William Dampier was born in Somersetshire, England, in the year 1652.
He lost both his parents when very young, and was bound apprentice to
the master of a ship at Weymouth, with whom he made a voyage to France
and another to New England. In 1673, he served in the Dutch war, and
was afterwards an overseer to a plantation in Jamaica. He next visited
the bay of Campeachy as a logwood cutter, and, after once more
visiting England, engaged in a band of Buccaneers, as they called
themselves, although in reality pirates, with whom he roved on the
Peruvian coasts. He next visited Virginia, and engaged in an
expedition against the Spanish settlements in the South Seas. They
accordingly sailed in August, 1683, and, after taking several prizes
on the coasts of Peru and Chili, the party experienced various fortune
but no very signal success. Dampier, wishing to obtain some knowledge
of the northern coast of Mexico, joined the crew of a captain Swan,
who cruised in the hopes of meeting the annual royal Mannilla ship,
which, however, escaped them. Swan and Dampier were resolved to steer
for the East Indies, and they accordingly sailed to the Piscadores, to
Bouton island, to New Holland and to Nicobar, where Dampier and others
were left ashore to recover their health. Their numbers gave them
hopes of being able to navigate a canoe to Achin, in which they
succeeded, after encountering a tremendous storm, which threatened
them with unavoidable destruction. After making several trading
voyages with a Captain Weldon, Dampier entered, as a gunner, the
English factory at Bencoolen. Upon this coast he remained until 1691,
when he found means to return home, and, being in want of money, sold
his property in a curiously painted or tattooed Indian prince, who was
shown as a curiosity, and who ultimately died of the small pox at
Oxford. Dampier is next heard of as a commander, in the king’s
service, of a sloop of war of twelve guns and fifty men, probably
fitted out for a voyage of discovery. After experiencing a variety of
adventures with a discontented crew, this vessel foundered off the
Isle of Ascension, his men with difficulty reaching land. They were
released from this island by an East India ship, in which Dampier came
to England. He afterwards commanded a ship in the South Seas, and
accompanied the expedition of Captain Woodes Rogers as pilot.
[Illustration: PANAMA.]
[Illustration: CITY OF PANAMA.]