By the time we had got up our anchor and the boat was stowed, the ship
was within a league of us, and, as we thought, bore down to engage us;
so we spread our black flag, or ancient, on the poop, and the bloody
flag at the top-mast-head, and having made a clear ship, we stretched
away to the westward, to get the wind of him.
They had, it seems, quite mistaken us before, expecting nothing of an
enemy or a pirate in those seas; and, not doubting but we had been one
of their own ships, they seemed to be in some confusion when they found
their mistake, so they immediately hauled upon a wind on the other tack,
and stood edging in for the shore, towards the easternmost part of the
island. Upon this we tacked, and stood after him with all the sail we
could, and in two hours came almost within gunshot. Though they crowded
all the sail they could lay on, there was no remedy but to engage us,
and they soon saw their inequality of force. We fired a gun for them to
bring to; so they manned out their boat, and sent to us with a flag of
truce. We sent back the boat, but with this answer to the captain, that
he had nothing to do but to strike and bring his ship to an anchor
under our stern, and come on board us himself, when he should know our
demands; but that, however, since he had not yet put us to the trouble
of forcing him, which we saw we were able to do, we assured them that
the captain should return again in safety, and all his men, and that,
supplying us with such things as we should demand, his ship should not
be plundered. They went back with this message, and it was some time
after they were on board before they struck, which made us begin to
think they refused it; so we fired a shot, and in a few minutes more we
perceived their boat put off; and as soon as the boat put off the ship
struck and came to an anchor, as was directed.
When the captain came on board, we demanded an account of their cargo,
which was chiefly bales of goods from Bengal for Bantam. We told them
our present want was provisions, which they had no need of, being just
at the end of their voyage; and that, if they would send their boat on
shore with ours, and procure us six-and-twenty head of black cattle,
threescore hogs, a quantity of brandy and arrack, and three hundred
bushels of rice, we would let them go free.
As to the rice, they gave us six hundred bushels, which they had
actually on board, together with a parcel shipped upon freight. Also,
they gave us thirty middling casks of very good arrack, but beef and
pork they had none. However, they went on shore with our men, and bought
eleven bullocks and fifty hogs, which were pickled up for our occasion;
and upon the supplies of provision from shore, we dismissed them and
their ship.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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