Part 4 (2/2)

When I had finish'd my new House, (and a mighty Palace you would say it was, if you had been to see it) I remov'd to it, with eight of the Gang that were to be my Fellow adventurers; and to this Place we carry'd all our private Wealth, that is to say, Jewels and Gold; as to our Share of Silver, as it was too heavy to remove, and must be done in Publick, I was oblig'd to leave it behind; but we had a Stratagem for that too, and it was thus:

We had a Sloop, as you have heard, and she lay in our Harbour, 'tis true; but she lay ready to sail upon any Occasion; and the Men, who were of our Confederacy, who were not with me at my Country-house, were twelve in Number: These Men made a Proposal, that they would take the Sloop, and go away to the Coast of _Malabar_, or where else they could speed to their Mind, and buy a Fraight of Rice for the publick Account: In a free State as we were, every Body was free to go wherever they would, so that no Body oppos'd them; the only Dispute at any Time, was about taking the Vessel we had to go in: However, as these Men seem'd only to act upon the publick Account, and to go to buy Provisions, no Body offer'd to deny them the Sloop, so they prepar'd for their Voyage: Just as they were ready to go, one of them starts it to the rest, that it was very hazardous and difficult to run such a Length every now and then to get a little Rice, and if they would go, why should they not bring a good Quant.i.ty? This was soon resolv'd; so they agreed, they should take Money with them to buy a good s.h.i.+p wherever they could find her, and then to buy a Loading of Rice to fill her up, and so come away with her.

When this was agreed, they resolv'd to take no Money out of the grand Stock, but to take such Mens Money as were gone, and had left their Money behind; and this being consented to, truly, my Friends took the Occasion, and took all their own Money, and mine, (being 64 little Chests of Pieces of Eight) and carry'd it on Board, as if it had been of Men that were p.r.i.c.k'd-run, and no Body took any Notice of it. These twelve Men had also now got twelve more with them, under Pretence of manning a s.h.i.+p, if we should buy one, and in this Pickle away they put to Sea.

We had due Notice of every Thing that was done; and having a Signal given of the Time they resolv'd to go, we pack'd up all our Treasure, and began our March to the Place appointed, which from our Quarters was about forty Mile farther North.

Our Habitation, that is to say, my new House, was about sixteen Miles up the Country, so that the rest of our People could have no Notice of our March, neither did they miss us, at least, as I heard of, for we never heard any more of them; nor can I imagine what Condition or Circ.u.mstance they can be in at present, if they are still upon the Place, as, however, I believe some of them are.

We join'd our Comrades, with a great Deal of Ease, about three Days afterwards, for we march'd but softly, and they lay by for us: The Night before we went on Board, we made them a Signal by Fire, as we had appointed to let them know where we were, and that we were at Hand; so they sent their Boat and fetch'd us off, and we embark'd without any Notice taken by the Rest.

As we were now loose, and at Sea, our next Business was to resolve whither we should go; and I soon govern'd the Point, resolving for _Ba.s.saro_ in the Gulph of _Persia_, where I knew we might s.h.i.+ft for ourselves: Accordingly, we steer'd away for the _Arabian_ Coast, and had good Weather for some Time, even till we made the Land at a great Distance, when we steer'd Eastward along the Sh.o.r.e.

We saw several s.h.i.+ps, in our Way, bound to and from the Red Sea, as we suppos'd, and, at another Time, we would have been sure to have spoken with them: But, we had done Pirating; our Business now was, how to get off, and make our Way to some Retreat, where we might enjoy what we had got; so we took no Notice of any Thing by the Way; but, when we was thus sailing merrily along, the Weather began to change, the Evening grew black and cloudy, and threaten'd a Storm: We were in Sight or a little Island, (I know nothing of its Name) under which we might have anchor'd with Safety enough, but our People made light of it, and went on.

About an Hour after Sun-set the Wind began to rise, and blew hard at N. E.

and at N. E. by N. and in two Hours Time encreas'd to such a Tempest, as in all my Rambles I never met with the like; we were not able to carry a Knot of Sail, or to know what to do, but to stow every Thing close, and let her drive; and, in this Condition we continu'd all the Night, all the next Day, and Part of the Night after; towards Morning the Storm abated a little, but not so as to give us any Prospect of pursuing our voyage; all the Ease we had, was, that we could just carry a little Sail to steddy the Vessel, and run away before it; which we did at that violent Rate, that we never abated 'till we made Land on the East Side of _Madagascar_, the very Island we came from, only on the other Side of the Island.

However, we were glad we had any Place to run to for Harbour; so we put in under the Lee of a Point of Land that gave us Shelter from the Wind, and where we came to an Anchor, after being all of us almost dead with the Fatigue; and, if our Sloop had not been an extraordinary Sea-boat, she could never have born such a Sea, for twelve Days together, as we were in, the worst I ever saw before or since. We lay here, to refresh ourselves, about twenty Days; and, indeed, the Wind blew so hard all the while, that if we had been dispos'd to go to Sea, we could not have done it; and, being here, about seven of our Men began to repent their Bargain, and left us, which I was not sorry for. It seems, the princ.i.p.al Reason of their looking back, was, their being of those who had left their Money behind them. They did not leave us without our Consent, and therefore our Carpenters built them a Boat, during the three Weeks we stay'd here, and fitted it very handsomely for them, with a Cabin for their Convenience, and a Mast and Sail, with which they might very well sail round to our Settlement, as we suppose they did: We gave them Fire-arms and Ammunition sufficient, and left them furnis.h.i.+ng themselves with Provisions; and this, we suppose, was the Boat, tho' with other Men in it, which adventur'd afterwards as far as the _Cape of Good Hope_, and was taken up by a _Portugese_ in Distress, by which Means they got Pa.s.sage for themselves to _Lisbone_, pretending they had made their Escape from the Pirates at _Madagascar_; but we were told, that the _Portuguese_ Captain took a good deal of their Money from them, under Pretence of keeping it from his own Seamen; and that when they came on Sh.o.r.e, and began to claim it, he threaten'd them with taking them up, and prosecuting them for Pirates, which made them compound with him, and take about 10000 Dollars for above 120000, which they had with them; which, by the Way, was but a scurvy Trick: They had, it seems, a considerable Quant.i.ty of Gold among them, which they had the Wit to conceal from the Captain of the s.h.i.+p, and which was enough for such Fellows as them, and more than they well knew what to do with; so that they were rich enough still, tho' the _Portugal_ Captain was nevertheless a Knave for all that.

We left them here, as I have said, and put to Sea again; and, in about twenty Days Sail, having pretty good Weather, we arriv'd at the Gulph of _Persia_: It would be too long to give you an Account of the particular Fortunes of some of our People after this, the Variety of which would fill a Volume by itself: But, in the first Place, we, who were determin'd to travel, went on Sh.o.r.e at _Ba.s.saro_, leaving the rest of our Men to buy Rice, and load the larger Vessel back to their Comrades, which they promis'd to do; but how far they perform'd I know not.

We were thirteen of us that went on Sh.o.r.e here; from whence we hir'd a kind of Barge, or rather a Bark, which, after much Difficulty, and very unhandy Doings of the Men who we had hir'd, brought us to _Babylon_, or _Bagdat_, as it is now call'd.

Our Treasure was so great, that if it had been known what we had about us, I am of Opinion we should never have troubl'd _Europe_ with our Company: However, we gat safe to _Babylon_ or_ Bagdat_, where we kept ourselves _Incog_ for a while, took a House by ourselves, and lay four or five Days still, till we had got Vests and long Gowns made to appear Abroad in as _Armenian_ Merchants. After we had got Cloaths, and look'd like other People, we began to appear Abroad; and I, that from the Beginning had meditated my Escape by myself, began now to put it into Practice; and, walking one Morning upon the Bank of the River _Euphrates_, I mus'd with myself what Course I should take to make off, and get quite away from the Gang, and let them not so much as suspect me.

While I was walking here, comes up one of my Comrades, and one who I always took for my particular Friend: I know what you are employ'd in, _said he_, while you seem only to be musing, and refres.h.i.+ng yourself with the cool Breeze. Why, _said I_, what am I musing about? Why, _said he_, you are studying how you should get away from us; but, muse upon it as long as you will, _says he_, you shall never go without me, for I am resolv'd to go with you which Way soever you take. 'Tis true, _says I_, I was musing which Way I should go, but not which Way I should go without you; for tho' I would be willing to part Company, yet you cannot think I would go alone; and you know I have chosen you out from all the Company to be the Partner of all my Adventures.

Very well, _says he_, but I am to tell you now, that it is not only necessary that we should not go all together; but, our Men have all concluded, that we should make our Escape every one for himself, and should separate as we could; so that you need make no Secret of your Design any more than of the Way you intend to take.

I was glad enough of this News, and it made me very easy in the Preparations we made for our setting out: And, the first Thing we did, was, to get us more Cloaths, having some made of one Fas.h.i.+on, some of another; but, my Friend and I, who resolv'd to keep together, made us Cloaths after the Fas.h.i.+on of the _Armenian_ Merchants, whose Country we pretended to travel through.

In the mean Time, five of our Men dress'd like Merchants; and, laying out their Money in Raw Silk, and Wrought Silks, and other Goods of the Country, proper for _Europe_, (in which they were directed by an _English_ Merchant there) resolv'd to take the usual Rout, and travel by the Caravans from _Babylon_ to _Alleppo_, and so to _Scanderoon_, and we staid and saw them and their Bales go off in Boats for a great Town on the _Euphrates_, where the Caravans begin to take up the Pa.s.sengers; the other six divided themselves, one Half of them went for _Agra_, the Country of the Great Mogul, resolving to go down the River _Hoogly_ to _Bengal_; but whither they went afterward or what Course they took, I never knew, neither whether they really went at all or not.

The other three went by Sea, in a _Persian_ Vessel, back from the Red Sea to the Gulf of _Mocca_, and I heard of them all three at _Ma.r.s.eilles_; but whither they went afterwards I never knew, nor could I come to speak with them even there.

As for me and my Friend, we first laid out all the Silver we had in _European_ Ware, such as we knew would vend at _Ispahan_, which we carry'd upon twelve Camels; and hiring some Servants, as well for our Guide as our Guard, we set out.

The Servants we hir'd were a Kind of _Arab_, but rather looking like the Great Mogul's people, than real _Arabians_; and when we came into _Persia_, we found they were look'd upon as no better than Dogs, and were not only used ill, but that we were used ill for their Sakes; and after we were come three Days into the _Persian_ Dominions, we found ourselves oblig'd to part with them; so we gave them three Dollars a Man to go back again.

They understood their Business very well, and knew well enough what was the Reason of it, though we did not. However, we found we had committed a great Mistake in it; for we perceiv'd that they were so exasperated at being turn'd off, that they vowed to be revenged; and, indeed, they had their Revenge to the Full; for the same Day, at Night, they return'd in the Dark, and set eleven Houses on Fire in the Town where we quartered; which, by the Way, had gone near to have cost me my Life, and would certainly have done so, if in the Hurry I had not seiz'd one of the Incendiaries and deliver'd him up to them.

The People were so provok'd at him that was taken that they fell upon him with all possible Fury as the common Incendiary and Burner of the Town, and presently quitted us (for they had before vowed our Destruction) but, as I said, quitted us immediately, and thronged about the Wretch they had taken; and, indeed, I made no Question but that they would have immediately murder'd him (nay, that they would have torn him in Pieces before they parted with him). But after they had vented their Rage at him for some Time with all possible Reproaches and Indignities, they carry'd him before the _Cadi_, or Judge of the Place. The _Cadi_, a wise, grave Man, answered, no, he would not judge him at that Time, for they were too hot and pa.s.sionate to do Justice; but they should come with him in the Morning, when they were cool, and he would hear them.

<script>