THE BUCCANEERS PRESENTLY SET SAIL IN THE SCHOONER FOR JAMAICA, WITH
A RELATION OF THE EVENTS WHICH HAPPENED THERE.
Behold us, then, seated in great conclave under an awning, which it
was Stout Jem’s first precaution to have spread, as, the berths in
the schooner being close and stifling, we desired to sleep in the
open air. In such a case, the stretching of an awning preserves a
crew from the fall of the unwholesome dews, and from the rays of the
moon, which, mild and beautiful as they are, yet, by some hidden
power, swell and distort the features of such as sleep with their
faces unprotected from the baneful light. A sea-box put upon deck
served as a table, and we sat on chests and coils of rope round it.
The night was beautiful and serene. The land-breeze just murmured
aloft, the sleeping water of the bay was dotted with the twinkling
images of the stars, and all around the dusky hills flung their
forest ridges high into the balmy air—wreaths of mist and vapour,
like broad white ribbons, showing where the rich alluvial valleys and
ravines clove the sweep of the wooded uplands.
Two or three lanterns stood upon the chest, glimmering on the pans
and pipkins wherein we held our punch, and the fiery red sparks
beneath every man’s face gave note that we all loved to fortify
our frames against night air by wholesome pipes and tobacco. So,
presently, Stout Jem addressed us pretty nearly in this fashion:
‘Well, mates, we sit on the deck of our own craft, lawfully won from
those misbegotten Spaniards, by four brave men of our own party. Now,
as the capture was made before we are afloat, the vessel, by the laws
of the coast, belongs to our comrades who took her, and of course
they must be paid duly, when the prize-money comes to be overhauled.
Meantime, the question is, shall we straightway go to sea?’
On this we all shouted—‘Yes, yes; a cruize, a cruize!’
‘Good,’ continued Stout Jem, ‘I say, with you, a cruize. That being
settled, there are other matters to consider. Here are no guns,
either calivers, arquebusses, culverins, or falconets. To make booty
of the rich Spanish galleons without cannon, is like trying to eat
a lump of bull-beef without teeth. The two brass guns below may do
in their way. For these we have, however, no carriages; and besides,
we want a piece of far heavier metal. Another matter is, that on
board here we have neither a surgeon nor a carpenter, although both
we and our ship are likely to meet with plenty of hard knocks; and
furthermore, to make a cruize successful—and as the old falconers
were wont to say—to fly at game of the first head, we must have more
men. Jack Spaniard does not always leave his ships defenceless,
and his galleons have rows of teeth which bite sharply. My counsel
therefore is, that we stand for Port Royal in Jamaica. On the way we
may chance upon a something worth picking up, and once arrived there,
we can fit out in good style, and take on board what men we please.
Besides, there we can have a French commission, or Letter of Marque,
the French being now at war with the Spanish. I know that the Dons
have hung many of our brave comrades with their commissions about
their necks, but still I approve of doing all things regularly and in
order. Now, then, you have heard my advice—what do you say to it?’
We replied, with great acclamations, that he had spoken very justly;
that we had all confidence in his counsels, and that we created him
captain of the expedition. After some further discussion, I was named
quartermaster, I being a more experienced sailor than many older men;
and to Stout Jem, or, as we now called him, Captain Jem, was given
the charge of the larboard, and to me the charge of the starboard
watch. This done, we re-christened the schooner—dashing a bottle of
spirits upon her bows—and calling her the ‘Will-o’-the-Wisp.’ We lay
quietly at anchor that night, and weighing before dawn, the last of
the land-wind carried us clear of the bay, and when the sea-breeze
struck us next morning, we up helm, veered away the sheets, and stood
away along the coast bound for Jamaica.
How vast is the difference between beating to windward in a small
vessel against a rough sea, and flying gaily on before wind
and waves! Cape and headland, and bay and creek, appeared and
disappeared, as the nimble Will-o’-the-Wisp went bounding on, kicked
as it were by every foaming sea which rolled behind her. You may
be sure that we kept a good look-out for the former owners of the
schooner, as we ran just past the entrance to the cove, but no human
form could we descry among the rocks and woods. Not very far to
leeward, we however observed a boat, with a small clumsy sail, making
her way along the coast; and, approaching a little nearer, I soon
guessed that she was the boat of the Spaniards, which we had given
up to them, and that they were probably risking the chances of a run
to Cuba. To satisfy our curiosity, however, we kept slightly away
and a cry soon overhauled the little craft. She had but four men in
her, including he who seemed to have been the captain, and the woman.
Their sail was a clumsy thing, made of hides and scraps of canvas,
and useless for any other purpose than to drive before the wind. As
we approached them, the captain got up and hailed us very vehemently
in Spanish. The purport of his discourse, as I gathered it, being
whether, after robbing him of his ship, we meant to run down and sink
the boat. A movement of the tiller soon made him easy on that point,
and he sat down doggedly, with his teeth clenched, scowling at us.
The woman clung to him convulsively, and the three men lay stretched
in the bottom of the boat, only showing their tangled hair and black
eyes above the gunwale. Captain Jem, who as he was a brave man, was a
kind one, told me to ask whether they needed any food or water, which
I did; but the Spaniard only waved his hand impatiently, muttered
somewhat about ‘_Perros Inglesos_’ English dogs; and one or two of
the men clenched their fists at us over the side of the boat. All
this, however, we could well afford to take in good humour.
‘Well,’ quoth Captain Jem, ‘if they are well victualled, so are we;
and if they won’t say aught to us, we have little that I know of
to say to them. So, cast loose your brails, my sons, and let’s be
jogging.’
The sails, which had been partially furled, were accordingly reset,
and in half an hour the boat was a speck on the horizon to windward.
We ran through the strait which separates Hispaniola from Tortugas,
near enough to the latter coast to see that there were long stretches
of flat rich land washed by the sea, and high mountains beyond.
We also saw a great many sails of small boats and barks coasting
along, and innumerable canoes fishing. That same night we passed the
north-eastern part of Hispaniola, and, directing our course towards
the south-east, sailed straight for Jamaica. In the afternoon of
the next day we sighted at a great distance the longest outlying
point of Hispaniola, and in twenty-four hours thereafter, descried
Cape Morant, in Jamaica; and coasting along the southern shore,
which lies hereabouts, very rich and flat, with great peaks, called
the Blue Mountains, in the distance, we descried at nightfall the
glimmer of distant lights, which we knew to be those of Port Royal.
Here is the principal harbour in the island—a very commodious and
safe one—formed by a deep indentation in the land, like a gulf, and
sheltered by a long spit or bank of sand, called the Palisades, on
which the surf beats vehemently, while within the water is like a
mill-pond. There is but one entrance, and that well fortified; and
the town of Port Royal is built just beyond the inlet or passage from
the sea. Although it was near midnight when we anchored outside,
resolving not to enter until we had daylight to help our pilot, a
canoe presently came alongside of us, manned by a couple of negroes,
who were fishermen and pilots, and who offered us abundance of fish
and fruit very cheap. These men managed their canoe like thorough
seamen, and one of them we retained to take us in as soon as the
sea-breeze should blow next morning.
This fellow wore coarse canvas trousers, a striped shirt, and a great
straw hat, and grinned and showed his white teeth, and rolled his
eyes, and clattered in his gibberish fashion to all on board.
‘Oh, me de best pilot in all Port Royal,’ he would say; ‘take in a
king’s ship, big enough to put dis schooner in him pocket, and never
rub him keel. No, no, massa, Dick Canoe,’ for so he called himself,
‘de best pilot in all de island, and bery much esteem and respect by
all de merchants, officers, and gentlemen privateers.’
On asking him for news, he told us that many privateers were in the
harbour, and that their crews having had reasonably good luck in
an expedition to the main, were spending their money in the usual
fashion ashore; information which pleased us the more, as we would
probably have our pick and choice of good men. So next day we ran
in among very intricate sand-banks, which lie at the mouth of the
harbour, and presently saw the houses of Port Royal, with hundreds
of artificers labouring to construct forts and bastions and such
works around them, disposed so as to command the entrance to the
harbour completely. Inside, in the smooth water, rode many brave
merchant ships and certain smaller barks, which, I believe, had often
brought destruction upon the Spanish towns of the main; but these
last seemed empty, except a negro or two left in charge of them, all
hands being carousing on shore. We dropped our anchor in a suitable
place, and cast lots who should remain on board to take charge of the
schooner, while the rest went into the town. The die fell upon Black
Diamond, and the Mosquito men stayed on board voluntarily, intending,
however, to put off in a canoe during the day to strike fish upon
the sand-banks and the little islands near the Palisades. Captain
Jem, Nicky, and myself went ashore in the pilot’s canoe, meaning to
make the necessary arrangements for the further prosecution of our
voyage. We found Port Royal very bustling and busy. As I have said,
the people were occupied in building great fortifications, under the
direction of officers in the English uniform, some of the workmen
being, as we heard, criminals, others negro slaves, and the rest
free labourers, either white or black. On the beach, great crowds of
negroes were rolling down casks to the water’s edge, or along the
wharfs, where the boats of the ships in the harbour were awaiting
them; these labourers being generally naked except a pair of light
drawers and a tattered shirt, and shouting, and chattering, and
laughing to each other, while the white drivers, who walked amongst
them with great broad-brimmed hats, very often interrupted their
conversations with a smart crack of the whip, and a harsh order to
labour on. Passing through these busy crowds, and amongst great
heaps of goods, such as bales and casks just landed from England,
and masses of shipping stores, over which grave merchants and
supercargoes were busy with pen and ink, comparing invoices, bills
of lading, and what not, and wrangling about qualities and freights,
we emerged among the houses of the town, which were in general mean,
and but of one story, built indeed commonly of wood, with shingle
roofs, which rattled in the sea-breeze, and often sheltered by orange
trees covered at once with fruit and bright flowers, and mangoes with
their heavy foliage, and tamarinds, with branching feathery leaves,
and long waving pods. The houses had great open casements and covered
galleries, called jalousies, with pillars, round which many gaudy
creeping plants clung. Here there were great stores, with all manner
of commodities, and there, vast taverns, from the open windows of
which we could hear loud roaring songs in French and English, and a
great clatter of glasses; and now and then, when the noise somewhat
lulled, the rattle of dice. The streets, which were very narrow,
dusty, and irregular, were crowded with groups of half-drunken seamen
and their trulls, gangs of negroes carrying great baskets of fruit
and vegetables on their heads down to the harbour, with planters upon
horseback, who rode along scattering the crowd right and left, and
bullock-carts, which creaked and rumbled by, laden with kegs of sugar
or rum, and drawn by oxen, all slavering at the mouth, and seeming
half dead with dust and heat. Through these crowded and smothering
streets, Captain Jem, who was our leader, pushed along with the air
of a man who knew his business and could do it. He was often stopped
and accosted by his acquaintances, many of whom professed themselves
surprised to see him, as they heard that he had been murdered by the
Spaniards in Hispaniola.
‘What! Stout Jem, still in the land of the living?’ said one man, a
very tall personage, burnt almost black by the sun, wearing great
moustaches, and having a hanger fixed to a broad leathern belt—‘what!
Stout Jem again! Why, my lad, we drank a rousing glass to thy memory
no later than the night before last, at Nance Finlayson’s on the
quay. We heard that the Spaniards had sent thee from Hispaniola to a
hotter place still.’
‘No, no, Captain Archemboe,’ quoth our commander; ‘they tried, but
having failed, we mean to have our revenge.’
‘What! and you have left the wild bulls and are for the sea again? It
doth thee honour, man. Hunters are but gentlemen butchers after all.
The sea, sir—the sea, with a tight ship, and tight lads for a crew,
and reasonable good luck among the galleons—that, sir, is the field,
and these be the chances for gentlemen! They tell me that Davis hath
come in from the main after a very good cruise, so now I am bound
shoreward to see my ancient friend, who, I warrant thee, will screw
gold out of the Spaniards, though he squeeze them till it distil at
each pore. I give you good day—I give you good day!’
And so, calling to an attendant negro, this formidable gentleman
passed on. Captain Jem told us that his name was Crashaw, and that
he had been a valiant buccaneer under Mansneldt, but was now retired
from the sea, and very rich. He cultivated considerable plantations,
and had shares in many privateers. Our object was, however, first
to see a person of Captain Jem’s acquaintance, who was an old man,
a money-lender and usurer, and a sort of agent for many of the
buccaneers, as it was necessary that we should obtain certain stores
upon credit before setting out upon our voyage, and this old man
was in use to serve privateers in such matters. Accordingly, we
presently came to a long, rambling sort of house, in which was a
great open store, full of goods of all kinds, while vast masses of
ship furniture and implements, such as stones, anchors, boats, and
the like, lay under sheds around. There were many seafaring people
viewing the property, and chaffering with the clerks and workmen
who sold the goods. But Captain Jem passing through them into the
store, amid the bows and congratulations of many there, we followed
him through a small door and sundry passages into a distant room,
within which we heard a rustling of paper, and presently, Captain
Jem pushing open the door, we found ourselves in the company of an
aged man, with long white hair, a thin face, and very bright grey
eyes, who was seated at a desk, he wearing a dirty, greasy doublet,
all ink-stains, and loose pantouffles, or breeches, much too big for
him. Upon sight of Captain Jem, he got up hurriedly and shook him
very cordially by the hand, saying, like the other, that he never
thought to have seen him again, for that the Spaniards were reported
to have made but short work of all the English and French hunters
on the northern coast of Hispaniola. Upon this Captain Jem told him
how we had captured a very fine Spanish vessel, and designed to put
to sea again directly; but that in the meantime he must furnish us
with sufficient stores and ammunition, and so become a partner in the
enterprise. The old man at first shook his head.
‘Look ye,’ said he, ‘little is done now-a-days save by fleets. My
good friend Captain Morgan, a very brave man, and wise in those
things, ever recommends union. The Spaniards’ treasure-ships commonly
sail in squadrons, and heavily armed; and their towns along the coast
are very securely guarded, so that there is usually hard fighting
before these be come at. However,’ quoth he, ‘I have great confidence
in you, Ezra Hoskins—or Stout Jem, as I hear they call you—and
provided your crew be such as I approve of, why I will stand the risk
of loss in the venture, being well assured that you and your men will
do their best for me and for themselves.’
At this, Captain Jem re-assured the old gentleman very warmly, and
then it was settled that he should come aboard the ship that evening,
to see what might be wanting, and how many guns we could stow. After
this he ordered refreshments of spirits and tobacco, and while we
were smoking, he called a young clerk, and writing a short letter,
gave it him, with instructions that he was to carry it at once to the
jailor of the town prison, who would thereupon bring Alonzo Peres
before us. The old man, observing that we looked inquiringly at each
other, told us that a vessel, in which he had no mean share, being
cruising in the Gulf of Darien, had fallen in with and captured a
Spanish Barco del Aviso, or packet-boat, which had, however, as
usual, thrown her despatches overboard in a sealed leaden case. But
the captain of this barco proving, when made a prisoner, a cowardly
fellow who would reveal all he knew of the movements of the richly
laden ships belonging to his countrymen, the English had kept this
man a prisoner on board, while they dismissed his comrades in a
piragua, intending to get all the information they could out of him.
‘Therefore,’ quoth our old gentleman, who I found was called
Pratt—‘therefore, we will have him here, and examine him. The bark
which took him has gone to the Pearl Islands on the Mosquito shore,
and perhaps he can give some information which may guide you on your
cruise.’
So presently the Spaniard was brought in pinioned, and led by two
men. He was a very big man, but with scowling and mean features;
and by his air and complexion, he seemed to have been lying weeping
in the straw of his dungeon. On seeing us, he immediately began, in
the Spanish language, to pray, in the name of all things holy, that
we should dismiss him, and let him go back to the mainland to his
daughter Paquitta, whom he loved very dearly, pitiably exclaiming
that he was a poor man, who had been ruined; still that he wished the
English no harm, and would pray for them for ever, if they would only
let him go.
But Pratt cut him short in his lamentings, and proceeded to ask, in
Spanish, which he spoke very fluently, a great number of questions,
as to the trade between Carthagena and Old Spain, and as to when
certain richly-laden ships—the names whereof Pratt had at hand in a
great register—would sail out of that port. To all this the Spaniard
replied very amply and humbly, and said, in particular, that a large
ship, in which was embarked a considerable quantity of pieces of
eight, and silver plate to a much greater amount, but he could not
say exactly how much, would probably be ready for sea, and put out in
about two mouths’ time. This ship carried, he informed us, a private
venture, and would not have convoy. Moreover, she was old, and a
very slow sailer, and that the merchant who freighted her was the
more confident that she would escape, inasmuch as it was reported and
believed in Carthagena, that all the buccaneers were upon the point
of joining their strength in Jamaica, and landing about Porto Bello,
with the intention of crossing the isthmus, and making a descent upon
Panama and the shores of the South Sea. This account the traitor
confirmed with abundance of oaths, calling upon us to believe him the
more, inasmuch as, quoth he, ‘I have now no reason to tell you a lie;
I stand in your power, and if you hear more certain news, which is
likely, and it contradict what I have said, why I am in your hands to
work your will on!’ And with that the pitiful-hearted creature began
to sob and weep again. Truly, I had never seen so small a soul in so
big, lusty, and goodly a body.
Having made his disclosures, Pratt told the Spaniard that he should
no more go to prison, but live there in his house, and if all turned
out to be true as he had stated, that he would have his liberty,
and, it might be, a reward beside. So he being dismissed, we talked
the thing over, and determined to propose to the crew a cruise on
the Darien coast, and perhaps to look into the Gulf of Venezuela.
We then took leave of Mr. Pratt with many courtesies, and returned
towards the beach. On our way hither, we heard a great tumult and
clamour, and, turning down a narrow lane into the street from whence
it proceeded, saw, what was to me a new and strange sight. In an
open space, which partially commanded the sea, and backed by a great
tavern with verandahs and galleries, was assembled a crowd of people,
men and women, white, brown, and black, drinking, smoking, dicing,
and swearing. There were tables and huge benches scattered about,
and sitting on these in every attitude, or lying on the ground, not
being able either to sit or stand, were the people of this strange
company. In the centre of the carousing place, was a great cask with
the head knocked out, and from it a half-drunken seaman, with a
face of leering shyness, was drawing forth wine in a broken bucket,
and pouring it into the glasses, mugs, and pipkins, held out to him
on all sides. Most of the men were white seamen, and they sprawled
over the tables and benches, with tobacco pipes in their mouths,
and waved their glasses, and sang loud catches and songs, in which
the shrill screaming voices of the women rose above their hoarse
bawling. Most of these women seemed of the sort which frequent the
streets in Wapping, and rob the seamen; others were half-bloods,
being mulattos; or mustafees—that is to say, three-parts Indian;
or quadroons—that is to say, three-parts white. But they were all
dressed in flaunting gauds, and the sparkle of jewellery flashed
upon their brown skins, as they flung their arms about, and rattled
dice, or swallowed liquor like the men. Every now and then a brawl
would arise, and knives would straightway glitter in the air, and
loud thick voices would shout out oaths and exclamations in English,
and French, and Low Dutch. But the general feeling of the revellers
being pacific, the combatants would be straightway torn asunder, and
perhaps flung upon the ground, to the danger of their bones; after
which, the orgies would proceed as before; the men would rush in
staggering groups up to the cask, or would produce their dice again,
or greasy packs of cards—a species of gambling we learned from the
French—and set themselves to play, some with great gravity and in
silence, others shouting and yelling as luck turned for or against
them, and all of them tossing about handfuls of gold and silver, such
as dollars and doubloons, as though the money had been dirt; until,
perhaps, a party would break out into a loud roaring song, all curses
of the Spaniards, which heating them to the highest pitch, they would
start up, the women with them, hallooing and screaming like fiends,
and capering and jumping, tossing over benches and tables upon the
ground, and at last drawing forth, and brandishing their hangers, and
firing their pistols in the air!
In the very midst of this riotous assemblage, a man, not very
sober, but not very drunk, got upon the top of an empty cask, he
being supported at the legs by the same Crashaw we had met, and
bawled out in a thundering voice that he was going to sell certain
commissions to cruise against and capture Spanish vessels, and
that those gentlemen privateers who designed shortly to go to sea
again, would do well to hearken, and if possible purchase, as the
commissions would be sold very cheap, and their product would be
spent in wine, to be drunk out at that present sitting by all the
honourable company. At this announcement there was a general uproar
of approbation, and Captain Jem, plucking my sleeve, said, that
hero might be matter which concerned us, and, having whispered that
the man on the cask was Captain Davis, of whom Crashaw had spoken,
we made our way through the throng, who indeed received us very
cordially, everywhere holding up full glasses of wine and brandy, and
pressing us to drink. Meanwhile Davis recognised Captain Jem, and,
jumping down from the cask, bade him welcome. Seats were immediately
procured for us, by the summary process of flinging their former
occupants on the ground, and we lit pipes and jingled glasses, like
the rest; although I do not know a more disgusting thing than when
a sober man comes into the company of many who are drunken, and has
yet, in a certain degree, to conform to the humour of those about
him. From Davis, Captain Jem at once procured such a commission as he
thought we wanted. I did not see what mighty good the document could
do us; but it seems to have been a fancy of our commander’s, and for
the paper we agreed to pay a couple of doubloons, for which we gave
an order upon Mr. Pratt, which was immediately sent into the tavern,
and shortly re-appeared in the shape of an additional keg of wine,
although that in the cask was not yet, by any means, consumed. But
when the Buccaneers saw the fresh liquor, they flung their lighted
tobacco-pipes into the old cask, and then, with drunken glee, drew
forth great mugs and glassfuls, with which they besprinkled each
other, and at last upset the cask, treading, trampling, and dancing
in the spilt wine, until they had churned it into red mud.
You may be sure that we were anxious enough to get away from these
mad revellers, who, after the foolish fashion of too many sailors,
both abroad and at home, were spending, in a few hours or days of
insane debauchery, the money which they had risked their lives for
months to obtain. At first, they were not willing to let us go,
insisting that since we had paid for the additional keg of wine, we
should bide the drinking of it out; but upon our telling them that
we were busily engaged in fitting out a privateer, and that the Blue
Peter would speedily be hoisted at the fore, they consented to let us
depart—first drinking success to our cruise in great bumpers, with
cheering and firing of pistols, and almost every man shouting out
some advice, as to whither we ought to proceed. Here was one bawling
out in favour of the Mosquito Coast; and there another screaming that
most booty would be found to the eastward of the Gulf of Venezuela.
At length, we got free, and devoted ourselves for some days to
preparing the schooner, internally, for the accommodation of a larger
crew than she had ever before carried.
There was no lack of hands, for Captain Jem was known as a commander,
and as soon as we hoisted the Blue Peter, seamen came off in great
numbers and applied to ship with us. Captain Jem personally examined
all claimants, and when they passed his scrutiny successfully, it
was for those who already formed the crew to receive or reject them.
In this way, in a couple of days we were well manned by thirty-six
stout seamen, including our original party. Except two Frenchmen
and one Dutchman, all the new part of the crew was English. Our
boatswain was a short, square-shouldered, powerful man, who had once
commanded a ship, and was a good West-Indian pilot. His name was
John Clink. We had also a good carpenter, and what was of almost as
great importance, a surgeon, esteemed very skilful, a young Scotsman,
like myself, bred in the University of Glasgow, and very eager in
prosecuting researches into the natural history and productions of
the teeming islands and continents of the West. The surgeon’s name
was Wood. Meantime, Old Pratt had come on board, and after inspecting
the schooner, presently sent four guns, with a great quantity of
ammunition, and near sixty stand of musketry, with boarding-pikes,
cutlasses, and hangers in proportion. We also carried a great boat
which took up almost all the space between the masts, and we slightly
altered the rigging of the schooner, setting up square foretopsails
and foresails, so as to make her handier going before the wind. Our
victualling being now completed, and all things ready for sea, we
had, as is usual among Buccaneers, a general meeting of the crew to
determine and sign articles. A paper of indenture was drawn up by
Mr. Pratt, and to it we all affixed our names, or our marks. First,
the indenture stipulated that the terms upon which the voyage was
to be undertaken, were ‘no prey, no pay.’ Then it was provided,
that all the booty obtained, of whatsoever nature, should be flung
into one general stock, nobody whatsoever keeping anything back for
himself, but acting fairly and honourably to his comrades; out of
this common fund all were to be paid in due proportion, considering
their station on board, or their share in the venture. First came the
proprietors of the ship, who were three—being Le Picard, Nicky, and
myself, for they did not count the Indian. A certain proportion was
awarded to us, in the capacity which I have mentioned, and another
proportion to Mr. Pratt, calculated by the value of the sea-stock,
&c., wherewith he had supplied us. Then the salaries of the captain,
the quartermaster, the boatswain, the carpenter, and the surgeon
were fixed, and certain sums were determined upon, to be given in
compensation for the different species of wounds which we might
receive. These compensations were upon the following scale, and
they applied alike to all the ship’s company. The loss of a right
arm, six hundred pieces of eight, or six slaves; of a left arm,
five hundred pieces, or five slaves; for a right leg the same; for
a left leg, four hundred pieces of eight, or four slaves; for an
eye one hundred pieces of eight, or one slave; and for a finger the
like sum. As for the proportion of pay, the captain had as much as
five ordinary seamen, and the quartermaster, or master’s mate, which
was my station, that of two. The rest of the crew shared equally,
and two boys whom we had on board drew the pay of one able-bodied
man. Furthermore, it was stipulated, that each mariner, without any
distinction of rank, should be daily entitled to two full meals of
the ship’s stores, besides what game or fresh meat we might fall in
with, and the indenture concluded by reciting that all those who
signed it by name or mark, did thereby take a solemn oath, not to
hide or conceal from their comrades the slightest article of value
which they might become possessed of, but to fling all, without let
or drawback, into the common fund. This document was committed to the
care of Mr. Pratt, and a copy made by one of his clerks, which was
deposited in the main cabin, and of free access to all. It was then
proclaimed that next morning, on the setting in of the sea-breeze,
which, on the southern side of the island, is favourable for leaving
the coast, we would weigh anchor and stand off upon our voyage—so
all was bustle and hurry—the schooner being surrounded by fleets of
canoes, selling vegetables, fruit, and such wares, to be added to the
sea stock of all who were minded to purchase them.