The boat, two hundred leagues from land, makes no way, but
drives more to sea by the wind--The people live nine days at
quarter allowance--Four die with hunger the twelfth day--
Five more the fourteenth day--On the fifteenth they eat one
just dead--Want of water excessive--Spy a sail--Are taken up
--Work their passage to the African shore--Are sent on a
secret expedition--Are waylaid, taken slaves, and sent up
the country.
When we, who were in the boat, came to reflect on our condition, the
prospect before us appeared very melancholy; though we had at first
readily enough embraced the offer, rather than perish in so much misery
as we suffered in our loathsome confinement. We now judged we were above
two hundred leagues from land, in about eight degrees north latitude;
and it blowing north-east, a pretty stiff gale, we could make no way,
but rather lost, for we aimed at some port in Africa, having neither
sail, compass, nor any other instrument to direct us; so that all the
observation we could make was by the sun for running southward, or as
the wind carried us, for we had lost the North Pole. As we had little
above two days' provisions, we perceived a necessity of almost starving
voluntarily, to avoid doing it quite, seeing it must be many days before
we could reach shore, if ever we did, having visibly driven a great deal
more southward than we were; nay, unless a sudden change happened, we
were sure of perishing, unless delivered by some ship that Providence
might send in our way. In short, the ninth day came, but no relief with
it; and though we had lived at quarter allowance, and but just saved
life, our food, except a little water, was all gone, and this caused
us quite to despair. On the twelfth day four of our company died with
hunger in a very miserable way; and yet the survivors had not strength
left to move them to pity their fellows. In truth, we had sat still,
attempting nothing in several days; as we found that, unless the wind
shifted, we only consumed the little strength we had left to no manner
of purpose. On the fourteenth day, and in the night, five more died, and
a sixth was near expiring; and yet we, the survivors, were so indolent,
we would scarce lend a hand to throw them overboard. On the fifteenth
day, in the morning, our carpenter, weak as he was, started up, and as
the sixth man was just dead, cut his throat, and whilst warm let out
what blood would flow; then pulling off his old jacket, invited us to
dinner, and cutting a large slice of the corpse, devoured it with as
much seeming relish as if it had been ox-beef. His example prevailed
with the rest of us, one after another, to taste and eat; and as
there had been a heavy dew or rain in the night, and we had spread out
everything we had of linen and woollen to receive it, we were a little
refreshed by wringing our clothes and sipping what came from them; after
which we covered them up from the sun, stowing them all close together
to keep in the moisture, which served us to suck at for two days after,
a little and a little at a time; for now we were in greater distress for
water than for meat. It has surprised me, many times since, to think how
we could make so light a thing of eating our fellow creature just dead
before our eyes; but I will assure you, when we had once tasted, we
looked on the blessing to be so great, that we cut and eat with as
little remorse as we should have had for feeding on the best meat in
an English market; and most certainly, when this corpse had failed,
if another had not dropped by fair means, we should have used foul by
murdering one of our number as a supply for the rest.
Water, as I said before, to moisten our mouths, was now our greatest
hardship, for every man had so often drank his own, that we voided
scarce anything but blood, and that but a few drops at a time; our
mouths and tongues were quite flayed with drought, and our teeth just
fallen from our jaws; for though we had tried, by placing all the
dead men's jackets and shirts one over another, to strain some of the
sea-water through them by small quantities, yet that would not deprive
it of its pernicious qualities; and though it refreshed a little in
going down, we were so sick, and strained ourselves so much after it,
that it came up again, and made us more miserable than before. Our
corpse now stunk so, what was left of it, that we could no longer bear
it on board, and every man began to look with an evil eye on his fellow,
to think whose turn it would be next; for the carpenter had started the
question, and preached us into the necessity of it; and we had agreed,
the next morning, to put it to the lot who should be the sacrifice. In
this distress of thought it was so ordered by good Providence, that
on the twenty-first day we thought we spied a sail coming from the
north-west, which caused us to delay our lots till we should see whether
it would discover us or not: we hung up some jackets upon our oars, to
be seen as far off as we could, but had so little strength left we could
make no way towards it; however, it happened to direct its course so
much to our relief, that an hour before sunset it was within a league
of us, but seemed to bear away more eastward, and our fear was that they
should not know our distress, for we were not able to make any noise
from our throats that might be heard fifty yards; but the carpenter, who
was still the best man amongst us, with much ado getting one of the guns
to go off, in less than half-an-hour she came up with us, and seeing
our deplorable condition, took us all on board, to the number of eleven.
Though no methods were un-essayed for our recovery, four more of us
died in as many days. When the remaining seven of us came a little to
ourselves, we found our deliverers were Portuguese, bound for Saint
Salvadore. We told the captain we begged he would let us work our
passage with him, be it where it would, to shore; and then, if we could
be of no further service to him, we did not doubt getting into Europe
again: but in the voyage, as we did him all the service in our power, we
pleased him so well that he engaged us to stay with him to work the ship
home again, he having lost some hands by fever soon after his setting
sail.
We arrived safe in port; and in a few days the captain, who had a secret
enterprise to take in hand, hired a country coasting vessel, and sent
her seventeen leagues farther on the coast for orders from some factory
or settlement there. I was one of the nine men who were destined to
conduct her; but not understanding Portuguese, I knew little of the
business we went upon. We were to coast it all the way; but on the tenth
day, just at sunrise, we fell in with a fleet of boats which had waylaid
us, and were taken prisoners. Being carried ashore, we were conducted a
long way up the country, where we were imprisoned, and almost starved,
though I never knew the meaning of it; nor did any of us, unless the
mate, who, we heard, was carried up the country much farther, to Angola;
but we never heard more of him, though we were told he would be sent
back to us.
Here we remained under confinement almost three months, at the end of
which time our keeper told us we were to be removed; and coupling us two
and two together, sent a guard with us to Angola; when, crossing a
large river, we were set to work in removing the rubbish and stones of
a castle or fortress, which had been lately demolished by an earthquake
and lightning. Here we continued about five months, being very sparingly
dieted, and locked up every night.
This place, however, I thought a paradise to our former dungeon; and as
we were not overworked, we made our lives comfortable enough, having the
air all day to refresh us from the heat, and not wanting for company;
for there were at least three hundred of us about the whole work; and
I often fancied myself at the tower of Babel, each labourer almost
speaking in a language of his own.
Towards the latter end of our work our keepers grew more and more remiss
in their care of us. At my first coming thither, I had contracted a
familiarity with one of the natives, but of a different kingdom, who was
then a slave with me; and he and I being able tolerably to understand
each other, he hinted to me, one day, the desire he had of seeing his
own country and family, who neither knew whether he was dead or alive,
or where he was, since he had left them, seven years before, to make war
in this kingdom; and insinuated that as he had taken a great liking to
me, if I would endeavour to escape with him, and we succeeded, he would
provide for me. "For," says he, "you see, now our work is almost over,
we are but slightly guarded; and if we stay till this job is once
finished, we may be commanded to some new works at the other end of the
kingdom, for aught we know, so that our labours will only cease with our
lives: and for my part, immediate death in the attempt of liberty is to
me preferable to a lingering life of slavery."
These, and such-like arguments, prevailed on me to accompany him, as he
had told me he had travelled most of the country before in the wars of
the different nations; so having taken our resolution, the following
evening, soon after our day's work, and before the time came for locking
up, we withdrew from the rest, but within hearing, thinking if we should
then be missed and called, we would appear and make some excuse for our
absence, but if not, we should have the whole night before us.
When we were first put upon this work, we were called over singly, by
name, morning and evening, to be let out and in, and were very narrowly
observed in our motions; but not one of us having been ever absent, our
actions were at length much less minded than before, and the ceremony of
calling us over was frequently omitted; so that we concluded if we
got away unobserved the first night, we should be out of the reach of
pursuers by the next; which was the soonest it was possible for them to
overtake us, as we proposed to travel the first part of our journey with
the utmost despatch.