Captain Singleton

by Daniel Defoe

they seem'd to be in some Confusion when they found their Mistake; so they

  immediately haul'd up on a-Wind on t'other Tack, and stood edging in for the

  Shore, towards the Eastermost Part of the Island. Upon this we tack'd, and stood

  after him with all the Sail we could, and in two Hours came almost within Gun

  Shot. Tho' they crowded all the Sail they could lay on, there was no Remedy but

  to engage us, and they soon saw their Inequality of Force. We fired a Gun for

  them to bring to, so they Mann'd out their Boat, and sent to us with a Flag of

  Truce. We sent back the Boat, but with this Answer to the Captain, that he had

  nothing to do, but to strike, and bring his Ship to an Anchor under our Stern,

  and come on board us himself, when he should know our Demands; but that however,

  since he had not yet put us to the Trouble of forcing him, which we saw we were

  able to do, we assured them, that the Captain should return again in Safety, and

  all his Men; and that supplying us with such things as we should demand, his

  Ship should not be plundered. They went back with this Message, and it was some

  time after they were on board, before they struck, which made us begin to think

  they refused it; so we fired a Shot, and in a few Minutes more we perceived

  their Boat put off; and as soon as the Boat put off, the Ship struck, and came

  to an Anchor, as was directed.

  When the Captain came on board, we demanded an Account of their Cargo, which was

  chiefly Bales of Goods from Bengal for Bantam . We told them our present Want

  was Provisions, which they had no need of, being just at the End of their

  Voyage; and that if they would send their Boat on Shore with ours, and procure

  us six and twenty Head of black Cattel, threescore Hogs, a Quantity of Brandy

  and Arrack, and three Hundred Bushels of Rice, we would let them go free.

  As to the Rice, they gave us six Hundred Bushels, which they had actually on

  board, together with a Parcel Shipt upon Freight. Also they gave us thirty

  middling Casks of very good Arrack, but Beef and Pork they had none. However,

  they went on Shore with our Men, and bought eleven Bullocks and fifty Hogs,

  which were pickled up for our Occasion, and upon the Supplies of Provision from

  Shore, we dismiss'd them and their Ship.

  We lay here seven Days before we could furnish our selves with the Provisions

  agreed for, and some of the Men fancied the Dutchmen were contriving our

  Destruction; but they were very honest, and did what they could to furnish the

  Black Cattel, but found it impossible to supply so many. So they came and told

  us ingenuously, that unless we could stay a while longer, they could get no more

  Oxen or Cows than those Eleven, with which we were obliged to be satisfied,

  taking the Value of them in other things, rather than stay longer there. On our

  Side we were punctual with them in observing the Conditions we had agreed on,

  nor would we let any of our Men so much as go on board them, or suffer any of

  their Men to come on board us; for had any of our Men gone on board, no body

  could have answer'd for their Behaviour, any more than if they had been on Shore

  in an Enemy's Country.

  We were now Victualled for our Voyage, and as we matter'd not Purchase, we went

  merrily on for the Coast of Ceylon, where we intended to touch to get fresh

  Water again, and more Provisions; and we had nothing material offer'd in this

  Part of the Voyage, only that we met with contrary Winds, and were above a Month

  in the Passage.

  We put in upon the South Coast of the Island, desiring to have as little to do

  with the Dutch as we could; and as the Dutch were Lords of the Country as to

  Commerce, so they are more so of the Sea Coast, where they have several Forts,

  and in particular, have all the Cinnamon, which is the Trade of that Island.

  We took in fresh Water here, and some Provisions, but did not much trouble our

  selves about laying in any Stores, our Beef and Hogs which we got at Iava being

  not yet all gone by a good deal. We had a little Skirmish on Shore here with

  some of the People of the Island, some of our Men having been a little too

  familiar with the Homely Ladies of the Country; for Homely indeed they were, to

  such a Degree, that if our Men had not had good Stomachs that Way, they would

  scarce have touch'd any of them.

  I could never fully get it out of our Men what they did, they were so true to

  one another in their Wickedness; but I understood in the main, that it was some

  barbarous thing they had done, and that they had like to have paid dear for it;

  for the Men resented it to the last Degree, and gathered in such Numbers about

  them, that had not sixteen more of our Men, in another Boat, come all in the

  Nick of Time, just to rescue our first Men, who were but Eleven, and so fetch

  them off by main Force, they had been all cut off, the Inhabitants being no less

  than two or three Hundred, armed with Darts and Launces, the usual Weapons of

  the Country, and which they are very dexterous at the throwing, even so

  dexterous, that it was scarce credible: And had our Men stood to fight them, as

  some of them were bold enough to talk of, they had been all overwhelmed and

  kill'd. As it was, seventeen of our Men were wounded, and some of them very

  dangerously. But they were more frighted than hurt too; for every one of them

  gave themselves over for dead Men, believing the Launces were poisoned. But

  William was our Comfort here too; for when two of our Surgeons were of the same

  Opinion, and told the Men foolishly enough, that they would die, William

  chearfully went to Work with them, and cured them all but one, who rather died

  by drinking some Arrack Punch, than of his Wound, the Excess of Drinking

  throwing him into a Fever.

  We had enough of Ceylon, tho' some of our People were for going ashore again,

  sixty or seventy Men together, to be revenged; but William perswaded them

  against it, and his Reputation was so great among the Men, as well as with us

  that were Commanders, that he could influence them more than any of us.

  They were mighty warm upon their Revenge, and they would go on Shore, and

  destroy five Hundred of them. Well, says William, and suppose you do, what are

  you the better? Why then, says one of them, speaking for the rest, we shall have

  our Satisfaction. Well, and what will you be the better for that, says William?

  They could then say nothing to that. Then, says William, if I mistake not, your

  Business is Money: Now I desire to know, if you conquer and kill two or three

  Thousand of these poor Creatures, they have no Money, pray what will you get?

  They are poor naked Wretches, what shall you gain by them? But then said

  William, perhaps, in doing this, you may chance to lose Half a Score of your own

  Company, as 'tis very probable you may, pray, what Gain is in it, and what

  Account can you give the Captain for his lost Men? In short, William argued so

  effectually, that he convinc'd them that it was mere Murther, to do so; and that

  the Men had a Right to their own, and that they had no Right to take them away:

  That it was destroying innocent Men, who had acted no otherwise than as the Laws
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br />   of Nature dictated; and that it would be as much Murther to do so, as to meet a

  Man on the High-way, and kill him, for the mere sake of it, in cold Blood, not

  regarding whether he had done any Wrong to us or no.

  These Reasons prevailed with them at last, and they were content to go away, and

  leave them as they found them. In the first Skirmish they killed between sixty

  and seventy Men, and wounded a great many more, but they had nothing, and our

  People got nothing by it, but the Loss of one Man's Life, and the Wounding

  sixteen more, as above.

  But another Accident brought us to a Necessity of further Business with these

  People, and indeed we had like to have put an End to our Lives and Adventures

  all at once among them; for, about three Days after our Putting out to Sea, from

  the Place where we had that Skirmish, we were attack'd by a violent Storm of

  Wind from the South, or rather a Hurricane of Wind from all the Points

  Southward, for it blew in a most desperate and furious Manner, from the S. E. to

  the S. W. one Minute at one Point, and then instantly turning about again to

  another Point, but with the same Violence; nor were we able to work the Ship in

  that Condition: So that the Ship I was in split three Topsails, and at last

  brought the Main Top-mast by the Board; and in a Word, we were once or twice

  driven right ashore; and one time, had not the Wind shifted the very Moment it

  did, we had been dash'd in a Thousand Pieces upon a great Ledge of Rocks, which

  lay off about Half a League from the Shore; but, as I have said, the Wind

  shifting very often, and at that time coming to the E. S. E. we stretcht off,

  and got above a League more Sea-room in Half an Hour. After that, it blew with

  some Fury S. W. by S. then S. W. by W. and put us back again a great Way to the

  Eastward of the Ledge of Rocks, where we found a fair Opening between the Rocks

  and the Land, and endeavoured to come to an Anchor there; but we found there was

  no Ground fit to Anchor in, and that we should lose our Anchors, there being

  nothing but Rocks. We stood thro' the Opening, which held about four Leagues;

  the Storm continued, and now we found a dreadful foul Shore, and knew not what

  Course to take. We look'd out very narrowly for some River, or Creek, or Bay,

  where we might run in, and come to an Anchor, but found none a great while. At

  length we saw a great Head-Land lye out far South into the Sea, and that to such

  a Length, that, in short, we saw plainly, that if the Wind held where it was, we

  could not Weather it; so we run in as much under the Lee of the Point as we

  could, and came to an Anchor in about twelve Fathom Water.

  But the Wind veering again in the Night, and blowing exceeding hard, our Anchors

  came home, and the Ship drove till the Rudder struck against the Ground; and had

  the Ship gone Half her Length further, she had been lost, and every one of us

  with her. But our Sheet Anchor held its own, and we heaved in some of the Cable,

  to get clear of the Ground we had struck upon. It was by this only Cable that we

  rode it out all Night, and towards Morning we thought the Wind abated a little,

  and it was well for us that it was so; for in spite of what our Sheet Anchor did

  for us, we found the Ship fast a-ground in the Morning, to our very great

  Surprize and Amazement.

  When the Tide was out, tho' the Water here ebb'd away, the Ship lay almost dry

  upon a Bank of hard Sand, which never, I suppose, had any Ship upon it before;

  the People of the Country came down in great Numbers, to look at us, and gaze,

  not knowing what we were, but gaping at us as at a great Sight or Wonder, at

  which they were surpriz'd, and knew not what to do.

  I have Reason to believe, that upon the Sight they immediately sent an Account

  of a Ship being there, and of the Condition we were in; for the next Day there

  appeared a great Man, whether it was their King or no, I knew not, but he had

  Abundance of Men with him, and some with long Javelins in their Hands, as long

  as Half Pikes; and these came all down to the Water's Edge, and drew up in very

  good Order just in our View. They stood near an Hour without making any Motion,

  and then there came near twenty of them with a Man before them, carrying a white

  Flag before them. They came forward into the Water as high as their Wastes, the

  Sea not going so high as before, for the Wind was abated, and blew off Shore.

  The Man made a long Oration to us, as we could see by his Gestures, and we

  sometimes heard his Voice, but knew not a Word he said. William, who was always

  useful to us, I believe, was here again the Saving of all our Lives. The Case

  was this. The Fellow, or what I might call him, when his Speech was done, gave

  three great Screams, for I know not what else to say they were, then lower'd his

  white Flag three times, and then made three Motions to us with his Arm, to come

  to him.

  I acknowledge, that I was for Manning out the Boat, and going to them; but

  William would by no means allow me: He told me, we ought to trust no Body; that

  if they were the Barbarians, and under their own Government, we might be sure to

  be all murthered; and if they were Christians, we should not fare much better,

  if they knew who we were; that it was the Custom of the Malabars, to betray all

  People that they could get into their Hands; and that these were some of the

  same People; and that if we had any Regard to our own Safety, we should not go

  to them by any means. I opposed him a great while, and told him, I thought he

  used to be always right, but that now I thought he was not; that I was no more

  for running needless Risques, than he, or any one else; but I thought all

  Nations in the World, even the most savage People, when they held out a Flag of

  Peace, kept the Offer of Peace made by that Signal, very sacredly, and I gave

  him several Examples of it in my History of my African Travels, which I have

  here gone thro' in the Beginning of this Work; and that I could not think these

  People worse than some of them. And besides, I told him, our Case seem'd to be

  such, that we must fall into some body's Hands or other, and that we had better

  fall into their Hands by a friendly Treaty, than by a forced Submission; nay,

  tho' they had indeed a treacherous Design; and therefore I was for a Parley with

  them.

  Well, Friend, says William very gravely, if thou wilt go, I cannot help it; I

  shall only desire to take my last Leave of thee at Parting, for depend upon it,

  thou wilt never see us again: Whether we in the Ship may come off any better at

  last, I cannot resolve thee; but this I will answer for, that we will not give

  up our Lives idly, and in cool Blood, as thou art going to do; we will at least

  preserve our selves as long as we can, and die at last like Men, not like Fools

  trapann'd by the Wiles of a few Barbarians.

  William spoke this with so much Warmth, and yet with so much Assurance of our

  Fate, that I began to think a little of the Risque I was going to run. I had no

  more Mind to be murthered than he; and yet I could not for my Life be so

  faint-hearted in the thing, as he. Upon which I asked him, if he had
any

  Knowledge of the Place, or had ever been here? He said, No. Then I asked him, if

  he had heard or read any thing about the People of this Island, and of their Way

  of treating any Christians that had fallen into their Hands? And he told me, he

  had heard of one, and he would tell me the Story afterward. His Name, he said,

  was Knox, Commander of an East India Ship, who was driven on Shore, just as we

  were, upon this Island of Ceylon, tho' he could not say it was at the same

  Place, or whereabouts: That he was beguiled by the Barbarians, and inticed to

  come on Shore, just as we were invited to do at that time; and that when they

  had him, they surrounded him and eighteen or twenty of his Men, and never

  suffered them to return, but kept them Prisoners, or murthered them, he could

  not well tell which; but they were carried away up into the Country, separated

  from one another, and never heard of afterwards, except the Captain's Son, who

  miraculously made his Escape after twenty Years Slavery.

  I had no Time then to ask him to give the full Story of this Knox, much less to

  hear him tell it me; but as it is usual in such Cases, when one begins to be a

  little touch'd, I turn'd short with him, Why then, Friend William, said I, what

  would you have us do? You see what Condition we are in, and what is before us;

  something must be done, and that immediately. Why, says William, I'll tell thee

  what thou shalt do: First cause a white Flag to be hang'd out, as they do to us,

  and Man out the Long-Boat and Pinnace with as many Men as they can well stow, to

  handle their Arms, and let me go with them, and thou shalt see what we will do.

  If I miscarry, thou may'st be safe; and I will also tell thee, that if I do

  miscarry, it shall be my own Fault, and thou shalt learn Wit by my Folly.

  I knew not what to reply to him at first; but after some Pause, I said, William,

  William, I am as loath you should be lost, as you are that I should; and if

  there be any Danger, I desire you may no more fall into it than I. Therefore, if

  you will, let us all keep in the Ship, fare alike, and take our Fate together.

  No, no, says William, there's no Danger in the Method I propose; thou shalt go

  with me, if thou thinkest fit. If thou pleasest but to follow the Measures that

  I shall resolve on, depend upon it, tho' we will go off from the Ships, we will

  not a Man of us go any nearer them than within Call to talk with them. Thou

  seest they have no Boats to come off to us; but, says he, I rather desire thou

  wouldst take my Advice, and manage the Ship, as I shall give the Signal from the

  Boat, and let us concert that Matter together before we go off.

  Well, I found William had his Measures in his Head all laid before-hand, and was

  not at a Loss what to do at all; so I told him he should be Captain for this

  Voyage, and we would be all of us under his Orders, which I would see observed

  to a Tittle.

  Upon this Conclusion of our Debates, he ordered four and Twenty Men into the

  Long-Boat, and twelve Men into the Pinnace, and the Sea being now pretty smooth,

  they went off, being all very well arm'd. Also he ordered, that all the Guns of

  the great Ship, on the Side which lay next the Shore, should be loaded with

  Musquet Balls, old Nails, Stubbs, and such like Pieces of old Iron, Lead, and

  any thing that came to Hand; and that we should prepare to fire as soon as ever

  he saw us lower the white Flag, and hoist up a red one in the Pinnace.

  With these Measures fix'd between us, they went off towards the Shore, William

  in the Pinnace with twelve Men, and the Long-Boat coming after him with four and

  twenty more, all stout, resolute Fellows, and very well arm'd. They row'd so

  near the Shore, as that they might speak to one another, carrying a white Flag

  as the other did, and offerring a Parle. The Brutes, for such they were, shewed

  themselves very courteous, but finding we could not understand them, they