Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents
History
Privateering and Piracy in the Colonial Period: Illustrative Documents
Pirates; Privateering; United States -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Sources
families which lived heare of Indians, very poore, haveing all thay
gett once in two years taken from them by the fryars, and thay tell us
that if thay have nott to pay the friars what their demands is when
thay come, that thay carry away their children and makes them Slaves.
Butt our capt. Batt. Sharpe Asked of one Indian that could speak
Spanish, if any Shipp used to come their. he said that their was att
pressent 2 small Barkques that weir come from Pennamau, which weir
lodeing with hides and tallow bound for Pennamau again. The Indian
tolde the capt. he would Shew us wheir they weir; with whome capt.
Sharpe went with his cannoe well man'd, thiss Indian leaveing some
hands on the Isle of Perros or Dogges, to see that none gott away to
discry us, with our Shipp getts on brest the Island and Comes to an
Anchor, and missing the right channel lay their not haveing above 3
foote water more then wee drew. thiss was about 25 of Aprile 1681. the
next morning these two barkes was taken, the one being 2 thirds loden
and the other half loden with talloe; wee tooke out as much as wee
thought might serve to tallow our Shipps bottom twice and to make us
candles, and no more, which is as I Imagin about 60 or 70 Packs. Now
wee wanting carpenters understoode by thiss Indian Pylott that their
was 2 shipps up an Arme of a River, about 4 leagues from thiss Isle of
Dogges. The Indian conveighs us the next night upp to them. the
morning about an hower before day wee comes wheir thay weir building,
about 300 tunns a Peice; one of them haveing beene on the Stocks about
3 years. itt Pleas'd god wee tooke the head carpenter and the Rest of
his gange, which weir about 12 in Number, with their tooles, about 6
Jarrs of wine and Brandy, which was much to our comfort, haveing lived
for some time before on bread and water. takeing these carpenter[s]
with their tooles, wee weare in greate hopes to have Our Shipps upper
deck taken downe and made better for sayleing in little time, with
the help of our owne carpenters; butt to carreene her here is
impossible Because of a greate citty about 18 leagues from thiss
lagoone of Nicoy, itt being the citty Naine,[73] wheir thay can Raise
20000 Men. wee fell lower downe in the River, as lay out of the way of
the tide as much as could, for here the tides runn very Stronge and
keepes itts course of moone. itt flows S.S.W., which when the moone
comes to thiss S.S.W. point itt makes high water. itt flowes about 3
fathom and half right upp and downe. when wee brought these Spanish
carpenters on borde, our capt. and carpenter Shewed the Spannish
carpenter what thay would have done, desiering him to be reall, and
tell them in what time itt might be finished. he promis'd that within
10 day, with the assistance of our peopple, he did nott doubt butt
finnish itt; att which our capt. and company told him that as soone as
he had done he should have one of the barques for his paines, and all
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