The King of Pirates

A Second Letter

Daniel Defoe


SIR,—I wrote my last letter to you from Madagascar, where I had continued so long till my people began to drop from me, some and some, and indeed I had at last but few left; so that I began to apprehend they would give an account in Europe how weak I was, and how easy it was to attack me; nay, and to make their peace, might some of them, at least, offer their service to be pilots to my port, and might guide the fleets or ships that should attempt me.

With these apprehensions, I not only was uneasy myself, but made all my men uneasy too; for as I was resolved to attempt my own escape, I did not care how many of my men went before me. But this you must take with you by-the-bye, that I never let them imagine that I intended to stir from the spot myself—I mean, after my return from the ramble that I had taken round the island, of which I have given you an account—but that I resolved to take up my rest in Madagascar as long as I lived; indeed, before I said otherwise, as I wrote you before, and made them all promise to fetch me away, but now I gave it out that I was resolved to live and die here; and therefore, a little before I resolved upon going, I set to work to build me a new house, and to plant me a pretty garden at a distance from our fort; only I had a select company, to whom I communicated everything, and who resolved that, at last, we would go all together, but that we would do it our own way. When I had finished my new house (and a mighty palace you would say it was if you had been to see it), I removed to it, with eight of the gang that were to be my fellow-adventurers; and to this place we carried 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 public, I was obliged 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 freight of rice for the public account. In a free state as we were, everybody was free to go wherever they would, so that nobody opposed them; the only dispute at any time was about taking the vessel we had to go in. However, as these men seemed only to act upon the public account, and to go to buy provisions, nobody offered to deny them the sloop, so they prepared 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 quantity? This was soon resolved; so they agreed they should take money with them to buy a good ship 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 resolved to take no money out of the grand stock, but to take such men’s 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 sixty-four little chests of pieces of eight), and carried it on board, as if it had been of men that were pricked-run, and nobody took any notice of it. These twelve men had also now got twelve more with them, under pretence of manning a ship, if we should buy one, and in this pickle away they put to sea.

We had due notice of everything that was done; and having a signal given of the time they resolved to go, we packed up all our treasure, and began our march to the place appointed, which from our quarters was about forty miles 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 circumstance they can be in at present if they are still upon the place, as, however, I believe some of them are.

We joined our comrades with a great deal of ease about three days afterwards; for we marched 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 fetched us off, and we embarked 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 governed the point, resolving for Bassorah, in the Gulf of Persia, where I knew we might shift for our selves. Accordingly we steered away for the Arabian coast, and had good weather for some time, even till we made the land at a great distance, when we steered eastward along the shore.

We saw several ships in our way, bound to and from the Red Sea, as we supposed; 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 anything by the way. But when we was thus sailing merrily along, the weather began to change, the evening grew black and cloudy, and threatened a storm. We were in sight of a little island (I know nothing of its name), under which we might have anchored with safety enough, but our people made light of it, and went on.

About an hour after sunset the wind began to rise, and blew hard at N.E. and at N.E. by N., and in two hours’ time increased 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 everything close, and let her drive; and in this condition we continued 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 steady 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 land 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 borne 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 disposed 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 principal 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 stayed 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 firearms and ammunition sufficient, and left them furnishing themselves with provisions; and this, we suppose, was the boat, though with other men in it, which adventured afterwards as far as the Cape of Good Hope, and was taken up by a Portuguese in distress, by which means they got passage for themselves to Lisbon, 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 shore and began to claim it, he threatened them with taking them up and prosecuting them for pirates, which made them compound with him, and take about 10,000 dollars for above 120,000 which they had with them; which, by the way, was but a scurvy trick. They had, it seems, a considerable quantity of gold among them, which they had the wit to conceal from the captain of the ship, 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, though the Portugal captain was, never theless, 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 arrived at the Gulf 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 determined to travel, went on shore at Bassorah, leaving the rest of our men to buy rice, and load the larger vessel back to their comrades, which they promised to do; but how far they performed, I know not.

We were thirteen of us that went on shore here; from whence we hired a kind of barge, or rather a bark, which, after much difficulty, and very unhandy doings of the men whom we had hired, brought us to Babylon, or Bagdad, as it is now called.

Our treasure was so great, that if it had been known what we had about us, I am of opinion we should never have troubled Europe with our company. However, we got safe to Babylon, or Bagdad, 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 clothes, and looked 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 mused 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 employed in,” said he, “while you seem only to be musing, and refresh ing 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 resolved to go with you which way soever you take.” “’T is true,” says I, “I was musing which way I should go, but not which way I should go without you; for though 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 clothes, having some made of one fashion, some of another; but my friend and I, who resolved to keep together, made us clothes after the fashion of the Armenian merchants, whose country we pretended to travel through.

In the meantime, five of our men dressed 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), resolved to take the usual route, and travel by the caravans from Babylon to Aleppo, and so to Scanderoon, and we stayed 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 passengers. 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 Mocha, and I heard of them all three at Marseilles; 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 carried upon twelve camels; and hiring some servants, as well for our guide as our guard, we set out.

The servants we hired 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 looked 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 obliged 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 perceived that they were so exasperated at being turned off, that they vowed to be revenged; and, indeed, they had their revenge to the full; for the same day, at night, they returned 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 seized one of the incendiaries and delivered him up to them.

The people were so provoked 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 murdered 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 carried 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 passionate to do justice; but they should come with him in the morning, when they were cool, and he would hear them.

It is true this was a most excellent step of the cadi as to the right way of doing justice; but it did not prove the most expedient in the present occasion, though that was none of his fault neither; for in the night the fellow got out of their hands, by what means or by whose assistance I never heard to this day; and the cadi fined the town in a considerable sum for letting a man accused of a capital crime make his escape before he was adjudged, and, as we call it, discharged according to law.

This was an eminent instance of the justice of these people; and though they were doubly enraged at the escape of the fellow, who, without doubt, was guilty, yet they never opened their mouths against the cadi, but acquiesced in his judgment as in that of an oracle, and submitted to the national censure, or censure according to the custom of their nation, which he had passed upon them in their public capacity for the escape of the man.

We were willing to get out of this place as soon as we could; for we found the people’s rage, which wanted an object to vent itself upon, began to threaten us again. So having packed up our goods, and gotten five ordinary camel-drivers for our servants in the country, we set out again.

The roads in Persia are not so much frequented as to be well accommodated with inns, so that several times we were obliged to lodge upon the ground in the way. But our new servants took care to furnish us with lodging; for as soon as we let them know we wanted rest, and inclined to stop, they set up a tent for us, in so short a time that we were scarce able to imagine it possible, and under this we encamped, our camels being just by us, and our servants and bales lying all hard by.

Once or twice we lodged in public inns, built at the King of Persia’s charge. These are fair large buildings, built square, like a large inn; they have all of them large stables, and good forage for the camels and horses, and apartments for perhaps two or three hundred people, and they are called caravanseras, as being built to entertain whole caravans of travellers. On the great roads to Tauris and the side of Turkey they are all fortified, and are able to entertain five or six thousand people, and have a stock to furnish whatever number of men can come with provisions; nay, it has been known that whole armies of the Persians have on their march been furnished with provisions in one of these caravanseras, and that they have killed 2000 sheep for them in one night’s time.

In this manner we travelled to Ispahan, the capital of Persia, where appearing as merchants, and with several camels loaden with merchandise, we passed all possibility of suspicion; and being perfectly easy, we continued here some time, sold our cargoes, and would gladly have remitted the money to other places, as for Constantinople in particular; but we found the Turks and Persians have no such thing as an exchange, by bills running between them and other nations—no, nor between one town and another.

We were invited here by a sudden accident to have gone home by the Caspian Sea and Astrakhan, so through Muscovy; but I had heard so much of the barbarity of the Russians, the dangerous navigation of the Caspian Sea by reason of the calms and shoals, the hazard of being robbed by the Tartars on the river Volga, and the like, that I chose to travel to Constantinople, a journey through deserts, over mountains and wastes, among so many sorts of barbarians, that I would run any kind of hazards by sea before I would attempt such a thing again.

It would deserve another history to let you into all the different circumstances of this journey: how well I was used by some, and how ill by others—nay, how well by some Mohammedans, how ill by some Christians. But it shall suffice to tell you that I am at present at Constantinople; and though I write this here, I do not purpose to send it to you till I come to Marseilles, in France; from whence I intend to go and live in some inland town, where, as they have perhaps no notion of the sea, so they will not be inquisitive after us.—I am, &c.

FINIS.


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