by Daniel Defoe
encouraged when we launched it, and found it swam upright and steady, as we
would have been at another time, if we had a good Man of War at our Command.
She was so very large, that she carried us all very easily, and would have
carried two or three Ton of Baggage with us; so that we began to consult about
going to Sea directly to Goa; but many other Considerations check'd that
Thought, especially when we came to look nearer into it; such as Want of
Provisions, and no Casks for fresh Water; no Compass to steer by; no Shelter
from the Breach of the high Sea, which would certainly founder us; no Defence
from the Heat of the Weather, and the like; so that they all came readily into
my Project, to cruise about where we were, and see what might offer.
Accordingly, to gratify our Fancy, we went one Day all out to Sea in her
together, and we were in a very fair Way to have had enough of it; for when she
had us all on Board, and that we were gotten about Half a League to Sea, there
happening to be a pretty high Swell of the Sea, tho' little or no Wind, yet she
wallow'd so in the Sea, that we all of us thought she would at last wallow her
self Bottom up; so we set all to Work to get her in nearer the Shore, and giving
her fresh Way in the Sea, she swam more steady, and with some hard Work we got
her under the Land again.
We were now at a great Loss; the Natives were civil enough to us, and came often
to discourse with us; one time they brought one whom they shew'd Respect to as a
King, with them, and they set up a long Pole between them and us, with a great
Tossel of Hair hanging, not on the Top, but something above the Middle of it,
adorn'd with little Chains, Shells, Bits of Brass, and the like; and this we
understood afterwards was a Token of Amity and Friendship, and they brought down
to us Victuals in Abundance, Cattel, Fowls, Herbs, Roots, but we were in the
utmost Confusion on our Side; for we had nothing to buy with, or exchange for;
and as to giving us things for nothing, they had no Notion of that again. As to
our Money, it was meer Trash to them, they had no Value for it; so that we were
in a fair Way to be starved. Had we had but some Toys and Trinckets, Brass
Chains, Baubles, Glass Beads, or in a Word, the veriest Trifles that a Ship
Loading would not have been worth the Freight, we might have bought Cattel and
Provisions enough for an Army, or to Victual a Fleet of Men of War, but for Gold
or Silver we could get nothing.
Upon this we were in a strange Consternation. I was but a young Fellow, but I
was for falling upon them with our Fire Arms; and taking all the Cattel from
them, and send them to the Devil to stop their Hunger, rather than be starved
our selves; but I did not consider that this might have brought Ten Thousand of
them down upon us the next Day; and tho' we might have killed a vast Number of
them, and perhaps have frighted the rest, yet their own Desperation, and our
small Number, would have animated them so, that one time or other they would
have destroy'd us all.
In the Middle of our Consultation, one of our Men who had been a kind of a
Cutler, or Worker in Iron, started up, and ask'd the Carpenter, if among all his
Tools he could not help him to a File. Yes, says the Carpenter, I can, but it is
a small one. The smaller the better, says the other. Upon this he goes to Work,
and first by heating a Piece of an old broken Chissel in the Fire, and then with
the Help of his File, he made himself several Kinds of Tools for his Work; and
then he takes three or four Pieces of Eight, and beats them out with a Hammer
upon a Stone, till they were very broad and thin, then he cut them out into the
Shape of Birds and Beasts; he made little Chains of them for Bracelets and
Necklaces, and turn'd them into so many Devices, of his own Head, that it is
hardly to be exprest.
When he had for about a Fortnight exercised his Head and Hands at this Work, we
try'd the Effect of his Ingenuity; and having another Meeting with the Natives,
were surprized to see the Folly of the poor People. For a little Bit of Silver
cut out in the Shape of a Bird, we had two Cows; and, which was our Loss, if it
had been in Brass, it had been still of more Value. For one of the Bracelets
made of Chain-work, we had as much Provision of several Sorts, as would fairly
have been worth in England, Fifteen or Sixteen Pounds; and so of all the rest.
Thus, that which when it was in Coin was not worth Six-pence to us, when thus
converted into Toys and Trifles, was worth an Hundred Times its real Value, and
purchased for us any thing we had Occasion for.
In this Condition, we lived upwards of a Year, but all of us began to be very
much tir'd of it, and whatever came of it, resolv'd to attempt an Escape. We had
furnished our selves with no less than three very good Canoes; and as the
Monsoones, or Trade-Winds, generally affect that Country, blowing in most Parts
of this Island one six Months of a Year one Way, and the other six Months
another Way, we concluded we might be able to bear the Sea well enough. But
always when we came to look nearer into it, the Want of fresh Water was the
thing that put us off from such an Adventure, for it is a prodigious Length, and
what no Man on Earth could be able to perform without Water to drink.
Being thus prevailed upon by our own Reason to set the Thoughts of that Voyage
aside, we had then but two things before us; one was, to put to Sea the other
Way, viz. West, and go away for the Cape of Good Hope, where first or last we
should meet with some of our own Country Ships, or else to put for the main Land
of Africa, and either travel by Land, or sail along the Coast towards the Red
Sea, where we should first or last find a Ship of some Nation or other, that
would take us up, or perhaps we might take them up; which, by the bye, was the
thing that always run in my Head.
It was our ingenious Cutler, whom ever after we called Silver Smith, that
proposed this; but the Gunner told him, that he had been in the Red Sea, in a
Malabar Sloop, and he knew this, that if we went into the Red Sea, we should
either be killed by the wild Arabs, or taken and made Slaves of by the Turks;
and therefore he was not for going that Way.
Upon this I took Occasion to put in my Vote again. Why, said I, do we talk of
being killed by the Arabs, or made Slaves of by the Turks? Are we not able to
board almost any Vessel we shall meet with in those Seas; and instead of their
taking us, we to take them? Well done, Pyrate, said the Gunner, he that had
look'd in my Hand, and told me I should come to the Gallows; I'll say that for
him, says he, he always looks the same Way. But I think o' my Conscience, 'tis
our only Way now. Don't tell me, says I, of being a Pyrate, we must be Pyrates,
or any thing, to get fairly out of this cursed Place.
In a Word, they concluded all by my Advice, that our Business was to cruize for
any thing we could see. Why then, said I to them, our first Business is to see,
if the People upon this Island have no Navigation, and what Boats they use; and
if they have any better
or bigger than ours, let us take one of them. First
indeed all our Aim was to get, if possible, a Boat with a Deck and a Sail; for
then we might have saved our Provisions, which otherwise we could not.
We had, to our great good Fortune, one Sailor among us, who had been Assistant
to the Cook, he told us, that he would find a Way how to preserve our Beef,
without Cask or Pickle; and this he did effectually by curing it in the Sun,
with the Help of Salt-Petre, of which there was great Plenty in the Island; so
that before we found any Method for our Escape, we had dry'd the Flesh of six or
seven Cows and Bullocks, and ten or twelve Goats, and it relished so well, that
we never gave our selves the Trouble to boil it when we eat it, but either
broiled it, or eat it dry: But our main Difficulty about fresh Water still
remained; for we had no Vessel to put any into, much less to keep any for our
going to Sea.
But our first Voyage being only to coast the Island, we resolved to venture,
whatever the Hazard or Consequence of it might be; and in order to preserve as
much fresh Water as we could, our Carpenter made a Well thwart the Middle of one
of our Canoes, which he separated from the other Parts of the Canoe, so as to
make it tight to hold the Water, and cover'd so as we might step upon it; and
this was so large, that it held near a Hogshead of Water very well. I cannot
better describe this Well, than by the same Kind which the small Fisher-Boats in
England have to preserve their Fish alive in; only, that this, instead of having
Holes to let the Salt Water in, was made sound every Way to keep it out; and it
was the first Invention, I believe, of its Kind, for such an Use: But Necessity
is a Spur to Ingenuity, and the Mother of Invention.
It wanted but a little Consultation to resolve now upon our Voyage. The first
Design was only to coast it round the Island, as well to see if we could seize
upon any Vessel fit to embark our selves in, as also to take hold of any
Opportunity which might present for our passing over to the Main; and therefore
our Resolution was to go on the Inside, or West Shore of the Island, where at
least at one Point, the Land stretching a great Way to the North-West, the
Distance is not extraordinary great from the Island to the Coast of Africk.
Such a Voyage, and with such a desperate Crew, I believe was never made; for it
is certain we took the worst Side of the Island to look for any Shipping,
especially for Shipping of other Nations, this being quite out of the Way:
However, we put to Sea, after taking all our Provisions and Ammunition, Bag and
Baggage on Board; we had made both Mast and Sail for our two large Periagua's,
and the other we paddl'd along as well as we could; but when a Gale sprung up,
we took her in Tow.
We sail'd merrily forward for several Days, meeting with nothing to interrupt
us, We saw several of the Natives in small Canoes, catching Fish, and sometimes
we endeavoured to come near enough to speak with them, but they were always
shye, and afraid of us, making in for the Shore, as soon as we attempted it;
till one of our Company remember'd the Signal of Friendship which the Natives
made us from the South Part of the Island, viz. of setting up a long Pole, and
put us in Mind, that perhaps it was the same thing to them as a Flag of Truce
was to us: So we resolved to try it; and accordingly the next time we saw any of
their Fishing Boats at Sea, we put up a Pole in our Canoe that had no Sail, and
rowed towards them. As soon as they saw the Pole, they staid for us, and as we
came nearer, paddl'd towards us. When they came to us, they shewed themselves
very much pleased, and gave us some large Fish, of which we did not know the
Names, bnt they were very good. It was our Misfortune still, that we had nothing
to give them in Return; but our Artist, of whom I spoke before, gave them two
little thin Plates of Silver, beaten, as I said before, out of a Piece of Eight;
they were cut in a Diamond Square, longer one way than t'other, and a Hole
punch'd at one of the longest Corners. This they were so fond of, that they made
us stay till they had cast their Lines and Nets again, and gave us as many Fish
as we cared to have.
All this while we had our Eyes upon their Boats, view'd them very narrowly, and
examined whether any of them were fit for our Turn; but they were poor sorry
things; their Sail was made of a large Matt, only one that was of a Piece of
Cotton Stuff, fit for little, and their Ropes were twisted Flags, of no
Strength; so we concluded we were better as we were, and let them alone. We went
forward to the North, keeping the Coast close on Board for twelve Days together;
and having the Wind at East, and E. S. E. we made very fresh Way. We saw no
Towns on the Shore, but often saw some Hutts by the Water Side, upon the Rocks,
and always Abundance of People about them, who we could perceive run together to
stare at us.
It was as odd a Voyage as ever Men went: We were a little Fleet of three Ships,
and an Army of between Twenty and Thirty as dangerous Fellows as ever they had
among them; and had they known what we were they would have compounded to give
us every thing we desired, to be rid of us.
On the other Hand, we were as miserable as Nature could well make us to be; for
we were upon a Voyage and no Voyage, we were bound some where and no where; for
tho' we knew what we intended to do, we did really not know what we were doing:
We went forward and forward by a Northerly Course; and as we advanced, the Heat
increased, which began to be intolerable to us who were upon the Water, without
any Covering from Heat or Wet; besides we were now in the Month of October, or
thereabouts, in a Southern Latitude, and as we went every Day nearer the Sun,
the Sun came also every Day nearer to us, till at last we found our selves in
the Latitude of 20 Degrees, and having past the Tropick about five or six Days
before that, in a few Days more the Sun would be in the Zenith, just over our
Heads.
Upon these Considerations we resolved to seek for a good Place to go on Shore
again, and pitch our Tents till the Heat of the Weather abated. We had by this
time measured Half the Length of the Island, and were come to that Part where
the Shore tending away to the North-West, promised fair to make our Passage over
to the main Land of Africk, much shorter than we expected. But notwithstanding
that, we had good Reason to believe it was about 120 Leagues.
So, the Heats consider'd, we resolved to take Harbour; besides, our Provisions
were exhausted, and we had not many Days Store left. Accordingly, putting in for
the Shore early in the Morning, as we usually did once in three or four Days,
for fresh Water, we sat down and considered, whether we should go on, or take up
our Standing there; but upon several Considerations too long to repeat here, we
did not like the Place, so we resolved to go on for a few Days longer.
After Sailing on N. W. by N. with a fresh Gale at S. E. about six Days, we found
at a great Distance, a large Promontory, or Cape of Land, pushing ou
t a long Way
into the Sea; and as we were exceeding fond of seeing what was beyond the Cape,
we resolved to double it before we took into Harbour; so we kept on our Way, the
Gale continuing, and yet it was four Days more before we reach'd the Cape. But
it is not possible to express the Discouragement and Melancholy that seized us
all when we came thither; for when we made the Head Land of the Cape, we were
surprized to see the Shore fall away on the other Side, as much as it had
advanced on this Side, and a great deal more; and that, in short, if we would
adventure over to the Shore of Africk, it must be from hence; for that if we
went further, the Breadth of the Sea still increased, and to what Breadth it
might increase, we knew not.
While we mused upon this Discovery, we were surprized with very bad Weather, and
especially violent Rains, with Thunder and Lightning most unusually terrible to
us. In this Pickle we run for the Shore, and getting under the Lee of the Cape,
run our Frigates into a little Creek, where we saw the Land overgrown with
Trees, and made all the Haste possible to get on Shore, being exceeding wet, and
fatigued with the Heat, the Thunder, Lightning and Rain.
Here we though our Case was very deplorable indeed, and therefore our Artist, of
whom I have spoken so often, set up a great Cross of Wood on the Hill, which was
within a Mile of the Head Land, with these Words, but in the Portuguese
Language,
Point Desperation. Jesus have Mercy!
We set to work immediately to build us some Hutts, and so get our Clothes dry'd,
and tho' I was young, and had no Skill in such Things, yet I shall never forget
the little City we built, for it was no less; and we fortify'd it accordingly;
and the Idea is so fresh in my Thought, that I cannot but give a short
Description of it.
Our Camp was on the South Side of a little Creek on the Sea, and under the
Shelter of a steep Hill, which lay, tho' on the other Side of the Creek, yet
within a Quarter of a Mile of us N. W. by N. and very happily intercepted the
Heat of the Sun all the after Part of the Day. The Spot we pitched on had a
little fresh Water, Brook, or a Stream running into the Creek by us, and we saw
Cattle feeding in the Plains and and low Ground, East and to the South of us a
great Way.
Here we set up twelve little Hutts, like Soldiers Tents, but made of the Boughs
of Trees stuck into the Ground, and bound together on the Top with Withes, and
such other things as we could get; the Creek was our Defence on the North, a
little Brook on the West, and the South and East Sides we fortify'd with a Bank,
which entirely covered our Hutts; and being drawn oblique from the North West to
the South East, made our City a Triangle. Behind the Bank, or Line, our Hutts
stood, having three other Hutts behind them at a good Distance. In one of these,
which was a little one, and stood further off, we put our Gun-powder, and
nothing else, for fear of Danger; in the other, which was bigger, we drest our
Victuals, and put all our Necessaries; and in the third, which was biggest of
all, we eat our Dinners, called our Councils, and fat and diverted our selves
with such Conversation as we had one with another, which was but indifferent
truly at that time.
Our Correspondence with the Natives was absolutely necessary, and our Artist,
the Cutler, having made Abundance of those little Diamond cut Squares of Silver,
with these we made Shift to Traffick with the black People for what we wanted;
for indeed they were pleased wonderfully with them: And thus we got Plenty of
Provisions. At first, and in particular, we got about fifty Head of Black Cattel
and Goats, and our Cook's Mate took care to cure them, and dry them, salt and
preserve them for our grand Supply; nor was this hard to do, the Salt and