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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7b82bc --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,4 @@ +*.txt text eol=lf +*.htm text eol=lf +*.html text eol=lf +*.md text eol=lf diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..348da25 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #54284 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/54284) diff --git a/old/54284-0.txt b/old/54284-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d2fd7f6..0000000 --- a/old/54284-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,5837 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook, William Dampier, by William Clark Russell - - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - - - - -Title: William Dampier - - -Author: William Clark Russell - - - -Release Date: March 5, 2017 [eBook #54284] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - - -***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM DAMPIER*** - - -E-text prepared by sp1nd, Christian Boissonnas, and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) from page images generously made -available by Internet Archive (https://archive.org) - - - -Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this - file which includes the original illustration. - See 54284-h.htm or 54284-h.zip: - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54284/54284-h/54284-h.htm) - or - (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/54284/54284-h.zip) - - - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - https://archive.org/details/williamdampier00russuoft - - -Transcriber's note: - - Text enclosed by underscores is in italics (_italics_). - - Text enclosed by equal signs is in bold face (=bold=). - - - - - -English Men of Action - -WILLIAM DAMPIER - - -[Illustration: PUBLISHER'S LOGO] - - -First Edition 1889. Reprinted 1894 - - -[Illustration: WILLIAM DAMPIER] - - -WILLIAM DAMPIER - -by - -W. CLARK RUSSELL - - - - - - -London -Macmillan and Co. -And New York -1894 - -All rights reserved - - - - -CONTENTS - - - PAGE - CHAPTER I - - THE BUCCANEERS—NAVIGATION IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY—FEATURES OF - THE VOCATIONAL LIFE OF THE EARLY MARINER 1 - - - CHAPTER II - - DAMPIER'S EARLY LIFE—CAMPECHÉ—HE JOINS THE BUCCANEERS, 1652-1681 15 - - - CHAPTER III - - DAMPIER'S FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD, 1681-1691 44 - - - CHAPTER IV - - THE VOYAGE OF THE “ROEBUCK,” 1699-1701 85 - - - CHAPTER V - - THE VOYAGE OF THE “ST. GEORGE,” 1702-1706-7 107 - - - CHAPTER VI - - THE VOYAGE WITH WOODES ROGERS, 1708-1711 138 - - - CHAPTER VII - - CONCLUSION 183 - - - - -CHAPTER I - - THE BUCCANEERS—NAVIGATION IN THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY—FEATURES OF - THE VOCATIONAL LIFE OF THE EARLY MARINER - - -In or about the middle of the seventeenth century the island of San -Domingo, or Hispaniola as it was then called, was haunted and overrun -by a singular community of savage, surly, fierce, and filthy men. They -were chiefly composed of French colonists, whose ranks had from time to -time been enlarged by liberal contributions from the slums and alleys -of more than one European city and town. These people went dressed in -shirts and pantaloons of coarse linen cloth, which they steeped in the -blood of the animals they slaughtered. They wore round caps, boots of -hogskin drawn over their naked feet, and belts of raw hide, in which -they stuck their sabres and knives. They also armed themselves with -firelocks which threw a couple of balls, each weighing two ounces. The -places where they dried and salted their meat were called _boucans_, -and from this term they came to be styled bucaniers, or buccaneers, as -we spell it. They were hunters by trade, and savages in their habits. -They chased and slaughtered horned cattle and trafficked with the -flesh, and their favourite food was raw marrow from the bones of the -beasts which they shot. They ate and slept on the ground, their table -was a stone, their bolster the trunk of a tree, and their roof the hot -and sparkling heavens of the Antilles. - -But wild as they were they were at least peaceful. It is not clear -that at this stage, at all events, they were in any way associated -with the freebooters or rovers who were now worrying the Spaniards in -those seas. Their traffic was entirely innocent, and it was assuredly -the policy of the Don to suffer them to continue shooting the wild -cattle without molestation. Unfortunately for themselves, the Spaniards -grew jealous of them. They regarded the West Indies and the continent -of South America as their own, and the presence of the foreigner was -intolerable. They made war against the buccaneers, vowing expulsion or -extermination. Both sides fought fiercely. The Spaniard had discipline -and training; on the other hand, the buccaneer had the art of levelling -as deadly a piece as the Transvaal Boer of to-day. The struggle was -long and cruel; the Spaniards eventually conquered, and the hunters, -quitting San Domingo, sought refuge in the adjacent islands. In spite -of their defeat, troops of the buccaneers contrived from time to time -to pass over into San Domingo from their head-quarters in Tortuga, -where they hunted as before, and brought away with them as much cattle -as sufficed them to trade with. The Spaniards lay in ambush, and shot -the stragglers as they swept past in chase; but this sort of warfare -proving of no avail, it was finally resolved to slaughter the whole -of the cattle throughout the island, that the buccaneers should be -starved into leaving once and for good. No act could have been rasher -and more impolitic. The hunters finding their occupation gone, went -over to the freebooters, and as pirates, as their history shows, in a -short time abundantly avenged their indisputable wrongs. - -Novelists and poets have found something fascinating in the story of -the buccaneers. The light of romance colours their exploits, and even -upon the maturest gaze there will linger something of the radiance with -which the ardent imagination of boyhood gilds the actions and persons -of those fierce sea-warriors. It is unhappily true, nevertheless, -that the buccaneers were a race of treacherous, cruel, and profligate -miscreants. Their name was at a later date given to, or appropriated -by, such men as Clipperton, Cowley, Dampier, Woodes Rogers, and -Shelvocke, whose behaviour as enemies, whose skill and heroism as -seamen, and whose discoveries as navigators, greatly lightened the -blackness of the old traditions. But the buccaneers of the Spanish -Main,—the men who are the principal figures in the annals of the -freebooters, the people whose lives are contained in such narratives as -those of Joseph Exquemeling, De Lussan, De Montauban, Captain Charles -Johnson, in Von Archenholtz's brief but excellent history, and in -other works,—were rogues and ruffians without parallel in the history -of villainy. They owned indeed many extraordinary qualities, which, -exerted in honest fields of action, might have been deemed virtues of -a high kind. Their courage was great, their achievements wonderful, -their fortitude worthy of noble causes, their capacity of endurance -unrivalled in sea story. No skilfuller body of seamen were ever -afloat. But their history is loathsome for the cruelties it relates. -Olonois or Lolonois, Braziliano, Morgan, Bat, Le Grand, and others -famous as pirates, were monsters whose like is nowhere to be matched. -The relation of their sailings and landings and marchings, their -assaults, pillagings, defeats, and triumphs, is a sickening narrative -of barbarities; but it must be admitted, coupled with extraordinary -examples of courage in some instances absolutely sublime, and of -unconquerable resolution. - -It was inevitable that the successes of these pirates should prove a -temptation to English seafaring men. Small vessels were fitted out in -British ports or the Colonies, and sailed for the West Indian Seas -to pillage the Spaniard wherever he might be found on land or water. -Often it happened, as Harris, the editor of a voluminous collection -of voyages, tells us, that crews were embarked and pilots engaged -without being apprised of the object of the voyage, “and nothing was -said about the true design until they were at sea, where they (the -captains) were absolute masters.”[1] To this order belongs that race -of English buccaneers of whom Dampier may be advanced as the most -conspicuous example. They possessed all the high-spirited qualities, -the daring, the courage, the endurance of the Morgans and Bats and -Brazilianos, but they were seldom or never wantonly cruel; they burned, -they sacked, as freely as the others; they pillaged churches with as -little compunction; poverty and sickness pleaded to them in vain when, -with firelocks in one hand and firebrands in the other, they thundered -through the deserted street and marked their progress with flaming -houses. But when human life was in their power they respected it; they -fought and behaved as though the king's flag flew over their heads; -there was something of the sentiment of honourable naval warfare in -their lawlessness; and to their credit let this stand, that though they -professed themselves as no more than privateersmen, their behaviour -will certainly bear comparison with the state-sanctioned and instructed -conduct of the officers and crews of the expedition under Commodore -Anson. - -But my business is with Captain William Dampier only. Morgan and the -cut-throats who preceded or followed him have found apologists and -admirers in plenty. Happily Dampier's chief claims upon the attention -of posterity are based upon adventures of a very different kind from -those which rendered buccaneering one of the most infamous pursuits -that the wickedness or misery of mankind ever invented. - -It is impossible to appreciate the intrepid seamanship of the early -navigators without first taking a view of the art of navigation as it -was in their time, and understanding the shapes, bulk, and rigs of the -vessels in which they cruised in search of plunder or started on long -voyages of discovery. In these days one is so used to the facilities -of science for traversing the deep with swiftness and certainty, that -it is necessary to bend the mind with some severity of thought to -compass the difficulties of the old sailors and honour their triumphs -justly. In the first place, their ships were so unwieldy that it was -scarcely possible to get them to beat against the wind, or, to use -the old-fashioned term, to “ply.” An example of this will be found in -Anson's _Voyage_. It is there recorded that the _Centurion's_ consort, -the _Gloucester_, was descried on June 21st from the island of Juan -Fernandez some eight or ten miles to leeward, beating or reaching -into the bay. The weather thickened and she disappeared. Five days -afterwards she again hove in sight, and for a whole fortnight she was -stretching away first on one, then on the other tack, in vain effort to -reach the island; nor was it until July 23rd that she was able to enter -the bay, and then only because the wind had shifted, and permitted -her to head for her destination with a flowing sheet. Thus for above -a month was this ship striving to get to windward and traverse three -leagues on a taut bowline! - -The old vessels were cumbrously rigged. At the head of their lower -masts they carried huge round tops as big as a ballroom. Forward their -bowsprit was encumbered with massive spritsail and sprit-topsail -yards. Their sides were loaded with great channels embellished with -enormous dead-eyes for setting up shrouds as thick as hawsers. They -seldom exposed canvas above their topsails, though the topgallant-sail -had long been introduced, as we know by a passage in Sir Walter -Raleigh's Remains.[2] Their sterns were high and pink-shaped—that -is, broad at the water-line and narrowing at the taffrail. They -were built with deck upon deck in the after-part, the topmost being -called the “topgallant-deck” by the English, and the “poop-royal” -by the French and Spaniards; with the consequence that they were -dangerously deep-waisted, though with their extraordinary height of -side aft they floated, to the eye, like castles. As if this were not -enough, the structure where it was loftiest was crowned with enormous -poop-lanthorns of a size to hold “wind enough to last a Dutchman a -week!” - -Structures thus shaped—the length rarely exceeding three times the -beam—and propelled by low-seated canvas, could do little or nothing -against head-winds and seas; and as a result the old narrators are -repeatedly telling us that they were forced to _hull_, or _try_,—in -other words, to heave their ship to, often in breezes in which a -sailing vessel of to-day would expose a topgallant-sail over a -single-reefed topsail. A succession of favourable gales would indeed -put life into the clumsy waggons and furnish them with some sort of -despatch, but as a rule the passage that is now made in sixty days was -hardly completed by the early navigators in a twelvemonth. Their ships -were unsheathed. It is true that Sebastian Cabot caused the ships under -the command of Sir Hugh Willoughby to be protected with thin sheets of -lead to guard against the worm “which many times pearceth and eateth -through the strongest oake”;[3] but I cannot discover that this example -was continued, and it is at least certain that the vessels commanded -by Dampier and his buccaneering companions breasted the surge with no -other coating on their bottoms than pitch and tallow. Hence in all long -voyages there was frequent occasion to careen, practicable only by -tedious deviation in search of a convenient place, and by wearisome -detention, that the hull might be listed over and the accumulation -of shells and weed removed. Another formidable difficulty lay in the -scurvy. This is a distemper still with us, but in those days it was -incredibly fateful. Few ships from Europe managed to pass the Horn -without the loss of half, and often two-thirds, of their crews from -this dreadful scourge. The “chirurgeons” could do nothing. There was no -remedy but to bring up off some fruitful coast and send the men ashore. -Whenever practicable this was done; but often it happened that the -ship's company were dying in fives and tens every day, with the vessel -herself a thousand miles out upon the ocean. The old navigators overdid -their pickling. The brine they soaked their meat in made it harder -and less nourishing than mahogany before they were out of the English -Channel. Of all the wonders of the early voyages none surprises me so -much as the capacity of the people to subsist upon the victuals shipped -for them. - -In Dampier's time navigation as an art had scarcely made a stride since -the days of Columbus and the Portuguese discoverers. The instruments -for measuring the sun's altitude were the astrolabe, the cross or -forestaff, and Davis's backstaff,—engines for mensuration ludicrously -primitive, as will be supposed when viewed side by side with the -sextant of to-day. The mariner made shift with these contrivances to -determine his latitude within a degree or two, but he had no means of -ascertaining his longitude. There were no chronometers, there was no -portable Greenwich time, no aids whatever towards the solution of what -was regarded down to the days of Maskelyne and the Commissioners of -Longitude as the greatest marine problem that ever perplexed the mind. -Apparently the old practice was to run down the parallels and then make -direct easting or westing for the desired destination. Or they took “a -departure,” as it was called, from any point of land, and calculated -the meridians by the log. Or, as an alternative, the early navigators -employed dead-reckoning, as we still practise it—that is, they found -out a vessel's place on the chart by putting down her rate of sailing -as it was to be ascertained at regular intervals by “heaving the log,” -and by allowing for leeway and difference of courses. In Captain Thomas -James's _Strange and Dangerous Voyage in the years_ 1631-32[4] there is -included a list of the instruments provided by him for his undertaking -to discover the north-west passage into the South Sea. A few of the -items will furnish the reader with a tolerable idea of the primitive -character of the nautical implements with which the mariner in the -days of James, and later yet in the days of Dampier, embarked on his -voyages into the remotest parts of the world in quest of new lands -or in search of short cuts. James begins the list with “a quadrant -of old-seasoned pear-tree wood, artificially made and with all care -possible divided with diagonals, even to minutes. It was a four-foot at -least (semi-diameter).” Next: “An equilateral triangle of light wood, -whose radius was five-foot at least, and divided out of Petiscus's -table of tangents.” “A quadrant of two-foot semi-diameter of light wood -and with like care projected.” Then: “Four staves for taking altitudes -and distances in the heavens.” The captain also took with him “a staff -of seven-feet long, whose transom was four-foot divided into equal -parts by way of diagonals that all the figures in a radius of 10,000 -might be taken out actually.” “Another of six-foot near as convenient -and in that manner to be used. Mr. Gunter's cross-staff, three Jacob's -staves projected after a new manner and truly divided after the table -of tangents, two of Mr. Davis's backstaves with like care made and -divided.” These were the captain's instruments for measuring the height -of the sun. Other items comprised “six meridian compasses ingeniously -made; four needles in square boxes; four special needles (which my good -friends Mr. Allen and Mr. Marre gave me) of six inches diameter, and -toucht curiously with the best loadstone in England; a loadstone to -refresh any of these if occasion were, whose poles were marked for fear -of mistaking.” Further, Captain James carried a watch-clock, “a table -every-day calculated, correspondent to the latitude according to Mr. -Gunter's directions in his book, the better to keep our time and our -compass to judge of our course.” A chestful of mathematical books, the -Collections of Purchas and Hackluyt, and “two pair of curious globes.” - -Such was the scientific equipment of a man bound on a Polar voyage in -the year 1632. It is not to be supposed that such mariners as Dampier -and his buccaneering associates went half as well furnished. Indeed -their poverty in this direction was so great that one may read here -and there of their employing their leisure on shipboard in making -quadrants to replace those which were lost or worn out. Their Norie, -Raper, and Nautical Almanac in one was the crude _Speculum Nauticum_ -of Wagener, made English by Anthony Ashley in 1588, and universally -known by the seamen in those days as _Waggoner_.[5] Sir Thomas Browne, -writing in 1664 to his son Thomas, a naval officer, says, “_Waggoner_ -you will not be without, which will teach the particular coasts, depths -of roades, and how the land riseth upon the several points of the -compass.” It will not be supposed that _Waggoner's_ instructions were -very trustworthy. The art of surveying was scarcely understood; charts -even in Dampier's time were absurdly ill-digested, and portions of the -world are barely recognisable in the grotesque tracings. Therefore -it happened that the early mariner was forced to depend upon his own -judgment and experience to a degree scarce realisable in these days of -exact science and matured inventions. He hardly understood what was -signified by the variation of the compass, and there was very little -outside the Pole Star that was not doubtful. But happily for him there -was no obligation of hurry. There was no managing owner to worry him. -Prompt despatch was no condition of the charter-party. His was the day -of ambling, and he was happy if he could confirm with his lead and -log-line the reckonings he arrived at with his forestaff. - -It is proper to remember all these conditions of the sea-vocation in -reviewing the life of William Dampier. The habit of self-reliance -makes the character of the sea-worthies of his age admirable, and it -qualified them for their great undertakings and achievements. They were -helped with nothing from science that can be mentioned with gravity. -The ocean was to them as blank as it looks to the landsman's eye, -and it was their business to find out the roads to the wonders and -mysteries which lay hidden leagues down behind its familiar shining -line. If a sailor nowadays is at fault he can seek and find the hints -and assurances he desires in twenty directions. He has Admiralty charts -of incomparable accuracy. He has a deep-sea lead with which he can -feel the ground whilst his ship moves through the water at fourteen -knots an hour. He has instruments for indicating the angle to which -his vessel rolls, and for showing him instantly her trim as she sits -upon the water. He has a dial that registers on deck, under his eye, -the number of miles his ship has made since any hour he chooses to time -her from. His chronometer may be accepted as among the most perfect -examples of human skill. Dampier and such as he wanted all these -adjuncts to their calling. But it cannot be disputed that they were the -better sailors for the very poverty of their equipment in this way. -It forced upon them faith in nothing but their own observation, so -that there never was a race of sailors who kept their eyes wider open -and examined more closely those points which have long since slided -into the dull prosaics of the deep. No one can follow them without -wonder and admiration. We find them in crafts of forty, twenty, even -ten tons—boats half-decked and undecked—exploring the frozen silence -of the North Pole, beating to the westward against the fierce surge -of the Horn, seeking land amidst the vast desolation of the southern -ocean, and making new history for their country upon the coast of -North America and in the waters of the Mozambique. Their lion-hearts -carry them all over the world, and they have nothing to help them but -the lead-line over the side and a quadrant big enough to serve as a -gallows. Nor was the ocean quite as it is now. In Dampier's time it -was still gloomy with mysteries, and there lingered many a dark and -terrifying superstition, whose origin was to be traced to those early -Portuguese and Spanish sailors who chanted a litany when they saw St. -Elmo's Fire glittering at the masthead, and exorcised the demon of -the waterspout by elevating their swords in the form of crosses. The -mermaid still rose in the tranquil blue waters alongside, and with -impassioned eyes and white and wooing arms courted the startled seaman -to share her coral pavilion at the bottom of the sea. The enchanted -island, steeped in the purple splendour of a radiance that owed nothing -of its glory to the heavens, was yet to be discovered by seeking. The -darkness of the storm was thronged with gigantic shadowy shapes of -fleeting spirits. Amid the tranquillity of the midnight calm, dim fiery -figures of undeterminable proportions floated in the black profound, -and voices as of human creatures could be heard out of the hush on the -deep syllabling the names of the listening and affrighted crew. It is -true that the Jack of Dampier's time was not so amazingly superstitious -as we find him in the pages of Purchas and Hackluyt. He was not quite -so young-eyed as the ancient mariner of the Elizabethan and preceding -ages. Nevertheless he was still exceedingly credulous, and he never -embarked on a voyage into distant parts without a mind prepared for -marvels of many sorts. Also let us remember the shadowiness of the -globe whose oceans he was to navigate, the vagueness of countries now -as well known to us as our own island home. Australia was rising upon -the gaze of the world like a new moon, the greater part of whose disk -lies in black shadow. Islands which now have their newspapers and -their hotels were uncharted, were less real than the white shoulders -of clouds dipping upon the sea-line. Of countries whose coast had been -sighted, but whose interiors were unknown, wild guesses at the wonders -within resulted in hair-stirring imaginations. These and more than -there is room to name are conditions of the early mariner's vocational -life, which we must take care to bear in mind as we accompany him -in his adventures, or certainly we shall fail to compass the full -significance of his magnificent resolution, his incomparable spirit, -and his admirable intrepidity. - - - - -CHAPTER II - -1652-1681 - -DAMPIER'S EARLY LIFE—CAMPECHÉ—HE JOINS THE BUCCANEERS - - -There is an account of Dampier's early life written by himself in -the second volume of his Travels. I do not know that anything is to -be added to what he there tells us. A man should be accepted as an -authority on his own career when it comes to a question of dates and -adventures. The interest of this sailor's life really begins with his -own account of his first voyage round the world; and though he is a -very conspicuous figure in English maritime history, the position he -occupies scarcely demands the curious and minute inquiry into those -parts of his career on which he is silent that we should bestow on the -life of a great genius. - -William Dampier was born at East Coker in the year 1652. His parents -intended him for a commercial life, but the idea of shopkeeping was -little likely to suit the genius of a lad who was a rover in heart -whilst he was still in petticoats; and on the death of his father and -mother his friends, finding him bent upon an ocean life, bound him -apprentice to the master of a ship belonging to Weymouth. This was in -or about the year 1669. With this captain he made a short voyage to -France, and afterwards proceeded to Newfoundland in the same ship, -being then, as he tells us, about eighteen years of age. The bitter -cold of Newfoundland proved too much for his seafaring resolutions, -and, procuring the cancellation of his indentures, he went home to his -friends. But the old instinct was not to be curbed. Being in London -some time after his return from the Newfoundland voyage, he heard of -an outward-bound East Indiaman named the _John and Martha_, the master -of which was one Earning. The idea of what he calls a “warm voyage” -suited him. He offered himself as a foremast hand and was accepted. The -voyage was to Bantam, and he was away rather longer than a year, during -which time he says he kept no journal, though he enlarged his knowledge -of navigation. The outbreak of the Dutch war seems to have determined -him to stay at home, and he spent the summer of the year 1672 at his -brother's house in Somersetshire. He soon grew weary of the shore, -and enlisted on board the _Royal Prince_, commanded by the famous Sir -Edward Spragge,[6] under whom he served during a part of the year 1673. -He fought in two engagements, and then falling sick a day or two before -the action in which Sir Edward lost his life (August 11th), he was sent -on board the hospital ship, whence he was removed to Harwich. Here he -lingered for a great while in suffering, and at last, to recover his -health, went to his brother's house. As he gained strength so did his -longing for the sea increase upon him. His inclination was soon to be -humoured, for there lived near his brother one Colonel Hellier, who, -taking a fancy to Dampier, offered him the management of a plantation -of his in Jamaica under a person named Whalley; for which place he -started in the _Content_ of London, Captain Kent master, he being then -twenty-two years old. Lest he should be kidnapped and sold as a servant -on his arrival, he agreed with Captain Kent to work his passage out as -a seaman. They sailed in the beginning of the year 1674, but the date -of their arrival at Jamaica is not given. - -His life on that island is not of much interest. He lived with Whalley -for about six months, and then agreed with one Captain Heming to -manage his plantation on the north side of the island; but repenting -his resolution, he took passage on board a sloop bound to Port Royal. -He made several coasting voyages in this way, by which he tells us he -became intimately acquainted with all the ports and bays of Jamaica, -the products and manufactures of the island, and the like. In this -sort of life he spent six or seven months, and then shipped himself -aboard one Captain Hudsel, who was bound to the Bay of Campeché to -load logwood. They sailed from Port Royal in August 1675; their cargo -to purchase logwood was rum and sugar. There were about two hundred -and fifty men engaged in cutting the wood, and these fellows gladly -exchanged the timber for drink. They were nearly all Englishmen, and on -the vessel dropping anchor, numbers of them flocked aboard clamorous -for liquor. “We were but 6 Men and a Boy in the Ship,” says Dampier, -“and all little enough to entertain them: for besides what Rum we sold -by the Gallon or Ferkin, we sold it made into Punch, wherewith they -grew Frolicksom.” It was customary in those times to shoot off guns -when healths were drunk, but in Dampier's craft there was nothing but -small-arms, “and therefore,” he says, “the noise was not very great -at a distance, but on Board the Vessels we were loud enough till all -our Liquor was spent.” Dampier was well entertained by these fellows -ashore. They hospitably received him in their wretched huts, and -regaled him with pork and peas and beef and dough-boys. He thought -this logwood-cutting business so profitable, and the life so free and -pleasant, that he secretly made up his mind to return to Campeché -after his arrival at Jamaica. Having filled up with wood, they sailed -in the latter end of September, and not very long afterwards narrowly -escaped being wrecked on the Alacran Reef, a number of low, sandy -islands situated about twenty-five leagues from the coast of Yucatan. -The vessel was a ketch, the weather very dirty. Dampier was at the -helm, or whipstaff as the tiller was called, and describes the vessel -as plunging and labouring heavily: “Not going ahead,” he says, “but -tumbling like an egg-shell in the sea.” In spite of their being in -the midst of a dangerous navigation, the crew, finding the weather -improving, lay down upon the deck and fell asleep. The stout build of -the round-bowed craft saved her, otherwise it is highly improbable that -anything more would ever have been heard of William Dampier. - -Young as he was, his powers of observation, the accuracy of his memory, -and what I may call the sagacity of his inquisitiveness, are forcibly -illustrated in this passage of his account of his early life. Even -while his little ship is bumping ashore, and all hands are running -about thinking their last moment arrived, Dampier is taking a careful -view of the sandy islands, observing the several depths of water, -remarking the various channels, and mentally noting the best places -in which to drop anchor. He has a hundred things to tell us about the -rats and sea-fowl he saw there, of the devotion of the booby to its -young, of the sharks, sword-fish, and “nurses,” of the seals, and -the Spaniard's way of making oil of their fat. In this little voyage -Dampier and his mates suffered a very great deal of hardship. They ran -short of provisions, and must have starved but for two barrels of beef -which had formed a portion of their cargo for purposes of trucking, but -which proved so rotten that nobody would buy them. Of this beef they -boiled every day two pieces; their peas were consumed and their flour -almost gone, and in order to swallow the beef they were forced to cut -it into small bits after it was cooked, and then to boil it afresh -in water thickened with a little flour. This savoury broth they ate -with spoons. Speaking of this trip Dampier says: “I think never any -Vessel before nor since made such traverses in coming out of the _Bay_ -as we did; having first blundered over the _Alcrany Riff_, and then -visited those islands; from thence fell in among the _Colorado Shoals_, -afterwards made a trip to _Grand Caymanes_; and lastly visited _Pines_, -tho' to no purpose. In all these Rambles we got as much experience as -if we had been sent out on a design.” - -They were thirteen weeks on their way, and eventually anchored at -Nigril. Here occurred an incident curiously illustrative of the customs -and habits of nautical men in the good old times. Their vessel was -visited by Captain Rawlings, commander of a small New England craft, -and one Mr. John Hooker, a logwood-cutter. These men were invited into -the cabin, and a great bowl of punch was brewed to regale them as -well as their entertainers. Dampier says there might be six quarts in -it. Mr. Hooker, being drunk to by Captain Rawlings, lifted the bowl -to his lips, and pausing a moment to say that he was under an oath -to drink but three draughts of strong liquor a day, he swallowed the -whole without a breath: “And so,” adds Dampier, “making himself drunk, -disappointed us of our expectations till we made another bowl.” Six -quarts equal twenty-four glasses. Probably no bigger drink than this is -on record! But those were days when men mixed gunpowder with brandy, -and honestly believed themselves the stouter-hearted for the dose. - -On the vessel's arrival at Port Royal the crew were discharged. -Dampier, whose hankering was after the logwood trade, embarked as -passenger on board a vessel bound to Campeché, and sailed about the -middle of February 1676. He went fully provided for the toilsome -work—that is to say, with hatchets, axes, a kind of long knives which -he calls “macheats,” saws, wedges, materials for a house, or, as he -terms it, a pavilion to sleep in, a gun, ammunition, and so forth. His -account of the origin and growth of the business he had now entered -upon is interesting. The Spaniards had long known the value of the -logwood, and used to cut it down near a river about thirty miles from -Campeché, whence they loaded their ships with it. The English, after -possessing themselves of Jamaica, whilst cruising about in the Gulf, -frequently encountered many vessels freighted with this wood; but being -ignorant of the value of such cargoes, they either burnt or sent the -ships adrift, preserving only the nails and iron-work. At last one -Captain James, having captured a big vessel full of wood, navigated -her to England with the intention of fitting her out as a privateer. He -valued his prize's cargo so lightly that on the way home he consumed a -portion of it as fuel. On his arrival he, to his great surprise, was -offered a large sum for the remainder. This being noised about started -the trade amongst the English. Of course the Spaniards opposed the -cutting down of the trees, and sent soldiers to protect their property; -but the English speedily learnt to recognise the timber as it grew, -and, hunting for it elsewhere, met with large forests, and so without -regard to the Spaniards they settled down to the trade and did pretty -well at it. The work previous to the arrival of Dampier employed nearly -three hundred men who had originally been privateersmen and gained a -living by plundering the Spaniards, but who, on peace being made with -Spain, lost their occupation and were driven to logwood-cutting by -hunger. But their tastes as pirates remained tenacious, and perhaps by -way of keeping their hand in, they formed into little troops, attacked -and plundered the adjacent Indian towns, brought away the women and -sent the men to Jamaica to be sold as slaves. Dampier further informs -us that these privateersmen had not “forgot their old drinking bouts,” -but would “still spend thirty or forty pounds at a sitting on board -the ships that came hither from Jamaica, carousing and firing off guns -three and four days together.” Eventually their evil habits led to -their ruin, for the Spaniards finding them nearly continually drunk, -fell upon them one by one, seizing them chiefly in their huts, where -they lay stupefied with liquor, and carried them to prison or to a -servitude harder than slavery. Logwood was then worth fourteen or -fifteen pounds a ton. The toil must have been great, for some of the -trees were upwards of six feet round, and the labourer had to cut them -into logs small enough to enable a man to carry a bundle of them. -Dampier speaks also of the bloodwood which fetched thirty pounds a -ton, but he does not tell us that he dealt with it. He speedily found -employment amongst the logwood-cutters. On his arrival he met with six -men who had one hundred tons of the wood ready cut, but not yet removed -to the creek side. These fellows offered Dampier pay at the rate of a -ton of the wood per month to help them to transport what they had cut -to the water. The work was laborious. They had not only to transport -the heavy timber, but to make a road to enable them to convey it to the -place of shipment. They devoted five days a week to this work, and on -Saturdays employed themselves in killing cattle for food. During one of -these hunting excursions Dampier came very near to perishing through -losing his way. He started out alone with a musket on his shoulder, -intending to kill a bullock on his own account, and wandered so far -into the woods that he lost himself. After much roaming he sat down to -wait till the sun should decline, that he might know by the course it -took how to direct his steps. The wild pines appeased his craving for -drink, otherwise he must have perished of thirst. At sunset he started -afresh, but the night, coming down dark, forced him to stop. He lay on -the grass at some distance from the woods, in the hope that the breeze -of wind that was blowing would keep the mosquitoes from him; “but in -vain,” says he, “for in less than an Hour's time I was so persecuted, -that though I endeavoured to keep them off by fanning myself with -boughs and shifting my Quarters 3 or 4 times; yet still they haunted me -so that I could get no Sleep.” At daybreak he struck onwards, and after -walking a considerable distance, to his great joy saw a pole with a hat -upon it, and a little farther on another. These were to let him know -that his companions understood that he was lost, and that at sunrise -they would be out seeking him. So he sat down to wait for them; for -though by water the distance to the settlement was only nine miles, the -road by land was impracticable by reason of the dense growths coming -down to the very side of the creek where Dampier sat waiting. Within -half an hour after his arrival at the poles with the hats upon them, -“his Consorts came,” he says, “bringing every Man his Bottle of Water, -and his Gun, both to hunt for Game and to give me notice by Firing -that I might hear them; but I have known several Men lost in the like -manner and never heard of afterwards.” At the expiration of the month's -agreement he received his ton of logwood, and was made free of the -little colony of cutters. Some of the men, quitting the timber-cutting, -went over to Beef Island to kill bullocks for their hides, but Dampier -remained behind with a few others to cut more logwood. He worked -laboriously, but his career in this line of business was ended not -long afterwards by the most violent storm “that,” he says, “was ever -known in those Parts.” He has described this storm in his _Discourse -of Winds_. He there says: “The Flood still increased and ran faster -up the Creek than ever I saw it do in the greatest Spring Tide, which -was somewhat strange, because the wind was at South, which is right off -the Shore on this Coast. Neither did the Rain anything abate, and by 10 -a Clock in the Morning the Banks of the Creeks were all overflowing. -About 12 at Noon we brought our Canao to the side of our Hut and -fastened it to the Stump of a Tree that stood by it; that being the -only refuge that we could now expect; for the Land a little way within -the Banks of the Creek is much lower than where we were: so that there -was no walking through the Woods because of the Water. Besides the -Trees were torn up by the Roots and tumbled so strangely across each -other that it was almost impossible to pass through them.” Their huts -were demolished, their provisions ruined. It was in vain to stay, so -the four men who formed Dampier's party embarked in their canoe and -rowed over to One-Bush-Key, about sixteen miles from the creek. There -had been four ships riding off that key when the storm began, but -only one remained, and from her they could obtain no refreshment of -any kind, though they were liberal in their offers of money. So they -steered away for Beef Island, and on approaching it observed a ship -blown ashore amongst the trees with her flag flying over the branches. -Her people were in her, and Dampier and his companions were kindly -received by them. Whilst on Beef Island he was nearly devoured by an -alligator. He and his comrades started to kill a bullock. In passing -through a small savannah they detected the presence of an alligator by -the strong, peculiar scent which the huge reptile throws upon the air, -and on a sudden Dampier stumbled against the beast and fell over it. He -shouted for help, but his comrades took to their heels. He succeeded -in regaining his legs, then stumbled and fell over the animal a second -time; “and a third time also,” he says, “expecting still when I fell -down to be devoured.” He contrived to escape at last, but he was so -terrified that he tells us he never cared for going through the water -again so long as he was in the Bay. - -Much of his narrative here is devoted to accurate and well-written -descriptions of the character of the country, and of its animals, -reptiles, and the like. There is an amusing quaintness in some of his -little pictures, as, for instance: “The Squash is a four-footed Beast, -bigger than a Cat: Its Head is much like a Foxes; with short Ears and a -long Nose. It has pretty short Legs and sharp Claws; by which it will -run up trees like a Cat. The skin is covered with short, fine Yellowish -Hair. The flesh is good, sweet, wholesome Meat. We commonly skin and -roast it; and then we call it pig; and I think it eats as well. It -feeds on nothing but good Fruit; therefore we find them most among the -Sapadillo-Trees. This Creature never rambles very far: and being taken -young, will become as tame as a Dog; and be as roguish as a Monkey.” - -The minuteness of his observation is exhibited in a high degree in his -account of the beasts, birds, and fish of Campeché and the district. He -uses no learned terms. A child might get to know more from him about -the thing he describes than from a dozen pages of modern writing on -the subject supplemented even by illustrations. It was wonderland to -him, as it had been to other plain and sagacious sailors before him. -His accounts remind us again and again of the exquisitely naïve but -admirably faithful descriptions of beasts and fish by the navigators -whose voyages are found in the collections of Hackluyt and Purchas. - -It is not very long after he had quitted Campeché that we find him -associating with privateers, and becoming one of their number. He -writes of this in a half-apologetic manner, complaining of failure -through a violent storm and of a futile cruise lasting for several -months, and talks of having been driven at last to seek subsistence -by turning pirate. There is no hint in his previous narrative of any -leanings this way. Probably thoughts of the golden chances of the rover -might have been put into his head by chats with the logwood-cutters. -The Spaniard had long been the freebooter's quarry. His carracks and -galleons, laden almost to their ways with the treasure of New Spain, -had handsomely lined the pockets of the marauding rogues, and such -was the value of the booty that scores of them might have set up as -fine gentlemen in their own country on their shares but for their -trick of squandering in a night what they had taken months to gain at -the hazard of their lives. The temptation was too much for Dampier; -besides, he was already seasoned to hardships of even a severer kind -than was promised by a life of piracy. For, as we have seen, he had -out-weathered the bitter cold of Newfoundland, he had worked as a -common sailor before the mast, he had served against the Dutch, he had -knocked about in Mexican waters in a vessel as commodious and seaworthy -as a Thames barge, and he was now fresh from the severe discipline of -the logwood trade. His associates consisted of sixty men, who were -divided between two vessels. Their first step was to attack the fort of -Alvarado, in which enterprise they lost ten or eleven of their company. -The inhabitants, who had plenty of boats and canoes, carried away -their money and effects before the fort yielded, and as it was too dark -to pursue them, the buccaneers were satisfied to rest quietly during -the night. Next morning they were surprised by the sight of seven ships -which had been sent from Vera Cruz. They got under-weigh and cleared -for action. But they had no heart to fight; which is intelligible -enough when we learn that the Spanish admiral's ship mounted ten guns -and carried a hundred men; that another had four guns and eighty men; -the rest sixty or seventy men apiece, well armed, whilst the bulwarks -of the ships were protected with bulls' hides breast-high. Fortunately -for them, the Spaniards had no mind to fight either. Some shots were -exchanged, and presently the Spanish squadron edged away towards the -shore, “and we,” says Dampier, “glad of the deliverance, went away -to the eastward.” How long he remained with the pirates he does not -say. Apparently he could not find his account with them. He left -them to return to the logwood trade, at which he continued for about -twelve more months. He then tells us that he resolved to pay a visit -to England with a design of returning again to wood-cutting, which -no doubt was proving profitable to him, and accordingly set sail for -Jamaica in April 1678. After remaining for a short time at that island -he embarked for England, and arrived at the beginning of August. - -He did not remain long at home. In the beginning of the year 1679 he -sailed for Jamaica in a vessel named the _Loyal Merchant_. He shipped -as a passenger, intending when he arrived at Jamaica to proceed to the -Bay of Campeché, and there pursue the employment of logwood-cutting. -But on his arrival at Port Royal in Jamaica in April 1679, after a -good deal of consideration, he made up his mind to delay or abandon -his wood-cutting scheme, for he tells us that he remained in that -island for the rest of the year in expectation of some other business. -Whatever his hopes were they could not have been greatly disappointed, -for we read of him as having, whilst in Jamaica, purchased a small -estate in Dorsetshire from a person whose title to it he was well -assured of. He was then, it now being about Christmas, 1679, about -to sail again for England, when a Mr. Hobby persuaded him to venture -on a short trading voyage to what was then termed the country of the -Mosquitoes, a little nation which he describes as composed of not -more than a hundred men inhabiting the mainland between Honduras and -Nicaragua. Dampier consented; he and Mr. Hobby set out, and presently -dropped anchor in a bay at the west end of Jamaica, where they found a -number of privateersmen, including Captains Coxon, Sawkins, and Sharp. -These men were maturing the scheme of an expedition of so tempting a -character that the whole of Mr. Hobby's men quitted him and went over -to the pirates. Dampier stayed with his companion for three or four -days, and then joined the pirates also. What became of Mr. Hobby he -does not say. There is here a shamefacedness in his avowal not hard to -distinguish. Perhaps as he sits writing this narrative he wonders at -the irresolution he exhibited, and his curious caprices of decision. -He starts for Jamaica to cut logwood at Campeché; on his arrival he -changes his mind and prepares for his return; he is then diverted from -his intention by Mr. Hobby, with whom he embarks on a well-considered -adventure, which he relinquishes to become pirate before his -associate's ship has fairly got away from Jamaica! It is these sudden -changes of front, however, and the unexpected turns of fortune which -they produced, which keeps Dampier's narrative sweet with fresh and -ever-flowing interest. - -His adventures from the date of his leaving Mr. Hobby down to the month -of April 1681 he dismisses in a couple of pages. Ringrose, however, has -written very fully of the expedition in which Dampier apparently served -as a foremast hand, and to the pages of his work it is necessary to -turn to obtain the information which Dampier omits.[7] The fleet of the -privateers consisted of nine vessels; the largest of them, commanded -by Captain Harris, was of the burden of one hundred and fifty tons, -mounted twenty-five guns, and carried one hundred and seven men; whilst -the smallest, commanded by Captain Macket, was of fourteen tons, her -crew consisting of twenty men. They sailed on March 23rd, 1679, for the -province of Darien, their designs being, as Ringrose candidly admits, -to pillage and plunder in those parts. But they do not appear to have -arrived off the coast until April 1680, this being the date given by -Ringrose, who says that there they landed three hundred and thirty-one -men, leaving a party of sailors behind them to guard their ships. They -marched in companies; Captain Bartholomew Sharp's (in whose troop, I -take it, was Dampier) carried a red flag, with a bunch of white and -green ribands; Captain Richard Sawkins's company exhibited a red flag -striped with yellow; the third and fourth, commanded by Captain Peter -Harris, bore two cream-coloured flags; the fifth and sixth a red flag -each; and the seventh a red colour with yellow stripes, and a hand and -sword thereon by way of a device. “All or most of them,” adds Ringrose, -“were armed with Fuzee, Pistol, and Hanger.” This is a description that -brings the picture before us. We see these troops of sailors carrying -banners, dressed as merchant seamen always were, and still are, in -twenty different costumes, lurching along under the broiling equatorial -sun, through forests, rivers, and bogs, trusting to luck for a drink of -water, and with no better victuals than cakes of bread (four to a man), -called by Ringrose “dough-boys,” a name that survives to this day, -animated to the support of the most extraordinary fatigues, the most -venomous country, and the deadliest climate in the world, by dreams of -more gold than they would be able to carry away with them. - -But the whole undertaking was a failure. They attacked and took the -town of Santa Maria, and found the place to consist of a few houses -built of cane, with not so much as the value of a single ducat anywhere -to be met with. Their disappointment was rendered the keener by the -news that three days before their arrival several hundred-weight of -gold had been sent away to Panama in one of those ships which were -commonly despatched two or three times a year from that city to convey -the treasure brought to Santa Maria from the mountains. Their ill-luck, -however, hardened them in their resolution to attack Panama. The -city was a sort of New Jerusalem to the imaginations of these men, -who thought of it as half-formed of storehouses filled to their roofs -with plate, jewels, and gold. They stayed two days at Santa Maria, -and then on April 17th, 1680, embarked in thirty-five canoes and a -periagua, and rowed down the river in quest of the South Sea, upon -which, as Ringrose puts it, Panama is seated. Their adventures were -many; their hardships and distresses such as rendered their energy and -fortitude phenomenal even amongst a community who were incomparably -gifted with these qualities. Ringrose, whose narrative I follow, was -wrecked in the river by the oversetting of his canoe, and came very -near to perishing along with a number of his comrades. He fell into -the hands of some Spaniards, with whom, as they understood neither -English nor French, whilst he was equally ignorant of their tongue, -he was obliged to converse in Latin!—a language in which, I suspect, -not many mariners of to-day could communicate their distresses. He -and his shipmates narrowly escaped torture and a miserable death, and -eventually recovering their canoe, they started afresh on their voyage, -and were fortunate enough next morning to fall in with the rest of the -buccaneers, who had anchored during the night in a deep bay. - -Trifling as these incidents are, it is proper to relate them as -examples of the life and experiences of Dampier during this period of -his career. Unfortunately, until one opens his own books one does not -know where to look for him. In whose troop he marched, in whose canoe -he sat, in what special adventures he was concerned, whether he was -favoured for his intelligence above the others by the commanders of -the expedition, cannot be ascertained. When Ringrose wrote, Dampier -was still a mere privateersman, a foremast hand, a man without -individuality enough to arrest the attention of the sturdy, plain, and -honest historian of the voyage in which they both took part. Indeed, -there is no reason to suppose that Dampier at this time was regarded by -his fellows as better than the humblest of the shaggy, sun-blackened -men who, with fuzees on their shoulders and pistols in their girdles, -tramped in little troops through the swamps and creeks and over the -swelling lands of the Isthmus, or who in their deep and narrow canoes -floated silent and grim upon the hot and creeping river in search of -the unexpectant Don and his almost fabulous wealth. - -Dampier introduces a curious story in connection with Panama and the -South Seas in his first volume. He says that when he was on board -Captain Coxon's ship, there being three or four privateers in company, -they captured a despatch boat bound to Cartagena from Porto Bello. They -opened many of the letters, and were struck by observing that several -of the merchants who wrote from Old Spain exhorted their correspondents -at Panama to bear in mind a certain prophecy that had been current -in Madrid and other centres for some months past, the tenor of which -was—_That there would be English privateers that year in the West -Indies, who would make such great discoveries as to open a door into -the South Seas_. This door, Dampier says, was the passage overland to -Darien through the country of the Indians, a people who had quarrelled -with the Spaniards and professed a friendship for the English. At all -events, these Indians had been for some time inviting the privateers -to march across their territory and fall upon the Spaniards in the -South Seas. Hence when the letters came into their hands they grew -disposed to entertain the Indians' proposal in good earnest, and -finally made those attempts to which I have referred in quoting from -the pages of Ringrose. The cause of the friendship between the English -buccaneers and the Darien Indians is a story of some interest. About -fifteen years before Dampier crossed the Isthmus a certain Captain -Wright, who was cruising in those waters, met with a young Indian lad -paddling about in a canoe. He took him aboard his ship, clothed him, -and, with the idea of making an Englishman of him, gave him the name of -John Gret. Some Mosquito Indians, however, begged the boy from Captain -Wright, who gave him to them. They carried him into their own country, -and by and by he married a wife from among them. Through the agency -of this John Gret, who always preserved an affection for the English, -a friendship was established between the buccaneers and the Indians. -Presents were made on each side, and a certain secret signal was -concerted whereby the Indians might recognise their English friends. -It happened that there was a Frenchman among one of the buccaneering -captain's crew. He was artful enough to commit this signal, whatever -it was, to memory, and on his arrival at Petit Guavres he communicated -what he knew to his countrymen there, and represented the facility with -which the South Seas might be entered now that he had the secret of -winning over the Indians to help him. On this one hundred and twenty -Frenchmen formed themselves into a troop, with the buccaneer, whom -Dampier calls Mr. la Sound, as their captain, and marched against -Cheapo, an attempt that proved unsuccessful, though the simple Indians, -believing them to be English, gave them all the assistance that was in -their power. “From such small beginnings,” adds Dampier, “arose those -great stirs that have been since made in the South Seas, viz.: from the -Letters we took and from the Friendship contracted with these Indians -by means of John Gret. Yet this Friendship had like to have been -stifled in its Infancy; for within few months after an English trading -Sloop came on this Coast from Jamaica, and John Gret, who by this time -had advanced himself as a Grandee amongst these Indians, together with -5 or 6 more of that quality, went off to the Sloop in their long Gowns, -as the custom is for such to wear among them. Being received aboard, -they expected to find everything friendly, and John Gret talkt to them -in English; but these English Men having no knowledge at all of what -had happened, endeavoured to make them Slaves (as is commonly done), -for upon carrying them to Jamaica they could have sold them for 10 or -12 Pound apiece. But John Gret and the rest perceiving this, leapt -all overboard, and were by the others killed every one of them in the -Water. The Indians on Shoar never came to the knowledge of it; if they -had it would have endangered our Correspondence.” - -On April 23rd the buccaneers entered the Bay of Panama, and the city, -offering a fair and lovely prospect, as Dampier afterwards tells -us, lay full in their view. The old town that had been sacked and -burnt by Henry Morgan in 1670 lay four miles to the eastward of the -new city; but amongst those now suburban ruins the cathedral rose -stately and splendid, and Ringrose, enraptured by the sight, vows -that the building viewed from the sea might compare in majesty with -St. Paul's. The Panama at which Dampier gazed was almost new, built -of brick and stone, with eight churches amongst the houses, most of -them unfinished. Many of the edifices were three stories high. A -strong wall circled the place, crowned with seaward-pointing cannon, -and these defences were backed by a garrison of three hundred of the -king's soldiers, whilst the city itself supplemented that force by -a contribution of eleven hundred militiamen. Such was the Panama of -which our handful of audacious buccaneers were coolly proposing the -sacking, and doubtless the burning. It seems, however, that when they -arrived most of the soldiers were absent, and Ringrose tells us that -had they attempted the town at once instead of attacking the ships in -the bay, they must have made an easy conquest. The desperate energy, -the hot and furious courage, of an earlier race of pirates were wanting -in them. They lingered long enough to enable the city to render its -capture impracticable, and then, feigning a sentimental interest in the -condition of the Indians, they despatched word to the Governor that if -he would suffer the natives to enjoy their own “power and liberty,” -and send to the buccaneers five hundred pieces of eight for each man, -and one thousand pieces of eight for each commander, they would desist -from further hostilities. A civil message was returned, and they were -also asked from whom they received their commission; to which Captain -Sawkins responded in a style which he may have borrowed from the -tragedies of Nathaniel Lee: “That as yet all his company were not come -together; but that when they were come up, we would come and visit -him at Panama, and bring our commissions on the muzzles of our guns, -at which time he should read them as plain as the flame of gunpowder -could make them.” All this was mere windy, hectoring talk, and nothing -followed it. The buccaneers were growing mutinous with famine, and as -it was clear there was nothing to be done with Panama, Captain Sawkins, -who was chief in command, gave orders to weigh anchor, and the pirates -sailed away without a ducat's worth of satisfaction for the prodigious -hardships they had endured. - -Whilst they lay at anchor before Caboa the two chief commanders, -Sawkins and Sharp, went ashore with sixty or seventy men to attack -Puebla Nueva. Ringrose dates this attempt May 22nd, 1680. The -inhabitants were prepared, and the only issue of a sharp engagement was -the death of Captain Sawkins and the loss of several of his people. -This defeat led to a mutiny among the buccaneers. Eventually Captain -Sharp, who was now chief in command, called the men together and -proposed to them to remain in the South Sea and then go home by way -of the Horn, adding that he would guarantee that every man who stayed -with him should be worth a thousand pounds by the time he arrived in -England. This scheme of cruising in the South Sea against the Spaniards -had been Sawkins's fixed project, and he was so great a favourite -that had he lived it is probable the whole of the crew would have -accompanied him; but Sharp did not enjoy the general confidence of his -people, and a number of the men sullenly and obstinately refused to -linger any longer in these waters. Ringrose was amongst those who were -weary of the hazardous and unremunerative adventures of the buccaneers, -and would have been glad to leave the ship. Had he done so there would -have been no record of this voyage of Dampier; but he was wise enough -to fear the Indians and to dread the sufferings of an overland journey -in the rainy season. He therefore resolved to remain with Captain -Sharp, amongst whose adherents was William Dampier. Sixty-three of -the men left them, and then on Sunday, June 6th, 1680, Captain Sharp -and his people steered away to the southward with the intention of -plundering Arica. - -On approaching the coast they found the bay guarded by numerous parties -of horsemen, whilst the tops of the hills were also lined with men. -They withdrew without firing a gun. Better luck, however, befell them -on October 29th at Hilo. This place they took without difficulty, and -found it stored with quantities of pitch, tar, wine, oil, and flour. -The sacking of Hilo was a sort of holiday jaunt for the freebooters, -who feasted delightfully on olives, lemons, and limes; on cakes, on -flagons of cool wines, on great strawberries, and sweetmeats and other -delicacies. As they marched up the valley the Spaniards accompanied -their progress upon the hill-tops, and rolled great stones down upon -them, but no man was hurt; whilst to the explosion of a single musket -every visible Spanish head was instantly ducked out of sight. Much -that strikes one as marvellous in the achievements of the buccaneers -in the South Sea vanishes when one thinks of the abject cowardice of -the American Spaniards. Had their troops been composed of priests -and old women, they could not have fled with livelier hysterical -nimbleness from the sight of the English colours. The picture is -humiliating, though it is not wanting in the ridiculous. All through -the buccaneering annals, as in Anson's and the voyages of others, one -is incessantly meeting with this sort of thing:—A boat filled with -armed privateersmen approaches the beach. A numerous party of horsemen, -bristling with sabres, lances, and muskets, stand as in a posture to -dispute their landing. But as the boat draws near the horsemen retreat, -and in no very good order, back to behind the town as the seamen spring -ashore. They are finally seen on the summit of a hill in company with -several troops of foot soldiers, who, whilst their bands play and their -banners proudly flutter, gaze downwards at the twenty or thirty sailors -who are firing the houses of their town and lurching seawards with -sacks of silver on their backs. - -Ringrose calls a halt at the “Isle of Plate,” as he writes it, to tell -us a little story: “This Island received its Name from Sir _Francis -Drake_, and his famous Actions. For it is reported that he here made -the Dividend of that vast quantity of Plate which he took in the -_Armada_ of this sea, distributing it to each Man of his Company by -whole Bowls full. The _Spaniards_ affirm to this Day that he took at -that Time twelvescore Tons of Plate, and sixteen bowls of coined Money -a Man; his number being then forty-five Men in all; insomuch that they -were forced to heave much of it overboard, because his ship could not -carry it all. Hence this Island was called by the _Spaniards_ the _Isle -of Plate_, from this great Dividend, and by us _Drake's Isle_.” - -Traditions of this kind were very nicely calculated to keep the -buccaneering heart high. Our genial freebooter has also another yarn -to spin in connection with this coast. He says that in the time of -Oliver Cromwell the merchants of Lima fitted out a ship armed with -seventy brass guns, with a treasure in her hold of no less than thirty -millions of dollars, “all which vast sum of money,” he says, “was given -by the merchants of Lima, and sent as a present to our Gracious King -(or rather his father) who now reigneth, to supply him in his exile -and distress, but that this great and rich ship was lost by keeping -along the shore in the Bay of Manta above mentioned or thereabouts. The -truth whereof is much to be questioned.” Be his stories true or false, -however, it is pleasant to sail in the company of an old seaman who -has an anecdote to fit every bay or headland of the coast along which -he jogs. Unhappily Ringrose, who begins very well, drifts fast into -the unsuggestive trick of “loggings,” telling us in twenty pages at a -stretch that on Monday the sun rose at such and such an hour, that on -Tuesday it blew a fresh gale, that on Wednesday there was a ring round -the moon, that on Thursday they had made thirty leagues in twenty-four -hours, and so forth. It is by comparing the best of the early mariners' -narratives with Dampier's that one remarks his eminent superiority as a -writer, observer, and describer. - -As they sailed down the American seaboard they captured a few small -vessels, but their booty was inconsiderable. On December 3rd, 1680, -they attacked the city of La Serena. They routed the Spaniards, who, in -flying, carried away the best of their goods and jewels. An offer of -ransom was made, and the price fixed was ninety-five thousand pieces -of eight. It was soon rendered plain, however, that the enemy had no -intention of paying, whereupon the buccaneers fired every house in -the town to the end that the whole place might be reduced to ashes. -Before the ship sailed she was very nearly burnt by a curious Spanish -stratagem. A horse's hide was blown out with wind to the condition of a -bladder. A man got upon it and silently paddled himself under the stern -of the privateer, between whose rudder and sternpost he crammed a mass -of oakum, brimstone, and other combustible matter. This done, he softly -fired it with a match and sneaked away ashore. The buccaneers observing -the dark mass on the water, concluded it to be a dead horse, and gave -it no particular heed. On a sudden the alarm of fire was raised; the -rudder was seen to be burning and the ship was full of smoke. After -some trouble the flames were extinguished, and then suspecting some -stratagem in the object they had previously lightly glanced at, they -sent the boat ashore, where the puffed-out hide was found with a match -burning at both ends of it. - -By Christmas Day they were at anchor off the Island of Juan Fernandez. -It is noteworthy that Ringrose, in his journal under date of January -3rd, says that their pilot told them that many years ago a ship was -cast away upon this island and only one man saved, who lived alone -upon it for over five years before any vessel came that way to carry -him off. It is curious that none of the biographers of Defoe should -refer to this statement in dealing with the inspirations of the great -writer's masterpiece. Whilst lying at this island there was trouble -amongst the men, which resulted in Captain Sharp being deposed. A -number of the crew wanted to go home at once; others were for remaining -in those seas until they had got more money. A man named John Watling, -an old privateer and a seaman of experience, was chosen in the room of -Sharp. It was shortly after this that the buccaneers were alarmed by -the unexpected apparition of three men-of-war. They instantly slipped -their cables and stood out to sea, leaving behind them in their hurry -that famous Mosquito Indian, of whom it is uncertain whether it was to -his or to Selkirk's adventures that Defoe owed the idea of Robinson -Crusoe. The vessels which surprised them were large and heavily armed, -one of them being eight hundred and another six hundred tons. They -hoisted the “bloody flag,” as it was called, meaning that no quarter -would be given. The buccaneers did the same, but they were in truth -very unwilling to fight. Watling, indeed, either could not or would not -dissemble his fears. Fortunately the Spaniards proved thorough cowards. -Despite the bluster of their no-quarter signal flying at the masthead, -they never offered to approach the privateer, which, glad enough to -escape, next day stood away north-east for Arica. - -I will not charge Watling with cowardice, but he exhibits a quality -of timidity sufficiently accentuated to account for a very cruel -disposition. Of this man, who had manifested many signs of alarm -at sight of the Spanish ships-of-war, a black act of wickedness is -recorded a few days later. Amongst the prisoners on board was an -old white-haired Spaniard. Watling questioned him about Arica, and -believing that he lied in his answers ordered him to be shot. The -former commander, Captain Sharp, vehemently opposed the execution of -this cruel sentence, but finding his appeal disregarded he plunged -his hands in water and, washing them, exclaimed, “Gentlemen, I am -clear of the blood of this old man, and I will warrant you a hot day -for this piece of cruelty whenever we come to fight at Arica.” The -prophecy was fulfilled. On January 13th, 1680, the buccaneers were off -that town, and ninety-two men going ashore attacked the place with -incredible fury. We read of them filling every street in the city with -dead bodies. In a short time Captain Watling was shot through the -heart, whilst there were slain besides two quartermasters and so many -of the men that further efforts were rendered hopeless. The survivors -appealed to Captain Sharp to lead them out of their difficulties and -get them back to the ship. The enemy surrounded them, they were in -great disorder, and there was no one to command them. Sharp, bitterly -resenting their behaviour to him, which had led to his being supplanted -by Watling, hesitated. “But,” says Ringrose, “at our earnest request -and petition he took up the command-in-chief again, and began to -distribute his orders for our safety.” They succeeded in fighting their -way to the beach, and got on board at ten o'clock at night, after a -desperate battle that had lasted the whole day. On putting to sea again -there was much mutinous growling, and when off the Island of Plata, -on April 17th, 1681, the quarrels rose to such a pitch that there was -nothing for it but separation. The trouble lay in a number of the men, -now that Watling was dead, desiring the reappointment of Sharp. This -was warmly opposed by others. The matter was put to the vote, and the -Sharpites proving the more numerous, the dissentients agreed to leave -them—the arrangement being that the majority should keep the ship, -whilst the others should take the long-boat and canoes and return by -way of the Isthmus, or seek their fortunes as they chose in other -directions. The out-voted party numbered forty-seven men, one of whom -was William Dampier. - - - - -CHAPTER III - -1681-1691 - -DAMPIER'S FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD[8] - - -“April 17, 1681,” writes Dampier, “about Ten a Clock in the morning -being 12 leagues N.-W. from the Island _Plata_, we left Captain _Sharp_ -and those who were willing to go with him in the Ship, and imbarqued -into our Launch and Canoas, designing for the River of _Santa Maria_ in -the Gulf of _St. Michael_, which is about 200 leagues from the Isle of -_Plata_.” The boats which carried them were a launch and two canoes; -and their provisions consisted of a quantity of flour mixed with twenty -or thirty pounds of powdered chocolate. That no man should venture the -crossing of the Isthmus on foot who, by health or feebleness of will, -might prove unequal to the march, it was settled at the start that -any one who faltered on the journey overland should be at once shot to -death: “For,” says Dampier, “we knew that the Spaniards would soon be -after us, and one man falling into their hands might be the ruin of -us all by giving an account of our strength and condition; yet this -would not deter 'em from going with us.” When abreast of Cape Passao -they captured a small vessel and sailed to Cape St. Lorenzo, where they -disembarked, after removing their provisions and clothes and scuttling -their little ship. It was now May 1st, 1681. - -The march of Dampier and his companions across the Isthmus of Panama -is a feat that ranks amongst the most memorable of the traditions of -travel and adventure. The qualities of the climate of that part of -the world have found emphasis in our time in published accounts of -the mortality among the people employed out there on the great French -engineer's scheme of a canal. The land is watered by numbers of rivers -filled with alligators; it is darkened and often rendered impenetrable -by dense growths of tropical vegetation crowded with snakes; and in -many places it is blocked by barriers of hills and mountains belted -with miasmatic vapours. Our little company of buccaneers crossed the -Isthmus in twenty-three days, in which time, according to Dampier's -account, they travelled one hundred and ten miles. Their adventures -were few, but the hardships constant and severe. For the most part they -slept all night in the open, and repeatedly arose in the morning from -their beds of mire with clothes saturated by storms of rain. Their -surgeon, Lionel Wafer, was badly hurt in the knee by the explosion -of a parcel of gunpowder,—an accident that gave his companions much -anxiety, “being lyable ourselves every moment to misfortune,” says -Dampier, “and none to look after us but him.” On several occasions -many of them were nearly drowned whilst fording rivers swollen with -rains. The difficulties in the road of their progress may be gathered -from a single incident. They had arrived at the banks of a river which -they were obliged to cross. The water was deep and the current ran -swiftly. It was proposed that those who could swim should assist those -who were helpless in this way to the opposite bank; but then, how were -they to transport the guns, provisions, and other articles that they -carried? They decided to send a man over with a line, who, by means of -it, would be able to haul the goods across, and then drag those ashore -who could not swim. A fellow named Gayny secured the end of the line -around his neck and plunged into the river, but the current kinked and -entangled the rope in some way and threw the swimmer on his back. He -had slung a bag containing three hundred dollars over his shoulder, and -this weight, helped by the drag of the line, drew the unfortunate man -under, and he was seen no more. They finally succeeded in crossing by -felling a tall tree, which happily spanned the river and served them -as a bridge. Their food consisted of fish and such animals as they -could contrive to shoot, particularly monkeys, whose flesh they ate -with relish. It was not until May 23rd that they came in sight of the -Atlantic, which it was then the custom to speak of as the North Sea, -and the next day they went on board a French privateer commanded by -a Captain Tristian. Some of their comrades had died by the way, and -some had been left behind. Amongst the latter was Wafer, the surgeon, -who a few weeks afterwards was met by Dampier while cruising in the -neighbourhood of La Sound's Key. Some Indians came aboard, and brought -with them the surgeon and survivors of the others who had been left on -the Isthmus. “Mr. Wafer,” says Dampier, “wore a clout about him, and -was painted like an Indian; and he was some time aboard before I knew -him.”[9] - -Captain Tristian, having Dampier and his comrades in the ship, set -sail, and arrived in two days at Springer's Quay, where they found -eight privateers lying at anchor. Four of them were English; two of ten -guns each, and both carrying one hundred men; a third of four guns and -forty men. The others were less formidable. The Dutch vessel mounted -four guns and carried sixty men, and was commanded by one Captain -Yanky. The Frenchmen were respectively of eight guns and forty men, and -six guns and seventy men. Here, by guessing at the crews of the smaller -ships, we arrive at a body of pirates numbering between five and six -hundred fearless, determined, ferocious ruffians! It is conceivable -that the Spaniards in those waters should have lived in a state of -terror. The wonder is that the swarms of miscreants who preyed upon -them should have left them a house to dwell in or a ducat to conceal. - -After many debates it was agreed amongst the masters and crews of -these vessels to attack a town the name of which Dampier says he has -forgotten. The vessel into which our hero found himself drafted was -a French craft of eight guns and forty men, commanded by a man named -Archemboe. The fleet weighed, but during the night they were scattered -by a hard gale, and when day broke Archemboe's ship was alone. Dampier, -with others of his comrades who were with Archemboe, speedily learnt -to hate their French associates. The sailors were utterly worthless -in bad, and lazy, lounging loafers in fine, weather: “The saddest -creatures that I was ever among,” writes Dampier, “but though we had -bad weather that required many hands aloft, yet the biggest part of -them never stirred out of their hammocks but to eat.” Later on they -fell in with Captain Wright, who belonged to the fleet, and Dampier's -English shipmates induced this man to fit out a prize of his for them; -Dampier himself joining Wright, whose vessel, a _barco longo_, mounted -four guns and carried fifty men. Shortly after this Wright, in company -with the Dutchman, Captain Yanky, started on a cruise along the coast -of Cartagena. - -Dampier's narrative here is a very close, curious, and interesting -description of the islands of this part of the sea and of the shores -of the mainland. He also prints pages of notes about the birds common -to those parts, the pearl-fishery, and other matters of a like kind. -The charm of a sailor-like simplicity is in everything he says. “I have -not been curious,” he writes in his preface to a _New Voyage Round the -World_, “as to the spelling of the Names of Places, Plants, Fruits, -Animals, etc., which in many of the remoter parts are given at the -pleasure of Travellers, and vary according to their different Humours: -Neither have I confined myself to such names as are given by Learned -Authors, or so much as enquired after them. I write for my Countrymen, -and have therefore for the most part used such names as are familiar -to our English Seamen and those of our Colonies abroad, yet without -neglecting others that occur'd.” - -Let Dampier's literary defects be what they may, assuredly -unintelligibility is not one of them. - -The cruise, in a buccaneering sense, was not a profitable one. They -captured a few small vessels, but their prizes yielded them little more -than some tons of sugar, marmalade, cocoa, hides, and earthenware. They -then resolved to separate, and after dividing the plunder they parted -company, having enough vessels in the shape of prizes to carry them -wherever they might choose to go. Twenty of them, amongst whom was -Dampier, putting their share of the booty into a small bark, set sail -for Virginia and arrived there after an uneventful passage in July, -1682. In this country Dampier lived for thirteen months, but of his -life he tells nothing, merely hinting that a great many troubles befell -him. - -Amongst the crew of the vessel commanded by the Dutchman, Captain -Yanky—one of the piratical commanders with whom Dampier was associated -after crossing the Isthmus—there had been a quartermaster named John -Cooke, a Creole. On Yanky capturing a Spanish prize, Cooke, by virtue -of his position according to the practice of the buccaneers, claimed -and obtained command of her. But the privateersmen were of mixed -nationalities, and the French, growing jealous of the Englishmen, -plundered and stripped the men who had been their shipmates and -companions-in-arms, and turned them naked ashore. Captain Tristian, -however, whose ship, it will be remembered, Dampier and his comrades -boarded on the Darien coast, took pity upon the English, and carried -ten of them, one of whom was Cooke, to the Island of Tortuga. Whilst -they lay there at anchor the English rose, seized Tristian's vessel, -and sailing away with her made two captures of importance, one of -which they navigated to Virginia, where they arrived in April, 1683. -Having sold the cargo of this prize they fitted her out as a privateer, -mounting her, Captain Cowley says in his _Voyage_, with eight guns, -though Dampier makes the number eighteen. They called her the -_Revenge_. Dampier with many others volunteered to sign articles for -her, and when she set sail her crew, according to Cowley, consisted of -fifty-two, but according to Dampier of seventy men. - -The voyage of the _Revenge_ was written by Cowley as well as by -Dampier—that is to say, a large portion of this voyage is included in -Dampier's first volume of his Travels. Cowley's account is very full, -wanting indeed the flavour of Dampier's style, and the vitality and -archness of his descriptive powers; but in one sense Cowley is more -interesting than the other—I mean, that as a freebooter he writes with -far more candour than Dampier, whose narratives everywhere repeat by -implication the direct apology he makes in the preface to his first -volume: - -“As for the Actions of the Company, among whom I made the greatest -part of this voyage, a Thread of which I have carried on thro' it, -'tis not to divert the Reader with them that I mention them, much -less that I take any pleasure in relating them: but for method's sake -and for the Reader's satisfaction; who could not so well acquiesce -in my Description of Places, etc., without knowing the particular -Traverses I made among them: nor in these, without an Account of the -Concomitant Circumstances. Besides that, I would not prejudice the -truth and sincerity of my Relation, tho' by omissions only. And as -for the Traverses themselves, they make for the Reader's advantage; -however little for mine, since thereby I have been the better inabled -to gratify his Curiosity; as one who rambles about a Country can give -usually a better account of it, than a Carrier who jogs on to his Inn, -without ever going out of his Road.” - -Cowley had not Dampier's sensitiveness; indeed, he might not have -considered his conscience as a buccaneer unduly burdened. It is -manifest that as he wrote he was still smarting under the trick that -had been put upon him, and to gratify his resentment he related -baldly all the truth he could recollect. He had been prevailed upon -by Cooke to sail as master in the privateer, which was professedly -bound to San Domingo, that her commander might at that island obtain a -commission to legalise his acts at sea; but in reality Cooke's first, -real, and only design was wholly one of piracy, and nothing was said -to Cowley about it until the ship was well clear of the land, when, -of course, he was forced to fall in with the scheme.[10] This was in -the year 1683. Dampier was now thirty-one years of age, and fairly, -but unconsciously, started on the first of those voyages which -were to make him in his day and to succeeding times one of the most -distinguished of the circumnavigators of the globe. - -The _Revenge_ sailed from Achamack on August 23rd in the year just -named. Nothing for many weeks broke the monotony of the passage save -the incident of a heavy gale of wind which the vessel encountered off -the Cape Verd Islands. Cowley dwells lightly upon this storm as if -he would make little or nothing of it, but Dampier insists upon its -being the most violent he had ever experienced in any part of the -world. Indeed he has preserved an account of it in those chapters in -the second volume of his Voyages, which he entitles, “A Discourse of -Winds, Breezes, Storms, Tides, and Currents.” The nautical reader will, -I hope, thank me for transcribing a passage that is more curiously -illustrative of the seamanship and sea-technicalities of the period of -history to which this narrative belongs than any like account by other -hands that I can call to mind. - -“If after the Mizan is hall'd up and furled, if then the ship will -not wear, we must do it with some Headsail, which yet sometimes puts -us to our shifts. As I was once in a very violent storm sailing from -_Virginia_, mentioned in my _Voyage Round the World_, we scudded before -the Wind and Sea some time, with only our bare Poles; and the ship, -by the mistake of him that con'd, broched too, and lay in the Trough -of the Sea; which then went so high that every Wave threatn'd to -over-whelm us. And indeed if any one of them had broke in on our Deck -it might have foundered us. The master,[11] whose fault this was, rav'd -like a Mad Man and called for an Axe to cut the Mizan Shrouds, and turn -the Mizan mast overboard: which indeed might have been an expedient -to bring her to her course: The Captain was also of his Mind. Now our -Main-yard and Fore-yard were lowered upon a Port-last, as we call it, -that is down pretty nigh the Deck, and the Wind blew so fierce that we -did not dare to shew any Head-Sail, for they must have blown away if -we had, neither could all the men in the ship have furled them again; -therefore we had no hopes of doing it that way. I was at this time on -the Deck with some others of our Men; and among the rest one Mr. _John -Smallbone_, who was the Main instrument at that time of saving us. -Come! said he to me, let us go a little way up the Fore-shrouds, it may -be that that may make the Ship wear: for I have been doing it before -now. He never tarried for an Answer, but run forward presently, and I -followed him. We went up the Shrouds Half-mast up, and there we spread -abroad the Flaps of our Coats, and presently the Ship wore. I think we -did not stay there above 3 Minutes before we gain'd our Point and came -down again; but in this time the Wind was got into our Mainsail, and -had blown it loose; and tho' the Main-yard was down a Port-last and our -Men were got on deck as many as could lye one by another, besides the -deck full of Men, and all striving to furl that Sail, yet could we not -do it, but were forced to cut it all along by the Head-rope, and so let -it fall down on the Deck.” - -A noticeable thing of their outward run is that they took above five -months to sail from the coast of Virginia to abreast of Cape Horn. They -got no sights after making Staten Island until they had entered the -South Sea, and were obliged to grope their way in their square-built, -round-bowed, and clumsy old craft past the stormiest headland in the -world, through weather blind with snow and black with cloud, and over -seas running in mountains to the pressure of five hundred leagues of -gale. When to the westward of the Cape they encountered one Captain -Eaton in a privateer that had been equipped and despatched from London -to plunder the Western American coast, and proceeded with him to Juan -Fernandez, where they arrived eight months after leaving Achamack. -Their first act was to send a canoe ashore to obtain news of the -Mosquito Indian who had been left on the island three years before by -Captain Watling. This Indian, who proved to be alive, is a figure in -the history of romantic adventure scarce less conspicuous in his way -than Alexander Selkirk or Peter Serrano. He was in the woods hunting -for goats when Captain Watling and his men, alarmed by the apparition -of three Spanish ships, slipped their cable and sailed away, and all -that he had with him at the time consisted of a gun and a knife, a -small horn of powder, and a handful of shot. Afterwards, by notching -his knife to the condition of a saw, he contrived to cut the barrel of -his gun into pieces, out of which he manufactured harpoons, lances, -hooks, and a long knife. He was thus enabled to provide himself with -food, such as flesh of goats, fish, etc. He built himself a hut a -short distance from the sea, and lined it with goat-skins. His apparel -consisted of a skin wrapped about his waist. There was another Mosquito -Indian amongst the buccaneers, a man named Robin, who was the first -to leap ashore to greet his brother black. Dampier tells us that -first Robin threw himself flat on his face at the feet of the other, -who, helping him up and embracing him, fell flat on the ground at -Robin's feet, and was by him taken up also. “We stood,” he says, “with -pleasure to behold the surprise and tenderness and solemnity of this -Interview, which was exceedingly affectionate on both Sides; and when -their ceremonies of civility were over, we also, who stood gazing at -them, drew near, each of us embracing him we had found here, who was -overjoyed to see so many of his old friends come hither, as he thought, -purposely to fetch him.” - -They sailed from Juan Fernandez on April 8th, still in company with -Eaton's ship. During the month of May they captured several vessels, -in one of which, besides a quantity of marmalade, they found a stately -and handsome mule designed as a gift for the President of Panama, -and an immense wooden image of the Virgin Mary. They were, however, -unfortunate enough to miss what would have better pleased them than -mules and images; for when this ship started from Lima she had eight -hundred thousand dollars on board, but on her arrival at Guanchaco news -of a privateersman then hovering off the port of Valdivia came to the -ears of the merchants, who thereupon instantly removed every stiver out -of the vessel. - -The recital, even in an abbreviated form, of the adventures of these -buccaneers upon the Western American seaboard would make a book of -nearly half the thickness of Dampier's first volume. As a mere journal -of exploits perhaps the narrative grows after a while a little tedious. -One sea-fight is like another; the assaults by land lead to nothing; -the prizes captured at sea are insignificant. Yet Dampier's page -continues to charm us by the vivacity of his descriptions of coasts, of -storms, of the corposant, of the turtle, and by a hundred unlaboured -and unconscious felicities of phrase. - -When off Cape Blanco Captain Cooke died. He was ill when at Juan -Fernandez, and continued so till within two or three leagues of the -Cape, when he suddenly expired, though Dampier tells us he seemed that -morning to be as likely to live as he had been some weeks before; “But -it is usual for sick Men coming from the Sea, where they have nothing -but the Sea-Air, to die off as soon as ever they come within view of -the Land.” - -The command devolved upon Edward Davis, the quartermaster of the -ship. Cooke's body was taken ashore, and whilst some of the crew were -burying it three Indians approached, believing the men to be Spaniards, -and were made prisoners, though one of them shortly after escaped. -The others told the buccaneers of a farm where there was plenty of -cattle to be had; and the attempt to steal the bullocks is marked by -one of those incidents which convey a fuller idea of the resolved and -desperate character of the freebooters, their perils, expedients, -and astonishing escapes, than could be communicated by volumes of -descriptions of their battles by sea and attacks by land. Twelve men -slept ashore, intending when the morning came to drive the bulls and -cows which were feeding in the savannas down to the beach; but when the -afternoon of the next day arrived they were still ashore, and their -shipmates aboard the vessel growing uneasy, ten men were sent in a boat -to see what had become of them. On entering the bay they observed the -twelve fellows on a small rock half a mile from the shore standing -in water to above their waists. It seems that, having slept through -the night, they had risen betimes to catch the cattle, when they were -suddenly surprised by forty or fifty armed Spaniards. The privateersmen -drew together in a body, and retreated without disorder or confusion -to the beach, but on arriving there they found their boat, which they -had dragged out of the water, in flames. The Spaniards now made sure -of them, and being numerous, ventured upon several sneers and scoffs -before attacking them, asking them, for instance, if they would be so -good as to do them the honour to walk to their plantation and steal -their cattle and take whatever else they had a mind to, and so forth; -to all which menacing and savagely deriding flouts the buccaneers -answered never a word. The tide was at half-ebb; a privateersman -catching sight of a rock a good distance from the shore, just then -showing its head above water, whispered to the others that it would -be as good as a castle to them if they could get there. Meanwhile the -Spaniards were beginning to whistle a shot amongst them now and then. -One of the tallest of the buccaneers waded into the water to try if the -distance to the rock could be forded. The depth proved nowhere great; -so the twelve marched over to the little distant stronghold, and there -remained till their shipmates came for them. They stood about seven -hours in all, and must have perished had the boat not then arrived, for -the water was flowing, and the tide thereabouts rose to eight feet. The -enemy watched them from the shore, but always from behind the bushes, -where they had first planted themselves. “The _Spaniards_,” says -Dampier contemptuously, “in these parts are very expert in heaving -or darting the Lance; with which upon occasion they will do great -Feats, especially in Ambuscades: And by their good Will they care not -for fighting otherwise, but content themselves with standing a loof, -threatening and calling Names, at which they are as expert as the -other; so that if their Tongues be quiet we always take it for granted -they have laid some Ambush.” - -Not very long after this Captain Davis and Captain Eaton separated, -bringing the date to the second day of September 1684, and on the 24th -Dampier's ship arrived at La Plata and anchored. Whilst lying at this -island the privateers were joined by Captain Swan in a vessel named the -_Cygnet_. This ship had been freighted by certain London merchants for -honourable traffic with the Spaniards in the South Seas, but when she -was at Nicoya there arrived a troop of privateersmen from overland, -and Swan's men, bringing the pirates aboard, forced their captain to -go a-buccaneering. That Swan was as reluctant to oblige them as he -afterwards represented himself to have been to Dampier, is possible; it -is certain, however, that on meeting with Davis he threw most of the -goods he had been freighted to trade with overboard, that his ship, -by being “clear,” as it is called, might be the fitter to fight and -chase. He seems to have been a man of some foresight. Anticipating -a time when there might happen such a scarcity of provisions as to -force them out of those seas, he taught his men not only to eat, but -actually to relish the oily, salt, and rancid flesh of penguins and -boobys. “He would commend it,” says Dampier, “for extraordinary good -food, comparing the seal to a roasting pig, the boobys to hens, and the -penguins to ducks.” - -The only land-attack of consequence was the attempt on Guayaquil by -Swan and Davis. It was badly concerted and half-heartedly undertaken. -They landed at about two miles from the town, and being unable to push -their way through the tangled growths by night, sat down to wait for -daylight. An Indian, who offered to pilot them, was attached to one -of Davis's men by a string. The privateersman losing heart, secretly -cut the string, and, when the guide had gone some distance, bawled out -that the Indian was off and that somebody had cut the cord! What there -was in this to terrify the others is not easily seen, but it is true, -nevertheless, that their consternation was so great, not a man would -venture a step farther. It was not long before they returned to their -ship, and so ended their attempt on Guayaquil. The only material issue -of this cheap adventure was their capture of three vessels, on board of -which were no less than one thousand negroes,—“all lusty young men and -women,” says Dampier, who laments that they did not convey the whole -of them to the Isthmus of Panama, and employ them in digging for gold -in the mines at Santa Maria. His idea might seem full of promise to -him, but it takes another complexion when examined by the light of the -experience of the twelve hundred men who embarked at Leith for Darien -on July 26th, 1698. - -On December 23rd, 1684, they sailed for the Bay of Panama, and nine -days later, whilst proceeding from Tomaco towards Gallo, one of their -canoes captured a pacquet-boat sailing from Panama to Lima. The -Spaniards buoyed the bag of letters and threw it overboard, but it -was picked up by the buccaneers, who gathered from the despatches -that the President of Panama had sent the mail-boat they had seized to -hasten the sailing of the Plate Fleet from Lima. Dampier says that the -privateersmen “were very joyful of this news,” which is intelligible -enough when we consider that the King of Spain's treasure alone on -board this fleet was commonly valued at twenty-four millions of -dollars, whilst the worth of the galleons was still further increased -by their carrying a vast amount in what was termed merchants' money, -besides rich commodities of all sorts. It was at once settled that the -buccaneers should intercept this fleet. They were in number now two -vessels and three barks, and on February 14th, 1685, having finished -the business of careening, cleaning, and watering their craft, they -stood away for the Bay of Panama. Whilst they lay off the Island of -Tobago they were nearly destroyed by a singular stratagem. A man -feigning to be a merchant came to them from Panama. He professed to act -as by stealth, in which the buccaneers found no cause for suspicion, -for it was common enough for Spanish merchants to traffic privately -with them, notwithstanding the prohibition of the governors. It was -arranged that this merchant should fill his vessel with goods, and -bring her by night to the English, who were to shift their berth to -receive her. He came, but with a fire-ship instead of a cargo-boat, -and approaching the English close, hailed them with the watchword that -had been settled upon. The privateers growing suspicious, ordered the -vessel to bring to, and on her not doing so, fired into her. Her crew -instantly jumped into their boats, after firing the ship, which blew -up and burnt close alongside of the privateersmen, “so that,” says -Dampier, “we were forced to cut our cables in all haste, and scamper -away as well as we could.” Swan was also imperilled by another Spanish -device. His ship lay about a mile distant, with a canoe made fast to -his anchor-buoy. Just as the fire-ship blew up, Swan noticed something -floating on the water close aboard of him. He peered, and discerned -a man upon it softly paddling the contrivance towards his vessel. -Probably the fellow suspected he was discovered, for he suddenly dived -and disappeared. - -Nothing particular happened till the 24th, when, being again at anchor -off the Island of Tobago, about eighteen miles south of the city of -Panama, they observed a number of canoes filled with men. They kept -still, watching them the while; then lifting their anchors, approached -and hailed them. They proved to be English and French privateers -who had marched across the Isthmus; two hundred French and eighty -Englishmen distributed amongst twenty-eight canoes under the command of -Captain Grognet and Captain Lequie. These men stated that there still -remained on the Isthmus at least one hundred and eighty Englishmen, -commanded by Captain Townley, who when last heard of were busily -employed in the construction of canoes to convey them to the South Sea. -All the English of the party were immediately taken into the service -of Captain Davis and Captain Swan, whilst one of the prizes was given -to the Frenchmen. They were now a strong company of men. First of all -there was Captain Davis in his ship of thirty-six guns, with a crew of -one hundred and fifty-six determined rogues, chiefly English; Captain -Swan, sixteen guns and one hundred and forty men, all English; Captain -Townley, one hundred and ten men; Captain Grognet, three hundred -and eight men, all French; Captain Harris, one hundred men, chiefly -English; Captain Branly, thirty-six men; besides three barks serving -as tenders, and a small bark for a fire-ship—in all, nine hundred and -sixty men. Formidable as this force looks, however, on paper, there -were but two of the vessels—namely, Swan's and Davis's—which mounted -guns. The rest had only small arms. On the 28th the Spanish fleet hove -in sight: fourteen sail, besides periaguas rowing twelve and fourteen -oars apiece. The admiral's ship carried forty-eight guns and four -hundred and fifty men; the vice-admiral, forty guns and four hundred -and fifty men; the others were only a little less powerfully armed and -manned. Here we have the materials of a terrible fight, and we look -with confidence to the buccaneers for a glorious victory. But never was -failure completer. Nothing was done till the afternoon had darkened -into evening, and then a few shots were exchanged. When the night -came down the Spaniards anchored, and the buccaneers observed a light -flaming in the admiral's top. It remained stationary for half an hour -and was then extinguished. Soon afterwards it was again exposed, and -the buccaneers, believing it to be still aboard the admiral, flattered -themselves with having the weather-gage. But when the morning broke -they found, to their disgust, that this light had been a stratagem, and -that they were to leeward. The Spaniards sighting them, immediately -bore down under a press of sail, and the buccaneers ran for it. “Thus,” -says Dampier, “ended this day's work, and with it all that we had been -projecting for five or six months; when instead of making ourselves -masters of the Spanish fleet and treasure, we were glad to escape -them; and owed that too in a great measure to their want of courage to -pursue their advantage.” He adds that the failure was largely owing to -the cowardice of Captain Grognet and his men, whose only part in the -manœuvring was running away.[12] - -The buccaneers were now growing disheartened by their ill-luck. -On August 25th, 1685, Davis and Swan separated, and Dampier, who -had heretofore served under Davis, joined Swan, not, as he assures -us, from any dislike of his old captain, but because he understood -that it was Swan's intention before long to go to the East Indies, -“which,” he exclaims, “was a way very agreeable to my inclination.” -It was not, however, until March 1st, 1686, that they took leave of -the Mexican coast and started on that voyage which led to Dampier's -circumnavigation of the globe. They went in two ships, one commanded -by Swan, and the other by a man named Teat. In number they were one -hundred and fifty men—one hundred aboard Swan, and fifty, exclusive -of some slaves, in the other vessel. Their start was for Guam, one -of the Ladrone Islands, and the vagueness and uncertainty of the -navigation of those days finds a singular illustration in Dampier's -surmise as to the actual distance between Cape Corrientes and their -destination. He tells us that the Spaniards reckoned the distance about -two thousand three hundred and fifty leagues, whereas the English -calculations reduced it to less than two thousand leagues. The truth -being unknown to the crews, they entered upon the voyage with something -of that despondency and apprehension which the mariners of Columbus -felt after they had lost sight of land. The hope of plunder heartened -them somewhat, for Swan talked to them of the Acapulco ship and of a -profitable cruise off the Philippines; but in sober truth with but -little conscience in his assurances and exhortations, for the man had -long since grown sick of privateering, and his main object in sailing -for the East Indies was the desire to find an opportunity to escape -from a calling which he was honest enough to consider dishonourable. - -They sighted Guam on May 20th, 1686, and it was fortunate both for -Swan and Dampier that the land hove in sight when it did, for they had -scarcely enough provisions to last them another three days; and Dampier -declares, “I was afterwards informed the Men had contrived first to -kill Captain Swan and eat him when the Victuals was gone, and after -him all of us who were accessary in promoting the undertaking of this -Voyage. This made Captain Swan say to me after our arrival at Guam, -_Ah!_ Dampier, _you would have made them but a poor Meal_, for I was -as Lean as the Captain was lusty and fleshy.” Dampier's chapters are -now wholly made up of description. He is copious in his accounts of the -natives, of the cocoa-nut, the lime-tree, and the bread-fruit; and then -carrying us on to Mindanao, he fills many pages with lively remarks on -the trade of the Dutch, the climate, winds, tornadoes, and rains. It -is manifest throughout that he is very unsettled, without any scheme -of life, without a ghost of an idea as regards his future. He waits -patiently but with a vigilant eye upon fortune, and is ready to address -himself to any adventure, no matter how slender of promise. Just as -he would have carried the thousand negroes to Darien to dig gold for -himself and his associates, so whilst at the Philippines would he have -been glad to settle down among the Mindanayans. There were sawyers, he -tells us, carpenters, brickmakers, shoemakers, tailors, and the like, -amongst the men, who were also well provided with all sorts of tools. -They had a good ship, too, and he conceives that had they established -themselves in that island they might have ended as a very flourishing -and wealthy community. But his schemes served no other purpose than -to enable him to digress in his narrative when he came to relate his -adventures. - -The ship lay so long at Mindanao that the men grew weary and mutinous; -some of them ran away into the country, others purchased a canoe -designing to proceed to Borneo. Those of the ship's company who had -money lived ashore, but there were many (Dampier amongst them) who were -without a halfpenny, and who were therefore obliged to remain on board -and subsist on the wretched stores of the vessel. These fellows became -very troublesome; they stole iron out of the ship and exchanged it for -spirits and honey, of which they made punch, so that there was a great -deal of drunkenness and ill-blood amongst them. Finding that Swan paid -no heed to their request that he would start on further adventures, -and discovering certain entries in the captain's journal which greatly -incensed them, they resolved to run away with the ship; a threat there -is every reason to suppose Swan secretly wished them to carry out. He -knew that the crew were bent on piracy, and that their next step must -prove nothing but another buccaneering cruise. He had previously told -Dampier that he was forced into this business by his people, and that -he only sought or awaited an opportunity to escape from it, adding -bitterly, “That there was no Prince on Earth able to wipe off the stain -of such Actions.” He was apprised of his men's design, but does not -appear to have lifted a finger to hinder them. On January 14th, 1687, -early in the morning, Dampier being on board, the crew weighed anchor -and fired a gun, being yet willing to receive Captain Swan and others -of their shipmates who were on shore. No answer was returned, whereupon -without further ado they filled their topsails and started, leaving the -commander and thirty-six men behind them. - -The subsequent fate of Swan and his men is worth a brief reference. -They remained for some considerable time on the island, and then some -of them managed to obtain a passage to Batavia. Captain Swan and -his surgeon, whilst rowing to a Dutch ship that was to convey them -to Europe, were overset in their canoe by some natives, who stabbed -them whilst they were swimming for their lives. Others of the men who -remained at Mindanao were poisoned. - -By this time Dampier was as heartily weary as ever Swan had been of the -voyage, if not of privateering, and waited for a chance to give his -comrades the slip. Meanwhile the vessel, after cruising off Manila, -where they took a couple of Spanish craft, proceeded from one island -to another, from one port to another, until, the monsoon being close -at hand, they decided to skirt the Philippine Islands, and, heading -southwards towards what was then known as the Spice Islands, enter -the Indian Ocean by way of Timor. The object of all this roundabout -navigation is not very plain. Dampier asserts that the crew were -in great fear of meeting with English or Dutch ships; still it is -difficult to understand their motive in straying so wide afield from -the common maritime highways of that period. They were now on the -Australian parallels, in the shadow of a world lying dark upon the -face of the ocean. As privateersmen they had little to hope or expect -from pushing into regions full of mystery and peril. Dampier says that -being clear of the islands they stood off south, intending to touch -at New Holland “to see what that country would afford us.” One would -wish for his dignity as a navigator that he had avowed, on his own -part at least, a higher motive for the exploration. It does not seem -to enter his head, at this point of his career at all events, that -the discovery of the true character and area of the Terra Australis -Incognita might bring to the marine explorer of its rocky coasts -honours scarcely less glorious, renown certainly not less enduring, -than were won by the mightiest of the old navigators. It is proper to -remember, however, that Dampier was but a common sailor in this ship -that had been run away with, and that his expectations, and perhaps -his ambition, scarcely rose above those of a privateersman; though how -far he resembled his shipmates in other directions we may gather from -his narrative, which he builds wholly upon the journal he faithfully -kept throughout; never remitting his strict practice of laborious -observation whether in storm or in shine, whether amidst the bustle and -activity of a chase, or the languor and listlessness of a long spell of -tropical calm. - -“New Holland,” he says, “is a very large tract of land. It is not -yet determined whether it is an island or a main continent; but I am -certain that it joyns neither to Africa, Asia, or America.” Why he is -certain he does not tell us, but he is too sagacious to err, though -whilst he thus thinks, all that he sees of the vast territory is “low -land with sandy banks against the sea.” He devotes several pages to -descriptions of the natives, telling us that they have no houses, that -they go armed with a piece of wood shaped like a cutlass, that their -speech is guttural, that in consequence of the flies which tease and -sting their faces, they keep their eyelids half closed; and so forth. -One extract from several pages of most admirable, quaint description -will, I trust, be permitted. - -“After we had been here a little while, the Men began to be familiar, -and we cloathed some of them, designing to have had some service from -them for it: for we found some Wells of Water here, and intended to -carry 2 or 3 barrels of it aboard. But it being somewhat troublesome to -carry to the Canaos, we thought to have made these men to have carry'd -it for us, and therefore we gave them some Cloathes; to one an old -pair of Breeches, to another a ragged Shirt, to a third a Jacket that -was scarce worth owning; which yet would have been very acceptable at -some places where we had been, and so we thought they might have been -with these People. We put them on, thinking that this finery would have -brought them to work heartily for us; and our Water being filled in -small long Barrels, about 6 gallons in each, which were made purposely -to carry Water in, we brought these our new Servants to the Wells, and -put a Barrel on each of their Shoulders for them to carry to the Canao. -But all the signs we could make were to no purpose, for they stood like -Statues, without motion, but grinn'd like so many monkeys, staring one -upon another: For these poor Creatures seem'd not accustomed to carry -Burdens: and I believe that one of our Ship Boys of 10 Years old, would -carry as much as one of them. So we were forced to carry our Water -ourselves; and they very fairly put the Cloaths off again, and laid -them down, as if the Cloaths were only to work in. I did not perceive -that they had any liking to them at first; neither did they seem to -admire anything that we had.” - -To the part of New Holland these privateers touched at they gave no -name. Dampier speaks of the latitude of it being 16° 50', but his -reckonings are not to be trusted. To judge by the tracings of the map -of this portion of the world in his first volume, the coast which they -first sighted was that of North Australia, and they probably anchored -off either Bathurst or Melville Island. Be this as it may, they did -not linger long. Dampier endeavoured to persuade the men to sail to -some English factory, but in return for his advice they threatened to -leave him ashore on the sands of New Holland, “which,” says he, “made -me desist.” They soon saw as much of Terra Incognita as satisfied -them, and on March 12th, 1688, they weighed with the wind at north -north-west and steered their ship northwards. They arrived at Nicobar -on May 5th, and here Dampier resolved to leave the vessel. Obtaining -leave to go ashore, he was landed on the sandy beach of a small bay -where stood two untenanted houses; but he had not enjoyed an hour of -liberty when some armed men came from the ship to fetch him aboard -again. Resistance was as idle as entreaties, and he was forced to -return; but on his arrival he found the vessel in an uproar. Others, -taking courage by his example, had also determined to leave the ship. -Amongst them was the surgeon. This man the captain flatly refused to -part with, and the hubbub was great. All this confusion and quarrelling -seems to have helped Dampier, for, after a deal of squabbling, we find -him and two others obtaining permission to quit the ship. They were -put ashore with their effects, and entering one of the unoccupied -houses, hung up their hammocks to prepare for the night. Presently more -men arrived, and they were now numerous enough to protect themselves -against the natives. It was a fine clear, moonlight night, and the -little company of buccaneers walked down to the beach to wait until the -ship should weigh and be gone, fearing their liberty whilst she stayed. -At twelve o'clock they heard her getting her anchor and making sail, -and presently she was gliding slowly and silently seawards, glistening -white against the ocean darkness to the rays of the high moon. - -Next day Dampier and his associates purchased a canoe, and passed over -to the south end of the island, where they victualled their little -boat with fruit loaves, cocoa-nuts, and fresh water, so that when the -monsoon came on to blow they might be in readiness to sail for Acheen. -It is consistent that a man who had traversed on foot the dangerous -and poisonous Isthmus of Panama should parallel that accomplishment -by a remarkable boat-voyage. The craft was a canoe of the size of a -London wherry, deeper but not so broad, sharp after the whaling pattern -at both ends, and so thin and light that when empty four men could -lift her. She carried a mat-sail, and outriggers to prevent her from -capsizing. In this little ark Dampier and his shipmates embarked—eight -men, four of whom were Malays—and started for Acheen on May 15th, 1688. -The breezes were light, the atmosphere sultry. Sometimes they rowed, -sometimes left the sail to do its work, but at the end of two days, to -their great mortification, they found the Island of Nicobar still in -sight a little over twenty miles distant. On the 18th they remarked -a great circle round the sun, an appearance that caused Dampier to -suppose that bad weather was at hand. His foreboding was true; wind and -sea rose, and but for the outriggers the canoe must have been swamped. -Still the gale freshened, and there was nothing for it but to scud. -There occurs here a characteristic passage. It reads like an extract -from _Robinson Crusoe_, and nothing in all Dampier so conclusively -proves the source whence Defoe drew the colours which he employed in -the composition of his chief and most engaging work. - -“The Evening of this 18th day was very dismal. The Sky looked very -black, being covered with dark Clouds, the Wind blew very hard, and -the Seas ran very high. The Sea was already roaring in a white foam -about us; a dark night coming on and no Land in sight to shelter us, -and our little Ark in danger to be swallowed by every Wave; and what -was worse for us all, none of us thought ourselves prepared for another -World. The Reader may better guess, than I can express, the Confusion -that we were all in. I have been in many eminent Dangers before now, -some of which I have already related, but the worst of them all was -but a Play-Game in comparison with this. I must confess that I was in -great Conflicts of Mind at this time. Other Dangers came not upon me -with such a leisurely and dreadful Solemnity: A Sudden Skirmish or -Engagement, or so, was nothing when one's Blood was up, and push'd -forward with eager expectations. But here I had a lingering view of -approaching Death, and little or no hopes of escaping it; and I must -confess that my Courage which I had hitherto kept up, failed me here; -and I made very sad Reflections on my former life; and looked back -with Horrour and Detestation on actions which before I disliked, but -now I trembled at the remembrance of. I had long before this repented -me of that roving course of my life, of which kind, I believe, few Men -have met with the like. For all these I returned Thanks in a peculiar -manner, and this once more desir'd God's assistance, and Composed my -Mind as well as I could, in the hopes of it, and as the Event shew'd, I -was not disappointed of my hopes.” - -But Dampier was a thoroughbred seaman. The canoe was superbly handled, -and after a terrible time of violent storms the low land of Sumatra was -descried on the morning of the 20th. Fever-stricken by the excessive -hardships and fatigues they had endured, insomuch that they were -too weak to stand up in their canoe, our adventurers drifted into a -river, and were supported by some natives to an adjacent village. -Here Dampier stayed for ten or twelve days in the hope of recovering -his health, but finding that he did not improve, he made his way to -Acheen, where he was so dosed by a Malay doctor that he came very near -to expiring. On regaining his health, he entered with Captain Weldon -of the ship _Curtana_ for a voyage to Tonquin. The first part of his -second volume is devoted to a description of his travels in Tonquin, -Acheen, Malacca, and other places.[13] There is but little narrative, -nevertheless the work is singularly interesting, and as literally -accurate as a Chinese painting. - -Dampier was very willing to accept Captain Weldon's offer of this -voyage, as the vessel carried a surgeon whose advice he was in great -need of. Moreover Weldon promised to purchase a sloop at Tonquin and -make him master of her for a trading voyage to Cochin China. Nothing -noteworthy marked their passage. On their arrival at the Bay of Tonquin -they navigated the ship about twenty miles up the river and anchored. -The chief markets and trade of the country were then at Cachao, a -city eighty miles distant from the highest point at which the river -is navigable by vessels of burthen. Dampier, in company with the -captains of other ships, proceeded in large boats towards Cachao. -It was scarcely more than a jaunt for our hero, whose main business -in going the journey was to talk over the proposed voyage to Cochin -China with the chief of the English factory. Dampier remained for a -week with the Englishmen at the factory, and then returned to his own -ship, “where,” says he, “I lay on board for a great while, and sickly -for the most part; yet not so but that I took a boat and went ashoar -one where or other almost every day.” The result of this intrepid -observation is a full and interesting account of Tonquin, the habits -and customs of the people, their attire, sports, punishments, religion, -and literature. His health hindered him from several undertakings which -he might have pursued with advantage. For example, rice being dear at -Cachao, Weldon hired a vessel to procure that commodity at adjacent -places to supply the markets. It was a speculation by which Dampier -might have got money, but he was too ill to bear a part in it. He lay -five or six weeks in a miserable condition, then flattered himself -that he was sufficiently recovered to go on a walking tour through -the country. To this end he hired a native guide, who charged him a -dollar for his services, “which,” he says, “tho' but a small matter, -was a great deal out of my Pocket, who had not above 2 Dollars in all, -which I had gotten on board by teaching some of our young Seamen Plain -Sailing.” He started about the end of November 1688, and the proverbial -heedlessness of the seaman is not less suggested by his poverty than by -his resolution to attempt such a trip as this. He has but a dollar in -his pocket with which not only to bear his own but his guide's charges, -and yet he is fully aware that his weakness is bound to increase the -cost of his travels by obliging him to proceed by short stages. He says -he was weary of lying still and impatient to see something that might -further gratify his curiosity. They took the east side of the river, -and trudged along mutely enough, as we may suppose, since the guide -could not speak a word of English, whilst Dampier did not understand -a syllable of Tonquinese. At the villages they arrived at they were -sufficiently fortunate to procure rooms to sleep in and a couch of -split bamboos to lie on. The people treated Dampier very civilly; they -cooked his repasts of rice for him, and lent him whatever they had -that was serviceable to him. His practice was to ramble about all day, -and return to his lodging when it was too dark to see anything more. -His luggage was small—limited to what he terms a “sea-gown,” which his -guide carried, and which served him as a blanket at night, whilst his -pillow was often a log of wood. “But,” he says, “I slept very well, -though the weakness of my body did now require better accommodation.” - -On the afternoon of the third day of his travels he arrived in view of -a small wooden tower such as the Tonquinese erect as funeral pyres to -persons of distinction. He had never seen such a thing before, and as -his guide could not talk to him, he continued ignorant of its meaning. -There was a crowd of men and boys near it, and he also noticed a number -of stalls covered with meat and fruit. He very naturally concluded that -it was a market-place, and entered the crowd partly with the intention -of inspecting the tower, and partly with the idea of purchasing a dish -of meat for his supper. After satisfying his curiosity he approached -the stalls and laid hold of a joint of meat, motioning to a person -whom he supposed was the salesman to cut off a piece that should weigh -two or three pounds. In an instant the crowd fell upon him. They -struck out at him right and left, tore his clothes and ran away with -his hat. The guide, shrieking unintelligible protests and apologies, -dragged Dampier away, but they were followed for some distance by a -number of surly-looking fellows whose cries and gesticulations were -full of menace. It was not until long afterwards that Dampier gathered -the meaning of all this; when he was informed that what he had taken -to be a market was a funeral feast, and that the tower was a tomb -which was to be consumed along with the body in it after the feast was -over. “This,” says he, “was the only Funeral Feast that ever I was at -amongst them, and they gave me cause to remember it: but this was the -worst usage I received from any of them all the time that I was in the -Country.” - -Two days later he arrived at a town called Hean, where he was received -in a very friendly manner by a priest attached to the French bishop; -this place, it seems, being the headquarters of the missionaries. After -some conversation the priest inquired if any of the English ships would -sell him some gunpowder. Dampier answered that he believed none of them -had powder to spare. The father then inquired if he knew how gunpowder -was made. On Dampier answering in the affirmative he begged him to -try his hand. The priest had all the ingredients with the necessary -machinery for mixing them, so after drinking a few glasses of wine -Dampier went to work. “The priest,” he says, “brought me Sulphur and -Salt-Peter, and I weighed a portion of each of these, and of Coals I -gathered up in the Hearth and beat to powder. While his man mixed these -in a little Engine, I made a small Sieve of Parchment, which I pricked -full of holes with a small Iron made hot, and this was to corn it. -When it was dry we proved it, and it answered our expectation.” There -is something not a little odd and impressive in this picture of the -buccaneer manufacturing gunpowder at the request of a holy father, who -watches him with the utmost anxiety as if he were sensible that the -propagation of his faith amongst the mustard-coloured masses of Tonquin -must depend a good deal upon the success of Dampier's experiment. It -was fish-day at the palace, but the priest was so well pleased with -Dampier and his gunpowder and his conversation that he ordered a fowl -to be broiled for his dinner, and when the night came procured a -lodging for him in a house kept by a Tonquinese Christian hard by. - -Next morning Dampier dismissed his guide and started for Cachao by -water. He describes the boat as of the size of a Gravesend wherry, -with a kind of awning to shelter the passengers when it rained. The -sailors rowed all night, turn and turn about. At midnight everybody -went ashore to sup at some houses by the river-side; the owners of -which waited for them with lighted candles, arrack, and tea, dishes -of meat and other provisions ready cooked. Here they stayed an hour, -then entered the boat afresh and pushed onwards. The passengers were a -merry lot. They laughed incessantly and sang heartily, though Dampier -says their singing resembled the noise of people crying. Ignorant of -the language, he sat mute amongst these jolly travellers. Next morning -he was put ashore a few miles short of Cachao. There was a good path, -and stepping out briskly he entered the city by noon. He immediately -repaired to the house of an English merchant with whom Captain Weldon -lodged, and stayed with him a few days, but he was so enfeebled by a -wasting disorder which had fastened upon him that he was scarcely able -to crawl about. His illness was exasperated by disappointment, for -he now discovered that he had made his walking journey only to learn -that Weldon had abandoned his scheme to purchase a sloop to trade to -Cochin China. The moment he felt strong enough to travel he returned -to his ship, and Captain Weldon shortly afterwards joining the vessel, -they weighed anchor and sailed from Tonquin. It was now February, -1689. Nothing of moment happened during the passage to the Straits -of Malacca. The ship arrived at Acheen about the beginning of March, -where Dampier took leave of Weldon and went ashore. He gives in this -volume of his travels a long and interesting account of Acheen, and in -describing the soil of the country prints the following brief passage -of recollection. “The Champion Land, such as I have seen, is some -black, some grey, some reddish, and all of a deep mold. But to be very -particular in these things, especially in my Travels, is more than I -can pretend to, tho' it may be I took as much notice of the difference -of Soil as I met with it as most Travellers have done, having been bred -in my youth in _Somersetshire_, at a place called _East Coker_, near -_Yeovil_ or _Evil_: in which Parish there is a great variety of Soil -as I have ordinarily met with anywhere, _viz._ black, red, yellow, -sandy, stony, clay, morass, or swampy, etc. I had the more reason to -take notice of this, because this Village in a great measure is Let -out in small Leases for Lives of 20, 30, 40 or 50 Pound _per Ann._, -under Coll. _Helliar_, the Lord of the Mannor: and most, if not all -these Tenants, had their own Land scattered in small pieces up and down -several sorts of Land in the Parish; so that every one had piece of -every sort of Land, his Black ground, his Sandy, Clay, and some of 20, -30, or 40 Shillings an Acre. My Mother, being possest of one of these -Leases, and having all these sorts of Land, I came acquainted with them -all, and knew what each sort would produce (_viz._) Wheat, Barley, -Maslin, Rice, Beans, Peas, Oats, Fetches, Flax, or Hemp: in all which I -had a more than useful knowledge for one so young, taking a particular -delight in observing it.” Vague as is this reference to his shore-going -life, it is the only passage of the kind that I have met in his books, -and for this reason therefore I reproduce it at length. - -Whilst he was at Acheen some of the people rebelled against the choice -that had been made of a queen. Dampier, with others, hastened to take -shelter in the ships in the road, fearing that if the rebels obtained -the upper hand they would imprison him. He had indeed good cause -to dread the effects of a prison upon his constitution, shaken and -almost shattered as it was by long illness. There were two vessels at -anchor, one of them fresh from England and short of provisions. He in -consequence boarded the other, whose stores were tolerably plentiful, -but she was so crowded with cargo that he could not find space to -swing his hammock in; and as repose was absolutely essential to him, -he carried his bed into the boat that had brought him off and lay in -her for three or four days, fed by the people of the ship. He could -obtain no rest. There happened a total eclipse of the moon, at which -he gazed from the bottom of his boat, but he says: “I was so little -curious that I remembered not so much as what Day of the Month it was, -and I kept no journal of this Voyage as I did of my other; but only -kept an account of several particular Remarks and Observations as they -occurred to me.” When the disturbance ashore was quieted he returned -to his lodging, and learning that the natives regarded the water of -their river as charged with medicinal virtues, he determined to bathe -in it, and after a few baths was so much benefited that he was able -to get about again. In May, 1689, he took charge of a sloop that had -been purchased by one Captain Tyler; but when the craft was loaded, the -owner changed his mind and gave the command to a man named Minchin, -who offered Dampier the post of mate. “I was forced to submit,” he -says bitterly, “and accepted a Mate's employ under Captain Minchin.” -They sailed in the middle of September for Malacca, at which place -some of the people left Minchin to join another vessel that had been -in company, so that Dampier and the captain were the only two white -sailors on board. Shortly after starting they carried away their -foreyard and brought up off a small island owned by the Dutch. Dampier -called upon the governor to request his permission to cut down a tree. -Our hero, as an old Campeché man, was not likely to be at a loss; and -leaving the tree ready to be carried to the ship, he returned to the -fort, dined with the governor, and then went aboard. Shortly afterwards -his captain, together with a passenger and his wife, came ashore. The -fare of the fort was exceedingly meagre, and the governor, to entertain -his guests, sent a boat to catch a dish of fish. The fish, on being -cooked, was served in dishes of solid silver, and eaten from plates of -the same metal; whilst in the centre of the table was placed a great -silver bowl full of punch. It was to prove but little better than a -Barmecide's feast. The governor, his guests, and several officers -attached to the fort seated themselves, but as they were about to begin -a soldier outside roared, “The Malays!” The governor, starting from -his chair, leapt out of one of the windows, the officers followed, and -all was consternation and uproar. “Every one of them,” says Dampier, -“took the nearest way, some out of the Windows, others out of the -Doors, leaving the three Guests by themselves, who soon followed with -all the haste they could make, without knowing the meaning of this -sudden consternation of the Governor and his people.” All being in -the fort, the door was bolted, and several volleys fired to let the -Malays know that the Dutch were in readiness for them. The alarm was -real enough. A large Malay canoe, filled with men armed to the teeth, -had been noticed skulking under the island close to the shore. The -captain and the passengers hastened on board, the vessel's guns were -loaded and primed for service, and a bright look-out kept all night. -Dampier, however, was not very much frightened. It rained heavily, and -he knew from experience that the Malays seldom or never made any attack -in wet weather. Next morning nothing was to be seen of the enemy, and -having rigged up the foreyard, Dampier and his companions set sail -for Acheen. Here he was seized with a fever, which confined him to -his bed for a fortnight. On regaining his health he returned to the -vessel with orders to take charge of her, and on New Year's Day, 1690, -sailed for Fort St. George with a cargo of pepper and other produce. -His description of Madras as it then showed, now two hundred years ago, -is interesting. “I was much pleased,” he says, “with the beautiful -prospect this Place makes off at Sea. For it stands in a plain Sandy -spot of Ground, close by the shore, the Sea sometimes washing its -Walls; which are of Stone and high, with Half-Moons and Flankers and -a great many Guns mounted on the Battlements: so that what with the -Walls and fine buildings within the Fort, the large town of _Maderas_ -without it, the Pyramids of the English Tombs, Houses, and Gardens -adjacent, and the variety of fine Trees scatter'd up and down, it makes -as agreeable a Landskip as I have anywhere seen.” He tells us that he -stayed at this place for some months, where he met with a Mr. Moody, -who had purchased what Dampier calls a painted prince named Jeoly. Then -in July he sailed with a Captain Howel for Sumatra. - -He arrived at Acheen in April, 1689, and afterwards obtained a berth -as gunner at Bencoolen, then an English factory. After some further -adventures of no importance, we find him again gunner of the fort at -Bencoolen, at a salary of twenty-four dollars a month. But it was not -long before he grew dissatisfied with the conduct of the governor, -and asked to be released. He was also eager to return to England. -First of all he had been a long time absent from his native country, -and next, he was in possession of the painted prince whom Mr. Moody -had purchased at Mindanao for sixty dollars, and he expected on his -return to England to make a good deal of money by exhibiting this -unhappy black, of whose tatooings he gives a very minute account. It -seems strange that such a man as Dampier should have been unable to -hit upon a better way of gaining a livelihood than by proposing to -turn showman in his own country, with nothing better to exhibit than -a poor, miserable black man, whose only wonder lay in having rings -and bracelets, crosses, and a variety of unmeaning flourishes pricked -into his skin. The governor was, however, by no means willing to let -him go, and Dampier at last was obliged to obtain by a stratagem -what was denied him as a right. On January 2nd, 1691, a ship named -the _Defence_, bound for England, dropped anchor in Bencoolen Road. -Dampier made the acquaintance of her master, a man named Heath, who -readily complied with his request to receive him on board. Jeoly was -first carefully shipped, and then one midnight Dampier crept through -a porthole of the fort and ran to the beach, where he found a boat -waiting to convey him to the _Defence_. Nothing that is noteworthy -happened during the passage home. The ship entered the English Channel -in September, 1691, and on the 16th of the same month “we lufft in,” -says Dampier, “for the Downs, where we anchored.” - -Thus terminated William Dampier's first voyage round the world. Dating -from Virginia, August 22nd, 1683, his circumnavigation had occupied -eight years; but his previous seafaring experiences, counting from the -period of his starting from England in the _Loyal Merchant_ in 1679, -enlarged his absence to the long space of twelve years. Beyond greatly -extending his knowledge, his travels had done nothing for him. He had -started in quest of Fortune, and had found her as phantasmal as the St. -Elmo's fire at which he had gazed with wonder at the masthead. And all -that he brought home in the shape of property was the unhappy Prince -Jeoly, whom he sold after his arrival in the Thames, being in want of -money—to such a pass had buccaneering and the circumnavigation of the -globe brought him. - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -1699-1701 - -THE VOYAGE OF THE “ROEBUCK.”[14] - - -Dampier tells us nothing of his private and home-going life after he -carries us to sea with him in the _Loyal Merchant_, and so little is -known of that side of his career that there is no means of supplying -his omissions except by conjecture. It is pretty certain that he was -very needy when he returned from his first voyage round the world. The -value of his Dorsetshire estate cannot be guessed, but even if he still -retained it, his views and endeavours are at this time those of a poor -man. In the first volume of his Travels, as we have seen, he treats of -New Holland as a privateersman would,—glances, to use his own metaphor, -at the fringe of the carpet without desire to examine the texture or -the body of it, and quickly shares the disgust of his shipmates, whose -dreams are wholly of plunder. But on coming home and reflecting, whilst -setting about the writing of his Travels, on the land he had sighted in -the distant southern ocean, it is conceivable that ambitious thoughts -should begin slowly to fill his mind. The world at large at that time -barely credited the existence of a continent south of the East Indies. -The draughts of Tasman, the relations of De Quiros, Le Maire, and -others, were regarded for the most part as travellers' tales. Dampier -might justly hope in an age when the colonising instincts of the -English were never keener, that money and honour must be the reward of -the man who should be the first to open out a country fabulous yet in -the judgment of mankind, and, by the light of discovery, resolve what -was still visionary and dark into a magnificent reality. - -His next step, at all events, was to seek ministerial and official -help for a voyage of discovery to New Holland. He lived in the days of -Dryden and of the patron, and his dedications exhibit him as possessed -in a high degree of the art of literary congeeing. This undesirable -but profitable capacity of cringing serviceably supplemented the -reputation he had made for himself as a traveller. He found patrons in -Charles Montague, afterwards Earl of Halifax, President of the Royal -Society, and one of the Lord Commissioners of the Treasury; in Edward, -Earl of Oxford, one of the principal Lords of the Admiralty; and in -Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, who filled the office of Lord High -Admiral. His representations were successful, probably beyond his own -expectations, and in the beginning of the year 1699 he was appointed -to the command of His Majesty's ship _Roebuck_ of twelve guns, manned -by a crew of fifty men and boys, and victualled for a twenty months' -cruise. Confidence, such as this trust implies, in the character and -qualifications of a man whose rating even as a privateersman was but -that of an able seaman, handsomely testifies to the very high opinion -in which Dampier was held. - -The nature of the soil, climate, and the general character of Terra -Australis, Dampier could only conjecture. The ideas he had formed of -this unknown continent were, that it was a vast tract of land situated -in the richest climates in the world, having in it especially all the -advantage of the torrid zone, so that in coasting it the navigator -might be sure of meeting with broad areas productive of the rich -fruits, the drugs and spices, and perhaps the minerals discoverable -in other parts in, as he concluded, the same parallels of latitude. -His scheme was to narrowly survey all islands, shores, capes, bays, -creeks, and harbours, fit for shelter as well as defence, to take -careful soundings as he went, to note tides, currents, and wind, and -the character of the weather, with a special view to the settling -of the best districts. He also proposed to closely observe the -disposition and commodities of the natives, though he candidly admits -that after his experience of their neighbours “he expected no great -matters from them.” The course he originally designed to take was to -the westward by way of the Straits of Magellan, so as to strike the -eastern coast of Australia; and there is very little doubt that had -he pursued his first intention he would have anticipated nearly every -discovery of importance in those waters subsequently made by his -celebrated successor James Cook. Unhappily his judgment erred in one -essential direction. He was of opinion that the lands lying nearest -the equator would best repay the explorer. Nor perhaps could he guess -how far he would have to penetrate the high latitudes if he stood -south; and having passed the greater portion of his seafaring life in -Mexican, Pacific, and Indian seas, his love of the sun, fortified by -recollection of the cold of the Horn and of the one bitter voyage he -took to Newfoundland, might suffice to determine him on pinning his -faith as an explorer and on limiting his curiosity as a sailor to the -summer regions of the globe. Yet his great knowledge of the equatorial -climates should certainly have warned him against a Northern Australian -and New Guinea quest. Further, there were the experiences of Tasman to -help him, whose relations are as finger-posts in the extracts of Dirk -Rembrantz. Had he steered westwards, the sighting of the New Zealand -coast to the south, or of the shining islands of the Paumotu and other -groups to the north, would have borne in the truth upon his ready and -sagacious mind, corrected his fears of cold weather, given him clear -views as to the southernmost extension of the Terra Incognita, and -perhaps have antedated the civilisation of Australia by half a century. -In an evil moment, intimidated by thoughts of the ice of Tierra del -Fuego, and worried by the murmurs and half-heartedness of a crew, -the majority of whom were quite young seamen, “only two in the ship -ever having passed the Line, and those two none of the oldest,” he -determined to prosecute his voyage to New Holland by way of the Cape of -Good Hope. - -He sailed from the Downs on January 14th, 1699. His intention was to -proceed to Pernambuco, and thence directly to the coast of New Guinea; -but scarcely had a month elapsed when the crew began to give trouble, -to mutter their dislike of the proposed voyage, and even to talk of -obliging him to return to England. At Pernambuco, owing to the distance -of the anchorage from the town, the men would have found it easy to -slip the vessel's cables and run away with her; and not choosing to -venture any risk of this kind, Dampier steered for Bahia de Todos -los Santos. This was a considerable trading-port in his time, formed -of about two thousand houses. He found upwards of thirty large ships -lying in the bay, and speaks of a busy traffic in linen and woollen -goods, in hats and silk stockings, in biscuit, wheat, flour, and port -wine. His closeness of observation is once again exhibited in all that -he has to say about this place. Nothing escapes him. He gives you a -long catalogue of all the vegetables and fruits of the district, of -the birds, beasts of prey, dogs, monkeys, hogs, and the like, and -then comes to the sea, from which he produces a list of twenty-three -different kinds of fish. He sailed on April 3rd, and made a fair course -for the coast of New Holland. The quality of the reckoning of even an -expert mariner in those days may be gathered from his telling us that, -seeing a large black bird flying near the ship, he suspected that he -was much nearer the Cape of Good Hope than he had imagined, since it -was well understood that this sort of bird is never to be met with -farther than ninety miles from land. By his own account, he was two -hundred and seventy miles from the Cape; but next day, meeting a vessel -named the _Antelope_, bound to the East Indies from Table Bay, he found -that L'Agulhas bore only twenty-five leagues distant. The inaccuracy -of the computations of those times must needs excite the wonder of our -own age of exact science. In Matthew Norwood's _System of Navigation_, -“teaching the whole Art in a way more familiar, easie and practical -than hath been hitherto done,” published in 1692, though from internal -evidence I gather it to have been compiled in 1683-84, there is a -catalogue of the longitudes and latitudes “of the most principal places -in the world, beginning from the meridian of the Lizard of England.” -The latitude, as a rule, is tolerably approximate, but the longitude is -very much otherwise. For instance, the Cape of Good Hope is said to be -in 34° 24´ S. latitude, and in 25° 33´ E. longitude. Cape Frio is put -down as in 22° 55´ S. latitude, and 33° 59´ W. longitude. Cape Blanco -is entered as 47° 30´ S. latitude, 62° 52´ W. longitude![15] These are -representative of the whole of this singular table of calculations. Yet -Norwood was greatly esteemed as a navigator, and his book was to be -found in most ships' cabins. It is amazing that the early mariners were -not perpetually blundering ashore. By what secret instincts they were -advised I know not; yet it is certain they made as little of being a -hundred miles out of their course without knowing it, as we should in -these days of an error of the length of a ship's cable. - -Dampier continued to sail to the eastwards, and on July 25th signs -unmistakable of the neighbourhood of land were witnessed in the form -of quantities of floating seaweed and moss; but it was apparently not -until August 2nd that the coast hove into view, on which date Dampier -says, “We stood in towards the land to look for an harbour to refresh -ourselves, after a voyage of 114 degrees from Brazil.” They coasted for -a few days in vain search of a secure anchorage, and then observing an -opening of the land they made for it, and brought up in two fathoms -and a half of water. This opening Dampier called Shark's Bay, a name -it has ever since retained.[16] He makes this bay to lie in 25° S. -latitude and 87° longitude E. from the Cape of Good Hope, “which is -less,” he says, “by a hundred and ninety-five leagues than is laid down -in the common draughts.” He paints a pretty picture of his first view -of this place, telling us of sweet-scented trees, of shrubs gay as -the rainbow with blossoms and berries, of a many-coloured vegetation, -red, white, yellow, and blue, the last preponderating, and all the air -round about very fragrant and delicious with the perfumes of the soil. -The men caught sharks and devoured them with relish,—a hint not only -of very bad stores, but of provisions growing scarce; for disgusting -as the salt-beef of the sea becomes after a long course of it, he must -have a singular stomach and a stranger appetite who will choose shark -in preference. One of the fish they captured was eleven feet long, and -inside of it they found the head and bones of a hippopotamus, the hairy -lips of which were still sound “and not putrefied.” The jaw was full -of teeth, two of them eight inches long and as big as a man's thumb; -“The flesh of it was divided among my Men, and they took care that -no Waste should be made of it, but thought it as things stood, good -Entertainment.” - -They remained in Shark's Bay till the 10th, fruitlessly searching for -fresh water; then coasting north-east, they fell in with a number of -small rocky isles called Dampier's Archipelago, in latitude south about -20° 30´, and about 116° 30´ E. longitude. Here Dampier was so much -struck with the character of the tides that he concluded there must be -a passage to the south of New Holland and New Guinea to the eastward -into the Great South Sea. His meaning is not clear, but then he is in -the situation of a man who fires at a mark in the night; he misses, but -the ball speeds in the right direction. Their pressing want was fresh -water. Gangs of men were repeatedly sent ashore to seek it, but to no -purpose. Their first sight of the natives was on August 31st. All sorts -of signs of peace and friendship were made, but their gesticulations -were probably too violent, and might even have grown alarming as -contortions, and the wild men fled, menacing Dampier and his people as -they ran. The only sort of intercourse they succeeded in establishing -was a conflict. One of the barbarians was shot dead and an English -sailor wounded. Dampier says, speaking of these natives, that they had -the most unpleasant looks and the worst features of any people he ever -saw, “though,” says he, “I have seen a great variety of Savages.” He -judges that these New Hollanders were of the same race as the people -he had previously met with in his first voyage round the globe, “for,” -he exclaims, “the Place I then touched at was not above forty or fifty -Leagues to the N.E. of this, and these were much the same blinking -Creatures; here being also abundance of the same kind of Flesh-flies -teasing them, and with the same black Skins and Hair frizzled, tall, -thin, etc., as these were; but we had not the Opportunity to see -whether these, as the former, wanted two of their fore Teeth.” It -seems to me that he blackened his portraits of these uncomely people -for the same reason that we find him later on describing the country -sourly as though there had been little or nothing to admire; I mean -with the wish to render the failure of his voyage less disappointing -to his patrons at home. In short, he writes as if he would have people -suppose that New Holland is a savage and worthless land, inhabited by -loathsome monsters. One of the native princes he describes as painted -with a circle of white pigment about his eyes, and a white streak down -his nose, from the forehead to the tip of it. The breast and a portion -of the arms were also whitened with the same paint. If Dampier do not -exaggerate, then these embellishments which he portrays, supplementing -the natural hideousness of the savages, might well cause the youthful -Jack Tars who filled his forecastle to imagine themselves upon one of -those enchanted, demon-haunted lands, from which the ancient mariner of -the legends was wont to sail away with trembling despatch, his hair on -end and his eyes half out of his head. - -“If it were not,” writes Dampier, “for that sort of pleasure which -results from the Discovery even of the barrenest spot upon the Globe, -this coast of New Holland would not have charmed me much.” There is -little of the enthusiasm of the explorer in this avowal; all through -his career, in fact, Dampier exhibits himself as a man of caprices -easily diverted from his first intentions, quickly sickened by failure, -though never discomfited by the harshest sufferings or by the most -formidable difficulties, so long as he can keep himself in spirits by -the assurance of some approach to good fortune attending the issue of -his adventure. Probably he was now willing to believe of New Holland, -despite the wise conjectures with which he vitalised his early scheme, -that all that remained to be seen was no better than what he was -now viewing. Or, the length of time his voyage had already occupied -had provided him with plenty of leisure for the contemplation of his -prospects, and he was beginning to think that he had been misled by -his original impulse, and that there was neither dignity nor profit to -be got out of a toilsome survey of an obscure, remote, inhospitable -coast. One sometimes likes to think of the return amongst us of such a -man as this. If one could summon the dead from their sleep of centuries -that they might behold the issue of the labours of the generations -whose processions filled the time between their Then and our Now, it -would be such old navigators as Dampier whom one would best like to -arouse. Think of Cabot and Cartier going a tour through the United -States, of Columbus taking ship by an ocean mail-steamer to the West -Indies, of Bartholomew Diaz listening to the eloquence of South African -legislators in the House of Assembly at Cape Town, of Mark de Niza at -San Francisco, of Tasman at Hobart Town! As we watch Dampier digging -for water amid the sand-hills of the Western Australian seaboard, -the reality of the living present becomes a wonder even to us who -are familiar with it. The shining cities, the flourishing towns, the -radiant congregation of ships flying the flags of twenty different -nationalities, every fruitful, every busy condition of commerce, -manufacture, science, art, literature, entering into and stimulating -the life of the highest form of human civilisation, are as miracles and -as dreams to us standing in imagination by the side of the lean figure -of this buccaneer, quaintly apparelled in the boots, belt, and broad -hat of his old calling, and gazing with him upon a land whose silence -is broken only by the cries of unfamiliar creatures, by the murmur of -the wind among the leaves of a nameless vegetation, and by the solemn -wash of the ocean surge arching in thunder upon a shore that, to the -minds of hundreds and thousands away in far-off Europe, is as unreal -and illusive as the islands of Plato and More. What heart would have -come to our stout navigator with but the briefest of all possible -prophetic glimpses into the future of that great continent on whose -western sands he searches for water, reluctant, dubious, half-dismayed! - -There was much, however, it must be admitted, to dishearten him. The -behaviour of his crew was causing him anxiety; and about this time the -scurvy broke out amongst the men. Moreover, though his people hunted -diligently for fresh water, their labours were unrewarded. So Dampier -determined to shape a course for Timor, if, to use his own language, he -“met with no refreshment elsewhere.” He had spent altogether about five -weeks in cruising off the coast, covering in all, as he calculates, a -range of 900 miles, but without making any sort of discovery that was -in the least degree satisfactory to himself. He started afresh with the -intention to steer north-east, keeping the land aboard, as sailors say. -His chief and perhaps only desire at that time was to fill his casks -with fresh water. They once again then lifted their anchor on December -5th, 1699, but had not measured many miles when they discovered that -the numerous shoals along the coast would render an inshore voyage -impracticable. Dampier thereupon bore away seawards and deepened his -water from eleven to thirty-two fathoms. Next day but the merest film -of land was in sight, and on the 7th nothing of the coast was visible, -even from the masthead. By this time he was heartily weary of New -Holland. He confesses his disgust very honestly, and laments the weeks -he has wasted on the coast, which he believes he could have employed -with greater satisfaction to himself and with larger promise of success -had he pushed straight on to New Guinea. His men were drooping; the -scurvy was being helped by the brackish water they were obliged to -drink, and he could think of no better remedy than to shift his helm -and steer away for the Island of Timor. - -He gives a very close and interesting description of this island. He -had certainly plenty of leisure for inspection, for he did not get -under weigh again until December 12th, whence, though he does not date -his arrival at Timor, we may gather that he must have stayed there -for at least three months. He now headed on a straight course for New -Guinea—the coast of which he discovered in the form of very high land -on New Year's Day, 1700. Islands studded the water on all sides, from -one of which some days afterwards they saw smoke rising. At sight of -this Dampier bore away for it before a brisk gale, and anchored in -thirty-five fathoms of water at the distance of about two leagues -from what proved a large island. Thus they remained during the night, -whilst all through the hours of darkness they observed many fires -burning ashore. In the morning they weighed again and sailed closer to -the land, anchoring within a mile of the beach; whereupon a couple of -canoes came off to within speaking distance of the ship. The savages -called to them, but their language was as unintelligible as their -gestures. Dampier invited them by motions to step on board, but this -they declined to do, though they approached so close that they were -able to see the beads, knives, hatchets, and the like, which were held -up with the idea of tempting them to enter the ship. Dampier then got -into his pinnace and rowed shorewards. He hailed the people there in -the Malay language, but they did not understand him. Numbers of the -wild men lurked in ambush behind the bushes, but on Dampier throwing -some knives and toys ashore they ran out, and, wading to the boat, -poured water on to their heads as a sign of friendship. He describes -these people as a sort of tawny Indians with long black hair, differing -but slightly from the inhabitants of Mindanao. He also noticed amongst -them a number of woolly-headed New Guinea negroes, most of whom he -suspected were slaves to the others. The crew gave them brandy, which -they drank with relish,—a behaviour that caused Dampier to suppose -that, let their religion be what it would, they were not Mahometans. -It is noteworthy that Tasman differs from Dampier to the extent of -describing these natives as resembling the savages of New Zealand. He -speaks of them as being armed with slings, darts, and wooden swords, -decorated with bracelets and rings of pearl, with rings in their -noses. Schouten had long previously found them a very ferocious and -intractable people, who would have made themselves masters of his -vessel if he had not fired upon them and put them to flight. But as in -these so in those days. The world was somewhat kaleiodoscopic, and the -combination of colours seen by the peering traveller at one time was by -no means the same assemblage of hues viewed by other eyes at another -time. - -On February 4th the _Roebuck_ was off the north-west coast of New -Guinea. Here Dampier found some very pleasant islands richly wooded -and full of wild pigeons, and sweetened to the sight by vast spaces of -white, purple, and yellow flowers, which so perfumed the wind that the -fragrance could be tasted at a great distance from the shore. On one of -them he stood surrounded by a portion of his crew, and after drinking -the king's health, christened the spot King William's Island. Crossing -the equator they proceeded to the eastward, and then, partly with the -idea of escaping the perils of a navigation among shoals and islands, -and partly with the hope of being rewarded for their sufferings and -disappointments by some discovery of magnitude and importance, they -steered the ship for the mainland. They were now within sight of a high -and mountainous country, green and beautiful with tropical vegetation, -and dark with forests and groves of tall and stately trees. A number -of canoes came out to them, but the brief intercourse terminated in -the usual way: the intentions of the natives were misunderstood; a -gun was fired and several savages killed. Dampier's narrative at this -point deals for some pages chiefly with the natives of New Guinea, -though he shortly describes the islands and the aspect of the mainland -as he sails along. So far his tone is one of disappointment, but -nevertheless he keeps a very steady, honest eye upon the object of -his voyage to these unknown waters. “I could have wished,” he says, -“for some more favourable opportunities than had hitherto offered -themselves as well for penetrating into the heart of the New discovered -country as for opening a Trade with its inhabitants, both of which -I very well knew, could they be brought about, must prove extremely -beneficial to Great Britain.” Happily the conduct of his officers and -men had improved, and they seemed as willing as he to explore the new -land; but he writes with knowledge of the issue, and it is impossible -to miss in this narrative of his the subdued and faltering language -of a discouraged heart. On March 14th he was within view of what he -terms a well-cultivated country. He observed numbers of cocoa-trees, -plantations apparently well ordered, and many houses. His method of -opening communication with the natives was by firing a shot over a -fleet of canoes, which sent them paddling away home as fast as their -crews could drive them. Presently three large boats put off, one of -which had about forty men in her. The _Roebuck_ lay becalmed, and it -looked as if the blacks meant to attack the ship. A round shot was sent -at the canoes, the savages turned about, and a light breeze springing -up, the ship followed them into the bay. When close to the shore -Dampier noticed the eyes of innumerable dusky-faced people peeping at -the vessel from behind the rocks. A shot was fired to scare them, but -they continued peeping nevertheless. Dampier seems surprised after this -that the natives were unwilling to trade. The utmost they consented -to do was to climb the trees for cocoanuts, which they contemptuously -flung at the English with passionate signs to them to be gone. - -The crew were now finding plenty of fresh water, and the ship's casks -were soon filled. In spite of the defiant posture of the savages, it -was agreed, after a consultation amongst the officers and men, to -remain where they were and attempt a better acquaintance with the -people of the coast. Next day whilst the boats were ashore, forty or -fifty men and women passed by; they moved on quietly without offering -any violence. Says Dampier, speaking of them: “I have observed among -all the wild Nations I have known that they make the Women carry -the burdens, while the Men walk before without carrying any other -load than their arms.” Extremes meet, and assuredly in some respects -the most polished nation in the world is within a very measurable -distance of the most savage. It does not appear that the obligation -of having occasionally to kill a few natives greatly interfered with -the friendly relations between them and Dampier's men. The ship's -company went ashore and slaughtered and salted a good load of hogs, -whilst the savages peered at them from their houses. “None offered -to hinder our Boats landing,” writes Dampier; “but, on the contrary, -were so Amicable, that one man brought ten or twelve Cocoanuts, left -them on the Shore, after he had shewed them to our Men, and went out -of sight. Our People, finding nothing but nets and images, brought -them away; these two of my men brought in a small Canoe; and presently -after, my Boats came off. I ordered the Boatswain to take care of the -nets, the images I took into my own Custody.” Thus they requited the -friendly disposition of these poor savages by plundering them. Who can -doubt that most of the massacres of European crews by the inhabitants -of countries often as beautiful and radiant as earthly paradises, the -glory and sweetness of which might easily be deemed to have subdued the -human beings found upon them to the tenderness and lovableness of the -inspirations of the soil, the fruit, the majestic forests, the shining -birds, should be the effect of traditions whose origin may be found in -the barbarities practised by the early mariner? - -Dampier describes the country hereabouts as mountainous and wooded, -full of rich valleys and pleasant fresh-water brooks. He named it Port -Montague, in honour of the patron to whom he had dedicated his first -volume. The _Roebuck_ sailed from this place on March 22nd, and two -days afterwards, in the evening, Dampier, who was indisposed and lying -down in his cabin, was hastily called on deck to behold what the crew -regarded as a miracle. The wonder was no more than a burning mountain, -but then those were days when enchanted islands[17] were to be met with -at sea, and this great flaming scene was at once a prodigy and a terror -to the sun-tanned mariners, who stared at it over the rail with every -superstitious instinct in them astir. Tasman had viewed it, but the -honest old Batavian did not wield Dampier's pen. It was a grand sight -indeed,—a large pillar of fire crimsoning the north-west blackness, -rearing its blood-red blaze higher and higher for three or four minutes -at a time, then sinking till it seemed to have died, then rising afresh -flaming furiously. They got a better view of this volcano a little -later. “At every explosion we heard a dreadful noise like thunder, and -saw a flame of fire after it the most terrifying that ever I beheld.” -Streams of liquid light ran down to the foreshore and overflowed the -beach with incandescent lakes. The description of this burning mountain -is, I think, one of the finest passages in Dampier's writings. - -All this while he supposed that he was still off the coast of New -Guinea; but following the trend of the shore, he arrived at those -straits which still bear his name, and then discovered that the little -country whose seaboard he had been exploring was an island. This -land he called Nova Britannia, or, as we now know it, New Britain. -Happy would it have been for the reputation of Dampier if, instead of -steering east through his straits, he had continued to skirt the New -Guinea coast to the south-east, for by so doing he must have rounded -into the Gulf of Papua, struck the channel called Torres Straits, -and, catching sight of Cape York, have been encouraged to pursue his -exploration of the coast of New Holland on that side of the great -continent whose fruitfulness, beauty, and conveniency have courted the -civilisation of Europe. It is true that the _Roebuck_ was provisioned -for twenty months only, but an ardent and ambitious navigator would -have made little or nothing of such a condition of his voyage as this -when close aboard of him were lands filled with fruit, hogs, fowls, and -fresh water. But there is no question that Dampier had long grown weary -of this business. He could see nothing but honour (and little enough of -that, as things went) to be got out of this journey, and as a poor man, -with the heart of a buccaneer in him besides, he would appreciate the -need of something more substantial than fame. Be this as it may, he had -now, it being April 26th, 1700, started on his return home, intending -on the way to call at Batavia to careen and doctor his crazy ship for -the long voyage to England. When clear of the straits a vessel hove in -sight at dusk, and as her manœuvrings were puzzling they loaded their -guns, lighted the matches, and made ready to fight her. She sheered -off, but was in sight at daybreak, and then proved to be nothing more -dangerous than a Chinese junk laden with tea, porcelain, and other -commodities, and bound for Amboyna. The _Roebuck's_ progress was very -slow; she was coated with weeds and barnacles, and in a sea-way her -timbers worked like a basket. It was not until June 23rd that they -arrived at the Straits of Sunda, and at the close of the month they -dropped anchor off Batavia. Here Dampier stayed for three months whilst -his ship was careened and repaired. Her condition was such that one can -only wonder that he and his crew ventured to sail home in her. We might -scarcely credit that Dampier's patrons honestly felt much faith in his -representations, and in the hopes he held out of vast and important -discoveries, when we find them putting him and his crew of boys into -a ship which time had made rotten probably some years before she was -equipped for this voyage, if it were not that the later experiences of -Anson exhibit the same profound departmental indifference and neglect -on an occasion which we may assume was regarded as far more significant -than Dampier's expedition. Of all the wonderful accomplishments of the -English sailor, nothing to my mind is so amazing as the triumphs with -which he crowns the cause of his country in defiance of the miserable -indifference of the British Admiralty to him and to his labours. The -best that Dampier could do with his ship was so to patch her up as to -enable her to carry her people home with the pumps going day and night. -They sailed from Batavia on October 17th, arrived at the Cape of Good -Hope on December 30th, and brought up at the island of Ascension in a -sinking condition on February 21st, 1701. Even whilst Ascension was -in sight the _Roebuck_ had sprung a fresh leak, and when she anchored -both hand and chain pumps were going. There was still a long stretch of -ocean for them to traverse, and a ship like a sieve to measure it with. -The tinkering of the carpenters apparently increased the mischief, and -whilst Dampier was waiting below to receive the news of the leak being -stopped, the boatswain arrived with a long face to tell him that the -vessel was sinking. “The plank was so rotten,” says Dampier, “it broke -away like Dirt, and now it was impossible to save the Ship; for they -could not come at the Leak because the water in the run was got above -it. I worked myself to encourage my Men, who were very diligent, but -the Water still increased, and we now thought of nothing but saving our -lives: Wherefore I hoisted out the boat that if the Ship should sink -we might be saved; and in the Morning we weighed our anchor and Warped -in nearer the shore, tho' we did but little good.” The men with their -clothes and bedding were sent ashore on rafts; the sails were unbent -and converted into tents for the use of Dampier and his officers; fresh -water and rice had been landed for the use of all, “but,” writes the -unfortunate commander, “great part of it was stolen away before I came -ashore, and many of my books and papers lost.” Luckily there was no -lack of turtle, but those who have visited Ascension will understand -the distresses of a numerous crew cast away upon an uninhabited island -of cinders and volcanic cones, with one green hill only far away in -the middle of the calcined heap for the eye to find refreshment in. -They were fortunate enough to discover a spring of fresh water; the -men carried their beds into the hollows of the rocks, and perhaps -thought themselves better off than in the wet, dark, half-drowned, -cockroach-laden forecastle of the _Roebuck_. Moreover, in addition to -turtle there were crabs, goats'-flesh, and sea-birds for food; and as -the air of Ascension is about the sweetest and most wholesome in the -world, the castaways kept their health and spirits, and managed on the -whole very well indeed. - -Their imprisonment did not last long. On April 3rd four vessels hove -in sight, and in the course of the day anchored off the island. Three -of them proved English men-of-war—the _Anglesea_, _Hastings_, and -_Lizard_; the fourth was an East Indiaman named the _Canterbury_. -Dampier went on board the _Anglesea_ with thirty-five of his crew, -and the remainder were divided between the other men-of-war. The -ships proceeded to Barbadoes, but Dampier, with a keen sense of his -misfortunes, and anxious to justify himself to his patrons, accepted -an offer to return to England in the _Canterbury_. “The same earnest -desire,” he says, “to clear up Mistakes, to do myself Justice in -the opinion of the World, and to set the Discoveries made in this -unfortunate voyage in their proper Light, that it may be of use to the -World, how unlucky soever it proved to me, is the reason that induced -me to publish it; And I persuade myself that such as are proper Judges -of these sort of Performances will allow that I have Delivered many -things new in themselves, capable of affording much Instruction to such -as meditate future Discoveries, and which in other respects may be of -great utility to the present age and to posterity.” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -1702—1706-7 - -THE VOYAGE OF THE “ST. GEORGE” - - -Dampier's circumnavigations brought him great fame. It was deemed, -and justly deemed, a remarkable feat to sail round the world in -those days. Very few men had achieved it, and the names of those who -had—the list prior to Dampier is brief enough—were written among the -stars. Dampier had circled the globe twice, had touched at all sorts -of strange and wonderful places, had held intercourse with all kinds -of astonishing people, had explored some of the secret recesses of -the other side of the earth, and was charged with experiences as -marvellous as those of the sailor who had doubled Cape Fly-Away and -dropped anchor in thick weather off No-Man's Land. His reputation -stood high for this. On the other hand, nothing was thought of his -discoveries. It is significant that the editor of the _Collection of -Voyages and Travels_, published by the Churchills in 1704, in speaking -in his “Introductory Discourse” of Dampier's books, says: “The third -volume is his _Voyage to New Holland_, which has no great matter of new -discovery.” This opinion probably expressed the judgment of the public -at large. There is indeed no great matter of discovery. Harris allows -the voyage but one merit, namely, “That it has removed for ever those -suspicions that were entertained of the accounts formerly given of -those countries.” “It has shown us,” he says, “a new Indies in which, -whenever that spirit of industry shall revive which first extended and -then established our commerce, we may be able to undertake settlements -as advantageous as any that have been hitherto made by this or any -other nation.”[18] But in sober truth, Dampier adds but little to the -stock of knowledge that had been already collected from the narratives -of Tasman, Pelsart, Schouten, and others who had touched at or been -wrecked upon the New Holland coast. It is probable that his failure, -coupled with the despondent tone that characterises his narrative, -went far to retard further exploration in the Southern Ocean. It was -no longer disputed that a vast body of land stood in those waters; the -testimony of previous navigators was confirmed; but what was to be -made of it? All that Dampier said in its favour was theoretical; all -that he had to report as an eye-witness, all that he could speak to -as facts, was extremely discouraging. He might even go further in his -conversation than in his written story in apologising for his useless -and disappointing cruise, and to his patrons add to the assurance of -his narrative such persuasion of tongue as would convince them that -there was nothing to be gained by further researches in Australian -waters. Indeed, the depressing influence of his recorded adventures I -venture to consider manifested by the directions given to the later -navigators. Byron in 1764, Wallis and Mouat and Cartaret in 1766, were -despatched on voyages round the world to search the South Seas for new -lands; but only one of them, Cartaret, deviated into Dampier's track, -confining his explorations in this way to a glance at New Guinea and -New Britain, to the discovery of New Ireland, lying adjacent to the -island Dampier had sailed round, and to giving names to the islands of -the Soloman and other groups. The world had to wait for Cook to confirm -the theories of Dampier, whose influence and example were by that time -little more than traditionary. - -His fame, however, as a navigator, despite the disappointments of his -voyage, was unimpaired, and since employment was absolutely necessary -to him as a means of living, he wisely took care on his return to make -the most of his laurels whilst they were green. In 1702 he was busy -in looking about him for occupation. His thirst for discovery was -appeased, and he was now viewing the profession of the sea with the old -yearnings of the buccaneer. Fortunately for him, the War of Succession -began. The Spaniards and the French were once more the political -enemies of Great Britain, but the Don in particular was the cynosure of -privateering eyes. The heads of the merchants had been turned by the -triumphs of the freebooters. Wonderful tales had long been current of -the capture of treasure by little insignificant picaroons, and there -were many private adventurers who only needed the representations of -a person of Dampier's experience and credit to come willingly into a -freebooting scheme against the ships and possessions of the Spaniard in -the West Indies and the South Sea. - -Speculative men of substance were found and an expedition equipped, -the ships being the _St. George_, Captain William Dampier, and the -_Fame_, Captain John Pulling. The vessels were liberally armed and -manned, and were commissioned—spite of the venture being wholly one of -privateering—by Prince George of Denmark, Lord High Admiral, to cruise -against the French and the Spaniards. The terms were, “No purchase, no -pay!” Dampier's proposal, adopted by the promoters of the expedition, -was to proceed first to the river Plate as far as Buenos Ayres, and -seize two or three Spanish galleons, which he said were sure to be -found there. If the plunder amounted to the value of six hundred -thousand pounds they were to return home. If, on the other hand, -nothing was done in the river Plate, they were to enter the South Seas -and cruise for the Valdivia ships which conveyed gold to Lima. If this -design failed, they were to attempt such rich towns as Dampier should -think proper. Finally, they were to coast the Mexican shore to watch -for the great galleon which in those days and long afterwards sailed -annually filled with treasure and valuable commodities from Manila to -Acapulco. - -This was a broad programme, and Dampier's finger may be found in every -word of it. The Acapulco ship was indeed peculiarly the dream of -the buccaneer. In the galleon captured by Drake, Lopez Vaz tells us -there were eight hundred and fifty thousand pieces of silver, besides -many chests of treasure omitted in what was then termed the “bill of -custom.” Drake's men were employed six days in removing the jewels, the -cases of money, the tons of uncoined silver, and the services of plate, -which they found in their prize. Candish's capture of the galleon -yielded him one hundred and twenty-two thousand pesoes of gold; the -lading further consisted of silks, satins, musk, damasks, sweetmeats, -and quantities of fine wines. The value of the Manila ship that Dampier -was to seek and capture was appraised at nine millions of pieces of -eight, equal to about a million and a half of our money. - -Our sailor was wise to provide himself with alternatives which would -also furnish his humour with opportunities for those sudden changes -which his capricious mind demanded as a stimulant to further efforts. -The story of this voyage is related by William Funnell,[19] who -went as mate in the ship with Dampier. It is noticeable that, as we -progress in Dampier's career, his individuality grows less and less -distinguishable. He is vague in Funnell's narrative, he is vaguer still -in Woodes Rogers's, and then he disappears. - -There was trouble at the very onset of this voyage. Whilst in the -Downs Dampier and Pulling quarrelled, and the latter, apparently not -troubling himself about his agreement with his employers, made sail, -and started away on a cruise among the Canary Islands on his own -account. Dampier never saw him afterwards. On this a galley named the -_Cinque Ports_, memorable as Alexander Selkirk's ship, commanded by -one Charles Pickering, was despatched to join the _St. George_ in the -room of the _Fame_. She was a small vessel of some ninety tons burthen, -mounting sixteen guns and carrying a crew of sixty-three men. It is -declared that Pulling's defection ruined the voyage; but this is an -opinion scarcely reasonable in the face of the achievements of the -buccaneers, who many of them, in vessels much smaller than the _Cinque -Ports_, successfully engaged the forts and castles of powerfully -protected towns, and boarded and carried galleons big enough to have -stowed the conquerors' craft in their holds. - -Dampier sailed on April 30th, 1703, from the Downs, and on being -joined at Kinsale by the _Cinque Ports_, proceeded with his consort -to Madeira. “By a good observation,” says Funnell, “I make this -island to lie in latitude of 32° 20´ N., and longitude, by my account -from London, 18° 5´ W.” This is an illustration of the value of good -observations in those days! Nothing of moment happened until their -arrival at an island upon the Brazilian coast. Here Captain Pickering -of the _Cinque Ports_ died, and Thomas Stradling, the lieutenant, took -command of the ship. There was also a quarrel between Dampier, his -chief officer, and eight of the crew, which terminated in the nine men -going ashore with their baggage. Disappointment had soured Dampier's -mind, and he was growing more obstinately fretful and quarrelsome. -Much of the anxiety caused him by the behaviour of his ship's company -was owing to his petulance, and to his lacking most of the qualities -which command respect or enforce obedience. In truth, there had been -nothing in his training to qualify him as a commander. He had passed -the greater portion of his seafaring life as a sailor before the mast, -amongst a community of bold and truculent ruffians who obeyed orders -for the general good, but who virtually admitted no superiority in the -persons whom they suffered to lead them. In a very short time, as we -have seen, Dampier had succeeded in disgusting his consort Pulling out -of an adventure, whose success might entirely depend upon his active -and cordial co-operation; and now we find him abandoned by his first -lieutenant and eight of the crew for reasons, I fear, it would be idle -to seek elsewhere than in his own temper. Off the Horn in January, -1704, the _Cinque Ports_ disappeared in the midst of a heavy storm. -She was a small ship for the huge seas of those desperate parallels, -and the worst was feared. Dampier's men were so disheartened that -little persuasion might have been needed to determine them to abandon -the voyage. Of all miserable times passed by the early mariner, the -most miserable and insufferable were those which they spent off Cape -Horn. Under reduced sail their little tubs showed like half-tide rocks -in the troughs. The decks were full of water, the seas thundered over -them in cataracts, the hatches, closed and battened down, kept the -atmosphere of the 'tween decks black and poisonous. The crew were -commonly so numerous as to be in one another's way, and imagination -can picture nothing more unendurable than a dark and vermin-ridden -forecastle crowded with half-suffocated men; the rigging and sails -frozen to the hardness of iron; spears of ice hanging from the catheads -and bowsprit, and from all other points from which water could drain; -the ship herself rolling and tossing with sickening fury, and quivering -to the thunder-shock of seas smiting her from an altitude of thirty -feet. Moreover, by the time a vessel arrived off Cape Horn, she was -usually short of provisions and water. She had already occupied months -in making the passage, and her stores were so bad as to be rejected -by the very rats, which, with the fearlessness and ferocity of famine, -crawled out of the blackness of the hold and nibbled the feet of the -sailors as they lay dozing on their chests. Captain George Shelvocke, -writing in 1726, has left us a gloomy picture, full of power, of the -Horn in winter. “I must own,” he says, “the navigation here is truly -melancholy, and it was the more so to us who were a single ship and by -ourselves in this vast and dreadful solitude; whereas a companion would -have mixed some cheerfulness with the thoughts of being in so distant a -part of the world exposed to such dangers, and, as it were, separated -from the rest of mankind. The very thoughts of the possibility of -losing our masts by the violence of such very stormy weather as we had -had were enough to cast a damp upon the clearest spirits.”[20] - -It was not until February 7th that Juan Fernandez showed above the -horizon. Dampier concluded that it was some other island, and stood -away east, to the grief and disappointment, as one may suppose, of -his starved and scorbutic crew, tantalised by the spectacle of green -hills and sparkling falls of fresh water. On the 11th, having sailed a -considerable distance towards the American seaboard, he decided that -the land he had sighted was the island he sought, and thereupon shifted -his helm for it; and on his arrival, passing by the great bay, he saw, -to his own and to the great delight of his crew, the _Cinque Ports_ -quietly lying at anchor, she having made the land three days before. -Both vessels were heeled and refitted, which, with the watering of -them, gave the crews plenty of employment; but whilst this was doing -another quarrel happened, this time between Captain Stradling and his -men. We may suspect Stradling's character from Alexander Selkirk's -hatred of him, though there is no doubt that Selkirk himself was on -the whole about as troublesome a seaman to deal with as ever stepped a -deck. Dampier, it is true, afterwards told Captain Woodes Rogers that -he considered Selkirk, who in the expedition I am now writing about was -master of the _Cinque Ports_, to have been the best man in that ship; -but then Dampier had quarrelled with Stradling and abhorred his memory, -and so, I do not doubt, made the most of Selkirk to Rogers, that he -might suggest rather than boldly affirm his former consort equal to so -base and cruel a deed as the marooning of a good and honest sailor; -albeit Rogers was perfectly well aware that Selkirk had gone ashore -of his own choice.[21] The quarrel between Stradling and his men rose -to such a height that the crew absolutely refused to go on board and -serve under him. Dampier was consulted, and after a deal of trouble -succeeded in persuading the fellows to return to their duty. It is -to be feared that this happy turn of what threatened to prove a very -grave difficulty owed little or nothing to Dampier's address or to his -popularity. It is a common saying at sea amongst sailors who dislike -their captain that they will weather him out even if he were the devil -himself; meaning that they will not suffer themselves to be defrauded -by his tyranny of their wages or such good prospects as the voyage may -promise. The sober-headed amongst Stradling's crew would not take long -to see the folly of abandoning an adventure that had brought them to -the very threshold of their hopes, particularly after having endured -all the distress and misery of the passage of the Horn in a vessel but -a very little bigger than a fishing-smack of to-day. It is more than -likely then that Dampier's counsel found most of them sensible of their -mistake and willing to resume work. - -Whilst the people were ashore busy on various jobs relating to the -doctoring of their ships, the day being February 29th, 1704, a sail was -sighted, an alarm raised, and a rush made on board. The two vessels -instantly slipped their cables and stood out to sea. The stranger, -on perceiving the canvas of the two crafts growing large upon the -background of the island, bouted ship and went away under a press; but -Dampier clung to his wake, and the _Cinque Ports_ made all possible -haste to follow. The breeze blew briskly, and the _St. George_ was -thrashed through it so fleetly that she towed her pinnace under water -and was forced to cut her loose. Captain Stradling's boat, in which -were a man and a dog, also went adrift, but of her and her inmates -we get news later on. It was not until eleven o'clock at night that -the _St. George_ came up with the chase, and Dampier wisely deferred -hostilities until the day dawned. The stranger proved a Frenchman of -four hundred tons and thirty guns, full of men; and at sunrise on March -1st the _Cinque Ports_ and the _St. George_ attacked her. The galley, -however, was of little use, for after discharging a dozen guns she fell -astern, and left the game to be played out by Dampier. “We fought her -very close,” says Funnell, “Broadside and Broadside for seven Hours; -and then a small Gale springing up she sheered off.” Old conflicts of -this kind are quaint with the colours of an utterly extinct form of -marine life. The seamen fought with guns bearing strange names. The -heaviest marine-ordnance was the demi-cannon, whose bore was six and -three-quarter inches, and the weight of the shot thirty pounds and a -half. There were also the cannon-petro, that threw a twenty-four pound -shot; the basilisk, the weight of whose shot was fifteen pounds; the -sacre or sacar, as Sir William Monson spells it, a little piece of a -bore of three inches and a half that cast a shot weighing five pounds; -and smaller guns yet called the minion, the falcon, the serpentine, and -the rabanet, the last carrying a shot of half a pound. It is difficult -to conjecture the calibre of such ordnance as Dampier and his enemy -were armed with. Probably the cannon-petro was their biggest piece, and -they would also carry swivel-guns. It will be evident at all events -that such a vessel as the _Cinque Ports_, whose tonnage is put down -at ninety, and which is said to have been armed with sixteen guns, -must have mounted very light metal if only to render her seaworthy. -But besides their falcons and sacars and minions, they engaged with -other strange engines,—arrows trimmed with wild-fire, pikes flaming -with the same stuff for piercing a ship's side, shells called granados -filled with powder and thrown on to a vessel's deck with a fuze alight, -powder-pots formed of clay or thick glass, and stink-balls, for the -making of which old Norwood prescribes as follows: - -“Take Powder 10l., of Ship-pitch 6l., of Tar 20l., Salt Peter 8l., -Sulphur California 4l. Melt these by a soft heat together; and being -well melted, put 2l. of cole-dust, of the filings of Horses-hoofs -6l., Assa Fœtida 3l., Sagapenem 1l., Spatula Fœtida half a pound: -Incorporate them well together, and put into this matter Linnen -or Woollen-Cloathe, or Hemp or Toe as much as will drink up all -the matter: and of these make Globes or Balls of what bigness you -please. This Globe or Ball may be made venomous or poysonous, if to -the Composition be added these things following: Mercury Suplimate, -Arsnick, Orpiment, Sinaber, etc.”[22] - -This horrible contrivance, when thrown among the surging crowd, threw -out volumes of poisonous and suffocating smoke. A sea-fight was a -fierce business—fiercer, perhaps, than we can realise when we contrast -the armaments of those days with the leviathan guns of the ironclad. -The devices for slaughtering were full of the genius of murder. They -had cohorns or small mortars fixed on swivels; caissons, called -“powder-chests,” charged with old nails and rusty bits of iron for -firing from the close-quarters when boarded; weapons named “organs,” -formed of a number of musket-barrels fired at once. Above all, they -had what I fear is lost to us for ever,—I mean the boarding-pike, the -deadliest of all weapons in the hands of the British sailor. The mere -naming of a yard-arm to yard-arm engagement lasting seven hours is hint -enough to the imagination of a man conversant with the tactics, the -brutal courage, the remorseless resolution, the deadly if primitive -fighting machinery of the sea-braves of the old generations. The -castellated fabric rolling upon the seas, echoing in thunder to the -blasts which roar from her wooden sides; the crowds of men swaying -half-naked at the guns; the falling spars; the riddled sails; the -great tops filled with smoke-blackened sailors wildly cheering as they -fling their granados upon the decks of the enemy, or silent as death -as they level their long and clumsy muskets at forms distinguished as -the leaders of the fight by their attire, combine in a picture that -rises in crimson-tinctured outlines upon the dusky canvas of the past, -and, though two centuries old, startles and fascinates as if it were a -memory of yesterday. But the old voyagers' references to such things -are grimly brief. They dismiss in a sentence as much as might fill a -volume; yet what they have to say is suggestive enough, and the fancy -is feeble that cannot colour their black and white outlines to the -fiery complexion of a reality, and vitalise them with the living hues -of the time in which the deeds were done. - -The battle was ended by a small gale of wind coming on to blow, and -by the Frenchman running away. On board Dampier were nine killed and -several wounded. Funnell says that the sailors were anxious to follow -and fight the Frenchman again, and sink or capture him, fearing that -if he escaped he would make their presence known to the Spaniards. But -Dampier objected, protesting that even if the enemy should hear of -them and stop their merchantmen from leaving harbour, “he knew where -to go, and did not fear of failing to take to the value of £500,000 -any day in the year.” This assurance sufficiently satisfied the men to -induce them to back their topsail to wait for the _Cinque Ports_, and -on her coming up with the _St. George_, Dampier briefly conferred with -Stradling, who agreed with him that they should let the Frenchman go. -The privateers thereupon headed on their return to Juan Fernandez to -recover the anchors, long-boats, casks of fresh water, and sea-lions' -oil which they had left there; along with five of the crew of the -_Cinque Ports_, who had been ashore on the west side of the island -when the ships hurriedly made sail after the Frenchman. The wind was -south, right off the land, and whilst they were struggling to fetch -the bay two ships unexpectedly hove in view. The _Cinque Ports_, being -near them, fired several shots, and then, having her sweeps out, rowed -to the _St. George_ to report that the strangers were Frenchmen, each -mounting about thirty-six guns. It is conceivable that Dampier might -not consider his ship, fresh as she was from a tough conflict, in a fit -state to engage these two large, well-armed vessels; nor, after the -part his consort had borne in the late action, was he likely to place -much faith in Stradling's co-operation. He thereupon determined to -stand away for the coast of Peru, an unintelligible resolution when it -is remembered that they would not only be leaving five of Stradling's -men behind, but furniture and stores absolutely essential to their -security and to the execution of their projects. They might surely have -lingered long enough in the neighbourhood of the island to persuade -the Frenchman that they were gone for good. A run of fifteen or twenty -miles would have put them out of sight. And they might also have -reckoned upon the unwillingness of the enemy to fight; for the French -equally with the Spanish seafarers in those days were commonly very -well satisfied with the negative victory of the foe's retreat. - -The two ships fell in with the coast of Peru on March 11th. Funnell -makes the latitude of the land 24° 53' S. Thence they coasted to the -northwards, and on the 14th passed the port of Copiapo, used by the -Spaniards for loading wine, money, and other goods for Coquimbo. They -would have been glad to go ashore for refreshments, but were in the -unhappy situation of being without boats. On the 22nd, when off Lima, -they chased a couple of vessels which were steering for that port. -On coming up with the sternmost Dampier found her to be the ship he -had fought off the island of Juan Fernandez. The crew were eager to -engage her, so as to prevent her from entering Lima, still dreading -the consequence of the Spaniards gaining intelligence of English -freebooters being in those waters. Moreover Funnell asserts that not a -man on board doubted the possibility of taking her, because the crew -were now in good health, whereas when they had engaged her some twenty -or thirty of them were upon the sick-list. They also wanted her guns, -ammunition, and provisions, and proposed that the _St. George_ should -fight her whilst Stradling attacked the other; but Dampier was not of -their mind, and whilst all hands were hotly debating the matter, the -Frenchmen, if indeed they were both French, got into Lima. It would -be absurd to accuse Dampier of want of courage, but it is strange -that, after chasing the two strangers from no other motive that seems -intelligible than the design to fight and capture them, he should draw -off on discovering one of them to be his enemy of Juan Fernandez. He -was commissioned to attack the vessels both of France and Spain, and -as there was much to be gained by the conquest of the ships, his -reluctance or refusal as the chief of a crew eager for the fray is -unaccountable. - -Funnell writes with no kindness for Dampier; but he doubtless speaks -the truth when he asserts that the men were greatly incensed by their -commander's refusal to fight, insomuch that something like a mutiny -might have followed had they not been mollified by the capture, in -the space of a few days, of two prizes—one of one hundred and fifty, -the other of two hundred tons. Meanwhile Dampier was maturing a -mighty project of landing on the coast and plundering some rich city. -Preparations for this great event filled the ship with business. All -day long the carpenters were employed in fitting out fabrics called -Spanish long-boats to enable the sailors to enter the surf with safety. -In every launch were fixed two patareros, swivel-guns of small calibre. -Fortune so far favoured them that, on April 11th, they met and took a -vessel of fifty tons, laden with plank and cordage, “as if she had been -sent on purpose for our service,” says Funnell. Carrying this useful -prize with them, they sailed to the island of Gallo, where they dropped -anchor and took in fresh water, and further prepared their ship and -the prize for the grand undertaking they were about to enter upon. At -the expiration of five days they were ready; but whilst they were in -the act of getting under weigh a ship was seen standing in. They were -in a proper posture to take her, and in a short while she was theirs. -The capture was unimportant, the craft being only fifty tons; but it -is noticeable for their finding on board a Guernsey man, who had been -taken by the Spaniards two years before as he was cutting logwood in -the Bay of Campeché, and who must have continued a prisoner for life -if they had not released him. Dampier's El Dorado was the town of Santa -Maria. It was to the mines lying adjacent to this place that he would -have been glad to convey the thousand slaves who had been captured in -an earlier voyage. It was his intention now to attack it, for he had -no doubt that it was full of treasure. But his evil star was dominant. -The enemy, apprised of his being in the neighbourhood, met him at all -points with ambuscades, which, Funnell tells us, cut off abundance of -the men. He may have lacked the power of organisation; he may have -been wanting in the quality to swiftly decide, and in the power to -unfalteringly execute; it is equally probable that his schemes were -perplexed and his hopes ruined by the insubordination of a crew whom -he was not sufficiently master of his temper to control. Be the reason -of the failure what it will, the men grew so weary of their fruitless -attempts on shore that they returned to their ship without regard to -the wishes of the commander. Then they were beset with new troubles, -chief amongst which was a great scarcity of provisions. Fortunately at -this critical juncture a ship of one hundred and fifty tons, ignorant -of their character, dropped anchor within gunshot of them. Needless to -say that she was promptly captured, and, to the delight of the hungry -and hollow-cheeked survivors of Dampier's mighty land-project, was -found filled to the hatches with flour, sugar, brandy, wine, thirty-two -tons of marmalade, a large stock of linen and woollen cloth, and, -in a word, such a store of food and goods as might have served to -victual and equip them for four or five years. Funnell was put on board -this prize on behalf of Captain Dampier and the people of the _St. -George_, whilst the master of the _Cinque Ports_—Alexander Selkirk—was -transferred to her as representing the interests of Captain Stradling -and his ship's company. The vessels then proceeded to the Bay of -Panama, and anchored off the island of Tobago. - -They had not long arrived when Dampier and Stradling fell out. The -quarrel between the men was so hot that there was nothing for it but -to part company. One is willing to hope that Stradling was to blame. -He was a man of a coarse mind, a person of violent temper, and of a -low habit of thought; and nothing, probably, but the circumstance of -their being in separate ships and removed from each other hindered the -two captains from separating long before. Five of the _St. George's_ -men went over to Stradling, and five of the _Cinque Ports_ crew joined -Dampier. It was now that some prisoners who were in the last prize -that had been taken affirmed that there were eighty thousand dollars -secreted on board of her. The money, they said, had been taken in very -privately at Lima, and it lay hidden in the bottom of the ship in the -part called the run. Dampier refused to credit this, and would not even -take the trouble to ascertain the truth by setting the men to rummage -the hold. His mind, Funnell tells us, was so full of great designs that -he would not risk them by such delay as a brief search might involve. -It is unfortunate for his reputation that a considerable portion of his -sea-going career has to be tracked through the relations of men with -whom he quarrelled, or who, by association with him during months of -the imprisonment of shipboard life, grew intimately acquainted with the -weaknesses of his character. - -On May 19th the _St. George_ parted company with the _Cinque Ports_, -and steered northwards with the intention of cruising off the Peruvian -coast. The subsequent recorded career of Stradling is very brief. His -men were too few to qualify him for achievements in the South Sea. He -repaired to Juan Fernandez for shelter and refreshment, where, as all -the world knows, Alexander Selkirk left him, partly on account of his -hatred of the captain, and partly because of the unseaworthy condition -of the galley. Not long afterwards the _Cinque Ports_ foundered off -the American coast, with the loss of all hands excepting Stradling and -seven of his men, who were sent prisoners by the Spaniards to Lima, in -which city Stradling was still living when Dampier came afterwards into -these waters as Woodes Rogers's pilot. What afterwards became of him is -not known. - -Nothing of interest occurred in Dampier's progress north for nearly a -month, and then on June 7th they captured a vessel bound to Panama, -laden with sugar and brandy and bales of wrought silk. In this ship was -a letter addressed to the President of Panama by the captain of the -French man-of-war they had fought. It was all about the action with the -_St. George_, and the writer boasted of having killed a great number -of the English, whilst he himself had sent ashore at Lima thirty-two -of his men, all whom had been disabled either by the loss of a leg or -an arm or an eye; and he added that, had Dampier chosen to follow and -re-engage him, he must have been captured. Funnell prints this with -evident relish as justifying the attitude of the crew of the _St. -George_, and as an impeachment of Dampier's judgment and possibly his -courage. In another letter it was related that the two French ships at -which Stradling had fired, and from which Dampier had made sail, had -picked up the boat containing the man and dog that had broken loose -from the _Cinque Ports_; also that they had taken off the men who had -been left on the island, together with the privateersmen's anchors, -cables, long-boat, and stores. It was further ascertained from these -letters that the Spaniards had fitted out two ships to cruise in -search of Dampier—one of thirty-two brass guns, twenty-four pounders -each; the other of thirty-six guns of the same calibre; each vessel -had three hundred and fifty seamen and one hundred and fifty soldiers, -all picked men. It does not seem, however, that Dampier allowed his -projects to be diverted by these men-of-war. He knew they were off -Guayaquil, and on June 21st we find him in the bay named after that -port with a sail in sight, which next day proved to be one of the -Spanish ships—the one of thirty-two guns. “Being pretty near each -other,” says Funnell, “they gave us a Broadside, but we did not mind -them.” Dampier's chief anxiety was to get the weather-gage. The wind -was half a gale, and in manœuvring the _St. George's_ foretop-mast -went over the side. Hatchets were seized and the wreckage cut away, -and the instant his ship was clear Dampier put his helm up and got -his vessel before it. This inspired the enemy with wonderful spirit. -He crowded all the canvas he dared show to that wind, and started in -pursuit; whereupon Dampier, observing that his behaviour was animating -the Spaniards with courage, resolved to bring the _St. George_ to the -wind and fight it out. Funnell relates this incident very brightly. -“Captain Dampier's opinion was that he could sail better upon one Mast -than the Enemy, and therefore it was best to put before the Wind; but, -however, chose rather to fight than to be chased ashore: So hoisting -the bloody Flag at the Main-topmast-head with a Resolution neither to -give or to take Quarter, we began the Fight, and went to it as fast as -we could load and fire. The Enemy kept to Windward at a good Distance -from us; so that we could not come to make use of our Small-arms: But -we divided the two Watches; and one was to manage the Guns whilst the -other looked on; and when those at the Guns were weary, the other were -to take their Places till they had refreshed themselves. By this means -we fired, I believe, five Guns to the Enemy's one. We fired about 560, -and he about 110 or 115; and we fought him from twelve at Noon to Half -an Hour to Six at Night, altho' at a good Distance; for he kept so far -to Windward of us that our Shot sometimes would hardly reach him, tho' -his would at the same time fly over us.” The cannonading—it came to no -more—terminated when the darkness fell. Dampier lay hove-to all night -waiting for the morning, but at daybreak nothing was to be seen of the -Spaniard. The action was merely a shooting match, and the privateers -had not a man killed nor even hurt by the enemy. - -Our hero's next step was to seek provisions and water. The district, -however, yielded him nothing, and he was forced to rest satisfied with -the lading of a couple of small vessels, which he captured. One of -them he fitted out as a long-boat, and called her the _Dragon_. They -were now in the Gulf of Nicoya and at anchor close to Middle Island, -as Funnell terms it; and here it was they careened their ship, all -hands going ashore and building tents for the cooper and sailmaker, -and for the storage of goods and provisions. Whilst this was doing -Dampier sent his mate, John Clipperton, and twenty men armed to the -teeth for a cruise in the _Dragon_. He found his account in this little -expedition, for at the end of six days the _Dragon_ returned with a -Spanish craft of forty tons freighted with brandy, wine, and sugar. -Amongst her people were six carpenters and caulkers, who had been -shipped by the owner for the purpose of repairing her, and these men -Dampier immediately set to work upon his own ship. The bottom of the -_St. George_, after she had been careened, is described as resembling a -honeycomb. Nowhere was the plank much thicker than an old sixpence; so -sodden and rotten was the wood that Funnell declares in some places he -could easily have thrust his thumb through it. They were without timber -to sheath her, and all that could be done was to stop the leaks with -nails and oakum. - -Whilst the ship was in the hands of the carpenters Dampier and -Clipperton fell out, and the mate, with a following of twenty-one -men, mutinously seized the bark that the _Dragon_ had brought in, -lifted her anchor and sailed away outside the islands. Shelvocke, -who was afterwards associated with Clipperton, gives this man so bad -a character in his book that, if he possessed the same qualities as -Dampier's mate which he afterwards exhibited as Shelvocke's consort, -one can only wonder that the captain of the _St. George_ had not long -before marooned or pitched him overboard. The loss of these twenty-two -men was a serious blow, but the defection might have resulted more -seriously even than this to Dampier, for all the _St. George's_ -ammunition and the greater part of her provisions were in the bark -when the mate seized her. Fortunately Clipperton was not wholly a -villain. Shortly after his departure he sent word that he would put the -stores belonging to the _St. George_ ashore in a house, keeping only -what he required for his own use. He was as good as his word; canoes -were despatched, and the powder and provisions were recovered. This -man Clipperton was afterwards the hero of some strange adventures. -Harris calls him a man of parts and spirit, but not the less was he the -completest rogue at that time afloat. He professed to have left Dampier -for the same reason that had caused Alexander Selkirk to live all alone -by himself,—I mean the craziness of the ship; but surely he must have -been a rascal to have abandoned Dampier in the hour of his need. Yet he -was not wanting in the audacious courage that was the characteristic -of his buccaneering compeers. In his little bark, armed with two -patareros, he sailed to the coast of Mexico, captured a couple of -ships, one of which he sunk; whilst for the other being new he demanded -ten thousand pieces of eight by way of ransom, and got four thousand. -He then sailed to the Gulf of Salinas, cleaned his cockle-shell of a -boat, and made for the East Indies, reaching the Philippine Islands in -fifty-four days. He afterwards bore away for Macao, where his crew left -him. He returned to England in 1706, and in 1718 obtained command of -the _Success_, consort to the _Speedwell_, whose captain, Shelvocke, -was under him. He abandoned Shelvocke, and though they afterwards -met in the South Sea, declined to consort with him in any way. His -adventures are one of the most interesting chapters in the annals -of the buccaneers. He returned home in or about the year 1722, and -shortly afterwards died of a broken heart, utterly destitute. - -But to return to Dampier. By October 7th he was again in a condition -to embark upon further adventures. One notices with admiration his -resolution to keep the sea in an under-manned craft so rotten and -crazy that he might reasonably fear the first gale of wind must pound -her into staves. But the forlorn hope was often the old buccaneer's -best opportunity. Exquemeling, or Esquemeling as the name is sometimes -spelt, tells of the pirate Le Grand that when famine-stricken in a -small boat in company with a few armed men, he ordered one of his -people to bore a hole through the craft's bottom whilst approaching the -vessel he meant to board, that success might be as sure as desperation -could render it. There was something probably of Le Grand's spirit -in Dampier's policy. His men were few, and he might have found it -necessary to animate them by an alternative whose issue could only mean -either conquest or destruction. - -He was now cruising for the Acapulco ship, the most romantic and golden -of all the hopes and dreams of the privateersman. There were no limits -to the fancies her name conjured up. Imagination was dazzled by visions -of chests loaded with virgin gold and unminted silver, by cases of -costly ecclesiastical furniture, crucifixes, chalices, and candlesticks -of precious ore, images glorious with jewels, plate of superb design, -treasure equalling in value the revenues of a flourishing principality. -They fell in with her on December 6th, in the morning. The crew, -Funnell drily tells us in effect, had looked out for her as though -there were no difference between seeing and taking her. They were -indeed in the right kind of mood for fighting. Their appetites had -been whetted by disappointment, and they were weary of a cruise that -had yielded them little more in the way of captures than provisions, -which their necessities quickly forced them to consume. They were also -sulky with the defection of comrades, and every piratical instinct in -them was rabidly yearning after a prize which would enable them to -sail straight away home, with plenty of money for all hands in their -hold. They pluckily bore down to the tall fabric whose high sides were -crowned with the defences of bristling tiers of guns, and saluted her -with several broadsides. The galleon, not suspecting them to be an -enemy, was unprepared; the sudden bombardment threw her people into -confusion, and the sailors—wretched seamen, as the Spaniards even at -their best were in those days—tumbled over each other in their clumsy -hurry to defend themselves. There was one Captain Martin on board with -Dampier, who, though born a Spaniard, had been bred and educated in -London. He had been taken out of a ship captured by the _St. George_ -in the preceding October. This Martin, whose sympathies appear to -have been with the English, advised Dampier to take advantage of the -confusion in the galleon, and lay her aboard. Indeed it hardly required -a practised seafaring eye to perceive that, if the Spaniard once got -his batteries to bear, he would, to employ Martin's language, “beat -the _St. George_ to pieces.” The value of the ship was reckoned at -sixteen million pieces of eight. That Dampier should have hesitated -is incomprehensible. Boarding was his only chance; he must have known -that; and yet he would not board. Hesitation was of course fatal. The -enemy brought his guns to bear, and it was then impossible for the _St. -George_ to lie alongside of her. The privateersmen had nothing to throw -but five-pound shot; the galleon, on the other hand, mounted eighteen -and twenty-four pounders. In a very short time the _St. George_ was -struck between wind and water in her powder-room, and two feet of plank -were driven in under either quarter; after which nothing remained to -Dampier but to make his escape whilst his crazy ship continued to swim. - -The bitterly disappointed crew clamoured to return home. Fortune was -against them, and the superstitions of the forecastle were confirming -the experiences of the voyage. Further, there were scarcely provisions -enough to last them for another three months, whilst the ship herself -was in a condition to fall to pieces at any moment. Less than this -might sufficiently justify the mutinous posture of the disgusted men. -Nevertheless Dampier persuaded them to prolong the cruise for another -six weeks, promising at the expiration of that time to carry them to -some factory in India, “where,” says Funnell, “we might all dispose -of ourselves, as we should think most for our advantage.” This being -settled they proceeded to the eastward, keeping the land in sight, but -though they passed Acapulco and other considerable ports, I do not -observe that Dampier attempted a single town, or even sought a prize -on the water. Apparently the sole object of this trip was to find a -convenient place for watering the ship and the prize which they had -with them,—that is to say, the bark out of which they had taken Captain -Martin,—preparatory for their departure. But on January 6th, 1705, a -month after their encounter with the Manila ship, there happened what -Funnell speaks of as a revolution in their affairs, “for thirty of our -Men,” he continues, “agreed with Captain Dampier to remain with him in -the South Seas, but with what View or on what Terms remained to us who -were not of that Number an impenetrable secret.” It is as likely as not -that this was no new caprice on the part of Dampier, and very possibly -his motive in asking the men to continue the cruise for another six -weeks was that he might have time to induce them to continue with him -for an indefinite term upon the South American seaboard. Funnell's -party consisted of thirty-three men, which represents the force of -Dampier's crew at that time to have been sixty-three, not counting -himself. That thirty should decide to remain with him, and that -thirty-three should be, so to speak, forced to abandon him without -having any knowledge whatever of the understanding between their -shipmates and the commander, is so inexplicable that I suspect some -blunder or concealment in Funnell's narrative at this point. It is, -indeed, just probable that Funnell and his thirty-two associates were, -by reason of bad health, disaffection, and other causes, scarcely worth -mustering. Yet they made shift nevertheless to carry their wretched -little vessel to the East Indies, and one might suppose that Dampier -would still have found his account in men who could prove themselves -qualified for such a navigation as that. Or it is conceivable that -Funnell and the others were sick of the cruise and afraid of the ship, -whilst Dampier—that he might prevent the whole crew from abandoning -him—made golden promises under a pledge, of secrecy, which proved -sufficiently potent to work upon the imaginations of thirty of the -men, and to determine them to give their captain another chance. - -Be all this as it may, the _St. George_ and the bark proceeded -amicably together to the Gulf of Amapalla, at which place they arrived -on January 26th, and the people at once went to work to divide the -provisions between the two ships. Before the bark sailed two of the -men who had resolved to stay with Captain Dampier left him, and joined -Funnell's party, which now numbered thirty-five—namely, thirty-four -English and a negro-boy. Meanwhile Dampier's men were busy in refitting -their craft. The carpenter stopped the holes which the cannon-balls of -the galleon had made in her with tallow and charcoal, not daring to -drive in a nail. Four guns were struck into the hold, which yet left -sixteen mounted, a greater number than Dampier had men to fight, if the -need arose, “for,” says Funnell, “there remained with him no more than -twenty-eight Men and Boys, and most of them landmen; which was a very -insignificant Force for one who was to make War on a whole Nation.” One -might think that the spectacle of such a ship as this would inspire -even a larger spirit of desertion than her crew manifested. Certainly -there was nothing in the aspect of the tottering and rotten vessel to -coax Funnell and his companions back into Dampier's service. They were -supplied with four pieces of cannon, along with a fair proportion of -small arms and ammunition, and on February 1st they bade farewell to -their old associates and started on their perilous voyage. - -The subsequent adventures of Dampier need not take long to relate. As -we have seen, his crew consisted of twenty-eight men only; the _St. -George_ was in a pitiable condition, her seams open, every timber in -her decayed, her sails and rigging worn out, and in no sense was she -fit to keep the sea. Dampier was in the situation of a gambler who -has lost all but the guinea which he now proposes to stake. Indeed, -we find him throughout confiding a great deal too much in luck. It is -seldom that he attempts to force fortune's hand by prompt, vigorous, -and original measures. One by one his brother officers had abandoned -him; his crew had deserted him by the score at a time; and yet in a -ship rotten to the heart of her, and with a beggarly following of -twenty-eight gaunt and dissatisfied men, he clings to the scene of his -distresses and his disappointments with no further expectation than the -gambling hope that, since he is at the very bottom of the wheel, the -next revolution must certainly raise him. Had he and his twenty-eight -men come fresh to these seas, they might have flattered themselves -with brilliant prospects; smaller companies of buccaneers had achieved -incredible things, enlarged their ranks as they progressed, shifted -their flag from ship to ship, until they found themselves in possession -of a fleet equal to any such force as the enemy in those waters had it -in his power to send against them. But Dampier's men were dissatisfied -and miserable, surly and despondent with disappointment, and exhausted -by privation and severe labours. They looked at the future as promising -but a darker picture of what they had already suffered. It was indeed -time for them to go home; the privateering spirit amongst them was -moribund; all heart had been taken out of them. It speaks well for -Dampier's personal influence, whilst it also illustrates his singular -genius of persuasion, that he should have succeeded in keeping these -men together by representations in which possibly he had as little -faith as they. He told them that there was nothing easier than to make -their fortunes by surprising some small Spanish town, and that the -fewer there were of them, the fewer there would be to share the booty. -They listened and sullenly acquiesced—animated, perhaps, by a faint -expiring gleam of their old buccaneering instincts. Thereupon Dampier -attacked Puna in Ecuador, then a village formed of a small church and -about thirty houses. The night was dark when he landed, the inhabitants -were in bed; no resistance was offered, and the place was captured -without trouble. Having plundered this town, they sailed to Lobos de -la Mar, where they let go their anchor, whilst they deliberated what -they should do next. On the way to this island they captured a small -Spanish vessel full of provisions. Dampier called a council, and it -was resolved that they should quit the _St. George_ and sail away to -the East Indies in their prize. It is manifest from this resolution -that their easy plundering of Puna, and their equally easy capture of -the bark,[23] had failed to reconcile them to a longer cruise against -the Spaniards. Having transferred everything likely to be of use to -them from the _St. George_, they left that crazy fabric rolling at her -anchor and steered westwards for the Indies. - -What adventures they met with on their way I do not know. Harris says -that on their arrival at one of the Dutch settlements their ship was -seized, their property confiscated, and themselves turned loose to -shift as they best could. Dampier succeeded in making his way home. -He arrived, as was customary with him, a beggar. But the reports of -his voyage considerably enlarged his reputation. The world pitied -the misfortunes whilst it admired the ambitious efforts and the bold -projects of a seaman of whose nationality every Englishman was proud. -By command of the Queen he was presented to her, kissed her hand, and -had the honour of relating his adventures to her. But all this left -him poor, and it was now his business once more to look about him for -further occupation. - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -1708-1711 - -THE VOYAGE WITH WOODES ROGERS[24] - - -Dampier probably obtained the next berth we find him filling through -the influence of Woodes Rogers. There is no doubt that it was owing -to Dampier's influence and representations that the expedition under -Rogers was equipped and despatched. Harris tells us that he addressed -himself to the merchants of Bristol, who listened to his proposals -with patience and interest. At all events his experience would enable -him to submit to them that his own, and indeed the failures of others, -were owing, not to the voyage being a dangerous or difficult one, not -to the courage nor to the superior strength of the enemy, not to any -lack of the right kind of qualities amongst the crews, but simply to -those undertakings having been badly organised at the start, unwisely -officered, and injudiciously conducted. The Bristol merchants fully -agreed with him, and illustrated the spirit of their concurrence by -fitting out two ships and refusing him any post of command. He and -Rogers had long been acquainted, as may be gathered from several -passages in his voyages. There is little question that it was Dampier's -reputation which procured him his appointment as pilot to his friend; -but I take it that Rogers warmly supported Dampier's solicitations, -and that the advocacy of the chief commander proved powerful enough -to neutralise, or at least to qualify, the prejudice which our hero's -misfortunes as a freebooter and his half-heartedness as an explorer had -excited against him. - -As a pilot there was no man then living better qualified. He had -spent long months of his life in the South Seas, and his knowledge of -Indian and Pacific waters was varied and extensive. His name was also -formidable to the Spaniards, a detail of considerable moment in the -catalogue of privateering merits. His dignity could suffer nothing by -his acceptance of the post of pilot to the expedition. Many sea-words -have changed their old signification, and when we now talk of a pilot -we think of a man whose business it is to navigate ships through short -spaces of dangerous waters. There were of course pilots of this kind in -Dampier's day. But in addition there were mariners selected for their -knowledge of distant parts to accompany ships in voyages round the -world, or to the ports of remote nations. The post was an honourable -one; the pilot stood alone; he had not indeed the captain's general -powers, but his duties were attended with many privileges, and he was -looked up to as a person of authority and distinction. It was such a -position then as Dampier would have been willing to accept even though -he had earned the value of an estate by his last voyage. - -The expedition was promoted, as has already been said, by a number of -Bristol merchants. Twenty-two names are given as representing only a -portion of this very large committee of adventurers. The chief command -was entrusted to Captain Woodes Rogers, a man who had suffered much -from the French, and who was eager to repair as well as to avenge his -injuries by reprisals. He had long been known as an intelligent officer -and an excellent seaman. He had also a name as a disciplinarian, -and he was further remarkable for the swiftness and sagacity of his -decisions in moments of difficulty and peril. In point of literary -merit his book is worthy to rank with Shelvocke's narrative, though the -form and spirit of both are manifestly inspired by Dampier's volumes. -The captain next in command was Stephen Courtney, who was also a -member of the committee and the holder of a considerable share in the -speculation. Rogers's second captain, or chief mate as he would now be -called, was Thomas Dover, a physician by profession, who in his old age -wrote a work called _Dr. Dover's Last Legacy to his Country_, in which -he so effectually recommended the use of quicksilver that “ladies as -well as gentlemen of rank and fortune bespangled the floors and carpets -with this metal, and scattered their diamonds wherever they went to -dance or to play.”[25] It is strange to hear of a doctor of medicine -going as lieutenant of a buccaneering craft; but it is stranger yet to -read that Dover's bad temper was the cause of his being chosen. Yet his -chief recommendation lay in his violent tongue, which, it was argued, -would effectually prevent him from winning adherents, so that there -was no chance of his weakening the expedition by heading or creating -a party![26] The captain under Courtney was Edward Cooke, a person of -talent and observation and of no small literary ability, whose hatred -of the French was only equalled by Rogers. - -The venture was thoroughly matured before it was launched. Stringent -rules and regulations serving as articles of war were drawn up and -signed by the promoters, who called the document “The Constitution.” -The experiences as well as the advice of Dampier may be traced in these -rules. It was required that in case of death, sickness, or desertion, -a council should be called of all the officers of the ships, that the -person selected should be the unanimous choice, and that all attacks -by sea or land should first be generally debated by the whole body of -officers. In case of the votes for and against being equal, Captain -Dover, as President of the Council, was to have the “double-voice.” -The manifest object of these articles was to stop the bickerings which -commonly attended the undertakings of the privateers, and which were -often the cause of their failures and defeats, by importing the general -voice into every decision. The ships were the _Duke_, of three hundred -tons, thirty guns, and one hundred and seventy men, with Rogers and -Dover as first and second captains; and the _Dutchess_, of two hundred -and seventy tons, twenty-six guns, and one hundred and fifty-one -men, whose first and second in command were Courtney and Cooke. Both -vessels were commissioned by Prince George of Denmark to cruise on the -coasts of Peru and Mexico against the Queen's enemies, the French and -Spaniards. - -Dampier was on board Woodes Rogers: the story of the expedition, -therefore, must be followed to its conclusion, though, unfortunately, -our hero has no longer an individuality. His name indeed occasionally -occurs, but he vanishes as a figure, and we are merely conscious as we -follow the narrative that we are in his company, and that though he is -lost to view he is sharing in the exploits and dangers, in the hopes -and fears, of the crowd of resolute men whom he pilots. - -The two ships set sail from Bristol, or rather from Kingroad, at the -mouth of the river Avon, on Monday, August 1st, 1708, and arrived at -Cork on the 9th in company with several other ships which had sailed -under the convoy of a man-of-war called the _Hastings_. Until the -27th they were busy in thoroughly preparing the ships for the voyage. -Here also they received a number of men to take the place of others -who had been brought from Bristol, but who, even in the short trip -across the St. George's Channel, had proved themselves worthless as -sailors. When they weighed on the morning of the 28th their crews were -unusually strong. Rogers says that he doubled the number of officers as -a provision against mutinies, and also that there might be plenty of -qualified persons to take command in case of death. The _Duke_ indeed -was so full of men that she was obliged to leave a portion of the -boatswain's stores behind to make room for the people. The proverbial -qualities of the sailor show humorously at the outset of this voyage. -All hands knew that they were to sail immediately, yet we read that -“they were continually marrying whilst we staid at Cork.” An instance -is given of a Dane whom a Roman Catholic priest had united in holy -wedlock to an Irishwoman. Neither understood the other's tongue, and -they were forced to hire an interpreter before they could tell each -other how fond they were. The inconvenience of unintelligibility, -however, did not cool their fervour; on the contrary, it was noticed -that this Dane and his Irish wife were more affected by their parting -than any of the other couples, “And,” says the narrative, “the Fellow -continued melancholy for several Days after we were at Sea. The rest -understanding each other, drank their Cans of Flip till the last -Minute, concluded with a Health to our good Voyages and their happy -Meeting, and then parted unconcerned.” The number of sailors in both -ships when they weighed was three hundred and thirty-three, one-third -of whom were foreigners. Many of them were by trade tinkers, tailors, -haymakers, pedlars, and fiddlers; there were also a negro and ten boys. - -Rogers was glad at the start to sail under convoy of a man-of-war. -The holds of both the _Duke_ and the _Dutchess_ were flush to the -hatches with provisions; the 'tween-decks were crowded with cables, -with bags of bread, and casks of water; so that it would have been -impossible to engage an enemy without throwing a large quantity of the -stores overboard. There were one hundred and eighty-two men aboard the -_Duke_ and one hundred and fifty-one aboard the _Dutchess_, and the -crowding, when the tonnage of the ships is thought of side by side -with their choked holds and 'tween-decks, must have rendered life at -the start intolerable to the privateersmen. Despite their condition, -however, they agreed to the proposal of the captain of the man-of-war -that they should cruise a few days off Cape Finisterre; the crews of -the vessels were thereupon mustered, and the nature and intention of -the expedition explained to them, in order that such of the men as -should show themselves discontented might be sent home as mutineers in -the _Hastings_. All professed themselves satisfied with the exception -of “one poor Fellow,” says Rogers, “who was to have been Tything-man -that year, and was apprehensive his Wife would be obliged to pay 40 -Shillings for his Default. But when he saw everybody else easy, and -strong hopes of plunder, he likewise grew quiet by degrees, and drank -as heartily as anybody to the good Success of the Voyage.” Yet, despite -the assurances of the men, a mutiny happened whilst Rogers was on -board a Swedish vessel he had chased, whose papers exempted her. The -ringleaders were the boatswain and three of the inferior officers. Ten -of the men were put in irons, and a sailor seized to the “jeers” (as -the tackles were called which hoisted and lowered the fore and main -yards) and punished by the usual process of whipping and pickling. The -outbreak was so serious that all the officers went armed, not knowing -what was next to happen. After some further trouble and much anxiety -the mutiny was quelled, but it needed all Rogers's valuable qualities -as a commander to deal with it. - -I do not doubt, had Dampier been in charge, that the disturbance would -have ended in the ruin of the voyage. Of the unruliness of the crews of -that day, hundreds of examples may be gathered from the contemporary -records. The seaman of Dampier's age was undeniably a lion-hearted -man, incomparably intrepid in his conflicts whether with the elements -or with the enemies of his country; but it is equally true that most -of his characteristics were those of the savage. He was a ruffian in -his behaviour, he was a brute in his tastes, he conversed in a dialect -that was almost wholly formed of oaths, and he pursued his calling in -a skin soaked with the liquor that was served out to him by the gallon -at the time. The average merchant-sailor of the last century has been -sketched by Fielding in his _Voyage to Lisbon_. “It is difficult,” he -says, “I think, to assign a satisfactory reason why sailors in general -should of all others think themselves entirely discharged from the -common bands of humanity, and should seem to glory in the language -and behaviour of savages! They see more of the world, and have most -of them a more erudite education, than is the portion of landmen of -their degree.... Is it that they think true courage (for they are the -bravest fellows upon earth) inconsistent with all the gentleness of -a humane carriage, and that the contempt of civil order springs up -in minds but little cultivated at the same time, and from the same -principles, with the contempt of danger and death? Is it——? In short, -it is so.” Happily we may now say it _was_ so! But the reason is not -hard to find. _Roderick Random_ is a full and satisfying reply to -Fielding's interrogatory. The sailor of that day was a brute because -his life was that of a brute. He was for long months at a time absent -from every possible refining influence. He was fed on provisions such -as a dog would recoil from. His sea-parlour was a black, wet hole, -filled with vermin and loathsome with bad smells. His punishments -were beyond expression inhuman; he was whipped until his back became -a bloody mass, into which brine was rubbed that his sufferings might -be rendered more exquisite. He was hoisted to a yard-arm, then dropped -suddenly into the water and hauled violently under the ship's keel, and -this was repeated until he was nearly drowned. He was lashed half-naked -to the mast, and so left to stand for a period often running into days, -insulted by his shipmates, and exposed to the scorching heat or the -frosty sting of the parallels in which the ship happened to be; he -was loaded with irons and immured for weeks in a dark and poisonous -forepeak, whose only tenants besides himself were the huge rats of -the vessel's hold. It was not, then, that the sailor regarded himself -discharged, as Fielding suggests, from the common bands of humanity; he -knew nothing of humanity, whether during his brief and roaring orgies -ashore or during his long and bitter servitude upon the high seas. The -traditions of those days still linger, and the sailor of our own times -suffers to a certain extent from prejudices which were excited and -perpetuated by the bold and reckless savages of the age of Dampier and, -later on, of Fielding. But I am speaking of the average merchantman; -it is readily conceivable that the buccaneer or privateersman should -have gone far beyond him. He recognised no restrictions save those -which were absolutely essential to his safety at sea; his profession -of piracy rendered him insensible to cruelty by familiarising him with -many of the most violent forms of it; he slept like a wild animal upon -the hard deck, with a rug for his cover and nothing else between him -and the stars. Dampier grimly says in his chapter on the winds: “'Tis -usual with Seamen in those parts to sleep on the Deck, especially -for Privateers; among whom I made these Observations. In Privateers, -especially when we are at an Anchor, the Deck is spread with Mats -to lye on each Night. Every Man has one, some two; and this, with a -Pillow for the Head and a Rug for a Covering, is all the Bedding that -is necessary for Men of that Employ.” For one day the freebooter might -feast on the fifty delicacies of a plundered ship, and for weeks his -food would be so coarse and innutritious as to fill his eyes with the -fires of famine and pale his cheek to the haggardness of the corpse. It -needed exceptional and extraordinary powers of command to control such -wretches. The qualities of the men in charge of Rogers and Courtney -are significantly expressed by their early mutiny. Many of them were -seasoned buccaneers—ruffians whom not even the common hope could keep -straight. Fortunately for his employers, Rogers knew how to handle them. - -On the 18th the two vessels captured a small Spanish ship which they -carried to Teneriffe. There were some male and female passengers on -board, and she was laden with what would now be called a general cargo. -The English merchants, to whom possibly a portion of this cargo was -consigned, objected to the capture, and represented that they would be -in danger if the bark were not restored. The agent of the privateers, -a man named Vanbrugh, went ashore and was detained, and it came very -near to Rogers and Courtney bombarding the town of Oratava. When -the inhabitants saw the vessels standing in with tompions out and -all hands at quarters, they offered to satisfy the demands of the -buccaneers, who thereupon sold the prize for four hundred and fifty -dollars and then made haste to sail away, very glad of the chance to -once more “mind their own concerns,” as Rogers puts it. On the last -day of September they dropped anchor in the harbour of St. Vincent, -one of the Cape de Verde Islands. Scarcely were they arrived when -fresh disturbances arose amongst the men. The mutiny originated in -altercations touching the distribution of plunder, and with the hope -of terminating these incessant and perilous brawls, the commanders -went to work to frame such articles as they believed would inspire -the seamen with confidence in the intentions of their superiors. The -paper they drew up is preserved, and it is of interest as illustrating -a form of marine life that for generations has been as extinct as the -ships in which the privateersmen sailed. First of all it was settled -that the plunder taken on board any prize by either ship should be -equally divided between the companies of both ships. Any man concealing -booty exceeding the value of a dollar during twenty-four hours after -the capture of a prize was to be severely punished, and to lose his -share of the plunder. Article the fourth provided that “If any prize -be taken by boarding, then whatsoever is taken shall be every man's -own as follows: viz. a Sailor 10 pounds, any Officer below a Carpenter -20 pounds, a Mate, Gunner, Boatswain, and Carpenter 40 pounds, a -Lieutenant or Master 80 pounds, and the Captains 100 pounds each, -above the gratuity promised by the owners to such as shall signalise -themselves.” It was further agreed that twenty pieces of eight should -be given to him who first saw a prize of good value. Another article -provided that every man on board, after the capture of a prize, should -be searched by persons appointed for that purpose. This agreement was -signed by the officers and men of both ships, and was perhaps the best, -if indeed it was not the only, expedient that Rogers could have hit -upon for silencing the constant mutinous growlings of the rapacious -rogues under his command, unavailing as it subsequently proved. - -They weighed on October 8th and steered for the coast of Brazil. In -spite of thoughtfully-framed articles, handsome concessions on the -part of the captains, and the taut discipline of the quarter-deck, -the spirit of mutiny continued strong. The men were too numerous; the -ship's work made demands upon only a portion of them at a time; the -crew had therefore plenty of leisure, which they employed in haranguing -one another into insubordination. As an example of the difficulty of -dealing with these men, it is related that a fellow named Page, who -was second mate of the _Dutchess_, was ordered on board the _Duke_ -to exchange posts with a man similarly rated. Captain Cooke was -sent to fetch him; Page refused to come; a dispute followed, fists -were doubled up and the men fell to blows. They managed at last to -convey the mutinous mate to the _Duke_, but before they had time to -charge him with his offence, he sprang into the sea and started to -swim back to his ship. He was recaptured, lifted over the side and -punished—probably spread-eagled and man-handled, after the old fashion. -Disturbances of this kind were not calculated to gild the prospects of -the sober-headed. In the _Dutchess_ they had eight of the ringleaders -of a party (who had proposed to run away with the ship) under hatches -in irons. There were repeated attempts to desert after the vessels -had come to an anchor on November 18th off the coast of Brazil. Two -sailors escaped into the woods, but were so terrified by the sight of -a number of monkeys and baboons which they mistook for tigers, that -they plunged into the water to the depth of their waists, and stood -bawling for help until a boat was sent to fetch them aboard. One thinks -of Dampier, hot-tempered and prone to despondency, talking with his -friend Rogers about the troublesome posture of the crew, expressing -many doubts as to the practicability of the voyage, and perhaps -suggesting adventures remote from the prescription of the Bristol -merchants. An incident peculiar to the old piratical life steals out -in this part of the story. Early one morning the people who were on -the look-out on the quarter-deck sighted a canoe gliding silently and -shadow-like shorewards. It was hailed and ordered to come aboard; but -no other answer was returned than the swifter plying of the oars. The -pinnace and yawl were manned and sent in pursuit, and on approaching -the canoe one of them fired into it to bring it to. It held on bravely -nevertheless, but was captured as its stem smote the beach. One of -her people was a friar, who with quivering knees instantly owned to -possessing a little store of gold, obtained, as the rough sailors -surmised, “by his trade of confessing the ignorant.” The father was -very politely treated, but he did not seem to value the attention paid -him by Captain Rogers. What he wanted was his gold, which there is no -reason whatever to suppose he ever received. He talked of obtaining -justice in Portugal or England, and was answered by the hurricane -shout to the forecastle to get the ship under-weigh. - -The vessels were now fairly bound for the passage of the Horn. The -crew, who in the torrid zone growled continuously and piratically in -their gizzards, were no sooner in the high latitudes than they grew -reasonable. It was the summer season in that hemisphere, but Dampier -carried them so far south that all hands nearly perished of cold. At -least a third of the people of both ships were down with sickness; and -they barely escaped a languishing and miserable end by the good fortune -of prosperous winds, which blew them swiftly northwards under more -temperate heights. It was necessary to make land speedily for the sake -of the men's health, and Juan Fernandez was fixed upon. They steered -for the island, but the charts differed and they could not find it. -Dampier was as much at a loss as the rest, and wondered at not being -able to hit it, telling how often he had been there, and how he carried -a most accurate map of the island about with him in his head. In order -to find it they were forced to sail in sight of the coast of Chili, -so as to obtain “a departure,” and then stretch away west upon the -parallel of it, or thereabouts. They fell in with it at last, but not -until after much fruitless scouring of the seas. - -The name of Dampier is intimately associated with the passage that now -follows. There is nothing, perhaps, in what may be termed the romantic -chapters of the maritime annals more picturesque and impressive than -the discovery by the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_ of Alexander Selkirk on the -island of Juan Fernandez. The accentuation the story obtained from -the genius of Defoe makes it immortal. But even as a mere anecdote, -without better skill brought to bear upon it than is found in the -plain relations of Rogers and Cooke, its interest is so remarkable, -it is so brimful of fascinating inspiration, that of all sea-stories -it bids fair to be the longest remembered. Indeed it must be said -that a great number of people, otherwise pretty well informed, are -familiar with the name of Dampier only in connection with the strange, -surprising adventures of Mr. Alexander Selkirk. The narrative belongs -peculiarly to Dampier's experiences. Selkirk was mate of the _Cinque -Ports_ when her captain, Stradling, was Dampier's consort, and he was -still that ship's mate when Stradling quarrelled with Dampier at King's -Island in the Bay of Panama. The tale is related by Woodes Rogers and -by Cooke,[27]—an old-world tale indeed, which every schoolboy has by -heart; yet I cannot satisfy myself that its omission on the score of -triteness only would be desirable in a volume that professes to recount -the most striking passages in the naval career of William Dampier. -Cooke's version is fuller than Rogers's—that is to say, he wrote two -accounts of it, his reference to it in his first volume being deemed -meagre and unsatisfactory by the public, who had been set agape by the -wonderful yarn; but Rogers's narrative is the better written; besides, -as Dampier is aboard the _Duke_, it is proper to allow his captain to -speak. The full story is much too long for quotation at large in these -pages; I therefore select the following as amongst the most striking -passages. They were off the island on February 1st, 1709, and sent the -pinnace ashore with Captain Dover in charge. - -“As soon as it was dark, we saw a Light ashore. Our Boat was then about -a League from the Island, and bore away for the Ships as soon as she -saw the Lights: We put our Lights aboard for the Boat, tho' some were -of Opinion the Lights we saw were our Boat's Lights: But as Night came -on it appeared too large for that. We fired our Quarterdeck Gun and -several Musquets, shewing Lights in our Mizen and Fore Shrouds, that -our Boat might find us whilst we were in the Lee of the Island: ... -All this Stir and Apprehension arose, as we afterwards found, from one -poor naked Man who passed in our Imagination, at present, for a Spanish -Garrison, a Body of Frenchmen, or a Crew of Pirates.” - -Next day they sent their yawl ashore, and as this boat did not return, -they despatched the pinnace to Seek her. Rogers then continues: - -“Immediately our Pinnace returned from the Shore and brought abundance -of Crayfish with a Man cloathed in Goat-skins, who looked wilder than -the first Owners of them. He had been on the Island Four Years and Four -Months, being left there by Captain Stradling in the _Cinque Ports_; -his Name was Alexander Selkirk, a Scotsman who had been Master of the -_Cinque Ports_, a Ship that came here last with Captain Dampier, who -told me that this was the best man in her, and I immediately agreed -with him to be a Mate on board our Ship: 'Twas he that made the Fire -last Night when he saw our Ships, which he judged to be English.... -The reason of his being left here was a Difference between him and his -Captain; which, together with the Ship's being leaky, made him willing -rather to stay here, than go along with him at first; and when he was -at last willing to go the Captain would not receive him.... He had with -him his Cloaths and Bedding, with a Firelock, some Powder, Bullets, and -Tobacco, a Hatchet, a Knife, a Kettle, a Bible, some Practical Pieces, -and his Mathematical Instruments and Books. He diverted and provided -for himself as well as he could; but for the first eight Months had -much ado to bear up against Melancholy and the Terror of being left -alone in such a Place. He built two Huts with Pimento-trees, covered -them with long Grass, and lined them with the Skins of Goats, which he -killed with his Gun as he wanted, so long as his Powder lasted, which -was but a Pound; and that being almost spent, he got Fire by rubbing -two Sticks of Pimento Wood together upon his Knee. In the lesser Hut, -at some Distance from the other, he dressed his Victuals; and in the -larger he slept, and employed himself in Reading, singing Psalms, -and Praying, so that he said he was a better Christian while in this -Solitude than ever he was before, or than he was afraid he should ever -be again. At first he never eat anything till Hunger constrained him, -partly for Grief and partly for want of Bread and Salt: Nor did he go -to Bed till he could watch no longer; the Pimento Wood, which burnt -very clear, served him both for Fire and Candle, and refreshed him -with its fragrant Smell.... By the Favour of Providence and Vigour of -his Youth, being now but thirty Years old, he came at last to conquer -all the Inconveniences of his Solitude and to be very easy. When his -Cloaths were out he made himself a Coat and a Cap of Goat-skins, which -he stitched together with little Thongs of the same that he cut with -his Knife. He had no other Needle but a Nail; and when his Knife was -worn to the Back he made others as well as he could of some Iron Hoops -that were left ashore, which he beat thin, and ground upon Stones. -Having some Linen Cloth by him, he sewed him some Shirts with a Nail, -and stitched them with the Worsted of his old Stockings, which he -pulled out on purpose. He had his last Shirt on when we found him in -the Island. At his first coming on board us he had so much forgot his -Language for want of Use that we could scarce understand him; for he -seemed to speak his Words by halves. We offered him a Dram; but he -would not touch it, having drank nothing but Water since his being -there; and it was some Time before he could relish our Victuals.” - -It is easy to imagine the interest with which Dampier would listen to -the recital of his old associate's strange adventures. Cooke tells -us that Selkirk had conceived “irreconcilable aversion to an officer -on board the _Cinque Ports_, who, he was informed, was on board the -_Duke_, but not being a principal in command, he was prevailed upon -to waive that circumstance and accompany Captain Dampier, for whom he -had a friendship.” Whoever the person may have been, the Scotchman's -dislike of him was bitter, and it was to Dampier's persuasions that -Rogers owed the services of a man who proved of the utmost use to him -whilst lying at the island by enabling him to supply the ships with -fresh provisions and by facilitating the business of taking in wood and -water. It is observable that Rogers styled Selkirk the governor of the -island, a half-humorous and half-pathetic fancy (when one thinks of -the desperate loneliness of the unhappy man), which Defoe afterwards -adopted when making Robinson Crusoe speak of his possessions and -territories, his castles and his dependents. - -The vessels arrived, as we have seen, on February 1st, and by the 3rd a -smith's forge had been conveyed ashore, the coopers were hard at work, -and there were tents, or “pavilions,” erected for the commanders and -the sick. But it was their business not to lose time, for they had long -before—that is to say, when they were at the Canaries—heard that five -large French ships were coming to search for them in the South Sea; so -that very quickly, all the sick men happily recovering rapidly with -the exception of two who died, they had refitted their ships, taken in -wood and water, and boiled down and stowed away about eighty gallons of -sea-lions' oil to use for the lamps, that they might save the candles. -This done they set sail, after holding a consultation, which resulted -in further regulations for the preservation of discipline; and on May -15th captured a little vessel of sixteen tons, whose master furnished -them with the reassuring news that seven French ships, which had been -cruising off this part of the coast for some time, had six months -previously gone away for the Horn, and it was added they were not -likely to return. There was other news besides of a kind to make their -mouths water, particularly that the widow of the deceased Viceroy of -Peru would shortly embark for Acapulco with her family and the whole -of her fortune, and probably break her journey at Payta. They were -also told that some months previously a ship had sailed from Payta for -Acapulco with two hundred thousand pieces of eight on board, together -with a rich cargo of liquors and flour. More useful information was -conveyed in the statement that a certain Señor Morel was waiting in -a stout ship filled with dry goods for a vessel expected from Panama -richly laden, with a bishop aboard, and that both craft would put to -sea together. The idea of a bishop was commonly associated in the -buccaneering mind with visions of the sacred splendours of the altar -and the fruits of long years dedicated to painful hoarding. So it was -straightway resolved by Rogers and his people to start for a cruise off -Payta, meanwhile exercising all possible precaution against discovery -lest larger designs should be spoilt. - -A few days after they had come to this determination Captain Rogers -and Captain Dover fell out. Rogers says that Dover charged him with -insolence; Captain Cooke, on the other hand, takes Dover's part in -his story of this passage. Difficulties of this kind were incessantly -occurring amongst the buccaneers, and on the eve, too, very often of -the execution of big projects. The quarrel, however, is not dwelt -upon at length; probably the disputants quickly saw the wisdom of -calling a truce that they might attend to the serious business of -what is grandiloquently termed “the conquest of Guayaquil.” The great -undertaking was settled thus: Dover was to command a company of seventy -marines, Rogers another company of seventy-one officers and sailors, -Courtney a third company of seventy-three men, and Dampier was to -have charge of the artillery, with a reserve force of twenty-two -seamen. Meanwhile Cooke was to command the _Dutchess_ with forty-two -men, and Captain Robert Fry the _Duke_ with forty men; bringing up -the whole force to a total of three hundred and twenty. In addition -there were blacks, Indians, and prisoners, to the number of two -hundred and sixty-six; forming an army of five hundred and eighty-six -people for the captains and officers to look after. The appetites -of the buccaneers were shrewdly sharpened by the understanding that -bedding, wearing apparel, gold rings, buttons, buckles, gold or silver -crucifixes, watches, liquors, and provisions, should be reckoned fair -plunder to be equally divided; but money, women's earrings, loose -diamonds, pearls, and precious stones, were to be held as belonging to -the merchants. On the 15th there was a smart engagement between the -privateersmen's boats and a Spanish ship, in which Rogers lost his -brother, who was second lieutenant on board the _Duke_. The vessel was -captured, and proved to be the craft in which the bishop had sailed; -but he had gone ashore at Point St. Helena, leaving the ship to carry -his property to Lima. She had seventy blacks and a number of passengers -on board. The lading consisted of bale goods, and a considerable -quantity of pearls were found in her. Captain Cooke took charge, and -the prisoners were divided between the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_. - -The little bark of sixteen tons which they had taken some time -previously they named the _Beginning_, and on April 21st in the morning -she was sent to cruise close inshore to see all clear for the landing -of the men. The report she brought was that there was a vessel riding -close under the point whose crew, on sighting the _Beginning_, had -hurried ashore and vanished. On this the privateersmen rowed towards -the town of Guayaquil. The night drew down dark; the men pulled -stealthily with muffled oars; an hour before midnight they saw a light -suddenly spring up in the town, towards which they continued to row -very softly until they were within a mile of it; when on a sudden they -were brought to a halt by hearing a sentinel call to another and talk -to him. Concluding they were discovered, the buccaneers pulled across -the river, and lay still and very quiet, waiting and watching. In a -few minutes the whole town flashed out into lights, the resonant notes -of a great alarm-bell swang through the soft wind, several volleys of -musketry were discharged, and a large fire was kindled on the hill to -let the town know that the enemy was in the river. The officers in -charge of the boats, confounded by this unexpected discovery of their -presence, fell to a hot argument and grew so angry that their voices -were heard ashore. The Spaniards, who could not understand them, sent -post-haste for an Englishman who was then living in the town, and -brought him, very secretly, close to the boats that he might interpret -what was said. But before he arrived the privateersmen had concluded -their arguments.[28] They remained all night in the river, and next day -contented themselves with capturing a number of vessels, and receiving -the governor under a flag of truce to treat with him about the ransom -of the town and ships. But nothing came of the interview; and at -four o'clock in the afternoon, on April 23d, the whole force of the -buccaneers landed and attacked the place. The Spaniards fired a single -volley and fled; the English pressed forward and seized the enemy's -cannon, from which every gunner had run saving one, an Irishman, who -gallantly stuck to his post until he dropped mortally wounded. The -seamen marched through both towns—the Spaniards flying pell-mell before -them firing the houses as they tramped forwards, and leaving gangs of -men behind them to guard the churches. There was a thick wood on the -right of the place, and all night long the enemy continued to fire -from among the trees at the English sentries, but without injuring a -man. From time to time bodies of horse and foot showed themselves, -but only to wheel about and fly to the first musket levelled at them. -Meanwhile a party of twenty-two men went in the _Dutchess's_ pinnace -up the river, and sacked every house they came across. The enemy was -easily kept at bay, and the buccaneers had no trouble in sending booty -and provisions in quantities to their ships. In due course messengers, -flourishing flags of truce, came to talk about ransoming the town, -and after much discussion, the offer of thirty thousand dollars was -accepted, of which twenty-five thousand were paid. - -The depredations of the buccaneers had been indeed serious enough to -threaten the townspeople with absolute ruin if the sacking was not -speedily arrested. Scarcely had they withdrawn from Guayaquil when -they took a ship full of meal, sugar, and other commodities, making -the fourteenth prize they had captured in those seas! The town itself -handsomely repaid the labour and danger of assaulting it; about twelve -hundred pounds' worth of plate and jewellery, many bales of valuable -dry goods, and a great store of merchandise of all kinds, exclusive -of wines, waggon-loads of cocoa, several ships on the stocks, and two -freshly-launched vessels of four hundred tons each, valued at eighty -thousand crowns. But for their approach having been discovered they -might have found even a handsomer account than this in the capture of -the place, for it afterwards came to their ears that the inhabitants -in their flight carried away with them money, plate, and jewels to -the value of two hundred thousand pieces of eight. Indeed the unhappy -Spaniards seem to have been plundered on all sides, for in going the -rounds the privateersmen took a number of negroes and Indians laden -with goods, which they promptly confessed were stolen, “and we were -afterwards informed that in the Hurry the Inhabitants had given Plate -and Money to Blacks to carry out of the Town, and could never hear of -it after.” - -On May 11th we find Rogers, Dampier, and their companions running -before a strong gale of wind for the Galapagos Islands. A number of the -crew were prostrated with a malignant fever contracted at Guayaquil, -where, about a month before the buccaneers' arrival, there had raged -an epidemic disease of which ten or twelve persons perished every day; -until the floors of the churches being filled with bodies, the people -dug a great hole close to one of the structures where sailors had been -stationed as guards. In this hole lay a pile of putrefied corpses, and -the seamen only quitted their posts to return to their ships poisoned. -On the 18th they were off a couple of large islands, and sent boats to -seek for fresh water. The errand was fruitless, though the searchers -went three or four miles into the country in their hunt. Their business -now was to go where fresh water was to be had, for of the two crews -there were no less than one hundred and twenty men down with fever; -Captain Courtney was dangerously ill, and Captain Dover was devoting -his leisure to prescribing for him. So they made sail for Gorgona, -capturing a few vessels as they proceeded, and, anchoring on June 13th, -at once distributed their sick amongst the prizes, and set to work -to careen and repair the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_. By the 28th they had -restored their provisions and mounted their guns, having in fourteen -days caulked, rigged, discharged, and reloaded their ships; a smart -piece of work that greatly astonished the Spanish prisoners, who said -that their people usually took a couple of months to careen a vessel at -ports where every necessary appliance for this business was to be had. -The unhappy captives indeed, whilst watching or assisting the English, -would scarcely marvel at their triumphs by land and sea when they -observed their ceaseless and vigilant activity,—how, without regard to -the climate, they worked from the break of day till darkness stopped -their hands, and how, with swift and unerring judgment, they devised -expedients for the remedying of difficulties which in the eyes of -their astonished prisoners appeared at the time to be insurmountable. -“The Natives of Old Spain,” says Rogers, “are accounted but ordinary -Mariners; but here they are much worse, all the Prizes we took being -rather cobbled than fitted out for the Sea; so that had they such -Weather as we often meet with in the European Seas in Winter, they -could scarce ever reach a Port again as they are fitted; but they -Sail here Hundreds of Leagues.” Admissions of this kind are as good -as saying that seizures in the South Sea went, as achievements, but a -very little way beyond the mere act of hailing a ship and bidding her -strike. The boldness of the English buccaneers is not very conspicuous -in such encounters. Most of the vessels they took were navigated by -crews of yellow, nervous men, utterly worthless as seamen, with neither -heart nor muscle as combatants; whilst the cabins were crowded with -priests, women, and sea-sick merchants, who increased the disorder -caused by the appearance of a privateer by lamentations and tears, by -wild appeals to the saints, and passionate adjurations to the shivering -crew. The capture of such craft was as easy as catching flies. The -qualities of the English South Seamen of those days must be sought -in the records of their assaults on land, their boarding of tall and -powerfully armed galleons, their murderous resistance to the attacks of -ships-of-state of great tonnage crowded with soldiers and sailors and -carrying ten guns to the Rover's one. - -Whilst Rogers and his people were at Gorgona they equipped one of their -prizes named the _Havre de Grace_ as a third ship to act with the -_Duke_ and _Dutchess_. She was called the _Marquis_, and Captain Cooke -took command of her. The business of fitting her out as a war vessel -occupied them from June 29th to July 9th, and when she was finished -they made a holiday of it, sitting down to a hearty meal and drinking -the Queen's health with loud huzzas, and then the health of the owners -with more huzzas, and then their own healths until their eyes danced in -their heads. Spite of the general joy, however, the _Marquis_ proved -something of a failure, for Cooke says that her masts were new and -too heavy for her, and that being badly stowed she was exceedingly -tender, by which is meant that she heeled or lay over unduly to light -pressures, and scarcely made headway when on a wind, “so that the -_Duke_ and _Dutchess_ were fain to spare a great deal of sail for me -to keep up with them.” Before lifting their anchors the commanders -and officers of the ships met together to value the plunder in order -to divide it. One kind of commodities they appraised at four hundred -pounds; the silver-hilted swords, buckles, snuff-boxes, buttons, and -silver plate at seven hundred and forty-three pounds fifteen shillings, -taking the piece of eight at four shillings and sixpence. By this -time there were upwards of eighty thousand pounds' worth of property -and treasure on board destined for the owners. Dampier, we may well -suppose, shared in the high hopes and good spirits of his shipmates. -This was the only promising privateering expedition he had ever been -engaged in, and if their luck continued he might reasonably flatter -himself with the belief that he would even yet snatch an independency -out of the reluctant maw of the sea. They had rid themselves of their -prisoners by sending them away in some of the prizes. The female -captives spoke well of the treatment they had received, and ingenuously -confessed that they had met with far more courtesy and civility than -their own countrymen would have extended to persons in their condition. -The honourable and humane behaviour of the English buccaneers towards -their female prisoners became a tradition, which was perpetuated and -confirmed by the wise policy of Commodore Anson.[29] - -They sailed on August 11th, and nothing noteworthy happened till -September 6th, on which date we find Dampier dining with Captain -Rogers on board the _Duke_ in company with Cooke and Courtney. Cooke -complained bitterly of the crankness of his ship the _Marquis_, and -objected to the evolutions of the other vessels which obliged him to -tack. They were bound to the Galapagos, and he affirmed that they could -have made the islands without beating to windward. Dampier said, No; -he knew where those islands were, and had described them in one of his -voyages; and he asserted that they were now to the westward of them. -The others agreed with Cooke, but Dampier was pilot, and was therefore -suffered to have his way. They were right and he was wrong; but an -error of a hundred miles or so was reckoned a very trifling blunder in -those hearty, plodding times. A curious old sea-picture is suggested -by this discussion in the cabin of the _Duke_. The rough bulkheads, -the low upper deck, the quaint lanthorn swinging over the table from -a beam, and indicating by its oscillations the ponderous rolling of -the tall, squab, round-bowed fabric; the privateersmen sitting round -the table attired in the wild and picturesque apparel of the early -South Seamen—these are features to bring the scene in clear outlines -before the eye of the imagination. One beholds them poring upon their -old-fashioned charts, pointing to the singular configurations of the -mainland and islands with hairy hands, and disputing with little -anxiety on a difference between easting and westing measuring as many -leagues as the space from the Lizard to the Western Islands. Indeed the -real flavour and charm of the buccaneer's life are not to be expressed -by any mere method of historical treatment. The hand of the artist is -wanted, with imagination vigorous and discerning enough to strictly -correspond with the traditionary truth. - -On their arrival at the Galapagos they took in a good supply of turtle, -many of which were upwards of four hundred pounds in weight. Rogers -writes of the turtle as if he had never seen it before. “I do not,” he -says, “affect giving Relations of strange Creatures, so frequently done -by others; but where an uncommon Creature falls in my Way I cannot omit -it.” This is how the captain describes the “uncommon creature.” - -“The Creatures are the ugliest in Nature; the Shell, not unlike the Top -of an old Hackney-coach, as black as Jet; and so is the outside Skin, -but shriveled and very rough. The Legs and Neck are long and about the -Bigness of a Man's Wrist; and they have Clubbed Feet as big as one's -Fist, shaped much like those of an Elephant, with five Nails on the -Forefeet and but Four behind, and the Head little, and Visage small -like Snakes; and look very old and black. When at first surprised they -shrink their Head, Neck, and Legs, under their Shell.” - -This is the kind of simplicity that makes the perusal of the old -voyages wonderfully refreshing and delightful. The old fellows looked -at life with the eyes of a child but with the intelligence of a man; -and so it happens that their representations combine a most perfect and -fascinating simplicity with the highest possible qualities of acuteness -and sagacity. - -On October 1st the ships were off the Mexican coast. When the form -of the land grew visible Dampier told Rogers that it was hereabouts -he attacked the Manila ship in the _St. George_. He might have been -right, but Rogers does not speak as if he thought so, for he says: -“Captain Dampier indeed had been here, but it was a long time ago, -and therefore he seemed to know but little of the Matter; yet when -he came to land in Places he recollected them very readily.” They -suffered much from scarcity of fresh water, and sent the pinnace to -explore some islands—the Tres Marias—lying off Cape Corrientes. On one -of them they found a human skull, which was supposed to have belonged -to an Indian who, with another poor wretch of his own race, had been -left there by Captain Swan some twenty-three years before. Dampier of -course well remembered the circumstance; he had been with Swan in the -_Cygnet_ at the time, and could recollect that provisions being scarce -they had left the unhappy Indians to make, as Rogers says, a miserable -end on a desert Island. To judge, however, from the refreshments these -uninhabited spots yielded, the Indians could not have perished from -starvation. The buccaneers met with hares, turtle-doves, pigeons, and -parrots, on all of which they fared sumptuously. The sick thrived, -and the general health of the crews was never better. On November 1st -they were in view of the high coast of California. It was much about -the date when Sir Thomas Candish had taken the Manila ship, and, -strangely enough, their keels ploughed the very tract of water in -which that remarkable feat had been achieved. The memory, aged to us, -but lacking nothing of its old lustre, was to those men comparatively -recent, and the recollection was one to animate them with great hopes -and stern resolves. They were indeed bent now on the adventure whose -successful issue had loaded Candish's ship with treasure. They were -on the look-out for the galleon, and that nothing might be omitted -to render fortune propitious, they again put in force the rules -which had formerly been laid down for cruising, established fresh -regulations, and made clear every dubious item in their programme of -proceedings and plunder. It was this galleon that was to make their -fortunes; she it was also that formed the grand hope of the Bristol -committee of merchant adventurers; and the design of capturing her was -the mainspring of the whole expedition. After a consultation it was -agreed that they should dispose themselves thus: the _Marquis_ was to -keep off the land at a distance of from six to nine leagues at least; -the _Duke_ was to cruise at a range that would cover forty-five miles; -and the _Dutchess_ was to occupy the waters between her consorts. -There were, of course, false alarms; as, for instance, on the 28th the -_Marquis_ fired a gun, which was promptly answered by the _Dutchess_, -on which the _Duke_ hauled her wind for the coast. It then turned out -that the _Marquis_ had mistaken the _Duke_ for the Manila ship, and -fired as a signal for the _Dutchess_ to chase. They had to wait a -long time before the vessel they wanted hove in sight. It was now a -month later than the usual time of her appearance in this part of the -sea where she was being waited for, and the anxiety of the buccaneers -was increased by their inability to obtain any intelligence of her. -Provisions were again scarce, and even on short allowance there was -barely bread enough to last for seventy days,—a serious matter in the -face of the inevitable run later on to the Ladrone Islands, which -promised to occupy fifty days at the very least. This most unfortunate -dearth of stores, coupled with the growing dejection and mutinous -sulkiness of the men, determined Rogers and his brother commanders to -give themselves another week's chance, and then, if the galleon did -not appear, to sail away to the Indies. - -In order to save time the _Dutchess_ was despatched to a convenient -bay to take in water and wood, etc., that as one ship obtained these -stores another might take her place, thus always leaving two on the -look-out. By the 4th she had taken in what was necessary, and the -_Marquis_ replaced her to refit. Until December 21st nothing happened; -then on the morning of that day, when the _Duke_ was in the act of -shifting her helm for the place where the _Marquis_ was refitting, the -look-out man aloft hailing the deck, shouted that he saw a sail bearing -west about twenty miles distant. The English ensign was immediately -hoisted, and in a few minutes both the _Duke_ and the _Dutchess_ were -standing towards the stranger; but on a sudden it fell stark calm, and -as conjecture was hopeless and expectation insupportable, the pinnace -was manned and sent to see what she could make of the distant ship. In -reading Rogers's account, you find your sympathies curiously enlisted -on behalf of those two stagnated buccaneering vessels, and witness -with but little effort of imagination the crowds of weather-darkened, -fiery-eyed men, some in the rigging, some at the masthead, some leaning -in impetuous pose against the rail, staring their very hearts out under -the sharp of their hands at the cotton-white outline, glimmering like -the tip of a sea-bird's pinion on the edge of the distant gleaming -horizon, whence the swell rolls in folds of oil to the wet and flashing -sides of the ships; the officers on the quarter-deck peering their -hardest through the lean and unsatisfying perspective-glasses of those -days; Dampier and Rogers together rehearsing their intentions and -recalling their experiences in voices subdued by excitement; above all, -the old, worn, but gallant _Duke_ wearily dipping her faded, blistered -bends to the swing of the breathless sea, making in anticipation of the -withering roar of her ordnance, now grinning mutely along her sides, a -little thunder of her own with the beating of her dark and well-patched -canvas against the huge tops and massive cross-trees of her swaying -masts. “All the rest of the Day,” says Rogers, “we had very little -Wind, so that we made no great Way; and the Boat not returning, kept -us in a languishing Condition, not being able to determine whether -the Sail was our Consort, the _Marquis_, or the _Acapulco_ Ship. Our -Pinnace was still in Sight, and we had nothing to do but to watch her -Motions: We could see that she made towards the _Dutchess's_ Pinnace, -which rowed to meet her. They lay together some time, and then the -_Dutchess's_ Pinnace went back to their Ship which gave us great -Hopes.” An officer was sent to the _Dutchess_ to ascertain what the -stranger was, and to concert measures, if she should prove an enemy, -for engaging her. When he was gone Rogers hoisted the French colours -and fired a gun; the strange vessel answered, which satisfied them -that she was not the _Marquis_. It is manifest from this that these -privateersmen had no private code of signals amongst them. Indeed -detection seems to have been entirely a matter of the exhibition of the -national bunting, in which there was just the same sort of deception -then as there was in later years, and as there ever will be. Shortly -after the ship had responded, the officer returned with the report -that she was the Manila galleon. The statement fired the spirits of -the crew; they hove all their melancholy reflections on the shortness -of their provisions overboard, and could think of nothing but the -figures they would make when they arrived home with the vast treasure -out yonder, stowed snugly away under their hatches. “Every moment,” -says Rogers, “seemed an hour till we came up with her.” It was arranged -that the two pinnaces should stick to her skirts all night and burn -flares, that their own and the position of the chase might be known; -and it was further settled that if the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_ were so -fortunate as to come up with her together they were to board her at -once: a resolution which Dampier, recalling his experiences in the _St. -George_, was pretty sure to strengthen by his advice. - -At dawn the chase was upon the weather-bow of the _Duke_, about three -miles away, and the _Dutchess_ within a couple of miles to leeward of -her. Rogers threw his sweeps over and rowed his ship for above an hour; -a light breeze then sprang up and softly blew the vessel towards the -enemy. There was no liquor in the ship, nothing to fortify the spirits -in the shape of a dram; so a large kettle of chocolate was boiled and -served out to the crew, who, when they had emptied their pannikins, -went to prayers. But whilst they were in the midst of their devotions -they were interrupted by a broadside from the Spaniards. It is not -often that one reads of the English buccaneers going to prayers before -falling to their business of slaughtering and plundering. Perhaps they -had learnt to despise this kind of ceremony from the behaviour of the -French freebooters, who were wont to sing Te Deum and force captive -priests to celebrate Mass in the cathedrals and churches which they -had despoiled. If the Spaniards saw Rogers's privateersmen on their -knees, something of irony might have been intended by their manner -of cutting short their worship and supplications. The Don was fully -prepared; his guns loaded, his little army of men at stations, and -casks of gunpowder hanging at his yard-arms ready to fall and explode -when the attempt should be made to board. The action began at eight -o'clock, and the _Duke_ for some time fought the galleon single-handed. -The conflict was a brief one. The Spaniards had no stomach, and after -Rogers had poured in a few broadsides the enemy “struck her colours -two-thirds down.” His flag was thus flying when the _Dutchess_ came -up and fired five guns at the big ship along with a volley of small -shot. It was mere waste of powder; the galleon had already submitted -and was silent. The victory, it must be admitted, was cheaply earned, -yet there is little doubt that such was the temper of the buccaneers -they would have fought to the last man for this golden prize. She was -a large vessel named _Nostra Seniora de la Incarnacion Disenginao_, -mounting twenty guns and twenty swivels, and carrying one hundred -and ninety-three men, of whom nine were killed and several wounded. -The fight lasted three glasses, that is three hours. Rogers was shot -through the left cheek; the bullet destroyed the greater part of his -upper jaw, and some of his teeth were found upon the deck where he -fell. He was obliged to give his orders in writing to hinder the flow -of blood, and to escape the agony of attempting to articulate. Only -one man besides himself was wounded. Having repaired the trifling -damage they had sustained, they steered for the harbour where the -_Marquis_ lay, and anchored. They found their consort fully equipped -and ready to sail, and her people in good spirits and eager for -action. At night a consultation was held respecting the disposal of -the hostages, and as a second Manila ship was daily expected, they -debated plans for capturing her. After some talk it was agreed that -the hostages should be set at liberty; but the discussion about the -expected galleon ended in something like a quarrel. Rogers, speaking -in the heat of the moment, had censured Courtney for not having shown -the promptitude that was necessary in attacking the _Nostra Seniora_. -This Courtney of course resented as a reflection upon his honour. When, -then, Rogers proposed to cruise in the _Dutchess_ for the coming Manila -ship, Courtney insisted upon making the search in the _Marquis_. The -question was put to the vote, Rogers's proposal overruled, and his -people obliged, to their great mortification, to remain in the harbour. -This incident is related so obscurely both by Cooke and Rogers that I -confess I do not fully understand it. The _Duke_ was in good condition, -and why the three instead of the two ships did not start on a cruise -which, as the sequel proves, demanded even more than their united -strength, is a riddle I am unable to solve. - -On Christmas Day the _Dutchess_ and the _Marquis_ put to sea, and -when they were gone Rogers posted two sentinels on the top of a hill -that he might instantly be apprised of a third sail heaving in sight. -Before twenty-four hours had elapsed the signal was made, and in -hot haste Rogers started to the assistance of his consorts, though -the stout-hearted sailor was in no condition for further adventures -just then. He was indeed so weak from loss of blood that he could -scarcely stand. His head and throat were swollen, and the effort to -speak caused him excruciating pain; but he turned a deaf ear to the -entreaties of the officers and surgeons that he would remain in harbour -on board the prize. The galleon was in sight at daybreak, and by noon -the _Marquis_ had succeeded in bringing her to an engagement. The wind -was light, and it was almost impossible to manœuvre the vessels; so -that though the _Dutchess_ and the _Marquis_ continued at intervals to -fire at the Manila ship until dusk, the _Duke_ even at midnight was -still at a considerable distance from the enemy. When the day broke -the wind shifted, and Rogers was able to bring his guns to bear. The -fighting was now severe, and continued so for four hours; the galleon -was hotly defended, though her people lay so concealed in their close -quarters that the privateersmen could scarcely make any use of their -small arms. It was only when a head appeared or a port was opened that -they found a mark for their muskets. The eagerness of the buccaneers -defeated their seamanship. Their vessels were repeatedly falling foul -of one another and throwing the crews into disorder. The guns of the -_Marquis_ were so small that her firing was to little or no purpose. -At last it came to Rogers signalling to Courtney and Cooke to come -on board him with other officers; and then every man telling of the -injuries his ship had sustained, and all admitting that it would -jeopardise too many lives to board or attempt to board the lofty -galleon, it was resolved to let her go—that is to say, they agreed to -keep her company till night, and then in the darkness to lose her, and -make the best of their way back to the prize they had already secured. -In sober truth the enemy had proved too many for them. The _Duke's_ -mainmast was so wounded that Rogers expected every moment to see it go -by the board. Her rigging, too, was so shattered by shot that she had -to sheer off in order to knot and splice, being scarcely manageable. -The _Dutchess_ also had her foremast badly wounded, her sails were in -rags, and the ends of her standing rigging were trailing overboard. -Further, there were not above one hundred and twenty men in all three -ships fit for boarding, “and those but weak,” says Rogers, “having -been very short of Provisions;” and that nothing might be wanting to -complete the list of the reasons of their failure, their ammunition was -very nearly expended. Rogers was again wounded, this time in his left -foot. In the _Dutchess_ they had twenty men killed and disabled. The -_Marquis_, on the other hand, came off without the loss of a single -person. The galleon was a handsome ship, very large, carrying the flag -of the admiral of Manila. She was making the voyage for the first time. -Her name was the _Vigonia_; she was pierced for sixty guns, forty of -which were mounted, along with an equal number of brass swivels. Her -crew numbered over four hundred and fifty men, and there were many -passengers besides. It was supposed that she was worth ten millions -of dollars; but it is doubtful whether, even if the buccaneers had -succeeded in boarding, they would have taken her, for Rogers says: -“After my Return into Europe I met in Holland with a Sailor who had -been on board the large Ship when we engaged her; and he let us into -the Secret that there was no taking her; for the Gunner kept constantly -in the Powder-room, declaring that he had taken the Sacrament to blow -the Ship up if we boarded her; which made the Men, as may be supposed, -exceedingly resolute in her defence. I was the more ready to credit -what this Man told me because he gave as regular and circumstantial -account of the Engagement as I could have done from my Journal.”[30] - -On the first day of the new year, 1710, they were again in harbour -alongside their great prize; and now being anxious to leave these -seas, they put their prisoners on board one of the smaller captures -with water and provisions enough to last them for a voyage to -Acapulco, and then addressed themselves to the urgent business of -repairing and making all ready for their departure. They renamed the -galleon the _Batchelor_, and a quarrel arose touching the appointment -of a commander for her, a post regarded by them all as of dignity -and importance. Captain Dover, asserting his claims as a merchant -adventurer, and representing the considerable sum of money he had -risked in this expedition, demanded the berth. Rogers and others, -among whom, no doubt, would be Dampier, objected that Dover knew -nothing whatever of navigation, and voted for Cooke. Finally, at the -cost of many high words and much strong feeling, it was decided at a -full council that Captain Fry and Captain Stretton should have entire -control of the navigation of the _Batchelor_ under Captain Dover, -Alexander Selkirk to be the master and Joseph Smith the chief mate. The -island of Guam was then fixed upon as a rendezvous, and on January 10th -the buccaneers weighed for a run to the East Indies. - -They were when they started in no very enviable condition. Their stores -were scanty; their live stock consisted of four hens; and of wine or -spirits they had barely the contents of a dozen bottles. The rations -were limited to a pound and a half of flour and a small piece of meat -for a mess of five men, with three pints of water a man on twenty-four -hours for drink and cooking. Rogers was ill with his wounds, and many -of the crew were sick and weak and unfit to do the work of the ship. -Hunger drove the men into robbery. A few days after they sailed some -pieces of pork were missed. Fortunately, in the interests of justice, -the thieves were discovered, and punished by every man of the watch -giving them a stroke of the cat-o'-nine-tails. - -What follows now is little more than a journal of the voyage, rendered -for the most part tedious by description and by the introduction of -incidents of little or no interest. Dampier's name seldom occurs; when -it is mentioned it is always in reference to something that helps -to accentuate characteristics noticeable in his own account of his -adventures. For instance, in April, when they were off a point of land -which they took to be the north-east point of Celebes, the vessel was -proving very leaky; which, added to the general ignorance of the ship's -situation, filled the crew with melancholy and irritation. “Captain -Dampier,” says Rogers, “discouraged us very much: He had been twice -here, and therefore what he said among the Seamen passed without -Dispute, and he laid it down as a thing certain that if we could not -reach Ternate or find the Island of Tula it was impossible for us to -get any Refreshment, there being nothing to be met with on the Coast -of New Guiney.” It had been thus with Dampier whilst buccaneering off -the New Holland shore; thus had it been with him too when hunting for -water on the sand-hills of the Western Australian seaboard, his foot on -the margin of a vast region of earth which he had neither temper nor -heart to explore, though he had travelled many thousands of miles in a -crazy ship and with a troublesome crew for no other purpose. This trick -of discouraging the people he led, or was one of, is the secret of his -failure as a commander and explorer. Rogers, a bolder and more hopeful, -and certainly in many respects an equally sagacious man, was not likely -to feel grateful for Dampier's melancholy shakes of the head, and his -gloomy, prognosticating countenance; but his own experiences left him -nothing to say, for though the ships spent the best part of the month -of May off the coast of New Guinea, all that Rogers could observe that -seemed to him worth mentioning was, “It is most certain these Islands, -which are scattered through the Streights, and few or none of which are -peopled, would all of them bear Spice, and afford immense Riches to -this Nation, if they were settled.” - -They were in great distress whilst they were in these seas. The men -mutinously resented the wise reduction in the quantity of the food -served out to them; and to save serious disturbance Rogers was forced -to return to the old scale. They sighted land, but did not know what -it was, nor could Dampier help them. Having searched for Borou, an -island of the Indian Archipelago, they resolved to steer to Batavia, -touching at Bouton for provisions. Accordingly they stood away to the -south-west before a strong gale of wind at east. But their progress -was obstructed by some small islands, into one of which they must -have run in the dead of night had the weather not cleared suddenly -and discovered it to them. It was not until Tuesday, June 17th, 1710, -that they arrived at Batavia. At sight of the town the crews were so -rejoiced that they could do nothing but hug and shake one another -by the hand, and bless their stars and question if there was such a -paradise in all the world; “And this,” says Rogers, “because they had -Arrack for Eight Pence a Gallon, and Sugar at a Penny a Pound.” - -The ships were in a deplorable condition, particularly the _Marquis_, -which was so rotten with worms and wear that it became necessary to -hire another craft to carry her lading. They sailed from Batavia on -October 14th, and proceeded direct to the Cape of Good Hope, where -they arrived without misadventure and without any incident occurring -in the passage that is worth repeating. Shortly after they had entered -Table Bay twelve sail of Dutch ships came in, which, with the English -vessels then at anchor, made altogether twenty-three ships riding in -the spacious and beautiful haven. The picture is about one hundred -and seventy years old, and it is difficult to realise that the ocean -traffic of those dim times to the Indies by way of the Cape should -have been considerable enough to crowd the spacious surface of the -waters on whose margin stand the ivory-white structures of Cape Town. -Retrospect is often corrective. We have a right to compliment ourselves -upon what we have done and are doing; but it does not seem to me that -our marine achievements can be compared as illustrations of human skill -and determination with the examples of the adventurous genius of an -age when the greater portion of the antipodean world lay in darkness; -when navigation was little better than guesswork; when the art of -shipbuilding was crude, rude, and primitive; when there was nothing -but the heavens to consult for weather; when the tyranny of the winds -was only to be dominated by a kind of perseverance that must be ranked -among the lost qualities of human nature. Despite these conditions the -early mariner crowded the oceans with fabrics laden with the produce of -the known continents, and rolled stubbornly to his hundred ports, often -in suffering and often in distress indeed; yet on the whole freer, in -his valiant ignorance, from disaster than is the sailor of the current -hour. There is no longer need for ships to halt and bait at Table Bay. -The propeller thrashes them to their destination with the punctuality -of the railway-train; or they are wafted by pyramids of canvas—the -graceful and elegant result of centuries of experiment—on a journey to -New Zealand or Japan, which they complete in less time than the old -seafarer took to find his way from the English Channel to Madeira. -But the very existence of the facilities of the engine-room, of the -nimbleness of the clipper-moulded keel, of the capacity of the towering -and exquisitely-calculated heights of cloths to snatch a desired power -of propulsion from the teeth of the antagonistic gale, is, I take it, -an admission of our own weakness when we contrast the ocean-machinery -with which science has dowered us with the contrivances with which -the early seamen triumphed over the forces of Nature and created new -worlds as heritages for a self-complacent posterity. Those twenty-three -ships at anchor in Table Bay, surveyed by the eyes of Dampier and his -toil-worn comrades, make but a little part of a great marine pageant; -yet it is a detail to constrain the gaze. Fancy reconstructs them; they -cease to be visionary; they float before us as substantial fabrics, -brave with pennons and the glitter of brass guns and the gay raiment of -their time. They illustrate the most strenuous of all the periods of -the world's maritime life; for the infancy of navigation was over, and -it had already put on the proportions of a youthful giant, the impulse -of whose unripened vitality was urging it to extraordinary efforts. - -Before the ships under Rogers sailed, six more vessels entered the bay, -along with several English Indiamen and a large Portuguese carrack from -Brazil; and when the hour of departure came the homeward-bound (in -all, English and Dutch, numbering twenty-five) rolled stately under -swelling canvas out of Table Bay,—a spectacle that, remote as it is, -and visible only to the gaze of fancy, cannot but stir the imagination -when one thinks of the floating castles, with their swelling sails and -their brilliant streamers, as the van of the ever-growing procession -that was in time to whiten the remotest seas, and crowd the harbours -of countries of which some were then without the impress of a European -foot. - -The ships progressed merrily. They touched at St. Helena, and seven -days later at Ascension, and after a passage of three months from the -Cape of Good Hope dropped anchor in the Texel. Rogers and his brother -commanders had now to act with much circumspection; they were informed -by letters from their owners that the English East India Company, -jealous of their success, had appointed a secret committee to inspect -their charter as to privileges; they were also enjoined to exercise -the utmost caution in respect of the Dutch East India Company, and -strict orders were issued that no officer or sailor should on any -pretence whatever be suffered to take any goods on shore, or purchase -the least trifle from any stranger who visited the ships. They remained -in Holland until September 30th, 1711, then sailed from the Texel -under convoy of four of Her Britannic Majesty's ships, and on October -14th the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_ arrived off Erith, at which place the -_Batchelor_ had come to an anchor some short time before. Thus ended -one of the most memorable of all the voyages ever undertaken by the -English buccaneers. The cargo and treasure obtained by this expedition -were valued at between three and four hundred thousand pounds, and -Cooke tells us that, after allowing for all deductions, such as cost of -convoy, agency, lawsuits, and thefts, the net profits amounted to one -hundred and seventy thousand pounds. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -CONCLUSION - - -As Dampier steps over the ship's side the reader is prepared to learn -that no more is heard of him. He is a shadow amongst a congregation of -shades, and when he quits his comrades his first stride carries him -into absolute obscurity, and he vanishes like a puff of tobacco smoke. -One would be glad to be able to do more than give a mere handshake of -farewell to such an English sailor as this. It would be pleasant to -be able to follow him, to learn what sort of life he led, what new -adventures, if any, he met with, what his health was, and what his -means, the pleasures he took ashore, and the esteem in which he was -held by those with whom he conversed before that dark old soldier -Death quietly beckoned him out. I think we may take it that he never -married whilst he pursued his sea-life; but when he came ashore for -good he was tolerably advanced in years, and it would not be safe to -conjecture what he did then. He had never known the comforts of a -home, and the old seaman might find a kind of excuse for marrying in -that reflection. Captain Cooke says that the net profits of Rogers's -voyage (see previous page) were fairly divided amongst the officers -and crew. This is to be doubted. Before the officers and crew touched -a penny the Bristol merchants, of whom there was a great number in the -venture, would take their share, and we may suppose that their dividend -did not leave the balance a very big one for the many people who had -claims upon it. A man named Hatley, who sailed in 1719 with Shelvocke -and Clipperton, was wont to declare that “he knew by woeful experience -how they were used on board the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_; that they were -never paid one-tenth of their due, and that it plainly appeared how a -certain gentleman designed to treat them, by his bullying them, and -endeavouring to force them from Gravesend before they had received -their river pay and impress money.”[31] Dampier's claims were no doubt -ranked amongst those of the officers; but whatever his share might have -been, it is not very conceivable that, invested, it yielded him an -income sufficient for his plainest requirements. - -He was fifty-nine years old when he returned from his last voyage. Even -assuming that his health was good enough to suffer him to go on using -the sea, it is more than probable that at the age of sixty he would -exhibit no further taste for the hard, perilous, and unremunerative -calling. Considering the eminence he had achieved, it is strange that -there are no discoverable contemporary references to this portion of -his life; none, at all events, that I have been able to meet with or -hear of, though I have not spared inquiry. This silence might sanction -the conjecture that on his return he went into the country, perhaps to -his little Dorsetshire estate, if it be reasonable to suppose that he -had not parted with it in the time of his poverty, and died not long -afterwards amid the obscurity of rural and provincial surroundings. But -speculation is fruitless, and even unwise, in the face of the chance of -the story of his ending being some of these days lighted upon; for the -literary digger was never more active than he is now, and a spadeful of -the old mould of time may yet be thrown up with information enough in -it about this circumnavigator to answer all questions as to his closing -years. Anyway I think we may be pretty sure that he never went to sea -again. A sailor ages rapidly on the salt-beef, honeycombed biscuit, and -stormy weather of his vocation, and at fifty is commonly as old in body -and mind as the landsman at seventy. Dampier was a seaman when he was a -boy, and no man, even in those strenuous ocean-going days, ever lived a -harder and more wearing life. He had spent years in the most unhealthy -and enfeebling climates in the world; he had starved on rotten food, -lain unsheltered on deck through the damp and fever-breeding nights -of the West Indian and Panama parallels; he had had more than most -men's share of worry and anxiety; he had drunk deep of the cup of -disappointment, and he had sounded poverty to its depths. We may then -fairly consider him as an old man at sixty, and assume with confidence -that as he wanted both the taste and the opportunity for further -seafaring, the last voyage he ever took in this world was as pilot to -his friend Woodes Rogers.[32] - -There is a tradition that he was known to Defoe, which Sir Walter Scott -traces to a passage in the _Review_. Whether Defoe knew Dampier in the -flesh or not, his literary obligations to him appear considerable. -_Captain Singleton_, published in 1720; the nautical passages in -_Colonel Jack_, published in 1722; _A New Voyage Round the World_, -published in 1725; together with a variety of ocean incidents to be -met with in _Roxana_, _Moll Flanders_, and in others of the voluminous -publications of this master, seem to me directly inspired by Dampier's -writings. There were indeed Cowley, Wafer, Ringrose, Cooke, and the -contemporary buccaneering authors to consult; but it is only necessary -to contrast Defoe's tales of the sea, the marine passages in his shore -stories, and his accounts of foreign countries, with the descriptions -of Dampier, and more particularly the reflections with which he -interpolates his narratives, to perceive the true source of some of the -finest of the imaginations of the author of _Captain Singleton_ and -_Robinson Crusoe_. Defoe exhibited his gratitude in an odd form. Here -are some opening passages in his _New Voyage Round the World_: - -“It has for some ages been thought so wonderful a thing to sail the -tour or circle of the globe, that when a man has done this mighty -feat he presently thinks it deserves to be recorded, like Sir Francis -Drake's. So, as soon as men have acted the sailor, they come ashore -and write books of their voyage, not only to make a great noise of -what they have done themselves, but, pretending to show the way to -others to come after them, they set up for teachers and chart-makers to -posterity. Though most of them have had this misfortune, that whatever -success they have had in the voyage they have had very little in the -relation, except it be to tell us that a seaman, when he comes to the -press, is pretty much out of his element, and that a very good sailor -may make but a very indifferent author.” - -Language of this sort does not sound very graciously in the mouth of a -man whose best work is owing to the hints he obtains from the people -whose labours and publications he ridicules. I hope I shall not be -deemed heterodox if I say that, in my humble judgment, great as is my -veneration for Defoe, in point of interest neither his _New Voyage_ -nor his _Captain Singleton_ is to be compared with the narratives of -Dampier, Cooke, Rogers, and Shelvocke; whilst there is a quaintness and -freshness about their plain, manly, sailorly style which I instantly -miss on turning to Defoe's later books. It is quite true indeed that -when the _New Voyage Round the World_ was written the circumnavigation -of the globe was no longer considered an extraordinary feat; but -then forty-two years had elapsed since Dampier had sailed with the -buccaneers from Virginia on his first tour, and in that interval the -experiences of the journey—deemed remarkable at the time—had been -often enough repeated by his own and the voyages of others, to rob -the accomplishment of all its wonder. Dampier's best merits have -been fairly expressed by Sir Walter Scott, whose reference to him in -connection with the life of Defoe was inevitable. He speaks of him -as a mariner “whose scientific skill in his profession and power of -literary composition were at that time rarely found in that profession, -especially amongst those rough sons of the ocean who acknowledged no -peace beyond the Line, and had as natural an enmity to a South American -Spaniard as a greyhound to a hare, and who, though distinguished by -the somewhat mild term of buccaneer, were little better than absolute -pirates.” This is true, but more may be said. Dampier was not only -the finest sailor of his day—I mean in the strictly professional -sense of the word—his travels are to this hour foremost among the -best-written and most interesting in the language. Seafaring and -literary qualifications are a rare combination even in our own age of -stiff marine-examinations, of a race of naval officers distinguished -for their culture and their breeding, and of a merchant navy whose -masters and mates are, in the higher ranges at least, persons of -education and intelligence. But in Dampier's day the sailor, whether -he fought for the throne or for merchant adventurers, or toiled for -himself as a sea-carrier, was a coarse, unlettered man. The union in -Dampier of the qualities which he exhibited must have rendered him -something of a prodigy to his contemporaries, whilst it forms his -claim upon the attention and esteem of posterity. No mariner ever -observed more closely. In his _Discourse of Winds_ he anticipates half -the contents of the volumes of Piddington and Reid.[33] One would -say indeed that Dampier never passed an hour without pulling out his -notebook. Piddington particularly calls attention to the accuracy of -the old sailor's touches in his picture of the banks of red clouds -which herald the bursting of a typhoon in the China seas. He also -refers to Dr. Franklin's Letters, in which there is a paper of extracts -from Dampier's Voyages that was read at the Royal Society—he does not -say when—and quotes at large, as substantiating a theory of his own, -a passage in the extracts descriptive of the appearance, motion, and -danger of the waterspout. So in a score of other directions. No bird -of strange plumage meets Dampier's eye but his pen, with microscopic -fidelity, reproduces its hues, form, and tricks of flight and movement. -He will pause in his narrative to describe a fish, and make you see it -as clearly as though you leaned over the side with him watching it. All -variety of products he carefully notes. He has also a quick eye for -human nature, detects and dryly represents the characteristics of his -shipmates, and sketches with humorous gravity the hideous New Guinea -savage whose tatooings he enlarges upon, or the primrose-coloured -Chinaman whose tail he measures. He is probably at his best in the -Supplement he wrote to the _Voyage Round the World_. The mariner must -have received with gratitude this remarkable description of the towns -and coasts of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies and of Tonquin. -There was nothing in “Waggoner” at all resembling such writing as this, -nothing so trustworthy, nothing indeed in any other existing sea-volume -so helpful to the sailor. He was the best hydrographer and geographer -of his age, and in truth in many respects I hardly know where to look -for his equal when I reflect upon what he did, and consider the heroic -obstinacy with which he persevered in his high resolution to observe -and note down all that he saw in defiance of the distractions of a life -of hardship, conflict, and brutal association, and despite the lack of -the twenty scientific conveniences which now facilitate the labours of -the navigator and explorer. - -And perhaps those who respect his memory most will be best pleased -to think he was a failure as a buccaneer. I have already quoted a -passage from his preface in which he does not dissemble the repugnance -with which he recurs to his life of piracy. Nothing could be more -intelligible than the disgust and loathing that possessed him when he -sat in silence writing his book, and thinking of the character of the -persons whom it was necessary he should refer to as his intimates. -They were sailors indeed, but they were also brutes; no man knew that -better than Dampier; no man was better acquainted than he with the -vices, the profligacy, the horrors of the every-day speech of the men -whose company he had kept for months and years.[34] That quality of -sympathetic adhesion which the French call _esprit de corps_ was not -likely to exist in a man who, when he had parted from his shipmates, -found the recollection of them insupportable. Indeed he was but a poor -buccaneer. He was as courageous as the best man he ever sailed with; -plunder he loved as well as the rest; but he despised and detested -his associates, and probably only held his own amongst them by the -exaction of that sort of respect which such fellows would feel for a -man of education, of wide experience, and the best navigator of his -time. The reason of his failure as a commander his own narratives -make clear. His books show that he understood human nature, but his -actions prove that he could not control or direct it. Nor is it hard -to see why he was unsuccessful as an explorer. He appeared to exhaust -his energy in theories, so that by the time he addressed himself to -action nearly all his enthusiasm was gone. The importunities which -led to his being placed in command of the _Roebuck_ and despatched to -the Southern Ocean must have been eloquent. No doubt he was perfectly -sincere in his representations. As a privateersman he had sighted the -shores of the unknown land of the antipodes; how far south it extended -he could not imagine, but vast portions of it lay under heights which -by analogous reasoning he could prove fertile and beautiful, rich in -promise to the coloniser, and assuring an enlargement of the dominions -of the sovereign by the acquisition of a territory possibly vaster -than the whole of Europe. All this, we may take it, he fully believed, -and eagerly, impetuously, and eloquently expressed. But the passage -from England to Western Australia was a long one. His ardour had -cooled before he was off the coast of Brazil. He was chagrined by the -behaviour of his crew, and there were other causes to cloud and chill -his excitable and impressionable nature. You can see that he had lost -all heart, or at least all appetite, for the quest he had undertaken -long before the coast of New Holland rose over his bows. Men of -Dampier's temperament may be able to write engaging narratives of their -adventures, and exhibit all the solid virtues of the sober, as well as -all the airy qualities of the poetic, observer; but they are not formed -of the stuff of which explorers are made. Their pulse beats too hotly -at the start and too languidly towards the end. Yet the world does well -to hold the name of Dampier in memory as a skilful seaman, an acute -observer, an agreeable writer, and a thorough Englishman. - - -THE END - - -_Printed by_ R. & R. CLARK, _Edinburgh_. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] Harris's _Collection_, “Cowley's Voyage,” vol. i. 1748. - -[2] _A Discourse of the First Invention of Ships_, p. 7. Ed. 1700. - -[3] Hackluyt, i. 243. There is also a reference to sheathing in Sir -Richard Hawkins's _Observations_ in Purchas, vol. iv. p. 1387. In -1673 an order was issued by the Lord High Admiral to sheath some of -the ships of war with lead; but on Sir John Narborough a few years -afterwards objecting to it, the practice was discontinued.—See -Schomberg's _Naval Chronology_, vol. i. 75. - -[4] Preserved in Churchill's _Collections of Voyages and Travels_, -1704, vol. ii. - -[5] The buccaneers had “Waggoners” of their own. One was compiled by -Basil Ringrose, who called it the _South Sea Waggoner_ (_circa_ 1682). -Another by Captain Hack, the author of a _History of the Buccaneers_, -was published in or about 1690. - -[6] Dampier calls him Spragg, others Sprague. - -[7] Ringrose's account will be found in _The History of the Bucaniers -of America_, 2 vols., 4th edition, 1741, under the section entitled -“The dangerous Voyage and bold Adventures of Captain Sharp, Watling, -Sawkins, Coxon, and others in the South Sea.” It is proper I should -state here that the editions of the books I name are those from which I -quote. - -[8] “_A New Voyage Round the World_, describing particularly the -Isthmus of America; several Coasts and Islands in the West Indies; -the Isles of Cape Verd; the Passage by Terra del Fuego; the South -Sea coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico; the Isle of Guam, one of the -Ladrones, Mindanao, and other Philippine and East India Islands, near -Cambodia, China, Formosa, Laconia, Celebes, etc.; New Holland, Sumatra, -Nicobar Isles; the Cape of Good Hope, and Santa Hellena. Their Soil, -Rivers, Harbours, Plants, Fruits, Animals, and Inhabitants. Their -Customs, Religion, Government, Trade, etc.” By Captain William Dampier. -Fourth Edition, 1699. This is vol. i. of the Travels. - -[9] Wafer afterwards published an account of his adventures in “_A New -Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America_; giving an account -of the author's abode there; the form and make of the Country, Coasts, -Hills, Rivers, etc. Woods, Soil, Weather, etc. Trees, Fruit, Beasts, -Birds, Fish, etc. The Indian Inhabitants, their Features, Complexions, -etc.; their Manners, Customs, Employments, Marriages, Feasts, Hunting, -Computation, Language, etc. With remarkable Occurrences in the South -Sea and elsewhere.” It is a tedious book. - -[10] Cowley's _Voyage_: Harris's _Collection of Voyages and Travels_, -vol. i., 1744. Also Cowley's Voyage, in Captain William Hack's -_Collection of Original Voyages_. 1698. - -[11] Cowley. - -[12] Ravenau de Lussan, who was with Grognet in this action, gives us -a French version of the business: “About two the Spaniards sent out a -ship of eight and twenty guns to hinder Captain Grognet from joining -us, as understanding by some Spaniards who had been our prisoners that -he was the strongest in small arms of any in our fleet, and that they -were so much the more fearful of him, when they came to know his crew -consisted of Frenchmen!” This man calls Davis “David,” and says he was -a Fleming, and he writes Swan's name “Sammes.” His story is printed in -_The Bucaniers of America_ already referred to. - -[13] The title runs thus:—“_Voyages and Descriptions_. Vol. ii. In -Three Parts, viz. 1. A Supplement of the Voyage round the World, -Describing the Countreys of Tonquin, Achin, Malacca, etc.: their -Product, Inhabitants, Manners, Trade, Policy, etc. 2. Two Voyages to -Campeachy; with a Description of the Coasts, Product, Inhabitants, -Log-wood-Cutting Trade, etc., of Jucatan, Campeachy, New Spain, etc. 3. -A Discourse of Trade-Winds, Breezes, Storms, Seasons of the Year, Tides -and Currents of the Torrid Zone throughout the World; with an Account -of Natal in Africk: its Product, Negro's, etc. 1699.” - -[14] _A Voyage to New Holland, &c., in the Year 1699_, by Captain -William Dampier. 1709. - -[15] It may spare the reader the trouble of referring to a map, to say -that the longitude of the Cape is 18° 29´ E.; Frio (Brazil) 41° 57´ W.; -Blanco (Peru) 81° 10´ W. - -[16] It was hereabouts that Francis Pelsart was wrecked in the -_Batavia_ in 1629. - -[17] For instance, Ringrose (Dampier's companion in Sharp's voyage) -writes under date of January 9th, 1681: “There was now a great rippling -sea, rising very high. It is reported there is an enchanted island -hereabouts, which some positively say they have sailed over.“ - -[18] The statements of Harris, who may be claimed as a contemporaneous -authority, are interesting on this account. He writes, of course, -without the prejudices of Dampier's sea-associates. - -[19] ”_A Voyage Round the World_, containing an account of Captain -Dampier's expedition into the South Seas, 1703-4, with the Author's -Voyage from Amapalla on the West Coast of Mexico to East India,” 1707. - -[20] _A Voyage Round the World by the way of the Great South Sea_, -by Captain George Shelvocke. Second Edition, 1757, p. 76. The whole -description of his passage of the Horn, with his sketch of Staten -Island, “covered with snow to the very wash of the sea,” is admirable. - -[21] I should add, however, that on Selkirk repenting his rash -decision, and requesting leave to return to his duty, Stradling refused -to receive him on board. - -[22] Norwood's _Navigation_, already referred to. - -[23] This term “bark” is used generically by the old writers. Rigs -were few, and vessels, it would seem, took their names from their -dimensions, as galleon, carrack, galley, and the like. In our own -times—and it has been so for a century and a half, at least—a craft is -defined by her rig. Thus a vessel rigged as a ship would be called a -ship though she were only fifty tons. - -[24] “_A Cruising Voyage Round the World_: first to the South Seas, -thence to the East Indies, and homewards by the Cape of Good Hope. -Begun in 1708 and finished in 1711. Containing a Journal of all the -Remarkable Transactions; particularly of the taking of Puna and -Guayaquil, of the Acapulco ship, and other Prizes. An Account of -Alexander Selkirk's living alone four years and four months on an -Island; and a brief Description of several Countries in our Course -noted for Trade, especially in the South Sea, etc.” By Captain Woodes -Rogers, 1712. - -[25] _An Historical Account of all the Voyages Round the World_, vol. -i. 1773. - -[26] But as a member of the committee he might also have claimed a -right to participate in the dangers as well as in the commercial risks -of the expedition. - -[27] In _A Voyage to the South Sea trade, and round the World_. -“Wherein an Account is given of Mr. Alexander Selkirk, his manner of -Living, and taming some Wild Beasts, during the four years and four -months he lived upon the uninhabited Island of Juan Fernandez,” 1712. - -[28] The Englishman afterwards joined the privateersmen, and told them -this story. - -[29] In speaking of the English buccaneers it is necessary to -distinguish them from the pirates pure and simple, such as Morgan, -Teach, and the other beauties whose lives are given in Captain Charles -Johnson's delectable volumes. - -[30] Moreover, there was a number of pirates on board with their booty, -for the preservation of which, we may take it, they intended to fight -hard. - -[31] _A Voyage Round the World_, by Captain George Shelvocke, p. 38. -The “certain gentleman” was probably Captain Dover. - -[32] Since this was written I have been reminded of the discovery of -Dampier's will at Somerset House many years ago. This proves him to -have died in Coleman Street, in the parish of St. Stephen, London, -early in March 1714-15. The bulk of his property was left to his cousin -Grace Mercer, spinster, of London, and the remainder to his brother -George. His wife is not mentioned, nor the value of the property. See -an article by Admiral Smyth in the _United Service Journal_, 1837, -and _The Dictionary of National Biography_, vol. xiv. Art. “Dampier,” -which, I may perhaps add, was not published till some time after my -volume had passed through the press. - -[33] The former writer observes with great justice: “We are perhaps -too much accustomed to rely on our instruments nowadays, and we -neglect those signs which must after all have been the barometers and -simpiesometers of Drake, Cavendish, Dampier, and all our daring band of -naval and commercial navigators up to the end of the last century, and -still are so for our hardy fishermen and coasters.” _The Sailor's Horn -Book_, p. 240, 1851. - -[34] Captain William Snelgrave, in his _A New Account of Guinea and -the Slave-Trade_, 1754, paints a lively picture of the behaviour and -conversation of privateersmen. “I took leave of the Captain and got -into my Hammock, tho' I could not sleep in my melancholy Circumstances. -Moreover the execrable Oaths and Blasphemies I heard among the Ship's -Company shock'd me to such a degree, that in Hell itself I thought -there could not be worse; for tho' many seafaring men are given to -swearing and taking God's Name in vain, yet I could not have imagined -human Nature could ever so far degenerate, as to talk in the manner -those abandoned wretches did.” P. 217. - - - - -English Men of Action. - -With Portraits. Crown 8vo, Cloth. 2s. 6d. each. - - -GENERAL GORDON. By Colonel Sir WILLIAM BUTLER. - - _SPECTATOR._—“This is beyond all question the best of the - narratives of the career of General Gordon that have yet been - published.” - -HENRY THE FIFTH. By the Rev. A. J. CHURCH. - - _SCOTSMAN._—“No page lacks interest; and whether the book is - regarded as a biographical sketch or as a chapter in English - military history it is equally attractive.” - -LIVINGSTONE. By Mr. THOMAS HUGHES. - - _SPECTATOR._—“The volume is an excellent instance of miniature - biography.” - -LORD LAWRENCE. By Sir RICHARD TEMPLE. - - _LEEDS MERCURY._—“A lucid, temperate, and impressive summary.” - -WELLINGTON. By Mr. GEORGE HOOPER. - - _SCOTSMAN._—“The story of the great Duke's life is admirably told - by Mr. Hooper.” - -DAMPIER. By Mr. W. CLARK RUSSELL. - - _ATHENÆUM._—“Mr. Clark Russell's practical knowledge of the sea - enables him to discuss the seafaring life of two centuries ago - with intelligence and vigour. As a commentary on Dampier's voyages - this little book is among the best.” - -MONK. By Mr. JULIAN CORBETT. - - _SATURDAY REVIEW._—“Mr. Corbett indeed gives you the real man.” - -STRAFFORD. By Mr. H. D. TRAILL. - - _ATHENÆUM._—“A clear and accurate summary of Strafford's life, - especially as regards his Irish government.” - -WARREN HASTINGS. By Sir ALFRED LYALL. - - _DAILY NEWS._—“May be pronounced without hesitation as the final - and decisive verdict of history on the conduct and career of - Hastings.” - -PETERBOROUGH. By Mr. W. STEBBING. - - _SATURDAY REVIEW._—“An excellent piece of work.” - -CAPTAIN COOK. By Mr. WALTER BESANT. - - _SCOTTISH LEADER._—“It is simply the best and most readable - account of the great navigator yet published.” - -SIR HENRY HAVELOCK. By Mr. ARCHIBALD FORBES. - - _SPEAKER._—“There is no lack of good writing in this book, and the - narrative is sympathetic as well as spirited.” - -CLIVE. 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LEE. - - -MACMILLAN AND CO., LONDON. - - - - - ┌───────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────┐ - │ Transcriber's note: │ - │ │ - │ Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note. │ - │ │ - │ Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant │ - │ form was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. │ - │ │ - │ Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. │ - │ │ - │ Footnotes were moved to the end of the book and numbered in one │ - │ continuous sequence. │ - │ │ - │ Other correction: │ - │ p. 20: 1776 changed to 1676. 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charset=UTF-8" /> -<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of William Dampier, by William Clark Russell</title> - <link rel="coverpage" href="images/cover.jpg" /> - <style type="text/css"> - - /* PAGE DIMENSIONS */ - @media screen - { - body { width:80%; margin:auto; - text-align:justify;} - } - - /* HEADINGS */ - h1, h2, h3, h4 { text-align:center; clear:both; } - - /*PARAGRAPHS */ - p { margin-top:.75em; text-align:justify; - margin-bottom:.75em; text-indent:1em; } - div.chapter { page-break-before:always; - page-break-inside: avoid; } - - /* TEXT ALIGNMENT AND MARGINS */ - .ac { text-align:center; } - .ar { text-align:right; } - .noindent { text-indent:0em; } - .p2 { margin-top:2em; } - .p4 { margin-top:4em; } - .p6 { margin-top:6em; } - - /* FONTS */ - .sc { font-variant:small-caps; } - .x-smaller { font-size:70%; } - .smaller { font-size:83%; } - .larger { font-size:125% } - .x-larger { font-size:150% } - - /* BLOCK QUOTES */ - .bq { margin-left:5%;margin-right:5%; text-align:left; - max-width: 50em; 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color:black; - padding-bottom:1em; padding-top:.3em; - margin-top:3em; margin-left:5%; margin-right:5%; - padding-left:2em; padding-right:1em; - font-family:sans-serif, serif; - page-break-inside:avoid; } - - /* MEDIA-SPECIFIC FORMATTING */ - @media handheld { - body { margin:0; } - .transnote { page-break-before:always; margin-left:2%; - margin-right:2%; margin-top:1em; - margin-bottom:1em; padding:.5em; } - } - - div.body { max-width:45em; - margin-right: auto; - margin-left: auto; } - hr.full { width: 100%; - margin-top: 3em; - margin-bottom: 0em; - margin-left: auto; - margin-right: auto; - height: 4px; - border-width: 4px 0 0 0; /* remove all borders except the top one */ - border-style: solid; - border-color: #000000; - clear: both; } - </style> -</head> -<body> -<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, William Dampier, by William Clark Russell</h1> -<p>This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States -and most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no -restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it -under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this -eBook or online at <a -href="http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a>. If you are not -located in the United States, you'll have to check the laws of the -country where you are located before using this ebook.</p> -<p>Title: William Dampier</p> -<p>Author: William Clark Russell</p> -<p>Release Date: March 5, 2017 [eBook #54284]</p> -<p>Language: English</p> -<p>Character set encoding: UTF-8</p> -<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK WILLIAM DAMPIER***</p> -<p> </p> -<h4>E-text prepared by sp1nd, Christian Boissonnas,<br /> - and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> - (<a href="http://www.pgdp.net">http://www.pgdp.net</a>)<br /> - from page images generously made available by<br /> - Internet Archive<br /> - (<a href="https://archive.org">https://archive.org</a>)</h4> -<p> </p> -<table border="0" style="background-color: #ccccff; width: auto; margin: 0 auto;" cellpadding="10"> - <tr> - <td valign="top"> - Note: - </td> - <td> - Images of the original pages are available through - Internet Archive. See - <a href="https://archive.org/details/williamdampier00russuoft"> - https://archive.org/details/williamdampier00russuoft</a> - </td> - </tr> -</table> -<p> </p> -<hr class="full" /> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> -<p> </p> - -<div class="body"> -<div><a name="i_001a.jpg" id="i_001a.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_001a.jpg" width="300" height="32" - alt="English Men of Action" /> -</div> - - -<p class="p6 noindent ac x-larger"><a name="WILLIAM_DAMPIER" - id="WILLIAM_DAMPIER"></a> - WILLIAM DAMPIER</p> - -<hr class="blank" /> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_001.jpg" id="i_001.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_001.jpg" width="100" height="38" - alt="Publisher's logo" /> -</div> - - -<p class="ac noindent p6"><i>First Edition</i> 1889. - <i>Reprinted</i> 1894</p> - -<div class="figcenter"><a name="i_004.jpg" id="i_004.jpg"></a> - <img src="images/i_004.jpg" width="405" height="600" - alt="" /> - <div class="caption">WILLIAM DAMPIER</div> -</div> - - -<h1 class="p6">WILLIAM DAMPIER</h1> - -<p class="ac p6 noindent x-smaller">BY</p> - -<p class="ac p2 noindent">W. CLARK RUSSELL</p> - -<p class="ac p6 noindent">London</p> - -<p class="ac noindent larger">MACMILLAN AND CO.</p> - -<p class="ac noindent smaller">AND NEW YORK</p> - -<p class="ac noindent">1894</p> - -<p class="ac noindent p2 x-smaller"><i>All rights reserved</i></p> - - -<hr class="chap" /> -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> - -<p class="ac noindent larger">CONTENTS</p> - - -<table id="TOC" summary="CONTENTS"> - <tr> - <td></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c1"></td> - <td class="c2"><span class="x-smaller">PAGE</span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="chap-no"><a href="#CHAPTER_I">CHAPTER I.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c1"><span class="sc">The Buccaneers—Navigation in - the Seventeenth Century—Features of the Vocational Life of - the Early Mariner</span></td> - <td class="c2">1</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="chap-no"><a href="#CHAPTER_II">CHAPTER II.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c1"><span class="sc">Dampier's Early Life—Campeché—He - joins the Buccaneers, 1652-1681</span></td> - <td class="c2">15</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="chap-no"><a href="#CHAPTER_III">CHAPTER III.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c1"><span class="sc">Dampier's First Voyage round the World, - 1681-1691</span></td> - <td class="c2">44</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="chap-no"><a href="#CHAPTER_IV">CHAPTER IV.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c1"><span class="sc">The Voyage of the “Roebuck,” - 1699-1701</span></td> - <td class="c2">85</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="chap-no"><a href="#CHAPTER_V">CHAPTER V.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c1"><span class="sc">The Voyage of the “St. George,” - 1702-1706-7</span> </td> - <td class="c2">107</td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="chap-no"><a href="#CHAPTER_VI">CHAPTER VI.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c1"><span class="sc">The Voyage With Woodes Rogers, - 1708-1711</span></td> - <td class="c2">138 -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_vi" - id="Page_vi">[Pg vi]</a></span></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td colspan="2" class="chap-no"><a href="#CHAPTER_VII">CHAPTER VII.</a></td> - </tr> - <tr> - <td class="c1"><span class="sc">Conclusion</span></td> - <td class="c2">183</td> - </tr> -</table> - - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="chapsum noindent">THE BUCCANEERS—NAVIGATION IN THE SEVENTEENTH - CENTURY—FEATURES OF THE VOCATIONAL LIFE OF THE EARLY MARINER</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><span class="sc">In</span> or about the middle -of the seventeenth century the -island of San Domingo, or Hispaniola as it was then -called, was haunted and overrun by a singular community -of savage, surly, fierce, and filthy men. They -were chiefly composed of French colonists, whose ranks -had from time to time been enlarged by liberal contributions -from the slums and alleys of more than one -European city and town. These people went dressed -in shirts and pantaloons of coarse linen cloth, which -they steeped in the blood of the animals they slaughtered. -They wore round caps, boots of hogskin drawn over -their naked feet, and belts of raw hide, in which they -stuck their sabres and knives. They also armed themselves -with firelocks which threw a couple of balls, each -weighing two ounces. The places where they dried -and salted their meat were called <i>boucans</i>, and from this -term they came to be styled bucaniers, or buccaneers, as -we spell it. They were hunters by trade, and savages -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span> -in their habits. They chased and slaughtered horned -cattle and trafficked with the flesh, and their favourite -food was raw marrow from the bones of the beasts which -they shot. They ate and slept on the ground, their -table was a stone, their bolster the trunk of a tree, and -their roof the hot and sparkling heavens of the Antilles.</p> - -<p>But wild as they were they were at least peaceful. -It is not clear that at this stage, at all events, they were -in any way associated with the freebooters or rovers who -were now worrying the Spaniards in those seas. Their -traffic was entirely innocent, and it was assuredly the policy -of the Don to suffer them to continue shooting the wild -cattle without molestation. Unfortunately for themselves, -the Spaniards grew jealous of them. They regarded -the West Indies and the continent of South America -as their own, and the presence of the foreigner was -intolerable. They made war against the buccaneers, -vowing expulsion or extermination. Both sides fought -fiercely. The Spaniard had discipline and training; on -the other hand, the buccaneer had the art of levelling as -deadly a piece as the Transvaal Boer of to-day. The -struggle was long and cruel; the Spaniards eventually -conquered, and the hunters, quitting San Domingo, -sought refuge in the adjacent islands. In spite of their -defeat, troops of the buccaneers contrived from time to -time to pass over into San Domingo from their head-quarters -in Tortuga, where they hunted as before, and -brought away with them as much cattle as sufficed them -to trade with. The Spaniards lay in ambush, and shot -the stragglers as they swept past in chase; but this sort -of warfare proving of no avail, it was finally resolved to -slaughter the whole of the cattle throughout the island, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span> -that the buccaneers should be starved into leaving once -and for good. No act could have been rasher and more -impolitic. The hunters finding their occupation gone, -went over to the freebooters, and as pirates, as their -history shows, in a short time abundantly avenged their -indisputable wrongs.</p> - -<p>Novelists and poets have found something fascinating -in the story of the buccaneers. The light of romance -colours their exploits, and even upon the maturest -gaze there will linger something of the radiance with -which the ardent imagination of boyhood gilds the -actions and persons of those fierce sea-warriors. It is -unhappily true, nevertheless, that the buccaneers were a -race of treacherous, cruel, and profligate miscreants. -Their name was at a later date given to, or appropriated -by, such men as Clipperton, Cowley, Dampier, -Woodes Rogers, and Shelvocke, whose behaviour as -enemies, whose skill and heroism as seamen, and whose -discoveries as navigators, greatly lightened the blackness -of the old traditions. But the buccaneers of the Spanish -Main,—the men who are the principal figures in the -annals of the freebooters, the people whose lives are -contained in such narratives as those of Joseph Exquemeling, -De Lussan, De Montauban, Captain Charles -Johnson, in Von Archenholtz's brief but excellent history, -and in other works,—were rogues and ruffians without -parallel in the history of villainy. They owned indeed -many extraordinary qualities, which, exerted in honest -fields of action, might have been deemed virtues of a -high kind. Their courage was great, their achievements -wonderful, their fortitude worthy of noble causes, their -capacity of endurance unrivalled in sea story. No skilfuller -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span> -body of seamen were ever afloat. But their history -is loathsome for the cruelties it relates. Olonois or -Lolonois, Braziliano, Morgan, Bat, Le Grand, and others -famous as pirates, were monsters whose like is nowhere -to be matched. The relation of their sailings and landings -and marchings, their assaults, pillagings, defeats, and -triumphs, is a sickening narrative of barbarities; but -it must be admitted, coupled with extraordinary examples -of courage in some instances absolutely sublime, and of -unconquerable resolution.</p> - -<p>It was inevitable that the successes of these pirates -should prove a temptation to English seafaring men. -Small vessels were fitted out in British ports or the -Colonies, and sailed for the West Indian Seas to pillage -the Spaniard wherever he might be found on land or -water. Often it happened, as Harris, the editor of a -voluminous collection of voyages, tells us, that crews -were embarked and pilots engaged without being apprised -of the object of the voyage, “and nothing was said -about the true design until they were at sea, where they -(the captains) were absolute masters.”<a name="FNanchor_1_1" id="FNanchor_1_1"> - </a><a href="#Footnote_1_1" class="fnanchor">[1]</a> To this order -belongs that race of English buccaneers of whom Dampier -may be advanced as the most conspicuous example. -They possessed all the high-spirited qualities, the daring, -the courage, the endurance of the Morgans and Bats -and Brazilianos, but they were seldom or never wantonly -cruel; they burned, they sacked, as freely as the others; -they pillaged churches with as little compunction; -poverty and sickness pleaded to them in vain when, -with firelocks in one hand and firebrands in the other, -they thundered through the deserted street and marked -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span> -their progress with flaming houses. But when human -life was in their power they respected it; they fought -and behaved as though the king's flag flew over their -heads; there was something of the sentiment of honourable -naval warfare in their lawlessness; and to their -credit let this stand, that though they professed themselves -as no more than privateersmen, their behaviour -will certainly bear comparison with the state-sanctioned -and instructed conduct of the officers and crews of -the expedition under Commodore Anson.</p> - -<p>But my business is with Captain William Dampier -only. Morgan and the cut-throats who preceded or followed -him have found apologists and admirers in plenty. -Happily Dampier's chief claims upon the attention of -posterity are based upon adventures of a very different -kind from those which rendered buccaneering one of the -most infamous pursuits that the wickedness or misery -of mankind ever invented.</p> - -<p>It is impossible to appreciate the intrepid seamanship -of the early navigators without first taking a view of -the art of navigation as it was in their time, and understanding -the shapes, bulk, and rigs of the vessels in -which they cruised in search of plunder or started on -long voyages of discovery. In these days one is so used -to the facilities of science for traversing the deep with -swiftness and certainty, that it is necessary to bend the -mind with some severity of thought to compass the -difficulties of the old sailors and honour their triumphs -justly. In the first place, their ships were so unwieldy -that it was scarcely possible to get them to beat against -the wind, or, to use the old-fashioned term, to “ply.” -An example of this will be found in Anson's <i>Voyage</i>. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span> -It is there recorded that the <i>Centurion's</i> consort, the -<i>Gloucester</i>, was descried on June 21st from the island -of Juan Fernandez some eight or ten miles to leeward, -beating or reaching into the bay. The weather -thickened and she disappeared. Five days afterwards -she again hove in sight, and for a whole fortnight she -was stretching away first on one, then on the other -tack, in vain effort to reach the island; nor was it -until July 23rd that she was able to enter the bay, -and then only because the wind had shifted, and permitted -her to head for her destination with a flowing -sheet. Thus for above a month was this ship striving -to get to windward and traverse three leagues on a taut -bowline!</p> - -<p>The old vessels were cumbrously rigged. At the -head of their lower masts they carried huge round tops -as big as a ballroom. Forward their bowsprit was -encumbered with massive spritsail and sprit-topsail -yards. Their sides were loaded with great channels embellished -with enormous dead-eyes for setting up shrouds -as thick as hawsers. They seldom exposed canvas above -their topsails, though the topgallant-sail had long been -introduced, as we know by a passage in Sir Walter -Raleigh's Remains.<a name="FNanchor_2_2" id="FNanchor_2_2"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_2_2" class="fnanchor">[2]</a> -Their sterns were high and pink-shaped—that -is, broad at the water-line and narrowing -at the taffrail. They were built with deck upon -deck in the after-part, the topmost being called the -“topgallant-deck” by the English, and the “poop-royal” -by the French and Spaniards; with the consequence -that they were dangerously deep-waisted, though with -their extraordinary height of side aft they floated, to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[Pg 7]</a></span> -the eye, like castles. As if this were not enough, the -structure where it was loftiest was crowned with enormous -poop-lanthorns of a size to hold “wind enough to -last a Dutchman a week!”</p> - -<p>Structures thus shaped—the length rarely exceeding -three times the beam—and propelled by low-seated -canvas, could do little or nothing against head-winds and -seas; and as a result the old narrators are repeatedly -telling us that they were forced to <i>hull</i>, or <i>try</i>,—in other -words, to heave their ship to, often in breezes in which -a sailing vessel of to-day would expose a topgallant-sail -over a single-reefed topsail. A succession of favourable -gales would indeed put life into the clumsy waggons and -furnish them with some sort of despatch, but as a rule -the passage that is now made in sixty days was hardly -completed by the early navigators in a twelvemonth. -Their ships were unsheathed. It is true that Sebastian -Cabot caused the ships under the command of Sir Hugh -Willoughby to be protected with thin sheets of lead to -guard against the worm “which many times pearceth -and eateth through the strongest oake”; -<a name="FNanchor_3_3" id="FNanchor_3_3"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_3_3" class="fnanchor">[3]</a> but I cannot -discover that this example was continued, and it is at -least certain that the vessels commanded by Dampier -and his buccaneering companions breasted the surge -with no other coating on their bottoms than pitch and -tallow. Hence in all long voyages there was frequent -occasion to careen, practicable only by tedious deviation -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span> -in search of a convenient place, and by wearisome -detention, that the hull might be listed over and the -accumulation of shells and weed removed. Another -formidable difficulty lay in the scurvy. This is a distemper -still with us, but in those days it was incredibly -fateful. Few ships from Europe managed to pass the -Horn without the loss of half, and often two-thirds, of their -crews from this dreadful scourge. The “chirurgeons” -could do nothing. There was no remedy but to bring -up off some fruitful coast and send the men ashore. -Whenever practicable this was done; but often it -happened that the ship's company were dying in fives -and tens every day, with the vessel herself a thousand -miles out upon the ocean. The old navigators overdid -their pickling. The brine they soaked their meat in -made it harder and less nourishing than mahogany before -they were out of the English Channel. Of all the -wonders of the early voyages none surprises me so -much as the capacity of the people to subsist upon -the victuals shipped for them.</p> - -<p>In Dampier's time navigation as an art had scarcely -made a stride since the days of Columbus and the -Portuguese discoverers. The instruments for measuring -the sun's altitude were the astrolabe, the cross or forestaff, -and Davis's backstaff,—engines for mensuration -ludicrously primitive, as will be supposed when viewed -side by side with the sextant of to-day. The mariner -made shift with these contrivances to determine his -latitude within a degree or two, but he had no means of -ascertaining his longitude. There were no chronometers, -there was no portable Greenwich time, no aids whatever -towards the solution of what was regarded down to the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span> -days of Maskelyne and the Commissioners of Longitude -as the greatest marine problem that ever perplexed the -mind. Apparently the old practice was to run down -the parallels and then make direct easting or westing -for the desired destination. Or they took “a departure,” -as it was called, from any point of land, and calculated -the meridians by the log. Or, as an alternative, the early -navigators employed dead-reckoning, as we still practise -it—that is, they found out a vessel's place on the chart -by putting down her rate of sailing as it was to be -ascertained at regular intervals by “heaving the log,” -and by allowing for leeway and difference of courses. -In Captain Thomas James's <i>Strange and Dangerous -Voyage in the years</i> 1631-32<a name="FNanchor_4_4" id="FNanchor_4_4"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_4_4" class="fnanchor">[4]</a> there is included a list -of the instruments provided by him for his undertaking -to discover the north-west passage into the South Sea. -A few of the items will furnish the reader with a tolerable -idea of the primitive character of the nautical -implements with which the mariner in the days of -James, and later yet in the days of Dampier, embarked -on his voyages into the remotest parts of the world in -quest of new lands or in search of short cuts. James -begins the list with “a quadrant of old-seasoned pear-tree -wood, artificially made and with all care possible -divided with diagonals, even to minutes. It was a four-foot -at least (semi-diameter).” Next: “An equilateral -triangle of light wood, whose radius was five-foot at -least, and divided out of Petiscus's table of tangents.” -“A quadrant of two-foot semi-diameter of light wood -and with like care projected.” Then: “Four staves for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span> -taking altitudes and distances in the heavens.” The -captain also took with him “a staff of seven-feet long, -whose transom was four-foot divided into equal parts by -way of diagonals that all the figures in a radius of -10,000 might be taken out actually.” “Another of six-foot -near as convenient and in that manner to be used. -Mr. Gunter's cross-staff, three Jacob's staves projected -after a new manner and truly divided after the table of -tangents, two of Mr. Davis's backstaves with like care -made and divided.” These were the captain's instruments -for measuring the height of the sun. Other items -comprised “six meridian compasses ingeniously made; -four needles in square boxes; four special needles (which -my good friends Mr. Allen and Mr. Marre gave me) of -six inches diameter, and toucht curiously with the best -loadstone in England; a loadstone to refresh any of -these if occasion were, whose poles were marked for fear -of mistaking.” Further, Captain James carried a watch-clock, -“a table every-day calculated, correspondent to -the latitude according to Mr. Gunter's directions in his -book, the better to keep our time and our compass to -judge of our course.” A chestful of mathematical books, -the Collections of Purchas and Hackluyt, and “two pair -of curious globes.”</p> - -<p>Such was the scientific equipment of a man bound -on a Polar voyage in the year 1632. It is not to be -supposed that such mariners as Dampier and his -buccaneering associates went half as well furnished. -Indeed their poverty in this direction was so great that -one may read here and there of their employing their -leisure on shipboard in making quadrants to replace -those which were lost or worn out. Their Norie, Raper, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> -and Nautical Almanac in one was the crude <i>Speculum -Nauticum</i> of Wagener, made English by Anthony Ashley -in 1588, and universally known by the seamen in those -days as <i>Waggoner</i>.<a name="FNanchor_5_5" id="FNanchor_5_5"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_5_5" class="fnanchor">[5]</a> Sir Thomas Browne, writing -in 1664 to his son Thomas, a naval officer, says, -“<i>Waggoner</i> you will not be without, which will teach -the particular coasts, depths of roades, and how the land -riseth upon the several points of the compass.” It will -not be supposed that <i>Waggoner's</i> instructions were very -trustworthy. The art of surveying was scarcely understood; -charts even in Dampier's time were absurdly -ill-digested, and portions of the world are barely recognisable -in the grotesque tracings. Therefore it happened -that the early mariner was forced to depend upon his -own judgment and experience to a degree scarce realisable -in these days of exact science and matured inventions. -He hardly understood what was signified by the -variation of the compass, and there was very little outside -the Pole Star that was not doubtful. But happily for -him there was no obligation of hurry. There was no -managing owner to worry him. Prompt despatch was -no condition of the charter-party. His was the day of -ambling, and he was happy if he could confirm with his -lead and log-line the reckonings he arrived at with his -forestaff.</p> - -<p>It is proper to remember all these conditions of the -sea-vocation in reviewing the life of William Dampier. -The habit of self-reliance makes the character of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> -sea-worthies of his age admirable, and it qualified them -for their great undertakings and achievements. They -were helped with nothing from science that can be -mentioned with gravity. The ocean was to them as -blank as it looks to the landsman's eye, and it was their -business to find out the roads to the wonders and -mysteries which lay hidden leagues down behind its -familiar shining line. If a sailor nowadays is at fault -he can seek and find the hints and assurances he desires -in twenty directions. He has Admiralty charts of -incomparable accuracy. He has a deep-sea lead with -which he can feel the ground whilst his ship moves -through the water at fourteen knots an hour. He has -instruments for indicating the angle to which his vessel -rolls, and for showing him instantly her trim as she sits -upon the water. He has a dial that registers on deck, -under his eye, the number of miles his ship has made -since any hour he chooses to time her from. His -chronometer may be accepted as among the most perfect -examples of human skill. Dampier and such as he -wanted all these adjuncts to their calling. But it cannot -be disputed that they were the better sailors for the -very poverty of their equipment in this way. It forced -upon them faith in nothing but their own observation, -so that there never was a race of sailors who kept their -eyes wider open and examined more closely those points -which have long since slided into the dull prosaics of -the deep. No one can follow them without wonder and -admiration. We find them in crafts of forty, twenty, -even ten tons—boats half-decked and undecked—exploring -the frozen silence of the North Pole, beating to the -westward against the fierce surge of the Horn, seeking -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> -land amidst the vast desolation of the southern ocean, -and making new history for their country upon the coast -of North America and in the waters of the Mozambique. -Their lion-hearts carry them all over the world, and -they have nothing to help them but the lead-line over -the side and a quadrant big enough to serve as a -gallows. Nor was the ocean quite as it is now. In -Dampier's time it was still gloomy with mysteries, and -there lingered many a dark and terrifying superstition, -whose origin was to be traced to those early Portuguese -and Spanish sailors who chanted a litany when they -saw St. Elmo's Fire glittering at the masthead, and -exorcised the demon of the waterspout by elevating -their swords in the form of crosses. The mermaid still -rose in the tranquil blue waters alongside, and with -impassioned eyes and white and wooing arms courted -the startled seaman to share her coral pavilion at the -bottom of the sea. The enchanted island, steeped in the -purple splendour of a radiance that owed nothing of -its glory to the heavens, was yet to be discovered by -seeking. The darkness of the storm was thronged with -gigantic shadowy shapes of fleeting spirits. Amid the -tranquillity of the midnight calm, dim fiery figures of -undeterminable proportions floated in the black profound, -and voices as of human creatures could be heard out of -the hush on the deep syllabling the names of the listening -and affrighted crew. It is true that the Jack of -Dampier's time was not so amazingly superstitious as -we find him in the pages of Purchas and Hackluyt. He -was not quite so young-eyed as the ancient mariner of -the Elizabethan and preceding ages. Nevertheless he -was still exceedingly credulous, and he never embarked -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> -on a voyage into distant parts without a mind prepared -for marvels of many sorts. Also let us remember the -shadowiness of the globe whose oceans he was to navigate, -the vagueness of countries now as well known to us as -our own island home. Australia was rising upon the -gaze of the world like a new moon, the greater part of -whose disk lies in black shadow. Islands which now -have their newspapers and their hotels were uncharted, -were less real than the white shoulders of clouds dipping -upon the sea-line. Of countries whose coast had been -sighted, but whose interiors were unknown, wild guesses -at the wonders within resulted in hair-stirring imaginations. -These and more than there is room to name are -conditions of the early mariner's vocational life, which -we must take care to bear in mind as we accompany -him in his adventures, or certainly we shall fail to compass -the full significance of his magnificent resolution, -his incomparable spirit, and his admirable intrepidity.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="ac noindent">1652-1681</p> - -<p class="ac noindent smaller">DAMPIER'S EARLY LIFE—CAMPECHÉ—HE JOINS THE -BUCCANEERS</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><span class="sc">There</span> is an account -of Dampier's early life written by -himself in the second volume of his Travels. I do not -know that anything is to be added to what he there tells -us. A man should be accepted as an authority on his -own career when it comes to a question of dates and -adventures. The interest of this sailor's life really begins -with his own account of his first voyage round the world; -and though he is a very conspicuous figure in English -maritime history, the position he occupies scarcely demands -the curious and minute inquiry into those parts -of his career on which he is silent that we should -bestow on the life of a great genius.</p> - -<p>William Dampier was born at East Coker in the year -1652. His parents intended him for a commercial life, -but the idea of shopkeeping was little likely to suit the -genius of a lad who was a rover in heart whilst he was -still in petticoats; and on the death of his father and -mother his friends, finding him bent upon an ocean life, -bound him apprentice to the master of a ship belonging -to Weymouth. This was in or about the year 1669. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> -With this captain he made a short voyage to France, -and afterwards proceeded to Newfoundland in the same -ship, being then, as he tells us, about eighteen years of -age. The bitter cold of Newfoundland proved too much -for his seafaring resolutions, and, procuring the cancellation -of his indentures, he went home to his friends. But -the old instinct was not to be curbed. Being in London -some time after his return from the Newfoundland voyage, -he heard of an outward-bound East Indiaman named the -<i>John and Martha</i>, the master of which was one Earning. -The idea of what he calls a “warm voyage” suited him. -He offered himself as a foremast hand and was accepted. -The voyage was to Bantam, and he was away rather -longer than a year, during which time he says he kept -no journal, though he enlarged his knowledge of navigation. -The outbreak of the Dutch war seems to have -determined him to stay at home, and he spent the -summer of the year 1672 at his brother's house in -Somersetshire. He soon grew weary of the shore, and -enlisted on board the <i>Royal Prince</i>, commanded by the -famous Sir Edward Spragge,<a name="FNanchor_6_6" id="FNanchor_6_6"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_6_6" class="fnanchor">[6]</a> under whom he served during -a part of the year 1673. He fought in two engagements, -and then falling sick a day or two before the action -in which Sir Edward lost his life (August 11th), he was -sent on board the hospital ship, whence he was removed -to Harwich. Here he lingered for a great while in suffering, -and at last, to recover his health, went to his brother's -house. As he gained strength so did his longing for the -sea increase upon him. His inclination was soon to be -humoured, for there lived near his brother one Colonel -Hellier, who, taking a fancy to Dampier, offered him the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> -management of a plantation of his in Jamaica under a -person named Whalley; for which place he started in -the <i>Content</i> of London, Captain Kent master, he being -then twenty-two years old. Lest he should be kidnapped -and sold as a servant on his arrival, he agreed with -Captain Kent to work his passage out as a seaman. -They sailed in the beginning of the year 1674, but the -date of their arrival at Jamaica is not given.</p> - -<p>His life on that island is not of much interest. He -lived with Whalley for about six months, and then agreed -with one Captain Heming to manage his plantation on -the north side of the island; but repenting his resolution, -he took passage on board a sloop bound to Port Royal. -He made several coasting voyages in this way, by which -he tells us he became intimately acquainted with all the -ports and bays of Jamaica, the products and manufactures -of the island, and the like. In this sort of life he -spent six or seven months, and then shipped himself -aboard one Captain Hudsel, who was bound to the Bay of -Campeché to load logwood. They sailed from Port Royal -in August 1675; their cargo to purchase logwood was rum -and sugar. There were about two hundred and fifty men -engaged in cutting the wood, and these fellows gladly -exchanged the timber for drink. They were nearly all -Englishmen, and on the vessel dropping anchor, numbers -of them flocked aboard clamorous for liquor. “We were -but 6 Men and a Boy in the Ship,” says Dampier, “and -all little enough to entertain them: for besides what Rum -we sold by the Gallon or Ferkin, we sold it made into -Punch, wherewith they grew Frolicksom.” It was customary -in those times to shoot off guns when healths -were drunk, but in Dampier's craft there was nothing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> -but small-arms, “and therefore,” he says, “the noise was -not very great at a distance, but on Board the Vessels -we were loud enough till all our Liquor was spent.” -Dampier was well entertained by these fellows ashore. -They hospitably received him in their wretched huts, -and regaled him with pork and peas and beef and dough-boys. -He thought this logwood-cutting business so profitable, -and the life so free and pleasant, that he secretly -made up his mind to return to Campeché after his arrival -at Jamaica. Having filled up with wood, they sailed in -the latter end of September, and not very long afterwards -narrowly escaped being wrecked on the Alacran -Reef, a number of low, sandy islands situated about -twenty-five leagues from the coast of Yucatan. The -vessel was a ketch, the weather very dirty. Dampier -was at the helm, or whipstaff as the tiller was called, and -describes the vessel as plunging and labouring heavily: -“Not going ahead,” he says, “but tumbling like an egg-shell -in the sea.” In spite of their being in the midst -of a dangerous navigation, the crew, finding the weather -improving, lay down upon the deck and fell asleep. The -stout build of the round-bowed craft saved her, otherwise -it is highly improbable that anything more would ever -have been heard of William Dampier.</p> - -<p>Young as he was, his powers of observation, the accuracy -of his memory, and what I may call the sagacity of his -inquisitiveness, are forcibly illustrated in this passage of -his account of his early life. Even while his little ship is -bumping ashore, and all hands are running about thinking -their last moment arrived, Dampier is taking a careful -view of the sandy islands, observing the several depths of -water, remarking the various channels, and mentally -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> -noting the best places in which to drop anchor. He has -a hundred things to tell us about the rats and sea-fowl -he saw there, of the devotion of the booby to its young, -of the sharks, sword-fish, and “nurses,” of the seals, and -the Spaniard's way of making oil of their fat. In this -little voyage Dampier and his mates suffered a very -great deal of hardship. They ran short of provisions, -and must have starved but for two barrels -of beef which had formed a portion of their cargo -for purposes of trucking, but which proved so rotten -that nobody would buy them. Of this beef they boiled -every day two pieces; their peas were consumed and -their flour almost gone, and in order to swallow the beef -they were forced to cut it into small bits after it was -cooked, and then to boil it afresh in water thickened with -a little flour. This savoury broth they ate with spoons. -Speaking of this trip Dampier says: “I think never any -Vessel before nor since made such traverses in coming -out of the <i>Bay</i> as we did; having first blundered over -the <i>Alcrany Riff</i>, and then visited those islands; from -thence fell in among the <i>Colorado Shoals</i>, afterwards -made a trip to <i>Grand Caymanes</i>; and lastly visited <i>Pines</i>, -tho' to no purpose. In all these Rambles we got as -much experience as if we had been sent out on a -design.”</p> - -<p>They were thirteen weeks on their way, and eventually -anchored at Nigril. Here occurred an incident curiously -illustrative of the customs and habits of nautical men in -the good old times. Their vessel was visited by Captain -Rawlings, commander of a small New England craft, and -one Mr. John Hooker, a logwood-cutter. These men -were invited into the cabin, and a great bowl of punch -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> -was brewed to regale them as well as their entertainers. -Dampier says there might be six quarts in it. Mr. -Hooker, being drunk to by Captain Rawlings, lifted the -bowl to his lips, and pausing a moment to say that he -was under an oath to drink but three draughts of strong -liquor a day, he swallowed the whole without a breath: -“And so,” adds Dampier, “making himself drunk, disappointed -us of our expectations till we made another -bowl.” Six quarts equal twenty-four glasses. Probably -no bigger drink than this is on record! But those -were days when men mixed gunpowder with brandy, -and honestly believed themselves the stouter-hearted for -the dose.</p> - -<p>On the vessel's arrival at Port Royal the crew were -discharged. Dampier, whose hankering was after the -logwood trade, embarked as passenger on board a vessel -bound to Campeché, and sailed about the middle of -February 1676. He went fully provided for the toilsome -work—that is to say, with hatchets, axes, a kind of -long knives which he calls “macheats,” saws, wedges, -materials for a house, or, as he terms it, a pavilion to sleep -in, a gun, ammunition, and so forth. His account of the -origin and growth of the business he had now entered -upon is interesting. The Spaniards had long known -the value of the logwood, and used to cut it down near -a river about thirty miles from Campeché, whence they -loaded their ships with it. The English, after possessing -themselves of Jamaica, whilst cruising about in the Gulf, -frequently encountered many vessels freighted with this -wood; but being ignorant of the value of such cargoes, -they either burnt or sent the ships adrift, preserving only -the nails and iron-work. At last one Captain James, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span> -having captured a big vessel full of wood, navigated her -to England with the intention of fitting her out as a -privateer. He valued his prize's cargo so lightly that -on the way home he consumed a portion of it as fuel. -On his arrival he, to his great surprise, was offered a large -sum for the remainder. This being noised about started -the trade amongst the English. Of course the Spaniards -opposed the cutting down of the trees, and sent soldiers -to protect their property; but the English speedily learnt -to recognise the timber as it grew, and, hunting for it -elsewhere, met with large forests, and so without regard -to the Spaniards they settled down to the trade and did -pretty well at it. The work previous to the arrival of -Dampier employed nearly three hundred men who had -originally been privateersmen and gained a living by -plundering the Spaniards, but who, on peace being made -with Spain, lost their occupation and were driven to -logwood-cutting by hunger. But their tastes as pirates -remained tenacious, and perhaps by way of keeping their -hand in, they formed into little troops, attacked and -plundered the adjacent Indian towns, brought away the -women and sent the men to Jamaica to be sold as slaves. -Dampier further informs us that these privateersmen had -not “forgot their old drinking bouts,” but would “still -spend thirty or forty pounds at a sitting on board the -ships that came hither from Jamaica, carousing and -firing off guns three and four days together.” Eventually -their evil habits led to their ruin, for the Spaniards finding -them nearly continually drunk, fell upon them one -by one, seizing them chiefly in their huts, where they -lay stupefied with liquor, and carried them to prison or to a -servitude harder than slavery. Logwood was then worth -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> -fourteen or fifteen pounds a ton. The toil must have -been great, for some of the trees were upwards of six feet -round, and the labourer had to cut them into logs small -enough to enable a man to carry a bundle of them. -Dampier speaks also of the bloodwood which fetched -thirty pounds a ton, but he does not tell us that he dealt -with it. He speedily found employment amongst the -logwood-cutters. On his arrival he met with six men who -had one hundred tons of the wood ready cut, but not yet -removed to the creek side. These fellows offered Dampier -pay at the rate of a ton of the wood per month to -help them to transport what they had cut to the -water. The work was laborious. They had not only to -transport the heavy timber, but to make a road to -enable them to convey it to the place of shipment. They -devoted five days a week to this work, and on Saturdays -employed themselves in killing cattle for food. During -one of these hunting excursions Dampier came very near -to perishing through losing his way. He started out alone -with a musket on his shoulder, intending to kill a bullock -on his own account, and wandered so far into the woods -that he lost himself. After much roaming he sat down -to wait till the sun should decline, that he might know -by the course it took how to direct his steps. The wild -pines appeased his craving for drink, otherwise he must -have perished of thirst. At sunset he started afresh, -but the night, coming down dark, forced him to stop. -He lay on the grass at some distance from the woods, in -the hope that the breeze of wind that was blowing would -keep the mosquitoes from him; “but in vain,” says he, -“for in less than an Hour's time I was so persecuted, -that though I endeavoured to keep them off by fanning -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> -myself with boughs and shifting my Quarters 3 or 4 -times; yet still they haunted me so that I could get no -Sleep.” At daybreak he struck onwards, and after -walking a considerable distance, to his great joy saw a -pole with a hat upon it, and a little farther on another. -These were to let him know that his companions understood -that he was lost, and that at sunrise they would -be out seeking him. So he sat down to wait for them; -for though by water the distance to the settlement was -only nine miles, the road by land was impracticable by -reason of the dense growths coming down to the very -side of the creek where Dampier sat waiting. Within -half an hour after his arrival at the poles with the -hats upon them, “his Consorts came,” he says, “bringing -every Man his Bottle of Water, and his Gun, both to -hunt for Game and to give me notice by Firing that I -might hear them; but I have known several Men lost -in the like manner and never heard of afterwards.” At -the expiration of the month's agreement he received his -ton of logwood, and was made free of the little colony -of cutters. Some of the men, quitting the timber-cutting, -went over to Beef Island to kill bullocks for their hides, -but Dampier remained behind with a few others to cut -more logwood. He worked laboriously, but his career -in this line of business was ended not long afterwards -by the most violent storm “that,” he says, “was ever -known in those Parts.” He has described this storm in -his <i>Discourse of Winds</i>. He there says: -“The Flood still increased and ran faster up the Creek than ever I -saw it do in the greatest Spring Tide, which was somewhat -strange, because the wind was at South, which is -right off the Shore on this Coast. Neither did the Rain -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> -anything abate, and by 10 a Clock in the Morning the Banks -of the Creeks were all overflowing. About 12 at Noon we -brought our Canao to the side of our Hut and fastened -it to the Stump of a Tree that stood by it; that being -the only refuge that we could now expect; for the Land -a little way within the Banks of the Creek is much lower -than where we were: so that there was no walking -through the Woods because of the Water. Besides the -Trees were torn up by the Roots and tumbled so strangely -across each other that it was almost impossible to pass -through them.” Their huts were demolished, their provisions -ruined. It was in vain to stay, so the four men -who formed Dampier's party embarked in their canoe -and rowed over to One-Bush-Key, about sixteen miles -from the creek. There had been four ships riding off -that key when the storm began, but only one remained, -and from her they could obtain no refreshment of any -kind, though they were liberal in their offers of money. -So they steered away for Beef Island, and on approaching -it observed a ship blown ashore amongst the trees -with her flag flying over the branches. Her people were -in her, and Dampier and his companions were kindly -received by them. Whilst on Beef Island he was -nearly devoured by an alligator. He and his comrades -started to kill a bullock. In passing through a small -savannah they detected the presence of an alligator by -the strong, peculiar scent which the huge reptile throws -upon the air, and on a sudden Dampier stumbled against -the beast and fell over it. He shouted for help, but his -comrades took to their heels. He succeeded in regaining -his legs, then stumbled and fell over the animal a -second time; “and a third time also,” he says, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span> -“expecting still when I fell down to be devoured.” He contrived -to escape at last, but he was so terrified that he tells us -he never cared for going through the water again so long -as he was in the Bay.</p> - -<p>Much of his narrative here is devoted to accurate -and well-written descriptions of the character of the -country, and of its animals, reptiles, and the like. -There is an amusing quaintness in some of his little -pictures, as, for instance: “The Squash is a four-footed -Beast, bigger than a Cat: Its Head is much like a Foxes; -with short Ears and a long Nose. It has pretty short -Legs and sharp Claws; by which it will run up trees like -a Cat. The skin is covered with short, fine Yellowish -Hair. The flesh is good, sweet, wholesome Meat. We -commonly skin and roast it; and then we call it pig; -and I think it eats as well. It feeds on nothing but -good Fruit; therefore we find them most among the -Sapadillo-Trees. This Creature never rambles very far: -and being taken young, will become as tame as a Dog; -and be as roguish as a Monkey.”</p> - -<p>The minuteness of his observation is exhibited in a -high degree in his account of the beasts, birds, and fish -of Campeché and the district. He uses no learned -terms. A child might get to know more from him -about the thing he describes than from a dozen pages of -modern writing on the subject supplemented even by -illustrations. It was wonderland to him, as it had been -to other plain and sagacious sailors before him. His -accounts remind us again and again of the exquisitely -naïve but admirably faithful descriptions of beasts and -fish by the navigators whose voyages are found in the -collections of Hackluyt and Purchas.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> - -<p>It is not very long after he had quitted Campeché that -we find him associating with privateers, and becoming -one of their number. He writes of this in a half-apologetic -manner, complaining of failure through a -violent storm and of a futile cruise lasting for several -months, and talks of having been driven at last to seek -subsistence by turning pirate. There is no hint in his -previous narrative of any leanings this way. Probably -thoughts of the golden chances of the rover might have -been put into his head by chats with the logwood-cutters. -The Spaniard had long been the freebooter's -quarry. His carracks and galleons, laden almost to -their ways with the treasure of New Spain, had handsomely -lined the pockets of the marauding rogues, and -such was the value of the booty that scores of them -might have set up as fine gentlemen in their own -country on their shares but for their trick of squandering -in a night what they had taken months to gain at -the hazard of their lives. The temptation was too much -for Dampier; besides, he was already seasoned to hardships -of even a severer kind than was promised by a -life of piracy. For, as we have seen, he had out-weathered -the bitter cold of Newfoundland, he had -worked as a common sailor before the mast, he had -served against the Dutch, he had knocked about in -Mexican waters in a vessel as commodious and seaworthy -as a Thames barge, and he was now fresh -from the severe discipline of the logwood trade. His -associates consisted of sixty men, who were divided -between two vessels. Their first step was to attack -the fort of Alvarado, in which enterprise they lost ten -or eleven of their company. The inhabitants, who had -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> -plenty of boats and canoes, carried away their money -and effects before the fort yielded, and as it was too -dark to pursue them, the buccaneers were satisfied to -rest quietly during the night. Next morning they were -surprised by the sight of seven ships which had been -sent from Vera Cruz. They got under-weigh and -cleared for action. But they had no heart to fight; -which is intelligible enough when we learn that the -Spanish admiral's ship mounted ten guns and carried -a hundred men; that another had four guns and eighty -men; the rest sixty or seventy men apiece, well armed, -whilst the bulwarks of the ships were protected with -bulls' hides breast-high. Fortunately for them, the -Spaniards had no mind to fight either. Some shots -were exchanged, and presently the Spanish squadron -edged away towards the shore, “and we,” says Dampier, -“glad of the deliverance, went away to the eastward.” -How long he remained with the pirates he does not say. -Apparently he could not find his account with them. -He left them to return to the logwood trade, at which -he continued for about twelve more months. He then -tells us that he resolved to pay a visit to England with -a design of returning again to wood-cutting, which no -doubt was proving profitable to him, and accordingly -set sail for Jamaica in April 1678. After remaining for -a short time at that island he embarked for England, -and arrived at the beginning of August.</p> - -<p>He did not remain long at home. In the beginning -of the year 1679 he sailed for Jamaica in a vessel named -the <i>Loyal Merchant</i>. He shipped as a passenger, intending -when he arrived at Jamaica to proceed to the Bay of -Campeché, and there pursue the employment of logwood-cutting. -But on his arrival at Port Royal in -Jamaica in April 1679, after a good deal of consideration, -he made up his mind to delay or abandon his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> -wood-cutting scheme, for he tells us that he remained -in that island for the rest of the year in expectation of -some other business. Whatever his hopes were they -could not have been greatly disappointed, for we read of -him as having, whilst in Jamaica, purchased a small -estate in Dorsetshire from a person whose title to it he -was well assured of. He was then, it now being about -Christmas, 1679, about to sail again for England, when -a Mr. Hobby persuaded him to venture on a short -trading voyage to what was then termed the country of -the Mosquitoes, a little nation which he describes as -composed of not more than a hundred men inhabiting the -mainland between Honduras and Nicaragua. Dampier -consented; he and Mr. Hobby set out, and presently -dropped anchor in a bay at the west end of Jamaica, -where they found a number of privateersmen, including -Captains Coxon, Sawkins, and Sharp. These men were -maturing the scheme of an expedition of so tempting a -character that the whole of Mr. Hobby's men quitted -him and went over to the pirates. Dampier stayed with -his companion for three or four days, and then joined -the pirates also. What became of Mr. Hobby he does -not say. There is here a shamefacedness in his avowal -not hard to distinguish. Perhaps as he sits writing -this narrative he wonders at the irresolution he exhibited, -and his curious caprices of decision. He starts -for Jamaica to cut logwood at Campeché; on his arrival -he changes his mind and prepares for his return; he is -then diverted from his intention by Mr. Hobby, with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> -whom he embarks on a well-considered adventure, which -he relinquishes to become pirate before his associate's -ship has fairly got away from Jamaica! It is these sudden -changes of front, however, and the unexpected turns -of fortune which they produced, which keeps Dampier's -narrative sweet with fresh and ever-flowing interest.</p> - -<p>His adventures from the date of his leaving Mr. -Hobby down to the month of April 1681 he dismisses -in a couple of pages. Ringrose, however, has written -very fully of the expedition in which Dampier apparently -served as a foremast hand, and to the pages of his work -it is necessary to turn to obtain the information which -Dampier omits.<a name="FNanchor_7_7" id="FNanchor_7_7"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_7_7" class="fnanchor">[7]</a> -The fleet of the privateers consisted -of nine vessels; the largest of them, commanded by -Captain Harris, was of the burden of one hundred and -fifty tons, mounted twenty-five guns, and carried one -hundred and seven men; whilst the smallest, commanded -by Captain Macket, was of fourteen tons, her crew consisting -of twenty men. They sailed on March 23rd, 1679, -for the province of Darien, their designs being, as Ringrose -candidly admits, to pillage and plunder in those -parts. But they do not appear to have arrived off the -coast until April 1680, this being the date given by Ringrose, -who says that there they landed three hundred and -thirty-one men, leaving a party of sailors behind them -to guard their ships. They marched in companies; -Captain Bartholomew Sharp's (in whose troop, I take it, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span> -was Dampier) carried a red flag, with a bunch of white -and green ribands; Captain Richard Sawkins's company -exhibited a red flag striped with yellow; the third and -fourth, commanded by Captain Peter Harris, bore two -cream-coloured flags; the fifth and sixth a red flag each; -and the seventh a red colour with yellow stripes, and a -hand and sword thereon by way of a device. “All or -most of them,” adds Ringrose, “were armed with Fuzee, -Pistol, and Hanger.” This is a description that brings -the picture before us. We see these troops of sailors -carrying banners, dressed as merchant seamen always -were, and still are, in twenty different costumes, lurching -along under the broiling equatorial sun, through -forests, rivers, and bogs, trusting to luck for a drink -of water, and with no better victuals than cakes of bread -(four to a man), called by Ringrose “dough-boys,” a -name that survives to this day, animated to the support -of the most extraordinary fatigues, the most venomous -country, and the deadliest climate in the world, by -dreams of more gold than they would be able to carry -away with them.</p> - -<p>But the whole undertaking was a failure. They -attacked and took the town of Santa Maria, and found -the place to consist of a few houses built of cane, with -not so much as the value of a single ducat anywhere to -be met with. Their disappointment was rendered the -keener by the news that three days before their arrival -several hundred-weight of gold had been sent away to -Panama in one of those ships which were commonly -despatched two or three times a year from that city to -convey the treasure brought to Santa Maria from the -mountains. Their ill-luck, however, hardened them in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> -their resolution to attack Panama. The city was a sort -of New Jerusalem to the imaginations of these men, who -thought of it as half-formed of storehouses filled to -their roofs with plate, jewels, and gold. They stayed -two days at Santa Maria, and then on April 17th, 1680, -embarked in thirty-five canoes and a periagua, and rowed -down the river in quest of the South Sea, upon which, as -Ringrose puts it, Panama is seated. Their adventures -were many; their hardships and distresses such as -rendered their energy and fortitude phenomenal even -amongst a community who were incomparably gifted -with these qualities. Ringrose, whose narrative I follow, -was wrecked in the river by the oversetting of his canoe, -and came very near to perishing along with a number of -his comrades. He fell into the hands of some Spaniards, -with whom, as they understood neither English nor -French, whilst he was equally ignorant of their tongue, -he was obliged to converse in Latin!—a language in -which, I suspect, not many mariners of to-day could -communicate their distresses. He and his shipmates -narrowly escaped torture and a miserable death, and -eventually recovering their canoe, they started afresh -on their voyage, and were fortunate enough next morning -to fall in with the rest of the buccaneers, who had -anchored during the night in a deep bay.</p> - -<p>Trifling as these incidents are, it is proper to relate -them as examples of the life and experiences of Dampier -during this period of his career. Unfortunately, until -one opens his own books one does not know where to -look for him. In whose troop he marched, in whose -canoe he sat, in what special adventures he was concerned, -whether he was favoured for his intelligence -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> -above the others by the commanders of the expedition, -cannot be ascertained. When Ringrose wrote, Dampier -was still a mere privateersman, a foremast hand, a man -without individuality enough to arrest the attention of -the sturdy, plain, and honest historian of the voyage in -which they both took part. Indeed, there is no reason -to suppose that Dampier at this time was regarded by -his fellows as better than the humblest of the shaggy, -sun-blackened men who, with fuzees on their shoulders -and pistols in their girdles, tramped in little troops -through the swamps and creeks and over the swelling -lands of the Isthmus, or who in their deep and narrow -canoes floated silent and grim upon the hot and creeping -river in search of the unexpectant Don and his almost -fabulous wealth.</p> - -<p>Dampier introduces a curious story in connection with -Panama and the South Seas in his first volume. He says -that when he was on board Captain Coxon's ship, there -being three or four privateers in company, they captured -a despatch boat bound to Cartagena from Porto Bello. -They opened many of the letters, and were struck by -observing that several of the merchants who wrote from -Old Spain exhorted their correspondents at Panama to -bear in mind a certain prophecy that had been current -in Madrid and other centres for some months past, the -tenor of which was—<i>That there would be English privateers -that year in the West Indies, who would make such great -discoveries as to open a door into the South Seas</i>. This door, -Dampier says, was the passage overland to Darien -through the country of the Indians, a people who had -quarrelled with the Spaniards and professed a friendship -for the English. At all events, these Indians had been -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> -for some time inviting the privateers to march across -their territory and fall upon the Spaniards in the South -Seas. Hence when the letters came into their hands -they grew disposed to entertain the Indians' proposal in -good earnest, and finally made those attempts to which -I have referred in quoting from the pages of Ringrose. -The cause of the friendship between the English buccaneers -and the Darien Indians is a story of some interest. -About fifteen years before Dampier crossed the Isthmus -a certain Captain Wright, who was cruising in those -waters, met with a young Indian lad paddling about in -a canoe. He took him aboard his ship, clothed him, and, -with the idea of making an Englishman of him, gave him -the name of John Gret. Some Mosquito Indians, however, -begged the boy from Captain Wright, who gave -him to them. They carried him into their own country, -and by and by he married a wife from among them. -Through the agency of this John Gret, who always preserved -an affection for the English, a friendship was -established between the buccaneers and the Indians. Presents -were made on each side, and a certain secret signal -was concerted whereby the Indians might recognise -their English friends. It happened that there was a -Frenchman among one of the buccaneering captain's crew. -He was artful enough to commit this signal, whatever it -was, to memory, and on his arrival at Petit Guavres he -communicated what he knew to his countrymen there, -and represented the facility with which the South Seas -might be entered now that he had the secret of winning -over the Indians to help him. On this one hundred and -twenty Frenchmen formed themselves into a troop, with -the buccaneer, whom Dampier calls Mr. la Sound, as their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> -captain, and marched against Cheapo, an attempt that -proved unsuccessful, though the simple Indians, believing -them to be English, gave them all the assistance that was -in their power. “From such small beginnings,” adds -Dampier, “arose those great stirs that have been since -made in the South Seas, viz.: from the Letters we took -and from the Friendship contracted with these Indians by -means of John Gret. Yet this Friendship had like to have -been stifled in its Infancy; for within few months after an -English trading Sloop came on this Coast from Jamaica, -and John Gret, who by this time had advanced himself -as a Grandee amongst these Indians, together with 5 or -6 more of that quality, went off to the Sloop in their -long Gowns, as the custom is for such to wear among -them. Being received aboard, they expected to find -everything friendly, and John Gret talkt to them in -English; but these English Men having no knowledge at -all of what had happened, endeavoured to make them -Slaves (as is commonly done), for upon carrying them -to Jamaica they could have sold them for 10 or 12 -Pound apiece. But John Gret and the rest perceiving -this, leapt all overboard, and were by the others killed -every one of them in the Water. The Indians on Shoar -never came to the knowledge of it; if they had it would -have endangered our Correspondence.”</p> - -<p>On April 23rd the buccaneers entered the Bay of -Panama, and the city, offering a fair and lovely prospect, -as Dampier afterwards tells us, lay full in their view. -The old town that had been sacked and burnt by Henry -Morgan in 1670 lay four miles to the eastward of the -new city; but amongst those now suburban ruins the -cathedral rose stately and splendid, and Ringrose, enraptured -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> -by the sight, vows that the building viewed from -the sea might compare in majesty with St. Paul's. The -Panama at which Dampier gazed was almost new, built of -brick and stone, with eight churches amongst the houses, -most of them unfinished. Many of the edifices were three -stories high. A strong wall circled the place, crowned -with seaward-pointing cannon, and these defences were -backed by a garrison of three hundred of the king's soldiers, -whilst the city itself supplemented that force by a -contribution of eleven hundred militiamen. Such was -the Panama of which our handful of audacious buccaneers -were coolly proposing the sacking, and doubtless -the burning. It seems, however, that when they -arrived most of the soldiers were absent, and Ringrose -tells us that had they attempted the town at once instead -of attacking the ships in the bay, they must have made -an easy conquest. The desperate energy, the hot and -furious courage, of an earlier race of pirates were wanting -in them. They lingered long enough to enable the city -to render its capture impracticable, and then, feigning a -sentimental interest in the condition of the Indians, they -despatched word to the Governor that if he would suffer -the natives to enjoy their own “power and liberty,” and -send to the buccaneers five hundred pieces of eight for -each man, and one thousand pieces of eight for each commander, -they would desist from further hostilities. A -civil message was returned, and they were also asked -from whom they received their commission; to which -Captain Sawkins responded in a style which he may -have borrowed from the tragedies of Nathaniel Lee: -“That as yet all his company were not come together; -but that when they were come up, we would come and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span> -visit him at Panama, and bring our commissions on the -muzzles of our guns, at which time he should read them -as plain as the flame of gunpowder could make them.” -All this was mere windy, hectoring talk, and nothing -followed it. The buccaneers were growing mutinous -with famine, and as it was clear there was nothing to -be done with Panama, Captain Sawkins, who was chief -in command, gave orders to weigh anchor, and the -pirates sailed away without a ducat's worth of satisfaction -for the prodigious hardships they had endured.</p> - -<p>Whilst they lay at anchor before Caboa the two chief -commanders, Sawkins and Sharp, went ashore with -sixty or seventy men to attack Puebla Nueva. Ringrose -dates this attempt May 22nd, 1680. The inhabitants -were prepared, and the only issue of a sharp engagement -was the death of Captain Sawkins and the loss of several -of his people. This defeat led to a mutiny among the -buccaneers. Eventually Captain Sharp, who was now -chief in command, called the men together and proposed -to them to remain in the South Sea and then go home by -way of the Horn, adding that he would guarantee that -every man who stayed with him should be worth a -thousand pounds by the time he arrived in England. -This scheme of cruising in the South Sea against the -Spaniards had been Sawkins's fixed project, and he was -so great a favourite that had he lived it is probable -the whole of the crew would have accompanied him; -but Sharp did not enjoy the general confidence of his -people, and a number of the men sullenly and obstinately -refused to linger any longer in these waters. Ringrose -was amongst those who were weary of the hazardous -and unremunerative adventures of the buccaneers, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> -would have been glad to leave the ship. Had he done -so there would have been no record of this voyage of -Dampier; but he was wise enough to fear the Indians -and to dread the sufferings of an overland journey in -the rainy season. He therefore resolved to remain with -Captain Sharp, amongst whose adherents was William -Dampier. Sixty-three of the men left them, and then -on Sunday, June 6th, 1680, Captain Sharp and his people -steered away to the southward with the intention of -plundering Arica.</p> - -<p>On approaching the coast they found the bay guarded -by numerous parties of horsemen, whilst the tops of the -hills were also lined with men. They withdrew without -firing a gun. Better luck, however, befell them on -October 29th at Hilo. This place they took without difficulty, -and found it stored with quantities of pitch, tar, -wine, oil, and flour. The sacking of Hilo was a sort of -holiday jaunt for the freebooters, who feasted delightfully -on olives, lemons, and limes; on cakes, on flagons of cool -wines, on great strawberries, and sweetmeats and other -delicacies. As they marched up the valley the Spaniards -accompanied their progress upon the hill-tops, and rolled -great stones down upon them, but no man was hurt; -whilst to the explosion of a single musket every visible -Spanish head was instantly ducked out of sight. Much -that strikes one as marvellous in the achievements of -the buccaneers in the South Sea vanishes when one thinks -of the abject cowardice of the American Spaniards. Had -their troops been composed of priests and old women, -they could not have fled with livelier hysterical nimbleness -from the sight of the English colours. The picture -is humiliating, though it is not wanting in the ridiculous. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> -All through the buccaneering annals, as in Anson's and -the voyages of others, one is incessantly meeting with -this sort of thing:—A boat filled with armed privateersmen -approaches the beach. A numerous party of horsemen, -bristling with sabres, lances, and muskets, stand as -in a posture to dispute their landing. But as the boat -draws near the horsemen retreat, and in no very good -order, back to behind the town as the seamen spring -ashore. They are finally seen on the summit of a hill -in company with several troops of foot soldiers, who, -whilst their bands play and their banners proudly flutter, -gaze downwards at the twenty or thirty sailors who are -firing the houses of their town and lurching seawards -with sacks of silver on their backs.</p> - -<p>Ringrose calls a halt at the “Isle of Plate,” as he -writes it, to tell us a little story: “This Island received -its Name from Sir <i>Francis Drake</i>, and his famous -Actions. For it is reported that he here made the -Dividend of that vast quantity of Plate which he -took in the <i>Armada</i> of this sea, distributing it to -each Man of his Company by whole Bowls full. The -<i>Spaniards</i> affirm to this Day that he took at that Time -twelvescore Tons of Plate, and sixteen bowls of coined -Money a Man; his number being then forty-five Men in -all; insomuch that they were forced to heave much of -it overboard, because his ship could not carry it all. -Hence this Island was called by the <i>Spaniards</i> the <i>Isle -of Plate</i>, from this great Dividend, and by us <i>Drake's -Isle</i>.”</p> - -<p>Traditions of this kind were very nicely calculated to -keep the buccaneering heart high. Our genial freebooter -has also another yarn to spin in connection with this -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> -coast. He says that in the time of Oliver Cromwell the -merchants of Lima fitted out a ship armed with seventy -brass guns, with a treasure in her hold of no less than -thirty millions of dollars, “all which vast sum of money,” -he says, “was given by the merchants of Lima, and sent -as a present to our Gracious King (or rather his father) -who now reigneth, to supply him in his exile and distress, -but that this great and rich ship was lost by keeping -along the shore in the Bay of Manta above mentioned or -thereabouts. The truth whereof is much to be questioned.” -Be his stories true or false, however, it is -pleasant to sail in the company of an old seaman who -has an anecdote to fit every bay or headland of the coast -along which he jogs. Unhappily Ringrose, who begins -very well, drifts fast into the unsuggestive trick of -“loggings,” telling us in twenty pages at a stretch that -on Monday the sun rose at such and such an hour, that -on Tuesday it blew a fresh gale, that on Wednesday -there was a ring round the moon, that on Thursday they -had made thirty leagues in twenty-four hours, and so -forth. It is by comparing the best of the early mariners' -narratives with Dampier's that one remarks his eminent -superiority as a writer, observer, and describer.</p> - -<p>As they sailed down the American seaboard they -captured a few small vessels, but their booty was inconsiderable. -On December 3rd, 1680, they attacked the city -of La Serena. They routed the Spaniards, who, in flying, -carried away the best of their goods and jewels. An offer -of ransom was made, and the price fixed was ninety-five -thousand pieces of eight. It was soon rendered plain, -however, that the enemy had no intention of paying, -whereupon the buccaneers fired every house in the town -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> -to the end that the whole place might be reduced to ashes. -Before the ship sailed she was very nearly burnt by a -curious Spanish stratagem. A horse's hide was blown -out with wind to the condition of a bladder. A man got -upon it and silently paddled himself under the stern of -the privateer, between whose rudder and sternpost he -crammed a mass of oakum, brimstone, and other combustible -matter. This done, he softly fired it with a -match and sneaked away ashore. The buccaneers -observing the dark mass on the water, concluded it to -be a dead horse, and gave it no particular heed. On a -sudden the alarm of fire was raised; the rudder was -seen to be burning and the ship was full of smoke. -After some trouble the flames were extinguished, and -then suspecting some stratagem in the object they had -previously lightly glanced at, they sent the boat ashore, -where the puffed-out hide was found with a match burning -at both ends of it.</p> - -<p>By Christmas Day they were at anchor off the Island -of Juan Fernandez. It is noteworthy that Ringrose, -in his journal under date of January 3rd, says that -their pilot told them that many years ago a ship was -cast away upon this island and only one man saved, -who lived alone upon it for over five years before any -vessel came that way to carry him off. It is curious -that none of the biographers of Defoe should refer to -this statement in dealing with the inspirations of the -great writer's masterpiece. Whilst lying at this island -there was trouble amongst the men, which resulted in -Captain Sharp being deposed. A number of the crew -wanted to go home at once; others were for remaining -in those seas until they had got more money. A man -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> -named John Watling, an old privateer and a seaman of -experience, was chosen in the room of Sharp. It was -shortly after this that the buccaneers were alarmed by -the unexpected apparition of three men-of-war. They -instantly slipped their cables and stood out to sea, leaving -behind them in their hurry that famous Mosquito Indian, -of whom it is uncertain whether it was to his or to Selkirk's -adventures that Defoe owed the idea of Robinson -Crusoe. The vessels which surprised them were large -and heavily armed, one of them being eight hundred and -another six hundred tons. They hoisted the “bloody -flag,” as it was called, meaning that no quarter would be -given. The buccaneers did the same, but they were in -truth very unwilling to fight. Watling, indeed, either -could not or would not dissemble his fears. Fortunately -the Spaniards proved thorough cowards. Despite the -bluster of their no-quarter signal flying at the masthead, -they never offered to approach the privateer, which, -glad enough to escape, next day stood away north-east -for Arica.</p> - -<p>I will not charge Watling with cowardice, but he -exhibits a quality of timidity sufficiently accentuated to -account for a very cruel disposition. Of this man, who -had manifested many signs of alarm at sight of the -Spanish ships-of-war, a black act of wickedness is -recorded a few days later. Amongst the prisoners on -board was an old white-haired Spaniard. Watling -questioned him about Arica, and believing that he -lied in his answers ordered him to be shot. The -former commander, Captain Sharp, vehemently opposed -the execution of this cruel sentence, but finding his -appeal disregarded he plunged his hands in water and, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> -washing them, exclaimed, “Gentlemen, I am clear of -the blood of this old man, and I will warrant you a hot -day for this piece of cruelty whenever we come to -fight at Arica.” The prophecy was fulfilled. On January -13th, 1680, the buccaneers were off that town, and -ninety-two men going ashore attacked the place with incredible -fury. We read of them filling every street in -the city with dead bodies. In a short time Captain -Watling was shot through the heart, whilst there were -slain besides two quartermasters and so many of the -men that further efforts were rendered hopeless. The -survivors appealed to Captain Sharp to lead them out -of their difficulties and get them back to the ship. The -enemy surrounded them, they were in great disorder, -and there was no one to command them. Sharp, bitterly -resenting their behaviour to him, which had led to his -being supplanted by Watling, hesitated. “But,” says -Ringrose, “at our earnest request and petition he -took up the command-in-chief again, and began to -distribute his orders for our safety.” They succeeded -in fighting their way to the beach, and got on board at -ten o'clock at night, after a desperate battle that had -lasted the whole day. On putting to sea again there -was much mutinous growling, and when off the Island -of Plata, on April 17th, 1681, the quarrels rose to such -a pitch that there was nothing for it but separation. -The trouble lay in a number of the men, now that -Watling was dead, desiring the reappointment of Sharp. -This was warmly opposed by others. The matter was -put to the vote, and the Sharpites proving the more -numerous, the dissentients agreed to leave them—the -arrangement being that the majority should keep the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> -ship, whilst the others should take the long-boat and -canoes and return by way of the Isthmus, or seek their -fortunes as they chose in other directions. The out-voted -party numbered forty-seven men, one of whom -was William Dampier.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="ac noindent">1681-1691</p> - -<p class="ac noindent smaller">DAMPIER'S FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD - <a name="FNanchor_8_8" id="FNanchor_8_8"></a> - <a href="#Footnote_8_8" class="fnanchor">[8]</a></p> - - -<p class="noindent"><span class="sc">“April 17</span>, 1681,” -writes Dampier, “about Ten a Clock -in the morning being 12 leagues N.-W. from the Island -<i>Plata</i>, we left Captain <i>Sharp</i> and those who were willing -to go with him in the Ship, and imbarqued into our -Launch and Canoas, designing for the River of <i>Santa -Maria</i> in the Gulf of <i>St. Michael</i>, which is about 200 -leagues from the Isle of <i>Plata</i>.” The boats which carried -them were a launch and two canoes; and their provisions -consisted of a quantity of flour mixed with twenty -or thirty pounds of powdered chocolate. That no man -should venture the crossing of the Isthmus on foot who, -by health or feebleness of will, might prove unequal to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> -the march, it was settled at the start that any one who -faltered on the journey overland should be at once shot -to death: “For,” says Dampier, “we knew that the -Spaniards would soon be after us, and one man falling -into their hands might be the ruin of us all by giving -an account of our strength and condition; yet this -would not deter 'em from going with us.” When -abreast of Cape Passao they captured a small vessel and -sailed to Cape St. Lorenzo, where they disembarked, -after removing their provisions and clothes and scuttling -their little ship. It was now May 1st, 1681.</p> - -<p>The march of Dampier and his companions across the -Isthmus of Panama is a feat that ranks amongst the most -memorable of the traditions of travel and adventure. -The qualities of the climate of that part of the world -have found emphasis in our time in published accounts -of the mortality among the people employed out there -on the great French engineer's scheme of a canal. The -land is watered by numbers of rivers filled with alligators; -it is darkened and often rendered impenetrable by dense -growths of tropical vegetation crowded with snakes; and -in many places it is blocked by barriers of hills and -mountains belted with miasmatic vapours. Our little -company of buccaneers crossed the Isthmus in twenty-three -days, in which time, according to Dampier's account, -they travelled one hundred and ten miles. Their adventures -were few, but the hardships constant and severe. -For the most part they slept all night in the open, and -repeatedly arose in the morning from their beds of mire -with clothes saturated by storms of rain. Their surgeon, -Lionel Wafer, was badly hurt in the knee by the explosion -of a parcel of gunpowder,—an accident that gave his companions -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span> -much anxiety, “being lyable ourselves every -moment to misfortune,” says Dampier, “and none to -look after us but him.” On several occasions many of -them were nearly drowned whilst fording rivers swollen -with rains. The difficulties in the road of their progress -may be gathered from a single incident. They had arrived -at the banks of a river which they were obliged to cross. -The water was deep and the current ran swiftly. It -was proposed that those who could swim should assist -those who were helpless in this way to the opposite -bank; but then, how were they to transport the guns, -provisions, and other articles that they carried? They -decided to send a man over with a line, who, by means -of it, would be able to haul the goods across, and then -drag those ashore who could not swim. A fellow named -Gayny secured the end of the line around his neck and -plunged into the river, but the current kinked and -entangled the rope in some way and threw the swimmer -on his back. He had slung a bag containing three hundred -dollars over his shoulder, and this weight, helped -by the drag of the line, drew the unfortunate man under, -and he was seen no more. They finally succeeded in -crossing by felling a tall tree, which happily spanned -the river and served them as a bridge. Their food consisted -of fish and such animals as they could contrive to -shoot, particularly monkeys, whose flesh they ate with -relish. It was not until May 23rd that they came in -sight of the Atlantic, which it was then the custom -to speak of as the North Sea, and the next day they -went on board a French privateer commanded by a -Captain Tristian. Some of their comrades had died by -the way, and some had been left behind. Amongst the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> -latter was Wafer, the surgeon, who a few weeks afterwards -was met by Dampier while cruising in the neighbourhood -of La Sound's Key. Some Indians came -aboard, and brought with them the surgeon and survivors -of the others who had been left on the Isthmus. “Mr. -Wafer,” says Dampier, “wore a clout about him, and -was painted like an Indian; and he was some time -aboard before I knew him.”<a name="FNanchor_9_9" id="FNanchor_9_9"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_9_9" class="fnanchor">[9]</a></p> - -<p>Captain Tristian, having Dampier and his comrades -in the ship, set sail, and arrived in two days at Springer's -Quay, where they found eight privateers lying at anchor. -Four of them were English; two of ten guns each, and -both carrying one hundred men; a third of four guns -and forty men. The others were less formidable. The -Dutch vessel mounted four guns and carried sixty men, -and was commanded by one Captain Yanky. The -Frenchmen were respectively of eight guns and forty -men, and six guns and seventy men. Here, by guessing -at the crews of the smaller ships, we arrive at a body of -pirates numbering between five and six hundred fearless, -determined, ferocious ruffians! It is conceivable that the -Spaniards in those waters should have lived in a state -of terror. The wonder is that the swarms of miscreants -who preyed upon them should have left them a house -to dwell in or a ducat to conceal.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span></p> - -<p>After many debates it was agreed amongst the -masters and crews of these vessels to attack a town the -name of which Dampier says he has forgotten. The -vessel into which our hero found himself drafted was -a French craft of eight guns and forty men, commanded -by a man named Archemboe. The fleet weighed, but -during the night they were scattered by a hard gale, -and when day broke Archemboe's ship was alone. -Dampier, with others of his comrades who were with -Archemboe, speedily learnt to hate their French associates. -The sailors were utterly worthless in bad, and lazy, -lounging loafers in fine, weather: “The saddest creatures -that I was ever among,” writes Dampier, “but though -we had bad weather that required many hands aloft, -yet the biggest part of them never stirred out of their -hammocks but to eat.” Later on they fell in with -Captain Wright, who belonged to the fleet, and Dampier's -English shipmates induced this man to fit out a prize -of his for them; Dampier himself joining Wright, -whose vessel, a <i>barco longo</i>, mounted four guns and -carried fifty men. Shortly after this Wright, in company -with the Dutchman, Captain Yanky, started on a cruise -along the coast of Cartagena.</p> - -<p>Dampier's narrative here is a very close, curious, and -interesting description of the islands of this part of the -sea and of the shores of the mainland. He also prints -pages of notes about the birds common to those parts, -the pearl-fishery, and other matters of a like kind. The -charm of a sailor-like simplicity is in everything he says. -“I have not been curious,” he writes in his preface to a -<i>New Voyage Round the World</i>, “as to the spelling of the -Names of Places, Plants, Fruits, Animals, etc., which in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> -many of the remoter parts are given at the pleasure -of Travellers, and vary according to their different -Humours: Neither have I confined myself to such -names as are given by Learned Authors, or so much as -enquired after them. I write for my Countrymen, and -have therefore for the most part used such names as -are familiar to our English Seamen and those of our -Colonies abroad, yet without neglecting others that -occur'd.”</p> - -<p>Let Dampier's literary defects be what they may, -assuredly unintelligibility is not one of them.</p> - -<p>The cruise, in a buccaneering sense, was not a profitable -one. They captured a few small vessels, but their -prizes yielded them little more than some tons of sugar, -marmalade, cocoa, hides, and earthenware. They then -resolved to separate, and after dividing the plunder they -parted company, having enough vessels in the shape of -prizes to carry them wherever they might choose to go. -Twenty of them, amongst whom was Dampier, putting -their share of the booty into a small bark, set sail for -Virginia and arrived there after an uneventful passage -in July, 1682. In this country Dampier lived for -thirteen months, but of his life he tells nothing, merely -hinting that a great many troubles befell him.</p> - -<p>Amongst the crew of the vessel commanded by the -Dutchman, Captain Yanky—one of the piratical commanders -with whom Dampier was associated after -crossing the Isthmus—there had been a quartermaster -named John Cooke, a Creole. On Yanky capturing a -Spanish prize, Cooke, by virtue of his position according -to the practice of the buccaneers, claimed and obtained -command of her. But the privateersmen were of mixed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> -nationalities, and the French, growing jealous of the -Englishmen, plundered and stripped the men who had -been their shipmates and companions-in-arms, and -turned them naked ashore. Captain Tristian, however, -whose ship, it will be remembered, Dampier and his -comrades boarded on the Darien coast, took pity upon -the English, and carried ten of them, one of whom was -Cooke, to the Island of Tortuga. Whilst they lay there -at anchor the English rose, seized Tristian's vessel, and -sailing away with her made two captures of importance, -one of which they navigated to Virginia, where they -arrived in April, 1683. Having sold the cargo of this -prize they fitted her out as a privateer, mounting her, -Captain Cowley says in his <i>Voyage</i>, with eight guns, -though Dampier makes the number eighteen. They -called her the <i>Revenge</i>. Dampier with many others -volunteered to sign articles for her, and when she set -sail her crew, according to Cowley, consisted of fifty-two, -but according to Dampier of seventy men.</p> - -<p>The voyage of the <i>Revenge</i> was written by Cowley as -well as by Dampier—that is to say, a large portion of -this voyage is included in Dampier's first volume of his -Travels. Cowley's account is very full, wanting indeed -the flavour of Dampier's style, and the vitality and archness -of his descriptive powers; but in one sense Cowley -is more interesting than the other—I mean, that as a -freebooter he writes with far more candour than Dampier, -whose narratives everywhere repeat by implication the -direct apology he makes in the preface to his first volume:</p> - -<p>“As for the Actions of the Company, among whom -I made the greatest part of this voyage, a Thread of -which I have carried on thro' it, 'tis not to divert the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> -Reader with them that I mention them, much less that -I take any pleasure in relating them: but for method's -sake and for the Reader's satisfaction; who could not so -well acquiesce in my Description of Places, etc., without -knowing the particular Traverses I made among them: -nor in these, without an Account of the Concomitant -Circumstances. Besides that, I would not prejudice the -truth and sincerity of my Relation, tho' by omissions -only. And as for the Traverses themselves, they make -for the Reader's advantage; however little for mine, -since thereby I have been the better inabled to gratify -his Curiosity; as one who rambles about a Country can -give usually a better account of it, than a Carrier who -jogs on to his Inn, without ever going out of his Road.”</p> - -<p>Cowley had not Dampier's sensitiveness; indeed, he -might not have considered his conscience as a buccaneer -unduly burdened. It is manifest that as he wrote he -was still smarting under the trick that had been put -upon him, and to gratify his resentment he related baldly -all the truth he could recollect. He had been prevailed -upon by Cooke to sail as master in the privateer, which -was professedly bound to San Domingo, that her commander -might at that island obtain a commission to -legalise his acts at sea; but in reality Cooke's first, real, -and only design was wholly one of piracy, and nothing -was said to Cowley about it until the ship was well clear -of the land, when, of course, he was forced to fall in with -the scheme.<a name="FNanchor_10_10" id="FNanchor_10_10"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_10_10" class="fnanchor">[10]</a> -This was in the year 1683. Dampier was -now thirty-one years of age, and fairly, but unconsciously, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> -started on the first of those voyages which were to make -him in his day and to succeeding times one of the most -distinguished of the circumnavigators of the globe.</p> - -<p>The <i>Revenge</i> sailed from Achamack on August 23rd -in the year just named. Nothing for many weeks -broke the monotony of the passage save the incident -of a heavy gale of wind which the vessel encountered -off the Cape Verd Islands. Cowley dwells -lightly upon this storm as if he would make little or -nothing of it, but Dampier insists upon its being the most -violent he had ever experienced in any part of the world. -Indeed he has preserved an account of it in those chapters -in the second volume of his Voyages, which he entitles, -“A Discourse of Winds, Breezes, Storms, Tides, and -Currents.” The nautical reader will, I hope, thank me -for transcribing a passage that is more curiously illustrative -of the seamanship and sea-technicalities of the -period of history to which this narrative belongs than any -like account by other hands that I can call to mind.</p> -<p>“If after the Mizan is hall'd up and furled, if then the -ship will not wear, we must do it with some Headsail, -which yet sometimes puts us to our shifts. As I was -once in a very violent storm sailing from <i>Virginia</i>, -mentioned in my <i>Voyage Round the World</i>, we scudded -before the Wind and Sea some time, with only our bare -Poles; and the ship, by the mistake of him that con'd, -broched too, and lay in the Trough of the Sea; which -then went so high that every Wave threatn'd to over-whelm -us. And indeed if any one of them had broke -in on our Deck it might have foundered us. The -master,<a name="FNanchor_11_11" id="FNanchor_11_11"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_11_11" class="fnanchor">[11]</a> -whose fault this was, rav'd like a Mad Man and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span> -called for an Axe to cut the Mizan Shrouds, and turn -the Mizan mast overboard: which indeed might have -been an expedient to bring her to her course: The -Captain was also of his Mind. Now our Main-yard and -Fore-yard were lowered upon a Port-last, as we call it, -that is down pretty nigh the Deck, and the Wind blew -so fierce that we did not dare to shew any Head-Sail, for -they must have blown away if we had, neither could all -the men in the ship have furled them again; therefore -we had no hopes of doing it that way. I was at this -time on the Deck with some others of our Men; and -among the rest one Mr. <i>John Smallbone</i>, who was the -Main instrument at that time of saving us. Come! said -he to me, let us go a little way up the Fore-shrouds, it -may be that that may make the Ship wear: for I have -been doing it before now. He never tarried for an -Answer, but run forward presently, and I followed him. -We went up the Shrouds Half-mast up, and there we -spread abroad the Flaps of our Coats, and presently the -Ship wore. I think we did not stay there above 3 -Minutes before we gain'd our Point and came down -again; but in this time the Wind was got into our -Mainsail, and had blown it loose; and tho' the Main-yard -was down a Port-last and our Men were got on -deck as many as could lye one by another, besides the -deck full of Men, and all striving to furl that Sail, yet -could we not do it, but were forced to cut it all along by -the Head-rope, and so let it fall down on the Deck.”</p> - -<p>A noticeable thing of their outward run is that they -took above five months to sail from the coast of Virginia -to abreast of Cape Horn. They got no sights after -making Staten Island until they had entered the South -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> -Sea, and were obliged to grope their way in their -square-built, round-bowed, and clumsy old craft past -the stormiest headland in the world, through weather -blind with snow and black with cloud, and over seas -running in mountains to the pressure of five hundred -leagues of gale. When to the westward of the Cape they -encountered one Captain Eaton in a privateer that had -been equipped and despatched from London to plunder -the Western American coast, and proceeded with him -to Juan Fernandez, where they arrived eight months -after leaving Achamack. Their first act was to send a -canoe ashore to obtain news of the Mosquito Indian -who had been left on the island three years before by -Captain Watling. This Indian, who proved to be alive, -is a figure in the history of romantic adventure scarce -less conspicuous in his way than Alexander Selkirk or -Peter Serrano. He was in the woods hunting for goats -when Captain Watling and his men, alarmed by the -apparition of three Spanish ships, slipped their cable -and sailed away, and all that he had with him at the -time consisted of a gun and a knife, a small horn of -powder, and a handful of shot. Afterwards, by notching -his knife to the condition of a saw, he contrived to -cut the barrel of his gun into pieces, out of which he -manufactured harpoons, lances, hooks, and a long knife. -He was thus enabled to provide himself with food, such -as flesh of goats, fish, etc. He built himself a hut a -short distance from the sea, and lined it with goat-skins. -His apparel consisted of a skin wrapped about his waist. -There was another Mosquito Indian amongst the buccaneers, -a man named Robin, who was the first to leap -ashore to greet his brother black. Dampier tells us -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> -that first Robin threw himself flat on his face at the -feet of the other, who, helping him up and embracing -him, fell flat on the ground at Robin's feet, and was -by him taken up also. “We stood,” he says, “with -pleasure to behold the surprise and tenderness and -solemnity of this Interview, which was exceedingly -affectionate on both Sides; and when their ceremonies -of civility were over, we also, who stood gazing at them, -drew near, each of us embracing him we had found here, -who was overjoyed to see so many of his old friends -come hither, as he thought, purposely to fetch him.”</p> - -<p>They sailed from Juan Fernandez on April 8th, -still in company with Eaton's ship. During the month -of May they captured several vessels, in one of which, -besides a quantity of marmalade, they found a stately -and handsome mule designed as a gift for the President -of Panama, and an immense wooden image of the Virgin -Mary. They were, however, unfortunate enough to miss -what would have better pleased them than mules and -images; for when this ship started from Lima she had -eight hundred thousand dollars on board, but on her -arrival at Guanchaco news of a privateersman then -hovering off the port of Valdivia came to the ears of -the merchants, who thereupon instantly removed every -stiver out of the vessel.</p> - -<p>The recital, even in an abbreviated form, of the adventures -of these buccaneers upon the Western American -seaboard would make a book of nearly half the thickness -of Dampier's first volume. As a mere journal of exploits -perhaps the narrative grows after a while a little tedious. -One sea-fight is like another; the assaults by land lead to -nothing; the prizes captured at sea are insignificant. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> -Yet Dampier's page continues to charm us by the vivacity -of his descriptions of coasts, of storms, of the corposant, -of the turtle, and by a hundred unlaboured and unconscious -felicities of phrase.</p> - -<p>When off Cape Blanco Captain Cooke died. He was -ill when at Juan Fernandez, and continued so till within -two or three leagues of the Cape, when he suddenly expired, -though Dampier tells us he seemed that morning -to be as likely to live as he had been some weeks before; -“But it is usual for sick Men coming from the Sea, where -they have nothing but the Sea-Air, to die off as soon as -ever they come within view of the Land.”</p> - -<p>The command devolved upon Edward Davis, the -quartermaster of the ship. Cooke's body was taken -ashore, and whilst some of the crew were burying it -three Indians approached, believing the men to be -Spaniards, and were made prisoners, though one of them -shortly after escaped. The others told the buccaneers -of a farm where there was plenty of cattle to be had; -and the attempt to steal the bullocks is marked by one -of those incidents which convey a fuller idea of the resolved -and desperate character of the freebooters, their -perils, expedients, and astonishing escapes, than could -be communicated by volumes of descriptions of their -battles by sea and attacks by land. Twelve men slept -ashore, intending when the morning came to drive the -bulls and cows which were feeding in the savannas down -to the beach; but when the afternoon of the next day -arrived they were still ashore, and their shipmates aboard -the vessel growing uneasy, ten men were sent in a boat -to see what had become of them. On entering the bay -they observed the twelve fellows on a small rock half a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> -mile from the shore standing in water to above their -waists. It seems that, having slept through the night, -they had risen betimes to catch the cattle, when they -were suddenly surprised by forty or fifty armed Spaniards. -The privateersmen drew together in a body, and retreated -without disorder or confusion to the beach, but on arriving -there they found their boat, which they had dragged -out of the water, in flames. The Spaniards now made -sure of them, and being numerous, ventured upon several -sneers and scoffs before attacking them, asking them, for -instance, if they would be so good as to do them the -honour to walk to their plantation and steal their cattle -and take whatever else they had a mind to, and so forth; -to all which menacing and savagely deriding flouts the -buccaneers answered never a word. The tide was at -half-ebb; a privateersman catching sight of a rock a good -distance from the shore, just then showing its head above -water, whispered to the others that it would be as good -as a castle to them if they could get there. Meanwhile -the Spaniards were beginning to whistle a shot amongst -them now and then. One of the tallest of the buccaneers -waded into the water to try if the distance to the rock -could be forded. The depth proved nowhere great; so -the twelve marched over to the little distant stronghold, -and there remained till their shipmates came for them. -They stood about seven hours in all, and must have -perished had the boat not then arrived, for the water -was flowing, and the tide thereabouts rose to eight feet. -The enemy watched them from the shore, but always -from behind the bushes, where they had first planted -themselves. “The <i>Spaniards</i>,” says Dampier contemptuously, -“in these parts are very expert in heaving or -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> -darting the Lance; with which upon occasion they will -do great Feats, especially in Ambuscades: And by their -good Will they care not for fighting otherwise, but content -themselves with standing a loof, threatening and -calling Names, at which they are as expert as the other; -so that if their Tongues be quiet we always take it for -granted they have laid some Ambush.”</p> - -<p>Not very long after this Captain Davis and Captain -Eaton separated, bringing the date to the second day of -September 1684, and on the 24th Dampier's ship arrived -at La Plata and anchored. Whilst lying at this island -the privateers were joined by Captain Swan in a vessel -named the <i>Cygnet</i>. This ship had been freighted by -certain London merchants for honourable traffic with -the Spaniards in the South Seas, but when she was at -Nicoya there arrived a troop of privateersmen from -overland, and Swan's men, bringing the pirates aboard, -forced their captain to go a-buccaneering. That Swan -was as reluctant to oblige them as he afterwards represented -himself to have been to Dampier, is possible; it -is certain, however, that on meeting with Davis he -threw most of the goods he had been freighted to trade -with overboard, that his ship, by being “clear,” as it is -called, might be the fitter to fight and chase. He seems -to have been a man of some foresight. Anticipating a -time when there might happen such a scarcity of provisions -as to force them out of those seas, he taught his -men not only to eat, but actually to relish the oily, salt, -and rancid flesh of penguins and boobys. “He would -commend it,” says Dampier, “for extraordinary good -food, comparing the seal to a roasting pig, the boobys to -hens, and the penguins to ducks.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span></p> - -<p>The only land-attack of consequence was the attempt -on Guayaquil by Swan and Davis. It was badly concerted -and half-heartedly undertaken. They landed at -about two miles from the town, and being unable to -push their way through the tangled growths by night, -sat down to wait for daylight. An Indian, who offered -to pilot them, was attached to one of Davis's men by a -string. The privateersman losing heart, secretly cut -the string, and, when the guide had gone some distance, -bawled out that the Indian was off and that somebody -had cut the cord! What there was in this to terrify -the others is not easily seen, but it is true, nevertheless, -that their consternation was so great, not a man would -venture a step farther. It was not long before they -returned to their ship, and so ended their attempt on -Guayaquil. The only material issue of this cheap adventure -was their capture of three vessels, on board of which -were no less than one thousand negroes,—“all lusty -young men and women,” says Dampier, who laments -that they did not convey the whole of them to the -Isthmus of Panama, and employ them in digging for -gold in the mines at Santa Maria. His idea might -seem full of promise to him, but it takes another complexion -when examined by the light of the experience -of the twelve hundred men who embarked at Leith for -Darien on July 26th, 1698.</p> - -<p>On December 23rd, 1684, they sailed for the Bay of -Panama, and nine days later, whilst proceeding from -Tomaco towards Gallo, one of their canoes captured a -pacquet-boat sailing from Panama to Lima. The -Spaniards buoyed the bag of letters and threw it overboard, -but it was picked up by the buccaneers, who -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> -gathered from the despatches that the President of -Panama had sent the mail-boat they had seized to -hasten the sailing of the Plate Fleet from Lima. -Dampier says that the privateersmen “were very joyful -of this news,” which is intelligible enough when we -consider that the King of Spain's treasure alone on -board this fleet was commonly valued at twenty-four -millions of dollars, whilst the worth of the galleons was -still further increased by their carrying a vast amount -in what was termed merchants' money, besides rich -commodities of all sorts. It was at once settled that the -buccaneers should intercept this fleet. They were in -number now two vessels and three barks, and on -February 14th, 1685, having finished the business of -careening, cleaning, and watering their craft, they stood -away for the Bay of Panama. Whilst they lay off the -Island of Tobago they were nearly destroyed by a singular -stratagem. A man feigning to be a merchant came -to them from Panama. He professed to act as by stealth, -in which the buccaneers found no cause for suspicion, -for it was common enough for Spanish merchants to -traffic privately with them, notwithstanding the prohibition -of the governors. It was arranged that this -merchant should fill his vessel with goods, and bring -her by night to the English, who were to shift their -berth to receive her. He came, but with a fire-ship -instead of a cargo-boat, and approaching the English -close, hailed them with the watchword that had been -settled upon. The privateers growing suspicious, ordered -the vessel to bring to, and on her not doing so, fired -into her. Her crew instantly jumped into their boats, -after firing the ship, which blew up and burnt close -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span> -alongside of the privateersmen, “so that,” says Dampier, -“we were forced to cut our cables in all haste, and -scamper away as well as we could.” Swan was also -imperilled by another Spanish device. His ship lay -about a mile distant, with a canoe made fast to his -anchor-buoy. Just as the fire-ship blew up, Swan -noticed something floating on the water close aboard of -him. He peered, and discerned a man upon it softly -paddling the contrivance towards his vessel. Probably -the fellow suspected he was discovered, for he suddenly -dived and disappeared.</p> - -<p>Nothing particular happened till the 24th, when, being -again at anchor off the Island of Tobago, about eighteen -miles south of the city of Panama, they observed a number -of canoes filled with men. They kept still, watching them -the while; then lifting their anchors, approached and -hailed them. They proved to be English and French -privateers who had marched across the Isthmus; two -hundred French and eighty Englishmen distributed -amongst twenty-eight canoes under the command of -Captain Grognet and Captain Lequie. These men stated -that there still remained on the Isthmus at least one -hundred and eighty Englishmen, commanded by Captain -Townley, who when last heard of were busily employed -in the construction of canoes to convey them to the -South Sea. All the English of the party were immediately -taken into the service of Captain Davis and -Captain Swan, whilst one of the prizes was given to the -Frenchmen. They were now a strong company of men. -First of all there was Captain Davis in his ship of thirty-six -guns, with a crew of one hundred and fifty-six determined -rogues, chiefly English; Captain Swan, sixteen guns -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> -and one hundred and forty men, all English; Captain -Townley, one hundred and ten men; Captain Grognet, -three hundred and eight men, all French; Captain Harris, -one hundred men, chiefly English; Captain Branly, thirty-six -men; besides three barks serving as tenders, and a -small bark for a fire-ship—in all, nine hundred and -sixty men. Formidable as this force looks, however, -on paper, there were but two of the vessels—namely, -Swan's and Davis's—which mounted guns. The rest -had only small arms. On the 28th the Spanish fleet -hove in sight: fourteen sail, besides periaguas rowing -twelve and fourteen oars apiece. The admiral's ship -carried forty-eight guns and four hundred and fifty -men; the vice-admiral, forty guns and four hundred -and fifty men; the others were only a little less powerfully -armed and manned. Here we have the materials -of a terrible fight, and we look with confidence to the -buccaneers for a glorious victory. But never was failure -completer. Nothing was done till the afternoon had -darkened into evening, and then a few shots were -exchanged. When the night came down the Spaniards -anchored, and the buccaneers observed a light flaming -in the admiral's top. It remained stationary for half an -hour and was then extinguished. Soon afterwards it -was again exposed, and the buccaneers, believing it to be -still aboard the admiral, flattered themselves with having -the weather-gage. But when the morning broke they -found, to their disgust, that this light had been a stratagem, -and that they were to leeward. The Spaniards -sighting them, immediately bore down under a press of -sail, and the buccaneers ran for it. “Thus,” says Dampier, -“ended this day's work, and with it all that we had been -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> -projecting for five or six months; when instead of -making ourselves masters of the Spanish fleet and -treasure, we were glad to escape them; and owed that -too in a great measure to their want of courage to pursue -their advantage.” He adds that the failure was largely -owing to the cowardice of Captain Grognet and his men, -whose only part in the manœuvring was running away. -<a name="FNanchor_12_12" id="FNanchor_12_12"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_12_12" class="fnanchor">[12]</a></p> - -<p>The buccaneers were now growing disheartened by -their ill-luck. On August 25th, 1685, Davis and Swan -separated, and Dampier, who had heretofore served -under Davis, joined Swan, not, as he assures us, from -any dislike of his old captain, but because he understood -that it was Swan's intention before long to go to the -East Indies, “which,” he exclaims, “was a way very -agreeable to my inclination.” It was not, however, -until March 1st, 1686, that they took leave of the Mexican -coast and started on that voyage which led to Dampier's -circumnavigation of the globe. They went in two ships, -one commanded by Swan, and the other by a man named -Teat. In number they were one hundred and fifty men—one -hundred aboard Swan, and fifty, exclusive of some -slaves, in the other vessel. Their start was for Guam, -one of the Ladrone Islands, and the vagueness and -uncertainty of the navigation of those days finds a sin -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span>gular -illustration in Dampier's surmise as to the actual -distance between Cape Corrientes and their destination. -He tells us that the Spaniards reckoned the distance about -two thousand three hundred and fifty leagues, whereas -the English calculations reduced it to less than two thousand -leagues. The truth being unknown to the crews, -they entered upon the voyage with something of that -despondency and apprehension which the mariners of -Columbus felt after they had lost sight of land. The -hope of plunder heartened them somewhat, for Swan -talked to them of the Acapulco ship and of a profitable -cruise off the Philippines; but in sober truth with but -little conscience in his assurances and exhortations, for -the man had long since grown sick of privateering, and -his main object in sailing for the East Indies was the -desire to find an opportunity to escape from a calling -which he was honest enough to consider dishonourable.</p> - -<p>They sighted Guam on May 20th, 1686, and it was -fortunate both for Swan and Dampier that the land -hove in sight when it did, for they had scarcely enough -provisions to last them another three days; and Dampier -declares, “I was afterwards informed the Men had contrived -first to kill Captain Swan and eat him when the -Victuals was gone, and after him all of us who were -accessary in promoting the undertaking of this Voyage. -This made Captain Swan say to me after our arrival at -Guam, <i>Ah!</i> Dampier, <i>you would have made them but a poor -Meal</i>, for I was as Lean as the Captain was lusty and -fleshy.” Dampier's chapters are now wholly made up -of description. He is copious in his accounts of the -natives, of the cocoa-nut, the lime-tree, and the bread-fruit; -and then carrying us on to Mindanao, he fills many -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span> -pages with lively remarks on the trade of the Dutch, -the climate, winds, tornadoes, and rains. It is manifest -throughout that he is very unsettled, without any scheme -of life, without a ghost of an idea as regards his future. -He waits patiently but with a vigilant eye upon fortune, -and is ready to address himself to any adventure, no -matter how slender of promise. Just as he would have -carried the thousand negroes to Darien to dig gold for -himself and his associates, so whilst at the Philippines -would he have been glad to settle down among the -Mindanayans. There were sawyers, he tells us, carpenters, -brickmakers, shoemakers, tailors, and the like, amongst the -men, who were also well provided with all sorts of tools. -They had a good ship, too, and he conceives that had -they established themselves in that island they might -have ended as a very flourishing and wealthy community. -But his schemes served no other purpose than to enable -him to digress in his narrative when he came to relate -his adventures.</p> - -<p>The ship lay so long at Mindanao that the men grew -weary and mutinous; some of them ran away into the -country, others purchased a canoe designing to proceed -to Borneo. Those of the ship's company who had money -lived ashore, but there were many (Dampier amongst -them) who were without a halfpenny, and who were -therefore obliged to remain on board and subsist on the -wretched stores of the vessel. These fellows became -very troublesome; they stole iron out of the ship and -exchanged it for spirits and honey, of which they made -punch, so that there was a great deal of drunkenness and -ill-blood amongst them. Finding that Swan paid no -heed to their request that he would start on further -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> -adventures, and discovering certain entries in the captain's -journal which greatly incensed them, they resolved -to run away with the ship; a threat there is every -reason to suppose Swan secretly wished them to carry -out. He knew that the crew were bent on piracy, and -that their next step must prove nothing but another -buccaneering cruise. He had previously told Dampier -that he was forced into this business by his people, and -that he only sought or awaited an opportunity to escape -from it, adding bitterly, “That there was no Prince on -Earth able to wipe off the stain of such Actions.” He was -apprised of his men's design, but does not appear to -have lifted a finger to hinder them. On January 14th, -1687, early in the morning, Dampier being on board, the -crew weighed anchor and fired a gun, being yet willing to -receive Captain Swan and others of their shipmates who -were on shore. No answer was returned, whereupon -without further ado they filled their topsails and started, -leaving the commander and thirty-six men behind them.</p> - -<p>The subsequent fate of Swan and his men is worth a -brief reference. They remained for some considerable -time on the island, and then some of them managed to -obtain a passage to Batavia. Captain Swan and his -surgeon, whilst rowing to a Dutch ship that was to -convey them to Europe, were overset in their canoe by -some natives, who stabbed them whilst they were -swimming for their lives. Others of the men who remained -at Mindanao were poisoned.</p> - -<p>By this time Dampier was as heartily weary as ever -Swan had been of the voyage, if not of privateering, -and waited for a chance to give his comrades the slip. -Meanwhile the vessel, after cruising off Manila, where -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> -they took a couple of Spanish craft, proceeded from one -island to another, from one port to another, until, the -monsoon being close at hand, they decided to skirt the -Philippine Islands, and, heading southwards towards -what was then known as the Spice Islands, enter the -Indian Ocean by way of Timor. The object of all this -roundabout navigation is not very plain. Dampier -asserts that the crew were in great fear of meeting with -English or Dutch ships; still it is difficult to understand -their motive in straying so wide afield from the common -maritime highways of that period. They were now on -the Australian parallels, in the shadow of a world lying -dark upon the face of the ocean. As privateersmen -they had little to hope or expect from pushing into -regions full of mystery and peril. Dampier says that -being clear of the islands they stood off south, intending -to touch at New Holland “to see what that country -would afford us.” One would wish for his dignity as a -navigator that he had avowed, on his own part at least, -a higher motive for the exploration. It does not seem -to enter his head, at this point of his career at all -events, that the discovery of the true character and -area of the Terra Australis Incognita might bring to the -marine explorer of its rocky coasts honours scarcely less -glorious, renown certainly not less enduring, than were -won by the mightiest of the old navigators. It is -proper to remember, however, that Dampier was but a -common sailor in this ship that had been run away with, -and that his expectations, and perhaps his ambition, -scarcely rose above those of a privateersman; though -how far he resembled his shipmates in other directions -we may gather from his narrative, which he builds -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> -wholly upon the journal he faithfully kept throughout; -never remitting his strict practice of laborious observation -whether in storm or in shine, whether amidst the -bustle and activity of a chase, or the languor and listlessness -of a long spell of tropical calm.</p> - -<p>“New Holland,” he says, “is a very large tract of -land. It is not yet determined whether it is an island -or a main continent; but I am certain that it joyns -neither to Africa, Asia, or America.” Why he is -certain he does not tell us, but he is too sagacious to -err, though whilst he thus thinks, all that he sees of -the vast territory is “low land with sandy banks against -the sea.” He devotes several pages to descriptions of -the natives, telling us that they have no houses, that -they go armed with a piece of wood shaped like a -cutlass, that their speech is guttural, that in consequence -of the flies which tease and sting their faces, they keep -their eyelids half closed; and so forth. One extract -from several pages of most admirable, quaint description -will, I trust, be permitted.</p> - -<p>“After we had been here a little while, the Men -began to be familiar, and we cloathed some of them, -designing to have had some service from them for it: -for we found some Wells of Water here, and intended -to carry 2 or 3 barrels of it aboard. But it being somewhat -troublesome to carry to the Canaos, we thought to -have made these men to have carry'd it for us, and therefore -we gave them some Cloathes; to one an old pair of -Breeches, to another a ragged Shirt, to a third a Jacket -that was scarce worth owning; which yet would have -been very acceptable at some places where we had been, -and so we thought they might have been with these -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> -People. We put them on, thinking that this finery -would have brought them to work heartily for us; and -our Water being filled in small long Barrels, about 6 -gallons in each, which were made purposely to carry -Water in, we brought these our new Servants to the -Wells, and put a Barrel on each of their Shoulders for -them to carry to the Canao. But all the signs we could -make were to no purpose, for they stood like Statues, -without motion, but grinn'd like so many monkeys, -staring one upon another: For these poor Creatures -seem'd not accustomed to carry Burdens: and I believe -that one of our Ship Boys of 10 Years old, would carry -as much as one of them. So we were forced to carry -our Water ourselves; and they very fairly put the -Cloaths off again, and laid them down, as if the -Cloaths were only to work in. I did not perceive that -they had any liking to them at first; neither did they -seem to admire anything that we had.”</p> - -<p>To the part of New Holland these privateers touched -at they gave no name. Dampier speaks of the latitude -of it being 16° 50', but his reckonings are not to be -trusted. To judge by the tracings of the map of this -portion of the world in his first volume, the coast which -they first sighted was that of North Australia, and they -probably anchored off either Bathurst or Melville Island. -Be this as it may, they did not linger long. Dampier -endeavoured to persuade the men to sail to some English -factory, but in return for his advice they threatened to -leave him ashore on the sands of New Holland, “which,” -says he, “made me desist.” They soon saw as much -of Terra Incognita as satisfied them, and on March 12th, -1688, they weighed with the wind at north north-west -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span> -and steered their ship northwards. They arrived at -Nicobar on May 5th, and here Dampier resolved to -leave the vessel. Obtaining leave to go ashore, he -was landed on the sandy beach of a small bay where -stood two untenanted houses; but he had not enjoyed -an hour of liberty when some armed men came from the -ship to fetch him aboard again. Resistance was as idle -as entreaties, and he was forced to return; but on his -arrival he found the vessel in an uproar. Others, taking -courage by his example, had also determined to leave -the ship. Amongst them was the surgeon. This man -the captain flatly refused to part with, and the hubbub -was great. All this confusion and quarrelling seems to -have helped Dampier, for, after a deal of squabbling, we -find him and two others obtaining permission to quit -the ship. They were put ashore with their effects, and -entering one of the unoccupied houses, hung up their -hammocks to prepare for the night. Presently more -men arrived, and they were now numerous enough to -protect themselves against the natives. It was a fine -clear, moonlight night, and the little company of buccaneers -walked down to the beach to wait until the ship -should weigh and be gone, fearing their liberty whilst -she stayed. At twelve o'clock they heard her getting -her anchor and making sail, and presently she was -gliding slowly and silently seawards, glistening white -against the ocean darkness to the rays of the high moon.</p> - -<p>Next day Dampier and his associates purchased a -canoe, and passed over to the south end of the island, -where they victualled their little boat with fruit loaves, -cocoa-nuts, and fresh water, so that when the monsoon -came on to blow they might be in readiness to sail for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> -Acheen. It is consistent that a man who had traversed -on foot the dangerous and poisonous Isthmus of Panama -should parallel that accomplishment by a remarkable -boat-voyage. The craft was a canoe of the size of a -London wherry, deeper but not so broad, sharp after -the whaling pattern at both ends, and so thin and light -that when empty four men could lift her. She carried -a mat-sail, and outriggers to prevent her from capsizing. -In this little ark Dampier and his shipmates embarked—eight -men, four of whom were Malays—and started -for Acheen on May 15th, 1688. The breezes were -light, the atmosphere sultry. Sometimes they rowed, -sometimes left the sail to do its work, but at the end of -two days, to their great mortification, they found the -Island of Nicobar still in sight a little over twenty miles -distant. On the 18th they remarked a great circle round -the sun, an appearance that caused Dampier to suppose -that bad weather was at hand. His foreboding was -true; wind and sea rose, and but for the outriggers the -canoe must have been swamped. Still the gale freshened, -and there was nothing for it but to scud. There occurs -here a characteristic passage. It reads like an extract -from <i>Robinson Crusoe</i>, and nothing in all Dampier so -conclusively proves the source whence Defoe drew the -colours which he employed in the composition of his chief -and most engaging work.</p> - -<p>“The Evening of this 18th day was very dismal. -The Sky looked very black, being covered with dark -Clouds, the Wind blew very hard, and the Seas ran -very high. The Sea was already roaring in a white -foam about us; a dark night coming on and no Land -in sight to shelter us, and our little Ark in danger to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span> -be swallowed by every Wave; and what was worse -for us all, none of us thought ourselves prepared for -another World. The Reader may better guess, than I -can express, the Confusion that we were all in. I have -been in many eminent Dangers before now, some of -which I have already related, but the worst of them all -was but a Play-Game in comparison with this. I must -confess that I was in great Conflicts of Mind at this -time. Other Dangers came not upon me with such a -leisurely and dreadful Solemnity: A Sudden Skirmish -or Engagement, or so, was nothing when one's Blood -was up, and push'd forward with eager expectations. -But here I had a lingering view of approaching Death, -and little or no hopes of escaping it; and I must confess -that my Courage which I had hitherto kept up, failed -me here; and I made very sad Reflections on my former -life; and looked back with Horrour and Detestation on -actions which before I disliked, but now I trembled at -the remembrance of. I had long before this repented -me of that roving course of my life, of which kind, I -believe, few Men have met with the like. For all these -I returned Thanks in a peculiar manner, and this once -more desir'd God's assistance, and Composed my Mind -as well as I could, in the hopes of it, and as the Event -shew'd, I was not disappointed of my hopes.”</p> - -<p>But Dampier was a thoroughbred seaman. The -canoe was superbly handled, and after a terrible time of -violent storms the low land of Sumatra was descried -on the morning of the 20th. Fever-stricken by the -excessive hardships and fatigues they had endured, -insomuch that they were too weak to stand up in their -canoe, our adventurers drifted into a river, and were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> -supported by some natives to an adjacent village. Here -Dampier stayed for ten or twelve days in the hope of recovering -his health, but finding that he did not improve, -he made his way to Acheen, where he was so dosed by -a Malay doctor that he came very near to expiring. On -regaining his health, he entered with Captain Weldon -of the ship <i>Curtana</i> for a voyage to Tonquin. The first -part of his second volume is devoted to a description of -his travels in Tonquin, Acheen, Malacca, and other -places.<a name="FNanchor_13_13" id="FNanchor_13_13"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_13_13" class="fnanchor">[13]</a> -There is but little narrative, nevertheless the -work is singularly interesting, and as literally accurate -as a Chinese painting.</p> - -<p>Dampier was very willing to accept Captain Weldon's -offer of this voyage, as the vessel carried a surgeon -whose advice he was in great need of. Moreover -Weldon promised to purchase a sloop at Tonquin and -make him master of her for a trading voyage to Cochin -China. Nothing noteworthy marked their passage. On -their arrival at the Bay of Tonquin they navigated the -ship about twenty miles up the river and anchored. -The chief markets and trade of the country were then -at Cachao, a city eighty miles distant from the highest -point at which the river is navigable by vessels of -burthen. Dampier, in company with the captains of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> -other ships, proceeded in large boats towards Cachao. -It was scarcely more than a jaunt for our hero, whose -main business in going the journey was to talk over the -proposed voyage to Cochin China with the chief of the -English factory. Dampier remained for a week with -the Englishmen at the factory, and then returned to his -own ship, “where,” says he, “I lay on board for a great -while, and sickly for the most part; yet not so but that -I took a boat and went ashoar one where or other almost -every day.” The result of this intrepid observation is -a full and interesting account of Tonquin, the habits and -customs of the people, their attire, sports, punishments, -religion, and literature. His health hindered him from -several undertakings which he might have pursued with -advantage. For example, rice being dear at Cachao, -Weldon hired a vessel to procure that commodity at -adjacent places to supply the markets. It was a speculation -by which Dampier might have got money, but he -was too ill to bear a part in it. He lay five or six weeks -in a miserable condition, then flattered himself that he -was sufficiently recovered to go on a walking tour -through the country. To this end he hired a native -guide, who charged him a dollar for his services, “which,” -he says, “tho' but a small matter, was a great deal out -of my Pocket, who had not above 2 Dollars in all, which -I had gotten on board by teaching some of our young -Seamen Plain Sailing.” He started about the end of -November 1688, and the proverbial heedlessness of the -seaman is not less suggested by his poverty than by his -resolution to attempt such a trip as this. He has but a -dollar in his pocket with which not only to bear his own -but his guide's charges, and yet he is fully aware that -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> -his weakness is bound to increase the cost of his travels -by obliging him to proceed by short stages. He says -he was weary of lying still and impatient to see something -that might further gratify his curiosity. They -took the east side of the river, and trudged along mutely -enough, as we may suppose, since the guide could not -speak a word of English, whilst Dampier did not understand -a syllable of Tonquinese. At the villages they -arrived at they were sufficiently fortunate to procure -rooms to sleep in and a couch of split bamboos to lie on. -The people treated Dampier very civilly; they cooked his -repasts of rice for him, and lent him whatever they had -that was serviceable to him. His practice was to ramble -about all day, and return to his lodging when it was too -dark to see anything more. His luggage was small—limited -to what he terms a “sea-gown,” which his guide -carried, and which served him as a blanket at night, -whilst his pillow was often a log of wood. “But,” he -says, “I slept very well, though the weakness of my -body did now require better accommodation.”</p> - -<p>On the afternoon of the third day of his travels he -arrived in view of a small wooden tower such as the -Tonquinese erect as funeral pyres to persons of distinction. -He had never seen such a thing before, and as -his guide could not talk to him, he continued ignorant -of its meaning. There was a crowd of men and boys -near it, and he also noticed a number of stalls covered -with meat and fruit. He very naturally concluded that -it was a market-place, and entered the crowd partly with -the intention of inspecting the tower, and partly with -the idea of purchasing a dish of meat for his supper. -After satisfying his curiosity he approached the stalls -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> -and laid hold of a joint of meat, motioning to a person -whom he supposed was the salesman to cut off a piece -that should weigh two or three pounds. In an instant -the crowd fell upon him. They struck out at him right -and left, tore his clothes and ran away with his hat. -The guide, shrieking unintelligible protests and apologies, -dragged Dampier away, but they were followed for -some distance by a number of surly-looking fellows -whose cries and gesticulations were full of menace. It -was not until long afterwards that Dampier gathered -the meaning of all this; when he was informed that -what he had taken to be a market was a funeral feast, -and that the tower was a tomb which was to be consumed -along with the body in it after the feast was -over. “This,” says he, “was the only Funeral Feast -that ever I was at amongst them, and they gave me cause -to remember it: but this was the worst usage I received -from any of them all the time that I was in the Country.”</p> - -<p>Two days later he arrived at a town called Hean, -where he was received in a very friendly manner by a -priest attached to the French bishop; this place, it -seems, being the headquarters of the missionaries. After -some conversation the priest inquired if any of the -English ships would sell him some gunpowder. Dampier -answered that he believed none of them had powder to -spare. The father then inquired if he knew how gunpowder -was made. On Dampier answering in the -affirmative he begged him to try his hand. The priest -had all the ingredients with the necessary machinery -for mixing them, so after drinking a few glasses of wine -Dampier went to work. “The priest,” he says, -“brought me Sulphur and Salt-Peter, and I weighed a portion of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span> -each of these, and of Coals I gathered up in the Hearth -and beat to powder. While his man mixed these in a -little Engine, I made a small Sieve of Parchment, which -I pricked full of holes with a small Iron made hot, and -this was to corn it. When it was dry we proved it, and -it answered our expectation.” There is something not -a little odd and impressive in this picture of the buccaneer -manufacturing gunpowder at the request of a -holy father, who watches him with the utmost anxiety -as if he were sensible that the propagation of his faith -amongst the mustard-coloured masses of Tonquin must -depend a good deal upon the success of Dampier's -experiment. It was fish-day at the palace, but the -priest was so well pleased with Dampier and his gunpowder -and his conversation that he ordered a fowl to -be broiled for his dinner, and when the night came procured -a lodging for him in a house kept by a Tonquinese -Christian hard by.</p> - -<p>Next morning Dampier dismissed his guide and -started for Cachao by water. He describes the boat as -of the size of a Gravesend wherry, with a kind of awning -to shelter the passengers when it rained. The sailors -rowed all night, turn and turn about. At midnight -everybody went ashore to sup at some houses by the -river-side; the owners of which waited for them with -lighted candles, arrack, and tea, dishes of meat and -other provisions ready cooked. Here they stayed an -hour, then entered the boat afresh and pushed onwards. -The passengers were a merry lot. They laughed incessantly -and sang heartily, though Dampier says their -singing resembled the noise of people crying. Ignorant -of the language, he sat mute amongst these jolly travellers. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> -Next morning he was put ashore a few miles short of -Cachao. There was a good path, and stepping out -briskly he entered the city by noon. He immediately -repaired to the house of an English merchant with whom -Captain Weldon lodged, and stayed with him a few days, -but he was so enfeebled by a wasting disorder which -had fastened upon him that he was scarcely able to -crawl about. His illness was exasperated by disappointment, -for he now discovered that he had made his -walking journey only to learn that Weldon had abandoned -his scheme to purchase a sloop to trade to Cochin -China. The moment he felt strong enough to travel he -returned to his ship, and Captain Weldon shortly afterwards -joining the vessel, they weighed anchor and sailed -from Tonquin. It was now February, 1689. Nothing -of moment happened during the passage to the Straits -of Malacca. The ship arrived at Acheen about the -beginning of March, where Dampier took leave of Weldon -and went ashore. He gives in this volume of his travels -a long and interesting account of Acheen, and in -describing the soil of the country prints the following -brief passage of recollection. -“The Champion Land, such as I have seen, is some black, some grey, some -reddish, and all of a deep mold. But to be very -particular in these things, especially in my Travels, is -more than I can pretend to, tho' it may be I took as -much notice of the difference of Soil as I met with it as -most Travellers have done, having been bred in my -youth in <i>Somersetshire</i>, at a place called <i>East Coker</i>, near -<i>Yeovil</i> or <i>Evil</i>: in which Parish there is a great variety -of Soil as I have ordinarily met with anywhere, <i>viz.</i> -black, red, yellow, sandy, stony, clay, morass, or swampy, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> -etc. I had the more reason to take notice of this, -because this Village in a great measure is Let out in -small Leases for Lives of 20, 30, 40 or 50 Pound <i>per -Ann.</i>, under Coll. <i>Helliar</i>, the Lord of the Mannor: and -most, if not all these Tenants, had their own Land -scattered in small pieces up and down several sorts of -Land in the Parish; so that every one had piece of -every sort of Land, his Black ground, his Sandy, Clay, -and some of 20, 30, or 40 Shillings an Acre. My Mother, -being possest of one of these Leases, and having all these -sorts of Land, I came acquainted with them all, and -knew what each sort would produce (<i>viz.</i>) Wheat, Barley, -Maslin, Rice, Beans, Peas, Oats, Fetches, Flax, or Hemp: -in all which I had a more than useful knowledge for -one so young, taking a particular delight in observing -it.” Vague as is this reference to his shore-going life, -it is the only passage of the kind that I have met in his -books, and for this reason therefore I reproduce it at -length.</p> - -<p>Whilst he was at Acheen some of the people rebelled -against the choice that had been made of a queen. -Dampier, with others, hastened to take shelter in the -ships in the road, fearing that if the rebels obtained the -upper hand they would imprison him. He had indeed -good cause to dread the effects of a prison upon his -constitution, shaken and almost shattered as it was by -long illness. There were two vessels at anchor, one of -them fresh from England and short of provisions. He -in consequence boarded the other, whose stores were -tolerably plentiful, but she was so crowded with cargo -that he could not find space to swing his hammock in; -and as repose was absolutely essential to him, he carried -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> -his bed into the boat that had brought him off and lay in -her for three or four days, fed by the people of the ship. -He could obtain no rest. There happened a total -eclipse of the moon, at which he gazed from the bottom -of his boat, but he says: “I was so little curious that I -remembered not so much as what Day of the Month it -was, and I kept no journal of this Voyage as I did of my -other; but only kept an account of several particular -Remarks and Observations as they occurred to me.” -When the disturbance ashore was quieted he returned -to his lodging, and learning that the natives regarded -the water of their river as charged with medicinal virtues, -he determined to bathe in it, and after a few baths was -so much benefited that he was able to get about again. -In May, 1689, he took charge of a sloop that had been -purchased by one Captain Tyler; but when the craft -was loaded, the owner changed his mind and gave the -command to a man named Minchin, who offered Dampier -the post of mate. “I was forced to submit,” he says -bitterly, “and accepted a Mate's employ under Captain -Minchin.” They sailed in the middle of September for -Malacca, at which place some of the people left Minchin -to join another vessel that had been in company, so that -Dampier and the captain were the only two white sailors -on board. Shortly after starting they carried away -their foreyard and brought up off a small island owned -by the Dutch. Dampier called upon the governor to -request his permission to cut down a tree. Our hero, -as an old Campeché man, was not likely to be at a -loss; and leaving the tree ready to be carried to the -ship, he returned to the fort, dined with the governor, -and then went aboard. Shortly afterwards his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> -captain, together with a passenger and his wife, came -ashore. The fare of the fort was exceedingly meagre, -and the governor, to entertain his guests, sent a boat to -catch a dish of fish. The fish, on being cooked, was -served in dishes of solid silver, and eaten from plates of -the same metal; whilst in the centre of the table was -placed a great silver bowl full of punch. It was to -prove but little better than a Barmecide's feast. The -governor, his guests, and several officers attached to the -fort seated themselves, but as they were about to begin -a soldier outside roared, “The Malays!” The governor, -starting from his chair, leapt out of one of the windows, -the officers followed, and all was consternation and uproar. -“Every one of them,” says Dampier, “took the -nearest way, some out of the Windows, others out of -the Doors, leaving the three Guests by themselves, who -soon followed with all the haste they could make, without -knowing the meaning of this sudden consternation -of the Governor and his people.” All being in the fort, -the door was bolted, and several volleys fired to let the -Malays know that the Dutch were in readiness for them. -The alarm was real enough. A large Malay canoe, -filled with men armed to the teeth, had been noticed -skulking under the island close to the shore. The -captain and the passengers hastened on board, the -vessel's guns were loaded and primed for service, and a -bright look-out kept all night. Dampier, however, was -not very much frightened. It rained heavily, and he -knew from experience that the Malays seldom or never -made any attack in wet weather. Next morning nothing -was to be seen of the enemy, and having rigged up the -foreyard, Dampier and his companions set sail for -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> -Acheen. Here he was seized with a fever, which confined -him to his bed for a fortnight. On regaining his health -he returned to the vessel with orders to take charge of -her, and on New Year's Day, 1690, sailed for Fort St. -George with a cargo of pepper and other produce. His -description of Madras as it then showed, now two -hundred years ago, is interesting. “I was much pleased,” -he says, “with the beautiful prospect this Place makes -off at Sea. For it stands in a plain Sandy spot of -Ground, close by the shore, the Sea sometimes washing -its Walls; which are of Stone and high, with Half-Moons -and Flankers and a great many Guns mounted on the -Battlements: so that what with the Walls and fine buildings -within the Fort, the large town of <i>Maderas</i> without -it, the Pyramids of the English Tombs, Houses, and -Gardens adjacent, and the variety of fine Trees scatter'd -up and down, it makes as agreeable a Landskip as I have -anywhere seen.” He tells us that he stayed at this place -for some months, where he met with a Mr. Moody, who -had purchased what Dampier calls a painted prince named -Jeoly. Then in July he sailed with a Captain Howel -for Sumatra.</p> - -<p>He arrived at Acheen in April, 1689, and afterwards -obtained a berth as gunner at Bencoolen, then an English -factory. After some further adventures of no importance, -we find him again gunner of the fort at Bencoolen, at a -salary of twenty-four dollars a month. But it was not -long before he grew dissatisfied with the conduct of the -governor, and asked to be released. He was also eager -to return to England. First of all he had been a long -time absent from his native country, and next, he was -in possession of the painted prince whom Mr. Moody -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> -had purchased at Mindanao for sixty dollars, and he -expected on his return to England to make a good deal -of money by exhibiting this unhappy black, of whose -tatooings he gives a very minute account. It seems -strange that such a man as Dampier should have been -unable to hit upon a better way of gaining a livelihood -than by proposing to turn showman in his own country, -with nothing better to exhibit than a poor, miserable -black man, whose only wonder lay in having rings and -bracelets, crosses, and a variety of unmeaning flourishes -pricked into his skin. The governor was, however, by -no means willing to let him go, and Dampier at last -was obliged to obtain by a stratagem what was denied -him as a right. On January 2nd, 1691, a ship named -the <i>Defence</i>, bound for England, dropped anchor in -Bencoolen Road. Dampier made the acquaintance of -her master, a man named Heath, who readily complied -with his request to receive him on board. Jeoly was -first carefully shipped, and then one midnight Dampier -crept through a porthole of the fort and ran to the -beach, where he found a boat waiting to convey him to -the <i>Defence</i>. Nothing that is noteworthy happened -during the passage home. The ship entered the English -Channel in September, 1691, and on the 16th of the -same month “we lufft in,” says Dampier, “for the -Downs, where we anchored.”</p> - -<p>Thus terminated William Dampier's first voyage -round the world. Dating from Virginia, August 22nd, -1683, his circumnavigation had occupied eight years; -but his previous seafaring experiences, counting from the -period of his starting from England in the <i>Loyal Merchant</i> -in 1679, enlarged his absence to the long space of twelve -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> -years. Beyond greatly extending his knowledge, his -travels had done nothing for him. He had started in -quest of Fortune, and had found her as phantasmal as the -St. Elmo's fire at which he had gazed with wonder at -the masthead. And all that he brought home in the -shape of property was the unhappy Prince Jeoly, whom -he sold after his arrival in the Thames, being in want of -money—to such a pass had buccaneering and the circumnavigation -of the globe brought him.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="ac noindent">1699-1701</p> - -<p class="ac noindent smaller">THE VOYAGE OF THE “ROEBUCK.” - <a name="FNanchor_14_14" id="FNanchor_14_14"></a> - <a href="#Footnote_14_14" class="fnanchor">[14]</a></p> - - -<p class="noindent"><span class="sc">Dampier</span> tells -us nothing of his private and home-going -life after he carries us to sea with him in the <i>Loyal -Merchant</i>, and so little is known of that side of his career -that there is no means of supplying his omissions except -by conjecture. It is pretty certain that he was very -needy when he returned from his first voyage round the -world. The value of his Dorsetshire estate cannot be -guessed, but even if he still retained it, his views and -endeavours are at this time those of a poor man. In the -first volume of his Travels, as we have seen, he treats of -New Holland as a privateersman would,—glances, to use -his own metaphor, at the fringe of the carpet without -desire to examine the texture or the body of it, and -quickly shares the disgust of his shipmates, whose dreams -are wholly of plunder. But on coming home and reflecting, -whilst setting about the writing of his Travels, on -the land he had sighted in the distant southern ocean, -it is conceivable that ambitious thoughts should begin -slowly to fill his mind. The world at large at that time -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> -barely credited the existence of a continent south of the -East Indies. The draughts of Tasman, the relations of -De Quiros, Le Maire, and others, were regarded for the -most part as travellers' tales. Dampier might justly -hope in an age when the colonising instincts of the -English were never keener, that money and honour must -be the reward of the man who should be the first to -open out a country fabulous yet in the judgment of -mankind, and, by the light of discovery, resolve what -was still visionary and dark into a magnificent reality.</p> - -<p>His next step, at all events, was to seek ministerial and -official help for a voyage of discovery to New Holland. -He lived in the days of Dryden and of the patron, and -his dedications exhibit him as possessed in a high degree -of the art of literary congeeing. This undesirable but -profitable capacity of cringing serviceably supplemented -the reputation he had made for himself as a traveller. He -found patrons in Charles Montague, afterwards Earl of -Halifax, President of the Royal Society, and one of the -Lord Commissioners of the Treasury; in Edward, Earl -of Oxford, one of the principal Lords of the Admiralty; -and in Thomas Herbert, Earl of Pembroke, who filled -the office of Lord High Admiral. His representations -were successful, probably beyond his own expectations, -and in the beginning of the year 1699 he was appointed -to the command of His Majesty's ship <i>Roebuck</i> of twelve -guns, manned by a crew of fifty men and boys, and -victualled for a twenty months' cruise. Confidence, such -as this trust implies, in the character and qualifications -of a man whose rating even as a privateersman was but -that of an able seaman, handsomely testifies to the very -high opinion in which Dampier was held.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> - -<p>The nature of the soil, climate, and the general character -of Terra Australis, Dampier could only conjecture. -The ideas he had formed of this unknown continent -were, that it was a vast tract of land situated in the -richest climates in the world, having in it especially all -the advantage of the torrid zone, so that in coasting it -the navigator might be sure of meeting with broad areas -productive of the rich fruits, the drugs and spices, and -perhaps the minerals discoverable in other parts in, as -he concluded, the same parallels of latitude. His scheme -was to narrowly survey all islands, shores, capes, bays, -creeks, and harbours, fit for shelter as well as defence, -to take careful soundings as he went, to note tides, -currents, and wind, and the character of the weather, -with a special view to the settling of the best districts. -He also proposed to closely observe the disposition and -commodities of the natives, though he candidly admits -that after his experience of their neighbours “he expected -no great matters from them.” The course he originally -designed to take was to the westward by way of the -Straits of Magellan, so as to strike the eastern coast of -Australia; and there is very little doubt that had he -pursued his first intention he would have anticipated -nearly every discovery of importance in those waters -subsequently made by his celebrated successor James -Cook. Unhappily his judgment erred in one essential -direction. He was of opinion that the lands lying -nearest the equator would best repay the explorer. Nor -perhaps could he guess how far he would have to penetrate -the high latitudes if he stood south; and having -passed the greater portion of his seafaring life in Mexican, -Pacific, and Indian seas, his love of the sun, fortified by -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> -recollection of the cold of the Horn and of the one -bitter voyage he took to Newfoundland, might suffice to -determine him on pinning his faith as an explorer and -on limiting his curiosity as a sailor to the summer regions -of the globe. Yet his great knowledge of the equatorial -climates should certainly have warned him against a -Northern Australian and New Guinea quest. Further, -there were the experiences of Tasman to help him, whose -relations are as finger-posts in the extracts of Dirk -Rembrantz. Had he steered westwards, the sighting of -the New Zealand coast to the south, or of the shining -islands of the Paumotu and other groups to the north, -would have borne in the truth upon his ready and -sagacious mind, corrected his fears of cold weather, given -him clear views as to the southernmost extension of the -Terra Incognita, and perhaps have antedated the civilisation -of Australia by half a century. In an evil moment, -intimidated by thoughts of the ice of Tierra del Fuego, -and worried by the murmurs and half-heartedness of a -crew, the majority of whom were quite young seamen, -“only two in the ship ever having passed the Line, and -those two none of the oldest,” he determined to prosecute -his voyage to New Holland by way of the Cape of -Good Hope.</p> - -<p>He sailed from the Downs on January 14th, 1699. -His intention was to proceed to Pernambuco, and thence -directly to the coast of New Guinea; but scarcely had a -month elapsed when the crew began to give trouble, to -mutter their dislike of the proposed voyage, and even to -talk of obliging him to return to England. At Pernambuco, -owing to the distance of the anchorage from the -town, the men would have found it easy to slip the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> -vessel's cables and run away with her; and not choosing -to venture any risk of this kind, Dampier steered for -Bahia de Todos los Santos. This was a considerable -trading-port in his time, formed of about two thousand -houses. He found upwards of thirty large ships lying -in the bay, and speaks of a busy traffic in linen and -woollen goods, in hats and silk stockings, in biscuit, -wheat, flour, and port wine. His closeness of observation -is once again exhibited in all that he has to say -about this place. Nothing escapes him. He gives you -a long catalogue of all the vegetables and fruits of the -district, of the birds, beasts of prey, dogs, monkeys, -hogs, and the like, and then comes to the sea, from which -he produces a list of twenty-three different kinds of -fish. He sailed on April 3rd, and made a fair course for -the coast of New Holland. The quality of the reckoning -of even an expert mariner in those days may be -gathered from his telling us that, seeing a large black -bird flying near the ship, he suspected that he was -much nearer the Cape of Good Hope than he had -imagined, since it was well understood that this sort -of bird is never to be met with farther than ninety -miles from land. By his own account, he was two hundred -and seventy miles from the Cape; but next day, -meeting a vessel named the <i>Antelope</i>, bound to the East -Indies from Table Bay, he found that L'Agulhas bore -only twenty-five leagues distant. The inaccuracy of -the computations of those times must needs excite the -wonder of our own age of exact science. In Matthew -Norwood's <i>System of Navigation</i>, “teaching the whole -Art in a way more familiar, easie and practical than -hath been hitherto done,” published in 1692, though -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> -from internal evidence I gather it to have been compiled -in 1683-84, there is a catalogue of the longitudes and -latitudes “of the most principal places in the world, -beginning from the meridian of the Lizard of England.” -The latitude, as a rule, is tolerably approximate, but the -longitude is very much otherwise. For instance, the -Cape of Good Hope is said to be in 34° 24´ S. latitude, -and in 25° 33´ E. longitude. Cape Frio is put down as in -22° 55´ S. latitude, and 33° 59´ W. longitude. Cape Blanco -is entered as 47° 30´ S. latitude, 62° 52´ W. longitude! -<a name="FNanchor_15_15" id="FNanchor_15_15"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_15_15" class="fnanchor">[15]</a> -These are representative of the whole of this singular table -of calculations. Yet Norwood was greatly esteemed as a -navigator, and his book was to be found in most ships' -cabins. It is amazing that the early mariners were not -perpetually blundering ashore. By what secret instincts -they were advised I know not; yet it is certain they -made as little of being a hundred miles out of their -course without knowing it, as we should in these days of -an error of the length of a ship's cable.</p> - -<p>Dampier continued to sail to the eastwards, and on -July 25th signs unmistakable of the neighbourhood of -land were witnessed in the form of quantities of floating -seaweed and moss; but it was apparently not until -August 2nd that the coast hove into view, on which -date Dampier says, “We stood in towards the land to -look for an harbour to refresh ourselves, after a voyage -of 114 degrees from Brazil.” They coasted for a few -days in vain search of a secure anchorage, and then -observing an opening of the land they made for it, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> -brought up in two fathoms and a half of water. This -opening Dampier called Shark's Bay, a name it has -ever since retained.<a name="FNanchor_16_16" id="FNanchor_16_16"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_16_16" class="fnanchor">[16]</a> -He makes this bay to lie in 25° S. -latitude and 87° longitude E. from the Cape of Good -Hope, “which is less,” he says, “by a hundred and ninety-five -leagues than is laid down in the common draughts.” -He paints a pretty picture of his first view of this place, -telling us of sweet-scented trees, of shrubs gay as the -rainbow with blossoms and berries, of a many-coloured -vegetation, red, white, yellow, and blue, the last preponderating, -and all the air round about very fragrant -and delicious with the perfumes of the soil. The men -caught sharks and devoured them with relish,—a hint -not only of very bad stores, but of provisions growing -scarce; for disgusting as the salt-beef of the sea becomes -after a long course of it, he must have a singular stomach -and a stranger appetite who will choose shark in preference. -One of the fish they captured was eleven feet -long, and inside of it they found the head and bones of -a hippopotamus, the hairy lips of which were still sound -“and not putrefied.” The jaw was full of teeth, two of -them eight inches long and as big as a man's thumb; -“The flesh of it was divided among my Men, and they -took care that no Waste should be made of it, but thought -it as things stood, good Entertainment.”</p> - -<p>They remained in Shark's Bay till the 10th, fruitlessly -searching for fresh water; then coasting north-east, -they fell in with a number of small rocky isles called -Dampier's Archipelago, in latitude south about 20° 30´, -and about 116° 30´ E. longitude. Here Dampier was so -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> -much struck with the character of the tides that he -concluded there must be a passage to the south of New -Holland and New Guinea to the eastward into the -Great South Sea. His meaning is not clear, but then he -is in the situation of a man who fires at a mark in the -night; he misses, but the ball speeds in the right -direction. Their pressing want was fresh water. Gangs -of men were repeatedly sent ashore to seek it, but -to no purpose. Their first sight of the natives was on -August 31st. All sorts of signs of peace and friendship -were made, but their gesticulations were probably -too violent, and might even have grown alarming as -contortions, and the wild men fled, menacing Dampier -and his people as they ran. The only sort of intercourse -they succeeded in establishing was a conflict. One of -the barbarians was shot dead and an English sailor -wounded. Dampier says, speaking of these natives, that -they had the most unpleasant looks and the worst -features of any people he ever saw, “though,” says he, -“I have seen a great variety of Savages.” He judges -that these New Hollanders were of the same race as the -people he had previously met with in his first voyage -round the globe, “for,” he exclaims, “the Place I then -touched at was not above forty or fifty Leagues to the -N.E. of this, and these were much the same blinking -Creatures; here being also abundance of the same kind -of Flesh-flies teasing them, and with the same black Skins -and Hair frizzled, tall, thin, etc., as these were; but we -had not the Opportunity to see whether these, as the -former, wanted two of their fore Teeth.” It seems to me -that he blackened his portraits of these uncomely people -for the same reason that we find him later on describing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> -the country sourly as though there had been little or -nothing to admire; I mean with the wish to render the -failure of his voyage less disappointing to his patrons at -home. In short, he writes as if he would have people -suppose that New Holland is a savage and worthless -land, inhabited by loathsome monsters. One of the -native princes he describes as painted with a circle of -white pigment about his eyes, and a white streak down -his nose, from the forehead to the tip of it. The breast -and a portion of the arms were also whitened with the -same paint. If Dampier do not exaggerate, then these -embellishments which he portrays, supplementing the -natural hideousness of the savages, might well cause the -youthful Jack Tars who filled his forecastle to imagine -themselves upon one of those enchanted, demon-haunted -lands, from which the ancient mariner of the legends -was wont to sail away with trembling despatch, his hair -on end and his eyes half out of his head.</p> - -<p>“If it were not,” writes Dampier, “for that sort of -pleasure which results from the Discovery even of the -barrenest spot upon the Globe, this coast of New Holland -would not have charmed me much.” There is little of -the enthusiasm of the explorer in this avowal; all through -his career, in fact, Dampier exhibits himself as a man of -caprices easily diverted from his first intentions, quickly -sickened by failure, though never discomfited by the -harshest sufferings or by the most formidable difficulties, -so long as he can keep himself in spirits by the assurance -of some approach to good fortune attending the issue of -his adventure. Probably he was now willing to believe -of New Holland, despite the wise conjectures with which -he vitalised his early scheme, that all that remained to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> -be seen was no better than what he was now viewing. -Or, the length of time his voyage had already occupied -had provided him with plenty of leisure for the contemplation -of his prospects, and he was beginning to -think that he had been misled by his original impulse, -and that there was neither dignity nor profit to be got -out of a toilsome survey of an obscure, remote, inhospitable -coast. One sometimes likes to think of the return -amongst us of such a man as this. If one could summon -the dead from their sleep of centuries that they might -behold the issue of the labours of the generations -whose processions filled the time between their Then -and our Now, it would be such old navigators as Dampier -whom one would best like to arouse. Think of Cabot -and Cartier going a tour through the United States, -of Columbus taking ship by an ocean mail-steamer to -the West Indies, of Bartholomew Diaz listening to the -eloquence of South African legislators in the House of -Assembly at Cape Town, of Mark de Niza at San Francisco, -of Tasman at Hobart Town! As we watch Dampier -digging for water amid the sand-hills of the Western -Australian seaboard, the reality of the living present -becomes a wonder even to us who are familiar with it. -The shining cities, the flourishing towns, the radiant -congregation of ships flying the flags of twenty different -nationalities, every fruitful, every busy condition of -commerce, manufacture, science, art, literature, entering -into and stimulating the life of the highest form of -human civilisation, are as miracles and as dreams to us -standing in imagination by the side of the lean figure of -this buccaneer, quaintly apparelled in the boots, belt, -and broad hat of his old calling, and gazing with him -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> -upon a land whose silence is broken only by the cries of -unfamiliar creatures, by the murmur of the wind among -the leaves of a nameless vegetation, and by the solemn -wash of the ocean surge arching in thunder upon a shore -that, to the minds of hundreds and thousands away in -far-off Europe, is as unreal and illusive as the islands of -Plato and More. What heart would have come to our -stout navigator with but the briefest of all possible -prophetic glimpses into the future of that great continent -on whose western sands he searches for water, reluctant, -dubious, half-dismayed!</p> - -<p>There was much, however, it must be admitted, to -dishearten him. The behaviour of his crew was causing -him anxiety; and about this time the scurvy broke out -amongst the men. Moreover, though his people hunted -diligently for fresh water, their labours were unrewarded. -So Dampier determined to shape a course for Timor, if, -to use his own language, he “met with no refreshment -elsewhere.” He had spent altogether about five weeks -in cruising off the coast, covering in all, as he calculates, -a range of 900 miles, but without making any sort of -discovery that was in the least degree satisfactory to -himself. He started afresh with the intention to steer -north-east, keeping the land aboard, as sailors say. His -chief and perhaps only desire at that time was to fill -his casks with fresh water. They once again then -lifted their anchor on December 5th, 1699, but had not -measured many miles when they discovered that the -numerous shoals along the coast would render an inshore -voyage impracticable. Dampier thereupon bore away -seawards and deepened his water from eleven to thirty-two -fathoms. Next day but the merest film of land was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> -in sight, and on the 7th nothing of the coast was visible, -even from the masthead. By this time he was heartily -weary of New Holland. He confesses his disgust very -honestly, and laments the weeks he has wasted on the -coast, which he believes he could have employed with -greater satisfaction to himself and with larger promise of -success had he pushed straight on to New Guinea. His -men were drooping; the scurvy was being helped by the -brackish water they were obliged to drink, and he could -think of no better remedy than to shift his helm and -steer away for the Island of Timor.</p> - -<p>He gives a very close and interesting description of -this island. He had certainly plenty of leisure for -inspection, for he did not get under weigh again until -December 12th, whence, though he does not date his -arrival at Timor, we may gather that he must have -stayed there for at least three months. He now headed -on a straight course for New Guinea—the coast of which -he discovered in the form of very high land on New -Year's Day, 1700. Islands studded the water on all -sides, from one of which some days afterwards they saw -smoke rising. At sight of this Dampier bore away for -it before a brisk gale, and anchored in thirty-five fathoms -of water at the distance of about two leagues from what -proved a large island. Thus they remained during the -night, whilst all through the hours of darkness they -observed many fires burning ashore. In the morning -they weighed again and sailed closer to the land, -anchoring within a mile of the beach; whereupon a -couple of canoes came off to within speaking distance of -the ship. The savages called to them, but their language -was as unintelligible as their gestures. Dampier invited -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> -them by motions to step on board, but this they declined -to do, though they approached so close that they were -able to see the beads, knives, hatchets, and the like, -which were held up with the idea of tempting them to -enter the ship. Dampier then got into his pinnace and -rowed shorewards. He hailed the people there in the -Malay language, but they did not understand him. -Numbers of the wild men lurked in ambush behind the -bushes, but on Dampier throwing some knives and toys -ashore they ran out, and, wading to the boat, poured -water on to their heads as a sign of friendship. He -describes these people as a sort of tawny Indians with -long black hair, differing but slightly from the inhabitants -of Mindanao. He also noticed amongst them a number -of woolly-headed New Guinea negroes, most of whom -he suspected were slaves to the others. The crew gave -them brandy, which they drank with relish,—a behaviour -that caused Dampier to suppose that, let their religion -be what it would, they were not Mahometans. It is -noteworthy that Tasman differs from Dampier to the -extent of describing these natives as resembling the -savages of New Zealand. He speaks of them as being -armed with slings, darts, and wooden swords, decorated -with bracelets and rings of pearl, with rings in their -noses. Schouten had long previously found them a very -ferocious and intractable people, who would have made -themselves masters of his vessel if he had not fired upon -them and put them to flight. But as in these so in -those days. The world was somewhat kaleiodoscopic, -and the combination of colours seen by the peering -traveller at one time was by no means the same assemblage -of hues viewed by other eyes at another time.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> - -<p>On February 4th the <i>Roebuck</i> was off the north-west -coast of New Guinea. Here Dampier found some very -pleasant islands richly wooded and full of wild pigeons, -and sweetened to the sight by vast spaces of white, -purple, and yellow flowers, which so perfumed the wind -that the fragrance could be tasted at a great distance -from the shore. On one of them he stood surrounded -by a portion of his crew, and after drinking the king's -health, christened the spot King William's Island. Crossing -the equator they proceeded to the eastward, and -then, partly with the idea of escaping the perils of a -navigation among shoals and islands, and partly with -the hope of being rewarded for their sufferings and -disappointments by some discovery of magnitude and -importance, they steered the ship for the mainland. -They were now within sight of a high and mountainous -country, green and beautiful with tropical vegetation, -and dark with forests and groves of tall and stately -trees. A number of canoes came out to them, but the -brief intercourse terminated in the usual way: the intentions -of the natives were misunderstood; a gun was -fired and several savages killed. Dampier's narrative at -this point deals for some pages chiefly with the natives -of New Guinea, though he shortly describes the islands -and the aspect of the mainland as he sails along. So -far his tone is one of disappointment, but nevertheless -he keeps a very steady, honest eye upon the object of -his voyage to these unknown waters. “I could have -wished,” he says, “for some more favourable opportunities -than had hitherto offered themselves as well for -penetrating into the heart of the New discovered country -as for opening a Trade with its inhabitants, both of which -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span> -I very well knew, could they be brought about, must -prove extremely beneficial to Great Britain.” Happily -the conduct of his officers and men had improved, and -they seemed as willing as he to explore the new land; -but he writes with knowledge of the issue, and it is -impossible to miss in this narrative of his the subdued -and faltering language of a discouraged heart. On -March 14th he was within view of what he terms a well-cultivated -country. He observed numbers of cocoa-trees, -plantations apparently well ordered, and many houses. -His method of opening communication with the natives -was by firing a shot over a fleet of canoes, which sent -them paddling away home as fast as their crews could -drive them. Presently three large boats put off, one of -which had about forty men in her. The <i>Roebuck</i> lay -becalmed, and it looked as if the blacks meant to attack -the ship. A round shot was sent at the canoes, the -savages turned about, and a light breeze springing up, -the ship followed them into the bay. When close to -the shore Dampier noticed the eyes of innumerable -dusky-faced people peeping at the vessel from behind -the rocks. A shot was fired to scare them, but they -continued peeping nevertheless. Dampier seems surprised -after this that the natives were unwilling to -trade. The utmost they consented to do was to -climb the trees for cocoanuts, which they contemptuously -flung at the English with passionate signs to them -to be gone.</p> - -<p>The crew were now finding plenty of fresh water, and -the ship's casks were soon filled. In spite of the defiant -posture of the savages, it was agreed, after a consultation -amongst the officers and men, to remain where they were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> -and attempt a better acquaintance with the people of the -coast. Next day whilst the boats were ashore, forty or -fifty men and women passed by; they moved on quietly -without offering any violence. Says Dampier, speaking -of them: “I have observed among all the wild Nations -I have known that they make the Women carry the -burdens, while the Men walk before without carrying -any other load than their arms.” Extremes meet, and -assuredly in some respects the most polished nation in -the world is within a very measurable distance of the -most savage. It does not appear that the obligation of -having occasionally to kill a few natives greatly interfered -with the friendly relations between them and -Dampier's men. The ship's company went ashore and -slaughtered and salted a good load of hogs, whilst the -savages peered at them from their houses. “None -offered to hinder our Boats landing,” writes Dampier; -“but, on the contrary, were so Amicable, that one man -brought ten or twelve Cocoanuts, left them on the Shore, -after he had shewed them to our Men, and went out of -sight. Our People, finding nothing but nets and images, -brought them away; these two of my men brought in a -small Canoe; and presently after, my Boats came off. -I ordered the Boatswain to take care of the nets, the -images I took into my own Custody.” Thus they -requited the friendly disposition of these poor savages -by plundering them. Who can doubt that most of the -massacres of European crews by the inhabitants of -countries often as beautiful and radiant as earthly paradises, -the glory and sweetness of which might easily be -deemed to have subdued the human beings found upon -them to the tenderness and lovableness of the inspirations -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> -of the soil, the fruit, the majestic forests, the -shining birds, should be the effect of traditions whose -origin may be found in the barbarities practised by the -early mariner?</p> - -<p>Dampier describes the country hereabouts as mountainous -and wooded, full of rich valleys and pleasant -fresh-water brooks. He named it Port Montague, in -honour of the patron to whom he had dedicated his first -volume. The <i>Roebuck</i> sailed from this place on March -22nd, and two days afterwards, in the evening, Dampier, -who was indisposed and lying down in his cabin, was -hastily called on deck to behold what the crew regarded -as a miracle. The wonder was no more than a burning -mountain, but then those were days when enchanted -islands<a name="FNanchor_17_17" id="FNanchor_17_17"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_17_17" class="fnanchor">[17]</a> -were to be met with at sea, and this great -flaming scene was at once a prodigy and a terror to the -sun-tanned mariners, who stared at it over the rail with -every superstitious instinct in them astir. Tasman had -viewed it, but the honest old Batavian did not wield -Dampier's pen. It was a grand sight indeed,—a large -pillar of fire crimsoning the north-west blackness, rearing -its blood-red blaze higher and higher for three or four -minutes at a time, then sinking till it seemed to have -died, then rising afresh flaming furiously. They got a -better view of this volcano a little later. “At every -explosion we heard a dreadful noise like thunder, and -saw a flame of fire after it the most terrifying that -ever I beheld.” Streams of liquid light ran down to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> -the foreshore and overflowed the beach with incandescent -lakes. The description of this burning mountain -is, I think, one of the finest passages in Dampier's -writings.</p> - -<p>All this while he supposed that he was still off the -coast of New Guinea; but following the trend of the -shore, he arrived at those straits which still bear his -name, and then discovered that the little country whose -seaboard he had been exploring was an island. This -land he called Nova Britannia, or, as we now know it, -New Britain. Happy would it have been for the reputation -of Dampier if, instead of steering east through his -straits, he had continued to skirt the New Guinea coast -to the south-east, for by so doing he must have rounded -into the Gulf of Papua, struck the channel called Torres -Straits, and, catching sight of Cape York, have been -encouraged to pursue his exploration of the coast of -New Holland on that side of the great continent whose -fruitfulness, beauty, and conveniency have courted the -civilisation of Europe. It is true that the <i>Roebuck</i> was -provisioned for twenty months only, but an ardent and -ambitious navigator would have made little or nothing -of such a condition of his voyage as this when close -aboard of him were lands filled with fruit, hogs, fowls, -and fresh water. But there is no question that Dampier -had long grown weary of this business. He could see -nothing but honour (and little enough of that, as things -went) to be got out of this journey, and as a poor man, -with the heart of a buccaneer in him besides, he would -appreciate the need of something more substantial than -fame. Be this as it may, he had now, it being April -26th, 1700, started on his return home, intending on -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> -the way to call at Batavia to careen and doctor his -crazy ship for the long voyage to England. When clear -of the straits a vessel hove in sight at dusk, and as -her manœuvrings were puzzling they loaded their guns, -lighted the matches, and made ready to fight her. She -sheered off, but was in sight at daybreak, and then -proved to be nothing more dangerous than a Chinese -junk laden with tea, porcelain, and other commodities, -and bound for Amboyna. The <i>Roebuck's</i> progress was -very slow; she was coated with weeds and barnacles, -and in a sea-way her timbers worked like a basket. It -was not until June 23rd that they arrived at the Straits -of Sunda, and at the close of the month they dropped -anchor off Batavia. Here Dampier stayed for three -months whilst his ship was careened and repaired. Her -condition was such that one can only wonder that he -and his crew ventured to sail home in her. We might -scarcely credit that Dampier's patrons honestly felt -much faith in his representations, and in the hopes he -held out of vast and important discoveries, when we find -them putting him and his crew of boys into a ship -which time had made rotten probably some years before -she was equipped for this voyage, if it were not that -the later experiences of Anson exhibit the same profound -departmental indifference and neglect on an occasion -which we may assume was regarded as far more significant -than Dampier's expedition. Of all the wonderful -accomplishments of the English sailor, nothing to -my mind is so amazing as the triumphs with which he -crowns the cause of his country in defiance of the -miserable indifference of the British Admiralty to him -and to his labours. The best that Dampier could do -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> -with his ship was so to patch her up as to enable her -to carry her people home with the pumps going day -and night. They sailed from Batavia on October 17th, -arrived at the Cape of Good Hope on December 30th, -and brought up at the island of Ascension in a sinking -condition on February 21st, 1701. Even whilst Ascension -was in sight the <i>Roebuck</i> had sprung a fresh leak, -and when she anchored both hand and chain pumps -were going. There was still a long stretch of ocean -for them to traverse, and a ship like a sieve to measure -it with. The tinkering of the carpenters apparently -increased the mischief, and whilst Dampier was waiting -below to receive the news of the leak being stopped, -the boatswain arrived with a long face to tell him that -the vessel was sinking. “The plank was so rotten,” -says Dampier, “it broke away like Dirt, and now it -was impossible to save the Ship; for they could not -come at the Leak because the water in the run was got -above it. I worked myself to encourage my Men, who -were very diligent, but the Water still increased, and we -now thought of nothing but saving our lives: Wherefore -I hoisted out the boat that if the Ship should sink -we might be saved; and in the Morning we weighed -our anchor and Warped in nearer the shore, tho' we -did but little good.” The men with their clothes and -bedding were sent ashore on rafts; the sails were unbent -and converted into tents for the use of Dampier -and his officers; fresh water and rice had been landed -for the use of all, “but,” writes the unfortunate commander, -“great part of it was stolen away before I -came ashore, and many of my books and papers lost.” -Luckily there was no lack of turtle, but those who have -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> -visited Ascension will understand the distresses of a -numerous crew cast away upon an uninhabited island of -cinders and volcanic cones, with one green hill only far -away in the middle of the calcined heap for the eye to -find refreshment in. They were fortunate enough to -discover a spring of fresh water; the men carried their -beds into the hollows of the rocks, and perhaps thought -themselves better off than in the wet, dark, half-drowned, -cockroach-laden forecastle of the <i>Roebuck</i>. Moreover, in -addition to turtle there were crabs, goats'-flesh, and sea-birds -for food; and as the air of Ascension is about the -sweetest and most wholesome in the world, the castaways -kept their health and spirits, and managed on the whole -very well indeed.</p> - -<p>Their imprisonment did not last long. On April 3rd -four vessels hove in sight, and in the course of the -day anchored off the island. Three of them proved -English men-of-war—the <i>Anglesea</i>, <i>Hastings</i>, and <i>Lizard</i>; -the fourth was an East Indiaman named the <i>Canterbury</i>. -Dampier went on board the <i>Anglesea</i> with thirty-five of -his crew, and the remainder were divided between the -other men-of-war. The ships proceeded to Barbadoes, -but Dampier, with a keen sense of his misfortunes, and -anxious to justify himself to his patrons, accepted an -offer to return to England in the <i>Canterbury</i>. “The -same earnest desire,” he says, “to clear up Mistakes, to -do myself Justice in the opinion of the World, and to -set the Discoveries made in this unfortunate voyage in -their proper Light, that it may be of use to the World, -how unlucky soever it proved to me, is the reason that -induced me to publish it; And I persuade myself that -such as are proper Judges of these sort of Performances -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> -will allow that I have Delivered many things new in -themselves, capable of affording much Instruction to -such as meditate future Discoveries, and which in other -respects may be of great utility to the present age and -to posterity.”</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="ac noindent">1702—1706-7</p> - -<p class="ac noindent smaller">THE VOYAGE OF THE “ST. GEORGE”</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><span class="sc">Dampier's</span> -circumnavigations brought him great fame. -It was deemed, and justly deemed, a remarkable feat to -sail round the world in those days. Very few men had -achieved it, and the names of those who had—the list -prior to Dampier is brief enough—were written among -the stars. Dampier had circled the globe twice, had -touched at all sorts of strange and wonderful places, had -held intercourse with all kinds of astonishing people, -had explored some of the secret recesses of the other -side of the earth, and was charged with experiences as -marvellous as those of the sailor who had doubled Cape -Fly-Away and dropped anchor in thick weather off No-Man's -Land. His reputation stood high for this. On -the other hand, nothing was thought of his discoveries. -It is significant that the editor of the <i>Collection of -Voyages and Travels</i>, published by the Churchills in 1704, -in speaking in his “Introductory Discourse” of Dampier's -books, says: “The third volume is his <i>Voyage to New -Holland</i>, which has no great matter of new discovery.” -This opinion probably expressed the judgment of the -public at large. There is indeed no great matter of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> -discovery. Harris allows the voyage but one merit, -namely, “That it has removed for ever those suspicions -that were entertained of the accounts formerly given of -those countries.” “It has shown us,” he says, “a new -Indies in which, whenever that spirit of industry shall -revive which first extended and then established our -commerce, we may be able to undertake settlements as -advantageous as any that have been hitherto made by -this or any other nation.”<a name="FNanchor_18_18" id="FNanchor_18_18"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_18_18" class="fnanchor">[18]</a> -But in sober truth, Dampier -adds but little to the stock of knowledge that had been -already collected from the narratives of Tasman, Pelsart, -Schouten, and others who had touched at or been -wrecked upon the New Holland coast. It is probable -that his failure, coupled with the despondent tone that -characterises his narrative, went far to retard further -exploration in the Southern Ocean. It was no longer -disputed that a vast body of land stood in those waters; -the testimony of previous navigators was confirmed; -but what was to be made of it? All that Dampier said -in its favour was theoretical; all that he had to report -as an eye-witness, all that he could speak to as facts, was -extremely discouraging. He might even go further in -his conversation than in his written story in apologising -for his useless and disappointing cruise, and to his -patrons add to the assurance of his narrative such -persuasion of tongue as would convince them that there -was nothing to be gained by further researches in -Australian waters. Indeed, the depressing influence of -his recorded adventures I venture to consider manifested -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> -by the directions given to the later navigators. Byron -in 1764, Wallis and Mouat and Cartaret in 1766, were -despatched on voyages round the world to search the -South Seas for new lands; but only one of them, Cartaret, -deviated into Dampier's track, confining his explorations -in this way to a glance at New Guinea and -New Britain, to the discovery of New Ireland, lying adjacent -to the island Dampier had sailed round, and to -giving names to the islands of the Soloman and other -groups. The world had to wait for Cook to confirm the -theories of Dampier, whose influence and example were -by that time little more than traditionary.</p> - -<p>His fame, however, as a navigator, despite the disappointments of his -voyage, was unimpaired, and since employment was absolutely necessary -to him as a means of living, he wisely took care on his return to make -the most of his laurels whilst they were green. In 1702 he was busy -in looking about him for occupation. His thirst for discovery was -appeased, and he was now viewing the profession of the sea with the old -yearnings of the buccaneer. Fortunately for him, the War of Succession -began. The Spaniards and the French were once more the political -enemies of Great Britain, but the Don in particular was the cynosure of -privateering eyes. The heads of the merchants had been turned by the -triumphs of the freebooters. Wonderful tales had long been current of -the capture of treasure by little insignificant picaroons, and there -were many private adventurers who only needed the representations of -a person of Dampier's experience and credit to come willingly into a -freebooting scheme against the ships and possessions of the Spaniard in -the West Indies and the South Sea. -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> -Speculative men of substance were -found and an expedition equipped, the ships being the <i>St. George</i>, -Captain William Dampier, and the <i>Fame</i>, Captain John Pulling. The -vessels were liberally armed and manned, and were commissioned—spite -of the venture being wholly one of privateering—by Prince George of -Denmark, Lord High Admiral, to cruise against the French and the -Spaniards. The terms were, “No purchase, no pay!” Dampier's proposal, -adopted by the promoters of the expedition, was to proceed first to -the river Plate as far as Buenos Ayres, and seize two or three Spanish -galleons, which he said were sure to be found there. If the plunder -amounted to the value of six hundred thousand pounds they were to -return home. If, on the other hand, nothing was done in the river -Plate, they were to enter the South Seas and cruise for the Valdivia -ships which conveyed gold to Lima. If this design failed, they were to -attempt such rich towns as Dampier should think proper. Finally, they -were to coast the Mexican shore to watch for the great galleon which in -those days and long afterwards sailed annually filled with treasure and -valuable commodities from Manila to Acapulco.</p> - -<p>This was a broad programme, and Dampier's finger -may be found in every word of it. The Acapulco ship -was indeed peculiarly the dream of the buccaneer. In the -galleon captured by Drake, Lopez Vaz tells us there were -eight hundred and fifty thousand pieces of silver, besides -many chests of treasure omitted in what was then termed -the “bill of custom.” Drake's men were employed six -days in removing the jewels, the cases of money, the tons -of uncoined silver, and the services of plate, which they -found in their prize. Candish's capture of the galleon -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> -yielded him one hundred and twenty-two thousand pesoes -of gold; the lading further consisted of silks, satins, musk, -damasks, sweetmeats, and quantities of fine wines. The -value of the Manila ship that Dampier was to seek and -capture was appraised at nine millions of pieces of eight, -equal to about a million and a half of our money.</p> - -<p>Our sailor was wise to provide himself with alternatives -which would also furnish his humour with opportunities -for those sudden changes which his capricious -mind demanded as a stimulant to further efforts. The -story of this voyage is related by William Funnell, -<a name="FNanchor_19_19" id="FNanchor_19_19"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_19_19" class="fnanchor">[19]</a> who -went as mate in the ship with Dampier. It is noticeable -that, as we progress in Dampier's career, his individuality -grows less and less distinguishable. He is vague in -Funnell's narrative, he is vaguer still in Woodes Rogers's, -and then he disappears.</p> - -<p>There was trouble at the very onset of this voyage. -Whilst in the Downs Dampier and Pulling quarrelled, -and the latter, apparently not troubling himself about -his agreement with his employers, made sail, and started -away on a cruise among the Canary Islands on his own -account. Dampier never saw him afterwards. On this -a galley named the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, memorable as Alexander -Selkirk's ship, commanded by one Charles Pickering, -was despatched to join the <i>St. George</i> in the room of -the <i>Fame</i>. She was a small vessel of some ninety tons -burthen, mounting sixteen guns and carrying a crew of -sixty-three men. It is declared that Pulling's defection -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span> -ruined the voyage; but this is an opinion scarcely -reasonable in the face of the achievements of the -buccaneers, who many of them, in vessels much smaller -than the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, successfully engaged the forts and -castles of powerfully protected towns, and boarded and -carried galleons big enough to have stowed the conquerors' -craft in their holds.</p> - -<p>Dampier sailed on April 30th, 1703, from the Downs, -and on being joined at Kinsale by the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, -proceeded with his consort to Madeira. “By a good -observation,” says Funnell, “I make this island to lie -in latitude of 32° 20´ N., and longitude, by my account -from London, 18° 5´ W.” This is an illustration of the -value of good observations in those days! Nothing of -moment happened until their arrival at an island upon -the Brazilian coast. Here Captain Pickering of the -<i>Cinque Ports</i> died, and Thomas Stradling, the lieutenant, -took command of the ship. There was also a quarrel -between Dampier, his chief officer, and eight of the -crew, which terminated in the nine men going ashore -with their baggage. Disappointment had soured Dampier's -mind, and he was growing more obstinately fretful and -quarrelsome. Much of the anxiety caused him by the -behaviour of his ship's company was owing to his -petulance, and to his lacking most of the qualities which -command respect or enforce obedience. In truth, there -had been nothing in his training to qualify him as a -commander. He had passed the greater portion of his -seafaring life as a sailor before the mast, amongst a -community of bold and truculent ruffians who obeyed -orders for the general good, but who virtually admitted -no superiority in the persons whom they suffered to lead -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> -them. In a very short time, as we have seen, Dampier -had succeeded in disgusting his consort Pulling out of -an adventure, whose success might entirely depend upon -his active and cordial co-operation; and now we find -him abandoned by his first lieutenant and eight of the -crew for reasons, I fear, it would be idle to seek elsewhere -than in his own temper. Off the Horn in January, 1704, -the <i>Cinque Ports</i> disappeared in the midst of a heavy storm. -She was a small ship for the huge seas of those desperate -parallels, and the worst was feared. Dampier's men -were so disheartened that little persuasion might have -been needed to determine them to abandon the voyage. -Of all miserable times passed by the early mariner, the -most miserable and insufferable were those which they -spent off Cape Horn. Under reduced sail their little -tubs showed like half-tide rocks in the troughs. The -decks were full of water, the seas thundered over them -in cataracts, the hatches, closed and battened down, kept -the atmosphere of the 'tween decks black and poisonous. -The crew were commonly so numerous as to be in one -another's way, and imagination can picture nothing more -unendurable than a dark and vermin-ridden forecastle -crowded with half-suffocated men; the rigging and sails -frozen to the hardness of iron; spears of ice hanging -from the catheads and bowsprit, and from all other -points from which water could drain; the ship herself -rolling and tossing with sickening fury, and quivering to -the thunder-shock of seas smiting her from an altitude -of thirty feet. Moreover, by the time a vessel arrived off -Cape Horn, she was usually short of provisions and -water. She had already occupied months in making -the passage, and her stores were so bad as to be rejected -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> -by the very rats, which, with the fearlessness and -ferocity of famine, crawled out of the blackness of the -hold and nibbled the feet of the sailors as they lay dozing -on their chests. Captain George Shelvocke, writing in -1726, has left us a gloomy picture, full of power, of the -Horn in winter. “I must own,” he says, “the navigation -here is truly melancholy, and it was the more so to us -who were a single ship and by ourselves in this vast and -dreadful solitude; whereas a companion would have -mixed some cheerfulness with the thoughts of being in -so distant a part of the world exposed to such dangers, -and, as it were, separated from the rest of mankind. -The very thoughts of the possibility of losing our masts -by the violence of such very stormy weather as we had -had were enough to cast a damp upon the clearest -spirits.”<a name="FNanchor_20_20" id="FNanchor_20_20"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_20_20" class="fnanchor">[20]</a></p> - -<p>It was not until February 7th that Juan Fernandez -showed above the horizon. Dampier concluded that -it was some other island, and stood away east, to -the grief and disappointment, as one may suppose, -of his starved and scorbutic crew, tantalised by the -spectacle of green hills and sparkling falls of fresh water. -On the 11th, having sailed a considerable distance -towards the American seaboard, he decided that the -land he had sighted was the island he sought, and thereupon -shifted his helm for it; and on his arrival, passing -by the great bay, he saw, to his own and to the great -delight of his crew, the <i>Cinque Ports</i> quietly lying at -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> -anchor, she having made the land three days before. -Both vessels were heeled and refitted, which, with the -watering of them, gave the crews plenty of employment; -but whilst this was doing another quarrel happened, -this time between Captain Stradling and his men. We -may suspect Stradling's character from Alexander -Selkirk's hatred of him, though there is no doubt that -Selkirk himself was on the whole about as troublesome -a seaman to deal with as ever stepped a deck. Dampier, -it is true, afterwards told Captain Woodes Rogers that -he considered Selkirk, who in the expedition I am now -writing about was master of the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, to have -been the best man in that ship; but then Dampier had -quarrelled with Stradling and abhorred his memory, and -so, I do not doubt, made the most of Selkirk to Rogers, -that he might suggest rather than boldly affirm his -former consort equal to so base and cruel a deed as the -marooning of a good and honest sailor; albeit Rogers -was perfectly well aware that Selkirk had gone ashore -of his own choice.<a name="FNanchor_21_21" id="FNanchor_21_21"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_21_21" class="fnanchor">[21]</a> -The quarrel between Stradling and -his men rose to such a height that the crew absolutely -refused to go on board and serve under him. Dampier -was consulted, and after a deal of trouble succeeded in -persuading the fellows to return to their duty. It is to -be feared that this happy turn of what threatened to -prove a very grave difficulty owed little or nothing to -Dampier's address or to his popularity. It is a common -saying at sea amongst sailors who dislike their captain -that they will weather him out even if he were the devil -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> -himself; meaning that they will not suffer themselves -to be defrauded by his tyranny of their wages or such -good prospects as the voyage may promise. The sober-headed -amongst Stradling's crew would not take long -to see the folly of abandoning an adventure that had -brought them to the very threshold of their hopes, particularly -after having endured all the distress and misery of -the passage of the Horn in a vessel but a very little -bigger than a fishing-smack of to-day. It is more than -likely then that Dampier's counsel found most of them -sensible of their mistake and willing to resume work.</p> - -<p>Whilst the people were ashore busy on various jobs -relating to the doctoring of their ships, the day being -February 29th, 1704, a sail was sighted, an alarm raised, -and a rush made on board. The two vessels instantly -slipped their cables and stood out to sea. The stranger, -on perceiving the canvas of the two crafts growing large -upon the background of the island, bouted ship and went -away under a press; but Dampier clung to his wake, -and the <i>Cinque Ports</i> made all possible haste to follow. -The breeze blew briskly, and the <i>St. George</i> was thrashed -through it so fleetly that she towed her pinnace under -water and was forced to cut her loose. Captain Stradling's -boat, in which were a man and a dog, also went adrift, -but of her and her inmates we get news later on. It -was not until eleven o'clock at night that the <i>St. George</i> -came up with the chase, and Dampier wisely deferred -hostilities until the day dawned. The stranger proved -a Frenchman of four hundred tons and thirty guns, full -of men; and at sunrise on March 1st the <i>Cinque Ports</i> and -the <i>St. George</i> attacked her. The galley, however, was of -little use, for after discharging a dozen guns she fell astern, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> -and left the game to be played out by Dampier. “We -fought her very close,” says Funnell, “Broadside and -Broadside for seven Hours; and then a small Gale -springing up she sheered off.” Old conflicts of this kind -are quaint with the colours of an utterly extinct form of -marine life. The seamen fought with guns bearing -strange names. The heaviest marine-ordnance was the -demi-cannon, whose bore was six and three-quarter inches, -and the weight of the shot thirty pounds and a half. -There were also the cannon-petro, that threw a twenty-four -pound shot; the basilisk, the weight of whose shot -was fifteen pounds; the sacre or sacar, as Sir William -Monson spells it, a little piece of a bore of three inches -and a half that cast a shot weighing five pounds; and -smaller guns yet called the minion, the falcon, the serpentine, -and the rabanet, the last carrying a shot of half -a pound. It is difficult to conjecture the calibre of such -ordnance as Dampier and his enemy were armed with. -Probably the cannon-petro was their biggest piece, and -they would also carry swivel-guns. It will be evident -at all events that such a vessel as the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, whose -tonnage is put down at ninety, and which is said to have -been armed with sixteen guns, must have mounted very -light metal if only to render her seaworthy. But besides -their falcons and sacars and minions, they engaged -with other strange engines,—arrows trimmed with wild-fire, -pikes flaming with the same stuff for piercing a -ship's side, shells called granados filled with powder and -thrown on to a vessel's deck with a fuze alight, powder-pots -formed of clay or thick glass, and stink-balls, for the -making of which old Norwood prescribes as follows:</p> - -<p>“Take Powder 10l., of Ship-pitch 6l., of Tar 20l., -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> -Salt Peter 8l., Sulphur California 4l. Melt these by a -soft heat together; and being well melted, put 2l. of -cole-dust, of the filings of Horses-hoofs 6l., Assa Fœtida -3l., Sagapenem 1l., Spatula Fœtida half a pound: Incorporate -them well together, and put into this matter -Linnen or Woollen-Cloathe, or Hemp or Toe as much as -will drink up all the matter: and of these make Globes -or Balls of what bigness you please. This Globe or -Ball may be made venomous or poysonous, if to the -Composition be added these things following: Mercury -Suplimate, Arsnick, Orpiment, Sinaber, etc.” -<a name="FNanchor_22_22" id="FNanchor_22_22"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_22_22" class="fnanchor">[22]</a></p> - -<p>This horrible contrivance, when thrown among the -surging crowd, threw out volumes of poisonous and -suffocating smoke. A sea-fight was a fierce business—fiercer, -perhaps, than we can realise when we contrast the -armaments of those days with the leviathan guns of the -ironclad. The devices for slaughtering were full of the -genius of murder. They had cohorns or small mortars -fixed on swivels; caissons, called “powder-chests,” -charged with old nails and rusty bits of iron for firing -from the close-quarters when boarded; weapons named -“organs,” formed of a number of musket-barrels fired at -once. Above all, they had what I fear is lost to us for -ever,—I mean the boarding-pike, the deadliest of all -weapons in the hands of the British sailor. The mere -naming of a yard-arm to yard-arm engagement lasting -seven hours is hint enough to the imagination of a man -conversant with the tactics, the brutal courage, the -remorseless resolution, the deadly if primitive fighting -machinery of the sea-braves of the old generations. The -castellated fabric rolling upon the seas, echoing in -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> -thunder to the blasts which roar from her wooden sides; -the crowds of men swaying half-naked at the guns; the -falling spars; the riddled sails; the great tops filled -with smoke-blackened sailors wildly cheering as they -fling their granados upon the decks of the enemy, or -silent as death as they level their long and clumsy -muskets at forms distinguished as the leaders of the -fight by their attire, combine in a picture that rises in -crimson-tinctured outlines upon the dusky canvas of the -past, and, though two centuries old, startles and fascinates -as if it were a memory of yesterday. But the old -voyagers' references to such things are grimly brief. -They dismiss in a sentence as much as might fill a -volume; yet what they have to say is suggestive enough, -and the fancy is feeble that cannot colour their black and -white outlines to the fiery complexion of a reality, and -vitalise them with the living hues of the time in which -the deeds were done.</p> - -<p>The battle was ended by a small gale of wind coming -on to blow, and by the Frenchman running away. On -board Dampier were nine killed and several wounded. -Funnell says that the sailors were anxious to follow and -fight the Frenchman again, and sink or capture him, -fearing that if he escaped he would make their presence -known to the Spaniards. But Dampier objected, protesting -that even if the enemy should hear of them and -stop their merchantmen from leaving harbour, “he knew -where to go, and did not fear of failing to take to the -value of £500,000 any day in the year.” This assurance -sufficiently satisfied the men to induce them to back -their topsail to wait for the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, and on her -coming up with the <i>St. George</i>, Dampier briefly conferred -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> -with Stradling, who agreed with him that they should -let the Frenchman go. The privateers thereupon headed -on their return to Juan Fernandez to recover the anchors, -long-boats, casks of fresh water, and sea-lions' oil which -they had left there; along with five of the crew of the -<i>Cinque Ports</i>, who had been ashore on the west side of -the island when the ships hurriedly made sail after the -Frenchman. The wind was south, right off the land, -and whilst they were struggling to fetch the bay two -ships unexpectedly hove in view. The <i>Cinque Ports</i>, -being near them, fired several shots, and then, having her -sweeps out, rowed to the <i>St. George</i> to report that the -strangers were Frenchmen, each mounting about thirty-six -guns. It is conceivable that Dampier might not consider -his ship, fresh as she was from a tough conflict, in -a fit state to engage these two large, well-armed vessels; -nor, after the part his consort had borne in the late -action, was he likely to place much faith in Stradling's -co-operation. He thereupon determined to stand away -for the coast of Peru, an unintelligible resolution when -it is remembered that they would not only be leaving -five of Stradling's men behind, but furniture and stores -absolutely essential to their security and to the execution -of their projects. They might surely have lingered long -enough in the neighbourhood of the island to persuade -the Frenchman that they were gone for good. A run -of fifteen or twenty miles would have put them out of -sight. And they might also have reckoned upon the -unwillingness of the enemy to fight; for the French -equally with the Spanish seafarers in those days were -commonly very well satisfied with the negative victory -of the foe's retreat.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> - -<p>The two ships fell in with the coast of Peru on -March 11th. Funnell makes the latitude of the land -24° 53' S. Thence they coasted to the northwards, and -on the 14th passed the port of Copiapo, used by the -Spaniards for loading wine, money, and other goods for -Coquimbo. They would have been glad to go ashore for -refreshments, but were in the unhappy situation of -being without boats. On the 22nd, when off Lima, they -chased a couple of vessels which were steering for -that port. On coming up with the sternmost Dampier -found her to be the ship he had fought off the island of -Juan Fernandez. The crew were eager to engage her, -so as to prevent her from entering Lima, still dreading -the consequence of the Spaniards gaining intelligence of -English freebooters being in those waters. Moreover -Funnell asserts that not a man on board doubted the -possibility of taking her, because the crew were now in -good health, whereas when they had engaged her some -twenty or thirty of them were upon the sick-list. They -also wanted her guns, ammunition, and provisions, and -proposed that the <i>St. George</i> should fight her whilst -Stradling attacked the other; but Dampier was not of -their mind, and whilst all hands were hotly debating the -matter, the Frenchmen, if indeed they were both French, -got into Lima. It would be absurd to accuse Dampier -of want of courage, but it is strange that, after chasing -the two strangers from no other motive that seems -intelligible than the design to fight and capture them, -he should draw off on discovering one of them to be his -enemy of Juan Fernandez. He was commissioned to -attack the vessels both of France and Spain, and as there -was much to be gained by the conquest of the ships, his -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> -reluctance or refusal as the chief of a crew eager for the -fray is unaccountable.</p> - -<p>Funnell writes with no kindness for Dampier; but he -doubtless speaks the truth when he asserts that the men -were greatly incensed by their commander's refusal to -fight, insomuch that something like a mutiny might have -followed had they not been mollified by the capture, in -the space of a few days, of two prizes—one of one hundred -and fifty, the other of two hundred tons. Meanwhile -Dampier was maturing a mighty project of landing -on the coast and plundering some rich city. Preparations -for this great event filled the ship with business. All -day long the carpenters were employed in fitting out -fabrics called Spanish long-boats to enable the sailors to -enter the surf with safety. In every launch were fixed -two patareros, swivel-guns of small calibre. Fortune so -far favoured them that, on April 11th, they met and -took a vessel of fifty tons, laden with plank and cordage, -“as if she had been sent on purpose for our service,” -says Funnell. Carrying this useful prize with them, they -sailed to the island of Gallo, where they dropped anchor -and took in fresh water, and further prepared their ship -and the prize for the grand undertaking they were about -to enter upon. At the expiration of five days they were -ready; but whilst they were in the act of getting under -weigh a ship was seen standing in. They were in a -proper posture to take her, and in a short while she was -theirs. The capture was unimportant, the craft being -only fifty tons; but it is noticeable for their finding -on board a Guernsey man, who had been taken by the -Spaniards two years before as he was cutting logwood in -the Bay of Campeché, and who must have continued a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span> -prisoner for life if they had not released him. Dampier's -El Dorado was the town of Santa Maria. It was to the -mines lying adjacent to this place that he would have -been glad to convey the thousand slaves who had been -captured in an earlier voyage. It was his intention now -to attack it, for he had no doubt that it was full of -treasure. But his evil star was dominant. The enemy, -apprised of his being in the neighbourhood, met him at -all points with ambuscades, which, Funnell tells us, cut -off abundance of the men. He may have lacked the -power of organisation; he may have been wanting in -the quality to swiftly decide, and in the power to unfalteringly -execute; it is equally probable that his schemes -were perplexed and his hopes ruined by the insubordination -of a crew whom he was not sufficiently master of his -temper to control. Be the reason of the failure what it -will, the men grew so weary of their fruitless attempts on -shore that they returned to their ship without regard to -the wishes of the commander. Then they were beset with -new troubles, chief amongst which was a great scarcity of -provisions. Fortunately at this critical juncture a ship -of one hundred and fifty tons, ignorant of their character, -dropped anchor within gunshot of them. Needless to -say that she was promptly captured, and, to the delight -of the hungry and hollow-cheeked survivors of Dampier's -mighty land-project, was found filled to the hatches with -flour, sugar, brandy, wine, thirty-two tons of marmalade, -a large stock of linen and woollen cloth, and, in a word, -such a store of food and goods as might have served to -victual and equip them for four or five years. Funnell -was put on board this prize on behalf of Captain Dampier -and the people of the <i>St. George</i>, whilst the master -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> -of the <i>Cinque Ports</i>—Alexander Selkirk—was transferred -to her as representing the interests of Captain Stradling -and his ship's company. The vessels then proceeded to -the Bay of Panama, and anchored off the island of -Tobago.</p> - -<p>They had not long arrived when Dampier and Stradling -fell out. The quarrel between the men was so hot -that there was nothing for it but to part company. One -is willing to hope that Stradling was to blame. He was a -man of a coarse mind, a person of violent temper, and of a -low habit of thought; and nothing, probably, but the circumstance -of their being in separate ships and removed -from each other hindered the two captains from separating -long before. Five of the <i>St. George's</i> men went over -to Stradling, and five of the <i>Cinque Ports</i> crew joined -Dampier. It was now that some prisoners who were in -the last prize that had been taken affirmed that there were -eighty thousand dollars secreted on board of her. The -money, they said, had been taken in very privately at -Lima, and it lay hidden in the bottom of the ship in the -part called the run. Dampier refused to credit this, and -would not even take the trouble to ascertain the truth -by setting the men to rummage the hold. His mind, -Funnell tells us, was so full of great designs that he -would not risk them by such delay as a brief search -might involve. It is unfortunate for his reputation that -a considerable portion of his sea-going career has to be -tracked through the relations of men with whom he -quarrelled, or who, by association with him during months -of the imprisonment of shipboard life, grew intimately -acquainted with the weaknesses of his character.</p> - -<p>On May 19th the <i>St. George</i> parted company with -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> -the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, and steered northwards with the intention -of cruising off the Peruvian coast. The subsequent -recorded career of Stradling is very brief. His -men were too few to qualify him for achievements in -the South Sea. He repaired to Juan Fernandez for -shelter and refreshment, where, as all the world knows, -Alexander Selkirk left him, partly on account of his -hatred of the captain, and partly because of the unseaworthy -condition of the galley. Not long afterwards -the <i>Cinque Ports</i> foundered off the American coast, with -the loss of all hands excepting Stradling and seven of his -men, who were sent prisoners by the Spaniards to Lima, -in which city Stradling was still living when Dampier -came afterwards into these waters as Woodes Rogers's -pilot. What afterwards became of him is not known.</p> - -<p>Nothing of interest occurred in Dampier's progress -north for nearly a month, and then on June 7th they -captured a vessel bound to Panama, laden with sugar -and brandy and bales of wrought silk. In this ship -was a letter addressed to the President of Panama -by the captain of the French man-of-war they had -fought. It was all about the action with the <i>St. George</i>, -and the writer boasted of having killed a great number of -the English, whilst he himself had sent ashore at Lima -thirty-two of his men, all whom had been disabled either -by the loss of a leg or an arm or an eye; and he added -that, had Dampier chosen to follow and re-engage him, he -must have been captured. Funnell prints this with -evident relish as justifying the attitude of the crew of -the <i>St. George</i>, and as an impeachment of Dampier's -judgment and possibly his courage. In another letter -it was related that the two French ships at which Strad -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span>ling -had fired, and from which Dampier had made sail, -had picked up the boat containing the man and dog that -had broken loose from the <i>Cinque Ports</i>; also that they -had taken off the men who had been left on the island, -together with the privateersmen's anchors, cables, long-boat, -and stores. It was further ascertained from these -letters that the Spaniards had fitted out two ships to -cruise in search of Dampier—one of thirty-two brass -guns, twenty-four pounders each; the other of thirty-six -guns of the same calibre; each vessel had three hundred -and fifty seamen and one hundred and fifty soldiers, -all picked men. It does not seem, however, that -Dampier allowed his projects to be diverted by these -men-of-war. He knew they were off Guayaquil, and on -June 21st we find him in the bay named after that port -with a sail in sight, which next day proved to be one of -the Spanish ships—the one of thirty-two guns. “Being -pretty near each other,” says Funnell, “they gave us a -Broadside, but we did not mind them.” Dampier's chief -anxiety was to get the weather-gage. The wind was -half a gale, and in manœuvring the <i>St. George's</i> foretop-mast -went over the side. Hatchets were seized and the -wreckage cut away, and the instant his ship was clear -Dampier put his helm up and got his vessel before it. -This inspired the enemy with wonderful spirit. He -crowded all the canvas he dared show to that wind, and -started in pursuit; whereupon Dampier, observing that -his behaviour was animating the Spaniards with courage, -resolved to bring the <i>St. George</i> to the wind and fight it out. -Funnell relates this incident very brightly. -“Captain Dampier's opinion was that he could sail better upon -one Mast than the Enemy, and therefore it was best to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> -put before the Wind; but, however, chose rather to -fight than to be chased ashore: So hoisting the bloody -Flag at the Main-topmast-head with a Resolution neither -to give or to take Quarter, we began the Fight, and went -to it as fast as we could load and fire. The Enemy kept -to Windward at a good Distance from us; so that we -could not come to make use of our Small-arms: But we -divided the two Watches; and one was to manage the -Guns whilst the other looked on; and when those at the -Guns were weary, the other were to take their Places -till they had refreshed themselves. By this means we -fired, I believe, five Guns to the Enemy's one. We fired -about 560, and he about 110 or 115; and we fought -him from twelve at Noon to Half an Hour to Six at -Night, altho' at a good Distance; for he kept so far to -Windward of us that our Shot sometimes would hardly -reach him, tho' his would at the same time fly over -us.” The cannonading—it came to no more—terminated -when the darkness fell. Dampier lay hove-to all night -waiting for the morning, but at daybreak nothing was -to be seen of the Spaniard. The action was merely a -shooting match, and the privateers had not a man killed -nor even hurt by the enemy.</p> - -<p>Our hero's next step was to seek provisions and water. -The district, however, yielded him nothing, and he was -forced to rest satisfied with the lading of a couple of -small vessels, which he captured. One of them he fitted -out as a long-boat, and called her the <i>Dragon</i>. They -were now in the Gulf of Nicoya and at anchor close to -Middle Island, as Funnell terms it; and here it was they -careened their ship, all hands going ashore and building -tents for the cooper and sailmaker, and for the storage -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> -of goods and provisions. Whilst this was doing Dampier -sent his mate, John Clipperton, and twenty men armed -to the teeth for a cruise in the <i>Dragon</i>. He found his -account in this little expedition, for at the end of six -days the <i>Dragon</i> returned with a Spanish craft of forty -tons freighted with brandy, wine, and sugar. Amongst -her people were six carpenters and caulkers, who had -been shipped by the owner for the purpose of repairing -her, and these men Dampier immediately set to work -upon his own ship. The bottom of the <i>St. George</i>, after -she had been careened, is described as resembling a -honeycomb. Nowhere was the plank much thicker -than an old sixpence; so sodden and rotten was the -wood that Funnell declares in some places he could -easily have thrust his thumb through it. They were -without timber to sheath her, and all that could be done -was to stop the leaks with nails and oakum.</p> - -<p>Whilst the ship was in the hands of the carpenters -Dampier and Clipperton fell out, and the mate, with a -following of twenty-one men, mutinously seized the bark -that the <i>Dragon</i> had brought in, lifted her anchor and -sailed away outside the islands. Shelvocke, who was -afterwards associated with Clipperton, gives this man so -bad a character in his book that, if he possessed the same -qualities as Dampier's mate which he afterwards exhibited -as Shelvocke's consort, one can only wonder -that the captain of the <i>St. George</i> had not long before -marooned or pitched him overboard. The loss of these -twenty-two men was a serious blow, but the defection -might have resulted more seriously even than this to -Dampier, for all the <i>St. George's</i> ammunition and the -greater part of her provisions were in the bark when -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span> -the mate seized her. Fortunately Clipperton was not -wholly a villain. Shortly after his departure he sent -word that he would put the stores belonging to the <i>St. -George</i> ashore in a house, keeping only what he required -for his own use. He was as good as his word; canoes -were despatched, and the powder and provisions were -recovered. This man Clipperton was afterwards the -hero of some strange adventures. Harris calls him a -man of parts and spirit, but not the less was he the -completest rogue at that time afloat. He professed -to have left Dampier for the same reason that had -caused Alexander Selkirk to live all alone by himself,—I -mean the craziness of the ship; but surely he must have -been a rascal to have abandoned Dampier in the hour of -his need. Yet he was not wanting in the audacious courage -that was the characteristic of his buccaneering compeers. -In his little bark, armed with two patareros, he -sailed to the coast of Mexico, captured a couple of ships, -one of which he sunk; whilst for the other being new -he demanded ten thousand pieces of eight by way of -ransom, and got four thousand. He then sailed to the -Gulf of Salinas, cleaned his cockle-shell of a boat, and -made for the East Indies, reaching the Philippine Islands -in fifty-four days. He afterwards bore away for Macao, -where his crew left him. He returned to England in -1706, and in 1718 obtained command of the <i>Success</i>, -consort to the <i>Speedwell</i>, whose captain, Shelvocke, was -under him. He abandoned Shelvocke, and though they -afterwards met in the South Sea, declined to consort -with him in any way. His adventures are one of the -most interesting chapters in the annals of the buccaneers. -He returned home in or about the year 1722, and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> -shortly afterwards died of a broken heart, utterly -destitute.</p> - -<p>But to return to Dampier. By October 7th he was -again in a condition to embark upon further adventures. -One notices with admiration his resolution to -keep the sea in an under-manned craft so rotten and -crazy that he might reasonably fear the first gale of -wind must pound her into staves. But the forlorn hope -was often the old buccaneer's best opportunity. Exquemeling, -or Esquemeling as the name is sometimes -spelt, tells of the pirate Le Grand that when famine-stricken -in a small boat in company with a few armed -men, he ordered one of his people to bore a hole through -the craft's bottom whilst approaching the vessel he -meant to board, that success might be as sure as desperation -could render it. There was something probably of -Le Grand's spirit in Dampier's policy. His men were -few, and he might have found it necessary to animate -them by an alternative whose issue could only mean -either conquest or destruction.</p> - -<p>He was now cruising for the Acapulco ship, the most -romantic and golden of all the hopes and dreams of the -privateersman. There were no limits to the fancies her -name conjured up. Imagination was dazzled by visions -of chests loaded with virgin gold and unminted silver, -by cases of costly ecclesiastical furniture, crucifixes, -chalices, and candlesticks of precious ore, images glorious -with jewels, plate of superb design, treasure equalling in -value the revenues of a flourishing principality. They -fell in with her on December 6th, in the morning. The -crew, Funnell drily tells us in effect, had looked out for -her as though there were no difference between seeing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> -and taking her. They were indeed in the right kind of -mood for fighting. Their appetites had been whetted -by disappointment, and they were weary of a cruise that -had yielded them little more in the way of captures -than provisions, which their necessities quickly forced -them to consume. They were also sulky with the -defection of comrades, and every piratical instinct in -them was rabidly yearning after a prize which would -enable them to sail straight away home, with plenty of -money for all hands in their hold. They pluckily bore -down to the tall fabric whose high sides were crowned -with the defences of bristling tiers of guns, and saluted -her with several broadsides. The galleon, not suspecting -them to be an enemy, was unprepared; the sudden -bombardment threw her people into confusion, and the -sailors—wretched seamen, as the Spaniards even at their -best were in those days—tumbled over each other in -their clumsy hurry to defend themselves. There was -one Captain Martin on board with Dampier, who, though -born a Spaniard, had been bred and educated in London. -He had been taken out of a ship captured by the <i>St. -George</i> in the preceding October. This Martin, whose -sympathies appear to have been with the English, -advised Dampier to take advantage of the confusion in -the galleon, and lay her aboard. Indeed it hardly -required a practised seafaring eye to perceive that, if the -Spaniard once got his batteries to bear, he would, to -employ Martin's language, “beat the <i>St. George</i> to -pieces.” The value of the ship was reckoned at sixteen -million pieces of eight. That Dampier should have -hesitated is incomprehensible. Boarding was his only -chance; he must have known that; and yet he would -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> -not board. Hesitation was of course fatal. The enemy -brought his guns to bear, and it was then impossible for -the <i>St. George</i> to lie alongside of her. The privateersmen -had nothing to throw but five-pound shot; the galleon, -on the other hand, mounted eighteen and twenty-four -pounders. In a very short time the <i>St. George</i> was -struck between wind and water in her powder-room, and -two feet of plank were driven in under either quarter; -after which nothing remained to Dampier but to make -his escape whilst his crazy ship continued to swim.</p> - -<p>The bitterly disappointed crew clamoured to return -home. Fortune was against them, and the superstitions -of the forecastle were confirming the experiences of the -voyage. Further, there were scarcely provisions enough -to last them for another three months, whilst the ship -herself was in a condition to fall to pieces at any moment. -Less than this might sufficiently justify the mutinous -posture of the disgusted men. Nevertheless Dampier -persuaded them to prolong the cruise for another six -weeks, promising at the expiration of that time to carry -them to some factory in India, “where,” says Funnell, -“we might all dispose of ourselves, as we should think -most for our advantage.” This being settled they proceeded -to the eastward, keeping the land in sight, but -though they passed Acapulco and other considerable -ports, I do not observe that Dampier attempted a single -town, or even sought a prize on the water. Apparently -the sole object of this trip was to find a convenient place -for watering the ship and the prize which they had with -them,—that is to say, the bark out of which they had -taken Captain Martin,—preparatory for their departure. -But on January 6th, 1705, a month after their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> -encounter with the Manila ship, there happened what -Funnell speaks of as a revolution in their affairs, “for -thirty of our Men,” he continues, “agreed with Captain -Dampier to remain with him in the South Seas, but -with what View or on what Terms remained to us who -were not of that Number an impenetrable secret.” It -is as likely as not that this was no new caprice on the -part of Dampier, and very possibly his motive in asking -the men to continue the cruise for another six weeks -was that he might have time to induce them to continue -with him for an indefinite term upon the South American -seaboard. Funnell's party consisted of thirty-three men, -which represents the force of Dampier's crew at that -time to have been sixty-three, not counting himself. -That thirty should decide to remain with him, and that -thirty-three should be, so to speak, forced to abandon -him without having any knowledge whatever of the -understanding between their shipmates and the commander, -is so inexplicable that I suspect some blunder or -concealment in Funnell's narrative at this point. It is, -indeed, just probable that Funnell and his thirty-two -associates were, by reason of bad health, disaffection, and -other causes, scarcely worth mustering. Yet they made -shift nevertheless to carry their wretched little vessel to -the East Indies, and one might suppose that Dampier -would still have found his account in men who could -prove themselves qualified for such a navigation as -that. Or it is conceivable that Funnell and the others -were sick of the cruise and afraid of the ship, whilst -Dampier—that he might prevent the whole crew from -abandoning him—made golden promises under a pledge, -of secrecy, which proved sufficiently potent to work upon -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> -the imaginations of thirty of the men, and to determine -them to give their captain another chance.</p> - -<p>Be all this as it may, the <i>St. George</i> and the bark proceeded -amicably together to the Gulf of Amapalla, at -which place they arrived on January 26th, and the -people at once went to work to divide the provisions -between the two ships. Before the bark sailed two of -the men who had resolved to stay with Captain Dampier -left him, and joined Funnell's party, which now numbered -thirty-five—namely, thirty-four English and a negro-boy. -Meanwhile Dampier's men were busy in refitting their -craft. The carpenter stopped the holes which the -cannon-balls of the galleon had made in her with tallow -and charcoal, not daring to drive in a nail. Four guns -were struck into the hold, which yet left sixteen mounted, -a greater number than Dampier had men to fight, if the -need arose, “for,” says Funnell, “there remained with -him no more than twenty-eight Men and Boys, and most -of them landmen; which was a very insignificant Force -for one who was to make War on a whole Nation.” One -might think that the spectacle of such a ship as this -would inspire even a larger spirit of desertion than her -crew manifested. Certainly there was nothing in the -aspect of the tottering and rotten vessel to coax Funnell -and his companions back into Dampier's service. They -were supplied with four pieces of cannon, along with a -fair proportion of small arms and ammunition, and on -February 1st they bade farewell to their old associates -and started on their perilous voyage.</p> - -<p>The subsequent adventures of Dampier need not take -long to relate. As we have seen, his crew consisted of -twenty-eight men only; the <i>St. George</i> was in a pitiable -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> -condition, her seams open, every timber in her decayed, -her sails and rigging worn out, and in no sense was she -fit to keep the sea. Dampier was in the situation of a -gambler who has lost all but the guinea which he now -proposes to stake. Indeed, we find him throughout -confiding a great deal too much in luck. It is seldom -that he attempts to force fortune's hand by prompt, -vigorous, and original measures. One by one his brother -officers had abandoned him; his crew had deserted him -by the score at a time; and yet in a ship rotten to the -heart of her, and with a beggarly following of twenty-eight -gaunt and dissatisfied men, he clings to the scene -of his distresses and his disappointments with no further -expectation than the gambling hope that, since he is at -the very bottom of the wheel, the next revolution must -certainly raise him. Had he and his twenty-eight men -come fresh to these seas, they might have flattered themselves -with brilliant prospects; smaller companies of -buccaneers had achieved incredible things, enlarged their -ranks as they progressed, shifted their flag from ship to -ship, until they found themselves in possession of a fleet -equal to any such force as the enemy in those waters had -it in his power to send against them. But Dampier's -men were dissatisfied and miserable, surly and despondent -with disappointment, and exhausted by privation and -severe labours. They looked at the future as promising -but a darker picture of what they had already suffered. -It was indeed time for them to go home; the privateering -spirit amongst them was moribund; all heart had been -taken out of them. It speaks well for Dampier's personal -influence, whilst it also illustrates his singular genius of -persuasion, that he should have succeeded in keeping these -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> -men together by representations in which possibly he -had as little faith as they. He told them that there was -nothing easier than to make their fortunes by surprising -some small Spanish town, and that the fewer there were of -them, the fewer there would be to share the booty. They -listened and sullenly acquiesced—animated, perhaps, by -a faint expiring gleam of their old buccaneering instincts. -Thereupon Dampier attacked Puna in Ecuador, then a -village formed of a small church and about thirty houses. -The night was dark when he landed, the inhabitants were -in bed; no resistance was offered, and the place was -captured without trouble. Having plundered this town, -they sailed to Lobos de la Mar, where they let go their -anchor, whilst they deliberated what they should do -next. On the way to this island they captured a small -Spanish vessel full of provisions. Dampier called a -council, and it was resolved that they should quit the -<i>St. George</i> and sail away to the East Indies in their prize. -It is manifest from this resolution that their easy -plundering of Puna, and their equally easy capture of -the bark,<a name="FNanchor_23_23" id="FNanchor_23_23"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_23_23" class="fnanchor">[23]</a> -had failed to reconcile them to a longer cruise -against the Spaniards. Having transferred everything -likely to be of use to them from the <i>St. George</i>, they left -that crazy fabric rolling at her anchor and steered westwards -for the Indies.</p> - -<p>What adventures they met with on their way I do -not know. Harris says that on their arrival at one of the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> -Dutch settlements their ship was seized, their property -confiscated, and themselves turned loose to shift as they -best could. Dampier succeeded in making his way -home. He arrived, as was customary with him, a beggar. -But the reports of his voyage considerably enlarged his -reputation. The world pitied the misfortunes whilst it -admired the ambitious efforts and the bold projects of -a seaman of whose nationality every Englishman was -proud. By command of the Queen he was presented to -her, kissed her hand, and had the honour of relating his -adventures to her. But all this left him poor, and it -was now his business once more to look about him for -further occupation.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="ac noindent">1708-1711</p> - -<p class="ac noindent smaller">THE VOYAGE WITH WOODES ROGERS - <a name="FNanchor_24_24" id="FNanchor_24_24"></a> - <a href="#Footnote_24_24" class="fnanchor">[24]</a></p> - - -<p class="noindent"><span class="sc">Dampier</span> probably -obtained the next berth we find him -filling through the influence of Woodes Rogers. There -is no doubt that it was owing to Dampier's influence -and representations that the expedition under Rogers -was equipped and despatched. Harris tells us that he -addressed himself to the merchants of Bristol, who listened -to his proposals with patience and interest. At all -events his experience would enable him to submit to -them that his own, and indeed the failures of others, -were owing, not to the voyage being a dangerous or -difficult one, not to the courage nor to the superior -strength of the enemy, not to any lack of the right kind of -qualities amongst the crews, but simply to those undertakings -having been badly organised at the start, unwisely -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> -officered, and injudiciously conducted. The Bristol merchants -fully agreed with him, and illustrated the spirit of -their concurrence by fitting out two ships and refusing -him any post of command. He and Rogers had long been -acquainted, as may be gathered from several passages -in his voyages. There is little question that it was -Dampier's reputation which procured him his appointment -as pilot to his friend; but I take it that Rogers -warmly supported Dampier's solicitations, and that the -advocacy of the chief commander proved powerful -enough to neutralise, or at least to qualify, the prejudice -which our hero's misfortunes as a freebooter and his -half-heartedness as an explorer had excited against him.</p> - -<p>As a pilot there was no man then living better -qualified. He had spent long months of his life in the -South Seas, and his knowledge of Indian and Pacific waters -was varied and extensive. His name was also formidable -to the Spaniards, a detail of considerable moment -in the catalogue of privateering merits. His dignity -could suffer nothing by his acceptance of the post of -pilot to the expedition. Many sea-words have changed -their old signification, and when we now talk of a pilot -we think of a man whose business it is to navigate ships -through short spaces of dangerous waters. There were -of course pilots of this kind in Dampier's day. But in -addition there were mariners selected for their knowledge -of distant parts to accompany ships in voyages round -the world, or to the ports of remote nations. The post -was an honourable one; the pilot stood alone; he had -not indeed the captain's general powers, but his duties -were attended with many privileges, and he was looked -up to as a person of authority and distinction. It was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span> -such a position then as Dampier would have been willing -to accept even though he had earned the value of an -estate by his last voyage.</p> - -<p>The expedition was promoted, as has already been -said, by a number of Bristol merchants. Twenty-two -names are given as representing only a portion of this -very large committee of adventurers. The chief command -was entrusted to Captain Woodes Rogers, a man -who had suffered much from the French, and who was -eager to repair as well as to avenge his injuries by -reprisals. He had long been known as an intelligent -officer and an excellent seaman. He had also a name -as a disciplinarian, and he was further remarkable for -the swiftness and sagacity of his decisions in moments -of difficulty and peril. In point of literary merit his -book is worthy to rank with Shelvocke's narrative, -though the form and spirit of both are manifestly -inspired by Dampier's volumes. The captain next in -command was Stephen Courtney, who was also a member -of the committee and the holder of a considerable share -in the speculation. Rogers's second captain, or chief -mate as he would now be called, was Thomas Dover, -a physician by profession, who in his old age wrote a -work called <i>Dr. Dover's Last Legacy to his Country</i>, in -which he so effectually recommended the use of quicksilver -that “ladies as well as gentlemen of rank and -fortune bespangled the floors and carpets with this metal, -and scattered their diamonds wherever they went to -dance or to play.”<a name="FNanchor_25_25" id="FNanchor_25_25"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_25_25" class="fnanchor">[25]</a> -It is strange to hear of a doctor of -medicine going as lieutenant of a buccaneering craft; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> -but it is stranger yet to read that Dover's bad temper -was the cause of his being chosen. Yet his chief recommendation -lay in his violent tongue, which, it was argued, -would effectually prevent him from winning adherents, -so that there was no chance of his weakening the expedition -by heading or creating a party!<a name="FNanchor_26_26" id="FNanchor_26_26"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_26_26" class="fnanchor">[26]</a> The captain under -Courtney was Edward Cooke, a person of talent and -observation and of no small literary ability, whose hatred -of the French was only equalled by Rogers.</p> - -<p>The venture was thoroughly matured before it was -launched. Stringent rules and regulations serving as -articles of war were drawn up and signed by the promoters, -who called the document “The Constitution.” -The experiences as well as the advice of Dampier may -be traced in these rules. It was required that in case -of death, sickness, or desertion, a council should be called -of all the officers of the ships, that the person selected -should be the unanimous choice, and that all attacks by -sea or land should first be generally debated by the whole -body of officers. In case of the votes for and against -being equal, Captain Dover, as President of the Council, -was to have the “double-voice.” The manifest object -of these articles was to stop the bickerings which commonly -attended the undertakings of the privateers, and -which were often the cause of their failures and defeats, -by importing the general voice into every decision. The -ships were the <i>Duke</i>, of three hundred tons, thirty guns, -and one hundred and seventy men, with Rogers and -Dover as first and second captains; and the <i>Dutchess</i>, of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span> -two hundred and seventy tons, twenty-six guns, and one -hundred and fifty-one men, whose first and second in -command were Courtney and Cooke. Both vessels were -commissioned by Prince George of Denmark to cruise -on the coasts of Peru and Mexico against the Queen's -enemies, the French and Spaniards.</p> - -<p>Dampier was on board Woodes Rogers: the story of -the expedition, therefore, must be followed to its conclusion, -though, unfortunately, our hero has no longer an individuality. -His name indeed occasionally occurs, but he -vanishes as a figure, and we are merely conscious as we -follow the narrative that we are in his company, and -that though he is lost to view he is sharing in the -exploits and dangers, in the hopes and fears, of the crowd -of resolute men whom he pilots.</p> - -<p>The two ships set sail from Bristol, or rather from -Kingroad, at the mouth of the river Avon, on Monday, -August 1st, 1708, and arrived at Cork on the 9th in -company with several other ships which had sailed under -the convoy of a man-of-war called the <i>Hastings</i>. Until -the 27th they were busy in thoroughly preparing the -ships for the voyage. Here also they received a number -of men to take the place of others who had been brought -from Bristol, but who, even in the short trip across the -St. George's Channel, had proved themselves worthless as -sailors. When they weighed on the morning of the -28th their crews were unusually strong. Rogers says -that he doubled the number of officers as a provision -against mutinies, and also that there might be plenty of -qualified persons to take command in case of death. -The <i>Duke</i> indeed was so full of men that she was obliged -to leave a portion of the boatswain's stores behind to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> -make room for the people. The proverbial qualities of -the sailor show humorously at the outset of this voyage. -All hands knew that they were to sail immediately, yet -we read that “they were continually marrying whilst -we staid at Cork.” An instance is given of a Dane whom -a Roman Catholic priest had united in holy wedlock to -an Irishwoman. Neither understood the other's tongue, -and they were forced to hire an interpreter before they -could tell each other how fond they were. The inconvenience -of unintelligibility, however, did not cool their -fervour; on the contrary, it was noticed that this Dane -and his Irish wife were more affected by their parting -than any of the other couples, “And,” says the narrative, -“the Fellow continued melancholy for several Days after -we were at Sea. The rest understanding each other, -drank their Cans of Flip till the last Minute, concluded -with a Health to our good Voyages and their happy -Meeting, and then parted unconcerned.” The number of -sailors in both ships when they weighed was three hundred -and thirty-three, one-third of whom were foreigners. -Many of them were by trade tinkers, tailors, haymakers, -pedlars, and fiddlers; there were also a negro and ten boys.</p> - -<p>Rogers was glad at the start to sail under convoy of a -man-of-war. The holds of both the <i>Duke</i> and the <i>Dutchess</i> -were flush to the hatches with provisions; the 'tween-decks -were crowded with cables, with bags of bread, and -casks of water; so that it would have been impossible to -engage an enemy without throwing a large quantity of -the stores overboard. There were one hundred and -eighty-two men aboard the <i>Duke</i> and one hundred and -fifty-one aboard the <i>Dutchess</i>, and the crowding, when -the tonnage of the ships is thought of side by side -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> -with their choked holds and 'tween-decks, must have -rendered life at the start intolerable to the privateersmen. -Despite their condition, however, they agreed to -the proposal of the captain of the man-of-war that they -should cruise a few days off Cape Finisterre; the crews of -the vessels were thereupon mustered, and the nature and -intention of the expedition explained to them, in order -that such of the men as should show themselves discontented -might be sent home as mutineers in the <i>Hastings</i>. -All professed themselves satisfied with the exception of -“one poor Fellow,” says Rogers, “who was to have been -Tything-man that year, and was apprehensive his Wife -would be obliged to pay 40 Shillings for his Default. -But when he saw everybody else easy, and strong hopes -of plunder, he likewise grew quiet by degrees, and drank -as heartily as anybody to the good Success of the -Voyage.” Yet, despite the assurances of the men, a -mutiny happened whilst Rogers was on board a Swedish -vessel he had chased, whose papers exempted her. The -ringleaders were the boatswain and three of the inferior -officers. Ten of the men were put in irons, and a -sailor seized to the “jeers” (as the tackles were called -which hoisted and lowered the fore and main yards) and -punished by the usual process of whipping and pickling. -The outbreak was so serious that all the officers went -armed, not knowing what was next to happen. After -some further trouble and much anxiety the mutiny was -quelled, but it needed all Rogers's valuable qualities as a -commander to deal with it.</p> - -<p>I do not doubt, had Dampier been in charge, that the -disturbance would have ended in the ruin of the voyage. -Of the unruliness of the crews of that day, hundreds of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span> -examples may be gathered from the contemporary records. -The seaman of Dampier's age was undeniably a lion-hearted -man, incomparably intrepid in his conflicts -whether with the elements or with the enemies of his -country; but it is equally true that most of his characteristics -were those of the savage. He was a ruffian in his -behaviour, he was a brute in his tastes, he conversed in -a dialect that was almost wholly formed of oaths, and he -pursued his calling in a skin soaked with the liquor that -was served out to him by the gallon at the time. The -average merchant-sailor of the last century has been -sketched by Fielding in his <i>Voyage to Lisbon</i>. “It is -difficult,” he says, “I think, to assign a satisfactory -reason why sailors in general should of all others think -themselves entirely discharged from the common bands -of humanity, and should seem to glory in the language -and behaviour of savages! They see more of the world, -and have most of them a more erudite education, than is -the portion of landmen of their degree.... Is it that -they think true courage (for they are the bravest fellows -upon earth) inconsistent with all the gentleness of a -humane carriage, and that the contempt of civil order -springs up in minds but little cultivated at the same -time, and from the same principles, with the contempt -of danger and death? Is it——? In short, it is so.” -Happily we may now say it <i>was</i> so! But the reason is -not hard to find. <i>Roderick Random</i> is a full and satisfying -reply to Fielding's interrogatory. The sailor of that day -was a brute because his life was that of a brute. He -was for long months at a time absent from every possible -refining influence. He was fed on provisions such as a -dog would recoil from. His sea-parlour was a black, wet -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> -hole, filled with vermin and loathsome with bad smells. -His punishments were beyond expression inhuman; he -was whipped until his back became a bloody mass, into -which brine was rubbed that his sufferings might be -rendered more exquisite. He was hoisted to a yard-arm, -then dropped suddenly into the water and hauled -violently under the ship's keel, and this was repeated -until he was nearly drowned. He was lashed half-naked -to the mast, and so left to stand for a period often -running into days, insulted by his shipmates, and -exposed to the scorching heat or the frosty sting of the -parallels in which the ship happened to be; he was -loaded with irons and immured for weeks in a dark and -poisonous forepeak, whose only tenants besides himself -were the huge rats of the vessel's hold. It was not, -then, that the sailor regarded himself discharged, as -Fielding suggests, from the common bands of humanity; -he knew nothing of humanity, whether during his brief -and roaring orgies ashore or during his long and bitter -servitude upon the high seas. The traditions of those -days still linger, and the sailor of our own times suffers -to a certain extent from prejudices which were excited -and perpetuated by the bold and reckless savages of the -age of Dampier and, later on, of Fielding. But I am -speaking of the average merchantman; it is readily conceivable -that the buccaneer or privateersman should -have gone far beyond him. He recognised no restrictions -save those which were absolutely essential to his -safety at sea; his profession of piracy rendered him -insensible to cruelty by familiarising him with many of -the most violent forms of it; he slept like a wild animal -upon the hard deck, with a rug for his cover and nothing -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> -else between him and the stars. Dampier grimly says -in his chapter on the winds: “'Tis usual with Seamen -in those parts to sleep on the Deck, especially for -Privateers; among whom I made these Observations. In -Privateers, especially when we are at an Anchor, the -Deck is spread with Mats to lye on each Night. Every -Man has one, some two; and this, with a Pillow for the -Head and a Rug for a Covering, is all the Bedding that -is necessary for Men of that Employ.” For one day -the freebooter might feast on the fifty delicacies of a -plundered ship, and for weeks his food would be so -coarse and innutritious as to fill his eyes with the fires -of famine and pale his cheek to the haggardness of the -corpse. It needed exceptional and extraordinary powers -of command to control such wretches. The qualities of -the men in charge of Rogers and Courtney are significantly -expressed by their early mutiny. Many of them -were seasoned buccaneers—ruffians whom not even the -common hope could keep straight. Fortunately for his -employers, Rogers knew how to handle them.</p> - -<p>On the 18th the two vessels captured a small Spanish -ship which they carried to Teneriffe. There were some -male and female passengers on board, and she was laden -with what would now be called a general cargo. The -English merchants, to whom possibly a portion of this -cargo was consigned, objected to the capture, and represented -that they would be in danger if the bark were -not restored. The agent of the privateers, a man named -Vanbrugh, went ashore and was detained, and it came -very near to Rogers and Courtney bombarding the -town of Oratava. When the inhabitants saw the vessels -standing in with tompions out and all hands at quarters, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span> -they offered to satisfy the demands of the buccaneers, who -thereupon sold the prize for four hundred and fifty dollars -and then made haste to sail away, very glad of the chance -to once more “mind their own concerns,” as Rogers puts -it. On the last day of September they dropped anchor -in the harbour of St. Vincent, one of the Cape de Verde -Islands. Scarcely were they arrived when fresh disturbances -arose amongst the men. The mutiny originated in -altercations touching the distribution of plunder, and -with the hope of terminating these incessant and perilous -brawls, the commanders went to work to frame such -articles as they believed would inspire the seamen with -confidence in the intentions of their superiors. The -paper they drew up is preserved, and it is of interest as -illustrating a form of marine life that for generations -has been as extinct as the ships in which the privateersmen -sailed. First of all it was settled that the plunder -taken on board any prize by either ship should be -equally divided between the companies of both ships. -Any man concealing booty exceeding the value of a -dollar during twenty-four hours after the capture of a -prize was to be severely punished, and to lose his share -of the plunder. Article the fourth provided that “If -any prize be taken by boarding, then whatsoever is -taken shall be every man's own as follows: viz. a Sailor -10 pounds, any Officer below a Carpenter 20 pounds, a -Mate, Gunner, Boatswain, and Carpenter 40 pounds, a -Lieutenant or Master 80 pounds, and the Captains 100 -pounds each, above the gratuity promised by the owners -to such as shall signalise themselves.” It was further -agreed that twenty pieces of eight should be given to -him who first saw a prize of good value. Another -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> -article provided that every man on board, after the -capture of a prize, should be searched by persons -appointed for that purpose. This agreement was -signed by the officers and men of both ships, and -was perhaps the best, if indeed it was not the only, -expedient that Rogers could have hit upon for silencing -the constant mutinous growlings of the rapacious -rogues under his command, unavailing as it subsequently -proved.</p> - -<p>They weighed on October 8th and steered for the -coast of Brazil. In spite of thoughtfully-framed articles, -handsome concessions on the part of the captains, and -the taut discipline of the quarter-deck, the spirit of -mutiny continued strong. The men were too numerous; -the ship's work made demands upon only a portion of -them at a time; the crew had therefore plenty of leisure, -which they employed in haranguing one another into insubordination. -As an example of the difficulty of dealing -with these men, it is related that a fellow named Page, -who was second mate of the <i>Dutchess</i>, was ordered on -board the <i>Duke</i> to exchange posts with a man similarly -rated. Captain Cooke was sent to fetch him; Page -refused to come; a dispute followed, fists were doubled -up and the men fell to blows. They managed at last to -convey the mutinous mate to the <i>Duke</i>, but before they -had time to charge him with his offence, he sprang into -the sea and started to swim back to his ship. He was -recaptured, lifted over the side and punished—probably -spread-eagled and man-handled, after the old fashion. -Disturbances of this kind were not calculated to gild -the prospects of the sober-headed. In the <i>Dutchess</i> they -had eight of the ringleaders of a party (who had proposed -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> -to run away with the ship) under hatches in -irons. There were repeated attempts to desert after the -vessels had come to an anchor on November 18th off the -coast of Brazil. Two sailors escaped into the woods, -but were so terrified by the sight of a number of -monkeys and baboons which they mistook for tigers, -that they plunged into the water to the depth of their -waists, and stood bawling for help until a boat was sent -to fetch them aboard. One thinks of Dampier, hot-tempered -and prone to despondency, talking with his -friend Rogers about the troublesome posture of the -crew, expressing many doubts as to the practicability of -the voyage, and perhaps suggesting adventures remote -from the prescription of the Bristol merchants. An -incident peculiar to the old piratical life steals out in -this part of the story. Early one morning the people -who were on the look-out on the quarter-deck sighted a -canoe gliding silently and shadow-like shorewards. It -was hailed and ordered to come aboard; but no other -answer was returned than the swifter plying of the oars. -The pinnace and yawl were manned and sent in pursuit, -and on approaching the canoe one of them fired into it -to bring it to. It held on bravely nevertheless, but was -captured as its stem smote the beach. One of her -people was a friar, who with quivering knees instantly -owned to possessing a little store of gold, obtained, as -the rough sailors surmised, “by his trade of confessing -the ignorant.” The father was very politely treated, but -he did not seem to value the attention paid him by -Captain Rogers. What he wanted was his gold, which -there is no reason whatever to suppose he ever received. -He talked of obtaining justice in Portugal or England, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> -and was answered by the hurricane shout to the forecastle -to get the ship under-weigh.</p> - -<p>The vessels were now fairly bound for the passage of -the Horn. The crew, who in the torrid zone growled -continuously and piratically in their gizzards, were no -sooner in the high latitudes than they grew reasonable. -It was the summer season in that hemisphere, but -Dampier carried them so far south that all hands nearly -perished of cold. At least a third of the people of both -ships were down with sickness; and they barely escaped -a languishing and miserable end by the good fortune of -prosperous winds, which blew them swiftly northwards -under more temperate heights. It was necessary to -make land speedily for the sake of the men's health, -and Juan Fernandez was fixed upon. They steered for -the island, but the charts differed and they could not -find it. Dampier was as much at a loss as the rest, and -wondered at not being able to hit it, telling how often -he had been there, and how he carried a most accurate -map of the island about with him in his head. In order -to find it they were forced to sail in sight of the coast of -Chili, so as to obtain “a departure,” and then stretch -away west upon the parallel of it, or thereabouts. They -fell in with it at last, but not until after much fruitless -scouring of the seas.</p> - -<p>The name of Dampier is intimately associated with -the passage that now follows. There is nothing, perhaps, -in what may be termed the romantic chapters of the -maritime annals more picturesque and impressive than -the discovery by the <i>Duke</i> and <i>Dutchess</i> of Alexander -Selkirk on the island of Juan Fernandez. The accentuation -the story obtained from the genius of Defoe makes -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> -it immortal. But even as a mere anecdote, without -better skill brought to bear upon it than is found in the -plain relations of Rogers and Cooke, its interest is so -remarkable, it is so brimful of fascinating inspiration, -that of all sea-stories it bids fair to be the longest remembered. -Indeed it must be said that a great number of -people, otherwise pretty well informed, are familiar with -the name of Dampier only in connection with the strange, -surprising adventures of Mr. Alexander Selkirk. The -narrative belongs peculiarly to Dampier's experiences. -Selkirk was mate of the <i>Cinque Ports</i> when her captain, -Stradling, was Dampier's consort, and he was still that -ship's mate when Stradling quarrelled with Dampier -at King's Island in the Bay of Panama. The tale -is related by Woodes Rogers and by Cooke, -<a name="FNanchor_27_27" id="FNanchor_27_27"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_27_27" class="fnanchor">[27]</a>—an old-world -tale indeed, which every schoolboy has by heart; -yet I cannot satisfy myself that its omission on the score -of triteness only would be desirable in a volume that -professes to recount the most striking passages in the -naval career of William Dampier. Cooke's version is -fuller than Rogers's—that is to say, he wrote two -accounts of it, his reference to it in his first volume being -deemed meagre and unsatisfactory by the public, who -had been set agape by the wonderful yarn; but Rogers's -narrative is the better written; besides, as Dampier is -aboard the <i>Duke</i>, it is proper to allow his captain to -speak. The full story is much too long for quotation at -large in these pages; I therefore select the following as -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span> -amongst the most striking passages. They were off the -island on February 1st, 1709, and sent the pinnace -ashore with Captain Dover in charge.</p> - -<p>“As soon as it was dark, we saw a Light ashore. -Our Boat was then about a League from the Island, and -bore away for the Ships as soon as she saw the Lights: -We put our Lights aboard for the Boat, tho' some were -of Opinion the Lights we saw were our Boat's Lights: -But as Night came on it appeared too large for that. -We fired our Quarterdeck Gun and several Musquets, -shewing Lights in our Mizen and Fore Shrouds, that our -Boat might find us whilst we were in the Lee of the -Island: ... All this Stir and Apprehension arose, as -we afterwards found, from one poor naked Man who -passed in our Imagination, at present, for a Spanish -Garrison, a Body of Frenchmen, or a Crew of Pirates.”</p> - -<p>Next day they sent their yawl ashore, and as this -boat did not return, they despatched the pinnace to Seek -her. Rogers then continues:</p> - -<p>“Immediately our Pinnace returned from the Shore -and brought abundance of Crayfish with a Man cloathed -in Goat-skins, who looked wilder than the first Owners -of them. He had been on the Island Four Years and -Four Months, being left there by Captain Stradling in -the <i>Cinque Ports</i>; his Name was Alexander Selkirk, a -Scotsman who had been Master of the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, a -Ship that came here last with Captain Dampier, who told -me that this was the best man in her, and I immediately -agreed with him to be a Mate on board our Ship: 'Twas -he that made the Fire last Night when he saw our -Ships, which he judged to be English.... The reason -of his being left here was a Difference between him and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> -his Captain; which, together with the Ship's being leaky, -made him willing rather to stay here, than go along with -him at first; and when he was at last willing to go the -Captain would not receive him.... He had with him -his Cloaths and Bedding, with a Firelock, some Powder, -Bullets, and Tobacco, a Hatchet, a Knife, a Kettle, a -Bible, some Practical Pieces, and his Mathematical Instruments -and Books. He diverted and provided for -himself as well as he could; but for the first eight Months -had much ado to bear up against Melancholy and the -Terror of being left alone in such a Place. He built two -Huts with Pimento-trees, covered them with long Grass, -and lined them with the Skins of Goats, which he killed -with his Gun as he wanted, so long as his Powder lasted, -which was but a Pound; and that being almost spent, he -got Fire by rubbing two Sticks of Pimento Wood together -upon his Knee. In the lesser Hut, at some Distance -from the other, he dressed his Victuals; and in the -larger he slept, and employed himself in Reading, singing -Psalms, and Praying, so that he said he was a better Christian -while in this Solitude than ever he was before, or -than he was afraid he should ever be again. At first -he never eat anything till Hunger constrained him, partly -for Grief and partly for want of Bread and Salt: Nor -did he go to Bed till he could watch no longer; the -Pimento Wood, which burnt very clear, served him -both for Fire and Candle, and refreshed him with its -fragrant Smell.... By the Favour of Providence and -Vigour of his Youth, being now but thirty Years old, -he came at last to conquer all the Inconveniences of his -Solitude and to be very easy. When his Cloaths were -out he made himself a Coat and a Cap of Goat-skins, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> -which he stitched together with little Thongs of the same -that he cut with his Knife. He had no other Needle -but a Nail; and when his Knife was worn to the Back -he made others as well as he could of some Iron Hoops -that were left ashore, which he beat thin, and ground -upon Stones. Having some Linen Cloth by him, he -sewed him some Shirts with a Nail, and stitched them -with the Worsted of his old Stockings, which he pulled -out on purpose. He had his last Shirt on when we found -him in the Island. At his first coming on board us he -had so much forgot his Language for want of Use that -we could scarce understand him; for he seemed to speak -his Words by halves. We offered him a Dram; but he -would not touch it, having drank nothing but Water -since his being there; and it was some Time before he -could relish our Victuals.”</p> - -<p>It is easy to imagine the interest with which -Dampier would listen to the recital of his old associate's -strange adventures. Cooke tells us that Selkirk had -conceived “irreconcilable aversion to an officer on -board the <i>Cinque Ports</i>, who, he was informed, was on -board the <i>Duke</i>, but not being a principal in command, -he was prevailed upon to waive that circumstance and -accompany Captain Dampier, for whom he had a friendship.” -Whoever the person may have been, the Scotchman's -dislike of him was bitter, and it was to Dampier's -persuasions that Rogers owed the services of a man who -proved of the utmost use to him whilst lying at the -island by enabling him to supply the ships with fresh -provisions and by facilitating the business of taking in -wood and water. It is observable that Rogers styled -Selkirk the governor of the island, a half-humorous and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> -half-pathetic fancy (when one thinks of the desperate -loneliness of the unhappy man), which Defoe afterwards -adopted when making Robinson Crusoe speak of his possessions -and territories, his castles and his dependents.</p> - -<p>The vessels arrived, as we have seen, on February -1st, and by the 3rd a smith's forge had been conveyed -ashore, the coopers were hard at work, and there were -tents, or “pavilions,” erected for the commanders and -the sick. But it was their business not to lose time, -for they had long before—that is to say, when they were -at the Canaries—heard that five large French ships were -coming to search for them in the South Sea; so that -very quickly, all the sick men happily recovering rapidly -with the exception of two who died, they had refitted -their ships, taken in wood and water, and boiled down -and stowed away about eighty gallons of sea-lions' oil to -use for the lamps, that they might save the candles. -This done they set sail, after holding a consultation, -which resulted in further regulations for the preservation -of discipline; and on May 15th captured a little vessel -of sixteen tons, whose master furnished them with the -reassuring news that seven French ships, which had been -cruising off this part of the coast for some time, had six -months previously gone away for the Horn, and it was -added they were not likely to return. There was other -news besides of a kind to make their mouths water, particularly -that the widow of the deceased Viceroy of Peru -would shortly embark for Acapulco with her family and -the whole of her fortune, and probably break her journey -at Payta. They were also told that some months previously -a ship had sailed from Payta for Acapulco with two -hundred thousand pieces of eight on board, together with a -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span> -rich cargo of liquors and flour. More useful information -was conveyed in the statement that a certain Señor Morel -was waiting in a stout ship filled with dry goods for a -vessel expected from Panama richly laden, with a bishop -aboard, and that both craft would put to sea together. -The idea of a bishop was commonly associated in the -buccaneering mind with visions of the sacred splendours -of the altar and the fruits of long years dedicated to -painful hoarding. So it was straightway resolved by -Rogers and his people to start for a cruise off Payta, -meanwhile exercising all possible precaution against discovery -lest larger designs should be spoilt.</p> - -<p>A few days after they had come to this determination -Captain Rogers and Captain Dover fell out. Rogers -says that Dover charged him with insolence; Captain -Cooke, on the other hand, takes Dover's part in his story -of this passage. Difficulties of this kind were incessantly -occurring amongst the buccaneers, and on the eve, too, -very often of the execution of big projects. The quarrel, -however, is not dwelt upon at length; probably the disputants -quickly saw the wisdom of calling a truce that -they might attend to the serious business of what is -grandiloquently termed “the conquest of Guayaquil.” -The great undertaking was settled thus: Dover was to -command a company of seventy marines, Rogers another -company of seventy-one officers and sailors, Courtney a -third company of seventy-three men, and Dampier was -to have charge of the artillery, with a reserve force of -twenty-two seamen. Meanwhile Cooke was to command -the <i>Dutchess</i> with forty-two men, and Captain Robert -Fry the <i>Duke</i> with forty men; bringing up the whole -force to a total of three hundred and twenty. In -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> -addition there were blacks, Indians, and prisoners, to -the number of two hundred and sixty-six; forming an -army of five hundred and eighty-six people for the -captains and officers to look after. The appetites of the -buccaneers were shrewdly sharpened by the understanding -that bedding, wearing apparel, gold rings, buttons, -buckles, gold or silver crucifixes, watches, liquors, and -provisions, should be reckoned fair plunder to be equally -divided; but money, women's earrings, loose diamonds, -pearls, and precious stones, were to be held as belonging -to the merchants. On the 15th there was a smart -engagement between the privateersmen's boats and a -Spanish ship, in which Rogers lost his brother, who was -second lieutenant on board the <i>Duke</i>. The vessel was -captured, and proved to be the craft in which the bishop -had sailed; but he had gone ashore at Point St. Helena, -leaving the ship to carry his property to Lima. She -had seventy blacks and a number of passengers on board. -The lading consisted of bale goods, and a considerable -quantity of pearls were found in her. Captain Cooke -took charge, and the prisoners were divided between the -<i>Duke</i> and <i>Dutchess</i>.</p> - -<p>The little bark of sixteen tons which they had taken -some time previously they named the <i>Beginning</i>, and on -April 21st in the morning she was sent to cruise close -inshore to see all clear for the landing of the men. -The report she brought was that there was a vessel -riding close under the point whose crew, on sighting -the <i>Beginning</i>, had hurried ashore and vanished. On -this the privateersmen rowed towards the town of -Guayaquil. The night drew down dark; the men pulled -stealthily with muffled oars; an hour before midnight -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span> -they saw a light suddenly spring up in the town, towards -which they continued to row very softly until they were -within a mile of it; when on a sudden they were -brought to a halt by hearing a sentinel call to another -and talk to him. Concluding they were discovered, the -buccaneers pulled across the river, and lay still and very -quiet, waiting and watching. In a few minutes the -whole town flashed out into lights, the resonant notes -of a great alarm-bell swang through the soft wind, -several volleys of musketry were discharged, and a large -fire was kindled on the hill to let the town know that -the enemy was in the river. The officers in charge of -the boats, confounded by this unexpected discovery of -their presence, fell to a hot argument and grew so angry -that their voices were heard ashore. The Spaniards, -who could not understand them, sent post-haste for an -Englishman who was then living in the town, and -brought him, very secretly, close to the boats that he -might interpret what was said. But before he arrived -the privateersmen had concluded their arguments. -<a name="FNanchor_28_28" id="FNanchor_28_28"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_28_28" class="fnanchor">[28]</a> -They remained all night in the river, and next day -contented themselves with capturing a number of vessels, -and receiving the governor under a flag of truce to treat -with him about the ransom of the town and ships. But -nothing came of the interview; and at four o'clock -in the afternoon, on April 23d, the whole force of -the buccaneers landed and attacked the place. The -Spaniards fired a single volley and fled; the English -pressed forward and seized the enemy's cannon, from -which every gunner had run saving one, an Irishman, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> -who gallantly stuck to his post until he dropped mortally -wounded. The seamen marched through both towns—the -Spaniards flying pell-mell before them firing the -houses as they tramped forwards, and leaving gangs of -men behind them to guard the churches. There was a -thick wood on the right of the place, and all night long -the enemy continued to fire from among the trees at the -English sentries, but without injuring a man. From -time to time bodies of horse and foot showed themselves, -but only to wheel about and fly to the first musket -levelled at them. Meanwhile a party of twenty-two men -went in the <i>Dutchess's</i> pinnace up the river, and sacked -every house they came across. The enemy was easily -kept at bay, and the buccaneers had no trouble in sending -booty and provisions in quantities to their ships. In -due course messengers, flourishing flags of truce, came to -talk about ransoming the town, and after much discussion, -the offer of thirty thousand dollars was accepted, -of which twenty-five thousand were paid.</p> - -<p>The depredations of the buccaneers had been indeed -serious enough to threaten the townspeople with absolute -ruin if the sacking was not speedily arrested. Scarcely -had they withdrawn from Guayaquil when they took a -ship full of meal, sugar, and other commodities, making -the fourteenth prize they had captured in those seas! -The town itself handsomely repaid the labour and danger -of assaulting it; about twelve hundred pounds' worth -of plate and jewellery, many bales of valuable dry goods, -and a great store of merchandise of all kinds, exclusive -of wines, waggon-loads of cocoa, several ships on the -stocks, and two freshly-launched vessels of four hundred -tons each, valued at eighty thousand crowns. But -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> -for their approach having been discovered they might -have found even a handsomer account than this in the -capture of the place, for it afterwards came to their ears -that the inhabitants in their flight carried away with -them money, plate, and jewels to the value of two hundred -thousand pieces of eight. Indeed the unhappy -Spaniards seem to have been plundered on all sides, for -in going the rounds the privateersmen took a number of -negroes and Indians laden with goods, which they -promptly confessed were stolen, “and we were afterwards -informed that in the Hurry the Inhabitants had given -Plate and Money to Blacks to carry out of the Town, -and could never hear of it after.”</p> - -<p>On May 11th we find Rogers, Dampier, and their companions -running before a strong gale of wind for the -Galapagos Islands. A number of the crew were prostrated -with a malignant fever contracted at Guayaquil, -where, about a month before the buccaneers' arrival, -there had raged an epidemic disease of which ten or -twelve persons perished every day; until the floors of the -churches being filled with bodies, the people dug a great -hole close to one of the structures where sailors had been -stationed as guards. In this hole lay a pile of putrefied -corpses, and the seamen only quitted their posts to return -to their ships poisoned. On the 18th they were off a -couple of large islands, and sent boats to seek for fresh -water. The errand was fruitless, though the searchers -went three or four miles into the country in their hunt. -Their business now was to go where fresh water was to -be had, for of the two crews there were no less than -one hundred and twenty men down with fever; Captain -Courtney was dangerously ill, and Captain Dover was -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> -devoting his leisure to prescribing for him. So they made -sail for Gorgona, capturing a few vessels as they proceeded, -and, anchoring on June 13th, at once distributed their sick -amongst the prizes, and set to work to careen and repair -the <i>Duke</i> and <i>Dutchess</i>. By the 28th they had restored -their provisions and mounted their guns, having in fourteen -days caulked, rigged, discharged, and reloaded their -ships; a smart piece of work that greatly astonished the -Spanish prisoners, who said that their people usually took a -couple of months to careen a vessel at ports where every -necessary appliance for this business was to be had. The -unhappy captives indeed, whilst watching or assisting -the English, would scarcely marvel at their triumphs by -land and sea when they observed their ceaseless and -vigilant activity,—how, without regard to the climate, -they worked from the break of day till darkness stopped -their hands, and how, with swift and unerring judgment, -they devised expedients for the remedying of difficulties -which in the eyes of their astonished prisoners appeared -at the time to be insurmountable. “The Natives of -Old Spain,” says Rogers, “are accounted but ordinary -Mariners; but here they are much worse, all the Prizes -we took being rather cobbled than fitted out for the Sea; -so that had they such Weather as we often meet with in -the European Seas in Winter, they could scarce ever -reach a Port again as they are fitted; but they Sail here -Hundreds of Leagues.” Admissions of this kind are as -good as saying that seizures in the South Sea went, as -achievements, but a very little way beyond the mere act -of hailing a ship and bidding her strike. The boldness -of the English buccaneers is not very conspicuous in -such encounters. Most of the vessels they took were -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> -navigated by crews of yellow, nervous men, utterly -worthless as seamen, with neither heart nor muscle -as combatants; whilst the cabins were crowded with -priests, women, and sea-sick merchants, who increased -the disorder caused by the appearance of a privateer by -lamentations and tears, by wild appeals to the saints, -and passionate adjurations to the shivering crew. The -capture of such craft was as easy as catching flies. The -qualities of the English South Seamen of those days must -be sought in the records of their assaults on land, their -boarding of tall and powerfully armed galleons, their -murderous resistance to the attacks of ships-of-state of -great tonnage crowded with soldiers and sailors and -carrying ten guns to the Rover's one.</p> - -<p>Whilst Rogers and his people were at Gorgona they -equipped one of their prizes named the <i>Havre de Grace</i> -as a third ship to act with the <i>Duke</i> and <i>Dutchess</i>. She -was called the <i>Marquis</i>, and Captain Cooke took command -of her. The business of fitting her out as a war vessel -occupied them from June 29th to July 9th, and when -she was finished they made a holiday of it, sitting -down to a hearty meal and drinking the Queen's -health with loud huzzas, and then the health of the -owners with more huzzas, and then their own healths -until their eyes danced in their heads. Spite of the -general joy, however, the <i>Marquis</i> proved something of -a failure, for Cooke says that her masts were new and -too heavy for her, and that being badly stowed she was -exceedingly tender, by which is meant that she heeled -or lay over unduly to light pressures, and scarcely made -headway when on a wind, “so that the <i>Duke</i> and -<i>Dutchess</i> were fain to spare a great deal of sail for me to -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span> -keep up with them.” Before lifting their anchors the -commanders and officers of the ships met together to -value the plunder in order to divide it. One kind of -commodities they appraised at four hundred pounds; -the silver-hilted swords, buckles, snuff-boxes, buttons, -and silver plate at seven hundred and forty-three pounds -fifteen shillings, taking the piece of eight at four shillings -and sixpence. By this time there were upwards of eighty -thousand pounds' worth of property and treasure on -board destined for the owners. Dampier, we may -well suppose, shared in the high hopes and good spirits -of his shipmates. This was the only promising privateering -expedition he had ever been engaged in, and if -their luck continued he might reasonably flatter himself -with the belief that he would even yet snatch an independency -out of the reluctant maw of the sea. They -had rid themselves of their prisoners by sending them -away in some of the prizes. The female captives spoke -well of the treatment they had received, and ingenuously -confessed that they had met with far more courtesy and -civility than their own countrymen would have extended -to persons in their condition. The honourable and humane -behaviour of the English buccaneers towards their female -prisoners became a tradition, which was perpetuated and -confirmed by the wise policy of Commodore Anson. -<a name="FNanchor_29_29" id="FNanchor_29_29"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_29_29" class="fnanchor">[29]</a></p> - -<p>They sailed on August 11th, and nothing noteworthy -happened till September 6th, on which date we find -Dampier dining with Captain Rogers on board the -<i>Duke</i> in company with Cooke and Courtney. Cooke -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> -complained bitterly of the crankness of his ship the -<i>Marquis</i>, and objected to the evolutions of the other -vessels which obliged him to tack. They were bound -to the Galapagos, and he affirmed that they could have -made the islands without beating to windward. Dampier -said, No; he knew where those islands were, and had -described them in one of his voyages; and he asserted -that they were now to the westward of them. The -others agreed with Cooke, but Dampier was pilot, and -was therefore suffered to have his way. They were -right and he was wrong; but an error of a hundred -miles or so was reckoned a very trifling blunder in those -hearty, plodding times. A curious old sea-picture is -suggested by this discussion in the cabin of the <i>Duke</i>. -The rough bulkheads, the low upper deck, the quaint -lanthorn swinging over the table from a beam, and -indicating by its oscillations the ponderous rolling of the -tall, squab, round-bowed fabric; the privateersmen sitting -round the table attired in the wild and picturesque -apparel of the early South Seamen—these are features to -bring the scene in clear outlines before the eye of the -imagination. One beholds them poring upon their old-fashioned -charts, pointing to the singular configurations -of the mainland and islands with hairy hands, and disputing -with little anxiety on a difference between easting -and westing measuring as many leagues as the space -from the Lizard to the Western Islands. Indeed the -real flavour and charm of the buccaneer's life are not to -be expressed by any mere method of historical treatment. -The hand of the artist is wanted, with imagination -vigorous and discerning enough to strictly correspond -with the traditionary truth.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> - -<p>On their arrival at the Galapagos they took in a good -supply of turtle, many of which were upwards of four -hundred pounds in weight. Rogers writes of the -turtle as if he had never seen it before. “I do not,” -he says, “affect giving Relations of strange Creatures, -so frequently done by others; but where an uncommon -Creature falls in my Way I cannot omit it.” -This is how the captain describes the “uncommon creature.”</p> - -<p>“The Creatures are the ugliest in Nature; the Shell, -not unlike the Top of an old Hackney-coach, as black as -Jet; and so is the outside Skin, but shriveled and very -rough. The Legs and Neck are long and about the -Bigness of a Man's Wrist; and they have Clubbed Feet -as big as one's Fist, shaped much like those of an Elephant, -with five Nails on the Forefeet and but Four behind, -and the Head little, and Visage small like Snakes; and -look very old and black. When at first surprised they -shrink their Head, Neck, and Legs, under their Shell.”</p> - -<p>This is the kind of simplicity that makes the perusal -of the old voyages wonderfully refreshing and delightful. -The old fellows looked at life with the eyes of a child -but with the intelligence of a man; and so it happens -that their representations combine a most perfect and -fascinating simplicity with the highest possible qualities -of acuteness and sagacity.</p> - -<p>On October 1st the ships were off the Mexican -coast. When the form of the land grew visible Dampier -told Rogers that it was hereabouts he attacked the -Manila ship in the <i>St. George</i>. He might have been -right, but Rogers does not speak as if he thought so, for -he says: “Captain Dampier indeed had been here, but -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> -it was a long time ago, and therefore he seemed to know -but little of the Matter; yet when he came to land in -Places he recollected them very readily.” They suffered -much from scarcity of fresh water, and sent the pinnace -to explore some islands—the Tres Marias—lying off -Cape Corrientes. On one of them they found a human -skull, which was supposed to have belonged to an Indian -who, with another poor wretch of his own race, had -been left there by Captain Swan some twenty-three -years before. Dampier of course well remembered the -circumstance; he had been with Swan in the <i>Cygnet</i> at -the time, and could recollect that provisions being scarce -they had left the unhappy Indians to make, as Rogers -says, a miserable end on a desert Island. To judge, -however, from the refreshments these uninhabited spots -yielded, the Indians could not have perished from -starvation. The buccaneers met with hares, turtle-doves, -pigeons, and parrots, on all of which they fared sumptuously. -The sick thrived, and the general health of -the crews was never better. On November 1st they -were in view of the high coast of California. It was -much about the date when Sir Thomas Candish had -taken the Manila ship, and, strangely enough, their keels -ploughed the very tract of water in which that remarkable -feat had been achieved. The memory, aged to us, -but lacking nothing of its old lustre, was to those men -comparatively recent, and the recollection was one to -animate them with great hopes and stern resolves. -They were indeed bent now on the adventure whose -successful issue had loaded Candish's ship with treasure. -They were on the look-out for the galleon, and that -nothing might be omitted to render fortune propitious, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> -they again put in force the rules which had formerly -been laid down for cruising, established fresh regulations, -and made clear every dubious item in their programme -of proceedings and plunder. It was this galleon that -was to make their fortunes; she it was also that formed -the grand hope of the Bristol committee of merchant -adventurers; and the design of capturing her was the -mainspring of the whole expedition. After a consultation -it was agreed that they should dispose themselves thus: -the <i>Marquis</i> was to keep off the land at a distance of -from six to nine leagues at least; the <i>Duke</i> was to cruise -at a range that would cover forty-five miles; and the -<i>Dutchess</i> was to occupy the waters between her consorts. -There were, of course, false alarms; as, for instance, on -the 28th the <i>Marquis</i> fired a gun, which was promptly -answered by the <i>Dutchess</i>, on which the <i>Duke</i> hauled her -wind for the coast. It then turned out that the <i>Marquis</i> -had mistaken the <i>Duke</i> for the Manila ship, and fired as -a signal for the <i>Dutchess</i> to chase. They had to wait a -long time before the vessel they wanted hove in sight. -It was now a month later than the usual time of her -appearance in this part of the sea where she was being -waited for, and the anxiety of the buccaneers was increased -by their inability to obtain any intelligence of her. -Provisions were again scarce, and even on short allowance -there was barely bread enough to last for seventy days,—a -serious matter in the face of the inevitable run later on -to the Ladrone Islands, which promised to occupy fifty -days at the very least. This most unfortunate dearth of -stores, coupled with the growing dejection and mutinous -sulkiness of the men, determined Rogers and his brother -commanders to give themselves another week's chance, -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> -and then, if the galleon did not appear, to sail away to -the Indies.</p> - -<p>In order to save time the <i>Dutchess</i> was despatched to -a convenient bay to take in water and wood, etc., that -as one ship obtained these stores another might take -her place, thus always leaving two on the look-out. By -the 4th she had taken in what was necessary, and -the <i>Marquis</i> replaced her to refit. Until December -21st nothing happened; then on the morning of that -day, when the <i>Duke</i> was in the act of shifting her -helm for the place where the <i>Marquis</i> was refitting, the -look-out man aloft hailing the deck, shouted that he saw -a sail bearing west about twenty miles distant. The -English ensign was immediately hoisted, and in a few -minutes both the <i>Duke</i> and the <i>Dutchess</i> were standing -towards the stranger; but on a sudden it fell stark calm, -and as conjecture was hopeless and expectation insupportable, -the pinnace was manned and sent to see what -she could make of the distant ship. In reading Rogers's -account, you find your sympathies curiously enlisted on -behalf of those two stagnated buccaneering vessels, and -witness with but little effort of imagination the crowds -of weather-darkened, fiery-eyed men, some in the rigging, -some at the masthead, some leaning in impetuous pose -against the rail, staring their very hearts out under the -sharp of their hands at the cotton-white outline, glimmering -like the tip of a sea-bird's pinion on the edge of the -distant gleaming horizon, whence the swell rolls in folds -of oil to the wet and flashing sides of the ships; the -officers on the quarter-deck peering their hardest through -the lean and unsatisfying perspective-glasses of those -days; Dampier and Rogers together rehearsing their -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> -intentions and recalling their experiences in voices -subdued by excitement; above all, the old, worn, but -gallant <i>Duke</i> wearily dipping her faded, blistered bends -to the swing of the breathless sea, making in anticipation -of the withering roar of her ordnance, now grinning -mutely along her sides, a little thunder of her own with -the beating of her dark and well-patched canvas against -the huge tops and massive cross-trees of her swaying -masts. “All the rest of the Day,” says Rogers, “we -had very little Wind, so that we made no great Way; -and the Boat not returning, kept us in a languishing -Condition, not being able to determine whether the -Sail was our Consort, the <i>Marquis</i>, or the <i>Acapulco</i> Ship. -Our Pinnace was still in Sight, and we had nothing to -do but to watch her Motions: We could see that she -made towards the <i>Dutchess's</i> Pinnace, which rowed to -meet her. They lay together some time, and then the -<i>Dutchess's</i> Pinnace went back to their Ship which gave -us great Hopes.” An officer was sent to the <i>Dutchess</i> to -ascertain what the stranger was, and to concert measures, -if she should prove an enemy, for engaging her. When -he was gone Rogers hoisted the French colours and -fired a gun; the strange vessel answered, which satisfied -them that she was not the <i>Marquis</i>. It is manifest from -this that these privateersmen had no private code of -signals amongst them. Indeed detection seems to have -been entirely a matter of the exhibition of the national -bunting, in which there was just the same sort of -deception then as there was in later years, and as there -ever will be. Shortly after the ship had responded, the -officer returned with the report that she was the Manila -galleon. The statement fired the spirits of the crew; -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> -they hove all their melancholy reflections on the shortness -of their provisions overboard, and could think of -nothing but the figures they would make when they -arrived home with the vast treasure out yonder, stowed -snugly away under their hatches. “Every moment,” -says Rogers, “seemed an hour till we came up with her.” -It was arranged that the two pinnaces should stick to -her skirts all night and burn flares, that their own and -the position of the chase might be known; and it was -further settled that if the <i>Duke</i> and <i>Dutchess</i> were so -fortunate as to come up with her together they were to -board her at once: a resolution which Dampier, recalling -his experiences in the <i>St. George</i>, was pretty sure to -strengthen by his advice.</p> - -<p>At dawn the chase was upon the weather-bow of the -<i>Duke</i>, about three miles away, and the <i>Dutchess</i> within a -couple of miles to leeward of her. Rogers threw his -sweeps over and rowed his ship for above an hour; a -light breeze then sprang up and softly blew the vessel -towards the enemy. There was no liquor in the ship, -nothing to fortify the spirits in the shape of a dram; so -a large kettle of chocolate was boiled and served out to -the crew, who, when they had emptied their pannikins, -went to prayers. But whilst they were in the midst of -their devotions they were interrupted by a broadside -from the Spaniards. It is not often that one reads of -the English buccaneers going to prayers before falling -to their business of slaughtering and plundering. Perhaps -they had learnt to despise this kind of ceremony -from the behaviour of the French freebooters, who were -wont to sing Te Deum and force captive priests to -celebrate Mass in the cathedrals and churches which they -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span> -had despoiled. If the Spaniards saw Rogers's privateersmen -on their knees, something of irony might have been -intended by their manner of cutting short their worship -and supplications. The Don was fully prepared; his -guns loaded, his little army of men at stations, and casks -of gunpowder hanging at his yard-arms ready to fall and -explode when the attempt should be made to board. -The action began at eight o'clock, and the <i>Duke</i> for some -time fought the galleon single-handed. The conflict was -a brief one. The Spaniards had no stomach, and after -Rogers had poured in a few broadsides the enemy -“struck her colours two-thirds down.” His flag was -thus flying when the <i>Dutchess</i> came up and fired five -guns at the big ship along with a volley of small shot. -It was mere waste of powder; the galleon had already -submitted and was silent. The victory, it must be -admitted, was cheaply earned, yet there is little doubt -that such was the temper of the buccaneers they would -have fought to the last man for this golden prize. She -was a large vessel named <i>Nostra Seniora de la Incarnacion -Disenginao</i>, mounting twenty guns and twenty swivels, and -carrying one hundred and ninety-three men, of whom nine -were killed and several wounded. The fight lasted three -glasses, that is three hours. Rogers was shot through the -left cheek; the bullet destroyed the greater part of his -upper jaw, and some of his teeth were found upon the deck -where he fell. He was obliged to give his orders in writing -to hinder the flow of blood, and to escape the agony of -attempting to articulate. Only one man besides himself -was wounded. Having repaired the trifling damage -they had sustained, they steered for the harbour -where the <i>Marquis</i> lay, and anchored. They found -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> -their consort fully equipped and ready to sail, and -her people in good spirits and eager for action. At -night a consultation was held respecting the disposal of -the hostages, and as a second Manila ship was daily -expected, they debated plans for capturing her. After -some talk it was agreed that the hostages should be set -at liberty; but the discussion about the expected galleon -ended in something like a quarrel. Rogers, speaking in -the heat of the moment, had censured Courtney for not -having shown the promptitude that was necessary in -attacking the <i>Nostra Seniora</i>. This Courtney of course -resented as a reflection upon his honour. When, then, -Rogers proposed to cruise in the <i>Dutchess</i> for the coming -Manila ship, Courtney insisted upon making the search -in the <i>Marquis</i>. The question was put to the vote, -Rogers's proposal overruled, and his people obliged, to -their great mortification, to remain in the harbour. -This incident is related so obscurely both by Cooke -and Rogers that I confess I do not fully understand it. -The <i>Duke</i> was in good condition, and why the three instead -of the two ships did not start on a cruise which, -as the sequel proves, demanded even more than their -united strength, is a riddle I am unable to solve.</p> - -<p>On Christmas Day the <i>Dutchess</i> and the <i>Marquis</i> put -to sea, and when they were gone Rogers posted two -sentinels on the top of a hill that he might instantly be -apprised of a third sail heaving in sight. Before twenty-four -hours had elapsed the signal was made, and in hot -haste Rogers started to the assistance of his consorts, -though the stout-hearted sailor was in no condition for -further adventures just then. He was indeed so weak -from loss of blood that he could scarcely stand. His -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> -head and throat were swollen, and the effort to speak -caused him excruciating pain; but he turned a deaf ear -to the entreaties of the officers and surgeons that he -would remain in harbour on board the prize. The -galleon was in sight at daybreak, and by noon the -<i>Marquis</i> had succeeded in bringing her to an engagement. -The wind was light, and it was almost impossible to -manœuvre the vessels; so that though the <i>Dutchess</i> and -the <i>Marquis</i> continued at intervals to fire at the Manila -ship until dusk, the <i>Duke</i> even at midnight was still at -a considerable distance from the enemy. When the day -broke the wind shifted, and Rogers was able to bring -his guns to bear. The fighting was now severe, and -continued so for four hours; the galleon was hotly -defended, though her people lay so concealed in their -close quarters that the privateersmen could scarcely -make any use of their small arms. It was only when a -head appeared or a port was opened that they found a -mark for their muskets. The eagerness of the buccaneers -defeated their seamanship. Their vessels were -repeatedly falling foul of one another and throwing -the crews into disorder. The guns of the <i>Marquis</i> were -so small that her firing was to little or no purpose. -At last it came to Rogers signalling to Courtney and -Cooke to come on board him with other officers; and -then every man telling of the injuries his ship had sustained, -and all admitting that it would jeopardise too -many lives to board or attempt to board the lofty galleon, -it was resolved to let her go—that is to say, they agreed -to keep her company till night, and then in the darkness -to lose her, and make the best of their way back to the -prize they had already secured. In sober truth the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span> -enemy had proved too many for them. The <i>Duke's</i> -mainmast was so wounded that Rogers expected every -moment to see it go by the board. Her rigging, too, -was so shattered by shot that she had to sheer off in -order to knot and splice, being scarcely manageable. -The <i>Dutchess</i> also had her foremast badly wounded, her -sails were in rags, and the ends of her standing rigging -were trailing overboard. Further, there were not above -one hundred and twenty men in all three ships fit for -boarding, “and those but weak,” says Rogers, “having -been very short of Provisions;” and that nothing might -be wanting to complete the list of the reasons of their -failure, their ammunition was very nearly expended. -Rogers was again wounded, this time in his left foot. In -the <i>Dutchess</i> they had twenty men killed and disabled. -The <i>Marquis</i>, on the other hand, came off without the -loss of a single person. The galleon was a handsome -ship, very large, carrying the flag of the admiral of -Manila. She was making the voyage for the first time. -Her name was the <i>Vigonia</i>; she was pierced for sixty -guns, forty of which were mounted, along with an equal -number of brass swivels. Her crew numbered over four -hundred and fifty men, and there were many passengers -besides. It was supposed that she was worth ten -millions of dollars; but it is doubtful whether, even -if the buccaneers had succeeded in boarding, they -would have taken her, for Rogers says: “After my -Return into Europe I met in Holland with a Sailor who -had been on board the large Ship when we engaged her; -and he let us into the Secret that there was no taking -her; for the Gunner kept constantly in the Powder-room, -declaring that he had taken the Sacrament to blow the -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> -Ship up if we boarded her; which made the Men, as may -be supposed, exceedingly resolute in her defence. I was -the more ready to credit what this Man told me because -he gave as regular and circumstantial account of the -Engagement as I could have done from my Journal.” -<a name="FNanchor_30_30" id="FNanchor_30_30"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_30_30" class="fnanchor">[30]</a></p> - -<p>On the first day of the new year, 1710, they were again -in harbour alongside their great prize; and now being -anxious to leave these seas, they put their prisoners on -board one of the smaller captures with water and provisions -enough to last them for a voyage to Acapulco, and -then addressed themselves to the urgent business of repairing -and making all ready for their departure. They -renamed the galleon the <i>Batchelor</i>, and a quarrel arose -touching the appointment of a commander for her, a -post regarded by them all as of dignity and importance. -Captain Dover, asserting his claims as a merchant adventurer, -and representing the considerable sum of money -he had risked in this expedition, demanded the berth. -Rogers and others, among whom, no doubt, would be -Dampier, objected that Dover knew nothing whatever -of navigation, and voted for Cooke. Finally, at the -cost of many high words and much strong feeling, it was -decided at a full council that Captain Fry and Captain -Stretton should have entire control of the navigation of -the <i>Batchelor</i> under Captain Dover, Alexander Selkirk -to be the master and Joseph Smith the chief mate. The -island of Guam was then fixed upon as a rendezvous, -and on January 10th the buccaneers weighed for a run -to the East Indies.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span></p> - -<p>They were when they started in no very enviable -condition. Their stores were scanty; their live stock -consisted of four hens; and of wine or spirits they had -barely the contents of a dozen bottles. The rations -were limited to a pound and a half of flour and a small -piece of meat for a mess of five men, with three pints of -water a man on twenty-four hours for drink and cooking. -Rogers was ill with his wounds, and many of the crew -were sick and weak and unfit to do the work of the ship. -Hunger drove the men into robbery. A few days after -they sailed some pieces of pork were missed. Fortunately, -in the interests of justice, the thieves were discovered, -and punished by every man of the watch giving them a -stroke of the cat-o'-nine-tails.</p> - -<p>What follows now is little more than a journal of the -voyage, rendered for the most part tedious by description -and by the introduction of incidents of little or no -interest. Dampier's name seldom occurs; when it is -mentioned it is always in reference to something that -helps to accentuate characteristics noticeable in his own -account of his adventures. For instance, in April, when -they were off a point of land which they took to be the -north-east point of Celebes, the vessel was proving very -leaky; which, added to the general ignorance of the -ship's situation, filled the crew with melancholy and -irritation. “Captain Dampier,” says Rogers, “discouraged -us very much: He had been twice here, and -therefore what he said among the Seamen passed without -Dispute, and he laid it down as a thing certain that if -we could not reach Ternate or find the Island of Tula it -was impossible for us to get any Refreshment, there -being nothing to be met with on the Coast of New -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span> -Guiney.” It had been thus with Dampier whilst buccaneering -off the New Holland shore; thus had it been -with him too when hunting for water on the sand-hills -of the Western Australian seaboard, his foot on the -margin of a vast region of earth which he had neither -temper nor heart to explore, though he had travelled -many thousands of miles in a crazy ship and with a -troublesome crew for no other purpose. This trick of -discouraging the people he led, or was one of, is the -secret of his failure as a commander and explorer. -Rogers, a bolder and more hopeful, and certainly in -many respects an equally sagacious man, was not likely -to feel grateful for Dampier's melancholy shakes of the -head, and his gloomy, prognosticating countenance; but -his own experiences left him nothing to say, for though -the ships spent the best part of the month of May off -the coast of New Guinea, all that Rogers could observe -that seemed to him worth mentioning was, “It is most -certain these Islands, which are scattered through the -Streights, and few or none of which are peopled, would -all of them bear Spice, and afford immense Riches to -this Nation, if they were settled.”</p> - -<p>They were in great distress whilst they were in -these seas. The men mutinously resented the wise -reduction in the quantity of the food served out to -them; and to save serious disturbance Rogers was -forced to return to the old scale. They sighted land, -but did not know what it was, nor could Dampier -help them. Having searched for Borou, an island -of the Indian Archipelago, they resolved to steer to -Batavia, touching at Bouton for provisions. Accordingly -they stood away to the south-west before a strong -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> -gale of wind at east. But their progress was obstructed -by some small islands, into one of which they must have -run in the dead of night had the weather not cleared -suddenly and discovered it to them. It was not until -Tuesday, June 17th, 1710, that they arrived at Batavia. -At sight of the town the crews were so rejoiced that -they could do nothing but hug and shake one another -by the hand, and bless their stars and question if there -was such a paradise in all the world; “And this,” says -Rogers, “because they had Arrack for Eight Pence a -Gallon, and Sugar at a Penny a Pound.”</p> - -<p>The ships were in a deplorable condition, particularly -the <i>Marquis</i>, which was so rotten with worms and wear -that it became necessary to hire another craft to carry -her lading. They sailed from Batavia on October 14th, -and proceeded direct to the Cape of Good Hope, where -they arrived without misadventure and without any incident -occurring in the passage that is worth repeating. -Shortly after they had entered Table Bay twelve sail of -Dutch ships came in, which, with the English vessels then -at anchor, made altogether twenty-three ships riding in -the spacious and beautiful haven. The picture is about one -hundred and seventy years old, and it is difficult to realise -that the ocean traffic of those dim times to the Indies by -way of the Cape should have been considerable enough to -crowd the spacious surface of the waters on whose margin -stand the ivory-white structures of Cape Town. Retrospect -is often corrective. We have a right to compliment ourselves -upon what we have done and are doing; but it does -not seem to me that our marine achievements can be compared -as illustrations of human skill and determination -with the examples of the adventurous genius of an age -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> -when the greater portion of the antipodean world lay in -darkness; when navigation was little better than guesswork; -when the art of shipbuilding was crude, rude, -and primitive; when there was nothing but the heavens -to consult for weather; when the tyranny of the winds -was only to be dominated by a kind of perseverance that -must be ranked among the lost qualities of human -nature. Despite these conditions the early mariner -crowded the oceans with fabrics laden with the produce -of the known continents, and rolled stubbornly to his -hundred ports, often in suffering and often in distress -indeed; yet on the whole freer, in his valiant ignorance, -from disaster than is the sailor of the current hour. -There is no longer need for ships to halt and bait at -Table Bay. The propeller thrashes them to their destination -with the punctuality of the railway-train; or they -are wafted by pyramids of canvas—the graceful and -elegant result of centuries of experiment—on a journey -to New Zealand or Japan, which they complete in less -time than the old seafarer took to find his way from the -English Channel to Madeira. But the very existence of -the facilities of the engine-room, of the nimbleness of -the clipper-moulded keel, of the capacity of the towering -and exquisitely-calculated heights of cloths to snatch a desired -power of propulsion from the teeth of the antagonistic -gale, is, I take it, an admission of our own weakness -when we contrast the ocean-machinery with which -science has dowered us with the contrivances with -which the early seamen triumphed over the forces of -Nature and created new worlds as heritages for a self-complacent -posterity. Those twenty-three ships at -anchor in Table Bay, surveyed by the eyes of Dampier -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span> -and his toil-worn comrades, make but a little part of a -great marine pageant; yet it is a detail to constrain the -gaze. Fancy reconstructs them; they cease to be visionary; -they float before us as substantial fabrics, brave with -pennons and the glitter of brass guns and the gay raiment -of their time. They illustrate the most strenuous of all -the periods of the world's maritime life; for the infancy -of navigation was over, and it had already put on the -proportions of a youthful giant, the impulse of whose -unripened vitality was urging it to extraordinary efforts.</p> - -<p>Before the ships under Rogers sailed, six more vessels -entered the bay, along with several English Indiamen -and a large Portuguese carrack from Brazil; and when -the hour of departure came the homeward-bound (in -all, English and Dutch, numbering twenty-five) rolled -stately under swelling canvas out of Table Bay,—a -spectacle that, remote as it is, and visible only to the -gaze of fancy, cannot but stir the imagination when one -thinks of the floating castles, with their swelling sails -and their brilliant streamers, as the van of the ever-growing -procession that was in time to whiten the -remotest seas, and crowd the harbours of countries of -which some were then without the impress of a European -foot.</p> - -<p>The ships progressed merrily. They touched at St. -Helena, and seven days later at Ascension, and after a -passage of three months from the Cape of Good Hope -dropped anchor in the Texel. Rogers and his brother -commanders had now to act with much circumspection; -they were informed by letters from their owners that -the English East India Company, jealous of their success, -had appointed a secret committee to inspect their charter -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> -as to privileges; they were also enjoined to exercise the -utmost caution in respect of the Dutch East India Company, -and strict orders were issued that no officer or -sailor should on any pretence whatever be suffered to -take any goods on shore, or purchase the least trifle -from any stranger who visited the ships. They remained -in Holland until September 30th, 1711, then -sailed from the Texel under convoy of four of Her -Britannic Majesty's ships, and on October 14th the -<i>Duke</i> and <i>Dutchess</i> arrived off Erith, at which place -the <i>Batchelor</i> had come to an anchor some short time -before. Thus ended one of the most memorable of all -the voyages ever undertaken by the English buccaneers. -The cargo and treasure obtained by this expedition -were valued at between three and four hundred thousand -pounds, and Cooke tells us that, after allowing for all -deductions, such as cost of convoy, agency, lawsuits, and -thefts, the net profits amounted to one hundred and -seventy thousand pounds.</p> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span></p> - - -<div class="chapter"> - <h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII</h2> -</div> - - -<p class="ac noindent smaller">CONCLUSION</p> - - -<p class="noindent"><span class="sc">As</span> Dampier -steps over the ship's side the reader is prepared -to learn that no more is heard of him. He is a -shadow amongst a congregation of shades, and when he -quits his comrades his first stride carries him into -absolute obscurity, and he vanishes like a puff of tobacco -smoke. One would be glad to be able to do more -than give a mere handshake of farewell to such an -English sailor as this. It would be pleasant to be able -to follow him, to learn what sort of life he led, what -new adventures, if any, he met with, what his health -was, and what his means, the pleasures he took ashore, -and the esteem in which he was held by those with -whom he conversed before that dark old soldier Death -quietly beckoned him out. I think we may take it that -he never married whilst he pursued his sea-life; but -when he came ashore for good he was tolerably advanced -in years, and it would not be safe to conjecture -what he did then. He had never known the comforts -of a home, and the old seaman might find a kind of -excuse for marrying in that reflection. Captain Cooke -says that the net profits of Rogers's voyage (see previous -page) were fairly divided amongst the officers and -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> -crew. This is to be doubted. Before the officers and -crew touched a penny the Bristol merchants, of whom -there was a great number in the venture, would take -their share, and we may suppose that their dividend -did not leave the balance a very big one for the many -people who had claims upon it. A man named Hatley, -who sailed in 1719 with Shelvocke and Clipperton, was -wont to declare that “he knew by woeful experience -how they were used on board the <i>Duke</i> and <i>Dutchess</i>; -that they were never paid one-tenth of their due, and -that it plainly appeared how a certain gentleman designed -to treat them, by his bullying them, and endeavouring -to force them from Gravesend before they had received -their river pay and impress money.” -<a name="FNanchor_31_31" id="FNanchor_31_31"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_31_31" class="fnanchor">[31]</a> Dampier's claims -were no doubt ranked amongst those of the officers; -but whatever his share might have been, it is not very -conceivable that, invested, it yielded him an income -sufficient for his plainest requirements.</p> - -<p>He was fifty-nine years old when he returned from -his last voyage. Even assuming that his health was good -enough to suffer him to go on using the sea, it is more -than probable that at the age of sixty he would exhibit -no further taste for the hard, perilous, and unremunerative -calling. Considering the eminence he had achieved, -it is strange that there are no discoverable contemporary -references to this portion of his life; none, at all events, -that I have been able to meet with or hear of, though I -have not spared inquiry. This silence might sanction -the conjecture that on his return he went into the -country, perhaps to his little Dorsetshire estate, if it be -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> -reasonable to suppose that he had not parted with it in -the time of his poverty, and died not long afterwards -amid the obscurity of rural and provincial surroundings. -But speculation is fruitless, and even unwise, in the face -of the chance of the story of his ending being some of -these days lighted upon; for the literary digger was -never more active than he is now, and a spadeful of the -old mould of time may yet be thrown up with information -enough in it about this circumnavigator to answer -all questions as to his closing years. Anyway I think -we may be pretty sure that he never went to sea again. -A sailor ages rapidly on the salt-beef, honeycombed -biscuit, and stormy weather of his vocation, and at fifty -is commonly as old in body and mind as the landsman -at seventy. Dampier was a seaman when he was a boy, -and no man, even in those strenuous ocean-going days, -ever lived a harder and more wearing life. He had -spent years in the most unhealthy and enfeebling climates -in the world; he had starved on rotten food, lain unsheltered -on deck through the damp and fever-breeding -nights of the West Indian and Panama parallels; he -had had more than most men's share of worry and -anxiety; he had drunk deep of the cup of disappointment, -and he had sounded poverty to its depths. We -may then fairly consider him as an old man at sixty, -and assume with confidence that as he wanted both the -taste and the opportunity for further seafaring, the last -voyage he ever took in this world was as pilot to his -friend Woodes Rogers.<a name="FNanchor_32_32" id="FNanchor_32_32"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_32_32" class="fnanchor">[32]</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> - -<p>There is a tradition that he was known to Defoe, -which Sir Walter Scott traces to a passage in the <i>Review</i>. -Whether Defoe knew Dampier in the flesh or -not, his literary obligations to him appear considerable. -<i>Captain Singleton</i>, published in 1720; the nautical -passages in <i>Colonel Jack</i>, published in 1722; <i>A New -Voyage Round the World</i>, published in 1725; together with -a variety of ocean incidents to be met with in <i>Roxana</i>, -<i>Moll Flanders</i>, and in others of the voluminous publications -of this master, seem to me directly inspired by -Dampier's writings. There were indeed Cowley, Wafer, -Ringrose, Cooke, and the contemporary buccaneering -authors to consult; but it is only necessary to contrast -Defoe's tales of the sea, the marine passages in his -shore stories, and his accounts of foreign countries, with -the descriptions of Dampier, and more particularly the -reflections with which he interpolates his narratives, to -perceive the true source of some of the finest of the -imaginations of the author of <i>Captain Singleton</i> and -<i>Robinson Crusoe</i>. Defoe exhibited his gratitude in an -odd form. Here are some opening passages in his <i>New -Voyage Round the World</i>:</p> - -<p>“It has for some ages been thought so wonderful a -thing to sail the tour or circle of the globe, that when -a man has done this mighty feat he presently thinks it -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span> -deserves to be recorded, like Sir Francis Drake's. So, -as soon as men have acted the sailor, they come ashore -and write books of their voyage, not only to make a -great noise of what they have done themselves, but, -pretending to show the way to others to come after -them, they set up for teachers and chart-makers to -posterity. Though most of them have had this misfortune, -that whatever success they have had in the -voyage they have had very little in the relation, except -it be to tell us that a seaman, when he comes to the -press, is pretty much out of his element, and that a very -good sailor may make but a very indifferent author.”</p> - -<p>Language of this sort does not sound very graciously -in the mouth of a man whose best work is owing to the -hints he obtains from the people whose labours and -publications he ridicules. I hope I shall not be deemed -heterodox if I say that, in my humble judgment, great -as is my veneration for Defoe, in point of interest -neither his <i>New Voyage</i> nor his <i>Captain Singleton</i> is -to be compared with the narratives of Dampier, Cooke, -Rogers, and Shelvocke; whilst there is a quaintness and -freshness about their plain, manly, sailorly style which -I instantly miss on turning to Defoe's later books. It -is quite true indeed that when the <i>New Voyage Round the -World</i> was written the circumnavigation of the globe -was no longer considered an extraordinary feat; but -then forty-two years had elapsed since Dampier had -sailed with the buccaneers from Virginia on his first -tour, and in that interval the experiences of the journey—deemed -remarkable at the time—had been often -enough repeated by his own and the voyages of others, -to rob the accomplishment of all its wonder. Dampier's -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> -best merits have been fairly expressed by Sir Walter -Scott, whose reference to him in connection with the life -of Defoe was inevitable. He speaks of him as a mariner -“whose scientific skill in his profession and power of -literary composition were at that time rarely found in -that profession, especially amongst those rough sons of the -ocean who acknowledged no peace beyond the Line, and -had as natural an enmity to a South American Spaniard -as a greyhound to a hare, and who, though distinguished -by the somewhat mild term of buccaneer, were little -better than absolute pirates.” This is true, but more -may be said. Dampier was not only the finest sailor of -his day—I mean in the strictly professional sense of the -word—his travels are to this hour foremost among the -best-written and most interesting in the language. -Seafaring and literary qualifications are a rare combination -even in our own age of stiff marine-examinations, of -a race of naval officers distinguished for their culture -and their breeding, and of a merchant navy whose -masters and mates are, in the higher ranges at least, -persons of education and intelligence. But in Dampier's -day the sailor, whether he fought for the throne or for -merchant adventurers, or toiled for himself as a sea-carrier, -was a coarse, unlettered man. The union in -Dampier of the qualities which he exhibited must have -rendered him something of a prodigy to his contemporaries, -whilst it forms his claim upon the attention and -esteem of posterity. No mariner ever observed more -closely. In his <i>Discourse of Winds</i> he anticipates half -the contents of the volumes of Piddington and Reid. -<a name="FNanchor_33_33" id="FNanchor_33_33"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_33_33" class="fnanchor">[33]</a> -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> -One would say indeed that Dampier never passed an -hour without pulling out his notebook. Piddington -particularly calls attention to the accuracy of the old -sailor's touches in his picture of the banks of red clouds -which herald the bursting of a typhoon in the China -seas. He also refers to Dr. Franklin's Letters, in which -there is a paper of extracts from Dampier's Voyages -that was read at the Royal Society—he does not say -when—and quotes at large, as substantiating a theory -of his own, a passage in the extracts descriptive of the -appearance, motion, and danger of the waterspout. So -in a score of other directions. No bird of strange -plumage meets Dampier's eye but his pen, with microscopic -fidelity, reproduces its hues, form, and tricks -of flight and movement. He will pause in his narrative -to describe a fish, and make you see it as clearly as -though you leaned over the side with him watching it. -All variety of products he carefully notes. He has also -a quick eye for human nature, detects and dryly represents -the characteristics of his shipmates, and sketches -with humorous gravity the hideous New Guinea savage -whose tatooings he enlarges upon, or the primrose-coloured -Chinaman whose tail he measures. He is probably at -his best in the Supplement he wrote to the <i>Voyage Round -the World</i>. The mariner must have received with gratitude -this remarkable description of the towns and coasts -of the Dutch possessions in the East Indies and of -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> -Tonquin. There was nothing in “Waggoner” at all -resembling such writing as this, nothing so trustworthy, -nothing indeed in any other existing sea-volume so helpful -to the sailor. He was the best hydrographer and geographer -of his age, and in truth in many respects I hardly -know where to look for his equal when I reflect upon -what he did, and consider the heroic obstinacy with -which he persevered in his high resolution to observe and -note down all that he saw in defiance of the distractions -of a life of hardship, conflict, and brutal association, and -despite the lack of the twenty scientific conveniences -which now facilitate the labours of the navigator and -explorer.</p> - -<p>And perhaps those who respect his memory most will -be best pleased to think he was a failure as a buccaneer. -I have already quoted a passage from his preface in which -he does not dissemble the repugnance with which he -recurs to his life of piracy. Nothing could be more -intelligible than the disgust and loathing that possessed -him when he sat in silence writing his book, and thinking -of the character of the persons whom it was necessary -he should refer to as his intimates. They were sailors -indeed, but they were also brutes; no man knew that -better than Dampier; no man was better acquainted -than he with the vices, the profligacy, the horrors of the -every-day speech of the men whose company he had -kept for months and years.<a name="FNanchor_34_34" id="FNanchor_34_34"></a> -<a href="#Footnote_34_34" class="fnanchor">[34]</a> That quality of sympathetic -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> -adhesion which the French call <i>esprit de corps</i> was not -likely to exist in a man who, when he had parted from -his shipmates, found the recollection of them insupportable. -Indeed he was but a poor buccaneer. He was as -courageous as the best man he ever sailed with; plunder -he loved as well as the rest; but he despised and detested -his associates, and probably only held his own amongst -them by the exaction of that sort of respect which such -fellows would feel for a man of education, of wide experience, -and the best navigator of his time. The reason -of his failure as a commander his own narratives make -clear. His books show that he understood human nature, -but his actions prove that he could not control or direct -it. Nor is it hard to see why he was unsuccessful as an -explorer. He appeared to exhaust his energy in theories, -so that by the time he addressed himself to action nearly -all his enthusiasm was gone. The importunities which -led to his being placed in command of the <i>Roebuck</i> and -despatched to the Southern Ocean must have been -eloquent. No doubt he was perfectly sincere in his -representations. As a privateersman he had sighted the -shores of the unknown land of the antipodes; how far -south it extended he could not imagine, but vast portions -of it lay under heights which by analogous reasoning he -could prove fertile and beautiful, rich in promise to the -coloniser, and assuring an enlargement of the dominions -of the sovereign by the acquisition of a territory possibly -<span class="pagenum"><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> -vaster than the whole of Europe. All this, we may take -it, he fully believed, and eagerly, impetuously, and eloquently -expressed. But the passage from England to -Western Australia was a long one. His ardour had -cooled before he was off the coast of Brazil. He was -chagrined by the behaviour of his crew, and there were -other causes to cloud and chill his excitable and impressionable -nature. You can see that he had lost all heart, -or at least all appetite, for the quest he had undertaken -long before the coast of New Holland rose over his bows. -Men of Dampier's temperament may be able to write -engaging narratives of their adventures, and exhibit all -the solid virtues of the sober, as well as all the airy -qualities of the poetic, observer; but they are not formed -of the stuff of which explorers are made. Their pulse -beats too hotly at the start and too languidly towards -the end. Yet the world does well to hold the name of -Dampier in memory as a skilful seaman, an acute observer, -an agreeable writer, and a thorough Englishman.</p> - - -<p class="ac noindent p4">THE END</p> - - -<p class="ac noindent p4 x-smaller"><i>Printed by</i> -<span class="sc">R. & R. Clark</span>, <i>Edinburgh</i>.</p> - - - - -<p class="ac noindent p2 x-larger">FOOTNOTES:</p> - -<div class="footnotes"> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_1_1" id="Footnote_1_1"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_1_1"><span class="label">[1]</span></a> -Harris's <i>Collection</i>, “Cowley's Voyage,” vol. i. 1748.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_2_2" id="Footnote_2_2"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_2_2"><span class="label">[2]</span></a> <i> -A Discourse of the First Invention of Ships</i>, p. 7. Ed. 1700.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_3_3" id="Footnote_3_3"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_3_3"><span class="label">[3]</span></a> -Hackluyt, i. 243. There is also a reference to sheathing in -Sir Richard Hawkins's <i>Observations</i> in Purchas, vol. iv. p. 1387. -In 1673 an order was issued by the Lord High Admiral to sheath -some of the ships of war with lead; but on Sir John Narborough -a few years afterwards objecting to it, the practice was discontinued.—See -Schomberg's <i>Naval Chronology</i>, vol. i. 75.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_4_4" id="Footnote_4_4"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_4_4"><span class="label">[4]</span></a> -Preserved in Churchill's <i>Collections of Voyages and Travels</i>, -1704, vol. ii.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_5_5" id="Footnote_5_5"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_5_5"><span class="label">[5]</span></a> -The buccaneers had “Waggoners” of their own. One was -compiled by Basil Ringrose, who called it the <i>South Sea Waggoner</i> -(<i>circa</i> 1682). Another by Captain Hack, the author of a <i>History -of the Buccaneers</i>, was published in or about 1690.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_6_6" id="Footnote_6_6"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_6_6"><span class="label">[6]</span></a> -Dampier calls him Spragg, others Sprague.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_7_7" id="Footnote_7_7"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_7_7"><span class="label">[7]</span></a> -Ringrose's account will be found in <i>The History of the Bucaniers -of America</i>, 2 vols., 4th edition, 1741, under the section entitled -“The dangerous Voyage and bold Adventures of Captain Sharp, -Watling, Sawkins, Coxon, and others in the South Sea.” It is -proper I should state here that the editions of the books I name are -those from which I quote.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_8_8" id="Footnote_8_8"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_8_8"><span class="label">[8]</span></a> -“<i>A New Voyage Round the World</i>, describing particularly -the Isthmus of America; several Coasts and Islands in the West -Indies; the Isles of Cape Verd; the Passage by Terra del Fuego; -the South Sea coasts of Chili, Peru, and Mexico; the Isle of Guam, -one of the Ladrones, Mindanao, and other Philippine and East India -Islands, near Cambodia, China, Formosa, Laconia, Celebes, etc.; -New Holland, Sumatra, Nicobar Isles; the Cape of Good Hope, -and Santa Hellena. Their Soil, Rivers, Harbours, Plants, Fruits, -Animals, and Inhabitants. Their Customs, Religion, Government, -Trade, etc.” By Captain William Dampier. Fourth Edition, -1699. This is vol. i. of the Travels.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_9_9" id="Footnote_9_9"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_9_9"><span class="label">[9]</span></a> -Wafer afterwards published an account of his adventures in -“<i>A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of America</i>; giving -an account of the author's abode there; the form and make of the -Country, Coasts, Hills, Rivers, etc. Woods, Soil, Weather, etc. -Trees, Fruit, Beasts, Birds, Fish, etc. The Indian Inhabitants, -their Features, Complexions, etc.; their Manners, Customs, Employments, -Marriages, Feasts, Hunting, Computation, Language, -etc. With remarkable Occurrences in the South Sea and elsewhere.” -It is a tedious book.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_10_10" id="Footnote_10_10"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_10_10"><span class="label">[10]</span></a> -Cowley's <i>Voyage</i>: Harris's <i>Collection of Voyages and Travels</i>, -vol. i., 1744. Also Cowley's Voyage, in Captain William Hack's -<i>Collection of Original Voyages</i>. 1698.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_11_11" id="Footnote_11_11"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_11_11"><span class="label">[11]</span></a> Cowley.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_12_12" id="Footnote_12_12"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_12_12"><span class="label">[12]</span></a> -Ravenau de Lussan, who was with Grognet in this action, gives -us a French version of the business: “About two the Spaniards -sent out a ship of eight and twenty guns to hinder Captain Grognet -from joining us, as understanding by some Spaniards who had -been our prisoners that he was the strongest in small arms of any -in our fleet, and that they were so much the more fearful of him, -when they came to know his crew consisted of Frenchmen!” This -man calls Davis “David,” and says he was a Fleming, and he -writes Swan's name “Sammes.” His story is printed in <i>The -Bucaniers of America</i> already referred to.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_13_13" id="Footnote_13_13"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_13_13"><span class="label">[13]</span></a> -The title runs thus:—“<i>Voyages and Descriptions</i>. Vol. ii. -In Three Parts, viz. 1. A Supplement of the Voyage round the -World, Describing the Countreys of Tonquin, Achin, Malacca, etc.: -their Product, Inhabitants, Manners, Trade, Policy, etc. 2. Two -Voyages to Campeachy; with a Description of the Coasts, Product, -Inhabitants, Log-wood-Cutting Trade, etc., of Jucatan, Campeachy, -New Spain, etc. 3. A Discourse of Trade-Winds, Breezes, Storms, -Seasons of the Year, Tides and Currents of the Torrid Zone -throughout the World; with an Account of Natal in Africk: its -Product, Negro's, etc. 1699.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_14_14" id="Footnote_14_14"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_14_14"><span class="label">[14]</span></a> -<i>A Voyage to New Holland, &c., in the Year 1699</i>, by Captain -William Dampier. 1709.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_15_15" id="Footnote_15_15"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_15_15"><span class="label">[15]</span></a> -It may spare the reader the trouble of referring to a map, to -say that the longitude of the Cape is 18° 29´ E.; Frio (Brazil) 41° -57´ W.; Blanco (Peru) 81° 10´ W.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_16_16" id="Footnote_16_16"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_16_16"><span class="label">[16]</span></a> -It was hereabouts that Francis Pelsart was wrecked in the -<i>Batavia</i> in 1629.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_17_17" id="Footnote_17_17"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_17_17"><span class="label">[17]</span></a> -For instance, Ringrose (Dampier's companion in Sharp's voyage) -writes under date of January 9th, 1681: “There was now a great -rippling sea, rising very high. It is reported there is an enchanted -island hereabouts, which some positively say they have sailed over.“</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_18_18" id="Footnote_18_18"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_18_18"><span class="label">[18]</span></a> -The statements of Harris, who may be claimed as a contemporaneous -authority, are interesting on this account. He writes, -of course, without the prejudices of Dampier's sea-associates.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_19_19" id="Footnote_19_19"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_19_19"><span class="label">[19]</span></a> -“<i>A Voyage Round the World</i>, containing an account of Captain -Dampier's expedition into the South Seas, 1703-4, with the Author's -Voyage from Amapalla on the West Coast of Mexico to East -India,” 1707.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_20_20" id="Footnote_20_20"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_20_20"><span class="label">[20]</span></a> -<i>A Voyage Round the World by the way of the Great South Sea</i>, -by Captain George Shelvocke. Second Edition, 1757, p. 76. The -whole description of his passage of the Horn, with his sketch of -Staten Island, “covered with snow to the very wash of the sea,” is -admirable.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_21_21" id="Footnote_21_21"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_21_21"><span class="label">[21]</span></a> -I should add, however, that on Selkirk repenting his rash decision, -and requesting leave to return to his duty, Stradling refused -to receive him on board.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_22_22" id="Footnote_22_22"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_22_22"><span class="label">[22]</span></a> -Norwood's <i>Navigation</i>, already referred to.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_23_23" id="Footnote_23_23"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_23_23"><span class="label">[23]</span></a> -This term “bark” is used generically by the old writers. Rigs -were few, and vessels, it would seem, took their names from their -dimensions, as galleon, carrack, galley, and the like. In our own -times—and it has been so for a century and a half, at least—a craft -is defined by her rig. Thus a vessel rigged as a ship would be -called a ship though she were only fifty tons.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_24_24" id="Footnote_24_24"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_24_24"><span class="label">[24]</span></a> -“<i>A Cruising Voyage Round the World</i>: first to the South Seas, -thence to the East Indies, and homewards by the Cape of Good -Hope. Begun in 1708 and finished in 1711. Containing a Journal -of all the Remarkable Transactions; particularly of the taking of -Puna and Guayaquil, of the Acapulco ship, and other Prizes. An -Account of Alexander Selkirk's living alone four years and four -months on an Island; and a brief Description of several Countries -in our Course noted for Trade, especially in the South Sea, etc.” -By Captain Woodes Rogers, 1712.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_25_25" id="Footnote_25_25"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_25_25"><span class="label">[25]</span></a> -<i>An Historical Account of all the Voyages Round the World</i>, -vol. i. 1773.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_26_26" id="Footnote_26_26"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_26_26"><span class="label">[26]</span></a> -But as a member of the committee he might also have claimed -a right to participate in the dangers as well as in the commercial -risks of the expedition.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_27_27" id="Footnote_27_27"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_27_27"><span class="label">[27]</span></a> -In <i>A Voyage to the South Sea trade, and round the World</i>. -“Wherein an Account is given of Mr. Alexander Selkirk, his manner -of Living, and taming some Wild Beasts, during the four years and -four months he lived upon the uninhabited Island of Juan Fernandez,” -1712.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_28_28" id="Footnote_28_28"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_28_28"><span class="label">[28]</span></a> -The Englishman afterwards joined the privateersmen, and told -them this story.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_29_29" id="Footnote_29_29"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_29_29"><span class="label">[29]</span></a> -In speaking of the English buccaneers it is necessary to distinguish -them from the pirates pure and simple, such as Morgan, -Teach, and the other beauties whose lives are given in Captain -Charles Johnson's delectable volumes.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_30_30" id="Footnote_30_30"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_30_30"><span class="label">[30]</span></a> -Moreover, there was a number of pirates on board with their -booty, for the preservation of which, we may take it, they intended -to fight hard.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_31_31" id="Footnote_31_31"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_31_31"><span class="label">[31]</span></a> -<i>A Voyage Round the World</i>, by Captain George Shelvocke, p. -38. The “certain gentleman” was probably Captain Dover.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_32_32" id="Footnote_32_32"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_32_32"><span class="label">[32]</span></a> -Since this was written I have been reminded of the discovery -of Dampier's will at Somerset House many years ago. This proves -him to have died in Coleman Street, in the parish of St. Stephen, -London, early in March 1714-15. The bulk of his property was -left to his cousin Grace Mercer, spinster, of London, and the -remainder to his brother George. His wife is not mentioned, nor -the value of the property. See an article by Admiral Smyth in -the <i>United Service Journal</i>, 1837, and <i>The Dictionary of National -Biography</i>, vol. xiv. Art. “Dampier,” which, I may perhaps add, -was not published till some time after my volume had passed -through the press.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_33_33" id="Footnote_33_33"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_33_33"><span class="label">[33]</span></a> -The former writer observes with great justice: “We are perhaps -too much accustomed to rely on our instruments nowadays, and -we neglect those signs which must after all have been the barometers -and simpiesometers of Drake, Cavendish, Dampier, and all -our daring band of naval and commercial navigators up to the -end of the last century, and still are so for our hardy fishermen -and coasters.” <i>The Sailor's Horn Book</i>, p. 240, 1851.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> -<p class="noindent"><a name="Footnote_34_34" id="Footnote_34_34"></a> -<a href="#FNanchor_34_34"><span class="label">[34]</span></a> -Captain William Snelgrave, in his <i>A New Account of Guinea -and the Slave-Trade</i>, 1754, paints a lively picture of the behaviour -and conversation of privateersmen. “I took leave of the Captain -and got into my Hammock, tho' I could not sleep in my melancholy -Circumstances. Moreover the execrable Oaths and Blasphemies -I heard among the Ship's Company shock'd me to such a degree, -that in Hell itself I thought there could not be worse; for tho' -many seafaring men are given to swearing and taking God's Name -in vain, yet I could not have imagined human Nature could ever so -far degenerate, as to talk in the manner those abandoned wretches -did.” P. 217.</p></div> -</div> - -<hr class="chap" /> - -<p class="ac noindent larger">English Men of Action.</p> - -<p class="ac noindent">With Portraits. Crown 8vo, Cloth. 2s. 6d. each.</p> - - -<p class="noindent p2">GENERAL GORDON. By Colonel Sir -<span class="sc">William Butler</span>.</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>SPECTATOR.</i>—“This is beyond all question - the best of the narratives of the -career of General Gordon that have yet been published.”</p></div> - -<p class="noindent p2">HENRY THE FIFTH. By the Rev. -<span class="sc">A. J. Church</span>.</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>SCOTSMAN.</i>—“No page lacks interest; -and whether the book is regarded as a -biographical sketch or as a chapter in English military history it is -equally attractive.”</p></div> - -<p class="noindent p2">LIVINGSTONE. By Mr. -<span class="sc">Thomas Hughes</span>.</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>SPECTATOR.</i>—“The volume is an excellent instance -of miniature biography.”</p></div> - -<p class="noindent p2">LORD LAWRENCE. By Sir -<span class="sc">Richard Temple</span>.</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>LEEDS MERCURY.</i>—“A lucid, temperate, -and impressive summary.”</p></div> - -<p class="noindent p2">WELLINGTON. By Mr. -<span class="sc">George Hooper</span>.</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>SCOTSMAN.</i>—“The story of -the great Duke's life is admirably told by Mr. Hooper.”</p></div> - -<p class="noindent p2">DAMPIER. By Mr. -<span class="sc">W. 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By Sir -<span class="sc">Alfred Lyall</span>.</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>DAILY NEWS.</i>—“May be pronounced without hesitation -as the final and decisive verdict of history on the conduct and career of -Hastings.”</p></div> - -<p class="noindent p2">PETERBOROUGH. By Mr. -<span class="sc">W. Stebbing</span>.</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>SATURDAY REVIEW.</i>—“An excellent -piece of work.”</p></div> - -<p class="noindent p2">CAPTAIN COOK. By Mr. -<span class="sc">Walter Besant</span>.</p> - -<div class="bq"> - -<p class="noindent p2"><i>SCOTTISH LEADER.</i>—“It is simply the best -and most readable account of -the great navigator yet published.”</p></div> - -<p class="noindent p2">SIR HENRY HAVELOCK. 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