The King of Pirates Part 4

This I a.s.sur'd him, (as indeed it was just) and told him, I hop'd, if ever he came safe to _England_, he would do Captain _Avery_, and all of us, Justice in that particular Case.

As to our being well fortify'd on the Island, and our Numbers, I a.s.sur'd them all they were far from thinking too much of us; that we had a very good Fleet, and a very good Harbour for them; that we were not afraid of any Force from _Europe_, either by Land or Water; that it was, indeed, in vain to pretend to attack us by Force; that the only Way for the Government of _England_ to bring us back to our Duty, would be to send a Proclamation from _England_ with the Queen's Pardon for our General and all his People, if they came in by a certain Time: And, added I, we know you want Money in _England_, I dare say, said I, our General, Captain _Avery_, and his particular Gang, who have the main Riches, would not grudge to advance five or six Millions of Ducats to the Government, to give them Leave to return in Peace to _England_, and sit down quietly with the rest.

This Discourse, I suppose, was the Ground of the Rumour you have had in _England_, That _Avery_ had offer'd to come in and submit, and would give six Millions for his Pardon: For as these Men were soon after this dismiss'd, and went back to _England_, there is no Doubt but they gave a particular Account of the Conference they had with me, who they call'd one of Captain _Avery_'s Captains.

We kept these five Men six or seven Days, and we pretended to show them the Country from some of the Hills, calling it all our own, and pointing every Way how many Miles we extended ourselves; we made them believe also that all the rest of the Country was at our Disposal, that the whole _Island_ was at our Beck; we told them we had Treasure enough to enrich the whole Kingdom of _England_; that our General had several Millions in Diamonds, and we had many Tuns of Silver and Gold; that we had fifty large Barns full of all Sorts of Goods, as well _European_ as _Indian_; and that it would be truly the best Way for _England_ to do as they said, namely, to invite us all Home by a Proclamation with a Pardon: And if they would do this, said I, they can ask no reasonable Sum, but our General might advance it; besides, getting Home such a Body of stout able Seamen as we were, such a Number of Ships, and such a Quant.i.ty of rich Goods.

We had several long Discourses with them upon these Heads, and our frequent offering this Part to them with a Kind of feeling Warmth, (for it was what we all desir'd) has caus'd, I doubt not, the Rumour of such great Offers made by us, and of a Letter sent by me to the Queen, to beg her Majesty's Pardon for myself and my Company, and offering ten Millions of Money Advance to the Queen for the publick Service: All which is a meer Fiction of the Brain of those which have publish'd it; neither were we in any Condition to make such an Offer; neither did I, or any of my Crew or Company, ever write a Letter or Pet.i.tion to the Queen, or to any one in the Government, or make any Application in the Case other than as above, which was only Matter of Conversation or private Discourse.

Nor were we so strong in Men or Ships, or any Thing like it. You have heard of the Number of Ships which we had now with us, which amounted to two Ships and a Sloop, and no more, except the Prize in which we took the Mogul's Daughter; (which Ship we call'd, _The Great Mogul_) but she was fit for nothing, for she would neither sail or steer worth a Farthing, and indeed was fit for no Use but a Hulk, or a Guard-Ship.

As to Numbers of Men, they bely'd us strangely, and particularly, they seem'd only to mistake Thousands for Hundreds: For whereas they told us, that you in _England_ had a Report of our being six thousand Men, I must acknowledge that I think we were never, when we were at the most, above six hundred; and at the Time when I quitted the Country, I left about one hundered and eight Men there, and no more, and I am a.s.sur'd, all the Number that now remains there, is not above twenty two Men, no, not in the whole Island.

Well, we thought, however, that it was no Business of ours at that Time to undeceive them in their high Opinion of our great Strength, so we took Care to magnify ourselves, and the Strength of our General, (meaning myself) that they might carry the Story to _England_, depending upon it, _That a Tale loses nothing in the carrying._ When they told us of our Fort, and the Batteries at the Mouth of the River where our Ships lie, we insinuated, that it was a Place where we did not fear all the Fleets in the World attacking us; and when they told us of the Number of Men, we strove to make them believe that they were much many more.

At length, the poor Men began to be tir'd of us, and indeed we began to be tir'd of them; for we began to be afraid very much that they would prye a little Way into our Affairs, and that a little too narrowly that Way; so as they began to sollicit their Deliverance, we began to listen to their Importunities: In a Word, we agreed to dismiss them; and accordingly we gave them Leave to go away to the Watering-place, as if they had made their Escape from us; which they did, carrying away their Heads full of all those unlikely projected Things which you have heard above.

In all this, however, I had not the good Luck to advance one Step towards my own Escape; and here is one Thing remarkable, _viz._ That the great Ma.s.s of Wealth I had gotten together, was so far from forwarding my Deliverance, that it really was the only Thing that hinder'd it most effectually; and I was so sensible of it, that I resolv'd once to be gone, and leave all my Wealth behind me, except some Jewels, as several of our Men had done already: For many of them were so impatient of staying here, that they found Means to get away, some and some, with no more Money than they could carry about them; particularly, thirteen of our Men made themselves a Kind of Shaloup with a Mast and Sail, and went for the Red Sea, having two Patareroes for her Defence, and every Man a thousand Pieces of Eight, and no more, except that one _Macmow_ an _Irishman_, who was their Captain, had five Rubies and a Diamond, which he got among the Plunder of the Mogul's Ship.

These Men, as I heard, gat safe to _Mocca_ in the _Arabian_ Gulph, where they fetch the Coffee, and their Captain manag'd for them all so well, that of Pirates he made them Merchants, laid out all the Stock in Coffee, and got a Vessel to carry it up the Red Sea to _Sues_, where they sold it to the Factors for the _European_ Merchants, and came all safe to _Alexandria_, where they parted the Money again; and then every one separated as they thought fit, and went their own Way.

We heard of this by mere Accident afterwards, and I confess I envy'd their Success; and tho' it was a great while after this that I took a like Run, yet you may be sure I form'd a Resolution from that Time to do the like; and most of the Time that I stay'd after this, was employ'd in picking out a suitable Gang that I might depend upon, as well to trust with the Secret of my going away, as to take with me; and on whom I might depend, and they on me, for keeping one another's Council when we should come into _Europe_.

It was in Pursuit of this Resolution that I went this little Voyage to the South of the Island, and the Gang I took with me prov'd very trusty, but we found no Opportunity then for our Escape: Two of the Men that we took Prisoners would fain have gone with us, but we resolv'd to trust none of them with the real and true Discovery of our Circ.u.mstances; and as we had made them believe mighty Things of ourselves, and of the Posture of our Settlement, that we had 5000 Men, 12 Men of War, and the like, we were resolv'd they should carry the Delusion away with them, and that no Body should undeceive them; because, tho' we had not such an immense Wealth as was reported, and so as to be able to offer ten Millions for our Pardon, yet we had a very great Treasure; and, being nothing near so strong as they had imagin'd, we might have been made a Prey, with all our Riches, to any Set of Adventurers who might undertake to attempt us, by Consent of the Government of _England_, and make the Expedition, _No Purchase no Pay._

For this Reason we civily declin'd them, told them we had Wealth enough, and therefore did not now Cruise Abroad as we used to do, unless we should hear of another Wedding of a King's Daughter; or unless some rich Fleet, or some Heathen Kingdom was to be attempted; and that therefore a new Comer, or any Body of new Comers, could do themselves no good by coming over to us: If any Gang of Pirates or Buccaneers would go upon their Adventures, and when they had made themselves rich, would come and settle with us, we would take them into our Protection, and give them Land to build Towns and Habitations for themselves, and so in Time we might become a great Nation, and inhabit the whole Island: I told them, the _Romans_ themselves were, at first, no better than such a Gang of Rovers as we were; and who knew but our General, Captain _Avery_, might lay the Foundation of as great an Empire as they.

These big Words amaz'd the Fellows, and answer'd my End to a t.i.ttle; for they told such Rhodomantading Stories of us, when they came back to their Ships, and from them it spread so universally all over the _East-Indies_, (for they were Outward-bound) that none of the _English_ or _Dutch_ Ships would come near _Madagascar_ again, if they could help it, for a great while, for Fear of us; and we, who were soon after this dwindled away to less than 100 Men, were very glad to have them think us too strong to meddle with, or so strong that no Body durst come near us.

After these Men were gone, we rov'd about to the East Side of the Island, and in a Word, knew not what to do, or what Course to take, for we durst not put out to Sea in such a Bauble of a Boat as we had under us; but tir'd at last, we came back to the South Point of the Island again; in our rounding the Island we saw a great _English_-built Ship at Sea, but at too far Distance to speak with her; and if it had not, we knew not what to have said to her, for we were not strong enough to attack her: We judg'd by her Course, she stood away from the Isle of St. _Maurice_ or _Mauritius_, for the _Cape of Good Hope_, and must, as we suppos'd, come from the _Malabar_ Coast, bound Home for _England_; so we let her go.

We are now return'd back to our Settlement on the North Part of the Island; and I have singl'd out about 12 or 13 bold brave Fellows, with whom I am resolv'd to venture to the Gulph of _Persia_; twenty more of our Men have agreed to carry us thither as Pa.s.sengers in the Sloop, and try their own Fortunes afterwards, for they allow we are enough to go together. We resolve, when we come to _Ba.s.saro_, to separate into three Companies, as if we did not know one another; to dress ourselves as Merchants, for now we look like h.e.l.l-hounds and Vagabonds; but when we are well dress'd, we expect to look as other Men do. If I come thither, I purpose, with two more, to give my Companions the Slip, and travel as _Armenians_ thro'

_Persia_ to the _Caspian_ Sea, so to _Constantinople_; and I doubt not we shall, one Way or other, find our Way, with our Merchandize and Money, to come into _France_, if not quite Home to my own Country. a.s.sure yourself, when I arrive in any Part of Christendom, I will give you a farther Account of my Adventures.

_Your Friend and Servant,_

AVERY.

_The End of the First Letter._

A Second LETTER

_SIR,_

I WROTE my last Letter to you from _Madagascar_, where I had continu'd so long till my People began to drop from me, some and some, and, indeed, I had, at last, but few left; so that I began to apprehend they would give an Account in _Europe_, how weak I was, and how easy it was to attack me; nay, and to make their Peace, might some of them, at least, offer their Service to be Pilots to my Port, and might guide the Fleets or Ships that should attempt me.

With these Apprehensions, I not only was uneasy myself, but made all my Men uneasy too; for, as I was resolv'd to attempt my own Escape, I did not care how many of my Men went before me: But this you must take with you by the Bye, that I never let them imagine that I intended to stir from the Spot myself; I mean, after my Return from the Ramble that I had taken round the Island, of which I have given you an Account; but, that I resolv'd to take up my Rest in _Madagascar_ as long as I liv'd; indeed, before, I said otherwise, as I wrote you before, and made them all promise to fetch me away, but now I gave it out that I was resolv'd to live and die here; and therefore, a little before I resolv'd upon going, I set to Work to build me a new House, and to plant me a pretty Garden at a Distance from our Fort; only I had a select Company, to whom I communicated every Thing, and who resolv'd that, at last, we would go altogether, but that we would do it our own Way.

When I had finish'd my new House, (and a mighty Palace you would say it was, if you had been to see it) I remov'd to it, with eight of the Gang that were to be my Fellow adventurers; and to this Place we carry'd all our private Wealth, that is to say, Jewels and Gold; as to our Share of Silver, as it was too heavy to remove, and must be done in Publick, I was oblig'd to leave it behind; but we had a Stratagem for that too, and it was thus:

We had a Sloop, as you have heard, and she lay in our Harbour, 'tis true; but she lay ready to sail upon any Occasion; and the Men, who were of our Confederacy, who were not with me at my Country-house, were twelve in Number: These Men made a Proposal, that they would take the Sloop, and go away to the Coast of _Malabar_, or where else they could speed to their Mind, and buy a Fraight of Rice for the publick Account: In a free State as we were, every Body was free to go wherever they would, so that no Body oppos'd them; the only Dispute at any Time, was about taking the Vessel we had to go in: However, as these Men seem'd only to act upon the publick Account, and to go to buy Provisions, no Body offer'd to deny them the Sloop, so they prepar'd for their Voyage: Just as they were ready to go, one of them starts it to the rest, that it was very hazardous and difficult to run such a Length every now and then to get a little Rice, and if they would go, why should they not bring a good Quant.i.ty? This was soon resolv'd; so they agreed, they should take Money with them to buy a good Ship wherever they could find her, and then to buy a Loading of Rice to fill her up, and so come away with her.

When this was agreed, they resolv'd to take no Money out of the grand Stock, but to take such Mens Money as were gone, and had left their Money behind; and this being consented to, truly, my Friends took the Occasion, and took all their own Money, and mine, (being 64 little Chests of Pieces of Eight) and carry'd it on Board, as if it had been of Men that were p.r.i.c.k'd-run, and no Body took any Notice of it. These twelve Men had also now got twelve more with them, under Pretence of manning a Ship, if we should buy one, and in this Pickle away they put to Sea.

We had due Notice of every Thing that was done; and having a Signal given of the Time they resolv'd to go, we pack'd up all our Treasure, and began our March to the Place appointed, which from our Quarters was about forty Mile farther North.

Our Habitation, that is to say, my new House, was about sixteen Miles up the Country, so that the rest of our People could have no Notice of our March, neither did they miss us, at least, as I heard of, for we never heard any more of them; nor can I imagine what Condition or Circ.u.mstance they can be in at present, if they are still upon the Place, as, however, I believe some of them are.

We join'd our Comrades, with a great Deal of Ease, about three Days afterwards, for we march'd but softly, and they lay by for us: The Night before we went on Board, we made them a Signal by Fire, as we had appointed to let them know where we were, and that we were at Hand; so they sent their Boat and fetch'd us off, and we embark'd without any Notice taken by the Rest.

As we were now loose, and at Sea, our next Business was to resolve whither we should go; and I soon govern'd the Point, resolving for _Ba.s.saro_ in the Gulph of _Persia_, where I knew we might shift for ourselves: Accordingly, we steer'd away for the _Arabian_ Coast, and had good Weather for some Time, even till we made the Land at a great Distance, when we steer'd Eastward along the Sh.o.r.e.

We saw several Ships, in our Way, bound to and from the Red Sea, as we suppos'd, and, at another Time, we would have been sure to have spoken with them: But, we had done Pirating; our Business now was, how to get off, and make our Way to some Retreat, where we might enjoy what we had got; so we took no Notice of any Thing by the Way; but, when we was thus sailing merrily along, the Weather began to change, the Evening grew black and cloudy, and threaten'd a Storm: We were in Sight or a little Island, (I know nothing of its Name) under which we might have anchor'd with Safety enough, but our People made light of it, and went on.

About an Hour after Sun-set the Wind began to rise, and blew hard at N. E.

and at N. E. by N. and in two Hours Time encreas'd to such a Tempest, as in all my Rambles I never met with the like; we were not able to carry a Knot of Sail, or to know what to do, but to stow every Thing close, and let her drive; and, in this Condition we continu'd all the Night, all the next Day, and Part of the Night after; towards Morning the Storm abated a little, but not so as to give us any Prospect of pursuing our voyage; all the Ease we had, was, that we could just carry a little Sail to steddy the Vessel, and run away before it; which we did at that violent Rate, that we never abated 'till we made Land on the East Side of _Madagascar_, the very Island we came from, only on the other Side of the Island.

However, we were glad we had any Place to run to for Harbour; so we put in under the Lee of a Point of Land that gave us Shelter from the Wind, and where we came to an Anchor, after being all of us almost dead with the Fatigue; and, if our Sloop had not been an extraordinary Sea-boat, she could never have born such a Sea, for twelve Days together, as we were in, the worst I ever saw before or since. We lay here, to refresh ourselves, about twenty Days; and, indeed, the Wind blew so hard all the while, that if we had been dispos'd to go to Sea, we could not have done it; and, being here, about seven of our Men began to repent their Bargain, and left us, which I was not sorry for. It seems, the princ.i.p.al Reason of their looking back, was, their being of those who had left their Money behind them. They did not leave us without our Consent, and therefore our Carpenters built them a Boat, during the three Weeks we stay'd here, and fitted it very handsomely for them, with a Cabin for their Convenience, and a Mast and Sail, with which they might very well sail round to our Settlement, as we suppose they did: We gave them Fire-arms and Ammunition sufficient, and left them furnishing themselves with Provisions; and this, we suppose, was the Boat, tho' with other Men in it, which adventur'd afterwards as far as the _Cape of Good Hope_, and was taken up by a _Portugese_ in Distress, by which Means they got Pa.s.sage for themselves to _Lisbone_, pretending they had made their Escape from the Pirates at _Madagascar_; but we were told, that the _Portuguese_ Captain took a good deal of their Money from them, under Pretence of keeping it from his own Seamen; and that when they came on Sh.o.r.e, and began to claim it, he threaten'd them with taking them up, and prosecuting them for Pirates, which made them compound with him, and take about 10000 Dollars for above 120000, which they had with them; which, by the Way, was but a scurvy Trick: They had, it seems, a considerable Quant.i.ty of Gold among them, which they had the Wit to conceal from the Captain of the Ship, and which was enough for such Fellows as them, and more than they well knew what to do with; so that they were rich enough still, tho' the _Portugal_ Captain was nevertheless a Knave for all that.

We left them here, as I have said, and put to Sea again; and, in about twenty Days Sail, having pretty good Weather, we arriv'd at the Gulph of _Persia_: It would be too long to give you an Account of the particular Fortunes of some of our People after this, the Variety of which would fill a Volume by itself: But, in the first Place, we, who were determin'd to travel, went on Sh.o.r.e at _Ba.s.saro_, leaving the rest of our Men to buy Rice, and load the larger Vessel back to their Comrades, which they promis'd to do; but how far they perform'd I know not.

We were thirteen of us that went on Sh.o.r.e here; from whence we hir'd a kind of Barge, or rather a Bark, which, after much Difficulty, and very unhandy Doings of the Men who we had hir'd, brought us to _Babylon_, or _Bagdat_, as it is now call'd.

Our Treasure was so great, that if it had been known what we had about us, I am of Opinion we should never have troubl'd _Europe_ with our Company: However, we gat safe to _Babylon_ or_ Bagdat_, where we kept ourselves _Incog_ for a while, took a House by ourselves, and lay four or five Days still, till we had got Vests and long Gowns made to appear Abroad in as _Armenian_ Merchants. After we had got Cloaths, and look'd like other People, we began to appear Abroad; and I, that from the Beginning had meditated my Escape by myself, began now to put it into Practice; and, walking one Morning upon the Bank of the River _Euphrates_, I mus'd with myself what Course I should take to make off, and get quite away from the Gang, and let them not so much as suspect me.

While I was walking here, comes up one of my Comrades, and one who I always took for my particular Friend: I know what you are employ'd in, _said he_, while you seem only to be musing, and refreshing yourself with the cool Breeze. Why, _said I_, what am I musing about? Why, _said he_, you are studying how you should get away from us; but, muse upon it as long as you will, _says he_, you shall never go without me, for I am resolv'd to go with you which Way soever you take. 'Tis true, _says I_, I was musing which Way I should go, but not which Way I should go without you; for tho' I would be willing to part Company, yet you cannot think I would go alone; and you know I have chosen you out from all the Company to be the Partner of all my Adventures.

Very well, _says he_, but I am to tell you now, that it is not only necessary that we should not go all together; but, our Men have all concluded, that we should make our Escape every one for himself, and should separate as we could; so that you need make no Secret of your Design any more than of the Way you intend to take.

I was glad enough of this News, and it made me very easy in the Preparations we made for our setting out: And, the first Thing we did, was, to get us more Cloaths, having some made of one Fashion, some of another; but, my Friend and I, who resolv'd to keep together, made us Cloaths after the Fashion of the _Armenian_ Merchants, whose Country we pretended to travel through.

In the mean Time, five of our Men dress'd like Merchants; and, laying out their Money in Raw Silk, and Wrought Silks, and other Goods of the Country, proper for _Europe_, (in which they were directed by an _English_ Merchant there) resolv'd to take the usual Rout, and travel by the Caravans from _Babylon_ to _Alleppo_, and so to _Scanderoon_, and we staid and saw them and their Bales go off in Boats for a great Town on the _Euphrates_, where the Caravans begin to take up the Pa.s.sengers; the other six divided themselves, one Half of them went for _Agra_, the Country of the Great Mogul, resolving to go down the River _Hoogly_ to _Bengal_; but whither they went afterward or what Course they took, I never knew, neither whether they really went at all or not.

The other three went by Sea, in a _Persian_ Vessel, back from the Red Sea to the Gulf of _Mocca_, and I heard of them all three at _Ma.r.s.eilles_; but whither they went afterwards I never knew, nor could I come to speak with them even there.

As for me and my Friend, we first laid out all the Silver we had in _European_ Ware, such as we knew would vend at _Ispahan_, which we carry'd upon twelve Camels; and hiring some Servants, as well for our Guide as our Guard, we set out.

The Servants we hir'd were a Kind of _Arab_, but rather looking like the Great Mogul's people, than real _Arabians_; and when we came into _Persia_, we found they were look'd upon as no better than Dogs, and were not only used ill, but that we were used ill for their Sakes; and after we were come three Days into the _Persian_ Dominions, we found ourselves oblig'd to part with them; so we gave them three Dollars a Man to go back again.

They understood their Business very well, and knew well enough what was the Reason of it, though we did not. However, we found we had committed a great Mistake in it; for we perceiv'd that they were so exasperated at being turn'd off, that they vowed to be revenged; and, indeed, they had their Revenge to the Full; for the same Day, at Night, they return'd in the Dark, and set eleven Houses on Fire in the Town where we quartered; which, by the Way, had gone near to have cost me my Life, and would certainly have done so, if in the Hurry I had not seiz'd one of the Incendiaries and deliver'd him up to them.

The People were so provok'd at him that was taken that they fell upon him with all possible Fury as the common Incendiary and Burner of the Town, and presently quitted us (for they had before vowed our Destruction) but, as I said, quitted us immediately, and thronged about the Wretch they had taken; and, indeed, I made no Question but that they would have immediately murder'd him (nay, that they would have torn him in Pieces before they parted with him). But after they had vented their Rage at him for some Time with all possible Reproaches and Indignities, they carry'd him before the _Cadi_, or Judge of the Place. The _Cadi_, a wise, grave Man, answered, no, he would not judge him at that Time, for they were too hot and pa.s.sionate to do Justice; but they should come with him in the Morning, when they were cool, and he would hear them.