Captain Singleton

by Daniel Defoe

and Murtherers were above, for they heard them talk, and those above knew those

  were below; but they below were obliged to keep close for fear of their Launces

  from above. At length, one of our Men looking a little more strictly than the

  rest, thought he saw the Head of one of the Indians, just over a dead Limb of

  the Tree, which, it seems, the Creature sat upon. One Man immediately fired, and

  levell'd his Piece so true, that the Shot went thro' the Fellow's Head, and down

  he fell out of the Tree immediately, and came upon the Ground with such Force,

  with the Height of his Fall, that if he had not been killed with the Shot, he

  would certainly have been killed with dashing his Body against the Ground.

  This so frighted themselves, that besides the howling Noise they made in the

  Tree, our Men heard a strange Clutter of them in the Body of the Tree, from

  whence they concluded they had made the Tree hollow, and were got to hide

  themselves there. Now, had this been the Case, they were secure enough from our

  Men; for it was impossible any of our Men could get up the Tree on the Out-side,

  there being no Branches to climb by; and, to shoot at the Tree, that they tried

  several times to no Purpose, for the Tree was so thick, that no Shot would enter

  it. They made no Doubt however, but that they had their Enemies in a Trap, and

  that a small Siege would either bring them down Tree and all, or starve them

  out: So they resolved to keep their Post, and send to us for Help. Accordingly

  two of them came away to us for more Hands, and particularly desired, that some

  of our Carpenters might come with Tools, to help cut down the Tree, or at least

  to cut down other Wood, and set Fire to it; and That they concluded would not

  fail to bring them out.

  Accordingly our Men went like a little Army, and with mighty Preparations for an

  Enterprize, the like of which has scarce been ever heard, to form the Siege of a

  great Tree. However, when they came there, they found the Task difficult enough,

  for the old Trunk was indeed a very great one, and very tall, being at least Two

  and Twenty Foot high, with seven old Limbs standing out every Way on the Top,

  but decay'd, and very few Leaves, if any, left on it.

  William the Quaker, whose Curiosity led him to go among the rest, proposed, that

  they should make a Ladder, and get up upon the Top, and then throw Wild-fire

  into the Tree, and smoke them out. Others proposed going back, and getting a

  great Gun out of the Ship, which should split the Tree in Pieces with the Iron

  Bullets: Others, that they should cut down a great deal of Wood, and pile it up

  round the Tree, and set it on Fire, and to burn the Tree, and the Indians in it.

  These Consultations took up our People no less than two or three Days, in all

  which Time they heard nothing of the supposed Garrison within this wooden

  Castle, nor any Noise within. William's Project was first gone about, and a

  large strong Ladder was made, to scale this wooden Tower; and in two or three

  Hours time, it would have been ready to mount: When, on a sudden, they heard the

  Noise of the Indians in the Body of the Tree again, and a little after, several

  of them appeared in the Top of the Tree, and threw some Launces down at our Men;

  one of which struck one of our Seamen a-top of the Shoulder, and gave him such a

  desperate Wound, that the Surgeons not only had a great deal of Difficulty to

  cure him, but the poor Man endured such horrible Tortures, that we all said they

  had better have killed him outright. However, he was cured at last, tho' he

  never recover'd the perfect Use of his Arm, the Launce having cut some of the

  Tendons on the Top of the Arm, near the Shoulder, which, as I suppose, performed

  the Office of Motion to the Limb before; so that the poor Man was a Criple all

  the Days of his Life. But to return to the desperate Rogues in the Tree; our Men

  shot at them, but did not find they had hit them, or any of them; but as soon as

  ever they shot at them, they could hear them huddle down into the Trunk of the

  Tree again, and there to be sure they were safe.

  Well, however, it was this which put by the Project of William's Ladder; for

  when it was done, who would venture up among such a Troop of bold Creatures as

  were there? And who, they supposed, were desperate by their Circumstances: And

  as but one Man at a time could go up, they began to think that it would not do;

  and indeed I was of the Opinion, for about this time I was come to their

  Assistance, that the going up the Ladder would not do unless it was thus, that a

  Man should, as it were run just up to the Top, and throw some Fire-works into

  the Tree, and so come down again; and this we did two or three Times, but found

  no Effect of it. At last, one of our Gunners made a Stink-pot, as we called it,

  being a Composition which only smokes, but does not flame or burn; but withal

  the Smoke of it is so thick, and the Smell of it so intolerably nauseous, that

  it is not to be suffered. This he threw into the Tree himself, and we waited for

  the Effect of it, but heard or saw nothing all that Night, or the next Day; so

  we concluded the Men within were all smother'd: When, on a sudden, the next

  Night, we heard them upon the Top of the Tree again, shouting and hallooing like

  Madmen.

  We concluded, as any body would, that this was to call for Help, and we resolved

  to continue our Siege; for we were all enraged to see our selves so baulk'd by a

  few wild People whom we thought we had safe in our Clutches; and indeed never

  was there so many concurring Circumstances to delude Men, in any Case we had met

  with. We resolved however to try another Stink-pot the next Night, and our

  Engineer and Gunner had got it ready, when hearing a Noise of the Enemy, on the

  Top of the Tree, and in the Body of the Tree, I was not willing to let the

  Gunner go up the Ladder, which, I said, would be but to be certain of being

  murthered. However, he found a Medium for it, and that was to go up a few Steps,

  and with a long Pole in his Hand, to throw it in upon the Top of the Tree, the

  Ladder being standing all this while against the Top of the Tree; but when the

  Gunner, with his Machine at the Top of his Pole, came to the Tree with three

  other Men to help him, behold the Ladder was gone.

  This perfectly confounded us, and we now concluded the Indians in the Tree had

  by this Piece of Negligence taken the Opportunity, and come all down the Ladder,

  made their Escape, and had carried away the Ladder with them. I laugh'd most

  heartily at my Friend William, who, as I said, had the Direction of the Siege,

  and had set up a Ladder, for the Garrison, as we called them, to get down upon,

  and run away. But when Day-Light came, we were all set to rights again; for

  there stood our Ladder haul'd up on the Top of the Tree, with about Half of it

  in the Hollow of the Tree, and the other Half upright in the Air. Then we began

  to laugh at the Indians for Fools, that they could not as well have found their

  Way down by the Ladder, and have made their Escape, as to have pull'd it up by

  main Strength into the Tree.

  We then resolved upon Fire, and so to put an End to the Wor
k at once, and burn

  the Tree and its Inhabitants together; and accordingly we went to Work to cut

  Wood, and in a few Hours time we got enough, as we thought, together; and piling

  it up round the Bottom of the Tree, we set it on Fire: So waiting at a Distance,

  to see when the Gentlemens Quarters being too hot for them, they would come

  flying out at the Top. But we were quite confounded, when, on a sudden, we found

  the Fire all put out by a great Quantity of Water thrown upon it. We then

  thought the Devil must be in them to be sure. Says William, this is certainly

  the cunningest Piece of Indian Engineering that ever was heard of, and there can

  be but one thing more to guess at, besides Witchcraft and Dealing with the

  Devil, which I believe not one Word of, says he; and that must be, that this is

  an artificial Tree, or a natural Tree artificially made hollow down into the

  Earth, thro' Root and all; and that these Creatures have an artificial Cavity

  underneath it, quite into the Hill, or a Way to go thro', and under the Hill, to

  some other Place, and where that other Place is, we know not; but if it be not

  our own Fault, I'll find the Place, and follow them into it, before I am two

  Days older. He then called the Carpenters to know of them, if they had any large

  Saws that would cut thro' the Body, and they told him they had not any Saws that

  were long enough, nor could Men work into such a monstrous old Stump in a great

  while; but that they would go to Work with it with their Axes, and undertake to

  cut it down in two Days, and stock up the Root of it in two more. But William

  was for another Way, which proved much better than all this; for he was for

  silent Work, that, if possible, he might catch some of the Fellows in it; so he

  sets twelve Men to it with large Augurs, to bore great Holes into the Side of

  the Tree, to go almost thro', but not quite thro'; which Holes were bored

  without Noise, and when they were done, he filled them all with Gun-Powder,

  stopping strong Plugs bolted cross-ways into the Holes, and then boring a

  slanting Hole of a less Size down into the greater Hole, all which were fill'd

  with Powder, and at once blown up. When they took Fire, they made such a Noise,

  and tore and split the Tree in so many Places, and in such a Manner, that we

  could see plainly, such another Blast would demolish it, and so it did. Thus at

  the second time we could at two or three Places put our Hands into them, and

  discovered the Cheat, namely, that there was a Cave or Hole dug into the Earth,

  from, or thro' the Bottom of the Hollow, and that it had Communication with

  another Cave further in, where we heard the Voices of several of the wild Folks

  calling and talking to one another.

  When we came thus far we had a great Mind to get at them, and William desired,

  that three Men might be given him with Hand-Grenadoes, and he promised to go

  down first, and boldly he did so; for William, give him his due, had the Heart

  of a Lion.

  They had Pistols in their Hands, and Swords by their Sides; but, as they had

  taught the Indians before, by their Stink-Pots, the Indians returned them in

  their own Kind, for they made such a Smoke come up out of the Entrance into the

  Cave or Hollow, that William and his three Men, were glad to come running out of

  the Cave, and out of the Tree too, for mere want of Breath, and indeed they were

  almost stifled.

  Never was a Fortification so well defended, or Assailants so many ways defeated;

  we were now for giving it over, and particularly I called William, and told him,

  I could not but laugh to see us spinning out our Time here for nothing; that I

  could not imagine what we were doing, that it was certain the Rogues that were

  in it were cunning to the last Degree, and it would vex any Body to be so

  baulked by a few naked ignorant Fellows; but still it was not worth our while to

  push it any further, nor was there any thing that I knew of to be got by the

  Conquest when it was made, so that I thought it high time to give it over.

  William acknowledged, that what I said was just, and that there was nothing but

  our Curiosity to be gratified in this Attempt; and tho', as he said, he was very

  desirous to have searched into the Thing, yet he would not insist upon it, so we

  resolved to quit it, and come away, which we did. However, William said, before

  we went, he would have this Satisfaction of them, viz. that he burnt down the

  Tree and stopt up the Entrance into the Cave. While he was doing this, the

  Gunner told him, he would have one Satisfaction of the Rogues, and this was,

  that he would make a Mine of it, and see which way it had Vent: Upon this he

  fetches two Barrels of Powder out of the Ships, and placed them in the Inside of

  the hollow Cave, as far in as he durst go to carry them, and then filling up the

  Mouth of the Cave where the Tree stood, and ramming it sufficiently hard,

  leaving only a Pipe or Touch-hole, he gave Fire to it, and stood at a Distance

  to see which way it would operate, when, on the sudden, he found the Force of

  the Powder burst its way out among some Bushes on the other Side the little Hill

  I mentioned, and that it came roaring out there as out of the Mouth of a Cannon;

  immediately running thither we saw the Effects of the Powder.

  First, We saw that there was the other Mouth of the Cave, which the Powder had

  so torn and open'd, that the loose Earth was so fallen in again, that nothing of

  Shape could be discerned; but there we saw what was become of the Garrison of

  Indians too, who had given us all this Trouble; for some of them had no Arms,

  some no Legs, some no Head, some lay half buried in the Rubbish of the Mine,

  that is to say, in the loose Earth that fell in; and, in short, there was a

  miserable Havock made of them all, for we had good Reason to believe, not one of

  them that were in the Inside could escape, but rather were shot out of the Mouth

  of the Cave like a Bullet out of a Gun.

  We had now our full Satisfaction of the Indians, but, in short, this was a

  losing Voyage, for we had two Men killed, one quite crippled, five more wounded;

  we spent two Barrels of Powder, and eleven Days Time, and all to get the

  Understanding how to make an Indian Mine, or how to keep Garrison in a hollow

  Tree, and with this Wit bought at this dear Price, we came away, having taken in

  some fresh Water, but got no fresh Provisions.

  We then considered what we should do to get back again to Madagascar; we were

  much about the Latitude of the Cape of Good Hope, but had such a very long Run,

  and were neither sure of meeting with fair Winds, or with any Land in the Way,

  that we knew not what to think of it. William was our last Resort in this Case

  again, and he was very plain with us. Friend, said he, to CAPT. WILMOT, what

  Occasion hast thou to run the Venture of starving, merely for the Pleasure of

  saying, thou hast been where no Body ever was before; there are a great many

  Places nearer home, of which thou mayest say the same thing, at a less Expence;

  I see no Occasion thou hast of keeping thus far South, any longer than till you

  are sure you are to the West End of Iava and Sumatra, a
nd then thou may'st stand

  away North towards Ceylon, and the Coast of Coromandel and Maderas, where thou

  may'st get both fresh Water, and fresh Provisions, and to that Part it's likely

  we may hold out well enough with the Stores that we have already.

  This was wholesome Advice, and such as was not to be slighted, so we stood away

  to the West, keeping between the Latitude of 31, and 35, and had very good

  Weather and fair Winds for about ten Days Sail, by which Time, by our Reckoning,

  we were clear of the Isles, and might run away to the North; and, if we did not

  fall in with Ceylon, we should at least go into the great deep Bay of Bengal.

  But we were out in our Reckoning a great deal, for when we had stood due North

  for about fifteen or sixteen Degrees, we met with Land again on our Star-board

  Bow, about three Leagues Distance, so we came to an Anchor about half a League

  from it, and Manned out our Boats to see what sort of a Country it was: We found

  it a very good one, fresh Water easy to come at, but no Cattle, that we could

  see, or Inhabitants, and we were very shye of searching too far after them, lest

  we should make such another Journey as we did last; so that we let rambling

  alone, and chose rather to take what we could find, which was only a few wild

  Mangoes, and some Plants of several Kinds, which we knew not the Names of.

  We made no Stay here, but put to Sea again, N. W. by N. but had little Wind for

  a Fortnight more, when we made Land again, and standing in with the Shore, we

  were surprized to find our selves on the South Shore of Iava; and just as we

  were coming to an Anchor, we saw a Boat carrying Dutch Colours, sailing along

  Shore. We were not sollicitous to speak with them, or any other of their Nation,

  but left it indifferent to our People, when they went on Shore, to see the

  Dutchmen, or not to see them; our Business was to get Provisions, which indeed

  by this time were very short with us.

  We resolved to go on Shore with our Boats in the most convenient Place we could

  find, and to look out a proper Harbour to bring the Ship into, leaving it to our

  Fate, whether we should meet with Friends or Enemies, resolving however, not to

  stay any considerable Time, at least, not long enough to have Expresses sent

  cross the Island to Batavia, and for Ships to come round from thence to attack

  us.

  We found, according to our Desire, a very good Harbour, where we rode in seven

  Fathom Water, well defended from the Weather, whatever might happen, and here we

  got fresh Provisions, such as good Hogs, and some Cows; and that we might lay in

  a little Store, we kill'd sixteen Cows, and pickled and barrelled up the Flesh

  as well as we could be supposed to do in the Latitude of eight Degrees from the

  Line.

  We did all this in about five Days, and filled our Casks with Water, and the

  last Boat was coming off with Herbs and Roots, we being unmoor'd, and our Fore

  Top-Sail loose for sailing, when we spy'd a large Ship to the Northward, bearing

  down directly upon us; we knew not what she might be, but concluded the worst,

  and made all possible Haste to get our Anchor up, and get under Sail, that we

  might be in a Readiness to see what she had to say to us, for we were under no

  great Concern for one Ship; but our Notion was, that we should be attack'd by

  three or four together.

  By the time we had got up our Anchor, and the Boat was stow'd, the Ship was

  within a League of us, and, as we thought, bore down to engage us; so we spread

  our black Flag or Ancient on the Poop, and the bloody Flag at the Top-mast Head,

  and having made a clear Ship, we stretcht away to the Westward, to get the Wind

  of him.

  They had, it seems, quite mistaken us before, expecting nothing of an Enemy or a

  Pyrate in those Seas, and not doubting but we had been one of their own Ships,