Chapter XIX: Part 19

[84] In the following year he was chosen as one of the Council of the Bahamas. He was afterwards one of the three chief merchants of the Royal African Company, and died in 1735 “at Whydah, on the coast of Africa.”

[85] The Sovereigns; two remarkable rocky islets eastward of Kinsale Harbour; Big Sovereign (92 ft. high) and Little Sovereign.

[86] It appears from the will of Francis Rogers, part owner of the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_, that Noblett Rogers was his brother. They were sons of Robert Rogers of Cork. The relationship to Woodes Rogers is uncertain. (“Notes & Queries,” Ser. X, vol. 9, p. 456.)

[87] Rear-Admiral Sir George Saunders, born about 1671. Entered R.N. 1689. Present at the Battle of La Hogue. With Rooke at Cadiz & Vigo. Appointed to the _Shoreham_ in 1705 and continued in her till 1710, cruising in the Irish Sea. Captain of the _Barfleur_ in defeat of the Spanish fleet off Cape Passaro. Knighted 1720 and afterwards a Commissioner of the Navy. Died 5 Dec. 1734.

[88] A mixture of beer and spirit, sweetened with sugar and heated.

[89] An officer who has been deprived of a command but retains his rank and pay. The term was also occasionally employed to designate a volunteer.

[90] i.e. Yawl; a boat usually rowed with 4 or 6 oars.

[91] The Archduke Charles of Austria, whom the Allies in 1703 proposed to make King of Spain, as Charles III.

[92] For a similar ceremony on entering the Mediterranean, see Teonge _Diary_, 1927, p. 264.

[93] From now onward Woodes Rogers employs the contraction L. for “league.”

[94] Long bars or bolts of iron, with shackles sliding on them, and a lock at the end, used to confine the feet of prisoners.

[95] Jears; the tackles by which the lower yards of a ship are hoisted or lowered.

[96] i.e. Trestle-trees; two strong bars of timber fixed horizontally on the opposite sides of the lower mast head, to support the frame of the top, and the weight of the top-mast.

[97] Roove or Rove; a weight of about 30 lb. used in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

[98] A favourite song during the Commonwealth, which describes in a humorous way the tastes of the Puritans. The words and the tune are to be found in D’Urfey’s “Pills to Purge Melancholy” (1719) ii, 286-7.

[99] Jan Nieuhof, a Dutch traveller of the middle of the seventeenth century. His “Voyages and Travels into Brasil” were reprinted in Churchill’s “Collection of Voyages”, Vol. II.

[100] Count John Maurice of Nassau Siegen was sent by the Dutch as governor of their Brazilian colonies in 1636. His attempts to found an empire in S. America were thwarted by the cupidity of the merchants, and he resigned his post in 1644.

[101] An interesting example of the widespread custom of the _couvade_.

[102] Probably the “Description de tout l’Univers en plusiers cartes, etc.” By Nicolas & Guillaume Sanson, an edition of which appeared in 1700.

[103] Pedro Texeira was the first to ascend the Amazon, in 1638. He made his way to Quito by the River Napo.

[104] Davies (William) Barber-Surgeon of London. His “Description, etc., of the River Amazon” is printed in Purchas “Pilgrimes,” 1625, vol. IV.

[105] Francisco de Orellana. For his “Voyage down the Amazons”, 1540-1, see Hakluyt Soc., vol. XXIV.

[106] Robert Harcourt. On 23 March, 1609, he and a company of adventurers sailed for Guiana. He published an account of his adventures in “A relation of a voyage to Guiana,” 1613. It is reprinted in Purchas.

[107] Robert Withrington and Christopher Lister left the Thames in June, 1586, for a voyage to the South Sea. In January, 1587, they arrived off the coast of Brazil, and among their captures was a Portugese vessel, on board of which was Lopez Vaz, the author of a “Hist. of the W. Indies and the S. Sea.” Both he and the MS. of his book fell into the hands of the English. A translation of it was published in Hakluyt’s “Voyages.”

[108] _Navigantium atque Itinerantium Bibliotheca; or a Compleat Collection of Voyages and Travels_, by Dr. John Harris, 1705; a most interesting narrative of over 400 voyages.

[109] “The Remarkable and Strange Adventures of A. Knivet,” 1591, is printed in Purchas.

[110] Gouin de Beauchesne, a captain in the French merchant service. His celebrated voyage occupied nearly three years.

[111] His account of a “Voyage from Spain to Paraquaria” is reprinted in Churchill’s “Collection of Voyages,” vol. IV.

[112] J. F. Gemelli Careri’s “Voyage Round the World” is printed in Churchill’s “Collection of Voyages,” vol. IV.

[113] F. N. del Techo’s “Hist. of the Provinces of Paraguay, Rio de La Plata, etc.,” is included in Churchill’s “Collection of Voyages,” vol. IV.

[114] Francis Sparrey, servant to one of Ralegh’s captains, was left in Guiana in 1595. Eventually captured by the Spaniards, he escaped to England in 1602, Ralegh spoke of him as a man who “could describe a country with a pen,” and his description of Guiana is included in Vol. IV of Purchas “Pilgrimes” 1625.

[115] In Stays; i.e. in the act of going about from one tack to the other. If a ship misses stays her head she pays off again on the old tack.

[116] The lowest sail on each of the three masts was reefed.

[117] A popular error; Thomas Cavendish, the second Englishman to circumnavigate the globe, was never knighted.

[118] Edward Fenton, the famous Elizabethan sea captain, commanded the _Mary Rose_ against the Armada.

[119] John Davys or Davis of Sandridge, a famous Elizabethan navigator, and discoverer of Davis Strait.

[120] Sir John Narbrough, a famous Admiral and friend of Pepys, who passed through the Straits of Magellan in Nov., 1670.

[121] Ovalle (Alonso de). His “Hist. relation of the kingdom of Chili” is reprinted in Churchill’s “Collection of Voyages,” vol. III.

[122] Sudden bursts or squalls of wind.

[123] Basil Ringrose, a friend of Dampier, joined the Buccaneers in the Gulf of Darien, 1680. His “Journal,” the MS. of which is in the British Museum, was published in the second volume of the “Hist. of the Buccaneers,” 1685. He was killed in action in Feb., 1686.

[124] John Watling “an old privateer and a stout seaman,” was appointed to command the Buccaneers in Jan., 1681, at Juan Fernandez. Quitting the island in a hurry a Mosquito Indian, named William, was left behind. Watling was killed in action at the end of the month. Dampier visited the island March 22, 1684, and rescued the Indian.

[125] Anson, who visited the island in 1741, records that “the first goat that was killed at their landing had its ears slit, whence we concluded that he had doubtless been formerly under the power of Selkirk. This was indeed an animal of most venerable aspect, dignified with an exceeding majestic beard.”

[126] Perriers, commonly known as Pattereras or Pedereros; a small breach-loading swivel-gun.

[127] Thomas Stradling, formerly Lieutenant of this vessel.

[128] A charge consisting of a number of missiles (pieces of iron, stones, etc.) fired together; similar to case shot.

[129] Grapling or Grapnel; a sort of small anchor fitted with four or five flukes, or claws.

[130] A small kind of mortar invented by the celebrated engineer, Baron Coehorn, to throw small shells or grenades.

[131] A large species of Tunny fish, similar to the Bonito or striped Tunney.

[132] It was not until Rogers returned to England that he learnt that Simon Hatley, after losing company of the _Duke_ and _Dutchess_, sailed to the coast of Peru, and after great privations, surrendered to the Spaniards. He afterwards returned to England, and served as Shelvocke’s second Captain in his “Voyage round the World,” 1719-22. An incident in this voyage--the shooting of a black Albatross by Hatley--has been immortalized in Coleridge’s “Ancient Mariner.”

[133] Edward Davis, chosen to command the Buccaneers in the South Sea in 1684.

[134] The operation of heaving a ship down on one side by strong purchase on the masts, so that the bottom may be cleaned.

[135] Cut-water or Knee of the Head; the foremost part of a ship’s prow.

[136] He died October 28, 1708.

[137] Captain Swann, one of the most redoubtable pirates of the Pacific, with whom Dampier served, 1685-86. In the latter year Dampier took advantage of a mutiny to abandon Swann and thirty-six of his crew at Mindanao, in the Philippines.

[138] He had been appointed Lord High Admiral of England on Anne’s accession.

[139] In merchant ships the lazaretto was the fore part of the lower deck, parted off for the storage of provisions and stores.

[140] See note page 25.

[141] A strong thick block of wood, with two large holes through it (one square, the other round) to confine two masts together. (Smyth, “Sailor’s Word Book”).

[142] Used in this sense to mean a waving movement.

[143] Boxes containing cartridges for muskets.

[144] Two long pieces of hard wood, convex on one side and concave on the other, bound opposite to each other to strengthen the masts.

[145] Evidently a misprint for support.

[146] A netting extending fore and aft to prevent an enemy from boarding.

[147] J. F. Gemelli Careri. His “Voyage round the World” was included in Churchill’s Collection of Voyages, vol. IV.

[148] Herrara (Antonio de), “General history of the Continent and Islands of America”; originally written in Spanish.

[149] A small vessel used in Far Eastern waters, propelled by an oar over the stern, and having a mat shed or hut in which the owner and his family live.

[150] Leaguer; a kind of cask, the exact nature and size of which is doubtful.

[151] A name applied in Eastern countries to any spirituous liquor of native manufacture. (N.E.D.)

[152] The Bonnet was an additional part made to fasten to the foot of other sails. In the case of difficult leaks, the bonnet was brought up over the keel and so laced over the leak.

[153] While still heeled over, or careened for cleaning.

[154] Some years later Rogers proposed a settlement on Madagascar; see Introduction, page xxxviii.