_Circumstances which preceded the Second Irruption of the
Buccaneers into the =South Sea=. Buccaneers under =John Cook= sail
from =Virginia=; stop at the =Cape de Verde Islands=; at =Sierra
Leone=. Origin and History of the Report concerning the
supposed Discovery of =Pepys Island=._
The Prohibitions being enforced, determined many, both of the English
Buccaneers and of the French Flibustiers, to seek their fortunes in the
_South Sea_, where they would be at a distance from the control of any
established authority. This determination was not a matter generally
concerted. The first example was speedily followed, and a trip to the
_South Sea_ in a short time became a prevailing fashion among them.
Expeditions were undertaken by different bodies of men unconnected with
each other, except when accident, or the similarity of their pursuits,
brought them together.
[Sidenote: Circumstances preceding the Second Irruption of the Buccaneers
into the South Sea.] Among the Buccaneers in the expedition of 1680 to the
_South Sea_, who from dislike to Sharp's command returned across the
_Isthmus of Darien_ at the same time with Dampier, was one John Cook, who
on arriving again in the _West Indies_, entered on board a vessel
commanded by a Dutchman of the name of Yanky, which was fitted up as a
privateer, and provided with a French commission to cruise against the
Spaniards. Cook, being esteemed a capable seaman, was made Quarter-Master,
by which title, in privateers as well as in buccaneer vessels, the officer
next in command to the Captain was called. Cook continued Quarter-Master
with Yanky till they took a Spanish ship which was thought well adapted
for a cruiser. Cook claimed to have the command of this ship, and,
according to the usage among privateers in such cases, she was allotted to
him, with a crew composed of men who volunteered to sail with him. Dampier
was of the number, as were several others who had returned from the _South
Sea_; division was made of the prize goods, and Cook entered on his new
command.
[Sidenote: 1683.] This arrangement took place at _Isla Vaca_, or _Isle a
Vache_, a small Island near the South coast of _Hispaniola_, which was
then much resorted to by both privateers and Buccaneers. It happened at
this time, that besides Yanky's ship, some French privateers having legal
commissions, were lying at _Avache_, and their Commanders did not
contentedly behold men without a commission, and who were but Buccaneers,
in the possession of a finer ship than any belonging to themselves who
cruised under lawful authority. The occasion being so fair, and
remembering what Morgan had done in a case something similar, after short
counsel, they joined together, and seized the buccaneer ship, goods, and
arms, and turned the crew ashore. A fellow-feeling that still existed
between the privateers and Buccaneers, and probably a want of hands,
induced a Captain Tristian, who commanded one of the privateers, to
receive into his ship ten of the Buccaneers to be part of his crew. Among
these were Cook, and a Buccaneer afterwards of greater note, named Edward
Davis. Tristian sailed to _Petit Guaves_, where the ship had not been long
at anchor, before himself and the greatest part of his men went on shore.
Cook and his companions thought this also a fair occasion, and accordingly
they made themselves masters of the ship. Those of Tristian's men who were
on board, they turned ashore, and immediately taking up the anchors,
sailed back close in to the _Isle a Vache_, where, before notice of their
exploit reached the Governor, they collected and took on board the
remainder of their old company, and sailed away. They had scarcely left
the _Isle a Vache_, when they met and captured two vessels, one of which
was a ship from _France_ laden with wines. Thinking it unsafe to continue
longer in the _West Indies_, they directed their course for _Virginia_,
where they arrived with their prizes in April 1683.
[Sidenote: August, 1683. Buccaneers under John Cook sail for the South
Sea.] In _Virginia_ they disposed of their prize goods, and two vessels,
keeping one with which they proposed to make a voyage to the _South Sea_,
and which they named the Revenge. She mounted 18 guns, and the number of
adventurers who embarked in her, were about seventy, the major part of
them old Buccaneers, some of whose names have since been much noted, as
William Dampier, Edward Davis, Lionel Wafer, Ambrose Cowley, and John Cook
their Captain. August the 23d, 1683, they sailed from the _Chesapeak_.
Dampier and Cowley have both related their piratical adventures, but with
some degree of caution, to prevent bringing upon themselves a charge of
piracy. Cowley pretended that he was engaged to sail in the Revenge to
navigate her, but was kept in ignorance of the design of the voyage, and
made to believe they were bound for the _Island Hispaniola_; and that it
was not revealed to him till after they got out to sea, that instead of to
the _West Indies_, they were bound to the coast of _Guinea_, there to seek
for a better ship, in which they might sail to the _Great South Sea_.
William Dampier, who always shews respect for truth, would not stoop to
dissimulation; but he forbears being circumstantial concerning the outset
of this voyage, and the particulars of their proceedings whilst in the
_Atlantic_; supplying the chasm in the following general terms; "August
the 23d, 1683, we sailed from _Virginia_ under the command of Captain
Cook, bound for the _South Seas_. I shall not trouble the reader with an
account of every day's run, but hasten to the less known parts of the
world."
[Sidenote: Cape de Verde Islands.] Whilst near the coast of _Virginia_
they met a Dutch ship, out of which they took six casks of wine; and other
provisions; also two Dutch seamen, who voluntarily entered with them.
[Sidenote: September.] Some time in September they anchored at the _Isle
of Sal_, where they procured fish and a few goats, but neither fruits nor
good fresh water. Only five men lived on the Island, who were all black;
but they called themselves Portuguese, and one was styled the Governor.
[Sidenote: Ambergris.] These Portuguese exchanged a lump of ambergris, or
what was supposed to be ambergris, for old clothes. Dampier says, 'not a
man in the ship knew ambergris, but I have since seen it in other places,
and am certain this was not the right; it was of a dark colour, like
sheep's dung, very soft, but of no smell; and possibly was goat's dung.
Some I afterwards saw sold at the _Nicobars_ in the _East Indies_, was of
lighter colour, and very hard, neither had that any smell, and I suppose
was also a cheat. Mr. Hill, a surgeon, once shewed me a piece of
ambergris, and related to me, that one Mr. Benjamin Barker, a man I have
been long well acquainted with, and know to be a very sober and credible
person, told this Mr. Hill, that being in the _Bay of Honduras_, he found
in a sandy bay upon the shore of an Island, a lump of ambergris so large,
that when carried to _Jamaica_, it was found to weigh upwards of 100
_lbs._ When he found it, it lay dry above the mark of the sea at high
water, and in it were a great multitude of beetles. It was of a dusky
colour, towards black, about the hardness of mellow cheese, and of a very
fragrant smell. What Mr. Hill shewed me was some of it, which Mr. Barker
had given him[32].'
[Sidenote: The Flamingo.] There were wild-fowl at _Sal_; and Flamingos, of
which, and their manner of building their nests, Dampier has given a
description. The flesh of the Flamingo is lean and black, yet good meat,
'tasting neither fishy nor any way unsavory. A dish of Flamingos' tongues
is fit for a Prince's table: they are large, and have a knob of fat at the
root which is an excellent bit. When many of them stand together, at a
distance they appear like a brick wall; for their feathers are of the
colour of new red brick, and, except when feeding, they commonly stand
upright, exactly in a row close by each other.'
[Sidenote: Cape de Verde Islands.] From the Isle of _Sal_ they went to
other of the _Cape de Verde Islands_. At _St. Nicholas_ they watered the
ship by digging wells, and at _Mayo_ they procured some provisions. They
afterwards sailed to the Island _St. Jago_, but a Dutch ship was lying at
anchor in _Port Praya_, which fired her guns at them as soon as they came
within reach of shot, and the Buccaneers thought it prudent to stand out
again to sea.
[Sidenote: November. Coast of Guinea.] They next sailed to the coast of
_Guinea_, which they made in the beginning of November, near _Sierra
Leone_. A large ship was at anchor in the road, which proved to be a Dane.
On sight of her, and all the time they were standing into the road, all
the Buccaneer crew, except a few men to manage the sails, kept under deck;
which gave their ship the appearance of being a weakly manned
merchant-vessel. When they drew near the Danish ship, which they did with
intention to board her, the Buccaneer Commander, to prevent suspicion,
gave direction in a loud voice to the steersman to put the helm one way;
and, according to the plan preconcerted, the steersman put it the
contrary, so that their vessel seemed to fall on board the Dane through
mistake. By this stratagem, they surprised, and, with the loss of five
men, became masters of a ship mounting 36 guns, which was victualled and
stored for a long voyage. This achievement is related circumstantially in
Cowley's manuscript Journal[33]; but in his published account he only
says, 'near Cape _Sierra Leone_, we alighted on a new ship of 40 guns,
which we boarded and carried her away.'
[Sidenote: Sherborough River.] They went with their prize to a river South
of the _Sierra Leone_, called the _Sherborough_, to which they were safely
piloted through channels among shoals, by one of the crew who had been
there before. At the River _Sherborough_ there was then an English
factory, but distant from where they anchored. Near them was a large town
inhabited by negroes, who traded freely, selling them rice, fowls,
plantains, sugar-canes, palm-wine, and honey. The town was skreened from
shipping by a grove of trees.
The Buccaneers embarked here all in their new ship, and named her the
Batchelor's Delight. Their old ship they burnt, 'that she might tell no
tales,' and set their prisoners on shore, to shift as well as they could
for themselves.
They sailed from the coast of Guinea in the middle of November, directing
their course across the _Atlantic_ towards the _Strait of Magalhanes_.
[Sidenote: January, 1684.] On January the 28th, 1684, they had sight of
the Northernmost of the Islands discovered by Captain John Davis in 1592,
(since, among other appellations, called the _Sebald de Weert Islands_.)
From the circumstance of their falling in with this land, originated the
extraordinary report of an Island being discovered in the _Southern
Atlantic Ocean_ in lat. 47 deg. S, and by Cowley named _Pepys Island_; which
was long believed to exist, and has been sought after by navigators of
different European nations, even within our own time. The following are
the particulars which caused so great a deception.
[Sidenote: History of the Report of a Discovery named Pepys Island.]
Cowley says, in his manuscript Journal, 'January 1683: This month we were
in latitude 47 deg. 40', where we espied an Island bearing West of us, and
bore away for it, but being too late we lay by all night. The Island
seemed very pleasant to the eye, with many woods. I may say the whole
Island was woods, there being a rock above water to the Eastward of it
with innumerable fowls. I sailed along that Island to the Southward, and
about the SW side of the Island there seemed to me to be a good place for
ships to ride. The wind blew fresh, and they would not put the boat out.
Sailing a little further, having 26 and 27 fathoms water, we came to a
place where we saw the weeds ride, and found only seven fathoms water and
all rocky ground, therefore we put the ship about: but the harbour seemed
a good place for ships to ride in. There seemed to me harbour for 500 sail
of shipping, the going in but narrow, and the North side of the entrance
shallow that I could see: but I think there is water enough on the South
side. I would have had them stand upon a wind all night; but they told me
they did not come out to go upon discovery. We saw likewise another Island
by this, which made me to think them the _Sibble D'wards_[34].'
The latitude given by Cowley is to be attributed to his ignorance, and to
this part of his narrative being composed from memory, which he
acknowledges, though it is not so stated in the printed Narrative. His
describing the land to be covered with wood, is sufficiently accounted for
by the appearance it makes at a distance, which in the same manner has
deceived other voyagers. Pernety, in his Introduction to M. de
Bougainville's Voyage to the _Malouines_ (by which name the French
Voyagers have chosen to call _John Davis's Islands_) says, 'As to wood, we
were deceived by appearances in running along the coast of the
_Malouines_: we thought we saw some, but on landing, these appearances
were discovered to be only tall bulrushes with large flat leaves, such as
are called corn flags[35].'
The Editor of Cowley's Journal, William Hack, might possibly believe from
the latitude mentioned by Cowley, that the land seen by him was a new
discovery. To give it a less doubtful appearance, he dropped the 40
minutes of latitude, and also Cowley's conjecture that the land was the
_Sebald de Weerts_; and with this falsification of the Journal, he took
occasion to compliment the Honourable Mr. Pepys, who was then Secretary of
the Admiralty, by putting his name to the land, giving as Cowley's words,
'In the latitude of 47 deg., we saw land, the same being an Island not before
known. I gave it the name of _Pepys Island_.' Hack embellished this
account with a drawing of _Pepys Island_, in which is introduced an
_Admiralty Bay_, and _Secretary's Point_.
The account which Dampier has given of their falling in with this land,
would have cleared up the whole matter, but for a circumstance which is
far more extraordinary than any yet mentioned, which is, that it long
escaped notice, and seems never to have been generally understood, that
Dampier and Cowley were at this time in the same ship, and their voyage
thus far the same.
Dampier says, 'January the 28th (1683-4) we made the _Sebald de Weerts_.
They are three rocky barren Islands without any tree, only some bushes
growing on them. The two Northernmost lie in 51 deg. S, the other in 51 deg. 20'
S. We could not come near the two Northern Islands, but we came close by
the Southern; but we could not obtain soundings till within two cables'
length of the shore, and there found the bottom to be foul rocky
ground[36].' In consequence of the inattention, or oversight, in not
perceiving that Dampier and Cowley were speaking of the same land, Hack's
ingenious adulation of the Secretary of the Admiralty flourished a full
century undetected; a _Pepys Island_ being all the time admitted in the
charts.
[Sidenote: Shoals of small red Lobsters.] Near these Islands the variation
was observed 23 deg. 10' Easterly. They passed through great shoals of small
red lobsters, 'no bigger than the top of a man's little finger, yet all
their claws, both great and small, were like a lobster. I never saw,' says
Dampier, 'any of this sort of fish naturally red, except here.'
The winds blew hard from the Westward, and they could not fetch the
_Strait of Magalhanes_. [Sidenote: February.] On February the 6th, they
were at the entrance of _Strait le Maire_, when it fell calm, and a strong
tide set out of the _Strait_ Northward, which made a short irregular sea,
as in a race, or place where two tides meet, and broke over the waist of
the ship, 'which was tossed about like an egg-shell.' [Sidenote: They sail
by the East end of Staten Island; and enter the South Sea.] A breeze
springing up from the WNW, they bore away Eastward, and passed round the
East end of _Staten Island_; after which they saw no other land till they
came into the _South Sea_. They had much rain, and took advantage of it to
fill 23 casks with fresh water.
[Sidenote: March.] March the 17th, they were in latitude 36 deg. S, standing
for the _Island Juan Fernandez_. Variation 8 deg. East.