Notable Voyagers Part 33

He occupied himself, however, in building two huts with pimento-trees, which he covered with long gra.s.s, and lined with the skins of goats he had killed with his gun. He had, however, but a pound of powder, and when that was nearly expended he produced fire by rubbing two sticks of pimento-tree on his knee. The lesser hut served him as kitchen, and in the larger he slept and employed himself in reading, singing psalms, and praying; so that, as he remarked, he was a better Christian while in this solitude than he had ever been before.

At first he never ate until hungry, partly because his grief took away his appet.i.te, and partly because he had neither bread nor salt. He also never went to bed until he could watch no longer. From the pimento wood he manufactured torches, which served him as a light at night, while he enjoyed its fragrant smell. He might have caught fish, but he could not eat them for want of salt, as they disagreed with him, except crayfish, which were as large as English lobsters, and very good. These he sometimes boiled, at others broiled, as he did his goat's flesh, with which he made very good broth.

He kept an account of five hundred goats which he had killed, and of as many more which he caught, and, having marked them on the ear, let go.

When his powder failed, he caught the animals, nimble as they were, by chasing them, and from constant practice he ran with wonderful swiftness through the woods and up the rocks and hills. On one occasion, while thus engaged, he nearly lost his life by falling over a precipice. When he came to his senses, he found the goat dead under him. He there lay for twenty-four hours, and was then scarcely able to crawl to his hut, which was about a mile off. On reaching it he did not move again for ten days. He at last got accustomed to eat his meat without bread or salt. During the season he had plenty of good turnips, which had been sown by Captain Dampier's crew, and now covered several acres of ground.

Cabbage-trees also afforded him good cabbage. He seasoned his food with the fruit of the pimento-trees, which is similar to Jamaica pepper.

He also found black pepper, which had some useful medicinal qualities.

On wearing out his shoes, not thinking it necessary to manufacture fresh ones, he went barefooted, and thus his feet became so hard that he could run over the roughest ground without suffering. When he first took to wearing them on board his feet swelled and caused him considerable uneasiness. He employed part of his time in cutting his name on trees, with the date of his landing, and other particulars. At first he was greatly annoyed by cats and rats, which had been landed from some ships touching there, and had now greatly increased. The rats gnawed his feet and clothes while he was asleep, so he bethought himself of encouraging the cats by giving them the goats' flesh. By this means so many of them became tame that they would a.s.semble round him in hundreds, and kept the rats at bay. He likewise tamed some kids, and, to amuse himself, would now and then dance and sing with them and his cats.

When his clothes wore out, he made himself a coat and cap of goat-skins, which he st.i.tched together with thongs of the same material. A nail served him for a needle. When, in time, his knife wore out from constant grinding, he made others of some iron hoops which had been left on sh.o.r.e. Finding in his chest some linen cloth, he manufactured some shirts, using a nail as a needle, and employing the worsted of an old stocking to st.i.tch them, and he had his last shirt on when discovered.

Had the vessels he had seen been Frenchmen he would have gone among them, but he preferred the risk of dying on the island to falling into the hands of Spaniards, who would, he believed, have murdered him, or made him a slave in the mines, as they were supposed to treat all the strangers they could get hold of.

He described the climate as genial, the winter lasting only during June and July, when there was but little frost, though occasionally heavy rains. He saw no venomous or savage creature on the island, the only beasts, besides rats and cats, being goats, the ancestors of which had been left there by Juan Fernandez, the discoverer. Besides the pimento-trees, some of which were sixty feet high, and some large cotton-trees, the only trees of value were some bearing black plums, which, however, growing among the mountains and rocks, were difficult to get at. The trees and gra.s.s were verdant all the year round, and it was evident that the soil was fertile in the extreme.

Alexander Selkirk was the true original of Defoe's "Robinson Crusoe."

He afterwards entered the Royal Navy as a lieutenant, but obtained no higher rank.

Many of the men who had been suffering from scurvy were here landed and sheltered in tents, and by means of two or three goats which Selkirk caught for them each day, and the vegetables with which they were supplied, they soon recovered.

Sailing from Juan Fernandez, a look-out was kept for Spanish vessels.

Quarrels and disputes arose among the officers, but they were settled by the judicious management of the captain, and by the sensible regulations laid down for their government.

On the ist of April they took a vessel of five hundred tons, laden with dry goods and negroes, commanded by two brothers, Joseph and John Morel.

Many others were taken, differing in value. From these they gained useful information as to the condition of the various places on the coast. Their first exploit was an attack on the town of Guayaquil, when Dampier commanded the artillery. Though the Spaniards were prepared, it was captured without much loss of life, the soldiers, notwithstanding that they numbered many more than the English, having fled into the woods at the approach of the invaders. The vessels getting up the river, the guns were brought to bear on the town, by which the privateers had it completely in their power, when, having taken possession instead of burning it down, they offered to ransom it for twenty-seven thousand dollars, besides the plunder they picked up, which amounted to the value of about two thousand pounds. These terms were agreed to, and the money paid to them. They likewise sold the goods taken on board their various prizes to the Morels and the other Spaniards, though at a quarter of their value. But this was better than destroying the merchandise which they could not carry off. Sailing northward, the _Duke_ and _d.u.c.h.ess_, with one of the prizes which they had fitted out as a ship of war, attacked a Manilla galleon with number of merchants and several ladies on board. She carried twenty guns, twenty pattereroes, and one hundred and ninety-three men. After an engagement which lasted about three glases, she struck her colours, having nine men killed, ten wounded, and several blown up with powder.

Captain Rogers was himself badly wounded in the face, and one man was slightly wounded. The prize was called by the high-sounding name of _Nuestra Senora de la Incarnation Disenganio_. Though not so richly-laden as they had expected, the silks, satin, and china not having arrived at Manilla before she sailed, she still contained in gold and silver to the value of twelve thousand pounds, besides other articles of commerce. She was carried into Porto Seguro, where the more valuable part of her cargo was transferred to the privateers. Her pa.s.sengers, especially the ladies, were so well treated, that they warmly expressed their grat.i.tude. Indeed, both on this occasion and at Guayaquil, the females who fell into the power of the privateers experienced no injury.

From the prisoners they learned that another larger and far more richly-laden galleon was coming from Manilla, but it was stated that she had already reached her destination. This, however, Captain Rogers did not believe. Leaving a guard in charge of the prisoners on board a prize in the harbour, the _Duke_ and _d.u.c.h.ess_, with another vessel called the _Marquis_, which had been fitted out, put to sea, to watch for the Manilla ship. Before long a stranger was seen approaching, and the other vessels being at a distance, she mistook the _Duke_ for her consort, the galleon lately captured, and allowed Captain Rogers to get up to her.

He attacked her gallantly, but she was heavily armed and strongly manned, and, before he could venture to run alongside, had triced up her boarding nettings.

The _d.u.c.h.ess_ and _Marquis_ soon came up and joined the fight, but after engaging her for seven hours and making with their small shot but little impression on her thick hull, the captain agreed that it would be folly to run the risk of losing their masts, and therefore, hanging on to her until dark, so as to prevent her entering Porto Seguro, they edged away, and allowed her to escape without further molestation. She proved to be the _Vigonia_, of about nine hundred tons, carrying forty heavy guns and as many pattereroes, with a crew of about four hundred and fifty men.

Captain Rogers was here again wounded. The crew of the galleon were well protected by bales placed between the guns. How many men she lost it was impossible to ascertain, but two were seen to drop from the tops.

On the 10th of January the three ships sailed from Porto Seguro, and steered for the island of Guam, where they arrived on the 10th of March.

They anch.o.r.ed under Spanish colours, but on making themselves known were well received by the Governor, who treated them with perfect confidence and supplied them with provisions, they in return entertaining him and his officers on board, while the English were courteously received on sh.o.r.e. Thence they sailed by the north of Gilolo, stopping at Bouton to take in provisions and water, till they reached Batavia. Here the surgeon and several other persons died of fever, contracted on sh.o.r.e. The _Marquis_ was found to be so rotten that her goods were transferred to the other two vessels, and she was sold.

At the end of October they left Java, and putting into the Cape, waited there for the homeward-bound fleet, in company with which--twenty-five sail in all, Dutch and English--after pa.s.sing round to the north of Shetland, they anch.o.r.ed in the Texel in July of the following year.

Here they had to wait for some time for a convoy, but at length, on the 14th of October, the two ships came to an anchor off Erith, thus ending their long and perilous voyage.

Their skilful and talented pilot probably landed here, but from that day forward nothing of his history is known. Owing to the falsehoods and misstatements published by Clipperton and Funnell, his character has been much maligned. He, too, probably died in poverty, as he was already advanced in life on his return from his last voyage; and the prize money obtained was not distributed until eight or nine years afterwards.

He bitterly repented of his early life among the buccaneers; even when with them his conduct was always humane; and he was induced to remain in their company more for the sake of adventure than for obtaining booty.

He at all events escaped from that hardness of moral feeling which is too generally the consequence of a.s.sociating with abandoned companions.

Few voyagers have added so much to our knowledge of distant parts of the world, and the accuracy of his remarks has been acknowledged by all those who have visited the countries he describes.

His conduct must not be judged by the opinions of the present day, when even privateering is looked down upon and condemned by all right thinking men. Whatever his countrymen may have thought of him, foreign voyagers speak of him in the highest terms. Humboldt says that no navigator could be compared to him. Malte-Bran terms him the learned Dampier, and French and Dutch discoverers style him the incomparable, the eminent, the skilful, the exact Dampier.

CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR.

ANSON'S VOYAGE TO THE SOUTH SEA--A.D. 1740.

War with Spain--Original plan of expedition abandoned--The _Centurion_ and other ships ordered to form a squadron under Commodore Anson-- Miserable equipment--Ships overladen--Drop down Channel--Cross Atlantic, and pa.s.s through the Straits of Le Maire--Bad weather comes on--Two of the ships nearly wrecked--_Severn_ and _Pearl_ lost sight of--_Centurion_ in fearful danger--Scurvy breaks out, and numbers die-- Anchors at Juan Fernandez--The sick landed--The _Trial_ joins her--Goats found marked by Alexander Selkirk--The _Gloucester_ comes off the island--Long time in getting in--The _Anna Pink_ appears--The _Centurion_ goes in chase of a stranger--Takes a prize--Crew and stores of the _Anna Pink_ transferred to _Centurion_--The _Trial_ takes a prize, and crew and stores being removed into the prize, she is destroyed--Females taken on board a prize courteously treated--Paita attacked and captured--The seamen dress up in the Spaniards' clothes-- Booty taken--The town burnt--Spaniards acknowledge Anson's generous treatment of his female prisoners--The squadron lays in wait for the Manilla galleon--Negroes enter on board as seamen--Miss the galleon-- Preparations for crossing the Pacific--Prizes turned adrift--The _Gloucester_ abandoned--Her crew taken on board _Centurion_--Scurvy again breaks out--Fearful mortality--The Ladrones sighted--_Centurion_ brings up off Tinian--Sick landed--She is driven out to sea--Great anxiety--A vessel commenced--The ship appears--Reaches Macao--Repaired-- Fresh men shipped--Sails to watch for the galleon--Her capture--The _Centurion_ on fire--Anson's coolness--Sails with his prize for Canton-- Roguery of the Chinese--Anson and his men extinguish a fire at Canton-- Sails for England--Hears of the war with France--Narrow escape from a French fleet.

War with Spain having been declared towards the end of 1739, it was proposed to fit out two squadrons, one under the command of Captain Cornwall, to sail round the Cape of Good Hope and attack Manilla, and the other under Captain Anson, then commanding the _Centurion_, to sail into the Pacific, round Cape Horn, to injure the settlements of the Spaniards on the west coast of South America, and to destroy their trade. The two squadrons were afterwards to meet to carry out together whatever might be deemed advisable. The first part of the scheme was soon abandoned, and Commodore Anson's squadron alone was ordered to proceed into the South Sea.

Captain Anson's family was little known. He was not supposed to possess even brilliant talents, for "he was," as Earl Stanhope writes of him, "dull in conversation and slow in business, but he had undaunted bravery, steady application, and cool judgment. He punctually followed his instructions and zealously discharged his duty, and by these qualities--qualities within the attainment of all--he rose to well-earned honours, and bequeathed an unsullied renown. He thus deserves to be held forth to British seamen as an example of what may be accomplished by industry, courage, and love of their profession."

The squadron consisted of the _Centurion_, of sixty guns and four hundred men, on board of which the commodore flew his broad pennant; the _Gloucester_ and _Severn_, each of fifty guns; the _Pearl_, of forty; the _Wager_, of twenty-eight; and the _Trial_ sloop, of eight guns.

There were also two victuallers to carry provisions, to be taken on board the squadron when there was room to receive them.

Besides the seamen, there were four hundred and seventy invalids and marines. Five hundred of the former unfortunates, notwithstanding that the commodore strongly protested against such unsuitable men being sent, were ordered to embark, many of them out-pensioners from Chelsea, but two hundred and forty who had sufficient strength to get away escaped, their places being supplied by two hundred and ten marines--raw, undrilled recruits, who had not yet been allowed to use firearms. They were placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Crackerode. Many of the poor worn-out old pensioners shed tears as they marched on board, feeling their utter unfitness for the duty they were called upon to perform. Indeed, out of the whole number, not a single man returned.

The squadron, after many delays, sailed from Saint Helen's on the 16th of September, 1740. Having touched at Madeira, they anch.o.r.ed on the 18th of December off the island of Santa Catalina, on the coast of Brazil.

On touching at Madeira, Commodore Anson learned from the Governor that a squadron of Spanish ships, commanded by Don Josef Pizarro, had been sent out to attack them. This expedition, however, met with a lamentable fate.

Anson's crews suffered greatly from the ships being so deeply laden that the ports could not be opened to admit air. As soon as they arrived at Santa Catalina, the tents were erected on the sh.o.r.e, and the sick men sent into them. The ships were also repaired, some of the guns sent down below, and the stores taken on board.

In about a month the squadron again sailed. Having put into Fort Saint Julian to obtain salt and fresh water, a council of war was held, when the commodore proposed to the captains under him that they should attack the town of Baldivia, the most southern place on the coast of Chili. On the 1st of March, Cape Virgin Mary was sighted, at the entrance to the Straits of Magellan. The weather at that time was beautiful, but it was remarked in those southern lat.i.tudes that fair weather was always of short duration, and was a certain presage of a succeeding storm. On the 7th of March they were pa.s.sing along the coast of Staten Island, which surpa.s.ses all others in the wildness and horrors of its appearance. It seems to be composed entirely of rocks, terminating in a vast number of rugged points, which tower up to a prodigious height, all covered with everlasting snow, while the points themselves are surrounded with frightful precipices. The hills appear as if rent by earthquakes, with nearly perpendicular chasms dividing them, reaching almost to their very bottoms, so that nothing can be imagined more savage and gloomy than the whole aspect of this coast.

Favoured by a strong current and brisk breeze, the squadron pa.s.sed through the Straits of Le Maire in about two hours, and the voyagers flattered themselves that the chief difficulty of their undertaking was over, their hopeful ideas being heightened by the brightness of the sky and the serenity of the weather. Scarcely, however, were they through the straits than the wind began to blow in violent squalls, while the tide rapidly drove the ships to the eastward. It was with the greatest difficulty that the _Wager_ and _Anna Pink_ escaped being dashed to pieces against the sh.o.r.es of Staten Island. The sea rose into mountainous billows, and the ship rolling gunwale to, threatened to dash the men to pieces against the decks or sides, several, indeed, being killed and others greatly injured.

After some time the gale subsided, but on the 23rd again broke out with redoubled violence, the mainsail of the _Centurion_ being split to rags.

Storm succeeded storm. For a long time the squadron endeavoured to beat against the easterly gales, during which the _Severn_ and _Pearl_ were separated from them and never more seen. To add a finishing-stroke to their misfortunes, the scurvy broke out among the storm-tossed crew.

At first it began to carry off two or three a day, but at last eight or ten died in twenty-four hours.

Most of the survivors were suffering from the same distemper, and the few who preserved their health were quite worn out with incessant labour. Sometimes four or five dead bodies, some sewn up in their hammocks, others not, were to be seen washing about the decks for want of help to bury them in the sea. Notwithstanding this, the _Gloucester_ was the only ship which suffered much, by carrying away her mainyard; but on the 7th of April several guns were heard to leeward, and it was soon seen that the _Wager_ had lost her mizenmast and main-topsail yard, while the _Anna Pink_ had had her bowsprit so injured that there was a risk of her losing her fore-topmast. By this time the weather had moderated, and a.s.sistance was sent to the disabled ships.

On the 8th of May the island of Soccoro was sighted off the coast of Patagonia, a barren and inhospitable region, the sh.o.r.e being lined with rocks, above which the snow-covered Andes could be seen in the distance.

By this time scurvy had destroyed no less than two hundred men. In vain the _Centurion_ cruised for the missing ships, and at last stood for the island of Juan Fernandez; but it was pa.s.sed during thick weather, and it was not until the 9th of June that it was at length discovered. While the _Centurion_ was endeavouring to find the right bay in which to anchor, the current set her so close to the sh.o.r.e that she was compelled to bring up. In the morning a lieutenant with a boat's crew was sent to try and discover the proper anchorage. He returned with some seals and gra.s.s, which was eagerly devoured by the men suffering from scurvy. So weak were all the crew that it was with great difficulty that the anchor could be weighed, nor indeed was it tripped until a.s.sisted by a strong breeze. They here found the _Trial_ sloop. Her commander came on board and stated that out of his small crew he had buried thirty-four men, and that those who remained were so weak, that only himself, his lieutenant, and three of his men were able to handle the sails.

Tents having been erected, the healthy men were employed in carrying the sick on sh.o.r.e. It was hoped that they would at once be restored to health; but for the first ten or twelve days rarely less than six were buried each day, and it was not until they had been twenty days on sh.o.r.e that the survivors began to recover.

Anson, who had brought a number of seeds and fruit-stones, at once had them planted for the benefit of those who might afterwards visit the spot. Anson's people found the island still abounding with goats, and among the first killed was one which had its ears slit, by which they concluded that it was one of those which Alexander Selkirk had captured no less than thirty-two years before their arrival. It was indeed an animal of majestic appearance, dignified with a venerable beard and many other signs of antiquity.

Several others, also marked, were met with, they all having long beards and other characteristics of extreme age. The goats had no longer the island to themselves; for dogs had been landed which had increased so greatly that they disputed the territory with the former occupants, hunting together in packs. A curious spectacle was witnessed when one of these packs made chase after a herd of goats which escaped to the mountains. Here the active animals took refuge on a ridge which was accessible only by a narrow path, skirted on each side with precipices.

On the top of the path a long-bearded he-goat posted himself fronting the enemy. The dogs, which had pursued eagerly, got up to about twenty yards from him, when, seeing his determined att.i.tude, they dared approach no nearer, and laid themselves down, panting, well knowing that he would hurl them down the precipice, should they venture to attack him. The dogs, it was suspected, lived entirely on seals' flesh, for several which were killed and eaten had a fishy taste. As the goats, taking refuge in the more inaccessible parts of the country, could with difficulty be killed, the crews subsisted on the flesh of the young seals, which they called veal, and on that of the sea-lions, which was denominated beef. Large numbers of fish were also caught with lines.

The _Trial_ sloop having so quickly joined the _Centurion_, it was hoped that the rest of the squadron would appear; but a fortnight pa.s.sed, and none being seen, the worst was feared as to their fate. On the 21st of June, however, a ship was perceived to leeward of the island, but she disappeared. It was not until the 26th that a sail was again seen; it was found to be the _Gloucester_, and a boat was immediately sent off laden with fresh water, fish, and vegetables. This seasonable supply saved the lives of the survivors on board her. She had already thrown overboard two-thirds of her complement. Excepting the officers and their servants, scarcely any were capable of doing duty. Every one of the pensioners had died, and most of the marines. For many weeks afterwards, however, though several of the _Centurion's_ crew were sent to her a.s.sistance with further refreshments, she was unable to beat up to the anchorage. It was not until the 23rd of July that she at length got into the bay. Her crew were now reduced to less than eighty men.

The sick, on being landed and well supplied with fresh provisions, recovered sooner than was expected. Great anxiety was now felt on account of the non-appearance of the _Anna Pink_, laden with provisions, as the flour on board the other ships was almost exhausted. At last, about the middle of August, she came in, having spent the greater part of the intermediate period in harbour on the coast of Patagonia, where the wild animals, killed by the crew, supplied them with abundance of meat. None of her men had died.

The _Anna Pink_ was now broken up and her stores transferred to the _Centurion_, which stood in great need of them, as it had been with much difficulty that a fresh suit of sails had been made out of the canvas remaining on board; it had been even necessary to unlay a cable to obtain sufficient ropes for her rigging.

It was now computed that of the nine hundred and sixty-one men who had left England in the _Centurion_, _Gloucester_, and _Trial_, six hundred and twenty-six were dead, three hundred and thirty-five thus alone remaining to man the three ships.