by Daniel Defoe
they seem'd to be in some Confusion when they found their Mistake; so they
immediately haul'd up on a-Wind on t'other Tack, and stood edging in for the
Shore, towards the Eastermost Part of the Island. Upon this we tack'd, and stood
after him with all the Sail we could, and in two Hours came almost within Gun
Shot. Tho' they crowded all the Sail they could lay on, there was no Remedy but
to engage us, and they soon saw their Inequality of Force. We fired a Gun for
them to bring to, so they Mann'd out their Boat, and sent to us with a Flag of
Truce. We sent back the Boat, but with this Answer to the Captain, that he had
nothing to do, but to strike, and bring his Ship to an Anchor under our Stern,
and come on board us himself, when he should know our Demands; but that however,
since he had not yet put us to the Trouble of forcing him, which we saw we were
able to do, we assured them, that the Captain should return again in Safety, and
all his Men; and that supplying us with such things as we should demand, his
Ship should not be plundered. They went back with this Message, and it was some
time after they were on board, before they struck, which made us begin to think
they refused it; so we fired a Shot, and in a few Minutes more we perceived
their Boat put off; and as soon as the Boat put off, the Ship struck, and came
to an Anchor, as was directed.
When the Captain came on board, we demanded an Account of their Cargo, which was
chiefly Bales of Goods from Bengal for Bantam . We told them our present Want
was Provisions, which they had no need of, being just at the End of their
Voyage; and that if they would send their Boat on Shore with ours, and procure
us six and twenty Head of black Cattel, threescore Hogs, a Quantity of Brandy
and Arrack, and three Hundred Bushels of Rice, we would let them go free.
As to the Rice, they gave us six Hundred Bushels, which they had actually on
board, together with a Parcel Shipt upon Freight. Also they gave us thirty
middling Casks of very good Arrack, but Beef and Pork they had none. However,
they went on Shore with our Men, and bought eleven Bullocks and fifty Hogs,
which were pickled up for our Occasion, and upon the Supplies of Provision from
Shore, we dismiss'd them and their Ship.
We lay here seven Days before we could furnish our selves with the Provisions
agreed for, and some of the Men fancied the Dutchmen were contriving our
Destruction; but they were very honest, and did what they could to furnish the
Black Cattel, but found it impossible to supply so many. So they came and told
us ingenuously, that unless we could stay a while longer, they could get no more
Oxen or Cows than those Eleven, with which we were obliged to be satisfied,
taking the Value of them in other things, rather than stay longer there. On our
Side we were punctual with them in observing the Conditions we had agreed on,
nor would we let any of our Men so much as go on board them, or suffer any of
their Men to come on board us; for had any of our Men gone on board, no body
could have answer'd for their Behaviour, any more than if they had been on Shore
in an Enemy's Country.
We were now Victualled for our Voyage, and as we matter'd not Purchase, we went
merrily on for the Coast of Ceylon, where we intended to touch to get fresh
Water again, and more Provisions; and we had nothing material offer'd in this
Part of the Voyage, only that we met with contrary Winds, and were above a Month
in the Passage.
We put in upon the South Coast of the Island, desiring to have as little to do
with the Dutch as we could; and as the Dutch were Lords of the Country as to
Commerce, so they are more so of the Sea Coast, where they have several Forts,
and in particular, have all the Cinnamon, which is the Trade of that Island.
We took in fresh Water here, and some Provisions, but did not much trouble our
selves about laying in any Stores, our Beef and Hogs which we got at Iava being
not yet all gone by a good deal. We had a little Skirmish on Shore here with
some of the People of the Island, some of our Men having been a little too
familiar with the Homely Ladies of the Country; for Homely indeed they were, to
such a Degree, that if our Men had not had good Stomachs that Way, they would
scarce have touch'd any of them.
I could never fully get it out of our Men what they did, they were so true to
one another in their Wickedness; but I understood in the main, that it was some
barbarous thing they had done, and that they had like to have paid dear for it;
for the Men resented it to the last Degree, and gathered in such Numbers about
them, that had not sixteen more of our Men, in another Boat, come all in the
Nick of Time, just to rescue our first Men, who were but Eleven, and so fetch
them off by main Force, they had been all cut off, the Inhabitants being no less
than two or three Hundred, armed with Darts and Launces, the usual Weapons of
the Country, and which they are very dexterous at the throwing, even so
dexterous, that it was scarce credible: And had our Men stood to fight them, as
some of them were bold enough to talk of, they had been all overwhelmed and
kill'd. As it was, seventeen of our Men were wounded, and some of them very
dangerously. But they were more frighted than hurt too; for every one of them
gave themselves over for dead Men, believing the Launces were poisoned. But
William was our Comfort here too; for when two of our Surgeons were of the same
Opinion, and told the Men foolishly enough, that they would die, William
chearfully went to Work with them, and cured them all but one, who rather died
by drinking some Arrack Punch, than of his Wound, the Excess of Drinking
throwing him into a Fever.
We had enough of Ceylon, tho' some of our People were for going ashore again,
sixty or seventy Men together, to be revenged; but William perswaded them
against it, and his Reputation was so great among the Men, as well as with us
that were Commanders, that he could influence them more than any of us.
They were mighty warm upon their Revenge, and they would go on Shore, and
destroy five Hundred of them. Well, says William, and suppose you do, what are
you the better? Why then, says one of them, speaking for the rest, we shall have
our Satisfaction. Well, and what will you be the better for that, says William?
They could then say nothing to that. Then, says William, if I mistake not, your
Business is Money: Now I desire to know, if you conquer and kill two or three
Thousand of these poor Creatures, they have no Money, pray what will you get?
They are poor naked Wretches, what shall you gain by them? But then said
William, perhaps, in doing this, you may chance to lose Half a Score of your own
Company, as 'tis very probable you may, pray, what Gain is in it, and what
Account can you give the Captain for his lost Men? In short, William argued so
effectually, that he convinc'd them that it was mere Murther, to do so; and that
the Men had a Right to their own, and that they had no Right to take them away:
That it was destroying innocent Men, who had acted no otherwise than as the Laws
<
br /> of Nature dictated; and that it would be as much Murther to do so, as to meet a
Man on the High-way, and kill him, for the mere sake of it, in cold Blood, not
regarding whether he had done any Wrong to us or no.
These Reasons prevailed with them at last, and they were content to go away, and
leave them as they found them. In the first Skirmish they killed between sixty
and seventy Men, and wounded a great many more, but they had nothing, and our
People got nothing by it, but the Loss of one Man's Life, and the Wounding
sixteen more, as above.
But another Accident brought us to a Necessity of further Business with these
People, and indeed we had like to have put an End to our Lives and Adventures
all at once among them; for, about three Days after our Putting out to Sea, from
the Place where we had that Skirmish, we were attack'd by a violent Storm of
Wind from the South, or rather a Hurricane of Wind from all the Points
Southward, for it blew in a most desperate and furious Manner, from the S. E. to
the S. W. one Minute at one Point, and then instantly turning about again to
another Point, but with the same Violence; nor were we able to work the Ship in
that Condition: So that the Ship I was in split three Topsails, and at last
brought the Main Top-mast by the Board; and in a Word, we were once or twice
driven right ashore; and one time, had not the Wind shifted the very Moment it
did, we had been dash'd in a Thousand Pieces upon a great Ledge of Rocks, which
lay off about Half a League from the Shore; but, as I have said, the Wind
shifting very often, and at that time coming to the E. S. E. we stretcht off,
and got above a League more Sea-room in Half an Hour. After that, it blew with
some Fury S. W. by S. then S. W. by W. and put us back again a great Way to the
Eastward of the Ledge of Rocks, where we found a fair Opening between the Rocks
and the Land, and endeavoured to come to an Anchor there; but we found there was
no Ground fit to Anchor in, and that we should lose our Anchors, there being
nothing but Rocks. We stood thro' the Opening, which held about four Leagues;
the Storm continued, and now we found a dreadful foul Shore, and knew not what
Course to take. We look'd out very narrowly for some River, or Creek, or Bay,
where we might run in, and come to an Anchor, but found none a great while. At
length we saw a great Head-Land lye out far South into the Sea, and that to such
a Length, that, in short, we saw plainly, that if the Wind held where it was, we
could not Weather it; so we run in as much under the Lee of the Point as we
could, and came to an Anchor in about twelve Fathom Water.
But the Wind veering again in the Night, and blowing exceeding hard, our Anchors
came home, and the Ship drove till the Rudder struck against the Ground; and had
the Ship gone Half her Length further, she had been lost, and every one of us
with her. But our Sheet Anchor held its own, and we heaved in some of the Cable,
to get clear of the Ground we had struck upon. It was by this only Cable that we
rode it out all Night, and towards Morning we thought the Wind abated a little,
and it was well for us that it was so; for in spite of what our Sheet Anchor did
for us, we found the Ship fast a-ground in the Morning, to our very great
Surprize and Amazement.
When the Tide was out, tho' the Water here ebb'd away, the Ship lay almost dry
upon a Bank of hard Sand, which never, I suppose, had any Ship upon it before;
the People of the Country came down in great Numbers, to look at us, and gaze,
not knowing what we were, but gaping at us as at a great Sight or Wonder, at
which they were surpriz'd, and knew not what to do.
I have Reason to believe, that upon the Sight they immediately sent an Account
of a Ship being there, and of the Condition we were in; for the next Day there
appeared a great Man, whether it was their King or no, I knew not, but he had
Abundance of Men with him, and some with long Javelins in their Hands, as long
as Half Pikes; and these came all down to the Water's Edge, and drew up in very
good Order just in our View. They stood near an Hour without making any Motion,
and then there came near twenty of them with a Man before them, carrying a white
Flag before them. They came forward into the Water as high as their Wastes, the
Sea not going so high as before, for the Wind was abated, and blew off Shore.
The Man made a long Oration to us, as we could see by his Gestures, and we
sometimes heard his Voice, but knew not a Word he said. William, who was always
useful to us, I believe, was here again the Saving of all our Lives. The Case
was this. The Fellow, or what I might call him, when his Speech was done, gave
three great Screams, for I know not what else to say they were, then lower'd his
white Flag three times, and then made three Motions to us with his Arm, to come
to him.
I acknowledge, that I was for Manning out the Boat, and going to them; but
William would by no means allow me: He told me, we ought to trust no Body; that
if they were the Barbarians, and under their own Government, we might be sure to
be all murthered; and if they were Christians, we should not fare much better,
if they knew who we were; that it was the Custom of the Malabars, to betray all
People that they could get into their Hands; and that these were some of the
same People; and that if we had any Regard to our own Safety, we should not go
to them by any means. I opposed him a great while, and told him, I thought he
used to be always right, but that now I thought he was not; that I was no more
for running needless Risques, than he, or any one else; but I thought all
Nations in the World, even the most savage People, when they held out a Flag of
Peace, kept the Offer of Peace made by that Signal, very sacredly, and I gave
him several Examples of it in my History of my African Travels, which I have
here gone thro' in the Beginning of this Work; and that I could not think these
People worse than some of them. And besides, I told him, our Case seem'd to be
such, that we must fall into some body's Hands or other, and that we had better
fall into their Hands by a friendly Treaty, than by a forced Submission; nay,
tho' they had indeed a treacherous Design; and therefore I was for a Parley with
them.
Well, Friend, says William very gravely, if thou wilt go, I cannot help it; I
shall only desire to take my last Leave of thee at Parting, for depend upon it,
thou wilt never see us again: Whether we in the Ship may come off any better at
last, I cannot resolve thee; but this I will answer for, that we will not give
up our Lives idly, and in cool Blood, as thou art going to do; we will at least
preserve our selves as long as we can, and die at last like Men, not like Fools
trapann'd by the Wiles of a few Barbarians.
William spoke this with so much Warmth, and yet with so much Assurance of our
Fate, that I began to think a little of the Risque I was going to run. I had no
more Mind to be murthered than he; and yet I could not for my Life be so
faint-hearted in the thing, as he. Upon which I asked him, if he had
any
Knowledge of the Place, or had ever been here? He said, No. Then I asked him, if
he had heard or read any thing about the People of this Island, and of their Way
of treating any Christians that had fallen into their Hands? And he told me, he
had heard of one, and he would tell me the Story afterward. His Name, he said,
was Knox, Commander of an East India Ship, who was driven on Shore, just as we
were, upon this Island of Ceylon, tho' he could not say it was at the same
Place, or whereabouts: That he was beguiled by the Barbarians, and inticed to
come on Shore, just as we were invited to do at that time; and that when they
had him, they surrounded him and eighteen or twenty of his Men, and never
suffered them to return, but kept them Prisoners, or murthered them, he could
not well tell which; but they were carried away up into the Country, separated
from one another, and never heard of afterwards, except the Captain's Son, who
miraculously made his Escape after twenty Years Slavery.
I had no Time then to ask him to give the full Story of this Knox, much less to
hear him tell it me; but as it is usual in such Cases, when one begins to be a
little touch'd, I turn'd short with him, Why then, Friend William, said I, what
would you have us do? You see what Condition we are in, and what is before us;
something must be done, and that immediately. Why, says William, I'll tell thee
what thou shalt do: First cause a white Flag to be hang'd out, as they do to us,
and Man out the Long-Boat and Pinnace with as many Men as they can well stow, to
handle their Arms, and let me go with them, and thou shalt see what we will do.
If I miscarry, thou may'st be safe; and I will also tell thee, that if I do
miscarry, it shall be my own Fault, and thou shalt learn Wit by my Folly.
I knew not what to reply to him at first; but after some Pause, I said, William,
William, I am as loath you should be lost, as you are that I should; and if
there be any Danger, I desire you may no more fall into it than I. Therefore, if
you will, let us all keep in the Ship, fare alike, and take our Fate together.
No, no, says William, there's no Danger in the Method I propose; thou shalt go
with me, if thou thinkest fit. If thou pleasest but to follow the Measures that
I shall resolve on, depend upon it, tho' we will go off from the Ships, we will
not a Man of us go any nearer them than within Call to talk with them. Thou
seest they have no Boats to come off to us; but, says he, I rather desire thou
wouldst take my Advice, and manage the Ship, as I shall give the Signal from the
Boat, and let us concert that Matter together before we go off.
Well, I found William had his Measures in his Head all laid before-hand, and was
not at a Loss what to do at all; so I told him he should be Captain for this
Voyage, and we would be all of us under his Orders, which I would see observed
to a Tittle.
Upon this Conclusion of our Debates, he ordered four and Twenty Men into the
Long-Boat, and twelve Men into the Pinnace, and the Sea being now pretty smooth,
they went off, being all very well arm'd. Also he ordered, that all the Guns of
the great Ship, on the Side which lay next the Shore, should be loaded with
Musquet Balls, old Nails, Stubbs, and such like Pieces of old Iron, Lead, and
any thing that came to Hand; and that we should prepare to fire as soon as ever
he saw us lower the white Flag, and hoist up a red one in the Pinnace.
With these Measures fix'd between us, they went off towards the Shore, William
in the Pinnace with twelve Men, and the Long-Boat coming after him with four and
twenty more, all stout, resolute Fellows, and very well arm'd. They row'd so
near the Shore, as that they might speak to one another, carrying a white Flag
as the other did, and offerring a Parle. The Brutes, for such they were, shewed
themselves very courteous, but finding we could not understand them, they
