theymight even give over their _East-India_ Trade, for they little thoughtCircumstances Captain _Avery_ was in.
This I did, as well to know what Notions you had of us in _England_, as togive a formidable Account of us, and of our Circumstances to _England_,which I knew might be of Use to us several Ways hereafter. Then I made himtell his Part, which he did freely enough; he told us, that indeed they hadreceiv'd an Account in _England_ that we were exceeding strong; that we hadseveral Gangs of Pirates from the _Spanish West-Indies_, that had takengreat Booties there, and were gone all to _Madagascar_ to join Captain_Avery_; that he had taken three great _East-India_ Ships, one _Dutch_, andtwo _Portuguese_, which they had converted into Men of War; that he had6000 Men under his Command; that he had twelve Ships, whereof three carry'd60 Guns a-piece, and six more of them, from 40 to 50 Guns; that they hadbuilt a large Fort to secure their Habitations; and that they had two largeTowns, one on one Side, one on the other of a River, cover'd by the saidFort, and two great Platforms or Batteries of Guns to defend the Entrancewhere their Ships rode; that they had an immense invaluable Treasure; andthat it was said, Captain _Avery_ was resolv'd to People the whole Islandof _Madagascar_ with _Europeans_, and to get Women from _Jamaica_ and the_Leeward Islands_; and that it was not doubted but he would subdue, andmake himself King of that Country, if he was let alone a little longer.
I had enjoin'd my Men, in the first Place, not to let him know that I was_Avery_, but that I was one of his Captains; and in the next Place, not tosay a Word but just _Ay_, and _No_, as Things occurr'd, and leave the restto me. I heard him patiently out in all the Particulars above, and when hehad done, I told him it was true, Captain _Avery_ was in the Island of_Madagascar_, and that several other Societies of Buccaneers andFreebooters were join'd him from the _Spanish West-Indies_; for, said I,the Plenty and Ease of our living here is such, and we are so safe from allthe World, that we do not doubt but we shall be twenty thousand Men in avery little Time, when two Ships which we have sent to the _West-Indies_shall come back, and shall have told the Buccaneers at the Bay of_Campeachy_, how we live here.
But, said I, you in _England_ greatly wrong Captain _Avery_, our General,(so I call'd myself, to advance our Credit) for I can assure you, thatexcept plundering the Ship, and taking that immense Booty which he got inthe great Ship where the Great Mogul's Daughter was, there was not theleast Injury done to the Lady, no Ravishing or Violence to her, or any ofher Attendance; and this, said I, you may take of my certain Knowledge;for, said I, I was on Board the Ship with our General all the while: And ifany of the Princess's Women were lain with, said I, on Board the otherShip, as I believe most of them were, yet it was done with their ownConsent and good Will, and no otherwise; and they were all dismiss'dafterwards, without so much as being put in Fear or Apprehensions of Lifeor Honour.
This I assur'd him, (as indeed it was just) and told him, I hop'd, if everhe came safe to _England_, he would do Captain _Avery_, and all of us,Justice in that particular Case.
As to our being well fortify'd on the Island, and our Numbers, I assur'dthem all they were far from thinking too much of us; that we had a verygood Fleet, and a very good Harbour for them; that we were not afraid ofany Force from _Europe_, either by Land or Water; that it was, indeed, invain to pretend to attack us by Force; that the only Way for the Governmentof _England_ to bring us back to our Duty, would be to send a Proclamationfrom _England_ with the Queen's Pardon for our General and all his People,if they came in by a certain Time: And, added I, we know you want Money in_England_, I dare say, said I, our General, Captain _Avery_, and hisparticular Gang, who have the main Riches, would not grudge to advance fiveor six Millions of Ducats to the Government, to give them Leave to returnin Peace to _England_, and sit down quietly with the rest.
This Discourse, I suppose, was the Ground of the Rumour you have had in_England_, That _Avery_ had offer'd to come in and submit, and would givesix Millions for his Pardon: For as these Men were soon after thisdismiss'd, and went back to _England_, there is no Doubt but they gave aparticular Account of the Conference they had with me, who they call'd oneof Captain _Avery_'s Captains.
We kept these five Men six or seven Days, and we pretended to show them theCountry from some of the Hills, calling it all our own, and pointing everyWay how many Miles we extended ourselves; we made them believe also thatall the rest of the Country was at our Disposal, that the whole _Island_was at our Beck; we told them we had Treasure enough to enrich the wholeKingdom of _England_; that our General had several Millions in Diamonds,and we had many Tuns of Silver and Gold; that we had fifty large Barns fullof all Sorts of Goods, as well _European_ as _Indian_; and that it would betruly the best Way for _England_ to do as they said, namely, to invite usall Home by a Proclamation with a Pardon: And if they would do this, saidI, they can ask no reasonable Sum, but our General might advance it;besides, getting Home such a Body of stout able Seamen as we were, such aNumber of Ships, and such a Quantity of rich Goods.
We had several long Discourses with them upon these Heads, and our frequentoffering this Part to them with a Kind of feeling Warmth, (for it was whatwe all desir'd) has caus'd, I doubt not, the Rumour of such great Offersmade by us, and of a Letter sent by me to the Queen, to beg her Majesty'sPardon for myself and my Company, and offering ten Millions of MoneyAdvance to the Queen for the publick Service: All which is a meer Fictionof the Brain of those which have publish'd it; neither were we in anyCondition to make such an Offer; neither did I, or any of my Crew orCompany, ever write a Letter or Petition to the Queen, or to any one in theGovernment, or make any Application in the Case other than as above, whichwas only Matter of Conversation or private Discourse.
Nor were we so strong in Men or Ships, or any Thing like it. You have heardof the Number of Ships which we had now with us, which amounted to twoShips and a Sloop, and no more, except the Prize in which we took theMogul's Daughter; (which Ship we call'd, _The Great Mogul_) but she was fitfor nothing, for she would neither sail or steer worth a Farthing, andindeed was fit for no Use but a Hulk, or a Guard-Ship.
As to Numbers of Men, they bely'd us strangely, and particularly, theyseem'd only to mistake Thousands for Hundreds: For whereas they told us,that you in _England_ had a Report of our being six thousand Men, I mustacknowledge that I think we were never, when we were at the most, above sixhundred; and at the Time when I quitted the Country, I left about onehundered and eight Men there, and no more, and I am assur'd, all the Numberthat now remains there, is not above twenty two Men, no, not in the wholeIsland.
Well, we thought, however, that it was no Business of ours at that Time toundeceive them in their high Opinion of our great Strength, so we took Careto magnify ourselves, and the Strength of our General, (meaning myself)that they might carry the Story to _England_, depending upon it, _That aTale loses nothing in the carrying._ When they told us of our Fort, and theBatteries at the Mouth of the River where our Ships lie, we insinuated,that it was a Place where we did not fear all the Fleets in the Worldattacking us; and when they told us of the Number of Men, we strove to makethem believe that they were much many more.
At length, the poor Men began to be tir'd of us, and indeed we began to betir'd of them; for we began to be afraid very much that they would prye alittle Way into our Affairs, and that a little too narrowly that Way; so asthey began to sollicit their Deliverance, we began to listen to theirImportunities: In a Word, we agreed to dismiss them; and accordingly wegave them Leave to go away to the Watering-place, as if they had made theirEscape from us; which they did, carrying away their Heads full of all thoseunlikely projected Things which you have heard above.
In all this, however, I had not the good Luck to advance one Step towardsmy own Escape; and here is one Thing remarkable, _viz._ That the great Massof Wealth I had gotten together, was so far from forwarding my Deliverance,that it really was the only Thing that hinder'd it most effectually; and Iwas so sensible of it, that I resolv'd once to be gone, and leave all myWealth behind me, except some J
ewels, as several of our Men had donealready: For many of them were so impatient of staying here, that theyfound Means to get away, some and some, with no more Money than they couldcarry about them; particularly, thirteen of our Men made themselves a Kindof Shaloup with a Mast and Sail, and went for the Red Sea, having twoPatareroes for her Defence, and every Man a thousand Pieces of Eight, andno more, except that one _Macmow_ an _Irishman_, who was their Captain, hadfive Rubies and a Diamond, which he got among the Plunder of the Mogul'sShip.
These Men, as I heard, gat safe to _Mocca_ in the _Arabian_ Gulph, wherethey fetch the Coffee, and their Captain manag'd for them all so well, thatof Pirates he made them Merchants, laid out all the Stock in Coffee, andgot a Vessel to carry it up the Red Sea to _Sues_, where they sold it tothe Factors for the _European_ Merchants, and