would be made easily subservient and assistant to any European nation
that would come to make settlements among them, especially if those
European nations treated them with humanity and courtesy; for I have
made it a general observation, concerning the natural disposition of all
the savage nations that ever I met with, that if they are once but
really obliged they will always be very faithful.
But it is our people, I mean the Europeans, who, by breaking faith with
them, teach them ingratitude, and inure them to treat their new comers
with breach of faith, and with cruelty and barbarity. If you once win
them by kindness, and doing them good, I mean at first, before they are
taught to be rogues by example, they will generally be honest, and be
kind also, to the uttermost of their power.
It is to be observed, that it has been the opinion of all the sailors
who have navigated those parts of the world, that farther south there
are great tracts of undiscovered land; and some have told us they have
seen them, and have called them by such and such name, as, particularly,
the Isles of Solomon, of which yet we can read of nobody that ever went
on shore on them, or that could give any account of them, except such as
are romantic, and not to be depended upon.
But what has been the reason why we have hitherto had nothing but
guesses made at those things, and that all that has been said of such
lands has been imperfect? The reason, if I may speak my opinion, has
been, because it is such a prodigious run from the coast of America to
the islands of the Ladrones, that the few people who have performed it
never durst venture to go out of the way of the trade-winds, lest they
should not be able to subsist for want of water and provisions; and this
is particularly the case in the voyage from the coast of America only.
Whereas, to go the way which I have marked out, had we seen a necessity,
and that there was no land to be found to the south of the tropic for a
supply of provisions and fresh water, it is evident we could have gone
back again, from one place to another, and have been constantly
supplied; and this makes it certain also, that it cannot be reasonably
undertaken by a ship going from the east, I mean the coast of America,
to the west; but, from the west, viz., the Spice Islands to America
west, it may be adventured with ease, as I have shown.
It is true, that William Cornelius Van Schouten and Francis le Maire,
who first found the passage into the South Sea by Cape Horn, and not to
pass the Straits of Magellan, I say, they did keep to the southward of
the tropic, and pass in part the same way I have here given an account
of, as by their journals, which I have by me at this time, is apparent.
And it is as true also, that they did meet with many islands and unknown
shores in those seas, where they got refreshment, especially fresh
water: perhaps some of the places were the same I have described in this
voyage, but why they never pursued that discovery, or marked those
islands and places they got refreshments at, so that others in quest of
business might have touched at them and have received the like benefit,
that I can give no account of.
I cannot help being of opinion, let our map makers place them where they
will, that those islands where we so successfully fished for oysters, or
rather for pearl, are the same which the ancient geographers have called
Solomon's Islands; and though they are so far south, the riches of them
may not be the less, nor are they more out of the way. On the contrary,
they lie directly in the track which our navigators would take, if they
thought fit, either to go or come between Europe and the East Indies,
seeing they that come about Cape Horn seldom go less south than the
latitude of 63 or 64 deg.; and these islands, as I have said, lie in the
latitude of 40 to 48 deg. south, and extend themselves near one hundred and
sixty leagues in breadth from north to south.
Without doubt those islands would make a very noble settlement, in order
to victual and relieve the European merchants in so long a run as they
have to make; and when this trade came to be more frequented, the
calling of those ships there would enrich the islands, as the English at
St. Helena are enriched by the refreshing which the East India ships
find that meet there.
But to return to our present situation at Juan Fernandez. The
refreshment which our men found here greatly encouraged and revived
them; and the broths and stewings which we made of the goats' flesh
which we killed there, than which nothing could be wholesomer, restored
all our sick men, so that we lost but two men in our whole passage from
the East Indies, and had lost but eight men in our whole voyage from
England, except I should reckon those five men and a boy to be lost
which run away from us in the country among the Indians, as I have
already related.
I should have added, that we careened and cleaned our ships here, and
put ourselves into a posture for whatever adventures might happen; for
as I resolved upon a trading voyage upon the coast of Chili and Peru,
and a cruising voyage also, as it might happen, so I resolved also to
put our ships into a condition for both, as occasion should present.
Our men were nimble at this work, especially having been so well
refreshed and heartened up by their extraordinary supply of fresh meats,
and the additions of good broths and soups which they fed on every day
in the island, and with which they were supplied without any manner of
limitation all the time they were at work.
This I say being their case, they got the Madagascar ship hauled down,
and her bottom washed and tallowed, and she was as clean as when she
first came off the stocks in five days' time: and she was rigged, and
all set to rights, and fit for sailing in two more.
The great ship was not so soon fitted, nor was I in so much haste, for I
had a design in my head which I had not yet communicated to anybody, and
that was to send the Madagascar ship a-cruising as soon as she was
fitted up; accordingly, I say, the fifth day she was ready, and I
managed it so that the captain of the Madagascar ship openly, before all
the men, made the motion, as if it had been his own project, and desired
I would let him go and try his fortune, as he called it.
I seemed unwilling at first, but he added to his importunity, that he
and all his crew were desirous, if they made any purchase, it should be
divided among all the crews in shares, according as they were shipped;
that if it was provisions, the captain should buy it at half price, for
the use of the whole, and the money to be shared.
Upon hearing his proposals, which were esteemed very just, and the men
all agreeing, I gave consent, and so he had my orders and instructions,
and leave to be out twelve days on his cruise, and away he went. His
ship was an excellent sailer, as has been said, and being now a very
clean vessel, I thought he might speak with any other, or get away from
her if he pleased; by the way, I ordered him to put out none but French
colours.
He cruised a week without seeing a sail, and stood in quite to the
Spanish shore in one place, but in that he was wrong. The eighth day,
giving over all expectations, he stood off again to sea, and the next
morning he spied a sail, which proved to be a large Spanish ship, and
that seemed to stand down directly upon him, which a little checked his
forwardness; however, he kept on his course, when the Spaniard seeing
him plainer than probably he had done at first, tacked, and crowding all
the sail he could carry, stood in for the shore.
The Spaniard was a good sailer, but our ship plainly gained upon her,
and in the evening came almost up with her; when he saw the land, though
at a great distance, he was loath to be seen chasing her from the shore;
however, he followed, and night coming on, the Spaniard changed his
course, thinking to get away, but as the moon was just rising, our men,
who resolved to keep her in sight, if possible, perceived her, and
stretched after her with all the canvass they could lay on.
This chase held till about midnight, when our ship coming up with her,
took her after a little dispute. They pretended, at first, to have
nothing on board but timber, which they were carrying, as they said, to
some port for the building of ships; but our men had the secret to make
the Spaniards confess their treasure, if they had any, so that after
some hard words with the Spanish commander, he confessed he had some
money on board, which, on our men's promise of good usage, he afterwards
very honestly delivered, and which might amount to about sixteen
thousand pieces of eight.
But he had what we were very glad of besides, viz., about two hundred
great jars of very good wheat flour, a large quantity of oil, and some
casks of sweetmeats, all which was to us very good prize.
But now our difficulty was, what we should do with the ship, and with
the Spaniards; and this was so real a difficulty that I began to wish he
had not taken her, lest her being suffered to go, she should alarm the
country, or if detained, discover us all.
It was not above one day beyond his orders that we had the pleasure of
seeing the captain of the Madagascar come into the road, with his prize
in tow, and the flour and oil was a very good booty to us; but upon
second and better thoughts, we brought the Spaniards to a fair treaty,
and, which was more difficult, brought all our men to consent to it. The
case was this. Knowing what I proposed to myself to do, namely, to trade
all the way up the Spanish coast, and to pass for French ships, I knew
the taking this Spanish ship would betray us all, unless I resolved to
sink the ship and murder all the men; so I came to a resolution of
talking with the Spanish captain, and making terms with him, which I
soon made him very glad to accept of.
First, I pretended to be angry with the captain of the Madagascar ship,
and ordered him to be put under confinement, for having made a prize of
his catholic majesty's subjects, we being subjects to the king of
France, who was in perfect peace with the king of Spain.
Then I told him that I would restore him his ship and all his money, and
as to his flour and oil, which the men had fallen greedily upon, having
a want of it, I would pay him the full value in money for it all, and
for any other loss he had sustained, only that I would oblige him to lie
in the road at the island where we were, till we returned from our
voyage to Lima, whither we were going to trade, for which lying I also
agreed to pay him demurrage for his ship, after the rate of eight
hundred pieces of eight per month, and if I returned not in four months,
he was to be at his liberty to go.
The captain, who thought himself a prisoner and undone, readily embraced
this offer; and so we secured his ship till our return, and there we
found him very honestly at an anchor, of which I shall give a farther
account in its place.
We were now, as I have said, much about the middle of our voyage, at
least as I had intended it; and having stored ourselves with every thing
the place afforded, we got ready to proceed, for we had, as it were,
dwelt here near a fortnight.
By this time the weather was good again, and we stood away to the
south-east for the port of Baldivia, as above, and reached to the
mouth, of the harbour in twelve days' sail.
I was now to change faces again, and Captain Merlotte appeared as
captain, all things being transacted in his name, and French captains
were put into the brigantine, and into the Madagascar ship also. The
first thing the captain did was to send a civil message to the Spanish
governor, to acquaint him, that being come into those seas as friends,
under his most Christian majesty's commission, and with the king of
Spain's permission, we desired to be treated as allies, and to be
allowed to take water and wood, and to buy such refreshments as we
wanted, for which we would pay ready money; also we carried French
colours, but took not the least notice of our intention to trade with
them.
We received a very civil answer from the governor, viz., That being the
king of France's subjects, and that they were in alliance with us, we
were very welcome to wood and water, and any provision the place would
afford, and that our persons should be safe, and in perfect liberty to
go on shore; but that he could not allow any of our men to lie on shore,
it being express in his orders that he should not permit any nation not
actually in commission from the king of Spain to come on shore and stay
there, not even one night; and that this was done to prevent disorders.
We answered, that we were content with that order, seeing we did not
desire our men should go on shore to stay there, we not being able to
answer for any misbehaviour, which was frequent among seamen.
While we continued here, several Spaniards came on board and visited us,
and we often went on shore on the same pretence; but our supercargo, who
understood his business too well not to make use of the occasion,
presently let the Spaniards see that he had a great cargo of goods to
dispose of; they as freely took the hint, and let him know that they had
money enough to pay for whatever they bought; so they fell to work, and
they bought East India and China silks, Japan ware, China ware, spice,
and something of everything we had. We knew we should not sell all our
cargo here; nor any extraordinary quantity; but we knew, on the other
hand, that, what we did sell here, we should sell for 100_l._ per cent.
extraordinary, I mean more than we should sell for at Lima, or any other
ports on that side, and so we did; for here we sold a bottle of arrack
for four pieces of eight, a pound of cloves for five pieces of eight,
and a pound of nutmegs for six pieces of eight; and the like of other
things.
They would gladly have purchased some European goods, and especially
English cloth and baize; but as we had indeed very few such things left,
so we were not willing they should see them, that they might not have
any suspicion of our being Englishmen, and English ships, which would
soon have put an end to all our commerce.
While we lay here trafficking with the Spaniards, I set some of my men
to work to converse among the native Chilians, or Indians, as we call
them, of the country, and several things they learned of them, according
to the instructions which I gave them; for example, first, I understood
by them that the country people, who do not live among the Spaniards,
have a mortal aversion to them; that it is rivetted in their minds by
tradition from father to son, ever since the wars which had formerly
been among them, and that though they did not now carry on those wars,
yet the animosity remained; and the pride and cruel haughty temper of
the Spaniards were such still to those of the country people who came
under their government, as make that aversion continually increase. They
let us know, that if any nation in the world would but come in and
assist them against the Spaniards, and support them in their rising
against them, they would soon rid their hands of the whole nation. This
was to the purpose exactly, as to what I wanted to know.
I then ordered particular inquiry to be made, whether the mountains of
Andes, which are indeed prodigious to look at, and so frightful for
their height, that it is not to be thought of without some horror, were
in any places passable? what country there was beyond them? and whether
any of their people had gone, over and knew the passages?
The Indians concurred with the Spaniards in this (for our men inquired
of both), that though the Andes were to be supposed, indeed, to be the
highest mountains in the world, and that, generally speaking, they were
impassable, yet that there had been passages found by the vales among
the mountains; where, with fetching several compasses and windings
partly on the hills, and partly in the valleys, men went with a great
deal of ease and safety quite through or over, call it as we will, to
the other, named the east side, and as often returned again.
Some of the more knowing Indians or Chilians went farther than this, and
when our men inquired after the manners, situation, and produce of the
country on the other side, they told them, that when they passed the
mountains from that part of the country, they went chiefly to fetch
cattle and kill deer, of which there were great numbers in that part of
the land; but that when they went from St. Jago they turned away north
some leagues, when they came to a town called St. Anthonio de los Vejos,
or, the town of St. Anthony and the Old Men; that there was a great
river at that city, from whence they found means to go down to the Rio
de la Plata, and so to the Buenos Ayres, and that they frequently
carried thither great sums of money in Chilian gold, and brought back
European goods from thence.
I had all I wanted now, and bade my men say no more to them on that
subject, and only to tell them, that they would come back and travel a
little that way to see the country. The people appeared very well
pleased with this intelligence, and answered, that if they would do so,
they should find some, as well Spaniards as Chilians, who would be
guides to them through the hills; also assuring them, that they would
find the hills very practicable, and the people as they went along very
ready to assist and furnish them with whatever they found they wanted,
especially if they come to know that they were not Spaniards, or that
they would protect them from the Spaniards, which would be the most
agreeable thing to them in the world; for it seems many of the nations
of the Chilians had been driven to live among the hills, and some even
beyond them, to avoid the cruelty and tyranny of the Spaniards,
especially in the beginning of their planting in that country.
The next inquiry I ordered them to make was, whether it was possible to
pass those hills with horses or mules, or any kind of carriages? and
they assured them, they might travel with mules, and even with horses
also, but rather with mules; but as to carriages, such as carts or
waggons, they allowed that was not practicable. They assured us, that
some of those ways through the hills were much frequented, and that
there were towns, or villages rather, of people to be found in the
valleys between the said hills; some of which villages were very large,
and the soil very rich and fruitful, bearing sufficient provisions for
the inhabitants, who were very numerous. They added, that the people
were not much inclined to live in towns as the Spaniards do, but that
they lived scattered up and down the country, as they were guided by the
goodness of the land; that they lived very secure and unguarded, never
offering any injury to one another, nor fearing injury from any but the
Spaniards.
I caused these inquiries to be made with the utmost prudence and
caution, so that the Spaniards had not the least suspicion of our
design; and thus, having finished our traffick, and taken in water and
provisions, we sailed from Baldivia, having settled a little
correspondence there with two Spaniards, who were very faithful to us,
and with two Chilian Indians, whom we had in a particular manner
engaged, and whom, to make sure of, we took along with us; and having
spent about thirteen days here, and taken the value of about six
thousand pieces of eight in silver and gold, but most of it in gold, we
set sail.
Our next port was the Bay of the Conception; here, having two or three
men on board who were well acquainted with the coast, we ran boldly into
the bay, and came to an anchor in that which they call the Bite, or
little bay, under the island Quinquina; and from thence we sent our
boat, with French mariners to row, and a French cockswain, with a letter
to the Spanish governor, from Captain Merlotte. Our pretence was always
the same as before, that we had his most Christian majesty's commission,
&c., and that we desired liberty to wood and water, and to buy
provisions, having been a very long voyage, and the like.
Under these pretences, we lay here about ten days, and drove a very
considerable trade for such goods as we were sure they wanted; and
having taken about the value of eight thousand pieces of eight, we set
sail for the port or river that goes up to St. Jago, where we expected a
very good market, being distant from the Conception about sixty-five
leagues.
St. Jago is the capital city of Chili, and stands twelve leagues within
the land; there are two ports, which are made use of to carry on the
traffic of this place, viz., R. de Ropocalmo, and port de Valparaiso. We
were bound to the last, as being the only port for ships of burden, and
where there is security from bad weather.
We found means here, without going up to the city of St. Jago, to have
merchants enough to come down to us; for this being a very rich city,
and full of money, we found all our valuable silks of China, our
atlases, China damasks, satins, &c., were very much valued, and very
much wanted, and no price was too high for us to ask for them. For, in a
word, the Spanish ladies, who, for pride, do not come behind any in the
world, whatever they do for beauty, were so eager for those fine things,
that almost any reasonable quantity might have been sold there; but the
truth is, we had an unreasonable quantity, and therefore, as we had
other markets to go to, we did not let them know what a great stock of
goods we had, but took care they had something of everything they
wanted. We likewise found our spices were an excellent commodity in
those parts, and sold for a great profit too, as indeed everything else
did, as is said above.
We found it very easy to sell here to the value of one hundred and
thirty thousand pieces of eight, in all sorts of China and East-India
goods; for still, though we had some of the English cargo loose, we let
none of it be seen. We took most of the money in gold uncoined, which is
got out of the mountains in great quantities, and of which we shall have
occasion to speak more hereafter.
Our next trading port was Coquimbo, a small town but a good port. Here
we went in without ceremony, and upon the same foot, of being French, we
were well received, traded underhand with the Spanish merchants, and got
letters to some other merchants at Guasco, a port in a little bay about
fifteen leagues north from Coquimbo.
From hence to the port of Copiapo, is twenty-five leagues. Here we found
a very good port, though no trading town or city; but the country being
well inhabited, we found means to acquaint some of the principal
Spaniards in the country of what we were, and (with which they were
pleased well enough) that they might trade with us for such things,
which it was easy to see they gave double price for to the merchants who
came from Lima, and other places. This brought them to us with so much
eagerness, that though they bought for their own use, not for sale, yet
they came furnished with orders, perhaps for two or three families
together, and being generally rich, would frequently lay out six hundred
or eight hundred pieces of eight a man; so that we had a most excellent
market here, and took above thirty thousand pieces of eight; that is to
say, the value of it, for they still paid all in gold.
Here we had opportunity to get a quantity of good flour, or wheat meal,
of very good European wheat, that is to say, of that sort of wheat; and
withal, had good biscuit baked on shore, so that now we got a large
recruit of bread, and our men began to make puddings, and lived very
comfortably. We likewise got good sugar at the ingenioes, or
sugar-mills, of which there were several here, and the farther north we
went their number increased, for we were now in the latitude of 28 deg. 2'
south.
We had but one port now of any consequence that we intended to touch at,
until we came to the main place we aimed at, which was Lima, and this
was about two-thirds of the way thither; I mean Porto Rica, or Arica,
which is in the latitude of 18 deg. of thereabouts. The people were very shy
of us here, as having been much upon their guard for some years past,
for fear of buccaneers and English privateers: but when they understood
we were French, and our French captain sent two recommendations to them
from a merchant at St. Jago, they were then very well satisfied, and we
had full freedom of commerce here also.