The King of Pirates

together, the next Question was, Whither weshould go? As for our Crew, we were so rich, that our Men were all forgoing back again, and so to make off to some of the _Leeward Islands_, thatwe might get a-Shore privately with our Booty: But as we had shipp'd ournew Comrades on Board a good Ship, it would be very hard to oblige them togo back without any Purchace, for that would be to give them a Ship to dothem no Good, but to carry them back to _Europe_ just as they came out fromthence, _viz._ with no Money in their Pockets.

  Upon these Considerations we came to this Resolution, That they should goout to Sea and Cruise the Height of _Lima_, and try their Fortune, and thatwe would stay 60 Days for them at _Juan Fernando_.

  Upon this Agreement they went away very joyful, and we fell to work to newrig our Ship, mending our Sails, and cleaning our Bottom. Here we employ'dourselves a Month very hard at Work; our Carpenters also took down some ofthe Ship's upper Work, and built it, as we thought, more to the Advantageof Sailing; so that we had more Room within, and yet did not lie so high.

  During this Time we had a Tent set up on Shore, and 50 of our Men employ'dthemselves wholly in killing Goats and Fowls for our fresh Provisions; andone of our Men understanding we had some Malt left on Board the Ship, whichwas taken in one of the Prizes, set up a great Kettle on Shore, and went towork to Brewing, and, to our great Satisfaction, brew'd us some very goodBeer; but we wanted Bottles to keep it in, after it had stood a while inthe Cask.

  However, he brew'd us very good Small Beer, for present Use; and instead ofHops he found some wild Wormwood growing on the Island, which gave it nounpleasant Taste, and made it very agreeable to us.

  Before the Time was expir'd, our Frigat sent a Sloop to us, which they hadtaken, to give us Notice that they were in a small Creek near the Mould ofthe River _Guyaquil_, on the Coast of _Peru_, in the Latitude of 22Degrees. They had a great Booty in View, there being two Ships in the Riverof _Guyaquil_, and two more expected to pass by from _Lima_, in which was agreat Quantity of Plate; that they waited there for them, and begg'd wewould not think the Time long; but that if we should go away, they desir'dthat we would fix up a Post, with a Piece of Lead on it, signifying wherethey should come to us, and wherever it was, East or West, North or South,they would follow us with all the Sail they could make.

  A little while after this, they sent another Sloop, which they had takenalso; and she brought a vast Treasure in Silver and very rich Goods, whichthey had got in plundering a Town on the Continent; and they order'd theSloop to wait for them at the Island where we lay, till their Return: Butthey were so eager in the Pursuit of their Game, that they could not thinkof coming back yet, neither could we blame them, they having such greatThings in View: So we resolv'd, in Pursuit of our former Resolution, to begone; and after several Consultations among our selves in what Part of theWorld we should pitch our Tent, we broke up at first without anyConclusion.

  We were all of the Opinion, that our Treasure was so great, that whereverwe went, we should be a Prey to the Government of that Place; that it wasimpossible to go all on Shore, and be conceal'd; and that we should be sojealous of one another, that we should certainly betray one another,everyone for fear of his Fellow, that is to say, for fear the other shouldtell first. Some therefore propos'd our going about the South Point of Cape_Horne_, and that then, going away to the Gulph of _Mexico_, we should goon Shore at the Bay of _Campeachy_, and from thence disperse ourselves aswell as we could, and every one go his own Way.

  I was willing enough to have gone thither, because of the Treasure I hadleft there under Ground; but still I concluded we were (as I have said) toorich to go on Shore any where to separate, for every Man of us had too muchWealth to carry about us; and if we separated, the first Number of Men anyof us should meet with, that were strong enough to do it, would take itfrom us, and so we should but just expose ourselves to be murder'd for thatMoney we had gotten at so much Hazard.

  Some propos'd then our going to the Coast of _Virgina_, and go some onShore in one Place, and some in another privately, and so travelling to theSea-Ports where there were most People, we might be conceal'd, and byDegrees reduce our selves to a private Capacity, every one shifting Home aswell as they could. This I acknowledge might be done, if we were sure noneof us would be false one to another; but while Tales might be told, and theTeller of the Tale was sure to save his own Life and Treasure, and make hisPeace at the Expence of his Comrade's, there was no Safety; and they mightbe sure, that as the Money would render them suspected wherever they came,so they would be examin'd, and what by faltering in their Story, and bybeing cross-examin'd, kept apart, and the one being made to believe theother had betray'd him, and told all, when indeed he might have saidnothing to hurt him, the Truth of Fact would be dragg'd out by Piece-meal,till they would certainly at last come to the Gallows.

  These Objections were equally just, to what Nation or Place soever we couldthink of going: So that upon the whole, we concluded there was no Safetyfor us but by keeping all together, and going to some Part of the Worldwhere we might be strong enough to defend ourselves, or be so conceal'dtill we might find out some Way of Escape that we might not now be so wellable to think of.

  In the Middle of all these Consultations, in which I freely own I was at aLoss, and could not tell which Way to advise, an old Sailor stood up, andtold us, if we would be advis'd by him, there was a Part of the World wherehe had been, where we might all settle ourselves undisturb'd, and live verycomfortably and plentifully, till we could find out some Way how to disposeof ourselves better; and that we might easily be strong enough for theInhabitants, who would at first, perhaps, attack us, but that afterwardsthey would sort very well with us, and supply us with all Sorts ofProvisions very plentifully; and this was the Island of _Madagascar_: Hetold us we might live very well there. He gave us a large Account of theCountry, the Climate, the People, the Plenty of Provisions which was to behad there, especially of black Cattle, of which, he said, there was aninfinite Number, and consequently a Plenty of Milk, of which so many otherThings was made: In a Word, he read us so many Lectures upon the Goodnessof the Place, and the Conveniency of living there, that we were, one andall, eager to go thither, and concluded upon it.

  Accordingly, having little left to do, (for we had been in a sailingPosture some Weeks) we left word with the Officer who commanded the Sloop,and with all his Men, that they should come after us to _Madagascar_; andour Men were not wanting to let them know all our Reasons for goingthither, as well as the Difficulties we found of going any where else,which had so fully possess'd them with the Hopes of farther Advantage, thatthey promis'd for the rest that they would all follow us.

  However, as we all calculated the Length of the Voyage, and that our Water,and perhaps our Provisions might not hold out so far, but especially ourWater, we agreed, that having pass'd Cape _Horn_, and got into the NorthSeas, we would steer Northward up the East Shore of _America_ till we cameto St. _Julien_, where we would stay at least fourteen Days to take inWater, and to store ourselves with Seals and Penguins, which would greatlyeek out our Ship's Stores; and that then we should cross the great_Atlantick_ Ocean in a milder Latitude than if we went directly, and stoodimmediately over from the Passage about the Cape, which must be, at least,in 55 or 56, and perhaps, as the Weather might be, would be in the Latitudeof 60 or 61.

  With this Resolution, and under these Measures, we set Sail from the Islandof St. _Juan Fernando_ the 23d of _September_, (being the same there as our_March_ is here) and keeping the Coast of _Chili_ on Board, had goodWeather for about a Fortnight, [_Octob._ 14.] till we came into theLatitude of 44 Degrees South; when finding the Wind come squally off theShore from among the Mountains, we were oblig'd to keep farther out at Sea,where the Winds were less uncertain; and some Calms we met with, till aboutthe Middle of _October_, [16.] when the Wind springing up at N. N. W. apretty moderate Gale, we jogg'd S. E. and S. S. E. till we came into theLatitude of 55 Degrees; and the 16th of _November_, found our selves in 59Degrees, the Weather exceeding cold
and severe. But the Wind holding fair,we held in with the Land, and steering E. S. E. we held that Course till wethought ourselves entirely clear of the Land, and enter'd into the NorthSea, or _Atlantick Ocean_; and then changing our Course, we steer'd N. andN. N. E. but the Wind blowing still at N. N. W. a pretty stiff Gale, wecould make nothing of it till we made the Land in the Latitude of 52Degrees; and when we came close under Shore, we found the Winds variable;so we made still N. under the Lee of the Shore, and made the Point of St._Julien_ the 13th of November, having been a Year and seven Days since weparted from thence on our Voyage Outwardbound.

  Here we rested ourselves, took in fresh Water, and began to kill Seals andFowls of several Sorts, but especially Penguins, which this Place is notedfor; and here we stay'd, in Hopes our Fregate would arrive, but we heard noNews of her; so, at