Part 4

However, to let them see I was not to be daunted with it, I called out to one of the men among them, whom I saw upon the forecastle; You Jones, said I, tell me who they are, and come away from them, for I will make an example of them, whoever they are. Will Jones slunk in among the rest, and made me no answer, and immediately _One and all_ was cried again, and a little huzza with it, and some of the men appeared to have fire-arms with them. There was a great many of them, and I presently foresaw, that, if I went to the extremity, I should spoil the voyage, though I conquered them; so I bridled my passion with all my power, and said calmly, Very well, gentlemen, let me know what you mean by _one and all_? I offered any of you that did not like to go the voyage to quit the ship; is that what you intend by _one and all_? If so, you are welcome, and pray take care to do it immediately; as for what chests or clothes you have in the ship, you shall have them all with you. Upon this I made the chief mate, who was now come to me again, advance a little with some more men, and get between the men upon the forecastle and those who were upon the main deck; and, as if he had wanted room, when he had gotten between them, he said to them, Stand aft a little, gentlemen, and so crowded them towards me.

As they came nearer and nearer to where I stood, I had an opportunity to speak to them singly, which I did calmly and smilingly.

Why, how now, Tom, says I, to one of them; what are you among the mutineers?

Lord, sir, says Tom, not I, they are mad, I think; I have nothing to say to them; I care not where I go, not I; I will go round the globe with you, it's all one to me.

Well, Tom, says I, but what do you do among them then? come away into the steerage, and show yourself an honest man.

So Tom comes in, and after him another, and then two more. Upon my saying to Tom, What do you do among them? one of the fellows says to one of the officers that stood at a little distance from me, What does the captain mean by saying, among them? What, does he reckon us to be in the plot? He is quite wrong, we are all ignorant, and surprised at it. He immediately tells me this, and I was glad, you may be sure, to hear it, and said aloud to the man that he spoke to, If they are honest men, and would not appear in this villany, let them go down between decks, and get out of the way, that they may have no share in the punishment, if they have none in the crime. With all my heart, says one; God bless you, captain, says another, and away they dropt one by one in at the steerage door, and down between decks, every one in his hammock or cabin, till there were not above five or six of them left.

By this time, our two boats appeared from the shore, being both manned with Dutchmen, viz. the Dutch captain's mate and about twenty of his men, all the water casks full, but not a man of mine with them, for they were left on shore in safe custody.

I waited till they came on board, and then turning to the men on the forecastle, I told them they should go on board the boats immediately, as soon as the butts of water were hoisted in. They still said, _One and all_, they were ready, desired they might go and fetch their clothes.

No, no, says I, not a man of you shall set your foot any more into the ship; but go get you into the boat, and what is your own shall be given you into the boat.

As I spoke this in an angry tone, and with a kind of passion, that bespoke resentment to a high degree, they began to see they had no opportunity to choose; and some of them slipt down the scuttle into the cook-room. I had ordered the officer who was there, who was one of the midshipmen, to wink at it, and let as many come down as offered it; and the honest man did more than that, for he went to the scuttle himself, and, as if he had whispered, so that I should not hear him, called them one by one by their names, and argued with them; Prithee, Jack, says he to one of them, do not you be distracted, and ruin yourself to gratify a rash drunken humour; if you go into the boat you are undone; you will be seized as soon as you come on shore, as the rest are, and will be sent to England in irons, and there you will be infallibly hanged; why you are certainly all mad.

Jack replies, he had no design to mutiny, but the second mate drew him in, and he did not know what to do, he wished he had not meddled; he knew he was undone; but now what could he do?

Do, says the midshipman, leave them for shame, and slip down here, and I will see and get you off if I can.

Accordingly he pulled him down, and after him so many got out of sight the same way, that there was not above seventeen or eighteen left upon the forecastle.

I seemed to take no notice of that, till at last one of the men that was left there, with his hat or cap in his hand, stepping just to the edge of the forecastle, which was next to me, said, in a very respectful manner, that I saw how many had slunk away and made their peace, or at least obtained pardon, and that I might, perhaps, know that they who were left were only such as had their duty there, being placed there of course before the mutiny began, and that they had no hand in it, but abhorred it with all their hearts, which he hoped I would consider, and not join them with those that had offended, merely because they came upon the forecastle, and mixed there with the men who had the watch.

I told him, if that was true, it would be in their favour, but I expected he would prove it to my satisfaction before I accepted that for an excuse. He told me, it might, perhaps, be hard to prove it, seeing the boatswain and his mate, and the second mate, were gone, but the rest of the ship's crew could all testify that they were a part of the men whose watch it was, and that they were upon the forecastle by the necessity of their duty, and no otherwise; and called several men who were upon duty with them to witness it, who did confirm it.

Upon this, I found myself under a necessity, in justice to the men, to approve it; but my own management was a bite upon myself in it; for, though I did allow the midshipman to wink at their slipping away, as before, yet I made no question but I should have some left to make examples of; but as I could not go back from the promise of mercy which I had allowed the midshipman to offer in my name, so I tricked myself by their mistake into a necessity of pardoning them all, which was very far from my design; but there was no remedy.

However, the men, when they were so happily escaped, desired the midshipman, who had been instrumental to their deliverance, to assure me, that as they were sensible that they had deserved very ill at my hands, and that yet I had treated them thus kindly, they would not only reveal to me all the particulars of the conspiracy, and the names of those principally concerned in it, but that they would assure me they would never more dispute any of my measures, but were very ready to do their duty as seamen, to what part of the world soever I might think fit to go, or which way I thought fit to carry them, whether outward or homeward; and that they gave me the tender of their duty in this manner with the utmost sincerity and with thankfulness, for my having forgiven them that conduct which was the worst that a seamen could be guilty of.

I took this very kindly, and sent them word I did so, and that they should see they had taken the wiser course; that I had an entire confidence in their fidelity; and that they should never find I would reproach them with, or use them the worse for, what had past.

I must confess, I was very glad of this submission of the men; for though, by the measures I had taken, I was satisfied I should conquer them, and that I was safe from their attempts; yet, carrying it on by resentment, and doing justice upon the offenders, whatever advantage it had one way, had this disadvantage in the consequence; viz., that it would ruin the voyage, for at least half the men were in the plot.

Having thus conquered them by good usage, I thought my next work was to inquire into the mistakes which had been the foundation of all this: so, before I parted with the men who had returned to their duty, I told them, that as I had freely forgiven what was past, so I would keep my word, that I would never reproach them with it; but that I thought it was necessary their judgments should be convinced how much they were imposed upon, as well as their tempers be reduced by my kindness to them. That I was of the opinion that they had been abused in the account given them of what I had designed to do, and of the reasons I had to give for doing it; and I would desire them to let me know afterwards, whether they had been faithfully informed or not; and whether in their own judgment, now when they were freed from the prepossessions they were under, they could object anything against it or no.

This I did with respect to the other men whom I had made prisoners in the steerage, whom I had the same design to be kind to as I had to these; but upon whom I resolved to work this way, because, after all, I might have this work to do over again, if I should meet with any disappointment or miscarriage in the voyage; or especially, if we should be put to any difficulties or distresses in the pursuing it.

In order to this I caused the voyage itself, and the reasons of it, the nature of the trade I was to carry on by it, the pursuit of it to the South Seas, and, in a word, everything just as we had argued and settled it in the great cabin, to be put into writing and read to them.

The fellows, every one of them, declared they were fully satisfied in the voyage itself, and that my reasons for it were perfectly good; and that they had received a quite different account of it; as that I would carry them into the island of the Moluccas, which was the most unhealthy part of the East Indies; that I would go away to the south for new discoveries; and that I would go away thence to the South Seas; which was a voyage of such a length, that no ship could victual for; that it was impossible to carry fresh water such a length; and, in a word, that it was a voyage that would destroy us all.

It was the chief mate and the midshipman who took them all down the scuttle, that brought me this account from them: so I made him take two of those penitent mutineers with him, and go to the men in the steerage, whom he had made prisoners at first, and see whether their delusions were of the same kind, and what kind of temper they were in; accordingly, he went to them directly, for this was not a business that admitted giving them time to club and cabal together, and form other societies or combinations which might have consequences fatal to us still.

When he came to them, he told them, the captain was willing to do all the justice possible to his men, and to use them, on all occasions, with equity and kindness; that I had ordered him to inquire calmly what it was had moved them to these disorders, and what it was which they had been made to believe was doing, that they could enter into measures so destructive to themselves, and to those who had intrusted them all with the ship and cargo; for that, in a voyage, every foremast-man, in his degree, is trusted with the safety of the whole ship.

They answered it was the second mate; that they had never shown themselves discontented, much less disorderly, in the ship; that they had, on all occasions, done their duty through the whole voyage till now; and that they had no ill design upon any one, much less had they any design to destroy the voyage, or injure the captain; but that they were all told by the second mate, that the captain had imposed upon them, by proposing a mad voyage to the south pole, that would be the death of them all, and that they were to lay aside the trading and cruising voyages which they came out upon, and were now to spend the whole voyage in new discoveries; by which the men could propose nothing to themselves but hardships, and perhaps perishing with hunger and cold; whereas, had they gone to the South Seas as was intended, they might all have been made; and that the hazards, with that prospect, had some consolation in them; whereas, in this project, there was nothing but certain destruction.

The mate delivered them a copy of the scheme I had proposed, the reasons of it, the trade I had designed, the return I was to make, and everything, as I have already mentioned, and bade them take it and consider of it.

As I was justly provoked to see how I had been abused and misrepresented to the men, so they were astonished when they read my scheme, and saw what mischiefs they had been led into, for they knew not what, and without any reason or just consideration: and, after they had debated things awhile among themselves, they desired the chief mate might come to them again, which he did; then they told him, that as they had been thus grossly abused, and drawn into mischiefs which they never designed, by such plausible pretences, and by being told such a long story full of lies, and to carry on an infernal project of the second mate's, they hoped their being so much imposed upon would a little extenuate their fault; that they were convinced the captain had proposed nothing but what was very rational, and a voyage that might be very profitable to the owners and to every individual; and they entirely threw themselves upon the captain's mercy, and humbly begged pardon; that, if I pleased to forgive them, they would endeavour to merit such forgiveness by their future behaviour; and that, in the mean time, they submitted to what punishment I pleased to lay upon them: and, particularly, that, as they had forfeited, by their conspiracy, all the claims they had upon the ship, and might justly have been turned on shore at the first land they came to, they were willing to sign a discharge for all their wages due to them, which was now near eight months a man, and to be considered for the rest of the voyage as they deserved: that they would all take a solemn oath of fidelity to me to do their duty, to go wherever I would carry them, and to behave with the greatest submission and diligence, in hopes to regain my favour by their future behaviour, and to show their gratitude for the pardon I should grant them.

This was, indeed, just as I would have it, for I wanted nothing more than to have something offered, which I might give them back again; for I ever thought, and have found it by experience, to be the best way; and men were always secured in their duty by a generous kindness, better than by absolute dominion and severity: indeed, my opinion was justified in all the measures I took with these men; for as I found they were sufficiently humbled, and that I had brought them low enough, I let them know that it was not their punishment but their amendment I desired; that I scorned to make a prey of them, and take that forfeiture they had offered, by putting the wages due to them for their labour in my pocket. I then sent them word I was very glad to hear that they were sensible how much they had been imposed upon; that, as it was not my design to offer anything to them which they or any honest men ought to refuse, so it was not my desire to make any advantages of their follies but what might tend to bring them back to their duty; that, as I had no prospect that was inconsistent with their safety and interest, so I scorned to make an advantage of their submission; that as to their wages, though they had forfeited them by their mutiny, yet God forbid I should convert them to my own profit; and since forgiving their offence was in my power, the crime being in one particular an offence against me, they should never be able to say I made a gain of their submission, and, like the Pope, should sell them my pardon; that, upon their solemnly engaging to me never to offer the least disturbance of any kind in the ship for the future, but to do their duty faithfully and cheerfully, I would forget all that was passed; only this I expected, that two of them, who were particularly guilty of threatening the life of Captain Merlotte, should be punished as they deserved.

They could not deny but this was most just; and they did not so much as offer to intercede for those two; but, when one of the two moved the rest to petition for them, they answered they could not do it, for they had received favour enough for themselves, and they could not desire anything of the captain for their sakes, for they had all deserved punishment as well as they.

In a word, the two men were brought upon deck, and soundly whipped and pickled; and they all proved very honest ever after: and these, as I said at first, were two-and-thirty in all.

All this while Captain Merlotte with his Frenchmen were in arms, and had possession on the quarter-deck to the number of twenty-three stout men; I had possession of the main-deck with eighteen men and the sixteen Dutchmen, and my chief mate with the midshipman, had possession of the cook-room and quarter-deck; the Dutch captain, our supercargo, the surgeon, and the other captain, kept the great cabins with a guard of twelve musketeers without the door, and about eight more within, besides servants. Captain Merlotte's man also had a guard of eight men in the roundhouse. I had now nothing to do but with my men who were on shore; and of these, six were no way culpable, being men not embarked in the design, but carried on shore by the chief mate, with a design to engage them with him; so that, indeed, they fell into a punishment before they fell into the crime, and what to do with these men was a nice point to manage.

The first thing I did, was to dismiss my visitor, the Dutch captain, whom I had a great deal of reason to think myself exceedingly obliged to: and, first, I handsomely rewarded his men, to whom I gave four pieces of eight a man; and having waited on the captain to the ship's side, and seen him into his boat, I fired him twenty-one guns at his going off; for which he fired twenty-five when he came on board his ship.

The same afternoon I sent my pinnace on board him for my drunken cockswain, and with the pinnace I sent the captain three dozen bottles of English beer, and a quarter cask of Canary, which was the best present I had to make him; and sent every one of his other seamen a piece of eight per man; and, indeed, the assistance I had from the ship deserved it; and to the mate, who acted so bravely with my men on shore, I sent fifty pieces of eight.

The next day I went on shore to pay my respects to the governor, when I had all the prisoners delivered up to me. Six men I caused to be immediately set at liberty, as having been innocent, and brought all the rest on board, tied hand and foot, as prisoners, and continued them so, a great while afterward, as the reader will find. As for the second mate, I tried him formally by a council of war, as I was empowered by my commission to do, and sentenced him to be hanged at the yard-arm: and though I suspended the execution from day to day, yet I kept him in expectation of the halter every hour; which, to some, would have been as grievous as the hanging itself.

Thus we conquered this desperate mutiny, all principally proceeding from suffering the private disputes among ourselves, which ought to have been the arcana of the whole voyage, and kept as secret as death itself could have kept it, I mean so as not to come among the seamen afore the mast.

We lay here twelve days, during which time we took in fresh water as much as we had casks for, and were able to stow. On the 13th day of August, we weighed and stood away to the east, designing to make no land any more till we came to Java Head, and the Straits of Sunda, for that way we intended to sail; but the wind sprung up at E. and E. S. E., and blew so fresh, that we were obliged, after two days' beating against it, to bear away afore it, and run back to the Cape of Good Hope.

While we were here, there came in two Dutch East Indiamen more, homeward-bound, to whom had happened a very odd accident.

They had been attacked by a large ship of forty-four guns, and a stout sloop of eight guns; the Dutch ships resolving to assist one another, stood up to the Frenchman, (for such it seems he was,) and fought him very warmly. The engagement lasted six or seven hours; in which the privateer had killed them some men; but in the heat of the fight, the sloop received a shot, which brought her mainmast by the board; and this caused the captain of the frigate to sheer off, fearing his sloop would be taken; but the sloop's men took care of themselves, for, hauling a little out of the fight, they got into their own boats, and a boat which the frigate sent to their help, and abandoned the sloop; which the Dutchmen perceiving, they manned out their boats, and sent and took the sloop with all that was in her, and brought her away with them.

The Dutchmen came into the road at the Cape with this prize while our ship was there the second time; and we saw them bringing the sloop in tow, having no mast standing, but a little pole-mast set up for the present, and her mizen, which was also disabled, and of little use to her.

I no sooner saw her, but it came into my thoughts, that, if she was anything of a sea-boat, she would do our business to a tittle; and, as we had always resolved to get another ship, but had been disappointed, this would answer our end exactly; accordingly I went with my chief mate, in our shallop, on board my old acquaintance the Dutch captain, and inquiring there, was informed that it was a prize taken, and that in all probability the captain that took her would be glad to part with her; and the captain promised me to go on board the ship that brought her in, and inquire about it, and let me know.

Accordingly, the next morning the captain sent me word I might have her; that she carried eight guns, had good store of provisions on board, with ammunition sufficient, and I might have her and all that was in her for twelve hundred pieces of eight. In a word, I sent my chief mate back with the same messenger and the money, giving him commission to pay for her, and take possession of her, if he liked her; and the Dutch captain, my friend, lent him twelve men to bring her off to us, which they did the same day.

I was a little put to it for a mast for her, having not anything on board we could spare that was fit for a main-mast; but resolving at last to mast her not as a sloop, but as a brigantine, we made shift with what pieces we had, and a spare foretop-mast, which one of the Dutch ships helped me to; so we fitted her up very handsomely, made her carry twelve guns, and put sixty men on board. One of the best things we found on board her, were casks, which we greatly wanted, especially for barrelling up beef and other provisions, which we found very difficult; but our cooper eked them out with making some new ones out of her old ones.

After staying here sixteen days more, we sailed again. Indeed, I thought once we should never have gone away at all; for it is certain above half the men in the ship had been made uneasy, and there remained still some misunderstanding of my design, and a supposition of all the frightful things the second mate had put in their heads; and, by his means, the boatswain and gunner.