PRESERVATION OF FOOD.

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the gunner (he that had looked in my hand, and told me I should come to the gallows), I'll say that for him, says he, he always looks the same way. But I think of my conscience, it is our only way now. Do not tell me, says I, of being a pirate: we must be pirates, or anything, to get fairly out of this cursed place.

In a word, they concluded all, by my advice, that our business was to cruise for anything we could see. Why then, said I to them, our first business is to see, if the people upon this island have any navigation, and what boats they use; and, if they have any better or bigger than ours, let us take one of them. First, indeed, all our aim was, to get, if possible, a boat with a deck and a sail; for then we might have saved our provisions, which otherwise we could not.

We had, to our great good fortune, one sailor among us, who had been assistant to the cook; he told us, that he would find a way how to preserve our beef, without cask or pickle; and this he did effectually by curing it in the sun, with the help of saltpetre, of which there was great plenty in the island; so that, before we found any method for our escape, we had dried the flesh of six or seven cows and bullocks, and ten or twelve goats, and it relished so well, that we never gave ourselves the trouble to boil it when we eat it, but either broiled it, or eat it dry: but our main difficulty about fresh water still remained; for we had no vessel to put any into, much less to keep any for our going

to sea.

But our first voyage being only to coast the island, we resolved to venture, whatever the hazard or consequence of it might be; and in order to preserve as much fresh water as we could, our carpenter made a well thwart the middle of one of our canoes, which he separated from the other parts of the canoe, so as to make it tight to hold the water, and covered so as we might step upon it; and this was so large that it held near a hogshead of water very well. I cannot better describe this well than by the same kind which the small fisher-boats in England have to preserve their fish alive in; only that this, instead of having holes to let the salt water in, was made sound every way to keep it out; and it was the first invention, I believe, of its kind, for such an use. But necessity is a spur to ingenuity, and the mother of invention.

It wanted but a little consultation to resolve now upon our voyage. The first design was only to coast it round the island, as well to see if we could seize upon any vessel fit to embark ourselves in, as also to take hold of any opportunity which might present for our passing over to the main; and, therefore, our resolution was to go on the inside, or west shore of the island, where at least at one point, the land stretching a great way to the north-west, the distance is not extraordinary great from the island to the coast of Africa.

Such a voyage, and with such a desperate crew, I believe was never made; for it is certain we took the worst side of the island to look for any shipping, especially for shipping of other nations, this being quite out of the way; however, we put to sea, after taking all our provisions and ammunitions, bag and baggage, on board. We had made both mast and sail for our two large periaguas, and the other we paddled along as well as we could; but when a gale sprung up, we took her in tow.

CHAPTER III.

CONTINUATION OF THE VOYAGE- -TRADE WITH THE NATIVESTHEIR KINDNESS-WE LAND, AND ENCAMP AT POINT DESPERATION-FURTHER PROCEEDINGS AND ADVENTURES ON THE ISLAND-WE DISCOVER THE WRECK OF A DUTCH VESSEL AT SEA-AFTER FOUR MONTHS' LABOUR, WE CONSTRUCT A VESSEL FIT TO CARRY US OFF-SAIL FOR THE MAINLAND OF AFRICA, AND REACH IT IN SAFETY.

WE sailed merrily forward for several days, meeting with nothing to interrupt us. We saw several of the natives in small canoes, catching fish, and sometimes we endeavoured to come near enough to speak with them; but they were always shy, and afraid of us, making in for the shore as soon as we attempted it, till one of our compamy remembered the signal of friendship which the natives made us from the south part of the island-viz., of setting up a long pole, and put us in mind that perhaps it was the same thing to them as a flag of truce was to us: so we resolved to try it; and, accordingly, the next time we saw any of their fishing-boats at sea, we put up a pole in our canoe that had no sail, and rowed towards them. As soon as they saw the pole, they

TRADE WITH THE NATIVES.

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stayed for us, and, as we came nearer, paddled towards us. When they came to us, they showed themselves very much pleased, and gave us some large fish, of which we did not know the names, but they were very good. It was our misfortune still that we had nothing to give them in return; but our artist, of whom I spoke before, gave them two little thin plates of silver, beaten, as I said before, out of a piece of eight; they were cut in a diamond square, longer one way than the other, and a hole punched at one of the longest corners. This they were so fond of that they made us stay till they had cast their lines and nets again, and gave us as many fish as we cared to have.

All this while we had our eyes upon their boats, viewed them very narrowly, and examined whether any of them were fit for our turn; but they were poor sorry things. Their sail was made of a large mat, only one that was of a piece of cotton stuff, fit for little, and their ropes were twisted flags of no strength; so we concluded we were better as we were, and let them alone. We went forward to the

north, keeping the coast close on board for twelve days together; and having the wind at east, and E.S.E., we made very fresh way. We saw no towns on the shore, but often saw some huts by the water-side, upon the rocks, and always abundance of people about them, who we could perceive run together to stare at us.

It was as odd a voyage as ever men went: we were a little fleet of three ships, and an army of between twenty and thirty as dangerous fellows as ever they had amongst them; and, had they known what we were, they would have compounded to give us everything we desired, to be rid of us.

On the other hand, we were as miserable as nature could well make us to be; for we were upon a voyage and no voyage we were bound somewhere and nowhere; for, though we knew what we intended to do, we did really not know what we were doing. We went forward and forward by a northerly course; and as we advanced, the heat increased, which began to be intolerable to us who were upon the water, without any covering from heat or wet; besides, we were now in the month of October, or thereabouts, in a southern latitude; and as we went every day nearer the sun, the sun came also every day nearer to us, till at last we found ourselves in the latitude of 20 degrees; and having

passed the tropic about five or six days before that, in a few days more the sun would be in the zenith, just over our heads.

Upon these considerations, we resolved to seek for a good place to go on shore again, and pitch our tents, till the heat of the weather abated. We had by this time measured half the length of the island, and were come to that part where the shore, tending away to the north-west, promised fair to make our passage over to the mainland of Africa, much shorter than we expected. But, notwithstanding that, we had good reason to believe it was about one hundred and twenty leagues.

So, the heats considered, we resolved to take harbour; besides, our provisions were exhausted, and we had not many days store left. Accordingly, putting in for the shore early in the morning, as we usually did once in three or four days, for fresh water, we sat down and considered, whether we should go on, or take up our standing there; but upon several considerations, too long to repeat here, we did not like the place, so we resolved to go on a few days longer.

After sailing on N.W. by N. with a fresh gale at S.E.. about six days, we found, at a great distance, a large promontory, or cape of land, pushing out a long way into the sea; and, as we were exceeding fond of seeing what was beyond the cape, we resolved to double it before we took into harbour; so we kept on our way, the gale continuing; and yet it was four days more before we reached the cape. But it is not possible to express the discouragement and melancholy that seized us all when we came thither; for when we made the headland of the cape, we were surprised to see the shore fall away on the other side, as much as it had advanced on this side, and a great deal more; and that, in short, if we would venture over to the shore of Africa, it must be from hence; for that, if we went further, the breadth of the sea still increased, and to what breadth it might increase we knew not.

While we mused upon this discovery, we were surprised with very bad weather, and especially violent rains, with thunder and lightning, most unusually terrible to us. In this pickle we ran for the shore, and getting under the lee of the cape, ran our frigates into a little creek, where we saw the land overgrown with trees, and made all the haste

possible to get on shore, being exceeding wet, and fatigued with the heat, the thunder, lightning, and rain.

Here we thought our case was very deplorable indeed, and therefore our artist, of whom I have spoken so often, set up a great cross of wood on the hill, which was within a mile of the headland, with these words, but in the Portuguese language:

"Point Desperation. Jesus have mercy!"

We set to work immediately to build us some huts, and so get our clothes dried; and though I was young, and had no skill in such things, yet I shall never forget the little city we built, for it was no less; and we fortified it accordingly; and the idea is so fresh in my thought, that I cannot but give a short description of it.

Our camp was on the south side of a little creek on the sea, and under the shelter of a steep hill, which lay, though on the other side of the creek, yet within a quarter of a mile of us, N.W. by N., and very happily intercepted the heat of the sun all the after part of the day. The spot we pitched on had a little fresh water brook, or a stream, running into the creek by us; and we saw cattle feeding in the plains and low ground, east and to the south of us a great way.

Here we set up twelve little huts, like soldiers' tents, but made of the boughs of trees, stuck into the ground, and bound together on the top with withies, and such other things as we could get; the creek was our defence on the north, a little brook on the west, and the south and east sides we fortified with a bank, which entirely covered our huts; and, being drawn oblique from the north-west to the south-east, made our city a triangle. Behind the bank, or line, our huts stood, having three other huts behind them at a good distance. In one of these, which was a little one, and stood further off, we put our gunpowder, and nothing else, for fear of danger; in the other, which was bigger, we drest our victuals, and put all our necessaries; and in the third, which was biggest of all, we eat our dinners, called our councils, and sat and diverted ourselves with such conversation as we had one with another, which was but indifferent truly at that time.