"I saw in every stander-by
Pale death; life only in thine eye.
The legacy thou gavest us then
We'll sue for when thou diest again.
Farewell! truth shall this story say,
We died, thou only livedst that day."
Such was the end of the great Sir Walter Raleigh, once so highly in
favour with Queen Elizabeth, and, next to Drake, the great scourge and
terror of the Spaniards.
The Algerines were then, as they were for many years afterwards, the
pests of the ocean. Their chief cruising ground was in the Straits of
Gibraltar. Numerous English merchantmen fell into their clutches. The
same determined spirit, however, which has since been exhibited by
British seamen, existed in those days, and induced, on several
occasions, the captives to make gallant efforts to effect their escape.
Among these instances two are especially worthy of note.
The _Jacob_, of Bristol, was entering the straits when she was pounced
upon by an Algerine and captured. The pirates took all the crew out of
her with the exception of four, and sent thirteen of their own people on
board to bring her to Algiers. Four of the captives, knowing the
terrible slavery to which they would be subjected should they reach
Algiers, resolved to attempt the recapture of their vessel. Happily for
them, on the fifth night after they had been taken, a heavy gale sprang
up. While the Algerine captain was assisting his followers to shorten
sail, two of the English, who had been liberated that they might lend a
hand, coming suddenly upon him hove him overboard. Having got hold of a
rope which was towing astern, he had almost regained the deck, when one
of the Englishmen drove him back with the pump-handle, the act being,
fortunately, unobserved during the darkness and confusion by the rest of
the pirates. This done, they made their way into the master's cabin,
where they found two cutlasses, with which suddenly attacking the
pirates, they drove them from one part of the ship to the other, killed
two, and made a third leap overboard. The other nine they drove between
decks, when they forced the hatches down upon them. Making use of two
or three of the Algerines at a time, as they required them for making or
shortening sail, they carried the ship triumphantly into Saint Luca, in
Spain, where the Algerines were sold for slaves. At the same time the
_Nicholas_, of Plymouth, of 40 tons burden, commanded by John Rawlins,
and the _Bonaventure_ of 70 tons, were bound out together up the
straits. On the 18th of November they came in sight of Gibraltar, when
they discovered five ships, which they soon perceived to be pirates,
making all sail towards them. In vain they attempted to reach
Gibraltar; the Algerines coming up with the _Bonaventure_, she was
captured by their admiral, while the vice-admiral soon afterwards
compelled Rawlins to strike. The same day the admiral put on shore
twelve of the _Bonaventure's_ crew, with some other English captives
before taken, but the vice-admiral ordered Rawlins and five of his men
to be brought on board his vessel, leaving three men and a boy, with
thirteen Algerines, on board the prize. The following night, during a
storm, the _Nicholas_ was lost sight of. On the 22nd the vice-admiral,
with Rawlins on board, arrived at Algiers. A few days afterwards the
_Nicholas_ arrived, when the prisoners were carried to the pacha, who,
having chosen one of them for himself, the rest were afterwards sent to
the market to be sold. Rawlins was bought by the captain, who took him
at a low price because he had a lame hand, but perceiving that this
rendered him unfit for work, sold him again, with two more of his men,
to an English renegado, John Goodhall, who, with his partners, had
bought the _Exchange_, of Bristol, a ship formerly taken by the pirates,
which at that time lay unrigged inside the mole, and for which they
wanted some skilful seamen. On the 7th of January, 1622, the ship,
being fitted, was hauled out of the mole. She carried twelve cast guns,
with a crew of sixty-three Algerines, nine Englishmen, one Frenchmen,
and four Hollanders, all freemen; and for gunners, she had two soldiers,
one an English and the other a Dutch renegado. Rawlins, from the first
going on board, resolved to attempt regaining his liberty. For this
purpose he furnished himself with ropes and pieces of iron, and iron
crowbars to secure the scuttles, gratings, and cabins, and when, having
gained over the other Europeans, he hoped, by being masters of the
gun-room, ordnance, and powder, either to blow up their captors or to
kill them as they came out of their cabins. He first made known his
design to the English, and by degrees won over the four Hollanders, who
offered to join them and gain the assistance of the Dutch renegadoes,
while the English undertook to obtain the assistance of the renegado of
their own nation. During this time Rawlins, who was acting as
sailing-master, persuaded the Algerine captain to steer to the
northward, though he knew very well that they had already passed the
straits. On the 16th of February they took an English barque from
Torbay, laden with salt. With the exception of the mate and two men,
the crew were removed from the prize, and ten Algerines, with the Dutch
and one English renegado, who were all in the plot, were sent on board
instead. Before they left the _Exchange_, Rawlins assured them that he
would make his attempt that night or the next, and give them a signal by
which they might know when he was about it, advising them to acquaint
the English in the barque with their design, and to steer towards the
English coast. Next morning the Algerine captain got very much out of
humour in consequence of not seeing the prize; and Rawlins, fearing that
he might return to Algiers, thought it high time to put his plan into
execution. He had already made the master and crew of the Torbay vessel
acquainted with it; he now told the Algerine captain that there was a
great deal of water below, and that it did not come to the pumps because
the ship was too far by the head. For the purpose of remedying this an
order was issued to bring four guns astern; two of them were accordingly
placed with their mouths directly before the binnacle. Rawlins had
already provided himself with sufficient powder, which he obtained from
the gunner, to prime the pieces. He now assured the captain that in
order to right the ship all hands must work at the pumps. While this
was doing, two matches were brought, one between two spoons, and the
other in a can, and immediately one of the guns being discharged, the
binnacle was shattered to pieces. On this signal, all the English
collected together, and having seized such arms as they could lay hold
of quickly cleared the hold, while another party made themselves masters
of the magazine and arms. The pirates, who were on the poop, now
attacked the English, who, being by this time all armed, compelled them
to cry for quarter. They were ordered to come down one by one. So
enraged were the English that several of the pirates were killed, while
others leaped into the sea. Thus of forty-five Algerines who were on
board, the captain and five more alone were saved. With these the
gallant Rawlins and his men arrived at Plymouth on the 15th of February,
1622. The Torbay barque reached Penzance, in Cornwall, having all along
persuaded the Algerines that they were going to Algiers, till they came
in sight of England. When the pirates were below trimming the salt,
they nailed the hatches down upon them. Having come to an anchor, they
carried their captives to Exeter.