Chapter II Slavery and Escape

Recovering, I went to London with all the crew and our master. This voyage was very successful to us, all the crew members returned home grown rich. Even my 40 pounds turned into 300 pounds sterling. This first success elated me and I resolved to go to the same voyage again. However, one event overshadowed[50] those days: to my great misfortune, my friend, the master of our ship, was dying soon after the arrival, though I was deprived of the faithful and honest comrade.

When I decided for the second time to set the sail, I found the widow of my deceased friend, captain, and left her 200 pounds for safekeeping, and I must say, she preserved this money very faithfully. So, I did not carry quite 100 pounds of my new-gained wealth with me to the new voyage.

That was the unhappiest trip that ever man made. Our ship, making her course towards the Canary Islands, or rather between those islands and the African shore, was surprised in the grey of the morning by a Turkish rover[51] of Sallee, who gave chase to us with all the sail he could make. We crowded also as much canvas as our yards would spread,[52] or our masts carry, to get clear; but finding the pirate gained upon us, and would certainly come up with us in a few hours, we prepared to fight; our ship having twelve guns, and the rogue eighteen. About three in the afternoon he came up with us[53] and entered sixty men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and hacking the sails and rigging.[54] We plied them with small shot, half-pikes, powder-chests, and such like, and cleared our deck of them twice. However, to cut short this melancholy part of our story, our ship was disabled, and three of our men killed, and eight wounded, we were obliged to yield,[55] and were carried all prisoners into Sallee, a port belonging to the Moors.

Most of our men were carried up the country to the emperor’s court or to the slave market. However, in those days I was young, strong, nimble[56] and smart fellow, so my fate was not as abysmal as the rest crew: I was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper prize, and made his own slave. At this surprising change of my fate, from a merchant to a miserable slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed;[57] and now I looked back upon my father’s prophetic[58] discourse to me, that I should be miserable and have none to relieve me.

My new patron, or master, had taken me to his house, so I was in hopes that he would take me with him when he went to sea again. I believed, that it would some time, when this sea rover will be taken by a Spanish or Portugal man-of-war, and that then I should be set at liberty.

But this hope of mine was soon taken away; for when he went to sea, he left me on shore to look after his little garden, and do the common domestic things about his house; and when he came home again from his cruise, he ordered me to lie in the cabin on board to look after the ship.

For two long years I had been a miserable slave of my patron, and all my thoughts were only about the escape and release. Most of time I spent on land, looking after the master’s household. I left the land only on the rare occasions, when my patron went on a fishing trip. He used constantly, once or twice a week, sometimes oftener if the weather was fair, to take the ship and go out into the road a-fishing. I proved very dexterous in catching fish; insomuch that sometimes patron took me and young boy Xury, as they called him, to row the boat and to help him fishing.

Two or three times we went into a long voyage that we were two leagues from the shore, because farther from the coast line we could caught larger fish. We usually went for such a trip by our English ship, that pirate, our master, had taken. We never went a-fishing without a compass and some provision. In the middle of the long-boat, in our ship, there were a state-room, and this cabin had been served as a buffet. In this buffet were stored baskets of sea biscuits, bread, rice and coffee. Every time there were about eight or ten bottles of the port wine and liquor as the master thought to drink. The reason of such a foresight and thrifty[59] of our master, was one incident that occurred shortly before.

It happened one time, that going a-fish in a calm morning, a fog rose so thick that, though we were not half a league from the shore, we lost sight of it; we laboured all day, and all the next night and we knew not whither or which way; and when the morning came we found we had pulled off to sea instead of pulling in for the shore; and that we were at least two leagues from the shore. However, we got well in again, though with a great deal of labour[60] and some danger; for the wind began to blow pretty fresh in the morning; but we were all very hungry.

But our patron, warned by this disaster, resolved to take more care of himself for the future, therefore took all the measures to stock up with provisions and drinks. In this way, that minor incident gave me a good turn.

Since then, my thoughts of escape became stronger than ever before. I began to prepare to flee.[61]

One day it happened that he had appointed to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or for fish, with two or three Moors of some distinction in that place,[62] and for whom he had provided extraordinarily, and had, therefore, sent on board the boat overnight a larger store of provisions than ordinary; and had ordered me to get ready three fusees with powder and shot, which were on board his ship, for that they designed some sport of fowling as well as fishing.

This moment my former notions of deliverance darted into my thoughts, for now I found I was likely to have a little ship at my command. I prepared to furnish myself, not for fishing business, but for a voyage.

All the gunpowder and bullets were kept on pirate’s man-of-war,[63] by which he usually went on looting. So, the master ordered the Moor, called Ismael, who guarded the ship, to give me everything for fowling. And then I went on a little trick. I called to Moor – “Moely,” said I (everyone called Ismael Muley, or Moely), “our patron’s guns are on board of his English ship, can you not get a little more powder and shot? It may be we kill some alcamies (a fowl like our curlews[64]) for ourselves, for I know we must not presume to eat of our patron’s bread. We can divide all the prey equally!”

“Yes,” says he, “I’ll bring some;” and accordingly he brought a great leather pouch, which held a pound and a half of powder, or rather more; and another with shot, that had five or six pounds, with some bullets, and put all aboard the ship.

I conveyed also a great lump of beeswax[65] into the boat, which weighed about half a hundred-weight, a hatchet, a saw, and a hammer, all of which were of great use to us afterwards, especially the wax, to make candles.

I got all things ready and waited the next morning on a board, washed clean, ready to sail; when my patron came on board alone, and told me his guests had put off going from some business that fell out, and ordered me, with the boy, Xury, as usual, to go out with ship and catch them some fish, for that his friends were to sup[66] at his house, and commanded that as soon as I got some fish I should bring it home to his house.

So, I went out to sea alone, out of the port to fish, on board of a ship full of supplies, furnished with everything needful, accompanied only by young Xury and Luck.

The castle, which is at the entrance of the port, knew who we were, and took no notice of us; and we were not above a mile out of the port before we set us down to fish.

After we had fished some time and caught nothing – for when I had fish on my hook I would not pull them up, I said to the Xury, “This will not do; our master will not be served; we must stand farther off.” He, thinking no harm,[67] agreed, and being in the head of the ship, set the sails.

When we were about two miles above the shore, I took the gun out of the cabin and went to Xury. When he saw the gun in my hands, a fear reflected on his face. I touched his shoulder and said to him,

“Xury, if you will be faithful to me, I’ll make you a great man; but if you will not be true to me, I must kill you.” The boy smiled in my face, the fear in his eyes immediately disappeared, and spoke so innocently that I could not distrust him, he swore to be faithful to me,[68] and go all over the world with me.

So, I enlisted the full support of Xury and became a full captain of our ship, and a master of one-person crew. In fear, that our ex-patron, pirate from Sallee, could sent us the chase,[69] I decided to make one trick: while our ship was in view from the coast line, I stood out directly to sea with the ship, that they might think me gone towards the Strait of Gibraltar[70] (as indeed any one must have been supposed to do).

But as soon as it grew dusk[71] in the evening, I changed my course, and sailed directly south and by east, bending my course a little towards the east, that I might keep in with the shore; and having a fresh wind, and a smooth, quiet sea, I made such sail that I believe by the next day, at three o’clock in the afternoon, when I first made the land,[72] I could not be less than one hundred and fifty miles south of Sallee.

During the next five or six days the tail-wind continued to blow, though I would not stop, or come to an anchor and go on shore, yet such was the fright I had taken of Moors. I concluded, that if any of them were in chase of me, they would now give over, therefore I decided to sail near the coast line.

We sailed along the coast of Africa, close to the shore. Sometimes we heard lions and other wild beasts. We needed fresh water, but we were afraid to go ashore, for fear of wild beasts and savages.[73] However, one day, I came to an anchor in the mouth of a little river, I knew not what, nor where, neither what latitude, what country, what nation, or what river. The principal thing I wanted was fresh water.

We came into the small bay in the evening, resolving to swim on shore as soon as it was dark, and discover the country; but as soon as it was quite dark, we heard such dreadful noises of the barking and roaring of wild creatures, of we knew not what kinds. We decided to stay aboard till day, and in the morning to go ashore with two guns, some powder and shot. We were afraid not only about lions and other wild beasts, but moreover about men, who could be as bad to us as all wild creatures.

We dropped our little anchor, and lay still all night; I say still, for we slept none; for in two or three hours we saw vast great creatures (we knew not what to call them) of many sorts, come down to the sea-shore and run into the water, wallowing and washing themselves for the pleasure of cooling themselves; and they made such hideous howlings and yellings,[74] that I never indeed heard the like.

But we were both more frighted when we heard one of these mighty creatures come swimming towards our boat; we could not see him, but we might hear him by his blowing to be a monstrous huge and furious beast. Xury said it was a lion, and I said it might be so. I had no sooner said so, but I saw the creature (whatever it was) within two oars’ length,[75] which something surprised me; however, I immediately stepped to the cabin door, and taking up my gun, fired at him; upon which he immediately turned about and swam towards the shore again.

But it is impossible to describe the horrid noises, and hideous cries and howlings that were raised, as well upon the edge of the shore as higher within the country, upon the noise or report of the gun, a thing I have some reason to believe those creatures had never heard before.

However, we were obliged to go on shore somewhere or other for water, for we had not a pint left on a board; when and where to get to it was the point. Xury said, if I would let him go on shore with one of the jars, he would find if there was any water, and bring some to me. He said that I should stay aboard.

“Why should you go, Xury?” I asked. “Why should I not go, and you wait aboard?”

Xury replied in words that made me love him ever after: “If wild men come, they will eat me, and you will escape.”

“Well, Xury,” said I, “we will both go and if the wild men come, we will kill them, they shall eat neither of us.” So I gave Xury a piece of rusk bread[76] to eat, and a dram[77] out of our patron’s case of bottles which I mentioned before; and we moored our ship to the shore as we thought was proper,[78] and so waded on shore, carrying nothing but our arms and two jars for water.

I did not want to go out of sight of the boat, fearing the coming of canoes with savages down the river; but the boy seeing a low place about a mile up the country, rambled to it, and by-and-by I saw him come running towards me. I thought he was pursued by some savage, or frighted with some wild beast, and I ran forward towards him to help him; but when I came nearer to him I saw something hanging over his shoulders, which was a creature that he had shot, like a hare, but different in colour, and longer legs; however, we were very glad of it, and it was very good meat; but the great joy that poor Xury came with, was to tell me he had found good water and seen no wild beasts.

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