Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period Part 16

59 30' South.[92] wee finde here about 4 degrees variation, but downe in 35 and 40 wee had 11 and 12 and 13 degrees variation. wee weir something fearfull of Halling to close into sh.o.r.e, being not acquainted did not know what danger might be, yett would very willingly have save [seen?] the Land, that wee might have beene the better satisfied where we weir. twas very thick weather, that wee could seldom take an observation. we Indeavord to make the Cape Horne but we weir gott so far to the Southwards.[93] Yett we beleive we weir not very farr off sh.o.r.e, for we had thousands of birds about us. the 9 day of December we had a good observation and found our selves to be in South lattd. 58 5'. we had the winds att N.E. and N.E. and b.N., fine handsome topp saile gailes, sometimes a shower of Snow and Sleete, but miserable colde. now our wines and brandy stand us in greate Steade and is the thing under G.o.d that keepes us alive. we stands to the Southward, haling S.E. and S.E. and B.E. After wee had our last observation, which was 58 5', when we thought by our Dead reconning that we weir in the lattd. of 60 or better, wee Steerd away due East.[94] we had but little Night, the Daylight was hardly shett in att all. we standing to the Eastwards saw 3 or 4 greate Islands of Ice and Snow, as we thought, of a good high and very colde about them.

from this Cape their are lying 3 or 4 Islands called the Berlingos, which I am to think are those wee tooke to be the Islands of Ice, for thay are all kiver'd with Snow, and the Burlingos lyeth by the globe in the lattd. of 59 00'.[95] One Night as wee weare getting about the land, some men gott merry, Especially the capt. and his Mess, which caused some words to arise between the capt. and Some of the company, in so much that thay fell to blowes, but the capt. runns into his cabbon and fetches out a Pistoll laden, and comeing to one of Our Peopple, by name Richard Hendricks, fier'd itt off as he thought att his Head, but itt pleased G.o.d itt mist his head and grased on his neck. the next morning wee found the shott placed in one of the Dead Eyes of the maine shroudes, which was but Jus[t] behinde him. the capt. thought he had kil'd the man, cryed out, "Armes, their was one dead," and he would have kill more, which cabbon mess ran and fetched their Armes forthwith, and those that weir awake, was fetching theirs likewise, which had not been soberer then others and more discretion in them Sharpe had certainly been kill'd. it had likt to have been a bad buisness, but when the[se] things came to an understandings All was husht upp, Especially findeing the man was not so much hurt as wee did suppos and was cured in a weeks time. Well, we stears away East, till we thought we Had Easting enough to enter the Streights of Maria.

Now we begins to Hall to the Norwards E.N.E., and by observation taken we found our selves to be gott to the norwards into 57 8'. then we halls away N.E. and about 4 days after had another very good observation. then we found our Selves to be in 50 So. lattd. Shott to the Norwards of these new Streights, doubled about all the Lands; aboundance of birds attends us Still. Wee are now gotten to the Streights Mouth of Magelen, the North side. wee had good Fresh gales att N.W. and S.W., the winds very variable. we runing into hot weather to the Norwards and halling about Terra Fogoe to the Eastward wee found a greate Currant to the E.N.E. wee weare farther off Sh.o.r.e then wee Expected, yett wee hal'd away N.E., hopeing that off of Brazill we should meete with English, Dutch or Portugeez, to hear how our buisness was discourst of att home and to buy a little Provision of them. we hal'd away N.E. till we came downe into 14 No. lattd,[96]

that we would be sure to carry itt about a shoale which lieth a little to the Norwards of Cape Toms,[97] lying in South lattd. 22 50'. we wear more to the eastward then we Expected. by our Runn afterward we found wee weir 170 leagues to the eastward then we Judged our selves to be. in this lattd. we had very Easy topp saile gailes of wind, and mostly att E. and E.N.E. and sometimes att E.S.E., but very seldom comes to the southward of the S.E. att this time of year, Except itt be in a Turnado. we carried what saile we could, being willing to be on land. after we gott into 13 So. lattd, we steard more westerly, N.

and N. and b.W., till we comes into the lattd. of 8 20', the length of cape Augusteene,[98] then hald away N.N.W. and N.W.b.N. till we come into the lattd. of Barbados, and run down into 13 and 5',[99]

keepeing a good lattd. for to see the barbados. wee ran about 12 or 13 days in the latt. our Reconing was out 5 or 6 dayes before we made the Land,[100] and about 3 a clock in the morning about the 12 of feb.[101] the Master cal'd out Land. wee saw twas Barbados, and which was comfortable to us all to have so good a land fall. we went downe the N.E. side, luffing upp for spikes rode,[102] wheir we saw s.h.i.+pping ride. The _Richmans_ Pinnas [_omission_] and haled us. we lay by and disputed with them, desiering them to come on borde, but thay would not. thay askt us if we would not goe into an Anchor. we told them as farr as wee knew wee would, but thay being soe cautious how thay came on borde Putt us into many thoughts what to doe. wee consciderd, that here was one of his Majts. s.h.i.+pps, and wee could not hear how itt was with other Nations, wheather itt was Warrs or Peace, so that we threw the Helme a weather, throwing out topp gallant Sailes, studing sayles and all the sayles we could make, and Steard for the Disiada[103]

which we made plaine and so went downe to Antigua. their wee saw a fly bote att Anchor, wheir we sent our man of warr Cannoe ash.o.r.e to buy some provissionns. when thay came in thay found itt called Falmouth.[104] wee Supplied our selves hear with one or two dayes provission. one capt. Burroughs, understanding we wear in want, came on borde of us and after went away with one Cook, our Master, to the governor of Antigua[105] for liberty to come in. we next morning had the mate of a s.h.i.+pp which lay att the olde rode to carry us as close in as he could for which he was very well sattisfied. wee could not have any permission to come in, neither any deniall, but after some commanders of March't-men came on borde and desierd our Capt. to goe for England, he was easy perswaided, thay telling him twould be the makeing of him; so he came on the deck and bid Every man s.h.i.+ft for himself, for he would goe for England himself; upon which every man packt upp whatt he had, some for olde England, some for Jamaica, other for New Engl. everyone tooke his way, onely 7 men abord that had lost their Voyage,[106] so the capt. and Company thoug[ht] good to give them the s.h.i.+pp and what was in her. thay thought good to goe downe to their commission Port, Pet.i.t guavos,[107] but the s.h.i.+pp was so crewell leakey, that thay hardly have the Patience to keepe her above water to St. Thomases,[108] haveing but 7 hands on borde, and a s.h.i.+pp giveing chace to them so that thay loosed all their saile, and was much putt to itt for the hands, but comein a brest of St. Thomases saw the Harbor very Plaine, and to be sure we went into a small Harbor a mile to leeward of the Fort. we wear tolde att Antegua that thiss was a free Port for Eight years, which we found to be so.[109] the governor gave us Liberty to come in, and the next day sent out hands to bring us in to the right harbor, under Commd. of the forte. the next day our cable brake and she drave ash.o.r.e; but not being willing to loose her, gott her off with one Anchor and cable off, and one end of a cable ash.o.r.e, and so gott her into the Soft woose,[110] because wee would not be att the charge of Negro's and to pumpe her. thus the good s.h.i.+pp _Trinity_, which was Built in the South Seas, ended her Voyage, and through the Blessing of G.o.d brought us amounge our c.u.n.try men againe, and thiss being what I can think on att present, being the true actions of our Voyage as near as I can Remember, my Jornall being detained att St. Thomases and lost.[111] The Lord be praised for all his mercyes to us. _Finis._

[Footnote 7: Ca.s.sava.]

[Footnote 8: Wafer, pp. 153-154, who lived four months among these Indians, describes their method of making "corn drink." "It tastes like sour small Beer, yet 'tis very intoxicating."]

[Footnote 9: The river was that which is now called Chucunaque.]

[Footnote 10: Some affluent of the Chucanaque.]

[Footnote 11: Cartridge.]

[Footnote 12: Still so called. It lies some 15 or 20 miles north of the gold mines of Cana ("the richest Gold-Mines ever yet found in America", says Dampier) and from the Cerro Pirre, whence Balboa first looked at the Pacific, "Silent upon a peak in Darien."]

[Footnote 13: The Tuira, into which the Chucunaque flows at this point.]

[Footnote 14: Calabash, gourd.]

[Footnote 15: Isla Iguana?]

[Footnote 16: Isla Maje?]

[Footnote 17: Now the Pearl Islands, in the gulf of Panama, southeast of the city.]

[Footnote 18: Perico, Naos, and Flamenco, three little islands lying in front of Panama.]

[Footnote 19: Sp. for soldiers.]

[Footnote 20: Don Jacinto de Barahona, high admiral of the South Sea.]

[Footnote 21: Don Francisco de Peralta. The escape of his vessel from Morgan's men in 1671, bearing the chief treasures, is recounted in Exquemelin, pt. III., ch. VI. He was put ash.o.r.e, later, at Coquimbo.]

[Footnote 22: _I.e._, flag-s.h.i.+p. It was probably the same s.h.i.+p, _La Santissima Trinidad_, of 400 tons, in which Peralta had made his escape nine years before.]

[Footnote 23: Capt. John c.o.xon.]

[Footnote 24: Error for April 26, 1688.]

[Footnote 25: Lima. The 50,000 pieces of eight (dollars, pieces of eight reals) mentioned below were a consignment for expenses, sent to the governor of Panama by the viceroy of Peru, Archbishop Don Melchor de Linan. So we learn from an account of this whole raid along the South American coast, given by him in an official report, printed in _Memorial de los Vireyes del Peru_ (Lima, 1859), I. 328-335.]

[Footnote 26: Guayaquil, in an attempt at phonetic spelling.]

[Footnote 27: In modern phrase, southwest by west.]

[Footnote 28: Coiba or Quibo is a large island off the south coast of the isthmus, about 150 miles west of Panama.]

[Footnote 29: Rio Santa Lucia. The town is the present Remedios.]

[Footnote 30: Mestizo, halfbreed, Spanish and Indian.]

[Footnote 31: According to Ringrose, the ring came from the bishop, the challenge from the governor.]

[Footnote 32: The Isla de Plata (Island of Silver) lies a few miles off the coast of Ecuador, in 1 10' S. lat. The Galapagos lie not 100 but more than 200 leagues off the coast.]

[Footnote 33: Gorgona, off the Colombian coast.]

[Footnote 34: _I.e._, when the s.h.i.+p had been careened she remained so fixed in that position that the men could not, by the breadth of one of her planks, get her keel where they could work on it.]

[Footnote 35: In other words, there was a tide of twelve feet.]

[Footnote 36: End.]

[Footnote 37: Isla del Gallo, in Tumaco bay.]

[Footnote 38: _Cape_ San Francisco (about 50' N. lat.) not an island; but Ringrose, p. 58, says, "At first this Cape appeared like unto two several Islands".]

[Footnote 39: This is no doubt legendary. Isla de la Plata means Isle of Silver.]

[Footnote 40: Nearer 1 12' S.]

[Footnote 41: Arica, a Peruvian town now occupied by Chile.]

[Footnote 42: Guayaquil, in Ecuador.]

[Footnote 43: Punta Santa Elena, 2 10' S.]

[Footnote 44: Leagues.]

[Footnote 45: Armadilla, a small armed vessel.]

[Footnote 46: At Quito, probably. The viceroy-archbishop, _op. cit._, p. 332, calls the man Carlos Alem (Charles Allen, Charles Hall?).

Besides the viceroy's circ.u.mstantial account of this fight at the Barbacoas, there is one in Dionisio de Alcedo's _Aviso Historico_ [_Piraterias y Agresiones de los Ingleses_] (Madrid, 1883), p. 158.]

[Footnote 47: Payta, Peru, in 5 S. lat.]

[Footnote 48: Punta Aguja, 5 57' S. lat.]

[Footnote 49: Nearer 18 30'.]

[Footnote 50: Ilo. It was late in October, not early.]

[Footnote 51: Mora de Sama.]

[Footnote 52: Pedereros, small cannon.]