The carpenter for a little while went on with seeming good temper, but
suddenly turning short upon me as I stood by him, he swore a great oath,
he would not strike another stroke, ‘he truly would be no body’s slave,
and thought himself now upon a footing with myself.’ This provoked me to
use him a little roughly with my cane; but afterwards came to an
agreement with him to give a four-pistole piece as soon as the stem and
stern-post were up, and 100 pieces of eight when the bark was finished.
He then went to work on the keel, and in two months time we made a
tolerable show, owing to the diligence and ingenuity of Popplestone, the
armourer, who made us hammers, chissels, files, gimlets, bullet-moulds,
and an instrument to bore our cartouch-boxes. These last we covered with
seals skins, and contrived them so as to be both handy and neat. He,
besides all this, began and finished with his own hands, a large
serviceable boat, which was what we very much stood in need of.
For a few days the people behaved themselves very regularly and
diligently, half of them working one day, and half another. But the time
soon arrived when we fell into such confusion and outrageous disorder,
that it was a miracle we ever got off from this place by any assistance
of our own; for, one afternoon, I missed all the people, and could see
no body but Mr. Adams, our surgeon, Mr. Hendry the agent, my son, and
Mr. Dodd, lieutenant of marines, who, for some reasons best known to
himself, had a mind to act the madman. At night I was informed, they had
assembled together at a great tree, had formed a new regulation and new
articles, had excluded the gentlemen adventurers in England from having
any part of what we should take for the future, and had divested me of
the authority of their Captain, having regulated themselves according to
the discipline of Jamaica. They had chosen Morphew to be their champion
and speaker. This man addressed himself to me, and told me, ‘that, as
the Speedwell was cast away, they were now of consequence at their own
disposal, so that their obligations to the owners and me were of no
validity, the ship being now no more; they therefore, he said, had now
thought fit to frame such articles as would be most conducive to their
own interest; and, if I would sign them, well; if not, they would not
trust themselves under my conduct, as they should always be apprehensive
that I should serve them as Clipperton had served some of his men, who
(they heard) happening to be taken separately, he denied them, and
suffered eight of them to be hanged as pirates before his face.’
In these articles, besides casting off the owners, I found myself
reduced from sixty shares to six; and I at last was at a loss what to do
in this dilemma; but I found myself under an indispensible necessity of
signing the articles, in order to get off from the island, where
otherwise I might have been forcibly left behind.
And now, having very unwillingly satisfied them in all I thought they
could ask, I recommended to them the vessel we had begun, not doubting
but after this they would have used their constant endeavours to finish
her, that they might have an opportunity of putting their project in
execution; and they said they would.
But early the next morning, going down to the beach as usual, and
expecting to find every one employed, I saw none of them, except the
carpenter, and two or three more; for, notwithstanding they were
abettors of the designs that were carrying on, yet the hopes of a little
money from me had made them work pretty diligently, though I cannot say
they fatigued themselves. Upon enquiry, I was informed, that the rest of
the people were again adjourned to the great tree; and it was not long
before I was made acquainted with the result of their meeting; for,
betimes the next morning, they surrounded my tent, while Morphew, and
Stewart, their agent, came in to me, and told me, They came in the name
of all the people to demand every thing belonging to the gentlemen
adventurers out of my possession, and particularly 750 weight in Pinna
or virgin silver, a silver dish weighing 75 ounces, and 250 dollars in
money. I did not easily part with all this: but they desired I would
make no dispute; for, as all this came out of the wreck, they insisted,
the owners could have nothing to do with it, and they were determined to
have it. In short, I was obliged to give it all up, and they shared it
amongst them that very moment, according to their new regulation.
After this, they entirely destroyed what little power they had allowed
me over them; and the meanest of them were taught they were as good as
I. They sometimes denied me a quota of the fish, and wondered I could
not go out to catch it as well as they; at best, they would give my
servant who used to fetch it but the leavings, after they had chosen the
prime: and, to complete their insults, my first lieutenant, who used
sometimes to eat with me, entirely deserted my mess to join Morphew, to
partake of his better fare.
Quite tired out with their incessant mutinies, I became at length so
desperate, that I began to think of preferring the dangers of the sea,
in a small open boat, to what I thought myself exposed to on this place
from my ship’s company. I apprehended, they would never rest till they
had made themselves entirely their own masters, by privately making away
with me; and this made me melancholy and pensive, preparing myself for
the worst that could happen. They perceiving this change in me, grew
suspicious that I was now contriving some means to reduce them; and,
therefore, they determined to get the arms out of my possession. To this
purpose they all came in a body, headed by Brooks and Morphew, who, in
the presence of all the people, used me with insupportable impudence;
and even went so far as to threaten the life of my son, for only telling
Morphew, that every one present had not chosen him for his speaker.
Having gained that point also, they had the pleasure of squandering away
their time, and powder and shot, in firing at cats, or any thing else,
to waste the ammunition.
What I have now related, is the substance of what occurred from May 24
till August 15, when we had sight of a large ship, which put us into a
great hurry, and gave us a considerable alarm. Before she crossed the
bay, I ordered all the fires to be put out, and confined the negroes and
Indians, lest the ship should be becalmed under the land, and any of
them should attempt to swim off to her. However, I was not long in fear,
for she kept away large, and at too great a distance to perceive any
thing distinctly of us.
On this occasion I got most of the people under arms, and was glad to
see so many of them, in some measure, obedient to command. I told them,
I was pleased to see their arms in such good order; to which they
answered impertinently, that it was for their own sakes. But this alarm
was scarce subsided before they became divided among themselves. The
question started was, whether or no the bark should be carried on, or,
whether they should not build two large shallops, and set what was done
of the bark on fire. The workmen, and a considerable majority of the
rest, sided with me in behalf of the bark: but at night the carpenter
sent me word, that, if I did not deliver him the money agreed on at the
beginning, notwithstanding the terms of the payment of it were not yet
fulfilled, I should not see his face again; so I was obliged to treat
this gentleman as he pleased to have me, and raise the money for him.
To complete the number of our divisions and dissentions, there arose a
third party, who were resolved to have nothing to do with the other two,
they purposing to stay on the island. These were to the number of 12,
who accordingly separated themselves from the rest, and never appeared
amongst us, except in the night, when they used to come about our tents,
and the bark we were building, to steal powder, lead, and axes, and in
short, whatever else they could lay their hands on. These, however, I
found means to manage, and took from them all their arms, ammunition,
and the rest of their plunder, and threatened, that, if they were found
within musquet-shot of our tents, they should be treated as enemies.
In a little time these divisions had so far weakened the whole body,
that, by degrees, they began to listen a little to what I said to them;
and I prevailed so far as to get most of them into a working humour. Mr.
Brooks now came with a feigned submission, and desired he might eat with
me again; but this, in the main, abated nothing of his esteem for
Morphew. His dissimulation, however, proved of signal service, as it
contributed to the speedy finishing of the bark. This claimed the
assistance of all our heads and hands; for when we came to plank her
bottom, we had most disheartening difficulties to encounter; for, having
no plank but pieces of the wreck’s deck, we found it so dry and
stubborn, that fire and water had scarce any effect in making it pliable
and fit for use. It rent and split, and flew like glass; so that now I
had sufficient reasons to believe, after all our labour, that we must
patiently wait to be taken off from hence by some Spanish ship, and,
after all our troubles, be led to a prison, to reflect on our
misfortunes past. However, by constant labour, and a variety of
contrivances, we, in the end, patched our bark up in such a manner, than
I dare say the like was never seen, and I may venture to affirm, that
such a bottom never swam on the surface of the sea before.
Sept. 9, the boat, which I have already mentioned to be begun by the
armourer, was launched; and, being now in a fair way of compleating our
bark, there yet remained unconsidered and undetermined, what provisions
we should get to support us in our present voyage. All the stock we had
consisted of but one cask of beef, five or six bushels of farina or
Cassader flour, together with four or five live hogs.
I made several experiments to cure both fish and seal, but found it
impossible. At length, we luckily thought on a method of curing the
conger-eel, by splitting it, and taking out the back bone, then dipping
it in salt-water, and afterwards hanging it up to dry in a great smoke.
As no other fish could be preserved after this manner, the fishermen
were ordered to catch what congers they could. And now several of the
people, who had not yet struck a stroke, began to repent of their folly,
as they grew weary of living on this place, and offered their service to
go a-fishing, every one making some foolish excuse or other, for having
been so long idle. The new boat being sent to try her fortune, returned
at night, and brought in a great parcel of fish of several sorts,
amongst which were 200 conger-eels. This was a good beginning, and every
tent took a proportion of them to cure.
Having this conveniency of a large boat, I desired Mr. Brooks, our only
diver, to try what he could recover from that part of the wreck which
lay under water. He accordingly undertook it, and could find but one
small gun, which he weighed and brought on shore, together with two
pieces of a large church-candlestick, which was a part of the plate
which belonged to the gentlemen adventurers.
Our boat was now daily employed in fishing. The armourer constantly
supplied them with hooks, and there was no want of lines, which were
made of twisted ribbon. In the mean time, those who were ashore, made
twice layed stuff for rigging and other uses. We patched up the canvas
for sails; the cooper completed his casks; and, in a short time, we had
masts an-end tolerably well rigged, and thought we made a comfortable
figure.
And now, having done all we could, when we came to put in water, to try
the tightness of our work, it was followed by an universal outcry, _A
sieve! a sieve!_ I was afraid the people would have despaired, and
desisted from using any farther means: but, in a little time, and by
incessant labour, we repaired the ship’s pumps, and fitted them to our
bark. The next spring-tide we found means to launch her, which fell out
on the 5th of October, by which time we had saved about 2300
conger-eels, weighing, one with another, about one pound each, and made
about 60 gallons of seals oil to fry them in. This, with what I
mentioned before, was all our sea-stock. As she went off the blocks, I
named her the _Recovery_, though I was sadly afraid of hearing ill news
from those afloat in her; but all proved indifferently well; and,
knowing it to be dangerous for her to lie here long, especially having
no other anchor than a great stone, and a slight rope to hold her with,
and that the least puff of wind might have driven and destroyed her upon
the rocks, we got all the water off that day, which we did so much
easier and quicker, because the casks were ready stowed in the hold. She
had two masts, and was of about the burthen, of twenty tons; and, to my
great satisfaction, I found, that one pump, constantly working, kept her
free. The next day, October the 6th, we got every one on board and
embarked, leaving behind us eleven or twelve of those who had deserted
us. They were deaf to all persuasions; and, in short, sent me word,
‘They were not yet prepared for the other world;’ so they, with the like
number of blacks and Indians, remained behind on the island.
This island enjoys a fine wholesome air, insomuch that, out of 70 of us
that were on it for the space of five months and eleven days, not one of
us had an hour’s sickness, notwithstanding we fed on foul diet, without
bread or salt. For my own part, I must acknowledge the bounty of
Providence; for, although I lost much of my flesh, I became one of the
strongest and most active men on the island, from being before very
corpulent, and almost crippled with the gout. On the tops of some of the
mountains of this island, are plains covered with groves of the Italian
laurel. Palm-trees are likewise found in most parts, growing in smooth
joints like a cane, some 30, some 40 feet high. What seamen call
palm-cabbage is the very substance of the head of this tree, which being
cut off, you find inclosed a white and tender young cabbage: but, for
every one we got, we were obliged to cut down a fine lofty tree.
The northern part of this island is very well watered, and the water
keeps well at sea, and is, I dare say, as good as any in the world. Down
the western peak descend two cascades, to appearance, at least 300 feet
perpendicular; which, with the palm-trees that grow up close by the
edges of them, exhibit a very grand and romantic prospect.
We might have found goats enough in the mountains, if we had been able
to follow them; and cats are so numerous, that there is hardly taking a
step without starting one. Those whose stomachs could bear their flesh
for food, found a more substantial relief from hunger by one meal of it,
than from four or five of fish.
The Spaniards, who first flocked this island with goats, have since
endeavoured to destroy these goats by dogs, which are likewise very
numerous; but the goats have many inaccessible places of refuge, where
no dogs can follow them; and they still continue to afford a plentiful
supply to strangers.
While we were here, it was the season for the sea-lionesses to come to
land, to bring forth their young. These have bodies of a monstrous bulk,
being from 10 to 12 feet long, and near as much in circumference. I may
venture to affirm, that, one with another, they would yield each a butt
of train oil. They are so indolent, that, as soon as they have gained
the land, they fall asleep, and in that condition remain a month
together so torpid, that you might fire a pistol at their heads without
disturbing them; but where the sea-lionesses lie, as they do in
companies after they have yeaned, to give suck to their young, there is
always an old lion, of the largest size, incessantly on the watch, and
at the approach of an enemy makes a hideous roaring, threatening death
to him who should be so hardy as to molest his charge; and, in truth,
were they not so unwieldy, they would be a desperate creature to
encounter. We were accustomed to walk amongst them without dread; for
all, but those who were to take care of the young, were lost in the
profoundest slumbers. On the land they ingender, and bring forth their
young, who ingender also before they go off, against the next season; so
quick and suddenly do they increase and propagate.
[Illustration: _A Sea Lion when suddenly disturbd a Lioness asleep by
him & a Seal in a moveing posture_]
The seals here may properly be called sea-wolves, from the resemblance
of their heads to the heads of wolves, differing in that particular from
the seals in the northern hemisphere, where their heads are more like
the dog’s. They are naturally surly, and snarl in an angry manner, on
the approach of any body. Two fins compose their tails, and with the
help of these they get along much faster than the lions.
Every thing one sees or hears in this island is different from what is
elsewhere to be found. The very structure of the island, in all its
parts, appears with a certain savage, irregular beauty, not easy to be
expressed. The several prospects of lofty inaccessible hills in the day,
and the solitariness of the gloomy narrow vallies in the night, added to
the mixed, confused noise of the surge continually beating against the
shore, the tumbling of the waters from an immense precipice, the roaring
of sea-lions and sea-wolves, whose voices are more or less shrill or
hoarse according to their youth or age, compose so wild and horrible a
medley, that the stoutest man must long be accustomed to it, before he
can taste the sweets of refreshing sleep, or wholly divest himself of
terror.
October 6, we set sail, with nothing to subsist on at sea but the
before-mentioned smoked congers, one cask of beef, and four live hogs,
together with three or four bushels of farina. We were upwards of forty
of us crowded together, and lying upon bundles of eels, with no
convenience of keeping the men clean, nor any thing to defend us from
their abominable stench; not a drop of water to be had without sucking
it out of the cask through a pipe, which being used promiscuously,
became intolerably nauseous. The unsavoury morsels we daily ate created
perpetual quarrels amongst us, every one contending for the frying-pan.
All the conveniency we had for firing, was an half tub filled with
earth, which made our cooking so tedious, that we had a continual noise
of frying from morning till night.
Thus we traversed the ocean: happy, however, in the thought of being
once more afloat, and cherishing the hope that something would speedily
fall into our hands. Every day, while the sea-breeze continued, we were
hard put to it, for not having above 16 inches free board, and our bark
tumbling prodigiously, the water continually ran over us; and, having
only a grating deck, and no tarpaulin to cover it, our pumps would but
just keep us free.
October 10, being the fourth day of our new expedition, we fell in with
a large ship, which I could plainly see was Europe built. This struck me
with the dread of her being a man-of-war; however, our case being
desperate, I stood for her, and, before we could get quite up with her,
the enemy discovered the brownness of our canvas, and, suspecting us,
wore ship, and hauled close on a wind to the westward. This done, they
hoisted their colours, fired a gun, and crouded away from us at a great
rate; but, in about two hours it fell calm, and we had recourse to our
oars. In the mean time we over-hauled our arms, which we found to be in
very bad condition, one third of them being without flints, and we had
but three cutlasses; so that we were but ill prepared for boarding,
which was the only means we could have of taking any ship. We had but
one small cannon, which we could not mount, and therefore were obliged
to fire it as it lay along upon the deck; and to supply it we had no
more ammunition than two round shot, a few chain-bolts and bolt-heads,
the clapper of the Speedwell’s bell, and some bags of beach-stones to
serve for partridge. In about four hours we came up with this ship, and
every one seemed as easy in his mind as if actually in possession of
her. But, as we advanced nearer, I saw her guns and patararoes, and a
considerable number of men upon deck, with their arms glittering in the
sun, who called out to us by the name of English Dogs, defying us, in a
scornful way, to come on board of them, and at the same time gave us a
volley of great and small shot, which killed our gunner, and almost
brought our fore-mast by the board. This warm reception staggered a
great many of my men who before seemed the forwardest, insomuch that
they lay upon their oars for some time, in spite of all I could do to
make them keep their way. We recovered ourselves again, and rowed close
up with the enemy, and engaged them till all our small shot was
expended, which obliged us to fall astern to make some slugs. In this
manner we made three attempts, but with no better success.
All the night it was calm, and we were busied in making slugs, and had
provided a large quantity by the next morning, when we came to a final
determination of either carrying the ship, or of submitting to her; and
accordingly, at day-break, I ordered twenty men in our yaul, to lay her
athwart the hawse, whilst I boarded her in the bark. The people in the
boat put off, giving me repeated assurances of their good behaviour;
but, at the very juncture we were coming to action, a gale sprang up,
and she went away from us.
This ship was called the Margarita, and was the same which had been a
privateer belonging to St. Malo’s, and mounted forty guns, all the last
war. In the skirmishes we had with her, we had none killed, except
Gilbert Henderson, our gunner; and only three were wounded, viz. Mr.
Brooks, First Lieutenant, through the thigh, Mr. Coldsea, the Master,
through the groin, and one of the fore-mast-men through the small of his
back. Two of these did very well, and I think there was something
extraordinary in their cure; for the surgeon had nothing to apply to
their wounds, but what he himself had prepared with seals oil, and other
matters he had found on the island. Mr. Coldsea, indeed, lingered in a
miserable manner for nine or ten months; but at length recovered.
Our condition now grew worse and worse; for soon after we had parted
from this ship, a hard gale came on, which lasted four days without
ceasing, during all which time we had not an hour’s hope of living a
minute. We were obliged to scud away under bare poles, with our yaul in
tow; and, having but a short scope of boat-rope, we were, on the descent
of every sea, in the greatest danger of having the bark’s stern beat in
by the violence of the boat’s precipitate fall after us; and, once in
particular, a great hollow sea had like to have thrown her upon our
deck, which would have put an end to our voyage immediately. The
excessive fright of this storm made many of our people form a resolution
of going on shore the very first opportunity.
In this extremity, calling to mind M. Frezier’s account of Iquique, I
mentioned the surprizal of that place to the crew, which being
universally approved of, we directed our course to that island.
It was three weeks before we got this length; and having nothing to ride
the bark with, we were obliged to keep the sea with her, whilst the boat
went in between the rocks, and was received by some Indians on the
strand with a sort of welcome. The men, being landed, went to the
Lieutenant’s house, broke it open, and rummaged the whole village, where
they found a booty more valuable to us at that time than gold and
silver. It consisted of about sixty bushels of wheat-flour, 120 of
calavances and corn, some jerked beef, pork and mutton, some thousand
weight of well-cured fish, a good number of fowls, some rusk, and four
or five days eating of soft bread, together with five or six jars of
Peruvian wine and brandy; and, to crown all, they had the good fortune
to find a large boat near the shore, to bring off the booty with, which
otherwise would have been of little use to us, our own boat being
already sufficiently laden with the men.