Chapter 13
As soon as the ship was thus secured, the captain ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the signal agreed upon with me to give me notice of his success. I was very glad to hear, having sat watching upon the shore for it till near two of the clock in the morning.
Having thus heard the signal plainly, I laid me down. It having been a day of great fatigue to me, I slept very sound till I was something surprised with the noise of a gun. Presently starting up, I heard a man call me by the name of “Governor, governor”; and presently I knew the captain’s voice, when climbing up to the top of the hill, there he stood, and pointing to the ship he embraced me in his arms. “My dear friend and deliverer,” says he, “there’s your ship; for she is all yours, and so are we and all that belong to her.”
It was a very kind and agreeable present, as any one may imagine, to one in my circumstances. After these ceremonies past, we began to consult what was to be done with the prisoners we had; for it was worth considering whether we might venture to take them away with us or no, especially two of them, who we knew to be incorrigible and refractory to the last degree. The captain said that he knew they were such rogues that there was no obliging them. If he did carry them away it must be in irons as male—factors to be delivered over to justice at the first English colony he could come at. And I found that the captain himself was very anxious about it.
Upon this, I told him that if he desired I would undertake to bring the man to make it their own request that he should leave them upon the island. “I should be very glad of that,” says the captain, “with all my heart.”
“Well,” say I, “I will send for them up, and talk with them for you.” So I caused Friday and the two hostages—for they had now been discharged, their comrades having performed their promise. I caused them to bring up the five men, pinioned, to the bower, and keep them there till I came.
Being all met, and the captain with me, I caused the men to be brought before me. I told them I had had a full account of their villanous behaviour to the captain, and how they had run away with the ship, and were prepared to commit further robberies. I let them know that by my direction the ship had been seized, that she lay now in the road. They might see by and by that their new captain had received the reward of his villany, for that they might see him hanging at the yard-arm.
One of them answered in the name of the rest, that they had nothing to say to this, but that when they were taken the captain promised them their lives. They humbly implored my mercy. But I told them I knew not what mercy to show them; for as for myself I had resolved to quit the island with all my men, and had taken passage with the captain to go for England. However, if they desired that I had some inclination to give them their lives, if they thought they could shift on shore.
They seemed very thankful for it and said they would much rather venture to stay there than to be carried to England to be hanged.
When they had all declared their willingness to stay, I then told them I would let them into the story of my living there, and put them into the way of making it easy to them. Accordingly, I gave them the whole history of the place and of my coming to it. I showed them my fortifications, the way I made my bread, planted my corn, cured my grapes; and in a word, all that was necessary to make them easy. I told them the story also of the sixteen Spaniards that were to be expected; for whom I left a letter, and made them promise to treat them in common with themselves.
I left them my firearms, namely, five muskets, three fowling-pieces, and three swords. I had above a barrel and a half of powder left; for after the first year or two I used but little and wasted none. I gave them a description of the way I managed the goats and directions to milk and fatten them, and to make both butter and cheese.
In a word, I gave them every part of my own story. And I told them I would prevail with the captain to leave them two barrels of gunpowder more, and some garden-seeds, which I told them I would have been very glad of. Also I gave them the bag of peas which the captain had brought me to eat, and bade them be sure to sow and increase them.
Having done all this, I left them the next day and went on board the ship. We prepared immediately to sail.
When I took leave of this island I carried on board for relics the great goat-skin cap I had made, my umbrella, and my parrot. Also I forgot not to take the money I formerly mentioned, which had lain by me so long useless that it was grown rusty, or tarnished, and could hardly pass for silver till it had been a little rubbed and handled. As also the money I found in the wreck of the Spanish ship.
And thus I left the island on the 19th of December as I found by the ship’s account, in the year 1686 after I had been upon it eight and twenty tears, two months, and nineteen days.