Captain Singleton
Page 28
resolving to give us one Volley of their Fire Arms, for such they were,
immediately they saluted us with a Hundred Thousand of their Fire-Arrows, every
one carrying a little Bag of Cloath dipt in Brimstone, or some such thing; which
flying thro' the Air, had nothing to hinder it taking Fire as it flew, and it
generally did so.
I cannot say but this Method of attacking us, by a Way we had no Notion of,
might give us at first some little Surprize; for the Number was so great at
first, that we were not altogether without Apprehensions that they might
unluckily set our Ship on Fire; so that he resolved immediately to row on Board,
and perswade us all to weigh, and stand out to Sea; but there was no time for
it, for they immediately let fly a Volley at the Boat, and at the Ship from all
Parts of the vast Crowd of People which stood near the Shore.
Nor did they fire, as I may call it, all at once, and so leave off; but their
Arrows being soon notch'd upon their Bows, they kept continually shooting, so
that the Air was full of Flame.
I could not say whether they set their Cotton Rag on Fire before they shot the
Arrow, for I did not perceive they had Fire with them, which however it seems
they had. The Arrow, besides the Fire it carried with it, had a Head, or a Peg,
as we call it, of a Bone, and some of sharp Flint Stone; and some few of a
Metal, too soft in itself for Metal, but hard enough to cause it to enter, if it
were a Plank, so as to stick where it fell.
William and his Men had Notice sufficient to lye close behind their
Waste-boards, which for this very Purpose they had made so high, that they could
easily sink themselves behind them, so as to defend themselves from any thing
that came Point blank, as we call it, or upon a Line; but for what might fall
perpendicular out of the Air, they had no Guard, but took the Hazard of that. At
first they made as if they would row away, but before they went, they gave a
Volley of their small Arms, firing at those which stood with the Dutchman; but
William ordered them to be sure to take their Aim at others so as to miss him,
and they did so.
There was no Calling to them now, for the Noise was so great among them, that
they could hear no Body; but our Men boldly row'd in nearer to them, for they
were at first driven a little off, and when they came nearer, they fired a
second Volley, which put the Fellows into a great Confusion, and we could see
from the Ship, that several of them were killed or wounded.
We thought this was a very unequal Fight, and therefore we made a Signal to our
Men, to row away, that we might have a little of the Sport as well as they; but
the Arrows flew so thick upon them, being so near the Shore, that they could not
sit to their Oars; so they spread a little of their Sail, thinking they might
sail along the Shore, and lye behind their Wasteboards: But the Sail had not
been spread six Minutes, but it had five Hundred Fire-Arrows shot into it, and
thro' it, and at length set it fairly on Fire; nor were our Men quite out of the
Danger of its setting the Boat on Fire, and this made them paddle and shove the
Boat away as well as they could, as they lay, to get further off.
By this time they had left us a fair Mark at the whole Savage Army; and as we
had sheer'd the Ship as near to them as we could, we fired among the thickest of
them six or seven times, five Guns at a time, which shot old Iron, Musquet
Bullets &c.
We could easily see that we made Havock of them, and killed and wounded
Abundance of them, and that they were in a great Surprize at it; but yet they
never offered to stir, and all this while their Fire-Arrows flew as thick as
before.
At last, on a sudden their Arrows stopt, and the old Dutchman came running down
to the Water Side, all alone, with his white Flag as before, waving it as high
as he could, and making Signals to our Boat to come to him again.
William did not care at first to go near him, but the Man continuing to make
Signals to him to come, at last William went, and the Dutchman told him, that he
had been with the General, who was much mollified by the Slaughter of his Men,
and that now he could have any thing of him.
Any thing, says William, what have we to do with him? Let him go about his
Business, and carry his Men out of Gun-Shot: Can't he?
Why, says the Dutchman, but he dares not stir, nor see the King's Face; unless
some of your Men come on Shore, he will certainly put him to Death.
Why then, says William, he is a dead Man; for if it were to save his Life, and
the Lives of all the Crowd that is with him, he shall never have one of us in
his Power.
But I'll tell thee, said William, how thou shalt cheat him, and gain thy own
Liberty too, if thou hast any Mind to see thy own Country again, and art not
turn'd Savage, and grown fond of living all thy Days among Heathens and Savages.
I would be glad to do it with all my Heart, says he; but if I should offer to
swim off to you now, tho' they are so far from me, they shoot so true, that they
would kill me before I got half Way.
But, says William, I'll tell thee how thou shalt come with his Consent; go to
him, and tell him, I have offer'd to carry you on board, to try if you could
perswade the Captain to come on Shore, and that I would not hinder him, if he
was willing to venture.
The Dutchman seem'd in a Rapture at the very first Word: I'll do it, says he, I
am perswaded he will give me Leave to come.
Away he runs, as if he had a glad Message to carry, and tells the General, that
William had promised, if he would go on board the Ship with me, he would
perswade the Captain to return with him. The General was Fool enough to give him
Order to go, and charg'd him not to come back without the Captain, which he
readily promised, and very honestly might.
So they took him in, and brought him on board, and he was as good as his Word to
them, for he never went back to them any more; and the Sloop being come to the
Mouth of the Inlet where we lay, we weighed, and set Sail. But as we went out,
being pretty near the Shore, we fired three Guns as it were among them, but
without any Shot, for it was of no Use to us, to hurt any more of them. After we
had fired, we gave them a Chear, as the Seamen call it; that is to say, we
halloo'd at them by way of Triumph, and so carried off their Ambassador; how it
fared with their General, we know nothing of that.
This Passage, when I related it to a Friend of mine, after my Return from those
Rambles, agreed so well with his Relation of what happened to one Mr. Knox, an
English Captain, who some time ago was decoyed on Shore by those People, that it
could not but be very much to my Satisfaction to think what Mischief we had all
escaped; and I think it cannot but be very profitable to record the other Story,
which is but short, with my own, to shew, whoever reads this, what it was I
avoided, and prevent their falling into the like, if they have to do with the
perfidious People of Ceylon. The Relation is as follows.
The Island of Ceylon
being inhabited for the greatest Part by Barbarians, which
will not allow any Trade or Commerce with any European Nation, and inaccessible
by any Travellers, it will be convenient to relate the Occasion how the Author
of this Story happen'd to go into this Island, and what Opportunities he had of
being fully acquainted with the People, their Laws and Customs, that so we may
the better depend upon the Account, and value it as it deserves, for the Rarity
as well as the Truth of it; and both these the Author gives us a brief Relation
of, in this Manner. His Words are as follows.
In the Year 1657, the Anne Fregat, of London, Captain Robert Knox Commander, on
the 21st of January, set Sail out of the Downes, in the Service of the
Honourable the East India Company of England, bound for Fort St. George upon the
Coast of Coromandel, to trade for one Year from Port to Port in India; which
having performed, as he was lading his Goods to return for England, being in the
Road of Matlipatam, on the 19th of November 1659, there happen'd such a mighty
Storm, that in it several Ships were cast away, and he was forc'd to cut his
Main Mast by the Board, which so disabled the Ship, that he could not proceed in
his Voyage; whereupon, Cotiar, in the Island of Ceylon being a very commodious
Bay fit for her present Distress, Thomas Chambers, Esq; since Sir Thomas
Chambers, the Agent at Fort St. George, ordered that the Ship should take in
some Cloath and Indian Merchants belonging to Porta Nova, who might trade there
while she lay to set her Mast, and repair the other Damages sustained by the
Storm. At her first coming thither, after the Indian Merchants were set on
Shore, the Captain and his Men were very jealous of the People of the Place, by
reason the English never had any Commerce or Dealing with them; but after they
had been there twenty Days, going ashore and returning again at Pleasure,
without any Molestation, they began to lay aside all suspicious Thoughts of the
People that dwelt thereabouts, who had kindly entertained them for their Money.
By this time the King of the Country had Notice of their Arrival, and not being
acquainted with their Intents, he sent down a Dissuava, or General, with an Army
to them, who immediately sent a Messenger to the Captain on board, to desire him
to come ashore to him, pretending a Letter from the King. The Captain saluted
the Message with Firing of Guns, and ordered his Son Robert Knox, and Mr. John
Loveland, Merchant of the Ship, to go ashore and wait on him. When they were
come before him, he demanded Who they were, and how long they should stay? They
told him, They were Englishmen, and not to stay above twenty or thirty Days, and
desired Permission to trade in his Majesty's Port. His Answer was, That the King
was glad to hear that the English were come into his Country, and had commanded
him to assist them, as they should desire, and had sent a Letter to be delivered
to none but the Captain himself. They were then twelve Miles from the Sea-Side,
and therefore replied, That the Captain could not leave his Ship to come so far;
but if he pleased to go down to the Sea-Side, the Captain would wait on him to
receive the Letter. Whereupon the Dissuava desired them to stay that Day, and on
the Morrow he would go with them; which, rather than displease him in so small a
Matter, they consented to. In the Evening, the Dissuava sent a Present to the
Captain of Cattle and Fruits, &c. which being carried all Night by the
Messengers, was delivered to him in the Morning, who told him withal, that his
Men were coming down with the Dissuava, and desired his Company on Shore against
his coming, having a Letter from the King to deliver into his own Hand. The
Captain mistrusting nothing, came on Shore with his Boat, and sitting under a
Tamarind Tree, waited for the Dissuava. In the mean time, the Native Soldiers
privately surrounded him and the seven Men he had with him, and seizing them,
carried them to meet the Dissuava, bearing the Captain on a Hammock on their
Shoulders.
The next Day the Long-Boat's Crew, not knowing what had happen'd, came on Shore
to cut down a Tree to make Cheeks for the Main-Mast, and were made Prisoners
after the same Manner, tho' with more Violence, because they were more rough
with them, and made Resistance, yet they were not brought to the Captain and his
Company, but quarter'd in another House in the same Town.
The Dissuava having thus gotten two Boats, and eighteen Men, his next Care was
to gain the Ship, and, to that End, telling the Captain that he and his Men were
only detained because the King intended to send Letters and a Present to the
English Nation by him, desired he would send some Men on board his Ship to order
her Stay; and because the Ship was in Danger of being fired by the Dutch, if she
stay'd long in the Bay, to bring her up the River. The Captain did not approve
of the Advice, but did not dare own his Dislike; and so sent his Son with the
Order, but with a solemn Conjuration to return again, which he accordingly did,
bringing a Letter from the Company in the Ship, That they would not obey the
Captain, nor any other in this Matter, but were resolved to stand on their own
Defence. This Letter satisfied the Dissuava, who thereupon gave the Captain
Leave to write for what he would have brought him from the Ship, pretending,
that he had not the King's Order to release them, though it would suddenly come.
The Captain seeing he was held in Suspense, and the Season of the Year spending
for the Ship to proceed on her Voyage to some Place, sent Order to Mr. John
Burford the chief Mate, to take Charge of the Ship, and set Sail to Porta Nova,
from whence they came, and there to follow the Agent's Order.
And now began that long and sad Captivity they all along feared; the Ship being
gone, the Dissuava was called up to the King, and they were kept under Guards a
while, till a special Order came from the King to part them, and put one in a
Town, for the Conveniency of their Maintenance, which the King ordered to be at
the Charge of the Country. On September, 16, 1660, the Captain and his Son were
placed in a Town called Bonder Cooswat, in the Country of Hotcurly, distant from
the City of Candi Northward thirty Miles, and, from the rest of the English, a
full Day's Journey. Here they had their Provisions brought them twice a Day,
without Money, so much as they could eat, and as good as the Country yielded.
The Situation of the Place was very pleasant and commodious, but that Year that
Part of the Land was very sickly by Agues and Fevers, of which many died. The
Captain and his Son, after some time, were visited with the common Distemper,
and the Captain being also loaded with Grief for his deplorable Condition,
languish'd more than three Months, and then died, February the 9th 1660.
Robert Knox his Son being now left desolate, sick, and in Captivity, having none
to comfort him but God, who is the Father of the fatherless, and hears the
Groans of such as are in Captivity, being alone to enter upon a long Scene of
Misery and Calamity, oppress'd with Weakness of Body and Grief of Soul, for the
Loss of his Father, and his remediless Trouble that he was like to endure; and
the first Instance of it was in the Burial of his Father: For he sent his Black
Boy to the People of the Town, to desire their Assistance, because they
understood not their Language; but they sent him only a Rope to drag him by the
Neck into the Woods, and told him, that they would offer him no other Help
unless he would pay for it. This barbarous Answer increased his Trouble, for his
Father's Death, that now he was like to lye unburied, and be made a Prey to the
wild Beasts in the Woods; for the Ground was very hard, and they had not Tools
to dig with, and so it was impossible for them to bury him; but having a small
Matter of Money left him, viz. a Pagoda, and a Gold Ring, he hired a Man, and so
buried him in as decent a Manner as their Condition would permit.
His dead Father being thus removed out of his Sight, but his Ague continuing, he
was reduced very low, partly by Sorrow, and partly by his Disease; all the
Comfort he had, was to go into the Wood, and Fields with a Book, either the
Practice of Piety, or Mr. Rogers's Seven Treatises, which were the only two
Books he had, and meditate and read, and sometimes pray, in which, his Anguish
made him often invert Elijah's Petition, That he might die, because his Life was
a burthen to him. God, tho' he was pleased to prolong his Life, yet he found a
Way to lighten his Grief, by removing his Ague, and granting him a Desire, which
above all things, was acceptable to him. He had read his two Books over so
often, that he had both almost by Heart, and tho' they were both pious and good
Writings, yet he long'd for the Truth from the original Fountain, and thought it
his greatest Unhappiness, that he had not a Bible, and did believe, that he
should never see one again: But, contrary to his Expectation, God brought him
one after this Manner. As he was fishing one Day, with his Black Boy, to catch
some Fish to relieve his Hunger, an old Man pass'd by them, and asked his Boy,
whether his Master could read; and when the Boy had answered, Yes; he told him,
that he had gotten a Book from the Portuguese when they left Columbo; and, if
his Master pleased, he would sell it him. The Boy told his Master, who bad him
go and see what Book it was. The Boy having served the English some time, knew
the Book, and, as soon as he had got it into his Hand, came running to him,
calling out before he came to him, 'Tis the Bible. The Words startled him, and
he flung down his Angle to meet him, and, finding it true, was mightily rejoyc'd
to see it; but he was afraid he should not have enough to purchase it, tho' he
was resolved to part with all the Money he had, which was but one Pagoda, to buy
it; but, his Black Boy perswading him to slight it; and leave it to him to buy
it, he at length, obtained it for a knit Cap.
This Accident he could not but look upon as a great Miracle, that God should
bestow upon him such an extraordinary Blessing, and bring him a Bible in his own
native Language, in such a remote Part of the World, where his Name was not
known, and where it was never heard of, that an Englishman had ever been before.
The Enjoyment of this Mercy was a great Comfort to him in his Captivity, and
tho' he wanted no bodily Convenience that the Country did afford, for the King
immediately after his Father's Death had sent an express Order to the People of
the Town, that they should be kind to him, and give him good Victuals; and,
after he had been some time in the Country, and understood the Language, he got
him good Conveniencies, as, a Horse and Gardens, and falling to Husbandry, God
so prospered him, that he had Plenty, not only for himself, but to lend others;
which being according to the Custom of the Country, at 50 per Cent. a Year, much
enriched him. He had also Goats, which served him for Mutton, and Hogs and Hens: