place most famous for the best nutmegs; but friend William, who was
always for doing our business without fighting, dissuaded me from it,
and gave such reasons for it that we could not resist; particularly
the great heats of the season, and of the place, for we were now in the
latitude of just half a degree south. But while we were disputing this
point we were soon determined by the following accident:--We had a
strong gale of wind at S.W. by W., and the ship had fresh way, but a
great sea rolling in upon us from the N.E., which we afterwards found
was the pouring in of the great ocean east of New Guinea. However, as I
said, we stood away large, and made fresh way, when, on the sudden,
from a dark cloud which hovered over our heads, came a flash, or rather
blast, of lightning, which was so terrible, and quivered so long among
us, that not I only, but all our men, thought the ship was on fire. The
heat of the flash, or fire, was so sensibly felt in our faces, that some
of our men had blisters raised by it on their skins, not immediately,
perhaps, by the heat, but by the poisonous or noxious particles which
mixed themselves with the matter inflamed. But this was not all; the
shock of the air, which the fracture in the clouds made, was such
that our ship shook as when a broadside is fired; and her motion being
checked, as it were at once, by a repulse superior to the force that
gave her way before, the sails all flew back in a moment, and the ship
lay, as we might truly say, thunder-struck. As the blast from the cloud
was so very near us, it was but a few moments after the flash that the
terriblest clap of thunder followed that was ever heard by mortals. I
firmly believe a blast of a hundred thousand barrels of gunpowder could
not have been greater to our hearing; nay, indeed, to some of our men it
took away their hearing.
It is not possible for me to describe, or any one to conceive, the
terror of that minute. Our men were in such a consternation, that not a
man on board the ship had presence of mind to apply to the proper duty
of a sailor, except friend William; and had he not run very nimbly,
and with a composure that I am sure I was not master of, to let go the
fore-sheet, set in the weather-brace of the fore-yard, and haul down
the top-sails, we had certainly brought all our masts by the board, and
perhaps have been overwhelmed in the sea.
As for myself, I must confess my eyes were open to my danger, though not
the least to anything of application for remedy. I was all amazement and
confusion, and this was the first time that I can say I began to feel
the effects of that horror which I know since much more of, upon the
just reflection on my former life. I thought myself doomed by Heaven to
sink that moment into eternal destruction; and with this peculiar mark
of terror, viz., that the vengeance was not executed in the ordinary
way of human justice, but that God had taken me into His immediate
disposing, and had resolved to be the executer of His own vengeance.
Let them alone describe the confusion I was in who know what was the
case of [John] Child, of Shadwell, or Francis Spira. It is impossible
to describe it. My soul was all amazement and surprise. I thought myself
just sinking into eternity, owning the divine justice of my punishment,
but not at all feeling any of the moving, softening tokens of a sincere
penitent; afflicted at the punishment, but not at the crime; alarmed at
the vengeance, but not terrified at the guilt; having the same gust to
the crime, though terrified to the last degree at the thought of the
punishment, which I concluded I was just now going to receive.
But perhaps many that read this will be sensible of the thunder and
lightning, that may think nothing of the rest, or rather may make a jest
of it all; so I say no more of it at this time, but proceed to the story
of the voyage. When the amazement was over, and the men began to come
to themselves, they fell a-calling for one another, every one for his
friend, or for those he had most respect for; and it was a singular
satisfaction to find that nobody was hurt. The next thing was to
inquire if the ship had received no damage, when the boatswain, stepping
forward, found that part of the head was gone, but not so as to
endanger the bowsprit; so we hoisted our top-sails again, hauled aft the
fore-sheet, braced the yards, and went our course as before. Nor can I
deny but that we were all somewhat like the ship; our first astonishment
being a little over, and that we found the ship swim again, we were soon
the same irreligious, hardened crew that we were before, and I among the
rest.
As we now steered, our course lay N.N.E., and we passed thus, with a
fair wind, through the strait or channel between the island of Gilolo
and the land of Nova Guinea, when we were soon in the open sea or ocean,
on the south-east of the Philippines, being the great Pacific, or South
Sea, where it may be said to join itself with the vast Indian Ocean.
As we passed into these seas, steering due north, so we soon crossed the
line to the north side, and so sailed on towards Mindanao and Manilla,
the chief of the Philippine Islands, without meeting with any purchase
till we came to the northward of Manilla, and then our trade began;
for here we took three Japanese vessels, though at some distance from
Manilla. Two of them had made their market, and were going home with
nutmegs, cinnamon, cloves, &c., besides all sorts of European goods,
brought with the Spanish ships from Acapulco. They had together
eight-and-thirty ton of cloves, and five or six ton of nutmegs, and as
much cinnamon. We took the spice, but meddled with very little of the
European goods, they being, as we thought, not worth our while; but we
were very sorry for it soon after, and therefore grew wiser upon the
next occasion.
The third Japanese was the best prize to us; for he came with money, and
a great deal of gold uncoined, to buy such goods as we mentioned above.
We eased him of his gold, and did him no other harm, and having no
intention to stay long here, we stood away for China.
We were at sea above two months upon this voyage, beating it up against
the wind, which blew steadily from the N.E., and within a point or two
one way or other; and this indeed was the reason why we met with the
more prizes in our voyage.
We were just gotten clear of the Philippines, and we purposed to go to
the isle of Formosa, but the wind blew so fresh at N.N.E. that there was
no making anything of it, and we were forced to put back to Laconia, the
most northerly of those islands. We rode here very secure, and shifted
our situation, not in view of any danger, for there was none, but for a
better supply of provisions, which we found the people very willing to
supply us with.
There lay, while we remained here, three very great galleons, or Spanish
ships, from the south seas; whether newly come in or ready to sail we
could not understand at first; but as we found the China traders began
to load and set forward to the north, we concluded the Spanish ships had
newly unloaded their cargo, and these had been buying; so we doubted
not but we should meet with purchase in the rest of the voyage, neither,
indeed, could we well miss of it.
We stayed here till the beginning of May, when we were told the Chinese
traders would set forward; for the northern monsoons end about the
latter end of March or beginning of April; so that they are sure of fair
winds home. Accordingly we hired some of the country boats, which
are very swift sailers, to go and bring us word how affairs stood at
Manilla, and when the China junks would sail; and by this intelligence
we ordered our matters so well, that three days after we set sail we
fell in with no less than eleven of them; out of which, however, having
by misfortune of discovering ourselves, taken but three, we contented
ourselves and pursued our voyage to Formosa. In these three vessels we
took, in short, such a quantity of cloves, nutmegs, cinnamon, and mace,
besides silver, that our men began to be of my opinion,--that we were
rich enough; and, in short, we had nothing to do now but to consider by
what methods to secure the immense treasure we had got.
I was secretly glad to hear that they were of this opinion, for I had
long before resolved, if it were possible, to persuade them to think of
returning, having fully perfected my first projected design of rummaging
among the Spice Islands; and all those prizes, which were exceeding rich
at Manilla, was quite beyond my design.
But now I had heard what the men said, and how they thought we were very
well, I let them know by friend William, that I intended only to sail
to the island of Formosa, where I should find opportunity to turn our
spices and Europe goods into ready money, and that then I would tack
about for the south, the northern monsoons being perhaps by that time
also ready to set in. They all approved of my design, and willingly
went forward; because, besides the winds, which would not permit until
October to go to the south, I say, besides this, we were now a very deep
ship, having near two hundred ton of goods on board, and particularly,
some very valuable; the sloop also had a proportion.
With this resolution we went on cheerfully, when, within about twelve
days' sail more, we made the island Formosa, at a great distance, but
were ourselves shot beyond the southernmost part of the island, being to
leeward, and almost upon the coast of China. Here we were a little at
a loss, for the English factories were not far off, and we might be
obliged to fight some of their ships, if we met with them; which, though
we were able enough to do, yet we did not desire it on many accounts,
and particularly because we did not think it was our business to have it
known who we were, or that such a kind of people as we had been seen on
the coast. However, we were obliged to keep to the northward, keeping as
good an offing as we could with respect to the coast of China.
We had not sailed long but we chased a small Chinese junk, and having
taken her, we found she was bound to the island of Formosa, having no
goods on board but some rice and a small quantity of tea; but she had
three Chinese merchants in her; and they told us that they were going to
meet a large vessel of their country, which came from Tonquin, and lay
in a river in Formosa, whose name I forgot; and they were going to the
Philippine Islands, with silks, muslins, calicoes, and such goods as
are the product of China, and some gold; that their business was to sell
their cargo, and buy spices and European goods.
This suited very well with our purpose; so I resolved now that we would
leave off being pirates and turn merchants; so we told them what goods
we had on board, and that if they would bring their supercargoes or
merchants on board, we would trade with them. They were very willing
to trade with us, but terribly afraid to trust us; nor was it an unjust
fear, for we had plundered them already of what they had. On the other
hand, we were as diffident as they, and very uncertain what to do; but
William the Quaker put this matter into a way of barter. He came to me
and told me he really thought the merchants looked like fair men, that
meant honestly. "And besides," says William, "it is their interest to be
honest now, for, as they know upon what terms we got the goods we are to
truck with them, so they know we can afford good pennyworths; and in the
next place, it saves them going the whole voyage, so that the southerly
monsoons yet holding, if they traded with us, they could immediately
return with their cargo to China;" though, by the way, we afterwards
found they intended for Japan; but that was all one, for by this means
they saved at least eight months' voyage. Upon these foundations,
William said he was satisfied we might trust them; "for," says William,
"I would as soon trust a man whose interest binds him to be just to
me as a man whose principle binds himself." Upon the whole, William
proposed that two of the merchants should be left on board our ship as
hostages, and that part of our goods should be loaded in their vessel,
and let the third go with it into the port where their ship lay; and
when he had delivered the spices, he should bring back such things as it
was agreed should be exchanged. This was concluded on, and William the
Quaker ventured to go along with them, which, upon my word, I should not
have cared to have done, nor was I willing that he should, but he went
still upon the notion that it was their interest to treat him friendly.
In the meantime, we came to an anchor under a little island in the
latitude of 23 degrees 28 minutes, being just under the northern tropic,
and about twenty leagues from the island. Here we lay thirteen days, and
began to be very uneasy for my friend William, for they had promised
to be back again in four days, which they might very easily have done.
However, at the end of thirteen days, we saw three sail coming directly
to us, which a little surprised us all at first, not knowing what might
be the case; and we began to put ourselves in a posture of defence; but
as they came nearer us, we were soon satisfied, for the first vessel was
that which William went in, who carried a flag of truce; and in a few
hours they all came to an anchor, and William came on board us with a
little boat, with the Chinese merchant in his company, and two other
merchants, who seemed to be a kind of brokers for the rest.
Here he gave us an account how civilly he had been used; how they had
treated him with all imaginable frankness and openness; that they had
not only given him the full value of his spices and other goods which he
carried, in gold, by good weight, but had loaded the vessel again with
such goods as he knew we were willing to trade for; and that afterwards
they had resolved to bring the great ship out of the harbour, to lie
where we were, that so we might make what bargain we thought fit;
only William said he had promised, in our name, that we should use no
violence with them, nor detain any of the vessels after we had done
trading with them. I told him we would strive to outdo them in civility,
and that we would make good every part of his agreement; in token
whereof, I caused a white flag likewise to be spread at the poop of our
great ship, which was the signal agreed on.
As to the third vessel which came with them, it was a kind of bark of
the country, who, having intelligence of our design to traffic, came
off to deal with us, bringing a great deal of gold and some provisions,
which at that time we were very glad of.
In short, we traded upon the high seas with these men, and indeed we
made a very good market, and yet sold thieves' pennyworths too. We sold
here about sixty ton of spice, chiefly cloves and nutmegs, and above two
hundred bales of European goods, such as linen and woollen manufactures.
We considered we should have occasion for some such things ourselves,
and so we kept a good quantity of English stuffs, cloth, baize, &c., for
ourselves. I shall not take up any of the little room I have left here
with the further particulars of our trade; it is enough to mention,
that, except a parcel of tea, and twelve bales of fine China wrought
silks, we took nothing in exchange for our goods but gold; so that the
sum we took here in that glittering commodity amounted to above fifty
thousand ounces good weight.
When we had finished our barter, we restored the hostages, and gave the
three merchants about the quantity of twelve hundredweight of nutmegs,
and as many of cloves, with a handsome present of European linen and
stuff for themselves, as a recompense for what we had taken from them;
so we sent them away exceedingly well satisfied.
Here it was that William gave me an account, that while he was on board
the Japanese vessel, he met with a kind of religious, or Japan priest,
who spoke some words of English to him; and, being very inquisitive to
know how he came to learn any of those words, he told him that there
was in his country thirteen Englishmen; he called them Englishmen
very articulately and distinctly, for he had conversed with them very
frequently and freely. He said that they were all that were left of
two-and-thirty men, who came on shore on the north side of Japan, being
driven upon a great rock in a stormy night, where they lost their ship,
and the rest of their men were drowned; that he had persuaded the king
of his country to send boats off to the rock or island where the ship
was lost, to save the rest of the men, and to bring them on shore, which
was done, and they were used very kindly, and had houses built for
them, and land given them to plant for provision; and that they lived by
themselves.
He said he went frequently among them, to persuade them to worship their
god (an idol, I suppose, of their own making), which, he said, they
ungratefully refused; and that therefore the king had once or twice
ordered them all to be put to death; but that, as he said, he had
prevailed upon the king to spare them, and let them live their own
way, as long as they were quiet and peaceable, and did not go about to
withdraw others from the worship of the country.
I asked William why he did not inquire from whence they came. "I did,"
said William; "for how could I but think it strange," said he, "to hear
him talk of Englishmen on the north side of Japan?" "Well," said I,
"what account did he give of it?" "An account," said William, "that will
surprise thee, and all the world after thee, that shall hear of it,
and which makes me wish thou wouldst go up to Japan and find them
out." "What do you mean?" said I. "Whence could they come?" "Why," says
William, "he pulled out a little book, and in it a piece of paper, where
it was written, in an Englishman's hand, and in plain English words,
thus; and," says William, "I read it myself:--'We came from Greenland,
and from the North Pole.'" This, indeed, was amazing to us all, and more
so to those seamen among us who knew anything of the infinite attempts
which had been made from Europe, as well by the English as the Dutch,
to discover a passage that way into those parts of the world; and as
William pressed as earnestly to go on to the north to rescue those poor
men, so the ship's company began to incline to it; and, in a word, we
all came to this, that we would stand in to the shore of Formosa, to
find this priest again, and have a further account of it all from him.
Accordingly, the sloop went over; but when they came there, the vessels
were very unhappily sailed, and this put an end to our inquiry after
them, and perhaps may have disappointed mankind of one of the most noble
discoveries that ever was made, or will again be made, in the world, for
the good of mankind in general; but so much for that.
William was so uneasy at losing this opportunity, that he pressed us
earnestly to go up to Japan to find out these men. He told us that if
it was nothing but to recover thirteen honest poor men from a kind of
captivity, which they would otherwise never be redeemed from, and where,
perhaps, they might, some time or other, be murdered by the barbarous
people, in defence of their idolatry, it were very well worth our while,
and it would be, in some measure, making amends for the mischiefs we had
done in the world; but we, that had no concern upon us for the mischiefs
we had done, had much less about any satisfactions to be made for it, so
he found that kind of discourse would weigh very little with us. Then
he pressed us very earnestly to let him have the sloop to go by himself,
and I told him I would not oppose it; but when he came to the sloop none
of the men would go with him; for the case was plain, they had all a
share in the cargo of the great ship, as well as in that of the sloop,
and the richness of the cargo was such that they would not leave it by
any means; so poor William, much to his mortification, was obliged to
give it over. What became of those thirteen men, or whether they are not
there still, I can give no account of.
We are now at the end of our cruise; what we had taken was indeed so
considerable, that it was not only enough to satisfy the most covetous
and the most ambitious minds in the world, but it did indeed satisfy
us, and our men declared they did not desire any more. The next motion,
therefore, was about going back, and the way by which we should perform
the voyage, so as not to be attacked by the Dutch in the Straits of
Sunda.
We had pretty well stored ourselves here with provisions, and it being
now near the return of the monsoons, we resolved to stand away to the
southward; and not only to keep without the Philippine Islands, that is
to say, to the eastward of them, but to keep on to the southward, and
see if we could not leave not only the Moluccas, or Spice Islands,
behind us, but even Nova Guinea and Nova Hollandia also; and so getting
into the variable winds, to the south of the tropic of Capricorn, steer
away to the west, over the great Indian Ocean.
This was indeed at first a monstrous voyage in its appearance, and the
want of provisions threatened us. William told us in so many words, that
it was impossible we could carry provisions enough to subsist us for
such a voyage, and especially fresh water; and that, as there would
be no land for us to touch at where we could get any supply, it was a
madness to undertake it.
But I undertook to remedy this evil, and therefore desired them not
to be uneasy at that, for I knew that we might supply ourselves at
Mindanao, the most southerly island of the Philippines.
Accordingly, we set sail, having taken all the provisions here that we
could get, the 28th of September, the wind veering a little at first
from the N.N.W. to the N.E. by E., but afterwards settled about the
N.E. and the E.N.E. We were nine weeks in this voyage, having met with
several interruptions by the weather, and put in under the lee of a
small island in the latitude of 16 degrees 12 minutes, of which we never
knew the name, none of our charts having given any account of it: I
say, we put in here by reason of a strange tornado or hurricane, which
brought us into a great deal of danger. Here we rode about sixteen days,
the winds being very tempestuous and the weather uncertain. However, we
got some provisions on shore, such as plants and roots, and a few hogs.
We believed there were inhabitants on the island, but we saw none of
them.
From hence, the weather settling again, we went on and came to the
southernmost part of Mindanao, where we took in fresh water and some
cows, but the climate was so hot that we did not attempt to salt up any
more than so as to keep a fortnight or three weeks; and away we stood
southward, crossing the line, and, leaving Gillolo on the starboard
side, we coasted the country they call New Guinea, where, in the
latitude of eight degrees south, we put in again for provisions and
water, and where we found inhabitants; but they fled from us, and were
altogether inconversable. From thence, sailing still southward, we left
all behind us that any of our charts and maps took any notice of, and
went on till we came to the latitude of seventeen degrees, the wind
continuing still north-east.
Here we made land to the westward, which, when we had kept in sight
for three days, coasting along the shore for the distance of about four
leagues, we began to fear we should find no outlet west, and so should
be obliged to go back again, and put in among the Moluccas at last; but
at length we found the land break off, and go trending away to the west
sea, seeming to be all open to the south and south-west, and a great sea
came rolling out of the south, which gave us to understand that there
was no land for a great way.
In a word, we kept on our course to the south, a little westerly, till
we passed the south tropic, where we found the winds variable; and now
we stood away fair west, and held it out for about twenty days, when we
discovered land right ahead, and on our larboard bow; we made directly
to the shore, being willing to take all advantages now for supplying
ourselves with fresh provisions and water, knowing we were now entering
on that vast unknown Indian Ocean, perhaps the greatest sea on the
globe, having, with very little interruption of islands, a continued sea
quite round the globe.
We found a good road here, and some people on shore; but when we landed,
they fled up the country, nor would they hold any correspondence with
us, nor come near us, but shot at us several times with arrows as long
as lances. We set up white flags for a truce, but they either did not
or would not understand it; on the contrary, they shot our flag of truce
through several times with their arrows, so that, in a word, we never
came near any of them.