by Daniel Defoe
that he was in theconspiracy, and I should be glad to leave him on that account.
The next day, about nine o'clock, the second mate came to me, and toldme they wanted more water, and, if I pleased to order the boat on shore,he would go if I thought fit, and see if he could get any freshprovisions, the purser being indisposed.
I told him, yes, with all my heart; that the Dutch captain last nighthad given me a letter to the governor, to desire we might be furnishedwith whatever we had occasion for, and that I had thoughts of callingfor him to go on shore and deliver it, and that, perhaps, the governormight make him some present in compliment to the English nation.
He seemed extremely pleased at this, and even elevated, and going out togive orders about the boat, ordered the long-boat and the shallop, andcame in again, and asked me whom I pleased to have go along with him. Ianswered, smilingly to him. Pick and choose then yourself, only leavethe pinnace's crew that went with me yesterday, because they must go onboard again to carry the Dutch captain a little present of English beerthat I am going to send him, and fetch aboard their drunken coxswain,who was so intoxicated that we were fain to leave him behind us.
This was just what he wanted; and we found he chose all the chief roguesof the conspiracy; such as the boatswain, the gunner, the midshipmen wespoke of, and such of the foremast men as he had secured in his design;and of the rest, we judged they were in the plot, because he took themwith him; and thus having the long-boat and the shallop, with aboutsix-and-thirty men with them, away they went to fill water.
When they came on shore, they had presently three Dutchmen, set by theDutch captain, unperceived by them, to be spies upon them, and to markexactly what they did; and at the same time found three boats ofDutchmen at the watering-place, (for the captain had procured two boatsto go on shore from two other ships,) full of men also, havingacquainted them with the design. As soon as our boats came on shore, themen appeared to be all very much engaged in something more thanordinary, and, instead of separating, as it was expected they should,they went all into one boat, and there they were mighty busily engagedin discourse one with another.
The Dutch captain had given the charge of these things to a brisk boldfellow, his mate, and he took the hints the captain gave him so well,that nothing could have been better; for, finding the men thus in a kindof a cabal, he takes four of his men with muskets on their shoulders,like the governor's men, and goes with them to the Englishmen's boat,and asks for their officer, the second mate, who, upon this, appears. Hetells them he comes from the governor, to know if they were Englishmen,and what their business was on shore there: the mate answered, they camefrom on board the English ship, that they were driven there by stress ofweather, and hoped they might have leave to fill water and buynecessaries for their money.
He told them he supposed the governor would not refuse them when he knewwho they were, but that it was but good manners to ask leave: theEnglishman told him, that he had not yet filled any water or bought anyprovisions, and that he had a letter to the governor from the captain,which he supposed was to pay the usual civilities to him, and to givehim the civility of taking leave, as was expected.
The Dutchman answered, that was hael weel; that he might go and carryit, if he pleased, then, and, if the governor gave them leave, all wasright and as it should be; but that the men could not be admitted tocome on shore till his return.
Upon this, away goes the second mate of our ship and three of the menwith him, whereof the gunner was one; for he had asked the Dutchman howmany he might carry with him, and he told him three or four: and thosehe took you may be sure, were of the particular men whom he had aconfidence in, because of their conversing together by the way.
When they came to the governor, the mate sent in a message first, viz.,that he was come from on board the English ship in the road, and thathe had a letter from the captain to his excellence.
The governor, who had notice given him of the business, sends out word,that the gentlemen should send in the letter, and the governor wouldgive them an answer: in the mean time, there appeared a guard ofsoldiers at the governor's house, and the four Englishmen were let intothe outer room, where the door was shut after them, and the soldiersstood without the door, and more soldiers in another room between themand the parlour which the governor sat in.
After some time, the mate was called in, and the governor told him thathe had read the letter which he brought, and asked him if he knew thecontents of it; he answered, No: the governor replied, he supposed not,for, if he had, he would scarce have brought it; at the same time toldhim, he was obliged to make him and all his men prisoners, at therequest of their own captain, for a conspiracy to raise a mutiny and runaway with the ship. Upon which, two great fat Dutchmen came up to him,and bid him deliver his sword, which he did with some reluctance; for hewas a stout strong fellow; but he saw it all to no purpose to dispute orresist.
At the same time, the three men without were made prisoners also by thesoldiers. When the governor had thus secured these men, he called themin, and inquired the particulars of the case, and expostulated with themvery pathetically upon such a horrid, villanous design, and inquired ofthem what the occasion could be; and, hearing all they had to say intheir defence, told them he could do nothing more in it till theircaptain came on shore, which would be in a day or two, and that, in themean time, they must be content to remain in custody, which they did,separated from one another. They were very civilly treated, but strictlykept from speaking or sending any messages to one another, or to theboats.
When this was accomplished, the governor sent six files of musketeersdown to the watering-place, with an order to secure all the Englishmenin the two boats, which was done. They seemed inclined to make someresistance at first, being all very well armed; but the seamen of thethree Dutch long-boats, joining themselves to the soldiers, and noticebeing given the English seamen, that if they fired one gun, they shouldhave no quarter; and especially their two principal men, the chief mateand the gunner, being absent, they submitted, and were all madeprisoners also.
When this was done, of which the Dutch captain had notice by a signalfrom the shore, he came off in his shallop, with about sixteen seamen,and five or six gentlemen and officers, to pay his visit to me. Ireceived him with all the appearance of ceremony imaginable, ordered anelegant dinner to be prepared for him, and caused his men to be alltreated upon the deck, and made mighty preparations for the feast.
But in the middle of all this, Captain Merlotte, with all his Frenchmen,being thirty-two, appeared in arms on the quarter-deck; the Dutchcaptain's attendants stood to their arms on the main-deck, and I, withthe supercargo, the doctor, and the other captain, leaving the Dutchcaptain and some men in the great cabin as a reserve, came to thesteerage door, cleared the steerage behind me, and stood there with acutlass in my hand, but said nothing; neither was there a word spokeanywhere all the while.
In this juncture, the chief mate, the faithful midshipmen, thecarpenter, and the gunner's mate, with about twenty men whom they couldtrust, went fore and aft between decks, and secured all the particularmen that we had the least suspicion of, being no less than thirty-fivemore. These they secured, bringing them up into the steerage, wheretheir hands were tied behind them, and they were commanded not to speaka word to one another upon pain of present death.
When this was done, the chief mate came to me to the steerage door, andpassing by, went forward with his men, entered the cook-room, and postedhimself at the cook-room door. There might be still about eighty menupon the forecastle and midships upon the open decks; and there theystood staring, and surprised at what was doing, but not being able toguess in the least what was meant, what was the cause of it, or what wasintended to be done farther.
When I found all things ready, I moved forward a step or two, andbeckoning to the mate to command silence, I told the men that I was notdisposed to hurt any man, nor had I done what I now did, but bynecessity, and that I expected they should all submit; that, if any oneof them
made the least resistance, he was a dead man; but that, if theywould be easy and quiet, I should give a very good account to them all,of every part of the voyage, or scheme of a voyage, which I had laid,and which had been so ill represented to them.
Then I caused my commissioner letter of mart to be read to them all, bywhich it appeared that I was really chief commander of the ship, and hada right to direct the voyage as I thought best; with a paper of writteninstructions, signed by the owners and adventurers, and directed to me,with another paper of instructions to all the officers, to be directedby me in all things; which, indeed, was all news to them, for they didnot think I was the chief captain or commander of the ship and voyage.
When I had done this, I gave them a long and full account of the reasonswhy I thought it best, as our present circumstances were stated, not togo to the South Seas first, but to go away to the Philippine Islands,and what great prospect of advantage to the owners there was, as well asto the men; and that I