We took this advantage, and stood away for Carthagena, and from thence
with great difficulty beat it up at a distance from under the shore for
St. Martha, till we came to the Dutch island of Curacoa, and from thence
to the island of Tobago, which, as before, was our rendezvous; which,
being a deserted, uninhabited island, we at the same time made use of
for a retreat. Here the captain of the brigantine died, and Captain
Harris, at that time my lieutenant, took the command of the brigantine.
Here we came to a resolution to go away to the coast of Brazil, and from
thence to the Cape of Good Hope, and so for the East Indies; but Captain
Harris, as I have said, being now captain of the brigantine, alleged
that his ship was too small for so long a voyage, but that, if Captain
Wilmot would consent, he would take the hazard of another cruise, and
he would follow us in the first ship he could take. So we appointed our
rendezvous to be at Madagascar, which was done by my recommendation of
the place, and the plenty of provisions to be had there.
Accordingly, he went away from us in an evil hour; for, instead of
taking a ship to follow us, he was taken, as I heard afterwards, by
an English man-of-war, and being laid in irons, died of mere grief
and anger before he came to England. His lieutenant, I have heard, was
afterwards executed in England for a pirate; and this was the end of the
man who first brought me into this unhappy trade.
We parted from Tobago three days after, bending our course for the coast
of Brazil, but had not been at sea above twenty-four hours, when we were
separated by a terrible storm, which held three days, with very little
abatement or intermission. In this juncture Captain Wilmot happened,
unluckily, to be on board my ship, to his great mortification; for we
not only lost sight of his ship, but never saw her more till we came
to Madagascar, where she was cast away. In short, after having in this
tempest lost our fore-topmast, we were forced to put back to the isle of
Tobago for shelter, and to repair our damage, which brought us all very
near our destruction.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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