through the heart of allthat vast empire of China, crosses all the rivers, passes someconsiderable hills by the help of sluices and gates, and goes up to thecity of Pekin, being in length near two hundred and seventy leagues."
"Well," said I, "Seignior Portuguese, but that is not our business now;the great question is, if you can carry us up to the city of Nanquin,from whence we can travel to Pekin afterwards?" Yes, he said, he coulddo so very well, and there was a great Dutch ship gone up that way justbefore. This gave me a little shock; a Dutch ship was now our terror,and we had much rather have met the devil, at least if he had not comein too frightful a figure; we depended upon it that a Dutch ship wouldbe our destruction, for we were in no condition to fight them; all theships they trade with in those parts being of great burden, and of muchgreater force than we were.
The old man found me a little confused, and under some concern, when henamed a Dutch ship: and said to me, "Sir, you need be under noapprehension of the Dutch; I suppose they are not now at war with yournation."--"No," said I, "that's true; but I know not what liberties menmay take when they are out of the reach of the laws of theircountry."--"Why," said he, "you are no pirates, what need you fear? Theywill not meddle with peaceable merchants, sure."
If I had any blood in my body that did not fly up into my face at thatword, it was hindered by some stop in the vessels appointed by nature tocirculate it; for it put me into the greatest disorder and confusionimaginable; nor was it possible for me to conceal it so, but that theold man easily perceived it.
"Sir," said he, "I find you are in some disorder in your thoughts at mytalk; pray be pleased to go which way you think fit, and depend upon itI'll do you all the service I can."--"Why, Seignior," said I, "it istrue, I am a little unsettled in my resolution at this time, whither togo in particular; and I am something more so for what you said aboutpirates. I hope there are no pirates in these seas; we are but in an illcondition to meet with them; for you see we have but a small force, andbut very weakly manned."
"O Sir," said he, "do not be concerned; I do not know that there havebeen any pirates in these seas these fifteen years, except one, whichwas seen, as I hear, in the bay of Siam, about a month since; but youmay be assured she is gone to the southward; nor was she a ship of anygreat force, or fit for the work; she was not built for a privateer, butwas run away with by a reprobate crew that were on board, after thecaptain and some of his men had been murdered by the Malaccans, at ornear the island of Sumatra."
"What!" said I, seeming to know nothing of the matter, "did they murderthe captain?"--"No," said he, "I do not understand that they murderedhim; but as they afterwards ran away with the ship, it is generallybelieved they betrayed him into the hands of the Malaccans, who didmurder him; and, perhaps, they procured them to do it."--"Why then,"said I, "they deserved death, as much as if they had done itthemselves."--"Nay," said the old man, "they do deserve it, and theywill certainly have it if they light upon any English or Dutch ship; forthey have all agreed together that if they meet that rogue they willgive him no quarter."
"But," said I to him, "you say the pirate is gone out of these seas;how can they meet with him then?"--"Why, that is true," said he, "theydo say so; but he was, as I tell you, in the bay of Siam, in the riverCambodia, and was discovered there by some Dutchmen who belonged to theship, and who were left on shore when they ran away with her; and someEnglish and Dutch traders being in the river, they were within a littleof taking him. Nay," said he, "if the foremost boats had been wellseconded by the rest, they had certainly taken him; but he finding onlytwo boats within reach of him, tacked about, and fired at these two, anddisabled them before the others came up; and then standing off to sea,the others were not able to follow him, and so he got away. But theyhave all so exact a description of the ship, that they will be sure toknow him; and where-ever they find him, they have vowed to give noquarter to either the captain or the seamen, but to hang them all up atthe yard-arm."
"What!" said I, "will they execute them, right or wrong; hang themfirst, and judge them afterwards?"--"O Sir!" said the old pilot, "thereis no need to make a formal business of it with such rogues as those;let them tie them back to back, and set them a-diving; it is no morethan they rightly deserve."
I knew I had my old man fast aboard, and that he could do me no harm; soI turned short upon him. "Well, Seignior," said I, "and this is the veryreason why I would have you carry us to Nanquin, and not to put back toMacao, or to any other part of the country where the English or Dutchships came; for be it known to you, Seignior, those captains of theEnglish and Dutch ships are a parcel of rash, proud, insolent fellows,that neither know what belongs to justice, or how to behave themselvesas the laws of God and nature direct; but being proud of their offices,and not understanding their power, they would get the murderers topunish robbers; would take upon them to insult men falsely accused, anddetermine them guilty without due inquiry; and perhaps I may live tocall some of them to an account of it, where they may be taught howjustice is to be executed; and that no man ought to be treated as acriminal till some evidence may be had of the crime, and that he isthe man."
With this I told him, that this was the very ship they had attacked; andgave him a full account of the skirmish we had with their boats, and howfoolishly and coward-like they had behaved. I told him all the story ofour buying the ship, and how the Dutchmen served us. I told him thereasons I had to believe that this story of killing the master by theMalaccans was not true; as also the running away with the ship; but thatit was all a fiction of their own, to suggest that the men were turnedpirates; and they ought to have been sure it was so, before they hadventured to attack us by surprise, and oblige us so resist them; adding,that they would have the blood of those men who were killed there, inour just defence, to answer for.
The old man was amazed at this relation; and told us, we were very muchin the right to go away to the north; and that if he might advise us, itshould be to sell the ship in China, which we might very well do, andbuy or build another in the country; "And," said he, "though you willnot get so good a ship, yet you may get one able enough to carry you andall your goods back again to Bengal, or any where else."
I told him I would take his advice when I came to any port where I couldfind a ship for my turn, or get any customer to buy this. He replied, Ishould meet with customers enough for the ship at Nanquin, and that aChinese junk would serve me very well to go back again; and that hewould procure me people both to buy one and sell the other.
"Well, but, Seignior," says I, "as you say they know the ship so well, Imay, perhaps, if I follow your measures, be instrumental to bring somehonest innocent men into a terrible broil, and, perhaps, be murdered incold blood; for wherever they find the ship they will prove the guiltupon the men by proving this was the ship, and so innocent men mayprobably be overpowered and murdered."--"Why," said the old man, "I'llfind out a way to prevent that also; for as I know all those commandersyou speak of very well, and shall see them all as they pass by, I willbe sure to set them to rights in the thing, and let them know that theyhad been so much in the wrong; that though the people who were on boardat first might run away with the ship, yet it was not true that they hadturned pirates; and that in particular those were not the men that firstwent off with the ship, but innocently bought her for their trade; and Iam persuaded they will so far believe me, as, at least, to act morecautiously for the time to come."--"Well," said I, "and will you deliverone message to them from me?"--"Yes, I will," says he, "if you will giveit under your hand in writing, that I may be able to prove it came fromyou, and not out of my own head." I answered, that I would readily giveit him under my hand. So I took a pen and ink, and paper, and wrote atlarge the story of assaulting me with the long-boats, &c. the pretendedreason of it, and the unjust, cruel design of it; and concluded to thecommanders that they had done what they not only should have beenashamed or, but also, that if ever they came to England, and I lived tosee them there, they should all pay dearly for it, if the laws of mycou
ntry were not grown out of use before I arrived there.
My old pilot read this over and over again, and asked me several timesif I would stand to it. I answered, I would stand to it as long as I hadany thing left in the world; being sensible that I should, one time orother, find an opportunity to put it home to them. But we had nooccasion ever to let the pilot carry this letter, for he never went backagain. While those things were passing between us, by way of discourse,we went forward directly for Nanquin, and, in about thirteen days sail,came to anchor at the south-west point of the great gulf of Nanquin;where, by