A New Voyage Round the World by a Course Never Sailed Before

by Daniel Defoe

As soon as he came to the top of those hills, he plainly discovered the creek or harbour where the pirates' ships lay, and where they had formed their encampment on the shore. Our men took proper observations of the situation of the place they were in, upon the hill, that they might not fail to find their way back again, though it were in the night; and that, by agreeing in the account they should give of themselves, they might be all found in the same tale. They boldly went down the hill, and came to the edge of the creek, the pirates' camp being on the other shore.

Here they fired a gun, to raise a kind of alarm among them, and then, hanging out a white cloth on the top of a pole, a signal of peace, they hailed them in English, and asked them if they would send a boat and fetch them over.

The pirates were surprised at the noise of the piece, and came running to the shore with all speed; but they were much more surprised when they heard themselves hailed in English. Upon the whole, they immediately sent a boat to fetch them over, and received them with a great deal of kindness.

Our men pretended to be overjoyed at finding them there, told them a long story, that they came on shore on the west side of the island, where, not far off, there were two English ships; but that the natives quarrelling with their men, upon some rudeness offered to their women, and they being separated from their fellows, were obliged to fly; that the natives had surrounded the rest, and, they believed, had killed them all; that they wandered up to the top of the hill, intending to make signals to their ship, to send them some help, when, seeing some ships, and believing some Europeans were there, they came down to take some shelter, and begged of them a boat to carry them round the cape to their comrades, unless they would give them leave to stay with them, and do as they did, which they were very willing to do.

This was all a made story; but, however, the tale told so well, that they believed it thoroughly, and received our men very kindly, led them up to their camp, and gave them some victuals.

Our men observed they had provisions enough, and very good, as well beef as mutton, that is to say, of goats' flesh, which was excellent; also pork and veal; and they were tolerable good cooks too; for they found they had built several furnaces and boilers, which they had taken out of their ships, and dressed a great quantity of meat at a time: but, observing they had no liquor, the mate pulled a large bottle of good cordial water out of his pocket, and gave it about as far as it would go, and so did two others of the men, which their new landlords took very kindly.

They spent good part of the first day in looking about them, seeing the manner of the pirates' living there, and their strength, and soon perceived that they were indeed in but a sorry condition every way, except that they had live cattle and flesh meat sufficient. They had a good platform of guns indeed, and a covered pallisadoe round where they lodged their ammunition: but as for fortifications to the landward, they had none, except a double pallisadoe round their camp, and a sort of a bank thrown up within to fire from, and stand covered from the enemies' lances, which was all they had to fear from the natives. They had no bread but what they made of rice, and the store they had of that was very small: they told our men, indeed, that they had two ships abroad, which they expected back every day, with a quantity of rice, and what else they could get, especially some arrack, which they were to trade for with the Arabian merchants, or take it by force, which should first offer.

Our men pretended to like their way of living mighty well and talked of staying with them, if they would let them; and thus they passed their first day of meeting.

Our men had two tents or huts given them to lodge in, and hammocks hung in the huts very agreeably, being such, I suppose, as belonged to some of their company who were dead, or were out upon adventure; here they slept very securely, and in the morning walked about, as strangers might be suffered to do, to look about them. But my new manager's eye was chiefly here upon two things: first, to see if they had any shipping for our purpose; and, secondly, to see if he could pitch upon one man, more likely than the rest, to enter into some confidence with; and it was not long before he found an opportunity for both. The manner was thus:

He was walking by himself, having ordered his other men to straggle away, two and two, this way and that, as if they had not minded him, though always to keep him in sight; I say, he walked by himself towards that part of the creek where, as was said, three of their largest ships lay by the walls, and when he came to the shore right against them, he stood still, looking at them very earnestly.