Captain Singleton

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