Overtaken by Pirates

Part-4

Chapter-1

I stayed with my wife and children for about five months. Thereafter, I left them again. I had accepted an advantageous offer made to me, i.e. to be captain of the Adventurer. We set sail from Portsmouth on 7th September, 1710. Several seamen got sick and died, and I had to stop to take on new seamen. That was a big mistake for which I had to repent. Later, I came to know that they were pirates.
I had been given the orders that I should trade with the Indians in the South-sea and make whatever discoveries I could. The rogues whom I had picked up debauched my men and they all formed a conspiracy to seize the ship.
One morning, all of them rushed into my cabin and bound me in chains. They threatened to throw me overboard if I moved. They made me swear, “I am your prisoner, and will surrender to you.” Then they unbound me and fastened one of my legs with a chain near my bed. They placed a guard at my door with his gun charged. He was commanded to shoot me dead if I attempted to free myself. Their motive was to ransack the Spaniards which they could not do till they got more men. They sailed for many weeks and traded with the Indians. I could not know which course they took.
On 9th May 1711, one of the crewmen by the name of James Welch came down to my cabin, and said, “I have orders from the captain to set you ashore.”
They put me in a boat, took me to some land and left me there. I did not know where I was.
In that deserted condition, I advanced forward. The land was divided by the long rows of trees, grass and several fields of oats. I walked very cautiously for the fear of being suddenly shot with an arrow from behind or on either side. I started walking on a road where I saw many tracts of human feet and some of cows, but most of them were of horses. At last, I saw several animals in a field and one or two of the same kind sitting in trees. I hid myself and watched them. Their heads and breasts were covered with thick hair. They had beards like those goats and a long ridge of hair down their backs and the foreparts of their legs and feet. The rest of their bodies was bare. Their skin was of pale brown colour. They had no tails. They climbed high trees as nimbly as squirrel with the help of strong extended claws which were hooked at the end. The hair of both sexes was of several colours, i.e. brown, red, black and yellow. On the whole, I had never in all my travels seen such animals.

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