The Life, Adventures & Piracies of the Famous Captain Singleton

runningneedless risks than he or any one else; but I thought all nations in theworld, even the most savage people, when they held out a flag of peace,kept the offer of peace made by that signal very sacredly; and I gavehim several examples of it in the history of my African travels, whichI have here gone through in the beginning of this work, and that I couldnot think these people worse than some of them. And, besides, I told himour case seemed to be such that we must fall into somebody's hands orother, and that we had better fall into their hands by a friendly treatythan by a forced submission, nay, though they had indeed a treacherousdesign; and therefore I was for a parley with them.

  "Well, friend," says William very gravely, "if thou wilt go I cannothelp it; I shall only desire to take my last leave of thee at parting,for, depend upon it, thou wilt never see us again. Whether we in theship may come off any better at last I cannot resolve thee; but this Iwill answer for, that we will not give up our lives idly, and in coolblood, as thou art going to do; we will at least preserve ourselves aslong as we can, and die at last like men, not like fools, trepanned bythe wiles of a few barbarians."

  William spoke this with so much warmth, and yet with so much assuranceof our fate, that I began to think a little of the risk I was going torun. I had no more mind to be murdered than he; and yet I could not formy life be so faint-hearted in the thing as he. Upon which I asked himif he had any knowledge of the place, or had ever been there. He said,No. Then I asked him if he had heard or read anything about the peopleof this island, and of their way of treating any Christians that hadfallen into their hands; and he told me he had heard of one, andhe would tell me the story afterward. His name, he said, was Knox,commander of an East India ship, who was driven on shore, just as wewere, upon this island of Ceylon, though he could not say it was at thesame place, or whereabouts; that he was beguiled by the barbarians, andenticed to come on shore, just as we were invited to do at that time;and that, when they had him, they surrounded him, and eighteen or twentyof his men, and never suffered them to return, but kept them prisoners,or murdered them, he could not tell which; but they were carried awayup into the country, separated from one another, and never heard ofafterwards, except the captain's son, who miraculously made his escape,after twenty years' slavery.

  I had no time then to ask him to give the full story of this Knox, muchless to hear him tell it me; but, as it is usual in such cases, whenone begins to be a little touched, I turned short with him. "Why then,friend William," said I, "what would you have us do? You see whatcondition we are in, and what is before us; something must be done, andthat immediately." "Why," says William, "I'll tell thee what thou shaltdo; first, cause a white flag to be hanged out, as they do to us, andman out the longboat and pinnace with as many men as they can well stow,to handle their arms, and let me go with them, and thou shalt see whatwe will do. If I miscarry, thou mayest be safe; and I will also tellthee, that if I do miscarry, it shall be my own fault, and thou shaltlearn wit by my folly."

  I knew not what to reply to him at first; but, after some pause, I said,"William, William, I am as both you should be lost as you are that Ishould; and if there be any danger, I desire you may no more fall intoit than I. Therefore, if you will, let us all keep in the ship, farealike, and take our fate together."

  "No, no," says William, "there's no danger in the method I propose; thoushalt go with me, if thou thinkest fit. If thou pleasest but to followthe measures that I shall resolve on, depend upon it, though we willgo off from the ships, we will not a man of us go any nearer them thanwithin call to talk with them. Thou seest they have no boats to come offto us; but," says he, "I rather desire thou wouldst take my advice, andmanage the ships as I shall give the signal from the boat, and let usconcert that matter together before we go off."

  Well, I found William had his measures in his head all laid beforehand,and was not at a loss what to do at all; so I told him he should becaptain for this voyage, and we would be all of us under his orders,which I would see observed to a tittle.

  Upon this conclusion of our debates, he ordered four-and-twenty men intothe long-boat, and twelve men into the pinnace, and the sea being nowpretty smooth, they went off, being all very well armed. Also he orderedthat all the guns of the great ship, on the side which lay next theshore, should be loaded with musket-balls, old nails, stubs, andsuch-like pieces of old iron, lead, and anything that came to hand; andthat we should prepare to fire as soon as ever we saw them lower thewhite flag and hoist up a red one in the pinnace.

  With these measures fixed between us, they went off towards the shore,William in the pinnace with twelve men, and the long-boat coming afterhim with four-and-twenty more, all stout resolute fellows, and verywell armed. They rowed so near the shore as that they might speak to oneanother, carrying a white flag, as the other did, and offering a parley.The brutes, for such they were, showed themselves very courteous; butfinding we could not understand them, they fetched an old Dutchman, whohad been their prisoner many years, and set him to speak to us. The sumand substance of his speech was, that the king of the country had senthis general down to know who we were, and what our business was. Williamstood up in the stern of the pinnace, and told him, that as to that, he,that was an European, by his language and voice, might easily know whatwe were, and our condition; the ship being aground upon the sand wouldalso tell him that our business there was that of a ship in distress; soWilliam desired to know what they came down for with such a multitude,and with arms and weapons, as if they came to war with us.

  He answered, they might have good reason to come down to the shore, thecountry being alarmed with the appearance of ships of strangers uponthe coast; and as our vessels were full of men, and as we had guns andweapons, the king had sent part of his military men, that, in case ofany invasion upon the country, they might be ready to defend themselves,whatsoever might be the occasion.

  "But," says he, "as you are men in distress, the king has ordered hisgeneral, who is here also, to give you all the assistance he can, and toinvite you on shore, and receive you with all possible courtesy." SaysWilliam, very quick upon him, "Before I give thee an answer to that,I desire thee to tell me what thou art, for by thy speech thou art anEuropean." He answered presently, he was a Dutchman. "That I know well,"says William, "by thy speech; but art thou a native Dutchman of Holland,or a native of this country, that has learned Dutch by conversing amongthe Hollanders, who we know are settled upon this island?"

  "No," says the old man, "I am a native of Delft, in the province ofHolland, in Europe."

  "Well," says William, immediately, "but art thou a Christian or aheathen, or what we call a renegado?"

  "I am," says he, "a Christian." And so they went on, in a shortdialogue, as follows:--

  _William_. Thou art a Dutchman, and a Christian, thou sayest; pray, artthou a freeman or a servant?

  _Dutchman_. I am a servant to the king here, and in his army.

  _W_. But art thou a volunteer, or a prisoner?

  _D_. Indeed I was a prisoner at first, but am at liberty now, and so ama volunteer.

  _W_. That is to say, being first a prisoner, thou hast liberty to servethem; but art thou so at liberty that thou mayest go away, if thoupleasest, to thine own countrymen?

  _D_. No, I do not say so; my countrymen live a great way off, on thenorth and east parts of the island, and there is no going to themwithout the king's express license.

  _W_. Well, and why dost thou not get a license to go away?

  _D_. I have never asked for it.

  _W_. And, I suppose, if thou didst, thou knowest thou couldst not obtainit.

  _D_. I cannot say much as to that; but why do you ask me all thesequestions?

  _W_. Why, my reason is good; if thou art a Christian and a prisoner,how canst thou consent to be made an instrument to these barbarians,to betray us into their hands, who are thy countrymen andfellow-Christians? Is it not a barbarous thing in thee to do so?

  _D_. How do I go about to betray you? Do I not give you an account howthe kin
g invites you to come on shore, and has ordered you to be treatedcourteously and assisted?

  _W_. As thou art a Christian, though I doubt it much, dost thou believethe king or the general, as thou callest it, means one word of what hesays?

  _D_. He promises you by the mouth of his great general.

  _W_. I don't ask thee what he promises, or by whom; but I ask thee this:Canst thou say that thou believest he intends to perform it?

  _D_. How can I answer that? How can I tell what he intends?

  _W_. Thou canst tell what thou believest.

  _D_. I cannot say but he will perform it; I believe he may.

  _W_. Thou art but a double-tongued Christian, I doubt. Come, I'll askthee another question: Wilt thou say that thou believest it, and thatthou wouldst advise me to believe it, and put our lives into their handsupon these