length told him, the concern I had on board was none of his business;
that I was a considerable owner in the ship, and therefore had a right
to speak in common, and that I was no way accountable to him, nor to any
body else. As no more passed for some time after, I thought all had been
over. At this time we were in the road of Bengal, where, going on shore
with the supercargo one day, in the evening, as I was preparing to go on
board, one of the men came to me, and told me, I need not trouble myself
to come to the boat, for that the cockswain and others had ordered him
not to carry me on board any more. This insulent message much surprised
me; yet I gave him no answer to it, but went directly and acquainted the
supercargo, entreating him to go on board, and, by acquainting the
Captain with it, prevent the mutiny which I perceived would happen. But
before I had spoken this, the matter was effected on board; for no
sooner was he gone off in the boat, but the boatswain, gunner,
carpenter, and all the inferior officers, came to the quarter-deck,
desiring to speak with the Captain; & there the boatswain made a long
harangue, exclaiming against me, as before mentioned, that, if I had not
gone on shore peaceably, for my own diversion, they, by violence would
have compelled me, for their satisfaction: that as they had shipped with
the Captain, so they would faithfully serve him; but if I did not quit
the ship, or the Captain oblige me to it, they would leave the ship
immediately: hereupon, turning his face about by way of signal, they all
cried out, "ONE and ALL! ONE and ALL!"
You may be sure, that though my nephew was a man of great courage, yet
he could not but be surprised at their sudden and unexpected behaviour;
and though he talked stoutly to them, and afterwards expostulated with
them, that in common justice to me, who was a considerable owner in the
ship, they could not turn me as it were out of mine own house, which
might bring their lives in danger should they ever be taken in England;
nay, though he invited the boatswain on shore to accomodate matters with
me, yet all this I say, signified nothing; they would have nothing to do
with me; and they were resolved to go on shore if I came on board.
_Well,_ said my nephew, _if you are so resolved, permit me to talk with
him, and then I have done; and so he came to me, giving me an account of
their resolution, how one and all designed to forsake the ship when I
came on board, for which he was mightily concerned._ "I am glad to see
you, nephew," said I, "and rejoice it is no worse, since they have not
rebelled against you; I only desire you to send my necessary things on
shore, with a sufficient sum of money, and I will find my way to England
as well as I can." Though this grieved my nephew to the heart, yet there
was no remedy but complience; in short, all my necessaries were sent me,
and so this matter was over in a few hours.
I think I was now near a thousand leagues farther off England by sea,
than at my little kingdom, except this difference, that I might travel
by land over the Great Mogul's country to Surat, from thence to Baffora,
by sea up the Persian Gulph, then take the way of the caravans over the
Arabian desert to Alleppo and Scanderoon, there take shipping to Italy,
and so travel by land into France, and from thence cross the sea
to England.
My nephew left me two persons to attend me; one of them was his servant,
and the other clerk to the purser, who engaged to be mine. I took
lodging in an English woman's house, where several French, one English,
and two Italian merchants resided. The handsome entertainment I met with
here, occasioned me to stay nine months, considering what course I
should take. Some English goods I had with me of great value, besides a
thousand pieces of eight, and a letter for more, if there was such
necessity. The goods I soon disposed of to advantage, and bought here
several good diamonds, which I could easily carry about with me. One
morning the English merchant came to me, as being very intimate
together, _countryman_, said he, _I have a project to communicate to
you, which I hope will suit to both our advantage. To be short, Sir, we
are both in a remote part of the world from our country; but yet in a
place where men of business may get a great deal of money. Now, if you
will put a thousand pounds to my thousand pounds, we will hire a ship to
our satisfaction; you shall be Captain, I will be merchant: and we'll go
a trading voyage to China, for why should we lie still like drones,
while the whole world is in a continual motion_.
This proposal soon got my consent, being very agreeable to my rambling
genius; and the more so, because I looked upon my countryman to be a
very sincere person; it required some time before we could get a vessel
to our mind, and sailors to man it accordingly; at length we bought a
ship, and got an English mate, boatswain, and gunner, a Dutch carpenter,
and three Portuguese foremast men; and, for want of others, made shift
with Indian seamen. We first sailed to Achin, in the island of Sumatra,
and then to Siam, where we bartered our wares for some arrack and opium,
the last of which bore a great price among the Chinese; in a word, we
went up to Suskan, making a very great voyage; &, after eight months
time, I returned to Bengal, very well satisfied with this adventure,
having not only got a sufficient quantity of money, but an insight of
getting a great deal more.
The next voyage my friend proposed to me, was to go among the spice
islands, and bring home a load of cloves from the Manillas, or
thereabouts; islands belonging partly to Spain, but where the Dutch
trade very considerably. We were not long in preparing for this voyage,
which we made no less successful than the last, touching at Borneo, and
several other places which I do not perfectly remember, and returning
home in about five months time. We soon sold our spices, which were
chiefly cloves and some nutmegs, to the Persian merchants, who carried
them away to the gulph; and, in short, making five to one advantage, we
were loaded with money.
Not long after my friend and I had made up our accounts, to our entire
satisfaction, there came in a Dutch coaster from Batavia of about two
hundred tons. The crew of this vessel pretended themselves so sickly,
that there were not hands sufficient to undertake a voyage; and the
Captain having given out that he intended to go to Europe, public notice
was given that the ship was to be sold. No sooner did this come to our
ears, but we bought the ship, paid the master, and took possession. We
would also have very willingly entertained some of the men; but they
having received their share of booty, were not to be found, being
altogether fled to Agra, the great city of the Mogul's residence; and
from thence went to travel to Surat, and so by the sea to the Persian
Gulph. And indeed they had reason to fly in this manner; for the truth
of it was the pretended Captain was the gunner only, and not the
commander; that having been on a trading voyage, they were attacked on
shore by the Malayans, who killed three men and the Captain; after whose
death the other eleven men ran away with the ship to the Bay of Bengal,
and left the mate and five men more on shore: but of this affair we
shall have occasion to speak more at length hereafter.
However they came by the ship, we thought we bought it honestly; neither
did we suspect any thing of the matter, when the man showed us a bill of
sale for the ship (undoubtedly forged) to one Emanuel Clostershoven,
which name he went by. And so without any more to do, we picked up some
Dutch and English seamen, resolving for another voyage for cloves among
the Phillippine and Molucca Islands: in short, we continued thus five or
six years, trading from port to port with extraordinary success. In the
seventh year, we undertook a voyage to China, designing to touch at
Siam, and buy some rice by the way. In this voyage, contrary winds beat
us up and down for a considerable time among the islands in the Straits
of Molucca. No sooner were we clear of those rugged seas, but we
perceived our ship had sprung a leak, which obliged us to put into the
river Cambodia, which lies northward of the Gulph, and goes up to Siam.
One day, as I was on shore refreshing myself, there comes to me an
Englishman, who was gunner's mate on board an English East India ship,
riding up the river near the city of Cambodia. _Sir_, said he, _you may
wonder at my business, having never seen me in your life; but tho' I am
a stranger, I have something to tell you that very nearly concerns you:
& indeed it is the imminent danger you are in has moved me to give you
this timely notice_. "Danger!" said I, "what danger? I know of none,
except my ship being leaky, for which I design to have her run aground
to-morrow morning" _I hope you will be better employed when you shall
hear what I have to say to you. You know the town of Cambodia is about
fifteen leagues up this river; about three leagues on this side of it,
there lie two Dutch and three English ships. And would you venture here
without considering what strength you have to engage them_? I knew not
what he meant by this discourse, and turning short upon him, "Sir," said
I, "I know no reason I have to be afraid either of any Dutch or English
ships. I am no interloper, and what business have they with me?" _Well,
Sir,_ said the man, _if you do think yourselves secure, all as I can
say, you must take your chance; however, I am very sorry you are so deaf
to good advice; but I assure you; if you do not put to sea immediately,
you will be attacked by five long-boats full of men, hanged yourself for
a pirate, if you are taken, and the particulars examined afterwards. I
thought, Sir_, added he, _I might have met a better reception for such a
singular piece of service_. "Sir," said I, "I was never ungrateful to
any man; but pray explain yourself and I'll go on board this minute,
whether the leak be stopped or no." _Why, Sir,_ said he, _to be short,
because time is precious, the matter is this: You know well enough that
you was with the ship at Sumatra, when your Captain was murdered by the
Malayans, with three of his sailors; and that either you, or some who
were on board you, ran away with the ship, and are since turned pirates
at sea. Now, Sir, this is the sum of what I had to say: and I can
positively assure you, that if you are taken, you will be executed
without much ceremony, for undoubtedly you cannot but be sensible what
little law merchant ships show to pirates, whenever they fall into
their hands_.
"Sir,' said I, 'I thank you for your kind information; and though I am
sure no man could come more honestly by the ship than I have done, yet
knowing their enterprize, and being satisfied of your honest intention,
I'll be upon my defence. _Pr'ythee, Sir,_ said the man, _don't talk of
being upon your defence, the best that you can make is to be out of
danger; and therefore, if you have any regard for your life, & the lives
of your men, take the advantage, without fail, of putting out to sea at
high-water: by which means, as you have a whole tide before you, you
will be gone too far out of their reach before they can come down._
"I am mighty well satisfied," said I, "in this particular, and for your
kindness, which merits my great esteem; pray, Sir, what amends shall I
make you?" He replied, "I know not what amends you are willing to make,
because you may have some doubts of its certainty: but, to convince you
of the truth of what I say, I have one offer to make to you. On board
one of the English ships, I have nineteen months pay due to me, and this
Dutchman that is with me has seven months pay due to him, which if you
will make good to us, we will go along with you. If you shall find that
there is nothing in what we have said, then we shall desire nothing; but
when you are convinced that we have saved the ship, your life, and the
lives of the men, we will leave the whole to your generosity."
So reasonable did this every way appear, that I immediately consented,
and we went directly on board. As soon as we came on board, my partner
calls joyfully out, _That they had stopped the leak?_ "Well, thank God,"
said I, "but pray let us weigh anchor forthwith."--_Weigh,_ said he,
_what is the meaning of this hurry_? "Pray ask no questions," said I,
"but all hands to work, without losing a moment's time." Upon which, in
great surprise, the Captain was called, who immediately ordered the
anchor to be got up; and though the tide was not quite down, yet being
assisted with a little land breeze, we stood to sea. I then called my
partner into the cabin, and related the story at large, which was
confirmed and more amplified by the two men I had brought on board.
Scarce had we finished our discourse upon this head, but a sailor came
to the cabin door, with a message from the Captain, that we were chased
by five sloops full of armed men. "Very well," said I, "it is plain now
there is something in it." And so, going upon deck, I told all the men
there was a design for seizing the ship, and of executing us for
pirates; and asked them whether they would faithfully stand by us, and
by one another? To which they unanimously replied, "That they would
fight to their last drop of blood." I then asked the Captain, which way
he thought best for us to manage the battle? _Sir_, said he, _the only
method is to keep them off with our great shot as long as we are able,
and then have recourse to our small arms: and when both these fail us,
then retire to close quarters, when perhaps the enemy wanting materials,
can neither break open our bulk heads, nor get in upon us_. Meantime,
the gunner was ordered to bring two guns to bear fore and aft out of the
steerage, and so load them with musket-bullets and small pieces of old
iron; and the deck being cleared, we prepared for the engagement, still,
however, keeping out at sea. The boats followed us, with all the sail
they could make, and we could perceive the two foremost were English,
which out-sailed the rest by two leagues, and which we found would come
up with us: hereupon, we fired a gun without a ball, intimating that
they should bring to, and we put out a flag of truce, as a signal for
parley; but finding them crowding after us, till they came within shot,
we took in our white, and hanging out the red flap, immediately fired at
them with ball: we then called to them with a speaking trumpet, bidding
them at their peril keep off.
But all this signified nothing; for depending upon the strength that
followed them, they were resolutely bent for mischief: hereupon I
ordered them to bring the ship to, by which means, they lying upon our
broadside, we let fly at them at once, one of whom carried away the
stern of the hindermost boat, and obliged them not only to take down
their sail, but made them all run to the head of the boat, to keep them
from sinking, and so she lay by, having enough of it. In the meantime,
we prepared to welcome the foremost boat in the same manner. While we
were doing this, one of the three hindermost boats came up to the relief
of that which was disabled, and took the men out of her. We again
called to parley with them; but, instead of an answer, one of the boats
came close under our stern; whereupon our gunner let fly his two chase
guns, but missing, the men in the boat shouted, and, waving their caps,
came on with greater fury. To repair this seeming disgrace, the gunner
soon got ready, and firing a second time, did a great deal of mischief
among the enemy. We waved again, and, bringing our quarter to bear upon
them, fired three guns more, when we found the boat a sinking, and
several men already in the sea; hereupon, manning our pinnace, I gave
orders to save as many as they could, and instantly to come on board,
because the rest of their boats were approaching: accordingly they did
so, and took up three of them, one of whom was almost past recovery; and
then crowding all the sail we could, after our men came on board, we
stood out farther to sea, so that the other three boats gave over the
chase, when they came up to the first two. Thus delivered from imminent
danger, we changed our course to the eastward, quite out of the course
of all European ships.
Being now at sea, and inquiring more particularly of the two seamen, the
meaning of all this, the Dutchman at once let us into the secret. He
told us, that the fellow who sold us the ship was an errant thief, who
had run away with her; that the Captain was treacherously murdered on
the coast of Molucca by the natives there, with three of his men; that
he, the Dutchman, and four more, being obliged to have recourse to the
woods for their safety, at length escaped by means of a Dutch ship in
its way to China, which had sent their boat on shore for fresh water:
That, after this, he went to Batavia, where two of the seamen belonging
to the ship (who had deserted the rest in their travels) arrived, and
there gave an account that the fellow who ran away with the ship had
sold her at Bengal to a set of pirates, who went a cruising, and had
already taken one English and two Dutch ship, richly laden.
Now, tho' this was absolutely false, my partner truly said, that our
deliverance was to be esteemed so much the more, by reason, had we
fallen into their hands, we could have expected nothing from them but
immediate death, considering our accusers would have been our judges;
and, therefore, his opinion was to return directly to Bengal, where,
being known, we could prove how honestly we came by the ship, of whom we
bought her, and the like, and where we were sure of some justice; at
least would not be hanged first, and judged afterwards. I was at first
of my partner's opinion, but when I had more seriously considered of the
matter, I told him, we ran a great hazard in attempting to return, being
on the wrong side of the Straits of Molucca and that, if, upon alarm
given, we should be taken by the Dutch at Batavia, or English elsewhere,
our turning away would be a sufficient evidence to condemn us. This
danger indeed startled not only my partner, but likewise all the ship's
company; so we changed our former resolution, and resolved to go to the
coast of Tonquin, and so to that of China, where, pursuing our first
design as to trade, we might likewise have an opportunity to dispose of
the ship some way or other, and to return to Bengal in any country
vessel we could procure. This being agreed to, we steered away N.N.E.
about 50 leagues off the usual course to the east; which put us to some
inconveniences. As the wind blew steadily against us, our voyage became
more tedious, and we began to be afraid of want of provision; and what
was still worse, we apprehended, that as those ships from whose boat we
had escaped, were bound to China, they might get before us, and have
given fresh information, which might create another vigorous pursuit.
Indeed, I could not help being grieved, when I considered that I who had
never wronged or defrauded any person in my life, was now pursued like a
common thief, and if taken to run the greatest danger of being executed
as such; and, though innocent, I found myself under the necessity of
flying for my safety; and thereby escape being brought to shame, of
which I was even more afraid than death itself. It was easy to read my
dejection in my countenance. My mind was oppressed, like those unhappy
innocent persons, who being overpowered by blasphemous and perjured
evidences, wickedly resolved to take away their lives, or ruin their
reputation, have no other recourse in this world to ease their sorrow,
but sighs, prayers, and tears. My partner seeing me so concerned,
encouraged me as well as he could; and, after describing to me the
several ports of that coast, he told me, he would either put me in on
the coast of Cochinchina, or else in the bay of Tonquin, from whence we
might go to Macao, a town once possessed by the Portuguese, and where
still many European families resided.
To this place we steered, and, early next morning, came in sight of the
coast; but thought it advisable to put into a small river where we
could, either over land, or by the ship's pinnace, know what vessels
were in any ports thereabouts. This happy step proved our deliverance;
for, next morning, there came to the bay of Tonquin two Dutch ships, and
a third without any colours; and in the evening, two English ships
steered the same course. The river where we were was but small, and ran
but a few leagues up the country northward; the country was wild and
barbarous, and the people thieves, having no correspondence with any
other nation; dealing only in fish, oil, and such gross commodities: and
one barbarous custom they still retained, that when any vessel was
unhappily shipwrecked upon their coast, they make the men prisoners or
slaves, so that now we might fairly say we were surrounded by enemies
both by sea and land.
As the ship had been leaky, we took the opportunity, in this place to
search her, and to stop up the places which let in the water. We
accordingly lightened her, and bringing our guns and other moveable
things to one side, we essayed to bring her down, that we might come to
her bottom: but, upon second consideration, we did not think it safe to
let her lie on dry ground, neither indeed was the place convenient for
it. The inhabitants not used to such a sight as to see a ship lie down
on one side; and heel in towards the shore, and not perceiving her men,
who were at work on her bottom, with stages and boats on the off side,
presently imagined the ship had been cast away, and lay fast on the
ground. Agreeable to this supposition, they surrounded us with ten or
twelve large boats, with a resolution, undoubtedly to plunder the ship,
and to carry away those they found alive for slaves to their king. But
when they perceived our men hard at work on the ship's bottom and side,
washing, graving, and stopping her, it filled them all with such
surprise, that they stood gazing as though they were confounded. Nor
could we imagine what their design was; however, for fear of danger, we
handed down arms and ammunition to those at work, in order to defend
themselves; and, indeed, this precaution was absolutely necessary; for,
in a quarter of an hour after, the natives, concluding it was really a
shipwreck, and that we were saving our lives and goods, which they
thought belonged to them, came down upon our men as though it had been
in line of battle. We lay at present but in a very unfit posture to
fight; and before the stages could be got down, or the men in the boat
come on board as they were ordered, the Cochinchinese were upon them,
and two of their boats boarding our long boat, they began to lay hold of
our men as prisoners. The first they seized was a stout English sailor,
who never fired his musket, like a fool, as I imagined, but laid it down
in the boat: but he knew what he was doing; for, by main force, he
dragged the Pagan out of the boat into ours by the two ears, and knocked
his brains out against the boat's gunnel; a Dutchman that was next him,
snatched up the musket, and knocked down five more with the but-end of
it; however, this was doing very little to their number; but a strange
unexpected accident, which rather merits laughter than any thing else,
gave our men a complete victory over them.