by Daniel Defoe
Boxes of Pearl ofa good Value; five _Dutch_, or rather _Flemish_, Seamen that were on Boardher, were willing to go with us; and as to the rest of the Cargo, we lether go, only finding four of her Guns were Brass, we took them into ourShip, with seven great Jars of Powder, and some Cannon-Shot, and let hergo, using the _Spaniards_ very civilly.
This was a Piece of meer good Fortune to us, and was so encouraging asnothing could be more, for it set us up, as we may say; for now we thoughtwe could never fail of good Fortune, and we resolv'd, one and all, directlyto the South Seas.
It was about the Middle of _August_ 1690 that we set forward, and steeringE. 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 goclear 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 putin 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 freshProvisions, was a great Relief to us: But we gat no Purchase here; forwhether it was that their _European_ Ships were just come in, or just goneout, we know not, or whether they suspected what we were, and so kept closewithin 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 alongthe _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 underShore.
We cross'd the Line here about the latter End of _September_, and found theAir exceeding hot and unwholsome, the Sun being in the _Zenith_, and theWeather very wet and rainy; so we resolv'd to stand away South, withoutlooking for any more Purchase on that Side.
Accordingly we kept on to the South, having tolerable good Weather, andkeeping 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 inagain, being the Beginning of _November_, and took in fresh Water, andspent about ten Days, refreshing ourselves, and fitting our Tackle; allwhich Time we liv'd upon Penguins and Seals, of which we kill'd aninnumerable Number; and when we prepar'd to go, we salted up as manyPenguins as we found would serve our whole Crew, to eat them twice a Weekas long as they would keep.
Here we consulted together about going thro' the Straits of _Magellan_; butI put them quite out of Conceit of making that troublesom and fatieguingAdventure, the Straits being so hazardous, and so many Winds requir'd topass them; and having assur'd them, that in our Return with _Bat Sharp_, wewent away to the Latitude of 55 Degrees 30 Minutes, and then steering dueEast, came open with the North Seas in five Days Run, they all agreed to gothat Way.
On the 20th of November we weigh'd from Port _Julien_, and having a fairWind at N. E. by E. led it away merrily, till we came into the Latitude of54, when the Wind veering more Northerly, and then to the N. W. blowinghard, we were driven into 55 Degrees and half, but lying as near as wecould 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 theBeginning of the Summer Solstice in that Country.
With this Wind, which blew a fresh Gale, we stood away N. N. W. and soonfound ourselves in open Sea, to the West of _America_; upon which we haul'daway N. by E. and N. N. E. and then N. E. when on the 20th of _December_ wemade 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 madethe Isle of St. _Juan Fernando_, where we came to an Anchor, and went onShore to get fresh Water; also some of our Men went a hunting for Goats, ofwhich we kill'd enough to feed us all with fresh Meat for all the while westay'd here, which was 22 Days. [_Jan._ 11.]
During this Stay we sent the Sloop out to Cruise, but she came back withoutseeing 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 aSail, and that we should come out to help them; accordingly the Frigat putto Sea after them, but making no Signal for us to follow, we lay still, andwork'd hard at cleaning our Ship, shifting some of the Rigging, and thelike.
We heard no more of them in three Days, which made us repent sorely that wehad 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 hadchac'd a great Ship and a Bark all Night, and the next Day; that they tookthe Bark the Evening before, but found little in her of Value; that thegreat Ship ran on Shore among some Rocks, where they durst not go in afterher, but that manning out their Boats, they got on Shore so soon, that theMen belonging to her durst not land; that then they threaten'd to burn theShip as she lay, and burn them all in her, if they did not come on Shoreand surrender: They offer'd to surrender, giving them their Liberty, whichour Men would not promise at first; but after some Parly, and arguing onboth Sides, our Men agreed thus far, that they should remain Prisoners forso long as we were in those Seas, but that as soon as we came to the Heightof _Panama_, or if we resolv'd to return sooner, then they should be set atLiberty; and to these hard Conditions they yielded.
Our Men found in the Ship 6 Brass Guns, 200 Sacks of Meal, some Fruit, andthe Value of 160000 Pieces of Eight in Gold of _Chili_, as good as any inthe World: It was a glittering Sight, and enough to dazzle the Eyes ofthose that look'd on it, to see such a Quantity of Gold laid all of a Heaptogether, and we began to embrace one another in Congratulation of our goodFortune.
We brought the Prisoners all to the Island _Fernando_, where we used themvery well, built little Houses for them, gave them Bread, and Meat, andevery 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 otherPrize 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 choserather to be on Board us, so we took them all in again, and kept on with aneasy Sail, at a proper Distance from Land, that we might not be known, andthe Alarm given; for as to the Ship which we had taken, and which wasstranded among the Rocks, as we had taken all the Men out of her, thePeople on the Shore, when they should find her, could think no other thanthat she was driven on Shore by a Storm, and that all the People weredrown'd, or all escap'd and gone; and there was no Doubt but that the Shipwould 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 anotherAccount, _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 Lakeof _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 theywere 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 interceptthem and cut them off, here they met with no _Spaniards_, nor any otherObstruction in their Way, but coming to the South Sea had Time,undiscover'd, to build themselves Canoes and Periaguas, and did a greatdeal of Mischief upon the Shore, having been follow'd, among the rest, by80 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 theytook two _Spanish_ Barks going from _Guatimala_ to _Panama_, loaden withMeal, Coco, and other Provisions; so that now they were a Fleet of twoBarks, with several Canoes, and Periaguas, but no Guns, nor any moreAmmunition than every one carry'd at first at their Backs.
However, this Troop of Desperadoes had alarm'd all the Coast, and Expressesboth by Sea and Land were dispatch'd, to warn the Towns on the Coast to beupon their Guard, all the way from _Panama_ to _Lima_; but as they wererepresented to be only such Freebooter
s as I have said, Ships of Strengthdid not desist their Voyages, as they found Occasion, as we shall observepresently: We were now gotten into the Latitude of 10, 11, and 12 Degreesand a Half; but, in our overmuch Caution, had kept out so far to Sea, thatwe miss'd every Thing which would otherwise have fallen into our Hands; butwe were better inform'd quickly, as you shall hear.
Early in the Morning, one of our Men being on the Missen-top, cry'd, ASail, a Sail; it prov'd to be a small Vessel standing just after us; and aswe understood afterwards, did so, believing that we were some of the King'sShips looking after the Buccaneers. As we understood she was a-Stern of us,we shorten'd Sail, and hung out the _Spanish_ Colours, separatingourselves, to make him suppose we were cruising for the Buccaneers, and didnot look for him; however,
