give him his due, proposed our building a little city here, establishing
ourselves on shore, with a good fortification and works proper to defend
ourselves; and that, as we had wealth enough, and could increase it to
what degree we pleased, we should content ourselves to retire here,
and bid defiance to the world. But I soon convinced him that this place
would be no security to us, if we pretended to carry on our cruising
trade; for that then all the nations of Europe, and indeed of that part
of the world, would be engaged to root us out; but if we resolved to
live there as in retirement, and plant in the country as private men,
and give over our trade of pirating, then, indeed, we might plant and
settle ourselves where we pleased. But then, I told him, the best way
would be to treat with the natives, and buy a tract of land of them
farther up the country, seated upon some navigable river, where boats
might go up and down for pleasure, but not ships to endanger us; that
thus planting the high ground with cattle, such as cows and goats, of
which the country also was full, to be sure we might live here as well
as any men in the world; and I owned to him I thought it was a good
retreat for those that were willing to leave off and lay down, and yet
did not care to venture home and be hanged; that is to say, to run the
risk of it.
Captain Avery, however he made no positive discovery of his intentions,
seemed to me to decline my notion of going up into the country to plant;
on the contrary, it was apparent he was of Captain Wilmot's opinion,
that they might maintain themselves on shore, and yet carry on their
cruising trade too; and upon this they resolved. But, as I afterwards
understood, about fifty of their men went up the country, and settled
themselves in an inland place as a colony. Whether they are there still
or not, I cannot tell, or how many of them are left alive; but it is my
opinion they are there still, and that they are considerably increased,
for, as I hear, they have got some women among them, though not many;
for it seems five Dutch women and three or four little girls were taken
by them in a Dutch ship, which they afterwards took going to Mocha; and
three of those women, marrying some of these men, went with them to live
in their new plantation. But of this I speak only by hearsay.
As we lay here some time, I found our people mightily divided in their
notions; some were for going this way, and some that, till at last I
began to foresee they would part company, and perhaps we should not have
men enough to keep together to man the great ship; so I took Captain
Wilmot aside, and began to talk to him about it, but soon perceived that
he inclined himself to stay at Madagascar, and having got a vast wealth
for his own share, had secret designs of getting home some way or other.
I argued the impossibility of it, and the hazard he would run, either
of falling into the hands of thieves and murderers in the Red Sea,
who would never let such a treasure as his pass their hands, or of
his falling into the hands of the English, Dutch, or French, who would
certainly hang him for a pirate. I gave him an account of the voyage
I had made from this very place to the continent of Africa, and what a
journey it was to travel on foot.
In short, nothing could persuade him, but he would go into the Red Sea
with the sloop, and where the children of Israel passed through the sea
dry-shod, and, landing there, would travel to Grand Cairo by land,
which is not above eighty miles, and from thence he said he could ship
himself, by the way of Alexandria, to any part of the world.
I represented the hazard, and indeed the impossibility, of his passing
by Mocha and Jiddah without being attacked, if he offered it by force,
or plundered, if he went to get leave; and explained the reasons of it
so much and so effectually, that, though at last he would not hearken to
it himself, none of his men would go with him. They told him they would
go anywhere with him to serve him, but that this was running himself and
them into certain destruction, without any possibility of avoiding it,
or probability of answering his end. The captain took what I said to
him quite wrong, and pretended to resent it, and gave me some buccaneer
words upon it; but I gave him no return to it but this: that I advised
him for his advantage; that if he did not understand it so, it was his
fault, not mine; that I did not forbid him to go, nor had I offered
to persuade any of the men not to go with him, though it was to their
apparent destruction.
However, warm heads are not easily cooled. The captain was so eager that
he quitted our company, and, with most part of his crew, went over to
Captain Avery, and sorted with his people, taking all the treasure with
him, which, by the way, was not very fair in him, we having agreed to
share all our gains, whether more or less, whether absent or present.
Our men muttered a little at it, but I pacified them as well as I could,
and told them it was easy for us to get as much, if we minded our hits;
and Captain Wilmot had set us a very good example; for, by the same
rule, the agreement of any further sharing of profits with them was at
an end. I took this occasion to put into their heads some part of my
further designs, which were, to range over the eastern sea, and see if
we could not make ourselves as rich as Mr Avery, who, it was true, had
gotten a prodigious deal of money, though not one-half of what was said
of it in Europe.
Our men were so pleased with my forward, enterprising temper, that
they assured me that they would go with me, one and all, over the whole
globe, wherever I would carry them; and as for Captain Wilmot, they
would have nothing more to do with him. This came to his ears, and put
him into a great rage, so that he threatened, if I came on shore, he
would cut my throat.
I had information of it privately, but took no notice of it at all; only
I took care not to go unprovided for him, and seldom walked about but in
very good company. However, at last Captain Wilmot and I met, and talked
over the matter very seriously, and I offered him the sloop to go where
he pleased, or, if he was not satisfied with that, I offered to take
the sloop and leave him the great ship; but he declined both, and only
desired that I would leave him six carpenters, which I had in our ship
more than I had need of, to help his men to finish the sloop that was
begun before we came thither, by the men that lost their ship. This I
consented readily to, and lent him several other hands that were useful
to them; and in a little time they built a stout brigantine, able to
carry fourteen guns and 200 men.
What measures they took, and how Captain Avery managed afterwards, is
too long a story to meddle with here; nor is it any of my business,
having my own story still upon my hands.
We lay here, about these several simple disputes, almost five months,
when, about the latter end of March, I set sail with the great ship,
having in her forty-four guns and 400 men, and the sloop, carrying
eighty men. We did not steer to the Malabar coast, and so to the Gulf of
Persia, as was first intended, the east monsoons blowing yet too strong,
but we kept more under the African coast, where we had the wind variable
till we passed the line, and made the Cape Bassa, in the latitude of
four degrees ten minutes; from thence, the monsoons beginning to change
to the N.E. and N.N.E., we led it away, with the wind large, to the
Maldives, a famous ledge of islands, well known by all the sailors who
have gone into those parts of the world; and, leaving these islands a
little to the south, we made Cape Comorin, the southernmost land of the
coast of Malabar, and went round the isle of Ceylon. Here we lay by a
while to wait for purchase; and here we saw three large English East
India ships going from Bengal, or from Fort St George, homeward for
England, or rather for Bombay and Surat, till the trade set in.
We brought to, and hoisting an English ancient and pendant, lay by for
them, as if we intended to attack them. They could not tell what to make
of us a good while, though they saw our colours; and I believe at first
they thought us to be French; but as they came nearer to us, we let
them soon see what we were, for we hoisted a black flag, with two cross
daggers in it, on our main-top-mast head, which let them see what they
were to expect.
We soon found the effects of this; for at first they spread their
ancients, and made up to us in a line, as if they would fight us, having
the wind off shore, fair enough to have brought them on board us; but
when they saw what force we were of, and found we were cruisers of
another kind, they stood away from us again, with all the sail they
could make. If they had come up, we should have given them an unexpected
welcome, but as it was, we had no mind to follow them; so we let them
go, for the same reasons which I mentioned before.
But though we let them pass, we did not design to let others go at so
easy a price. It was but the next morning that we saw a sail standing
round Cape Comorin, and steering, as we thought, the same course with
us. We knew not at first what to do with her, because she had the shore
on her larboard quarter, and if we offered to chase her, she might put
into any port or creek, and escape us; but, to prevent this, we sent the
sloop to get in between her and the land. As soon as she saw that, she
hauled in to keep the land aboard, and when the sloop stood towards her
she made right ashore, with all the canvas she could spread.
The sloop, however, came up with her and engaged her, and found she was
a vessel of ten guns, Portuguese built, but in the Dutch traders'
hands, and manned by Dutchmen, who were bound from the Gulf of Persia
to Batavia, to fetch spices and other goods from thence. The sloop's men
took her, and had the rummaging of her before we came up. She had in her
some European goods, and a good round sum of money, and some pearl; so
that, though we did not go to the gulf for the pearl, the pearl came to
us out of the gulf, and we had our share of it. This was a rich ship,
and the goods were of very considerable value, besides the money and the
pearl.
We had a long consultation here what we should do with the men, for to
give them the ship, and let them pursue their voyage to Java, would be
to alarm the Dutch factory there, who are by far the strongest in the
Indies, and to make our passage that way impracticable; whereas we
resolved to visit that part of the world in our way, but were not
willing to pass the great Bay of Bengal, where we hoped for a great deal
of purchase; and therefore it behoved us not to be waylaid before we
came there, because they knew we must pass by the Straits of Malacca, or
those of Sunda; and either way it was very easy to prevent us.
While we were consulting this in the great cabin, the men had had the
same debate before the mast; and it seems the majority there were for
pickling up the poor Dutchmen among the herrings; in a word, they were
for throwing them all into the sea. Poor William, the Quaker, was in
great concern about this, and comes directly to me to talk about it.
"Hark thee," says William, "what wilt thou do with these Dutchmen that
thou hast on board? Thou wilt not let them go, I suppose," says he.
"Why," says I, "William, would you advise me to let them go?" "No," says
William, "I cannot say it is fit for thee to let them go; that is to
say, to go on with their voyage to Batavia, because it is not for thy
turn that the Dutch at Batavia should have any knowledge of thy being in
these seas." "Well, then," says I to him, "I know no remedy but to throw
them overboard. You know, William," says I, "a Dutchman swims like a
fish; and all our people here are of the same opinion as well as I." At
the same time I resolved it should not be done, but wanted to hear what
William would say. He gravely replied, "If all the men in the ship
were of that mind, I will never believe that thou wilt be of that mind
thyself, for I have heard thee protest against cruelty in all other
cases." "Well, William," says I, "that is true; but what then shall we
do with them?" "Why," says William, "is there no way but to murder them?
I am persuaded thou canst not be in earnest." "No, indeed, William,"
says I, "I am not in earnest; but they shall not go to Java, no, nor to
Ceylon, that is certain." "But," says William, "the men have done thee
no injury at all; thou hast taken a great treasure from them; what canst
thou pretend to hurt them for?" "Nay, William," says I, "do not talk of
that; I have pretence enough, if that be all; my pretence is, to
prevent doing me hurt, and that is as necessary a piece of the law of
self-preservation as any you can name; but the main thing is, I know not
what to do with them, to prevent their prating."
While William and I were talking, the poor Dutchmen were openly
condemned to die, as it may be called, by the whole ship's company; and
so warm were the men upon it, that they grew very clamorous; and when
they heard that William was against it, some of them swore they should
die, and if William opposed it, he should drown along with them.
But, as I was resolved to put an end to their cruel project, so I found
it was time to take upon me a little, or the bloody humour might grow
too strong; so I called the Dutchmen up, and talked a little with them.
First, I asked them if they were willing to go with us. Two of them
offered it presently; but the rest, which were fourteen, declined it.
"Well, then," said I, "where would you go?" They desired they should
go to Ceylon. No, I told them I could not allow them to go to any Dutch
factory, and told them very plainly the reasons of it, which they could
not deny to be just. I let them know also the cruel, bloody measures
of our men, but that I had resolved to save them, if possible; and
therefore I told them I would set them on shore at some English factory
in the Bay of Bengal, or put them on board any English ship I met, after
I was past the Straits of Sunda or of Malacca, but not before; for, as
to my coming back again, I told them I would run the venture of their
Dutch power from Batavia, but I would not have the news come there
before me, because it would make all their merchant-ships lay up, and
keep out of our way.
It came next into our consideration what we should do with their ship;
but this was not long resolving; for there were but two ways, either to
set her on fire, or to run her on shore, and we chose the last. So we
set her foresail with the tack at the cat-head, and lashed her helm a
little to starboard, to answer her head-sail, and so set her agoing,
with neither cat or dog in her; and it was not above two hours before
we saw her run right ashore upon the coast, a little beyond the
Cape Comorin; and away we went round about Ceylon, for the coast of
Coromandel.
We sailed along there, not in sight of the shore only, but so near as to
see the ships in the road at Fort St David, Fort St George, and at
the other factories along that shore, as well as along the coast of
Golconda, carrying our English ancient when we came near the Dutch
factories, and Dutch colours when we passed by the English factories.
We met with little purchase upon this coast, except two small vessels
of Golconda, bound across the bay with bales of calicoes and muslins and
wrought silks, and fifteen bales of romals, from the bottom of the bay,
which were going, on whose account we knew not, to Acheen, and to other
ports on the coast of Malacca. We did not inquire to what place in
particular; but we let the vessels go, having none but Indians on board.
In the bottom of the bay we met with a great junk belonging to the
Mogul's court, with a great many people, passengers as we supposed them
to be: it seems they were bound for the river Hooghly or Ganges, and
came from Sumatra. This was a prize worth taking indeed; and we got
so much gold in her, besides other goods which we did not meddle
with--pepper in particular--that it had like to have put an end to our
cruise; for almost all my men said we were rich enough, and desired to
go back again to Madagascar. But I had other things in my head still,
and when I came to talk with them, and set friend William to talk with
them, we put such further golden hopes into their heads that we soon
prevailed with them to let us go on.
My next design was to leave all the dangerous straits of Malacca,
Singapore, and Sunda, where we could expect no great booty, but what we
might light on in European ships, which we must fight for; and though we
were able to fight, and wanted no courage, even to desperation, yet we
were rich too, and resolved to be richer, and took this for our maxim,
that while we were sure the wealth we sought was to be had without
fighting, we had no occasion to put ourselves to the necessity of
fighting for that which would come upon easy terms.
We left, therefore, the Bay of Bengal, and coming to the coast of
Sumatra, we put in at a small port, where there was a town, inhabited
only by Malays; and here we took in fresh water, and a large quantity of
good pork, pickled up and well salted, notwithstanding the heat of the
climate, being in the very middle of the torrid zone, viz., in three
degrees fifteen minutes north latitude. We also took on board both our
vessels forty hogs alive, which served us for fresh provisions, having
abundance of food for them, such as the country produced, such as guams,
potatoes, and a sort of coarse rice, good for nothing else but to feed
the swine. We killed one of these hogs every day, and found them to be
excellent meat. We took in also a monstrous quantity of ducks, and cocks
and hens, the same kind as we have in England, which we kept for change
of provisions; and if I remember right, we had no less than two thousand
of them; so that at first we were pestered with them very much, but
we soon lessened them by boiling, roasting, stewing, &c., for we never
wanted while we had them.
My long-projected design now lay open to me, which was to fall in
amongst the Dutch Spice Islands, and see what mischief I could do there.
Accordingly, we put out to sea the 12th of August, and passing the line
on the 17th, we stood away due south, leaving the Straits of Sunda and
the isle of Java on the east, till we came to the latitude of eleven
degrees twenty minutes, when we steered east and E.N.E., having easy
gales from the W.S.W. till we came among the Moluccas, or Spice Islands.
We passed those seas with less difficulty than in other places, the
winds to the south of Java being more variable, and the weather good,
though sometimes we met with squally weather and short storms; but when
we came in among the Spice Islands themselves we had a share of the
monsoons, or trade-winds, and made use of them accordingly.
The infinite number of islands which lie in these seas embarrassed
us strangely, and it was with great difficulty that we worked our way
through them; then we steered for the north side of the Philippines,
when we had a double chance for purchase, viz., either to meet with
the Spanish ships from Acapulco, on the coast of New Spain, or we were
certain not to fail of finding some ships or junks of China, who, if
they came from China, would have a great quantity of goods of value on
board, as well as money; or if we took them going back, we should find
them laden with nutmegs and cloves from Banda and Ternate, or from some
of the other islands.
We were right in our guesses here to a tittle, and we steered directly
through a large outlet, which they call a strait, though it be fifteen
miles broad, and to an island they call Dammer, and from thence N.N.E.
to Banda. Between these islands we met with a Dutch junk, or vessel,
going to Amboyna: we took her without much trouble, and I had much ado
to prevent our men murdering all the men, as soon as they heard them say
they belonged to Amboyna: the reasons I suppose any one will guess.
We took out of her about sixteen ton of nutmegs, some provisions, and
their small-arms, for they had no great guns, and let the ship go: from
thence we sailed directly to the Banda Island, or Islands, where we
were sure to get more nutmegs if we thought fit. For my part, I would
willingly have got more nutmegs, though I had paid for them, but our
people abhorred paying for anything; so we got about twelve ton more at
several times, most of them from shore, and only a few in a small boat
of the natives, which was going to Gilolo. We would have traded openly,
but the Dutch, who have made themselves masters of all those islands,
forbade the people dealing with us, or any strangers whatever, and kept
them so in awe that they durst not do it; so we could indeed have made
nothing of it if we had stayed longer, and therefore resolved to be gone
for Ternate, and see if we could make up our loading with cloves.
Accordingly we stood away north, but found ourselves so entangled among
innumerable islands, and without any pilot that understood the channel
and races between them, that we were obliged to give it over, and
resolved to go back again to Banda, and see what we could get among the
other islands thereabouts.
The first adventure we made here had like to have been fatal to us all,
for the sloop, being ahead, made the signal to us for seeing a sail, and
afterwards another, and a third, by which we understood she saw three
sail; whereupon we made more sail to come up with her, but on a sudden
were gotten among some rocks, falling foul upon them in such a manner
as frighted us all very heartily; for having, it seems, but just water
enough, as it were to an inch, our rudder struck upon the top of a rock,
which gave us a terrible shock, and split a great piece off the rudder,
and indeed disabled it so that our ship would not steer at all, at least
not so as to be depended upon; and we were glad to hand all our sails,
except our fore-sail and main-topsail, and with them we stood away to
the east, to see if we could find any creek or harbour where we might
lay the ship on shore, and repair our rudder; besides, we found the ship
herself had received some damage, for she had some little leak near her
stern-post, but a great way under water.
By this mischance we lost the advantages, whatever they were, of the
three sail of ships, which we afterwards came to hear were small Dutch
ships from Batavia, going to Banda and Amboyna, to load spice, and, no
doubt, had a good quantity of money on board.
Upon the disaster I have been speaking of you may very well suppose that
we came to an anchor as soon as we could, which was upon a small island
not far from Banda, where, though the Dutch keep no factory, yet they
come at the season to buy nutmegs and mace. We stayed there thirteen
days; but there being no place where we could lay the ship on shore, we
sent the sloop to cruise among the islands, to look out for a place fit
for us. In the meantime we got very good water here, some provisions,
roots, and fruits, and a good quantity of nutmegs and mace, which we
found ways to trade with the natives for, without the knowledge of their
masters, the Dutch.
At length our sloop returned; having found another island where
there was a very good harbour, we ran in, and came to an anchor. We
immediately unbent all our sails, sent them ashore upon the island, and
set up seven or eight tents with them; then we unrigged our top-masts,
and cut them down, hoisted all our guns out, our provisions and loading,
and put them ashore in the tents. With the guns we made two small
batteries, for fear of a surprise, and kept a look-out upon the hill.
When we were all ready, we laid the ship aground upon a hard sand, the
upper end of the harbour, and shored her up on each side. At low water
she lay almost dry, so we mended her bottom, and stopped the leak, which
was occasioned by straining some of the rudder irons with the shock
which the ship had against the rock.
Having done this, we also took occasion to clean her bottom, which,
having been at sea so long, was very foul. The sloop washed and tallowed
also, but was ready before us, and cruised eight or ten days among the
islands, but met with no purchase; so that we began to be tired of the
place, having little to divert us but the most furious claps of thunder
that ever were heard or read of in the world.
We were in hopes to have met with some purchase here among the Chinese,
who, we had been told, came to Ternate to trade for cloves, and to the
Banda Isles for nutmegs; and we would have been very glad to have loaded
our galleon, or great ship, with these two sorts of spice, and have
thought it a glorious voyage; but we found nothing stirring more than
what I have said, except Dutchmen, who, by what means we could not
imagine, had either a jealousy of us or intelligence of us, and kept
themselves close in their ports.