Captain Singleton

by Daniel Defoe

to that, upon the most solemn Imprecations and Curses that the Devil and both of

  us could invent.

  He told me then, there was a brave Fellow in the other Ship, pointing to another

  English Ship which rode in the Harbour, who in Concert with some of the Men had

  resolved to mutiny the next Morning, and run away with the Ship; and that if we

  could get Strength enough among our Ship's Company we might do the same. I liked

  the Proposal very well, and he got eight of us to join with him, and he told us,

  that as soon as his Friend had begun the Work, and was Master of the Ship, we

  should be ready to do the like; this was his Plot, and I without the least

  Hesitation, either at the Villainy of the Fact, or the Difficulty of performing

  it, came immediately into the wicked Conspiracy, and so it went on among us; but

  we could not bring our Part to Perfection.

  Accordingly on the Day appointed, his Correspondent in the other Ship, whose

  Name was Wilmot, began the Work, and having seized the Captain's Mate, and other

  Officers, secured the Ship, and gave the Signal to us; we were but eleven in our

  Ship, who were in the Conspiracy, nor could we get any more that we could trust,

  so that leaving the Ship, we all took the Boat and went off to join the other.

  Having thus left the Ship I was in, we were entertained with a great deal of Joy

  by Captain Wilmot and his new Gang; and being well prepared for all manner of

  Roguery, bold, desperate, I mean my self, without the least Checks of

  Conscience, for what I was entred upon, or for any Thing I might do, much less

  with any Apprehension of what might be the Consequence of it; I say, having thus

  embarked with this Crew, which at last brought me to consort with the most

  famous Pyrates of the Age, some of whom have ended their Journals at the

  Gallows: I think the giving an Account of some of my other Adventures may be an

  agreeable Piece of Story; and this I may venture to say before Hand, upon the

  Word of a PYRATE, that I shall not be able to recollect the full, no not by far,

  of the great Variety which has formed one of the most reprobate Schemes that

  ever Man was capable to present to the World.

  I that was, as I have hinted before, an original Thief, and a Pyrate even by

  Inclination before, was now in my Element, and never undertook any Thing in my

  Life with more particular Satisfaction.

  Captain Wilmot, for so we are now to call him, being thus possessed of a Ship,

  and in the Manner as you have heard, it may be easily concluded he had nothing

  to do to stay in the Port, or to wait either the Attempts which might be made

  from the Shore, or any Change which might happen among his Men. On the Contrary,

  we weighed Anchor the same Tide, and stood out to Sea, steering away for the

  Canaries . Our Ship had Twenty Two Guns, but was able to carry Thirty; and

  besides, as she was fitted out for a Merchant Ship only, she was not furnished

  either with Ammunition or small Arms sufficient for our Design, or for the

  Occasion we might have in Case of a Fight; so we put into Cadiz, that is to say,

  we came to an Anchor in the Bay; and the Captain and one whom we call'd young

  Captain Kid, who was the Gunner, and some of the Men who could best be trusted,

  among whom was my Comrade Harris, who was made second Mate, and my self who was

  made a Lieutenant; some Bales of English Goods were proposed to be carried on

  Shore with us for Sale; but my Comrade, who was a compleat Fellow at his

  Business, proposed a better Way for it; and having been in the Town before, told

  us in short, that he would buy what Powder and Bullet, small Arms, or any thing

  else we wanted, on his own Word, to be paid for when they came on Board, in such

  English Goods as we had there. This was by much the best Way, and accordingly he

  and the Captain went on Shore by themselves, and having made such a Bargain as

  they found for their Turn, came away again in two Hours time, and bringing only

  a Butt of Wine, and five Casks of Brandy with them, we all went on Board again.

  The next Morning two Barco Longo's came off to us deep loaden, with five

  Spaniards on board them, for Traffick. Our Captain sold them good Penny worths,

  and they delivered us sixteen Barrels of Powder, twelve small Runlets of fine

  Powder for our small Arms, sixty Musquets, and twelve Fuzees for the Officers;

  seventeen Ton of Cannon Ball, fifteen Barrels of Musquet Bullets, with some

  Swords, and twenty good Pair of Pistols. Beside this, they brought thirteen

  Butts of Wine (for we that were now all become Gentlemen scorn'd to drink the

  Ship's Beer) also sixteen Puncheons of Brandy, with twelve Barrels of Raisins,

  and twenty Chests of Lemons: All which were paid for in English Goods; and over

  and above, the Captain received 600 Pieces of Eight in Money. They would have

  come again, but we would stay no longer.

  From hence we sailed to the Canaries, and from thence onward to the West-Indies,

  where we committed some Depredation upon the Spaniards for Provision, and took

  some Prizes, but none of any great Value, while I remained with them, which was

  not long at that Time; for having taken a Spanish Sloop on the Coast of

  Cartagena, my Friend made a Motion to me, that we should desire Captain Wilmot

  to put us, into the Sloop, with a Proportion of Arms and Ammunition, and let us

  try what we could do; she being much fitter for our Business than the great

  Ship, and a better Sailer. This he consented to, and we appointed our Rendezvous

  at Tobago, making an Agreement, that whatever was taken by either of our Ships,

  should be shared among the Ship's Company of both; all which we very punctually

  observed, and join'd our Ships again about fifteen Months after, at the Island

  of Tobago, as above.

  We cruised near two Years in those Seas, chiefly upon the Spaniards; not that we

  made any Difficulty of taking English Ships, or Dutch, or French, if they came

  in our Way; and particularly Captain Wilmot attack'd a New-England Ship bound

  from the Maderas to Jamaica; and another bound from New-York to Berbadoes, with

  Provisions; which last was a very happy Supply to us. But the Reason why we

  meddled as little with English Vessels as we could, was, first, because, if they

  were Ships of any Force, we were sure of more Resistance from them; and

  secondly, because we found the English Ships had less Booty when taken; for the

  Spaniards generally had Money on board, and that was what we best knew what to

  do with. Captain Wilmot was indeed more particularly cruel when he took any

  English Vessel, that they might not too soon have Advice of him in England, and

  so the Men of War have Orders to look out for him. But this Part I bury in

  Silence for the present.

  We encreased our Stock in these two Years considerably, having taken 60000

  Pieces of Eight in one Vessel, and 100000 in another; and being thus first grown

  rich, we resolved to be strong too; for we had taken a Brigantine built at

  Virginia, an excellent Sea Boat, and a good Sailer, and able to carry twelve

  Guns; and a large Spanish Frigat-built Ship, that sailed incomparably well also,

  and which afterwards, by the Help of good Carpenters, we
fitted up to carry

  twenty eight Guns. And now we wanted more Hands, so we put away for the Bay of

  Campeachy, not doubting we should ship as many Men there as we pleased, and so

  we did.

  Here we sold the Sloop that I was in; and Captain Wilmot keeping his own Ship, I

  took the Command of the Spanish Frigat, as Captain, and my Comrade Harris as

  eldest Lieutenant, and a bold enterprizing Fellow he was as any the World

  afforded. One Culverdine was put into the Brigantine, so that we were now three

  stout Ships, well Mann'd, and Victualled for twelve Months; for we had taken two

  or three Sloops from New-England and New-York, loaden with Flour, Pease, and

  Barrell'd Beef, and Pork, going for Jamaica and Berbadoes; and for more Beef we

  went on Shore on the Isle of Cuba, where we killed as many black Cattel as we

  pleased, tho' we had very little Salt to cure them.

  Out of all the Prizes we took here, we took their Powder and Bullet, their small

  Arms and Cutlasses; and as for their Men, we always took the Surgeon and the

  Carpenter, as Persons who were of particular Use to us upon many Occasions; nor

  were they always unwilling to go with us, tho' for their own Security, in Case

  of Accidents, they might easily pretend they were carried away by Force, of

  which I shall give a pleasant Account in the Course of my other Expeditions.

  We had one very merry Fellow here, a Quaker, whose Name was William Walters,

  whom we took out of a Sloop bound from Pensilvania to Berbadoes. He was a

  Surgeon, and they called him Doctor; but he was not employed in the Sloop as a

  Surgeon, but was going to Berbadoes to get a Birth, as the Sailors call it.

  However, he had all his Surgeon's Chest on board, and we made him go with us,

  and take all his Implements with him. He was a comick Fellow indeed, a Man of

  very good solid Sense, and an excellent Surgeon; but what was worth all, very

  good humour'd and pleasant in his Conversation, and a bold, stout, brave Fellow

  too, as any we had among us.

  I found William, as I thought, not very averse to go along with us, and yet

  resolved to do it so, that it might be apparent he was taken away by Force; and

  to this Purpose he comes to me, Friend, says he, thou sayest I must go with

  thee, and it is not in my Power to resist thee, if I would; but I desire thou

  wilt oblige the Master of the Sloop which I am on board, to certify under his

  Hand that I was taken away by Force, and against my Will; and this he said with

  so much Satisfaction in his Face, that I could not but understand him. Ay, ay,

  says I, whether it be against your Will, or no, I'll make him and all the Men

  give you a Certificate of it, or I'll take them all along with us, and keep them

  till they do: So I drew up the Certificate my self, wherein I wrote that he was

  taken away by main Force, as a Prisoner, by a Pyrate Ship; that they carried

  away his Chest and Instruments first, and then bound his Hands behind him, and

  forced him into their Boat; and this was signed by the Master and all his Men.

  Accordingly I fell a swearing at him, and called to my Men to tye his Hands

  behind him, and so we put him into our Boat, and carry'd him away. When I had

  him on board, I called him to me: Now, Friend, says I, I have brought you away

  by Force, it is true, but I am not of the Opinion I have brought you away so

  much against your Will as they imagine: Come, says I, you will be a useful Man

  to us, and you shall have very good Usage among us; so I unbound his Hands, and

  first ordered all things that belonged to him to be restored to him, and our

  Captain gave him a Dram.

  Thou hast dealt friendly by me, says he, and I'll be plain with thee, whether I

  came willingly to thee, or not: I shall make my self as useful to thee as I can;

  but thou knowest it is not my Business to meddle when thou art to fight. No, no,

  says the Captain, but you may meddle a little when we share the Money. Those

  things are useful to furnish a Surgeon's Chest, says William, and smiled; but I

  shall be moderate.

  In short, William was a most agreeable Companion, but he had the better of us in

  this Part, that, if we were taken, we were sure to be hang'd, and he was sure to

  escape; and he knew it well enough: But in short he was a sprightly Fellow, and

  fitter to be Captain than any of us. I shall have often an Occasion to speak of

  him in the rest of the Story.

  Our Cruising so long in these Seas began now to be so well known, that not in

  England only, but in France and Spain, Accounts had been made publick of our

  Adventures, and many Stories told how we murthered the People in cold Blood,

  tying them Back to Back, and throwing them into the Sea; one Half of which

  however was not true, tho' more was done than it is fit to speak of here.

  The Consequence of this however was, that several English Men of War were sent

  to the West Indies, and were particularly instructed to cruize in the Bay of

  Mexico, and the Gulph of Florida, and among the Bahama Islands, if possible, to

  attack us.

  We were not so ignorant of things, as not to expect this, after so long a Stay

  in that Part of the World; but the first certain Account we had of them, was at

  the Honduras, when a Vessel coming in from Jamaica, told us, that two English

  Men of War were coming directly from Jamaica thither, in Quest of us. We were

  indeed as it were embay'd, and could not have made the least Shift to have got

  off, if they had come directly to us; but as it happen'd, some body had informed

  them that we were in the Bay of Campeachy, and they went directly thither, by

  which we were not only free of them, but were so much to the Windward of them,

  that they could not make any Attempt upon us, tho' they had known we were there.

  We took this Advantage, and stood away for Carthagena, and from thence with

  great Difficulty beat it up at a Distance from under the Shore for St. Martha,

  till we came to the Dutch Island of Curasoe, and from thence to the Island of

  Tobago ; which, as before, was our Rendezvous; which being a deserted

  uninhabited Island, we at the same time made use of for a Retreat: Here the

  Captain of the Brigantine died, and Captain Harris at that time my Lieutenant,

  took the Command of the Brigantine.

  Here we came to a Resolution, to go away to the Coast of Brasil, and from thence

  to the Cape of Good Hope, and so for the East-Indies: But Captain Harris, as I

  have said, being now Captain of the Brigantine, alledged that his Ship was too

  small for so long a Voyage; but that if Captain Wilmot would consent, he would

  take the Hazard of another Cruize, and he would follow us in the first Ship he

  could take: So we appointed our Rendezvous to be at Madagascar, which was done

  by my Recommendation of the Place, and the Plenty of Provisions to be had there.

  Accordingly he went away from us in an evil Hour, for instead of taking a Ship

  to follow us, he was taken, as I heard afterwards, by an English Man of War, and

  being laid in Irons, died of meer Grief and Anger before he came to England: His

  Lieutenant, I have heard, was afterwards executed in England for a Pyrate, and

  this was the End of t
he Man who first brought me into this unhappy Trade.

  We parted from Tobago three Days after, bending our Course for the Coast of

  Brasil, but had not been at Sea above Twenty Four Hours, when we were separated

  by a terrible Storm, which held three Days, with very little Abatement or

  Intermission. In this Juncture, Captain Wilmot happen'd unluckily to be on board

  my Ship, very much to his Mortification; for we not only lost Sight of his Ship,

  but never saw her more, till we came to Madagascar, where she was cast away. In

  short, after having in this Tempest lost our Fore-Top Mast, we were forced to

  put back to the Isle of Tobago for Shelter, and to repair our Damage, which

  brought us all very near our Destruction.

  We were no sooner on Shore here, and all very busy looking out for a Piece of

  Timber for a Top-Mast, but we perceived standing in for the Shore, an English

  Man of War of Thirty six Guns: It was a great Surprize to us indeed, because we

  were disabled so much, but to our great good Fortune we lay pretty snug and

  close among the high Rocks, and the Man of War did not see us, but stood off

  again upon his Cruise; so we only observed which Way she went, and at Night

  leaving our Work, resolved to stand off to Sea, steering contrary Way from that

  which we observed she went. And this we found had the desired Success, for we

  saw him no more: We had gotten an old Mizen Top-Mast on board, which made us a

  Jury Fore-Top-Mast for the present, and so we stood away for the Isle Trinidad,

  where, though there were Spaniards on Shore, yet we landed some Men with our

  Boat, and cut a very good Piece of Fir to make us a new Top-Mast, which we got

  fitted up effectually, and also we got some Cattle here to eke out our

  Provisions, and calling a Council of War among our selves, we resolved to quit

  those Seas for the present, and steer away for the Coast of Brazil.

  The first thing we attempted here, was only getting fresh Water; but we learnt,

  that there lay the Portuguese Fleet at the Bay of All-Saints, bound for Lisbon,

  ready to sail, and only waited for a fair Wind; this made us lye by, wishing to

  see them put to Sea, and accordingly as they were, with, or without Convoy, to

  attack or avoid them.

  It sprung up a fresh Gale in the Evening, at S. W. by W. which being fair for

  the Portugal Fleet, and the Weather pleasant and agreeable, we heard the Signal

  given to unmore, and running in under the Island of Si� we hauled our Main-Sail

  and Fore-Sail up in the Brails, lower'd the Top-Sail upon the Cap, and clewed

  them up that we might lye as snug as we could, expecting their coming out; and

  the next Morning saw the whole Fleet come out accordingly, but not at all to our

  Satisfaction, for they consisted of Twenty six Sail, and most of them Ships of

  Force, as well as Burthen, both Merchant Men and Men of War; so seeing there was

  no meddling, we lay still where we was also, till the Fleet was out of Sight,

  and then stood off and on, in hopes of meeting with further Purchase.

  It was not long before we saw a Sail, and immediately gave her Chase, but she

  proved an excellent Sailer, and standing out to Sea, we saw plainly she trusted

  to her Heels, that is to say, to her Sails; however, as we were a clean Ship we

  gained upon her, tho' slowly, and had we had a Day before us, we should

  certainly have come up with her, but it grew dark apace, and in that Case we

  knew we should lose Sight of her.

  Our merry Quaker perceiving us to crowd still after her in the Dark, wherein we

  could not see which way she went, come very drily to me; Friend Singleton, says

  he, doest thee know what we are a doing ? Says I, yes, why we are chasing yon

  Ship, are we not? And how dost thou know that, says he very gravely still? Nay,

  that is true, says I again, we cannot be sure. Yes Friend, says he, I think we