ROUND THE WORLD. the island; that they were near eight thousand men, that they had a good squadron of stout ships, and that they were able to resist a whole fleet of men-of-war, having a harbour so well fortified at the entrance into it that there was no coming at them without a good army for land service and the like. I convinced them how impossible this was to be true, and told them all the discourse I had had with the Dutchman at the place where I now was, who had had a full account of it from several of them who had come down to St Augustine's in little boats, in order to make their escape from them, and to get passage for Europe, whom he had always assisted, and got them off as any ship touched at that port, and who all agreed in their relation of their particulars, which were indeed miserable enough, saving that they wanted neither victuals nor clothes. In a word, I soon brought them to enter into the reason of it, and to be of my opinion; and accordingly I ordered to get ready, and in three days' time weighed, and stood away for the north of the island; for, by the way, we did not now communicate our debates or resolves to the men before the mast, as had been done before, we had indeed had enough of that already. While we were thus coasting the island to the north, and in the channel or sea between the island and the main of Africa, it came into my thoughts that I might now make use of my traitors to my advantage and their own too, and that I might, if they were honest, gain my end, and get full intelligence of the people I had my eye upon, and if they were still traitors, they would desert and go over to the pirates, and should be well rid of them, without the necessity of bringing them to the yard-arm; for I was very uneasy in my mind about hanging them too, nor could I ever have been brought to do it, I believe, whatever risk I had run from their mutinous disposition. I was now got into the latitude of fifteen degrees and a half south of the line, and began to think of standing in for the shore, when I ordered the second mate, who lay in irons in the brigantine, to be brought on board the ship, and to be called up into the great cabin. He came in great concern; though he was of himself a very bold and resolute fellow, yet as he made no doubt that he was sent for to execution, he appeared thoroughly softened, and quite another man than he was before. When he was brought in, I caused him to be set down in a nook of the cabin, where he could not stir to offer any violence to me, if he had had any will to it, two large chests being just before him; and I ordered all my people to withdraw, except Captain Merlotte and the supercargo, and then, turning myself to the criminal, I told him he knew his circumstances, I need not repeat them, and the fact for which he was brought into that condition; that I had hitherto from time to time delayed his execution, contrary to the opinion of the rest of the chief officers, who in full council had unanimously condemned him; that I had a sudden thought came into my head, which, if he knew how to merit mercy, and to retrieve his circumstances by his future fidelity, might once again put it into his power not only to save his life, but to be trusted in the ship He waited, without offering to speak a word, He told me then that, had it been any other part of the world than at Madagascar, he would readily have chosen to have gone on shore; nay, though the place had been really desolate and uninhabited; that he did not object because my offer was not very generous and kind, and it would be always with regret that he should look back upon the mercy he should have received, But that as it was at this place that I menand how ill he had deserved it at my hands. tioned setting him at liberty, he told me that though he had been mutinous and disorderly, for which he acknowledged he had deserved to die, yet he hoped I could not think so ill of him as to believe he could turn pirate, and begged that, rather than entertain such hard thoughts of him, I would execute the worst part of the sentence, and send him out of the world a penitent, and an honest man; which he should esteem far better than to give him his life in a condition in which he could preserve it upon other terms than those of being the worst of villains. He added, that if there was anything he could do to deserve so much mercy as I intended him, he begged me that I would give him room to behave himself as became him, and he would leave it wholly to me to use him as he should deserve, even to the recalling the pardon that I had granted him. I was extremely satisfied with what he said, and more particularly with the manner of his speaking it; I told him I was glad to see that he had a principle of so much honesty at the bottom of a part so unhappy as he had acted; that I would be very far from prompting him to turn pirate, and much more from forcing him to do so; and that I would, according to his desire, put an opportunity into his hands to show himself a new man; and by his fidelity to wipe out all that was past: and then without any more ceremony, I told him my whole design, which was to send him, and four or five more men with him, on shore among the pirates as spies, to see what condition they were in, and to see whether there was any apprehensions of violence from | them, or whether they were in the mean circumstances that I had reason to believe they were in and, lastly, whether they had any ship or vessel that might be bought of them, and whether men might be had to increase our company; that is to say, such men as being penitent for their rogueries, and tired with their miseries, would be glad of the opportunity of turning honest men before they were brought to it by distress and the gallows. way farther. So we stood away to the north all the night, and the next day the wind being fair and the sea smooth, and by our reckoning we went in that time about forty leagues. the boat, and, keeping only four men with him, sent the boat on board again, agreeing on a signal for us to send the boat for him again when he should return. The next evening the same company went on shore again, and were showed by some of the natives where the pirates inhabited; which, in short, was about five or six-and-twenty miles further north still, in a river very commodious for shipping, where they had five or six European built ships, and two or three sloops; bot He embraced the opportunity with the greatest they were all laid up, except two sloops, with readiness, and gave me all the assurances that I which they cruised sometimes a great distance could desire of his fidelity. I then asked him off to the north, as far as the Arabian Gulf. whether he thought his two fellow prisoners He returned with this intelligence the same might be trusted upon the same foot. He asked night, and by his direction we stood in as close me if I would take it for a piece of sincerity if, under the shore as we could conveniently, about after a trial, he should tell me his mind, and six leagues further north; here we found a very would not be displeased if he declined speaking good road under a little Cape, which kept us his thoughts till he had talked with them. I perfectly undiscovered; and in the morning told him he should be at liberty to give his fur-before day my man went on shore again with ther answer after he had proposed it to him; but I insisted upon his opinion first, because it was only his opinion that I asked now; whereas, if he reported it to them, then he had no more to do but to report their answer. He then asked me if I would please to grant him one thing, namely, that whatever his opinion shonld be, that what he should say should be no prejudice to them in their present condition; I told him it was a reasonable caution in him, and I would assure him that whatever he said should not do them any prejudice, and to convince him of it, I gave him my word that I would not put them to death on any account whatsoever, merely for his sake. He bowed, and thanked me very heartily for that grant, which he said obliged him to be the plainer with me on that head, and as, he said, he would not deceive me in anything whatever, so he would not in this especially; and therefore told me it was his opinion they would not serve me faithfully; and he referred me to the experience I should find of it; and added, that he would be so just to me in the beginning, as that while he begged me to be merciful to them, yet for my own sake he would also beg me not to trust them. Our There was a pretty high ledge of hills to the north of the place where he landed, and which running west, made the little Cape under the lee of which our ship rode at an anchor as above. As soon as he came to the top of those hills he plainly discovered the creek or harbour where the pirate ships lay, and where they had formed their encampment on the shore. men took such proper observations of the situation of the place they were in upon the hill, that they might not fail to find their way back again, though it were in the night; and having agreed in the account they should give of themselves, so that they might be all found in the same tale, they boldly went down the hill, and came to the edge of the creek, the pirates' camp being on the other shore. Here they fired a gun to raise a kind of alarm among them, and then hanging out a white cloth on the top of a pole, a signal of peace, they hailed them in English, and asked them if they would send a boat and fetch them over. The pirates were surprised at the noise of the piece, and came running to the shore with all speed; but they were much surprised when they heard themselves hailed in English. Upon the whole they immediately sent a boat to fetch them over, and received them with a great deal of joy. Our men pretended to be overjoyed at finding them there, told them a long story that they came on shore on the west side of the island, I took the hint, and said no more at that time, but ordered his irons to be taken off, and ordered him to have leave to go to his former cabin, and to have his chests and things restored to him; so that he was at full liberty in the ship, though not in any office, or appointed to any particular business. A day or two after this we made land, which appeared to be the north-west part of the island, in the latitude of thirteen degrees thirty minutes; and now I thought it was time to put our design in execution; for I knew verywhere, not far off, there were two English ships, well that it could not be a great way from this part of the island where the pirates were to be heard of: so I ordered the boat on shore, with about sixteen men, to make discoveries, and with them my new restored man. I gave him no instruction for anything extraordinary at this time, our work being now only to find out where they were. The boat came on board again at night, or we had now stood in within two leagues of the shore, and brought us an account that there were no English or Europeans at all thereabouts, but they were to be heard of a great but that the natives quarrelling with their men, upon some rudeness offered to their women, and they being separated from their fellows, were obliged to fly, that the natives had surrounded the rest, and they believed had killed them all; that they wandered up to the top of the hill, intending to make signals to their ship to send them some help; when seeing some ships they believed some Europeans were there, and so came down to take shelter; and they begged of them a boat to carry them round the Cape to their comrades, unless they would give them leave to stay with them, and do as they did, which they were very willing to do. This was all a made story; but, however, the tale told so well, that they believed it thoroughly, and received our men very kindly, led them up to their camp, and gave them some victuals. Our men observed they had victuals enough, and very good, as well beef as mutton; that is to say, of goats' flesh, which was excellent good; also pork and veal, and they were tolerable good cooks too, for they found they had built several furnaces and boilers, which they had taken out of their ships, and dressed a vast quantity of meat at a time; but they observed they had no liquor, upon which the mate pulled a large bottle of good cordial waters out of his pocket, and gave it about as far as it would go, and so did two others of the men, which their new landlords took very kindly. They spent good part of the first day in looking about them, seeing the manner of the pirates liying there, and their strength; and soon perceived that they were indeed but in a sorry condition every way, except that they had cattle and flesh meat sufficient. They had a good platform of guns indeed, and a covered place pallisadoed round where they lodged their ammunition. But as for fortifications to the landward they had none, except a double pallisado round their camp, and a sort of a bank thrown up within to fire from, and stand covered from the enemies lances, which was all they had to fear from the natives. They had no bread but what they made of rice, and the store they had of that was very small. They told our men indeed, that they had two ships abroad, which they expected back every day with a quantity of rice, and what else they could get, especially with some arrack, which they were to trade for with the Arabian merchants, or take it by force, which should first offer. Our men pretended to like their way of living mighty well, and talked of staying with them, if they would let them, and thus they passed the first day of conversation. by him, and then put off again; the person whom they set on shore was, it seems, one who had been with our men the evening before, but having some particular office on board one of those ships, lay on board every night, with about ten or twelve men, just to watch and guard the ship, and so came on shore in the morning, as is usual in men of war laid up. As soon as he saw our man he knew him, and spoke very familiarly to him, and seeing he was looking so earnestly at the ship, he asked him if he would go on board, our man faintly declined it, as on purpose to be asked again, and upon just as much further pressing as was sufficient to satisfy him that the gunner, for that was his office, was in earnest he yielded, so the gunner called back the boat, and they went on board. Our man viewed the ship very particularly, and pretended to like everything he saw; but, after some conversation, asks him this home question, namely, why they did not go to sea, and seek purchase, having so many good ships at their command? He shook his head, and told him very frankly that they were in no condition to undertake anything, for that they were a crew of unresolved divided rogues; that they were never two days of a mind; that they had nobody to command, and therefore nobody to obey; that several things had been offered, but nothing con. cluded; that in short, they thought of nothing but of shifting every one for themselves, as well as they could. My mate replied, he thought it had been quite otherwise, and that made him tell them last night that he had an inclination to stay with them. "I heard you say so," said the gunner, "and it made me smile; I thought in myself that you would be of another mind when you knew us a little better; for, in a word," said he, "if they should agree to lend you a boat to go back to your ship, they would go together by the ears about who should go with you; for not a man of them that went with you would ever come back again hither, if your captain would take them on board, though the terms were, to be hanged when they came to England." Our men had two tents or huts given them to lodge in, and hammocks hung in the huts very agreeably, being such I suppose as belonged to My mate knew that this was my opinion before, some of their company that were dead, or were but he was really of another mind himself, till he out upon adventures, here they slept very secure, saw things, and till he talked with this gunner; So he enand in the morning walked about, as strangers and this put new things in his head. might be suffered to do to look about them,tertained the gunner with a scheme of his own, but my new manager's eye was chiefly here upon and told him, if things were so as he related it, two things, first,to see if they had any shipping for and that he had really a mind to come off from our purpose, and, secondly, to see if he could that gang, he believed that he could put him in pitch upon one man more particular than the a way how to do it to his advantage, and to take rest, to enter into some confidence with, and it a set of his people with him, if he could pick was not long before he found an opportunity for out some of them that might be depended both, the manner was thus:— upon. He was walking by himself, having ordered his other men to straggle away two and two, this way and that, as if they had not minded him, though always to keep him in sight, I say, he walked by himself towards that part of the creek, where, as was said, three of their biggest ships lay by the walls, and when he came to the shore right against them, he stood still looking at them very carnestly; while he was here he observed a boat put off from one of them, with four oars and one sitter only, whom they set on shore just The gunner replied that he could pick out a set of very brave fellows, good seamen, and most of them such as having been forced into the pirates' ships, were dragged into that wicked life they had lived, not only against their consciences, but by a mere necessity to save their lives, and that they would be glad at any price to come off. The mate asked him how many such he could answer for. He told him above a hundred. Upon this the mate told him the circumstances we were in, the voyage we were upon, that we were a letter of marque ship of such force, but that were over-manned and double stored, in hopes of getting a good ship upon our cruise, to man out of the other, that we had been disappointed, and had only got the sloop or brigantine which we bought, as before, at the Cape, that if he could persuade the men to sell us one of their ships, we would pay them for it in ready money, and perhaps entertain a hundred of their men into the bargain. The gunner told him he would propose it to them, and added, in positive terms, that he knew it would be readily accepted, and that he should take which of the three ships I pleased. The mate then desired that he would lend them his shallop to go on board our ship, to acquaint me with it, and bring back sufficient orders to treat. He told them he would not only do that, but before I could be ready to go he would propose it to the chief men he had his eye upon, and would have their consent, and that then he would go along with him on board to make a bargain. This was as well as our mate could expect, and the gunner had either so much authority among them, or the men were so forward to shift their station in the world that the gunuer came again to our mate in less then two hours, with an order, signed by about sixteen of their officers, empowering him to sell us the ship which the gunner was on board of, and to allot so many guns, and such a proportion of ammunition to her as was sufficient, and to give the work of all their carpenters for so many days as were necessary to repair her, calk and grave her, and put her in condition to go to sea. She was a Spanish-built ship; where they had her, the gunner said he did not know; but she was a very strong tight ship, and a pretty good sailer. We made her carry two-and-thirty guns, though she had not been used to carry above twenty-four. The gunner being thus empowered to treat with my mate, came away in their shallop, and brought the said gunner and two more of their officers with him, and eight seamen. The gunner and I soon made a bargain for the ship, which I bought for five thousand pieces of eight, most of it in English goods, such as they wanted; for they were many of them almost naked of clothes, and as for other things they had scarce a pair of shoes or stockings among them. When our bargain was made, and the mate had related all the particulars of the conference he had had with the gunner, we came to talk of the people who were to go with us. The gunner told us that we might indeed have good reason to suspect a gang of men who had made themselves infamous all over the world by so many piracies and wicked actions; but if I would put so much confidence in him, he would assure me that as he should have the power in his hands to pick and choose his men, so he would answer body for body the fidelity of all the men he should choose; and that most, if not all of them, would be such as had been taken by force out of other ships, or wheedled away when they were drunk; and in a word, he told me there never was a ship-load of such penitents went to sea together as he would bring us. When he had said so, he began to move me that I would please to give him the same post which he held in the ship, viz., that of gunner, which I promised him, and then he desired I would permit him to speak with me in private, and I was not at first very free to it, but he having consented to let the mate and Captain Merlotte be present, I yielded. When all the rest were withdrawn he told me that having been five years in the pirates' service, as he might call it, and being obliged to do as they did, I might be sure he had some small share in the purchase, and, however, he had come into it against his will, yet as he had been obliged to go with them, he had made some advantage, and that being resolved to leave them, he had a good while ago packed up some of the best of what he had got, to make his escape, and begged I would let him deposit it with me as a security for his fidelity. Upon this he ordered a chest to be taken out of the shallop, and brought into my great cabin, and besides this gave me out of his pocket a bag scaled up, the contents of which I shall speak of hereafter. The shallop returned the next day, and I sent back the mate with my long boat and twentyfour men to go and take possession of the ship, and appointed my carpenter to go and see to the repairs that were necessary to be done to her; and some days after I sent Captain Marlotte with the supercargo in our sloop, to go and secure the possession, and to cover the retreat of any of the men that might have a mind to come away, and might be opposed by the rest; and this was done at the request of the gunner, who foresaw there might be some squab ble about it. They spent six weeks and some odd days in fitting out this ship, occasioned by the want of a convenient place to lay her on shore in, which they were obliged to make with a great deal of labour; however, she was completely fitted up. When she was fitted they laid in a good store of provisions, though not so well cured as to last a great while. One of the best things we got a recruit of here, was casks; which, as before we greatly wanted, and which their coopers assisted us to trim, season, and fit up. As to bread, we had no help from them, for they not only had none but what they made of rice, but they had no sufficent store of that, as I have hinted before. But we had more to do yet; for when the ship was fitted up and our men had the possession of her, they were surprised one morning on a sudden with a most horrible tumult among the pirates, and had not our brigantine been at hand, (as above,) to secure the possession, I believe they had taken the ship from our men again, and, perhaps, have come down with her and their two sloops, and have attacked us. The case was this:-The gunner, who was a punctuai fellow to his word, resolved that none of the men should go in the ship but such as he had singled out, and they were such as were generally men taken out of of merchant ships by force, as be fore; but when he came to talk to the men of who and who should go and stay, truly they would all go to a man, there was not a man of them would stay behind; and, in a word, they fell out about it to that degree, that they came to blows, and the gunner was forced to fly for it, with about twenty-two men that stood to him, || their pace, though they had a great compass to and six or seven were wounded in the fray, fetch, through woods and untrod paths, and some whereof two died. luggage to carry too, were come to the shore, and The gunner thus being driven to his shifts, made the signal, which our men in the ship obmade down to the shore to his boat, but the serving, gave notice to the officer of the briganrogues were too nimble for him, and had got to tine to fetch them on board, which he did very his boat before him, and prepared to man her and safely; by the way, as the officer afterwards told two more, to go on board and secure the ship. us, most of their luggage consisted of money, In this distress, the gunner, who had taken with which it seems every man of them was very sanctuary in the woods at about a mile distance, || well furnished, having shared their wealth at their but unhappily above the camp, so that the plat- first coming on shore. As for clothes, they had form of guns was between him and the ship, had very few, and those all in rags; and as for linen, no remedy, but to send one of his men, who they had scarce a shirt among them all, or linen swam very well, to take a compass round be- enough to have made a white flag for a truce, if hind the pirate's camp, and come to the water they had had occasion for it. In short, a crew side below the camp and platform, so to take so rich and so ragged were hardly ever seen the water and swim on board the ship, which lay before. nearly a league below their said camp, and give our men notice of what had happened, to warn them to suffer none of their men to come on board, unless the gunner was with them; and, if possible, to send a boat on shore to fetch off the gunner and his men, who were following by the same way, and would be at the same place, and make a signal to them to come for him. The ship was now pretty well manned, for the brigantine carried the gunner and his twenty-one men on board her; and the tide by this time being spent, she immediately unmoored and loosened her topsails, which, as it happened, had been bent to the yards two days before, so, with the first of the ebb, she weighed and fell down about a league further, by which she was quite out of reach of the platform, and rode in the open sea; and the brigantine did the same. Our men had scarce received this notice when they saw a boat full of men put off from the platform, and row down under shore towards But by this means they missed the occasion of them; but as they resolved not to suffer them to the rest of the gunner's men, who, having got come on board, they called to them by a speak-together to the number of between seventy and ing trumpet, and told them they might go back || eighty, had followed him and come down to the again, for they should not come on board, nor shore and made the signals, but were not unany other boat, unless the gunner was on board. ||derstood by our ship, which put the poor men They rowed on for all that, when our men to great difficulties; for they had broken away called to them again, and told them if they offered from the rest by force, and had been pursued to put off, in order to come on board, or, in short, || half a mile by the whole body, and particularly to row down shore any further than a little point at the entrance into a very thick, woody place, which our man named, and which was just a-head were so hard put to it that they were obliged to of them, they would fire at them. Well, they make a desperate stand and fire at their old rowed on for all this, and that though they were || friends, which had exasperated them to the last past the point, which our men seeing, they imme- degree. But, as the case of these men was desdiately let fly a shot, but fired a little a-head of them, perate, they took an effectual method for their so as not to hit the boat, and this brought them to own security, of which I shall give a further aca stop; so they lay upon their oars a while, as if count presently. they were considering what to do; when our The general body of the pirates were now up mer perceived two boats more come off from the in arms, and the new ship was, as it were, in platform likewise, full of men, and rowing after open war with them, or at least they had, dethe first. Upon this they called again the first clared war against it; but as they had been disboat with their speaking-trumpet, and told them appointed in their attempt to force it, and found if they did not go immediately on shore they would they were not strong enough at sea to attack it, sink the boat. They had no remedy, seeing our they sent a flag of truce on board. Our men admen resolved, and that they lay open to the shot || mitted them to come to the ship side, but as my of the ship, so they went on shore accordingly, mate, who now had the command, knew them and then our men fired at the empty boat, till to be a gang of desperate rogues that would atthey split her in pieces, and made her useless to tempt anything, though never so rash, he ordered them. that none of them should come on board the ship, except the officer and two more, who gave an account that they were sent to treat with us. So we called them the ambassadors. Upon this firing, our brigantine, which lay about two leagues off in the mouth of a little creek, on the south of that river, weighed imme. diately, and stood away to the opening of the road where the ship lay, and the tide of flood being still running in, they drove up towards the ship for her assistance, and came to an anchor about a cable's length a-head of her, but within pistol-shot of the shore, at the same time sending two-and-thirty of her men on board the great ship, to reinforce the men on board, who were but sixteen in number. Just at this time the gunner and his twentyone men, who heard the firing, and had quickened When they came on board they expostulated very warmly with my new agent the second mate, that our men came in the posture of friends, and of friends too in distress, and had received favours from them, but had abused the kindness which had been shown them; that they had bought a ship of them, and had had leave and assistance to fit her up and furnish her, but had not paid for her, or paid for what assistance and what provisions had been given to them; and that now, to complete all, their men had been parti |