by Daniel Defoe
Parting, we set up a Post, with this Inscription, doneon 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 butthe Post may stand there still.
From hence we launch'd out into the vast _Atlantick Ocean_, steering ourCoast E. by N. and E. N. E. till we had sail'd, by our Account, about 470Leagues, taking our Meridian Distance, or Departure, from St. _Julian_. Andhere a strong Gale springing up at S. E. by E. and E. S. E. encreasingafterwards to a violent Storm, we were forc'd by it to the Norward, as highas the _Tropick_; not that it blew a Storm all the while, but it blew sosteady, and so very hard, for near 20 Days together, that we were carry'dquite out of our intended Course: After we had weather'd this, we began torecover ourselves again, making still East; and endeavouring to get to theSouthward, we had yet another hard Gale of Wind at S. and S. S. E. sostrong, 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 Weeksmore 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 weresolv'd not by any Means to let the Governor on Shore know our Ship'sName, or any of our Officers Names; and I believe our Men were very true toone another in that Point, but they were not at all shy of letting themknow upon what Account we were, _&c._ so that if he could have gotten anyof us in his Power, as we were afterwards told he endeavour'd by two orthree Ambuscades to do, we should have pass'd our Time but veryindifferently; for which, when we went away, we let him know we would nothave 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 supplyour Want of fresh Water; the Wind presenting fair, _Feb._ 2. 1692, we setSail, and (not to trouble my Story with the Particulars of the Voyage, inwhich nothing remarkable occur'd) we doubled the Cape the 13th of _March_,and passing on without coming to an Anchor, or discovering ourselves, wemade directly to the Island of _Madagascar_, where we arriv'd the 7th of_April_; the Sloop, to our particular Satisfaction, keeping in Company allthe 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'devery Attempt, and follow'd every Undertaking, and we scarce knew what itwas to be disappointed; but we had an Interval of our Fortunes to meet within 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; norwas it a proper Place for our Business, which was to take Possession of aprivate secure Place to make a Refuge of: So after staying some Time wherewe put in, which was on the Point of Land a little to the South of CapeSt._ Augustine_, and taking in Water and Provisions there, we stood away tothe North, and keeping the Island in View, went on till we came to theLatitude 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'dus to run directly for the Shore to save our Lives as well as we could, inHopes of finding some Harbour or Bay where we might run in, or at leastmight go into smooth Water till the Storm was over.
The Sloop was more put to it than we were in the great Ship, and beingoblig'd to run afore it, a little sooner than we did, she serv'd for aPilot-Boat to us which follow'd; in a Word, she run in under the Lee of agreat Head-land, which jetted far out into the Sea, and stood very highalso, and came to an Anchor in three Fathom and a half Water: We follow'dher, but not with the same good Luck, tho' we came to an Anchor too, as wethought, safe enough; but the Sea going very high, our Anchor came Home inthe Night, and we drove on Shore in the Dark among the Rocks, in spight ofall 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 ownBoat, we sav'd our Lives; and the Storm abating in the Morning, we had Timeto 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' Imention 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 theCountry; for tho' we had the Sloop, we could propose little Advantage byher; for as to cruising for Booty among the _Arabians_ or _Indians_, we hadneither 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 allbeen 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 tosettle 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 whichTime we built us a little Town, and fortify'd it by the Direction of one ofour Gunners, who was a very good Engineer, in a very clever and regularManner, placing a very strong double Palisado round the Foot of our Works,and a very large Ditch without our Palisado, and a third Palisado beyondthe Ditch, like a Counterscarp or Cover'd-way; besides this, we rais'd alarge Battery next to the Sea, with a Line of 24 Guns plac'd before it, andthus we thought ourselves in a Condition to defend ourselves against anyForce that could attempt us in that Part of the World.
And besides all this, the Place on which our Habitation was built, being anIsland, 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 aProposal to our Men one Day, that tho' we were well enough in ourHabitation, and wanted for nothing, yet since we had a Sloop here, and aBoat so good as she was, 'twas Pity she should lye and perish there, but weshould send her Abroad, and see what might happen; that perhaps it might beour good Luck to surprise some Ship or other for our Turn, and so we mightall 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 gotogether by the Ears upon the Question who should go in her: My secretDesign was laid, that I was resolv'd to go in her myself, and that sheshould not go without me; but when it began to be talk'd of, I discover'dthe greatest seeming Resolution not to stir, but to stay with the rest, andtake 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 weremuch the easier; for at first they began to think it was only a Project ofmine to run away from them; and so indeed it was: However, as I did not atfirst propose to go my self, so when I came to the Proposal of who shouldgo, I made a long Discourse to them of the Obligation they had all to befaithful one to another, and that those who went in the Sloop, ought toconsider themselves and those that were with them to be but one Body withthose who were left behind; that their whole Concern ought to be to getsome 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 thecommon Keeping, as it was before; to remain as a Pledge for his faithfulperforming the Voyage, and coming back again to the Company; and shouldfaithfully swear that wherever they went, (for as to the Voyage, they wereat full Liberty to go whither they would) they would certainly endeavour toget 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 intothe Sloop, but with this Alteration in them, (which was easy to be seen intheir Countenances) _viz._ that from that Minute there was no striving whoshould go, but every Man was willing to stay where they were: This was whatI wanted, and I let it rest for two or three Days; when I took Occasion totell them, that seeing they all were sensible that it was a very goodProposal to send the Sloop out to Sea, and see what they could do for
us, Ithought it was strange they should so generally shew themselves backward tothe Service for fear of parting from their Money; I told them that no Manneed be afraid, that the whole Body should agree to take his Money from himwithout any pretended Offence, much less when he should be Abroad for theirService: But however, as it was my Proposal, and I was always willing tohazard myself for the Good of them all, so I was ready to go on theConditions I had propos'd to them for others, and I was not afraid toflatter myself with serving them so well Abroad, that they should notgrudge to restore me my Share of Money when I came Home, and the like ofall those that went with me.
This was so seasonably spoken, and humour'd so well, that it answer'd myDesign effectually, and I was voted to go _nemine contradicente_; then Idesir'd
