Part 7

The joy those ashore expressed at the sight of so considerable a prize as they judged her at first sight, was vastly allayed, when they heard how dear a purchase she had proved to them. However, the reinforcement of the sloop made some amends. Capt. Tew was received by Caraccioli and the rest, with great civility and respect, who did not a little admire his courage, both in attacking the prize he made, and afterwards in giving chase to Misson. He was called to the council of officers, which was immediately held, to consider what methods should be taken with the prisoners, who were, by 190 brought in by this new prize, near as numerous as those of his own party, though Tew joined them with 70 men. It was therefore resolved to keep them separate from the Portuguese and English, who were before taken, to make them believe they were in amity with a prince of the natives, who was very powerful, and to propose to them, at their choice, the assisting the new colony in their works, or being sent prisoners up the country, if they rejected entering in with them. Seventy-three took on, and the rest desired they might be any way employed rather than be sent up the country; 117 then were set to work upon a dock, which was laid out about half a mile above the mouth of the harbour, and the other prisoners were forbid to pass such bounds as were prescribed then on pain of death; lest they, knowing their own strength, should revolt; for I must acquaint the reader, that on the arrival of the Victoire, both their loss and the number of Portuguese they brought in, was known to none but themselves, and the number of those who came over, magnified; besides, the Johanna men were all armed and disciplined, and the Bijoux lay as a guard-ship, where the last prisoners were set to work; but while they provided for their security, both within and without, they did not neglect providing also for their support, for they dug and sowed a large plat of ground with Indian and European corn, and other seeds which they found on board their prizes. In the mean while, Caraccioli, who had the art of persuasion, wrought on many of the Portuguese, who saw no hopes of returning home to join them. Misson, who could not be easy in an inactive life, would have taken another cruise; but fearing the revolt of the prisoners, durst not weaken the colony by the hands he must necessarily take with him. Wherefore, he proposed giving the last prize to, and sending away the prisoners. Caraccioli and Capt. Tew were against it, saying, that it would discover their retreat, and cause their being attacked by the Europeans, who had settlements along the continent, before they were able to defend themselves. Misson replied, he could not bear to be always diffident of those about him; that it was better to die at once, than live in continual apprehensions of death: that the time was come for sending away the Johanna men, and that they could not go without a ship; neither durst he trust a ship out, not well manned, nor man her while so many prisoners were with him. Wherefore there was a necessity of sending them off, or of putting them all to the sword; a barbarity by which he would not purchase his security. A council was called, and what Capt. Misson had proposed, agreed to. The prisoners were then summoned, and he told them, in few words, that he knew the consequence of giving them liberty; that he expected to be attacked as soon as the place of his retreat was known, and had it in his hands by putting them to death, to avoid the doubtful fate of war; but his humanity would not suffer him to entertain a thought so cruel, and his alliances with the natives, he hoped, would enable him to repel his assailants; but he required an oath of every one, that he should not serve against him. He then inquired into the circumstances of every particular man, and what they had lost, all which he returned, telling the company it should be reckoned as part of his share; and the prisoners, that he did not make war with the oppressed, but the oppressors. The prisoners were charmed with this mark of generosity, and wished he might never meet a treatment unworthy of that he gave them. The ship victualled for a voyage to the coast of Zanguebar, all her guns and ammunition taken out with the spare sails, and spare rigging, all were ordered to be gone; and 137 departed, highly applauding the behaviour of their enemies. All this while they had heard nothing from the natives, nor had the hunting parties met with any of them, which made Misson suspect they were afraid of his being their neighbour, and had shifted their quarters; but as the Johanna men were upon going away, there came about 50 negroes to them, driving about 100 head of black cattle, 20 negro men bound, and 25 women, for which cattle and prisoners they bartered rum, hatchets, baize, and beads; some hogsheads of which last commodity they had taken on the coast of Angola. Here the negroes belonging to Misson were provided with wives: the natives were caressed, and to the slaves signs made that their liberty was given them; they were immediately clothed and put under the care of as many whites, who, by all possible demonstrations, endeavoured to make them understand that they were enemies to slavery. The natives stayed ten days, which retarded the departure of the Johanna men; but, upon their retiring, the Bijoux sailed with 100 of them on board, under the command of Caraccioli’s lieutenant, who excused the keeping them longer than was promised, and not bringing them at once, having no more than two ships. The Portuguese ship, which was unrigged, being made a hulk, the ten men of Misson’s company who had settled at Johanna, being desirous to return, were brought to Libertatia with their wives (of which they had two or three a piece) and their children. The Bijoux, at two more voyages, carried over the rest of the Johannians.

Misson hove down the Bijoux, and resolving on a cruise on the coast of Guinea, to strengthen his colony by the capture of some slaving ship, he gave the command of her to Capt. Tew, and he and Caraccioli pressed the work of the dock. He gave him also 200 hands, of which 40 were Portuguese, 37 negroes, 17 of them expert sailors, 30 English, and the rest French. Tew met with nothing in his way, till he came to the northward of the Cape of Good Hope, when he fell in with a Dutch East-India galley of 18 guns, which he took after a small resistance, and with the loss of one man only. On the coast of Angola he took an English Guinea-man with 240 slaves, men, women, and boys. The negroes who had been before taken on this coast, found among these a great many of their acquaintance, and several of their relations, to whom they reported their unexpected change of fortune, the great captain (for so they now called Misson) having humanely knocked off their chains, and of slaves made them free men, and sharers in his fortunes: that the same good fortune had attended them in their falling into his hands, for he abhorred even the name of slavery. Tew, following the orders and acquainted with the policy of Misson, ordered the fetters and handcuffs to be taken off, upon his negro sailors assuring him they would not revolt, and were sensible of their happiness in falling into his hands. Content with these prizes, he made the best of his way home to Libertatia where he arrived without any sinister accident; but I forgot to tell my reader, that he set his Dutch prisoners (nine excepted, who took on with him) ashore, about 30 miles to the northward of the Cape of Saldanha Bay, where had been buried, by Capt. Misson, the English commander. He found a great quantity of English crowns on board his Dutch prize, which were carried into the common treasury; money being of no use where every thing was in common, and no hedge bounded any particular man’s property. The slaves he had released in this last cruise were employed in perfecting the dock, and treated on the footing of free people. They were not ignorant of the change of their condition, and were therefore extremely diligent and faithful. A white man, or one of the old standing negroes, wrought with every four, and made them understand the French words (by often repetition, and the help of their countrymen’s interpreting) used in their works Misson ordered a couple of sloops to be built in a creek, of eighty tons each, which he mounted with eight guns a piece, out of a Dutch prize. These were perfected in a little time, and proved not only shapely vessels, but excellent sailers. The officers of these sloops were chosen by balloting, and as their first design was only to discover and lay down a chart of the coast, sands, shoals, and depth of water round the island of Madagascar, the schoolmaster being sent with the command of one, Tew desired and had the other. They were manned, each sloop with 50 white and 50 black men: which voyage round the island was of vast advantage in giving the new released Angola negroes a notion of working a vessel;—and they were very industrious both in endeavouring to learn the French language, and to be useful. These sloops, the one of which was called the Childhood, and the other the Liberty, were near four months on this expedition. In the mean while, a few of the natives had come often to the settlement, and began to speak a little French, mixed with the other European languages, which they heard among Misson’s people, and six of the native families fixed among them, which was of vast use to the planters of this colony; for they made a very advantageous report to their countrymen of the regularity and harmony they observed in them. The sloops having returned, and an exact chart taken of the coast, Caraccioli had a mind for a cruise. He proposed visiting all the neighbouring islands, and accordingly went out to Mascarenhas, and the other islands near it, taking one half of his crew of negroes, and returned with a Dutch prize, which he took off the above mentioned island where they were about fixing a colony. This prize, as it had on board all sorts of European goods, and necessaries for settling, was more valuable than if it had been vastly richer. The negroes growing useful hands, Misson resolved on a cruise to the northward, encouraged by Tew’s success; and with all the blacks, which he divided between the two ships, one of which Capt. Tew commanded set out with 500 men. Off the coast of Arabia Felix they fell in with a ship belonging to the Great Mogul, bound for Zidon, with pilgrims to Mecca, who, with Moor mariners, made up the number of 1600 souls. This ship carried 110 guns, but made a very poor defence, being encumbered with the goods and number of passengers they carried. The two adventurers did not think it their business to cannonade, they therefore boarded as soon as they came up with her, and the Moors no sooner saw them entered, but they discharged one volley of small arms at random, we may suppose, because no execution was done, and fled the decks. Being masters of this ship, which did not cost them a single man, they consulted what they should do with her, and the prisoners, and it was resolved to set them ashore between Ain and Aden.

They now made the best of their way for Madagascar, putting 200 hands on board the prize, which proved a very heavy sailer, and retarded them very much. Off the Cape Guarde Fin they were overtaken with a cruel storm, which was near wrecking them on the island called Irmanos; but the wind coming about due north, they had the good luck to escape this danger. Though the fury of the wind abated, yet it blew so hard for twelve days together, that they could only carry their coursers reefed. They spied a sail in their passage, but the weather would not permit their endeavouring to speak with her. In a word, they returned to Libertatia with their prize, without any other accident; but the captors could make no estimate of her value, she having on board a vast quantity of diamonds, besides rich silks, raw silks, spices, carpets, wrought and bar gold. The prize was taken to pieces, as she was of no use; her cordage and knee timber preserved, with all the bolts, eyes, chains, and other iron work, and her guns planted on two points of the harbour, where they raised batteries, so that they were now so strongly fortified they apprehended no danger from any number of shipping which could be brought into those seas to attack them. They had, by this time, cleared, sown, and enclosed a good parcel of ground, and taken in a quantity of pasturage, where they had above 300 head of black cattle, bought of the natives. The dock was now finished, and the Victoire growing old and unfit for a long voyage, and the last storm having shook, and loosened her very much, she was pulled to pieces and rebuilt, keeping the same name. She was rigged, victualled, and fit to go to sea, and was to sail to the coast of Guinea for more negroes, when one of the sloops came in, which had been sent out rather to exercise the negroes, than with any view of making a prize, and brought word that five lofty ships chased her into the bay, and stood for their harbour; that she judged them to be Portuguese by their built, and 50 gun ships, full of men. This proved the real truth. The alarm was given, the forts and batteries manned, and every man stood to his arms. Misson took upon him the command of 100 negroes, who were well disciplined, (for every morning they had been used to perform their exercise, which was taught them by a French serjeant, one of their company, who belonged to the Victoire) to be ready where his assistance should be required, Tew commanded all the English. They had hardly ordered their affairs when these ships hove in sight, and stood directly for the harbour with Portuguese colours. They were warmly received by the two forts, which did not stop them, though it brought one of them on the careen. They entered the harbour, and thought they had done their business, but were saluted so warmly from the forts, batteries, sloops, and ships, that two of them sunk downright, and a great many men were drowned, though some got on board the other ships. The Portuguese, who did not imagine they had been so well fortified, and thought in passing the two forts they should without difficulty land their men, and easily root out this nest of pirates, found now their mistake, for they durst not venture to hoist out a boat. They had wisely, however, contrived to enter just before the turn of the tide. Finding the attempt vain, and that they had lost a great many men, they clapped upon a wind, and with the help of the tide of ebb, made more haste out than they did to get in, leaving two of their ships sunk in the harbour; but they did not get off so cheaply, for no sooner were they clear of the forts, but Misson, manning with the utmost expedition both the ships and sloops, gave them chase, and engaged them at the mouth of the bay. The Portuguese defended themselves with a great deal of gallantry, and one of them beat off the Libertatians twice, who boarded them from the two sloops; two of them, finding themselves hard pressed made a running fight, and got off, and left the third to shift as well as she could. The Bijoux and Victoire finding the Portuguese endeavoured to clear themselves and knowing there was little to be got by the captures, gave over the chase, and fell upon the third, who defended himself till his decks swam with blood, and the greater number of his men killed; but finding all resistance vain, and that he was left to an unequal fight by his companions, he called for quarter, and good quarter was given, both to himself and men. This prize yielded them a great quantity of powder and shot, and, indeed, they expected nothing of value out of her. None of the prisoners were stripped, and the officers, Misson, Caraccioli, and Tew invited to their tables, treating them very civilly, and extolling the courage they had shown in their defence. Unhappily two prisoners were found on board, who had been released, and had sworn never to serve against them; these were clapped in irons, and publicly tried for their perjury. The Portuguese officers being present, the witnesses proved them the very discharged men, and they were condemned to be hanged at the point of each fort; which execution was performed the next morning after their condemnation, with the assistance of the Portuguese chaplain, who attended, confessed, and absolved them. This was the engagement with the pirates, which made so much noise in the Lisbon Gazette, and these the men whom the English ignorantly took for Avery; who, we had a notion here in London, had 32 sail of men of war, and had taken upon himself the state and title of king.

This execution seeming to impugn the maxims of the chiefs, Caraccioli made an harangue, in which he told them, “that there was no rule could be laid down which did not allow exceptions: that they were all sensible how tender the Commodore Monsieur Misson was in shedding blood; and that it was a tenet of his faith, that none had power over the life of another, but God alone who gave it; but notwithstanding, self-preservation sometimes made it absolutely necessary to take away the life of another, especially an avowed and obliged enemy, even in cold blood. As to the blood shed in a lawful war, in defence of that liberty they had generously asserted, it was needless to say any thing, but he thought it proper to lay before them reasons for the execution of the criminals, and the heinousness of their crimes. They had not only received their lives from the bounty of the Libertatians, but their liberty, and had every thing restored them which they laid claim to; consequently their ingratitude rose in proportion to the generous treatment they had met with: that indeed, both he and Capt. Misson would have passed by the perjury and ingratitude which they had been guilty of, with a corporeal punishment, which had not extended to the deprivation of life, but their gallant friend and companion, the English commander, Capt. Tew, used such cogent reasons for an exemplary punishment, to deter others from the like crimes, that they must have been enemies to their own preservation in not following his advice: that the lives of their whole body ought to be preferred to those of declared and perjured enemies, who would not cease to endeavour their ruin; and, as they were well acquainted with their settlement, might be fatal instruments of it, if they were again restored to that liberty which they had already abused: that he was obliged to do Capt. Tew the justice, to acknowledge he was inclined to the side of mercy, till he was thoroughly informed of the blackness of their ingratitude, and then he thought it would be cruelty to themselves to let those miscreants experience a second time their clemency. Thus an absolute necessity had obliged them to act contrary to their declared principles; though, to state the case rightly, these men, not the Libertarians, were the authors of their own deaths.” Here the assembly crying out, “_their blood is on their own heads, they sought their deaths, and hanging is too good for them_;” Caraccioli gave over, and every one returned satisfied to his private or the public affairs.

Some difference arising between Misson’s and Tew’s men, on a national quarrel, which the latter began, Capt. Tew proposed their deciding the quarrel by the sword; but Caraccioli was entirely against it, alleging, that such decision must necessarily be a damage to the public, since the brave men who fell, would be weakening of their colony. He therefore desired Capt. Tew to interpose the authority he had over his crew, and he and Misson would endeavour to bring their men to an amicable agreement; and for the future, as this accident proved the necessity, wholesome laws should be made, and a form of government entered upon. Both parties were therefore called, and Caraccioli showed them the necessity of their living in unity among themselves, who had the whole world for enemies; and as he had a persuasive and insinuating way of argument, with the assistance of Capt. Tew, this affair was ended to the satisfaction of both parties.

The next day the whole colony was assembled, and the three commanders proposed a form of government as necessary to their conservation; for where there was no coercive laws, the weakest would always be the sufferers, and every thing must tend to confusion: that men’s passions, blinding them to justice, and making them ever partial to themselves, they ought to submit the differences which might rise to calm and disinterested persons who could examine with temper, and determine according to reason and equity: that they looked upon a democratical form, where the people were themselves the makers and judges of their own laws, the most agreeable; and therefore, desired they would divide themselves into companies of ten men, and every such company choose one to assist in settling a form of government, and in making wholesome laws for the good of the whole: that the treasure and cattle they were masters of should be equally divided, and such lands as any particular man would enclose, should, for the future, be deemed his property, which no other should lay any claim to, if not alienated by a sale.

This proposal was received with applause, and they decimated themselves that very day, but put off the meeting of the states till a house was built, which they set about very cheerfully, and finished it in about a fortnight; it being of framed timber, and they having among them a great number who understood the handling of an axe.

When this body of politicians met, Caraccioli opened the sessions with a handsome speech, showing the advantage flowing from order; and then spoke to the necessity of lodging a supreme power in the hands of one who should have that of rewarding brave and virtuous actions, and of punishing the vicious, according to the laws which the state should make; by which he was to be guided: that such a power, however, should not be for life, nor be hereditary, but determine at the end of three years, when a new choice should be made by the state, or the old confirmed for three years longer; by which means, the ablest men would always be at the head of affairs, and their power being of short duration, none would dare to abuse it: that such a chief should have the title of _Lord Conservator_, and all the ensigns of royalty to attend him.

This was approved _nem. con._ and Misson was chosen conservator, with power to create great officers, &c. and with the title of _Supreme Excellence_.

A law was then made for the meeting of the State once every year at least, but oftener, if the conservator and his council thought it necessary for the common good to convene them; and that nothing of moment should be undertaken without the approbation of the State.

In a word their first session lasted ten days; and a great many wholesome laws were enacted, registered in the state book, and dispersed among the crews.

Capt. Tew, the conservator honoured with the title of Admiral, and Caraccioli was made Secretary of State. He chose a council of the ablest among them, without distinction of nation or colour; and the different languages began to be incorporated, and one made out of the many. An equal division was made of their treasure and cattle, and every one began either to enclose land for himself, or his neighbour who would hire his assistance.

Admiral Tew proposed building an arsenal, and augmenting their naval force. The first was agreed to be proposed to the State at the next convention; but the latter was thought unnecessary, till the number of inhabitants was augmented; for, should they all be employed in the sea service, the husbandry would be neglected, which would be of fatal consequence to the growing colony.