NICHOLAS MERRITT’S[135] ACCOUNT OF HIS ESCAPE FROM PIRATES
I was taken by the Pirate Low, at Port-Rossaway, at the same time my
Kinsman Philip Ashton was; and while I continued under Low’s Custody
was used much as he was; and all my entreaties of him to free me were
but in vain; as you have seen something of in the foregoing History:
So that I shall not enlarge in telling how it fared with me under the
Pirates hands, but only give some short Account of the manner of my
Escape from them, and what I met with afterwards till I Arrived at
Marblehead, where I belong.
Low had with him the Rose Pink, the Scooner, and a Sloop taken from
one Pier of Bristol, and was standing away for Bonavista. I who was on
board the Scooner had been greatly abused by an old Pirate, whom they
called Jacob, but what his Sirname was I know not: I desired some that
were upon occasion going on board Low, to acquaint him how much I was
beat and abused by old Jacob; they did so; and Low ordered me to be put
on board the Sloop. Thus the Foundation of my Escape was lay’d, and my
Sufferings proved the means of my Deliverance.
On board the Sloop there were Nine hands, (one of them a Portugue)
whom Low had no Suspicion of, but thought he could trust them as much
as any Men he had; and when I came on board I made the Tenth Man. We
perceived that the Sloop greatly wronged both the Pink and Scooner,
and there were Six of us (as we found by sounding one another at a
distance) that wanted to get away. When we understood one anothers
minds pretty fully, we resolved upon an Escape. Accordingly the Fifth
of September, 1722, a little after break of Day, all hands being upon
Deck, three of us Six went forward, and three aft, and one John Rhodes,
who was a Stout hand, step’d into the Cabbin and took a couple of
Pistols in his hands, and stood in the Cabbin Door, and said, If there
were any that would go along with him, they should be welcome, for he
designed to carry the Sloop home, and Surrender himself; but if any
Man attempted to make resistance, he Swore he would shoot down the
first Man that stirred. There being five of us that wanted to gain our
Liberty, he was sure of us; and as for the other four they saw plainly
it was in vain for them to attempt to oppose us. So we haled close upon
a Wind, and stood away.
When we parted with Low, we had but a very little Water aboard, and
but two or three pieces of Meat among us all; but we had Bread eno’.
We designed for England; but our want of Water was so great, being put
to half a Point a Man, and that very muddy and foul, from the time we
parted with Low, and meeting with no Vessel of whom we could beg a
Supply, that it made us come to a Resolution to put in at the first
Port: so we Steered for St. Michaels, where we Arrived September 26.
So soon as we got in, we sent a Man or two ashoar, to inform who
we were, and to get us some Provisions & Water. The Consul who was
a French Protestant, with a Magistrate, and some other Officers
came on board us, to whom we gave an Account of our selves, and our
Circumstances. The Consul told us, there should not a Hair of our Heads
be hurt. Upon which we were all carried ashoar, and examined before
the Governor; but we understood nothing of their Language, and could
make him no Answer, till one Mr. Gould a Linguistor was brought to us;
and upon understanding our Case, the Governour cleared us. But the
Crusidore, a sort of Superintendent over the Islands, whose power was
Superiour to the Governours, refused to clear us, and put us in Jayl,
where we lay 24 Hours.
The next Day we were brought under Examination again, and then we
had for our Linguistor one Mr. John Curre, who had formerly been in
New-England. We gave them as full and distinct Account as we could,
where, and when, we were severally taken and how we had made our Escape
from the Pirates. They brought several Witnesses Portuguese against
us, as that we had taken them, and had Personally been Active in the
Caption and Abuse of them, which yet they agreed not in; only they
generally agreed that they heard some of us Curse the Virgin Mary,
upon which the Crusidore would have condemned us all for Pirates. But
the Governour, who thought we had acted the honest part, interposed
on our behalf, and said, that it was very plain, that if these Men
had been Pirates, they had no need to have left Low, and under such
Circumstances, and come in here, and resign themselves, as they did;
they could have stayed with their Old Companions, and have been
easily eno’ supplied with what they wanted; whereas their taking the
first opportunity to get away from their Commander, and so poorly
accommodated, was a proof to him, that we had no Piratical designs; and
if he (the Crusidore) treated us at this rate, it was the way to make
us, and all that had the unhappiness to fall into Pirates hands, turn
Pirates with them. Yet all he could say would not wholly save us from
the Angry Resentments of the Crusidore, who we thought was inflamed by
the Portague that was among us. So he committed us all to Prison again:
me with three others to the Castle, the rest to another Prison at some
considerable distance off: and so much pains was taken to Swear us out
of our Lives, that I altogether despaired of Escaping the Death of a
Pirate; till a Gentleman, Capt. Littleton (if I mistake not) told me it
was not in their power to hang us, and this comforted me a little.
In this Prison we lay for about four Months, where, at first we had
tolerable allowance, of such as it was, for our Subsistance; but
after three Months time they gave us only one Meal a Day, of Cabbage,
Bread, and Water boiled together, which they call Soop. This very
scanty allowance put us out of Temper, and made us resolve rather
than Starve, to break Prison, and make head against the Portuguese,
and get some Victuals; for Hunger will break thro’ Stone Walls. The
Governour understanding how we fared, told the Crusidore that we
should stay in his Prison no longer, as the Castle peculiarly was; and
greatly asserted our Cause, and urged we might be set at Liberty; but
the Crusidore would not hearken as yet to the clearing us, tho’ he
was forced to remove us from the Castle, to the Prison in which our
Comrades were, where after they had allowed us about an hour’s converse
together, they put us down into close Confinement; tho’ our allowance
was a small matter better than it had been.
Under all this Difficulty of Imprisonment, short allowance, and hard
fare, false Witnesses, and fear lest I should still have my Life taken
from me, (when I had flattered my self, that if I could but once set
Foot upon a Christian shoar, I should be out of the reach of Danger) I
had a great many uneasy Reflections. I thought no bodies case was so
hard as mine: first to be taken by the Pirates, and threatened with
Death for not Joyning with them; to be forced away, and suffer many a
drubbing Bout among them for not doing as they would have me; to be
in fears of Death for being among them, if we should be taken by any
Superiour force; and now that I had designedly, and with Joy, made my
Escape from them, to be Imprisoned and threatened with the Halter.
Thought I, When can a Man be safe? He must look for Death to be found
among Pirates; and Death seems as threatening, if he Escapes from them;
where is the Justice of this! It seemed an exceeding hardship to me.
Yet it made me Reflect, with Humility I hope, on the Justice of GOD in
so Punishing of me for my Transgressions; for tho’ the tender Mercies
of Man seemed to be Cruelty, yet I could not but see the Mercy and
Goodness of GOD to me, not only in Punishing me less than I deserved,
but in preserving me under many and sore Temptations, and at length
delivering me out of the Pirates hands: and I had some hope that GOD
would yet appear for me, and bring me out of my distress, and set my
Feet in a large place.
I thought my Case was exceedingly like that of the Psalmist; and the
Meditation on some Verses in the XXXV. Psalm was a peculiar support
to me: I thought I might say with him, False Witnesses did rise up,
they laid to my charge things that I knew not; they rewarded me evil
for good. But as for me, when they were taken (tho’ I don’t remember
I had ever seen the Faces of any of them then) I humbled my self, and
my Prayer returned into my own bosom; I behaved my self as tho’ they
had been my friends, I bowed down heavily, as one that mourneth for
his mother; but in my adversity they rejoyced, and gathered themselves
together against me; yea, they opened their mouth wide against
me,--they gnashed upon me with their teeth, and said Aba, Aba, our eye
hath seen it,--so would we have it. But Lord how long wilt thou look
on? preserve my Soul from their Destruction, let not them that are mine
Enemies wrongfully rejoyce over me,--stir up thy Self and awake to
my Judgment even unto my cause, my God and my Lord, and let them not
rejoyce over me--and I will give thee thanks in the great Congregation;
my tongue shall speak of thy Righteousness, and thy Praise all the day
long.
In the midst of all my other Calamities, after I had been in this
Prison about two Months, I was taken down with the Small-Pox, and this
to be sure was a very great addition to my Misery. I knew well how
we dreaded this Distemper in my own Country: and thought I, how can I
possibly escape with Life? To be seised with it in a Prison, where I
had no Help, no Physician, nor any Provision suitable therefor; only
upon my first being taken I sent word of it to the Consul, who was so
kind as to send some Bundles of Straw for me to lye upon, instead of
the hard Stones which as yet had been my Lodging; and the Portuguese
gave me some Brandy, and Wine & Water to drive out the Pock. I was
exceedingly dejected, and had nothing to do but to commit my self to
the Mercy of GOD, and prepare my self for Death, which seemed to have
laid hold upon me; for which way soever I looked, I could see nothing
but Death in such a Distemper, under such Circumstances; and I could
see the Portuguese how they stared upon me, looked sad, and shook their
heads; which told me their apprehensions, that I was a Dead Man. Yet I
had this comfort, that it was better to Die thus by the hand of GOD,
than to Die a vile Death by the hand of Man, as if I had been one of
the worst of Malefactors.
But after all it pleased GOD in His Wonderful Goodness so to order
it, that the Pock came out well, and filled kindly and then I had the
comfort of seeing the Portuguese look more pleasant, and hearing them
say, in their Language, that it was a good sort. In about five or six
Days the Pock began to turn upon me, and then it made me very Sick,
and at times I was something out of my Head; and having no Tender or
Watcher, I got up in the Night to the Pail of Water to drink, which at
another time, and in another place, would have been thought fatal to
me; but GOD in infinite Mercy prevented my receiving any hurt thereby,
and raised me up from this Sickness.
After I recovered of this Illness, I was but in a weak Condition for a
long time, having no other Nourishment and Comfort, than what a Jayl
afforded, where I still lay for near three Months longer. At length,
sometime in June, 1723, I was taken out of jayl, and had the Liberty
of the Consul’s House given me, who treated me kindly and did not
suffer me to want any thing that was necessary for my Support.
While I was at Liberty, I understood there was one John Welch, an
Irishman, bound to Lisbon, whom I desired to carry me thither. And in
the latter end of June I set Sail in him for Lisbon, where we Arrived
about the middle of July, after we had been 21 Days upon the Passage.
When I had got to Lisbon, being almost Naked, I apply’d my self to the
Envoy, told him my Condition and desired him to bestow some old Cloaths
upon me. But he, (good Man!) said to me, that as I had Run away from
the Pirates, I might go to Work for my Support, and provide my self
with Cloaths as well as I could. And I found I must do so, for none
would he give me. I had nothing against Working, but I should have
been glad to have been put into a Working Garb; for I was sensible it
would be a considerable while before I could purchase me any Cloaths,
because Welch play’d me such an Irish trick, that he would not release
me, unless I promised to give him the first Moidore I got by my Labour;
tho’ I had wrought for him all the Passage over, and he knew my poor
Circumstances; however when I came to Sail for New-England, Welch was
better than his Word, and forgave me the Moidore, after I had been at
the Labour of unloading his Vessel.
I spent some time in Lisbon; at length I heard there was one Capt.
Skillegorne bound to New-England, in whom I took my Passage home; who
Clothed me for my Labour in my Passage. We touched in at Madara, and
Arrived at Boston upon Wednesday, September 25, 1723. And I at my
Father’s House in Marblehead the Saturday after.
So had GOD been with me in six troubles, and in seven. He has suffered
no evil to come nigh me. He has drawn me out of the Pit, Redeemed my
Life from Destruction, and Crowned me with Loving Kindness and Tender
Mercies; unto Him be the Glory for ever. Amen.
FOOTNOTES
[135] Nicholas Merritt, tertius, the son of Nicholas and Elizabeth
Merritt, was born in Marblehead and baptized Mar. 29, 1702, in the
First Church. He married Jane or Jean Gifford in December, 1724, which
may account for the name of the shallop “Jane,” which he commanded when
taken, although he had a sister Jane, and also a sister Rebecca who
married Robert Gifford, who was taken but released at Port Roseway.