The King of Pirates
Page 9
Wealth we had there, which made them very hearty to us,we set Sail: We took in some Beef and Fish, at ------ where we lay fifteenDays, but out of all Reach of the Castle or Fort; and having done ourBusiness, sail'd away for the _Canaries_, where we took in some Butts ofWine, and some fresh Water: With the Guns the Ship had, and those eight Ihad put on Board as Merchandize, we had then two and thirty Guns mounted,bur were but slenderly Mann'd, tho' we gat four _English_ Seamen at the_Canaries_; but we made up the Loss at _Fiall_, where we made bold withthree _English_ Ships we found, and partly by fair Means, and partly byForce, shipp'd twelve Men there; after which, without any farther Stop forMen or Stores, we kept the Coast of _Africa_ on Board 'till we pass'd theLine, and then stood off to St. _Helena_.
Here we took in fresh Water, and some fresh Provisions, and went directlyfor the _Cape of Good Hope_, which we pass'd, stopping only to fill about22 Butts of Water, and with a fair Gale enter'd the Sea of _Madagascar_,and sailing up the West Shore, between the Island and the Coast of_Africa_, came to an Anchor over against our Settlement, about two LeaguesDistance, and made the Signal of our Arrival, with firing twice seven Gunsat the Distance of a Two-Minute Glass between the Seven; when, to ourinfinite Joy, the Fort answer'd us, and the Long-boat, the same thatbelong'd to our former Ship, came off to us.
We embrac'd one another with inexpressible Joy, and the next Morning I wenton Shore, and our Men brought our Ship safe into Harbour, lying within theDefence of our Platform, and within two Cables length of the Shore, goodsoft Ground, and in eleven Fathom Water, having been three Months andeighteen Days on the Voyage, and almost three Years absent from the Place.
When I came to look about me here, I found our Men had encreas'd theirNumber, and that a Vessel which had been cruising, that is to say, Piratingon the Coast of _Arabia_, having seven _Dutchmen_, three _Portuguese_, andfive _Englishmen_ on Board, had been cast away upon the Northern Shore ofthat Island, and had been taken up and reliev'd by our Men, and liv'd amongthem. They told us also of another Crew of _European_ Sailors, which lay,as we did, on the Main of the Island, and had lost their Ship and were, asthe Islanders told them, above a hundred Men, but we heard nothing who theywere.
Some of our Men were dead in the mean Time, I think about three; and thefirst Thing I did was to call a Muster, and see how Things stood as toMoney: I found the Men had been very true to one another; there lay all theMoney, in Chests piled up as I left it, and every Man's Money having hisName upon it: Then acquainting the rest with the Promise I had made the Menthat came with me, they all agreed to it; so the Money belonging to thedead Men, and to the rest of the forty Men who belong'd to the Sloop, wasdivided among the Men I brought with me, as well those who join'd at first,as those we took in at the _Cape de Verd_, and the _Canaries_: And theBails of Goods which we found in the Ship, many of which were valuable forour own Use, we agreed to give them all to the fifteen Men mention'd above,who had been sav'd by our Men, and so to buy what we wanted of those Goodsof them, which made their Hearts glad also.
And now we began to consult what Course to take in the World: As for goingto _England_, tho' our Men had a great Mind to be there, yet none of themknew how to get thither, notwithstanding I had brought them a Ship; but I,who had now made myself too publick to think any more of _England_, hadgiven over all Views that Way, and began to cast about for fartherAdventures; for tho', as I said, we were immensely rich before, yet Iabhorr'd lying still, and burying my self alive, as I call'd it, amongSavages and Barbarians; besides, some of our Men were young in the Trade,and had seen nothing; and they lay at me every Day not to lie still in aPart of the World where, as they said, such vast Riches might be gain'd;and that the _Dutchmen_ and _Englishmen_ who were cast away, as above, andwho our Men call'd the _Comelings_, were continually buzzing in my Earswhat infinite Wealth was to be got, if I would but make one voyage to theCoast of _Malabar_, _Coromandel_, and the Bay of _Bengale_; nay, the three_Portuguese_ Seamen offer'd themselves to attack and bring off one of theirbiggest Galleons, even out of the Road of _Goa_, on the _Malabar_ Coast,the Capital of the _Portuguese_ Factories in the _Indies_.
In a Word, I was overcome with these new Proposals, and told the rest of myPeople, I was resolv'd to go to Sea again, and try my good Fortune; I wassorry I had not another Ship or two, but if ever it lay in my Power tomaster a good Ship, I would not fail to bring her to them.
While I was thus fitting out upon this new Undertaking, and the Ship layready to Sail, and all the Men who were design'd for the Voyage, were onBoard, being 85 in Number; among which were all the Men I brought with me,the 15 Comelings, and the rest made up out of our old Number; I say, when Iwas just upon the Point of setting Sail, we were all surpriz'd just in theGrey of the Morning to spy a Sail at Sea; we knew not what to make of her,but found she was an _European_ Ship; that she was not a very large Vessel,yet that she was a Ship of Force too: She seem'd to shorten Sail, as if shelook'd out for some Harbour; at first Sight I thought she was _English_;immediately I resolv'd to slip Anchor and Cable and go out to Sea and speakwith her, if I could, let her be what she would: As soon as I was got alittle clear of the Land, I fir'd a Gun, and spread _English_ Colours: Sheimmediately brought too, fir'd three Guns, and mann'd out her Boat with aFlag of Truce: I did the like, and the two Boats spoke to one another inabout two Hours, when, to our infinite Joy, we found they were our Comradeswho we left in the South Seas, and to whom we gave the Fregate at the Isleof _Juan Fernando_.
Nothing of this Kind could have happen'd more to our mutual Satisfaction,for tho' we had long ago given them over either for Lost, or Lost to us;and we had no great Need of Company, yet we were overjoy'd at meeting, andso were they too.
They were in some Distress for Provisions, and we had Plenty; so we broughttheir Ship in for them, gave them a present Supply, and when we had help'dthem to moor and secure the Ship in the Harbour, we made them lock alltheir Hatches and Cabins up, and come on Shore, and there we feasted themfive or six Days, for we had a Plenty of all Sorts of Provisions, not to beexhausted; and if we had wanted an hundred Head of fat Bullocks, we couldhave had them for asking for of the Natives, who treated us all along withall possible Courtesy and Freedom in their Way.
The History of the Adventures and Success of these Men, from the Time weleft them to the Time of their Arrival at our new Plantation, was our wholeEntertainment for some Days. I cannot pretend to give the Particulars by myMemory; but as they came to us _Thieves_, they improv'd in their Calling toa great Degree, and, next to ourselves, had the greatest Success of any ofthe Buccaneers whose Story has ever been made publick.
I shall not take upon me to vouch the whole Account of their Actions,neither will this Letter contain a full History of their Adventures; but ifthe Account which they gave us was true, you may take it thus:
First, that having met with good Success after they left us, and havingtaken some extraordinary Purchase, as well in some Vessels they took atSea, as in the Plunder of some Towns on the Shore near _Guyaquil_, as Ihave already told you, they got Information of a large Ship which wasloading the King's Money at _Puna_, and had Orders to sail with it to_Lima_, in order to its being carry'd from thence to _Panama_ by the Fleet,under the Convoy of the _Flotilla_, or Squadron of Men of War, which theKing's Governor at _Panama_ had sent to prevent their being insulted by thePirates, which they had Intelligence were on the Coast; by which, wesuppose, they meant us who were gone, for they could have no Notion ofthese Men then.
Upon this Intelligence they cruis'd off and on upon the Coast for near aMonth, keeping always to the Southward of _Lima_, because they would notfall in the Way of the said _Flotilla_, and so be overpower'd and miss oftheir Prize: At last they met with what they look'd for, that is to say,they met with the great Ship abovenam'd: But to their great Misfortune andDisappointment, (as they first thought it to be) she had with her a Man ofWar for her Convoy, and two other Merchant Ships in her Company.
The Buccaneers had with them the Sloop which they first sent to us for ourI
ntelligence, and which they made a little Fregate of, carrying eight Guns,and some Patareroes: They had not long Time to consult, but in short theyresolv'd to double man the Sloop, and let her attack the greatMerchant-Ship, while the Fregate, which was the whole of their Fleet, heldthe Man of War in Play, or at least kept him from assisting her.
According to this Resolution, they put 50 Men on Board the Sloop, whichwas, in short, almost as many as would stand upon her Deck one by another;and with this Force they attack'd the great Merchant-Ship, which, besidesits being well mann'd, had 16 good Guns, and about 30 Men on Board. Whilethe Sloop thus began the unequal Fight, the Man of War bore down upon herto succour the Ship under her Convoy, but the Fregate thrusting in between,engag'd the Man of War, and