Chapter 43

_From the same Muley Ismael to Sir Cloudesly Shovel, on board the Charles Galley, off Salee, written Aug. 26. A.D. 1684, year of the Hejra 1095_.

L.S.

I, servant of God, and Emperor of Marocco and King of Mauritania, whom God preserve in all his undertakings, &c.

I Salute you and the rest of the captains.

As for the captives you have taken, they belong to several places, and are not all my subjects; and what I do is out of charity, as they are Muhamedans, being forced to go to sea for want of maintenance. As for those that are my soldiers, they go to sea to 388 fight and to die in my quarrels; but, those _Moors_ that _you_ have taken, are inconsiderable and of no account.

Henceforward I shall have ships as big as yours, if not bigger, hoping to take some of your ships and captains, and cruise for you in your English seas, as you do for us in these.

I have written letters to the King of England, in which are kind expressions: And when you had Tangier, all things were given to you as you wanted, and all done out of kindness; and now that you have left Tangier for the Moors, whatever His Majesty of Great Britain wants, either by sea or by land, it shall be granted, so that there be a peace betwixt the two crowns; for which I pass my word and faith.

Now, _I have written several letters to his Majesty of Great Britain, to which I have received as yet no answer_; but, when it (the answer) reaches my hands, I hope there will be a good accommodation between us.

You have taken several of our ships and destroyed others, and you are cruising on our coast, which is not the way to make a good peace, neither the actions of honesty in you.

God be praised that you have quitted Tangier and left it to us, to whom it did belong: from henceforward we shall keep it well supplied with stores, for it is the best port of our dominions.

As for the captives you have taken, you may do as you please with 389 them, heaving them into the sea, or otherwise destroying them. The English merchants that are here resident, shall satisfy all their debts, which being done, none of them shall remain in my country.

LETTER. III.

_Captain Shovel's Answer_.

May it please Your Majesty,

We, the King of England's captains, return Your Majesty humble thanks for your kind wishes to us. Your Majesty by this may know, that we have received your letter, and by it we understand, that Your Majesty is informed that most of these people that are taken are not your subjects. We perceive by this, as well as in other things, how grossly Your Majesty has been deceived by those people you trust; else, we doubt not, but that, long before this, our Master, whom God preserve, and Your Majesty had accommodated all differences, and we should have had a firm peace.

Of those fifty-three slaves that are here, (excepting two or three,) they are all Moors of their own country, as they themselves can make appear; but, if they are to be disowned because they are poor, the Lord help them!! Your Majesty tells us, that we may throw them overboard, if we please: all this we very well know; but we are Christians, and they bear the form of men, which is reason 390 enough for us not to do so.

As to Tangier, our Master kept it twenty-one years; and the world is sensible, that in spite of all your force, he could, if he had pleased, have continued to keep it to the world's end; for, he levelled your walls, filled up your harbour, and demolished your houses, in the face of your Alkaid and his army; and when he had done, he left your[220] barren country (without the loss of a man) for your own people to starve in: but our departure from thence, long before this, we doubt not, but you have repented of. When you tell us of those mighty ships Your Majesty intends to build and send to our coast, you must excuse us if we think ourselves the better judges; for we know, as to shipping, what you are able to do.

[Footnote 220: The gallant and magnanimous captain was better acquainted with the coast than with the country, which is any thing but barren.]

If you think fit to redeem those slaves, at 100 dollars a-piece, they are at Your Majesty's service, and the rest shall be sent to you; or, if you think fit to give us so many English in exchange, we shall be well satisfied; but we think you will hardly comply with that, for the poorest slave that ever our Master redeemed out of _your_ country, cost him 200 dollars; and some of these five times that sum, for he freely extended his charity to all, and never forgets his people _because they are poor_. 391 It is great wonder to us, that you should tax us with unjust proceedings in taking your ships in time of truce, when Your Majesty may remember that, during the time your ambassador was in England, your corsairs took about twenty sail of my Master's ships; and this very year, you have fitted out all the force in your kingdom to sea, who have taken several of our ships, and at the same time pretend to a truce for peace! But some of your ships, for their unjust dealings, have had their reward, and the rest, when they shall come to sea, we doubt not but God Almighty will put them into our hands.

If Your Majesty think fit to send proposals to my Master concerning peace, I shall take care for the speedy and safe conveyance of the same. I desire Your Majesty's speedy answer; for I do not intend to stay long before Salee.

Wishing Your Majesty long life and happiness, I subscribe myself, Your Majesty's

Most obedient and humble Servant,

CLOUDESLY SHOVEL. Sept. 1684 A.D. 392