The good-natured fellow, without waking his companion, brought the water, and having a lamp in the guard-room, opened the door; when the prisoners seizing his arms, and commanding him to silence, bound his hands behind him, and his feet together; then serving the other in the same manner, who was now just awake, and taking from them their swords and muskets, they made the best of their way over the fort wall; which being built with buttresses on the inside was easily surmounted. Being got out, they were not long in finding me, who had before this time made the boats ready and was impatiently waiting for them; so in we all got and made good speed to the ship, where we were welcomed by our companion ready to receive us.
Under pretence of being a new-entered sailor, he had carried some Madeira wine on board, and treated the men and boys so freely that he had thrown them into a dead sleep, which was a wise precaution. There being now, therefore, no fear of disturbance or interruption, we drew up the two boats and set all hands at work to put the ship under way; and plied it so closely, the wind favouring us, that by eleven o'clock the next morning we were out of sight of land; but we set the men and boys adrift, in one of the boats, nigh the mouth of the river.
The first thing we did after we had made a long run from shore was to consult what course to steer. Now, as there was a valuable loading on board of goods from Portugal and others taken in since, some gave their opinion for sailing directly for India, selling the ship and cargo there and returning by some English vessel; but that was rejected; for we did not doubt but notice would be given of our escape along the coast, and if we should fall into the Portuguese's hands, we could expect no mercy; besides, we had not people sufficient for such an enterprise. Others, again, were for sailing the directest course for England; but I told them, as our opinions were different, and no time was to be lost, my advice was to stretch southward till we might be quite out of fear of pursuit, and then, whatever course we took, by keeping clear of all coasts, we might hope to come safe off.
My proposal seemed to please the whole crew; so crowding all the sail we could, we pushed southwards very briskly before the wind for several days. We now went upon examining our stores, and found we had flour enough, plenty of fish and salt provisions, but were scant of water and wood; of the first whereof there was not half a ton, and but very little of the latter. This made us very uneasy, and being none of us expert in navigation farther than the common working of the ship, and having no chart on board that might direct us to the nearest land, we were almost at our wits' end, and came to a short allowance of liquor. That we must get water if we could was indisputable; but where to do it puzzled us, as we had determined not to get in with the African shore on any account whatever.
In this perplexity, and under the guidance of different opinions (for we were all captains now), we sometimes steered eastward, and sometimes westward, for about nine days, when we espied a little bluish cloud-like appearance to the southwest; this continuing, we hoped it might be land, and therefore made to it. Upon our nearer approach we found it to be, as we judged, an island; but not knowing its name or whether it was inhabited, we coasted round it two days to satisfy ourselves as to this last particular. Seeing no living creature on it during that time, and the shore being very broken, we came to an anchor about two miles from it, and sent ten of our crew in our best boat with some casks to get water and cut wood. The boat returned at night with six men and the casks filled, having left four behind to go on with the cutting of wood against next day. Accordingly next morning the boat went off again and made two turns with water and wood ere night, which was repeated for two or three days after. On the sixth she went off for wood only, leaving none but me and one John Adams on board.
The boat had scarce reached the island this last turn before the day overcast, and there arose such a storm of wind, thunder, lightning, and hail as I had never before seen. At last our cable broke close to the anchor, and away we went with the wind full southward by west; and not having strength to keep the ship upon a side wind, we were forced to set her head right before it and let her drive. Our hope was, every hour, the storm would abate; but it continued with equal violence for many days, during all which time neither Adams nor I had any rest, for one or other of us was forced, and sometimes both, to keep her right before the wind, or she would certainly have overset. When the storm abated, as it did by degrees, neither Adams nor I could tell where we were, or in what part of the world.
I was sorry I had no better a sailor with me, for neither Adams nor myself had ever made more than one voyage till now, so that we were both unacquainted with the latitude, and scarce knew the use of the compass to any purpose; and being out of all hope of ever reaching the island to our companions, we neither knew which way to steer, nor what to do; and indeed had we known where we were, we two only could not have been able to navigate the ship to any part we desired, or ever to get to the island, unless such a wind as we had before would of itself have driven us thither.
Whilst we were considering, day after day, what to do, though the sea was now very calm and smooth, the ship seemed to sail at as great a rate as before, which we attributed to the velocity she had acquired by the storm, or to currents that had set that way by the violence of the winds. Contenting ourselves with this, we expected all soon to be right again; and as we had no prospect of ever seeing our companions, we kept the best look-out we could to see for any vessel coming that course which might take us in, and resolved to rest all our hopes upon that.
When we had sailed a good while after this manner, we knew not whither, Adams called out, "I see land!" My heart leapt within me for joy, and we hoped the current that seemed to carry us so fast set in for some islands or rivers that lay before us. But still we were exceedingly puzzled at the ship's making such way, and the nearer we approached the land, which was now very visible, the more speed the ship made, though there was no wind stirring. We had but just time to think on this unexpected phenomenon, when we found that what we had taken for land was a rock of an extraordinary height, to which, as we advanced nearer, the ship increased its motion, and all our strength could not make her answer her rudder any other way. This put us under the apprehension of being dashed to pieces immediately, and in less than half an hour I verily thought my fears had not been groundless. Poor Adams told me he would try when the ship struck if he could leap upon the rock, and ran to the head for that purpose; but I was so fearful of seeing my danger that I ran under hatches, resolving to sink in the ship. We had no sooner parted but I felt so violent a shock that I verily thought the ship had brought down the whole rock upon her, and been thereby dashed to pieces, so that I never more expected to see the light.
I lay under this terror for at least half an hour, waiting the ship's either filling with water or bulging every moment. But finding neither motion in her nor any water rise, nor the least noise whatsoever, I ventured with an aching heart from my retreat, and stole up the hatchway as if an enemy had been on deck, peeping first one way then another. Here nothing presented but confusion, the rock hung over the hatchway at about twenty feet above my head, our foremast lay by the board, the mainmast yard-arm was down, and great part of the mainmast snapped off with it, and almost everything upon deck was displaced. This sight shocked me extremely; and calling for Adams, in whom I hoped to find some comfort, I was too soon convinced I had lost him.