Captain Singleton

Salt-Petre being very good, and the Sun excessively hot; and here we lived about

  four Months.

  The Southern Solstice was over, and the Sun gone back towards the Equinoctial,

  when we considered of our next Adventure, which was to go over the Sea of

  Zanquebar, as the Portuguese call it, and to land, if possible, upon the

  Continent of Africa.

  We talked with many of the Natives about it, such as we could make our selves

  intelligible to; but all that we could learn from them was, that there was a

  great Land of Lions beyond the Sea, but that it was a great Way off; we knew as

  well as they that it was a long Way, but our People differed mightily about it:

  Some said it was 150 Leagues, others not above 100. One of our Men that had a

  Map of the World shewed us by his Scale, that it was not above 80 Leagues. Some

  said there were Islands all the Way to touch at; some that there were no Islands

  at all: For my Part, I knew nothing of this Matter one way or another, but heard

  it all without Concern, whether it was near or far off; however, this we learned

  from an old Man who was blind, and led about by a Boy, that if we stay'd till

  the End of August, we should be sure of the Wind to be fair, and the Sea smooth

  all the Voyage.

  This was some Encouragement, but staying again was very unwelcome News to us,

  because that then the Sun would be returning again to the South, which was what

  our Men were very unwilling to. At last we called a Council of our whole Body;

  their Debates were too tedious to take Notice of, only to note, that when it

  came to Captain Bob, (for so they called me ever since I had taken State upon me

  before one of their great Princes) truly I was on no Side, it was not one

  Farthing Matter to me, I told them, whether we went or stayed, I had no home,

  and all the World was alike to me; so I left it entirely to them to determine.

  In a Word, they saw plainly there was nothing to be done where we were, without

  Shipping; that if our Business indeed was only to eat and drink, we could not

  find a better Place in the World; but if our Business was to get away, and get

  home into our own Country, we could not find a Worse.

  I confess, I liked the Country wonderfully, and even then had strange Notions of

  coming again to live there; and I used to say to them very often, that if I had

  but a Ship of 20 Guns, and a Sloop, and both well Manned, I would not desire a

  better Place in the World to make my self as rich as a King.

  But to return to the Consultations they were in about going: Upon the whole, it

  was resolved to venture over for the Main; and venture we did, madly enough,

  indeed; for it was the wrong time of the Year to undertake such a Voyage in that

  Country; for, as the Winds hang Easterly all the Months from September to March,

  so they generally hang Westerly all the rest of the Year, and blew right in our

  Teeth, so that as soon as we had, with a kind of a Land Breeze, stretched over

  about 15 or 20 Leagues, and, as I may say, just enough to lose our selves, we

  found the Wind set in a steady fresh Gale or Breeze from the Sea, at West W. S.

  W. or S. W. by W. and never further from the West; so that, in a Word we could

  make nothing of it.

  On the other Hand, the Vessel, such as we had would not lye close upon a Wind;

  if so, we might have stretched away N. N. W. and have met with a great many

  Islands in our Way, as we found afterwards; but we could make nothing of it,

  tho' we tried, and by the trying had almost undone us all; for, stretching away

  to the North, as near the Wind as we could, we had forgotten the Shape and

  Position of the Island of Madagascar it self; how that we came off at the Head

  of a Promontory or Point of Land that lies about the Middle of the Island, and

  that stretches out West a great way into the Sea; and that now being run a

  Matter of 40 Leagues to the North, the Shore of the Island fell off again above

  200 Miles to the East, so that we were by this Time in the wide Ocean, between

  the Island and the Main, and almost 100 Leagues from both.

  Indeed as the Winds blew fresh at West, as before, we had a smooth Sea, and we

  found it pretty good going before it, and so taking our smallest Canoe in Tow,

  we stood in for the Shore with all the Sail we could make. This was a terrible

  Adventure; for if the least Gust of Wind had come, we had been all lost, our

  Canoes being deep, and in no Condition to make Way in a high Sea.

  This Voyage, however, held us eleven Days in all, and at length having spent

  most of our Provisions, and every Drop of Water we had, we spied Land, to our

  great Joy, tho' at the Distance of ten or eleven Leagues, and as under the Land,

  the Wind came off like a Land Breeze, and blew hard against us, we were two Days

  more before we reached the Shore, having all that while excessive hot Weather,

  and not a Drop of Water, or any other Liquor, except some Cordial Waters, which

  one of our Company had a little of left in a Case of Bottles.

  This gave us a Taste of what we should have done, if we had ventured forward

  with a scant Wind and uncertain Weather, and gave us a Surfeit of our Design for

  the Main, at least 'till we might have some better Vessels under us; so we went

  on Shore again, and pitched our Camp, as before, in as convenient Manner as we

  could, fortifying our selves against any Surprize; but the Natives here were

  exceeding courteous, and much civiller than on the South Part of the Island; and

  tho' we could not understand what they said, or they us, yet we found Means to

  make them understand that we were Sea-faring Men, and Strangers; and that we

  were in Distress for want of Provisions.

  The first Proof we had of their Kindness was, that, as soon as they saw us come

  on Shore, and begin to make our Habitation, one of their Captains or Kings, for

  we knew not what to call them, came down with five or six Men and some Women,

  and brought us five Goats and two young fat Steers, and gave them to us for

  nothing; and when we went to offer them any thing, the Captain, or the King,

  would not let any of them touch it, or take my thing of us. About two Hours

  after came another King or Captain, with forty or fifty Men after him; we began

  to be afraid of him, and laid Hands upon our Weapons; but he perceiving it,

  caused two Men to go before him carrying two long Poles in their Hands, which

  they held upright, as high as they could, which we presently perceiv'd was a

  Signal of Peace, and these two Poles they set up afterwards sticking them up in

  the Ground; and when the King and his Men came to these two Poles, they stuck

  all their Lances up in the Ground, and came on unarmed, leaving their Lances, as

  also their Bows and Arrows behind them.

  This was to satisfy us, that they were come as Friends, and we were very glad to

  see it; for we had no Mind to quarrel with them, if we could help it. The

  Captain of this Gang seeing some of our Men making up their Hutts, and that they

  did it but bunglingly, he becken'd to some of his Men to go and help us.

  Immediately 15 or 16 of them came and mingled among us, and went to Work for us;

  and, indeed, they were better Workmen tha
n we were, for they run up three or

  four Hutts for us in a Moment, and much handsomer done than ours.

  After this they sent us Milk, Plantanes, Pumpkins, and Abundance of Roots and

  Greens that were very good, and then took their Leave, and would not take any

  thing from us that we had. One of our Men offer'd the King or Captain of these

  Men a Dram, which he drank, and was mightily pleased with it, and held out his

  Hand for another, which we gave him; and, in a Word, after this, he hardly

  failed coming to us two or three times a Week, always bringing us something or

  other, and one time sent us seven Head of Black Cattle, some of which we cured

  and dried as before.

  And here I cannot but remember one thing' which afterwards stood us in great

  stead, viz. that the Flesh of their Goats and their Beef also, but especially

  the former, when we had dried and cured it, looked red, and eat hard and firm,

  as dry'd Beef in Holland; they were so pleased with it, and it was such a Dainty

  to them, that at any time after they would Trade with us for it, not knowing, or

  so much as imagining, what it was; so that for Ten or Twelve Pound Weight of

  smoked dry'd Beef, they would give us a whole Bullock, or Cow, or any thing else

  we could desire.

  Here we observed two Things that were very material to us, even essentially so;

  first, we found they had a great deal of Earthen-Ware here, which they make use

  of many ways, as we did: Particularly they had long deep Earthen Pots, which

  they used to sink into the Ground to keep the Water which they drank cool and

  pleasant; and the other was, that they had larger Canoes than their Neighbours

  had.

  By this we were prompted to enquire if they had no larger Vessels than those we

  saw there; or if any other of the Inhabitants has not such. They signified

  presently, that they had no larger Boats than that they shewed us; but that on

  the other Side of the Island they had larger Boats, and that with Decks upon

  them, and large Sails; and this made us resolve to Coast round the whole Island

  to see them; so we prepared and victualled our Canoe for the Voyage, and, in a

  Word, went to Sea for the third time.

  It cost us a Month or six Weeks time to perform this Voyage, in which time we

  went on Shore several times for Water and Provisions, and found the Natives

  always very free and courteous; but we were surprized one Morning early, being

  at the Extremity of the Northermost Part of the Island, when one of our Men

  cried out a Sail, a Sail : We presently saw a Vessel a great Way out at Sea; but

  after we had looked at it with our Perspective Glasses, and endeavoured all we

  could to make out what it was, we could not tell what to think of it; for it was

  neither Ship, Ketch, Gally, Galliot, or like any thing that we had ever seen

  before: All that we could make of it was, that it went from us standing out to

  Sea. In a Word, we soon lost Sight of it, for we were in no Condition to chase

  any thing, and we never saw it again, but by all we could perceive of it, from

  what we saw of such things afterwards, it was some Arabian Vessel which had been

  trading to the Coast of Mosambique, or Zanguebar, the same Place where we

  afterwards went, as you shall hear.

  I kept no Journal of this Voyage, nor indeed did I all this while understand any

  thing of Navigation, more than the common Business of a Fore-mast Man; so I can

  say nothing to the Latitudes or Distances of any Places we were at, how long we

  were going, or how far we failed in a Day; but this I remember, that being now

  come round the Island, we sailed up the Eastern Shore due South, as we had done

  down the Western Shore due North before.

  Nor do I remember that the Natives differed much from one another, either in

  Stature or Complexion, or in their Manners, their Habits their Weapons, or

  indeed in any thing; and yet we could not perceive that they had any

  Intelligence one with another; but they were extremely kind and civil to us on

  this Side, as well as on the other.

  We continued our Voyage South for many Weeks, tho' with several Intervals of

  going on Shore to get Provisions and Water. At length, coming round a Point of

  Land which lay about a League farther than ordinary into the Sea, we were

  agreeably surprized with a Sight, which, no doubt, had been as disagreeable to

  those concern'd, as it was pleasant to us. This was the Wreck of an European

  Ship, which had been cast away upon the Rocks, which in that Place run a great

  Way into the Sea.

  We could see plainly at Low Water, a great deal of the Ship lay dry; even at

  High Water, she was not entirely covered; and that at most she did not lye above

  a League from the Shore. It will easily be believ'd, that our Curiosity led us,

  the Wind and Weather also permitting, to go directly to her, which we did

  without any Difficulty, and presently found that it was a Dutch-built Ship, and

  that she could not have been very long in that Condition, a great deal of the

  upper Work of her Stern remaining firm, with the Mizen Mast standing. Her Stern

  seem'd to be jaum'd in between two Ridges of the Rock, and so remained fast, all

  the Fore-part of the Ship having been beaten to Pieces.

  We could see nothing to be gotten out of the Wreck that was worth our while; but

  we resolv'd to go on Shore, and stay sometime thereabouts, to see if perhaps we

  might get any Light into the Story of her, and we were not without Hopes that we

  might hear something more particular about her Men, and perhaps find some of

  them on Shore there, in the same Condition that we were in, and so might

  encrease our Company.

  It was a very pleasant Sight to us, when coming on Shore, we saw all the Marks

  and Tokens of a Ship-Carpenter's Yard; as a Launch Block and Craddles, Scaffolds

  and Planks, and Pieces of Planks, the Remains of the Building a Ship or Vessel;

  and, in a Word, a great many things that fairly invited us to go about the same

  Work, and we soon came to understand, that the Men belonging to the Ship that

  was lost, had saved themselves on Shore, perhaps in their Boat, and had built

  themselves a Bark or Sloop, and so were gone to Sea again; and enquiring of the

  Natives which Way they went, they pointed to the South and South-West, by which

  we could easily understand that they were gone away to the Cape of Good Hope.

  No body will imagine we could be so dull as not to gather from hence, that we

  might take the same Method for our Escapes; so we resolved first in general,

  that we would try, if possible, to build us a Boat of one Kind or other, and go

  to Sea as our Fate should direct.

  In order to this, our first Work was to have the two Carpenters search about to

  see what Materials the Dutchmen had left behind them that might be of Use; and

  in particular, they found one that was very useful, and which I was much

  employ'd about, and that was a Pitch-Kettle, and a little Pitch in it.

  When we came to set close to this Work, we found it very laborious and

  difficult, having but few Tools, no Iron Work, no Cordage, no Sails; so that, in

  short, whatever we built, we were oblig'd to be our own Sm
iths, Rope-Makers,

  Sail-Makers, and indeed to practice twenty Trades that we knew little or nothing

  of: However, Necessity was the Spur to Invention, and we did many things which

  before we thought impracticable, that is to say, in our Circumstances.

  After our two Carpenters had resolved upon the Dimensions of what they would

  build, they set us all to Work, to go off in our Boats, and split up the Wreck

  of the old Ship, and to bring away every thing we could; and particularly, that,

  if possible, we should bring away the Mizen Mast, which was left standing, which

  with much Difficulty we effected, after above twenty Days Labour of fourteen of

  our Men.

  At the same time we got out a great deal of Iron-Work; as Bolts, Spikes, Nails,

  &c. all which our Artist, of whom I have spoken already, who was now grown a

  very dexterous Smith, made us Nails and Hinges for our Rudder, and Spikes such

  as we wanted.

  But we wanted an Anchor, and if we had had an Anchor, we could not have made a

  Cable; so we contented our selves with making some Ropes with the Help of the

  Natives, of such Stuff as they made their Matts of, and with these we made such

  a kind of cable or Tow Line, as was sufficient to fasten our Vessel to the

  Shore, which we contented our selves with for that time.

  To be short, we spent four Months here, and work'd very hard too; at the End of

  which time we launch'd our Frigate, which, in a few Words, had many Defects, but

  yet, all things considered, it was as well as we could expect it to be.

  In short, it was a kind of a Sloop, of the Burthen of near 18 or 20 Ton, and had

  we had Masts and Sails; standing, and running Rigging, as is usual in such

  Cases, and other Conveniences, the Vessel might have carry'd us wherever we

  could have had a Mind to go; but of all the Materials we wanted, this was the

  worst, viz. that we had no Tar or Pitch to pay the Seams, and secure the Bottom;

  and tho' we did what we could with Tallow and Oil, to make a Mixture to supply

  that Part, yet we could not bring it to answer our End fully; and when we

  launch'd her into the Water, she was so leaky, and took in the Water so fast,

  that we thought all our Labour had been lost, for we had much ado to make her

  swim; and as for Pumps, we had none, nor had we any Means to make one.

  But at length one of the Natives, a black Negro-man, shewed us a Tree, the Wood

  of which being put into the Fire, sends forth a Liquid that is as glutinous, and

  almost as strong as Tar, and of which, by boiling, we made a Sort of Stuff which

  serv'd us for Pitch, and this answered our End effectually; for we perfectly

  made our Vessel sound and tight, so that we wanted no Pitch or Tar at all. This

  Secret has stood me in stead upon many Occasions since that time, in the same

  Place.

  Our Vessel being thus finished, out of the Mizen Mast of the Ship, we made a

  very good Mast to her, and fitted our Sails to it as well as we could; then we

  made a Rudder and Tiller; and, in a Word, every thing that our present Necessity

  called upon us for; and having victualled her, and put as much fresh Water on

  Board as we thought we wanted, or as we knew how to stow (for we were yet

  without Casks) we put to Sea with a fair Wind.

  We had spent near another Year in these Rambles, and in this Piece of Work; for

  it was now, as our Men said, about the Beginning of our February, and the Sun

  went from us apace, which was much to our Satisfaction, for the Heats were

  exceeding violent. The Wind, as I said, was fair, for as I have since learnt,

  the Winds generally spring up to the Eastward, as the Sun goes from them to the

  North.

  Our Debate now was, which Way we should go, and never were Men so irresolute;

  some were for going to the East, and stretching away directly for the Coast of

  Malabar; but others who considered more seriously the Length of that Voyage,

  shook their Heads at the Proposal, knowing very well, that neither out