bespoke resentment to a high degree, they began to see they had no
opportunity to choose; and some of them slipt down the scuttle into the
cook-room. I had ordered the officer who was there, who was one of the
midshipmen, to wink at it, and let as many come down as offered it; and
the honest man did more than that, for he went to the scuttle himself,
and, as if he had whispered, so that I should not hear him, called them
one by one by their names, and argued with them; Prithee, Jack, says he
to one of them, do not you be distracted, and ruin yourself to gratify a
rash drunken humour; if you go into the boat you are undone; you will be
seized as soon as you come on shore, as the rest are, and will be sent
to England in irons, and there you will be infallibly hanged; why you
are certainly all mad.
Jack replies, he had no design to mutiny, but the second mate drew him
in, and he did not know what to do, he wished he had not meddled; he
knew he was undone; but now what could he do?
Do, says the midshipman, leave them for shame, and slip down here, and
I will see and get you off if I can.
Accordingly he pulled him down, and after him so many got out of sight
the same way, that there was not above seventeen or eighteen left upon
the forecastle.
I seemed to take no notice of that, till at last one of the men that was
left there, with his hat or cap in his hand, stepping just to the edge
of the forecastle, which was next to me, said, in a very respectful
manner, that I saw how many had slunk away and made their peace, or at
least obtained pardon, and that I might, perhaps, know that they who
were left were only such as had their duty there, being placed there of
course before the mutiny began, and that they had no hand in it, but
abhorred it with all their hearts, which he hoped I would consider, and
not join them with those that had offended, merely because they came
upon the forecastle, and mixed there with the men who had the watch.
I told him, if that was true, it would be in their favour, but I
expected he would prove it to my satisfaction before I accepted that for
an excuse. He told me, it might, perhaps, be hard to prove it, seeing
the boatswain and his mate, and the second mate, were gone, but the rest
of the ship's crew could all testify that they were a part of the men
whose watch it was, and that they were upon the forecastle by the
necessity of their duty, and no otherwise; and called several men who
were upon duty with them to witness it, who did confirm it.
Upon this, I found myself under a necessity, in justice to the men, to
approve it; but my own management was a bite upon myself in it; for,
though I did allow the midshipman to wink at their slipping away, as
before, yet I made no question but I should have some left to make
examples of; but as I could not go back from the promise of mercy which
I had allowed the midshipman to offer in my name, so I tricked myself by
their mistake into a necessity of pardoning them all, which was very far
from my design; but there was no remedy.
However, the men, when they were so happily escaped, desired the
midshipman, who had been instrumental to their deliverance, to assure
me, that as they were sensible that they had deserved very ill at my
hands, and that yet I had treated them thus kindly, they would not only
reveal to me all the particulars of the conspiracy, and the names of
those principally concerned in it, but that they would assure me they
would never more dispute any of my measures, but were very ready to do
their duty as seamen, to what part of the world soever I might think fit
to go, or which way I thought fit to carry them, whether outward or
homeward; and that they gave me the tender of their duty in this manner
with the utmost sincerity and with thankfulness, for my having forgiven
them that conduct which was the worst that a seamen could be guilty of.
I took this very kindly, and sent them word I did so, and that they
should see they had taken the wiser course; that I had an entire
confidence in their fidelity; and that they should never find I would
reproach them with, or use them the worse for, what had past.
I must confess, I was very glad of this submission of the men; for
though, by the measures I had taken, I was satisfied I should conquer
them, and that I was safe from their attempts; yet, carrying it on by
resentment, and doing justice upon the offenders, whatever advantage it
had one way, had this disadvantage in the consequence; viz., that it
would ruin the voyage, for at least half the men were in the plot.
Having thus conquered them by good usage, I thought my next work was to
inquire into the mistakes which had been the foundation of all this: so,
before I parted with the men who had returned to their duty, I told
them, that as I had freely forgiven what was past, so I would keep my
word, that I would never reproach them with it; but that I thought it
was necessary their judgments should be convinced how much they were
imposed upon, as well as their tempers be reduced by my kindness to
them. That I was of the opinion that they had been abused in the account
given them of what I had designed to do, and of the reasons I had to
give for doing it; and I would desire them to let me know afterwards,
whether they had been faithfully informed or not; and whether in their
own judgment, now when they were freed from the prepossessions they were
under, they could object anything against it or no.
This I did with respect to the other men whom I had made prisoners in
the steerage, whom I had the same design to be kind to as I had to
these; but upon whom I resolved to work this way, because, after all, I
might have this work to do over again, if I should meet with any
disappointment or miscarriage in the voyage; or especially, if we should
be put to any difficulties or distresses in the pursuing it.
In order to this I caused the voyage itself, and the reasons of it, the
nature of the trade I was to carry on by it, the pursuit of it to the
South Seas, and, in a word, everything just as we had argued and settled
it in the great cabin, to be put into writing and read to them.
The fellows, every one of them, declared they were fully satisfied in
the voyage itself, and that my reasons for it were perfectly good; and
that they had received a quite different account of it; as that I would
carry them into the island of the Moluccas, which was the most unhealthy
part of the East Indies; that I would go away to the south for new
discoveries; and that I would go away thence to the South Seas; which
was a voyage of such a length, that no ship could victual for; that it
was impossible to carry fresh water such a length; and, in a word, that
it was a voyage that would destroy us all.
It was the chief mate and the midshipman who took them all down the
scuttle, that brought me this account from them: so I made him take two
of those penitent mutineers with him, and go to the men in the steerage,
whom he had made prisoners at first, and see whether their delusions
were of the same kind, and what kind of temper they were in;
accordingly, he went to them directly, for this was not a business that
admitted giving them time to club and cabal together, and form other
societies or combinations which might have consequences fatal to us
still.
When he came to them, he told them, the captain was willing to do all
the justice possible to his men, and to use them, on all occasions, with
equity and kindness; that I had ordered him to inquire calmly what it
was had moved them to these disorders, and what it was which they had
been made to believe was doing, that they could enter into measures so
destructive to themselves, and to those who had intrusted them all with
the ship and cargo; for that, in a voyage, every foremast-man, in his
degree, is trusted with the safety of the whole ship.
They answered it was the second mate; that they had never shown
themselves discontented, much less disorderly, in the ship; that they
had, on all occasions, done their duty through the whole voyage till
now; and that they had no ill design upon any one, much less had they
any design to destroy the voyage, or injure the captain; but that they
were all told by the second mate, that the captain had imposed upon
them, by proposing a mad voyage to the south pole, that would be the
death of them all, and that they were to lay aside the trading and
cruising voyages which they came out upon, and were now to spend the
whole voyage in new discoveries; by which the men could propose nothing
to themselves but hardships, and perhaps perishing with hunger and cold;
whereas, had they gone to the South Seas as was intended, they might all
have been made; and that the hazards, with that prospect, had some
consolation in them; whereas, in this project, there was nothing but
certain destruction.
The mate delivered them a copy of the scheme I had proposed, the reasons
of it, the trade I had designed, the return I was to make, and
everything, as I have already mentioned, and bade them take it and
consider of it.
As I was justly provoked to see how I had been abused and misrepresented
to the men, so they were astonished when they read my scheme, and saw
what mischiefs they had been led into, for they knew not what, and
without any reason or just consideration: and, after they had debated
things awhile among themselves, they desired the chief mate might come
to them again, which he did; then they told him, that as they had been
thus grossly abused, and drawn into mischiefs which they never designed,
by such plausible pretences, and by being told such a long story full of
lies, and to carry on an infernal project of the second mate's, they
hoped their being so much imposed upon would a little extenuate their
fault; that they were convinced the captain had proposed nothing but
what was very rational, and a voyage that might be very profitable to
the owners and to every individual; and they entirely threw themselves
upon the captain's mercy, and humbly begged pardon; that, if I pleased
to forgive them, they would endeavour to merit such forgiveness by their
future behaviour; and that, in the mean time, they submitted to what
punishment I pleased to lay upon them: and, particularly, that, as they
had forfeited, by their conspiracy, all the claims they had upon the
ship, and might justly have been turned on shore at the first land they
came to, they were willing to sign a discharge for all their wages due
to them, which was now near eight months a man, and to be considered for
the rest of the voyage as they deserved: that they would all take a
solemn oath of fidelity to me to do their duty, to go wherever I would
carry them, and to behave with the greatest submission and diligence, in
hopes to regain my favour by their future behaviour, and to show their
gratitude for the pardon I should grant them.
This was, indeed, just as I would have it, for I wanted nothing more
than to have something offered, which I might give them back again; for
I ever thought, and have found it by experience, to be the best way; and
men were always secured in their duty by a generous kindness, better
than by absolute dominion and severity: indeed, my opinion was justified
in all the measures I took with these men; for as I found they were
sufficiently humbled, and that I had brought them low enough, I let them
know that it was not their punishment but their amendment I desired;
that I scorned to make a prey of them, and take that forfeiture they had
offered, by putting the wages due to them for their labour in my pocket.
I then sent them word I was very glad to hear that they were sensible
how much they had been imposed upon; that, as it was not my design to
offer anything to them which they or any honest men ought to refuse, so
it was not my desire to make any advantages of their follies but what
might tend to bring them back to their duty; that, as I had no prospect
that was inconsistent with their safety and interest, so I scorned to
make an advantage of their submission; that as to their wages, though
they had forfeited them by their mutiny, yet God forbid I should convert
them to my own profit; and since forgiving their offence was in my
power, the crime being in one particular an offence against me, they
should never be able to say I made a gain of their submission, and, like
the Pope, should sell them my pardon; that, upon their solemnly engaging
to me never to offer the least disturbance of any kind in the ship for
the future, but to do their duty faithfully and cheerfully, I would
forget all that was passed; only this I expected, that two of them, who
were particularly guilty of threatening the life of Captain Merlotte,
should be punished as they deserved.
They could not deny but this was most just; and they did not so much as
offer to intercede for those two; but, when one of the two moved the
rest to petition for them, they answered they could not do it, for they
had received favour enough for themselves, and they could not desire
anything of the captain for their sakes, for they had all deserved
punishment as well as they.
In a word, the two men were brought upon deck, and soundly whipped and
pickled; and they all proved very honest ever after: and these, as I
said at first, were two-and-thirty in all.
All this while Captain Merlotte with his Frenchmen were in arms, and had
possession on the quarter-deck to the number of twenty-three stout men;
I had possession of the main-deck with eighteen men and the sixteen
Dutchmen, and my chief mate with the midshipman, had possession of the
cook-room and quarter-deck; the Dutch captain, our supercargo, the
surgeon, and the other captain, kept the great cabins with a guard of
twelve musketeers without the door, and about eight more within, besides
servants. Captain Merlotte's man also had a guard of eight men in the
roundhouse. I had now nothing to do but with my men who were on shore;
and of these, six were no way culpable, being men not embarked in the
design, but carried on shore by the chief mate, with a design to engage
them with him; so that, indeed, they fell into a punishment before they
fell into the crime, and what to do with these men was a nice point to
manage.
The first thing I did, was to dismiss my visitor, the Dutch captain,
whom I had a great deal of reason to think myself exceedingly obliged
to: and, first, I handsomely rewarded his men, to whom I gave four
pieces of eight a man; and having waited on the captain to the ship's
side, and seen him into his boat, I fired him twenty-one guns at his
going off; for which he fired twenty-five when he came on board his
ship.
The same afternoon I sent my pinnace on board him for my drunken
cockswain, and with the pinnace I sent the captain three dozen bottles
of English beer, and a quarter cask of Canary, which was the best
present I had to make him; and sent every one of his other seamen a
piece of eight per man; and, indeed, the assistance I had from the ship
deserved it; and to the mate, who acted so bravely with my men on
shore, I sent fifty pieces of eight.
The next day I went on shore to pay my respects to the governor, when I
had all the prisoners delivered up to me. Six men I caused to be
immediately set at liberty, as having been innocent, and brought all the
rest on board, tied hand and foot, as prisoners, and continued them so,
a great while afterward, as the reader will find. As for the second
mate, I tried him formally by a council of war, as I was empowered by my
commission to do, and sentenced him to be hanged at the yard-arm: and
though I suspended the execution from day to day, yet I kept him in
expectation of the halter every hour; which, to some, would have been as
grievous as the hanging itself.
Thus we conquered this desperate mutiny, all principally proceeding from
suffering the private disputes among ourselves, which ought to have been
the arcana of the whole voyage, and kept as secret as death itself could
have kept it, I mean so as not to come among the seamen afore the mast.
We lay here twelve days, during which time we took in fresh water as
much as we had casks for, and were able to stow. On the 13th day of
August, we weighed and stood away to the east, designing to make no land
any more till we came to Java Head, and the Straits of Sunda, for that
way we intended to sail; but the wind sprung up at E. and E. S. E., and
blew so fresh, that we were obliged, after two days' beating against it,
to bear away afore it, and run back to the Cape of Good Hope.
While we were here, there came in two Dutch East Indiamen more,
homeward-bound, to whom had happened a very odd accident.
They had been attacked by a large ship of forty-four guns, and a stout
sloop of eight guns; the Dutch ships resolving to assist one another,
stood up to the Frenchman, (for such it seems he was,) and fought him
very warmly. The engagement lasted six or seven hours; in which the
privateer had killed them some men; but in the heat of the fight, the
sloop received a shot, which brought her mainmast by the board; and this
caused the captain of the frigate to sheer off, fearing his sloop would
be taken; but the sloop's men took care of themselves, for, hauling a
little out of the fight, they got into their own boats, and a boat which
the frigate sent to their help, and abandoned the sloop; which the
Dutchmen perceiving, they manned out their boats, and sent and took the
sloop with all that was in her, and brought her away with them.
The Dutchmen came into the road at the Cape with this prize while our
ship was there the second time; and we saw them bringing the sloop in
tow, having no mast standing, but a little pole-mast set up for the
present, and her mizen, which was also disabled, and of little use to
her.
I no sooner saw her, but it came into my thoughts, that, if she was
anything of a sea-boat, she would do our business to a tittle; and, as
we had always resolved to get another ship, but had been disappointed,
this would answer our end exactly; accordingly I went with my chief
mate, in our shallop, on board my old acquaintance the Dutch captain,
and inquiring there, was informed that it was a prize taken, and that in
all probability the captain that took her would be glad to part with
her; and the captain promised me to go on board the ship that brought
her in, and inquire about it, and let me know.
Accordingly, the next morning the captain sent me word I might have her;
that she carried eight guns, had good store of provisions on board, with
ammunition sufficient, and I might have her and all that was in her for
twelve hundred pieces of eight. In a word, I sent my chief mate back
with the same messenger and the money, giving him commission to pay for
her, and take possession of her, if he liked her; and the Dutch captain,
my friend, lent him twelve men to bring her off to us, which they did
the same day.
I was a little put to it for a mast for her, having not anything on
board we could spare that was fit for a main-mast; but resolving at last
to mast her not as a sloop, but as a brigantine, we made shift with what
pieces we had, and a spare foretop-mast, which one of the Dutch ships
helped me to; so we fitted her up very handsomely, made her carry twelve
guns, and put sixty men on board. One of the best things we found on
board her, were casks, which we greatly wanted, especially for
barrelling up beef and other provisions, which we found very difficult;
but our cooper eked them out with making some new ones out of her old
ones.
After staying here sixteen days more, we sailed again. Indeed, I thought
once we should never have gone away at all; for it is certain above
half the men in the ship had been made uneasy, and there remained still
some misunderstanding of my design, and a supposition of all the
frightful things the second mate had put in their heads; and, by his
means, the boatswain and gunner.
As these three had the principal management of the conspiracy, and that
I had pardoned all the rest, I had some thoughts of making an example of
these; I took care to let them know it, too, in a manner that they had
no room to think it was in jest, but I intended to have them all three
hanged; and I kept them above three weeks in suspense about it: however,
as I had no intention to put them to death, I thought it was a piece of
cruelty, something worse than death, to keep them continually in
expectation of it, and in a place too where they had but little more
than room to breathe.
So, having been seventeen days gone from the Cape, I resolved to relieve
them a little, and yet at the same time remove them out of the way of
doing me any capital injury, if they should have any such design still
in their heads. For this purpose, I caused them to be removed out of the
ship into brigantine, and there I permitted them to have a little more
liberty than they had on board the great ship; and where two of them
entered into another conspiracy, as wild and foolish as ever I heard of,
or as, perhaps, was ever heard of by any other; but of this I shall say
more in its place.
We were now to sail in company, and we went away from the Cape, the 3rd
of September, 1714. We found the brigantine was an excellent sea-boat,
and could bear the weather to a miracle, and no bad sailer; she kept
pace with us on all occasions, and in a storm we had at S. S. E., some
days after, she shifted as well as we did in the great ship, which made
us all well pleased with her.
This storm drove us away to the northward; and I once thought we should
have been driven back to the Cape again; which, if it had happened, I
believe we should never have gone on with the voyage; for the men began
to murmur again, and say we were bewitched; that we were beaten off
first from the south of America, that we could never get round there,
and now driven back from the south of Africa; so that, in short, it
looked as if fate had determined this voyage to be pursued no farther.
The wind continued, and blew exceeding hard: and, in short, we were
driven so far to the north, that we made the south point of the island
of Madagascar.
My pilot knew it to be Madagascar as soon as he had a clear view of the
land; and, having beaten so long against the sea to no purpose, and
being in want of many things, we resolved to put in; and accordingly
made for Port St. Augustine, on the west side of the island, where we
came to an anchor in eleven fathom water, and a very good road.
I could not be without a great many anxious thoughts upon our coming
into this island; for I knew very well that there was a gang of
desperate rogues here, especially on the northern coast, who had been
famous for their piracies; and I did not know but that they might be
either strong enough as pirates to take us, or rogues enough to entice a
great many of my men to run away; so I resolved neither to come near
enough the shore to be surprised, nor to suffer any of my men to go on
shore, such excepted as I could be very secure of.
But I was soon informed by a Dutchman, who came off to me with some of
the natives in a kind of canvass boat, that there were no Europeans
there but himself, and the pirates were on the north part of the island;
that they had no ship with them of any force, and that they would be
glad to be fetched off by any Christian ship; that they were not above
two hundred in number, their chief leaders, with the only ships of force
they had, being out a cruising on the coast of Arabia, and the Gulf of
Persia.
After this, I went on shore myself with Captain Merlotte, and some of
the men whom I could trust; and we found it true as the Dutchman had
related. The Dutchman gave us a long history of his adventures, and how
he came to be left there by a ship he came in from Europe, which, he
running up into the country for sport with three more of his comrades,
went away without them, and left them among the natives, who, however,
used them extremely well; and that now he served them for an interpreter
and a broker, to bargain for them with the European ships for
provisions. Accordingly, he engaged to bring us what provisions we
pleased, and proposed such trinkets in return as he knew the natives
desired, and as were of value little enough to us; but he desired a
consideration for himself in money, which, though it was of no use to
him there, he said it might be hereafter; and, as his demand was but
twenty pieces of eight, we thought he very well deserved them.
Here we bought a great quantity of beef, which, having no casks to
spare, we salted, and then cured it in the sun, by the Dutchman's
direction, and it proved of excellent use to us through the whole
voyage; for we kept some of it till we came to England, but it was then
so hard, that a good hatchet would hardly cut it.