November. Coast of Guinea. They next sailed to the coast of Guinea, which they made in the beginning of November, near Sierra Leone. A large ship was at anchor in the road, which proved to be a Dane. On sight of her, and all the time they were standing into the road, all the Buccaneer crew, except a few men to manage the sails, kept under deck; which gave their ship the appearance of being a weakly manned merchant-vessel. When they drew near the Danish ship, which they did with intention to board her, the Buccaneer Commander, to prevent suspicion, gave direction in a loud voice to the steersman to put the helm one way; and, according to the plan preconcerted, the steersman put it the contrary, so that their vessel seemed to fall on board the Dane through mistake. By this stratagem, they surprised, and, with the loss of five men, became masters of a ship mounting 36 guns, which was victualled and stored for a long voyage. This achievement is related circumstantially in Cowley's manuscript Journal[33]; but in his published account he
only says, 'near Cape Sierra Leone, we alighted on a new ship of 40 guns, which we boarded and carried her away.'
Sherborough River. They went with their prize to a river South of the Sierra Leone, called the Sherborough, to which they were safely piloted through channels among shoals, by one of the crew who had been there before. At the River Sherborough there was then an English factory, but distant from where they anchored. Near them was a large town inhabited by negroes, who traded freely, selling them rice, fowls, plantains, sugar-canes, palm-wine, and honey. The town was skreened from shipping by a grove of trees.
The Buccaneers embarked here all in their new ship, and named her the Batchelor's Delight. Their old ship they burnt, 'that she might tell no tales,' and set their prisoners on shore, to shift as well as they could for themselves.
They sailed from the coast of Guinea in the middle of November, directing their course across the Atlantic towards the Strait of Magalhanes. January, 1684. On January the 28th, 1684, they had sight of the Northernmost of the Islands discovered by Captain John Davis in 1592, (since, among other appellations, called the Sebald de Weert Islands.) From the circumstance of their falling in with this land, originated the extraordinary report of an Island being discovered in the Southern Atlantic Ocean in lat. 47° S, and by Cowley named Pepys Island; which was long believed to exist, and has been sought after by navigators of different European nations, even within our own time. The following are the particulars which caused so great a deception.
History of the Report of a Discovery named Pepys Island. Cowley says, in his manuscript Journal, 'January 1683: This month we were in latitude 47° 40′, where we espied an Island bearing West of us, and bore away for it, but being too late we lay by all night. The Island seemed very pleasant to the eye, with many woods. I may say the whole Island was
woods, there being a rock above water to the Eastward of it with innumerable fowls. I sailed along that Island to the Southward, and about the SW side of the Island there seemed to me to be a good place for ships to ride. The wind blew fresh, and they would not put the boat out. Sailing a little further, having 26 and 27 fathoms water, we came to a place where we saw the weeds ride, and found only seven fathoms water and all rocky ground, therefore we put the ship about: but the harbour seemed a good place for ships to ride in. There seemed to me harbour for 500 sail of shipping, the going in but narrow, and the North side of the entrance shallow that I could see: but I think there is water enough on the South side. I would have had them stand upon a wind all night; but they told me they did not come out to go upon discovery. We saw likewise another Island by this, which made me to think them the Sibble D'wards[34].'
The latitude given by Cowley is to be attributed to his ignorance, and to this part of his narrative being composed from memory, which he acknowledges, though it is not so stated in the printed Narrative. His describing the land to be covered with wood, is sufficiently accounted for by the appearance it makes at a distance, which in the same manner has deceived other voyagers. Pernety, in his Introduction to M. de Bougainville's Voyage to the Malouines (by which name the French Voyagers have chosen to call John Davis's Islands) says, 'As to wood, we were deceived by appearances in running along the coast of the Malouines: we thought we saw some, but on landing, these appearances were discovered to be only tall bulrushes with large flat leaves, such as are called corn flags[35].'
The Editor of Cowley's Journal, William Hack, might
possibly believe from the latitude mentioned by Cowley, that the land seen by him was a new discovery. To give it a less doubtful appearance, he dropped the 40 minutes of latitude, and also Cowley's conjecture that the land was the Sebald de Weerts; and with this falsification of the Journal, he took occasion to compliment the Honourable Mr. Pepys, who was then Secretary of the Admiralty, by putting his name to the land, giving as Cowley's words, 'In the latitude of 47°, we saw land, the same being an Island not before known. I gave it the name of Pepys Island.' Hack embellished this account with a drawing of Pepys Island, in which is introduced an Admiralty Bay, and Secretary's Point.