^ 'm I VOYAGERS AND DISCOVERERS. _.- LIVl:S AND EXPLOITS MOST DISTINGUISHED VOYAGERS, ADVENTURERS AND DISCOVERERS, EUROPE, ASIA, AFRICA, AMERICA, THE SOUTH SEAS, AND POLAR REGIONS. AMJNG WHICH ARE THOSE OF COOKE, CAVENDISH, CLAPPERTON, MACKENZIE, PARK, PARRY, ROSS, FRANKLIN, LANDER, DENHAM, DAM- PIER, SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, DELLA VALLE, NIEBUHR, SIR JOHN CHARDIN, &c. COMPRISING AN ACCOUNT OF THEIR VOYAGES, JOURNIES, PERILS, SUFFERINGS AND REMARKA- BLE ESCAPES, A DESCRIPTION OF THEIR MODE OF TRAVELLING, A HIS- TORY OF THEIR MOST IMPORTANT DISCOVERIES, AND OF THE MOST INTERESTING OBJECTS WHICH CAME UNDER THEIR OBSERVATION IN EVERY COUNTRY. ILLUSTRATED BY NUMEROUS ENGRAVINGS. BY J. A. St. JOHN, SIR HUGH MURRAY, AND OTHERS. HARTFORD: H, HUNTINGTON, JUN. NEW YORK: F. J. HUNTINGTON AND COMPANY, 174 PEARL STREET. 1840. Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1840, by H. HUNTINGTON Jun. in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Connecticut. L. Skinner, Printer, Haitford. G:z.oo 5zi- CONTENTS. CIRCUMNAVIGATORS. PAGE. Sir Francis Drake, 9 Thomas Cavendish, -72 William Dampier, _- . 105 James Cook, - - - - 196 VOYAGERS AND DISCOVERERS. [ASIA.] Sir John Chardin, 253 Pietro Delia Valle, 281 Carsten Niebuhr, - - 305 John Bell, 344 [AFRICA.] MungoPark, 371 Dixon Denham, 411 Hugh Clapperton, - - - . 412 Richard and John Lander, 463 ;*:3»^ «n>« r\r^ [NORTH AMERICA.] '^^^-^'ts,.^^ Samuel Hearne, - - 56g. Sir Alexander Mackenzie, , 580 William Edward Parry, 594 Sir John Ross, 621 Sir John Franklin, - - . . 628 The Great Arctic Problem Solved, 659 PREFACE The ol)ject of the present work is to acquaint the Reader with the eventful lives and arduous labors of those Adventu- rers, who, regardless of toil and peril, have penetrated into un- known countries, traversing ocean, and gea, and continent, to explore the condition of the earth and its inhabitants. The names of Cook, Park, Parry, Denham, Clapperton, Ross, Franklin, the Landers, and others, are inseparably connected with dangers, vicissitudes, new scenes, and striking incidents. And if an exhibition of boldness and fortitude in braving dan- gers and vanquishing obstacles can enlist the attention, the work cannot fail to interest. Whoever accompanies the Adventurer in his journies and voyages, as delineated in the following pages, will be greeted by a constant succession of remarkable exploits, and new and striking objects. He will see him encountering the most dreadful extremeties of cold amid the dreary but stupendous and sublime scenery of the arctic regions; the scorching heat and pestilential vapors of tropical chmates; the fury of oceans and tempests, and the merciless barbarity of savages. In a word, he will be found braving almost every species of danger by which the patience and courage of man can be tried. By thus accompanying him through his distant enterprises, often far more useful than any undertaken by king or conqueror, we acquire an affection for his person, and regard his toils and perils as something which nearly concern ourselves. VIII. PREFACE. From the nature of the subject, the present work will con- vey much important and useful information. Adventurers in the same country are classed together and arranged in the or- der of time. Thus, those who gave the first impulse to the spirit of discovery, by circumnavigating the globe and explor- ing the great Southern Ocean, occupy the first part of the book ; then follow several romantic and adventurous travel- lers in different parts of Asia; and finally Park, Denham, Clapperton, the Landers, afford us a succinct history of the progress of discovery in Africa; and Hearne, Mackenzie, Parry, Ross, and Franklin, in the regions of the Northern Polar Sea. It has been justly remarked by Dr. Southey, that of books of travels we cannot have too many, and that because they contribute to the instruction of the learned, their reputation suflfers no diminution by the course of time, but age rather enhances their value; and, adds another distinguished writer, every man whose comprehensive mind enables him to sympa- thize with human nature under all its various aspects, and to detect, through the endless disguises superinduced by strange religions, pohcies, manners, or climate, passions^ weaknesses, and virtues akin to his own, must peruse the relations of ve- racious travellers with pecuhar satisfaction and delight. In the spirit of sentiments like these the Pubhsher of this work commends it to public consideration and patronage. 'f^ SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, THE FIRST ENGLISH CIRC UMNAVKJATOR. Sir Francis Drake, son of Mr. Edmund Drake, of Tavistock in Devonshire, was born in 1545. Being early destined for the sea, he received that kind of edu- cation which was best adapted to the object of his pur- suits. Sir John Hawkins, his kinsman, a celebrated navigator, is said to have early taken him under his pro- tection. At the age of eighteen he was purser of a ship trading to Biscay. At twenty he made a voyage to tjuinea, and at twenty-two he was promoted to the command of the Judith, In 1570 and 1572 he was 2 10 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. engaged in expeditions against the Spaniards in the West Indies. While prosecuting these enterprises he was assisted by an Indian nation, equally hostile with himself to the Spanish name. The prince of this na- tion was named Pedro, to whom Drake made a fine present of a cutlass from his side, which he perceived the Indian greatly admired. Pedro, in return, gave him four large wedges of gold, which Drake threw into the common stock, with this emphatic observa- tion, "that he thought it just that such as bore the charge of such uncertain undertakings on his credit, should share the utmost advantages they produced." Then embarking his men, with all the wealth he had obtained, he bore away for England, where he arrived in 1573. This success in this expedition, joined to his honor- able conduct towards the owners and towards his men, gained him a high reputation, and the application of his newly acquired riches, still greater. For, fitting out three stout frigates at his own expense, he sailed to Ireland, and serving as a volunteer, under Walter, Earl of Essex, performed some prodigies of valour. After the death of this noble patron, he returned to England, where Sir Christopher Hatton, a mighty favourite with the queen, introduced him to her majesty, and procured him countenance and protection at court. Thus bask- ing in the beams of royal favour, his views expanded to nobler aims than he had yet attempted ; and he project- ed that expedition to the Great South Sea, which will render his name immortal. This expedition we are about to relate. When a man once gives up the reins of imagination to views of interest or ambition, nothing will appear dif- ficult which gives him a chance of gratifying his fa- vorite passion. Such was the case with Drake. Hav- ing once had a prospect of the Great South Sea, he was determined that no human obstacle should deter him from endeavouring to revisit America, and from spread- ing his sails on that ocean. But indefatigable as he was in the pursuit of this design, it was not until the year 1577, that he had collected a force sufficient to SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 11 man five vessels, and by a pretended royal authority, appeared as admiral, or as the phrase then was, gene- ral of the squadron. The fleet, equipped for this new expedition, consist- ed of the Pelican, the flag ship ; the Elizabeth, John Winter, vice admiral ; the Marygold, commanded by captain Thomas ; the Swan, captain John Chester ; and the Christopher, of fifteen tons, which was commit- ted to the charge of one of his carpenters. These ships were fitted out, partly at his own risk, and partly at the expense of others ; and were manned with one hundred and sixty-four chosen seamen. They were well stored with all necessary provisions ; and at the same time, were furnished with whatever could contribute to ornament or delight ; carrying expert mu- sicians, rich furniture, and choice productions of the country. Not only the admiral's table, but the cook- room was provided with silver utensils ; partly to com- mand a higher degree of respect, and perhaps, partly to gratify personal vanity. This cautious commander, reflecting on the difficul- ties to which his men had been exposed in former expe- ditions, which might have deterred the less resolute ; or, more probably, to conceal his real designs from the enemy, had engaged his crews for a voyage to Alexan- dria; nor was the real destination known till they reached the coast of Brazil. Every thing being ready, Drake sailed from Plymouth on the 15th of November 1577, but soon after was forced by stress of weather into Falmouth, where he w-as detained till the 13th of December, when he took his final departure, with all the auspices of a favourable voyage. On the 27th of the month, the squadron anchored off Mogadore, an island about a mile from the continent of Barbary. Here having got ready the frames of his pinnaces, which he had carried out with him, he began to put them together. The Moors ob- serving these proceedings, sent two of their chiefs on boardof the admiral's ship, receiving two Englishmen as hostages. These Moors were handsomely entertain- ed by Drake, that they might form a favourable opinion 12 SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE. of the English nation. Next day, however, this friend- ly intercourse was at an end. One John Fry leaping on shore from the ship's boat, was immediately mounted on horseback, and conveyed up the country. Though this man, after being closely interrogated, was dismissed with apologies and assurances, that the natives had mistaken this squadron for the Portuguese, from whom they expected an invasion, the admiral resolved not to protract his stay in that place. Accordingly he depart- ed on the last of December, and on the 17th of Januar}-, 1578, reached Cape Blanco, having on the cruise cap- tured three caunters, as the Spanish fishing-boats were called, and two, or else three, caravels, — the accounts on this, as on several other minor points, being often contradictory. A ship which was surprised in the har- bour with only two men on board shared the same fate. At Cape Blanco they halted for five days, fishing ; while on shore, Drake exercised his company in arms, thus studying both their health and the maintenance of good discipline. From the stores of the fishermen they help- ed themselves to such commodities as they wanted, and sailed on the 22d, carrying off also a caunter of 'forty tons burthen, for which the owner received, as a slight indemnification, the pinnace Christopher. At Cape Blanco fresh water was at this season so scarce, that in- stead of obtaining a supply, Drake, compassionating the condition of the natives, who came down from the heights, offering ambergris and gums in exchange for it, generally filled their leathern bags without accepting any recompense, and otherwise treated them humanely and hospitably. Four of the prizes were released here. After six days' sailing they came to anchor on the 2Sth at the west part of Mayo, — an island where, according to the information of the master of the caravel, dried goat's flesh might be had in plenty, the inhabitants pre- paring a store annually for the use of the king's ships. The people on tlie island, mostly herdsmen and hus- bandmen, belonging to the Portuguese of the island of St. Jago, would have no intercourse with tl;ie ships, having probably been warned of danger. Next day a party of sixty men landed, commanded by Captain SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 13 Winter and Mr. Doughty, — a name with which, in the sequel, the reader will become but too familiar. They repaired to what was described as the capital of the island, by which must be understood the principal col- lection of cabins or huts, but found it deserted. The inhabitants had fled, and had previously salted the springs. The countr}^ appeared fertile, especially in the valle3^s ; and in the depth of the winter of Great Britain, they feasted on ripe and delicious grapes. The island also produced cocoanuts, and they saw abun- dance of goats and wild hens ; though these good things, and the fresh springs, were unfortunately too far distant from the ships to be available. Salt produced by the heat of the sun formed here an article of commerce ; and one of the prizes made was a caravel bound to St. Jago for salt. Leaving Mayo on the 30th, on the south-west side of St. Jago, they fell in with a prize of more value, — a Por- tuguese ship bound to Brazil, laden with wine, cloth, and general merchandise, and having a good many pas- sengers on board. The command of this prize was given to Bought}^, who was however soon afterward superseded by Mr. Thomas Drake, the brother of the general. This is the first time we hear of offences being charged against the unfortunate Doughty. It is said he appropriated to his own use presents, probably given as bribes to obtain good usage, by the Portuguese prison- ers. These captives Drake generously dismissed at the first safe and convenient place, giving every passen- ger his wearing apparel, and presenting them with a butt of wine, provisions, and the pinnace he had set up at Mogadore. Only the pilot was detained, Nuno de Silva, who w^as acquainted with the coast of Brazil, and who afterward published a minute and accurate ac- count of Drake's vo3^age. Here, near the island named by the Portuguese Isla del Fogo, or the Burning Island, where, says the Famous Voyage, "on the north side is a consuming fire, the matter whereof is said to be sulphur," lies Brava, de- scribed in the early narratives as a terrestrial paradise ; *'a most sweet and pleasant island, the trees whereof 2* 14 SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE. are always green, and fair to look upon ; in respect of which they call it Isla Brava, that is, The Brave Island." The " soil was almost full of trees; so that it was a storehouse of many fruits and commodities, as figs al- ways ripe, cocoas, plantains, oranges, lemons, citrons, and cotton. From the brooks into the sea do run in many places silver streams of sweet and wholesome water," with which ships may easily be supplied. There was, however, no convenient harbour nor anchor- ing found at this " sweet and pleasant" island, — the volcanic tops of Del Fogo *' not burning higher in the air" than the foundations of Brava dipped sheer into the sea. The squadron now approached the equinoctial line, sometimes becalmed, and at other times beaten about with tempests and heavy seas. In their progress they were indebted to the copious rains for a seasonable sup- ply of water. They also caught dolphins, bonitos, and tiying-fish, which fell on the decks, and could not rise again "for lack of moisture on their wungs." They had left the shore of Brava on the 2d February. On the 28th March their valuable Portuguese prize, which was their wine-cellar and store, was separated in a tempest, but afterward rejoined at a place which, in commemo- ration of the event, was called Cape Joy. The coast of Brazil was now seen in 31 J"^ south. On the 5th April, the natives, having discovered the ships on the coast, made great fires, went through various incantations, and ofl^ered sacrifices, as was imagined, to the Devil, that the prince of the powers of the air might raise storms to sink the strangers. To these diabolical arts the mariners doubtless attributed the violent lightning, thunder, and rain, which they encountered in this lati- tude. About Cape Joy the air was mild and salubrious, the soil rich and fertile. Troops of wild deer, *' large and mighty," were the only living creatures seen on this part of the coast, though the footprints of men of large sta- ture were traced on the ground. Some seals were killed here, fresh provisions of any kind never being neglected. On the 14th of April, Drake anchored SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 15 within the entrance of Rio de la Plata, where he had appointed a rendezvous in case of a separation after leaving the Cape de Verd Islands ; and here the caunter, which had separated in a gale on the 7th, rejoined, when the expedition sailed eighteen leagues farther into the river, where they killed sea-wolves (seals,) — *' wholesome but not pleasant food." Still farther in, they rode in fresh water ; but finding no good harbour, and having taken in water, the fleet, on the 27th, stood out, and afterward southward. The Swan lost them on the first night, and the caunter, ever apt to go astray, was separated ten days afterward. In 47° south a headland was seen, within which was a bay that pro- mised safe harbourage ; and having, on the 12th May, entered and anchored, Drake, who seldom devolved tlie duty of an examination on an inferior officer, went off in the boat next morning to explore the bay. Be- fore he made land, a thick fog came on, and was follow- ed by bad weather, which took from him the sight of the fleet. The company became alarmed for their pro- tector and general, in whom all their hopes of fortune, fame, and even of preservation, were placed. The Marigold, a bark of light weight, stood in for the bay, picked up the captain-general, and came to anchor. In the meanwhile the other ships, as the gale increased, had been compelled to stand out to sea. The fog which had fallen between Drake and the fleet also took from his sight an Indian, who, loudly shaking a rattle, danced in time to the discordant music he made, and by his gestures seemed to invite the strangers on shore. Next day Drake landed, and several Indians came in sight, to whom a w^hite flag was waved in token of amity, and as a signal to approach. , The natives acknowledg- ed the symbol of peace, but stiU kept at a wary dis- tance. Drake now ordered fires to be lighted as signals to the ships ; and they all rejoined, save the two vessels formerly separated. In a sort of storehouse here, above fifty dried ostriches were found, besides other birds laid up, dry or drying for provision, by the Indians. It was believed by some 16 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. of the English that these had been left as a present ; and Drake, whether believing or not in so rare an instance of hospitality, appropriated the dried birds to the use of his company. It is a charitable conjecture that some of his own wares were left in return. The manner in which these ostriches, whose flesh supplied food, while their feathers furnished ornaments, were snared, de- serves notice. Plumes of feathers were affixed to a stick, made to resemble the head and neck of the bird. Behind these decoys the hunter concealed himself, and, moving onwards, drove the ostriches into some narrow tongue of land, across which strong nets were placed to intercept the return of the bird, which runs, but cannot fl}^ Dogs were then set upon the prey, which was thus taken. The choice of the place in which the fleet now lay had been dictated by necessity alone. On the 15th it was abandoned, and on the 17th they anchored in a good port, in 47J'^ south. Here seals were so plentiful that upwards of two hundred were killed in an hour. While the crews were tillins^ the water-butts, killinsr seals, and salting birds for future provision, Drake in the Pelican, and Captain Winter in the Elizabeth, set out on diflerent courses in quest of the Swan and the Portuguese prize. On the same day Drake fell in with the Swan, and, before attempting the straits, formed the prudent resolution of diminishing the cares and hazards of the voyage by reducing the number of his ships. The Swan was accordingly broken up for firewood, after all her materials and stores had been removed. When the ships had lain here a few days, a party of the natives came to the shore, dancing, leaping, and making signs of invitation to a few of the seamen then on a small island, which at low water communicated with the main land. They were a handsome, strong, agile race, lively and alert. Their only covering was the skin of an animal, which, worn about their middle when walking, was wrapped round their shoulders while they squatted or lay on the ground. They were paint- ed over the whole body after a grotesque fashion. Though fancy and ingenuity were displayed in the SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 17 figures and patterns, and in the contrast and variety of colours, it is reasonable to conclude that the practice had its origin in utilit}^, and was adopted as a defence against cold, ornament being at first only a secondary consideration, though, as in more refined regions, it sometimes usurped the place of the principal object. These Indians being first painted all over, on this groundwork many freaks of fancy were displayed : white full moons were exhibited to advantage on a black ground, and black suns on a white one. Some had one shoulder black and the other white ; but these were probably persons who carried the mode to the extreme. On seeing that the signals made were interpreted in a friendly wa}'-, Drake sent a boat to the shore with bells, cutlery, and such small wares as were likely to be at- tractive and acceptable to the tastes of the natives. As the boat neared the shore, two of the group, who had been standing on a height, moved swiftly down, but stopped short at a little distance. The presents were fastened to a pole, and left on the beach ; and after the boat put off they were removed, and in return such feathers as the natives wore, and the carved bones which they used as ornaments, were deposited near or fastened to the same pole. Thus a friendly, if not profitable or useful, traffic was established. For such trifles as the English bestowed they gave in return the only articles they possessed to which value was attached. These were bows, arrows made of reeds and pointed with flint, feathers, and carved bones. Their mode of exchange was to have every thing placed on the ground, from whence the goods were removed, and the article bartered for substituted. By some of the voyagers these people are described as of gigantic stature. They were of a gay and cheerful disposition; the sound of the trumpets delighted them ; and they danced merrily with the sailors. One of their number, who had tasted wine, and became, it is stated, intoxicated with the mere smell before the glass reached his lips, always afterward approached the tents crying, "Wine, wine!" Their principal article of food was seals, and sometimes the flesh of other animals ; all of which they roasted, or 18 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. rather scorched for a few minutes, in large lumps of six pounds' weight, and then devoured nearly raw, — '*men and women tearing it with their teeth like lions." The fleet sailed from Seal Bay, as this place was named, on the 3d of June, and on the 12th came to an- chor in a bay where they remained for two days, during which they stripped the caunter, and allowed it to drift. Drake had thus reduced his force to a more compact and manageable form. The place from which this ves- sel was sent adrift is sometimes called the Cape of Good Hope, but seems to have been named Cape Hope. From the 14th to the 17th of May, the fleet cruised about in search of the Mary, the Portuguese prize, and then came to anchor in a bay 50^ 20' south. On the 19th the missing vessel was found, and next day the whole squadron anchored in the Port St. Julian of Ma- gellan in 40^ 30' south; where, says one relation, "we found the gibbet still standing on the main where Ma- gellan did execute justice upon some of his rebellious and discontented company." So soon as the ships were safely moored, Drake and some of his officers went off in a boat to examine the capabilities of this part of the coast, and on landing met two men of immense stature, who appeared to give them welcome. These were of the Patagonian trribes of Magellan. A few trifles presented to them were accepted with pleasure, and they were apparently delighted by the dexterity with which the gunner used the EngUsh bow in a trial of skiU, sending his arrow so far beyond their best aim. Nothing, however, can be more fickle and capricious than the friendship of most savage tribes. An Indian of less amiable disposition than his companions ap- proached, and with menacing gestures signified to the crew to be gone. Mr. Winter, an English gentleman, displeased with the interruption given to their pastime by this churlish fellow, between jest and earnest drew a shaft, partly in intimidation, but also to prove the su- periority of the English bow and skill. The bowstring unfortunately snapped ; and while he was repairing it a sudden shower of arrows wounded him in the shoulder and the side. Oliver, the gunner, instantly levelled his SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 19 piece ; but it missed fire, and the attempt proved the signal for his destruction. He was pierced through with an arrow, and immediately dropped. At this critical moment Drake ordered the rest of the party to cover themselves with their targets and advance upon the Indians, who were fast mustering. With ready presence of mind, he directed his men, at the same time, to break every arrow aimed at them, as the assailants must thus soon expend their stock. The captain-gene- ral might at this juncture have remembered that in the affray where Magellan lost his life the same arrows were picked up by the people of Matan, and repeatedly shot, as they drove the Spaniards into the water. At the same instant in which he gave the order, Drake seized the gunner's piece, and taking aim at the man who had killed Oliver and begun the affray, he shot him in the belly. This turned the fate of the hour, and probably prevented the massacre of the whole party of English ; for many more of the Patagonians were seen hastening from the woods to support their countrymen, when the hideous bellowing of the wounded man struck wdth panic those already engaged, and the whole fled. It was not thought prudent to pursue them, nor even to tarry on shore ; Mr. Winter was therefore borne off to the shipTs ; but in the haste of embarkation the body of the gunner was left. Next day, when looked after, the body was found uninjured, save that an English arrow had been thrust into the left eye. The clothes were in part stripped off, and formed into a pillow or truss, which was placed under the head of the corpse. Win- ter soon afterward died of his wounds. This unfortunate affray appears to have been more the consequence of misunderstanding than design ; and the usage of the dead body and subsequent conduct of the natives evince a less revengeful and ferocious dis- position than is usually displayed even among the mildest savage tribes when inflamed by recent battle. During the remainder of the time that the fleet lay here 110 further molestation was offered to the English. The stature of these tribes, and of those in the straits, has been the subject of dispute among navigators from 20 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. the voyage of Magellan to our own times, each succeed- ing band being unwilling to yield an inch to their pre- cursors, or to meet with "giants less formidable than those which had been previously seen. ClifFe, however, says, "they were of ordinary height, and that he had seen Englishmen taller than any of them ;" and then, like a true seaman of the period, he imputes their ex- aggerated stature to the "lies" of the Spaniards, from whom no good thing could come ; and who, in the ima- ginary impunity of escaping detection from the naviga- tors of other nations, related these marvellous tales. " The World Encompassed" makes the height of these people seven feet and a half. It is not unlikely that the mists, haze, and storms through which the natives were often partially seen in the straits, or on those wild coasts, perched on a rock or grovelling on the ground, may be the origin of the pigmies and giants of the early navigators ; but that tribes of tall though not gigantic stature were seen in the South Sea islands, and also on the western coasts of the continent of America, from its southern extremity as far north as was then explored, does not admit of doubt.* While the fleet lay at Port St. Julian an event occur- red, which, as the contradictory evidence is viewed, must either be termed the most heroic or the most ques- tionable act in the life of Admiral Drake. Mr. Thomas Doughty, a man of talent, and too probably of ill-regu- * The Patagonian race is still among the least known of all the South American tribes. There is no doubt, however, of its existence, nor of the fact that it is characterized by proportions exceeding tlie ordinary dimensions of mankind. The Patagonian people are of limited numbers, and inhabit the eastern shores of the most southern point of tlie New World, under a cold and steril clime. They wander about from one district to another, and are but imperfectly civilized. Their dispositions, however, are peaceable, although their great bodily strength would seem to fit them for warlike en- terprise ; but it sometimes happens that gigantic forms are not accompanied by a corresponding increase of physical energy. The average height of these people is about six feet, which height is also extremely frequent among the chiefs and nobles of the South Sea islands. The complexion of the Patagonians is tawny; their hair, of which tlie colour is black or brown, is lank, and for the most part very long. It appears that this tribe have suc- ceeded in the training of horses, — an unusual accomplishment in a tribe otherwise so uncivilized ; but this, of course, must have been a comparative- ly modem exercise of their ingenuity, as horses were unknown in America prior to the period of the Spanish conquest. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 21 lated ambition, had served as an officer in the fleet, and it is said enjo5^ed in a high degree the afFection and con- fidence of the captain-general, who must voluntarily have selected him as one of his company. Doughty was at this place accused of conspiracy and mutiny ; of a plan to massacre Drake and the principal officers, and thus defeat the whole expedition ; as if the first- imagined crime did not constitute sufficient guilt. The details of this singular affair are scanty, obscure, and perplexed ; and no contemporary writer notices any specific fact or ground of charge. The offence of Doughty is purely constructive. Cliffe dismisses the subject in one seaman-like sentence, merely saying, " Mr. Thomas Doughty was brought to his answer, — accused, convicted, and beheaded." The account in " The World Encompassed" is more elaborate, but not much more satisfactory. It contains strong general charges, but no record of facts, nor a shadow of proof of the general allegations. These early chroniclers ap- pear either thoroughly convinced of the guilt of the cul- prit, or indifferent to the propriety of convincing others of the justice and necessity of their captain's sentence, or they were fully convinced that the accused merited his fate. Doughty had previously been called in ques- tion for his conduct in accepting gifts or bribes while in the Portuguese prize, and he had afterward strayed once or twice with the same vessel, which was burnt to prevent like accidents. According to one account his treason was of old date ; and before the fleet left Ply- mouth he had been hatching plots against his com- mander, who refused to believe " that one he so dearly loved would conceive evil against him, till perceiving that lenity and favour did little good, he thought it high time to call those practices in question, and, therefore, setting good watch over him, and assembling all his cap- tains and gentlemen of his company together, he pro- pounded to them the good parts that were in this gen- tleman, and the great good will and inward affection, more than brotherly, which he had, ever since his first acquaintance, borne him, and afterward delivered the letters which were written to him (Drake,) with the par- 3 22 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. ticulars from time to time, which had been observed not so much by himself as by his good friends ; not only at sea, but even at Ptymouth ; not bare words, but wri- tings; not writings, but actions, tending to the over- throw of the service in hand, and making away his per- son. Proofs were required, and alleged so many and so evident, that the gentleman himself, stricken with remorse, acknowledged himself to have deserved death, yea, many deaths ; for that he conspired, not only the overthrow of the action, but of the principal actor also." The account continues in the same strain, asserting that forty of the principal men of Drake's band adjudged tlK^ culprit to deserve death, and gave this judgment under their hand and seal, leaving the manner to the general, who allowed the unfortunate man the choice of being either abandoned on the coast, taken back to England to answer to the lords of the queen's council, or execu- ted here. He chose the latter, requesting, it is said, that he might "once more receive the holy communion with the captain-general before his death, and that he might not die other than the death of a gentleman." The circumstances of the execution are striking. Mr. Fletcher celebrated the communion on the next day. Drake received the sacrament with the condemned man, and afterward they dined together *'at the same table, as cheerfully in sobriety as ever in their lives they had done ; and taking their leaves, by drinking to each other, as if some short journey only had been in hand." Without further delay, all things being in readiness. Doughty walked forth, requested the bystanders to pray for him, and submitted his neck to the executioner. Camden's version of this transaction does not differ materially from the above. The chaplain of the fleet, Mr. Francis Fletcher, left a manuscript journal of the voyage, now deposited in the British Museum, which contradicts many of the important statements in the other relations. He asserts that the criminal utterly denied the truth of the charges against him, upon his salvation, at the time of communicating, and at the hour and moment of his death. Mr. Fletcher likewise affirms that no choice of life or death was given him upon any SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 23 conditions. It is evident, that in the opinion of the; chaplain, Doughty was an innocent and a murdered man ; the victim of a conspiracy not rigidly sifted by the general, and in which the actors too probably con- sulted his secret wishes. The fleet had not long left England when the affair of the Portuguese prisoners, in which there might be dishonour, but no crime deserving severity of punish- ment, and still less death, was brought against him. But in Port St. Julian, Fletcher remarks, "more dan- gerous matter is laid to his cliarge, and b}^ the same per- sons (John Brewer, Edward Bright, and others of their friends,) namely, for words spoken by him to them in the general's garden at Plymouth, which it had been their part and duty to have discovered them at the time, and not have concealed them for a time and place not so fitting." Besides the vague charges made of plots and mutinous conduct, and the anomalous offence of being "an emulator of the glory of his commander," another cause is assigned for the death of Doughty, which, if it were supported by reasonable proof, would fix a deeper stigma on the character of Drake than all his other questionable deeds put together. In England the age of dark iniquitous intrigue had succeeded the times of ferocity and open violence ; but the dependants and partisans of the leading men in the state were still as criminally subservient to the flagitious designs of their patrons as when their daggers had been freeh^ drawn in their service. It was alleged that Captain Drake had carried this man to sea to rid the powerful Earl of Leicester of a dangerous prater, and in time and place convenient to revenge his quarrel. It is probable that the intimacy of Doughty with cap- tain Drake had commenced in Ireland, as both had served under Essex ; and it is affirmed that the real crime of the former was accusing Leicester of plotting the secret murder of his noble rival, of which few men in England believed him wholly guiltless. On the other hand, Essex was the patron of Drake, who, it is reason- ably urged, was thus much more likely to protect than punish a friend brought into trouble for freedom of 24 SIR FRA^XIS DRAKE. speech on an occasion that would have moved stocks or stones. It may be further pleaded in behalf of Drake, that, with the exception of the chaplain, whose relation has however ever}^ mark of sincerity and good faith, no man nor officer in the fleet has left any record or sur- mise of objection to the justice of the execution, though the affair, after the return of the expedition, was keenly canvassed in England.* In his whole course of life, Drake maintained the character of integrity and hu- manity ; nor did he lack generosity in fitting season. He at all times discovered a strong sense of religion, and of moral obhgation, save in the case of the Span- iards and "Portagals," for which, however, " sea-divin- ity" afforded an espe.cial exception. That he could have put an innocent man to death to conceal the crimes, or execute the vengeance of Leicester, is too monstrous for belief; and that, conscious of the deepest injustice, he should have gone through the solemn religious ob- servances which preceded the perpetration of his crime, presents a picture of odious hypocrisy and cold-blooded cruelty more worthy of a demon than a brave man. The case resolves itself into the simple necessity of maintaining disciphne in the fleet, and sustaining that personal authority which, in a commander, is a duty even more important than self-preservation. Drake's notions of authority might have been somewhat over- strained ; nor is it unhkely that he unconsciously im- bibed sHght feelings of jealousy of " this emulator of his glory." Every one who mentions Doughty speaks of him as a man of great endowments. Mr. Fletcher is warm in his praise. " An industrious and stout man," says Camden, even when relating his crimes, and one, it appears, of sufficient consequence to be imagined the cause of disquiet to the still all-powerful Leicester. Immediately after the execution, Drake, who to his *Inan old relation (written by himself) of the adventures of "Peter Carder, a shipwrecked Seaman," belonging to Drake's fleet, we find that when, after his long detention and miraculous escape from the savages and the "Portugals," he returned to England, on being examined before the queen, and relating his marvellous haps, she questioned hun "of the manner of Master Doughty 's execution." SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. ^5 Other qualities added the gift of a bold natural eloquence, addressed his whole company, " persuading us to uni- tv^, obedience, love, and regard of our voyage ; and for the better confirmation thereof, wished every man the next Sunday following, to prepare himself to receive the communion as Christian brethren and friends ought to do ; which was done in very reverent sort, and so with good contentment every man went about his business." Doubt and darkness will, however, always hang over this transaction, though probably onty from the simple reason of no formal record being kept of the proceed- ings. Doughty was buried with Mr. Winter and the gunner on an island in the harbour, and the chaplain relates that he erected a stone, and on it cut the names of these unfortunate Englishmen, and the date of their burial. The ships, by the breaking up of the Portuguese prize, were now reduced to three; and being "trim- med" and supplied with wood and water, and such other necessaries as could be obtained, the}^ sailed from this "port accursed" on the 17th of August. ClifFe re- lates, that while they lay here, the weather, though in .1 uty and August, was as cold as at mid-winter in Eng- land. On the 20th the}^ made Cape de las Virgines, entered the strait, and on the 24th anchored thirty leagues within it. There is a considerable variation in the accounts of Drake's passage of the straits. The statements are even absolutely contradictoiy on some points, though the disagreements, when the facts are sifted, are more apparent than real, every narrator noting only what he had himself witnessed or casually gathered from the in- formation of others. The original narrative of the pas- sage by the Portuguese pilot, Nuno de Silva, is among the most interesting and accurate ; but in the present account an attempt is made to combine whatever ap- pears most striking and important in the different rela- tions. The eastern mouth of the strait was found about a league broad ; the land bare and flat. On the north side Indians were seen making great fires ; but on the »outh no inhabitants appeared. The length was corn- s' 26 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. puted at one hundred and ten leagues. The tide was seen to rise (setting in from both sides) about fifteen feet. It met about the middle, or rather nearer the western entrance. The medium breadth was one league. Where the ships came to anchor on the 24th were three small islands, on which they killed three thousand "of birds (penguins) having no wings, but short pinions which serve their turn in swimming." They were as "fat as an English goose." " The land on both sides was very huge and moun- tainous ; the lower mountains whereof, although they be very monstrous to look upon for their height, yet there are others which in height exceed them in a strange manner, reaching themselves above their follow- ers so high that between them did appear three regions of clouds. These mountains are covered with snow at both the southerly and easterly parts of the strait. There are islands among which the sea hath his in- draught into the straits even as it hath at the main en- trance. The strait is extreme cold, with frost and snow continually. The trees seem to stoop with the burden of the weather, and yet are green continually, and many good and sweet herbs do very plentifully increase and grow under them." Such are the natural appearances described. Near the western entrance a number of narrow channels, with which the whole of that side abounds, occasioned some difficulty in the navigation ; and Drake, with his usual caution, brought the fleet to anchor near an island, while he went out in his boat to explore these various openings to the South Sea. In this expedition, Indians of the pigmy race, attributed to a region abounding in all monstrous things, were seen; though both the gigantic and diminutive size of these tribes are brought in question even by contemporary writers. Yet these pigmy Indians were seen close at hand, in a canoe in- geniously constructed of the bark of trees, of which ma- terial the people also formed vessels for domestic use. The canoes were semicircular, being high in the prow and stern. The seams were secured by a lacing of thongs of sealskin, and fitted so nicely that there was SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 27 little leakage. The tools of these ingenious small folks were formed of the shell of a very large species of mus- cle, containing seed-pearls, which was found in the straits. These shells they tempered, if the word may be used, so skilfully that they cut the hardest wood, and even bone. One of their dwellings, which might, how- ever, be but a fishing-hut, was seen rudely formed of sticks stuck in the ground, over which skins were stretched. Early in September the western entrance was reach- ed ; and, on the 6th of the same month, Drake attained the long-desired happiness of sailing an English ship on the South Sea. The passage of Drake was the quickest and easiest that had yet been made, fortune favouring him here as at every other point of this voyage. The temperature was also much milder than had been experienced by former navigators, or the English seamen might proba- bly be more hardy and enduring than those of Spain. One main object of Drake in leaving England was undoubtedly the discovery of a north-west passage, by Ibllowing the bold and novel track his genius chalked out, and in which he might still hope to anticipate all other adventurers, whether their career commenced from the east or the west. On clearing the straits he accordingly held a north-west course, and in two days the fleet had advanced seventy leagues. Here it was overtaken by a violent and steady gale from the north- east, which drove them into 57^ south latitude, and two hundred leagues to the west of Magellan's Straits. While still driving before the wind under bare poles, the moon was eclipsed at five o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th, but produced neither abatement nor change of the wind. "Neither did the ecliptical conflict of the moon improve our state, nor her clearing again mend us a whit, but the accustomed eclipse of the sea continued in his force, we being darkened more than the moon sevenfold." On the 24th the weather became more moderate, the wind shifted, and they partly retraced their course, for seven days standing to the north-east, during which land 28 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. was seen, near which a vain attempt was made to an- chor. Their troubles did not end here, — once more the wind got back to its old quarter, and with great violence ; and on the 30th the Marigold was separated from the Elizabeth and the Golden Hind, as Drake on entering the South Sea had named his ship, in compliment it is said to his patron Sir Christopher Hatton. They made the land ; but the Marigold was borne to sea by the stress of the gale, and was never heard of more ! We do not even find a conjecture breathed about the fate of this ship. On the evening of the 7th of October, the Golden Hind and Elizabeth made a bay near the west- ern entrance of Magellan's Straits, which was afterv/ard named the Bay of Parting Friends ; and here they in- tended to lie by till the weather improved. During the night the cable of the Hind broke, and she drove to sea ; nor did Captain Winter, in the Elizabeth, make any at- tempt to follow liis commander. Heartily tired of a vo3^age of which he had just had so unpleasant a speci- men, he next da}^ entered the straits, secretly purposing to return home. Edward Cliffe, who sailed in the Eliz- abeth, and whose relation stops with her return to Eng- land, stoullv denies for the seamen the craven intention of abandoning their commander. Captain Drake ; and even asserts that some efforts were made to find the admiral's ship, though of a very passive kind. Anchor- ing in a bay within the straits, fires were kindled on the shore ; so that, if Drake sought them in this direction and on that day, there was a chance of his finding them. This duty discharged, they went into secure harbourage in a place which they named Port Health, from the rapid recovery of the crew, who had lately suffered so much from cold, wet, and fatigue. In the large muscles and other shellfish found here they obtained pleasant and restorative food ; and remained till the beginning of November, when the voyage was formally abandoned, "on Mr. Winter's compulsion, and full sore against the mariners' minds." Winter alleged that he now despair- ed of the captain-general's safety, or of being able to hold his course with the Elizabeth for the imagined Ophir of New Spain. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 29 It was the 11th of November before the Elizabeth got clear of the straits, — an eastward voyage that had only been once performed, and by a Spanish navigator, La- drilleros, twenty years before, and believed to be next to impossible, — and June in the following year before Winter returned to England, with the credit of having made the passage of the straits eastward, and the shame of having deserted his commander, while his company, with nobler spirit, showed unshaken fidelity and unaba- ted ardour. There is more interest in following the fortunes of the Hind, which we left tossed about in the misnamed Pa- cific. Drake was once more carried back to 55° south, when he judged it expedient to run in among the islands or broken land of Terra del Fuego ; where, together with a supply of seals and fresh water, a season of re- pose was found from the continual fatigues of the last month. But this interval of ease was of short duration ; they were once more driven to sea in a gale, and suffer- ed the further calamity of being parted from the shallop, in which were eight seamen with almost no provisions. While the Hind drove farther and farther south, the shallop was in the first instance so far fortunate as to regain the straits, where the men salted and stored penguins for future supply. They soon lost all hope of rejoining the captain-general ; so, passing the straits, they contrived to make, in their frail bark, first for Port St. Julian, and afterward Rio de la Plata, where six of them, wandering into the woods in quest of food, were attacked by a party of Indians. All were wounded with arrows ; but, while four were made prisoners, two escaped, and joined their two comrades left in charge of the boat. The Indians pursued, and the whole four ■were wounded before the natives were beaten back and the shallop got off. The Englishmen made for a small island at three leagues' distance, where two of their number died of their wounds : — nor was this the last calamity they were to endure ; the shallop was dashed to pieces in a storm. A melancholy interest is connected with this frag- ment of Drake's original company. On the desolate 30 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. island in which they remained for two months, no fresh water was to be found ; and though they obtained food from eels, small crabs, and a species of fruit resembling an oranofe, their sufferinofs from intense thirst came to an extremity too painful and revolting to be made the sub- ject of narrative. At the end of two months a plank ten feet long, which had drifted from Rio de la Plata, was picked up, smaller sticks were fastened to it, and a store of provision was laid in ; then committing themselves to God, paddling and clinging to this ark, they in three days and two nights made the mainland, which had so long tantalized their sight. In relating the issue of this adventure, the words of Peter Carder, the survivor, are adopted : — " At our first coming on land we found a little river of sweet and pleasant water, where William Pitcher, my only comfort and companion, although I dissuaded him to the contrary, overdrank himself, being perished before with extreme thirst; and, to my un- speakable grief and discomfort, died half an hour after in my presence, whom I buried as well as I could in the sand." The subsequent adventures of Peter Carder among the savages on the coast of Brazil, and his captivity among the Portuguese of Bahia de Todos los Santos, Ibrm an amusing and interesting section of Purchas' Pilgrims. After a nine years' absence he got back to England, and had the honour of relating his adventures before Queen Elizabeth, who presented him withtwent}^- two angels, and recommended him to her lord high ad- miral, Howard. To return to Drake. His ship, now driven southward flirther than before, again ran in among the islands. This is an important stage in the navigation of Drake as a voyage of discovery. He had reached the southern extremity of the American continent, and been driven round it; for "here no land was seen, but the Atlantic and South Sea meeting in a large free scope." On the 28th of October, the weather, which since the 6th of September, wlien they entered the Pacific, had been nearly one continued hurricane, became moderate, and the Golden Hind came to anchor in twenty fathoms SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 31 Water, though within a gunshot of the land, in a harbour of an island of which the southern point has long been known as Cape Horn. Sir Richard Hawkins, the son of Sir John, and the reputed kinsman of Admiral Drake, relates that he was informed by the navigator himself that *'at the end of the great storm he found himself in 50° S.," which w^as sufficient proof that he had been beaten round without the strait; and, moreover, that from the change of the wind not being able to double the southernmost island, he anchored under the lee of it, cast himself down upon the extreme point, and reached over as far as was safe ; and after the ship sailed, told his company that he had been " upon the southernmost point of land in the world known or likely to be known, and farther than any man had ever before ventured." Mr. Fletcher, the chaplain, also landed here. He found this island three parts of a degree farther south than any of the other islands. To all the islands discovered here Drake gave the general name of the Elizabethides, in compliment to his royal mistress. They were inhabited, and the natives were frequently seen, though little appears to have been learned of their character or customs. Having thus discovered and landed on the southern- most part of the continent, Drake changed the Terra Incognita* of the Spanish geographers into the Terra bene nunc Cognitai of his chaplain, and on the 30th of Oc- ber, with a fair wind from the south, he held a course north-west ; but being bent on exploring, afterward kept east, not to lose the coast. On the 25th of November they anchored at the island of Mocha, oif the coast of Chili, where the captain-general landed. Cattle and sheep were seen here, and also maize and potatoes. Presents were exchanged with the Indians, and next day a watering party, which Drake accompanied, row- ed towards the shore, in full security of their pacific dispositions. Two seamen who landed to fill the water- casks were instantly killed, and the rest of the party * Land unknown. t Land now well known. fSSi SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. narrowly escaped an ambush laid for them in case they should come to the assistance of their countrymen. They were fiercely assailed with arrows and stones, and every one was wounded more or less severely. The general was wounded both in the face and on the head, and the attack was continued so warmly and close that the Indians seized four of the oars. This un- provoked attack was imputed by the ship's company to the hatred which the inhabitants of Chili bore the Span- iards, whom, it was presumed, they had not yet learned to distinguish from other Europeans. In this view, it was forgiven by men whose prejudices and animosity w^ere equally strong with those of the Indians. Sailing along the coast, with the wind at south, on the 30th of November they anchored in a bay about 32° S., and sent out a boat to examine the shores, which captured and brought before the captain an Indian found fishing in his canoe. This man was kindly treat- ed. A present of linen and a chopping-knife gained his affections, and he bore the message of Drake to his countrymen, who, induced by the hope of hke gifts, brought to the ship's side a fat hog and poultry. It was at this time of more consequence to one main object of the voyagers, who, doing much for the glor}^ of England and Elizabeth, wished at the same time to do a little for themselves, that an intelligent Indian repaired to the ship who spoke the Spanish language, and, beheving them mariners of that nation, unwittingly gave them much valuable information. From him they learned that they had by six leagues oversailed Valparaiso, the port of St. Jago, where a Spanish vessel then lay at anchor. The innocent offer of Felipe, when he saw their disappointment, to pilot them back, was eagerly accepted. On the 4th of December they sailed from Philip's Bay, as they named this harbour, in honour of their Indian pilot, and next day, without any difficulty, captured the ship, the Grand Captain of the South Seas, in which were found 60,000 pesos of gold, besides jew- els, merchandise, and 1770 jars of Chili wine. This was a joyful beginning ; each peso was reckoned worth eight shillings. The people of the town, which con- SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE. 33 sisted of only nine families, fled ; and Drake's followers revelled in the unforbidden luxury of a general pillage of wine, bread, bacon, and other things most acceptable to men who had been so long at sea, both for present re- freshment and also for storing the ship. In every new Spanish settlement, however small, a church rose as it were simultaneously. The small chapel of Valparaiso was plundered of a silver chalice, two cruets, and its altar-cloth, which, to prevent their desecration, and to obtain a blessing on the voyage, were presented to Fletcher, the pastor of this ocean-flock. They sailed on the 8th with their prize, taking, however, only one of the crew, a Greek, named Juan Griego, who was capa- ble of piloting them to Lima. Their Indian guide Fe- lipe was rewarded, and sent on shore near his own home. From the most southern point of this coasting voyage, Drake had been continually on the outlook for the Marigold and the Elizabeth ; and the Hind being too unwieldly to keep in near the coast in the search, a pin- nace was intended to be built for this duty, as well as lor other operations which the captain-general kept in view. A convenient place for this purpose had been found at Coquimbo. Near the spot selected the Span- iards had raised or collected a considerable force ; and a watering party of fourteen of the English was here surprised, and with some difficulty escaped from a body of three hundred horse and two hundred foot. One seaman was killed, owing, however, to his own braggart temerity. In a quieter and safer bay the pinnace was set up, and Drake himself embarked in it to look after the strayed ships ; but the wind becoming adverse he soon returned. They quitted this harbour on the 19th of Janu- ary, 1579, invigorated by a season of repose, by the re- freshments and booty obtained, and by the hopes of richer plunder and more glorious conquest. With few adventures they sailed along the coast, till accidentally landing at Tarapaza they found a Spaniard asleep on the shore, with thirteen bars of silver lying beside him, as if waiting their arrival. Advancing a little farther, on landing to procure water, they fell in with a Span- 4 Si SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. iard and an Indian boy driving eight lamas, each of which was laden with two leathern bags containing fifty pounds of silver, or eight hundred pounds in all. The lamas, or Peruvian sheep, are described by the old voyagers as of the size of an ass, with a neck like a camel, and of great strength and steadiness, forming the beast of burden of these countries. They were indeed the mules of the New World, but a much more valuable animal, as the wool is fine and the flesh good. The credulity of the most credulous of the family of John Bull — his sons of the ocean — was here amusingly dis- played. If the coast of Peru was not literally strewed with gold, pure silver was found so richly mixed with the soil that every hundred weight of common earth yielded, on a moderate calculation, five ounces. The eight lamas and their precious burden being brought on board, the Golden Hind next entered the port of Arica, where two or three small barks then lay. These, when rifled, were found perfectly unprotected, the crews being on shore, unable to imagine danger on this coast. Arica is described as a beautiful and fertile valley. The town contained about twenty houses, which, the Famous Voyage states, "we would have ransacked if our company had been better and more numerous ; but our general, contented with the spoil of the ships, put to sea, and sailed for Lima," in pursuit of a vessel very richly laden, of which they had obtained intelligence. The ship, of which they were now in hot pursuit, got notice of her danger in time to land the treasure with which she was freighted, — eight hundred bars of silver, the property of the King of Spain. Drake, now preparing for active measures, rid himself of every encumbrance, by setting all the sails of his prizes, and turning them adrift whithersoever the winds might carry them. The arrival of these tenantless barks on some wild coast or lonely island, may yet form the theme of Indian tradition, though more probably they must all have been dashed to pieces. Tidings of the English being upon the coast had by this time been dispatched over land to the governor at Lima; but the difficulty of travelling in these stiU SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 35 tangled and trackless regions, enabled Drake to outstrip the messenger, and on the 13th of September to surprise the Spanish ships lying in Callao, the port of Lima. The spoil was trifling for the number of vessels. In board- ing a ship from Panama, which was just then entering the port, an Englishman was killed. Another account says he was shot from a boat while pursuing the crew, who were abandoning the vessel. In one ship a chest of ryals of plate and a considerable store of linens, silks, and general merchandise were obtained. From the prisoners Drake learned that ten days before, the Cacafuego, laden with treasure, had sailed for Panama, the point from whence all goods were carried across the isthmus. This information at once determined the course of our navigator ; and as ships from Callao to Panama were in the habit of touching at intermediate places, he reckoned the Cacafuego already his prize. As a measure of precaution the mainmasts of the two largest prizes found here were cut away, the cables of the smaller ones were severed, and, the goods and peo- ple being previously removed, the whole were abandon- ed to the mercy of the winds and waves ; while Drake bore northward in full sail, or when the wind slackened was towed on by the boats, each man straining to reach the golden goal. But this rather anticipates the course of the narrative. When intelligence of Drake's ship at last reached Lima, it was presumed that some of the Spanish crews had mutinied, and that the Golden Hind was a Spanish vessel turned pirate, so little was an attack by the Eng- lish, on this side of the continent deemed possible, or that the ships of any nation save Spain could pass the intricate and fatal Straits of Magellan. On being ap- prized of the real fact and of the danger impending, Don Francisco de Toledo, the viceroy at Lima, imme- diately repaired to the port with a force estimated by Lopez Vaz at two thousand horse and foot. The Golden Hind still remained in sight of the port, and nearly be- calmed. Two vessels, in each of which two hundred . fighting men were embarked, were equipped in all haste, and the capture of Drake, the pirate-heretic, was al- SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. ready confidently reckoned upon. At the same hour in which they left the port to make the attack a fresh gale sprung up, and the English ship pressed onward. The flight and pursuit were continued for some time, as it was not tlie policy of Drake, with his very inferior force, to risk an action. By an oversight, most fortu- nate for the English, the Spaniards, in their eagerness and confidence of an easy conquest, had neglected to take provisions on board. Famine compelled them to abandon the pursuit ; but Don Francisco lost no time in remedying this inadvertence. A force of three ships, fully equipped, was despatched under the command of Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, but arrived too late. The same commander afterward long watched, and w^aited in vain, the return of Drake by the straits. On his recommendation they were afterwards fortified and a colony planted, — an abortive attempt, which cost Spain much treasure and many lives. Near Payti, a small vessel, in which some silver or- naments were found, was rifled and dismissed ; and on passing Payti, from the crew of a vessel w^hich was searched they learned that the Cacafuego had the start of them now only by two days. Every nerv^e was fresh braced for pursuit ; but the future advantage hoped for did not lead them in the mean time to despise present small gains. Two more vessels were intercepted, rifled, and turned adrift, the crews being first landed. In one of these some silver and eighty pounds of gold were found, and a golden crucifix, in which was set "a goodly and great emerald." They also found a good supply of useful stores and a large quantity of cordage, which made most part of the cargo. On the 24th Feb- ruary they crossed the line, the Cacafuego still ahead and unseen ; and Drake, to animate the hopes and quicken the vigilance of his company, offered as a re- ward to whoever should first descry the prize the gold chain which he usually wore. The reward was gained by Mr. Johrx Drake, who at three o'clock in the after- noon of the 1st of March, from the mast-head, discerned the prize, which by six o'clock was boarded and taken. This capture was made off' Cape Francisco. The cap- SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. St tain, a Biscayan, named Juan de Anton, was so little aware of his danger, that seeing a vessel coming up to him under a press of sail, he concluded that the viceroy had sent some important message, and struck his sails to await tlie approach of the Golden Hind. When aware from closer inspection of his mistal^e, he tried to escape; but he was already within reach of Drake's guns, and possessed no defensive weapons of any kind. Yet, with the brave spirit of his province, the Biscayan refused to strike till his mizzenmast was shot away and he himself wounded by an arrow. This ship proved to be a prize worth gaining. It contained twenty-six tons of silver, thirteen chests of ryals of plate, and eighty pounds of gold, besides dia- monds and inferior gems, — the whole estimated at three hundred and sixty thousand pesos. Among the spoils were two very handsome silver gilt bowls belonging to the pilot, of which Drake de- manded one ; which the doughty Spaniard surrender- ing, presented the other to the steward, as if he dis- dained to hold any thing by the favour of the English. Had Drake, thus richly laden, now been assured of a safe and an easy passage to England, it is probable that the Golden Hind might not on this voyage have en- compassed the globe. The advanced season, however, and the outlook which he was aware the Spaniards would keep for his return, forbade the attempt of re- passing the straits ; while the glory of discovery, and the hope of taking his immense treasure safely to Eng- land, determined him in the resolution of seeking a north-west passage homeward. Though not in general communicative, his plans were no sooner formed than he unfolded them to the ship's company, with the per- suasive eloquence of a man eminently fitted for com- mand. The crew were now in high spirits, and full of confidence in their skilful, bold, and successful leader. His counsel, which carried all the weight of command, was " to seek out some convenient place to trim the ship, and store it with wood, water, and such provisions as could be found, and thenceforward to hasten our in- tended journey for the discovery of the said passage, 4* WB SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. through which we might with joy return to our longed- for homes. With this resolution they steered for Nicaragua, and on the 16th March anchored in a small bay of the island of Canno, which proved a good station to water and refit. The pinnace was once more on active duty, and a prize was brought in laden with honey, butter, sarsa- parilla, and other commodities. Among the papers of the prize were letters from the King of Spain to the governor of the Philippines, and sea-charts, which after- ward proved of use to the English. While Drake lay here a violent shock of an earthquake was felt. From Canno they sailed on the 24th March, the captain-gene- ral never loitering in any port beyond the time abso- lutely necessary to repair the ship and take in water. On the 6th of April they made another valuable prize. Being already well supplied with stores, their choice was become more nice and difficult ; and selecting Tonly silks, linen, delicate porcelain, and a falcon of finely wrought gold, in the breast of which a large emerald was set, the vessel was dismissed, and of her crew only a negro and the pilot detained, who steered them into the harbour of Guatalco. Landing, according to their approved good practice, to ransack the town, it is re- lated in the Famous Voyage that they surprised a council then holding on certain negroes* accused of a plot to burn the place. To their mutual astonishment, judges and culprits were hurried on board in company, and the chief men were compelled to write to the towns- people to make no resistance to the English. The only plunder found in ransacking this small place, in which there were but fourteen persons belonging to Old Spain, consisted of about a bushel of ryals of plate. One of the party, Mr. John Winter, seeing a Spaniard taking flight, pursued and took from the fugitive a chain of gold and some jewels. This is related with great exulta- tion, as a feat of peculiar dexterity and merit. All the Spaniards on board the Golden Hind were now set at * Probably Indians, tlie name Negro or Indian being used indiscriminately by tlie early voyagers. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 39 liberty. The Portuguese pilot, Nuno Silva, who had been brought from the Cape de Verd Islands, was also dismissed, and probably at this place wrote the relation of the voyage from which quotations have been made in this memoir. Silva' s account was sent to the Portu- guese viceroy in India, and long afterward fell into the hands of the English. Satiated with plunder on sea and shore, Drake, on the 16th of April, sailed on that bold project of discovery for- merly communicated to his company, and by the 3d of June had gone over fourteen hundred leagues, in differ- ent courses, without seeing land. They had now reach- ^ ed 43° north, the cold was becoming very severe, and, in advancing two or three degrees farther, so intense, that meat froze the instant it was removed from the fire, and the ropes and tackling of the ship became rigid from the influence of the frost. On the 5th, being driven in by the winds, laild was seen, and they anchor- ed in a small bay, too unsheltered, however, to admit of their remaining. Drake had not expected to find the coast stretching so far westward. The wind was now become adverse to holding a northerly course, although the extreme cold, and the chill, raw, unwholesome fogs which surrounded them had made such a track de- sirable. The land seen here was in general low ; but wherever a height appeared it was found covered with snow, though now almost midsummer. The land seen was the western coast of California. On the 17th of June they anchored in a good harbour, on an inhabited coast. As the Hind drew near the shore the natives approach- ed, and an ambassador or spokesman put off in a canoe, who made a formal harangue, accompanied with much gesticulation. When the oration was concluded, he made a profound obeisance and retired to the land. A second and a third tim^he returned in the same man- ner, bringing, as a gift or tribute, a bunch of feathers neatly trimmed and stuck together, and a basket made of rushes. Of these rushes it was afterward found that the natives fabricated several useful and pretty things. The females, though the men were entirely naked, wore a sort of petticoat composed of rushes, previously 40 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. Stripped into long threads resembling hemp. They also wore deer skins round their shoulders ; and some of the men occasionally used furs as a covering. It was remarked, that the Indians appeared as sensible to the extreme severity of the weather as the English sea- men, — cowering, shivering, and keeping huddled to- gether, even when wrapped up in their furs. The basket brought by the Indian ambassador or orator was filled with an herb which, in some of the original rela- tions of the voyage is called tabah^ the native name, and in others tobacco. The Indian was either afraid or un- willing to accept of any present from the English in re- turn for this simple tribute, but picked up a hat which was sent afloat towards him. The kindness of Drake ultimately gained the confidence of these people. The ship had some time before sprung a leak, and it was here found necessary to land the goods and stores that she might be repaired. ' On the 21st this was done, though the natives appeared to view the movement with suspicion and dissatisfaction. They, however, laid aside their bows and arrows, when requested to do so, and an exchange of presents further cemented the growing friendship. They retired apparently satisfied ; but had no sooner reached their huts, which stood at a considerable distance, than a general howling and lamentation commenced, which lasted all night. The females especially continued shrieking in a wild and doleful manner, which, if not absolutely appalhng to the English, was yet to the last degree painful. Drake, whose presence of mind never forsook him, and who was seldom lulled into false security by appearances of friendship, mistrusting the state of excitement into which the Indians were raised, took the precaution of intrenching the tents, into which the goods and the crew had been removed while the repairs of the ship were in progress. For the two days following " the night of lamentation," no native appeared. At the end of that time a great number seemed to have joined the party first seen ; and the whole assembled on a height overlooking the fortified station of the ship's company, and appeared desirous of approaching the SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 41 Strangers. The ceremonies were opened by an orator or herald making a long speech or proclamation, with which the audience were understood to express assent by bowing their bodies at the conclusion, and groaning in chorus — oh ! or oh ! oh ! After this friendly demon- stration, for as such it was intended, a deputation of the assembly stuck their bows into the earth, and, bearing gifts of feathers and rush baskets with tabah, descended towards the fort. While this was passing below, the women, mixed with the group on the height, began to shriek and howl, as on the " night of lamentation," to tear their flesh with their nails, and dash themselves on the ground, till the blood sprung from their bodies. This is said, in the Famous Voyage, to have been part of the orgies of their idol or demon worship. Drake, it is said, struck with grief and horror, and probably not without a tincture of superstition, ordered divine service to be solemnized. The natives sat silent and attentive, at proper pauses breathing their expressive "o/i/" in token of assent or approbation. With the psalms, sung probably to one of the simple solemn chants of the old church, they appeared affected and charmed ; and they repeatedly afterward requested their visiters to sing. On taking leave they declined the gifts tendered, either from superstitious dread, or as probably on the same principle which makes a clown at a fair afraid to accept the tempting shilling offered by a recruiting sergeant, — from no dislike to the coin, or reluctance to drink the king's health, but from great distrust of the motives of the giver. The voyagers, with amusing self-complai- sance, ascribe this fear or delicacy to the deep venera- tion of the natives, and to their thinking *' themselves sufficiently enriched and happy that they had free ac- cess to see us." The Indians here managed their foreign relations with a ceremonial that might have sufficed for more refined societies. The news of the arrival of the English having spread, on the 26th two heralds or pursuivants arrived at head-quarters, craving an audience of the captain- general on the part of their hioh or king. The precursor of majesty harangued a full half-hour, his associate die- 1^ SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. tating to, or prompting him, and concluded by demand- ing tokens of friendship and safe conduct for the chief. These were cheerfully given. The approach of the Jdoh was well arranged, and im- posing in effect. First came the sceptre or mace-bear- er as he is called, though club-bearer would be the more correct phrase. This officer was a tall and handsome man, of noble presence. His staffer club of office was about five feet in length, and made of a dark wood. To this were attached two pieces of net- work or chain- work, curiously and delicately wrought, of a bony substance, minute, thin, and burnished ; and consisting of innumer- able links. He had also a basket of tabah. These net- cauls or chains were supposed to be the insignia of per- sonal rank and dignity, akin to the crosses, stars, and ribands of civilized nations, the number of them worn de- noting the degree of consequence, as the importance of a pasha is signified by the number of his tails. The king followed his minister, and in his turn was succeeded by a man of tall stature, with an air of natural grandeur and majesty which struck the English visiters. The royal guard came next in order. It was formed of one hun- dred picked men, tall and martial-looking, and clothed in skins. Some of them wore ornamental head-dresses made of feathers, or of a feathery down which grew upon a plant of the country. The king wore about his shoul- ders a robe made of the skins of the species of marmot afterward described. Next in place in this national procession came the common people, every one painted, though in a variety of patterns, and with feathers stuck in the club of hair drawn up at the crown of their heads. The women and children brought up the rear, carrying each, as a propitiatory gift, a basket, in which was either tahah^ broiled fish, or a root that the natives ate both raw and baked. Drake, seeing them so numerous, drew up his men in order, and under arms, within his fortification or block- house. At a few paces' distance the procession halted, and deep silence was observed, while the sceptre-bear- er, prompted as before by another official, harangued for a full half-hour. His eloquent address, whatever it SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 43 might import, receiving the concurrent "oA/" of the na- tional assembly, the same orator commenced a song or chant, keeping time in a slow, solemn dance, performed with a stately air, the king and all the warriors joining both in the measure and the chorus. The females also moved in the dance, but silently. Drake could no longer doubt of their amicable feelings and peaceful in- tentions. They were admitted, still singing and moving in a choral dance, within the fort. The orations and songs were renewed and prolonged ; and the chief, placing one of his crowns upon the head of the captain- general, and investing him with the other imagined in- signia of royalty, courteously tendered him his whole dominions, and hailed him king! Songs of triumph were raised, as if in confirmation of this solemn cession of territory and sovereignty. Such is the interpretation which the old voyagers put upon a ceremony that has been more rationally conjectured to resemble the inter- change or exchange of names, which in the South Sea islands seals the bonds of friendship; or as something equivalent to a European host telling his visiter that he is master of the house. " The admiral," it is shrewdly observed, "accepted of this new-offered dignity in her majesty's name, and for her use; it being probable that, from this donation, whether made in jest or earnest by these Indians, some real advantage might hereafter re- dound to the English nation and interest in these parts." We are expressly informed that the natives afterward actually worshipped their guests ; and that it was ne- cessary to check their idolatrous homage. They roam- ed about among the tents, admiring all they saw, and expressing their attachment to the English in their own peculiar fashion. It was for the youngest of the com- pany these fondnesses were imbibed. To express afFec- lion, the Indians surrounded and gazed upon them, and then began to howl and tear their flesh till they stream- ed in their own blood, to demonstrate the liveliness and strength of their affection. The same unnatural and uncouth shows of regard continued to be made while the English remained on the coast; and obeisances and homage were rendered, which, being considered as ap- 44 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. preaching to sacrifice or worship, were strenuously and piously disclaimed. These people are described as an amiable race ; of a free, tractable, kindly nature, with- out guile or treachery. To mark their esteem of the English, and confidence in their skill and superiority, it may be noticed that they applied for medicaments for their wounds and sores. The men, as has been noticed, were generally naked ; but the women, besides the short petticoat woven of peeled bulrushes, wore deer skins, with the hair on, round their shoulders. They were remarked to be good wives, — very obedient and serviceable to their hus- bands. The men were so robust and powerful that a burden which could hardly be borne by two of the sea- men, a single native would with ease carry up and down hill for a mile together. Their weapons were bows and arrows, but of a feeble, useless kind. Their dwellings were constructed in a round form, built of earth, and roofed with pieces of wood joined together at a common centre, somev/hat in form of a spire. Being partly under ground, they were close and warm. The fire was placed in the middle, and beds of rushes were spread on the floor. Before sailing, Drake made an excursion into the in- terior. Immense herds of deer were seen, large and fat ; and the country seemed one immense warren of a species of cony of the size of a Barbary rat, " their heads and faces like rabbits in England ; their paws like a mole, their tails like a rat. Under their chin on each side was a pouch, into which they gathered meat to feed their young, or serve themselves another time." The natives ate the flesh of those animals, and greatly prized their skins, of which the state-robes worn by the king at his interview with Drake were made. The admiral named this fair and fertile country New Albion, and erected a monument of his discovery, to which was nailed a brass plate bearing the name, effigy, and arms of her majesty, and asserting her territorial rights, and the date of possession being taken. Drake had spent thirty-six days at this place, — a long but necessary sojourn; but the repairs of the ship being SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 45 completed, on the 23d of July he bore away from Port Drake, the kind-hearted natives deeply bewailing the departure of their new friends. The regret, good-will, and respect were indeed mutual. The Indians entreat- ed the English to remember them, and as a farewell offering or homage secretly provided what is called a sacrifice. While the ship remained in sight, they kept fires burning on the heights. It is delightful at this time to hear of Europeans leaving grateful remembrances of their visits on any coast, and the pleasure is enhan- ced by being able to claim this honour for our country- men. It was from some fancied resemblance to the white cliffs of England that Drake bestowed on the coast he had surveyed, the name of New Albion.* Next day a store of seals and birds were caught at some small islands which are now supposed to be the Farellones of modern charts. Thus far had Drake boldly explored in search of a passage homeward, either through an undiscovered strait, or around the northern extremity of the continent of America; but now this design, so honourable to his enterprise and even to his sagacity, was for the present abandoned ; the winds being adverse, and the season too much advanced to prosecute farther so perilous an adventure. Leaving the scene of his discoveries on the western coast of America, which are reckoned to begin immediately to the north of Cape Mendocino and to ex- tend to 48'^ N., Drake, with the unanimous consent of his company, having formed the design of returning home by India and the Cape of Good Hope, sailed west- ward for sixty-eight days without coming in sight of land. On the 13th of September he fell in with some islands in 8° N. As soon as the Golden Hind appeared, the natives came off in canoes, each containing from four to fourteen men, bringing cocoanuts, fish, and fruits. Their canoes were ingeniously formed and prettily or- * After passing Punta de los Reyes, Captain Beechey awaited the return of day, off some white cUiFs, which he believed must be those which made Sir Francis Drake bestow on this tract of country the name of New Albion, i 46 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. namented, hollowed out of a single tree, and so high at the stern and prow as to be nearly semicircular. The islanders were not yet sufficiently enlightened in mer- cantile affairs to have learned that honesty is the deal- er's best policy. Drake, however, instead of imitating the conduct of Magellan, and instantly shooting them for thieving, or burning their houses, endeavoured to bring them to a sense of propriety merely by refusing to traffic with those w^ho w^cre found dishonest. This ex- cited their displeasure, and a general attack of stones was commenced. A cannon, not shotted, fired over their heads to scare them away had only this effect for a short time. The general was at last compelled to adopt more severe measures of retaliation, and we are told in vague terms that "smart was necessaiy as well as ter- ror." The natives of those Islands of Thieves, as they were named by the English, had the lobes of their ears cut out into a circle, which hung down on their cheeks. Their teeth were black as jet, from the use of a powder which they constantly employed for the purpose of staining them. This powder they carried about witli them in a hollow cane. Another peculiarity observed was the length of their nails, which was above an inch. It has been conjectured, with every mark of probability, that Drake's Islands of Thieves are the islands named De Sequeira, discovered by Diego da Rocha, and the Pelew Islands of our own times ; if so, the morals of the inhabitants must have improved greatly in the long interval which elapsed between this first visit of the English and that made by Captain Wilson in the Duffl The wind coming fair, on the 3d of October the Golden Hind stood westward, and on the 16th of the month made the Philippines in 7° 5' north of the fine. They first fell in with four islands having a thick population, or the appearance of it. These they visited, and after- ward anchored in Mindanao. Sailing hence on the 22d, they kept a southerly course, and passed between two islands about six or eight leagues south of Minda- nao, supposed to be the Sarangan and Candigar. On the 3d of November the Moluccas were seen, and they steered for Tidore ; but in coasting along Motir a SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 4^ boat came off, from which Drake learned that the Por- tuguese, expelled from Terrenate, or Ternate, by tb king of that island, had fixed their head-quarters at Ti- dore. In this boat was the Viceroy of Motir, whicl island was under the sovereignty of the powerful anc warlike king of Ternate. As soon as the viceroy under- stood that Drake had no reason either to love or trus' the Portuguese, he entreated him to change his destina- tion ; and the ship accordingly steered for the port ol Ternate. Previous to coming to an anchor before the town, a courteous offer of friendship was made by the general through a messenger whom he sent on shore with a vel- vet cloak as a present to the king, and who was instruct^ ed to say that the English came hither only to trade and to procure refreshments. The viceroy of Motir had previously disposed the king to give Drake a favourable reception. To the general's message a gracious answei* was returned. All that the territories of the King of Ternate afforded, were at the disposal of the English, and that prince was ready to lay himself and his whole dominions at the feet of so glorious a princess as the Queen of England. By some of the voyagers this flour- ish of oriental hyperbole is most literally interpreted. The English envoy was received with great pomp ; and as credentials, or safe-conduct, a signet (we are not told in what form) was transmitted through him to the cap- tain-general. Before the ship came to anchor the king put off* to pay it a visit of welcome and ceremony. The royal equipment consisted of three state barges, or ca- noes, filled with the most distinguished persons of hit! retinue. They wore dresses of white muslin, — "white lawn, of cloth of Calicut." Over their heads w^as a canop3^ or awning of perfumed mats, supported on a framework of reeds. Their personal attendants, also dressed in w^hite, stood next them ; and beyond these were ranks of warriors armed with dirks and daggers.,. These again were encircled by the rowers, of which there were eighty to each barge, placed in galleries raised above the other seats, three on each side. They rowed, or rather paddled, in cadence to the clashing of 48 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. cymbals, and altogether made a gallant show. The king, who advanced in the last barge, was saluted with a discharge of all the great guns, and the martial music which Drake employed on occasions of ceremonial, struck up. The canoes paddled round and round the ship, the king appearing delighted with the music, and gratified by the signs of wealth and magnificence ex- hibited by his visiters. He was himself a tall, stout, graceful man, and celebrated as a conqueror and war- rior. B}^ policy and force of arms he had not only ex- pelled the Portuguese from this island, but subdued many others, so that seventy islands now owned his sway. He professed the faith of Mohammed, which was now become the religion of all his dominions. It is worthy of remark, that in the ceremonies and external observances of royalty the native princes of these Indian islands might have vied with the most polished courts of Europe. Elizabeth, whose board was daily spread with lowly bends and reverences, was not more punc- tilious in ceremonial and etiquette than the sovereign of Ternate. His courtiers and attendants approached the royal presence with the most profound respect, no one speaking to the king save in a kneeling posture. As soon as the ship came to an anchor the king took leave, promising another visit on the following da}^ That same evening a present of fowls, rice, sugar, cloves, and frigo was received, and " a sort of fruit," says the Famous Voyage, **they call sago, which is a meal made out of the tops of trees, melting in the mouth like sugar, but eating like sour curd; but yet when made into cakes will keep so as to be very fit for eating at the end of ten years." It is pleasant to come thus upon the first simple notice of those productions of other climes which have so long contributed to the comfort, variety, or luxury of European communities. Instead of coming on board next day the king sent his brother to bear his excuses, and to remain as a hostage for the safe return of the captain-general, who was in- vited to land. The invitation was not accepted, the English having some doubts of the good faith of the fair-promising sovereign of Ternate. But some of the SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE. 49 gentlemen went on shore ; their first acquaintance, the Viceroy of Motir, remaining as a hostage, as well as the king's brother. On landing, they were received with the pomp which had been intended to grace the entrance of Drake into the capital; another brother of the king and a party of the nobles conducted them to the palace, which stood near the dismantled fort of the expelled Portuguese. There they found an assembly of at least a thousand persons, sixty of them being courtiers or privy-counsellors, "very grave persons," and four Turk- ish envoys, in robes of scarlet and turbans, who were then at the court of Ternate concluding a treaty of com- merce. The king was guarded by twelve lances. "A glorious canopy embroidered with gold was carried over his head." His garb was a robe ofclothof gold, hang- ing loose about his person ; his legs were bare, but on his feet he wore slippers of Cordovan leather. Around his neck hung a weighty chain of gold, and fillets of the same metal were wreathed through his hair. On his fingers "w^ere many fair jewels." At the right side of his chair of state stood a page cooling him with a fan two feet in length and one in breadth, embroidered and adorned with sapphires, and fastened to a staff three feet long, by which it was moved. His voice was low, and his aspect benign. Drake did not afterward land ; and the offers made of exclusive traffic with the English were, it appears, received by him with indifference. Having procured a supply of provisions and a consid- erable quantity of cloves, the Golden Hind left the Mo- luccas on the 9th of November, and on the 14th anchor- ed at a small island near the eastern part of Celebes, which they named Crab Island. This place being un- inhabited and affording abundance of wood, though no water was found, tents were erected on shore, and fences formed around them ; and here they resolved effectually to repair the ship for her homeward voyage. This proved a pleasant sojourn. The island was one continued forest of a kind of trees, large, lofty, and straight in the stem, nor branching out till near the top ; the leaves resembling the broom of England. About 50 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. these trees flicker innumerable bats "as big as hens." There were also multitudes of shining flies no bigger than the common fly in England, which, skimming up and down in the air, between the trees and bushes, made them appear "as if they were burning." There were also great numbers of land-crabs, described as a sort of crayflsh, "which dig holes in the earth like co- nies, and are so large that one of them will dine four persons, and very good meat." At a small neighbouring island water was procured, and on the 12th of December, having lain at Crab Island about a month, the Hind sailed for the west, and soon got entangled among islets and shoals, which induced them to steer for the south, to get free of such dangerous ground. At this time occurred the most imminent peril and providential escape that attended this remarkable voyage, — an incident as much resembling a visible in- terposition of Divine aid where human hope had perish- ed as any to be found among the almost miraculous records of preservation contained in the relations of maritime adventure. After being teased for many days, on the 9th of Janu- ary' they flattered themselves that the shoals were at last cleared. On that same evening, early in the first watch, while the Golden Hind with all her sails set was run- ning before a fair wind, she came suddenly upon a shelving rock, and stuck fast. Violent as was the shock she had sprung no leak, and the boats were immediate- ly lowered to sound, and ascertain if an anchor could be placed in such a situation as would permit the ship to be drawn ofl* into deep water. But the rock in which she was as it were jammed, shelved so abruptly that at the distance of only a few yards no bottom could be Ibund. A night of great anxiety was passed ; and wlicn the dawn permitted a second search for anchorage- ground, it only ended in more confirmed and bitter dis- appointment. There seemed no help of man ; yet in the midst of their calamity several fortunate, or more properly providential, circumstances intervened. No leak had been sprung ; and though the ebb-tide left the ship in only six feet of water, while, so deeply was she SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 51 treasure-laden, thirteen were required to float her, a strong and steady gale blowing from the side to which she must have reeled as the tide gradually receded, supported her in this dangerous position. In this dread- ful situation, instead of giving themselves up to despair or apathy, Drake and his company behaved with the manliness, coolness, and resolution which have ever in the greatest perils characterized British seamen. The crew were summoned to prayers, and, this solemn duty fulfilled, a last united effort was made for the common safet}^ A quantity of meal, eight of the guns, and three tons of cloves were thrown overboard. This partial lightening produced no visible effect ; the ship stuck as fast as before. The simple language of the original narrative is so much more forcible and touching than any modern paraphrase, that we at once adopt it. In a single sentence it displays the manly and self-depend- ing character of Drake, and the veneration and implicit confidence with which his crew regarded him : — " Of all other days," says one old relation, "on the 9th of Jan- uary, in the yeere 1579 (1580,) we ranne upon a rocke, where we stuck fast from eight of the clocke at nighte till four of the clocke in the afternoon of next day, being, indeed, out of all hope to escape the danger ; but our generall, as hee had alwayes shown himself couragious, and of a good confidence in the mercie and protection of God, so now he continued in the same ; and lest he should seem to perish wilfully, both hee and wee did our best endevour to save ourselves, which it pleased God so to bless that in the ende we cleared ourselves most happily of the danger." It was, however, by no effort of their own that they were finally extricated, though nothing that skill and courage could suggest or accom- phsh was wanting. The wind slackened and fell with the tide, and at the lowest of the ebb veered to the op- posite point, when the vessel suddenly reeled to her side. The shock loosened her keel, and at the moment of what appeared inevitable destruction she plunged into the deep water once more as freely- afloat as when first launched into the ocean. The thankfulness of the 52 • SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. ship's company may be imagined.* This dangerous shoal or reef is not far from the coast of Celebes, in 1^ 56' S. Their perilous adventure made them afterward very wary ; and it was not till some weeks had elapsed that, cautiously exploring their way, they finally extricated themselves from this entangled coast. On the 8th of February they fell in with the island of Baratane, probably the island now called Booton, a pleasant and fruitful place. It afforded gold, silver, copper, and sulphur. The fruits and other natural pro- ductions were ginger, long pepper, lemons, cocoas, cu- cumbers, nutmegs, frigo, sago, &c. &c. Ternate ex- cepted, this island afforded better and greater variety of refreshments for the mariner than any land at which our navigators had touched since they had left England. The inhabitants were worthy of the fertile region they inhabited. In form and features they were a handsome people; in disposition and manners, mild and friendly; fair in their dealings, and obliging in their behaviour. The men were naked, save a small turban and a piece of cloth about their waists ; but the women were clothed from the middle to the feet, and had their arms loaded with bracelets fashioned of bone, horn, and brass. The men universally wore ornaments in their ears. These islanders received the English with kindness and civili- ty, and gladly supplied their wants. Leaving Baratane with very favourable impressions of the country and the people, they made sail for Java, which was reached on the 12th of March. Here the navigators remained for twelve days in a course of con- ^ It has been shrewdly remarked, that these pious seamen never for one moment seem to have entertained the idea of throwing any part of their immense treasure overboard, which would have materially lightened tho ship. The accoHnt of the escape given in "the Famous Voyage" differs from the above, which is, however, regarded as the most authentic relation of this almost miraculous preservation. It states, that after the ship was lightened, "the wind (as it were in a moment by the special grace of God,) changing from the starboard to the larboard side, we hoisted our sails, and the happy gale drove our ship off the rocks into the sea again, to the no sn)all comfort of all our hearts; for which we gave God such praise and tlianks as so great a benefit required." SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 53 stant festivity. The island was at this time governed by five independent chiefs or rajahs, who lived in per- fect amity, and vied with each other in showing hospi- tality and courtesy to their English visiters. The social condition of the Javans at this compara- tively early period exhibits a pleasing and attractive picture of semi-barbarous life, if a state of society may be thus termed, which appears to realize many of our late Utopian schemes of visionary perfection. The Ja- vans were of good size and well-formed, bold, and war- like. Their weapons and armour were swords, buck- lers, and daggers of their own manufacture, the blades admirably tempered, the handles highly ornamented. The upper part of their bodies was entirely naked, but from the waist downwards they wore a flowing garment of silk of some gay and favourite colour. In ever}^ vil- lage there was a house of assembly, or public hall, where these social and cheerful people, whom we may call the French of the Indian islands, met twice a day to partake of a kind of picnic meal and enjoy the plea- sures of conversation. To this common festival every one contributed at his pleasure or convenience, bringing fruits, boiled rice,* roast fowls, and sago. On a table raised three feet the feast was spread, and the party gathered round, "every one delighting in the company of another." While the Hind lay here a constant in- tercourse and interchange of kindnesses and civilities were maintained between the sea and shore ; the rajahs coming frequently on board either singly or together. But the delights of Java could not long banish the remembrance of England, to which every wish was now directed. Making sail from Java, the first land seen was the Cape of Good Hope, which they passed on the 15th of June. The Spaniards had not more studiously magnified the real dangers of Magellan's Straits than * The Javan cookery of rice, as described by Drake's crew, is worthy of a place in English cookery books. An earthen vessel of a conical form, open at the widest end, and perforated with holes, was filled with rice, and plunged into a larger vessel of boiling water. The rice, swelling, sooji stopped the holes, and the mass was steamed till it became firm and hard like bread, when it was eaten with spices, fruit, sugar, moat, oil, &c. &e. 54 SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE. the Portuguese had exaggerated and misrepresented the storms and perils which surround the Cape ; and it re- quired the characteristic intrepidity and consummate skill of Drake to venture with his single bark on this doubtful and almost untried navigation. It is, however, probable that he suspected the craft which suggested this attempt to hoodwink and delude all other maritime nations, that Portugal might long retain a monopoly of her important discovery. Certain it is, that the ship's company were surprised that close by the Cape — "the most stately thing and goodliest cape seen in the circum- ference of the whole earth" — no violent tempests or awful perils were encountered ; and they accordingly shrewdly concluded the report of the " Portugals most false." Deeming it unsafe or inexpedient to halt here, Drake stood for land of which he had better knowledge, and on the 22d of July arrived at Sierra Leone. Water was obtained, and the refreshment of fruits and oysters, of which, we are told, " one kind was found on trees spawning and increasing wonderfully, — the oyster suf- fering no bud to grow." It was imagined the 26th of September, 1580, when, without touching at other land. Captain Drake, after a voyage of two years and ten months, came to anchor, whence he had set out, in the harbour of Plymouth. The day of the week was INIon- day, though by the reckoning kept by the voyagers Sunday, and the 27th the true time ; the same loss of a day having befallen them which had puzzled Magellan's crew, — a myster}^ now clear to the most juvenile student in geography. The safe return of the expedition, the glory attending so magnificent an enterprise, and the immense mass of w^ealth brought home, made the arrival of Drake be hail- ed throughout England as an event of great national importance. Such in fact it was, as his success gave an incalculable impetus to the rapidly-increasing mari- time spirit of the country. The bravery, the exploits, and the wonderful adven- tures of Drake, immediately became the theme of every tongue. Courtiers patronised and poets praised him ; SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 55 mid, to complete his celebrity, envious detractors were not wanting, who with some plausibility, represented that England and Spain, though cherishing the bitterest national antipathy, being still nominally at peace, his enterprises were at best but those of a splendid corsair ; and that his spoliation of the subjects of Spain must provoke reprisal on such merchants as had goods and dealings in that country. It was urged that, of all countries, a trading nation like England, should care- fully avoid offending in a kind which laid her open to speedy punishment, and must frustrate the advance- ment of her maritime prosperity. On the other hand, the friends and admirers of the navigator contended, that he of all men, who had been so deep a sufferer from their perfidy, was entitled to take the punishment of the Spaniards into his own hands; and that his gal- lant enterprise, while it inspired foreign nations with a high opinion of the maritime talent and power of Eng- land, would at home excite the noblest emulation, — an effect which it already had, the island, from the one •extreme to the other, being now inflamed with the ar- dour that his splendid achievements had kindled, and which was soon to be manifested in a series of actions emanating directly from his expedition. In the mean while Drake lost no time in repairing to court. Elizabeth, who with all her faults, never favour- ed the despicable, was more purely the fountain of all favour and honour than any preceding sovereign, and her personal regard more the object of ambition. Drake was graciously received, but not yet openly counte- nanced. The queen permitted the first fervours of both his admirers and enemies to abate before she openly declared her own sentiments. A show of cold- ness was also a necessary part of the subtle game she was still playing with Spain. The complaints of the Spaniards were violent and loud ; and the queen deemed it prudent to place the wealth brought home under sequestration till their claims should be investigated ; or, more correctly, till the complainers could be either baffled or wearied out 56 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. in solicitation. It was the policy of Elizabeth to pro- tract the long-impending hostilities between the coun- tries, and among other means the plundered gold was employed. As a foretaste, or a bribe to purchase peace a little longer, several small sums were paid to the agent for Spanish claims ; but, when tired of the game of diplomacy, which the queen relished as much for the enjoyment of the play as the value of the stakes, she suddenly took the resolution of openly countenancing the daring navigator, whose boldness, discretion, and brilliant success, were so happily adapted to gain her favour. On the 4th of April, 1581, the queen went in state to dine on board the Golden Hind, now lying at Deptford ; and Drake, who naturally loved show and magnificence, spared no pains in furnishing a banquet worthy of his royal guest. After dinner the queen conferred upon him the honor of knighthood, — enhancing the value of the distinction by politely saying, " that his actions did him more honor than the title which she conferred." The queen also gave orders that his ship should be pre- served as a monument of the glory of the nation and of the illustrious commander. This was done, and when it would no longer hold together, a chair was made of one of the planks, and presented as a relic to the Univer- sity of Oxford.* On the day of the queen's visit, in compliment to her majesty's scholarship, a variety of Latin verses, composed by the scholars of Winchester College, were nailed to the mainmast, in which the praises of the ship and the queen were alternated and intermingled. The Golden Hind afterward became the theme of the muse of Cowley. One translation of a Latin epigram on the ship, we select from a multitude * The particulars of this " stately visit," would unduly swell the narrative. On this day Elizabeth, who, like King William IV., loved to be surrounded by her subjects, was attended in her progress to Deptford by an immense concourse of people, who crowded so tliickly upon the temporary bridge, or planks placed between the river's bank and the ship, that it gave way, and some hundreds fell into the water, This was an unlucky adventure, but no one was either killed or hurt, which the ready-witted princess attributed sole- ly to the good fortune of Drake, SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 57 of verses, as its quaintness is redeemed by its ele- The stars above will make thee known, If man were silent here ; The Snn himself cannot forget His fellow-traveller. The reputation of Sir Francis Drake had now ob- tained that court-stamp which, without increasing value, gives currency. Though EHzabeth had so far tempo- rized as to sequestrate for a time the wealth brought home, the Spanish complaints of the English sailing in the South Sea, she scornfully dismissed, — denying " that, b}^ the Bishop of Rome's donation, or any other right, the Spaniards were entitled to debar the subjects of other princes from these new countries ; the gift of what is another's constituting no valid right ; — that touching here and there, and naming a river or cape, could not give a proprietary title, nor hinder other na- tions from trading or colonizing in those parts where the Spaniards had not planted settlements." One objec- tionable part of Drake's conduct thus obtained royal vindication ; and as the war, long impending, was no longer avoidable, his alleged depredations were forgot- ten even by his envious detractors, and his fame became as universal as it was high. Envy itself had ever been forced to acknowledge, not merely his maritime skill and genius for command, but the humanity and benevo- lence that marked his dealings with the Indians, and the generosity with which he uniformly treated his captives of that nation of all others the most hateful to English- men, and in some respects the most injurious to himself. Hostilities with Spain, so long protracted by the poli- cy of Elizabeth, were now about to commence in good earnest ; and Drake may be said to have struck the first blow. War was not formally declared when he pro- jected an expedition in concert with Sir Philip Sidney ; the two most popular men of their time being to com- mand, the one the land, and the other the sea force. On the part of Sir Philip the design was abandoned at the express command of the queen, who required his servi- 6 68 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. ces in the Netherlands, where he had already been usefully employed for the public cause, and where, in the following year, he met his early and glorious death. Sir Francis Drake's armament consisted of twenty-five sail, of which two vessels were queen's ships. His force amounted to two thousand three hundred seamen and soldiers. Under his command were several officers of experience and high reputation. His lieutenant- general was Christopher Carlile, his vice-admiral the celebrated navigator, Martin Frobisher ; and Captain Francis KnoUys, and other officers of celebrity, were among his coadjutors in an enterprise, the object of which was to unite public advantage with private emolument. The fleet stood at once for the coast of Spain, where Drake meditated a bold stroke at the enemy's naval force, and this without very rigid preliminary inquiry whether war had been declared or not. His demand to know why an embargo had been laid upon the goods of certain English merchants, was answered in terms so pacific, that finding it impossible to fasten a quarrel upon the Spaniards which would justify reprisal, the fleet cruised from Sebastian's to Vigo, capturing some small tenders. They next stood for the Cape de Verd Islands, where, landing one thousand men in the night, Drake, with a handful of them, surprised and took St. Jago, which the inhabitants hastily abandoned. This was on the 17th of November, 1585, and the day of Elizabeth's accession, which was celebrated by the guns of the castle firing a salute, to which those of the fleet replied. The conquest had proved easy, but the booty was in proportion inconsiderable, consisting chief- ly of trifling merchandise, and the tawdry, worthless wares employed in trading with the Indians of the islands and on the shores of the continent of America. If there had been any treasure in the place, it was either carried away or eflectually concealed ; and the threats of the invaders to burn and slay, unless the terms of ransom which they dictated were complied with, pro- duced no effect. The islanders seemed determined either to weary or to starve out the invaders ; and their SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 59 easy conquest soon became no desirable possession. On the 24th, a village twelve miles in the interior, named St. Domingo, was taken ; but the islanders still kept aloof; and posting placards, denouncing the for- mer cowardice and cruelty of the Portuguese, and their present pusillanimity, the English prepared to depart. Then, for the first time, a force appeared hanging off and on, as if to annoy their retreat. Burning the town, and every place within reach, the English re-embarked in good order, and stood for the West Indies. In palliation of what may appear useless severity, it must be stated that, besides refusing the terms of ran- som offered them, the Portuguese had perpetrated the most wanton cruelty on an English boy who had strag- gled, and whose corpse was found by his countrymen, torn, disfigured, and dismembered, — as if he had rather fallen into the hands of the most ferocious tribe of canni- bals than among a Christian people. The islanders had also, five years before, murdered, under the pro- tection of a truce, the crew of a Bristol vessel com- manded by Captain William Hawkins. The vengeance which may afterward be taken by their countrymen forms a strong protection to a single ship's company, or to a weak crew on a distant coast ; and if there may not be strict equity, there is at least commendable policy in a commander showing that neither former kindness nor yet treachery to the people of his nation is either un- known or forgotten. While the fleet lay here, that malignant fever which proves the scourge of soldiers and seamen in these climes broke out with great inveteracy, and carried off between two and three hundred of the men. They next touched at St. Christopher's and Domini- ca, where they had a friendly interview with some of the aborigines, at which the toys and wares of St. Jago were liberally exchanged for tobacco and cassada. Attracted by the fame of *' the brave city" of St. Do- mingo, one of the oldest and wealthiest of the Spanish settlements in the West Indies, it was determined to carry it. Drake's common plan of attack was simple and uniform : a party was landed in the night to make 60 SIR FRAXCIS DRAKE ► the assault from the land side, while the ships co-ope- rated from the water. On New-year's day the English landed ten miles to the westward of the town, and, forming into two divisions, made the attack at opposite gates ; and to save themselves from the guns of the cas- tle, rushed forward, sword in hand, pellmell, till accord- ing to agreement, they met in the market place in the centre of the town, and changed the fight of the Span- iards into precipitate retreat. Here they hastily barri- caded themselves, resolved to maintain their post, and confidently expecting an attack. But the Spaniards gave them little trouble. Struck with panic, they next night abandoned the castle to the invaders, and escaped by boats to the other side of the haven. The following day the English strengthened their position, planting . the ordnance which they took within their trenches, — and, thus secured, held the place for a month, collecting what plunder was to be found, while they negotiated with the Spaniards for the ransom of the city. The terms were such that the inhabitants were unable to re- deem the town ; and burning and negotiation went on simultaneously and leisurely. Two hundred seamen, and as many soldiers forming their guard, were em- ployed daily in the work of destruction ; but the build- ings being lofty piles, substantially constructed of stone, their demolition proved a fatiguing duty to the men ; and after much labour, spent with little loss to the ene- my and no profit to themselves, the ransom of twenty- five thousand ducats was finally accepted for the safety of what remained of the city. The plunder obtained was very inconsiderable, for the size and imagined riches of the place. A little episode in the history of this enterprise against St. Domingo deserves notice, as it places the energetic character of Drake in a striking point of view. A negro boy, sent with a flag of truce to the leading people while the negotiation for ransom was pending, was met by some Spanish officers, who furiously struck at him, and afterward pierced him through with a horseman's spear. Dreadfully wounded as he was, the poor boy tried to crawl back to his master, and while relating the cruel • SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 61 treatment he had received, he fell down 9,nd expired in the presence of Drake. The insult offered to his flag of truce, and the barbarous treatment of the lad, roused the captain-general to the highest pitch of indignation. He commanded the provost-marshal, with a guard, to carry two unfortunate monks, who had been made pris- oners, to the place where his flag was violated, there to be hanged. Another prisoner shared the same fate ; and a message was sent to the Spaniards, announcing that until the persons guilty of this breach of the law of nations were given up, two Spanish prisoners should suffer daily. Next day the offenders were sent in ; and, to make their merited punishment the more ignominious and exemplary, their own countrymen were forced to become their executioners. Among other instances of Spanish boasting and vain- glory recorded by the historians of the voyage, is an account of an escutcheon of the arms of Spain, found in the town-hall of the city, on the lower part of which was a globe, over which was represented a horse ram- pant, or probably volant, with the legend Non sufficit orbis.* This vaunt gave great offence at this particular time to the national pride of the English, who told the negotiators, that should their queen be pleased resolutely to prosecute the war, instead of the whole globe not satisfying his ambition, Philip would find some diffi- culty in keeping that portion of it which he already pos- sessed. Their next attempt was directed against Carthagena, which was bravely defended and gallantly carried, Carlile making the attack on the land side, while Drake's fleet presented itself before the town. The governor, Alonzo Bravo, was made prisoner ; and after holding the place for six weeks, and destroying many houses, the trifling ransom of eleven thousand ducats was ac- cepted for the preservation of the rest of the town. The Spaniards might have not got off" on such easy terms, but that the fearful pest, the deadly bilious fever, which * The whole world is not enough for us. 6* 62 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. has so often proved fatal to English expeditions in the very same locahty, now raged in the fleet, and com- pelled the commanders to revise their plans and lower their demands. About seven hundred men perished in this expedition of the calenhira* alone, as the disease, since described by Smollet and Glover and others, was then named. Those who struggled through this fright- ful malady, if we may fully credit the early accounts, v/ere even more to be pitied than those that sunk under the disease. Though they survived, it was with loss of strength, not soon if ever recovered ; and many suffered the decay of memory and impaired judgment ; so that, when a man began to talk foolishly and incoherently, it became a common phrase in the fleet to say that such a one had been seized with the calenture. The design of attempting Nombre de Dios and Pana- ma, " there to strike the stroke for treasure," of which they had hitherto been disappointed, was abandoned in a council of war ; and sailing by the coast of Florida, they burnt St. Helena and St. Augustin, two forts and small settlements of the Spaniards, and brought ofi^ from Virginia, Mr. Lane, the governor, with the remains of an unfortunate colony sent out under the auspices of Sir Walter Raleigh in the former year.f * The calenture, ague, bilious, and yellow fever, — for by all these names is the Carthagena fever known, — has never been more truly and vividly de- scribed than in Roderick Random, and in Smollett's account of the '' Expe- dition against Carthagena," where the sutferings of Drakes expedition were acted over again. In Raynal's History of the Indies, we find the same causes assumed for this fatal distemper to which it was attributed by Drake's company, the pestiferous night-dews of a climate where even the long-con- tinued rains of the wet season never cooled the air, and where the night is as hot as the day The men on watch were found peculiarly liable to its attacks. Though there is some difference of opinion about the causes of the disease, the symptoms were the same in 1585 iis in our own day. " The disease," says Raynal, "manifests itself by vomitings, accompanied by so vio- lent a delirium, that the patient must be confined to prevent him from tearing himself to pieces. He often expires in the midst of these agitations, which seldom last above three or four days." He adds that tlie fever of Cartha- gena, like the small-pox and some otlier diseases, is never taken but once — a point, however, Uke many others, on which doctors differ in opinion. t The colony carried home at this time by Drake, with the tobacco which they brought along with them, first, according to Camden, introduced the use of that couunodity into Britain, where it now yields about £3,000,000 ol' yearly revenue. In Virginia they had learned the uses of the herb. It how* SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 63 It was in July, 1586, before the armament returned, bringing two hundred brass and forty iron cannon, and about sixty thousand pounds sterling in prize-money, of which twenty thousand pounds sterling was divided among the men, and the remainder allotted to the ad- venturers. Though the private gains resulting from the expedition were trifling, the dismantling of so many fortresses at the be,ginning of a war, was a service to the country of no inconsiderable value. It was but the first of many which our navigator performed in its pro- gress. The next exploit of Drake was wholly for the public service. The rumour of that formidable armament fitted out by Spain to invade England, and first in fear, though afterward in jest, named the Invincible Armada, had spread general alarm. In a noble spirit of patrio- tism, the merchants of London, at their own expense, fitted out twenty-six vessels of different sizes, to be placed under the cofmmand of Drake, to anno}^ the ene- my, and, if possible, frustrate or delay the boasted de- sign of invading England. To this armament the queen added four ships of the royal fleet ; and with this consid- erable force Drake bore for Lisbon, and afterward for the harbour of Cadiz, where he had the good fortune to burn and destroy ten thousand tons burthen of shipping, either destined for the threatened invasion, or subservi- ent to this purpose. Here he remained for a short time, annoying the enemy's galleys, which he destroyed piecemeal, though his great enterprise had been accom- plished in one day and two nights. Drake, having thus happily accomplished his public duly, was impelled by gratitude and gallantry to attempt a stroke which might enable him to reward the spirited individuals who had enabled him so essentially to serve their common coun- try. Having private information that the St. Philip, a Portuguese carrack from the East Indies, was about this time expected at Terceira, he sailed for the Azores. ever still remains undecided whether tobacco was introduced into England by Raleigh or Drake. To Drake the introduction of potatoes is universal- ly ascribed. 64 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. Before he fell in with the prize the fleet became short of provisions ; but by dint of promises and threats, Drake prevailed with his company to bear up against privations, and soon had the happiness of bringing in triumph to England the richest prize that had ever yet been made, and the first fruits of the numerous captures to which his success soon led the way, both among the Dutch and English. The name of the prize was hailed as an omen of future victory to England. Drake is blamed for discovering undue elation at the close of this triumphant expedition. He is said to have become boastful of his own deeds, though the only ground of charge is gayly describing his bold and gallant service as "burning the Spanish king's beard." But surely this may well be forgiven to the hero who, delaying the threatened Armada for a year, laid the foundation of its final discomfiture.* Nor were Drake's eminent ser- vices to his country limited to warlike operations. In the short interval of leisure which followed this expedi- tion, he brought water into the town of Plymouth, of which it was in great want, from springs eight miles distant, and by a course measuring more than twenty miles. In the following year his distinguished services re- ceived the reward to which they were fully entitled, in his appointment of vice-admiral under Lord Charles Howard, of Effingham, high-admiral of England. ' * So keenly were the deeds of Drake resented by the court of Spain, even before this great stroke at the maritime power and strength of that country, that, when terror was presumed to be struck into the very heart of the na- tion, and the queen quailing in dismay, expecting the formidable armament every day to put to sea, the Spanish ambassador had the temerity to pro- pound terms for her acceptance, wrapped up, in the pedantic fashion of the time, in Latin verses, which are thus translated : — " These to you are our commands : Send no help to the Netherlands. Of the treasure took by Drake, Restitution you must make ; And those abbeys build anew Which your father overthrew." To this insolent demand the lion-hearted Protestant princess replied in the same vein : " Worthy king, know this your will At Lattar Lammas we'll fulfil." - SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 65 Drake had hitherto been accustomed to give orders, not to obey them ; and his vivacity under command had nearly been productive of serious consequences. Pos- itive information had been received of the saihng of the Invincible Armada, but it was likewise known that the fleet had been dispersed in a violent tempest ; and, be- lieving that the attempt would be abandoned at this time, orders were despatched to the lord-high-admiral to send four of his best ships back to Chatham, as the frugal government of Elizabeth grudged the expense of keeping them afloat an hour longer than they were pos- itively required. This order had hardly been given, when Howard was made aware by the information of Thomas Fleming, the captain of an English pinnace, of the close approach of the fleet ; and it soon after passed Plymouth, where he lay taking in supplies after cruising on the Spanish coasts looking out for it. It was four in the afternoon of the 19th of July, 15S8, when the intelli- gence of Fleming put the lord-high-admiral upon the alert ; and by next day at noon his ships were manned, warped out, and in fighting trim. At the same hour the Spanish fleet came in sight; and on the 21st, Howard, with his greatly inferior force, ventured the attack which, by the blessing of Heaven on the valour and skill of the Enghsh, was continued from day to day in vari- ous quarters, till the proud Armada was swept from the English channel. On the night of the 21st, Drake, who had been appointed to carry the lantern, forgot this duty, and gave chase to several hulks which were separated from the fleet, and thus so far misled the high-admiral, that, following the Spanish lantern under the idea that it was carried by his own vice-admiral, when day dawned he found himself in the midst of the enemy's ships. The high-admiral instantly extricated himself; and Drake amply atoned for this oversight by the dis- tinguished service performed by his squadron in har- rassing, capturing, and destroying the Spaniards. On the day following this erring night he performed a me- morable action. Among the fleet was a large galleon commanded by Don Pedro de Valdez, a man of illustri- ous family and high official rank, with whom nearly fifty 66 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. >» noblemen and gentlemen sailed. His ship had been crippled and separated from the fleet, and Howard, in hot pursuit, had passed it, imagining that it was aban- doned. There was on board a crew of four hundred and fifty persons ; who, when summoned to surrender in the formidable name of Drake, attempted no resist- ance. Kissing the hand of his conqueror, Don Pedro said, they had resolved to die in battle, had they not ex- perienced the good fortune of falling into the hands of one courteous and gentle, and generous to the vanquish- ed foe ; one whom it was doubtful whether his enemies had greater cause to admire and love for his valiant and prosperous exploits, or dread for his great wisdom and good fortune ; whom Mars, the god of war, and Nep- tune, the god of the sea, alike favoured. To merit this high eulogium, Drake behaved with the utmost kindness and politeness to his involuntary guests, who were sent prisoners to England. Two years after^vard he receiv- ed ^3500 for their ransom. In the ship 55,000 ducats were found, and liberally divided among the crew. The broken running fight between the fleets was renewed from day to day, and from hour to hour, as the superior saihng of the light English vessels promised advantage, till the Spaniards were driven on that fine of conduct which ended in the complete destruction of their mighty armament. In the fight of the 29th, which was despe- rate on both sides, Drake's ship was pierced with forty shot, two of which passed through his cabin. Of one hundred and thirty-four ships which left the coast of Spain only fifty-three returned. In the following year Drake, as admiral, commanded the fleet sent to restore Don Antonio of Portugal, while Sir John Norris led the land-forces. Differences arose between the commanders about the best mode of prose- cuting their joint enterprise. The failure of Norris' scheme gives probability to the assertion that the plan of operations suggested by Drake would, if followed, have been successful. It is at least certain that the ex- pedition miscarried, which had never happened to any single-handed undertaking in which Drake engaged. Don Antonio, taken out to be made a king by the prow- I SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 67 €ss of the English, returned as he went. Before the queen and council Drake fully justified hi^ own share of the affair, and the confidence placed in his ability and skill remained undiminished. This was the first check that the fortunes of Drake had ever received, — and it would have been happy for him, it has been said, had he now withdrawn his stake. The principal and fatal error of his succeeding expedition was once more under- taking a joint command. The war in 1595, though it languished for want of fuel to feed the flame, was not yet giving any prospect of drawing to a conclusion ; and, in conjunction with Sir John Hawkins, Drake offered his services in an ex- pedition to the West Indies, to be undertaken on a scale of magnificence which must at once crush the Spanish power in that quarter, where the enemy had already been so often and effectually galled by the same com- manders. Elizabeth and her ministers received the proposal with every mark of satisfaction. The fleet consisted of six of the queen's ships and twenty-one private vessels, with a crew, in seamen and soldiers, amounting to 2500 men and boys. They sailed from Plymouth in August, having been detained for some time by the reports of another armada being about to invade England. This rumour was artfully spread to delay the fleet, of which one object was known to be the destruction of Nombre de Dios and the plunder of Panama. They had hardly put to sea when the demon of discord, which ever attends conjunct expeditions, appeared in their councils. Sir John Hawkins wished at once to accomplish an object recommended by the queen ; but time was lost in an attempt, suggested by Sir Thomas Baskerville, to invade or capture the Ca- naries, and again at Dominica. All these delays were improved by the enemy in the colonies, in preparing for the reception of the English. A few days before sailing, information had been sent to the fleet of a Span- ish galleon richly laden, that had been disabled and separated from those ships which annually brought plate and treasure from the Indies to Spain ; and the capture of this vessel was recommended to the com- 68 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. manders by the English government as an especial service. The galleon now lay at Porto Rico ; but be- fore this time five frigates had been sent by the Span- iards to convey it away in safety. On the 30th of Oc- tober, Sir John Hawkins made sail from the coast of Dominica where the ships had been careened, and had taken in water ; and on the same evening he sustained the misfortune of having the Francis, one of his vessels, captured by the enemy's frigates. This stroke, which appeared fatal to the enterprise, by informing the Span- iards of his approach and putting them on their guard, gave him inexpressible chagrin. He immediately fell sick, and on the 12th of November, when the fleet had got before Porto Rico, died of combined disease and grief He w^as succeeded by Sir Thomas Baskerville, who took command in the Garland, the queen's ship in which Hawds:ins had sailed. The English fleet, medita- ting an instant attack, now lay within reach of the guns of Porto Rico ; and while the officers, on the night of Sir John Hawkins's death, were at supper together, a shot penetrated to the great cabin, drove the stool on which Drake sat from under him, killed Sir Nicolas Clifford, and mortally wounded Mr. Brute Browne and some other officers. An attack, this night decided up- on, was attempted next day, with the desperate valour which has ever characterized the maritime assaults of the English. But the enemy were fully prepared ; the treasure had been carefully conveyed away, and also the women and children. The fortifications had been repaired and placed in good order ; and though the hot impetuous attack of the English inflicted great suffering on the Spaniards, to themselves there remained but a barren victory. After lying two or three days before the place, it was judged expedient to bear off' and aban- don this enterprise. They stood for the main, where Rio de la Hacha, La Rancheria, and some other places were taken, and, negotiations for their ransom laihng, burnt to the ground. The same course was followed with other petty places; but Drake began seriously to find, that while giving the enemy this trifling annoyance, he was gradually reducing his own force without gain- SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 69 ing any substantial advantage. His health was injured by this series of disappointments, and from the first misunderstanding with Hawkins his spirits had been affected. On the morning of the assault on Porto Rico, in taking leave of Mr. Brute Browne, then breathing his last, he exclaimed, '* Brute, Brute, how heartily could I lament thy fate, but that I dare not suffer my spirits to sink now." DEATH OF SIR NICOLAS CLIFFORD. The Spanish towns, from which every thing of value was taken away, were rather abandoned to the occupa- tion than taken by the arms of the English. In, this way Santa Martha and Nombre de Dios fell into their hands with scarce a show of resistance. They werq 7 70 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. both burnt. On the 29th of December, two days after the capture of Nombre de Dios, Sir Thomas Baskerville, with seven hundred and fifty soldiers, attempted to make his way to Panama through the fatiguing and dan- gerous passes of the Isthmus of Darien, the Spaniards annoying his whole line of march by a desultory fire of musketry from the woods. At certain passes fortifica- tions had been thrown up to impede their progress ; and coming upon these unexpectedly, they were exposed to a sudden fire, by which many fell. About midway the design was abandoned, and the party turned back, still exposed in the retreat to the fire of the Spaniards from the woods. Destitute of provisions, and suffering great privation and fatigue, they returned to the ships depres- sed and disheartened. This last and most grievous of the train of disappointments that had followed Drake throughout an expedition from which the nation expect- ed so much, and wherein he had embarked much of his fortune and risked his high reputation, threw the admi- ral into a lingering fever, accompanied by a flux, under which he languished for three weeks. He expired while the fleet lay off" Porto Bello. The death of Ad- miral Drake took place on the 28th of January, 1596, and in his fifty-first year. His remains were placed in a leaden coffin, and committed to the deep with all the pomp attending naval obsequies. Unsuccessful as his latest enterprises had been, his death was universally lamented by the nation. The tenderness of pity was now mingled with admiration of the genius and valour of this great man, ** whose memory will survive as long as the world lasts, which he first surrounded." Drake is described as low in stature, but extremely well made ; with a broad chest and a round compact head. His complexion was fair and sanguine ; his countenance open and cheerful, with large and lively eyes ; his beard full, and his hair of a light brown. The portrait prefixed to this fife gives the idea of a man of that prompt and decided character which Sir Francis Drake discovered in every action of his life. From the lowest point and rudiments of his art, Drake was a thorough-bred seaman, able in his own person to dis- SIR FRANCIS DRAKE. 71 charge every duty of a ship, even to attending the sick and dressing the wounded. In repairing and watering his ships, as readily as in what are esteemed higher offices, he at all times bore an active part ; and to his zealous superintendence and co-operation in these sub- ordinate duties, much of the facility and celerity of his movements, and of his consequent success, is to be at- tributed. The sciences connected with navigation, as they were then known, he thoroughly understood, and particularly that of astronomy. Whatever he attempt- ed on his own judgment, without being controlled b}^ the opinions of others, he accomplished with success. He has been charged with ambition ; but it is well re- marked, that no man's ambition ever took a happier direction for his country. His example did more to ad- vance the maritime power and reputation of England than that of all the navigators who preceded him. He indicated or led the way to several new sources of trade, and opened the career of commercial prosperity which his countrymen are still pursuing. Among the many natural gifts of this lowly-born seaman, was a ready and graceful eloquence. He was fond of amassing wealth, but in its distribution was liberal and bountiful. Among other deeds of enlightened benevolence was his estab- lishment, in conjunction with Sir John Hawkins, of the CHEST at Chatham for the relief of aged or sick seamen, by the honourable means of their own early providence. Drake sat in two parliaments, — in the first for a Cornish borough, and in the next for the town of Plymouth in the thirty-fifth of Elizabeth. Though often described as a bachelor, it is ascertained that he married the daughter and sole heiress of Sir George Sydenham, of Coombe Sydenham in Devonshire, who survived him. He left no children, but bequeathed his landed estate to his nephew Francis Drake, afterward created a baronet by James the First. THOMAS CAVENDISH, THE SECOND ENGLISH CIRCUMNAVIGATOR. Thomas Cavendish the second Englishman that circum- navigated the globe, was of an ancient and honourable family of Suffolk, the ancestor of which had come into England with the Conqueror. From his residence near a maritime town he is said to have imbibed an early inclination to the sea. His father died while Cavendish was still a minor; and coming early into the possession of his patrimony he is report- ed to have squandered it "in gallantry, and following the court," and to have been compelled to embrace the nobler pur- suits to which his subseq^uent years were devoted to redeem his shattered fortunes, THOMAS CAVENDISH. 73 Though the relations of liis voyages are ample and complete, very little is known of his personal history. In the year 1585, he accompanied Sir Richard Grenville's expedition to Vir- ginia, in a vessel equipped at his own expense. This voyage, undertaken to plant the unfortunate colony which was brought home by Sir Francis Drake in 1586, was both profitless and difficult; but it enabled Cavendish to obtain nautical experi- ence, and in its progress he had seen the Spanish West India settlements, and conversed with some of those who had ac- companied Drake into the South Sea. The youthful ambi- tion of Cavendish was thus roused to emulate the glory of so eminent a navigator in this rich and newly-opened field of en- terprise. Grenville's fleet, which sailed for Virginia in April, returned in October, and from the wrecks of his fortune, and the remains of his credit, Mr. Cavendish, in six months afterward, had equipped a small squadron for his projected voyage. W^hile the carpenters were at work he procured every draught, map, chart, and history of former navigations that might be useful to him ; and having, through the patronage or recommenda- tion of Lord Hunsdon, procured the queen's commission, he sailed from Plymouth on the 21st of July, 1586. His light squadron consisted of the Desire, a vessel of one hundred and twenty tons burthen, in which he sailed himself as admiral and commander of the expedition ; the Content of sixty tons ; and the Hugh Gallant, a light bark of forty tons. A crew of one hundred and twenty-three soldiers, seamen, and officers manned this little fleet, which was provided with every requisite for a long voyage, in latitudes with which the navigation of Drake had now made the English somewhat familiar. If so much interest is still awakened by the maritime under- takings of contemporary navigators, who set out in a famihar track under the guidance of former experience and observation, with the advantage of instruments nearly perfect, and with all appliances and means to boot, how much more must attach to the relation of the adventures of one who, like Cavendish, could have no hope or dependence save in his own capacity and courage ! The squadron first touched at Sierra Leone, where the con- duct of the young commander was not wholly blameless. On a Sunday part of the ships' company went on shore, and spent the day in dancing and amusing themselves with the friendly negroes, their secret object being to gain intelhgence of a Por- tuguese vessel that lay in the harbour, and which Cavendish intended to capture. This was found impracticable, and next day the Enghsh landed to the number of seventy, and made 7* 74 THOMAS CAVENDISH. an attack on the town, of which they burnt one hundred and fifty houses, almost the whole number, and plundered ri^ht and left. It was but little that they found. The negroes fled at their landing, but on their retreat shot poisoned arrows at the marauders from the shelter of the woods. This African village is described as neatly built, enclosed by mud walls, antl kept, both houses and streets, in the cleanest manner. The yards were paled in, and the town was altogether trim and comfortable, exhibiting signs of civilization, of which at this point the slave-trade subsequently destroyed every trace. A few days afterward a party of the sailors landed to wash linen ; and repeating the visit next day, a number of negroes lying in ambush in the woods nearly surprised and cut them off. A soldier died of a shot from a poisoned arrow ; though the case , as described appears more like mortification of the parts than the effects of poison. Several of the men were wounded, but none mortally save the soldier. On the 3d of September, a party went some miles up the river in a boat, caught a store of fish, and gathered a supply of lemons for the fleet, which sailed on the 6th. No reason is assigned for the unprovoked de- vastation on this coast, save " the bad dealing of negroes with all Christians." On the 16th of December the squadron made the coast of America, in 47^° S. The land, stretching west, was seen at the distance of six leagues, and next day the fleet anchored in a harbour in 48° S. This harbour they named Port Desire, in honour of the admiral's ship. Seals were found here of enormous size, which in the forepart of their body resembled lions ; their young was found delicate food, equal, to the taste of the seamen, to lamb or mutton. Sea-birds were also found in great plenty, of which the description given seems to apply to the penguin. In this excellent harbour the ships' bottoms were careened. On the 24th of December, Christmas-eve, a man and boy belonging to the Content went on shore to wash thir hnen, when they were suddenly surrounded and shot at by fifty or more Indians. Cavendish pursued with a small party, but the natives escaped. " They are as wild as ever was a buck," says an old voyager, " as they seldom or ever see any Christians." Their footprints were measured, and found to be eighteen inches in length. The squadron left Port Desire on the 28th, and halted at an island three leagues off, to cure and store the penguins that had been taken. On the 30th, standing to sea, they passed a rock about fifty miles from the harbour they had left, which resembled the Eddystone Rock near Plymouth. About the first day of the year they saw sev- eral capes, to which no names are given, and on the 6tli, with- THaMAS CAVENDISH. 75» out further preparation, entered Magellan's Straits, which the Spaniards had lately attempted to fortify and colonize. At twilight the squadron anchored near the first Angostura ; and in the night lights were observed on the north side of the strait,, which were supposed to be signals. Recognition was made by lights from the ships, and a boat was sent off in the morn- ing, to which three men on the shore made signs by waving a handkerchief. These were part of the survivors of a wretched Spanish colony. The history of the misfortunes and sufferings of the first set- tlers in different parts of America would make one of the most melancholy volumes that ever was penned ; nor could any portion of it prove more heart-rending than that which should record the miseries of this colony, left by Pedro Sarmiento in the Straits of Magellan. It may be recollected, that on the appearance of Drake on the coast of Peru, this commander was despatched by the viceroy to intercept the daring interlo- per on his return by the straits. Sarmiento afterward bestow- ed much pains in examining the western shores of Patagonia and the coast of Chili, and the many inlets, labyrinths, and in- tricate channels of the islands and broken lands of Terra del Fuego, which, as he conjectured, must communicate with the Straits of Magellan by one or more passages. After a long time had thus been consumed fruitlessly he entered the straits^ and passed through eastward in about a month, minutely ex- amining the coast on both sides. When this discoverer reach- ed Spain, his exaggerated statements, the desire of checking the progress of the English in this quarter, and an apprehen- sion that they were preparing to seize this master-key to the South Seas (the passage by the Cape of Good Hope being still monopolized by the Portuguese, and that by Cape Horn not yet discovered,) induced Philip to listen to the proposals of Sarmiento, an enthusiast in the cause, and to colonize and fortify this important outlet of his American dominions. A powerful armament of twenty-three ships, with thirty -five hun- dred men, destined for different points of South America, was in the first place to estabUsh the new colony. This expedi- tion, undertaken on so magnificent a scale, was from first to last unfortunate. While still on the coast of Spain, from which the fleet sailed on the 25th of September, 1581, five of the ships were wrecked in a violent gale, and eight hundred men per- ished. The whole fleet put back, and sailed a second time in December. Misfortunes followed in a thick train. Sickness thinned their numbers ; and at Rio Janeiro, where they win- tered, many of the intended settlers deserted. Some of the ships became leaky, the bottoms of others were attacked by 76 THOMAS CAVENDISH. worms, and a large vessel, containing most of the stores of the colonists of the straits, sprung aleak at sea, and before assist- ance could be obtained went down, three hundred and thirty men and twenty of the settlers perishing in her. Three times was Sarmiento driven back to the Brazils before he was able to accompUshhis purpose; and it was February, 1584, before he at last arrived in the strait and was able to land the colo- nists. Nor did his ill fortune close here. His consort, Riviera, either wilfully abandoned him, or was forced from his anchor- age by stress of weather. He stood for Spain, carrying away the greater part of the remaining stores which were to sustain the people through the rigour of the winter of the south, which was now commencing, and until they were able to raise crops and obtain provisions. The foundation of a town was laid, which was named San Felipe ; and bastions and wooden edi- fices were constructed. Another city, named Nombre de Jesus, was commenced. These stations were in favourable points of the straits, and at the distance of about seventy miles from each other. In the mean while the southern winter set in with uncommon severity. In April snow fell incessantly for fifteen days. Sarmiento, who, after establishing the colonists at these two points, intended to go to Chili for provisions, was driven from his anchors in a gale, and forced to seek his own safety in the Brazils, leaving the settlers without a ship. He has been accused of intentionally abandoning this helpless colony, which he was the instrument of establishing, and of which he was also the governor. The accusation appears unjust, as he made many subsequent efforts for its rehef, which his ill for- tune rendered abortive. The governors at the different settle- ments at length refused to afford further assistance to a project which had lost the royal favour; and in returning to Spain to solicit aid, Sarmiento was captured by three ships belonging to Sir Walter Raleigh, — luckily, in all probability, for himself, as the indignation of King Philip at the failure of so expensive and powerful an expedition, and at the misrepresentations of this officer, might not have been easily appeased. Of the wretched colonists, about whom neither old Spain nor her American settlements gave themselves any further trouble, many died of famine and cold during the first winter. The milder weather of the spring and summer allowed a short re- spite of misery, and afforded the hope of the return of Sarmien- to, or some ship with provisions and clothing. But the year wore away, and no vessel appeared, and the colonists at San Felipe, in their despair, contrived to build two boats, in which all that remained alive, fifty men and five women, embarked, with the hope of getting out of the straits. One of their boats THOMAS CAVENDISH. 77 was wrecked, and the design was abandoned, as there were no seamen among their number, nor any one capable of conduct- ing the perilous navigation. Their crops all failed ; the na- tives molested them ; and out of four hundred men and thirty women landed by Sarmiento, only fifteen men and three wo- men survived when Mr. Cavendish entered the straits. In San Felipe many lay dead in their houses and in their clothes, the survivors not having strength to bury them ; and along the shores, where these miserable beings wandered, trying to pick up a few shellfish or herbs, they often came upon the body of a deceased companion who had perished of famine, or of the diseases caused by extreme want. It was, as has been said, part of these forlorn wanderers whom Cavendish saw on the morning after he entered the straits. A passage to Peru was offered them, but they at first hesitated to trust the English heretics ; though afterward, when willing to accept the generous offer, their resolution came too late ; and before they could be mustered, a fair wind offering. Cavendish sailed on, having tantalized these wretched Span- iards with hopes which the safety of his own crew in this pre- carious navigation, and the success of his expedition, did not permit him to fulfil. The offer had likewise been made in ignorance of their numbers. If Cavendish be blamed for abandoning these wretched victims to their fate, what shall be said of the nation which, having sent out this colony, left it to perish of famine and cold ! One Spaniard was brought off*, named Tome' Hernandez, who became the historian of the miserable colony of the straits. The squadron of Cavendish, after passing both the Angos- turas, as the Spaniards named the narrowest points of the straits, anchored first at the island of Santa Magdalena, where in two hours they killed and salted two pipes full of penguins ; and afterward at San Felipe, the now desolate station of the Spanish colonists, some of whom the English found still lying in their houses, "where they had died hke dogs." Here they brought on board six pieces of ordnance which the settlers had buried. This place Cavendish named Port Famine ; it was fonnd to be in 53^ S. On the 22d a few natives were seen ; but the Spaniard, Hernandez, cautioned the Enghsh against all intercourse, representing them as a treacherous people, — a character which European knives and swords seen in their possession, converted into darts, confirmed ; and when they again approached. Cavendish carried his precautions to so ex- travagant a length as to order a discharge of muskets, by which many of them were killed, and the rest took to flight, certainly not corrected of their bad propensities by this harsh 78 THOMAS CAVENDISH. discipline. They were represented as cannibals, who had preyed upon the Spanish colonists, and this excused all wrong. For the next three weeks the fleet lay in a sheltered port, unable to enter the South Sea from a continuance of strong westerly wind ; but on the 24th of February, after a favourable though a tedious passage, they finally emerged from the straits. To the south was a fair high cape with a point of low land ad- joining it, — on the other side several islands with much broken ground around them, at about six leagues off from the main- land. On the 1st of March the stormy Spirit of the Straits, which no fleet ever wholly escaped, overtook Cavendish ; and the Hugh Gallant was separated from the larger vessels, one of which was found so leaky that the crew were completely ex- hausted in working the pumps for three days and nights with- out ceasing. On the 15th the Hugh Gallant rejoined her consorts at the Isle of Mocha, on the coast of Chili : they were here taken for Spaniards, and landing on the main experienced but a rough reception from the Indians, who bore no good-will to the natives of Spain. But a similar mistake sometimes operated to their advantage ; and next day, when the captain with a party of seventy men landed at the island of Santa Ma- ria, they were received as Spaniards, with all kindness and humility, by the principal people of the island ; and a store of wheat, barley, and potatoes, ready prepared, and presumed by the voyagers to be a tribute to the conquerors, was unscrupu- lously appropriated. To this the islanders added presents of hogs, dried dogfish, fowls, and maize, and received in return an entertainment on board the captain's ship. These Indians are represented as being in such subjection, that not one of them durst eat a hen or hog of his own rearing, aU being sa- cred to their taskmasters, who had, however, made the whole of the islanders Christians. When they came to understand that their guests were not Spaniards, it was believed that they attempted to invite them to an assault upon their enslavers ; but for want of an interpreter their meaning was imperfectly comprehended. The squadron, thus refreshed at the expense of the Spaniards, sailed on the 18th, but overshot Valparaiso, at which place they intended to halt. On the 30th they an- chored in the Bay of Quintero, seven leagues to the north of Valparaiso. A herdsman asleep on a hill-side awaking, and perceiving three strange ships in the bay, caught a horse gra- zing beside him, and fled to spread the alarm. Cavendish, unable to prevent this untoward movement, landed with a party of thirty men, and Hernandez, the Spaniard whom he had brought from the straits, and who made strong protesta- tion of fidelity. Three armed horsemen appeared, as if come THOMAS CAVENDISH. 79 to reconnoitre. With these Hernandez conferred, and report- ed that they agreed to furnish as much provision as the Eng- hsh required. A second time the interpreter was despatched to a conference ; but on this occasion, forgetting all his vows of fidelity to his benefactors, he leaped up behind one of his countrymen, and they sat off at a round gallop, leaving Cav- endish to execrate Spanish bad faith. The English filled some of their water casks, and attempted in vain to obtain a shot at the wild cattle, which were seen grazing in great herds. Next day a party of from fifty to sixty marched into the interi- or in the hope of discovering some Spanish settlement. They did not see one human being, native nor European, though they travelled till arrested by the mountains. The country was fruitful and well watered with rivulets, and abounded in herds of cattle and horses, and with hares, rabbits, and many kinds of wild-fowl. They also saw numerous wild dogs. The party did not sleep on shore. The boats were sent next day for water, which was found a quarter of a mile from the beach. While the seamen were employed in filling the casks, they were suddenly surprised by a party of two hundred horsemen, who came pouncing down upon them from the heights, and cut off" twelve of the party, some of whom were killed, and the rest made prisoners. The remainder were rescued by the soldiers, who ran from the rocks to support their unsuspecting comrades, and killed twenty-four of the Spaniards. Notwith- standing this serious misadventure. Cavendish, keeping strict watch and ward, remained here till the watering was comple- ted. Of the nine prisoners snatched off" in this affray, it was afterward learned that six were executed at Santiago as pirates, though they sailed with the queen's commission, and though the nation to which they belonged was at open war with Spain. The disciphne which the Spaniards had taught the natives was again found of use to our navigators, who, after leaving Quintero, came on the 15th to Morro Moreno, or the Brown Mountain, where the Indians, on their landing, met them with loads of wood and water, which they had carried on their backs down the rocks. These slaves of the Spaniards were found to be a very degraded race, almost at the lowest point in the scale of civihzation. Their dwelhngs consisted of a few sticks placed across two stakes stuck in the ground, on which a few boughs were laid. Skins spread on the floor gave a higher idea of comfort. Their food consisted of raw putrid fish ; yet their fishing-canoes were constructed with consider- able ingenuity. They were made of skins "like bladders." Each boat consisted of two of these skins, which were inflated by means of quills, and sewed or laced together with gut, so 80 THOMAS CAVENDISH. as to be perfectly water-tight. In these they fished, paying large tribute of their spoils to their conquerors. When any one died, his bows and arrows, canoes, and all his personal property, were buried along with him, as the English verified by opening a grave. On the 23d a vessel, with a cargo of Spanish ^vine, was captured near Arica, and also a small bark, the crew of which escaped in their boat. This vessel was permanently added to the squadron, and named the George. Another large ship, captured in the road of Arica, proved but a worthless prize, the cargo having been previously taken away, and the ship de- serted by the crew. A design of landing and storming the town was abandoned, as, before the squadron could be mus- tered, the Spaniards were apprized of their danger, and pre- pared to stand on the defensive. A third vessel was taken close by the town ; and the English squadron and the batte- ries even exchanged a few harmless shots; after which Caven- dish, in hopes of relieving some of the English prisoners made at Quintero, sent in a flag of truce inviting the Spaniards to redeem their vessels ; but proposals of this nature were, by order of the viceroy at Lima, in all cases rejected. On the 25th, while the squadron still rode before the town, a vessel from the southward was perceived coming into the port. Cavendish sent out his pinnace to seize this bark, while the townspeople endeavored from the shore to make the crew sensible of their danger. They understood the signals, and rowed in among the rocks, while a party of horsemen ad- vanced from the town to protect the crew and passengers. Among these were several monks, who had a very narrow escape. The deserted vessel, when searched, aftbrded nothing of value; and, burning their prizes, early on the 26th they bore away northward from Arica. Next day a small vessel, despatched from Santiago, with intelligence to the viceroy that an Enghsh squadron, — probably Drake himself, — was upon the coast, was captured. Great severity was used to make the crew reveal the nature of their despatches, which were thrown overboard while the Enghsh gave chase. They had solemnly sworn not to tell their errand ; but their fidelity was barely proof against the torture to which Cavendish thought it necessary to subject them to extort their secret. An old Fleming, whom he threatened to hang, and actually caus- ed to be hoisted up, stood the test, and chose rather to die than to perjure himself by betraying his trust. At last one of the Spaniards confessed : and, burning the vessel, Cavendish carried the crew along with him, as the safest way to prevent tale-telling. In this vessel was found a Greek pilot well ac- quainted with the coast of Chili. THOMAS CAVENDISH. 81 On the 3d of May they landed at a small Spanish town, where they obtained a supply of bread, wine, figs, and fowls. This cruise was continued for a fortnight, and several prizes were made, from which needful supplies were obtained ; but none that aiforded the species of wealth which the captors valued. On the 20th they landed at Paita, to the amount of seventy men, took the town, drove out the inhabitants, and continued the pursuit till they came to the place whither the townspeople had conveyed their most valuable goods. Here they found twenty -five pounds of silver, with other costly com- modities. Cavendish, however, expecting an attack, had the prudence not to allow his men to encumber themselves with much spoil on their return to the ships. The town, which was regularly built and very clean, consisted of two hundred houses. It was burnt to the ground, with goods to the value of five or six thousand pounds. A ship in the harbour was also burnt, and the fleet held a course northward, and anchored at the island of Puna, in a good harbour. A Spanish sloop of two hundred and fifty tons burthen, which they found here, was sunk. They landed forthwith at the dwelling of the cacique, who was found living in a style of elegance and even magnifi- cence rarely seen among the native chiefs. His house stood near the town, by the water's edge, and contained many hand- some apartments, with verandas commanding fine prospects seaward and landward. The chief had married a beautiful Spanish woman, who was regarded as the queen of the island. She never set her foot upon the ground, holding it " too low a thing for her," but was carried abroad on men's shoul- ders in a sort of palanquin, with a canopy to shelter her from the sun and wind, and attended by native ladies and the prin- cipal men of the island. The cacique and his lady fled on the first approach of the English, carrying with them 100,000 crowns, which, from the information of a captive scout, were ascertained to have been in their possession. Induced by the information of the Indian captive. Cavendish landed on the main with an armed party, intending to surprise the fugitives ; but they once more fled, leaving the meat roasting at their fires, and their treasures could not be discovered. In a small neighbouring island the cacique had previously for safety de- posited his most valuable furniture and goods, consisting of hangings of Cordovan leather, richly painted and gilded, with the tackling of ships, nails, spikes, though it has frequently been made the subject of dispute among modern voyagers. The fame of the exploits of Cavendish, and of the great wealth which he had brought home, *' enough to buy a fair earldom," almost rivalled the accounts of Drake's wonderful voyage. Among other rumours it was said, that when he en- tered the harbour of Plymouth his sails were all of silk. In the tempest which overtook them in the channel the sails were lost; and it is probable that Cavendish might have been com- pelled to employ some of his rich Indian damasks in the home- ly office of rigging his vessel; though it is conjectured, with more feasibility, that his new suit of sails were canvass fabrica- ted of the silk-grass used in the South Seas, which, being very lustrous, might easily be mistaken for silk. The earliest leisure of Cavendish was employed in writing to his patron. Lord Hunsdon, giving an account of his pros- perous expedition. Whatever blame may in a more enhght- ened age be imputed to this navigator for the wanton outrages committed on the Spanish settlements and on the subjects of Spain, he appears to have thought himself entitled to credit for their performance. Instead, therefore, of trying to conceal these deeds, in setting forth his services for her majesty, he makes them his boast ; and doubtless they were highly esteem- ed. No better recapitulation of the events of this celebrated voyage can be found than that contained in his letter to Lord Hunsdon. " It hath pleased Almighty God," says the writer, " to suffer me to circumpass the whole globe of the world, en- tering in at the Strait of Magellan, and returning by the Cape de Buena Esperan9a* ; in which voyage I have either discov- ered or brought certain intelligence of all the rich places of the world which were ever discovered by any Christian. I navigated along the coast of Chili, Peru, and New Spain, where I made great spoils. I burnt and sunk nineteen sails of ships small and great. All the villages and towns that ever I landed at I burned and spoiled. And had I not been discov- ered upon the coast, I had taken great quantity of treasure. The matter of most profit unto me was a great ship of the king's which I took at California ; which ship came from the Phihp- pines, being one of the richest of merchandise that ever passed those seas From the Cape of California, being the utter- most part of all New Spain, I navigated to the islands of the Philippines, hard upon the coast of China, of which country I have brought such intelligence as hath not been heard of in * Cape of Good Hope. 92 THOMAS CAVENDISH. these parts : the stateliness and riches of which I fear to make report of, lest I should not be credited I found out by the way homeward the island of Santa Helena, where the Portu- guese used to relieve themselves ; and from that island God hath suffered me to return into England. All which services, with myself, I humbly prostrate at her majesty's feet, desiring the Almighty long to continue her reign among us ; for at this day she is the most famous and victorious princess that liveth in the world." The second and final expedition of Cavendish to the South Seas was as remarkable for ill fortune as his first voyage had been distinguished by uninterrupted prosperity. This fortu- nate voyage, however, which gave such strong confirmation to the hopes excited by the adventure of Drake, encouraged many to a similar attempt, and during the two years following his return several expeditions were fitted out from England, though none of them proved successful. In three years after his return. Cavendish, having, accord- ing to some accounts, spent the greater part of the riches he had acquired in the South Sea, planned an expedition for China, by Magellan's Stiaits, and upon an extensive scale. It is asserted, with as much probability, that his wealth was laid out in equipping the new squadron, with which he put to sea on the 26th of August, 1591. It consisted of " three tall ships" and two barks. As admiral of the fleet. Cavendish sailed in the Leicester galleon ; and his old ship, the Desire, was commanded by the celebrated pilot, navigator, and fortu- nate discoverer. Captain John Davis. The Roebuck, com- manded by Mr. Cook, the Black Pinnace, and a small bark named the Dainty, which belonged to Mr. Adrian Gilbert, a gentleman of Devonshire, who had been among the promoters of the discovery of the North-west Passage, completed the fleet. The two Japanese youths captured in the Acapulco ship on the former voyage accompanied Cavendish in this. tJnder the equinoctial line they were becalmed for twenty- seven days, burning beneath a hot sun, and exposed to the deadly night vapours, which threw many of the men into the scurvy. Their first capture was a Portuguese vessel, on the 2d of December, off the coast of Brazil. It was laden with sugar, small wares, and slaves. On the 5th they pillaged Placenzia, a small Portuguese set- tlement ; and on the 16th surprised the town of Santos, where the inhabitants were at mass when the party landed. Though Cavendish, both from principle and from natural disposition, never lost an opportunity of spoiling the enemy, the object of this attack was to obtain provisions ; but this design, from the THOMAS CAVENDISH. 9S negligence of the captain of the Roebuck was completely frus- trated. The Indians carried every thing away ; and next day the prisoners in the church were either set free or contrived to escape, four old men being retained as hostages till the sup- plies came in. They never appeared ; and the consequence of mismanagement and delay was, that in lying five weeks be- fore this place the provisions were wasted which should have sustained them in passing the straits, and the voyage was de- layed, by this and other causes, till they found themselves, in the beginning of the southern winter, distant from the straits, and short of stores. On the 22d of January they left Santos, burnt St. Vincent on the 23d, and next day bore for the Straits of Magellan ; Port Desire, which Cavendish had discovered on his former voyage, being appointed as a rendezvous in case of separation. On the 7th of February the fleet was overtaken by a violent gale, and next day they were separated. Davis, in the Desire, made for the appointed harbour, and in the way fell in with the Roebuck, which had suffered dreadfully. On the 6th of March these two ships reached Port Desire together, and in ten days afterward were joined by the Black Pinnace. The Dainty, the volunteer bark, returned to England, having stored herself with sugar at Santos while the other ships lay idle ; her cap- tain was in the mean while on board the Roebuck, and was left without any thing save the clothes which he wore. In the gale, which scarcely abated from the 7th of February to the middle of March, Cavendish suffered severely, and his officers and men had shown a disposition to mutiny ; so that, on rejoining the other ships on the I8th, he left the Leicester galleon in displeasure, and remained in the Desire, with Cap- tain Davis. Cavendish did not at this time complain more bitterly of the gentlemen of his own ship than he afterward violently accused Davis of having betrayed and abandoned him. His subsequent misfortunes affected his temper, and, it may be presumed, perverted his sense of justice. Though his company had not recovered the excessive fatigue and exhaus- tion caused by the late continued tempest, the galleon sailed with the fleet on the 20th, and after enduring fresh storms, all the ships made the straits on the 8th of April, and on the 14th passed in. In two days they had beat inward only ten leagues. An account is given in Purchas' Pilgrims of this most dis- astrous voyage, drawn up at sea by Cavendish, in his last ill- ness. It is addressed to Sir Tristram Gorges, whom the un- fortunate navigator appointed his executor, and is one of the most affecting narratives that ever was written, — the confes- sion, wrung in bitterness of heart, from a high-spirited, proud, 9 94 THOMAS CAVENDISH* and headstrong man, who, having set his all upon a cast, and finding himself undone, endured the deeper mortification of believing he had been the dupe of those he imphcitly trusted. Though we cannot admit the force of many of his allegations, nor the justice of his unmeasured invective, it is impossible to withhold sympathy from his extreme distress. *' We had been almost four months," says this melancholy relation, "between the coast of Brazil and the straits, being in distance not above six hundred leagues ; which is commonly run in twenty or thirty days ; but such was the adverseness of our fortune, that in coming thither we spent the summer, and found the straits, in the beginning of a most extreme winter, not durable for Christians After the month of May was come in, nothing but such flights of snow, and extremity of frosts, as in all my life I never saw any to be compared with them. This ex- tremity caused the weak men (in my ship only) to decay; for, in seven or eight days, in this extremity, there died forty men and sickened seventy, so that there were not fifteen men able to stand upon the hatches." Another relation of the voyage written by Mr. John Jane, a friend of Captain Davis, even deepens this picture of distress. The squadron, beating for above a week against the wind into the straits, and in all that time advancing only fifty leagues, now lay in a sheltered cove on the south side of the passage, and nearly opposite Cape Froward, where they remained till the 15th of May, a period of extreme suff*ering. " In this time," says Jane, "we endur- ed extreme storms with perpetual snow, where many of our men died of cursed famine and miserable cold,* not having * Purchas' Pilgrims comprehends " The admirable and strange adventures of Master Anthony Knyvet, who went with Master Cavendish in his second voyage," which for marvels, if not for invention and imagination, may rival the adventures of Sinbad the Sailor. Knyvet wandered from the ship on the coast of Brazil, and was for many years among the " Cannibals." Many is the wonderful escape from death which he makes. In the straits, pulling off his stockings One night, all his toes came with them; but this is not so bad as the fortune of one Harris, who, blowing his nose with his fingers, throws it into the fire, and never recovers it again, as Knyvet seems to have done his toes by the good offices of a surgeon whom Cavendish employed, and who cured with muttering words. In the straits he saw both giants and pigmies. The footmarks of the giants at Port Desire were four times the length of an Englishman's foot. In the straits their stature was fifteen and sixteen spans long ; and at Port Famine, or San Felipe, the desolate station of the Spanish colony, four or five thousand pigmies, with mouths reaching from ear to ear, were seen at one time, whose height was from four to five spans. Some of Kny vet's marvels relate to the singular subject of demoni- ac possession and satanic influence among the tribes with whom he sojourn- ed. These accounts, and others of tlie elder voyagers are not materially different from those which we receive of the South Sea islanders at tlie THOMAS CAVENDISH. 95 wherewith to cover their bodies, nor to fill their belly, but liv- ing by muscles, water, and weeds of the sea, with a small relief from the ship's stores of meal sometimes." Nor was this the worst; " All the sick men in the galleon were most uncharita- bly put on shore into the woods, in the snow, wind, and cold, when men of good health could scarcely endure it, where they ended their lives in the highest degree of misery." Though Cavendish was still on board the Desire, it is impossible to free him of the blame of this inhuman abandonment of the sick. A consultation was now held, at which Davis, who had had great experience of the severities of the seasons in the north-west voyages, declared for pushing forward, as the weather must speedily improve ; while Cavendish preferred the attempt of reaching China by doubling the Cape of Good Hope. For this voyage, however, the other commanders thought there were neither provisions nor equipments. At length, on a petition by the whole company being presented to Cavendish, he agreed to return to the coast of Brazil for sup- plies, and, thus furnished, again to attempt the straits. On the 15th of May they accordingly sailed eastward, and on the midnight of the 20th, Davis in the Desire, and the Black Pinnace, were separated from the galleon, to which Cavendish had now returned. They never met again, and Cavendish, to the last moment of his unhappy life, accused Davis of having wilfully abandoned him. This treacherous desertion, if such it was, — and by the friends of Davis it is strenuously denied, took place in the latitude of Port Desire, for which harbour Davis stood in, and also the Black Pinnace, expecting, as they at least pretended, to find the general. Here they took in water, and obtained at ebb-tide muscles, and with hooks made of pins caught smelts, and thus spared their slender stock of provisions. An effort made by Davis to go in search of the captain- general in the pinnace was overruled, it is alleged, by the ship's company, who would not permit its departure. They are even charged with open mutiny, and two ringleaders are named. To clear himself of all suspicion, Davis, on the 2d of June, drew up a relation of the voyage, of the separation, and of the f^tate of the two ships lying here, which all the men subscribed. present time, and which we are assured by Ellis some of the early missiona- ries were disposed to believe. On his return to England, Master Knyvet told Purchas, that he once heard an Indian conferring with the Spirit which possessed him, and threatening that, if it did not use him better, he would turn Christian; the Spirit took the hint and left hinj. '0S THOMAS CAVENDISH. It certainly goes far to exonerate him. They remained in Port Desire till the 6th of August, keeping watch on the hills for the galleon ancj the Roebuck ; one part of the company foraging for provisions of any kind that could be obtained, while others made nails, bolts, and ropes from an old cable, and thus sup- plied their wants in the best manner they could devise. There are, however, surmises, that all this labour was undertaken that Davis might be able to accomplish his great object of passing the straits, whatever became of the general, and what- ever might have been his wishes or orders. After this refitting was accomplished, it was accordingly resolved to await the coming of Cavendish in the straits, for which, having at Pen- guin Isle salted twenty hogsheads of seals, they sailed on the night of the 7th of August, " the poorest wretches that ever were created." Several times they obtained a sight of the South Sea, and were driven back into the straits. While tossed about, they were on the 14th driven in " among certain islands never be- fore discovered by any known relation, lying fifty leagues or better off the shore, east and northerly from the straits." These were the Falkland Islands, of which Captain Davis certainly has the honour of being the original discoverer, as he had already been of the straits which still go by his name, and of other ports in the north seas. This discovery was shortly afterward claimed by Sir Richard Hawkins, who gave these islands the name of Hawkins' Maiden Land, "for that it was discovered in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, my sovereign lady, and a maiden queen." The discovery of these islands has been claimed by the navigators of other countries, and a varie- ty of names have been imposed upon them. Burney christens them anew " Davis' Southern Islands," a distinction to which that celebrated navigator is fully entitled, though it will not be easy to change a name so established as that of the Falkland Islands. On the 2d of October they got into the South Sea once more, and in the same night encountered a severe gale, which continued with unabated violence for many days. On the 4th the pinnace was lost: on the 5th the foresail was split and all torn ; " and the mizzen was brought to the foremast to make our ship work, the storm continuing beyond all descrip- tion in fury, with hail, snow, rain, and wind, such and so mighty as that in nature it could not possibly be more ; the sea such and so lofty with continual breach, that many times we were doubtful whetlier our ship did sink or swim." The rela- tion proceeds thus, with earnest pathetic simplicity : — " The 10th of October, being, by the account of our captain and mas- ter, very near the shore, the vreather dark, the storm furious, THOMAS CAVENDISH. 97 and most of our men having given over to travail, we yielded ourselves to death without farther hope of succour. Our cap- lain (Davis) sitting in the gallery very pensive, I came and brought him some Rosa Solis to comfort him, for he was so cold he was scarce able to move a joint. After he had drunk, and was comforted in heart, he began for the ease of his con- science to make a large repetition of his forepassed time, and with many grievous sighs he concluded in these words : — ' Oh most glorious God, with whose power the mightiest things among men are matters of no moment, I most humbly beseech thee, that the intolerable burden of my sins may through the blood of Jesus Christ be taken from me ; and end our days with speed, or show us some merciful sign of thy love and our preservation.'* Having thus ended, he desired me not to make known to the company his intolerable grief and anguish of mind, because they should not thereby be dismayed; and suddenly, before I went from him, the sun sliined clear; so that he and the master both observed the true elevation of the Pole, whereby they knew by what course to recover the strait." The narrative goes on to relate a wonderful instance of preservation in doubling a cape at the mouth of the strait on the 11th of October. They at last put back into the strait in a most pitiable con- dition, the men " with their sinews stiff, their flesh dead," and in a state too horrible to be described. They found shelter and rest in a cove for a few days, but famine urged them on, and the weather, after a short interval of calm, became as stormy as before. " The storm growing outrageous, our men could scarcely stand by their labour; and the straits being full of turning reaches, we were constrained, by the discretion of the captain and master in their accounts, to guide the ship in the hell-dark night when we could not see any shore." In this extremity they got back to Port Desire, and obtained wood and water ; and in Penguin Island found abundance of birds. One day, while most of the men were absent on their several duties, a multitude of the natives showed themselves, throwing dust upon their heads, " leaping and running like brute beasts, having vizards on their faces, like dogs' faces, or else their faces are dogs' faces indeed. We greatly feared lest they should set the ship on fire, for they would suddenly make fire, whereat we much marvelled.t They came to windward of our * Our readers will remember the admirable use which De Foe has made of this scene. tin New Guinea Captain Cook saw a peculiar mode of "suddenly ma- king fire," probably, however, very different from this. "Three Indians 9* 9S THOMAS CAVENDISH. ship, and set the bushes on fire, so that we were in a very stinking smoke ; but as soon as tliey came within reacli of our shot we shot at them, and striking one of them in the thigh they all presently fled, and we never saw them more." At this place a party of nine men were killed by the Indians, or were presumed to be so, as they went on shore, and were nev- er again heard of. The relation points out, that " these were the mutineers, and this the place at which they had formerly devised mischief" against Davis and his officers. Here they made salt by pouring salt-water in the hollows of the rocks, which in six days was granulated from evaporation by the heat of the sun. They found abundance of food, in eggs, pen- guins, seals, and young gulls; and with train-oil fried scurvy- grass with eggs, "which (herb) took away all kinds of swell- ings, whereof many had died, and restored us to perfect health of body, so that we were in as good case as when we left Eng- land." " Thus God did feed us, as it were, with manna from heaven." On the 22d of December they sailed for Brazil with a stock of fourteen thousand dried penguins, of which they had an ample allowance, though their other provision was scantily dealt out. In the beginning of February, in attempting by violence to obtain some provisions at the Isle of Placenzia, on the coast of Brazil, thirteen of the men were killed by the In- dians and Portuguese ; and of an original company of seventy only twenty-seven were now left in the Desire. They were again the sport of baffling winds ; the water ran short, and in the warm latitudes the penguins, their sole dependence for food, began to corrupt, " and ugly loathsome worms of an inch long were bred in them." The account of this plague is pain- fully striking. " This worm did so mightily increase and de- vour our victuals, that there was in reason no hope how we should avoid famine, but be devoured of the wicked creatures. There was nothing that they did not devour, iron only except- ed, — our clothes, hats, boots, shirts, and stockings. And for the ship, they did eat the timbers ; so that we greatly feared they would undo us by eating through the ship's side. Great was the care and dihgence of our captain, master, and compa- ny to consume these vermin; but the more we laboured to kill them, the more they increased upon us ; so that at last we rushed out of a wood with a hideous shout, at about the distance of one hundred yards ; and as they ran towards us the foremost threw sonietliing out of l)is hand, whicii burnt exactly Hke gunpowder, but made no report. What these fires were we could not imagine." "We saw fire and smoke resembling those of a musket, and of no longer duration." THOMAS CAVENDISH. 99 could not sleep for them, for they would eat our flesh like mos- quitoes." The men now fell into strange and horrible diseases, and some became raging mad. A supply of water was, how- ever, obtained from the heavy rains which fell ; and this was the only solace of this most miserable voyage. Eleven died between the coast of Brazil and Bear Haven in Ireland ; and of the sixteen that survived only five were able to work the ship. If the design of Davis had been treacherously to aban- don Mr. Cavendish, he was subjected to speedy and severe retribution. To this unfortunate commander we must now return ; and brief space may suffice to relate a series of calamities which might weary the attention and exhaust the sympathies of even the most compassionate reader. The conjecture which Caven- dish formed of the proceedings of Davis and the captain of the Black Pinnace was perfectly correct. He states in his letter that he believed they would return to Port Desire, — a safe place of anchorage for ships of small burthen, though not such as he could safely approach, — and there refresh them- selves, lay in a store of seals and birds, and seize a favourable season to pass the straits. And they did so. In speaking of Davis and of his conduct. Cavendish exclaims, " And now to come to that villian that hath been the death of me and the decay of this whole action, — I mean Davis, — whose only treachery in running from me hath been utter ruin of all, if any good return by him, as ever you love me, make such friends as he, least of all others, may reap least gain. I assure my- self you will be careful in all friendship of my last requests. My debts which be owing be not much ; but I (most unfortu- nate villain!) was matched with the most abject-minded and mutinous company that ever was carried out of England by any man living." — " The short of all is this, — Davis' only intent was utterly to overthrow me, which he hath well per- formed." After the Desire and the Black Pinnace separated from the fleet, the Leicester galleon and Roebuck shaped their course for Brazil, keeping sight of each other. In 36^ S. they en- countered a dreadful storm, and were parted. For some time the galleon lay at anchor in the Bay of St. Vincent's ; and while here a party, almost in open defiance of the orders of Cavendish, landed to forage for provisions, and plunder the houses of the Portuguese farmers on the coast. They were wholly cut off*, to the number of twenty-four men and an offi- cer ; and the only boat which Cavendish had now left was thus lost. 100 THOMAS CAVENDISH. The Roebuck about this time returned without masts or sails, and " in the most miserable case ever ship was in." The captain-general felt the want of the boats and pinnace doubly severe, from being unable in the larger ships to enter the harbours, which were often barred, to be revenged on the " base dogs" who had killed his men. At some risk he made an attempt to go up the river before the town, that he might have the gratification of razing it ; but was compelled by his company to desist from an attempt which " was both desperate and most dangerous." With some difficulty they got back into deep water, and with the boat of the Roebuck and a crazy boat seized from the Portuguese, a party landed, which de- stroyed a few of the farm-houses, and got some provisions. It was now the intention of Cavendish to break up the Roe- buck, and with the Leicester galleon, as Davis never appeared, return to the straits alone. But of this purpose he did not venture to inform his company, lest they might have broken out into open mutiny. So great was their horror of returning, "that all of the better sort," he says, " had taken an oath upon the Bible to die rather than go back." St. Helena was there- fore the point now talked of; and in the mean while an at- tempt was made to seize three Portuguese ships in the harbour of Spirito Santo. The plan of attack was unsuccessful. Of eighty armed men who left the ship on this ill-starred expedi- tion, about thirty-eight were killed and forty wounded. Among the killed was Captain Morgan, an officer whom Cavendish highly esteemed, who in this expedition was taunted into the commission of acts of foolhardy daring by the insulting speeches of those whom he led ; a weakness which, despite of their better judgment, has often proved fatal to brave men, as well as to the rash persons themselves whose ignorance and vanity tempt them to become the critics and censors of enter- prises of which they cannot comprehend the danger. Inabili- ty to endure the imputation of cowardice is indeed one of the most lamentable infirmities of noble minds. On the present occasion some of the seamen swore, " that they never thought other than that Morgan was a coward that durst not land upon a bauble ditch ;" upon which, willfully running upon what he saw to be certain destruction, he declared that he would land happen what would, and though against the counsel of his commander, who remained in the ship. The consequences have been told. One circumstance strongly moved the generous indignation of Cavendish. A party with the great boat called to another, which were attempting to storm a fort, to come and help them THOMAS CAVENDISH. 101 to hasten off, as they were exposed to a galling fire. The numbers that rushed into the boat ran her aground, and ten men were obhged to leave her, who, to save themselves from the Indian arrows which flew thick, again ran in under the fort, and poured in a volley of musketry. Meiwiwhile the boat was got afloat, " and one that was master of the Roebuck (the most cowardly villain that ever was born of a woman !) caused them in the boat to row away, and so left those brave men a spoil to the Portugals. Yet they waded up to their necks in the water to them ; but those merciless villains in the boat would have no pity on them. Their excuse was, that the boat was so full of water that had they come in she would have sunk with them all in her. Thus vilely were those poor men lost." By the fatal adventure which he has thus narrated. Caven- dish, already in want of every necessary, was left with hardly as many efficient men as could raise the anchor. To add to his already accumulated misfortunes the Roebuck forsook him, the company of that ship being resolved to return home ; and though the wounded lay in his vessel, they carried off the two surgeons and a great part of the common stores. In these dis- tressing circumstances he got to the small uninhabited island of St. Sebastian, where he mended the old boats, and obtained a seasonable supply of water, of which they were in great want. Again Cavendish spoke of returning to the straits, and used all the arts of persuasion with his company, but in vain. He showed them that they could " relieve themselves by salting seals and birds, &.c. ; and further, should they get through the straits, (which they might easily perform, con- sidering they had the chiefest part of the summer before them,) they could not but make a most rich voyage ; and that we should be the most infamous in the world, being within six hundred leagues of the place where we so much desired, — to return home again so far being most infamous and beggarly. These persuasions," continues Cavendish, " took no place with them ; but most boldly they aU affirmed that they had sworn they would never again go to the straits ; neither by no means would they. And one of the chiefest of tins faction most proudly and stubbornly uttered these words to my face, in presence of all the rest ; which I seeing, and finding mine own faction to be so weak, (for there were not any favoured my side but my poor cousin Locke, and the master of the ship,) I took this bold companion by the bosom, and with mine own hands put a rope about his neck, meaning resolutely to strangle him, for weapon about me I had none. His com- panions, seeing one of their chief champions in this case,. 10i THOMAS CAVENDISH. and perceiving me go roundly to work with him, they all came to the master and desired him to speak, affirming, they would all be ready to take any course I thought good of; so I, hear- ing this, stayed myself, and let the fellow go." Having now,boldly avowed his intention of returning to the straits. Cavendish landed on the island with a party of his soldiers and the carpenters, to new-build the boat, while the sailors on board mended and patched up the rigging and tackle of the ship. But he still suspected his men of treache- ry, and of tlie intention of deserting, and was in constant anx- iety to get them once more on board, that the ship might depart for the straits. Before this could be accomplished, Cavendish, whom Fortune never wearied of persecuting, sustained another severe mischance. The wounded men were on shore on the island, which lay about a mile from the mainland, from whence the Portuguese watched all the proceedings of the ship's company during the building of the boat. Before all the wood and water were got in, and while some soldiers and seamen were still on the island, an Irishman, " a noble villain," contrived to go over to the continent upon a raft, and betray his defenceless comrades to the Portuguese. This was done in the night-time ; and besides those employed on the island, and the sick, there chanced to be several men ashore, who frequently stole away from the ship at night to enjoy the free- dom of the land. AH were indiscriminately butchered. One of the few remaining sails which lay here was also seized, and in their distressed circumstances proved another serious loss. " Thus," says the luckless adventurer, " I was forced to de- part. Fortune never ceasing to lay her greatest adversities upon me. And now I am grown so weak that I am scarce able to hold the pen in my hand ; wherefore I must leave you to in- quire of the rest of our most unhappy proceedings. But know this, that for the strait I could by no means get my company to give their consent to go. In truth, I desired nothing more than to attempt that course, rather desiring to die in gomg for- ward than basely in returning back again ; but God would not suffer me to die so happy a man." These " unhappy pro- ceedings" to which he refers, may, so far as they are known, be very briefly noticed. An attempt was made to reach the island of St. Helena, for which the company had reluctantly consented to steer only on Cavendish solemnly declaring that to England he would never go ; and that, if they refused to take such courses as he intended, the *' ship and all should sink in the seas together." This for a time made them more tractable ; but having beat to 20° S. they refused to proceed farther, choosing rather to die where they were, "than be THOMAS CAVENDISH. 103 Starved in searching for an island which could never be found again." They were, however, once more induced to proceed southward, and in dreadful weather beat back to 28° S., and stood for St. Helena, which was most unhappily missed, owing to contrary winds and the unskilfulness of the sailing-master. One more effort this unfortunate commander made to induce his mutinous crew to regain the island, alarming them with the scarcity of provisions ; but they unanimously replied, " that they would be perished to death rather than not make for England." It is believed that Mr. Cavendish did not long survive the events recorded above ; and it is certain that he died before the ship reached England. His letter, from which we have quoted, was not closed when the galleon reached 8^ N. From its commencement, — and it must have been written at many different sittings, — Cavendish had considered himself a dying man. It opens with great tenderness : — " Most loving friend, there is nothing in this world that makes a truer trial of friend- ship, than at death to show mindfulness of love and friendship, which now you shall make a perfect experience of; desiring you to hold my love as dear, dying poor, as if I had been most infinitely rich. The success of this most unfortunate action, the bitter torments whereof lie so heavy upon me, as with much pain am I able to write these few lines, much less to make discourse to you of all the adverse haps that have be- fallen me in this voyage, the least whereof is my death." He adverts to the illness of" a most true friend, whom to name my heart bleeds," who, like himself became the victim of the com- plicated distresses of this voyage. After the crowning misfor- tune of missing St. Helena, he says, " And now to tell you of my greatest grief, which was the sickness of my dear kinsman John Locke, who by this time was grown in great weakness, by reason whereof he desired rather quietness and contented- ness in our course, than such continual disquietness as never ceased me. And now by this, what with grief for him and the continual trouble I endured among such hellhounds, my spirits were clean spent, wishing myself upon any desert place in the world, there to die, rather than thus basely return home again. Which course, I swear to you, I had put in execution, had I found an island which the cards (charts) make to be in 8° S. of the line. I swear to you I sought it with all diligence, meaning there to have ended my most unfortunate life. But God suffered not such happiness to light upon me, for I could by no means find it ; so, as I was forced to go towards Eng- land, and having got eight degrees by the north of the line, I lost my most dearest cousin. And now consider, whether a 101 THOMAS CAVENDISH. heart made of flesh be able to endure so many misfortunes, all falling upon me without intermission. And I thank my God, that in ending me he hath pleased to rid me of all farther troubles and mishaps." The rest of the letter refers to his pri- vate concerns, and especially to the discharge of his debts and the arrangement of his affairs for this purpose, — an act of friendship which he expected from the kindness of the gentle- man he addressed. It then takes an affecting farewell of life, and of the friend for whom he cherished so warm an aff'ection. In his two voyages. Cavendish experienced the greatest ex- tremes of fortune ; his first adventure being even more brilhant and successful than the last — chiefly through the bad disci- pline and evil dispositions of his company — was disastrous and unhappy. Cavendish was still very young when he died. No naval commander ever more certainly sunk under the disease to which so many brave men have fallen victims, — a broken heart. In many things his conduct discovered the rashness and impetuosity of youth, and the want of that temper and self-command which are among the first qualities of a naval chief. The reproach of cruelty, or at least of culpable indif- ference to the claims of humanity, which, from transactions in both voyages, and especially in the first, must rest upon his memory, ought in justice to be shared with the age in which he lived, and the state of moral feelmg among the class to which he belonged by birth. By the aristocracy " the vulgar," " the common sort," were still regarded as creatures of a dif- ferent and inferior species ; while among seamen the destruc- tion of Spaniards and " Portugals" was regarded as a positive virtue. By all classes, negroes, Indians, and gentiles were held in no more esteem than brute animals, — human life as existing in beings so abject being regarded as of no value what- ever. But if Cavendish was tinged with the faults of his class, he partook largely of its virtues, — high spirit, courage, and in- trepidity. Those who might be led to judge of some points of his conduct with strictness, will be disposed to lenity by the recollection of his suff*erings. As an English navigator his name is imperishable. WILLIAM DAMPIER. Captain William Dampier, whose eventful life forms the next subject of our work, was so long and so intimately asso- ciated with the Bucaniers of America, that a brief account of this extraordinary brotherhood is almost indispensably neces- sary as an introduction to the adventures and discoveries of this eminent navigator. The term Bucanier is said to be derived from boucan, a word employed by the €arib Indians to designate meat taken in hunting; the first bucaniers having been eminently devoted to the pursuits of the chase. The association which was distinguished by this name, owed its origin to the selfish and monopolizing policy of the Span- iards, who desirous of appropriating the commerce with their West India colonies, entirely to themselves, adopted a system of interference with the vessels of every other nation that ventured near the tropic, thus giving rise to the well known 106 WILLIAM DAMPIER. maxim of the Bucaniers, "No peace beyond the Line." The Bucaniers consisted chiefly of French and Enghsh traders, who smuggled goods into the Spanish possessions in Soutli America and the West Indies, and who from trafficking on the coast, and occasionally foraging for provisions for their vessels on these uninhabited shores, from time to time adopted the hunter's life, and ranged at will throughout the forests and wilds of the New World. In time of peace this assemblage of bold and dissolute men followed their occupation of hunters, smugglers, and pirates, and in time of war held commissions as privateers from the governments of their respective coun- tries; indeed Dampier and others always spoke of the indi- vidual members of the brotherhood as privateers, while they named their vocation of piracy privateering. The Bucaniers, from individual efforts of hostility to Spain, and from acts of single commanders with a few volunteers under their control, at length attained to such a system of organization, as to form distinct settlements in the West India islands, and became dis- tinguished by laws, manners, and customs, peculiar to tliem- selves, originating in the necessities and exigencies of their condition. They held their property in common, and as they had no domestic ties, neither wife, nor child, nor sister, nor brother, being known among them, the want of family relations was supplied by strict comradeship, one partner attending to household duties while the other was engaged in the peculiar duties of their vocation. Their chief virtue was courage ; the fear of the gallows which had frequently converted the thief into a murderer, made the Bucanier a hero and a savage. They were remarkable for extraordinary hardihood, and the habit and power of extreme endurance, but their long seasons of entire privation were always followed by scenes of the most brutal excess. Their grand principle was fidelity ; and the maxim of "honour among thieves," was never more scrupu- lously observed than among them. The most able and brave was chosen their commander, but all the fighting men assisted at their councils. The same power which chose their leader could displace him, and this was frequently done. They sometimes settled personal quarrels by duels, but offences against the fraternity were visited by different punishments, as death, abandonment on a desert island, and simple expulsion from the fraternity. A party being agreed upon for a cruise, the day and place of embarkation was fixed, and every man repaired on board the ship with a specified quantity of powder and shot. The next concern was to procure provisions, which consisted chiefly of pork. Many of the Spaniards raised large herds of WILLIAM DAMPIER. 107 swine for the supply of the planters, and from their yards abundance was procured, with no trouble save that in which the ferocious Bucaniers dehghted— robbery often accompanied with murder. Turtle slightly salted, was another article of the food which they stored, and for beeves and wild hogs they trusted to their fire-arms. Bread they seldom tasted, and at sea never thought about, though in later periods they some- times procured supplies of cassada, maize and potatoes. Of this food every man ate generally twice a day, or at his own pleasure, and without limitation ; there being in this respect no distinction between the commander and the meanest sea- man. The vessel fairly victualled, a final council was held which determined the destination of the cruise and the plan of operations ; and articles were generally drawn up and sub- scribed which regulated the division of the spoils. The car- penter, the sail-maker, the surgeon, were in the first place paid out of the common stock. Wounds were next considered ; the value of the right arm, the most useful member of the Bucanier's body, being reckoned equal to six slaves, and the eye and fingers to one slave. The remainder was equally shared, save that the captain besides his specific agreement, had five shares and his mate two. Boys had half a share. The first maxim in the code of the Bucanier, dictated by neces- sity was, " no prey, no pay." The dress of these rufiians was well suited to their ferocious and brutal character. It consist- ed of a shirt dipped in the blood of the cattle hunted and kill- ed; trousers prepared in the same rude manner; buskins without stockings, a cape with a small front, and a leathern girdle, into which were stuck knives, sabres, and pistols. Such was the bloody and complete equipment of a Bucanier. Among the most distinguished of these merciless villains, w^ere Pierre Francois, Pierre Legrand, Bartholomew Portu- gues, Lewis Scot, the first land-pirate, Mansvelt, John Davies, Lolonnois, and Montbar, distinguished among the fraternity by pre-eminence in crime, and the infamous Captain Sir Hen- ry Morgan. Pierre Legrand with a boat carrying four small pieces, and twenty men captured a Spanish galleon, the vice-admiral of the fleet. The manner in which the capture was made affords a fair specimen of bucaniering daring and warfare. The boat, in which the men lay concealed, had been seen by the galleon all day, and one of the men had warned the captain of his suspicion of a nest of pirates lurking in the distant speck. The Spaniard haughtily and carelessly replied, "And what then? shall I be afraid of so pitiful a thing? no, though she were as good a ship as my own." He probably thought no 108 WILLIAM DAMPIER. more of the circumstance till seated at cards with his friend* the same evening, he saw the Bucaniers rush into his cabin, having already overpowered the crew. Nor had the task proved difficult. Pierre and his company had kept aloof till dusk, when they made for the galleon with all the force of oars. The game wa» for death, ignominious death, slavery in the mines, or for vic- tory and fortune. To render their courage desperate, Pierre had ordered the surgeon to bore holes in the side of the boat,, that no other footing might he left to hi& men than the decks of the Spaniard. This was directly performed while each man armed with a sword and pistols, climbed the sides of the ship. While one party rushed into the cabin, and presented their pistols to the officers, who sat at cards, another seized the gun room, cutting down whoever stood in their way. As the Spaniards had been completely surprised, but little opposi- tion was offered ; the ship surrendered and was carried into France. Bartholomew Portugues, cruising from Jamaica, with a boat carrying four small pieces and thirty men, captured a ship of twenty great guns, with a crew of seventy men. Mansvelt conceived the design of forming an independent Bucanier establishment, holding neither of France, England, nor Holland, which should afford a place of safe retreat to the freebooters of every nation, but he died before he could carry his design into effect. But in the annals of the sea-rovers no names are to be found more terrible than those of Lolonnois and Montbar. The former was a monster in human form, rather than a merely cruel man. This Bucanier commander of whom almost in- credible atrocities are related, is said to have frequently thrown overboard the crews of the ships which he took. He is said to have struck off the heads of eighty prisoners with his own hand, refreshing himself by sucking the blood of the victims as it trickled down his sabre. It is even related, that in trans- ports of frantic cruelty, he has been known to tear out and de- vour the hearts of those who fell by his hand, and to pluck out the tongues of others. To this monster cruelty was an affair of calculation as weU as of delight. At length after experiencing a train of disasters, this infamous wretch fell into the hands of certain Indians of the Darien, a fierce and cruel tribe, who were not unacquainted with the atrocities of the Bucaniers. By them he was torn alive limb from limb, — his body con- sumed, and the ashes scattered abroad, to the intent that no trace, nor memory might remain of such an infamous creature. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 109 The character of Montbar is more romantic if not more humane. Montbar was a native of Languedoc, in France, who from reading in his youth of the horrible cruehies of the Spaniards upon the Mexicans and Caribs, imbibed a hatred of the whole Spanish nation, which possessed him like a frensy. It is however somewhat strange that the impulse which led this singular person to join the ranks of the Bucaniers urged him to the commission of worse cruelties than those which he reprobated. His comrades were often merciless from the lust of gold ; but Spanish blood was the sole passion of Montbar. It is related by Raynal, that while at college, in acting the part of a Frenchman who quarrels with a Spaniard, he assault- ed the youth who personated an individual of that hated na- tion with such fury that he had well nigh strangled him. His imagination was perpetually haunted by the shapes of multi- tudes of persons butchered by monsters from Spain, who called upon him to revenge them. While on his passage outward to league himself with the brethren of the coast, the inveterate enemies of Spain, the vessel in which he sailed fell in with a Spanish ship, and captured it. No sooner had the French- men boarded the vessel, than Montbar, with his sabre drawn, twice rushed along the decks, cutting his frantic way through the ranks of Spaniards, whom he swept down. While his comrades divided the booty acquired by his prowess, Montbar gloated over the mangled limbs of the detested people against whom he had vowed everlasting and deadly hate. From this and similar actions he acquired the name of the Exterminator. Captain Sir Henry Morgan, as he is called, was of a most sordid and brutal character, selfish and cunning without any spark of the reckless generosity which sometimes graced the freebooter and contrasted with his crimes. The enterprises of Morgan, who was at once ambitious and greedy, display ca- pacity, coolness and daring. His next attempt combined all these quahties in a remarkable degree. With nine ships and boats and four hundred and sixty of his countrymen, he re- solved to assault Porto Bello ; but did not venture to disclose so bold a design till it was no longer advisable to conceal it. To those who then objected that their force was inadequate to the attack, Morgan boldly replied, " That though their num- bers were small, their hearts were good ; and the fewer the warriors the larger the shares of plunder." This last was an irresistible argument ; and this strongly -fortified city was car- ried by a handful of resolute men, who never scrupled at cru- elty needful to the accomphshment of their object, and often revelled in the wantonness of unnecessary crime. The first fort or castle was deliberately blown up by fire being set to the 10* 110 WILLIAM DAMPIER. powder magazine, after* many miserable prisoners, whose mangled limbs soon darkened the air, had been huddled inta one room. Resistance was still attempted by the Spaniards, which greatly exasperated the besiegers, as it was into the forts which held out, that the wealthy inhabitants had retired with their treasures and valuables. One strong fort it was ne- cessary to carry without delay ; and bioad scaling-ladders be- ing constructed, Morgan compelled his prisoners to fix them to the walls. Many of those employed in this office were priests and nuns dragged for this purpose from the cloisters. These, it was thought, their countrymen would spare ; while under their protection the Bucaniers might advance without being exposed to the fire of the castle. In these trying cir- cumstances, forgetting the claims of country, and the sacred character of the innocent persons exposed to sufferings so un- merited, the Spanish governor consulted only his official duty ; and while the unhappy prisoners of the Bucaniers implored his mercy, continued to pour shot upon all who approached the walls, whether pirates, or the late peaceful inhabitants of the cloisters, his stem answer being that he would never sur- render alive. Many of the friars and nuns were killed before the scaling-ladders could be fixed; but that done, the Buca- niers, carrying with them fire balls and pots full of gunpowder^ boldly mounted the walls, poured in their combustibles, and speedily effected an entrance. All the Spaniards demanded quarter except the governor, who died fighting, in presence of his wife and daughter, declaring that he chose rather to die a* a brave soldier, than be hanged like a coward. The next act in the horrid drama of bucaniering conquest, followed rapidly ; pillage, cruelty, brutal license, — ^the freebooters giving them- selves up to so mad a course of riot and debauchery that fifty resolute men might have cut them off and regained the town^ had the panic struck Spaniards been able to form any rational plan of action, or to muster a force. During these fifteen days of demoniac revel, interrupted only by torturing the prisoners to make them give up treasures which they did not possess, many of the Bucaniers died from the consequences of their own brutal excesses, and Morgan deemed it expedient to draw off his force. Information had by this time reached the Governor of Panama ; and though aid was distant from the miserable inhabitants of Porto Bello, it might still come. Morgan, therefore, carried off a good many of the guns, spiked the rest, fully supplied his ships with every necessary store, and having already plundered all that was possible, insolently demanded an exhorbitant ransom for the preservation of the city and for his prisoners, and prepared to depart from the coast. These I WILLIAM DAMPIER. Ill terms he even sent to the Governor of Panama, who was ap- proachmg the place, and whose force the Biicaniers intercept- ed in a narrow pass, and compelled to retreat. The inhabi- tants collected among themselves a hundred thousand pieces of eight, which Morgan graciously accepted, and retired to hi& ships. The astonishment of the Governor of Panama at so small a force carrying the town and the forts, and holding them so long, induced him, it is said, to send a message to the Buca- nier leader, requesting a specimen of the arms which he used. Morgan received the messenger with civility, gave him a pis- tol and a few bullets, and ordered him to bid the president to accept of so slender a pattern of the weapons with which he had taken Porto Bello, and to keep it for a twelvemonth, at the end of which time he (Morgan) proposed to come to Panama to fetch it away. The governor returned the loan with a gold ring, and requested Morgan not to give himself the trouble of travelling so far, certifying to him that he would not fare so' well as he had done at Porto Bello, On this subject Morgan formed and afterward acted upon his own opinions. In the mean while the spoils were divided at the Keys of Cuba. The booty amounted to 250,000 pieces of eight, besides goods of all kinds, including silks, linen, cloth, and many things that found a ready market in Jamaica, for which Bucaniers' paradise the fleet next sailed, to fit them- selves for a fresh expedition by a month's carousing, and the prodigal expenditure of the fruits of their toils and crimes. This exploit, in which so few men, and those armed only with pistols and sabres, had taken a large fortified city, raised the character of Morgan as a commander higher than ever ; and his invitation to the Brethren of the Coast to meet him at the Isla de la Vaca, or Cow Island, which was appointed as a rendezvous preparatory to another cruise, was so eagerly ac- cepted that he found himself at the head of a considerable force. A large French bucaniering vessel, which refused to join this expedition, he obtained by fraud. Inviting the com- mander and several of the best men to dine with him, under some frivolous pretext he made them prisoners. But Morgan did not reap much advantage from this act of treachery. While the men whom he had placed in the ship were carous- ing, celebrating the commencement of another cruise, it sud- denly blew up, and three hundred and fifty Enghshmen and the French prisoners perished together. This accident, so disastrous to Morgan, was imputed to the revengeful spirit of the Frenchmen confined in the hold. The true character of the sordid Bucanier was never more strongly displayed than in lid WILLIAM DAiMPIER. the way which Morgan tried to make the best for himself of this mischance. When eight days of mourning had elapsed, he made the dead bodies be fished up, stripped of clothes, linen, and of the gold rings which Bucaniers often wore, and then be thrown back into the sea to feed the sharks. Morgan had now a fleet of fifteen ships, some of which he owed to the kindness of the Governor of Jamaica, who conni- ved at, or took a share in, such adventures. His force consist- ed of 1000 fighting-men. Several of his vessels were armed, and his own carried 14 guns. With these, which, however, through discontent, diminished a full half on the way, he sha- ped his course for the devoted cities of Gibralter and Maracai- bo, formerly visited by Lolonnois, which were once more ta- ken and plundered. At the former place the cruelties of Mor- gan exceeded, if that were possible, the enormities of the French pirate. Such of the inhabitants as fled to the woods and were retaken, were tortured with fiendlike ingenuity to make them discover their wealth. It would be painful and revolting to dwell upon the black record of the atrocities per- petrated here. So much time had been consumed at Gibraltar, that Mor- gan, when about to withdraw, found himself in a snare, from which it required all his talent and presence of mind to extri- cate the Bucanier fleet. Coolness and readiness were, how- ever, the famiUar qualities of men whose lives were a series of perils and escapes, and whose natural element was danger ; and they never were more admirably displayed than by Mor- gan and his men at this time. In the interval spent by the Bucaniers in pillage and debau- chery at Gibraltar, the Spaniards had repaired the fort which protected the passage of the lake or lagune of Maracaibo, and stationed three men of war at the entrance, whose vigilance it was conceived impossible the pirates could escape. These vessels carried, one twenty, another thirty, and the third forty guns. Putting a bold face upon his embarassing situation, Morgan, with the audacity natural to him, and which was one of his instruments of success, sent a message to the Spanish admiral, demanding a ransom as the only condition on which the city could be preserved. To this insolent vaunt the Span- iard replied, that though the Bucanier commander had taken the castle from a set of cowards, it was now in a good state of defence ; and that he not only intended to dispute the egress from the lagune, but to pursue the pirates everywhere. If, however, they chose to give up the prisoners and the slaves they had taken, they would be permitted to pass forth unmo- lested. This reply was as usual submitted to a full council of WILLIAM DAMPIER. 113 Bucaiiiers, and at this assembly one of their number suggested the stratagem by which Morgan in the first place destroyed the Spanish men of war. One of the Bucanier vessels was pre- pared as a fireship, and at the same time was made to wear the appearance of a vessel ready for action. Logs were pla- ced in rows on the decks, on which clothes, hats, and Montero caps were placed ; and these decoy-figures were also armed with swords and muskets. When this was done, the plate, jewels, female prisoners, and whatever was of most value to the Bucaniers, were placed in their large boats, each of which carried twelve armed men. These boats were to follow the fireship, which led the van ; an oath was exacted from each Bucanier of resistance to the last, and the refusal of quarter from the Spaniards ; and ample rewards were promised for valour and firmness. Next evening the fleet sailed, and about dusk came up with the Spanish ships riding at anchor in the middle of the lagune. The Bucanier vessels also anchored, resolved to await here the eff'ect of their stratagem, and either to fight, escape, or perish. No attack was offered that night, and they lay in quiet till dawn, when the anchors were weigh- ed, and they steered directly towards the Spanish ships, which advanced as if to meet them. The fireship, still in advance, with all her decoys of armed men as before, came up with the largest of the Spanish vessels and grapled to her, — then the deception was first discovered, but too late for escape. The conflagration commenced. The Spanish ship caught fire in the tackhng and timbers, and the forepart of her hull soon went down. The second Spanish vessel escaped under the guns of the castle, and was sunk by her own company as a fate pre- ferable to falling a prey to the Bucaniers. The third vessel was taken. The crew of the burning ship endeavored to es- cape to the shore, and all chose rather to perish in the sea than accept of the quarter offered by the pirates. The tri- umphant Bucaniers, without losing a moment, gave chase, and immediately landed, resolving forthwith to attempt the castle ; but as they were ill armed for such an assault, and the place was well fortified and manned, they desisted from the attempt, and returned to their ships, having lost in that day's work thirty men killed and many more wounded. Though the Spanish ships were destroyed, the castle still remained to be passed ; and the Spaniards had laboured all night in completing its defences. Morgan again had recourse to stratagem. All day long, in sight of the garrison, he affect- ed to be sending boats filled with men to a point of the shore concealed from view of the castle by trees. These men re- ii4 WILLIAM DAMPIER. turned on board lying flat in the boats, where, in going back, only the rowers were visible. They mounted their ships at a side on which the Spaniards could not perceive their return. This manoeuvre was repeated, till the Spaniards believed that from the number of men landed, an attack upon the castle was meditated. This seemed the more probable, as Morgan, who had now hoisted his flag in their captured war-ship, again sent a message demanding a ransom for Maracaibo as the condi- tion of his departure. To meet the presumed movement of the Bucaniers, the guns of the castle were changed from a po- sition which commanded the lagune, and pointed to landward. As soon as he was aware of this arrangement, Morgan raised his anchors by moonlight, and favoured by the ebb tide, the wind also being favourable, pressed past the castle ; the morti- fied Spaniards trying in vain to hasten back with their pieces to bear upon him. He gave them a parting volley from his great guns, so lately their own ; and bore away for Jamaica, exulting in good fortune, enhanced likewise by what he learn- ed of the misadventures of those who had forsaken liim in the early part of the cruise. Money and credit were, as usual, quickly outrun in the taverns of Port Royal by the dissolute companions of Morgan ; and another expedition was concerted, which was to exceed all the former achievements of the sea-rovers. And no time was to be lost, as a pending treaty between Great Britain and Spain threatened forever to put an end to what their admiring countrymen termed the " unparalleled exploits of the Buca- niers." Letters were despatched by the commander to every noted Bucanier, and the south side of the island of Tortuga was named as the rendezvous. Early in October, 1670, Mor- gan found himself surrounded by pirates, hunters, cultivators, English, French, and Dutch, who, from land and sea, the plantation and the wilderness, had flocked to the standard of him who was to lead them to fortune and victory. The first duty was to victual the fleet, and this was done by pillaging tlie hog-yards, and with the houcan sent in by hunters who either joined in the expedition or traded with the pirates. The Bucanier fleet, consisting of thirty-seven vessels fully pro- visioned, next sailed for Cape Tiburon, on the west coast of Hispaniola, — the fighting men amounting to two thousand. At the general council now held, three places of attack were deliberated upon, — Vera Cruz, Carthagena, and Panama. The last and most difficult was that which was chosen, recom- mended by the extravagant notions entertained in Europe and the West Indies of its amazing wealth, and of the great riches of Peru. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 115 Morgan had never renounced the idea, which originated with Mansvelt, of a Bucanier settlement on the conveniently- situated island of Providence. Once more it was captured on his way, the Spanish governor making a farce of resistance. From this point , Morgan detached a force of four hundred men to attack the castle of Chagre, the possession of which he judged necessary to the success of his future operations against Panama. It was eventually carried by the accident of fire communicating with the powder magazine, which blew up part of the defences.* While the Spaniards were occupied in suppressing the con- flagration, the Bucaniers laboured hard to increase the confu- sion, by setting fire to the palisadoes in several places. At last they effected a breach, in defiance of the liquid combusti- bles which the Spaniards poured down among them, and which occasioned considerable loss of their numbers. But the attack and resistance were still continued throughout the whole night, the Bucaniers directing an incessant fire towards the breaches, which the Spanish governor pertinaciously de- fended. By noon the next day the Bucaniers had gained a breach, which was defended by the governor himself and twenty-five soldiers. The Spanish soldiers fought with desperate valour, despair lending them supernatural courage ; but nothing could resist the impetuosity of the pirates ; they burst their way through every obstacle, and the unfortunate Spaniards who sui*vived, preferring death to the dishonour of either falhng into the hands of these infuriated ruffians or of begging quar- ter, precipitated themselves into the sea. The governor had retired into the corps du garde, before which he planted two pieces of cannon, and bravely maintained the hopeless and unequal conflict till he fell by a musket shot which entered the brain. Of the garrison of three hundred and fourteen men only thirty remained alive, and of these few twenty were wounded. Not a single officer escaped. From the survivors of the siege, the Bucanier party learned that the Governor of Panama was already apprized of their * The manner in which the fire was imagined to be communicated is not a little singular. A Bucanier was pierced through by an arrow from the fort. He drew it forth from his body, wound a Uttle cotton round it, and shot it from his musket against the castle. The cotton kindled by the pow- der set fire to the palm-leaf roofs of some sheds within the castle, and the flames caught at the gunpowder, which produced the breach in the walls. At the same instant the Bucaniers set fire to the palisadoes : the Spaniards, though unwavering in courage and undaunted in resolution, became dis- tracted in the midst of so many dangers. 116 WILLIAM DAMPIER. design against that place, that all along the course of the Chagre ambuscades were laid, and that a force of three thou- sand six hundred men awaited their arrival. But this did not deter Morgan, who pressed forward for Chagre the instant that he received intelhgence of the capture of the castle, car- rying with him all the provisions that could be obtained m Santa Ratalina, to which island he intended to return after the capture of Panama. The English colours flying upon the castle of Chagre was a sight of joy to the main body of the Bucaniers upon their arrival. Morgan was admitted within the fort by the triumph- ant advanced troop with all the honours of conquest. Before his arrival, the wounded, the widows of the soldiers killed in the siege, and the other women of the place, had been shut up in the church, and subjected to the most brutal treatment. To their fate Morgan was entirely callous ; but he lost no time in setting the prisoners to work in repairing the defences and forming new palisadoes ; he also seized all the craft in the river, many of which carried from two to four small pieces. These arrangements concluded, Morgan left a garrison of live hundred men in his castle of Chagre, and in the ships one hundred and fifty ; while at the head of twelve hundred Buca- niers, he, on the 18th of January, 1671, commenced his inland voyage to Panama, indifferent about or determined to brave the Spanish ambuscades. His artillery was carried by five large boats, and thirty-two canoes were filled with part of the men. Anxious to push forward, Morgan committed one capi- tal blunder in carrying almost no provisions, calculating upon a shorter period being consumed on the march than it actually required, and on foraging upon the Spaniards. Even on the first day their provisions failed, and on the second they were compelled to leave the canoes, the lowness of the river and the fallen trees lying across it making this mode of travelhng tedious and nearly impracticable. Their progress was now continued by land and water alternately, and was attended with great inconvenience, the extremity of famine being of the number of their hardships. Their best hopes were now placed in falling in with the threatened ambuscades, as there they might find a store of provisions. So extremely were they pinched with hunger, that the leathern bags found at a deserted Spanish station formed a delicious meal. About this delicacy they even quarreled, and it is said openly regretted that no Spaniards were found, as, faihng provisions, they had resolved to have roasted or boiled a few of the enemy to satisfy their ravening appetites. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 117 Throughout the whole track to Panama the Spaniards had taken care not to leave the smallest quantity of provisions, and any other soldiers than the Bucaniers must have perished long before even a distant view was obtained of the city; but their powers of endurance, from their hardy modes of life, were be- come almost superhuman. At nightfall, when they reached their halting-place, " happy was he who had reserved since morn any small piece of leather whereof to make his supper, drinking after it a good draught of water for his greatest com- fort." Their mode of preparing this tough meal deserves to be noticed. The skins were first sliced, then alternately dipped in water and beat between two stones to render them tender ; lastly, the remaining hair was scraped off, and the morsel broiled, cut into small bits, and deliberately chewed, with fre- quent mouthfuls of water to eke out and lengthen the repast. On the fifth day, at another deserted ambuscade, a little maize was found, and also some wheat, wine, and plantains. This, scanty as it was, proved a seasonable supply to those who drooped, and it was thriftily dealt out among them. Next day a barn full of maize was discovered, which, beating down the door, the famished Bucaniers rushed upon and devoured without any preparation. Yet all this hardship could not turn them aside from the scent of prey, though symptoms of dis- content became visible in their ranks. At a village called Cruz, perceiving from a distance a great smoke, they joyfully prom- ised themselves rest and refreshments; but on reaching it found no inhabitant, and every house either burnt down or in flames, so determined were the Spaniards to oppose the on- ward march of the terrible beings, presented to their imagina- tions under every shape of horror. The only animals remain- ing, the dogs and cats of the village, fell an immediate sacrifice to the wolfish hunger of the Bucaniers. Morgan had now some difficulty in preserving disciphne, and in keeping his companions or followers from falling into the hands of the Spaniards or Indians when stragghng about in search of any thing they could devour. In this way one man was lost. They were now within eight leagues of Panama, and the nearer they approached, the more anxious and vigilant was Morgan in looking out for the threatened ambuscades of the enemy, who, he naturally conjectured, might have retired to consohdate his forces. On the eighth day, they were surpri- sed by a shower of Indian arrows poured upon them from some unseen quarter, and advancing into the woods, main- tained a sharp short contest with a party of Indians, many of whom fell, offering a brave though vain resistance. Ten of 11 118 WILLIAM DAMPIER. the freebooters were killed in this skirmish. The Bucaniers, who had already three Indian guides, run-aways found in Santa Katalina, endeavoured at this place to make some pris- oners for the purpose of procuring intelligence ; but the In- dians were too swift of foot. After another twenty-four hours of suffering, under which only freebooters or Indians could have borne up, on the morn- ing of the ninth day of the march, from a high mountain, the majestic South Sea was joyfully descried, with ships and boats sailing upon its bosom, and peacefully setting out from the concealed port of Panama. Herds of cattle, horses, and asses, feeding in the valley below the eminence on which they stood, formed a sight not less welcome. They rushed to the feast ; and, cutting up the animals, devoured their flesh half- raw, " more resembling cannibals than Europeans at this ban- quet, the blood many times running down from their beards unto the middle of their bodies." This savage meal being ended the journey was resumed, Morgan still endeavouring to gain information by taking pris- oners, as on his whole line of march he had obtained speech of neither Spaniard nor Indian. In the same evening the steeple of Panama was beheld at a distance; and, forgetting all their suiferings, the Bucaniers gave way to the most rapturous exultation, tossing their caps into the air, leaping, shouting, beating their drums, and sound- ing their trumpets at the sight of ^o glorious a plunder, and as if victory were already consummated. They encamped for the night near the city, intending to make the assault early in the morning. The same night a party of fifty Spanish horse- men came out as if to reconnoitre, advanced within musket- shot of the pirates, scornfully challenged "the dogs" to come on, and then retired, leaving six or eight of their number to watch the enemy's motions. Upon this the great guns of the town began to play on the camp, but were too distant, or ill directed, to do any execution ; and instead of betraying alarm, the Bucaniers, having placed sentinels around their camp, made another voracious meal preparatory to the next day's business, threw themselves upon the grass, and, lulled by the Spanish artillery, slept soundly till the dawn. The camp was astir betimes, and the men being mustered and arrayed, with drums and trumpets sounding they advanced towards the city ; but instead of taking the ordinary route, which the Spaniards were prepared to defend, by the advice of one of the Indian guides they struck through a wood, by a tangled and difficult path, in which, however, immediate ob- struction could not be apprehended. Before the Spaniards WILLIAM DAMPIER. 119 could counteract this unexpected movement, the Bucaniers had advanced some way. The Governor of Panama, who led the forces commanded two hundred cavalry and four regi- ments of infantry; and a number of Indian auxiliaries con- ducted an immense herd of wild bulls, to be driven among the ranks of the Bucaniers, and which were expected to throw them into disorder. This extraordinary arm of war was view- ed by the hunters of Hispaniola and Campeachy with indiffer- ence ; but they were somewhat alarmed at the regular and imposing array of the troops drawn up to receive them. It was, however, too late to retreat. They divided into three de- tachments, two hundred dexterous marksmen leading the ad- vance. They now stood on the top of a little eminence, whence the whole Spanish force, the city, and the champaign country around were distinctly seen. As they moved down- ward the Spanish cavalry, shouting Viva el -Key, immedia-ely advanced to meet them ; but the ground happened to be soft and marshy, which greatly obstructed the manoeuvres of the horsemen. The advance of the Bucaniers, all picked marks- men, knelt and received them with a volley, and the conflipt instantly became close and hot. The Bucaniers, throwing themselves between the Spanish horse and foot, succeeded in separating them, and the wild bulls, taking fright from the tu- mult and the noise of the guns, ran away, or were shot by the Bucaniers before they could effect any mischief. After a contest of two hours the Spanish cavalry gave way. Many were killed, and the rest fled; which the foot-soldiers perceiving, fired their last charge, threw down their muskets, and followed the example of the cavaliers. Some of them took refuge in the adjoining thickets ; and though the Buca- niers did not continue the pursuit, they took a savage pleasure in shooting without mercy all who accidentally fell into their hands. In this way several priests and friars who were made prisoners were pistolled by the orders of Morgan. A Spanish officer who was made prisoner gave the Bucaniers minute in- telligence of thQ force of the enemy and the plan of defence, which enabled them to approach the town from the safest point ; but the advance was still attended with difficulty. After the rout which had taken place in the open field, and the slaughter which followed, the Bucaniers rested for a little space, and during this pause solemnly phghted their honour, by oaths to each other, never to yield while a single man re- mained alive. This done, carrying their prisoners with them, they advanced upon the great guns planted in the streets and the hasty defences thrown up to repel them. In this renewed assault the Bucaniers suffered severely before they could make 1^ WILLIAM DAMPIEB. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 121 good those close quarters in which they ever maintained a de- cided superiority in fighting. Still they resolutely advanced to the final grapple, the Spaniards keeping up an incessant fire. The town was gained after a desperate conflict of three hours maintained in its open streets. In this assault the Bucaniers neither gave nor accepted quarter, and the carnage on both sides was great. Six hun- dred Spaniards fell on that day, nor was the number of the Bucaniers who perished much less ; but to those who survived a double share of plunder was at all times ample consolation for the loss of companions whose services were no longer re- quired in its acquisition. The city was no sooner gained than Morgan, who saw the temper of the inhabitants in the obsti- nate nature of the resistance they had offered, and who well knew the besetting sins of his followers, prudently prohibited them from tasting wine ; and aware that such an order would be very httle regarded were it enforced by nothing save a sim- ple command, he affirmed that he had received private intelli- gence that all the wine had been poisoned. They were there- fore enjoined not to touch it under the dread of poisoning and the penalties of discipline. Neither of these motives were sufficient to enforce rigid abstinence among the Bucaniers, though they operated till indulgence became more safe. As soon as possession of the city was gained guards were placed, and at the same time fires broke out simultaneously in different quarters, which were attributed by the Spaniards to the pirates, and by them to the inhabitants. Both assisted in endeavouring to extinguish the dreadful conflagration, which raged with fury ; but the houses, being built of cedar, caught the flames like tinder, and were consumed in a very short time. The inhabitants had previously removed or concealed the most valuable part of their goods and furniture. The city of Panama consisted of about twelve thousand houses, many of them large and magnificent. It contained also eight monasteries and two churches, all richly furnished. The concealment of the church-plate drew upon the ecclesias- tics the pecuhar vengeance of the heretical Bucaniers, who, however, spared no one. The conflagration which they could not arrest, they seemed at last to take a savage delight in spreading. A slave factory belonging to the Genoese was burnt to the ground, together with many warehouses stored with meal. Many of the miserable Africans whom the Geno- ese brought for sale to Peru, perished in the flames, which raged or smouldered for nearly four weeks. For some time the Bucaniers, afraid of being surprised and overpowered by the Spaniards, who still reckoned ten for one 11* m^ WILLIAM DAMPICR. of their numbers, encamped without the town^ Morgan had also weakened his force by sending a hundred and fifty men back to Chagre with news of his victory. Yet by this handful of men the panic-struck Spaniards were held in check and subjection while theBucaniers either raged hke demons through the burning town or prowled among the ruins and ashes in search of plate and other valuable articles. The property which the Spaniards had concealed in deep wells and cisterns was nearly all discovered, and tlie most ac- tive of the Bucaniers were sent out to the woods and heights to search for and drive back the miserable inhabitants who had fled from the city with their effects. In two days they brought in about two hundred of the fugitives as prisoners. Of those unhappy persons many were females, who found the merciless Bucaniers no better than their fears had painted them. In plundering the land Morgan had not neglected the sea. By sea many of the principal inhabitants had escaped, and a boat was immediately sent in pursuit, which brought in three prizes ; though a galleon, in which \vas embarked all the plate and jewels belonging to the King of Spain, and the wealth of the principal nunnery of the town, escaped, from the Bucaniers indulging in a brutal revel in their own bark till it was too late to follow and capture the ship. The pursuit was afterward continued for four days, at the end of which the Bucaniers returned to Panama with another prize, worth twenty thou- sand pieces of eight in goods, from Paita. Meanwhile, on the opposite coast, the ships' companies left at Chagre were exercising their vocation, and had captured one large Spanish vessel, which, unaware of the hands into Miiich the castle had fallen, ran in under it for protection. Nothing more was to be wrung forth from Panama, which, after a destructive sojourn of four weeks, Morgan resolved to leave. Beasts of burden were therefore collected from all quarters to convey the spoils to the opposite coast. The can- non were spiked, and scouts sent out to learn what measures had been taken by the Governor of Panama to intercept the return to Chagre. The Spaniards were too much depressed to have made any preparation either to annoy or cut off the retreat of their inveterate enemies ; and on the 24th of Febru- ary the Bucaniers, apprehensive of no opposition, left the ruins of Panama, with a hundred and seventy-five mules la- den with their spoils, and above six hundred prisoners, includ- ing women, children, and slaves. The misery of these wretch- ed captives, driven on in the midst of the armed Bucaniers, exceeds description. They believed that they were all to be carried to Jamaica, England, or some equally wild, distant, WILLIAM DAMPIER. 123 and savage country, to be sold for slaves ; and the cruel craft of Morgan heightened these fears, the more readily to extort the ransom he demanded for the freedom of his unhappy pris- oners. In vain the women threw themselves at his feet sup- plicating for the mercy of being allowed to remain amid the ruins of their former homes, or in the woods in huts with their husbands and children. His answer was, " that he came not here to listen to cries and lamentations, but to get money, which unless he obtained he would assuredly carry them all where they would little like to go." Three days were granted, in wliich they might avail themselves of the conditions of ransom. Several were happy enough to be able to redeem themselves, or were rescued by the contributions sent in ; and with the re- maining captives the pirates pushed onward, making new prisoners and gathering fresh spoils on their way. The conduct of Morgan at this time disproves many of the extravagant notions propagated about the high honour of the Bucaniers in their dealings with each other. Halting at a convenient place for his purpose, in the midst of the wilder- ness, and about half-way to Chagre, he drew up his comrades, and insisted that, besides taking an oath declaring that all plunder had been surrendered to the common stock, each man should be searched, he himself submitting in the first place to the degrading scrutiny, though it was suspected that the lead- ing motive of the whole manoeuvre was the desire of conceal- ing his own peculation and fraudulent dealing with his asso- ciates. The French Bucaniers who accompanied the expedi- tion were indignant at treatment so much at variance with the maxims and usages of the gentlemen rovers ; but being the weaker party they were compelled to submit. The Bucaniers and their prisoners performed the remainder of the journey by water ; and when arrived at Chagre, Morgan, who knew not how to dispose of his unredeemed prisoners, shipped them all off for Porto Bello, making them the bearers of his demand of ransom from the governor of that city for the castle of Chagre. To this insolent message the Governor of Porto Bello replied, that Morgan might make of the castle what he pleased ; not a ducat should be given for its ransom. There was thus no immediate prospect of any.more plunder in this quarter, and nothing remained to be done but to divide the spoils already acquired. The individual shares fell so far short of the expectations of the Bucaniers that they openly grumbled, and accused their chief of the worst crime of which in their eyes he could be guilty, — secreting the richest of the jewels for himself. Two hundred pieces of eight to each man was thought a very small return for the plunder of so wealthy 124 WILLIAM DAMPIER. a city, and a very trifling reward for the toil and danger that had been undergone in assaulting it. Matters were assuming so serious an aspect among the fraternity that Morgan, who knew the temper of his friends, deemed it advisable to steal away with what he had obtained. He immediately made the walls of Chagre be destroyed, carried the guns on board his own ship, and, followed by one or two vessels commanded by persons in his confidence, sailed for Jamaica, leaving his en- raged associates in want of every necessary. Those who fol- lowed him were all Englishmen, who, as the French Bucaniers fully believed, connived at the frauds and shared in the gains of Morgan. They would instantly have pursued him to sea, and the Spaniards might have enjoyed the satisfaction of see- ing the Bucanier fleet divided and fighting against itself, had they with a force so much weaker, dared to venture so un- equal an encounter. The vessels deserted by Morgan sepa- rated here, and the companies sought their fortunes in different quarters, none of them much the richer for the misery and devastation they had carried to Panama. Morgan, on arriving at Jamaica laden with plunder, and ex- ulting in his late exploit, endeavoured once more to levy re- cruits for the independent state he still longed to establish at Santa Katalina, and of which he himself, already admiral and generalissimo of the Bucaniers, was to be the prince or gov- ernor. But circumstances were still unfavourable. Lord John Vaughan, the newly-appointed Governor of Jamaica, had or- ders strictly to enforce the treaty with Spain, formed in the previous year, but to proclaim pardon and indemnity, and offer a grant of lands to such of the Bucaniers, as chose to become peaceful cultivators. Future depredations on the trade or settlements of Spain were forbidden by the royal proclamation, and under severe penalties. But it was not a proclamation, however strongly worded, that could at once tame down the lawless Bucanier into a planter, or confine to thirty-seven acres of ground him who had for years freely roamed through sea and land, with his sword reaping his harvest wherever men of greater industry had sown it. To adopting the habits of peaceful life many of the English Bucaniers preferred joining the Flibustiers at Tortuga, or becoming logwood-cutters in the Bay of Campeachy ; and, luckily for the remainder, in the next year a war broke out between Great Britain and Holland, which enabled some of them to follow their old vocation as privateers ; Bucaniers and Flibustiers alike exercising their industry for a short time against the Dutch instead of their old enemies the Spaniards. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 125 Before quitting this part of the subject, it may be proper to notice the conclusion of the adventures of the notorious Mor- gan. In the year which elapsed between the plunder of Pana- ma and 1680, he had sufficient address and interest, or, more probably, skill in the appliance of his ill-gotten wealth, to obtain from Charles II. the honour of knighthood, and after- ward to be appointed deputy-governor of Jamaica. Though it was believed that he still secretly shared in the plundering adventures of the Bucaniers, Morgan treated many of his old comrades with very great severity. Several of them were hang- ed under his administration, and others he delivered up to the Spaniards at Carthagena, as was beheved, for the price of blood ; nor does the character of Morgan make this suspicion improbable. The strict justice and severity exercised by the deputy-governor on his old friends and countrymen, did not, however, dispose the Spaniards to unlimited confidence in Morgan ; and suspecting him of secretly favouring the Buca- niers, who had once more increased, they were able, after the accession of James II., to get him removed from his office and committed for a time to prison in England. In 1683, the Bucaniers, led by three noted chiefs. Van Horn, Grammont, and Laurent de Graff, by a stratagem took the city of Vera Cruz in the Gulf of Mexico. Many of the English Bucaniers were engaged in this expedition, though none of them held high command. This was reckoned the mostbrill- iant exploit that had yet been achieved by the Flibustiers. Their mode of attack was similar to that which had been practised by Drake a century before. In the darkness of night a sufficient force was landed, which marched three leagues over land, and before dawn sui-prised and captured the city. The inhabitants were shut up in the churches, the usual prison of the Bucaniers, at the door of each ©f which barrels of gun- powder were placed, and sentinels beside them holding a light- ed match, ready to produce an explosion at a moment's notice, or on the slightest symptom of revolt. The city was thus pil- laged without molestation from the inhabitants ; and the fam- ished prisoners in the churches were afterward glad to pur- chase their freedom on any terms their conquerers chose to dictate. Ten millions of livres were demanded as a ransom, and the half of it had been raised and paid in, when the ap- pearance of a body of troops and a fleet of seventeen ships caused the freebooters to make a precipitate but well-ordered retreat, carrying off 1500 slaves. Loaded with their booty and prisoners, they boldly sailed through the fleet sent to at- tack them, which did not venture to fire a single gun. They might probably have roused the Spaniards from their fear or 126 WILLIAM DAMPIER. lethargy by an assault, had they not been more careful to pre- serve the plunder they had obtained, than desirous of a barren naval victory over ships carrying no cargoes. Fortunately for the freedom and repose of the Spanish colo- nists, no Bucanier corps ever agreed, or acted in harmony, for any length of time. Their lawless unions fell to pieces even more rapidly than they were formed ; and those of the French and Enghsh seldom adhered even to the conclusion of a joint expedition. On the present occasion they separated in wrath, the Frenchmen employing the pretext of the quarrel they artfully fomented to withhold the Englishmen's share of the pillage. The latter cruises of the Bucaniers were in few respects distinguished by the honour and integrity among themselves which were said to have marked their first exploits. The French Flibustier now sought but a shallow excuse to plunder the English Bucanier, who, on the other side, lost no opportunity of retaliation. The tardy though now earnest efforts of France and Brit- ain to crush the brethren of the coast, the increasing military and maritime strength of the Spanish colonists, and above all a field too narrow and exhausted for the numerous labourers, together with wild and magnificent ideas of the wealth of Peru> were so many powerful motives urging the Bucaniers, whether French or English, upon enterprises in a new and wider region. Among them an estimate was formed of the riches of the west- ern shores, from the single circumstance, that in a few years after the visit of Morgan, a new city of Panama had arisen, which in splendour and wealth eclipsed the desolated town. The Peruvian coast and the South Sea, in all their riches and extent, presented a field which neither thelona^ arm of France, nor the powerful hand of England could reach ; and of the opposition to be feared from the indolent and effeminate in- habitants the expedition of Morgan had afforded a very satis- factory specimen. In the new design of crossing the conti- nent, and searching for untried regions of conquest and spoha- tion, the Bucaniers were rather urged by personal motives of rapacity, and the desire of escaping from the colonial officials of the West India islands — who latterly either shared their booty or treated them with great severity, and not unfrequent- ly did both — than influenced by any enlightened or compre- hensive plan of operations. The wealth of this new region and the ease with which it might be acquired were primary reasons ; personal security was merely secondary ; and be- yond these motives this chaotic banditti never once looked ; all their ideas of conquest being limited to the plunder of a city or a ship, to plate, silks, and pieces of eight; nor were their WILLIAM DAMPIER. 127 enjoyments and pleasures of a more liberal or elevated kind. We may therefore without much regret here close this general sketch of the Bucaniers. All that is interesting in their subse- quent career, from the plundering of Vera Cruz in the Bay of Mexico to their decay and suppression, is closely interwoven with the personal adventures of Dampier, on which we are now to enter. Captain Dampier was born about 1652, at East Coker, near Yeovil, a considerable market-town in Somersetshire. His father was probably a farmer ; and we learn incidentally that his mother, when a widow, along with whatever other property she might possess, held the lease of a small farm at East Coker from Colonel Hellier, the lord of the manor. Before the death of his parents, which happened while he was very young, Dampier had begun to receive the elements of a classical education ; but on this event taking place his studies were suspended, and he was sent to acquire writing and arithmetic, to qualify him for some humbler employment than might have been originally designed ; and in a short time after the death of his mother, he was placed with a shipmaster belonging to Weymouth. Slender as his advantages of early education appear to have been, he profited so largely by them as to afford one more proof that the best part of a man's learn- ing is that which he acquires by himself. William Dampier's first voyage was to France, his next to Newfoundland, in which he suffered so severely from the cli- mate, that he almost resolved against returning to sea; but this determination was changed into a resolution not to try the same ungenial quarter. Dampier, now about eighteen, was already animated by the restless activity, the curiosity, love of vicissitude, adventure, and peril, which form the strong and marking characteristics of the youth who is born a seaman. " The offer," he says, " of a long voyage and a warm one soon carried me to sea again." He entered as a foremast-man on board the Martha, East Indiaman, which sailed direct from London to Bantam; from whence, after a stay of two months, he returned within Uttle more than the year. From his early childhood Dampier had been a keen observer. On his former voyages he had gained some nautical experience, which he en- larged during the present, diligently studying the practical part of his profession, though he had not yet commenced a journal, the keeping of which came to be the solace of his roaming unconnected hfe, and the means of great mental im- provement. 128 WILLIAM DAMPIER. The summer after his return from India, Dampier spent with his brother in Somersetshire, whose house in early hfe seems to have been his home while on shore. His next service was on board the Royal Prince^ in which he enhsted, England being then at war with Holland. He was in two engage- ments ; but of a third fought by the ship, in which the com- mander, Sir Edward Sprague, was killed, he was not a wit- ness, having previously fallen into bad health. From the ship he was sent to Harwich hospital, and finally to his brother's, where he slowly recovered. With returning health the love of the sea recurred; but Dampier meanwhile accepted the offer of Colonel Hellier, and went to Jamaica as imder-manager of a plantation belonging to that gentleman, forming a special agreement with the cap- tain to protect himself from the frauds of the kidnappers. The ship went " merrily along," steering for Barbadoes, which was the first of the islands that Dampier beheld. He was at this time twenty-two years of age, active, intelligent, and full of an instinctive curiosity, already under the guidance of a strong, clear, and prompt understanding. As a planter Dampier was " clearly out of his element ;" and after spending some time in this ungenial occupation, he engaged with different traders belonging to Port Royal, who coasted round Jamaica, carrying goods from the plantations to that port. In these coasting voyages he became thoroughly acquainted with all the harbours and bays of the island, and with the land and sea winds and currents. Avaihng himself of every opportunity and means of acquiring knowledge, Dam- pier appears through life to have become wearied of every scene the moment he had exhausted the information it afford- ed, and to have longed for change as soon as he had over-mas- tered its difficulties. His next voyage, undertaken in August, 1675, was to the island of Trist, in the Bay of Campeachy, for a cargo of logwood. In these late voyages he acted in the capacity of a common sailor in a small vessel; but he now kept a regular journal, and was no common observer. On this voyage to Campeachy his nautical remarks and observa- tions on the appearances and bearings of the coasts, the head- lands, bays, and islands, are ample and exact, — distinguished by the clearness and perspicuity which are visible in all his subsequent relations. They anchored at One-Bush-Key, an islet about a mile from the shore, and so named from having a single stunted tree. The life of the logwood-cutters of the Bay of Campeachy, free and unrestrained, had many charms for the young adven- WILLIAM DAMPIER. 129 turer, and their jovial manners and frank hospitality, with the lucrative nature of the occupation of these merry foresters, made him resolve to return and join their ranks as soon as his present engagement terminated. Logwood-cutting had now in many instances taken place of the hunting of wild cattle, which were become scarce. Some adventurers pursued both vocations, and others were wood- cutters alone. A third class occasionally added the variety and profit of a privateering cruise to their quieter employments. The logwood-cutters in the Bay of Campeachy at this time amounted to about two hundred and fifty men, mostly natives of England, though there were also Scotchmen and Irishmen among their number. By Spain they were considered inter- lopers, and the trade contraband ; but this did not much disturb their consciences. Their general practice was to make up a cargo in joint stock companies, the partnership lasting till the contract for the number of tons agreed on was completed. The traders who bought the dye-wood carried the wood- cutters rum, sugar, tobacco, and other things necessary to them. The trade was usually opened by a solemn drinking- match on board the ships, where healths were pledged, and salvoes fired in honour of each pledge, with all the customary demonstrations of Bucanier banqueting. The trader who was the most liberal of his rum-punch on such festive occasions might assure himself of the best bargain of logwood; the cut- ters priding themselves upon cheating those they thought nig- gardly of their liquor and good cheer. While taking in the cargo Dampier was often on shore, and frequently visited the cabins of the woodmen, who hospitably entertained him with the rough substantial fare which abound- ed among them, — pork and pease, — or beef, for which they hunted in the savannas, — with doughboys, a kind of thick un- leavened cake, which, when on shore, the Bucaniers and hunt- ers often kneaded for themselves. They were equally profuse of their liquor while the supply lasted. The returning voyage of Dampier to Jamaica was singular- ly disastrous, and between Trist and Port-Royal the passage occupied thirteen weeks. Of the adventures and perils of this voyage he has left a very hvely account. A passenger who returned with them to Jamaica — a prisoner who had escaped from the Spaniards — from his experience of this coast, was the means of saving them from being captured by a Spanish vessel, which gave chase to their bark. Though the crew had both fished and hunted at several places before they reached Jamaica, they were during most part of the passage greatly pinched for provisions ; and on coming to anchor after so many 12 130 WILLIAM DAMPIER. hardships, they sent ashore for a supply, made a feast, and were just compounding a flowing bowl of punch, when the captain of a New-England trader came on board to visit them, and was invited to share in the carouse. What follows is an amusing trait of the nautical manners of the place and time : — " Mr. Hooker, being drank to by Captain Rawlins, who pledg- ed Captain Hudswell, and having the bowl in his hands, said that he was under an oath to drink but three draughts of strong liquor in one day, and putting the bowl to his head turned it off at one draught, and so making himself drunk, disappointed our expectations till we made another bowl. I think it might contain six quarts." As soon as he was discharged, Dampier returned to the Bay of Campeachy, to try his fortunes among the logwood-cutters. Preparatory to this voyage he had provided himself with hatchets, knives, axes, saws, wedges, the sleeping-pavilion ne- cessary for defence against the insects in this climate, and a gun, with a supply of powder and shot. A power of attorney, lodged with a merchant who acted as factor for the logwood- cutters, completed his arrangements. The logwood forest in which the men laboured who were joined by Dampier was on the west lagune of Trist Island, in the Bay of Campeachy. The first wood-cutters were men who had adopted this oc- cupation when bucaniering was overdone from the number of competitors, and become dangerous from prohibitory edicts. They originally settled near the forests of the dye-wood at Cape Catoch. When these were exhausted they had removed to the Isle of Trist; — the first intimation to the Spaniards of their arrival on a new point being the strokes of their axes on the trees, or the report of their guns in the woods and savan- nas. These wood-cutters were divided into parties of from three to ten or twelve. The company which consented to re- ceive Dampier as a helper, ignorant as he still was of their em- ployment, consisted of six individuals, who had a cargo of logwood of a hundred tons already felled and chipped, and ready to be brought to the creek, whence it was to be shipped for New England. His wages were to be the price of a ton of wood per month. The wood-cutters had constructed their cabins close by the sides of the creeks of the east and west lagunes of Trist, for the enjoyment of the refreshing sea-breezes, and to be as near the dyewood-groves as was found convenient. As the nearest trees gradually fell beneath their axes, they frequently, instead of abandoning a favourite habitation, repaired to the scene of their daily labours in their canoes. To each company belong- WILLIAM DAMPIER.' 131 ed a canoe, pirogue, or large boat, which was necessary in conveying their lading to the traders, and also in the chase ; for they hunted cattle by water as well as land, for this purpose driving them into narrow creeks. Their cabins were of fra- gile construction, but thickly thatched with palm-leaves, to shelter the inmates from the violent rains of the wet season. Above the floor a wooden frame was raised three or four feet, and this barbecue, with the pavilion or mosquito-curtains stretched and supported over it, formed the sleeping-place of the wood-cutters ; another, equal in height, covered with earth, formed the domestic hearth ; and a third served as seats. The logwood-groves were near the sea, — this wood grow- ing and thriving best in low wet ground, and among timber of a lower growth. The trees were from two to six feet in cir- cumference. They resembled the white thorn of England, save in size. The heart of the trunk, which is red, is alone used as a dye-stuff, the spongy outer part being chipped away. It is a heavy wood, and burns well; and for this reason the hunters, wood-cutters, and Bucaniers always, when it could be obtained, preferred it for hardening the steel of their fire-arms. Bloodwood, another dye-stuff* much esteemed, was found in the Gulf of Nicaragua, and sold at double the price of the logwood, — ^the latter selling at fifteen pounds* per ton, when the bloodwood cost thirty pounds. In these savannas and primeval forests an endless variety of birds and insects engaged the attention of the young sea- man, to which we cannot now advert. The creeks, rivers, and lagunes, as well as the open shores, were equally prolific of fishes unknown in the English waters. No place in the world was better stored with alhgators than the Bay of Cam- peachy. These the Bucaniers, who scrupled at no sort of food, never ate, save in cases of great necessity, as even their intrepid stomachs were oflfended by the strong musky flavour of the flesh of this hideous creature. The alhgators of the bay were generally harmless when not molested ; though accidents sometimes occurred, of which one is recorded by Dampier that merits notice. In the height of the dry season, when in those torrid regions all animated nature pants with consuming thirst, a party of the wood-cutters, English and Irish, went to hunt in the neighbourhood of a lake called Pies Pond, in Beef Island, one of the smaller islands of the bay. To this pond * Valuable as this wood was, the French Bucaniers who captured Cam- peachy, on one occasion, displayed their enthusiastic loyalty by burning £42,000 worth in celebrating the birthday of their king, or the festival of St, Louis. 133 WILLIAM DAMPIER. the wild cattle repaired in herds to drink, and here the hunter* lay in wait for them. The chase had been prosecuted with great success for a week, when an Irishman of the party, go- ing into the water during the day, stumbled upon an alligator,, which seized him by the knee. His cries alarmed his com- panions, who, fearing that he had been seized by the Spaniards, to whom the island belonged, and who chose the dry season to hunt, and repel their unwelcome neighbours, instead of affording assistance, fled from the huts which they had erect- ed. The Irishman, seeing no appearance of help, with happy presence of mind quietly waited till the alligator loosened its teeth to take a new and surer hold; and when it did so, snatched away his knee, interposing the butt-end of his gun in its stead, which the animal seized so firmly that it was jerked out of the man's hand and carried off. He then crawled up a neighbouring tree, again shouting after his comrades, who now found courage to return. His gun was found next day, drag- ged ten or twelve paces from the place where it had been seiz- ed by the alligator. At the same place. Pies Pond in Beef Island, Dampier had a remarkable escape from an alligator. Passing with some of his comrades through a small savanna, where the water lay two or three feet deep, in search of a bullock to shoot for sup- per, a strong scent of an aUigator was perceived, and presently Dampier stumbled over one and fell down. He cried out for help, but his companions ran towards the woods to save them- selves. No sooner had he scrambled up to follow them, than in the agitation of the moment he fell a second and even a third time, expecting every instant to be devoured, and yet escaped untouched ; but he candidly says, "I was so frighted, that I never cared to go through the water again as long as I was in Uie Bay." On the first Saturday after he commenced wood-cutter, Dampier followed his employers in the humble capacity of raising and driving the cattle out of the savannas into the woods, where the hunters lay in wait to shoot them. The following Saturday his ambition took a higher flight. He thought it more honourable to have a shot himself than to drive the game for others; and, after going five miles by wa- ter and one by land, to the hunting-ground, he gave his com- panions the slip, and rambled so far into the woods that he lost himself, going at every step farther astray through small strips of savanna and skirts of woodland — a maze of plain and forest which seemed interminable. The rest of this youthful adven- ture, from which Dampier drew a beneficial lesson for the WILLIAM DAMPIER. 133 regulation of his future life, cannot be better narrated than in his own words. " This was in May (the dry season,) and it was between ten o'clock and one when I began to find that I was, as we call it, marooned^ or lost, and quite out of the hearing of my comrades' guns. I was somewhat surprised at this; but, however, I knew that I should find my way out as soon as the sun was a little lower. So 1 sat down to rest myself, resolving, however, to run no farther out of my way, for the sun being so near the zenith I could not distinguish how to direct my course. Being weary, and almost faint for want of water, I was forced to have recourse to the wild pines, and was by them supplied, or else I must have perished with thirst. About three o'clock I went due north, or as near as I could judge, for the savanna lay east and west, and 1 was on the south side of it. " At sunset I got out into the clear open savanna, being about two leagues wide in most places, but how long I know not. It is well stored with bullocks, but by frequent hunting they grow shy, and remove farther up into the country. There I found myself four or five miles to the west of the place where I had straggled from my companions. I made homeward with all the speed I could; but being overtaken by the night, I lay down on the grass a good distance from the woods, for the benefit of the wind to keep the mosquitoes from me ; but in vain, for in less than an hour's time I was so persecuted, that though I endeavoured to keep them off by fanning myself with boughs, and shifting my quarters three or four times, yet still they so haunted me that I could get no sleep. At daybreak I got up and directed my course to the creek where we landed, from which I was then about two leagues. I did not see one beast of any sort whatever in all the way, though the day be- fore I saw several young calves that could not follow their dams ; but even these were now gone away, to my great vexa- tion and disappointment, for I was very hungry. But, about a mile farther, I espied ten or twelve quaums perching on the boughs of a cotton-tree. These were not shy: therefore I got well under them, and having a single bullet, but no shot, about me, fired at one of them and missed it, though I had often be- fore killed them so. Then I came up with and fired at five or six turkeys with no better success, so that I was forced to march forward, still in the savanna, towards the creek; and when I came to the path that led to it through the woods, I found to my great joy a hat stuck upon a pole, and when I came to the creek another. These were set up by my con- sorts, who had gone home in the evening, as signals that they would come and fetch me. Therefore I sat down and waited 12* 134 WILLIAM DAMPIER. for them ; for although I had not above three leagues home by water, yet it would have been very difficult, if not impossible, for me to have got thither overland, by reason of those vast impassable thickets abounding every where along the creek's side, wherein I have known some puzzled for two or three days, and have not advanced half a mile, although they la- boured extremely every day. Neither was I disappointed of my hopes, for within half an hour after my arrival in the creek my consorts came, bringing every man his bottle of water and his gun, both to hunt for game and to give me notice by firing, that I might hear them ; for I have known several men lost in the like manner, and never heard of afterward." When his first month's service was ended, Dampier re- ceived as pay the price of a ton of wood, with which he bought provisions, and entered into a new engagement, on the footing of comradeship, but with other partners. Of the former com- pany to which he had been attached, some went to Beef Island to hunt bullocks for their skins, which they prepared for sale by pegging them strongly down to the ground, turning first the fleshy and then the hairy side uppermost, till they were perfectly dry. It required thirty -two pegs, each as thick as a man's arm, to stretch one hide ; afterward they were hung in heaps upon a pole, that they might not touch the ground, and from time to time well beat with sticks to drive out the worms which bred in the skins and spoiled them. Before being shipped off they were soaked in salt water to kill the remain- ing worms. While still wet they were folded up, left thus for a time, and once more thoroughly dried and packed for ex- portation. To this trade Dampier preferred wood-cutting. His part- ners were three Scotchmen, Price Morrice, Duncan Campbell, and a third, who is called by his Christian-name of George only. The two latter were persons of education, who had been bred merchants, and liked neither the employment nor the society of the bay ; they therefore only waited the first oppor- tunity of getting away by a logwood-ship. The first vessel that arrived was from Boston, and this they freighted with forty tons of diewood, which it was agreed Duiican Campbell should go to New-England to sell, bringing back flour and other things suited to the market of the bay, to exchange for hicjles and logwood ; while George remained making up a fresh cargo against Campbell's return. And here Dampier makes an observation on the character of his associates which de- serves to be noticed as the result of the experience of a man who had seen and reflected much upon life and manners. " This/' he says, " retarded our business, for I did not find WILLIAM DAMPIEK» 135 Price Morrice very intent on work ; for 'tis like he thought he had logwood enough. And I have particularly observed there, and in other places, that such as had been well-bred were generally most careful to improve their time, and would be very industrious and frugal when there was any probability of considerable gain. But, on the contrary, such as had been inured to hard labour, and got their living by the sweat of their brows, when they came to have plenty, would extravagantly squander away their time and money in drinking and making a bluster." To make up for the indolence of his comrade Dampier kept the closer to work himself till attacked by a very singular dis- ease. A red and ill-conditioned swelling or bile broke out upon his right leg, which he was directed to poultice with the roasted roots of the white lily. This he persisted in doing for some days, " when two white specs appeared in the centre of the bile, and on squeezing it two small white worms spurted out, about the thickness of a hen^s quill, and three or four inches long." These were quite different from the Guinea- worm, common in some of the West India islands, and in the time of Dampier very common in Curagao., From these last he afterward suffered severely. Shortly after his recovery from this attack the bay was visit- ed by one of those tremendous hurricanes known only in tropi- cal countries, which raged for twenty-four hours without intermission. This was in June, 1676. Two days before the storm came on, the wind " whiffled" about to the south and back again to the east, but blew faintly, while the weather continued very fair, though it was remarked that the men-of- war birds came trooping towards the shore in great numbers, and hovered over the land. The hunters and logwood-cutters, among their numerous superstitions, augured the arrival of ships from the appearance of those birds, and imagined that as many birds as hovered over-head so many vessels might be expected. At this time there appeared whole flocks. It was noticed by Dampier, that for two days the tide kept ebbing, till the creek by which the woodmen's huts stood was left nearly dry. In it there was commonly at ebb-tide seven or eight feet of water, but now scarcely three remained even in the deepest places. At four o'clock in the afternoon following this strange ebbing of the waters, the sky looked very black, the wind sprung up at S. E., fresh and rapidly increasing, and in less than two hours blew down all the cabins of the wood- men save one : this they propped with posts, and, as it were, anchored by casting ropes over the roof, which were then made fast on both sides to the stumps of trees. In this frail 136 WILLIAM DAMPIER. shed they all huddled together while the hurricane raged abroad. It rained in torrents during the whole period of the tempest ; and in two hours after the wind had risen the water flowed so fast into the creek that it was as high as the banks. Though the wind now blew oft' shore, the waters continued to rush in, nor did the rain abate ; and by ten o'clock next morning the banks of the creek were overflowed. The situation of the woodmen now became perilous. They brought their canoe to the side of the hut, and fastened it to the stump of a tree as a means of escape ; this being their only hope of safety, as beyond the banks which edged the creek the land fell, and there " was now no walking through the woods because of the water. Besides, the trees were torn up by the roots, and tumbled down so strangely across each other, that it was almost impossible to pass through them." In this violent tempest many fish were either cast ahve upon the shore or found floating dead in the lagunes. It was remarkable that the hurricane, as was afterward ascertained, did not extend ninety miles to windward. Of four ships riding at anchor at One-Bush-Key, three were driven from their moorings, and one of them was carried up into the woods of Beef Island. The wood-cutters suftlBred in many ways. The whole coun- try was laid under water to a considerable depth, there being three feet even on the highest land ; so that they could not for some time prosecute their labours. Much of their provision was destroyed, and what remained they had no way of cook- ing save in their canoes. As soon as the storm abated, Dampier's company embarked in the canoe, and made for One-Bush-Key, about four leagues distant, hoping to procure assistance from the ships there. These, as has been noticed, had all been driven from their anchors save one ; and the kindness of the crew of this fortu- nate vessel had already been severely taxed by an influx of the flooded wood-cutters from different points. Dampier and his companions could get "neither bread nor punch, nor so much as a dram of rum, though they offered to pay for it." From this inhospitable quarter, they rowed for Beef Island, their singular land-mark being the flag of a ship displayed in the woods. The vessel herself was found two hundred yards from the sea, from which she had cut her way in the storm, levelling the trees on each side, and making a clear path before her through the forest. In this transit the stumps had gone through her bottom, and there was noway of saving her. Meanwhile she held together, and the forlorn woodmen were well enter- tained with victuals and punch, and invited to remain for the WILLIAM DAMPIER. 137 night ; but, hearing a signal-gun fired from a distant lagune, they concluded that one of the ships was driven in there by distress and rowed off to her assistance. With a Captain Chandler, whom they found here greatly in want of their ser- vices, Dampier and his partners laboured for two days, and then went to Beef Island to hunt for cattle. This island is about seven leagues long, and in breadth from three to four : at the east end " low drowned land:" the middle is one large savanna, bordered with trees ; the south side, between the savannas and the mangrove-belt or swampy ground, is very rich. The hurricane had deprived Dampier of his slender stock of provisions ; and having neither money nor credit to obtain a fresh supply from the traders who arrived from Jamaica, he was forced for immediate subsistence to join a company of "privateers" then in the bay. With these Bucaniers he con- tinued for nearly a year, rambling about the Bay of Campea- chy, visiting its numerous creeks, islands, and rivers, and making with them frequent descents upon Indian villages and Spanish settlements. At these places they obtained supplies of Indian corn, which, with the beef for which they hunted, turtle, and manatee, formed their principal subsistence ; Dam- pier in every passing hour adding to his stores of knowledge. The manatee, or sea-cow, as seen by Dampier in the Bay of Campeachy, the river Darien, at Mandanao, and on the coast of New Holland, he describes as of the thickness of a horse, and in length ten or twelve feet. The mouth is like that of a cow, the lips are very thick, the eyes no bigger than a pea, and the ears two small holes. It frequents creeks, inlets, and mouths of rivers, and never leaves the water for any length of time. It lives on a sort of grass which grows in the sea. The flesh is white, sweet and wholesome. The tail of a young cow was esteemed a delicate morsel by the Bucaniers, and so was a sucking-calf, which they cooked by roasting. The tough, thick skin of the manatee they applied to various uses. The Mosquito Indians were peculiarly dexterous in fishing, and also in striking manatee and catching turtle ; for which purpose the Bucaniers always tried to have one or two natives of the Mosquito shore attached to their company as purveyors on their cruises. The Indians of the villages on the Tobasco lived chiefly on maize, which they baked into cakes, and from which they also made a sort of liquor, which, when allowed to sour, afforded a pleasant, refreshing draught. When a beverage for company was wanted, a little honey was mixed with this drink. A 1^ WILLIAM DAMPIER. Stronger liquor was made of parched maize and anotta, which was drunk without straining. The Indians reared abundance of turkeys, ducks, and fowls, — the padre taking such strict ac- count of the tithe that it was necessary to procure his license before they durst kill one. They also raised cotton, and man- ufactured their own clothing, which for both sexes was decent and becoming. Under the sanction of the village priest all marriages were contracted ; the men marrying at fourteen, the women at twelve. If at this early age they had made no choice, then the padre selected for them. These early marriages were one means of securing the power and increasing the gains of the priest ; and the young couples themselves were contented, happy, and affectionate. They inhabited good houses, lived comfortably by the sweat of their brows, and on holy eves and saints' days enjoyed themselves under the direction of their spiritual guides, who permitted them the recreation of pipe and tabor, hautboys and drums, and lent them vizards and ornaments for the mummings and other amusements which they practised. The village churches were lofty compared with the ordinary dwelling-houses, and ornamented with coarse pictures of tawny or bronze-coloured saints and madonnas, recommended to the Indians by the tint of the native com- plexion. To their good padres, notwithstanding the tithe- fowls, the Indian flocks Avere submissive and affectionate. We cannot here follow the minute account which Dampier has given of all the rivers of Campeachy during his cruise of eleven months around this rich country. The farthest west point which he visited was Alvarado, to which the Bucaniers with whom he sailed went in two barks, thirty men in each. The river flows through a fertile country, thickly planted with Spanish towns and Indian villages. At its mouth was a small fort placed on the declivity of a sandbank, and mounted with six guns. The sandbanks are here about two hundred feet high on both sides. This fort the Bucaniers attacked ; but it held out stoutly for five hours, during which time the country was alarmed, and the inhabitants of the adjoining town got off in their boats, carrying away all their money and valuables and the best part of their goods. The Bucaniers lost ten men killed or despe- rately wounded ; and when they landed next morning to pil- lage, it being dark before the fort yielded, little booty was found. Twenty or thirty bullocks they killed, salted, and sent on board, with salt fish, Indian corn, and abundance of poultry. They also found and brought away many tame parrots of a very beautiful kind, yellow and scarlet curiously blended, — the r WILLIAM DAMPIER. 139 fairest and largest birds of their kind Dampier ever saw in the West Indies. " They prated very prettily." Though httle sohd booty was obtained, what with provis- ions, chests, hencoops and parrots' cages, the ships were filled and lumbered ; and while in this state seven Spanish armadil- loes from Vera Cruz, detached in pursuit of the Bucaniers, appeared, coming full sail over the bar into the river. Not a moment was to be lost. Clearing their decks of lumber by throwing all overboard, the Bucaniers got under full sail, and drove over the bar at the river's mouth, before the enemy, who could with difficulty stem the current, had scarcely reached it. The Spanish vessels were to windward, and a few shots were of necessity exchanged ; and now commenced one of those singular escapes from tremendous odds of strength of which Bucanier history is so full. The Toro, the admiral of the Spanish barks, was of itself more than a match for the free- booters. It carried 10 guns and 100 men, while their whole force was now diminished to 50 men in both ships, one of which carried 6, and the other 2 guns. Another of the Span- ish vessels carried 4 guns with 80 men ; and the remaining five though not mounted with great guns, had each 60 or 70 men armed with muskets. " As soon," says Dampier's journal, *' as we were over the bar, we got our larboard tacks aboard, ^nd stood to the eastward as nigh the wind as we could lie. The Spaniards came quartering on us; and our ship bemg the headmost, the Toro came directly towards us, designing to board us. We kept firing at her, in hopes to have lamed either a mast or a yard ; but failing, just as she was sheering aboard we gave her a good volley, and presently clapped the helm aweather, wore our ship, and got our starboard tacks aboard, and stood to the westward, and so left the Toro ; but were saluted by all the small craft as we passed them, who stood to the eastward after the Toro, that was now in pursuit and close to our consort. We stood to the westward till we were against the river's mouth, then we tacked, and by the help of the current that came out of the river we were near a mile to windward of them all. Then we made sail to assist our consort, who was hard put to it ; but on our approach the Toro edged away towards the shore, as did all the rest, and stood away for Alvarado ; and we, glad of the dehver- ance, went away to the eastward, and visited all the rivers in our return again to Trist." These visits produced little booty. They also searched the bays for mutijack, " a sort of bitumen which we find in a lump, washed up by the sea, and left dry on all the sandy bays of :the coast." This substance the Bucaniers, who were com- 140 WILLIAM DAMPIER. pelled to find substitutes for many necessary things, tempered with tallow or oil, and employed as pitch in repairing their ships and canoes. On the return of Dampier to the Island of Trist, the effects of the dismal hurricane of the former year had disappeared, and he resumed his labours among the woodmen. This em- ployment was probably more profitable than his bucaniering cruise ; as in the course of the following season he was able to visit England, intending to return to the bay when he had seen his friends. He sailed for Jamaica in April 1678, and in the beginning of August reached London. Cutting diewood was still a profitable though a laborious trade ; and Dampier shrewdly remarks, " that though it is not his business to say how far the English had a right to follow it, yet he was sure the Spaniards never received less damage from the persons who usually followed that trade than when they had exchanged the musket for the axe, and the deck of the privateer for the logwood-groves." During his short residence in England at this time, Dam- pier must have married ; for, though a trifling matter of this kind is too unimportant to be entered in a seaman's journal, we long afterward, while he lay off the Bashee or Five Islands, learn that he had left a wife in England, as, in comphment to the Dake of Grafton, he named the northernmost of the Ba- shee group Grafton's Isle, " having," as he says, " married my wife out of his dutchess' family, and leaving her at Arlington House at my going abroad." After spending five or six months with his wife and his friends, Dampier, in the beginning of 1679, sailed as a pas- senger for Jamaica, intending immediately to return to his old trade and companions in the Bay of Campeachy. He took out goods from England, which he meant to exchange at Ja- maica for the commodities in request among the wood-cutters. Instead, however, of prosecuting this design, he remained in Jamaica all that year, and by some means was enabled to pur- chase a small estate in Dorsetshire. This new possession he was about to visit, when induced to engage in a trading voy- age to the Mosquito Shore. It promised to be profitable, and he was anxious to reahze a little more ready money, before returning to England to settle for life. He accordingly sent home the title-deeds of his estate, and embarked with a Mr. Hobby. Soon after leaving Port Royal, they came to anchor in a bay in the west end of the island, in which they found Captains Coxon, Sawkins, Sharp and " other privateers," as Dampier gently terms the most noted Bucanier commanders of the WILLIAM DAMPIER. 14i period. Hobby's crew deserted him to a man to join the Bu- canier squadron ; and the Mosquito voyage being thus frus- trated, Dampier " was the more easily persuaded to go with them too." Their first attempt was on Porto Bello, of which assault Dampier gives no account, and he might not have been pres- ent at the capture. Two hundred men were landed ; and, the better to prevent alarm, at such a distance from the town that it took them three days to march upon it, as during daylight they lay concealed in the woods. A negro gave the alarm, but not before the Bucaniers were so close upon his heels that the inhabitants were completely taken by surprise, and fled in every direction. The Bucaniers plundered for two days and two nights, in momentary expectation of the country rising upon them, and overpowering their small number ; but, from avarice and rapacity, they were unable to tear themselves away. To the shame of the Spaniards they got clear off, and divi- ded shares of one hundred and sixty pieces of eight a head. Inspired by this success, they resolved immediately to march across the isthmus. They knew that such strokes of good fortune as this at Porto Bello could not longer be looked for on the eastern shores of America, and for some time their imagin- ations had been running upon the endless wealth to be found in the South Seas. They remained for about a fortnight at the Samballas Isles, and during this time, preparatory to their grand attempt, endeavoured to conciliate the Indians of the Darien, by gifts of toys and trinkets, and many fair promises. They also persuaded some of the Mosquito-men to join them, who, on account of their expertness in fishing, and striking turtle and manatee^ besides their warlike qualities, were useful auxiliaries either in peace or war. Of this tribe, so long the friends, and, as they named themselves, the subjects of Britain, Dampier has given an exceedingly interesting account. In his time the clan or sept properly called Mosquito-men must have been very small, as he says the fighting-men did not amount to one hundred. They inhabited a tract on the coast near Cape Gracios Dios, stretching between Cape Honduras and Nicaragua. " They are," says our navigator, who appears partial to these Indians, "very ingenious at throwing the lance, Jisgig, harpoon, or any manner of dart, being bred to it from their infancy ; for the children, imitating their parents, never go abroad without a lance in their hands, which they throw at any object till use hath made them masters of the art. Then they learn to put by a lance, arrow, or dart ; the manner is thus : — Two boys stand at a small distance, and dart a blunt stick at one another, each of them holding a small stick in his 13 142 WILLIAM DAMPIER. right hand, with which he strikes away that which is darted at him. As they grow in years they become more dexterous and courageous ; and then they will stand a fair mark to any one that will shoot arrows at them, which they will put by with a very small stick no bigger than the rod of a fowling-piece ; and when they are grown to be men they will guard them- selves from arrows though they come very thick at them, pro- vided they do not happen to come two at once. They have extraordinary good eyes, and will descry a sail at sea, and see any thing better than we. Their chiefest employment in their own country is to strike fish, turtle, or manatee. For this they are esteemed and coveted by all privateers, for one or two of them in a ship will maintain one hundred men ; so that when we careen our ships we choose commonly such places where there is plenty of turtle or manatee for these Mosquito-men to strike, and it is very rare to find a privateer destitute of one or more of them, when the commander a;nd most of the crew are Enghsh; but they do not love the French, and the Spaniards they hate mortally. "They are tall, well-made, raw-boned, lusty, strong, and nimble of foot, long-visaged, lank black hair, look stern, hard- favoured, and of a dark copper complexion. When they come among the privateers they get the use of fire-arms, and are very good marksmen. They behave themselves very bold in fight, and never seem to flinch nor hang back ; for they think that the white men with whom they are know better than they do when it is best to fight, and, let the disadvantage of their party be never so great, they will never yield nor give back while any of their party stand. I could never perceive any religion nor any ceremonies or superstitious observations among them, being ready to imitate us in whatsoever they saw us do at any time. Only they seem to fear the Devil, whom they call Willesaw ; and they say he often appears to some among them, whom our men commonly call their priests, when they desire to speak with him on urgent business. They all say they must not anger him, for then he will beat them; and he sometimes carries away these their priests. They marry but one wife, with whom they live till death separates them. At their first coming together the man makes a \Qry small plantation They delight to settle near the sea, or by some river, for the sake of striking fish, their beloved em- ployment ; for within land there are other Indians with whom they are always at war. After the man hath cleared a spot of land, and hath planted it, he seldom minds it afterward, but leaves the managing of it to his wife, and he goes out a-striking. Sometimes he seeks only for fish, at other times for turtle or WILLIAM DAMPIER. 143 manatee^ and whatever he gets he brings home to his wife, and never stirs out to seek for more till it is eaten. When hunger begins to bite, he either takes his canoe and seeks for more game at sea, or walks out into the woods and hunts for pecaree and waree, each a sort of wild hogs, or deer, and seldom re- turns empty-handed, nor seeks any more as long as it lasts. Their plantations have not above twenty or thirty plantain- trees, a bed of yams and potatoes, a bush of pimento, and a small spot of pine-apples, from which they make a sort of drink, to which they invite each other to be merry. Whoever of them makes pine-drink treats his neighbours, providing fish and flesh also." At their drinking-matches they often quarrelled, but the women prevented mischief by hiding their weapons. The Mosquito-men were kind and civil to the English, who en- deavoured to retain the regard of such useful allies. For this purpose it was necessary to let them have their own way in every thing, and to return home the moment they desired it, for if contradicted there was an end of their services ; and though turtle and fish abounded, they would manage to kill nothing. They called themselves, as has been noticed, sub- jects of the King of England, and liked to have their chiefs nominated by the Governor of Jamaica, which island they often visited. Pity that in subsequent periods the fidelity and regard of this brave and ingenious tribe were so ill and un- gratefully requited by their powerful and ungenerous allies. The Bucaniers commenced their march across the isthmus on the 5th of April, 1680, about three hundred and thirty strong, each man armed with a hanger, fusil, and pistol, and provided with four cakes of the bread which they called doughboys. Their generalissimo was Captain Sharp ; and the men, mar- shalled in divisions, marched in something like military order, with flags and leaders. They were accompanied by those In- dians of Darien who were the hereditary enemies of the Span- iards, whom they had subsidized with the hatchets, knives, beads, and toys with which they provided themselves at Porto Bello. These auxiharies furnished them with plantains, ven- ison, and fruit, in exchange for European commodities. The march was easily performed, and in nine days' journey they reached Santa Maria, which was taken without opposition, though this did not prevent the exercise of cruelty. The In- dians cruelly and deliberately butchered many of the inhabit- ants. The plunder obtained falling far short of the expecta- tions of the Bucaniers made them the more desirous to push forward. They accordingly embarked on the river of Santa Maria, which falls into the Gulf of St. Michael, in Indian ca- 144 WILLIAM DAMPIER. noes and pirogues, having previously, in their summary way, deposed Captain Sharp, and chosen Captain Coxon com- mander. On the same day that they reached the bay, whither some of the Darien chiefs still accompanied them, they captured a Spanish vessel of thirty tons burthen, on board of which a large party planted themselves, happy after the march, and being cramped and huddled up in the canoes, again to tread the deck of a ship of any size. At this time they divided into small parties, first appointing a rendezvous at the island of Chepillo, in the mouth of the river Cheapo. Dampier was with Captain Sharp, who went to the Pearl Islands in search of provisions. In a few days the Bucaniers mustered for the attack of Pa- nama, and on the 23d of April did battle for the whole day with three Spanish ships in the road, of which two were cap- tured by boarding, while the third got off. The action was fierce and sanguinary; of the Bucaniers eighteen men were killed, and thirty wounded. The resistance was vigorous and brave ; and the Spanish commander with many of his people fell before the action terminated. Even after this victory the Bucaniers did not consider themselves strong enough to attack the new city of Panama, but they continued to cruise in the bay, making valuable prizes. In the action with the Spanish ships Captain Sawkins had greatly distinguished himself by courage and conduct; and a quarrel breaking out among the Bucaniers while Coxon returned to the North Seas, he was chosen commander. He had not many days enjoyed this office, when, in an attack on Puebla Nueva, he was killed, leading on his men to the assault of a breastwork; and on his death Sharp, the second in command, showing faint heart, the Bucaniers retreated. New discontents broke out, and the party once more divided, not being able to agree in the choice of a leader; of those who remained in the So»th Sea, among whom was Dampier, Sharp was chosen commander. For some months he cruised on the coast of Peru, occasionally landing to pillage small towns and villages; and on Christmas- day anchored in a harbour of the Island of Juan Fernandez to rest and refit. Here they obtained abundance of crayfish, lobsters, and wild goats, which were numerous. Sharp, who had always been unpopular, was once more for- mally deposed, and Captain Watling elected in his stead. Having enjoyed themselves till the 12th of January, the Bucaniers were alarmed by the appearance of three vessels, which they concluded to be Spanish ships of war in pursuit of them. They put off to sea in all haste, in the hurry leaving WILLIAM DAMPIER. 145 one of their Mosquito Indians, named William, upon the Island. They again cruised along the coast, and the attack of the Spanish settlements by hasty descent was resumed. In at- tempting to capture Arica, Captain AVathng was killed, and the Bucaniers were repulsed, having had a narrow escape from being all made prisoners. For want of any more com- petent leader. Sharp was once more raised to the command, and the South Sea had so greatly disappointed their hopes, that it was now agreed to return eastwani by recrossing the isthmus. But another quarrel broke out, one party would not continue under Sharp, and another wished to try their for- tunes farther on the South Sea. It was therefore agreed that the majority should retain the ship, the other party taking the long-boat and canoes. Sharp's party proved the most numer- ous. They cruised in the South Sea, on the coast of Patago- nia and Chili, for the remainder of the season of 1681, and early in the following year returned to the West Indies by doubling Cape Horn, but durst not land at any of the English settlements. Sharp, soon afterward going home, was tried in England with several of his men for piracy, but escaped con- viction. In the minority which broke off from Sharp was William Dampier, who appears at this time to have been little distin- guished among his companions. The party consisted of forty- four Europeans and two Mosquito Indians. Their object was to recross the isthmus, — an undertaking of no small difficulty, from the nature of the country and the hostility of the Span- iards. Before they left the ship they sifted a large quantity of flour, prepared chocolate with sugar, as provision, and entered into a mutual engagement, that if any man sank on the jour- ney he should be shot by his comrades, as but one man falling into the hands of the Spaniards must betray the others to cer- tain destruction. In a fortnight after leaving the ship near the Island of Plata, they landed at the mouth of a river in the Bay of St. Michael, where, taking out all their provisions, arms, and clothing, they sank their boat. While they spent a few hours in preparing for the inland march, the Mosquito-men caught fish, which afforded one plentiful meal to the whole party; after which they commenced their journey late in the afternoon of the 1st of May. At night they constructed huts, in which they slept. On the 2d they struck into an Indian path, and reached an Indian village, where they obtained re- freshments; but were uneasy on understanding the closeness of their vicinity to the Spaniards, who had placed ships at the mouths of the navigable rivers to look out for them, and inter- 13* 140 WILLIAM DAMPICR. cept their return eastward. Next day, with a hired Indian guide, they proceeded, and reached the dweUing of a native, who received them with sullen churhshness, which in ordinary times the Bucaniers would ill have brooked ; " though this,'* says Dampier, " was neither a time nor place to be angry with the Indians, all our lives lying at their hands." Neither the temptation of dollars, hatchets, nor long knives would operate on this intractable Indian, till one of the seamen, taking a sky- coloured petticoat from his bag, threw it over the lady of the house, who was so much delighted with the gift, that she soon wheedled her husband into better humour; and he now not only gave them information, but found them a guide. It rained hard and frequently on both days, but they were still too near the Spanish garrisons and guard ships to mind the weather or to dally by the way. The country was found diffi- cult and fatiguing, without any trace of a path, the Indians guiding themselves by the rivers, which they were sometimes compelled to cross twenty or thirty times in a day. Rainy weather, hardship, and hunger soon expelled all fear of the Spaniards, who were, besides, not likely to follow their foes into these intricate solitudes. On the 5th day they reached the dwelling of a young Span- ish Indian, — a civilized person, who had lived with the Bishop of Panama, and spoke the Spanish language fluently. He received them kindly, and though unable to provide for the wants of so many men, freely gave what he had. At this place they rested to dry their clothes and ammunition, and to clean their fire-arms. While thus employed Mr. Wafer, the surgeon of the Bucaniers, who had been among the malcon- tents, had his knee so much scorched by an accidental explo- sion of gunpowder, that, after dragging himself forward during another day, he was forced to remain behind his companions, together with one or two more who had been exhausted by the march. Among the Indians of the Darien, Wafer remained for three months, and he has left an account, which is consid- ered the best we yet possess, of those tribes. The march was continued in very bad weather, this being the commencement of the rainy season, and thunder and lightning frequent and violent. As the bottoms of the valleys and the rivers' banks were now overflowed, instead of con- structing huts every night for their repose, the travellers were often obliged to seek for a resting-place, and to sleep under trees. To add to their hardships their slaves deserted, carry- ing off" whatever they could lay their hands upon. Before leaving the ship, foreseeing the difficulties of the journey, and the necessity of perpetually fording the rivers, WILLIAM DAMPIER. 147 Dampier had taken the precaution to deposite his journal in a bamboo, closed at both ends with wax. In this way his pa- pers were secured from wet, while the journalist frequently swam across the rivers which so greatly impeded the progress of the march. In crossing a river where the current ran very strong, one man, who carried his fortune of three hundred dollars on his back, was swept down the stieam and drowned ; and so worn out were his comrades, that, fond as they were of gold, they would not at this time take the trouble to look for or burden themselves with his. It was the eighteenth day of the march before the Bucaniers reached the river Conception, where they obtained Indian canoes, in which they proceeded to La Sound's Key, one of the Samballas Islands, which were much frequented by the Bucaniers. Here they entered a French privateer, commanded by Captain Tristian; and, with better faith than Bucaniers usually displayed, generously re- warded their Indian guides with money, toys, and hatchets, and dismissed them. The Bucaniers of this time were some- what less ferocious in manners than those under Morgan and Lolonnois, though it never entered into their thoughts that there could be any wrong in robbing the Spaniards. Sawkins and Watling maintained stricter discipline than had been cus- tomary in former periods, approximating their discipline and regulations to those of privateers, or ships of war. They even made the Sabbath be observed with outward signs of respect. On one occasion, when Sawkins' men, who like all Bucaniers were inveterate gamblers, played on Sunday, the captain flung the dice overboard. In two days after Dampier and his friends had gone on board the French vessel, it left La Sound's for Springer's Key, another of the Samballas Islands, where eight Bucanier ves- sels then lay, of which the companies had formed the design of crossing to Panama. From tliis expedition they were, however, diverted by the dismal report of the newly-arrived travellers ; and the assault of other places was taken into con- sideration. From Trinidad to Vera Cruz the Bucaniers had now an intimate knowledge of every town upon the coast, and for twenty leagues into the interior; and acquaintance with the strength and wealth of each, and with the number and quality of the inhabitants. The preliminary consultations now held lasted for a week, the French and Enghsh not agreeing; but at last they sailed for Carpenter's River, going first towards the Isle of St. Andreas. In a gale the ships were separated; and Dampier, being left with a French captain, conceived such a dislike to his shipmates, that he and his fellow-travellers in crossing the isthmus induced a countryman of their own, 148 WILLIAM DAMPIER. named Captain Wriglit, to fit up and arm a small vessel, with which they cruised about the coast in search of provisions, still, hoAvever, keeping their jackals, the Mosquito-men, who caught turtle while the Bucaniers hunted in the woods for pec- aree^ waree, deer, quaums, parrots, pigeons, and curassow birds, and also monkeys, which in times of hardship they es- teemed a dehcate morsel. At one place several of the men were suddenly taken ill from eating land-crabs which had fed upon the fruit of the manchineel-tree. All animals that fed on this fruit were avoided by the freebooters as unwholesome, if not poisonous. In selecting unknown wild fruits the Buca- niers were guided by the birds, freely eating whatever kind had been pecked, but no bird touched the fruit of the manchineel. On returning to La Sound's Key from this cruise, they were joined by Mr. Wafer. He had been for three months kindly entertained by an Indian Chief, who had offered him his daugh- ter in marriage, and grudged him nothing save the liberty of going away. From this kind but exacting chief he escaped under pretence of going in search of English dogs to be em- ployed in hunting, the Indian being aware of the superiority which dogs gave the Spaniards in the chase. Mr. Wafer had been painted by the women of the Darien, and his own clothes being worn out, he was now dressed, or rather undressed, like the natives ; whom, under this disguise, he resembled so much, that it was sometime before Dampier recognized his old ac- quaintance the surgeon. - From the Samballas they cruised towards Carthagena, which they passed, having a fair view of the city, and casting longing eyes upon the rich monastery on the steep hill rising behind it. This monastery, dedicated to the Virgin, is, says Dampier, " a place of incredible wealth, by reason of the offerings made here continually ; and for this reason often in danger of being visited by the privateers, did not the neighbourhood of Cartha- gena keep them in awe. 'Tis, in short, the very Loretto of the West Indies, and hath innumerable miracles related of it. Any misfortune that befalls the privateers is attributed to this lady's doing ; and the Spaniards report, that she was abroad that night the Oxford man-of-war was blown up at the Isle of Vaca, and that she came home all wet ; as belike she often returns with her clothes dirty and torn with passing through woods and bad ways when she has been upon an expedition, deserving, doubtless, a new suit for such eminent pieces of service." The company of Captain Wright pillaged several small pla- ces about Rio de la Haclia and the Rancheries, which was the head-quarters of a small Spanish pearl-fishery. The peari- WILLIAM DAMPIER. 149 banks lay about four or five leagues off the shore. In prose- cuting this fishery, the Indian divers, first anchoring their boats, dived, and brought up full the baskets previously let down ; and when their barks were filled, they went ashore, and the oysters were opened by the old men, women, and children, under the inspection of a Spanish overseer. In a short time afterward, the Bucaniers captured, after a smart engagement, an armed ship of twelve guns and forty men, laden with sugar, tobacco, and marmalade, bound to Carthagena from St. Jago in Cuba. From the disposal of this cargo, some insight is afforded into the mysteries of bucanier- ing. It was offered first to the Dutch governor of Curacao, who having, as he said, a great trade with the Spaniards, could not openly admit the freebooters to this island, though he di- rected them to go to St. Thomas, which belonged to the Danes, whither he would send a sloop with such commodities as the Bucaniers required, and take the sugar off their hands. The rovers, however, declined the terms offered by the cautious Dutchman, and sailed from St. Thomas to another Dutch colony, where they found a better merchant. From hence they sailed for the Isle of Aves, which, as its name imports, abounded in birds, especially boobies and men-of-war birds. The latter bird was about the size of a kite, black, with a red throat. It lives on fish, yet never lights in the water ; but soar- ing aloft like the kite, " when it sees its prey, darts down, snatches it, and mounts, never once touching the water." On a coral reef off the south side of this island the Count d'Estrees had shortly before lost the French fleet. Firing guns in the darkness, to warn the ships that followed him to avoid the danger on which he had run, they imagined that he was engaged with the enemy, and crowding all sail, ran upon destruction. The ships lield together next day till part of the men got on shore, though many perished in the wreck. Dam- pier relates, that those of the ordinary seamen who got to land died of fatigue and famine, while those who had been Buca- niers and were wrecked here, " being used to such accidents, lived merrily ; and if they had gone to Jamaica with thirty pounds in their pockets, could not have enjoyed themselves more ; for they kept a gang by themselves, and watched when the ships broke up to get the goods that came out of them ; and though much was staved against the rocks, yet abundance of wine and brandy floated over the reef, where they waited to take it up." The following anecdote of the wrecked crew is horribly striking: — " There were about forty Frenchmen on board one of the ships, in which was good store of liquor, till the after-part of her broke, and floated over the reef, and was 15$ WILLIAM DAMPIER. carried away to sea, with all the men drinking and singing, who, being in drink, did not mind the danger, but were never heard of afterward." In a short time after, this island was the scene of a buca- niering trick, which Dampier relates with some glee. The wreck of the French fleet had left Aves Island a perfect arse- nal of masts, yards, timbers, and so forth, and hither the Buca- niers repaired to careen and refit their ships, and among others Captain Pain, a Frenchman. A Dutch vessel of twenty guns, despatched from Curasao to fish up the guns lo.^t on the reef, descried the privateer, which she resolved to capture before engaging in the business of her voyage. The Frenchman abandoned his ship, which he saw no chance of preserving, but brought ashore some of his guns, and resolved to defend himself as long as possible. While his men were landing the guns, he perceived at a distance a Dutch sloop entering the road, and at evening found her at anchor at the west end of the island. During the night, with two canoes, he boarded and took this sloop, found considerable booty, and made off with her, leaving his empty vessel as a prize to the Dutch man-of-war. At this island Dampier saw, besides men-of-war birds, boo- bies, and noddies, numbers of the tropic-bird. It was as big as a pigeon, and round and plump as a partridge, all white, save two or three light-gray feathers in the wing. One long feather or quill, about seven inches in length, growing out of the rump, is all the tail these birds have. They are never seen far without the tropics, but are met with at a great dis- tance from land. After taking in what water could be obtain- ed, they left Rocas, and went to Salt Tortuga, so called to distinguish it from Dry Tortuga near Cape Florida, and from the Tortuga of the first Bucaniers near Hispaniola, which place was now, however, better known as Petit Guaves. They expected to sell the remainder of their sugar to the English vessels which came here for salt ; but not succeeding, they sailed for Blanco, an island north of Margarita, and thirty leagues from the main. It was an uninhabited island, flat and low, being mostly savanna, with a few wooded spots, in which flourished the lignum vitcB. Iguanas, or guanoes, as they were commonly called in the West Indies, abounded on Blanco. They resembled the lizard species, but were bigger, about the size of the small of a man's leg. From the hind-quarter the tail tapers to the point. If seized by the tail near the extremi- ty, it broke off at a joint, and the animal escaped. They are amphibious creatures. Both their eggs and flesh were highly esteemed by the Bucaniers, who made soup of the latter for WILLIAM DAMPIER. 151 their sick. There were many species found here Hving on land or water, in the swamps, among bushes, or on trees. Green turtle frequented this island in numbers. From Blanco they returned to Salt Tortuga, and went from thence after four days to the coast of the Caraccas on the main. While cruising on this coast, they landed in some of the bays, and took seven or eight tons of cocoa, and afterward three barks, — one laden with hides,' another with brandy and earthenware, and a third with European goods. With these prizes they returned to the Rocas to divide the spoil ; after which Dampier and other nineteen out of a company of sixty took one of the captured vessels, and with their share of the plunder, held their course direct for Virginia, which was reach- ed in July, 1682. Of the thirteen months which our navigator spent in Virgi- nia he has left no record ; but from another portion of his memoirs it may be gathered that he suffered from sickness during most of the time. His disease was not more singular than was the mode of cure practised by a negro Esculapius, whose appropriate fee was a white cock. The disease was what is called the Guinta-worm. " These worms," says Dam- pier, " are no bigger than a large brown thread, but, as I have heard, five or six yards long; and if it break in drawing out, that part which remains in the flesh will putrify, and endan- ger the patient's life, and be very painful. I was in great torment before it came out. My leg and ankle swelled, and looked very red and angry, and I kept a plaster to it to bring it to a head. Drawing off" my plaster, out came about three inches of the worm, and my pain abated presently. Till then I was ignorant of my malady, and the gentlewoman at whose house I lodged took it (the worm) for a nerve ; but I knew well enough what it was, and presently rolled it upon a small stick. After that I opened it every morning and evening, and strained it out gently, about two inches at a time, not without pain." The negro doctor first stroked the place affected, then applied some rough powder to it like tobacco leaves crumbled, next muttered a spell, blew upon the part three times, waved his hands as often, and said that in three days it would be well. It proved so, and the stipulated fee of the white cock was gladly paid. The next adventure of Dampier was the circumnavigation of the globe, — a voyage and ramble extending to about eight years, which in point of interest and variety has never yet been surpassed. This we will now describe. Among the companions of Dampier in his journey across the isthmus, and in his subsequent cruise, was Mr. John Cook, 152 WILLIAM DAMPIER. a Creole, born in St. Christopher's, and a man of good capa- city. He had acted as quarter-master, or second in command, under Captain Yanky, a French Fhbustier, who at this time held a commission as a privateer. By the ordinary laws of the Bucaniers, when a prize fit for a piratical cruise was taken, the second in command was promoted to it ; and in virtue of this title, Cook obtained an excellent Spanish ship. At this, however, the French commanders were secretly discontented, and on the first opportunity they seized the ship, plundered the crew, who were Englishmen, of their arms and goods, and turned them ashore. The French captain, Tristian, either took compassion on some of the number, or hoped to find them serviceable ; for he carried eight or ten of them with him to Petit Guaves, among whom were Cook and Davis. They had not lain long here when Captain Tristian and part of his men being one day on shore, the English party, in revenge of the late spoliation overmastered the rest of the crew, took the ship, and, sending the Frenchmen ashore, sailed for Isle a la Vache, where they picked up a straggling crew of English Bucaniers, and before they could be overtaken sailed for Virginia, where Dampier now was, taking two prizes by the way, one of which was a French ship laden with wine. Having thus dexterously swindled Tristian out of his ship, which might, however, be considered as but a fair act of reprisal, and having afterward committed open piracy on the French commerce, the West Indies was no longer a safe latitude for these English Buca- niers. The wines were therefore sold with the other goods and two of the ships ; and the largest prize, which carried eighteen guns, was new-named the Revenge, and equipped and provisioned for a long voyage. Among her crew of seventy men were almost all the late fellow-travellers across the isthmus, including William Dampier, Lionel Wafer, the surgeon, Am- brose Cowley, who has left an account of the voyage, and the commander. Captain John Cook. Before embarking on this new piratical expedition, they all subscribed certain rules for maintaining discipline and due subordination, and for the ob- servance of sobriety on their long voyage. They sailed from the Chesapeake on the 23d of August, 1683; captured a Dutch vessel, in which they found six casks of wine and a quantity of provisions ; and near the Cape de Verd Islands encountered a storm which raged for a week, "drenching them all like so many drowned rats." After this gale they had the winds and weather both favourable, and an- chored at the Isle of Sal, one of the Cape de Verd group, so named from its numerous salt-ponds. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 153 Ffom the Cape de Verd Isles the Revenge intended to keep a direct course to the Straits of Magellan ; but by adverse weather was compelled to steer for the Guinea coast, which was made in November, near Sierra Leone. They anchored in the mouth of the river Sherborough, near a large Danish ship, which they afterward took by stratagem. While in sight of the Dane, which felt no alarm at the appearance of a ship of the size of the Revenge, most of the Bucanier crew remain- ed under deck, no more of the hands appearing above than were necessary to manage the sails. Their bold design was to board the ship without discovering any sign of their inten- tion ; and the Revenge advanced closely, still wearing the re- semblance of a weakly-manned merchant-vessel. When quite close, Captain Cook in a loud voice commanded the helm to be put one way, while by previous orders and a preconcerted plan the steersman shifted it into a quite opposite direction ; and the Revenge, as if by accident, suddenly fell on board the Dane, which by this dexterous manoeuvre was captured with only the loss of five men, though a ship of double their whole force. She carried thirty-six guns, and was equipped and vic- tualled for a long voyage. This fine vessel was by the exulting Bucaniers named the Bachelor's Dehght ; and they immediately burnt the Revenge that she "might tell no tales," sent their prisoners on shore, and steered for Magellan's Straits. On the voyage to the straits the Bachelor's Delight encoun- tered frequent tornadoes, accompanied by thunder, lightning, and rain. Many of the men were seized with fever, and one man died. Having little fresh animal food of any kind, they caught sharks during the calms between the gusts of the torna- does, which they prepared by first boiling, and afterward stew- ing them with pepper and vinegar. About the middle of Jan- uary they lost one of the surgeons, who was greatly lamented, as there now remained but one for the long voyage which was meditated. On the 28th they made John Davis' Southern Islands, or the Falkland Isles, — then, however, more generally known as the Sebald de Weert Islands. In the course of their voyage Dampier, who possessed more geographical and nautical knowledge than his companions, had been persuading Captain Cook to stop here to water, and afterward to prosecute the voyage to Juan Fernandez by doub- ling Cape Horn, avoiding the straits altogether, which, he ju- diciously says, " I knew would prove very dangerous to us, the rather because our men being privateers, and so more wilful and less under command, would not be so ready to give a watchful attendance in a passage so little known. 14 164 WILLIAM DAMPIER. The advice of Dampier was not taken, but westerly winds prevented Cook from making the entrance of the straits, and on the 6th of February they fell in with the Straits of Le Maire, high land on both sides, and the passage very narrow. They ran in for four miles, when a strong tide setting in northward " made such a short cockling sea," which ran every way, as if in a place where two opposing tides meet, sometimes break- ing over the poop, sometimes over the waist and the bow, and tossing the Bachelor's Delight " like an egg-shell." In the same evening they had a breeze from W. N. W., bore away eastward, and, having the wind fresh all night, passed the east end of Staten Island next day. The next night, they lost sight of Terra del Fuego, and saw no other land till they entered the South Sea. In doubling Cape Horn they were so fortunate as to catch twenty-three barrels of rain- water, besides an abundant supply for present consumption. On the 3d of March they entered the South Sea with a fair fresh breeze, which from the south had shifted to the eastward. On the 19th a strange sail was seen to the southward bearing full upon them, which was mistaken for a Spaniard, but proved to be the Nicholas of London, commanded by Captain Eaton, fitted out as a trader, but in reality a Bucanier ship. Captain Eaton came on board the Bachelor's Dehght, related his ad- ventures, and, like a true brother, gave the company water, while they spared him a supply of bread and beef Together they now steered for Juan Fernandez, and on the 23d anchor- ed in a bay at the south end of the island, in twenty-five fathoms water. It may be remembered, that when Captain Watling and his company escaped from Juan Fernandez three years before, they had left a Mosquito Indian on the island, who was out hunting goats when the alarm came. This Mosquito-man, named Wilham, was the first and the true Robinson Crusoe, the original hermit of this romantic solitude. Immediately on approaching the island, Dampier and a few of "William's old friends, together with a Mosquito-man named Robin, put oft* for the shore, where they soon perceived Wilham standing ready to give them welcome. From the heights he had seen the ships on the preceding day, and knowing them to be Eng- lish vessels by the way they were worked, he had killed three goats, and dressed them with cabbage of the cabbage-tree, to have a feast ready on the arrival of the ships. How great was his delight, as the boat ncared the shore, when Robin leaped to the land, and running up to him, fell flat on his face at his feet. William raised up his countryman, embraced him, and in turn prostrated himself at Robin's feet, who lifted him up. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 155 and they renewed their embraces. " We stood with pleasure," says Dampier, " to beliold the surprise, tenderness, and solem- nity of their interview, which was exceedingly affecting on both sides ; and when these their ceremonies of civility were over, we also that stood gazing at them drew near, each of us embracing him we had found here, who was overjoyed to see so many of his old friends, come hither, as he thought, pur- posely to fetch him." At the time William was abandoned, he had with him in the woods his gun and knife, and a small quantity of powder and shot. As soon as his ammunition was expended, by notching his knife into a saw, he cut up the barrel of his gun into pieces, which he converted into harpoons, lances, and a long knife. To accomplish this he struck fire with his gun-flint and a piece of the barrel of his gun, which he hardened for this purpose in a way he had seen practised by the Bucaniers. In this fire he heated his pieces of iron, hammered them out with stones, sawed them with his jagged knife, or grinded them to an edge, and tempered them ; " which was no more than these Mos- quito-men were accustomed to do in their own country, where they make their own fishing and striking instruments without either forge or anvil, though they spend a great deal of time about them." Thus furnished, William supplied himself with goats' flesh and fish, though, till his instruments were formed, he had been compelled to eat seal. He built his house about a half-mile from the shore, and lined it snugly with goat-skins, with which he also spread his couch or barbecue, which was raised two feet from the floor. As his clothes wore out, he supplied this want also with goat-skins, and when first seen he wore nothing save a goat-skin about his waist. Though the Spaniards, who had learned that a Mosquito-man was left here, had looked for William several times, he had always, by retiring to a secret place, contrived to elude their search. The island of Juan Fernandez was hilly, and intersected by small pleasant valleys ; the mountains were partly savanna and partly woodland ; tlie grass of the flat places being deli- cate and kindly, of a short thick growth, unlike the coarse sedgy grass of the savannas of the West Indies. The cab- bage-tree was found here, and well-grown timber of different kinds, though none that was fit for masts. There were in the island two bays, both at the east end, where ships might an- chor, and into each of them flowed a rivulet of good water. Water was also found in every valley. Goats, which accord- ing to Dampier were originally brought to the island by the discoverer, were now found in large flocks, and seals swarm- ed about the island " as if they had no other place in the world 156 WILLIAM DAMPIER. to five in, every bay and rock being fnll of them." Sea-lions were also numerous, and different kinds of fish were found. The seals were of different colours, — black, gray, and dun, with a fine thick short fur. Milhons of them were seen sitting in the bays, going or coming into the sea, or, as they lay at the top of the waves, sporting and sunning themselves, covering the water for a mile or two from the shore. When they come out of the sea "they bleat like sheep for their young; and though they pass through hundreds of others' young, yet they will not suffer any of them to suck." The sea-lion is shaped hke a seal, but is six times as big, with " great goggle eyes," and teeth three inches long, of which the Bucaniers sometimes made dice. The Bucaniers remained for sixteen days at this island get- ting in provisions, and for the recovery of the sick and those affected with scurvy, who were placed on shore, and fed with vegetables and fresh goats' flesh, which regimen was found beneficial. On the 8th of April they sailed for the American coast, which they approached in 24^ S. ; but stood off at the distance of fourteen or fifteen leagues, that they might not be observed from the high grounds by the Spaniards. The first capture of the Bucaniers, made on the 3d of May, was a Spanish ship bound to Lima, laden with timber from Guayaquil; from which they learned that it was known in the settlements that pirates were on the coast. On the 9th they anchored at the isle of Lobos de la Mar with their prize. At this place the ships were scrubbed, and the prisoners rigidly examined, that from their information the voyagers might guide their future proceedings. Truxillo was the town at last fixed upon for making a descent. The com- panies of both ships were mustered, for Eaton and Cook had now agreed to hunt in couples, and the arms were proved. The men amounted to one hundred and eight fit to bear arms, besides the sick. Before they sailed on this expedition three ships were seen steering northward. Cook stood after one of them, which made for the land, and Eaton pursued the other two to sea, and captured them on the same day. They con- tained cargoes of flour from Lima for the city of Panama, whither they carried intelligence from the governor of the for- midable Bucanier force which now threatened the coast. One of the ships carried eight tons of quince-marmalade. The Bucaniers were deeply mortified to learn that they had nar- rowly missed a prize containing eight hundred thousand pieces of eight, which liad been landed at an intermediate port, upon a rumour of Enghsh ships being cruising off the coast of Peru, WILLIAM DAMPIER. 157 The design against Truxillo was now abandoned, as they learned that it had lately been fortified, and a Spanish garrison established for its defence ; and on the evening of the 19th they sailed with their flour-prizes for the Galapagos Islands, which they descried on the 31st, " some appearing on the lee-bow, some on the weather-bow, and others right ahead." At the Galapagos Isles the Bucaniers remained for ten days, and deposited a store of their prize-flour against future neces- sity. Salt was found here, pigeons abounded, the sea teemed with fish, and the leaves of the mammce-tree furnished them with vegetables ; so that the Galapagos were in all respects well adapted for a Bucanier station. By the advice of an Indian, one of their prisoners, the Buc- aniers were induced to visit Ria Lexa, his native place, where he promised them a rich harvest in plunder. At Juan Fernandez Captain Cook had been taken ill ; he now died somewhat suddenly as they stood off Cape Blanco, and, as a mark of respect, was buried on shore. While his men were digging the grave they were seen by three Spanish Indians, who held aloof, but asked them many questions ; "and one man," says Dampier, "did not stick to sooth them up with as many falsehoods, purposely to draw them into our clutches ; and at length drilled them by discourse so near, that our men laid hold on all three at once." One escaped before the burial of Cook was over, and the other two were taken on ship-board. When examined, notwithstanding their pretend- ed simplicity, they confessed that they had been sent out as spies by the Governor of Panama, who had received intelli- gence of the Bucanier squadron. The voyagers were informed by these prisoners that large herds of cattle were reared in this neighbourhood, which was welcome news to seamen who had seen no fresh meat since their run from the Galapagos. Two boats were immediately sent to the shore with an Indian guide to bring oft' cattle; but the enterprise appeared dangerous, and Dampier with twelve men returned on board. Those who were more foolhardy, and who even slept on shore, found themselves next morning watched by forty or fifty armed Spaniards, and their boat burnt. The cowardly Spaniards, afraid to come forward, still lurked in their ambush, and one of the seamen on landing, having no- ticed an insulated rock which just appeared above water, they made off for this fortress, and holding fast by each other, and wading to the neck, they reached the rock, while the Spanish shot whistled after them. In this perilous condition they had remained for seven hours, the tide, which was at the ebb when they took refuge here, rising around them, and gaining on 14* 158 WILLIAM DAMPIER. the rock so rapidly, that had not help come from the ships, in another hour thej must have heen swept away. The Span- iards, who rehshed bush-fighting better than the open field, meanwhile lay in wait for the catastrophe ; but when the canoe from the English ships bore off the men, they oiFered no re- sistance. The quarter-master, Edward Davis, was now elected com- mander in the room of Captain Cook ; and after taking in water, and cutting lancewood for handles to their oars, they bore away for Ria Lexa, and on the 23d of July were opposite the harbour. The situation of the town is known by a high- peaked volcanic mountain, which rises within three leagues of the harbour, but may be seen at the distance of twenty leagues. A small flat island, about a mile long and a quarter of a mile broad, forms the harbour, in which two hundred sail can ride. It may be entered by a channel at each end. The Spaniards had here also got the start of the enemy. They had thrown up a breastwork on a strong position, and stationed sentinels to give instant alarm ; and the Bucaniers, who wished to surpise and plunder, and not to fight against great odds, deemed it prudent to steer for the Gulf of Amapal- la, an arm of the sea running inland eight or ten leagues, and made remarkable by two headlands at the entrance. Point Casivina on the south side, in latitude 12° 40" N., and on the north-west Mount St. Michael. At a previous consultation, it had been agreed that Captain Davis should advance first, in two canoes, and endeavour to seize some Indians to labour at careening the ships, and also a prisoner of better condition, from whom intelligence might be obtained. On the Island of Mangera the padre of a village, from which all the other inhabitants had fled, was caught while endeavouring to escape, and with him two Indian boys. With these Davis proceeded to Amapalla, where, having previously gained over or frightened the priest, he told the Indians drawn up to receive him, that he and his company were Biscayners, sent by the King of Spain to clear the seas of pirates, and that his business in the bay of this island was only to careen his ships. On this assurance Davis and his men were well re- ceived, and they all marched together, strangers and natives, to church, which was the usual place of public assembly, whether for business or amusement. The images in the churches here, like those in the Bay of Campeachy, were painted of the Indian complexion ; and the people, under the sway of their padres, lived in much the same condition as the tribes described on the banks of the Tobasco, cultivating maize, rearing poultry, and duly paying the priest his tithe. Here, WILLIAM DAMPIER. 159 too, they were indulged in masks and other pastimes, with abundance of music on saints' eves and holydays. " Their mirth," says Dampier, " consists in singing, dancing, and using many antic gestures. If the moon shine they use but few torches ; if not, the church is full of hght. They meet at these times all sorts of both sexes. All the Indians that I have been acquainted with who are under the Spaniards seem to be more melancholy than other Indians who are free ; and at these public meetings, when they are in the greatest of their jollity, their mirth seems to be rather forced than real. Their songs are very melancholy and doleful ; so is their music." In attending them to the church under the guise of friend- ship, Davis intended to ensnare these unsuspecting people, and make them all his prisoners till he had dictated his own terms of ransom, the padre having, probably from compulsion, promised his aid in entrapping his flock. This hopeful project was frustrated by one of the Bucaniers rashly and rudely push- ing a man into the church before him. The alarm was given, the Indian fled, and his countrymen " sprung out of the church like deer." Davis and his men immediately fired, and killed a leading man among the natives. The Bucaniers were, however, afterward assisted by several of the natives in storing the ships with cattle plundered from an island in the gulf, belonging to a nunnery in some distant place ; and from some feelings of remorse, on leaving this quarter Davis presented the islanders of Amapalla with one of his prize-ships, and a considerable part of the cargo of flour which it contained. The ships here broke off" consortship. The crews had quarrelled, — Davis' party, in right of priority in marauding, claiming the largest share of the spoils. Eaton left the gulf on the 2d of September, and Davis, with whom Dampier continued, on the day following, having previously set the padre on shore. They stood for the coast of Peru, having almost every day tornadoes accompanied with thunder and lightning, — weather of this kind generally prevailing in these latitudes from June to November. When these gusts were over the wind generally shifted to the west. Near Cape St. Francisco they had settled weather, and the wind at south. About this place they again fell in with Eaton, who had en- countered terrible storms. " Such tornadoes as he and his men had never before seen, — the air smelling very much of sulphur, and they fancying themselves in great danger of being burnt by the lightning." Captain Eaton had touched at Cocos Island, where he laid up a store of flour, and took in water and cocoanuts. Cocos Island, as described by Eaton, is nearly surrounded by rocks ; but at the north-east end there is one 160 WILLIAM DAMPIER. small and secure harbour, — a brook of fresh water flowing into it. The middle of the island is high, and though destitute of trees, looks verdant and pleasant from the abundance of an herb, which the Spaniards called gramadiel, growing upon the high grounds. Near the shore all round the island were groves of cocoas. At the Island of La Plata, so named, according to Dampier, from Sir Francis Drake having divided upon it the plunder of the plate-ship the Cacafuego, the Bucaniers found water, though but a scanty rivulet, and plenty of small sea-turtle. Captain Eaton's company would again have joined their for- mer consorts ; but Dampier relates that Davis' men, his own comrades, were still so unreasonable that they would not con- sent to new-comers having an equal share of what they pil- laged; so the Nicholas held southward, while the Bachelor's Delight steered for Point Santa Elena, in 2^ 15' S., pretty high but flat land, naked of trees and overgrown with thistles. There was no fresh water on the point, and this article the inhabitants brought from four leagues' distance, from the river Colanche, the innermost part of the bay. Watermelons, large and very sweet, were the only things cultivated on the point. Pitch was the principal commodity of the inhabitants. It boiled out of a hole in the earth at five paces above high- water mark, and was found plentifully at flood-tide ; when first obtained it was like thin tar, but was boiled down to the con- sistence of pitch. Davis' men landed at Manta, a village on the mainland, about three leagues to the east of Cape San Lorenzo, where they made two old women prisoners, from whom they learned that many Bucaniers had lately crossed the isthmus from the West Indies, and were cruising on the coast in canoes and pirogues. The viceroy had taken every precaution against this new incursion. On all the uninhabited islands the goats had been destroyed ; ships were burned to save them from the Bucaniers, and no provisions were allowed to remain at any place on the coast, but such as miglit be required for the imme- diate supply of the inhabitants. Davis returned to La Plata, At a loss what course to take ; when, on the 2d of October, he was joined by the Cygnet of London, commanded by Captain Swan, who, ill treated by the Spaniards, and disappointed of peaceful traffic, for which he had come prepared with an ex- pensive cargo, had been compelled by his men to receive on board a party of Bucaniers, and in self-defence to commence freebooter. Before he had adopted this course some of his men had been killed by the Spaniards at Baldivia, where he had attempted to open a trade. With this small Bucanier WILLIAM DAMPIER. 161 party, which had come by the Darien, plundering by the way, Swan fell in near the Gulf of Nicoya. It was led by Peter Harris, the nephew of a Bucanier commander of the same name who had been killed in the battle with the Spanish ships in the Bay of Panama three years before. Harris took command under Swan, in a small bark wholly manned by Bucaniers. This was a joyful meeting of old associates ; and the de- parture of Eaton was now deeply regretted, as their united force might have ensured success to more important under- takings than any they had yet ventured to contemplate. While the ships were refitting at La Plata, a small bark, which Davis had taken after the Spaniards had set it on fire, was sent out to cruise, and soon brought in a prize of four hundred tons burthen, laden with timber, and gave intelligence that the viceroy was fitting out a fleet of ten frigates to sweep them from the South Seas. Again the loss of Eaton was felt, and this bark was dispatched to search for him on the coast of Lima. It went as far as the Isle of Lobos. Meanwhile Swan's ship, which was still full of English goods, was put in better fighting trim, and made fit to accommodate her additional crew. The supercargo sold his goods on credit to every Bucanier who would purchase, taking his chance of payment, and the bulky commodities which remained were pitched overboard, — silks, muslins, and finer goods, and iron bars which were kept for ballast, being alone retained. In lieu of these sacrifices, the whole Bucaniers on board the Cygnet agreed that ten shares of all booty should be set aside for Swan's owners. The men-of-war were now scrubbed and cleaned, a small bark was equipped as a fire-ship ; and the vessel which had been cruising after Eaton not having returned, the squadron sailed without it on the 20th of October, and on the 3d of No- vember landed at Paita, which was found nearly abandoned, and left without " money, goods, or a meal of victuals of any kind." They anchored before the place, and demanded ran- som for its safety, ordering in the meanwhile three hundred pecks of flour, three thousand pounds of sugar, twenty-five jars of wine, and one thousand of water to be brought off" to the ships ; but, after wasting six days, they obtained nothing, and in revenge burnt the town. The road of Paita was one of the best in Peru, roomy, and sheltered from the south-west by a point of land. The town had no water except what was carried thither from Colan, from whence the place was also supplied with fruits, hogs, plantains, and maize. Dampier says, that on this coast, from about " Cape Blanco to 30° S., no rain ever falls that he ever observed or heard of." He calls l62 WILLIAM DAMPIER. this range " the dry country." Wafer states that heavy nightly dews fertihze the valleys. The country around it was moun- tainous and sterile. From information obtained here it was gathered that Cap- tain Eaton had been before them, and had burned a large ship in the road, and landed all his prisoners. They also learned that a small vessel, which they concluded to be their own bark, had approached the harbour, and made same fishermen bring out water. Harris' small vessel being found a heavy sailer, was burned before leaving Paita, from which the squadron steered for Lobos de Tierra, and on the 14th anchored near the east end of the island, and took in a supply of seals, penguins, and boobies, of which they ate " very heartily, not having tasted flesh in a great while before." To reconcile his men to what had been the best fare of the crews of Drake, Cavendish, and the earlier navigators. Captain Swan commended this food as of extraordinary delicacy and rarity, comparing the seals to roasted pigs, the boobies to pullets, and the penguins to ducks. On the 19th the fleet reached Lobos de la Mar, where a letter was found deposited at the rendezvous by the bark, which was still in search of Eaton. It was now feared that he had sailed for the East Indies, which turned out to be the fact. Here the Mosquito-men supplied the companies of both ships with turtle ; while the seamen laboured to clean and re- pair, and provide them with firewood, preparatory to an at- tempt upon Guayaquil. For this place they sailed on the morning of the 29tli. According to Dampier, Guayaquil was then one of the chief ports of the South Seas. The commodi- ties it exported were hides, tallow, cocoa, sarsaparilla, and a woollen fabric named Quito cloth, generally used by the com- mon people throughout all Peru. The Bucaniers left the ships anchored off" Cape Blanco, and entered the bay with their canoes and a bark. They captured a small vessel laden with Quito cloth, the master of which informed them of a look- out being kept at Puna, which lay in their way, and that three vessels with negro slaves were then about to sail from Guaya- quil. One of these vessels they took shortly afterward, cut down her mainmast, and left her at anchor, and next morning captured the other two, though only a few negroes were picked out of this to them useless cargo. From mismanagement, and disagreement between the commanders and the men in the two ships, the expedition against Guayaquil misgave. It was imagined that the town was alarmed and prepared to receive them warmly ; and after having landed, lain in the woods all night, and made their way WILLIAM DAMPIER. 168 with considerable difficulty, they abandoned the design before one shot had been fired, and while the place lay full in view of them at a mile's distance, without manifesting any appearance of opposition being intended. Dampier, whose ideas took a wider and bolder range than those of his companions, deeply lamented their ill conduct upon the fair occasion which offered at this time of enriching themselves at less expense of crime than in their ordinary pursuits. " Never," he says, " was there put into the hands of men a greater opportunity to enrich themselves." His bold and comprehensive plan was, with the one thousand ne- groes found in the three ships, to have gone to St. Martha, and worked the gold mines there. In the Indians he reckoned upon finding friends, as they mortally hated the Spaniards, — for present sustenance they had two hundred tons of flour laid up at the Galapagos Islands, — the North Sea would have been open to them, — thousands of Bucaniers would have join- ed them from all parts of the West Indies, and united they might have been a match for all the force Peru could muster, masters of the richest mines in this quarter, and of all the west coast as high as Quito. Whether Dampier unfolded this ** golden dream" at the time does not appear. The Bucaniers, at all events, sailed to La Plata, where they found the bark, and divided the cloth of Quito equally between thfe companies of Swan and Davis, converting the vessel in which it had been taken into a tender for the Cygnet. This ship had since joining depended almost wholly upon the Bachelor's Delight for provisions, as it had neither Mos- quito-purveyors nor a store of flour ; and the original Buca- nier company of Davis now murmured loudly at feeding the cowards who they alleged had balked the attempt on Guaya- quil. But neither could afford to part consortship, and they sailed in company on the 23d of December to attack Lavelia in the Bay of Panama. In this cruise, from the charts and books found in their prizes, they supplied the ignorance and deficiencies of the Indians and Spanish pilots whom they had as prisoners on board ; these drafts being found surer guides. Their object was in the first place to search for canoes, — the want of boats being greatly felt, — in rivers where the Spaniards had no trade with the natives, nor settlements of any kind, as concealment was most important to the success of their opera- tions. In unfrequented rivers where boats might be found, the coast abounded from the equinoctial line to the Gulf of St. Michael. When five days out from La Plata, they made a sudden descent upon a village named Tomaco, where they captured a vessel laden with timber, in which was a Spanish 164 WILLIAM DAMPIER. knight with a crew of eight Spaniards, and also took what the Bucaniers valued much more, a canoe with twelve jars of good old wine. A canoe with a party that rowed six leagues farther up the river, which Dampier named St. Jago, came to a house belonging to a Spanish lady of Lima, whose servants at this remote station traded with the natives for gold. They fled ; but the Bucaniers found several ounces of gold left in their calabashes. The land on the banks of this river was a rich black mould, producing tall trees. The cotton and cabbage- trees flourished here on the banks ; and a good way into the interior, Indian settlements were seen, with plantations of maize, plantain-walks, hogs, and poultry. At Tomaco a canoe with three natives visited the strangers, whom they did not distinguish from Spaniards. They were of middhng stature, straight, and well-limbed, " long-visaged, thin-faced, with black hair, ill-looked men, of a \erj dark copper com- plexion." The Bucaniers presented them with wine, which they drank freely. On the 1st of January the Cygnet and Bachelor's Dehght sailed for the Island of Gallo, carrying with them the Spanish knight Don Pinas, and two canoes. On the way one of their boats captured the packet-boat from Lima, and fished up the letters which the Spaniards when pursued had thrown over- board attached to a hne and buoy. From these despatches they learned the welcome and important fact of the Governor of Panama hasteninsf the sailing of the triennial Plate-fleet from Callao to Panama, previous to the treasure being con- veyed across the isthmus to Porto Bello on mules. To inter- cept this fleet would enrich every man among them at one stroke ; and to this single object every faculty was now bent. As a fit place to careen their ships, and at the same time he in wait for their prey, they fixed upon the Pearl Islands in the Bay of Panama, for which they sailed from Gallo on the morn- ing of the 7th ; — two ships, three barks, a fireship, and two email tenders, one attached to each ship. On the 8th they opportunely captured a bark with flour, and then "jogged on with a gentle gale" to Gorgona, an uninhab- ited island, well wooded, and watered with brooklets issuing from the high grounds. Pearl-oysters abounded here. They were found in from four to six fathoms water, and seemed flatter in the shell than the ordinary eating oyster. The pearl was found at the head of the oyster, between the shell and the meat, sometimes one or two pretty large in size, and at other times, twenty or thirty seed-pearls. The inside of the ehell was *' more glorious than the pearl itself." r- WILLIAM DAMPIER. Xf^ Landing most of their prisoners at Gorgona, the squadron, now consisting of six sail, steered for the Bay of Panama, and anchored at Galera, a small, barren, uninhabited island, from whence they again sailed on the 25th to one of the southern Pearl Islands, as a place more suitable to hale up and clean the ships. While this was in progress, the small barks cruised, and brought in a prize laden with beef, Indian corn, and fowls, which were all highly acceptable. They next took in water and firewood, and were at last in fit order to fight as well as to watch the Plate-fleet, which they did cruising before Panama, between the Pearl Islands and the main; where, says Dampier, " it was veiy pleasant sailing, having the main on one side, which appears in divers forms. It is beautified with many small hills, clothed with wood of divers sorts of trees, which are always green and flourishing. There are some few small high islands within a league of the main, scat- tered here and there one, partly woody partly bare, and they as well as the main appear very pleasant." Most of the Pearl Islands were wooded and fertile ; and from them were drawn the rice, plantains, and bananas which supplied the city of New Panama, " a fair city standing close by the sea, about four miles from the ruins of the old town," — encompassed be- hind with a fine country of hill and valley, beautified with groves and spots of trees, appearing like islands in the savan- nas. The new city had been walled in since the late visit which Dampier had made it with Sawkins, Coxon, and Sharp, and the walls were now mounted with guns pointing seaward. As Davis lay nearly opposite the city, its supplies from the islands were completely cut off"; while his people every day fished, hunted, or pillaged among them. At this time Davis negotiated for an exchange of prisoners, giving up forty, of whom he was very glad to be rid, in return for one of Harris' band, and a man who had been surprised by the Spaniards while hunting in the islands. Attention to the safety of the meanest individual of their company was at all times one of the fundamental principles of the Bucaniers ; and it is stated on good authority, that when they first hunted in the wilds of Hispaniola, if at nightfall one comrade was missing, all busi- ness was suspended till he was either found or his disappear- ance satisfactorily accounted for. The Lima fleet proved tardy in making its appearance, and the Bucaniers again moved, and came to anchor near Tabago, an island of the bay abounding in cocoa and mammee, and having fine brooks of pure water ghding through groves of fruit-trees. About this time they were nearly ensnared by the stratagem of a Spaniard, who, under pretence of clandestine 15 166 WILLIAM DAMPIER. traffic, sent a fireship among them at midnight; but the treachery was suspected in time, and avoided. This fireship had been fitted up by the same Captain Bond of whom they had heard at the Cape de Verd Islands. He was an Enghsh pirate who had deserted to the Spaniards. The squadron, which had been scattered through the night from alarm of the fireship, had scarcely returned to its station, and looked about for the cut anchors, when the freebooters were thrown into fresh consternation by seeing many canoes full of armed men passing through an island-channel and steering direct for them. They also bore up ; but the strangers proved to be a party of two hundred and eighty Bucaniers, French and English, in twenty-eight canoes, who had just crossed the isthmus on an expedition to the South Sea. The English seamen, eighty in number, entered with Swan and Davis ; and the flour-prize was given to the French Flibustiers, who entered it under the command of Captain Groignet, their countryman. These strangers announced another party of one hundred and eighty, under Captain Townley, all English, who were at this time constructing canoes to bring them down the rivers into the South Sea; and on the 30th of March these joined the fleet, not, however, in canoes, but in two ships which they had taken as soon as they entered the bay, laden with flour, wine, brandy, and sugar. The squadron was fur- ther increased by the arrival of a vessel under the command of Mr. William Knight ; and the Indians of Santa Martha brought intelligence that yet another strong party, French and English, were on the way. These also arrived, to the number of two hundred and sixty-four men, with three commanders ; one of whom, Le Picard, was a veteran who had served under Lolonnois and Morgan at Porto Bello. The Bucanier force now amounted to about one thousand men ; and the greatest want was coppers to cook provisions for so many. The few kettles which they had were kept at work day and night, and a foraging-party sent out to bring in coppers. From intercepted letters it was ascertained that the Lima fleet was now at sea ; and the design upon the city was sus- pended till the plate-ships were first secured, though, as it chanced, in counting on their easy capture, the Bucaniers reckoned without their host. It was now the latter end of May, and for six months the Bucaniers had concentrated their attention on this single en- terprise. Their fleet now consisted of ten sail; but, save the Bachclor^s Delight, which carried thirty-six guns, and the Cygnet, which was armed, none were of force, though all were WILLIAM DAMPIER. 167 fully manned. The Spanish fleet, it was afterward learned, mustered fourteen sail; two of forty guns, one of thirty-six, another of eighteen, and one of eight guns, with large compa- nies to each ship. Two fire-ships attended the Spanish fleet. Before the Bucaniers had finished consultation on their plan of operation, the Spanish fleet advanced upon them, and battle was resolved on. And, "lying to windward of the enemy, we had it," says Dampier, " in our choice whether to fight or not. It was three o'clock in the afternoon when we weighed, and being all under sail, we bore down right afore the wind on our enemies, who kept close on a wind to come to us; but night came on without any thing besides the exchanging of a few shot on each side. When it grew dark the Spanish admiral put out a light as a signal for his fleet to come to an anchor. We saw this light at the admiral's top for about half an hour, and then it was taken down. In a short time after we saw the light again, and being to windward, we kept under sail, sup- posing the light had been in the admiral's top ; but, as it proved, this was only a stratagem of theirs, for this light was put out the second time at one of the barks' topmast-head, and then she was sent to leeward, which deceived us, for we thought still the light was in the admiral's top, and by that means our- selves to windward of them." At daybreak the Bucaniers found that by this stratagem the Spaniards had got the weath- er-gage of them, and were bearing down full sail, which com- pelled them to run for it; and a running fight was maintained all day, till, having made a turn almost round the bay, they anchored at night whence they had set out in the morning. Thus terminated their hopes of the treasure-ships, though it was afterward learned that the plate had been previously land- ed. The French captain, Groignet, had kept out of the ac- tion, for which he and his crew were afterward cashiered by their Enghsh associates. The common accusation which the English Bucaniers brought against their allies was reluctance to fight ; while the latter blamed their indecent contetnpt of the Catholic religion, displayed as often as they entered the Spanish churches, by hacking and mutilating every thing with their cutlasses, and firing their pistols at the images of the saints. Next morning the Spanish fleet was seen at anchor three leagues to leeward, and as the breeze sprung up it stood away for Panama, contented with safety and the small advan- tage obtained on the former day. The Bucaniers were equally well satisfied to escape a renewed engagement, and after con- sultation they bore away for the Keys of Quibo to seek Harris, who had been separated from them in the battle or flight. At this appointed rendezvous they met their consort, and a fresh m WILLIAM DAMPIER. consultation made them resolve to march inland and assault Leon, first securing the port of Ria Lexa. The assault and conquest of these places offers nothing of interest or novelty ; they were carried by the united Bucanier force, amounting to six hundred and forty men, with 6ight vessels, three of them being tenders, and one a fireship. In this assault Dampier was left with sixty men to guard the ca- noes in which the party had been landed. At Leon they lost a veteran Bucanier of the original breed, whom Dampier thus eulogizes: "He was a stout old gray-headed man, aged about eighty-four, who had served under Oliver (Cromwell) in the Irish rebelhon ; after which he was at Jamaica, and had fol- lowed privateering ever since. He would not accept the offer our men made him to tarry ashore, but said he would venture as far as the best of them; and when surrounded by the Span- iards, he refused to take quarter, but discharged his gun among them, keeping a pistol still charged; so they shot him dead at a distance. His name was Swan. He was a very merry, hearty old man, and always used to declare he would never take quarter.'* A Mr. Smith, a merchant or supercargo, who had sailed with Captain Swan from London to trade in the South Sea, was made prisoner on the march to Leon. This city, situated near the Lake of Nicaragua, Dampier describes as one of the most healthy and pleasant in all South America. No sooner were the Bucaniers masters of it than they demanded a ransom of three hundred thousand dollars, which was promised but never paid ; and becoming suspicious that the Spaniards were dallying with them merely to gain time and draw their force to a head, the town was set on fire, and they returned to the coast, first supplying themselves with beef, flour, pitch, tar, cordage, and whatever Leon or Ria Lexa afforded. One Spanish gentleman, who had been released on engaging to send in one hundred and fifty head of cattle, redeemed his parole* with scrupulous honour. Mr. Smith was exchanged for a female prisoner, and Ria Lexa was left burning. The Bucanier squadron now separated, and the fraternity broke into several small detachments, Dampier choosing to follow Captain Swan, who intended first to cruise along the shores of Mexico, the country of the mines, and then, saihng as high as the south-west point of California, cross the Pacific, and return to England by India. This plan presented many temptations to Dampier, whose curiosity and thirst of know- ledge were insatiable; and he might also have shared in the hopes of his comrades, who promised themselves a rich booty in the towns in the neighbourhood of the mines before they WILLIAM DAMPIER. ^ 169 turned their faces westward. Captain Townley had kept by Swan when they separated from Eaton, and each ship had now a tender belonging to it. They put to sea on the 3d of September, and encountered frequent and fierce tornadoes till near the end of the month. Early in October they were off the excellent harbour of Gautalco, the mouth of which may be known by a great hollow rock, from a hole in which every surge makes the water spout up to a considerable height, like the blowing of a whale. Froni the sea the neighbouring country looked beautiful. Here they found some provisions, and landed their sick for a few days. The Cygnet and her consort advanced slowly along the coast, landed near Acapulco, plundered a carrier who con- ducted sixty laden mules, and killed eighteen beeves. They next passed on to Colima, their object being that tempting prize which for generations had quickened the avarice of mar- itime adventurers — the Manilla ship, — for which they kept watch at Cape Corientes. After quitting Ria Lexa, many of the men had been seized with a malignant fever; and as the same kind of disease broke out in Davis' squadron, it was with some feasibility imputed to infection caught at the place mentioned, where many of the inhabitants had been carried off by a disorder of the same kind some months before the Bucaniers visited the town. To victual the ship for the long voyage in view was one main object of the continued cruise of Captain Swan on this coast ; but the attempts made for this purpose were often baf- fled with loss ; and so much time had now elapsed, that it was concluded the Manilla ship had eluded their vigilance. About the beginning of January, Townley left them in the Bay of Vanderas, and returned towards Panama, carrying home a few Indians of the Darien who had accompanied Swan thus far. The Mosquito-men remained in the Cygnet. To obtain provisions, Swan captured the town of St. Pe- caque, on the coast of New Gallicia, where large stores were kept for supplying the slaves who worked in the neighbouring mines. He brought off on the first day a considerable quanti- ty of provisions on horseback, and on the shoulders of his men. These visits were repeated, a party of Bucaniers keep- ing the town, till the Spaniards had collected a force. Of this Captain Swan gave his men due warning, exhorting them on their way to the canoes with the burdens of maize and other provisions which they carried, to keep together in a compact body; but they chose to follow their own course, every man straggling singly, while leading his horse, or carrying a load 15* 170 WILLIAM DAMPlEir^ on his shoulders. They accordingly fell into the ambush the Spaniards had laid for them, and to the amount of fifty were surprised, and mercilessly butchered. The Spaniards, seizing their arms and loaded horses, fled with them before Swan, who heard the distant firings could come to the assistance of his men. Fifty-four Englishmen and nine blacks fell in this affair, which was the most severe the Bucaniers had encoun- tered in the South Sea. It is in consonance with the spirit of that age to find Dampier relating that Captain Swan had been warned of this disaster by his astrologer.* Many of the men had also, he states in his manuscript journal, foreboded this misfortune, and in the previous night, while lying in the church of St. Pecaque, " had been disturbed by grievous groanings, which kept them from sleeping." This disheartening affair determined Swan and his dimin- ished company to quit this coast; and they accordingly steered for Cape St. Lucas, the south point of California, to careen, and to refresh themselves before crossing the Pacific; but by adverse winds were compelled to put into a bay at the east end of the middle island of the Tres Marias, where they found iguanas, rackoons, rabbits, pigeons, and deer, fish of various kinds, turtle, and seals. There they careened the ship, divi- ded and stowed the provisions between it and the tender, and went over to the mainland for water, having previously landed the prisoners and pilots, who were now of no use, save to con- sume provisions. That they were abandoned on an uninhab- ited island is said to have been in revenge of the fatal affair of St. Pecaque. While they lay here, Dampier, who had escaped the conta- gious fever, languished under a dropsical complaint, of which several of the men had died. The method of cure was singu- lar, but the patient believed it successful. " I was," he says, "laid and covered all but my head in the hot sand: I endured it near half an hour, and was then taken out, and laid to sweat in a tent: I did sweat exceedingly while I was in the sand^ and I do believe it did me much good, for I grew well soon after." While careening the ship. Swan had more fully laid before his company his plan of going to the East Indies, holding out to them hopes of plunder in a cruise among the Philippines. Dampier describes many of them as so ignorant that they ima- gined it impossible to reach India from California; otjiers en- * It was tlien customary before undertaking a voyage to consult an as- trologer. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 171 tertained more reasonable fears of their provisions failing be- fore they could reach the Ladrones. Maize, and the fish which the Mosquito-men caught, some of which were salted for store, now constituted the whole provision of above one hun- dred and fifty men, and of this but a short allowance could be aftbrded daily, calculating on a run of at least sixty days. On the 31st of March, having all agreed to attempt the voyage, and consented to the straitened allowance, the Cygnet and the tender commanded by Captain Teat sailed from the American coast, steering south-west till she arrived at 13^ N., in which parallel she held due west for the Ladrones. The men received but one meal a day, and there was no occasion, Dampier says, to call them to their victuals, which were serv- ed out by the quarter-master with the exactness of gold. Two dogs and two cats which were on board soon learned to attend daily for their respective shares. The Cygnet enjoyed a fair fresh-blowing trade-wind, and went on briskly, which was some consolation for scanty fare. At the end of twenty days they had made so much progress that the men began to murmur at being still kept upon such short allowance ; and by the time they reached Guahan they were almost in open mutiny, and had, it was said, resolved to kill and eat Swan in the first place, and afterward in regular order all who had promoted this voyage ! In the long run of five thousand miles they had seen no living thing, whether bird, fish, or insect, save in longitude 18^ a flock of boobies, presumed to be the denizens of some cliffs or islands, though none were seen. On the 21st of May, near midnight, they had the happiness of coming to anchor on the west side of Guahan, about a mile from the shore, after a run which Dam- pier calculated at seven thousand three hundred and two miles. At this island the Spaniards had a small fort and a garrison of thirty men. Presuming that the Cygnet was a Spanish vessel from Acapulco, a priest came off', and was detained as a host- age till terms of obtaining provisions were arranged; and, as these were dictated by fair principles of exchange, no difficulty was experienced, both the Spaniards and the few natives on the island gladly bringing their goods to a safe and profitable market. The natives and the Spaniards here lived in a state of con- stant hatred if not in open hostility ; and Captain Eaton, who had touched at Guahan on his voyage to India, after parting with Davis on the coast of Peru, had been instigated by the governor to plunder and practise every cruelty upon the islanders. ' This advice neither himself nor his men were slow to follow. *' He gave us leave," says Cowley's manuscript 172 WILLIAM DAMPIEIl. narrative of the voyage, "to kill and take whatever we could find in one-half of the island where the rebels lived. We then made wars," as Cowley chooses to term wanton unprovoked aggression, "with these infidels, and went on shore every day, fetching provisions, and firing among them wherever we saw them ; so that the greater part of them left the island. The Indians sent two of their captains to treat with us, but we would not treat with them. The whole land is a garden.'* Dampier reckons that at this time there were not above one hundred Indians on the whole island, as most of those who had escaped slaughter destroyed their plantations, and went to other islands, remote from the tender mercies of the Spaniards and their new allies the Bucaniers. While a friendly and brisk trade was going on between the shore and the Cygnet, the Acapulco vessel came in sight of the island, but was warn- ed off in time by the governor, without, luckily for herself, liaving been descried by the Bucaniers. In the eagerness of flight she ran upon a shoal, where her rudder was struck off, nor did she get clear for three days. As soon as the natives informed the Bucaniers of this prize, they " were in a great heat to be after her;" but Swan, who dishked his present vo- cation, and still hoped to open an honest traffic at Manilla, though he found it prudent under present circumstances to keep this design secret, persuaded, or as probably frightened, his wild crew out of this humour by representing the dangers of the chase. Suitable presents were exchanged between the governor and the priest and the English captain, and preparations made to depart. Here Dampier first saw the bread-fruit, — the staff of life of so many of the insulated tribes of Polynesia. Of the jlying-proas^ or sailing canoes of these islands, so often describ- ed, he expresses the highest admiration. "I believe," he says, " they sail the best of any boats in the world ;" one that he tried would, he believed, "run twenty-four miles an hour;" and one had been known to go from Guahan to Manilla, a distance of four hundred and eighty leagues, in four days. It took the Cygnet nineteen days to reach the coast of Min- danao, for which she sailed on the 2d of June ; and after beat- ing about through several channels and islands, she came to anchor on the 18th of July opposite the river's mouth, and be- fore the city of Mindanao. They hoisted English colours, and fired a salute of seven or eight guns, which was returned from the shore by three. Captain Swan had many reasons for desiring to cultivate tlie friendship of the ruling powers at Mindanao. Immedi- ately after the Cygnet came to anchor, Rajah Laut, the brother WILLIAM DAMPIER. 173 and prime minister of the sultan, and the second man in the state, came off in a canoe, rowed with ten oars, to demand whence they were. One of the sultan's sons, who spoke the Spanish language, accompanied his uncle. When informed that the strangers were English they were welcomed, though Rajah Laut appeared disappointed that they were not come to establish a factory, for which proposals had already been made to him by the East India Company. The conversation was carried on by Mr. Smith, the late prisoner at Ria Lexa, and the sultan's son, who with his uncle remained all ,the while in the canoe. They promised to assist the English in procuring provisions, and were rowed off without more passing at this time. Dampier regrets that the offer of a settlement here was not accepted, " by which," he says, " we might better have con- sulted our own profit and satisfaction than by the other roving loose way of life ; so it might probably have proved of public benefit to our nation, and been the means of introducing an English settlement and trade, not only here, but through several of the Spice Islands which lie in its neighbourhood." They had not lain long here when they received another in- vitation to settle in a different island, the sultan of which sent his nephew to Mindanao to negotiate secretly with Captain Swan. ^ The Cygnet's cdmpany had not been aware of the dignity of their first visiters till they were gone, when the government- officer informed them; who, according to the customs of the ports of China and other parts in the East, came on board ta measure the ship, — a practice of which Dampier could not conceive the reason, unless the natives wished to improve their knowledge of ship-building. In the same afternoon Captain Swan sent Mr. More, one of the supercargoes, to the city with a present for the sultan, con- sisting of three yards of scarlet cloth, three yards of broad gold-lace, a Turkish scimitar, and a pair of pistols ; and to the Rajah Laut, the dignitary they had already seen, three yards of the same cloth with silver-lace. After some preliminary ceremonies, the English envoy was at night admitted to an audience, to which he was conducted by armed men, accom- panied by servants bearing torches. The sultan, with ten privy-counsellors all seated on carpets, awaited his arrival. The present was graciously accepted, a conference took place in Spanish, after which Mr. More and his attendants, being first treated with supper, returned on board. Next day Cap- tain Swan was invited on shore, whither he went, preceded by two trumpeters. He was conducted to an audience, and en- 174 WILLIAM DAMPIER. tertained with betel and tobacco. Two letters were shown him, sent by East India merchants to the suUan, demanding hberty to build a factory and fort, and specifying the terms of traffic, rates of exchange, and of weights and measures. One letter was beautifully written, and between each line there was drawn a line of gold. Another letter, left by a Captain Good- lud, who had lately visited Mindanao, and directed generally to any of the English who might touch there, concluded, " Trust none of them, for they are all thieves ; but tace is Latin for a candle." After the interview with the sultan. Captain Swan visited Rajah Laut, who, being rather in disgrace with his brother at this time, had not been present at the audience. He entertain- ed the English captain with boiled fowls and rice, and strongly urged him to bring the ship into the river, as stormy weather was at this season to be expected. He also advised him to warn his men against offending the natives by infringing their customs, and altogether appeared very familiar and friendly. To impress Swan with an idea of his justice, he ordered a man who had formerly robbed Captain Goodlud to be now punished ; and the miserable wretch was accordingly publicly exposed bound to a post, and stripped naked with his face opposite the scorching sun, while he was shifted round and kept in torture, following its course all day, stung by the gnats and mosquitoes. This was a usual mode of punishment. His life was at night fall left at the mercy of the English cap- tain, who informed Rajah Laut that he had no right to take cognizance of any crime which had not been committed by his own men and in his own ship. The letters from the company's agents, by convincing Swan that there was a serious intention of establishing a factory at this place, gave him confidence to enter the river, trusting also to the friendly professions of Rajah Laut. The Cygnet was accordingly lighted of part of her cargo, and, with tlie help of sixty native fishermen, Rajah Laut directing their operations in person, she crossed the bar with the first springtide, and was moored within the mouth of the river. The Bucaniers remained here so long upon a footing of daily intimate inter- course with the townspeople, that Dampier has been enabled to give a very full and minute account of the Mindanaians. A singular custom of the country facilitated easy intercourse with the natives ; though seamen, having their pockets stored with gold and their ships with desirable commodities, who are neither suspected of any sinister intention by the people nor viewed with jealousy by the government, have rarely found the half-civilized tribes of the Indian islands difficult of access. WILLIAM DAMPIER. 175 The custom common in the South Sea Islands of exchang- ing names and forming a comradeship with a native, whose house is henceforward considered the home of the stranger, extended in Mindanao to the other sex, and " an innocent platonic female friend, named ^pagally^'' was offered to each of the Enghshmen, besides his male comrade. These friend- ships were, however, not so perfectly disinterested as not to require the cement of presents on the one side and flatteries on the other. In Mindanao, as in more refined parts of the world, those who were best dressed and furnished with gold the most readily obtained companions and pagallies. Under the sanction of this singular national custom the wives of the greatest men might choose friends among the strangers, or be selected as pagallies, and allowed to converse in public with the persons who distinguished them by their choice. On their first arrival, — for they soon declined in favour, owing probably to their own reckless and dissolute manners, — the seamen could not pass along the streets without being com- pelled to enter the houses, where they were presented with betel and tobacco, the cordial hospitality of the givers atoning for the scantiness of this oriental entertainment. To express the vivacity and degree of their affection, the natives would place the forefingers of both hands close together, saying the English and themselves were like this ; the Dutch were signifi- ed by holding the same fingers six inches apart, and the Span- iards at double that distance. Captain Swan, who still had a large quantity of iron and lead, as well as other goods belong- ing to his owners, meanwhile traded with Rajah Laut, at whose house he dined every day till he established himself at a dwell- ing which he hired in the town. Those of the Bucanierswho had money also took houses on shore, lived a jovial life among their comrades and pagallies, and hired female servants from their masters as temporary housekeepers. Besides being the wet season, it was Ramadan time when the Cygnet came to anchor in the river, and amusement and pleasure were nearly suspended in Mindanao ; but as soon as this solemn period was passed, the Rajah Laut entertained his friend Captain Swan every night with dances, those bands of regularly trained dancing-women being seen here which are common over all India. But all the females of Mindanao were fond of dancing, which they practised in a ring of forty or fifty, who joined hand-in-hand, singing in chorus, and keeping time ; and though they never moved from the same spot, making various gestures, throwing forward one leg, and clapping their hands at the close of the verse. The Rajah Laut was in re- turn entertained by Captain Swan's men, who performed Eng- 176 WILLIAM DAMPIER. lish dances to the music of violins, in a ball-room fitted up with gold and silver lace and illuminated by a profusion of wax candles. Dampier relates the very natural mistake into which the rajah fell regarding one of these quarter-deck per- formers. John Thacker, a common Bucanier, though he could neither read nor write, had acquired the accomphshment of dancing about some " of the music houses of Wapping," and coming into the South Sea with Captain Harris, had been so fortunate in acquiring booty, that he now wore fine clothes, and by his superior dress and dancing, was supposed by the natives to be a person of noble extraction. When the rajah, to satisfy his curiosity on this important point, put the question to one of the company, the seaman replied humorously that the conjecture as to Jack's quality was quite correct ; and that most of the ship's company were of like extraction, at least all who wore good clothes and had money, those meanly clad being but common seamen. The rajah from this time por- tioned out his civilities according to the garb of his new friends. Captain Swan was by this time deeply chagrined at the re- sult of his voyage. Most of his crew were turbulent and law- less ; those who had money revelling on shore, and continu- ally involving themselves in quarrels with the natives, — while those who were poor were growling on board at the privations they suffered, and the time wasted in inaction. In the num- ber of the penniless was Dampier, who had no means of recre- ation and no source of enjoyment save the faculty of a power- ful and quick observation, and the delight of entering his remarks in his journal. The single and undivided object of the rest of the crew of the Cygnet was gold — the plunder of the Manilla ship ; nor durst the commander reveal his dislike to their project. About the same time that his crew grew vio- lently discontented, he became himself suspicious of the good faith of his friend Rajah Laut, who for the iron and lead which he had procured continued to pay with fair promises. Beef was one of the articles which the rajah had promised to the English, and a party went a hunting with him, but found no prey. Dampier, a practised hunter, was always of these parties, and used the opportunities they aflforded to extend his knowledge of the country. In these distant hunting excursions the rajah carried his wives, children, and servants along with him in the proas of the countiy, which were fitted up with rooms. They settled at some village in the neighbourhood of the hunting-ground, the chief and his family occupying one end of the house and the Englishmen the other. While he and his men, who always hunted fi-om dawn till late in tlie WILLIAM DAMPIER. 177 afternoon, were abroad, the Englishmen were frequently left at home with the women and children. Though these ladies never quitted their own apartments while the chief remained at home, he was no sooner gone than they usually flocked to the strangers' room, asking a thousand questions about the condition of the women, and the fashions and customs of Eng- land. These were the subject of long and earnest argument among themselves, some condemning and others applauding the custom, which all allowed to be singular, of even the king and chiefs having but one wife. Among the proselytes to mo- nogamy was the war-queen or wife, the lady who enjoyed the privilege of attending the rajah to battle ; and her reasons, if they did not convince, at least silenced her opponents. During this excursion. Dumpier, from the conversation of the women, considerably increased his acquaintance with the character and customs of the people. They bathed daily, and washed after every meal ; and if they became unclean from touching accidentally any forbidden thing, underwent scrupu- lous purification. Though associating so intimately with the English, they did not like to drink with nor after them. Wild hogs abounded, but swine's flesh, and every part of that filthy animal, was held iu the utmost abhorrence by the Mindanai- ans ; and though they invited the seamen to destroy the ani- mals that came to the city during the night to feed on garbage under the houses, they were ordered to take the swine on board, and those who had touched these abominable creatures were ever afterward loathed and avoided by the natives, and forbidden their houses. This superstitious dislike was carried to so great a length, that the Rajah Laut returned in a rage a pair of shoes made in the English fashion, of leather he had furnished, and in which he tiad taken great pride, till he learned that the thread with which they were sewed had been pointed with hog's bristles. The shoemaker got more leather, and made a quite unexceptionable pair, with which the chief was satisfied. At this hunting village, in the evenings, the women danced before the rajah ; and before the party broke up to return to Mindanao, he entertained the English with a jar of " rice drink," a fermented liquor, on which he and his attendants got very merry. He drank first himself, and then his men ; " and they all," says Dampier, " were as drunk as swine before they suffered us to drink." That balance in human affairs which pervades all conditions was now turning the scale in favour of the less fortunate por- tion of the Cygnet's crew. The Mindanaians, though hospit- able and kind, were, when offended, vindictive and deadly in 16 178 WILLIAM DAMPIER. their resentments ; the conduct of these dissolute and openly profligate seamen had given them great oftence ; and sixteen of the Bucaniers were in a short time taken ofi* by poison, to which more afterward fell victims. The islanders were skilled in subtle poisons, which had not their full operation till a long while after they were administered. Some of the men, after they were conscious of having been poisoned, lingered on for months. When they died their livers were found black, dry, and shrivelled '- like cork." The ship had not lain long in the river when it had been dis- covered that her bottom was eaten with worms, which bred in such great numbers in this place, that shortly before a Dutch vessel had been destroyed by them in two months, while the Rajah Laut became heir to her great guns. It began to be suspected that he entertained the hope of being equally fortu- nate in a legacy from the Cygnet, as he had given no intima- tion of a danger which the Mindanaians always avoided by placing their barks and boats in a dry-dock the moment they came into port, even when only returned from fishing. He shook his head and seemed displeased when he saw that the sheathing of the vessel had prevented serious damage, and gravely remarked, " that he never did see a ship with the cunning device of two bottoms before." Dampier had seen the same kind of worms in myriads in the Bay of Campeachy, and in the Bay of Panama, and in smaller numbers in Vir- ginia. They are never seen far at sea. This alarming damage was rep.iired in time, though, taken with other circumstances, it strengthened the suspicions of Captain Svran, and excited the discontent of the men by in- creasing their alarm. Rajah Laut also, if he did not absolute- ly refuse, still delayed to furnish the beef and rice necessary to their subsistence, and which were to be the price of the commodities with which Captain Swan had so largely furnished him. His English friend had also lent the rajah twenty ounces of gold, to defray the expenses of a solemn ceremonial observed shortly before, when his son had been circumcised. This splendid ceremony, at which the English assisted, had been celebrated with music, dances, the singular war-dance of the country, banquets, pageants, and processions by torchhght. The Rajah, in a manner not uncommon in eastern countries, .not only refused to repay the gold, but when urged, insisted that it had been a present, and finally demanded payment for all the victuals Swan and his men had consumed at his hos- pitable board. While the rajah thus refused to discharge his debts, the Bucanier crew clamoured to be gone, and, becoming openly WILLIAM DAMPIER. 179 mutinous, a party of them resolved to carry off the ship. Neither Dampier, who happened to be on board, nor the sur- geon's mate, approved of this treacherous design, but they were reluctantly compelled to go with the rest, leaving Captain Swan and thirty-six men at Mindanao, from whence the Cygnet sailed on the 14th of January, 1687, intending to cruise off Manilla. A Bucanier of Jamaica, named Read was chosen commander. The first intimation Swan had of his abandon- ment was the gun which was fired as the ship got under way. To his own irresolution, bad temper, and want of firmness, Dampier imputes this misfortune. If, when apprized of the design of the mutineers, he had come on board and behaved with prudence and courage, he might have brought back the greater part of the men to their duty, and taken his own measures with the ringleaders, to some of whom he had cer- tainly given just cause of discontent. After leaving at Mindanao, the Cygnet, with a crew now reduced by various causes to eighty men, coasted to the west- ward. They fell in with a great many Keys, or small low islets, between which and Mindanao there was a good chan- nel. On the east of these Keys they anchored and obtained green-turtle. At different places they cut ratans, such as were used in England for walking-canes. They saw here large bats, " seven or eight feet from tip to tip" of the extended wings, which regularly at dusk took their flight from the smaller islands to the main island in swarms like bees, and re- turned like a cloud before sunrise. On the 23d they reached Luconia, having captured a Spanish vessel laden with rice and cotton cloth, bound for Manilla. The master had been boat- swain of the Acapulco ship which had escaped them at Guahan, and which now lay safe in port. Nothing, therefore, of consequence could be hoped for this season, and to beguile the time, and wait a more favourable opportunity, they resolv- ed to sail for the Pulo Condore or " Islands of Calabashes," a group of small islands on the coast of Cambodia, They an- chored at Condore on the 14th of March. At this place the Bucaniers remained for a month; after which they cruised in the G ulf of Siam and in several parts of the China seas, taking all barks that fell in their way, whether Spanish, Portuguese, or native vessels. From the crew of a junk belonging to the Island of Sumatra, they learned that the English had estabhshed a factory on that island. The sur- geon and Dampier, who had accompanied "this mad crew" against their inclination, "and were sufficiently weary of them," would have escaped here, and taken their chance of 180 WILLIAM DAMPIER. getting to this or some other English factory; but they were constrained to remain in the Cygnet. The next destination of the Bucaniers was the Ponghou Isl- ands, which in no respect answered their purpose of quiet and security. At the place where they anchored there was a large town and a Tartar garrison. In the charts which they possessed there were laid down, marked by the figure 5, a group of islands situated between Luconia (the cynosure of their hopes) and Formosa; and these, which offered a tolerably convenient station, they hoped might be either uninhabited or only peopled by tribes from whom they might with impunity plunder provisions, without danger of the outrage being heard of in the Philippines. They steered for them, and upon the 6th of August reached the interesting group now known as the Bashee Islands. These five islands were more particularly named, 1. Orange Island, so called by the Dutchmen among the crew in honour of their native prince. It is the largest and most westerly ot* the group, and was uninhabited. 2. Grafton Island was so named by Dampier in compliment to the noble family in whose household he had, as has been mentioned, left his wife. 3. Monmouth Island was named by the seamen after the un- fortunate Duke of Monmouth, the son of Charles II. The other two were called the Goat and the Bashee Island, from the number of goats seen on the one, and the abundance of the beverage which gained the approbation of the seamen that was made on the other. The two latter are small islands, lying to the south, in the channel which divides Orange Island from Grafton and Monmouth Islands. Monmouth Island is high, and so fenced with steep rocks and precipitous cliffs, that the Bucaniers did not land upon it as they did upon all the other islands. Grafton and Monmouth Islands were thickly inhabited, and on Bashee there was one village. The natives were "short squat people, generally round- visaged, with low foreheads and thick eye-brows ; their eyes small and hazel-coloured, yet bigger than those of the Chinese ; short low noses, their lips and mouths middle-proportioned; ther teeth white, their hair black, thick, and lank, which they wore cut short ; it will just cover their ears, and so is cut round very even," says Dampier, and to this fashion they seemed to attach great importance. Their skins are a dark copper-colour. They wear neither hat, cap, turban, nor any thing to keep off the heat of the sun. The men had a cloth about their middle, and some wore jackets of plantain-leaves, ** as rough and bristly as a bear's skin." The women were WILLIAM DAMPIER. 181 clothed with a short cotton petticoat, which fell below the knees; of " a thick, stubborn" cloth that they manufactured themselves. Both men and women wore large earrings of a yellow glistering metal, found in the mines in their own moun- tains, rcsembhng gold, but paler in colour. No foreign commodities of any kind were seen amono- the Basheeans, nor any thing that could have been introduced by sea, save a few bits of iron and pieces of buffalo-hides. In all points they appeared an unmixed race, in their dispositions singularly mild, amiable, and peaceful. Their islands produ- ced plantains, bananas, pumpkins, and plenty of yams, which made the principal part of their food. They had no grain of any kind, and consequently but few fowls, which Dampier never saw in plenty where there was not either maize, rice, or grain of some sort. The dwellings of the islanders, and the places upon which they had perched them, were among the most singular features of their social condition. In describing them we adopt the words of Dampier : — " These people made but low, small houses. The sides, which were made of small posts, wattled with boughs, and not above four feet and a half high: the ridge pole is about seven or eight feet high. They have a fireplace at one end of their houses, and boards placed on the ground to lie on. They inhabit together in small villages built on the sides and tops of rocky hills, three or four rows of houses one above another, under such steep precipices that they go up to the first row with a wooden ladder, and so with a ladder still from every story up to that above it, there being no other way to ascend. The plain on the first precipice may be so wide as to have room both for a row of houses, which stand all along the edge or brink of it, and a very narrow street running along before their doors, between the row of houses and the foot of the next precipice, the plain of which is in a manner level with the roofs of the houses below, and so for the rest. The common ladder to each row, or street, comes up at a narrow passage, left purposely about the middle of it, and the street being bounded with a precipice also at each end, 'tis but drawing up the ladder if they be assaulted, and then there is no coming at them from below but by climbing a perpendicu- lar wall. And that they may not be assaulted from above they take care to build on the side of such a hill whose back hangs over the sea, or is some high, steep, perpendicular precipice, altogether inaccessible." These precipices and regular ter- races appeared quite natural. Grafton and Monmouth Islands abounded in these rocky fortresses, in which the natives felt 16* 183 WILLIAM DAMPIER. themselves secure from pirates, and from enemies whether foreign or domestic. The men of the Bashee Islands, while the Cygnet lay there, were generally employed in fishing, leaving the plantations to the care of the women. Their weapons were wooden lances, of which only a few were headed with iron ; their armour a buffalo's hide, as thick as a board, wliich covered them to the knees, having holes for the head and arms. No form of wor- ship was observed among this tribe, nor did any one seem to have more authority than another. Every man had one wife, and ruled his own household, — the single wife appearing affec- tionate and happy, and the children respecting and honouring their parents. The boys went out to fish with their fathers, while the girls attended to domestic duties with their mothers. Their plantations were in the valleys, where each family had one ; and thither the young girls, as soon as they were able for the task, descended every day from their rocky abodes to dig yams and potatoes, which they carried home on theh* heads for the use of the family. In no part of the world had Dampier seen people so per- fectly quiet and civil as these islanders. " They dealt justly and with great sincerity," he says, " and made us very wel- come to their houses with Bashee-drink." Meanwhile the cruise off Manilla was not forgotten. Eighty hogs were salted, and yams and potatoes laid up for sea-store. The crew had taken in water, and now only waited the settling of the eastern monsoon to take their departure. On the 24th of September the wind shifted to the east, and by midnight blew so fiercely that they were driven to sea, leaving six of their men on the island. It was the 1st of October before they were able to recover their anchoring ground. The natives immediately rowed their comrades on board. As soon as the ship was out of sight, the islanders increased in hospitality and kindness to the strangers left among them. They only stipulated that the Bucaniers should cut their hair in the Ba- shee fashion; and on this condition offered each of them a wife, and, as a dowry, a plantation and implements of labour. The late storm, their long and profitless cruise, now extend- ing with some of them to years, and the penalties to which their criminal acts made them all alike liable in every civilized country, combined to depress the spirits of the crew of the Cygnet; and once more every man heartily wished himself at home, " as they had done a hundred times before.'* They were, however, persuaded by the captain and master to try one more chance, and agreed to steer for Cape Comorin, for WILLIAM DAMPIER. 183 ever renouncing the long^-indulged dream of capturing the Manilla ship. Dampier beUeved that the ultimate object of the pirate commanders was to cruise in the Red Sea, and by one more desperate effort to make or for ever mar their for- tunes. Of all the company none was more heartily tired than our navigator, who had been betrayed into this voyage, and whose thoughts, since leaving Mindanao, had run continually on making his escape to some Enghsh settlement. To avoid the danger of meeting English or Dutch ships, with which, in taking the best and most direct course, they were in danger of falling in, they agreed, instead of steering for the Straits of Malacca, to go round the east side of the Philippines, and, keeping south to the Spice Islands, pass these, and enter the Indian Ocean about Timor. To Dampier all routes were alike. "I was well enough satisfied," he says, "knowing that the farther we went the more knowledge and experience I should get, which was the main thing I regarded, and should also have the more variety of places to attempt an escape from them. On the 3d of October they sailed from the Bashee Isles, leaving, for the first time, a somewhat favourable impression of their characters, and bearing away grateful and affectionate remembrances of this gentle and amiable tribe. They steered S. S. W., with the wind at W. and fair weather; and passed certain islands which lie by the north end of Luconia. Leav- ing the coast of this island, and with it " all their golden pros- pects," they steered southward, keeping to the east of the Philippines, and on the 15th anchored between the two small islands named Candigar and Sarangan, near the south-east end of Mindanao; and next day, at the north-west end of the most easterly of the islands, found a fit place to careen and refit the ship. While they lay here the nephew of the sultan, who> in name of his uncle, had formerly been treating with Captain Swan to visit and garrison his island, and take in a cargo of spice, came on board and requested a passage home, as they were understood to be going southward. From him they ob- tained intelligence of Captain Swan and their deserted com- rades, who had been fighting under Rajah Laut with a hostile tribe in the interior. The Englishmen had conducted them- selves so bravely in fight, that they were now in high favour at Mindanao ; though it was feared they had been found too powerful and useful as allies to be permitted easily to leave their new service. Swan had for some time been attempting, unsuccessfully, to hire a vessel to convey him to Fort St. George. 184 WILLIAM DAMPIER. At this time Dampicr took an opportunity of persuading the men to return to their duty, to carry the ship back to the river of Mindanao, and give her up to the true commander; but before this could be effected, one man, who seemed the most zealously to embrace the proposal, gave information, and Captain Read deemed it prudent to weigh anchor with all ex- pedition, and without waiting the arrival of the prince, to whom a passage had been promised. Read held a course south-west, and once more disappointed the hopes of Dampier, who be- lieved that, by carrying home the young chief, they might, at his uncle's island, establish a factory and a lawful traffic. The ultimate fate of Captain Swan, of whom we are now to lose .sight, was not a little painful. Two supercargoes or merchants of the ship, Harthop and Smith, died at Mindanao; and when the commander, after a series of vexations and dis- appointments, was going out to a Dutch vessel which lay in tlie river, hoping to get away at last, the boat was run down by the emissaries of Rajah Laut, and Swan and the surgeon were either drowned or killed in the water. The property of the English captain was immediately seized by the perfidious chief, who justified his conduct by imputing as crimes to the unfortunate Englishman the idle impotent threats wrung from him by hope deferred, irritation, and grief. The Cygnet continued her bootless voyage among the isl- ands and channels of the Philippines on to the Spice Isles, and anchored off Celebes, where the seamen obtained a supply of turtle, and found, among other shellfish, cockles of so mon- strous a size that the meat of one of them made a meal for seven or eight persons. It was palatable and wholesome. Here they also found a vine, of which the leaves, pounded and boiled with lard, made an infallible sea-salve. One of the company had formerly learned its uses from the Indians of the Darien; and most of the seamen now laid up a store, such as had ulcers finding great benefit from its healing properties. On the 29th of November they left this place ; and after en- countering the dangers of the shoals which surround Celebes, and experiencing fierce tornadoes, on the 1st of December saw, and on the 5th approached, the north-west end of the island of Bouton. On the evening of the 30th they had seen at a distance two or three water-spouts, but escaped them all. An Indian mIio spoke the Malay tongue came on board at this time with some of the turtle-strikers, and informed them of a good harbour on the east side of Bouton, for which they sailed. They came to anchor within a league of CaUasusung^ a clean and handsome town, situated upon a hill in the middle WILLIAM DAMPIER. 185 of a fertile plain, surrounded with cocoa-trees. The people resembled the inhabitants of Mindanao, and their houses were built in the same style ; but they appeared in all respects more *'neat and tight." They were Mohammedans, and spoke the Malay language. The same description seems to fit every sultan whom the voyagers saw, — " a little man about forty or fifty, with a great many wives and children." Unaware of the exact character of his visiters, the Sukan of Boulonwas pleas- ed to hear that they were English, and made them a visit in a handsomely ornamented proa, with a white silk flag displayed at the masthead, edged with red, and having in the centre, neatly painted, the device of the prince, — a green griffin trampling upon a dragon or winged serpent. They had no object in remaining here ; and as a forlorn hope, or from curiosity, resolved to steer for New-Holland, "to see what that country could afford them." In leaving Bouton they got among shoals, and it was about three weeks before they passed Timor, and got clear of all the dangers of this chain. They stood off south, and on the 4th of January fell in with the north-west coast of New-Holland in 16^ 50". They ran close in, but found no safe anchoring-ground, as the coast lay open to the N. E. They steered for about twelve leagues N. E. by E., keeping close in by the shore, and reach- ed a point, three leagues to the eastward of which they found a deep bay with many islets, and finally anchored at about a mile from the land. Seeing people walking on the shore, a canoe was sent off, but the natives ran away and hid them- selves; and though traces of fires were seen, no habitation could be discovered. Toys and trinkets were left on the shore at such places as the people were likely to find them. The coast here was low and level, with sandbanks. No water could be found, though at several places old wells were seen dry in the sandy bays. Having failed of their object on the mainland, neither provisions nor water being found, nor a hope of them, some of the boats visited the islands in the bay, and surprised a party of the natives. The men at first threat- ened the intruders, and showed their lances and swords; but the noise of a single gun frightened them, and the women seemed in very great alarm. Screaming, they ran away with their children, while the men stood to parley. Those who from sickness or feebleness were unable to follow, lay still by their fires uttering doleful lamentations ; but when it was seen that no harm was intended them, they became tranquil, and many of the fugitives returned. The Bucaniers had entertained no design against these wretched people more flagitious than to make them labour in tm WILLIAM DAMPIER. carrying the water-casks to the boats. To this they tried to bribe them with ragged shirts and old breeches, finery which could have charmed some of the insular families of the Pacific, though they were totally disregarded by the inert natives of New-Holland, whose first associations with European finery were connected with hard and compulsory labour. " We put them on them," says Dampier, speaking of the tattered rags of the Bucaniers, " thinking this finery would make them work heartily for us ; and our water being filled in barrels of about six gallons, we brought these new servants to the wells, and put a barrel on each of their shoulders to carry to the canoe. But all the signs we could make were to no purpose ; for they stood like statues without motion, but grinned like so many monkeys, staring upon one another." It was found that they had not even strength sufficient for the task of being carriers of water ; and Dampier believed that an Enghsh ship boy of ten years old would have been able to bear heavier burdens than these feeble savages. " So we were forced," he says, "to carry our water ourselves ; and they very fairly put the clothes off* again, and laid them down, as if clothes were only to work in. I did not perceive," he adds, " that they had any great liking to them at first; neither did they seem to admire any thing we had." The Mosquito-men were busily employed during the time that the ship was cleaned and the sails repaired; nor did Dampier miss the opportunity of once again persuading his messmates to go to some English factory and surrender the vessel and themselves. The threat of being left on this bar- ren and melancholy coast, among the most wretched of the human race, compelled him to consult his prudence rather than his duty, and to wait a fairer chance of escape. The destination of the Cygnet was still CapeComorin; and on the 4th of May they made the Nicobar Islands, the chief commodities of which were ambergris and fruits, which the inhabitants disposed of to any European vessels that chanced to visit them. Dampier now openly expressed his intention of leaving the ship; and Captain Read, believing that he could not more effectually punish his refractory shipmate than by granting his wish, and leaving him at this island, at once gave him leave to go on shore. Lest Read might change his mind, Dampier immediately lowered his bedding and chest, and got some one to row him to the land. He had not been long on shore when a party were sent from the ship to bring him back, and he complied, aware that if he persisted in going away against their will, the Bucaniers would not hesitate to make a descent on the coast and kill some of the natives, who would WILLIAM DAMPIER. 187 in turn revenge themselves on him. On returning to the ship, he found that his spirited example had moved some of the other persons who had long entertained a similar design of effecting their escape, and three of them now joined his party, of whom the surgeon was one. The captain and crew refu- sed on any terms to let the surgeon depart ; but after some altercation Dampier and his two companions, on a fine clear moonlight night, were landed and left in a sandy bay of this unknown island. One of the seamen who rowed them ashore stole an axe and gave it to them, as the means of propitiating the natives, or of buying provisions. They were speedily joined by four Acheenese previously found in a captured proa, whom Captain Read released before setting sail; and now they fancied themselves strong enough to row to Sumatra. A Por- tuguese, taken prisoner by the Bucaniers long before, was also landed, and the party of eight considered itself able for de- fence if attacked by the natives, though no one offered to dis- turb them. From the owner of an empty hut in which they slept they bought a canoe with the stolen axe, and, placing their goods in it, embarked for Acheen. It upset as soon as under way, and though no life was lost their clothes were wetted, and what to Dampier was of far greater importance, the journals of many years and his drafts were damaged. Three days were spent in drying their things, and altering their canoe into a saihng boat, which was expertly done by the Acheenese, who fitted her with a mast, outriggers, and suit of mat-sails. With the natives, who watched all their movements, though more from curiosity than suspicion, they bartered rags and strips* of cloth for mellory, — a fruit the size of the bread-fruit, shaped like a pear with a tough, smooth, light-green rind, which Dampier asserts is confined to these islands. They also ob- tained cocoanuts, which the Acheenese gathered, and might have had hogs, but that they did not choose to disgust their Malayan friends, who were Mahommedans. Once more they embarked in their frail vessel, their only guides a pocket com- pass, with which Dampier had provided himself, and a sketch of the Indian Seas, which, contemplating escape, he had pre- viously from a chart in the ship, copied into his pocket-book. They had been out three days when the weather became threatening and soon rose to a tempest. We shall employ the striking language of Dampier himself to describe what follow- * A strip of cloth which those islanders wear attached to their slight cover- ing led Linseus into the ludicrous mistake of asserting, on the authority of an ignorant Swedish saDor, that here existed a race of men with tails. 188 WILLIAM DAMPIER. ed, nor, while it reveals so much of his true character and feelings, could a better specimen of his more elevated and earnest style be easily selected : — " The wind continued increasing all the afternoon, and the sea still swelled higher and often broke, but did us no damage ; for the ends of the vessel being very narrow, he that steered received and broke the sea on his back, and so kept it from coming in, which we were forced to keep heaving out contin- ually. The evening of this day was very dismal. The sky looked very black, being covered with dark clouds. The wind blew hard, and the seas ran high. The sea was already roar- ing in a white foam about us; a dark night coming on, no land to shelter us, and our little bark in danger to be swallow- ed by every wave ; and, what was worst of all, none of us thought ourselves prepared for another world. I had been in many imminent dangers before now, but the Avorst of them all was but play-game in comparison with this. I had^long before this repented me of that roving course of life, but never with such concern as now. I did also call to mind the many mira- culous acts of God's providence towards me in the whole course of my life, of which kind, 1 believe few men have met the hke. And for all these I returned thanks in a pecuhar manner, and once more desired God's assistance, and com- posed my mind as well as I could in the hopes of it, and, as the event showed, I was not disappointed of my hopes. Sub- mitting ourselves therefore to God's good providence, and taking all the care we could to preserve our lives, Mr. Hall and I took turns to steer, and the rest to heave out the water ; and thus we provided to spend the most doleful night I ever was in." The pious trust of Dampier and his companions did not fail them. After enduring great hardship, they reached a small fishing village in a river's mouth, of the Island of Sumatra, at which their companions, the Malays of Acheen, were previ- ously acquainted. They were so much exhausted when they arrived here as to be unable to row their canoe to the village, — another example of the sudden prostration of strength to which persons who have been in imminent jeopardy are liable as soon as the danger appears to be past. The people of the place assisted them in, and a chief who came to see them, being given to understand that they were prisoners escaped like the Acheenese from the pirates, treated them with great kindness. A house was provided for their reception, and far more provisions sent to it than they could use, as they were all sick from excessive fatigue, and the cold and heat to which thej had alternately been exposed, now scorching unsheltered WILLIAM DAMPIER* 189 in the noontide sun, and again bleaching in the chill rains of midnight. After resting for ten days, though not yet restored to health, they entreated to be allowed to proceed to Acheen to their countrymen ; and they were provided with a large proa, and permitted to depart. On their arrival at Acheen they were strictly examined by the native magistrate, and then given up to the care of an Irish gentleman connected with the factory. The Portuguese died, and Ambrose, one of the Englishmen who left the Cygnet did not long survive him. Dampier, originally robust, and whose constitution was now by his hardy mode of life almost invincible, recovered, though slowly ; the remedies of a Malay doctor, to whose care he was committed, having proved worse than the original disease. We may here take a farewell glance of the Bucaniers, and especially of those left by Dampier in the South Sea. In pur- suing their old vocation they became more successful after the Cygnet crossed the Pacific They captured many vessels, and revelled in the plunder of several towns ; sometimes cruising together, but as often in detached bands. Townley was so far fortunate as to obtain with ease at Laveha the trea- sure and merchandise landed from the Lima ship on the for- mer year, for which Swan had watched so long in vain, and for which the whole Bucanier force had battled in the Bay of Panama. Townley afterward died of wounds received in another attack. The French party stormed Granada; and Groignet, dying of his wounds, was succeeded by Le Picard. Harris followed Swan across the Pacific ; and Knight, satiated with plunder, returned by Cape Horn to the West Indies. The French Flibustiers countenanced by their government, continued to flourish during the war which followed the ac- cession of William III. to the throne of England. At length Bucaniering having been severely checked, changed into the more legitimate channel of privateering ; yet for more than twenty years, a few desperate characters, English, or English Creoles, outlaws or deserters, pretending to be the true suc- cessors of the old Rovers, who had strictly limited their depre- dations to the Spanish West Indies, continued to infest the commerce of every nation, and haunted every sea from Cape Wrath to the islands of the Indian Ocean, wherever robbery could be practised with impunity either by land or water. As to Dampier, want of room forbids us to describe minute- ly the further progress of this voyage in all its details ; suffice it to say that after some time spent at Fort St. George on the island of Bencoolen, an English vessel arrived from Mindanao, laden with clove bark, and having on board an Indian prince by the name of Jeoly, whom Dampier had formerly seen as a 17 I9(^ WILLIAM DAMPIER. slave at that place, and whom Mr. Moody, the supercargo of the ship, had purchased from his owner on a speculation. In this speculation Dampier now became interested, and con- cluded to return home in the ship. The voyage from the ill- ness of the crew proved tedious and troublesome, but it was completed at last ; though the same bad fortune which had attended Dampier at so many turns of life deprived him of all advantage from l)ringing home Jeoly. He arrived in the Thames in utter poverty, and was compelled by necessity to sell his share of the " painted prince ;" thus forever renounc- ing the project of carrying him back to Meangis, which poor Jeoly was destined never again to revisit. After being seen by many " eminent persons,'* he caught the small-pox at Ox- ford, and died. Of Dampier at this time we hear no more. The narrative of his eight years' ramble around the globe breaks off abruptly by saying, " We luffed in for the Downs, where we anchored, Sept. 16th, 1691." In 1699, under the patronage of the Earl of Pembroke, Dampier undertook a voyage of discovery to New-Holland, which terminated in several important geographical results. In this voyage Dampier gave name to islands, capes, promon- tories, straits, and so forth, in the South Seas, of which Euro- peans had before but little if any knowledge. On the return home from this voyage, while near the island of Ascension, the ship being old and damaged, sprung a leak, and was obhged to be abandoned. Dampier remained on board to the very last. He had to regret the loss of many of his books and pa- pers, and a collection of shells gathered at New-Holland. After remaining at Ascension about five weeks, an Indiaman and three Enghsh ships of war came into the bay. In these Dampier and his crew took passage home. Captain Dampier had not been long at home when the death of King William III. took place, and was followed by the war of the Succession. Among the private enterprises attendin^^ this war with France and Spain was extensive privateering; and he obtained the command of the St. George and Cinque Ports, two vessels equipped by a company of English mer- chants, and intended to cruise against the Spaniards in the South Seas. The St. George left the Downs in April, 1703, with Captain Dampier on board ; but it was September before both vessels left Kmsale. The basis of the expedition was the old Bucanier maxim, no prey ^ no pay, — a principle ill-adapted to the maintenance of discipline or order in a ship. In this voyage Dampier had in view three special objects, — namely, the capture of the Spanish galleons that sailed from Buenos WILLIAM DAMPIER. 191 Ayres; and, failing that, to pass the Straits of Magellan, or double Cape Horn, and lie in wait for the ship that carried gold from Baldivia to Lima; or, finally, the oft-attempted ex- ploit of the seizure of the Manilla galleon. The St. George carried twenty-six guns, and a crew of one hundred and twenty. Before the voyage was well begun quarrels broke out among these irresponsible officers, and some of them quitted the ship, while the commander, without being invested with salutary power to restrain them, was left to bear the blame of the mis- cx)nduct of the whole company. The ships doubled Cape Horn, and reached Juan Fernan' dez without any remarkable adventure. While lying here a strange sail was. seen, to which both ships gave chase. She proved to be a French ship cruising in these seas, and so strongly did the old Bucanier associations influence Dampier, that he acknowledged it was with reluctance he attacked a European vessel of whatever nation. He however engaged, and after a fight of seven hours, in which both ships suffered considerably, they parted. Before the proper latitude was reached, the Baldivia treasure- ships had sailed. Though Dampier was the nominal com- mander, Stradling, in the Cinque Ports, acted independently; and as they differed about their future operations, the ships parted company. A design to surprise Santa Maria in the Bay of Panama failed; and though Dampier captured a few small vessels, he obtained no prize of any value. While lying in the Gulf of Nicoya, the commander and his chief mate, John Clipperton, quarrelled, and the latter, with twenty-one of the crew, seized the tender, in which were most of the ammunition and stores, and put out to sea. It is alleged that Clipperton at this time stole his commander's commission. No captain ever sailed with a worse-disposed and more turbu'- lent set of men and officers than those whom Dampier now commanded. They had all the bad qualities of Bucaniers, without their bravery, experience, and hardihood. The St. George bore northward, and on the 6th of Decem- ber, while only a short way beyond Port de Navidad, descried a sail, which proved to be the Manilla galleon. The Manilla ship had no suspicion of any enemy being on this coast, and she received several broadsides from the St. George before be- ing cleared for action. Even taken thus at disadvantage, when her guns, which were of far heavier metal, were brought into play, they at once drove in the rotten planks of the St. George, and obliged Dampier to sheer oft*. The galleon also held on. It is presumed that the number of her men quadrupled those of the English ship, and her guns were eighteen and twenty- 192 WILLIAM DAMPIER. four pounders, while those of the St, George were only fire- pounders. This proved a bitter disappointment, and the men became more and more impatient to end so profitless and fatiguing: a voyage. In hopes of better fortune, they were, however, indu- ced to continue the cruise for a few weeks longer on the coast of New Spain ; but this produced nothing, and it was agreed to part company. One party, instigated by Funnel, the men- dacious historian of the voyage, resolved to sail for India, and by this route return home. A brigantine of seventy tons whicli had been captured was given up to him, and the thirty-four men who chose to follow his counsels; and the stores, small arms, and ammunition were divided, four of the St. George's guns being also given to this party. Dampier's crew was thus left reduced to twenty-nine. After refitting his crazy disabled ship he returned to the coast of Peru. They plundered the town of Puna, and cruised along tilltheir ship was no longer fit to keep the sea, when they abandoned her riding at anchor at Lobos de la Mar, and embarking in a brigantine which they had captured from the Spaniards, crossed the Pacific. Of this voyage, and of the subsequent misfortunes of Dam- pier in India, there remain no certain or distinct accounts. It is however known, that, not having a commission to show, he was thrown into prison by the Dutch, but was at length libera- ted and returned home. The fortunes of Dampier must have been at a very low ebb when he returned to England after this disastrous voyage ; and it is with pain we find this veteran navigator, as much distin- guished by superiority of understanding as by nautical skill and experience, obhged, in 1708, to act as a pilot under younger and very inferior commanders. This, which was Dampier's last voyage, again proved to be one round the world, and was undertaken in the Duke and Duchess, two privateers fitted out by several Bristol merchants. Copious narratives of this voyage are written by the com- manders, Woodes Rogers and Cook, but it is only incidentally that we learn any thing from them of their distinguished pilot. At Juan Fernandez, Woodes Rogers, on this voyage, brought off* the celebrated Alexander Selkirk, who had been left or rather abandoned here by Dampier's violent and tyran- nical consort, Captain Stradling, four years previously. On the recommendation of Dampier, Selkirk was made second mate of the Duke. The cruise of the privateers was successful. After captur- ing several rich prizes, they turned their thoughts homeward, and keeping the usual track of the galleons, reached Guahan WILLIAM DAMPIER. 198 on the 10th of March, after a run of exactly two months, and anchored under Spanish colours. Apart from this venial de- ception, employed to facilitate the purchase of supplies, the conduct of the English privateers was unexceptionable. They rested for ten days, and made the north of Gilolo in about a month afterward. At Bouton they stopped to take in provis- ions and water, and next sailed for Batavia, where they expe- rienced those noxious effects of climate from which hardly any ship's company escapes at that most unhealthy station. They sailed from Batavia in the end of October, waited long at the Cape for a homeward-bound fleet, and coming round the north of Scotland, five-and-twenty sail, Dutch and Eng- lish, anchored in the Texel in July of the following year, and in October, 1711, came to the Thames with booty in money and merchandize valued at £150,000. From this date we hear no more of Captain Dampier, whose name appears less frequently in the narrative of Rogers than, from the eminent nautical abihties of the man who bore it, it ought to have done. In dithculties he was, it appears, constantly applied to, and his former knowledge and experience taken as guides. At Bou- ton, where he had been in the Cygnet, he was intrusted to carry the present to the sultan; and, from respect to his judgment and integrity, he was also chosen umpire in the very delicate affair of deciding what was plunder for immediate division, and in allotting the respective shares. Dampier was of the number of those men distinguished above their fellows, "who are not without honour save in their own country;" or if at home his merits were appreciated, wanting the most worthless quality of success, the glare and show, they failed of their reward. By French and Dutch nav- igators and men of science he has been uniformly regarded with the warmest admiration, as a man to whose professional eminence his own country has scarce done justice. They de- light to style him the "eminent," the "skilful," the "exact," the "incomparable Dampier." Humboldt has borne testimo- ny to his merits, placing the Bucanier seaman above those men of science who afterward went over the same ground; Make Brun terms him "the learned Dampier; and the author of the voyages to Australia inquires, " 3fais ou trouve-t-on des Navigatcurs comparahles a DampierV* The acuteness, ac- curacy, and clearness of his nautical observations, and of his descriptions and general remarks, have made his voyages be ittssumed by foreign navigators as unerring guides and authori- * But where shall we find navigators to be compareel with Dampiet I 17* 194 WILLIAM DAMPIER. ties in all subsequent expeditions ; and his rapidity and power of observation are fully as remarkable as his accuracy. His hasty glance at the places of New-Holland where he touched, has left subsequent voyagers little to do save to verify his de- scriptions. Dampier's veracity has in no instance been ques- tioned, even by those the most disposed to cavil at facts which, being remote from their limited experience, appear extraor- dinary or impossible. Other writers, combining into one the relations of many different travellers, have amplified his de- scriptions; but there is no detached account of the countries he visited more full of vital interest and exact information than the voyages of this wandering seaman. The succession of brilliant discoveries which illustrated the early part of the reign of George III. for a time threw the ad- ventures of Dampier, and of every previous navigator, into the shade, but they are again emerging into popularity. Compar- ed with the voyages of recent navigators, his long solitary rambles are as the emprises of the single knightly combatant, bearing no proportion to the magnitude and splendour of regu-- lar battle-field, but, from their individuality, aften commanding a more intense and powerful, because a more concentrated, interest. The cloud which rested on the personal character of Dam- pier from the ignorance or misrepresentations of envious con- temporaries, and the carelessness and haste with which writers for the press copy from each other and adopt current state- ments, is fast clearing away. " It is not easy to name another voyager or traveller who has given more useful information to the world, or to whom the merchant and the mariner are more indebted." The philoso- pher and the naturalist, have rarely been so much indebted to any adventurer whose pursuits were so entirely remote from their subjects of speculation. Though the life of this navigator was spent in incessant ac- tion, his natural genius appears to have been rather speculative than enterprising. He liked to reason and to scheme, and lost sight of present small but certain advantage in extensive and brilhant plans for the future, which his evil fortune forbade him to realize. If, indeed, there be such things as good and bad fortune in human affairs independent of skill and exertion, Dampier may be pointed out as an example of what the world calls an unlucky man, — one to whom every event proves ad- verse, — who seems singled out for misfortune. Except the capital error of the mode of life upon which he entered, none of his misadventures can be traced to himself; and this law- less life enriched many of his contemporaries, while it kept WILLIAM DAMPIER. 195 him in poverty and left him a beggar. In relating its inci- dents, he has never once attempted to justify or palliate his manner of existence for so many years. Amid the vicissi- tudes and temptations to which it exposed him, his excellent understanding and the principles he had imbibed in the vir- tuous household of a Somersetshire yeoman preserved him, if not entirely spotless from evil contagion, yet from that decay and deadness of moral feeling which are of the worst conse- quences of vicious companionship. He was humane, just in the most strict and also in the most liberal sense, candid and charitable in his judgments, and (rare virtues in a Bucanier!) orderly and temperate, detesting the riotous excess of his asso- ciates. Get over the stumbling-block of his early life being squared by " the good old rule," and Dampier the Bucanier was a virtuous man. In the South Sea, and afterward in the Cygnet, he might have obtained command, such was the re- spect his shipmates entertamed for his abihties; but the love of adventure was his strongest passion, and his sole ambition the acquisition of knowledge. He appears latterly to have deeply felt the disgrace and galling servitude of his lawless life, and serious reflection and remorseful feelings pressed upon his mind with great force long before he was able to get free of his wild associates in the Cygnet. By the time that Dampier returned to England with Woodes Rogers he was far advanced in life, and his career for forty years had been one of unremitting hardihood and professional exertion. It is therefore probable that he never embarked in any subsequent voyage ; and as the remaining part of his life, whether long or short, is involved in complete obscurity, there is but too much reason to believe that it was passed in neglect, if not in poverty. Of this eminent seaman and traveller, though little more than a century can have elapsed since his death, no one is able now to tell how the evening of his life was spent, when he died, or where he was buried. Had he expired in some remote island of the Pacific, or perished in the element on which so great a portion of his life was passed, some im- perfect record might have remained to satisfy our natural desire to knowthe last of the worn-out and veteran navigator; but it was his fate to sink unheeded amid the conflicting waves and tides of society ; and no memorial or tradition remains of his death, in whose remarkable life the adventures of Selkirk, Wafer, and the Bucanier commanders of the South Sea ap* pear but as episodes. So much for human fame ! CAPTAIN JAMES COOK. The first expedition of importance, fitted out wholly for scientific objects, was that intrusted to the command of the celebrated Captain James Cook. This great navigator was born of humble parents : his father was an agricultural la- bourer, whose steady conduct was at length rewarded by his employer with the situation of hind or under steward. As he had nine children, and his means were slender, he was unable to assist materially their individual exertions to procure a livelihood. James, when thirteen years of age, was appren- ticed to a shopkeeper at Straiths, a fishing town not far from Whitby ; but the predilection of young Cook for the sea was soon manifested with that strength of inchnation which is sure JAMES COOK. 197 to accompany peculiar talents. He engaged himself for seven years with the owners of some ships employed in the coal trade ; and, when the period of his engagement was expired, he was promoted by his employers to the rank of mate of one of their vessels. The coal trade of England, being chiefly carried on near a singularly dangerous coast, where unceasing vigilance is required on the part of the seamen, constitutes the best school of practical mariners in the world. Cook, who obeyed his own inclinations when he turned sailor, profited, no doubt, in the highest degree, from the opportunities which his coasting voyages afforded him of becoming acquainted with the practical part of navigation. At length, being in the Thames, in 1755, when impressments were carried on to a great extent, he resolved to anticipate the impending neces- sity, and offered himself to serve on board the Eagle, a man- of-war of sixty guns. Shortly after, the friends and patrons of his family in Yorkshire having warmly recommended his interests to the care of Mr.Osbaldiston,the member for Scarbo- rough, and captain (afterwards Sir Hugh) Palhser, who com- manded the Eagle, reporting well of his conduct and capacity, he was appointed master of the Mercury, a small vessel which soon afterwards joined the fleet of Sir Charles Saunders in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Here the talents and resolution of Cook soon became conspicuous. It was found necessary, in order that the fleet might co- operate with the army under General Wolfe, that it should take up a position along the shore in front of the French encamp- ments ; but before this manoeuvre could be put in execution, the channel of the river was to be sounded. This diflScult task required the union of more than ordinary intelligence and in- trepidity, and Cook was the person selected for the purpose. For several nights he carried on his operations unperceived ; but at length the enemy discovered his movements, and, send- ing out a great number of boats after it grew dark, attempted to surround and cut him off. Cook pushed for the Isle of Or- leans ; and so narrowly did he escape being captured, that as he stepped on shore from the bow of his boat, the Indians in pursuit of him entered at the stern ; and the boat itself, which was a pinnace belonging to a man-of-war, was carried off by the enemy. Cook, however, had accomplished his task, and laid before the admiral of the fleet a survey of the chunnel, which was found to be both full and accurate. After the con- quest of Quebec he was appointed to examine the more diffi- cult portions of the river St. Lawrence, with the navigation of which the English had but little acquaintance. His zeal and abihties soon after procured him an appointment as master to 198 JAMES COOK. the Northumberland, which bore the commodore's flag atHali* fax. Here he found leisure to apply himself to the study of elementary mathematics, and to improve those talents as a practical hydrographer of which he had given such ample proofs in his first rude essays. An opportunity also soon oc- curred of displaying his improvement by surveying a part of the coast of Newfoundland. This island had lately fallen into the power of the Enghsh ; and its importance as a fishing station being fully appreciated by Sir Hugh Palliser, who was ap- pointed governor in the year 1764, he strongly represented to government the necessity of making an accurate survey of its coasts ; and, accordingly, by his recommendation. Cook was appointed marine surveyor of Newfoundland and Labra- dor, and the Grenville schooner was placed under his com- mand for this purpose. The manner in which Cook executed this task confirmed the high opinion already entertained of his zeal and ability. A short paper which he communicated to the Royal Society on an eclipse of the sun observed in New- foundland, and the longitude of the place as calculated from it, procured him the character of a respectable mathematician. But still higher honours awaited him. The transit of the planet Venus over the sun's disc, calculated to take place in 1769, was looked forward to by the scientific world with much anxious interest ; and it was earnestly desired that all the ad'- vantage which could be derived to science from so rare a phe- nomenon might be secured by observing it in distant quarters of the globe. In accordance with this view, the Royal So- ciety presented an address to the king, setting forth the advan- tage of observing the transit in the opposite hemisphere, their inability to fit out an expedition for the purpose, and praying his majesty to equip a vessel to be despatched to the South Sea under their direction. This petition was at once complied with. The person at first designed to command the expedi- tion was Mr. Dalrymple, chief hydrographer to the Admiralty, and no less celebrated for his geographical knowledge than for his zeal in maintaining the existence of an Australian conti- nent. Dalrymple had never held a commission in his majes- ty's navy ; and the experience of Dr. Halley had proved that one so circumstanced cannot expect obedience from a crew subjected to the discipline of the navy. The pride of the pro- fession scorns to submit to those who have not acquired their authority by passing through the ordinary routine of promo- tion. Dalrymple, however, refused to engage in the expedition unless with the amplest powers of a commander. The admi- ralty, on the other hand, were unwilling to intrust him with powers which might embroil him with his officers. Neither JAMES COOK. 199^ party would yield ; and, while the affair thus remained in sus- pense, Cook was proposed. Enquiries were then made as to his abilities ; and, as all who knew him spoke favourably of him, and great confidence is usually felt in the steady and con- centrated talents of the self-taught, he was chosen to command the expedition, being first promoted to the rank of lieutenant. It is a proof of Cook's natural strength of understanding, that his mind was not enslaved by habit, but that he was always ready to introduce innovations into his practice when- ever they were recommended by common sense and experi- ence. Instead of selecting a frigate, or vessel of that descrip- tion, for his voyage, he chose a vessel built for the coal trade, with the sailing qualities of which he was well acquainted. He justly represented, that a ship of this kind was more capa- ble of carrying the stores requisite for a long voyage; was ex- posed to less hazard in running near coasts — an object of great importance in a voyage of discovery ; was less affected by currents; and, in case of any accident, might, without much difficulty or danger, be laid on shore to undergo repairs. The ship which he chose was of three hundred and sixty tons bur- den, and named the Endeavour. No pains were spared by the Admiralty in fitting her out for the voyage; and, as the improvement of science was its main object, persons qualified to attain the desired end were appointed to accompany the ex- pedition. Mr. Green was named by the Royal Society as the astronomer; Dr. Solander, a learned Swede and pupil of Lin- naeus, went as naturalist; Mr. (afterwards Sir Joseph) Banks, a gentleman of large fortune, and at that time very young, who afterwards reflected so much lustre on his country by devoting a long life and ample means to the interests of learning, re- nounced the ease to which his affluence entitled him, and commenced his active and honourable career by a voyage round the world. Being accompanied by able draftsmen, and being himself zealously attached to the study of natural histo- ry, and amply provided with every thing conducive to the gratification of his favourite pursuit; being at the same time of a lively, open, liberal, and courageous temper, his company was no less agreeable than it was advantageous. Before the preparations were completed. Captain Walhs returned from his voyage round the world ; and having been advised to fix on some spot in the South Sea conveniently situated for the erection of an observatory, he named Port Royal in King George the Third's Island as a place well adapted for that purpose. Every thing being now prepared. Lieutenant Cook sailed from Plymouth on the 26th of August, 1768. He touched at 200 JAMES COOK- Rio Janeiro, where the Portuguese governor, no less ignorant than suspicious, was much at a loss to comprehend the object of the expedition; nor, after much trouble, was he able to form a juster idea of it, than that it was intended to observe the north star passing through the south pole. It was only by stealth that Mr. Banks could go ashore, though nature seemed here to teem with tiie objects of his research, and brilliant butterflies flew round the ship to the height of the mast. In leaving this port. Cook, after the example of Byron, sailed over the position which had been assigned by Cowley to Pepys' Island, and finally dispelled all belief in its existence. He then directed his course through the Straits of Le Maire, to pass round Cape Horn. The naturahsts of the expedition landed pn Terra del Fuego, and, crossing a morass and some low woods, ascended the highest eminence they could descry. It was now midsummer in this region, and the temperature during the day was mod- erately warm, but as night approached snow fell in great quan- tities, and the cold became excessive. The exploring party, who had incautiously advanced too far, were unable to efiect their return to the shore before sunset, and were obhged to spend the night exposed to all the inclemency of the weather, in a singularly desolate and unsheltered region. Dr. Solander, who, having travelled in the north of Europe, was well ac- quainted with the fatal effects of cold on the constitution, repeatedly admonished his companions to resist the first ap- proach of drowsiness, as the sleep superinduced by cold is sure to prove fatal; but he was the first to feel the dangerous torpor he predicted, and entreated his companions to allow him to lie down and take his rest; but they, fortunately in- structed by his lessons, persisted in dragging him along, and thus saved his life. On reaching the woods in their descent, they kindled a fire, round which they spent the night, and when the sun rose they made their way to the ships ; but two of the party, servants of Mr. Banks, who lay down to rest in the snow, were found dead the next morning. The voyage round Cape Horn into the Pacific occupied thirty-four days; and Cook, who was rather fortunate in his weather, seems to think it preferable to the passage through the Straits of Magellan. In his voyage through the ocean, he descried some small islands, of the group which had been pre- viously visited by Wallis and Bougainville. He proceeded, however, direct to the place of his destination, not allowing himself to be detained by unimportant discoveries. At length he arrived at King George the Third's Island, to which he found that the natives gave the name of Otaheite, and anchored JAMES COOK. 2^1 in Matavai, or Port Royal Bay. From the inhabitants he met with the most friendly reception, and being instructed by the errors of his predecessors, he drew up a set of regulations to guide his people in their intercourse with the natives, which reflect the highest honour on his good sense and humanity. He changed names with the chief of the island ; thus solemnly professing friendship according to the custom of the South Sea islanders. Permission was easily obtained to erect tents on shore for the sick ; a small fort was constructed, and the ob- servatory set up. As the time approached for the observation of the transit, the greatest anxiety existed among the officers respecting the result, as a temporary cloudiness or unfavoura- ble change of weather might totally frustrate the grand object of the expedition. A party, however, was prudently sent to Eimeo,a small island about twenty leagues distant, and another was stationed in Otahcite, considerably to the west of Matavai Bay, in order to lessen, by the number of observers, the chances of a total failure. At length the important day, the 3d of June, arrived, and the sun rose without a cloud. The observation was made successfully by all the parties, and the minds of our voyagers were relieved, the chief object of their mission being thus happily fulfilled. The mild and judicious conduct of Cook completely won the confidence of the Otaheitans, and enabled him to form a more accurate opinion of their character than the voyagers who had previously visited their island. They were remarkably friend- ly and affectionate, and indeed their attachments alone seem- ed exempted from the characteristic levity which prevented them from fixing their attention on the same object for any length of time. They are a handsome people, finely made, and with open vivacious countenances : their ingenuity was in nothing more conspicuous than in the fine cloth, or rather paper, which they made of the inner bark of a tree. The garments of this material, which they wore, were becoming, and even elegant, and were arranged by the women so as to produce an effect little short of the classic draperies of anti- quity. Their houses were little more than sheds, erected in the neighbourhood of the trees under which they reclined and took their meals during the day. These habitations stood very thick in the groves which cover the low margin of the island. High mountains rose behind, and a number of small streams stole down the declivities to the sea-shore ; the whole present- ing, from a distance, a most enchanting picture. It was conjectured by M. de Bougainville that the inhabit- ants of Otaheite were composed of two different races, and that one of these was in a servile condition : Cook also notices the 18 302 JAMES COOK. Buperiority of the chiefs in figure and appearance, but does not venture to ascribe this difference to any circumstances of origin or descent. He does not seem to have observed the power which the chiefs usually exercised over their retainers, and which the French navigator, with perhaps too httle reason, seems to have considered as absolutely despotic. But the king, it was evident, though treated with respect by all, pos- sessed no power but what was derived from the voluntary at- tachment of the chiefs, whose obedience or support in every enterprise could be secured only by consulting them. The rule of succession among these islanders is singular in the ex- treme. The son, as soon as he is born, succeeds to the au- thority of his father, who at once becomes only a regent in- stead of king, if he be fitted for that office. Associations of a licentious character existed among the chief persons in these islands ; and, among other bad effects, tended to encourage the crime of infanticide; a crime to which the law of inherit- ance just mentioned may have held out some inducement, as the ambition of the parent was at once blighted by the birth of a son. At the time of Cook's visit, the sovereignty had devolved on a boy only seven years old, the son of Homai and Oberea, the latter of whom had figured so conspicuously in Captain Walhs' narrative as queen of the island. She lived separate from her husband, and though still treated as a noble, no longer enjoyed the same degree of power and consideration which had ren- dered her friendship so valuable to the commander of the Dolphin. As a further proof of the progress made by these islanders towards civilization, it deserves to be remarked, that their women were not condemned to labour, as is usually the case amongst rude nations. They had, indeed, abundance of domestic occupation, in making and dyeing their cloth, pre- paring the meals, and similar offices ; but though they were not permitted to eat with the men, they were in general treated with respect and attention. When M. de Bougainville arrived here, he found the island- ers already acquainted with the use of iron, which they called aouri, a name which he supposed them to have learned from the Enghsh, who had preceded him ; but Captain Wallis ob- served that they were not wholly ignorant of that metal in his time, though he does not mention by what name they called it; for as soon as they were presented with iron nails, they began to sharpen them, while they took no such pains with pieces of brass and copper. Cook circumnavigated and surveyed the coasts of Otaheite, which he found to have a circumference of about thirty leagues ; and after a stay of about three months JAMES COOK. 36t he prepared to depart. In leaving the affectionate islanders, he remarks, " that, allowing for their theft, they need not fear a comparison with any people on earth." A native named Tupia, one of Oberea's ministers, and well instructed in all the learning of his countrymen, offered to accompany the Enghsh, and the proposal was readily accepted. The Ota- heitans, it appeared, sometimes ventured two or three hundred miles through the ocean in their open canoes ; and Tupia had a vague knowledge of above eighty islands, the position of many of which he attempted to describe. He was well ac- quainted with the heavens ; and, in every part of the subse- quent voyage in the Endeavour, he was enabled to point out the direction of his native island. Preparations were now made for departing ; and Captain Cook hoped to quit the island without any misunderstanding with the natives, but in this he was mistaken. Two foreign sailors having been out, one of them was robbed of his knife, and striving to recover it, the Indians attacked and wounded him in a dangerous manner with a stone; his companion also received a slight wound in the head. As Captain Cook would have been unwilhng to have taken farther notice of the trans- action he was not sorry the offenders had made their escape. Another affair equally disagreeable, soon after happened. In the evening two young mariners retired secretly from the fort, and in the morning were not to be met with. Notice having been given for all the company to go on board the next day, and that the ship would sail that day or the day ensuing, Captain Cook began to fear that the mariners intended to re- main on shore. He was apprized, that no effectual steps could be taken to recover them, without risking the harmony and good fellowship which, at present subsisted between the English and the natives, and therefore resolved to wait a day in hopes of their returning. The mariners not having returned the following morning, an inquiry was made after them, when the Indians declared they did not propose returning, having taken refuge in the mountains where it was impossible to discover them ; and that each had taken a wife. In consequence of which it was inti- mated to several chiefs, who were in the fort with their women, that they would not be suffered to quit it till the deserters were produced. They received the intimation with very little signs either of fear or discontent, assuring the captain that the mari- ners should be sent back; but night coming on, Captain Cook judged it was not prudent to let the hostages remain in the fort ; and he therefore ordered them to be brought on board. This gave an unusual alarm ; and several of them, especially 204 JAMES COOK. the females, testified their apprehensions with great ablation of mind, and floods of tears when they were coming on board. One of the mariners was brought back in the evening by- some of the Indians, who reported that the other, and the two people who were sent to fetch them back, would be detained till Tootahah, one of the confined should be liberated. Mr. Hicks was immediately despatched in the long boat, with sev- eral men to rescue the English prisoners ; at the same time, Captain Cook told Tootahah that it was incumbent on him to assist them with some of his people, and to give orders in his name, that the men should be set at liberty ; for that he should expect him to answer for the event. Tootahah immediately complied, and this party recovered the men without any oppo- sition. When the deserters were examined, it was discovered that the account which the Indians had given was no way false. They had become fond of two females, and it was their design to keep themselves concealed till the ship had set sail, and continue upon the island. Tupia, who had been prime minister of Oberea, and was also the principal priest of the island, having often testified a desire to go with them, on Wednesday morning the 12th, came on board with a boy about twelve years of age, his servant, named Tuyota, and finally requested the captain to receive them. As it was thought he would be useful to them in many ways, his request was complied with. Tupia then went on shore, for the last time to see his friends, and took with him several baubles to give them as parting tokens of remembrance. On leaving Otaheite, Lieutenant Cook visited the neigh- bouring islands of Ulietea, Borabora, Otahah, Huaheine, and Raiataia. Tupia related, that in the time of his grandfather a friendly ship had called at the last named island, and he also stated that a ship had been wrecked on a low island called Oanna. These ships were, probably, those of admiral Rogge- wein's squadron, and Oanna may have been the Schadelyk, or Pernicious Island of that navigator. At Huaheine, Cook contracted a friendship with Oree, the old chief of the island, from whom he experienced unremitting kindness, and to whom, at his departure, he gave, along with some valuable presents, a small bag containing coins and medals, and a pewter plate with an inscription, as a memorial of his visit to this part of the world. These gifts the old chief promised to keep in safe- ty. The people of Borabora had invaded some of the islands in the neigbourhood, and with such success that they were looked upon as invincible, and were become objects of dread to the simple islanders. Tupia was anxious that the English JAMES COOK. 205 should terrify those haughty conquerors, and exhibit their su- periority by firing great guns at Borabora ; and at length, to calm his importunity, a ball was fired towards the island when the ship was at least seven leagues distant from shore. To the group of islands, which Lieutenant Cook now quitted, he gave the collective name of the Society Islands. After sailing four days to the west and south-west, an island was discovered to which Tupia gave the name of Oheteroa, The natives crowded on the shore to resist the landing of the strangers : they were a handsome vigorous people, and seem- ed far to excel the natives of the Society Islands in the beauty of their dress. The cloth was dyed in various patterns, and of several colours, though bright yellow seemed to predominate. Their robes being collected round their waist by a belt of red cloth, gave them a gay and warlike appearance. Some had caps made of the feathers of the tropic bird, while others wore small turbans of a very elegant appearance. Their canoes were well constructed; and, as well as the javelins, were carved in a manner highly creditable to their taste and ingenuity. But no anchorage could be found near the island ; and as the natives seemed bent on hostility, our navigators gave up all thoughts of cultivating an acquaintance with them, and pur- sued their voyage. On the 15th of August they sailed from Oheteroa, and in the beginning of October perceived, in the colour of the sea, in the weeds with which it was covered, and the birds which flew around them, unequivocal signs of the proximity of land. At length, on the 6th of that month, land was distinctly seen stretching to a great extent in the horizon ; several ranges of hills were distinguished rising one above another, and a chain of mountains of an enormous height terminated the picture in the rear. The general opinion was, that they had discovered the Terra Australis Incognita, but it was soon perceived that this must be a part of New Zealand or Staaten Land, discov- ered by Abel Tasman in 1642. A party who went on shore in order to open an intercourse with the natives met with no success. They were fierce, and obstinately hostile ; but it was discovered, to the surprise and pleasure of our navigators, that when Tupia spoke to them in his native language, he was perfectly understood. In a quar- rel which ensued, one of them was killed, and his dress ap- peared, on examination, to correspond exactly with the draw- ing appended to Tasman's voyage. As it was found impossi- ble to commence an amicable correspondence with them by gentle means, it was determined to resort to force, and, accord- ing to the method followed by the first Spanish navigators, to 18* 206 JAMES COOK. capture the Indians first, in order to have an opportunity of treating them with kindness. This plan of proceeding can hardly be justified upon principles of reason or morality, and it has never been attended vrith such unequivocal success as to palliate its demerits. Two canoes were seen entering the bay, and the ship's boats proceeded immediately to intercept them : in one, the natives escaped by paddling ; but those in the other, which was a sailing canoe, finding it impossible to get off, boldly prepared for battle. Of seven Indians who were in the canoe, four were killed on the first discharge of musketry, and the other three, who were all young, immediate- ly jumped overboard, and attempted to save themselves by swimming : they were, however, overtaken and picked up by the boat, though not without some difficulty. They expected to be put to death at once ; but as the studious kindness with which they were treated soon convinced them of their error, their consternation gave way to transports of joy. They con- versed freely with Tupia ; and after having been kept a day on board the ship, were again sent ashore. The account which the boys gave to their countrymen of their treatment on board the ship led to a correspondence, which did not, however, bear the appearance of confirmed friendship. The New Zealanders still maintained a fierce and independent carriage, and acted so little in concert, that the behaviour of different individuals was often of a totally opposite character: but their distrust could not be generally overcome, nor an intercourse established which was likely to prove safe and advantageous. An attempt was made by them to carry off*Tayeto, Tupia's boy, and they nearly succeeded; but guns being fired at the canoe as it paddled off, the natives, in a moment of fear, let go their hold, and the boy leaped into the water. The New Zealanders made great exertions to se- cure their prize, but the ships' boats finally succeeded in pick- ing up the youth, whose terror at the violent conduct of these savages was increased by the conviction which our navigators had obtained, that they were cannibals, and even that they re- garded human flesh as a dainty. This bay, in which no provisions could be procured, was named Poverty Bay ; and our voyagers, on leaving it, pro- ceeded along the coast towards the north. They gave the name of Mercury Bay to the inlet in which they anchored while observing a transit of that planet over the sun. They were surprised to find that the natives, notwithstanding their ferocity, were not unacquainted with the art of cultivating the ground. They had gardens, in which they reared gourds and several kinds of fruits. A decked canoe also was found JAMES COOK. 207 on this shore, which indicated their proficiency in maritime affairs. Their heppahs or hamlets were forts neatly construct- ed on elevated situations, defended by lines and trenches, and accessible only by a steep and narrow entrance. They had no knowledge of iron when our voyagers first touched here, although iron sand was found in the beds of several streams. The women were thickly painted with oil and red ochre, and the men were tattooed after the usual fashion of the South Seas. They were strong and active, not deficient in intelli- gence, or in sentiments of generosity, notwithstanding the cruelty of disposition engendered by their habits of continual warfare. Tupia conversed much with their priests ; and from the superiority of his knowledge and the variety of his super- stitious lore, he was regarded by them with peculiar respect and veneration. In prosecuting his examination of the coast towards the north, Cook entered a deep inlet terminating in a large river, which he explored to the distance of fourteen miles: from the magnitude of this river, and the general appearance of the country round it, he named it the Thames. The timber which grewhere was of enormous size, trees being seen nearly twenty feet in girth six feet from the ground, and above eighty feet in height to the branches. Having finished the examination of the north-western shore of New Zealand, Cook experienced such severe gales, though it was now midsummer in these latitudes, that in five weeks he did not advance above fifty leagues in his course along the western shore. He at length reached a secure and capacious harbour, which he named Queen Charlotte^s Sound. The country was here taken possession of, and the sound carefully surveyed. Wood, water, and fish, were in the greatest abun- dance, the natives friendly, and plants of an antiscorbutic quality were gathered on the shore, which soon restored the crew to perfect health. Here our voyagers were particularly struck with the exquisite warbling of the birds, which, like our nightingales, sing only during the night. On ascending a height in the neighbourhood of the sound, Cook was surprised on descrying the sea to the south-east, and thus found that the land, the continuity of which he had not before suspected, was divided by a strait. Passing through this strait, to which geographers have unanimously given the name of its discoverer, he directed his course towards the north till he arrived near the point where his examination of this country had commenced. He then resumed his course to the eouth-east, and followed the coast of the southernmost of the two islands comprised under the name of New Zealand,, re- 208 JAMES COOK. turning again from the south to Queen Charlotte's Sound, The southern island, or as the natives call it, Tavai Poenam- moo, is a rugged country, with mountains of prodigious height, and covered with snow the greater part of the year. The in- habitants also, though not more fierce, are ruder than their northern neighbours. They differ likewise in dialect from the inhabitants of Eaheinomauwe, as the northern island is called, where, as the climate is more genial and the soil more luxuri- ant, the population is considerably greater, and the arts as well as the institutions of rude society much more advanced. Of the natives of New Zealand, Cook entertained a highly favourable opinion, notwithstanding their cannibalism, of which he saw numerous incontestible proofs. He could not collect from them any tradition respecting the arrival of Tas- man on their shores ; but they heard of a country called Uli- maroa, situated N. W. by W., where the people eat hogs, and whence some canoes seemed to have accidentally arrived in their country. The circumnavigation of New Zealand was the first grand discovery of Cook. When Tasman touched on that country, he imagined it to be a part of the great Terra Australis, or continent supposed to extend to the south pole. Our navigator was satisfied with having disproved this suppo- sition ; and as the lateness of the season would not permit him to continue his researches in higher latitudes, he determined to direct his course to the eastern coast of New Holland, re- specting which the learned world was still in total ignorance. He took leave of New Zealand on the 31st of March, 1770, and in twenty days discovered the coast of New Holland at no great distance from the point where the survey of Tasman had terminated. In proceeding to the north, an inlet was entered, in which the ship rode securely for some days. Inhabitants were seen, but, from their shyness and timidity, they could not be induced to approach the strangers : they seemed to be sunk ill that brutal condition which is insensible even to the promptings of curiosity. From the variety of new plants col- lected here by the naturalists of the expedition, this inlet re- ceived the name of Botany Bay. No rivers were discovered by Cook in his voyage along this coast, which has since been found abundantly supplied with fine streams. The natives, wherever they were seen, manifested the same repugnance to the strangers, and the same indifference to the trinkets pre- sented to them. Towards the north, the country grew more hilly, and the navigation of the coast became more dangerous and intricate. No accident had yet occurred in a voyage of two thousand miles along a coast hitherto unexplored ; but in latitude 16*^ S. JAMES COOK. 209 a high headland being in sight, which from the circumstance was afterwards named Cape Tribulation^ the ship during the night struck on some coral rocks with so much force that there seemed imminent danger of her going to pieces. The planks which formed her sheathing were seen floating off, and the water rushed in with such impetuosity, that, though all the pumps were manned, the leak could hardly be kept under. As day broke, land was descried eight leagues distant, without an island between, to which the boats might convey the crew in case of the ship's foundering. The guns and all the stores that could be spared were thrown overboard, and preparations were made to heave the ship off the rocks, although it was thought probable that she would sink soon after. On the fol- lowing night, however, she was got afloat, and, to the surprise of all, it was found that the leakage did not increase. By con- stant exertion and cool perseverance, the ship was navigated to a small harbour opportunely discovered on the coast, and the only harbour, indeed, seen by our people during the whole voyage, which could have afforded them the same relief. On examining the injury done to the vessel, it was found that a large piece of the coral rock, having forced its way through the timbers, had remained fixed in the aperture ; and but for this providential circumstance the ship must have sunk the moment she was got off the reef. The cove in which our navigators found shelter is situated at the mouth of a small stream, to which was given the name of the Endeavour River. Here the natives appeared rather more familiar ; but they set little value on anything offered to them, except food. When some turtle, which they coveted, was refused them, they avenged the affront by setting fire to the long grass near the tents ; an action which had nearly been attended with disagreeable consequences. Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander found here abundance of employment; al- most every thing connected with the animal and vegetable kingdoms being absolutely new. Our naturalists were partic- ularly pleased with the animal called by the natives kangaroo ; they saw several at a distance, but a long time elapsed before they could succeed in shooting one. When the natives had become familiar with the ship's crew, one of them was desired to throw his lance, which he did with such dexterity and force, that though it was not above four feet from the ground at the highest, it penetrated deeply into a tree at the distance of fifty yards. On the 19th they saw several of the women, who as well as the men were quite naked. They were one day visited by ten of the natives, who seemed resolved to have one of the turtle that was on board, which being refused, 210 JAMES COOK. they expressed the utmost rage and resentment. At length they laid hands on two of the turtles, and drew them to the side of the ship where the canoe lay ; but the sailors took them away. They made several similar attempts, but being equally unsuccessful they leaped into their canoe and rowed off. At this instant the captain with Mr. Banks and five or six seamen, went ashore, where they arrived before the Indians. As soon as the Indians landed, one of them snatched a fire-brand from under a pitch-kettle, and running to the windward of what effects were on shore, set fire to the dry grass, which rapidly spread and endangered one of the tents. Appearing deter- mined on further mischief, a musket loaded with small shot, was now fired, and one of them being wounded they ran off. The natives continuing still in sight a musket charged with balls was fired near them, upon hearing which they soon got out of sight ; but their voices being soon heard in the woods, the captain, with a few of the men, went to meet them. When they were in sight of each other, both parties stopped, except an old Indian, who advanced before the rest a little way, and speaking a few words, retreated to his brethren. The English having seized some of their darts, followed them about a mile, and then sat down ; the Indians sitting about a hundred yards from them. The old man again came forward, having in his hand a lance with a point. He stopped and spoke several times; on which the captain made signs of friendship. The old Indian now turned to his companions, and having spoken to them, they placed their lances against a tree, and came forward as in friendship; whereupon their darts which had been taken were returned, and the whole quarrel seemed to be at an end. When Captain Cook got on board, he saw the woods burning at the distance of two miles from the fire thus kindled by the native. By the night of the 20th, the fire had extended many miles round them on the hills. The next day one of the seamen who had strayed from his company, met with four Indians at dinner : he was alarmed at this unexpect- ed meeting, but had prudence enough to conceal his appre- hensions, and sitting down gave them his knife, which having all looked at, they returned. He would have left them, but they chose to detain him, till, by feeling his hands and face, they were convinced he was made of flesh and blood like themselves. They then dismissed him, and directed him the nearest way to the ship. The ship being repaired, our voyagers left the harbour, and, after much patient labour and anxiety, at length gained the deep sea, having been three months entangled within the reefs. They now prosecuted their voyage to the north, flattering JAMES COOK. 211 themselves that the danger was gone by, when the wind abated, and the ship was found to be drifting fast towards the reefs which hned this coast nearly in its whole extent, and on which the great waves of the Southern Ocean break with a tremend- ous surf. Her destruction seemed inevitable, when a narrow channel through the reefs was descried at no great distance; and although the attempt was attended with great risk, yet the ship was steered to run through it. Having thus entered from necessity a second time within the reef. Cook resolved to perse- vere through all difficulties in following the coast, lest he might lose the strait that separates New Holland from New Guinea; "if," as he doubtfully expresses it, "such a strait there be." He at length reached a point of land from which he could dis- cern an open sea to the south-west, and was thus convinced that he had found the strait in question. He then landed, and in the name of his sovereign took possession of the immense hue of coast that he had discovered, and to which he gave the name of New South Wales. The little island on which the ceremony was performed received the name of Possession Island. The crew of the Endeavour had suffered so much from sickness and fatigue, that it was not deemed advisable to pro- long the voyage by an examination of the coasts of New Guinea. Our navigator, therefore, held his course for Bata- via, where he wished to refit his vessel. On the 10th of October the captain went on shore and visit- ed the only En'glish gentleman then resident at Batavia. This gentleman whose name was Leith, received his countryman in the politest manner and entertained him with hospitality. On the evening of the same day, there happened a most terrible storm of thunder and lightning, accompanied with very heavy rain, by which a Dutch East Indiaman was great- ly damaged both in her masts and rigging. The Endeavour, though near this Dutch ship, escaped without damage, owing in Captain Cook's opinion, to an electrical chain, which con- ducted the lightning over the side of the vessel. A sentinel on board the Endeavour, who was charging his musket at the time of the storm, had it shaken out of his band, and the ram- rod was broken to pieces : the electrical chain looked like a streak of fire, and the ship sustained a very violent shock. Next day Captain Cook waited on the council, who inform- ed him that all his requests should be comphed with. In the interim, a contract was made with the master of a hotel to furnish them with as much tea, coffee, punch and tobacco, as they might have occasion for. 212 ' JAMES COOK. Tupia in the mean lime had been on board dangerously ill, yet persisted to refuse every medicine that was offered him. He was now removed to the town, and soon his whole frame appeared as if reanimated. The houses, carriages, people, and many other objects were totally new to him and filled him with astonishment. Captain Cook now applied to several persons to advance him money sufficient to defray the expense of repairing the ship, but not one could be found who had the requisite sum in his possession, or, if he had, was willing to advance it; he therefore made application to the governor, who issued his orders that he should be supplied out of the treasury of the Dutch East India Company. After little more than a week spent at Batavia,the ill effects of the climate began to be severely felt. By the twenty-fifth of the month very few of the crew were well enough to do duty. By the fifth of November, death was advancing with rapid strides. Several Malay servants were engaged to wait on those who were ill, but these people were so remiss in their duty, that it was no uncommon thing for the sick man to leave his bed in search of his attendant. By the twentieth, not above ten men out of the whole ship's crew, were able to do duty, and these were employed in getting the water and stores aboard, and in putting up the rigging. The ship at length being repaired, and the sick taken on board, they set sail on the morning of the 25th. On the 10th of June, land, which proved to be the Lizard, was discovered by the same boy who had first seen New Zeal- and ; and on the 12th, Cook came to an anchor in the Downs, having been employed two years and eleven months in his voyage round the earth. The first important discovery made by Cook was effected by the circumnavigation of New Zealand. When Tasman described that country, he supposed it to be a part of the great Terra Australis Incognita, extending probably across the southern Pacific Ocean ; but Cook's voyage at once overturn- ed this theory. An opinion, however, which has long existed, cannot be at once dispelled, although utterly groundless, and many still continued to believe in the existence of a southern continent, although Cook's discoveries had cut off the connec- tion between their theory and the facts which hitherto had been adduced in its support: but to set the question of a south- ern continent completely at rest, another expedition was ne- cessary, and the Enghsli government, having now made the advancement of science the object of national exertions, re- JAMES COOK. 213 solved to continue their laudable researches. The king was partial to tlie scheme; and the earl of Sandwich, who was at the head of the admiralty, possessed a mind sufficiently liberal and comprehensive to second effectively the wishes of his sovereign. Captain Cook was named at once as the fittest person to command the new expedition. Two ships, the Resolution and the Adventure, the former of four hundred and sixty-two, the latter of three hundred and thirty-six tons burden, were fitted out for the voyage ; and, that no opportunities might be lost to science from the want of persons capable of observing nature under every aspect, astronomers and naturalists of eminent ability were engaged to accompany the expedition; Messrs. Wales and Bayley proceeding in the former. Rein- hold Forster and his son in the latter capacity. The ships were amply stored and provided for a long and difficult voyage, particularly with antiscorbutics, and whatever was thought likely to preserve the health of the crews. Cook sailed from Plymouth on the 13th of July, 1772, on his second voyage of discovery. On his arrival at the Cape of Good Hope, he was induced, by the entreaties of Mr. Forster, to allow the celebrated naturahst Sparmann to join the expe- dition. He now directed his course to the south, in search of the land said to have been discovered by the French navigator Bouvet, but violent gales drove him far to the east of the me- ridian in which it was supposed to lie. After long struggling with adverse winds, he at length reached the same meridian, some leagues to the south of the latitude assigned to Cape Circumcision. Having thus proved that the land said to have been seen by Bouvet, if it existed at all, was certainly no part of a southern continent, he continued his course to the south and east. On the 10th of December our navigators first met with islands of ice, and on the following days these occurred in greater numbers and of larger size : some of them were nearly two miles in circuit, and sixty feet high ; yet such was the force of the waves, that the sea broke quite over them. This was at first view a gratifying spectacle, but the sentiment of pleasure was soon swallowed up in the horror which seized on the mind from the contemplation of danger; for a ship ap- proaching these islands on the weather side would be dashed to pieces in a moment. Amidst the obstructions to which our navigators were exposed from the ice islands continually suc- ceeding one another, they derived the advantage of having an abundant supply of fresh water ; large masses of ice were 19 214 JAMES COOK. carried off, and stowed on deck, and the water produced from its melting was found perfectly sweet and well tasted. On the 17th of January, 1773, our navigators had reached the latitude of 67° 15' S., and they saw the ice extending from east to west-south-west, without the least appearance of an opening. It was vain, therefore, to persist any longer in a southerly course ; and as there was some danger of being sur- rounded by the ice, prudence dictated a retreat to the north. On the 8th of February, the weather beng extremely thick and hazy, it was found that the Adventure had parted company : the rendezvous appointed in case of this accident was Queen Charlotte's Sound, in New Zealand; and thither Cook direct- ed his course. In the latitude of 62° S., on the 17th of the same month, between midnight and three o'clock in the morn- ing, lights were seen in the heavens, similar to those that are known in the northern hemisphere by the name of the Aurora Borealis. Captain Cook had never heard that the Aurora Australis had been seen before, but the same phenomenon was witnessed repeatedly in the sequel of this voyage. During his run to the eastward in this high latitude, he had ample reason to conclude that no land lay to the south, unless at a very great distance. At length, after having been one hun- dred and seventeen days at sea, during which time he hsid sailed three thousand six hundred and sixty leagues without having come once within sight of land, he saw the shores of New Zealand on the 25tli of March, and on the following day came to an anchor in Dusky Bay. Notwithstanding the length and hardships of his voyage, there was no sickness in the ship; the attention which he paid to the health of the men, by enforcing cleanliness, by keeping the vessel dry and well ventilated, and by the judicious use of antiscorbutic diet, being attended with complete success. Having surveyed Dusky Bay, he proceeded to Queen Charlotte's Sound, where Cap- tain Furneaux had arrived before him. The Adventure, after parting company with the Resolution, had followed a more northerly course, and traced the coasts of Van Dieman's Land along the southern and eastern shores. Captain Furneaux reported, "that in his opinion there arc no straits between this land and New Holland, but a very deep bay." Cook had intended to investigate this point, but, con- sidering it to be now settled by the judgment of his colleague, he resolved to prosecute his researches to the east, between the latitudes of 41° and 46°. But before he left Queen Charlotte's Sound he succeeded in establishing a friendly and mutually advantageous intercourse with the natives. He endeavoured JAMES COOK. 216 to give them substantial proofs of his kind intentions, by making an addition to their stock of useful animals. He put on shore a ewe and ram, and also two goats, a male and female. A garden also was dug, and a variety of seeds of culinary veget- ables, adapted to the climate, were sown in it. Although it was the winter season. Cook determined not to lose his time in utter inactivity. His ships being sound, and his crews healthy, he thought that he might safely proceed to examine the Southern Ocean within the latitude of 46^ ; and then, refreshing at some of the islands between the tropics, re- turn in the summer season to carry his researches to a higher latitude. His voyage from 'New Zealand towards the east was not productive of any interesting discoveries, nor diversified by any but the ordinary details of navigation. He felt convinced, from the great sea that rolled from the south, that no land of any extent could lie near him in that direction. When he had advanced so far as to find himself to the north of Carteret's track, he could no longer entertain any hope of finding a con- tinent ; and this circumstance, with the sickly state of the Ad- venture's crew, induced him to direct his course to the Society Islands. During this part of his voyage, he saw a number of tliose small low islands which compose the Dangerous Archi- pelago of Bougainville. The ships narrowly escaped destruction by drifting on the coral reefs at Otaheite : they were saved only by the prompt- ness of their commander and the unremitting exertions of the crew. On the 24tli of August they anchored in their old sta- tion in Matavai Bay. The men on board the Resolution were at this time in perfect health ; but the crew of the Adventure, on the other hand, suffered dreadfully from the scurvy, though the two ships were equipped alike, and the same precautiona- ry system to preserve the health of the men was prescribed to both ; but zeal on the part of the officers was requisite to give efficacy to the orders, and their example was necessary to en- courage the men to sacrifice old habits in order to preserve their constitutions. During this visit to Otaheite, our navigators obtained a more intimate acquaintance with the manners and character of the natives. Of their religious doctrines they were unable to ac- quire a distinct knowledge ; but they ascertained that human victims were often sacrificed to their gods. They also wit- nessed the Heavas or dramatic representations of the people, and found them not devoid of archness and ingenuity. The performance was generally extemporaneous, founded upon some incidents presented at the moment, and in which our navigators usually made a prominent figure. Otoo, the pres- 216 JAMES COOK. ent king of Otaheite, a man of fine figure but of remarkably timid disposition, contracted an intimate friendship with Cap- tain Oook. Oberea, who, when the island was first visited by Captain WaJlis, was so conspicuous a character, was now re- duced to an humble station, and had declined as much in per- sonal appearance as in rank. It is remarkal)le that few inqui- ries were made after Tupia, who had accompanied Cook in his former voyage, or after Aootooroo, the native of Otaheite who had accompanied Bougainville to Europe; but,, though the islanders were neglectful of their own countrymen, they were uniformly sohcitous in inquiring after Mr. Banks. On leaving Otaheite, Cook visited the other islands of the group, where he found provisions in greater abundance. Oree, the chief of Huaheine, evinced towards him the most affec- tionate regard. Omai, a native of Ulietea, being desirous to accompany the English, was admitted by Captain Furneaux on board the Adventure: Captain Cook wonderc'd that Cap- tain Furneaux would encumber himself with this man, who in his opinion, was not a proper sample of the inhabitants of these happy islands, not having any advantage of birth or acquired rank, nor being eminent in shape, figure or complexion. After his arrival in England, however. Cook changed his opinion, and doubted whether any other of the natives would have given more general satisfaction, by his behaviour among them. "Omai," he observes, "has certainly a very good understand- ing, quick parts and honest principles. He is of good natural behaviour, which rendered him acceptable to the best compa- ny, and a proper degree of pride, which taught him to avoid the society of persons of inferior rank. He has passions of the same kind with other young men, but has judgment enough not to indulge them in any improper degree. I do ifot ima- gine that he has any dishke to liquor, and if he had fallen into company where the person who drank the most met with the most approbation, I have no doubt but he would have endeav- oured to gain the applause of those with whom he associated, but fortunately for him, he perceived that drinking was very little in use but among the inferior people, and as he was very watchful into the manners and conduct of the persons of rank who honoured him with their protection, he was sober and modest, and I never heard that during the whole time of his stay in England, which was two years, he ever once was dis- guised with wine, or ever showed an incUnation to go beyond the strictest rules of moderation. " During his stay in England, he was caressed by the princi- pal nobility, and did nothing to forfeit the esteem of any one of them; but his principal patrons were the Earl of Sandwich, JAMES COOK. 217 Mr. Banks and Dr. Solander. It is to be observed that though Omai lived in the midst of amusements during his residence in England, his return to his native country was always in his thoughts, and though he was not impatient to go he expressed a satisfaction as the time of his return approached. He em- barked with me in the Resolution, when she fitted out for another voyage, loaded with presents from his several friends, and full of gratitude for the kind reception and treatment he had experienced among us." A young native of Borabora, named Hete-Hete or Oedidee (as our great navigator named him,) was at the same time allowed by Captain Cook to em- bark in the Resolution. On quitting the Society Islands, Cook directed his course to the west, where he had reason to believe, from the accounts of the natives, that much yet remained to be explored. At the island named Middleburg by Roggewein, he was well treated by a chief called Tioony : at Amsterdam Island his reception was equally favourable. The language of these islanders dif- fered but little from that of Otaheite, and they were evidently of the same race. Some of our navigators thought them much handsomer ; but others, and among these Cook himself, were of a different opinion. The men were grave and stately; but the women, on the contrary, were remarkably vivacious, and prattled unceasingly to the strangers, regardless of the morti- fying fact that the latter could not understand them. But these people were chiefly distinguished from the natives of the Soci- ety Islands by their superior industry. On the Island of Am- sterdam Captain Cook was struck with admiration ; when he surveyed the cultivation and the beauty of the scene, he thought himself transported into the most fertile plains of Europe : there was not an inch of waste ground. The roads or paths occupied no more space than was absolutely necessa- ry, and the fences did not take up above four inches each; nor was this small portion of ground wholly lost, for the fences themselves contained in general useful trees or plants. The scene was every where the same ; and nature, assisted by a little art, no where assumed a more splendid appearance than in these islands. Cook now directed his course again to New Zealand ; but, on approaching that country, the ships had to encounter a suc- cession of severe gales and continued bad weather, during which the Adventure was again lost sight of and never after- wards rejoined. ^On the 3d of November the Resolution an- chored in Queen Charlotte's Sound. The winter had been spent not unprofitably in revictualling the ships, restoring the health of the crews, and obtaining a more accurate knowledge 19* 218 JAMES COOK. of the islands between the tropics. And now, as summer ap- proached, it was Cook's intention to run from New Zealand, where wood and water were to be procured in abundance, and to explore the high southern latitudes from west to east, in which course he might reckon upon having the winds and currents in his favour. While the Resolution lay in Queen Charlotte's Sound, indubitable proofs presented themselves that cannibalism was common among the natives: one of them who carried some human flesh in his canoe, was allowed to broil and eat it on board the Resolution, in order to satisfy the doubts of some of the officers. Oedidee, who witnessed all this, was shocked beyond measure at the spectacle : at first he stood motionless as a statue, but his horror at length gave way to rage, which vented itself not only on the New Zealand- er, but on the officers who had encouraged him ; and he could not be induced even to touch the knife which had been employ- ed to cut the human flesh. On the 26th of November, Cook sailed to prosecute his ex- amination of the antarctic seas. His crew were in good health and high spirits, not at all dejected by the arduous task which was before them. In a few days they crossed the antipodes of London, and were thus on the point of the globe which was most distant from their home. The first ice island was seen on the 12th of December ; and, on the 30th of that month, our navigators had reached the seventy-first degree of south- ern latitude : but here the ice was so compact that it was im- possible to proceed any farther towards the south ; and it was also obvious that no continent existed in that direction but what must be inaccessible from the ice. It was Cook's inten- tion to winter again within the tropic; but, in proceeding thither, he wished to satisfy himself as to the southern land said to have been discovered by Juan Fernandez. He sailed sufficiently near the position assigned to that supposed conti- nent to assure himself that it could not have been any thing more than an island of moderate size. He now directed his course in search of Davis' Land or Easter Island, which had been sought in vain by Byron, Carteret, and Bougainville: Cook, however, succeeded better, and made the island on the 11th of March, 1774. The natives were found to speak a lan- guage radically the same with that of Otaheite, and which thus reaches across the Pacific Ocean from New Zealand to the sequestered islands in the East. Easter Island was found to be remarkably barren, ill supplied with water, and wholly without wood. But the attention of the Enghsh was forcibly attracted by the great statues seen on the island by Roggewein. About fifteen yards from the landing place was found a per- JAMES COOK. 219 pendicular wall of square hewn stones, about eight feet in height, and nearly sixty in length ; another wall parallel to die first, and about forty feet distant from it, was raised to the same height ; the whole area between the walls was filled up and paved with square stones of blackish lava. The stones of the walls were so carefully fitted as to make a durable piece of architecture. In the midst of the area was a pillar consist- ing of a single stone, about twenty feet high and about five feet wide, representing the human figure down to the waist. The workmanship was rude but not bad ; nor were the features of the face ill formed, but the ears were long beyond proportion. On the top of the head was placed upright a huge round cylinder of stone, above five feet in height and in diameter; this cap, which resembled the head-dress of an Egyptian divinity, was formed of a kind of stone different from that which composed the rest of the pillar, and had a hole on each side, as if it had been made round by turning. It appeared as difficult to explain how the natives of this island, who were but few in number, could carve such huge statues with no better tools than those made of bones or shells, or how they raised them on their pedestals when finished, as to divine for what purpose they undertook such gigantic labours; for it did not appear that the statues were objects of worship ; yet on the eastern side of the island they were numerous enough to employ the male population of the island for many centuries in their construction. The skill of this people in carving was still more manifest in the ornaments of their canoes, and in small wooden figures, of which the English brought home many curious specimens. From Easter Island Cook directed his course to the Mar- quesas, discovered by Mendana in 1595 ; and on the 6th of April he got sight of one island of the group which was, how- ever, a new discovery, and received, from the gentleman who first descried it, the name oi Hoodh Island. The other islands seen by Mendana, St. Pedro, Dominica, and St. Christiana, were afterwards discovered in succession. The ship with much difficulty anchored in Mendana's Port, in the last men- tioned island. Magdalena, the fifth island of the group, was seen only at a distance. Of the inhabitants of these islands Captain Cook tells us, that collectively they are without ex- ception the finest race of people in this sea ; for fine shape and regular features they perhaps surpass all other nations. Nev- ertheless the affinity of their language to that spoken in Ota- heite and the Society Islands shows that they are originally of the same nation. Oedidee could converse with them tolerably well, though the English could not, and it was obvious that 220 JAMES COOK. ' their languages were nearly the same. In their manners and arts the people resembled the natives of Otaheite, but appeared to be rather less ingenious and refined. Forts, or strong holds, were seen on the summits of the highest hills ; but they were not visited by the English, who had not become suffi- ciently acquainted with the natives to venture into the interior. Cook, having rediscovered the Marquesas of Mendana, pro- ceeded to Otaheite, and passing by a group, to which he gave the name of Palhser's Islands, and some others which had been seen by Byron, he anchored in Matavai Bay on the 22d of April. At this time there were no sick on board ; but as the island seemed to abound with provisions, our navigator was willing to prolong his stay here. His original stock in trade was, indeed, now exhausted; but he found that the peo- ple of Otaheite set a great value on the red parrot feathers, of which he had brought a considerable supply from Amsterdam and Middleburg Islands. He thus accidentally learned an advantageous and easy course of traffic in the South Sea. Among other entertainments with which our navigators were treated during this visit to Otaheite was a grand naval review. The vessels of war consisted of one hundred and sixty great canoes, from fifty to ninety feet in length ; they were decorated with flags and streamers ; and the chiefs, to- gether with all those who were on the fighting stages, were dressed in their war habits. The whole fleet made a noble appearance, such as our voyagors had never before seen, and could not have expected in this part of the world. Besides the vessels of war, there were one hundred and seventy sail of smaller double canoes, which seemed to be designed for trans- ports and victuallers. Upon each of them was a small house or shed ; and they were rigged with a mast and sail, which was not the case with the war canoes. Captain Cook estima- ted, at a moderate computation, that there could not be less than seven thousand seven hundred and sixty men in the fleet; but the immense number of natives assembled as spectators astonished the English more than the splendour of the arma- ment, and they were still farther surprised to learn that this fleet was the naval force of only one of the twenty districts into which the island is divided. On these equivocal grounds they were led to form an extremely exaggerated calcuhition of the population of Otaheite, which they estimated to be at least two hundred thousand souls ; a number exceeding the truth, perhaps, in the proportion of ten to one. From Otaheite our navigators proceeded to visit the Society Islands, at Huaheine. Cook was affectionately received by the old chief Orce, who still carefully preserved the medals. JAMES COOK. 221 coins, and pewter plate with an inscription commemorating the voyage, which our commander had given him on a former visit. Odidee, who for seven months had been the faithful companion of our voyagers, and had made with them the tour of the Pacific, was put on shore at Ulietea. He left the Eng- lish with regret demonstrative of a strong attachment to them ; and nothing could have torn him from them but the fear of never returning to his native country. He was a fine young man, of a docile and humane disposition, and of the better class of natives, being nearly related to Opoony,the formidable chief of Borabora. But from his inexperience and imperfect acquaintance with the traditionary knowledge of his country- men, but httle could be learned from him respecting their history. Cook again directed his course to the Avest, and repeated his visit to the Friendly Islands. This name he gave to a group extending through about three degrees of latituda and two degrees of longitude, and comprising Anamooka, which Tas- man, who first discovered it, named Rotterdam, Tonga-taboo or Amsterdam, Eaoowee or Middleburg, and Pylstart Islands. But this appellation, to which these islands were entitled by the firm alliance and friendship which seemed to exist among their inhabitants, and their courteous behaviour to strangers, might perhaps be extended much farther, so as to include the Boscawen and Keppel Isles, discovered by Captain Wallis, and inhabited by people of the same friendly manners. Pursuing their course to the west, our navigators discover- ed, on the 16th of July, land, which was justly conjectured to be the Terra Austrialis del Espirito Santo of Quiros. After exploring the coast for a few days. Cook came to an anchor in a harbour in the island of Mallicolo. The inhtibitants of this island were the most ugly and deformed race which our navi- gators had yet seen, and differed in every- respect from the other inhabitants of the Southern Ocean : they were dark coloured, of small stature, with long heads, flat faces, and countenances resembhng that of a monkey. Their language, also, was found not to have any discoverable affinity with that prevailing through the islands with which the English had any acquaintance. This people differed, likewise, from the great Polynesian race not more by their language and figure than by their scrupulous honesty. As our navigators proceeded towards the south from Mallicolo, they passed by a group which Cook named Skepkerd^s Isles, Farther to the south was discovered a large island agreeably diversified with woods and lawns over the whole surface, and exhibiting a most beautiful and dehghtful prospect. This our navigator named 222 JAMES COOK. Sandwich Island^ in compliment to his friend and patron, the Earl of Sandwich. Still farther to the south was seen another large island, called by the natives Erromango, which he coast- ed for three days, and then came to an anchor in the intention of procuring a supply of wood and water. This, however, could not be effected without a violent conflict with the na- tives, who were both fierce and treacherous. It was observed that they differed from the inhabitants of Mallicolo both in language and physical conformation ; they were well shaped and had tolerable features, but dark coloured, and with hair crisp and somewhat woolly. From this place Cook sailed for an island which had been descried some time before at a dis- tance. He found that it was called Tanna by the inhabitants, from whom also he learned the names of three other islands in its neighbourhood — Immer, Erronan, and Anaton. Two lan- guages were found to be spoken in Tanna ; one of them, which was said to have been introduced from Erronan, was nearly the same with that of the Friendly Islands. The other, which our navigators considered peculiar to Tanna, Erroman- go, and Anaton, was difl^'erent from any they had hitherto met with in the course of their researches. The people at Tanna were well proportioned, but not robust. They had good fea- tures and agreeable countenances. Though active, and fond of martial exercise, they seemed incapable of patient labour. It appeared that they practised circumcision, and that they were eaters of human flesh ; though, as their island abounded with hogs and fowls, and a variety of fruits, they could not be driven by necessity to adopt this horrid practice. Captain Cook devoted above a month to the survey of this archipelago, with which previous navigators had made but a superficial acquaintance. The northern islands were discov- ered, in 1606, by Quiros, who supposed them to be portions of the great southern continent. Bougainville, in 1768, dis- pelled this idea, though he did not proceed to examine the islands near which he sailed ; but Captain Cook, besides as- certaining the extent and situation of the islands already known, explored the whole group; and, conceiving that in consequence he had a right to name them, bestowed on them tiie appellation of the New Hebrides. The season was now approaching, when it would be neces- sary to resume his researches in a high southern latitude, and he hastened therefore to New Zealand, where he intended to refresh his people and prepare for a navigation of considerable length. He sailed from the New Hebrides on the 1st of Sep- tember, and on the 4th discovered land, near which the Reso- lution came to anchor the next day. The inhabitants were a JAMES COOK. 223 strong, active, and handsome race, bearing some resemblance to the people of Tanna, and those of the Friendly Isles. The same mixed character was observed in their language : they had never seen Europeans before, but were friendly and obhg- ingin their behaviour; and, what is still more remarkable in the South Seas, strictly honest in all their deahngs. To this island Captain Cook gave the name of New Caledonia : and though compelled by necessity to leave it before it M^as fully surveyed, he had nevertheless examined it sufficiently to prove, that, excepting New Zealand, it is perhaps the largest island in the South Pacific Ocean. As the Resolution pursued her course from New Caledonia, land was discovered, which, on a nearer approach, was found to be an island of good height, and about five leagues in circuit. It was uninhabited, and proba- bly our Enghsh navigators were the first persons who had ever set foot on it. In its vegetable productions it bore a close re- semblance to New Zealand: the flax plant of that country was here particularly luxuriant; but the chief produce of the island was a majestic species of pine, of such a size that, breast high, two men could scarcely clasp the trunk. This little spot was named Norfolk Island. Its fine woods and fertile soil allured, some years later, a party of British settlers ; who finally abandoned it, however, from the inaccessible nature of its coast. On the 18th of October the Resolution came to anchor in Queen Charlotte's Sound. This was the third time of touching at New Zealand during this voyage. On searching for the bottle which Cook had left behind on his last visit, containing the particulars of his arrival, it was found to have been taken away ; and from other circumstances it was evident that the Adventure had visit«d the harbour after the Resolution had left it. While the Resolution remained here, the intercourse main- tained with the natives was of the most friendly description; Captain Cook continued his efibrts to stock the island with useful animals, and for that purpose ordered a boar and sow to be put on shore. On the 10th of November he left New Zealand, to pursue his voyage to the east. Towards the close of that month, he had reached the latitude of 55^ 40' S., when, deeming it use- less to search any longer for a continent in that direction, he bore away for Cape Horn; and on the 17th of December, had sight of Tierra del Fuego. This is the first instance of a run quite across the Southern Pacific. It now only remained for our navigator to cross the Southern Atlantic to the point whence he had commenced his explorations. Having com- pleted his examination of Tierra del Fuego and Staaten Land, 224 JAMES COOK. he proceeded towards the east ; and, after a voyage of ten days, land was seen at a distance nearly covered with snow. On approaching the shore, it was found to be terminated in many places by perpendicular ice cliffs of considerable height. Pieces continually broke off with a noise like the report of cannon, and floated out to sea. The general aspect of the country was savage and horrid in the extreme. The wild rocks raised their lofty summits till they were lost in the clouds, and the valleys lay covered with everlasting snow. Our navi- gator, who at first view of this land supposed that it might be a continent, confesses that he was not much disappointed on discovering his error; " for to judge of the bulk by the sample it would not be worth discovering." In latitude 59°, and about 8° to the east of Ncio Georgia, as this inhospitable shore was named, land was again seen, presenting an elevated coast, whose lofty snow-clad summits reached above the clouds. To this bleak region Cook gave the name of the Southern Thule, as it was the most southern land which had yet been discover- ed ; but on leaving the coast he gave to the whole country the general appellation of Sandwich Land, which he concluded to be either a group of islands or the southern continent. But the great quantities of ice which he met with led him to infer the existence of a large tract of land near the south pole. He now sailed as far as the latitude assigned to Bouvet's supposed discovery; but no indications of land occurred, nor was it pos- sible to believe any longer in the existence of Cape Circum- cision. On the 3d of August, they found themselves abreast a lofty promontory; and early the next morning, the captain went with two boats, to examine the coast, to look for a proper land- ing place, wood and water. At this time the natives began to assemble on the shore, and by signs invited them to land. The captain went first to a small beach, where he found no good landing. Some of the natives who were there offered to haul the boat over the breakers to the sandy beach, which was thought a friendly offer ; but they had reason afterwards to alter their opinion. They put into the shore in two or three places, but not liking the situation did not land. By this time the natives conceived what they wanted, as they directed the boat round the rocky point, where, on a fine sandy beach, the captain stept out of the boat without wetting a foot, in the face of a great multitude, with only a green branch in his hand. They received him with great courtesy and politeness; and would retire back from the boat on his making the least motion with his hand. A man, whom he took to be a chief, seeing this, made them form a semicircle round the boat's bow, and JAMES COOK. 225 beat such as attempted to break through this order. This man he loaded with presents, giving Hkewise to others, and asked by signs for fresh water, in hopes of seeing where they got it. The chief immediately sent a man for some, who ran to a house, and presently returned with a little in a bamboo ; so that he gained but little information by this. He next asked by the same means for something to eat; and they as readily brought him a yam and some cocoa-nuts. In short, he was charmed with their behaviour ; and the only thing which could give the least suspicion was, that most of them were armed with clubs, spears, darts, bows and ar- rows. For this reason the captain kept his eye continually upon the chief, and watched his looks as well as his actions. He made many signs to haul the boat upon the shore, and at last slipped into the crowd, where the captain observed him speak to several people, and then return, repeating signs to haul the boat up, and hesitating a good deal before he would receive some spike nails which were then offered him. This made him suspect something was intended, and immediately he stepped into the boat, telling them by signs that he should soon return. But they were not for parting so soon, and now attempted by force, what they could not obtain by gentler means. As they were putting off the boat, they laid hold of the gang- board, and unhooked it off the boat's stern ; but as they did not take it away, it was thought this had been done by acci- dent, and he ordered the boat in again to take it up. Then the natives hooked it over the boat's stern, and attempted to haul her ashore ; others at the same time, snatched the oars out of the people's hands. On pointing a musket at them, they in some measure desisted, but returned in an instant, seemingly determined to effect their purpose. At the head of this party was the chief. Signs and threats having no effect, their own safety became the only consideration ; and yet the captain was unwilling to fire on the multitude, and resolved to make the chief alone fall a victim to his own treachery ; but his musket, at this critical moment, missed fire. Whatever idea they might have formed of their arms, the natives must now have looked upon them "as childish weapons, and began to let them see how much better theirs were, by throwing stones and darts, and by shooting arrows. This made it ab- solutely necessary to give orders to fire. The first discharge threw them into confusion ; but a second was hardly sufficient to drive them off the beach. Four lay, to all appearance, dead on the shore; but two afterwards crawled into the bushes. Happy it was for these people, that not half the muskets would 20 296 JAMES COOK* go off, otherwise many more must have fallen. One sailor was wounded in the cheek with a dart, the point of which was as thick as a httle finger, and yet it entered above two inches ; which shows that it must have come with great force. As soon as they got on board, the captain ordered the anchor to be weighed. While this was doing, several people appeared on the rocky point, displaying two oars which had been lost in the scuffle. This they supposed was a sign of submission, and of their wanting to give them the oars. He nevertheless fired a four pound shot at them, to ht them see the effects of their great guns. The ball fell short, but frightened them so much, that none were seen afterwards; and they left the oars standing up against the bushes. In the night of the 5th of August, they saw a volcano, which they observed to throw up vast quantities of fire and smoke with a rumbling noise. They now made sail for the island whence it seemed to proceed, and presently after discovered a small inlet, which had the appearance of being a good har- bour. Towards evening the captain landed at the head of the harbour, with a strong party of men, without any opposition being made by a great number of natives, who were assembled in two parties, the one on the right and the other on the left, all armed. After distributing to the old people and some others, presents of cloth, medals, &c., he ordered two casks to be filled with water out of a pond, about twenty paces behind the landing place, giving the natives to understand that this was one of the articles which they wanted. Besides water they got from them a few cocoa nuts, which seemed to be in plenty on the trees ; but they could not be prevailed upon to part with any of their weapons. These they held in constant readiness and in the proper attitudes of offence and defence, so that little was wanting to make them attack them. Their early re-embarking probably disconcerted their scheme, and after that they all retired. While they were bringing the ship nearer the shore, to wood and water, they observed the natives assembling from all parts, and forming themselves into two parties, as they did the pre- ceding evening, one on each side the landing place, to the amount of some thousands, armed as before. A canoe now and then came ofl^, bringing a few cocoa-nuts and plantains. The captain made an old man, who seemed well disposed, understand by signs that they were to lay aside their weapons, and throwing those which were in the canoe overboard, made him a present of a large piece of cloth. There was no doubt that he understood him, and made this request known to his countrymen; for as soon as he landed, they observed he went JAMES COOK. 227 first to one party and then to the otlier ; nor was he ever after seen with any thing like a weapon in his hand. After this, three fellows came in a canoe under the stern, one of them brandishing a club with which he struck the ship's side, and committed other acts of defiance, but at last offered to ex- change it for a string of beads and some other trifles. These were sent down to him by a line ; but the moment they were in his possession, he and his companions paddled off in all haste without giving the club in return. This was what the captain expected, and indeed what he was not sorry for, as he wanted an opportunity to show the multitude on shore the effect of their fire-arms, without materially hurting them. Having a fowling-piece with small shot he gave the fellow the contents ; and when they were above musket shot off, he or- dered some of the musketoons to be fired, which alarmed them much. This transaction, however, seemed to make little or no impression on the people there ; on the contrary, they be- gan to halloo and make sport of it. After mooring the ship, and placing the artillery in such a manner as to command the whole harbour, he embarked with the marines and a party of seamen, in three boats, and rowed in for the shore. It has been already mentioned, that the two divisions of the natives were drawn up on each side the land- ing place. They had left a space between them of about thirty or forty yards, in which were laid to the most advantage, a few large bunches of plantains, a yam, and two or three roots. The old man before mentioned, and two or three more, invited them, by signs, to land; but the former trap was still in their memory, Avhich they were so near being caught in at the last island, and this looked something like it. In short every thing conspired to make them believe they meant to attack them as soon as they should be on shore. To prevent this, the captain ordered a musket to be fired over the party on the right, which was by far the strongest body ; but the alarm it gave them was momentary. In an instant they re- covered themselves, and began to display their weapons. The ship now fired a few guns, which presently dispersed them, when the party landed and marked out the limits, on the right and left, by a line. The natives came gradually to them, seemingly in a more friendly manner, some even without their weapons ; but far the greatest part brought them, and when they made signs to lay them down, they gave the English to understand thdt they must lay down theirs first. Thus all parties stood armed. Many seemed afraid to touch what be- longed to the visitors, and they seemed to have no notion of eX' changing one thing for another. 298 JAMES COOK. Cook had now made a circuit of the Southern Ocean in a high latitude, and traversed it in such a manner as to demon- strate that no southern continent existed, unless near the pole, and beyond the reach of navigation. During this circumnavi- gation of the globe, from the time of his leaving the Cape of Good Hope, to his return to it again, he had sailed no less than twenty thousand leagues. On the 13th of July, 1775, he landed at Portsmouth, having been absent from Great Britain three years and eighteen days ; during which time, and under all changes of climate, he had lost but four men, and only one of them by sickness. It has been related above, that Captain Cook, on approach- ing New Zealand for the second time in the course of this voy- age, lost sight of the Adventure, and never joined company with that ship again. Captain Furneaux was long baffled by adverse winds in his attempt to reach Queen Charlotte's Sound, which was appointed the rendezvous for the ships in case of separation. At length, on the 30th of November, the Adven- ture got safe into the desired port. The Resolution not being there, Captain Furneaux and his company began to entertain doubts of her safety ; but, on going ashore, they observed on an old stump of a tree these words cut out — " Look under- neath." They dug accordingly, and soon found a bottle corked and waxed down, with a letter in it from Captain Cook, signifying his arrival on the 3d, and departure on the 24th. Great exertions were now made to get the Adventure ready for sea, and on the 17th of December, the preparations being completed, Mr. Rowe, a midshipman, with nine men, were sent in the large cutter to gather a stock of wild greens for the ship's company. As the boat did not return the same evening nor the next morning, and the ship was now ready for sea, Mr. Burney, the second heutenant, proceeded in search of her, in the launch, manned with the boat's crew and ten marines. The launch proceeded, firing guns into all the coves by way of signals, but no traces of the cutter were found till they reached Grass Cove : here a great many baskets were seen lying on the beach tied up ; when cut open, some of them wero found to be full of roasted flesh, and some of fern root, which served the natives for bread. On further search, some shoes were picked up, and a hand, which was immediately known to have belonged to Thomas Hill, one of the forecastle men, the initials of his name being marked on it with an Otaheitan tatooing instrument. The natives were collected in considera- ble numbers round Grass Cove, shouting and inviting the English to land, but evidently with no friendly intentions. From their numbers, and the suspicion which their conduct JAMES COOK. 2dd excited in our people, Lieutenant Burney did not deem it pru- dent to trust himself among them, but he pursued his examin- ation far enough to obtain a melancholy certainty as to the fate of his unfortunate companions. " On the beach," he says, *' were two bundles of celery, which had been gathered for loading the cutter ; a broken oar was stuck upright in the ground, to which the natives had tied their canoes, a proof that the attack had been made here. I then searched all along at the back of the beach to see if the cutter was there. We found no boat, but instead of her such a shocking scene of carnage and barbarity as can never be mentioned nor thought of but with horror; for the heads, hearts, and lungs of several of our people were seen lying on the beach ; and, at a little dis- tance, the dogs gnawing their entrails." The men who had thus fiilleu victims to the barbarity of the natives were among the healthiest and best of the ship's crew. The Adventure was detained in the sound four days after this lamentable occurrence; during which time no natives were seen. On the 23d of December, however, she got to sea, and in little more than a month reached Cape Horn, being favoured by a strong current running to the east, and by west- erly winds which blow continually in the summer season in the great ocean. Captain Furneaux continued his course east- ward to the Cape of Good Hope, where he refitted his ship and refreshed his people. He then sailed for England, and anchored at Spithead on the 14th of July, 1774. In 1769 some discoveries of importance were made in the South Seas by a French mercantile adventurer. Two ships were fitted out in Bengal by MM. Law and Chevalier, for a trading voyage to Peru, and were placed under the command of M. ds Surville. While he was preparing to embark, news arrived in India that the English had discovered in the South Sea, seven hundred leagues from Peru, and in latitude 27^ S., an island exceedingly rich, and inhabited by Jews. This story gained credit, being congenial to the avaricious cravings of mankind ; and even those who suspected fiction in the men- tion of Jews were still willing to believe that the newly discov- ered country was eminently rich. Surville, touching at the Bashee Islands, carried off three of the natives to supply the deficiencies of his crew ; thiis furnishing a conspicuous exam- ple of that overbearing violence which has almost universally forced weak and uncivilized nations to regard Europeans as their natural enemies. In running to the south-east from New Guinea he discovered land, to which he gave the name of the Land of the Arsacides, and which was, in fact, a part of that long chain of islands that had already been seen by Bougain- 20* 230 JAMES COOK. ville, who gave the name of Louisiade to the portion which he had examined. Surville, in his intercourse with the natives, found them to be of a fierce, intractable, and treacherous dis- position, and chose to desij^nate them Arsacides, a name which he supposed to be equivalent to the word assassins. Surville afterwards visited New Zealand, and anchored in a bay, to which he gave the name of Lauriston. Captain Cook, who named it Double Bay, was at the same time employed in sur- veying its shores, yet these two navigators did not meet nor descry each other. The French commander, having lost his boat while anchoring here, went on shore with an armed party to punish the natives, whom he supposed to have stolen it. In a short time he burned several villages, and carried off a native chief. This outrage, perpetrated by some of the first Europe- ans who visited them, was soon afterwards repaid with cruel reprisals by the New Zealanders. The chief died at Juan Fernandez, and Surville was drowned while going on shore at Valparaiso. The Land of the Arsacides, which Surville had coasted on the north-eastern side, was again discovered in 1789, by Lieu- tenant Shortland, of the British navy, on his voyage from Port Jackson to the East Indies: he followed its southern shores, to which he gave the name of New Georgia, and passed through the straits of Bougainville, which he named from him- self, being apparently ignorant of the discoveries of the French navigators. The chain of large islands thus seen successively and partially by Bougainville, Surville, and Shortland, and which stretch from north-west to south-east, between New Guinea and the New Hebrides, are unquestionably the Salo- mon Islands of the early Spanish navigators. The Egmont Island of Carteret, who sought the Salomon Islands, and who approached them very closely without being aware of it, may be considered as belonging to the archipelago. It has been already mentioned that Bougainville brought home with him to France a native of Otaheite named Aootoo- roo. When the fame of Cook's discoveries began to excite a general interest in Europe, Captain Marion du Frcsne, anima- ted with a desire to emulate the glory of the English navigator, offered to take back the Otaheitean to his native land from the Isle of France at his own expense : the offer was accepted ; and Kerguelen, a navigator of some note, was commissioned to carry Aootooroo to the Isle of France, and then to proceed to examine more carefully the southern part of the Atlantic Ocean. The Otaheitean died at Madagascar ; but Marion did not on that account relinquish his plans, but proceeded, in the ardent hope of making some important discoveries. He JAMES COOK. S^ arrived at New Zealand without any accident, and anchored in the Bay of Islands, where his people lived on terms of famiharity, and apparently of cordial friendship with the na- tives; but some offence was given unawares to the passionate and capricious savages: Marion was murdered, with sixteen officers and men who had accompanied him on shore. Anoth- er party of eleven men, who were employed cutting wood in a different quarter, were at the same time set upon suddenly, and only one escaped to the ships to relate the dismal fate of his companions. When the French landed to seek the remains of their unfortunate commander, the natives insultingly cried to them from their fastnesses, " Tacowry (the chief of the dis- trict) has killed and eaten Marion." After this melancholy accident the ships returned to the Isle of France under the command of M. Duclesmeur, all plans of discovery being aban- doned. Kerguelen in the mean time sailed from the Isle of France in January, 1772; and, on the 12th of February, discovered, in latitude 50^ 5' S., high land, near the coast of which he re- mained six days; during this time he was separated from the corvette which accompanied him. To the bleak and sterile shores which he had discovered he gave his own name ; took formal possession of them for his sovereign ; and, on his return to France, described their appearance in such glowing terms, that Louis XV., deceived by his representations, hung to his button-hole, with his own hand, the cross of St. Louis. Ker- guelen's enemies, however, insisted that he had seen ice at a distance, and mistaken it for land ; they called on him to show some of the productions of the country as a proof of his dis- covery, and insinuated that he had purposely got rid of his comrade that he might be at liberty to indulge in gross fictions. The king, however, afforded him the means of refuting these aspersions: Kerguelen sailed again to the Southern Atlantic; and, in December, 1773, again discovered land : by the 6th of January following he had traced its coasts above eighty leagues. It was, however, a barren, inhospitable, and, in general, an unapproachable shore, affording nothing that could satisfy the French nation of the importance of his discoveries. On his return he was accused of culpable indifference to the safety of his men and officers, or rather of purposely exposing those whom he disliked to dangers which eventually proved fatal. Being unable to exculpate himself, he was deprived of his rank and thrown into prison. No expedition, fitted out for the purpose of maritime discov- ery, had ever equalled that from which Captain Cook had now returned, in the magnitude and arduous nature of its peculiar 232 JAMES COOK. object; and none had ever so completely answered its inten- tions, and performed its task with so httle loss of life or injury to the ships. The success of CookVvoyage was gratifying- in the highest degree to those who had patronized the undertaking. The F^arl of Sandwich was still at the head of the admiralty, and felt naturally disposed to reward liberally one whose cour- age and skill had so well justified his expectations. Cook was immediately raised to the rank of post captain, and obtained a more substantial mark of favour, being appointed one of the captains of Greenwich hospital^ which fvfforded him a liberal maintenance and repose from his professional labours. In February, 1776, only a hw months after his return, he was elected a fellow of the Royal Society; and on the evening of his first appearance there, a paper was read containing an ac- count of the method he had taken to preserve the health of the crew of his majesty's ship the Resolution, during her voyage round the world. The humane and successful attention which Cook bestowed on his ship's company was soon after reward- ed by the Copley medal, a prize annually bestowed by the Royal Society on the author of the best experimental paper of the year. In the discourse which the President, Sir John Pringle, delivered on the occasion of bestowing the medal, he uses the following emphatic expressions : — "What inquiry can be so useful as that which has for its object the saving the lives of menl and where shall we find one more successful than that before us? Here are no vain boastings of the empiric, nor ingenious and delusive theories of the dogmatist; but a concise and artless, and an uncontested, relation of the means by which, under divine favour. Captain Cook with a company of one hundred and eighteen men per- formed a voyage of three years and eighteen days throughout all the climates from fifty -two degrees north to seventy-one de- grees south latitude, with the loss ^only one man by sickness. I would now inquire of the most conversant with the bills of mortality, whether, in the most healthy climate, and the best condition of life, they have ever found so small a number of deaths within that space of time 1 How great and agreeable, then, must our surprise be, after purusing the histories of long navigations in former days, when so many perished by marine diseases, to find the air of the sea acquitted of all malignity ; and, in fine, that a voyage round the world may be undertaken with less danger, perhaps, to health, than a common tour in Europe!" The great question, as to the existence of a southern conti- nent, was finally set at rest by the result of this voyage ; not but that immense tracts of land might eidst in the neighbour- JAMES COOK. 233 hood of the south pole. But Cook's researches reduced the hmits of the southern continent, if it exist at all, within such high latitudes, as completely to dispel all those hopes of un- bounded wealth and fertihty with which imagination had hith- erto graced that undiscovered country. One grand problem still divided the opinions of speculative geographers, and eluded every attempt made at a practical solution. The English na- tion had always felt a pecuUar interest in the question of a north-west passage. Their earliest and most constant efforts in the career of discovery were directed towards Hudson's and Baffin's Bays in search of a communication with the Pacific Ocean, so that they might sail by a shorter navigation to China and Japan. In consequence of the disputes between Mr. Dobbs and Captain Middleton, respecting the feasibility of the scheme, the agitation of the question was tolerably recent in the public mind, and government adopting the views of the former gentleman, a reward of twenty thousand pounds was offered by act of parliament to those who should discover the desired passage. The British government, captivated with the glory that might result from expeditions destined for the improvement of science, resolved now to direct its exertions towards the north- west ; and, as a preliminary measure. Captain Phipps, (after- wards lord Mulgrave,) was despatched towards the north pole, to ascertain how far navigation was practicable in that quar- ter. After struggling obstinately with innumerable difficulties and dangers, arising from the quantity of ice that beset him, he was obliged to return, after having penetrated to the lati- tude of 80'' 30', or within 9J° of the terrestrial pole. The hope of finding a passage between the Atlantic and Pa- cific Oceans was not, however, abandoned; and consultations were held by lord Sandwich with Sir Hugh Palliser, and other experienced officers, relative to the plan which should be adopted in the expedition, and to the choice of a commander. Captain Cook had earned, by his eminent services, the privi- lege of honourable repose ; and no one thought of imposing on him, for the third time, the dangers and hardships of a voyage of discovery round the world : but being invited to dine with lord Sandwich, in order that he might lend the light of his valuable experience to the various particulars under dis- cussion, he was so fired with the observations that were made on the benefits likely to redound to science, to navigation, and the intercourse of mankind, from the projected expedition, that he voluntarily offered to take the command of it himself. This proposal was too much in accordance with the wishes of lord Sandwich to be rejected through motives of mere delicacy; 234 JAMES COOK. and Captain Cook was appointed accordingly to the command of the expedition in February, 1776. The act of parhament, passed in 1745, which secured a reward of twenty thousand pounds to ships belonging to any of his majesty'' s subjects, which should make the proposed discovery, was now also amended so as to include ships belonging to his majesty, and proceeding in any direction, for the old act referred only to ships which should find a passage through Hudson's Bay ; whereas Cook was directed by his instructions to proceed into the Pacific Ocean, and to commence his researches on the north-west coast of America, in the latitude of 65^ ; and not to lose time in exploring rivers or inlets until he had reached that latitude. The vessels fitted out for this voyage were the Resolution and Discovery, the latter under the command of Captain Ed- ward Clerke. Messrs. Bay ley and Anderson, who had both accompanied Captain Cook in his preceding voyage, now embarked with him a second time, the former in the capacity of astronomer, the latter in that of naturalist. Omai, who, during his residence in England, had been treated with great kindness, and loaded with presents from all quarters, now prepared to return to his native country ; but the joy which he felt at the idea of returning to his relations in possession of inestimable riches, (for such the gifts with which he was loaded appeared to him to be,) scarcely equalled his regret at quitting shores where he experienced so much kindness and attention, and where the multiplicity of strange objects presented to his view, awakened him as it were to a new existence. On the 12th of July, 1776, Captain Cook sailed from Ply- mouth Sound on his third voyage of discovery. In Table Bay, near the Cape of Good Hope, he was joined by Captain Clerke, whose departure had been unavoidably retarded. Here both the ships increased their freight of live stock, con- sisting of cows, horses, sheep, and goats, which were destined for the supply of the islands in the South Seas. On the 30th of November our navigators left the Cape of Good Hope ; and, on the 12th of the following month, two small islands were descried : they had been previously discovered by Marion and Crozet ; but not having received any name from them. Captain Cook called them Prince Edward's Islands. They appeared to be bleak and desolate, with bold rocky shores, and moun- tains in the rear, the sides and summits of which were covered with snow. Though it was now summer in the southern liemisphere, the weather was as severe as it usually is in Eng- land in the depth of winter. JAMES COOK. 235 On the 24th high land was again seen, which proved to be that discovered not long before by the French navigator, Ker- guelen. A bottle was found on shore containing a piece of parchment, with an inscription written by him, intimating that he had visited this country in 1772 and 1773. Cook wrote the names of his ships and the date of his voyage on the other side of the parchment, which he then replaced in the bottle. This country appeared, as far as the eye could reach, to be little better than a huge assemblage of bare rocks ; it had a little herbage, but not a single shrub or tree. Some verdure, which from the sea had an enticing appearance, was found, on nearer approach, to be occasioned by a small plant resembling saxifrage, which, with a few species of mosses and lichens, constituted the whole vegetable productions of this inhospitable shore. Fresh w ter, however, was abundant, and the rocks were covered with penguins and with seals: the latter so un- used to be disturbed, that they evinced no timidity ; and as many as were wanted for their oil or skins were killed with- out difficulty. Cook found that Kerguelen's Land, instead of being a continent, as its first discoverer had supposed, was only an island, extending in breadth from north to south not more than one hundred miles. He did not wish to change the name which it had received from its first discoverer, but that which he suggested as extremely applicable to it — The Island of Desolation, — has since been generally adopted in English maps. Soon after leaving this desolate coast, our navigators fell in with winds from the north, which brought on so dense a fog that the ships ran above three hundred leagues in the dark : they could rarely descry each other, and it was necessarjr to fire guns continually to prevent the inconvenience of a separa- tion. At length, on the 26th of January, 1777, the ships anchored in Adventure Bay, on the southern coast of Van Dieman's Land. Here their first care was to collect grass for the cattle, which had suffered much from the severity of the weather and the distresses of a long sea passage. Two young bulls, one heifer, two rams, and several of the goats, had died while the ships were employed in the survey of Kerguelen's Land. While the English remained here they were agreeably sur- prised by a visit from some of the natives, who in their abject misery, rooted indolence, and stupidity, appeared to be on an equality with the wretched inhabitants of Terra del Fuego. Their most comfortable dwellings were the trunks of large trees hollowed out by fire. They appeared to be ignorant of the art of fishing ; not a single canoe was seen on their whole 236 JAMES COOK. coast. Their chief subsistence was derived from small birds and shell-fish, which they collected along the shore. A sufficient supply of fodder being procured for the cattle, Captain Cook left Van Dieman's Land, of which, relying on the erroneous conclusions of Captain Furneaux, he observes, "It is well known to be the southern part of New Holland." The ships anchored on the 12th of February in their old station in Queen Charlotte's Sound. On their arrival in New Zealand there were but two invalids in both the crews. Cap- tain Cook was not a little surprised at the shyness and mistrust of the natives, most of whom were known to him, and had ex- perienced his kindness on his former voyages ; but he soon discovered the cause of their timidity. Omai was on board the Adventure with Captain Furneaux on the former voyage, when ten of the crew of that vessel, as above related, fell vic- tims to the ferocity of the natives. Seeing Omai now on board the Resolution, they judged that Captain Cook could not be ignorant of the affair, and dreaded his vengeance in conse- quence ; but as soon as he understood the cause of their mis- trust, he laboured to convince them of his friendly intentions, assuring them that he had no design of retaliating on them for the consequences of an affray to which he was a stranger ; and that so long as they conducted themselves peaceably they might consider him as their friend. A chief named Kahoora frankly avowed that he had acted a principal part in cutting off Captain Furneaux's people, and that he had himself killed Mr. Rowe their commander. The attack was not, it appears, premeditated, but had its origin in a theft committed by one parfy and resented with hasty violence by the other ; but when Captain Cook declared his willingness to forgive, he soon re- gained the confidence of the natives. To one chief he gave two goats, a male and a female, with a kid; and to another, two pigs. It was his intention at first to have left here some sheep also, along with a bull and two heifers ; but fearing that the chiefs whom he found on this part of the coast were not powerful enough to protect the cattle from those who might ignorantly aim at destroying them, he changed his plan. He learned from the natives that the poultry which on former occa- sions he had left on the island had increased, the garden vege- tables, though neglected, yet multiplied naturally, and some of them, as the potatoe, were greatly improved by the richness of the soil. At the request of Omai he consented to take with him two youths from New Zealand, who seemed at first delight- ed with the change ; but when they completely lost sight of their native country, they were overwhelmed with violent grief, which continued for many days. JAMES COOK. 237 On the 25tK of February the ships sailed from Queen Char- lotte's Sound, and nothing remarkable occurred till the 29th of tlie following month, when land was discovered, which proved to be an inhabited island, called by the natives Mangeea. It was found impossible to land upon it for the surf The natives spoke a language diff'ering but little from that of the Society Islands, and were a handsome, vigorous people, resembling Spaniards in complexion. They wore white turbans on their heads, made of cloih like that of Otaheite ; they also wore sandals, woven apparently with a strong grassy substance. One of them who ventured on board the ship happened to stumble over one of the goats, and immediately asked Omai whet bird it was. This apparent blunder of the simple island- er will appear less surprising when we reflect, that the name of a bird was perhaps the only genciral term for animals in his language ; and therefore the only one applicable to a creature like a goat, not belonging to any of the species with which he was already acquainted. Some leagues to the north of Mangeea another island was discovered, which the natives called Wateeo. Here our navi- gators went on shore, and were conducted by crowds of ad- miring natives to the chief, who hospitably entertained them. Some plan, however, seemed to be concerted to separate the English, and to cut them off from their retreat to the ships; and perhaps the Indians were chiefly deterred from the execu- tion of this plot by the exaggerations of Omai, who relating the wonders he had seen in England, described guns or instru- ments of war so large, that many men could sit within them, and which at one discharge could sink the island in the ocean. When questioned respecting the guns on board the ship, he said that they were capable of destroying immediately all the people on the island, though the ships were at that time a con- siderable distance from the shore. His story was not at first implicitly believed; but as he took dehght in exciting the wonder of those who were simpler than himself, he heaped together a few cartridges, which he carried in his pocket, and then throwing on them some red hot embers, the conflagration and report that ensued appeared to the natives so astonishing, as sufficiently to confirm all that he had related. They were consequently more cautious of giving offence to the Enghsh, who on the approach of evening were allowed to return to the ships. On this island Omai met with three of his countrymen, whose surprising adventure most happily illustrates the man- ner in which the scattered islands of the great ocean might have been originallv peopled. About twenty persons of both 21 238 JAMES COOK. sexes had embarked in a canoe at Otaheite, to cross over to the neighbouring island of Ulietea. For this short passage they had taken but a moderate stock of provisions. A violent tem- pest arose, which drove them they knew not whither for many days. They had nothing to eat or drink, and their numbers daily diminished, worn out by hunger and fatigue. At length the canoe overset, when four only remained ahve, and the de- struction of this small remnant seemed now inevitable. They clung, however, to the sides of their vessel for some days, and providentially drifted towards this island, when the natives im- mediately sent out canoes and brought them ashore. Of the four who were thus saved one had since died ; the remaining three were so well satisfied with the kind treatment they had received, that they rejected the offer made to them at Omai's request of a passage to their native island. As the inhabitants of the archipelagoes in the great ocean are frequently at sea, crossing from one island to another with their wives and fami- lies, accidents like this, which transported four individuals a distance of two hundred leagues, are likely to be of frequent occurrence. At all the islands which our navigators had dis- covered since their departure from New Zealand, they had been disappointed from the want of good anchorage and other circumstances, in their hope of finding water and provisions. The season was now far advanced, and large supplies of pro- visions would be necessary before proceeding into high north- ern latitudes. The prosecution of discoveries, therefore, in that direction was unavoidably postponed till the following year, as it was now much too late to venture into unknown seas with the prospect of achieving any thing important. Captain Cook determined to employ the intervening time in examining more minutely the seas between the tropics. He accordingly directed his course to the Friendly Islands, and on the 1st of May arrived at Anamooka. Here he expe- rienced the kindest treatment from a chief named Fenou, by whose persuasions he was induced to go to Hepaee, a large island, or rather a cluster of islands, .connected together by reefs passable at low water, and situated towards the north of this archipelago. The abundance of provisions which he found at Hepaee justified the representations of his friend Fenou. Here also he met with Poulaho, the king of the Friendly Islands, who treated our navigators with a lavish generosity worthy of a sovereign. Tongataboo, or Amsterdam Island, is the centre of his insular dominions, which extends, according to the natives, over one hundred and fifty islands. Several of these, indeed, are low rocky islets, without any inhabitants. About thirty-five of them are said to be larger, and must con- JAMES COOK. 239 sequently be of much greater extent than Anamooka, which is ranked among the smaller isles. It is probable that the Prince William's Islands of Tasman, and the Reppel's and Bosca- wen's Islands of Captain Wallis, are comprehended in this list of islands subject to Tongataboo. When Poulaho was asked in what manner the inhabitants of this latter island had acquired the knowledge of iron, he re- plied that they had at first received it from a neighbouring island called Neeootabootaboo. A ship had touched at that island a few years before, and had purchased a club from one of the natives for five nails which were afterwards sent to Ton- gataboo. This was the first iron known among them, and there can be little doubt that the ship from which it was pro- cured was the Dolphin. If Poulaho's description of this island be compared with Captain Wallis' narrative, it will appear evident that Neeootabootaboo is the same as Keppel's Island. But the most considerable islands within the knowledge of these people are Hamoa, Vavaoo, and Feejee. The two for- mer are the largest islands under the dominion of Tongataboo; and from the information which Captain Cook received, it would appear that the inhabitants of Hamoa had outstripped the other islanders in arts and refinement. Feejee was hostile to Tongataboo, and its inhabitants were regarded w^itli dread by the natives of the Friendly Islands for their fierceness in battle, and their savage practice of devouring their enemies. The men of Feejee, while they retain this barbarous custom, are not inferior to their neighbours in art and ingenuity. Be- fore Captain Cook left the Friendly Islands he repaid the kind- ness of Poulaho by a gift of inestimable value, consisting of live stock, horses, cows, sheep, and goats. The islanders seemed gratified with the gift, and promised not to kill any of the animals until they had multiplied to a considerable num' ber. On touching at Eooa our navigators were supplied with turnips, the produce of some seed scattered by them here on a former voyage. After remaining at the Friendly Islands between two and three months, during which time he became minutely ac- quainted with their geography, and the character of their in- habitants. Captain Cook at length took his departure from them, and on the 12th of August arrived at Otaheite. He found that a Spanish ship had touched here in the mean time, and had put on shore some cattle, of which a bull alone re- mained alive. He felt great pleasure, therefore, in augment- ing the stock of the island with three or four heifers, besides a horse and mare, which were intended as a present to the king, Otoo. Two days after their arrival here Captains Cook 2^ JAMES COOK. and Gierke mounted on horseback, and took a ride round the plain of Matavai ; to the great surprise of a multitude of the natives who attended upon the occasion, and gazed upon the horsemen with as much astonishment as if they had been cen- taurs. What the two captains had begun was afterwards re- peated every day by the other ship's officers, notwithstanding which the curiosity of the Otaheiteans still continued unaba- ted. They were exceedingly delighted with these animals when they saw the use that was made of them. Not all the novelties put together which European visiters had carried among the inhabitants, had inspired them with so high an idea of the greatness of distant nations. Otoo was by no means ungrateful for the benefits conferred on him ; he offered a small double canoe, very elegantly finished, as a present to king George ; and he manifested his sense of respect still more strongly in expressing a wish that the English would estabhsh a permanent settlement on the island. During this visit to Otaheite Captain Cook had an opportunity of witnessing the fearful excesses to which these social islanders are hurried by superstition, and of observing the number of human sacrifices offered to their idols, on every occasion of war or other general excitement. It only remained now to settle Omai in the island of Hua- heine, which had been chosen as his residence. A piece of ground was alotted to him by the chiefs of the island ; a com- fortable wooden house was erected for him by the carpenters of the ships. All the treasures which he had brought from England were landed, and the two young men from New Zea- land, though reluctant, were prevailed upon to remain with him, so that his family consisted altogether of twelve or thir- teen persons. In order to deter the natives from treating him with injustice or violence, Captain Cook spoke of returning at no great distance of time. Omai did not live long to enjoy his good fortune ; it does not appear that he had any reason to complain of the rapacity or covetousness of his neighbours. The numerous articles of European maMufacture which were in his possession, rendered his house a spcndid museum in the eyes of a South Sea islander ; and it is possible that his pride felt gratified in being thus able to minister to their wonder and admiration. lie conducted himself prudently, and gained the esteem of his neighbours, by the aftability with which he re- counted his voyages and adventures. About two years and a half after Captain Cook's departure, Omai died a natural death ; nor did the New Zealanders survive him long enough to furnish European navigators with an ample account of the JAMES COOK. 24|. influence which his experience and observations abroad may- have exerted on his countrymen. On the 8th of December our voyagers left Borabora, and lost sight of the Society Islands ; their course was towards the north, and, on the 18th of January, in latitude 21° N., land was discovered, which proved to be an island of considerable size, and beyond it two others successively became visible. As the ships approached the second island, a number of canoes came off from the shore, and the English were no less pleased than surprised to hear the natives speak the language of Ota- heite. \Vhen they came on board they expressed their aston- ishment at the numerous strange objects that met their eyes, with more lively emotions than Captain Cook had ever yet witnessed among savage nations. They did not appear to be quite ignorant of iron, yet the wonder and surprise they dis- played at every thing they saw, left little room to doubt that they were wholly unacquainted with Europeans. When Cap- tain Cook went on shore, the people fell flat on their faces be- fore him, as if rendering homage to a superior being. The island was amply provided with the necessaries of life ; pigs, fowls, and fruits were purchased advantageously: and Captain Cook made an important addition to the natural wealth of the island, by putting on shore some of his live stock. Among other articles brought by the natives for trade were cloaks and helmets, beautifully made with red and yellow feathers. These islanders were not inferior to the inhabitants of the more south- erly groups in ingenuity or friendliness of disposition. They seemed to Captain Cook to be less fickle and voluptuous than the natives of Otaheite, and less sullenly grave than those of Tongataboo ; but his growing partiality to them was checked on discovering that they occasionally banqueted on human flesh. Of the group now for the first time visited, only five islands were seen by Captain Cook, and to these, in compliment to his noble patron, the first lord of the admiralty, he gave col- lectively the name of the Sandwich Islands. It only remained now to accomplish the specific object of the voyage, by examining the north-west coast of America, and particularly by trying to effect a passage into the Atlantic Ocean, round the northern extremity of that continent. On the 7th of March our navigators made the coast of New Albion in latitude 44^ 33'. The inhabitants of this country were clad in furs which they offered for sale; they conducted themselves civilly towards the English, but were remarkably tenacious of the rights of property, and expected payment for every thing, even the wood and water which the strangers took from the shore. They displayed considerable ingenuity, and were ^ 21* 242 JAMES COOK. acquainted with iron, although in all their dealings they gave the preference to brass, in consequence of which the sailors, in bartering for furs parted with all their buttons. Among other articles procured from these people by exchange, were two silver spoons, which, as well as the iron, were supposed bj Captain Cook to have been obtained by a circuitous inland trade, either from the Spaniards in Mexico, or the Enghsh factories in Hudson's Bay. He was not aware that this coast had been surveyed by the Spaniards four years previously ; and that while the Spanish vessels lay here, the natives had exercised with great success their thieving propensities: to this part of the coast he gave the name of King George^s Sound, but the native name of Nootka has since prevailed. On leaving Nootka Sound, the violence of the wind com- pelled him to keep at a distance from the shore, so that for some degrees he was foiled in his intention of surveying it; but, in latitude 59° he entered another wide inlet, to which he gave the name of Prince William^s Sound, and here was surprised to find that the natives, in dress, language, and physical pecu- liarities, were exactly like the Esquimaux of Hudson's Bay. Beautiful skins were obtained in plenty from these people for a very moderate price. On proceeding to the north-west, a wide inlet was discovered, which some conjectured might be a strait communicating with, the Northern Ocean. It was deemed, therefore, advisable to explore it ; but when the boats had proceeded as high as latitude 61° 34' or about seventy leagues from the entrance, the inlet appeared to terminate in a small river. The ships now proceeded to the west, and doubled the great promontory of Alashka; and on the 9th of August, they reached the most western point of the American continent, distant only thirteen leagues from the opposite shores of Asia. To this headland Cook gave the name of Cape Prince of Wales. Crossing the strait to the western shores, he anchored near the coast of the Tshuktzki, which he found to extend many degrees farther to the east than the po- sition assigned to them in the maps of that day. He thus ascertained distinctly the width of the strait that separates Asia from America; for though Behring had sailed through it be- fore, he had not descried the shores of the latter continent, and, consequently, remained ignorant of the importance of his discoveries. Our navigators now pushed forward into the Northern Ocean, when they soon fell in with ice, which gave them reason to suspect the impossibility of continuing their voyage much farther. At length, on the 18th of August, when after repeated struggles they had attained the latitude of 70^ 44', they suw the ice before them, extending as far as the eye JAMES COOK. 243 could reach, forming a compact wall about six feet high : it was covered with a multitude of walruses or sea-horses, which, though coarse food, were preferred by the sailors to salt pro- visions. It was now obviously impossible to advance, and Cook there- fore resolved to employ the winter in completing the survey of the Sandwich Islands, and to renew his attempts in the Northern Ocean in the course of the following summer. On his arrival at Oonalashka he received, through the hands of the natives, a salmon pie, and a note which, though unintelligible, was known to be Russian. Corporal Ledyard, of the marines, who afterwards became so distinguished as an enterprising traveller, now for the first time figured on the scene, and vol- unteered to go in search of the hospitable Russians. He was accordingly packed between the legs of two Esquimaux in a kajak or covered canoe, and in this uncomfortable state was rowed a distance of fourteen miles. In two days he returned with three Russian furriers ; and shortly after a Russian mer- chant, named IsmilofF, arrived, who showed Captain Cook two charts, which satisfied our great navigator as to the limited acquaintance which the Russians had with the north-west coast of America, and the undisputed merit of his own dis- coveries. On the 26th of November, in latitude 20^ 55', our naviga- tors discovered Mowee, one of the Sandwich Islands which they had not visited; and on the last day of the month another great island, called Owhyhee, was discovered, which, as it ap- peared to exceed very far in magnitude and importance the other islands of the group, engaged a proportionate share of attention, and Captain Cook employed seven weeks in sailing round and surveying its coasts. At length the ships came to an anchor in KarakahooaBay, on the south side of the island. The natives came off to the vessels in canoes laden with pro- visions, and in such multitudes, that Captain Cook in the whole course of his voyages had never seen so numerous a I)ody of people assembled in one place. Many hundreds of them were swimming round the shijis like shoals of fishes. The interest- ing novelty of this scene compensated our voyagers, in some degree, for the disappointment tliey had experienced in their expedition to the north. " To this disappointment," says Captain Cook, "we owed our having it in our power to revisit the Sandwich Islands, and to enrich our voyage with a dis- covery, which, though the last, seemed in many respects to be the most important that had hitherto been made by Europeans throughout the extent of the Pacific Ocean." Such is the concluding sentence of our great navigator's journah 244 JAMES COOK. The intercourse of our people with the islanders was an un- interrupted series of acts of kindness on both sides, the mutual harmony being only momentarily disturbed by the thieving propensitiesof the natives. Provisions were procured in the greatest abundance, and Captain Cook made the experiment of salting a quantity of pork for sea stores; and he succeeded so completely, that when the ships returned to Europe, some of the pork cured in the Sandwich Islands was found to be still in good order. A society of priests on the island were particularly active in forwarding the views of the English, and procuring them the sort of provisions they required. They even sent a large quantity to the ships as a present. The king of Owhyhee, Tereeoboo, was actuated by the same friendly zeal as his subjects; and in his dealings with Captain Cook evinced sincere attachment, as well as the liberality be- fitting a prince. The islanders had conceived a particular liking for Lieutenant King, and warmly solicted him to re- main among them." When the day of departure arrived, they seemed inconsolable at their loss, and heaped whatever pre- sents their island afforded on Cook and his companions. Such were the friendly sentiments of the natives when the ships sailed out of KarakakooaBay,on the 4th of September. It was Captain Cook's intention to make a complete survey of the islands; but before he had proceeded far a gale came on, in the course of which the Resolution sprung her foremast in so dangerous a manner, that it was deemed necessary to return to Rarakakooa Bay in order to repair it. When the ships arrived at their old anchorage, the bay was found to be nearly deserted. The crowds who had been drawn together by the traffic opened with the ships, had now returned to their habitations through the country ; and it was, perhaps, owing to the absence of the chiefs, that the natives, who now came on board, carried on their depredations with much greater boldness than formerly. The punishment of the thieves gave rise to quarrels; and the intercourse with the islanders, though it had not altogether lost an amicable char- acter, was embittered by constant jarring and complaint. A boat wa%sent m pursuit of a native who had stolen the tongs from the smith's forge ; but the crew and the officer who com- manded them, were disarmed, and roughly handled by the islanders. Soon after, a party of the natives took away in the night the Discovery's large cutter, which lay swamped at the buoy of one of her anchors. This was a matter of too much importance to be overlooked, and Captain Cook was resolved to have recourse to decisive measures to recover the boat. He had often found the advantage in the South Sea Islands of seiz- '' JAMES COOK. 245 ing some of the principal people as hostages on such occa- sions, and he determined in this instance to make Tereeoboo himself answerable for the recovery of the cutter. Armed boats were stationed at each end of the bay to intercept all canoes that might attempt to get out, while Captain Cook him- self proceeded to land with a party of marines, his crew being also armed. When he went on shore, the natives flocked around him as usual, prostrating themselves, and showing the customary marks of respect. He proceeded to the habitation of the king, whom, after some trouble, he persuaded to go on board. To this movement, however, the natives were generally averse; yet they offered no violence to Captain Cook as he led the king, with his two sons, through the crowd to the water side, w^here the marines were drawn up in case of attack. The old king followed with submission and apparent indifference ; but when he came near the water's edge, his wives and rela- tions became so importunate to prevent his entering the boat, that he sat down on the ground, and Captain Cook was obliged to relinquish the idea of making himself master of his person. There was now a great ferment among the natives, who were gathered in immense multitudes along the shore. Their alarm at the attempt made to entrap their king was heightened by an unfortunate occurrence that took place at a little distance ; the boat stationed at the west end of the bay, seeing a large boat put off from shore, fired a gun ahead of it to stay its progress, and the shot accidentally killed Kareemoo, a chief of distinction. When this intelhgence reached them, the agitation of the crowds at the landing-place rose into fury. They put on their war-mats, gathered large stones, brandished their knives, and exhibited in every way an insulting and menacing attitude. Notwithstanding the imminence of the danger. Captain Cook would not allow the marines to fire, still hoping that the affair might terminate without shedding of blood. lie discharged his musket, indeed, loaded with small shot, at a chief who approached him with threatening gestures ; but the shot rattling harmlessly off the thick matting, served only to embolden the infuriated savage. The marines as well as the crew of the pinnace now fired upon the crowd; but the multitude of the islanders was so great, that they could not easily retreat when daunted by the firing; and, rushing upon the marines, forced them into the water, where four of them were killed. The pinnace was so crowded by those who had been saved from the shore, that her crew were in a great measure prevented from using their fire-arms, and thus afforded little protection to Captain Cook, who now re- 246 JAMES COOK. mained alone upon the rock. "He was observed making for the pinnace, holding his left hand against the back of his head to guard it from the stones, and carrying his musket un- der the other arm ; an Indian was seen following him, but with caution and timidity, as if undetermined to proceed; at last he advanced upon him unawares, gave him a blow on the back of the head with a large club, and then precipitately re- treated. The stroke seemed to stun Captain Cook ; he stag- gered a few paces, then fell on his hand and one knee, and dropped his musket. As he was rising, and before he could recover his feet, another Indian stabbed him in the back of the neck with an iron dagger. He then fell into the water, DEATH OF CAPTAIN COOK. about knee deep, where others crowded upon him and en- deavoured to keep him under; but struggling very strongly with them, he got his head up, and casting his eyes towards the pinnace, seemed to solicit assistance. Though the boat was not above five or six yards distant from him, yet, from the crowded and confused state of the crew, it seems, it was not in their power to save him. The Indians got him under again, but in deeper water: he was, however, able to get his head up once more; and being almost spent in the struggle, he natu- rally turned to the rock, and was endeavouring to support him- self by it, when a savage gave him a blow with a club, and he was seen alive no more. They hauled him up hfeless on the rocks, where they took a savage pleasure in using every bar- JAMES COOK. 24T barity to his dead body ; snatching the daggers out of each other's hands, to have the horrid satisfaction of piercing the fallen victim of their barbarous rage." The lieutenant who commanded in the launch was at no great distance during the whole of this affray, of which he re- mained an unconcerned spectator. To his want of intelh- gence or of courage the fatal events of the day may, in a great measure, be attributed. But what seems more remarkable, although the fire from the boats at length succeeded in putting the Indians to flight, and the remains of Captain Cook lay for some time deserted on the beach, yet the lieutenant returned to the ships without making any attempt to recover the dead body of his unfortunate commander. It was not without ex- treme difficulty, and until after repeated negotiations and threatening, that Captain Clerke could succeed in recovering the principal part of Captain Cook's bones, which were com- mitted to the deep with the usual naval honours amidst the sincere lamentations of the afflicted crews. As soon as the Resolution had undergone the necessary re- pairs, the ships hastened to leave a scene which recalled to the recollection of every one on board a calamity outweighing all the satisfaction that could result from the success of the expe- dition. Captain Clerke now took the place of the lamented Cook, and was succeeded by Lieutenant Gore in the command of the Discovery. After leaving Owhyhee, the ships touched at the island of Atooe, which was found desolated by a war originating in the claims of different chiefs to the goats which Captain Cook had put on shore. These animals had increas- ed to six when the war broke out on their account, in the course of which they were all destroyed. The history of the introduction of useful animals into the South Sea Islands affords many parallel instances of human blindness, and of that barbarous degree of envy and rapacity which destroys a treasure rather than leave it in the possession of a rival. Captain Clerke proceeded now to execute the intentions of his late commander, by repeating the attempt to find a passage through the Northern Ocean. He touched at the harbour of St. Peter and St. Paul in Awatska Bay, where he was treated by the Russians with unbounded hospitality ; and then passing Behring's Strait a second time, penetrated as far as 70° 33^' N., where the same obstacle which had prevented the progress of the ships the preceding year forbade him to advance any further. He met here with a firm barrier of ice, seven leagues farther to the south than that which had stopped the progress of Captain Cook. The impossibility of a passage by the north was now thought to be sufficiently proved, and it was resolved 248 JAMES COOK. to proceed homewards ; the chief purpose of the expedition having been thus answered. This resolution of the officers diffused among the crews, who were now heartily tired of the length of the voyage, as hvely a joy as if the ships, instead of having nearly the whole earth to compass, were already arrived in the British Channel. When the ships had just reached Kamtschatka, Captain Clerke died of a decline : he had already circumnavigated the globe three times, having sailed first with Commodore Byron, and afterwards with Captain Cook. Mr. Anderson, the talented physician and naturahst of the expedi- tion, had expired at Oonalashka, the preceding year, of the same complaint. Captain Gore now succeeded to the com- mand of the expedition, and Lieutenant King took the com- mand of the Discovery. Their voyage to China was not pro- ductive of any important geographical results. In navigating those stormy seas they found it necessary to keep at a distance from land, and were thus baffled, by constant tempestuous weather, in their attempt to survey the coasts of Japan. On the 3d of December our navigators arrived at Macao, where they first became acquainted with the events which had taken place in Europe since their departure, and of the war which had broken out between Great Britain and France. A rumour of the generous conduct of the latter government at the same time reached them : an order had been issued in March, 1779, by the minister of the marine at Paris, to all the com- manders of French ships, acquainting them with the expedi- tion and destination of Captain Cook, and instructing them to treat that celebrated navigator, wherever they should meet him, as a commander of a neutral and allied power. This measure, so honourable to the nation which adopted it, is said to have originated in the enlightened mind of the celebrated Turgot. Dr. Franklin, who at that time resided at Paris as ambassador from the United States, had, a short time before, issued a re- quisition, in which he earnestly recommended the command- ers of American armed vessels not to consider Captain Cook as an enemy. While the ships lay in the river of Canton, the sailors car- ried on a brisk trade with the Chinese for the sea otter sking which they had brought with them from the^north-west coast of America, and which were every day rising in their value. " One of our seamen," says Lieutenant King, " sold his stock alone for eight hundred dollars ; and a few prime skins, which were clean and had been well preserved, were sold for one hundred and twenty dollars each. The whole amount of the value, in specie and goods, that was got for the furs in both ships, I am confident did not fall short of two thousand pounds MMES COOK. 249 sterling ; and it was generally supposed that at least two thirds of the quantity we had originally got from the Americans were spoiled and worn out, or had been given away, or other- wise disposed of in Kamtschatka. When, in addition to these facts, it is remembered that the furs were at first collected without our having any idea of their real value; that the greatest part had been worn by the Indians from whom we purchased them ; that they were afterwards preserved with little care, and frequently used for bedclothes and other pur- poses; and that probably we had not got the full value for them in China ; the advantages that might be derived from a voyage to that part of the American coast, undertaken with commercial views, appeared to me of a degree of importance sufficient to call for the attention of the public." These ob- servations of Lieutenant Ring point to that which eventually proved to be the most important result of this expedition. A great branch of trade in the Pacific Ocean, which had hitherto escaped the notice of the nations most interested in its devel- opement, and possessing establishments most conveniently situated for carrying it on, was suddenly discovered, and soon after vigorously prosecuted by a maritime people from the op- posite side of the globe. The crews of both ships were aston- ished, as well as overjoyed, at the price paid them for their furs by the Chinese ; and their rage to return to Cook's River, in order to procure a cargo of skins, proceeded at one time almost to mutiny. A few, indeed, contrived to desert, and were among the first adventurers who crossed the Pacific Ocean in the newly discovered fur trade. The seamen thus unexpectedly enriched soon underwent a total metamorphosis : they arrived at Macao in rags, many of them having incon- siderately sold their clothing in the South Sea Islands ; but, before they left that harbour, they were decked out in gaudy silks and other Chinese finery. Nothing of importance occur- red during the remainder of their voyage home ; and, on the 4th of October, the ships arrived safe at the Nore, after an ab- sence of four years two months and twenty-two days. In the whole course of the voyage the Resolution lost but five men by sickness, of whom three were in a precarious state of health when the expedition left England : the Discovery did not lose a man. In order to estimate the merits of Captain Cook, it will be only necessary to survey generally the extent and nature of his discoveries, and to examine what influence they exerted immediately on the commercial enterprise of nations. In the €xtent of the coasts which he surveyed or discovered, he far other navigator. The eastern coast of New 22 250 JAMES COOK. Holland, two thousand miles in extent, was totally unknown till he traced it; escaping from the dangers of that intricate navigation solely by ]»is cool intrepidity and the resources of his skill. He also circumnavigated New Zealand, the eastern and southern parts of which were quite unknown, and suppo- sed by many to be united to the Terra Australis Incognita. New Caledonia and Norfolk Island were both discovered by him ; and the New Hebrides, from his labours, lirst assumed a definite shape in our maps. He rendered an essential ser- vice to geography also by his circumnavigating the globe in a high southern latitude ; for, though the exertions and dangers of that difficult navigation were not repaid by any brilliant dif - coveries, it set at rest a question which had for ages dividcil the opinions of speculative geographers. Sandwich Land, or Southern Thule, may be numbered among his discoveries, al- though it is probably the land which Gerritz had descried a century before. His discoveries on the north-west coast of America were still more important and more extensive. In one voyage he effected more than the Spanish navigators had been able to accomplish in the course of two centuries. In sailing through Behring's Strait, he determined the proximity of Asia and America, which Behring himself had failed to perceive; and he assigned the coast of the Tshuktzki to its true place ;. which, in many maps of his time, was placed some degrees too far to the westward. It is needless to recapitulate here the large additions which he made to our knowledge of the groups of islands scattered through the Pacific Ocean. Some of the Society and Friend- ly Islands were known before his time ; but he carefully sur- veyed those archipelagoes, and fixed the positions of the chief islands, such as Otaheite and Tongataboo, with an accuracy equal to that of a European observatory. He prided himself especially on having discovered the Sandwich Islands; and there is no good reason to refuse him that honour ; for, even if it be true that a Spanish navigator, named Gali, discovered those islands in 1576 ; and that he gave to Owhyhee the name of Mesa or Table Mountain, which is marked in old Spanish charts twenty-two degrees to the west of the Sandwich Islands, but in the same latitude with them ; yet no stress can be laid on a discovery from which mankind derived no knowledge. The Spaniards seem soon to have totally forgotten the Sand- wich Islands, if they ever knew them, notwithstanding the ad- vantages which they might have derived from those islands in their frequent voyages from New Spain to Manilla. Anson and many other navigators might have been spared infinittt JAMES COOK. 251 distress and suffering in their voyages across the Pacific, had any thing certain heen known of the existence and situation of the Sandwich Islands. But Cook's merit is not more conspicuous in the extent of his discoveries, than in the correctness with w^hich he laid down the position of every coast of which he caught a glimpse. His surveys afford the materials of accurate geography. He adopted in practice every improvement suggested by the pro- gress of science; and, instead of committing errors amounting 10 two or three degrees of longitude, like most of his predeces- sors, his determinations were such as to be considered accu- rate even at the present day ; nor was this the merit of the nstronomers who accompanied him on his expeditions. He was himself a skilful observer, and at the same time so vigilant and indefatigable, that no opportunity ever escaped him of as- ^•.ertaininghis true place. He possessed in an eminent degree the sagacity peculiar to seamen ; and in his conjectures re- specting the configurations of coasts he very rarely erred. La Perouse, who was a highly accomplished seaman, always mentions the name of Cook with the warmest admiration, and frequently alludes to the remarkable correctness of his surveys. Crozet, also, who wrote the narrative of Marion's voyage, speaking of Cook's survey of the shores of New Zealand says — *' That its exactness and minuteness of detail astonished him beyond expression ;" but Cook's skill as a marine surveyor may be still better estimated from the chart which, at the com- mencement of his career, he constructed of the coasts of New- foundland ; and of that chart. Captain Frederick Bullock, the able officer who has recently completed the survey of New- foundland, speaks in those terms of warm commendation which a man of abihty naturally bestows on whatever is excellent. From the second expedition of Cook may be dated the art of preserving the health of the seaman in long voyages : before that time, navigators who crossed the Pacific, hurried precipi- tately by the shortest course to the Ladrones or the Phihppine Islands ; and yet they rarely reached home without the loss of a large proportion of their crew. Cook, on the other hand, felt himself perfectly at home on the ocean ; he did not care to limit his voyages, either in space of time or of distance; he sailed through every climate, crossing both the arctic and ant- arctic circles; and proved that a voyage of four years duration does not necessarily affect the health of seamen. This was a discovery of far greater importance than that of a new continent could have been : by his banishing the terror that arose from the frightful mortaUty that previously attended on long voyages, 252 JAMES COOK. he has mainly contributed to the boldness of navigation which distinguishes the present day. Among the immediate effects of Captain Cook's voyages, the most important was the estabhshment of a colony at Bota- ny Bay. That great navigator seems to have contracted a partiality towards the New Zealanders ; he admired their gen- erosity, their manly carriage, and their intelligence. Their country appeared to him fertile ; abounding in commodities which might become valuable in commerce ; and he hints, though with diffidence, to the possibility of a trade being carri- ed on between Europe and New Zealand. His observations on this subject had influence, no doubt, on the minds of the English ministers, and they resolved on establishing a colony at New Holland ; and the result has justified Cook's sanguine anticipations. The fur trade also, which soon caused such a concourse of European shipping in the Pacific Ocean, origin- ated with his third voyage ; but his familiarity with the South Sea islanders, the trade which he established with them, and the practice which he commenced of purchasing sea stores from them, have had, perhaps, a still stronger influence on navigation in the Pacific. Finally, to complete the eulogium on this great navigator, it will be sufficient to enumerate some of the distinguished sea- men who served under him, such as Vancouver, Broughton, Bhgh, Burney, Colnett, Portlock, Dixon, &c. : these men learned under Cook the arduous duties of their profession, and they always spoke of him with unqualified admiration and respect. SIR JOHN CHARDIN Sir John Chardin was born in Paris on the 16th of No- vember, 1643. He was the son of a rich Protestant jeweller, who, as soon as his education, which appears to have been carefully conducted and liberal, was completed, intrusted him with the management of a commercial speculation in the East, and thus at once gratified and influenced the passion for visit- ing new and remote regions which had already taken posses- sion of the mind of our traveller. Leaving Paris at the age of twenty-two, he visited Hindostan and Persia, where he remain- ed several years, and was appointed merchant to the king. His manly but shrewd character, united with extensive knowl- edge and great sauvity of manners, procured him numerous friends at the court of Ispahan, some of whom filled important offices in the government, and were thus enabled to lay open to him the interior movements of the great political machine 22* 254 SIR JOHN CHARDm. which he afterwards described with so much vigour and per- spicuity. He accompanied the shah on his visits to various portions of his dominions, and in tliis way was enabled to traverse with pleasure and advantage the wilder and least accessible districts of Persia, such as Mazenderan, Ghilan, and the other provinces bordering on the Caspian Sea. Of this portion of his life, however, he did not judge it necessary to give any detailed account ; perhaps because he had after- ward occasion to visit the same scenes, when his mind was riper, his views more enlarged, and his powers of observation and description sharpened and invigorated by experience and habit. Returning to France in 1670, be remained fifteen months in the bosom of his family, and employed this period of tranquili- ty and leisure in the composition of his " History of the Coro- nation of Solyman IH., King of Persia ;" a small work usu- ally appended to his account of his travels. The desire of fame and distinction, however, which in youthful and ardent minds is generally the ruling passion, urged him once more to quit his native country, where, as he himself observes, the religion in which he was educated excluded him from all hope of advancement or honours, in order to revisit those regions of the East where his faith would be no bar to his ambition, and where commerce was not thought to degrade even the majesty of kings. Having collected together the jewels, gems, and curious clocks and watches which he had been commissioned to pur- chase for the king of Persia, he repaired to Leghorn, where he embarked with his mercantile companion for Smyrna. Owing to the unskilfulness of the mariners, the variableness of the winds, and the badness of the weather, this short voyage was not performed in less than three months, during which the passengers endured all the privation and misery which such a voyage could inflict. From Smyrna he proceeded to Con- stantinople, where, through the aid of M. de Nointel, the am- bassador of France, he was initiated in all the mysteries of diplomacy, which he unveils in his travels with infinite skill and naivete, for the amusement of his readers. In other respects his connexion with the French ambassa- dor was rather prejudicial than useful to him; for M. de Nointel having conducted himself in all his negotiations with the Turks in a puerile and fluctuating manner, passing by turns from extreme haughtiness to extreme cringing and ser- vility, the anger of the Porte was roused and directed against the whole French nation ; and Chardin, when he became de- sirous of departing, was denied a passport. From this diffi- SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 255 cult and somewhat dangerous position he was delivered by the ingenuity of a Greek, who contrived to procure him a passage to Azoph, on the Pains Mseotis, on board of a Turkish vessel then about to set sail with the new commandant and fresh troops which the Porte sent every year to that remote fortress. The Black Sea, which receives its appellation from the gloomy clouds and tempestuous winds which hover over and vex its waters in almost every season of the year, was now to be traversed: and considering the unskilfulness and apathy of Turkish sailors, who creep timidly along the shore, and have little knowledge of the use of the compass, our traveller was not without his apprehensions. After a voyage of eight days, however, they arrived at Caffa, in the Crimea, where, by the help of the Greek friend who had enabled him to laugh at the sultan's beard and embark without a passport, he eluded the exorbitant demands of the custom-house, and transported his merchandise on board another vessel bound for Mingrelia. Setting sail from CafFa, where there was little to be seen but stinking Tartars and caviare, they arrived in twenty-four hours at Touzlah, or the Salt Marshes, a vast sweep of low shore, alternately covered by the waters of the sea, artificially intro- duced, and a white sahne crust, looking like a sheet of snow from a distance. Here upwards of two hundred ships are an- nually freighted with salt ; and it was for the purpose of taking on board a cargo of this useful merchandise that the vessel in which Chardin and his companion were embarked now touch- ed at the place. On landing, the village was found to consist often or twelve houses, with a small mosque, and a consider- able number of felt-covered tents, which served for stables, kitchens, and dormitories for the slaves. Salt was by no means the only article of commerce obtained at this place. Every morning fires were observed lighted along the shore, as signals that the brigands of the country had laid violent hands upon a number of their fellow creatures, and had them con- veyed thither, chained together like cattle, for sale. These fires being observed, boats were immediately sent on shore ; and when they returned, crowds of women and children, half- naked, or covered with rags and filth, but resplendent with beauty, were hoisted on board, where their wretched apparel was exchanged for clean neat garments, and where, perhaps, for the first time in their lives they tasted bread. The men and boys were chained two and two every night ; the women, from whom no danger was apprehended, were permitted the free use of their limbs. These Circassians did not fetch a great price. A Greek merchant, whose cabin was contiguous to that of Chardin, purchased for twelve crowns a woman of 256 SIR JOHN CHARDIN. extraordinary beauty, with an infant at the breast. What chief- ly surprised our traveller in the circumstances of this affair was, the coolness and serenity Avith which these honest people submitted to their fate. Had not the women, much against their will, been compelled to occupy themselves with needle- work, and the men with such little matters as they could per- form on board, they would have been perfectly happy. Idle- ness was their summum bonum; and this the most beautiful among the women knew they were about to enjoy in the ha- rems of Turkey. On arriving at Isgaour, in Mingrelia, the place where the general market of the country is held, Chardin naturally ex- pected to find human dwellings, with provisions, and such other necessaries as in civihzed countries are everywhere at- tainable for money. In this hope he went on shore with the Greek merchant, who had hitherto been in a manner his guar- dian angel ; but on entering the place, they indeed found two long rows of huts formed of the branches of trees, where mer- chandise and provisions had once been exposed for sale, but now empty and deserted. In the vicinity of the place neither house nor habitation appeared as far as the eye could reach. Two or three peasants, however, who flitted about like spectres among the deserted huts, engaged to bring on the morrow a quantity of that species of grain called gom^ which is bruised, V)oiled, and eaten instead of bread, together with wine and other provisions. There being no alternative, they were com- pelled to rely on the promises of these men, as they were near- ly in want of every necessary of life ; but their presents failing them, it became necessary to dissemble with his servants, who already began to murmur aloud and curse the persons by whose advice he had taken the route of the Black Sea, relying for the future upon the bounty of Providence. The reason why the market of Isgaour was thus deserted was, that the Abcas, a neighbouring people of savage character and barba- rous manners, having made an irruption into the country, were now ravaging it with fire and sword, while the peasantry and their lords were flying before them in dismay, or plunging for refuge into the deepest recesses of their forests. Ten days after their arrival these savages passed along the shore in search of plunder; and finding none in this celebrated market, set the huts on fire and reduced them to ashes. In this dilemma, Chardin had much difficulty in determining what course to take. He had immediately on landing applied for aid to the Catholic missionaries of Colchis, the chief of whom promised in reply to be with him by a certain day, but failed in his engagement; and when after a second application JBIR JOHN CHARDIN. 257 he repaired to the place of rendezvous, it was less with the de- sign of forwarding our traveller's views than of dissuading him from attempting the journey at all. Perceiving, however, that his advice could not be followed, he rendered the travellers everv service in his power with alacrity, but without in the least concealing the magnitude of the danger they were about to incur. It was now the beginning of October, and Chardin, irritated at the numerous obstacles and hindrances which had impeded his progress, was so extremely impatient to be in Persia, that no dangers appeared to him so terrible as delay. He had very soon cause to repent his impetuosity. The evils he had hitherto endured dwindled to nothing when compared with those which now rushed upon him hke a torrent, and threaten- ed to swallow up in a moment his^^ealth, his ambitious pro- jects, and his life. Nevertheless, with thai unshrinking courage which his total ignorance of the future and the pressure of present evils bestows upon man, he hastened to put his foot upon the shores of Mingrelia ; and embarking with all his merchandise on board the felucca in which the monk had arrived, set sail for Anarghia, where they next day arrived. Here his followers made themselves ample amends for the scarcity they had endured at Isgaour ; for poultry, wild pige- ons, pork, goats' flesh, wine, and other provisions were abun- dant and cheap. After remaining nine days at Anarghia, they departed on the 14th, two hours before day, and having sailed about six miles up the river, disembarked their merchandize and provisions, with which they loaded eight small vehicles, and proceeded on their journey by land. The report that a party of Europeans were passing with incalculable riches through the country was soon spread ; and as few rich travellers ever traversed Mingre- lia, this rumour immediately inflamed to the highest degree the cupidity of the hungry prince and his feudatories, who forthwith formed the design of appropriating these treasures to themselves. They arrived, however, on the evening of the same day at Sipias, the residence of the missionaries, where they proposed to remain a few days in order to prepare them- selves by a little repose for the fatigues which were to come, as well as to deliberate with the monks respecting the means of escaping from the rapacity of the rulers of Mingrelia. Four days after his arrival, the princess or queen, as she termed herself, of Mingrelia, came to Sipias to visit our travel- ler, attracted by the rumours of his wealth, as vultures are attracted by the scent of a carcass. Her majesty was follow- ed by a train of eight women and ten men, to all of whom a 258 SIR JOHN C HARDIN. decent suit of clothes and a tolerable beast to ride on would have been a welcome present, for they were very badly mount- ed and meanly clad. In order to ward off, as far as possible, the dangerous reputation of being rich, which is elsewhere so much coveted, our travellers endeavoured to pass for Capu- chin friars, and pretended that the baggage with which their vehicles Avere loaded consisted entirely of books. The prin- cess believed neither of these stories. Being informed that Chardin understood Turkish and Persian, she tormented him, by means of a slave who could speak the former language, with a thousand questions, of which the greater number turned upon the subject of love. After pushing these questions be- yond the verge of decency, to the great amusement of her suite, who appeared to be more delighted in proportion as her majesty became more obscene, slie suddenly turned to a still more embarrassing topic — demanding to examine the effects of our traveller, and the stores of the monks. They all now trembled for their property. Whatever she should have seeu would have been lost. To allay her cupidity, therefore, and at least put ofi* the evil day, the principal monk humbly in- formed her that the usual present should be sent on the mor- row, accompanied by another from the travellers. With this assurance she appeared to be satisfied, and departed. On the next day our traveller and two of the monks were invited to dine with the princess, and were of course careful not to present themselves before her empty-handed, it being a crime in the East for an inferior to come into the presence of his superior without some gift, in token of dependence and homage. Her highness of Mingrelia, who had painted her face and adorned her person to the best of her ability, in order to appear to advantage in the eyes of the traveller, seemed to be highly gratified with his present, which, though tasteful and elegant, was of small value, the better to maintain a show of poverty. Some ten or twelve ragged but merry-looking wenches, and a crowd of half-naked ragamuffins, constituted the court of this princess, her maids of honour having, as she assured the traveller, taken refuge in a neighbouring fortress on account of the war! The better to enjoy the pleasure of tormenting M. Chardin, she caused him to sit near her, and commenced her attack by observing, that it Mas her will and pleasure that he should marry one of her friends, and settle in the country, when she promised to bestow on him houses, lands, slaves, and subjects. From all he had heard and seen of the women of Mingreha, our traveller would have felt less repugnance to marrying a vampire than one of them, beautiful, as they were; so that the hare possibility of the thing made. SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 259 him shudder. He was for the present delivered from the dis- cussion of this painful topic by the appearance of dinner, during which the princess inflamed her naturally ardent tem- perament by copious libations of wine, which stifled whatever remains of shame might have lingered in her soul, and im- pelled her to exhibit all the importunity and efli-ontery of a courtezan. The menaces of this princess, who gave them clearly to un- derstand that she had determined upon visiting the monastery, for the purpose of examining their treasures, caused them to return dejected and melancholy from the castle, the monks apprehending new extortions and vexations, and Chardin the loss of all he possessed. The remainder of the day was passed in deliberating upon the present posture of aflairs, and it was at length resolved, that as soon as it was night, pits should be dug, and the most valuable portion of their merchandize buried- in the earth. Accordingly, the sun had no sooner set behind the mountains, than they commenced operations, first digging a pit five feet deep in the apartments of one of the monks, where they buried a large chest filled with watches and clocks set with jewels. When this had been done, and the earth smoothed over, and made to appear as before, they repaired under cover of the darkness to the church, where the principal monk advised our traveller to open the grave of one of the brotherhood, who had been interred there some six years be- fore, and deposite among his ashes a small casket filled with the most costly gems of the East, designed for the princesses and great ladies of Persia. A secret presentiment prevented Chardin from following this advice, who selected in prefer- ence an obscure corner of the church, where accordingly a pit was sunk, and the casket carefully interred. Other costly ar- ticles, as a sabre and poniard set with jewels, were concealed in the roof of the monastery ; and such articles of great value as were small and portable our travellers retained about their persons. Many days had not elapsed before they were convinced that their fears were not without foundation. It was now Sunday, and Chardin, in off*ering up his prayers to God, according to custom, would not presume, he says, to petition his Maker for freedom, so persuaded was he that slavery was to be his fate ; he merely prayed for a mild master, and to be delivered from; a Mingrelian wife. While the classical idea of Medea was haunting his imagination, and disturbing his devotion, a person came running in, exclaiming that two neighbouring chiefs, with a band of followers, armed to the teeth, were knocking at the outer gate, and demanding admittance. There being no 260 SIR JOHN CHARDIN. alternative, they were allowed to enter, which they had no sooner done tlian they seized and bound the travellers, com- manded the monks to retire, and threatened to put to death the first person who should make the least stir or resistance. The principal friar was terrified and fled ; but the rest stood firmly by their guests, particularly the lay-brother, whom not even a naked sword pointed at his throat could induce to abandon them. When the bandits proceeded to bind their servants, one of the latter, who had a large knife in his hand, endeavouring to defend himself, was instantaneously struck to the earth with a lance, bound hand and foot, and fastened to a tree. This being done, the ruffians informed the travellers that they wished to examine their effects. Chardin replied that it was within their power; that they were but poor monks, whose whole wealth consisted in books, papers, and a few wretched garments, the whole of which, if they would abstain from violence, should be shown them. Upon this he was un- bound, and commanded to open the door of their apartment, where their books, papers, and wardrobe were kept. Char- din's companion had sewn the inost valuable of his jewels in the collar of his coat; but our traveller himself had made two small packets of his, which were sealed, and put among his books, not daring to carry them about him lest he should be assassinated, stripped, or sold for a slave. In order to gain a moment to withdraw these packets, he requested his compan- ion and the lay-brother to hold the chiefs in conversation, by pretending to negotiate with them, and offering them a small sum of money. The stratagem succeeding for an instant, he darted up stairs, their apartment being on the first floor, entered the chamber, and locked the door. His design was suspected, and the whole band of ruflSans rushed up after him ; but the door being somewhat difficult to be broken open, he had time to take out his packets and conceal them in the roof of the house. His companion, however, who was in the room be- low, called out to him that he ought to be on his guard, for that he was observed through the cracks in the floor. Upon hearing this, and seeing that the door was giving way, he be- came confused, and scarcely knowing what he did, took down the jewels out of the roof, thrust them into his pocket, and opening the window of the apartment, jumped out into the garden. Without noticing whether he was watched or not, he threw the packets into a thicket, and then hastened back to the room, now filled with robbers, some of whom were maltreating his companion, while others were battermg his coffers with their spears or lances, in order to break them open. SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 261 He now plucked up his courage, imagining that the greater part of his wealth was out of their reach, and bid them take heed of what they did; that he was the envoy of the King of Persia ; and that the Prince of Georgia would take ample ven- geance for whatever violence might be offered to his person. He then showed them his passport from the king. One of the chiefs snatched it out of his hand, and was about to tear it in pieces, saying that he neither feared nor regarded any man upon earth ; but the other, awed by the royal seal and letters of gold, restrained him. They now said, that if he would open his coffers and allow them to examine his effects, no violence should be offered him ; but that if he refused any longer, they would strike off his head from his shoulders. He was still proceeding to contest the point, when one of the soldiers, im- patient to proceed to business, drew his sword, and aimed a blow at his head, which would have cleft it in twain, had not the villain's arm been instantaneously arrested by the lay- brother. Perceiving the kind of arguments they were disposed to employ, he unlocked his chests, which in the twinkling of an eye were rummaged to the bottom, while every thing which appeared to possess any value was taken away. Turning his eyes from this painful scene towards the garden, he perceived two soldiers searching among the bushes in the very spot where he had thrown his jewels ; and rushing towards them, followed by one of the monks, they retired. He then, without reflecting upon the extreme imprudence of his conduct, began himself to search about for the packets, but not being able to discover them, he supposed the soldiers had found and carried them off. As their value was little less than ten thousand pounds, the loss fell upon him like a thunderbolt. Neverthe- less, there was no time for sorrowing. His companion and the lay-brother were loudly calling him from the house. He therefore tore himself away from the spot. In returning to- wards the house, two soldiers fell upon him, dragged him up into a corner, and after clearing his pockets of all they con- tained, were about to bind him and hurry him off; but after much resistance and expostulation, they released him, and shortly afterward the whole troop retired from the monastery. The robber chiefs and their followers had no sooner depart- ed, than Chardin again repaired to the garden, and was sor- rowfully prying about the thickets where he had concealed his jewels, when a man cast his arms about his neck, and threw him into more violent terror than ever. He had no doubt it was a Mingrelian, who was about to cut his throat. The next moment, however, he recognized the voice of his taithlul Ar- menian valet, who, in accents broken by sobs, and with eyes 23 262 SIR JOHN CHARDm. overflowing with tears, exclaimed, "Ah, sir, we are ruined!" Chardin, strongly moved by this proof of his affection, bade him restrain his tears. " But, sir," said he, " have you search- ed the place carefully ?" " So carefully," replied the travel- ler, "that I am convinced all further search would be so much labour lost." This did not satisfy the Armenian. He wished to be informed exactly respecting the spot where the traveller had thrown the jewels ; the manner in which he had cast them into the thicket ; and the way in which he had sought for them. To obhge him, Chardin did what he desired, but was so thoroughly persuaded that all further search was useless, that he refused to remain upon the spot, and went away, over- whelmed with grief and vexation. How long he remained in this state of stupefaction he could not tell; he was roused from it, however, by the presence of the Armenian, who, approach- ing him in the dark, for it was now night, once more threw himself about his neck, and thrust the two packets of jewels into his bosom. By the advice of the monks, Chardin next morning pro- ceeded to the prince's castle, to relate his griefs, and demand justice ; but all he gained by this expedition was, the thorough conviction that his highness was as arrant a thief as his sub- jects, and had shared the fruits of the robbery which was ap- parently undertaken by his orders. This discovery, however, was important ; it opened his eyes to the true character of the country ; and taught him that in Mingrelia, at least, the man who put his trust in princes was a fool. In the course of two days, to give the finishing stroke to their misfortune, they learned that the Turks, irritated at the insolence and rapacity of its chief, had made an irruption into the country, were lay- ing it waste with fire and sword on all sides, and had already approached to within a short distance of Sipias. At midnight, two cannon-shots from the neighbouring fortress of Ruchs an- nounced the approach of the enemy, and the peasants, with their wives, children, and flocks, immediately took to flight, and before dawn the whole population was in motion. Our traveller, whose companion, excited and irritated by the prece- ding untoward events, was now ill, fled among the rest, leaving behind him his books, papers, and mathematical instruments, which he hoped the ignorance of both Turks and Mingrelians would protect. His buried M^ealth he also left where it was, and, considering the complexion of events, regarded as much safer thai\ what he carried with him. The sight of this whole people, suddenly thrown into rapid flight, was sufficiently melancholy. The women bore along their children in their arms, the men carried the baggage. SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 263 Some drove along their cattle before them, while others yoked themselves like oxen to the carts in which their furniture was loaded, and being unable long to continue their extraordinary exertions, sunk down exhausted and dying on the road. Here and there, along the wayside, groups of old people, or very young children, implored the aid of those whose strength had not yet failed, with the most heart-rending cries and groans. At another moment the spectacle would have caused the most painful emotions, but it was now beheld with the utmost in- difference. The idea of danger having swallowed up every other, they hurried by these miserable deserted creatures with- out pity or commiseration. The castle in which they now took refuge belonged to a chief who had been a double renegade, having deserted Chris- tianity for Mohammedanism, and Mohammedanism for Chris- tianity; notwithstanding which, he was supposed to be a less atrocious brigand than his neighbours. He received the fugi- tives politely, and assigned them for their lodgings an apart- ment where they were somewhat less exposed to the weather than in the woods, though the rain found its way in on all sides. The castle, however, was already crowded with people, eight hundred persons, of whom the majority were women and children, having taken refuge in it, and others still more destitute and miserable arriving every moment. Next day one of the missionaries returned to the monastery, for the purpose of bringing away, if possible, such plate and provisions as had been left behind: but he found that place in. possession of the Turks, who beat him severely, and carried away whatever was portable in the house. The night follow- ing, a Mingrelian chief, more barbarous and destructive than the Turks, sacked the monastery a third time, and having no torches or flambeaux to light him in his depredations, made a bonfire of our traveller's books and papers, and reduced the whole to ashes. The chief in whose castle they had taken refuge, being summoned to surrender by the Turkish pasha, and perceiving the absurdity of pretending to measure his strength with that of the enemy, consented to take the oath of allegiance to the Porte, and, what was equally important, to make a handsome present to its agent. This present was to consist of three hundred crowns in money, and twenty young slaves, which the wretch determined to levy from the unfortu- nate creatures who had thrown themselves upon his protection, confiding in the sacred laws of hospitality. Among Mingre- lians, however, there is nothing sacred. Every family pos- sessing four children was compelled to give up one of the number to be transported into Turkey as a slave; but it was 264 SIR JOHN CHARDIN. found necessary to tear away the children from the arms of their mothers, who grasped them convulsively, pressed them to their bosoms, and yielded only to irresistible violence. In- stead of twenty children, the chief forced away twenty-five, selHng the additional number for his own profit ; and instead of three hundred crowns, he extorted five hundred. Provi- dence, however, compelled him and his family to devour their share of grief The pasha peremptorily demanded one of his sons as a hostage, and as he and his wives beheld the youngest of their boys depart into endless captivity for the hostage, de- livered up to the Porte never to return, they had an opportuni- ty of tasting a sample of the bitterness they had administered to others. Chardin, who had neither wife nor children to lose, was taxed at twenty crowns. Perceiving that the state of the country verged more and more every day upon utter anarchy and confusion, our trav- eller came to the resolution of departing at all hazards for Georgia, to demand its prince's aid in withdrawing his prop- erty from Mingrelia. His companion remained to watch over ij; in his absence. Not being able to procure either guards or guides from among the natives, for with all their misery there is no people who fear death or danger more than the Mingre- lians, he was constrained to set out with a single domestic, who, as fate would have it, was the most consummate scoun- drel in his service. On the way to Anarghia, where he was once more to embark on the Black Sea, he learned that the church in which he had deposited his wealth had been sacked and stripped to the bare walls, that the very graves had been Opened, and every vestige of property removed. Here was a new source of anguish. It was now a question whether he was a rich or a poor man. He paused in his journey — sent off an express to his companion — the ruins of the church were visited — and their money found to be untouched. This cir- cumstance, he informs us, marvellotisly exalted his courage, and he proceeded with fresh vigour on his new enterprise. Embarking in a felucca at Anarghia, in company with sev- eral Turks and their slaves, he sailed along the south-eastern coast of the Black Sea, passed by the mouth of the Phasis, the site of Sebaste, and many other spots redolent of classical fame, and in three days arrived at Gonia in the country of the Lazii. Here the character of his valet began to develop itself. Repairing as soon as they had landed to the custom-house, leaving his master to manage for himself, the vagabond im- parted to the authorities his conjectures respecting the real condition of the traveller, and thus at once awakened their vigilance and cupidity. His effects were in consequence SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 96i rigorously examined, and the dues exacted from him, which were heavy, perhaps extortionate, no doubt enabled the cus- tom-house officers to reward the treachery of his servant. When these matters had been settled, the principal officer, who, after all, was a man of humane disposition and tolerably just principles, made Chardin an offer of an apartment in his house, where he invited, nay, even entreated him to pass the night ; but having already suffered from what he regarded as his rapacity, the traveller dreaded some new act of extortion, and obstinately refused his hospitality. He very soon repented this false step. It being nearly night, he proceeded, on quit- ting the custom-house, to the inn, or rather hovel, whither his valet had directed his effects to be conveyed after examination. Here he was sitting down, fatigued and dejected, disgusted with dirt and stench, and listening to the condolences of his Turkish travelling companions, when a janizary from the lieutenant of the commandant, the chief being absent, entered in search of his valet, with whom that important personage was desirous of holding a conference. In another hour the presence of the traveller himself was required ; and when, in obedience to authority, he repaired to the fort, he found both the lieutenant and his own graceless servant drunk, and began to perceive that a plan for pillaging him had been concerted. The lieutenant now informed him, with as much gravity as the prodigious quantity of wine he had taken would permit, that all ecclesiastics who passed through Gonia were accustom- ed to pay two hundred ducats to his superior ; and that he, therefore, as a member of that profession, for Chardin had thought proper to pass for a Capuchin, must deposite that sum in his hands for the commandant. It was in vain that the traveller now denied all claim to the clerical character, and acknowledged himself to be a merchant; merchant or priest, it was all the same to the lieutenant ; what he wanted was the two hundred ducats, which, after much altercation, were redu- ced to one hundred ; but this M. Chardin was compelled to pay, or submit to the punishment of the carcan^ a species of portable stocks, through which the offender's head is put in- stead of his feet. The worst feature, however, of the whole affair was, that the drunken officer took it into his head to cause the present thus extorted to appear to be a voluntary gift ; and again having recourse to menaces, which he was prepared to execute upon the spot, he forced the traveller to make oath on the Gospel that he bestowed the money freely, and would disclose the real nature of the transaction to no one. This being done, he was allowed to retire. J23* 266 SIR JOHN CHARDIN. Next morning the custom-house officer, who, in inviting him to pass the night in his house, had intended to protect hira from this species of robbery, furnished him with a guide, and two men to carry his luggage; and with this escort, in addition to his hopeful valet, he departed for Akalzike'. The road at first lay through a plain, but at length began to ascend, and pierce the defiles of the Caucasus; and as he climbed higher and higher among the precipitous and dizzy heights of this sublime mountain, among whose many peaks the ark is sup- posed to have first taken ground after the deluge, and from whence the stream of population flowed forth and overspread the world with a flood of life, he felt the cares, solicitudes, and sorrows which for many months had fed, as it were, upon his heart, take wing, and a healing and invigorating influence spread an exquisite calm over his sensations. This singular tranquilhty, which he experienced on first reaching these lofty regions, stifl continued as he advanced, notwithstanding the rain, the hail, and the snow which were poured on him by the tempest as he passed ; and in such a frame of mind he attain- ed the opposite side of the mountain, upon whose folding slopes he beheld numerous villages, castles, and churches, picturesquely scattered about, and at length descended into a broad and beautiful valley, cultivated with the greatest care, and fertihzed by the waters of the Kur. Arriving without accident or adventure at Akalzike', and remaining there four days to repose himself, he departed for Georgia. The route now presented nothing extraordinary. A castle or a ruin, picturesquely perched upon the crest of a rocky eminence, a church, or a village, or a forest — such were the objects which met the eye. He at length reached the Capuchin convent in the vicinity of Cory, whence, after ma- ture consultation with the monks, who, for strangers, entered with extraordinary earnestness into his views, he set out, ac- companied by a lay-brother of the order, for Tiflis, partly with the design of demanding aid from the Prince of Georgia, and partly to obtain the advice of the principal missionary respect- ing the steps he ought to take in order to deliver his partner and property from the avaricious hands of the Mingrelians. The opinion of the monks was, tliat since the Prince of Geor- gia entertained rather loose notions respecting his allegiance to the King of Persia, whose servant Chardin was to be con- sidered, and, like all petty potentates, was possessed by ex- treme cupidity and laxity of principle, there would in all probability be as much danger in being aided by him, as in depending on the uncertain will of fortune and his own pru- SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 267 dence and ingenuitj ; that he ought to return secretly to Min- grelia ; and that, for the greater chance of success, he should take with him one of the brotherhood, who was deeply versed in the small politics of those countries; and a native depend- ent on the monastery, who had been a thousand times in Min- grelia. With these able coadjutors he returned once more into the country of Media, whence, after incredible difficulties and very considerable danger, he succeeded in rescuing his property. On his return to Tiflis he calculated, with the aid of his com- panion, the losses they had sustained during the journey from Constantinople to Georgia, and found that, by great good for- tune, it did not exceed one per cent, upon the merchandize they had succeeded in conveying safe and entire to that city. He now tasted of that delight which springs up in the mind after dangers escaped and difficulties overcome ; and commenced the pleasing task of studying the manners of a people among whom, however impure and depraved might be their morals, a stranger had little to fear. The beauty of the women, he found, was so irresistible in Georgia, and their manners so graceful and bewitching, that it was impossible to behold them without love ; but the depravity of their morals, and the black- ness and perfidy of their souls, exceeded, if possible, the per- fection of their forms, and rendered them as odious to the mind as they were pleasing to the eye. After remaining a short time at Tiflis, and going through the usual routine of giving and receiving presents, &c., he de- parted for Armenia. Being now accompanied by a mehman- dar, or guest-guard, he proceeded without obstacle or extor- tion; this officer taking upon himself the care of adjusting matters with the custom-houses, and of providing horses, car- riages, and provisions on the way. Though in so low a latitude, the whole face of the country was still covered with snow in March, and it was with much difficulty that they pro- ceeded over the narrow pathways made by the few travellers who were compelled to traverse the country at such a season. To guard against the reflection of thp sun's rays from the snow, which weakened the sight, and caused a burning heat in the face, our traveller wore a handkerchief of green or black silk tied across the eyes, after the manner of the inhabitants, though this merely diminished, but could not altogether prevent the evil. Whenever they met any travellers moving in a con- trary direction, they had to dispute who should yield up the narrow path, upon which two horses could not pass each other, and go out into the soft snow, in which the animals instantly sunk up to their bellies ; but in the end every one 268 SIR JOHN CUARDIN. yielded the preference to the mehmandar. Creeping along in this manner through the cold, they arrived at Eryvan on the 7th of March. Being now in a country where civilization had made some progress, Chardin took lodgings in a caravansary, and was provided abundantly with the necessaries of hfe by the bounty of the governor, who, no doubt, expected that his civilities would be remembered when he should come in the sequel to bargain for a portion of the traveller's jewels. In the East it is an established rule that the natives shall always take ad- vantage of a stranger, sometimes by force, at other times by cunning, but invariably in some way or another. In Mingrelia our traveller had to guard against force and violence ; here against wheedling, deceit, flattery, double-dealing, hypocrisy, and meanness. In the former case, hovever, being weak, it was necessary to evade or succumb; but in the present, since in- genuity was the weapon on both sides, there were more chances of success, though it often appeared that plain honest good sense is not always a match for practised cunning. In the in- tervals of business the time was passed in parties, dinners, and visits, which at least furnished opportunities of studying the manners of the people. Perceiving that the time of his departure was drawing nigh, the governor came to the point at which he had been steadily aiming all the while, under cover of his hospitality and cares- ses, which were put forward as so many stalking-horses, to en- able him to bring down his game with greater certainty. Send- ing for Chardin to the palace, he proceeded warily and steal- thily to business, occasionally shaking the dust of compliments and flattery in the traveller's eyes as he went along. He first lamented the actual state of Persia, in which, reduced by bad government and the malignant inclemency of the seasons to a state bordering upon famine and anarchy, there was of course little or no demand for expensive articles of luxury; besides, even if public afi'airs had been flourishing, and the royal re- sources abundant, the present king had no taste for jewelry; and that, therefore there was no hope of disposing of costly precious stones at the court of Ispahan. From this prehmi- nary discourse, which was meant to diminish in the traveller's eyes the value of his merchandise, though in reahty the picture was correct, the governor passed at once to the genuine object of his oration, and made an offer to purchase a part of the jewels. His conduct on this occasion was a masterpiece of mercantile skill, and he succeeded, by holding out the hope of more important purchases in the sequel, in getting every tiling that he reaily intended to buy, at a yery cheap rate* SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 269 When his object was gained, he closed the negotiation in the coolest manner in the world, by returning the large quantity of jewels which he had caused to be sent to his palace, as if he had intended to bargain for them all ; and the traveller now perceived that the wily Persian had made a dupe of him. As all manifestations of discontent, however, would have been altogether useless, he affected to be extremely well pleased at his bad luck, and retired to his caravansary, cursing all the way the talents and aptitude of the governor of Eryvan for business and cheating. On the 8th of April he departed from the capital of Arme- nia, and travelling for several days through level and fertile plains, interspersed with churches and villages, arrived at Nac- chivan, a city formerly celebrated, and of great antiquity, but now in ruins. From hence he proceeded, etymologizing and making researches as he moved along, towards Tabriz, where he arrived on the 17th. At this city, then the second in Persia in rank, riches, and population, he took up his quarters at the Capuchin convent, where he was visited by several of the nobles of the place, on account of his jewelry, the fame of which flew before him on the road, and like a pioneer smoothed and laid level his passage into Persia. In proceeding southward from Tabriz he had to traverse the plains of Aderbijan, the ancient Media, which being covered at this season of the year by tribes of Koords, Saraneshins, and Turcomans, all striking their tents, and putting themselves in motion for their summer emigration to the mountains, could not be crossed by a stran- ger without considerable danger. He was therefore counselled to defer his departure for a few days, when he would have the advantage of travelling in the company of a Persian noble- man, Avhose presence would be a suflicient protection. He adopted this advice, and in less than a week set out under the safeguard of his noble escort, and crossed those rich and beautiful plains, which afford the best pasturage in the world, and where, accordingly, the ancient kings of Media kept their prodigious studs, which sometimes consisted of fifty thousand horses. The ancients relate, that the horses of Nysa, which must be sought for in these plains, were all cream-coloured ; but the nobleman who accompanied Chardin had never read or heard of any part of Persia where horses of that colour were produced. In his journey through Media he saw on the side of the road circles of huge stones, like those of Stonehenge, and the Dol- mens of Normandy and Brittany, which, according to the traditions of the Persians, were placed there by the Kaous, or giants, who formerly held possession of those regions. The 270 SIR JOHN CHARDIN. same superstitions, the same fables, the same wild belief in the enormous strength and stature of past generations, prevailed, we see, throughout the world, because the desires, faculties, and passions of the mind are everywhere the same. It was now June, and instead of disputing with those they met, the possession of a narrow snow-track, they were com- pelled to travel by night to avoid the scorching heat of the sun. They usually set out about two hours before sunset, and when day had entirely disappeared, the stars, which in the clear blue atmosphere of Persia yielded a strong brilliant hght, agreeably supplied its place, and enabled them to proceed from caravan- sary to caravansary with facility. At every step historical associations crowded upon the traveller's mind. The dust which was thrown up into a cloud by the hoof of his camel, and the stones over which he stumbled in the darkness, were the dust and the wrecks of heroes and mighty cities, crumbled by time, and whirled about by the breath of oblivion. Cyruar and Alexander, khahfs, khans, and sultans, had fought, con- quered, or perished on those plains. Vast cities had risen, flourished, and vanished like a dream. A few days before his arrival at Kom, he passed at a little distance the ruins of Rhe, a city scarcely less vast in its dimensions, or less magnificent or populous than Babylon, but now deserted, and become so unhealthy in consequence, that, according to a Persian poet, the very angel of death retired from it on account of the bad- ness of the air. On his arrival at Koms, after escaping from the storms of the Black Sea and the Mingrelians, Chardin was nearly killed by the kick of a horse. He escaped, however, and set out two days afterward for Kashan, traversing fine fertile plains, covered with villages. In this city, celebrated for its burning climate and scorpions, he merely remained one day to allow his horses a little repose, and then departed and pushed on to Ispahan, where he arrived on the 23d of June. Chardin was faithful to the Capuchin friars; for whenever he passed through or visited a city in which they possessed a con- vent, it was the first place to which he repaired, and the last he quitted. On the present occasion he took up his residence, as usual, with these monks, at whose convent he found on his arrival a bag of letters addressed to him from various parts of the world: before he could read the half of which, many of his Persian and Armenian friends, whom he had known dur- ing his former residence, and all the Europeans of the city, came to welcome him on his return to Ispahan. From these he learned that the court, which had undergone innumerable changes during his absence, the greater number of those great SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 27Jf men who had distinguished themselves, or held any offices of trust under the late king, being either dead or in disgrace, was now in the utmost confusion, the persons who exercised most influence in it being a set of young noblemen, without virtue, talents, or experience. And what was still worse for Chardin, though not for Persia, it was secretly whispered about that Sheikh Ali Khan, formerly prime minister, but now in dis- grace, was about to be restored to favour ; in which case our traveller anticipated great losses, as this virtuous and inflexible man, whose great talents had always been employed in the service of his country, was an enemy to all lavish expenditure, and regarded jewels and other costly toys as mere dross, un- worthy the attention of a sovereign prince. Chardin perceived, therefore, that he had not a moment to lose, it being of the highest importance that his business with the king should be transacted before Sheikh Ali Khan should again be prime vizier; but by whom he was to be introduced at court was the question. The persons to whom he applied in the first instance, at the same time that they willingly con- sented to use their best efforts in his favour, and counselled him not to despair, yet gave so sombre a picture of the state of the court, and threw out so many insinuations, indicating their belief that the future would be still more unpropitious than the present, that they succeeded in casting a damp over his energies, and in dissipating, or at least blighting his hopes. Nevertheless, something was to be done, and that quickly ; and he determined, that what ever might be the result, he would at all events not fail through inattention or indolence. While Chardin was labouring to put those springs in motion, the harmonious action of which was to produce the fulfilment of his hopes, Sheikh Ali Khan suddenly entered into office. This event was brought about in a strange manner. The king, during one of those violent fits of intoxication to which he was hable, and during which he acted more hke a wilcj beast than a man, had commanded the right hand of a musi- cian who was playing before him to be struck off*, and imme- diately fell asleep. The person to whom the barbarous order was given, imagining that all recollection of the matter would pass away with the fumes of sleep, ventured to disobey; but the king awaking, and finding the musician, whom he expected to find mutilated and bleeding, still touching the instrument, became so enraged, that he gave orders for inflicting the same punishment upon the disobedient favourite and the musician ; and finding that those around him still hesitated to execute his brutal commands, his madness rose to so ungovernable a pitch that he would probably have had the arms and legs of 272 SIR JOHN CHARDIN. all the court cut off, had not Sheikh AH Khan, who fortunately happened to be present, thrown himself at his feet, and im- plored him to pardon the offenders. The tyrant, now begin- ning to cool a little, replied, "You are a bold man, to expect that I shall grant your request, while you constantly refuse to resume, at my most earnest entreaties, the office of prime min- ister !" " Sire," replied Ali, " 1 am your slave, and will do whatever your majesty shall command." The king was paci- fied, the culprits pardoned, and next morning Sheikh Ali Khan reassumed the government of Persia. The event dreaded by our traveller had now arrived, and therefore the aspect of affairs was changed. Nevertheless, not many days after this event, he received an intimation from one of his court friends, that is, persons purchased over by presents, that the nazir, or chief intendant of the king's house- hold, having been informed of his arrival, was desirous of see- ing him, and had warmly expressed his inclination to serve him with the shah. Chardin, who understood from what motives courtiers usually perform services, laid but small stress upon his promises, but still hastened to present himself at his levee, with a list of all the articles of jewelry he had brought with him from Europe, which the nazir immediately ordered to be sent to him for the inspection of the king. A few days afterward he was introduced to the terrible grand vizier. Sheikh Ali Khan himself, who, from the mild and pohshed manner in which he received our traveller, appeared extremely different from the portraits which the courtiers and common fame had drawn of him. His whole fortune being now at stake, and depending in a great measure upon the disposition of the nazir and the con- duct of the shah, Chardin was unavoidably agitated by very painful and powerful feelings, when he was suddenly sum- moned to repair to the intendant's palace, where the principal jewellers of the city, Mohammedan, Armenian, and Hindoo, had been assembled to pronounce upon the real value of the various articles he had offered to the king. He had not long entered before the nazir ordered the whole of his jewels to be brought forth, those which his majesty intended to purchase being set apart in a large golden bowl of Chinese workman- ship. Chardin, observing that notwithstanding the whole had been purchased or made by order of the late king, not a fourth part had been selected by his present majesty, felt as if he had been stricken by a thunderbolt, and became pale and rooted, as it were to the spot. The nazir, though a selfish and rapa- cious man, was touched by his appearance, and leaning his liead towards him, observed, in a low voice, "You are vexed SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 273 that the king should have selected so small a portion of your jewels. I protest to you that I have taken more pains than I ought to induce him to purchase the whole, or at least the half of them ; but 1 have not been able to succeed, because the larger articles, such as the sabre, the poniard, and the mirror, are not made in the fashion which prevails in this country. But keep up your spirits ; you will still dispose of them, if it please God." The traveller, who felt doubly vexed that his chagrin had been perceived, made an effort to recover his composure, but could not so completely succeed but that the shadow, as it were, of his emotion still remained upon his countenance. However, pleased or displeased, it was necessary to proceed to business. The shah's principal jeweller now placed before him the golden bowl containing the articles selected by his majesty, and beginning with the smaller pieces, asked the price of them in a whisper ; and then caused them to be esti- mated by the other jewellers present, beginning with the Mohammedans, and then passing on to the Armenians and Hindoos. The merchants of Persia, when conducting any bargain before company, never make use of any words in stating tiie price to each other ; they make themselves under- stood with their fingers, their hands meeting under a corner of their robe, or a thick handkerchief, so that their movements may be concealed. To close the hand of the person with whom business is thus transacted means a thousand; to take one finger of the open hand, a hundred; to bend the finger in the m\M\c^ fifty ; and so on. This mode of bargaining is in use throughout the East, and more particularly in India, where no other is employed. The value of the jewels being thus estimated, the appraisers were dismissed, and the nazir, coming to treat tete-a-tete with Chardin, succeeded so completely in throwing a mist over his imagination, by pretending to take a deep interest in his welfare, that he drew him into a snare, and in the course of the negotiation, which lasted long, and was conducted with infinite cunning on the part of the Persian, caused him to lose a large portion of the fruits of his courage and enterprise. Other negotiations with various individuals followed, and in the end Chardin succeeded in disposing of the whole of his jewels. These transactions closed with the year 1673. In the be- ginning of the following year, which was passed in a devotional manner among the Protestants of Ispahan, the traveller began to feel his locomotive propensities revive ; and an ambassador from Balkh, then in the capital, happening to pay him a visit, 24 274 SIR JOHN CHAROIN. SO wrought upon his imagination by his description of his wild country, and gave him so many pressing invitations to accom- pany him on his return, that, had it not been for the counter- persuasion of friends, Chardin would undoubtedly liave ex- tended his travels to Tartary. This idea being relinquished, however, he departed for the shores of the Persian Gulf, a journey of some kind or other being necessary to keep up the activity of both body and mind. He accordingly departed from Ispahan in the beginning of February, all the Europeans in the city accompanying him as far as Bagh Koolloo, where they ate a farewell dinner together. He then proceeded on his journey, and in eleven days arrived at the ruins of Persepolis, which he had twice before visited, in order once more to compare his ideas with the realities, and complete his description of this celebrated spot. These mag- nificent ruins are situated in one of the finest plains in the world ; and as you enter this plain from the north through narrow gayas or between conical hills of vast height and singu- lar shape, you behold them standing in front of a lofty ridge of mountains, v/hich sweep round in the form of a half-moon, flanking them on both sides with its mighty horns. On two of these lofty eminences which protected the approaches to the city, and which, when Persepolis was in all its glory, so long resisted the fierce, impatient attacks of Alexander, the ruins of ancient forts still subsisted when Chardin was there ; but, after having travelled so far, principally for the purpose of examin- ing the ruins scattered around, he found the hills too steep and lofty, and refused to ascend them ! Having occupied several days in contemplating the enor- mous ruins of temples and palaces existing on the plain, our traveller descended into what is called the Subterranean Tem- ple ; that is, a labyrinth of canals or passages, hewn out in the solid rock, turning, winding, and crossing each other in a thousand places, and extending to an unknown distance be- neath the bases of the mountains. The entrances and the exits of these dismal vaults are unknown; but travellers and other curious persons find their way in through rents made by time or by earthquakes in the rock. Lighted candles, which burned with difiiculty in the heavy, humid air, were placed at the distance of every fifty yards, as Chardin and his compan- ions advanced, particularly at those points where numerous passages met, and where, should a wrong path be taken, they might have lost themselves for ever. Here and there they ob- served heaps of bones or horns of animals ; the damp trickled down the sides of the rocks ; the bottom of the passages was ^loist and cold ; respiration grew more and more difficult SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 275 every step ; they became giddy ; an unaccountable horror seized upon their minds ; the attendant first, and then the traveller himself, experienced a kind of panic terror; and fear- ing that, should they much longer continue to advance, they might never be able to return, they hastened back towards the fissures through which they had entered ; and without having discovered any thing but vaults which appeared to have no end, they emerged into daylight, like iEneas and his compan- ion from the mouth of hell. Departing from the ruins of Persepolis on the 19tli of Feb- ruary, he next day arrived at Shiraz, where he amused himself for three days in contemplating the waters of the Roknebad and the bowers of Mosellay. In proceeding from this city to Bander-Abassi, on the Persian Gulf, he had to pass over Mount Jarron by the most difficult and dangerous road in all Persia. At every step the travellers found themselves sus- pended, as it w^ere, over tremendous precipices, divided from the abyss by a low Avail of loose stones, which every moment seemed ready to roll of their own accord into the depths below. The narrow road was blocked up at short intervals by large fragments of rock, between which it was necessary to squeeze themselves with much pains and caution. However, they passed the mountain without accident, and on the 12tli of March arrived at Bander-Abassi. This celebrated port, from which insufferable heat and a pestilential atmosphere banish the whole population during summer, is at all times excessively insalubrious, all strangers who settle there dying in the course of a few years, and the inhabitants themselves being already old at thirty. The few persons who remain to keep guard over the city during sum- mer, at the risk of their lives, are rcheved every ten days ; during which they suffer sufficiently from the heat, the deluges of rain, and the black and furious tempests which plough up the waters of the gulf, and blow with irresistible fury along the coast. Though the eve of the season of death was drawing near, Chardin found the inhabitants of Bander in a gay humour, feasting, drinking, and elevating their sentiments and re- joicing their hearts with the heroic songs of Firdoosi. Into these amusements our traveller entered with all his heart — the time flew by rapidly — the advent of fever and death was come — and the ship which he expected from Surat had not yet arrived. Talents and experience are not always accom- panied by prudence. Chardin saw the whole population de- serting the city; yet he lingered, detained by the «wn sacra 276 SIR JOHN CHARDIN. fames* until far in the month of May, and until, in fact, the seeds of a malignant fever had been sown in his constitution. Those uneasy sensations which are jrenerally tiie forerunners of sickness and death, united with the representations of the physicians, at length induced Jiim to quit the place, his attend- ants being already ill ; but he had not proceeded many leagues before a giddiness in the head and general debihty of !)ody informed him that he had remained somewhat tco long at Bander. Arriving on the 24th of May at Tangnedelan, a place wiicre there was not a single human being to be found, he became delirious, and at last fell into a fit from which his attendants had much difficulty in recovering him. There happened, by great good fortune, to be a French surgeon in his suite. This surgeon, who was an able man in his profession, not only took all possible care of our traveller during his moments of deliri- um, but, what was of infinitely greater importance, had the good sense to hurry his departure from those deserted and fatal regions, procuring from the neighbouring villages eight men, who carried him in a litter made with canes and branch- es of trees to Lar. As soon as they had reached this city, Chardin sent for the governor's physician, who, understand- ing that he was the shah's merchant, came to him immediate- ly. Our traveller was by this time so weak tliat he could scarcely describe his feelings ; and, as well as the French surgeon, began to believe that his life was near its close. The Persian Esculapius, however, who discovered the nature of the disorder at a glance, assured him it was a mere trifle; that he needed by no means be uneasy ; and that, in fact, be would, with God's blessing, restore him to health that very day, nay, in a very few hours. This dashing mode of dealing with disorders produced an excellent ef^'ect upon the traveller's mind. The hakim seetned to hold Death by the beard, to keep him in his toils, to curb him, or let him have his way at pleasure. Chardin's whole frame trembled with joy. He took the physician by the hand, squeezed it as well as his strength would permit, and looked up in his face as he would have looked upon his guardian- angel. The hakim, to whom these things were no novelties, proceeded, without question or remark, to prescribe for his patient ; and having done this, he was about to retire, when the traveller cried out, " Sir, I am consumed with heat !" " I know that very well," replied the hakim ; " but you shall be * Love of gain. SIR JOHN CHARDIN. 277 cooled presently !" and with the word both he and his apoth- ecary disappeared. About nine o'clock the young apothecary returned, bring- ing with him a basketful of drugs, enough, to all appearance, to kill or cure a regiment of patients. " For whom," inquired Chardin, " are all those medicines 1" " For you," replied the young man ; "these are what the hakim has ordered you to take this morning, and you must swallow them as quickly as possible." Fevers make men docile. The travelfer immedi- ately began to do as he was commanded ; but when he came to one of the large bottles, his "gorge," as Shakspeare phrases it, began to rise at it, and he observed that it would be impos- sible to swallow that at a draught. "Never mind," said the young man, " you can take it at several draughts." Obedi- ence followed, and the basketful of physic disappeared. " You will presently," observed the apothecary, "experience the most furious thirst ; and I would willingly give you ices to take, but there is neither ice nor snow in the city except at the govern- or's. As his thirst would not allow him to be punctihous, Chardin at once apphed to the governor ; and succeeding in his enterprise, quenched his burning thirst with the most deli- cious drinks in the world. To render him as cool as possible his bed was spread upon the floor in an open parlour, and so frequently sprinkled with water that the room might almost be said to be flooded ; but the fever still continuing, the bed was exchanged for a mat, upon which he was extended in his shirt, and fanned by two men. The disorder being still unsubdued, the patient was placed upon a chair, where cold water was poured over him in profu- sion, while the French surgeon, who was constantly by his side, and could not restrain his indignation at seeing the ordi- nary rules of his practice thus set at naught, exclaimed, " They are killing you, sir ! Depend upon tt, that it is by killing you the hakim means to remove your fever !" The traveller, how- ever, maintained his confidence in the Persian, and had very soon the satisfaction of being informed that the fever had already abated, and of perceiving that, instead of killing, the hakim had actually cured him. In one word, the disorder de- parted more rapidly than it had come on, and in a few days he was enabled to continue his journey. Remaining quietly at Ispahan during the space of a whole year after this unfortunate excursion, he then departed from the capital for the court, which still lingered at Casbin, in company with Mohammed Hussein Beg, son of the governor of the island of Bahreint. This young man was conducting from his father to the king a present, consisting of two wild 24* 278 SIR JOHN CIIARDIN. bulls, with long, black, sharp horns, an ostrich, and a number of rich Indian stuffs ; and bein*^ hj no means a strict Mussul- man, drinking wine and eating heartily of a good dinner, whether cooked by Mohammedan or Christian, was a very excellent travelling companion. On his arrival at Casbin, Chardin, who was now extremely well known to all the gran- dees of the kingdom, was agreeably and hospitably received by the courtiers, particularly by the wife of the grand pontiff, who was the king's aunt. This lady, in order to manifest the friendship she entertained for him, though in consequence of the peculiar manners of the country their souls only had met, made him a present of eight chests of dried sweetmeats, scented with amber and the richest perfumes of the East. Her husband was no less distinguished by his friendship for our traveller, who no where in Persia experienced more genuine kindnss or generosity than from this noble family. During this visit to Casbin, Chardin had the honour, as it is vulgarly termed, of presenting two of his countrymen to the shah; and so powerful is the force of habit and prejudice, that this able, learned, and virtuous man really imagined it an honour to approach and converse familiarly with an opium- eating, cruel, and unprincipled sot, merely because he wore a» tiara and could sport with the destinies of a great empire ! The nazir, in introducing the traveller, observed, " Sire, this is Chardin, your merchant." To which the shah replied, with a smile, "He is a very dear merchant." "Your majesty is right," added the nazir; "he is a politic man; he has over- reached the whole court." This the minister uttered with a smile ; and he had aright to smile, says Chardin, for he took especial care that quite the contrary should happen. Chardin soon after this took his fmal leave of the court of Persia, and returned by way of Ispahan to Bander-Abassi, whence; he purposed sailing by an English ship for Surat. The fear of falhng into the hands of the Dutch, then at war with France, prevented him, however, from putting his design into execution ; and relinquishing the idea of again visiting Hindostan, he returned to Europe in 1677. Of the latter part of his life few particulars arc known. Prevented by religious considerations from residing in his own country, where free- dom of conscience was not to be enjoyed, he selected England for his Ijonie, where, in all probability, he became acquainted with many of the illustrious men who shed a glory over that epoch of her history. It was in London, also, that he first met with tlie lady whom he immediately afterward made his wife. Like himself, she was a native of France and a Protestant, forced into banishment by the apprehension of religious perse- SIR JOHN CHARD IN. 279 cution. On the very day of his marriage Chardiii received the honour of knighthood from the hand of the gay and profli- gate Charles II. Having now recovered from the fever of travelhng, the beau- tiful Rouennaise in all probability aiding the cure, Chardin devoted his leisure to the composition of his " Travels' Histo- ry," of which the first volume appeared in London in 1686. While he was employed in preparing the remainder of his works for the press, he was appointed the king's minister plenipotentiary or ambassador to the States of Holland, being at the same time intrusted with the management of the East India Company's affairs in that country. His public duties, however, which could not entirely occupy his mind, by no means prevented, though they considerably delayed, the publi- cation of the remainder of his travels ; the whole of which ' appeared, both in quarto and duodecimo, in 1711. Shortly after this he returned to England, where he died in the neighbourhood of London, 1713, in the sixty-ninth year of his age. The reputation of Chardin, which even before his death ex- tended throughout Europe and shed a lustre over his old age, is still on the increase, and must be as durable as literature and civilization ; his merit not consisting in splendour of de- scription or in erudite research, though in these he is by no means deficient, but in that singular sagacity which enabled him to penetrate into the heart and characters of men, and to descend with almost unerring precision to the roots of institu- tions and manners. No European seems to have compre- hended the Persians so completely ; and no one has hitherto described them so well. Religion, government, morals, hian- ners, ccstume — every thing in which one nation can differ from another — Chardin had studied in that bold and original manner which characterizes the efforts of genius. His style, though careless, and sometimes quaint, is not destitute of that naivete and ease which result from much experience and the consciousness of intellectual power; and if occasionally it appear heavy and cumbrous in its march, it Inore frequently quickens its movements, and hurries along with natural grace- fulness and facility. Without appearing desirous of intro- ducing himself to the reader further than the necessities of the case require, he allows us to take so many ghmpses of his character and opinions, that by the time we arrive at the termination of his travels we seem to be perfectly acquaint- ed with both ; and unless all these indications be fallacious, so much talent, probity, and elegance of manners has sel- dom been possessed by any traveller. Marco Polo was gifted 280 SIR JOHN CHARDIN. with a more exalted enthusiasm, and acquired a more ex- tensive acquaintance with the material phenomena of nature ; Pietro della Valle amuses the reader by wilder and more romantic adventures ; but for good sense, acuteness of ob- servation, suavity of manner, and scrupulous adherence to truth, no traveller, whether ancient or modern, is superior to Chardin. PIETRO DELLA VALLE. PiETRO DELLA Valle, "the Dfiost Fomantic in his adven- tures of all true travellers," was descended from an ancient and noble family, and born at Rome on the 11th of April, 1586. When his education, which appears to have been care- fully conducted and liberal, was completed, he devoted him- self, with that passionate .ardour which characterized all the actions of his life, to the study of literature, and particularly poetry; but the effervescence of his animal spirits requiring some other vent, he shortly afterward exchanged the closet for the camp, in the hope that the quarrel between the pope and the Venetians, and the troubles which ^ensued upon the death of Henry IV. of France, would afford him some oppor- tunity of distinguishing himself. His expectation being dis- appointed, however, he in 1611 embarked on board the Spanish fieet, then about to make a descent on the coast of Barbary ; but nothing beyond a few skirmishes taking place, he again beheld his desire of glory frustrated, and returned to Rome. Here vexations of another kind awaited him. Relinquish- ing the services of Fame for that of an earthly mistress, he found himself no less unsuccessful, the lady preferring some illustrious unknown, whose name, like her own, is now over- whelmed with "the husks and formless ruin of oblivion." Pietro, however, severely felt the sting of such a rejection ; and in the gloomy meditations which it gave birth to, con- ceived a plan which, as he foresaw, fulfilled his most ambi- tious wishes, and attached an imperishable reputation to his name. The idea was no sooner conceived than he proceeded to put it in execution, and taking leave of his friends and of Rome, repaired to Naples, in order to consult with his friend, Mario Schipano, a physician of that city, distinguished for his oriental learning and abilities, concerning the best means of conducting his hazardous enterprise. Fortunately he pos- sessed sufficient wealth to spurn the counsel of sloth and timidity, which, when any act of daring is proposed, are 282 PIETRO DELLA VALLE. always at hand, disguised as prudence and good sense, to cast a damp upon the springs of energy, or to travesty and misrepresent the purposes of the bold. Pietro, however, was not to be intimidated. The wonders and glories of the East were for ever present to his imagination, and having heard mass, and been solemnly clothed by the priest with the habit of a pilgrim, he proceeded to Venice in order to embark for Constantinople. The ship in which he sailed left the port on the Gth of June, 1614. No event of peculiar interest occurred during the voyage, which, lying along the romantic shores and beautiful islands of Greece, merely served to nourish and strengthen Pietro's enthusiasm. On drawing near the Dar- danelles the sight of the coast of Troy, with its uncertain ruins and heroic tombs, over which poetry has spread an atmosphere brighter than any thing belonging to mere physical nature, awoke all the bright dreams of boyhood, and hurrying on shore, his heart overflowing with rapture, he kissed the earth from which, according to tradition, the Roman race originally sprung. From the Troad to Constantinople the road lies over a tract hallowed by the footsteps of antiquity, and at every step Pietro felt his imagination excited by some memorial of the great of other days. On arriving ,at the Ottoman capital, where he purposed making a long stay, one of his first cares was to ac- quire a competent knowledge of the language of the country, which he did as much for the vanity, as he himself acknow- ledges, of exhibiting his accomplishments on his return to Italy, where the knowledge of that language was rare, as for the incalculable benefit which must accrue from it during his travels. Here he for the first time tasted coffee, at that time totally unknown in Italy. He was likewise led to entertain hopes of being able to olDtain from the sultan's hbrary a com- plete copy of the Decades of Livy ; but after flitting before him some time like a phantom, the manuscript vanished, and the greater portion of the mighty Paduan remained veiled as be- fore. While he was busily engaged in these researches, the plague broke out, every house in Galata, excepting that of the French ambassador, in which he resided, was infected ; corpses and coffins met the sickened eye wherever it turned ; the chief of his attendants pined away through terror ; and, although at first he affected to laugh and make merry with his fears, they every day fed so abundantly upon horrors and rumours of horrors, that they at length became an overmatch for his phi- losophy, and startled him with the statement that one hundred and forty thousand victims had already perished, and that per- adventure Pietro della Valle might be the next. PIETRO BELLA VALLE. 28$- This consideration caused him to turn his eye towards Egypt ; and although the plague shortly afterward abated, his love of motion having been once more awakened, he bade adieu to Constantinople, and sailed for Alexandria. Arriving in Egypt, he ascended the Nile to Cairo, viewed the pyramids, examined the mummy-pits ; and then, with a select number of friends and attendants, departed across the desert to visit Horeb and Sinai, the wells of Moses, and other places celebra- ted in the Bible. This journey being performed in the heart of winter, he found Mount Sinai covered with snow, which did not, however, prevent his rambling about among its wild ravines, precipices, and chasms; when, his pious curiosity be- ing gratified, he visited JElau or Ailoth, the modern Akaba, and returned by Suez to Cairo. Among the very extraordin- ary things he beheld in this country were a man and woman upwards of eight feet in height, natives of Upper Egypt, whom he measured himself: and tortoises as large as the body of a carriage ! His stay in Egypt was not of long continuance, the longing to visit the Holy Land causing him to regard every other country with a kind of disdain ; and accordingly, joining a small caravan which was proceeding thither across the desert, he journeyed by El Arish and Gaza to Jerusalem. After wit- nessing the various mummeries practised in the Holy City at Easter by the Roman Catholics, and making an excursion to the banks of the Jordan, where he saw a number of female pilgrims plunging naked into the sacred stream in the view of an immense multitude, he bent his steps towards Northern Syria, and hurried forward by the way of Damascus to Aleppo. In this city he remained some time, his body requiring some repose, though the ardour and activity of his mind appeared to be every day increasing. The journey which he now medi- tated across the Arabian Desert into Mesopotamia required considerable preparation. The mode of travelling was new. Horses were to be exchanged for camels ; the European dress for that of the East ; and instead of the sun, the stars and the moon were to light them over the waste. He was now unconsciously touching upon the most impor- " tant point of his career. In the caravan with which he depart- ed from Aleppo, September 16, 1616, there was a young mer- chant of Bagdad, with whom, during the journey he formed a close intimacy. This young man was constantly in the habit of entertaining him, as they rode along side by side through the moonhght, or when they sat down in their tent during the heat of the day, with the praises of a young lady of Bagdad, who, according to his description, to every charm of person 384 PIETIIO DELLA VALLE. which could (IcUght the eye united all those quaHties of heart and mind which render the conquests of beauty durable. It was clear to Pietro from the beginning that the youtiiful mer- chant was in love, and therefore he at first paid but little regard to his extravagant panegyrics ; but by degrees the conversa- tion of his companion produced a sensible eifect upon his own mind, so that his curiosity to behold the object of so much praise, accompanied, perhaps, by a slight feeling of another kind, at length grew intense, and he every day looked upon the slow march of the camels, and the surface of the boundless plain before him, with more and more impatience. The wan- dering Turcoman with his flocks and herds, rude tent, and ruder manners, commanded much less attention than he would have done at any other period ; and even the Bedouins, whose sharp lances and keen scimitars kept awake the attention of the rest of the caravan, were almost forgotten by Pietro. How- ever, trusting to the information of his interested guide, he represents them as having filled up the greater number of the wells in the desert, so that there remained but a very few open, find these were known to those persons only whose profession it was to pilot caravans across this ocean of sand. The saga- city with Avliich these men performed their duty was wonder- ful. By night the stars served them for guides ; but w^heu these brilhant signals were swallowed up in the liglit of the sun, they then had recourse to the slight variations in the sur- face of the plain, imperceptible to other eyes, to the appe.ir- ance or absence of certain plants, and even to the smell of the soil, by all which signs they always knew exactly where they were. At length, after a toilsome and dangerous march of fifteen days, they arrived upon the banks of the Euphrates, a little after sunrise, and pitched their tents in the midst of clumps of cypress and small cedar-trees. On the following night, as soon as the moon began to silver over the \vaters of the Eu- phrates, the caravan again put itself in motion; and, descend- ing along the course of the stream, in six days arrived at Anah, a city of the Arabs, lying on both sides of the river, whose broad surRice is here dotted Avith numerous small islands covered with fruit-trees. They now crossed the river; and the merchants of the caravan, avoiding the safe and com- modious road which lay through towns in which custom-house officers were found, struck off into a desolate and dangerous route, traversing Mesopotamia nearly in a right line, and on the 19th of October reached the banks of the Tigris, a larger and more rapid river than the Euphrates, though on this occa- sion Pietro thought its current less impetuous. The night be- PIETRO BELLA VALLE. 285 fore they entered Bagdad the caravan was robbed m a very dexterous manner. Their tents were pitched in the plain, the officers of the custom-house posted around to prevent smug- ghng ; the merchants, congratulating themselves that they had already succeeded in eluding the duties almost to the extent of their desires, had fallen into the ?ound sleep which attends on a clear conscience ; and Pietro, his domestics, and the other inmates of the caravan had followed their example. In the dead of the night the camp was entered by stealth, the tents rummaged, and considerable booty carried off. The banditti, entering Pietro's tent, and finding all asleep, opened the trunk in which were all the manuscripts, designs, and plans he had made during his travels, carefully packed up, as if for the convenience of robbers, in a small portable escrutoire ; but by an instinct which was no less fortunate for them than for the traveller and posterity, since such spoil could have been of no value to them, they rejected the escrutoire, and selected all our traveller's fine linen, the very articles in which he hoped to have captivated the beauty whose eulogies had so highly in- flamed his imagination. A Venetian, who happened to be in the camp, had his arquebuse stolen from under his head, and this little incident, as it tended to show that the robbers had made still more free with others than with him, somewhat con- soled Pietro for the loss of his linen. As the traveller does not himself attach any suspicion to the military gentlemen of the custom-hou^e, it might, perhaps, be uncharitable to deposite the burden of this theft upon their shoulders ; but in examining all the circumstances of the transaction, I confess the idea that their ingenuity was concerned did present itself to me. Next morning the beams of the rising sun, gleaming upon a thousand slender minarets and lofty-swelling domes surmount- ed by gilded crescents, discovered to him the ancient city of the califs stretching away right and left to a vast distance over the plain, while the Tigris, like a huge serpent, rolled along, cutting the city into two parts, and losing itself among the sombre buildings which seemed to tremble over its waters. The camels were once more loaded, and the caravan, stretch- ing itself out into one long, narrow column, toiled along over the plain, and soon entered the dusty, winding streets of Bag- dad. Here Pietro, whose coming had been announced the: evening before by his young commercial companion, was met by the father of the Assyrian beauty, a fine patriarchal-looking old man, who entreated him to be his guest during his stay in Mesopotamia. This favour Pietro declined, but at the same time he eagerly accepted of the permission to visit at his house ; 25 286 PIETRO DELLA VALLE. and was no sooner completely established in his own dwelling than he fully availed himself of this permission. The family to which he became thus suddenly known was originally of Mardin, but about fourteen years previously had been driven from thence by the Kurds, who sacked and plun- dered the city, and reduced such of the inhabitants as they could capture to slavery. They were Christians of the Nes- torian sect; but Delia Valle, who was a bigot in his way, seems to have regarded them as ahens from the church of Christ. However, this circumstance did not prevent the image of Sitti Maani, the eldest of the old man's daughters, and the beauty of whom he had heard so glowing a description in the desert, from finding its way into his heart, though the idea of marrying having occurred to him at Aleppo, he had written home to his relations to provide him with a suitable w^ife against his return to Italy. Maani was now in her eighteenth year. Her mind had been as highly cultivated as the circum- stances of the times and the country would allow ; and her junderstanding enabled her to turn all her accomplishments to advantage. In person, she was a perfect oriental beauty ; dark, even in the eyes of an Italian, with hair nearly black, and eyes of the same colour, shaded by lashes of unusual length, she possessed something of an imperial air. Pietro was completely smitten, and for the present every image but that of Maani seemed to be obliterated from his mind. His knowledge of the Turkish language was now of the greatest service to him ; for, possessing but a very few words of Arabic, this was the only medium by which he could make known the colour of his thoughts either to his mistress or her mother. His passion, however, supphed him with eloquence, and by dint of vehement protestations, in this instance the off- spring of genuine affection, he at length succeeded in his en- terprise, and Maani became his wife. But in the midst of these transactions, when it most Imported him to remain at Bagdad, an event occurred in his own house which not only exposed him to the risk of being driven with disgrace from the .city, but extremely endangered his life and that of all those who were connected with him. His secretary and valet having for some time entertained a grudge against each other, the former, one day seizing the khanjar, or dagger, of Pietro, stabbed his adversary to the heart, and the poor fellow dropped down dead in the arms of his master. The murderer fled. "What course to pursue under such circumstances it was diffi- cult to determine. Should the event come to the knowledge of the pasha, both master and servants might, perhaps, be tliought equally guilty, and be impaled alive ; or, if matter* PIETRO DELLA YALLE. SSSJ were not pushed to such extremities, it might at least be pre- tended that the deceased was the real owner of whatever property they possessed, in order to confiscate the whole for the benefit of the state. As neither of these results was de- sirable, the safest course appeared to be to prevent, if possible, the knowledge of the tragedy from transpiring; a task of some difficulty, as all the domestics of the household were acquaint- ed with what had passed. The only individual with whom Pietro could safely consult upon this occasion (for he was un- willing to disclose so horrible a transaction to Maani's rela- tions) was a Maltese renegade, a man of some consideration iu the city ; and for him, therefore, he immediately despatched a messenger. This man, when he had heard what had happen- ed, was of opinion that the body should be interred in a corner of the house ; but Pietro, who had no desire that so bloody a memorial of the Italian temperament should remain in his im- mediate neighbourhood, and moreover considered it unsafe, thought it would be much better at the bottom of the Tigris. The Maltese, most fortunately, possessed a house and garden on the edge of the river, and thither the body, packed up care- fully in a chest, was quickly conveyed, though there was much difficulty in preventing the blood from oozing out, and betray- ing to its bearers the nature of their burden. When it was dark the chest was put on board a boat, and, dropping down the river, the renegade and two of his soldiers cautiously lower- ed it into the water ; and thus no material proof of the murder remained. The assassin, who had taken refuge at the house pf the Maltese, was enabled to return to Italy ; and the event,^ strange to say, was kept secret, though so many persons were privy to it. When this danger was over, and the beautiful Maani irre- vocably his, Pietro began once more to feel the passion of the traveller revive, and commenced those little excursions through Mesopotamia which afterward enabled Gibbon to pro- nounce him the person who had best observed that province. His first visit, as might be expected, was to the ruins of Baby- lon. The party with which he left Bagdad consisted of Maani, a Venetian, a Dutch painter, Ibrahim a native of Aleppo, and two Turkish soldiers. For the first time since the commence- ment of his travels, Pietro now selected the longest and least dangerous road, taking care, moreover, to keep as near as possible to the farms and villages, in order, in case of necessi- ty, to derive provisions and succour from their inhabitants. Maani, who appears to have had a dash of Kurdish blood in her, rode astride like a man, and kept her saddle as firmly as any son of the desert could have done ; and Pietro constantly 388 PIETRO DELLA VALLE. moved along by her side. AVhen they had performed a con- siderable portion of their journey, and, rejoicing in their good fortune, were already drawing near Babylon, eight or ten horsemen armed with muskets and bows and arrows suddenly appeared in the distance, making towards them with all speed. Pietro imagined that the day for trying his courage was now come ; and he and his companions, having cocked their pieces and prepared to offer a desperate resistance, pushed on towards the enemy. However, their chivalric spirit was not doomed to be here put to the test ; for, upon drawing near, the horse- men were found to belong to Bagdad, and the adventure con- cluded in civility and mutual congratulations. Having carefully examined the ruins of Babylon, the cit}' of Hillah, and the other celebrated spots in that neighbourhood, the party returned to Bagdad, from whence he again departed in a few days for Modain, the site of the ancient Ctesiphon, near which he had the satisfaction of observing the interior of an Arab encampment. His curiosity respecting Mesopotamia was now satisfied ; and as every day's residence among the Ottomans only seem- ed more and more to inflame his hatred of that brutal race, he as much as possible hastened his departure from Bagdad, having now conceived the design of serving as a volunteer in the armies of Persia, at that period at war with Turkey, and of thus wreaking his vengeance upon the Osmanlees for the tyranny they exercised on all Christians within their power. Notwithstanding that war between the two countries had long been declared, the Pasha of Bagdad and the Persian authori- ties on the frontier continued openly to permit the passage of caravans ; and thus, were he once safe out of Bagdad with his wife and treasures, there would be no difficulty in entering Persia. To effect this purpose he entered into an arrange- ment with a Persian muleteer, who was directed to obtain from the Pasha a passport for himself and followers, with a charosh to conduct them to the extremity of the Turkish do- minions. This being done, the Persian, according to agree- ment, left the city, and encamped at a short distance from the walls, where, as is the custom, he was visited by the officers of the custom-house ; after which, Pietro caused the various individuals of his own small party to issue forth by various streets into the plain, while he himself, dressed as he used to be when riding out for amusement on the banks of the Tigris, quitted the town after sunset, and gained the place of encamp- ment in safety. When the night had now completely descended upon the earth, and all around was still, the little caravan put itself in PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 399 motion ; and being mounted, some on good sturdy mules, and others on the horses of the country, they advanced at a rapid rate, fearing all the way that the pasha might repent of hia civihty towards the Persian, and send an order to bring them back to the city. By break of day they arrived on the banks of the Diala, a river which discharges itself into the Tigris ; and here, in spite of their impatience, they were detained till noon, there being but one boat at the ferry. In six days they reached the southern branches of the mountains of Kurdistan, and found themselves suddenly in the midst of that wild and hardy race, v/hich, from the remotest ages, has maintained possession of these inexpugnable fastnesses, which harrassed the ten thousand in their retreat, and still enact a conspicuous pan in all the border wars between the Persians and Turks. Living for the most part in a dangerous independence, fiercely spurning the yoke of its powerful neighbours, though continu- ally embroiled in their interminable quarrels, speaking a dis- tinct language, and having a peculiar system of manners, which does not greatly differ from that of the feudal times, they may justly be regarded as one of the most extraordinary races of the Asiatic continent. Some of them, spellbound by the allurements of weahh and ease, have erected cities and towns, and addicted themselves to agriculture and the gainful arts. Others, preferring that entire liberty which of all earthly blessins^s is the greatest in the estimation of ardent and haughty minds, and regarding luxury as a species of Circean cup, in its effects debasing and destructive, covet no wealth but their herds and flocks, around which they erect no fortifica- tions but their swords. These are attracted hither and thither over the wilds by the richness of the pasturage, and dwell in tents. In Kur(?istan, as elsewhere, the winning manners of Delia Valle procured him a hospitable reception. The presence of Maani, too, whose youth and beauty served as an inviolable wall of protection among brave men, increased his claims to their hospitality; so that these savage mountaineers, upon whom the majority of travellers concur in heaping the most angry maledictions, obtained from the warm-hearted, grateful Pietro the character of a kind and gentle people. On the 20th of January, 1617, he quitted Kurdistan, and entered Persia. The change was striking. A purer atmosphere, a more pro- ductive and better-cultivated soil, and a far more dense popu- lation than in Turkey, caused him, from the suddenness of the transition, somewhat to exaggerate, perhaps, the advantages of this country. It is certain tliat the eyes of the traveller,, hke the fabled gems of antiquity, carry about the light by which he 25* 290 PIETRO DELLA VALLE. views the objects which come before him ; and that the condi- tion of this hght is greatly affected by the state of his animal spirits. Pietro was now in that tranquil and serene mode of being consequent upon that enjoyment which conscience ap- proves ; and having passed from a place where dangers, real or imaginary, surrounded him, into a country where he at least anticipated safety, if not distinction, it was natural that his fancy should paint the landscape with delusive colours. Besides, many real advantages existed ; tents were no longer necessary, there being at every halting-place a spacious cara- vansary, where the traveller could obtain gratis lodgings for himself and attendants, and shelter for his beasts and baggage. Fruits, likewise, such as pomegranates, apples, and grapes, abounded, though the earth was still deeply covered with snow. If we add to this that the Persians are a people who pique themselves upon their urbanity, and, whatever may be the basis of their character, with which the passing traveller has little to do, really conduct themselves politely towards strangers, it will not appear very surprising that Delia Valle, who had just escaped from the boorish Ottomans, should have been charmed with Persia. Arriving at Ispahan, at that period the capital of the empire, that is, the habitual place of residence of the shah, his first care, of course, was to taste a little repose; after which, he re- sumed his usual custom of strolling about the city and its en- virons, observing the manners, and sketching whatever was curious in costume and scenery. Here be remained for several months ; but growing tired, as usual, of calm inactivity, the more particularly as the court was absent, he now prepared to present himself before the shah, then in Mazenderan. Ac- cordmgly, having provided a splendid litter for his wife and her sister, who, like genuine amazons, determined to accom- pany him to the wars should he eventually take up arms in the service of Persia, and provided every other necessary for the journey, he quitted Ispahan, and proceeded northward towards the shores of the Caspian Sea. The journey \vas performed in the most agreeable manner imaginable. When- ever they came up to a pleasant grove, a shady fountain, or any romantic spot where the greensward was sprinkled with flowers or commanded a beautiful prospect, the whole party made a h;Ut; and the ladies, descending from their litter, •which was bonie by two camels, and Pietro from his barb, they sat down like luxurious gipsies to their breakfast or dinner, while the nightingales in the dusky recesses of the grovea served them instead of a musician. PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 291 Proceeding slowly, on account of his harem, as he terms it, they arrived in seven days at Cashan, where the imprudence of Maani nearly involved him in a very serious affair. Being insulted on her way to the bezestein by an officer, she gave the signal to her attendants to chastise the drunkard, and, a battle ensuing, the unhappy man lost his life. When the news was brought to Pietro he was considerably alarmed ; but on pro- ceeding to the house of the principal magistrate, he very for- tunately found that the affair had been properly represented to him, and that his people were not considered to have exceeded their duty. His wife, not reflecting that her masculine habits and fiery temperament were quite sufficient to account for the circumstance, now began to torment both herself and her hus- band because she had not yet become a mother; and supposing that in such cases wine was a sovereign remedy, she endeav- oured to prevail upon Pietro, who was a water-drinker, to have recourse to a more generous beverage, offering to join with him, if he would comply, in the worship of Bacchus. Our traveller, who had already, as he candidly informs us, a small family in Italy, could not be brought to believe that the fault lay in his sober potations, and firmly resisted the temptations of his wife. With friendly arguments upon this and other topics they beguiled the length of the way, and at length arri- ved at Mazenderan, though Maani's passion for horsemanship more than once put her neck in jeopardy on the road. The scene which now presented itself was extremely different from that through which they had hitherto generally passed. In- stead of the treeless plains or unfertile deserts which they had traversed in the northern parts of Irak, they saw before them a country strongly resembling Europe ; mountams, deep well- wooded valleys, or rich green plains rapidly alternating with each other, and the whole, watered by abundant streams and fountains, refreshed and delighted the eye ; and he was as yet unconscious of the insalubrity of the atmosphere. Pietro greatly admired the beauty and graceful figures of the women of this province, — a fiict which makes strongly against the idea of its being unhealthy ; for it may generally be infer- red, that wherever the women are handsome the air is good. Here and there they observed, as they moved along, the ruins of castles and fortresses on the acclivities and projections of the mountains, wliich had formerly served as retreats to nu- merous chiefs who had there aimed at independence. A grotto, which they discovered in a nearly inaccessible position in the face of a mountain, was pointed out to them as the resi- dence of a viririn of gigantic stature, who, without associates I or followers, like the virago who obstructed the passage of 292 PIETRO DELLA VALLE. Theseus from TrcEzene to Athens, formerly ravaged and de- populated that part of the country. This and similar legends of giants, which resemble those which prevail among all rude nations, were related to our traveller, who rejected them with disdain as utterly fabulous and contemptible, though not muck more so, perhaps, than some which, as a true son of the Ro- man church, he no doubt held in reverence. At length, after considerable fatigue, they arrived at Ferha- bad, a small port built by the Shah Abbas on the Caspian Sea. Here the governor of the city, when informed of his arrival, assigned him a house in the eastern quarter of the city, the rooms of which, says Pietro, were so low, that although by no means a tall man, he could touch the ceiling with his hand. If the house, however, reminded him of the huts erected by Romulus on the Capitoline, the garden, on the other hand, was delightful, being a large space of ground thickly planted with white mulberry-trees, and lying close upon the bank of the river. Here he passed the greater portion of his time with Actius Sincerus, or Marcus Aurelius, or Ferrari's Geographi- cal Epitome in his hand, now offering sacrifices to the Muses, and now running over with his eye the various countries and provinces which he was proud to have travelled over. One of his favourite occupations was the putting of his own adven- tures into verse, under a feigned name. This he did in that kind of rhyme which Dante's example had made respectable, but not popular, in Italy; and as he was not of the humour to hide his talent under a bushel, his brain was no sooner deliver- ed of this conceit than he despatched it to Rome for the amuse- ment of his friends. Being now placed upon the margin of the Caspian, he very naturally desired to examine the appearance of its shores and • waters ; but embarking for this purpose in a fishing-boat with Maani, who, having passed her life in Mesopotamia, had never before seen the sea, her sickness and the fears produced in her mind by tlie tossing and rolling of the bark among the waves quickly put an end to the voyage. He ascertained, however, from the pilots of tlie coast, that tlie waters of this sea were not deep ; immense banks of sand and mud, borne down into this vast basin by the numerous river:* which discharge themselves into it, being met with on all sides ; though it is probable, that had they ventured far from shore they would have found the case different. Fish of many kinds were plentiful; but owing, perhaps, to the fat and slimy nature of the bottom, they were all large, gross, and insipid. The shah was just then at Asshralf, a new city which he bad caused to be erected, and was then enlarging, about six PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 293 parasangs, or leagues, to the east of Ferhabad. Pietro, anx- ious to be introduced to the monarch, soon after his arrival MTote letters to the principal minister, which, together with others from the vicar-general of the Carmelite monks at Ispa- han, he despatched by two of his domestics; and the minis- ters, according to his desire, informed the shah of his presence at Ferhabad. Abbas, who apparently had no desire that he should witness the state of things at Asshraff, not as yet com- prehending either his character or his motives, observed, that the roads being extremely bad, the traveller had better remain at Ferhabad, whither he himself was about to proceed on horse- back in a day or two. Pietro, whose vanity prevented his perceiving the shah's motives, supposed in good earnest that Abbas was chary of his guest's e'ase; and, to crown the ab- surdity, swallowed another monstrous fiction invented by the courtiers, who, as Hajji Baba would say, were all the while laughing at his beard, — namely, that the monarch was so over- joyed at his arrival, that, hud he not been annoyed by the number of soldiers who followed him against his will, he would next morning have ridden to Ferhabad to bid him welcome ! However, when he actually arrived in that city, he did not, as our worthy pilgrim expected, immediately admit him to an audience. In the mean while an agent from the Cossacks in- habiting the north-eastern shores of the Black Sea arrived, and Delia Valle who neglected no occasion of forwarding his own views, in the shaping of which he exhibited remarkable skill, at once connected himself with this stranger, whom he enga- ged to aid and assist by every means in his power, receiving from the barbarian the same assurances in return. The Cos- sack had come to tender the shah his nation's services against the Turks ; notwithstanding wliich, the business of his pre- sentation had been negligently or purposely delayed, probably that he might understand, when his proposal should be after- ward received, that, although the aid he promised was accept- able, it was by no means necessary, nor so considered. At length the long-anticipated audience arrived, and Delia Valle, when presented, was well received by the shah ; who, not being accustomed, however, to the crusading spirit or the romance of chivalry, could not very readily believe that the real motives which urged him to join the Persian armies were precisely those which he professed. Nevertheless, his offers of service were accepted, and the provisions which he had already received rendered permanent. He was, moreover, sumptuously entertained at the royal table, and had frequently the honour of being consulted upon affairs of importance by the shah. 294 PIETRO BELLA VALLE. Abbas soon afterward removing with his court into Ghilan^ without inviting Delia Valie to accompany him, the latter de- parted for Casbin, there to await the marching of the army against the Turks, in which enterprise he was still mad enough to desire to engage. On reaching this city he found that Abbas had been more expeditious than he, and was already there, actively preparing for the war. All the military officers of the kingdom now received orders to repair with all possible de- spatch to Sultanieh, a city three days' journey west of Casbin ; and Pietro, who had voluntarily become a member of this martial class, hurried on among the foremost, in the hope of acquiring glory of a new kind. The shah and his army had not been many days encamped in the plains of Sultanieh, when a courier from the general, who had already proceeded towards the frontiers, arrived with the news that the Turkish army was advancing, although slowly. This news allowed the troops, who had been fatigued with forced marches, a short repose ; after which they pushed on vigorously towards Ardebil and Tabriz, Pietro and his he- roic wife keeping pace with the foremost. In this critical juncture. Abbas, though in some respects a man of strong mind, did not consider it prudent to trust altogether to corpo- real armies ; but, having in his dominions certain individuals who pretended to have some influence over the infernal powers, sought to interest hell also in his favour; and for this purpose carried a renowned sorceress from Zunjan along with him to the wars, in the same spirit as Charles the First, and the Par- liament shortly afterward, employed Lily to prophesy for them. Their route now lay through the ancient Media, over narrow plains or hills covered with verdure but bare of trees, some- times traversing tremendous chasms, spanned by bridges of fearful height, at others winding along the acclivities of moun- tains, or upon the edge of precipices. Notwithstanding his seeming ardour to engage with the Turks, Pietro, for some cause or another, did not join the fighting part of the army, but remained with the shah's suite at Ardebil. This circumstance seems to have lowered him considerably in the estimation of the court. A battle, howev- er, was fought, in which the Persians were victorious; but the Turkish sultan dying at this juncture, his successor com- manded his general to negotiate for peace, which, after the usual intrigues and delays, was at length concluded. Abbas now returned to Casbin, where the victory and the peace was celebrated with great rejoicings; and here Delia Valle, who seems to have begun to perceive that he was not likely to make any great figure in war, took his leave of the court PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 295 in extremely bad health and low spirits, and returned to Is- pahan. Here repose, and the conversation of the friends he had made in this city, once more put him in good liumour with himself and with Persia; and being of an exceedingly hasty and inconsiderate disposition, he no sooner began to experi- ence a little tranquilhty, than he exerted the influence he had acquired over the parents ot his wife to induce them, right or wrong, to leave Bagdad, where they hved contentedly and in comfort, and to settle at Ispahan, where they were in a great measure strangers, notwithstanding that one of their younger daughters was married to an Armenian of that city. The principal members of the family, no less imprudent than their adviser, accordingly quitted Mesopotamia with their treasures and effects, and established themselves in the capital of Persia. This measure was productive of nothing but disappointment and vexation. One of Maani's sisters, who had remained with her mother at Bagdad, while the father and brothers were at Ispahan, died suddenly ; and the mother, inconsolable for her loss, entreated her husband to return to her with her other children. Then followed the pangs of parting, rendered doubly bitter by the reflection that it was for ever. Pietro be- came ill and melancholy, having now turned his thoughts, like the prodigal in the parable, towards his country and his father's house, and determined shortly to commence his journey home- ward. Obtaining without difliculty his dismission from the shah, and winding up his affairs, which were neither intricate nor embarrassed, at Ispahan, he set out on a visit to Shiraz, intending, when he should have examined Persepolis and its environs, to bid an eternal adieu to Persia. With this view, having remained some time at Shiraz, ad- miring but not enjoying the pure stream of the Rocnabad, the bowers of Mesellay, and the briglit atmosphere which shed glory on all around, he proceeded to Mineb, a small town on the river Ibrahim, a little to the south of Gombroon and Ormus» on the shore of the Persian G ulf. Maani, whose desire to become a mother had been an unceasing source of unhappi- ness to her ever since her marriage, being now pregnant, nothing could have been more ifl-judged in her husband than to approach those pestilential coasts; especially at such a season of the year. lie quickly discovered his error, but it was too late. The fever which rages with unremitting vio- lence throughout all that part of the country during six months in the year had now seized not only upon Maani, but on himself likewise, and upon every other member of his 296 PIETRO DELLA VALLE. family. Instant flight might, perhaps, have rescued them from danger, as it afterward did Chardin, but a fatal lethargy seems to have seized upon the mind of Pietro. He trembled at the destiny which menaced him, he saw death, as it were, C3ntering his house, and approach gradually the individual whom he cherished beyond all others ; time was allowed him by Providence for escape, yet he stood still, as if spellbound, and suffered the victim to be seized without a struggle. His wife, whose condition I have alluded to above, affected at once by the fever, and apprehensive of its consequences, was terri- fied into premature labour, and a son dead-born considerably before its time put the finishing stroke, as it were, to the aflBic- tion of her mind. Her fever increased in violence — medical aid was vain — death triumphed — and Maani sunk into the grave at the age of twenty-three. A total change now came over the mind of Delia Valle, which not only affected the actions of his life, but communica- ted itself to his writings, depriving them of that dashing quix- otism which up to this point constitutes their greatest charm. A cloud, black as Erebus, descended upon his soul, and nine months elapsed before he could again command sufficient spirits or energy to announce the melancholy event to his friend Schipano. He, however, resolved that the body of his beloved wife should not be consigned to the earth in Persia, where he should never more come to visit or shed a tear over her grave. He therefore contrived to have it embalmed, and then, enclosing it in a coffin adapted to the purpose, placed it in a travelling trunk, in order that, wherever his good or bad fortune should conduct him, the dear remains of his Maani might accompany him to the grave. Certain circumstances attending this transaction strongly serve to illustrate the char- acter of Delia Valle, and while they tell in favour of his affec- tion, and paint the melancholy condition to which his bereave- ment had reduced him, likewise throw some light upon the manners and state of the country. Dead bodies being re- garded as unclean by the Mohammedans, as they were in old Greece and Rome, and most other nations of antiquity, no persons could be found to undertake the task of embalming but a few old women, whom the auri sacra fames reconciled to the pollution. These, wrapping thick bandages over their mouths and nostrils, to. prevent the powerful odour of the gum from penetrating into their lungs and brain, after having dis- €mboweJled the corpse, filled its cavities with camphor, and with the «ame ingredient, which was of the most pungent and desiccating nature, rubbed all its limbs and surface until the perfume had penetrated to the very bones. Pietro, at all METRO DELLA VALLE. 29^1 times superstitious, was now rendered doubly so by sorrow. Having somewhere heard or read that the bodies of men will be reanimated at the general resurrection, wherever their heads happen to be deposited, while, according to another the- ory, it was the resting-place of the heart which was to deter- mine the point, and being desirous, according to either view of the matter, that Maani and himself should rise on that awful day together, he gave orders that the heart of his beloved should be carefully embalmed with the rest of the body. It never once occurred to him that the pollinctores (or underta- kers) might neglect his commands, and therefore he omitted to overlook this part of the operation ; indeed his feelings would not allow him to be present, and while it was going on he sat retired, hushing the tempest of his soul in the best man- ner he could. While he was in this state of agony, he observ- ed the embalmers approaching him with something in their hands, and on casting his eyes upon it he beheld the heart of Maani in a saucer ! An unspeakable horror shot through his whole frame as he gazed upon the heart which, but a few days before, had bounded with delight and joy to meet his own ; and he turned away his head with a shudder. When the operation was completed, the mummy was laid out upon a board, and placed under a tent in the garden, in order to be still further desiccated by the action of the air. Here it remained seven days and nights, and the walls being low, it was necessary to keep a strict and perpetual watch over it, lest the hyenas should enter and devour it. Worn down as he was by fever, by watching, and by sorrow, Pietro would intrust this sacred duty to no vulgar guardian during the night, but, with his loaded musket in his hand, paced to and fro be- fore the tent through the darkness, while the howls of the hyenas, bursting forth suddenly quite near him, as it were, frequently startled his ear and increased his vigilance. By day he took a few hours' repose, while his domestics kept watch. When this melancholy task had been duly performed, he departed, in sickness and dejection, for the city of Lar, where the air being somewhat cooler and more pure, he entertained some hopes of a recovery. Not many days after his arrival, a Syrian whom he had known at Ispahan brought him news from Bagdad which were any thing but calculated to cheer or console his mind. He learned that another sister of Maani had died on the road in returning from Persia; that the father, stricken to the soul by this new calamity, had likewise died a few days after reaching home; and that the widow, thus bereaved of the better part of her family, and feeling the 26 / 982 PIETRO BELLA VALLE. PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 0^ decrepitude of old age coming apace, was inconsolable. Oor traveller was thunderstruck. Death seemed to have put his mark on all those whom he loved. Persia now became hate- ful to him. Its verj atmosphere appeared to teem with mis- fortunes as with clouds. Nothing, therefore, seemed left him but to quit it with all possible celerity. Pietfo's desire to return to Italy was now abated, and trav- elling more desirable than home ; motion, the presence of strange objects, the surmounting of difficulties and dangers, being better adapted than ease and leisure for the dissipating of sharp grief. For this reason he returned to the shore of the Persian (iulf, and embarked at Gombroon on board of an English ship for India, taking along Avith him the body of his wife, and a little orphan Georgian girl whom he and Maani had adopted at Ispahan. As even a father cannot remove his daughter, or a husband his Avife, from the shah's dominions without an especial permission, which might not be granted without considerable delay, Pietro determined to elude the laws, and disguising the Georgian in the dress of a boy, con- trived to get her on board among the ship's crew in the dusk of the evening, on the 19th of January, 1623. Traversing the Indian Ocean with favourable winds, he arri- ved on the 10th of February at Surat, where he was hospitably entertained by the English and Dutch residents. He found Ouzerat a pleasant country, consisting, as far as his experience extended, of rich, green plains, well watered, and thickly in- terspersed with trees. From Surat he proceeded to Cambay, a large city, situated upon the extremity of a fine plain at the bottom of the gulf of the same name. Here he adopted the dress, and as far as possible the manners of the Hindoos, and then, striking off a little from the coast, visited Ahmedabad, travelling thither with a small cafila or caravan, the roads being considered dangerous for solitary individuals. At a small vil- lage on the road he observed an immense number of beautiful yellow squirrels, with fine large tails, leaping from tree to tree; and a little farther on met with a great number of beggars arm- ed with bows and arrows, who demanded charity with sound of trumpet. His observations in this country, though sufficiently curious occasionally, were the fruit of a too hasty survey, which could not enable him to pierce deeply below the exte- rior crust of manners. Indeed, he seems rather to have amu- sed himself with strange sights, than sought to philosophize upon the circumstances of humanity. In a temple of Mahades in this city, where numerous Yoghees, the Gymnosophists of antiquity, were standing like so many statues behind the sacred lamps, he observed an image of the god entirely of crystal. 300 PIETBO DELLA VALLE. On the banks of the Sabermati, which ran close beneath the walls of the city, numerous Yoghees, as naked as at the mo- ment of their birth, were seated, with matted hair, and wild looks, and powdered all over with the ashes of the dead bodies which they had aided in burning. Returning to Cambay, he embarked in a Portuguese ship for Goa, a city chiefly remarkable for the number of monks that flocked thither, and for the atrocities which they there perpetrated in the name of the Church of Rome. Delia Valle soon found that there was more security and pleasure in living among pagans "suckled in a creed outworn," or even among heretics, than in this Portuguese city, where all strangers were regarded with horror, and met with nothing but baseness and treachery. Leaving this den of monks and traitors, he pro- ceeded southward along the coast, and in a few days arrived at Onore, where he went to pay a visit to a native of distinc- tion, whom they found upon the shore, seated berteath the shade of some fine trees, flanked and overshadowed, as it were, by a range of small hills. Being in the company of a Portu- guese ambassador from Goa to a rajah of the Sadasiva race, who then held his court at Ikery, he regarded the opportunity of observing something of the interior of the peninsula as too favourable to be rejected, and obtained permission to form a part of the ambassador's suite. They set out from Onore in boats, but the current of the river they were ascending was so rapid and powerful, that with the aid of both sails and oars they were unable to push on that day beyond Garsopa, formerly a large and flourishing city, but now inconsiderable and neglect- ed. Here the scenery, a point which seldom commanded much of Delia Valle's attention, however picturesque or beau- tiful it might be, was of so exquisite a character, so rich, so glowing, so variable, so full of contrasts, that indifferent as he was on that head, his imagination was kindled, and he con- fessed, that turn which way soever he might, the face of na- ture was marvellously delightful. A succession of hills of all forms, and of every shade of verdure, between which valleys, now deep and umbrageous, now presenting broad, green, sunny slopes to the eye, branched about in every direction ; lofty forests of incomparable beauty, among which the most magni- ficent fruit-trees, such as the Indian walnut, the fawfel, and the amba, were interspersed ; small winding streams, now glancing and quivering and rippling in the sun, and now plunging into the deep shades of the woods ; while vast flights of gay tropical birds were perched upon the branches, or skimming over the waters ; all these combined certainly formed a glorious picture, and justified the admiration of Pietro when he exclaimed that PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 90§, nothing to equal it had ever met his eye. On entering the Ghauts he perceived in them some resemblance to the Apen- nines, though they were more beautiful ; and to enjoy so splendid a prospect he travelled part of the way on foot. The Western Ghauts, which divide the vast plateau of Mysore from Blalabar, Canasen, and the other maritime provinces of the Deccan, are in most parts covered with forests of prodi- gious grandeur, and in one of these Pietro and his party were overtaken by the niglit. Though "overhead the moon hung imminent, and shed her silver light," not a ray could descend to them through the impenetrable canopy of the wood, so that they were compelled to kindle torches, notwithstanding which they failed to find their way, and contented themselves with kindling a fire and passing the night under a tree. Ikery, the bourn beyond which they were not to proceed towards the interior, was then an extensive but thinly-peopled city, though according to the Hindoos it once contained a hundred thousand mhabitants. Around it extended three lines of fortifications, of which the exterior was a row of bam- boos, thickly planted, and of enormous height, whose lifted heads, with the beautiful flowering parasites which crept round their stems to the summit, yielded a grateful shade. Here he beheld a suttee, visited various temples, and saw the celebra- ted dancing girls of Hindostan perform their graceful but vo- luptuous postures. He examined likewise the ceremonial of the rajah's court, and instituted numerous inquiries into the religion and manners of the country, upon all which points he obtained information curious enough for that age, but now, from the more extensive and exact researches of later travel- lers, of little value. Returning to the seacoast, he proceeded southward as far as Calicut, the extreme point of his travels. Here he faced about, as it were, turned his eyes towards home, and began to experience a desire to be at rest. Still, at Ca- nanou, at Salsette, and the other parts of India at which he touched on his return, he continued assiduously to observe and describe, though rather from habit than any delight which it afforded him. On tlie 15th of November, 1624, he embarked at Goa in a ship bound for Muskat, from whence he proceeded up the Persian Gulf to Bassorah. Here he hired mules and camels, and provided all things necessary for crossing the desert ; and on the 21st of May, 1625, departed, being accompanied by an Italian friar, Marian, the Georgian girl, and the corpse of Maani. During this journey he observed the sand in many places strewed with seashells, bright and glittering as mother- of-pearl, and in others with bitumen, Occasionallv their road 26* 302 PIETBO DELL A VALLE. lay over extensive marshes, covered thickly with reeds or brushwood, or white with salt ; but at this season of the year every thing was so dry that a spark falling from the pipe of a muleteer upon the parched grass nearly produced a conflagra- tion in the desert. When they had advanced many days' journey into the waste, and belield on all sides nothing but sand and sky, a troop of Arab robbers, who came scouring along the desert upon their fleet barbs, attacked and rifled their little caravan ; and Delia Valle saw himself about to be de- prived of his wife's body, after having preserved it so long, and conveyed it safely over so many seas and mountains. In this fear he addressed himself to the banditti, describing the contents of the chest, and the motives which urged him so vehemently to desire its preservation. The Arabs were touch- ed with compassion. The sight of the coffin, enforcing the effect of his eloquence, interested their hearts ; so that not only did they respect the dead, and praise the aff*ectionate and pious motives of the traveller, but also narrowed their de- mands, for they pretended to exact dues, not to rob, and allowed the caravan to proceed with the greater part of its wealth. On arriving at the port of Alexandretta another difficulty arose. The Turks would never have allowed a corpse to pass through the cus^tom-house, nor would the sailors of the ship in which he desired to embark for Cyprus on any account have suff*ered it to come on board. To overreach both parties, Pietro had the body enveloped in bales of spun cotton, upon which he paid the regular duty, and thus one further step was gained. After visiting Cyprus, Malta, and Sicily, where he remained some short time, he set sail for Naples. Here he found his old friend Schipano still living, and after describing to him the various scenes and dangers tlirough which he had passed, moved forward towards Rome, where he arrived on the 28th of March, 1626, after an absence of more than twelve years. His return was no sooner made known in the city than nu- merous friends and relations and the greater number of the nobility crowded to his house, to bid him welcome and con- gratulate him upon the successful termination of his travels. His presentation to the pope took place a few days afterward, when Urban VHI. was so charmed with his conversation and manners, that, without application or intrigue on the part of the traveller, he was appointed his holiness' honorary cham- berlain, — a compliment regarded at Rome as highly flattering. In order to induce the pope to send out missionaries to Geor- gia, Pietro now presented him with a short account of that PIETRO DELLA VALLE. 303 country, which he had formerly written ; and the affair being seriously taken into consideration, it was determined by the society De Propaganda Fide that the proposed measure should be carried into effect, and that Pietro should be regu- larly consulted respecting the business of the Levant missions in general. Early in the spring of 1627, he caused the funeral obsequies of his wife to be celebrated with extraordinary magnificence in the church of Aracoeli at Rome. The funeral oration he himself pronounced ; and when, after describing the various circumstances of her life, and the happiness of their union, he came to expatiate upon her beauty, his emotions became so violent that tears and sobs choked his utterance, and he failed to proceed. His auditors, according to some accounts, were likewise affected even unto tears ; while others relate that they burst into a fit of laughter. If they did, the fault was in their own hearts ; for, however extravagant the manner of Delia Valle may have been, death is a solemn thing, and can never fail properly to affect all well-constituted minds. However, though his love for Maani's memory seems never to have abated, the vanity of keeping up the illustrious name of Delia Valle, and the consequent wish of leaving a legitimate offspring behind him, reconciled a second marriage to his mind, and Marian Tinatin, the Georgian girl whom he had brought with him from the East, appears to have been the per- son selected for his second wife. M. Eyries asserts, but I know not upon what authority, that it was a relation of Maani whom he married ; but this seems to be extremely improbable, since, so far as can be discovered from his travels, no relation of hers ever accompanied him, excepting the brother and sister who spent some time with him in Persia. Though he had exhausted a large portion of his patrimony in his numerous and long-continued journeys, sufficient seems to have remained to enable him to spend the remainder of his life in splendour and affluence. He had established himself in the mansion of his ancestors at Rome, and the locomotive propensity having entirely deserted him, would probably never have quitted the city, but that one day, while the pope was pronouncing his solemn benediction in St. Peter's, he fell into a violent passion, during which he killed his coachman in the area before the church. This obliged him once more to fly to Naples ; but murder not being regarded as a very heinous offence at Rome, and the pope, moreover, entertaining a warm friendship for Pietro, he was soon recalled. After this nothing remarkable occurred to him until his death, which took place on the 20th of April, 1652. Soon after his death, his widow 1 304 PIETRO DELLA VALLE. retired to Urbino ; and his children, exhibiting a fierce and turbulent character, were banished the city. As a traveller, Delia Valle possessed very distinguished qualities. He was enthusiastic, romantic, enterprising. He had read, if not studied, the histories of the various countries through which he afterward travelled ; and there were few dangers which he was not ready cheerfully to encounter for the gratification of his curiosity. It is impossible to peruse his works without great instruction and delight ; for his active, and vigorous, and observant mind continually gives birth to sagacious and profound remarks ; and his adventures, though undoubtedly true, are full of interest and the spirit of romance. CARSTEN NIEBUHR. Carsten Niebuhr was born on the 17th of March, 1733, in the province of Friesland, in the kingdom of Hanover. It would be to mislead the reader to represent him, as some of his biographers have done, as the son of a peasant, in the sense in which that term is apphed in England. His father and his ancestors, for several generations, had been small landed proprietors ; he himself received an education, and in- herited a property, which, however small, served as an incen- tive to ambition ; and though, like many others, he found the entrance of the road to fame rugged and hard to tread, it must not be dissembled that his prudence and perseverance were singularly aided by good fortune. Having lost his mother before he was six weeks old, the care of his infancy was intrusted to a step-mother; and he was still a lad when his father likewise died. The guardians upan whom the superintendence of his youth at first devolved, en- tertaining, apparently, but little respect for intellectual pur- suits, interrupted his studies ; and his maternal uncle, who succeeded them in this important trust, would seem to have wanted the means, if he possessed the will, to direct the course of a young man. Niebuhr was therefore left very much to his own guidance, which, to a man of vigorous intellect, I am far from regarding as a misfortune. The beginnings of life, how- ever, like the beginnings of day, are generally accompanied by mists which obscure the view, and render it absolutely im- possible to determine with precision the character of the vari- ous paths which present themselves before us ; and thus it was that our traveller, who, knowing not that Providence was about to conduct him to a brilHant destiny in the East, at one time studied music, with the intention of becoming an organ- ist, and was afterward led, through accidental circumstances, to apply himself to geometry, for the purpose of practising as a land-surveyor. 306 CARSTEN NlEBUHR. With this design he repaired, in his twenty-third year, to Bremen, where he discovered a person from whom he might have derived the necessary instruction ; but finding that this individual's domestic economy was under the superintendence of two youthful sisters, whose behaviour towards himself Nie- buhr seems to have regarded as forward and indecorous, he immediately quitted this city and proceeded to Hamburgh. It will easily be conceived that the studies of a young man who voluntarily cultivated his intellect as the only means by which he could arrive at distinction, were pursued with ardent enthusiasm. Niebuhr, in fact, considered labour and toil as the only guides to genuine glory, and was content to tolerate on the way the rude fierceness of their manners. When he had studied the mathematics, during two years, under Busch, he removed to Gottingen, where he continued another year. At this period the Danish ministry, at the suggestion of Michaelis, had projected a scientific expedition into Arabia, which was at first designed, at least by its origina- tor, merely to throw some light upon certain passages of the Old Testament, but which afterward embraced a much wider field. Michaelis, to whom the choice of the individuals who were to form this mission had been intrusted, betrayed the narrowness or malignity of his mind, by neglecting the cele- brated Reiske, who was then well known to be struggling with starvation, in order to thrust forward Von Haven, a pupil of his own, who, but for this partial choice, would probably have lived and died in obscurity. Niebuhr himself was recommend- ed to Michaelis by Kastner, whose pupil he had for some time been. The proposal was abruptly made, and as suddenly ac- cepted. "Have you a mind," said Kastner, "to go into Ara- bia]" "Why notl" replied Niebuhr, "if anybody will pay my expenses." "The King of Denmark," said Kastner, " will pay your expenses." He then entered into the history of the Danish ministry's project, and Niebuhr, whose genuine ambition was most ardent, and who, though in manners modest and unassuming, could not but entertain a favourable opinion of his own capacity, at once engaged to form a mem- ber of the mission. It was agreed, on the part of his Danish majesty, that he should be allowed a year and a half for pre- paration, with a salary sufficient for his maintenance. Niebuhr had now a definite object. The East, with all its barbaric pomp and historical glory, which in preceding and succeeding days have kindled enthusiasm in so many bosoms, appeared to court his examination ; and, like a lover who ap- preciates at their highest value the accomphshments of his mistress, and is bent on rendering himself worthy of her, he CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 90^ thenceforward studied, with vehement earnestness, all those branches of knowledge which he regarded as necessary to a traveller in the East; and Latin, Arabic, the mathematics, drawing, practical mechanics, together with the history of the countries he was about to visit, amply occupied his hours. An additional half-year being granted him, it was not until the Michaelmas of 1760 that he quitted Gottingen for Copen- hagen. Here he was received in the most flattering manner by Count Bernstorf, the Danish minister, by whom he was appointed lieutenant of engineers. The rank of captain he modestly re- fused. Niebuhr was never possessed by an immoderate desire for wealth, and a trait of unpresuming disinterestedness which escaped him during his preparatory studies is at once illustra- tive of this fact, and of another equally important, — that wealth no less than fame is frequently best won by carefully abstaining from grasping at it too eagerly. The salary granted him by the King of Denmark was probably small, but our traveller, with that repugnance to sohcit which is characteristic of supe- rior minds, not only contrived to reduce his wants within the limits of his means, but by rigid economy enabled himself, moreover, to purchase at his own expense whatever instru- ments he needed. The knowledge of this fact coming to the ears of the minister, he not only reimbursed the young travel- ler the sum he had expended, but, as a mark of the high satis- faction he derived from so striking an evidence of honest inde- pendence, committed to his charge the travelling-chest of the mission. Niebuhr's companions were four in number : Von Haven, the linguist, a person of mean capacity ; Forskaal, the natu- rahst, distinguished for his numerous and profound acquire- ments ; Cramer, a physician, devoid even of professional knowledge ; and Bauranfeiud, an artist, not destitute of talent, but ignorant, full of prejudices, and addicted to the vulgar habit of drinking. Von Haven, to whom a long sea-voyage was disagreeable, obtained permission to proceed to Marseilles by land ; and the ship in which the other members of the ex- pedition embarked was directed to take him on board at that port. They left the Sound on the 7th of January, 1761, but were three times driven back by contrary winds ; so that it was not until the 10th of March that they were enabled fairiy to put to sea, and continue their voyage. Niebuhr describes, among the singular things observed during this voyage, a white rainbow, which only differed from the common rainbow in being destitute of colours. This, I beUeve, is a phenomenon not often witnessed; but on the 31st 308 CARSTEN NIEBUHR. of May, 1830, which succeeded a day and night of tremend- ous thunder, lightning, and rain, a similar rainbow was seen in Normandy. It was much thicker, but greatly inferior in span, and less sharply defined at the edges than the ordinary bow; and, as the morning mist upon which it was painted grew thinner, the arch decreased in span, until it at length vanished entirely. Our traveller amused himself while on board in observing the manners of the crew, which he considered manly though unpolished. He likewise exercised himself daily in nautical and astronomical observations ; and by his affability and the extent of his knowledge, acquired and preserved the- respect of both officers and men. They discovered Cape St. Vincent on the 21st of April, and a few days afterward entered the Mediterranean, where their course was considerably retarded by calms and contrary winds. Meanwhile the weather was beautiful, and their eyes were refreshed with the most lovely prospects, now on the African shores, and now on those of Europe. On the 14th of May they cast anchor in the port of Marseilles, which was at that time crowded by Swedish, Danish, Dutch, Spanish, and French ships, the greater num- ber of which were prevented from putting to sea by fear of the English fleets, which scoured the Mediterranean, diffusing consternation and terror on all sides. From the agreeable society of Marseilles, rendered doubly charming in their estimation by their previous privation, they were soon compelled to snatch themselves away. On the 6th of June Niebuhr observed at sea the transit of Venus, and on the 14th reached Malta. This little island enjoys, like Ire- land, the privilege of being free from serpents, which it is sup- posed to owe to the interference of St. Paul ; though Niebuhr imagines that the dry and rocky nature of the soil is sufficient, without a miracle, to account for the circumstance. The knights observing, perhaps, a peculiar absence of bigotry in our traveller, imagined that this indicated a leaning towards Ca- tholicism, and appear to have been desirous of tempting him by magnificent promises to desert the creed of his forefathers. Though his stay in Malta was very short, Niebuhr was careful to observe whatever curiosities the island aflbrded : the great church of St. John, enriched, it is said, by sharing the plunder of the knights, with innumerable ornaments, and a prodigious candlestick of gold ; the hospital, where the sick, whatever might be their medical treatment, were served with vessels of silver ; the immense corn-magazines, hewn out in the rock ; the salt-mines ; and the catacombs. CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 309 In sailing from Malta to Smyrna he was attacked with dysentery, and began to fear that his travels were to terminate there ; but the disorder was less serious than he imagined, and having reached Tenedos, he embarked in a Turkish boat, and proceeded up the Dardanelles to Constantinople. Here, though slowly, he recovered his health, and having remained quiet two months, and provided oriental dresses, not choosing to expose himself in the paltry costume of Europe to the laugh- ter of the populace, he set sail with his companions for Egypt. On the way they landed at Rhodes, where, for the first time they visited a Turkish eating-house. The dinner, though dear, was good, but was served up in common earthen platters, in the open street. They next visited a Jew, who kept wine for the accommodation of Europeans ; and had in his house two young women, whom he called his daughters, who were probably designed for the same purpose. Their reception here cost them still dearer than their Turkish dinner ; and as Jews, wine, and the drinkers of wine are held in contempt by * all sincere and respectable Mohammedans, this must be con- sidered a highly injudicious step in Niebuhr. The ship in which they sailed had on board a number of female slaves, the principal of whom were lodged in a large chamber directly over their cabin, from which we may infer that the Turks do not, like the Burmese, consider it a disgrace to have women walking over their heads. As there were tolerably wide cracks in the ceiling, our travellers frequently enjoyed the pleasure of viewing these ladies, who, though a little terrified at first, soon became accustomed to their faces, and notwithstanding that neither party at all understood the language of the other, many little presents of fruit and other trifles were given and returned. The mode in which this aflfair was conducted was ingenious. As soon as the Mohammedans collected together for prayer, the girls gently tapped at their windows, and Niebuhr and Forskaal, looking out of the cabin, beheld the handkerchiefs of the fair held out for fruit. When filled, they were drawn up, and the presents they chose to make in return were then lowered down in the same way. During the voyage, six or eight persons having died suddenly, it was suspected that they had the plague on board; but Niebuhr imagined that other causes might have hastened the end of those who died ; at all events, none of the members of the expedition were infected, though their physician had often, visited the sick. The land of Egypt at length appeared on the 26th of Sep- tember, and on the same day, late in the evening, they cast anchor in the port of Alexandria. Norden, a scientific, but an uninteresting traveller, having recently constructed a plan of 27 ' ' 310 CARSTEN NIEBUHR. the city, Niebuhr judged that he might spare himself the pains of repeating the process, more especially as the Arabs, hovering in troops in the vicinity, rendered him apprehensive that he might be robbed. However, as the eminence on which Pom- pey's pillar stands overlooks a large portion of the city, he amused himself with taking several angles from thence, in- tending to follow this up by taking others from some other po- sitions. While he was thus engaged, one of the Turkish mer- chants, who happened to be present, observing his telescope pointed towards the city, had the curiosity to look through it, and was not a little alarmed at perceiving a tower upside down. " This," says he, *' gave occasion to a rumour, that I was come to Alexandria to turn the whole city topsyturvy. The report reached the governor's house. My janizary refused to accompany me when I took out my instrument ; and as I then supposed that a European could not venture to appear in an Eastern city without a janizary, I relinquished the idea of •making any further geometrical measurements there." "On another occasion," he continues, "when I was making an as- tronomical observation on the southern point of the Delta, a very civil and sensible peasant, from the village of Daraue, happened to be present. As I wished to show him something he had never seen before, I pointed the telescope of the quad- rant towards his village, on which he was extremely terrified i at seeing all the houses upside down. He asked my servant v' what could be the cause of this. The man replied, that the government, being extremely dissatisfied with the inhabitants of that village, had sent me to overthrow it entirely. The poor peasant was greatly afflicted, and entreated me to wait long enough for him to take his wife, his children, and his cow to some place of safety. My servant assured him he had two hours good. He immediately ran home, and as soon as the * sun had passed the meridian, I took my quadrant on board , again." Niebuhr found a number of Mohammedans at Alexandria who understood French, Swedish, and Danish as completely as if they had been born in the countries where those languages are spoken. As most European travellers proceed up the Nile from this city to Cairo, the members of the expedition were desirous of performing the journey by land, but were re- strained by fear of the Arabs ; and M. Forskaal, who after- ward ventured upon this hardy enterprise, was actually strip- ped to the skin, and with great difficulty obtained back his breeches. Niebuhr now hired a small ship, and embarked on the 31st of October, but was detained in the Gulf of Aboukir by contrary winds. Impatient of delay, his companions pro- CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 3ll .cce<1ed thence to Rosetta by land, with a company of Turks ; but our traveller continued his voyage, and reached the city very shortly after them. Though the inhabitants of Rosetta enjoyed the reputation of being peculiarly pohte towards strangers, Niebuhr was too impatient to behold the capital of modern Egypt to linger long in any provincial city ; he there- fore hastened to ascend the Nile, and enjoyed the romantic prospect of fertility, villages peeping through groves of date- trees, and here and there vast wrecks of ancient cities, which all travellers in that extraordinary country have admired* They arrived at Cairo on the 10th of November. The Nile, like the Ganges, has long been renowned for the daring race of pirates who infest it. Bruce, and many other travellers, have celebrated their ingenuity ; but the lollowing anecdote, related by Niebuhr, exhibits their exquisite skill in a still more favourable point of view : A pasha, recently arrived in Egypt, happening to be encamped on the banks of the river, his servants, aware of the dexterity of their countrymen, kept so strict a watch during the night, that they detected one of the pirates, and brought him before the pasha, who threatened to put him to death on the spot. The prisoner, however, en- treated permission to show the pasha one of the extraordinary tricks of his art, in the hope of thereby inducing him to spare his life. The permission was granted. The man then took up the pasha's garments, and whatever else he found in the tent, and having tied them up into a packet, as the Egyptians do when they are about to swim across a river, made several turns before the company to amuse them. He then insensibly approached the Nile, and darting into the water like lightning, had already 'reached the opposite shore, with the pasha's gar- ments upon his head, before the Turks could get ready their muskets to fire at him. Niebuhr was exceedingly desirous, soon after his arrival at Cairo, of descending the eastern branch of the Nile to Damiet- ta ; but the sky during the whole winter and spring was so overcast with clouds, and the rain fell so frequently, that it was impossible to take astronomical observations. On the 1st of May, however, the weather having cleared up, he left Cairo. The wind blowing from the north, their progress was slow, and he had therefore considerable leisure for observation. The Coptic churches amused him much. In one of these he saw pictures representing Christ, the Virgin, and several saints, on horseback ; intended, perhaps, to insinuate to their Mo- hammedan masters, that the founder of their religion and his followers had not been compelled, as Christians then were in Egypt, to ride upon asses. These churches, moreover, were 312 ' CARSTEN NIEBUHR. strewed with so many crutches, that a stranger might con- clude, upon observing them, that the whole Coptic community had lost the use of their limbs; however, upon inquiry, our traveller discovered that it was the custom among them to stand in church, which many persons found so wearisome that they resolved to aid their piety with crutches. The floors were covered with mats, which, not being changed very fre- quently, swarmed with fleas, numbers of which did our traveller the honour to prefer him before any of their ancient patrons. In approaching Damietta he saw about twenty large boats loaded with bees : each of these boats carried two hundred hives; the number, therefore, of the hives here assembled in one spot, was four thousand; and when the inhabitants of this floating city issued forth to visit the flowers of the neighbour- hood, they must ha^e appeared like a locust cloud. His stay at Damietta, which is about four miles above the mouth of the Nile, was short. Europeans are nowhere in the East so much detested, on account, chiefly, of the profligate character of the French formerly settled there, who, having debauched several Mohammedan women, were nearly all massacred by the infuriated populace. Niebuhr's fancy that they still remember the crusades, and hate the Franks for the evils those insane expeditions inflicted on their ancestors, is just as rational as if the English people were to be supposed to nourish resentment against all the northern nations, because their barbarous ancestors made piratical descents upon the English coasts. While at Cairo he could not, of course, resist the desire of visiting the Pyramids. He therefore hired two Bedouin guides, and proceeded with his friend Forskaal towards the desert, where they were encountered by a young sheikh, who, by dint of bravado and insolence, succeeded in extorting from them a small sum of money ; but had they, when he first oflTer- ed his services, bestowed upon him half a crown, he would nor only have given them no further molestation, but would have constituted himself their protector against all other importu- nates. Niebuhr afterward returned under more favourable auspices, and completed the measurement of the two great pyramids, the loftier of which he found to be four hundred and forty-three feet, and the second to be four hundred and three feet high. I shall hereafter, perhaps, have occasion to remark upon the strange discrepancies which are found between the measurements of various travellers, which are, in fact, so great, that we must suspect some of them, at least, of having wanted the knowledge required for such an undertaking. From con- sidering the petrifactions and the nature of the rocks in this CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 313 neighbourhood, Niebuhr was led to infer the prodigious anti- quity of Egypt: "Supposing the whole of the rocks in the northern portions of the country to be composed of petrifac- tions of a certain kind of shell, how many years," says he, " must have elapsed before a sufficient number of little snails to raise mountains to their present height could have been born and died ! How many other years before Egypt could have been drained and become solid, supposing that, in those re- mote ages, the waters retired from the shore as slowly as they have during the last ten centuries I How many years still, before the country was sufficiently peopled to think of erecting the first pyramid! How many more years, before that vast multitude of pyramids which are still found in the country could have been constructed ! Considering that at the present day we are ignorant of when, and by whom, even the most modern of them was built." On the 20th of August, 1762, Niebuhr and his companions set out with the caravan going from Cairo to Suez : the rest of the party, in spite of the Mohammedans, mounted on horse- back, and Niebuhr himself on a dromedary. By this means he avoided several evils to which the others were lial>le. Seat- ed on his mattress he could turn his face now on one side, now on another, to avoid the heat of the sun ; and, after having travelled all day, was no more fatigued in the evening than if he had been all the while reposing in a chair ; while the horse- men, compelled to remain perpetually in the same posture, were well-nigh exhausted. On the 30ih they encamped near a well of good water, mentioned by Belin, Pietro Delia Valle, and Pococke, close to which the Turks formerly erected a cas- tle, which was now in ruins, and in three hours more arrived at the wells of Suez, which were surrounded by a strong wall, to keep out the Arabs, and entered by a door fastened with enormous clumps of iron. The water here was drawn up with buckets or sacks of leather. Suez, from its fortunate position on the Red Sea, carried on a considerable trade. Numbers of ships were built there an- nually, the materials of which were transported thither on the backs of camels from Cairo. The environs consist of naked rocks, or beds of loose sand, in which nothing but brambles and a few dry stunted plants, among others the rose of Jericho, are found to grow. This rose is employed by the women of the East in various superstitious practices, and is therefore to be found for sale in all cities. When pregnant, they gather one of the buds, and putting its stem in water, foretel whether their pains will be severe or slight from the greater or smaller development of the flower. 27* 3t4 CARSTEN NIEBUHR. Niebuhr*s first inquiry on arriving at Suez was concerning the " Mountains of Inscriptions," about which so much had been said in Europe. Tl)e individuals to whom his first questions were put had never even heard of it; others, who were exactly in the same predicament, but desired to possess themselves of ahttle of their European gold, professed a most accurate knowledge of the spot, but upon inquiry were de- tected. At length, however, an Arab was discovered, from whose replies it was clear, that whether he had seen the real Gebtlel Mokatteb or not, some mountain or another he had beheld, ujJon which inscriptions in an unknown language were to be found. Under this man's guidance, therefore, they placed themselves, — Thatis, Niebuhr and Von Haven, for the rest were, from various causes, detained at Suez; and leaving the Red Sea on their right hand they struck off into the desert. Niebuhr found that the Arabs, whose profession it is to serve as guides, were distinguished, like all other persons of that class, for their extravagant cupidity. So long as they could live at the expense of strangers, their own provisions and means were assiduously spared ; but on other occasions they exhibited various symptoms that the old national virtue of hospitality was not wholly banished from their minds. The women in this part of Arabia are not in the habit of conceal- ing their faces from strangers, as is the fashion in Egypt. Niebuhr, in his solitary rambles through the country, discovered the wife and sister of a sheikh grinding corn beside their tent; who, instead of flying and concealing themselves at his ap- proach, as he seems to have expected, came forward, accord- ing to the good old custom of the East, with a present in their hands. On arriving at what his guides called the " Mountain of In- scriptions," a lofty rugged eminence, which it cost them much time and toil to chmb, he found — not what he had expected — but a vast Egyptian cemetery, in which were a great number of sepulchral monuments covered with hieroglyphics. These inscriptions he was not permitted to copy at the time, because the sheikh of the moimtain apprehended he might thereby gain possession of the immense treasures concealed beneath ; but one of his guides, who probably had little faith in that point of the sheikh's creed, afterward, on his return from Mount Sinai, enabled him to copy whatever he pleased. On his arri- val at the convent of St. Catherine the monks politely refused to admit him, alleging, as their excuse, that he had not brought along with him a letter from their bishop. The patriarch's letter, which he presented to them, they returned unopened. He was, in fact, destined to meet with nothing but disappoint- CARSTEN NIEBUIIR. 315 ment in these celebrated regions ; for his Arabs, having con- ducted him up to a certain height on Mount Sinai, refused to proceed any fartlier, and he was not possessed of sufficient resolution to ascend the remainder alone. Niebuhr now hastened back to Suez, and on his return forded the Red Sea on his dromedary, a thing which no Euro- pean had done before, though the guides, who were on foot, did not find the water above knee deep. Being desirous of surveying the extremity of the Arabian Gulf, he procured a guide soon after his return from Mount Sinai, with whom he set out upon this expedition. They travelled, however, in con- stant fear; and the sight of a stranger in the distance increas- ed the terrors of the guide to so extraordinary a pitch, that it may be suspected he had blood upon his hands, and dreaded the hour of retribution. The constant arrival of pilgrims from Egypt had now ren- dered Suez, in proportion to its extent, more populous than Cairo. These holy men, being on their way to the city of their prophet, regarded Christians with an evil eye, just as a bigoted Franciscan travelling to Jerusalem would regard a heretic or an unbeliever; and on this account Niebuhr greatly dreaded the voyage lie was about to perform in their company from Suez to Jidda. To avoid, as far as possible, all causes of dispute with their fellow-passengers, they embarked several days before the rest, paid their passage, stowed away their luggage, and then amused themselves with observing the strange characters by which they were surrounded, not the least extraordinary of which was a rich black eunuch, who in imitation of the great Turkish lords, travelled with his harem. All the passengers having at length repaired on board, they set sail on the 9th of October, and sailing along coral reefs, which in bad weather are highly dangerous, they arrived next day at Tor. Near this town is a small village inhabited by Christians, to which Forskaal went alone, for the purpose of visiting what is supposed to be the site of ancient Elim. While he was absent, it was rumoured on board that the Arabs had formed the intention of pursuing and arresting the Frank, who had landed with the design of sketching their mountains; upon which a number of janizaries from Cairo, who happened to be on board, immediately set out for the village, and having met with M. Forskaal, conducted him back in safety to the vessel. "Are there many Christians," inquires Niebuhr, " who, under similar circumstances, would do as much for a Jewr» \ 316 CAKSTEN NIEBUHR. On the evening of the 16th of October they discovered, about sunset, the Emerald Mountains on the coast of Egypt, called Gebel Zumrud by the Arabs. Next day there happened an echpse of the sun. In Mohammedan countries persons who are able to calculate an eclipse are regarded as consum- mate physicians. Forskaal had informed Xhe, reis, or captain, that an eclipse was about to take place ; and to amuse him and keep him from interrupting his astronomical observations, Niebuhr had smoked several glasses, through which he, as well as the principal ipercliants, might contemplate the phe- nomenon. They were all greatly amused, and from that moment Forskaal enjoyed the reputation of being a second Avicenna. From a spirit of humane complaisance, which in- duces us to allow every one an opportunity of exhibiting his pecuhar talents, men are exceedingly apt to fall ill when they come in contact with a physician. Our traveller's Moham- medan companions were particularly polite in this way; for, no sooner had they persuaded themselves that there was a physician on board, than they all discovered that they were attacked by diseases which had previously lain dormant, and confidingly demanded medicines and advice. Forskaal pre- scribed for all. To the majority he recommended more or less sleep, and a careful attention to their diet. A pilgrim at length presented himself, who complained that he was unable to see during the night. The physician advised him to light a candle. This was excellent. The Arabs, who are naturally lively, burst into a loud laugh, and all their diseases were for- gotten in a moment. Between Ras Mohammed and Hassani the ship was twice in danger of being set on fire by the negligence of the women ; but at length they reached this small island in safety, and the Mohammedans believing the principal danger to be now over, exhibited various tokens of joy, firing muskets and pistols, illuminating the ship with lamps and lanterns, and uttering the triumphant cry of Be, be, he! so commonly used by the orien- tals. The sailors and the pilot petitioned for a present, the former coming round to each passenger with a little boat in their hands, which, when the collecti )n was over, was thrown into the sea. During this passage Niebuhr, who, up to his arrival at Suez, had scarcely seen the face of a Mohammedan woman, had an opportunity of viewing three or four of them naked in a bath; and his indiscreet curiosity very fortunately entailed upon him no evil consequences. On the 29th of October they arrived at Jidda, where the usual attempts were made to defraud the custom-house. In CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 3if this praiseworthy design some succeeded to the extent of their desires ; but others, less adroit, or more unfortunate, were de- tected and compelled to pay the duties, no such atrocity as the confiscation of the whole property being ever practised. A duty of two or two and a half per cent, being levied upon all specie, people were most anxious to conceal their wealth: but by endeavouring to effect this, one of Niebuhr's companions suffered severely ; for in stepping from the ship into the boat, his purse, which he had tied round his body, opened accident- ally, and about a hundred crowns fell into the sea. The com- mon cash of the expedition was conveyed on shore in the bottoms of their boxes of drugs, which were not searched, it being in Arabia a general opinion that physicians, having no need of money, seldom carry any about with them. Niebuhr had observed in Egypt that the populace looked with inexpressible contempt upon Christians, and thence in- ferred that in proportion as they approached the Holy City they should find this inhospital bigotry on the increase ; but his apprehensions were unfounded, for the people of Jidda, long accustomed to the sight of Europeans, and constantly experi- encing the humanizing influence of commerce, were peculiarly refined, allowing strangers to do almost what they pleased. It was merely forbidden them to approach the Mecca gate ; which, like the city to which it leads, is reputed holy. Our traveller, during his residence at Cairo, had formed an ac- quaintance with a poor sheikh, who, for a Mohammedan, might be said to be as highly favoured by science as he was neglected by fortune; and this man, in gratitude for -the knowledge he had derived from him, besides furnishing him with letters of recommendation to the Kihaya and Pasha of Jidda, had privately written to those important personages, who had honoured him for his knowledge, earnestly requestmg them to show every possible mark of kindness and attention to his European friends. These were the letters from which they had least expectations, and presented last; nevertheless, when the recommendations of all their other friends had failed even to procure them a lodging, those of the poor sheikh intro- duced them to powerful protectors. Niebuhr was here witness of the curious mode of catching wild ducks noticed by Po- cocke in Upper Egypt, and by another English traveller in China. When a number of these birds were observed in the water, the sportsman undressed, covered his head with sea- weed, and then crept quietly into the water. By this means the ducks were deceived, so that they allowed the man to come near and catch them by the legs. 318 CAESTEN NIEBUUR. They remained at Jidda until the 14th of December, when they embarked in one of the country vessels for Loheia. Nie- buhr was not possessed of the art of painting what he saw with the fine colours of language. His narrative is frequently dry even to insipidity. He was observant, he was calm, he was judicious, but he was destitute of eloquence, and this deficien- cy is nowhere in his works more strongly felt than in his ac- count of his various voyages through the Red Sea. On the 22d they landed on the coast of Yemen, near Fej el Jelbe, inhabited by Bedouins, who are suspected of being pagans. A few tents were discovered on the shore, and as soon as the travellers had landed, which they did unarmed lest they should be taken for enemies, several of the wild natives came down to meet them. Their appearance and dress were extraordinary. Their dark hair descended in profusion to their shoulders ; and instead of a turban, several of them had merely a cord tied round the head, intended, I imagine, to keep their tresses in order. Others, more careful and industrious, had woven themselves a kind of bonnet with green palm-leaves. A miserable waist-cloth constituted the whole of their dress. From the eagerness of the sailors to get their lances out of their hands they immediately discovered that they were sus- pected ; upon which they cast the weapons on the ground, assuring the strangers that they had nothing to fear. Not- withstanding that tiiey had landed in search of provisions the Bedouins conducted them to their tents, where two women came out to meet them. Their salutation was curious. The women, who were unveiled, kissed the arm of the sheikh, who, m return, pressed their heads with his lips. The ladies then advanced towards the strangers. Their complexion was sallow brown, they had blackened their eyelids with surme, and died their nails with henne; and, like the lower ranks of women in Egypt, exhibited marks of tattooing on the chin, cheeks and forehead. Cosmetics being rare in those countries, they requested our travellers to favour them with a small quan- tity of kohol and al henne; but they had injudiciously neg- lected to provide themselves with any thing of the kind, and consequently saw themselves in the disagreeable predicament of being compelled to refuse. On their arrival at Loheia they were received with remark- able politeness by the emir and the chief merchants of the city. They had taken the small vessel in which they performed the voyage for a longer passage as far as Hodeida; and the cap- tain, understanding that they had some intention of remaining at Loheia, secretly applied to the emir with a request that he would compel them to complete their engagement, either by CARSTEN NIEBUHR. 319 proceeding all the way to Hodeida, or by paying the whole sum agreed upon. With a generosity not often displayed towards utter strangers by men in office, the emir replied, that should the travellers refuse payment of the sum in question, he himself would satisfy his demands; and the principal merchant to whom the suspicious navigator also applied enter- ed into the same engagement. Of course they were not al- lowed to suffer by their grateful and astonished guests. The above merchant in his eastern style of hospitality, gave them a house to live in during their stay. In return the travel- lers amused him and the emir with the effects of their micro- scopes, telescopes, &c. These things filled them with won- der; crowds of people, curious but well-behaved, thronged their court from morning till night, examining with attention whatever they saw, and expressing their astonishment at every thing. This was too much for Danish politeness. They hired a porter, and stationing him at their door, gave strict or- ders that none but professional men should be admitted. But the curiosity of the Arabs was not to be subdued so easily; for, when all other excuses failed, they feigned illness, and gained admittance under pretence of coming to consult the physician. Sometimes Dr. Cramer, who appears to have been an uncouth creature, was requested to favour sick persons with a visit at their own houses, and one day received a pressing entreaty to repair without delay to the emir el bahr, or captain of the port, who had need of consulting him. Cramer, not attending to this summons immediately, was shortly afterward informed that the emir el bahr^s saddle-horse was at the door waiting for him. This piece of attention was too flattering to be resisted ; he therefore descended immediately, and was about to put his foot into the stirrup, when he was interrupted with the infor- mation that the horse was unwell, and had been brought there as a patient! Physicians in Arabia prescribe for horses as well as men; this, therefore was not meant as an insult ; but Cramer, who felt all his Danish blood curdle in his veins at the bare idea of prescribing for a Mohammedan horse, and was, moreover, mortified at not being allowed to mount his patient^ indignantly refused to exercise the functions of a horse-doctor. Luckily, however, their European servant, who had served in a dragoon regiment, understood something of the veterinary art, and undertook the cure of the emir's horse; which suc- ceedingly happily, he also was regarded as an eminent physi- cian, and was allowed to elevate his ambition to the treatment of men. As our travellers continued, as far as possible, to live after the European fashion, their manners were necessarily as much v320 CARSTEN NIEBUHR. an object of curiosity to the Arabs as those of the Arabs were to them. One day two young men came to see them eat. Of these, one was a young nobleman from Sana, whose gentle manners announced a superior education; the other, a young chief from the mountains, whose country was seldom visited by strangers. This the naivete and simplicity of his manners soon rendered manifest. Upon being invited to eat, he replied, •^'God preserve me from eating with infidels, who have no be- lief in God !" Niebuhr then demanded the name of his coun- try ; " What," said he, " can my country concern thee? Hast thou formed the design of going thither to subdue it T' He afterward made several remarks upon their manners, the sim- plicity of which excited their laughter; at which the Arab felt ashamed, and ran away in confusion. His companion fetched liim back, however, and he returned, wondering at the amaz- ing quantity of food which they devoured. Fowl after fowl disappeared before these mighty eaters ; the poor Arab, who began to entertain awful ideas of the capacity of a German stomach, and apprehending that they might bring about a famine in the land, for a while looked on in silent amazement; but w^hen they had already eaten as much as would, perhaps, have satisfied a whole tribe of Bedouins, he started up, upon seeing Von Haven preparing to carve yet another fowl, and seizing him by the arm, exclaimed, "How much then, dost thou intend to eat V This sally produced still louder peals of laughter than ever, and the poor Arab, who probably appre- hended that they might finish by eating him, rushed out of the house and disappeared. Having sufficiently observed whatever was interesting or new at Loheia, they departed thence on the 20th of February, 1763, their servants and baggage mounted on camels, and themselves on asses. Not that Europeans were here, as at Cairo, prohibited from riding on horseback, but that horses were dear and not easily to be hired, while the asses, though comparatively cheap, were large fine animals, of easy gait. Arabia, it is well known, is surrounded by a belt of burning sand, which has in all ages aided in protecting it from inva- sion. This our travellers had now to traverse, but they sutfer- ed no particular inconvenience from the heat, and in four days arrived at Beit el Fakih^ the greatest coffee emporium in the world. Niebuhr, being now in a country where travelling was at- tended with no risk, and desiring, apparently, to escape from the society of his companions, hired an ass, and set out alone on an excursion to several neighbouring towns. This was flucceeded by several other excursions, and at length he pro- CARSTEX NIEBUHR. 32^1 ceeded to the Coffee Mountains, a district which offers, per- haps, as many curious particulars to the observation of a trav- eller as any spot in Asia. These mountains could be ascend- ed only on foot. The road, though rugged and broken, lay through coffee plantations and gardens, and to Niebuhr, vi^lio had just quitted the burning plains of the Tehama, afforded the most exquisite gratification. The prospects, moreover, which here meet the eye on ail sides are rich and beautiful. They are precisely what the hills of Judea must have been be- fore Sion had been profaned by the heathen, when every man, confident in the protection of the Lord, sat down tranquilly under his vine or under his fig-tree. These mountains are covered with vineyarJs to the summit, have a woody appear- ance, and are beautified by numerous mountain streams, which frequently leap in long cascades from the rocks. The coffee-tree, which was at this time in full flower in many places, diffuses around an agreeable odour, and somewhat resembles the Spanish jasmin. The Arabs plant these trees so close that the rays of the sun can scarcely find their way between them, which prevents the necessity of frequent watering ; but they have reservoirs on the heights from which they can, vvhen necessary, turn numerous streamlets into the plantations. From the Coffee Mountains they returned to Beit el Fakih, whence they shortly afterward departed on another short ex- cursion. The natives, who carefully abstained from exposing themselves to the sun during the heat of the day, expressed their well-grounded astonishment that Europeans should be imprudent enough to hazard so dangerous a step; and our travellers were, in reality, at this very time laying the founda- tion of those fatal diseases which shortly afcerward swept them away, Niebuhr only excepted ; for I am persuaded that they might have returned, even in spite of their execrable diet and destructive habits of drinking, to brave the climate of Yemen, had they timed their journeys more judiciously. By this time their appearance was tolerably oriental ; the gun had bronzed their countenances, their beards had acquir- ed a respectable length, their dress was exactly that of the country, and they had, moreover, adopted Arabic names. Even their guides no longer took them for Europeans but supposed them to be members of the eastern church, who by forbidden studies had succeeded in discovering the art of making golJ, and were searching among the lonely recesses of their mountains for some rare plant whose juices were re- quisite in their alchymical processes. Niebuhr's assiduous observation of the stars considerably aided in strengthening 23 322 CARSTEN NIEBUHR. this delusion, which upon the whole, perhaps, was rathet* beneficial to them than otherwise. In the hilly districts of Yemen our traveller observed among the Arabs a peculiar mode of passing the night. Instead of making use of a bed, each individual crept entirely naked into a sack, where, without closing the mouth of it, the breath and transpiration kept him sufficiently warm. Niebuhr himself never tried the sack, but veiy soon acquired the habit, which is universal among the Arabs of Yemen, of sleeping with the face covered, to guard against the malignant ellects of the dews and poisonous winds. Here, M. Forskaal discovered the small tree that produces the balm of Mecca, which hap- pening to be in flower at the time enabled him to write a com- plete description of it, which he did seated under its branches. The inhabitants, who knew nothing of its value, merely made use of it as firewood, on account of its agreeable odour. Upon descending from these mountainous countries, where the climate is as cool and salubrious as in most parts of Eu- rope, Niebuhr found the heat of the Tehama almost insupport- able, and entering a little coffee-house, overwhelmed with fatigue, threw himself on his mat in a current of air, and fell asleep. This heedless action nearly cost him his life. He awoke in a violent fever, which hung about him for a consid- erable time, and reduced his frame to such an extreme state of weakness that the shghtest exertion became painful. Von Haven, too, whose supreme delight consisted in brandy, wine, and good eating, and who seldom quitted his sofa, except for the purpose of placing himself before his gods at the dinner- table, now began to experience the impolicy of feeding like an ogre in the deserts of the Tehama, and very quickly fell a victim to his imprudence. From Beit el Fakih they proceeded to Mokha, where, as at Cairo, Europeans were compelled to enter the city by a par- ticular gate, on foot, as a mark of humiliation. Niebuhr found that he and his companions were here taken for Turks, and they were accordingly directed to the khan, or inn, where the Osmanlis usually took up their abode. Though they under- stood that there was an English merchant at Mokha, they judged it unnecessary, in the first instance, to make applica- tion to him, as they had everyM'here else in Yemen been re- ceived with politeness and hospitality; and besides, they were somewhat apprehensive that, from their dress and appearance, he might be led to regard them as vagabonds or renegades. They therefore addressed themselves to an Arab merchant, by whom they were well received. CARSTEN NIEBUHll»> 32?* The people of Mokha made some pretensions to civilizationt which is unfortunate, as the term, at least in the East, means custom-house officers, and insolence towards strangers. Our travellers, though no merchants, had large quantities of bag- gage, which, of course, was taken to the custom-house, before they could be allowed to enjoy the use of it. I have already observed, that although Niebuhr himself was a temperate, per- haps even an abstemious man, his companions set a high value on the gratification of their senses. Von Haven himself, who, as I have already observed, shortly afterward fell a vic- tim to his indiscretion, was still among them, and it may therefore be easily imagined that the first articles they were desirous of obtaining from the custom-house were their cook- ing utensils and their beds. The Arabs, however, were differ- ently minded. They allowed their curiosity to fasten upon the cases in which the natural history specimens were packed, and resolved to begin with them. Among these, unfortunate- ly, there was a small barrel containing various fish of the Red Sea, preserved in spirits of wine. This M. Forskaal, who had collected these fishes himself, injudiciously requested the officers to allow to pass unopened. The request immediately roused all their suspicions. He might, for aught they knew, be a magician, who had confined the Red Sea itself in that barrel, for the purpose of carrying it off, with all its fishes, into Eu- rope. It behooved them, therefore, to bestir themselves. Ac- cordingly the barrel was the first thing opened ; but when the operation had been performed, the result anticipated by the naturalist was produced, for so pungent, so atrocious a stink was emitted from the half-putrefied fish, that the authorities very probably apprehended them to be a troop of assassins, commissioned by the devil to administer perdition through the nostrils to all true believers. The custom-house officer, how- ever, confiding in the protection of the Prophet, determined to brave the infernal odour, and in order to explore the abomina- tion to the bottom, took out the horrid remains of the fish, and stirred up the liquor with a piece of iron. The entreaties of the travellers to have it put on one side probably caused them to be regarded as ghouls, who made their odious repasts upon such foul preparations. The Arab still stirred and stirred, and at length in an inauspicious moment upset the cask, and deluged the whole custom-house with its contents. Had Mo- hammed himself been boiled in this hquid, it could not have smelt more execrably ; we may therefore easily imagine the disgust with which the grave assembly beheld it flowing under their beards, infecting them with a scent which it would take several dirrhems* worth of perfume to remove. Their ill- 324 CARSTEN NIEBUHR. hHmour was increased when, on opening another cask, con- taining insects, their nostrils were again saluted with a fresh variety of stink, wliich they inferred must possess pecuHar charms for the nose of a Frank, since he wouKl travel so far to procure himself the enjoyment of its savour. An idea now began to suggest itself to the Arahs, which still further irritated them, which was, that the insolent Franks had packed up these odious things in order to insult the governor of the city, at the expense of whose beard, it was not doubted, they in- tended to amuse themselves. This persuasion was fatal to many a cockleshell. They mercilessly thrust down a pointed iron bar through the collections, crushing shells, and beetles, and spiders. The worst stroke of all, however, was yet to come. This was the opening of a small cask, in which several kinds of serpents were preserved in spirits. Everybody was now terrified. It was suggested that the Franks had no doubt come to the city for the purpose of poisoning the inhabitants, and had represented themselves as physicians in order to com- mit their horrid crimes the more effectually. Even the gov- ernor was now moved. In fact, his anger was roused to such a pitch, that, though a grave and pious man, he exclaimed, "By God, these people shall not pass the night in our city!" The custom-house was then closed. While they were in this perplexity, one of their servants arrived in great hurry and confusion, with the news that their books and clothes had been thrown out through the window at their lodgings, and the door shut against them. They moreover found, upon inquiry, thnt it would be difficult to dis- cover any person who would receive into his house individuals suspected of meditating the poisoning of the city ; but at length a man bold enough to undertake this was found. Such was their position when they received from the English mer- chant above alluded to an invitation to dinner. "Never,'* says Niebuhr, " was an invitation more gladly accepted ; for we not only found at his house a dinner such as we had never seen since our departure from Cairo, but had at the same time the good fortune to meet with a man who became our sincere and faithful friend. The affair of the custom-liouse was long and tedious; but at length, by dint of bribery and perseverance, their baggage, snakes and all, was delivered to them, and they even rose, in consequence of a cure attempted by M. Cramer on the governor's leg, into high consideration and favour. Niebuhr was here again attacked by dysentery, and Von Haven died. This event inspired the whole party with terror, and having with much difficulty obtained the governor's per- mission, they shortly afterward departed for the interior. CARSTEN NIEBUHR. They travelled by night, to escape the extreme heat of the sun, but soon found the roads so bad as to render this mode of journeying impracticable. The country during the early part of their route was barren, and but thinly inhabited; but in proportion as tliey departed from the shore the landscape im- proved in beauty and fertility. At the small city of Jerim, on the road to Sana, Niebuhr had the misfortune to lose his friend Forskaal, the best Arabic scholar of the whole party, and a man who looked forward with enthusiasm to the glory to be derived from the successful termination of their travels. The bigotry of the Mohammedans rendered it difficult to obtain a place of burial for tlie dead, who was interred in the European fashion ; which, immediately after their departure, caused the Arabs, who imagine that the Europeans bury treasures with their dead, to exhume the body. Finding nothing to reward their pains, they compelled the Jews to reinter him ; and as these honest people complained that they were likely to have no remuneration for their labour, the governor allowed them to take the coffin in payment, and restore the body naked to the earth. On the 17th of July, 1763, they arrived in the environs of Sana, and sent forward a servant with a letter, announcing their arrival to the chief minister of the imam. This states- man, however, who had previously received tidings of their approach, and was desirous of receiving them with true Arab politeness, had already despatched one of his secretaries to meet them at the distance of half a league from the city. This gentleman informed them that they had been longexpect- tid at Sana, and that, in order to render their stay agreeable, the imam liad assigned them a country-house at Bir el Assab. While they were conversing with the secretary, and secretly congratulating themselves on their good fortune, they arrived at the entrance into their garden, where the Arab desired them to alight. They of course obeyed, but soon discovered that their guide had played them a trick in the mannc^r of the people of Cairo, for he remained on his ass during the rest of the way, which was considerable, enjoying the pleasure of beholding a number of Franks toiling along on foot beside his beast. This put them out of humour, and their spleen was increased when, on arriving at their villa, they found that, however elegant or agreeable it might be, it did not contain a single article of furniture, or a person who would provide them even with bread and water. Next day, however, they received from the imam a present of five sheep, three camel-loads of wood, a large quantity of wax-tapers, rice, and spices. At the same time they were in- 28* 326 OABSTEN NIEBUHR. formed that two days at least would elapse before tliey could obtain an audience, a matter about which they were indifferent; but that they could not in the mean time quit tlieir house. Though considerably chagrined at the latter circumstance, they hoped in some measure to neutralize its effects, by receiv- ing the visits of such natives as curiosity, or any other motive, might allure to the house ; and accordingly were very much gratified at the appearance of a Jew, who had performed in their company the journey from Cairo to Loheia. This young Israelite, delighted to spend a few moments in the company of persons who received him without any demonstrations of con- tempt, appeared to experience a gratification in obliging them; and came on the second day accompanied by one of tlie most celebrated astrologers of his sect, from whom Niebuhr learned the Hebrew appellations of several stars. While he was yet conversing with this learned descendant of Abraham, the secretary of the imam arrived. They were ignorant of the etiquette of the court of Sana, according to which they should have abstained from receiving as well as from paying visits ; but the secretary, whose business it was to have instructed them on these points, doubly enraged by their infraction of the rules of decorum, and by a sense of his own negligence, direct- ed all the violence of his fury against the unfortunate Jews, whose society he imagined must have been equally disagreea- ble to the travellers as it would have been to him. He there- fore not oidy expelled them from the house, but, in order to protect the imam's guests from a repetition of the same intru- sion, gave peremptory orders to their Moliammedan attendant to admit no person whatever until they should liave obtained their audience. Two days after their arrival they were admitted into the presence of the imam. It is probable that, having previously formed an exalted idea of the splendour of oriental princes, the reader will be liable to disappo!n ment on the present occasion. The riches and magnificence of the califs, however, of which we find so many jrlowing descriptions in the Thousand and One Nights, in D'Herbelot, and many other writers, have long passed away, leaving to the successors of those religious mon- archs notliing but remembrance of ancient glory, which gleams like a meteoric light about their throne and diadem. Niebuhr, arriving at Sana from the sandy deserts of the Tehama, where poverty reigns paramount over every thing, enjoyed the ad- vantage of possessing an imagination sobered by stern reali- ties. His fancy depicted the court of the imam in the livery of the desert. He expected little. If he was disappointed* therefore, it was not disagreeably. v; CARSTEN NTEBUHR. 327 ' |6^ The imam, with a vanity pardonable enough in a prince who learns from his cradle to estimate his own greatness by the pomp and glitter which surround him, had in fact employ- ed the two days elapsed since the arrival of his guests in active preparations for their reception ; and the rules of etiquette forbidding strangers to pay or receive visits during the interval, were originally intended to conceal this circumstance, and create the belief that the holyday appearance of the court was its ordinary costume. Our travellers were conducted to the palace by the minister's secretary, who here performed what is called the mehmaudar's office in Persia. They found the great court of the edifice thronged with horses, officers, and other Arabs of various grades ; so that it required the ministry of the imam's grand equerry to open them a way through the crowd. The hall of audience was a spacious square apart- ment, vaulted above, and having on its centre several fountains of water, which, gushing aloft to a considerable height, and falling again incessantly, maintained a refreshing coolness in the air. A broad divan, adornpd with fine Persian carpets, occupied the extremity of the hall, and flanked the throne, which was merely covered with silken stuffs, and rich cush- ions. Here the imam sat cross-legged, according to the cus- tom of the East. He received the travellers graciously, allow- ed them to kiss the hem of his garment, and the back and palm of his hand — an honour which is but sparingly granted to strangers. At the conclusion of this ceremony a herald cried aloud, "God save the imam !" and all the people repeat- ed the same words. As their knowledge of Arabic was stiH very limited, they conversed with the imam by means of an interpreter, a. contrivance admiraLly adapted for shortening public conferences, since there are £tw persons who, under such circumstances, would be disposed to indulge in useless circumlocution. The result of this audience was, that they obtained the prince's permission to remain in the country as long as they desired ; and on their retiring, a small present in money was sent them, which they judiciously determined to accept. In the afternoon of the same day they were invited to the minis- ter's villa, where Niebuhr exhibited his mathematical instru- ments, his microscopes, books, engravings,