Our trading in Guinea was upon the coast line. I had my misfortunes even in this voyage. I was continually sick, being thrown into a violet calenture[49] by the excessive heat of the climate.
Chapter 2
Slavery and Escape
Recovering, I went to London with all the crew and our master. This voyage was very successful to us, all the crew members returned home grown rich. Even my 40 pounds turned into 300 pounds sterling. This first success elated me and I resolved to go to the same voyage again. However, one event overshadowed[50] those days: to my great misfortune, my friend, the master of our ship, has died soon after the arrival, and I was deprived of the faithful and honest comrade.
When I decided for the second time to set the sail, I found the widow of my deceased friend, and left her 200 pounds for safekeeping, and I must say, she preserved this money very faithfully. So, I did not carry quite 100 pounds of my new-gained wealth with me to the new voyage.
That was the unhappiest trip that a man has ever made. Our ship, making her course towards the Canary Islands, or rather between those islands and the African shore, was surprised in the grey of the morning by a Turkish rover[51] of Sallee, who gave chase to us with all the sail he could make. We crowded also as much canvas as our yards would spread[52], or our masts carry, to get clear; but finding the pirate gained upon us, and would certainly come up with us in a few hours, we prepared to fight; our ship having twelve guns, and the rogue eighteen. About three in the afternoon he came up with us[53] and entered sixty men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and hacking the sails and rigging[54]. We plied them with small shot, half-pikes, powder-chests, and such like, and cleared our deck of them twice. However, to cut short this melancholy part of our story, our ship was disabled, and three of our men killed, and eight wounded, we were obliged to yield[55], and were carried as prisoners into Sallee, a port belonging to the Moors.
Most of our men were carried up the country to the emperor’s court or to the slave market. However, in those days I was young, strong, nimble[56] and smart fellow, so my fate was not as abysmal as the rest of the crew: I was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper prize, and made his own slave. At this surprising change of my fate, from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed[57]; and now I looked back upon my father’s prophetic[58] discourse to me, that I should be miserable and have none to relieve me.
My new patron, or master, had taken me to his house, so I was in hopes that he would take me with him when he went to sea again. I believed, that it would some time, when this sea rover will be taken by a Spanish or Portugal man-of-war, and that then I should be set at liberty.
But this hope of mine was soon taken away; for when he went to sea, he left me on shore to look after his little garden, and do the common domestic things about his house; and when he came home again from his cruise, he ordered me to lie in the cabin on board to look after the ship.
For two long years I had been a miserable slave of my patron, and all my thoughts were only about the escape and release. Most of time I spent on land, looking after the master’s household. I left the land only on the rare occasions, when my patron went on a fishing trip. He used to constantly, once or twice a week, sometimes oftener if the weather was fair, take the ship and go out into the road a-fishing. I proved very dexterous in catching fish; insomuch that sometimes patron took me and young boy Xury, as they called him, to row the boat and to help him fishing.
Two or three times we went into a long voyage where we were two leagues from the shore, because farther from the coast line we could catch larger fish. We usually went for such a trip by our English ship, that pirate, our master, had taken. We never went a-fishing without a compass and some provision. In the middle of the longboat, in our ship, there was a state-room, and this cabin had been served as a buffet. In this buffet were stored baskets of sea biscuits, bread, rice and coffee. Every time there were about eight or ten bottles of the port wine and liquor as the master thought to drink. The reason of such a foresight and thrifty[59] of our master, was one incident that occurred shortly before.
It happened one time, that going a-fish in a calm morning, a fog rose so thick that, though we were not half a league from the shore, we lost sight of it; we laboured all day, and all the next night and we knew not whether or which way; and when the morning came we found we had pulled off to sea instead of pulling in for the shore; and that we were at least two leagues from the shore. However, we got well in again, though with a great deal of labour[60] and some danger; for the wind began to blow pretty fresh in the morning; but we were all very hungry.
But our patron, warned by this disaster, resolved to take more care of himself for the future, therefore took all the measures to stock up with provisions and drinks. In this way, that minor incident gave me a good turn.
Since then, my thoughts of escape became stronger than ever before. I began to prepare to flee[61].
One day it happened that he had appointed to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or for fish, with two or three Moors of some distinction in that place[62], and for whom he had provided extraordinarily, and had, therefore, sent on board a larger store of provisions than ordinary; and had ordered me to get ready three fusees with powder and shot, which were on board his ship, for that they designed some sport of fowling as well as fishing.
This moment my former notions of deliverance darted into my thoughts, for now I found I was likely to have a little ship at my command. I prepared to furnish myself, not for fishing business, but for a voyage.
All the gunpowder and bullets were kept on pirate’s man-of-war[63], by which he usually went on looting. So, the master ordered the Moor, called Ismael, who guarded the ship, to give me everything for fowling. And then I went on a little trick. I called to Moor. “Moely,” said I (everyone called Ismael Muley, or Moely), “our patron’s guns are on board of his English ship, can you not get a little more powder and shot? It may be we kill some alcamies (a fowl like our curlews[64]) for ourselves, for I know we must not presume to eat of our patron’s bread. We can divide all the prey equally!”
“Yes,” says he, “I’ll bring some;” and accordingly he brought a great leather pouch, which held a pound and a half of powder, or rather more; and another with shot, that had five or six pounds, with some bullets, and put all aboard the ship.
I conveyed also a great lump of beeswax[65] into the boat, which weighed about half a hundredweight, a hatchet, a saw, and a hammer, all of which were of great use to us afterwards, especially the wax, to make candles.
I got all things ready and waited the next morning on board,