board: the scene was now changed from famine to plenty; the loaves of
soft bread were distributed to every one, and the jars of wine were
broached; but I took care they should drink but moderately of it, each
man having no more than half a pint to his share: and, after a day or
two’s living on wholesome diet, we wondered how our stomachs had been
able to digest our rank and nauseous eels fried in train-oil, and could
scarcely believe we had lived upon nothing else for a month past.
Mr. Randall, our Second Lieutenant, who commanded in this enterprize,
told me, they did not meet with the least opposition, and that the few
Indians they found seemed to be as glad of this opportunity of pillaging
the Spaniards as we were.
The settlement at Iquique consists of about 60 scattered ill-built
houses, which hardly deserve that name, and a small church. There is not
the least verdure to be seen in or about it, nor does it afford the
least necessary of life, of its own product, not even water, which they
are obliged to fetch in boats from Pisagua, ten leagues to the
northward.
By two Indian prisoners we took here, we were informed, that the
Lieutenant’s boat was then at Pisagua, and that it would not be long
before her return; however, being determined to make some attempt in the
road of le Nasco, in lat. 16 deg. S. and at Pisco, in lat. 13 deg. 45
min. S. we set sail, and the very morning we came off the Sierra or
high-land of le Nasco, two hours before day-light, we fell in with a
large ship. The circumstances of our meeting and engaging her were, in
some measure, the same with those we had with the Margarita. We met with
both at the same time in the morning, and, whilst in pursuit of both,
had the misfortune of being becalmed. We struggled with this last for
six or seven hours, and were at length obliged to leave her, because the
sea-breeze came in so strong, and the sea ran so high, that, had she
been of no force, our slight bark must have been in pieces before a
third part of us could have entered her. This ship was called the St.
Francisco Palacio, of 700 tons, eight guns and ten peteraroes, and was
well manned and provided with small arms.
It happened very unfortunately, that we should thus miss two of the best
equipped ships in the private trade at that time in the South Seas. This
last repulse was made a pretence for much murmuring; many, despairing of
ever being able to take any thing as our condition was, were for
surrendering to the enemy, who was all the night becalmed near us. To
prevent their design, I took care to remove the two boats out of their
power, by ordering two men in each of them, such as I thought I could
trust, and to cast off from us at a little distance, that none might
escape in them. But, notwithstanding the confidence I had in these four,
the two in the best boat ran away with her; and the next day I was
informed, that the First Lieutenant and Morphew had made a party, too
strong for me to oppose, to go away with the boat that was left; but, it
blowing fresh the next night, they were prevented from executing their
design.
The next day we stood into the road of Pisco, as we had designed, where
we discovered what appeared to be a large ship. We bore down to her with
a resolute despair, and laid her athwart the hawse; but, to our great
satisfaction, we met with no resistance, and were received by the
Captain and his Officers with their hats off, in the most submissive
manner asking for quarter. Before we came up, I had ordered our boat to
intercept theirs, which was going on shore. They clapped her on board,
but, not holding fast, they fell astern, and could not fetch up with her
again; so that in this boat was conveyed away every thing that might
have been valuable in the prize. She was a good ship, of about 200 tons,
called the Jesus-Maria, almost laden with pitch, tar, copper, and plank,
but nothing else. The Captain offered 1600 dollars for her ransom, but I
could not give ear to it in the condition which I was then in.
The Spanish Captain informed me, that the Margarita had been arrived
some time at Callao, where she had given a full account of us; that the
Captain of her, and three more, were killed in the action with us, and
that the Priest and several others were wounded; and that she was now
ready to put to sea again, with an addition of ten guns and fifty men,
to cruise for us: and, moreover, that the Flying fish, a frigate of 28
guns, was already out with the same intent. Upon this advice, having
cleared our bark, we gave her to the Spanish Captain, and as soon as the
breeze sprang up, we weighed, and went to sea, and in going out met with
our boat, which I have mentioned to have left us in the night; they
edged towards us, imagining we were Spaniards, by which means we got
them again. The two fellows in her were almost dead, having ate or drank
nothing for three days, and had just been ashore on a small island, to
kill seals to drink their blood. They had no excuse for themselves, but
that they fell asleep, and the faint breezes of the night had wafted us
in the bark away from them.
Pisco being 40 leagues to the windward of Callao, I kept close hauled
till I had gained a two degrees offing, and kept that distance till we
had got well to the northward of Callao, and hauled in again for the
land, a little to the southward of Truxillo, and looked into the roads
of Guanchaco, Malabriga, and Cheripe; but, seeing no ship at those
places, I passed between the island of Lobos de Tierra and the
continent; and, Nov. 25, found ourselves near the Saddle of Payta, where
having made some prisoners, I examined them concerning the condition of
the town, which they answered was very poor at present, there being
neither money nor provisions in it, and shewed me a small bark on the
shore, which Capt. Clipperton had sent in here a little while before
with some of his prisoners, which had given them such an alarm, that
every thing had been again removed into the country. This unwelcome news
did not hinder us from keeping on our way, with our Spanish colours
flying, till we came to the place of anchorage.
No sooner was our anchor down than I sent away Mr. Brooks, with both the
boats, armed with 24 men; no more of them, however, appeared than those
who rowed, and two or three sitters in each, the rest, with their arms,
lying in the bottom of the boat. Thus they advanced towards the town,
without giving the least umbrage to the inhabitants, who were so
thoroughly persuaded of our being Spaniards, that, when the people
landed, they found the children playing on the beach, who were the first
that took the alarm, and ran away at the sight of armed men. In an
instant the whole place was in confusion; the town was deserted, and
nothing left in it but a few bales of coarse cloth, about 500 of dried
tole or dog-fish, two or three pedlars packs, and an inconsiderable
quantity of bread and sweet-meats; so that we unluckily had but little
employment for our boats.
As we lay at an anchor in the ship, we took a boat with about fifty jars
of Peruvian wine and brandy, the master of which told us, he was come by
stealth from Callao, there being orders that none but ships of some
force should stir out. This man was the first who acquainted me with
Captain Hatley’s being taken, and the value of his prizes; and likewise
assured me, that, if Captain Clipperton had landed the first time he was
here, there were 400,000 pieces of eight in it, besides a great quantity
of jesuits bark, and other valuable commodities, of all which he might
easily have made himself master; but he wanted courage. Some of the King
of Spain’s treasure is frequently lodged under the Governor’s care; and,
if he had made an attempt, even the second time, it would have been
worth his while. As for Collan, which is two miles to the northward of
this, situated near the mouth of a little river, it is a mean place,
being entirely inhabited by Indians.
From this place we directed our course for the island of Gorgona, in the
bay of Panama, and in our passage thither built a tank, or wooden
cistern, big enough to hold 10 tons of water, wherewith to supply our
want of casks, as without the help of some such contrivance we should
have but little hopes of being ever able to return home. In our way we
made the island of Plate, Cape St. Francis, and Gorgonella; and on Dec.
2, we came to anchor to the leeward of the northernmost point of
Gorgona, within less than a quarter of a mile of the shore. Here we had
the advantage of filling our water-casks in the boat, the water running
in small streams into the sea, and cut down our wood at high water mark;
so that in less than 48 hours we had done our business here, and hurried
away to sea, for fear of those who might be in quest of us.
Having got out of the track of the enemies ships, we consulted on the
best methods of proceeding, when the majority were for going directly
over to the coasts of Asia. Upon this we changed our ship’s name from
the Jesus Maria to the Happy Return, and applied all our endeavours
towards abandoning these coasts; but the winds and currents were averse
to it; and some of those who opposed our departure, did so much damage
clandestinely to our tank, that the greatest part of our water leaked
out. This, together with continual contrary winds and dead calms, which
detained us till our provisions were much exhausted, rendered us
incapable to undertake so long a run; and therefore, to furnish
ourselves with what we wanted, I proposed a descent on the island of
Quibo, in lat. 7 deg. 40 min. N. where, by Captain Rogers’s account, I
guessed there must be inhabitants who lived in a plentiful manner on the
product of the country.
On January 13, 1721, we anchored between Quibo and the isle of Quivetta,
in a sandy bay, commodious for wooding and watering. The morning after
our arrival, we saw two large piraguas rowing in for the isle of
Quivetta, one of them with Spanish colours flying; and, after a little
debate, whether it would be prudent for us to attack them in our boat or
not, it was resolved, at all hazards, to go after them in our yaul. This
enterprize was commanded by Mr. Brooks, our First Lieutenant, who found
the men on shore, brought away their piraguas, and two prisoners, the
one a Mulatto, and the other a Negro; the rest sought for refuge in the
woods. The Mulatto mortified us very much, by telling us, that a vessel
laden with provisions had passed by very near us in the night; but, to
make amends, promised to conduct us to a place where we might supply
ourselves without any hazard, provided we were not above two or three
days about it. No news could be more welcome to us than this, wherefore
we were very brisk in getting off our wood and water; and, on January
the 19th, we got safe in between Mariato and the island of Sebaco, and
anchored in six fathom water, over against a green field, which is
instruction sufficient, there being but that clear spot hereabouts. Our
guide desired we might be going at least three hours before day-light,
and that then we should be in good time at the plantations. Accordingly
I embarked at two the next morning in our own boat, and ordered the two
lieutenants in the two piraguas, leaving my son and a few men with him,
to take care of the ship. Our guide carried us up some part of the river
St. Martin, and out of that into several branches of very narrow creeks
amongst mangroves, where we had not room to row, which made me suspect
he had no good design in his head; but we landed just at day-break on a
fine savannah, or plain; and, after a march of about three miles, came
to two farm-houses, whose owners had made their escape, except the wife
and children of one house.
The place answered the man’s description, being surrounded by numerous
herds of black cattle, hogs, and plenty of fowls of all sorts; and here
we found some dried beef, plantains, and Indian corn; and, for present
use, were entertained with a wholesome breakfast of hot cake and milk, a
diet we had been long unacquainted with. When it came to be broad day, I
saw our ship close by us, upon which I asked our Mulatto, How he came to
bring us so far about? He answered, There was a river between us, and he
did not know whether it was fordable or not. I therefore sent some to
try, who found it was not above knee deep. Wherefore, to avoid the
trouble of carrying our plunder so far as we had been led, I ordered our
boats to row out of the river St. Martin, and to come to the beach over
against the ship. We had not been long here before the master of the
family we were with, being anxious for their safety, returned, and made
an offer of as many of his black cattle as we should think fit to
require; which offer we kindly received: and he brought us the number we
thought we could save; for, having but little salt, and not being able
to spare water to keep them alive when at sea, our demands were
moderate; and the few we required, as soon as they were carried on
board, were killed. Their flesh we preserved by cutting it into long
slips of the thickness of a finger, and then sprinkling it with so small
a quantity of salt, that we did not use above four or five pounds to a
hundred weight; then letting it lie together two or three hours, we hung
it up to dry in the sun, which perfectly cured it, and that better than
it could have been done by any other way.
Having done all we proposed in coming here, we departed with our decks
full of fowls and hogs, amongst which there was one with its navel, or
something like it, on its back. The Spaniards say, that this, when wild
in the woods, is a terrible animal to meet with, although at full growth
it be but small.
January 25, we made a sail about two leagues to the leeward of us: we
gave her chase till we found she was of European structure; and fearing
she might be one of the enemy’s ships of war, I clapped on a wind, and
in half an hour’s time it fell calm. Soon after, we saw a boat rowing
towards us, which proved to be the Success’s pinnace, commanded by Mr.
Davidson, their first Lieutenant. My first interview with him was
attended by an astonishment equal on both sides; he could hardly believe
that he saw us in so mean and forlorn a condition; and I could scarce
believe that the Success (if in being) had been all this while wandering
up and down these seas.
I entertained him with a rehearsal of the constant run of misfortunes
which had befallen us in the long interval since we separated near the
coast of England, till our present meeting that day; and he, on his
part, entertained me with several remarkable incidents, which had
happened to them in the course of their voyage. Particularly, he told
me, that, about a twelvemonth before, they had taken a new French-built
brigantine, and put their officers and ship’s company’s plunder on board
of her, which they valued at ten thousand pounds sterling; that their
second Captain, Mr. Mitchel, was intrusted with the command of her, and
was ordered to go to some island on the coast of Mexico, and to stay
there till Captain Clipperton should join him with his ship; but that
they never could find the island since, and, therefore, judged that poor
Mitchel, and his men, were either starved, or murdered by the Spaniards
or Indians, or that he had perished with the island, such submersions
being frequent on those coasts. The story of Captain Mitchel, who was a
very worthy man, and an expert sailor, is, in all its circumstances, a
very tragical one. There was always a jealousy between him and his
Captain, who ordered him to a place, and pretended to give him
infallible directions to find it, which never could be found afterwards,
and, ’tis my opinion, never was above water; and the unfortunate
gentleman, without doubt, perished in some obscure, miserable manner, in
quest of a place that was never yet, and perhaps never may be
discovered. In our discourse, I asked Mr. Davidson the value of the
booty they had made, and he assured me it did not exceed 70,000
dollars--but that they had lost great opportunities--that in October,
1720, they were in the bay of Conception, and had the misfortune to
leave three laden ships behind them, and missed a fourth, which was
coming into the bay, and which was so near as to hail and talk to them,
besides being becalmed by them;--that though it was probable their
launch could have taken them all four, yet, through their Captain’s
deafness to advice, they took none of them:--that, moreover, they had
never yet cleaned their bottom, notwithstanding they had had it in their
power to do it; and that this negligence had like to have cost them
dear; for that, in their return from Conception, they looked into
Coquimbo, where they saw five ships at anchor, three of which let slip
after them, and overtook them apace, but by the favour of thick weather,
and a hard gale of wind, they got clear of them; and further, that, off
the port of Callao, they fell in with the Flying-fish frigate, which was
cruising for me in the bark, and which, by unpardonable mismanagement on
the part of Clipperton, got safe from them, although deeply laden with a
valuable cargo designed for Cadiz. I have been since informed of this by
one of my surgeon’s mates, who was taken in the Mercury, and was surgeon
of the Flying-fish at that time.
This was the substance of my discourse with Mr. Davidson, when, in the
mean time, a gale sprung up, which interrupted us, and I bore down to
the Success, and went on board of her. I gave Captain Clipperton, and
Mr. Godfrey, the agent-general, the whole history of my voyage hitherto,
and expected that I should have been treated by them as one belonging to
the same interest, but found I was mistaken; for they were unwilling to
have any thing to do with me since my ship was lost. However, I
conceived, that he could not be so inhuman, as to deny me the supply of
such necessaries as I wanted, and he could conveniently spare. The
answer I had to this was, that I should know more of his mind the next
day. Amongst the rest of the discourse I had with him, he told me he was
just come from the island of Cocos, that his people were sickly, and at
very short allowance. Upon this, I offered my service to pilot him to
Mariato, which was not above thirty leagues distant from us, where he
might have refreshed his people, and supplied himself with what he
would. But this was not accepted, he being resolved to make the best of
his way to the Tres Marias, where, he said, there was turtle enough to
be had; so I left him for that night.
The next morning, as I was going on board of him again, with some of my
officers, he suddenly spread all his canvas, and crouded away from us,
who were in the boat: upon which I returned to our ship again, and made
signals of distress, and fired our gun several times, which was not
regarded by him, till his very officers cried out on his barbarity, and,
at last, he brought to. When I had sailed up with him, (being
exasperated at such inhuman treatment) I sent Mr. Brooks, our First
Lieutenant, to know the reason of his abrupt departure, and to tell him
that we stood in need of several necessaries, which, if he was not
inclined to give, I would purchase of him. Upon these terms he spared me
two of his quarter-deck guns, sixty round shot, some musquet-balls and
flints, and a Spanish chart of the coast of Mexico and part of India and
China, a half-hour and a half-minute glass, a compass, and about 300
weight of salt; but with all the arguments I could use, I could not
prevail on him to spare us the least thing out of his surgeon’s chest
for the relief of Mr. Coldsea, our master, who had been ready to die of
his wounds received in the engagement with the Margarita, for above
three months past. When this was concluded, I again asked him if I could
be of any service to him, and assured him, I had a pretty good ship
under foot, though she made but a poor figure, and believed I could hold
him way, and that he knew our cargo was pretty valuable. To all this he
answered, that, if I had a cargo of gold, he had no business with me,
and that I must take care of myself. Mr. Hendry, the agent, and Mr.
Rainer and Mr. Dodd, Lieutenants of marines, seeing but little prospect
that we should ever get home, and being weary of the work that was
imposed upon them, desired I would let them go on board the Success, for
a passage to England; which I consenting to, they went on board
accordingly, and Clipperton left us to shift for ourselves, near the
island of Cano. Having purchased this supply, I was for going to the
southward into the bay of Panama, to try our fortune there; but the
majority opposed me through fear, and were for going to the Tres Marias,
to salt turtle there, and then stretch over for India. We directed our
course thither; and, a few days after, met with the Success in quest of
Sonsonnate, where they expected to receive the Marquis of Villa Roche’s
ransom. That nobleman had been some time a prisoner with them, and his
wife was now at Guatimala, a city within 30 leagues of that port. We
ranged close under their stern, and asked how Captain Clipperton and the
rest of the gentlemen did, but it was not thought proper to return any
answer; so, without any concern, he steered one way, and we another.
After this, calms, and contrary winds, and unaccountable currents,
reduced us to a very small allowance, which we were obliged to diminish
daily, and should have been in deeper distress than ever, had it not
been for the turtle which we took on the surface of the water. We had a
continual look-out for them, and they were easily known, at a great
distance, by the number of sea-birds that perched on their backs. Upon
sight of these, we used to lay aside the advantages we might have made
of the wind, to embrace the opportunity of prolonging our provisions.
Upon the whole, though we lost some of our way in pursuit of turtle
after this manner, it was not the greatest inconvenience that attended
us; the dressing it made a great consumption of our water, the quantity
of which decreased upon us very suddenly, by the continual use of it in
boiling the turtle with plantain flower. This relapse into a state of
famine, threatening us with speedy and certain perdition, if means were
not used to avert it, made me propose the plundering of some small town
as we coasted along the shore. Guatulco was the nearest to us: but the
very morning we were steering in for this place, at sun-rising we saw a
sail a considerable way to leeward of us. We thought it would be better
to take this ship than to venture on shore, and therefore we bore down
to her, who in the end proved to be the Success. We now met with a
double baulk, both as to our hopes of Guatulco and the ship; for we were
by this accident got so far to the leeward of Guatulco, that it was
needless to beat up so far against the wind for an uncertainty, when we
had a gale, that, had it continued, would have carried us to some better
port.
But the winds were but a few hours propitious, and were succeeded by
perpetual contrary gales, which destroyed all our hopes, and brought us
down to a small earthen plate of calavances, a kind of small bean, for
24 hours, which not being sufficient to keep us alive, we had recourse
to the remainder of our smoked congers, which had for some months been
neglected, and lain soaking and rotting in the bulge water. They were
certainly as disagreeable food as ever men eat.
Under these calamitous circumstances did we meet with the Success a
fourth time, near the port of Angels; and, after having made the
appointed signal, we stood so near to one another, that, to use the sea
phrase, a bisket might have been tossed from ship to ship, but we did
not change a word with each other; for, Captain Clipperton, as I have
since been informed, had ordered all his officers and ship’s company to
take no notice of us: and, though he was so truly sensible of the
difficulties and hazards we had to cope with, if our design was to go
for India, that he said, The child that was born the day before would be
grey-headed with age before we should arrive there (intimating by that
expression, that it was impossible for us to do it), yet,
notwithstanding, he, without any remorse, could see us on the brink of
suffering the greatest severities our ill fortune could load us with,
and not lend us a helping hand to deliver us from the impending ruin.