conserves; all of which were indeedvery acceptable; and invited the captain and any of his attendants onshore, offering to send hostages on board for our safe return; andconcluding with his word of honour for our safety, and free going backto our ships.
The captain received the present with very great respect, and indeed itwas a very noble present; for at the same time a boat was sent to boththe other ships with provisions and sweetmeats, in proportion to thesize of the vessels. Our captain caused the gentleman who came with thispresent, to have a fine piece of crimson English cloth given him,sufficient to make a waistcoat and breeches of their fashion, with avery good hat, two pair of silk stockings, and two pair of gloves: andall his people had a piece of drugget given them sufficient to make thelike suit of clothes; the persons who went to the other ship, and to thebrigantine, had presents in proportion.
This, in short, was neither more nor less than
