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The King of Pirates
The King of Pirates / Being an Account of the Famous Enterprises of Captain Avery, the Mock King of Madagascar
THE PREFACE
ONE of the particular Advantages of the following Letters from Captain Avery, is, the Satisfaction they will give the Readers how much they have been impos’d upon in the former ridiculous and extravagant Accounts which have been put upon the World in what has been publish’d already.
It has been enough to the Writers of this Man’s Life, as they call it, that they could put any Thing together, to make a kind of monstrous unheard of Story, as romantick as the Reports that have been spread about of him; and the more those Stories appear’d monstrous and incredible, the more suitable they seem’d to be to what the World would have been made to expect of Captain Avery.
There is always a great Deference between what Men say of themselves, and what others say for them, when they come to write Historically of the Transactions of their Lives.
The Publisher of these Letters recommends this Performance to the Readers, to make their Judgment of the Difference between them and the extravagant Stories already told, and which is most likely to be genuine; and, as they verily believe these Letters to be the best and truest Account of Captain Avery’s Piracies, that ever has or ever will come to the Knowledge of the World, they recommend them as such, and doubt not but they will answer for themselves in the Reading.
The Account given of Captain Avery’s taking the Great Mogul’s Daughter, ravishing and murdering her, and all the Ladies of her Retinue, is so differently related here, and so extravagantly related before, that it cannot but be a Satisfaction to the most unconcern’d Reader, to find such a horrible Piece of Villainy as the other was suppos’d to be, not to have been committed in the World.
On the contrary, we find here, that except plundering that Princess of her Jewels and Money to a prodigious Value, a Thing which, falling into the Hands of Freebooters, every one that had the Misfortune to fall into such Hands would expect: But, that excepting this, the Lady was used with all the Decency and Humanity, and, perhaps, with more than ever Women, falling among Pirates, had found before; especially considering that, by Report, she was a most beautiful and agreeable Person herself, as were also several of those about her.
The Booty taken with her, tho’ infinitely great in itself, yet has been so magnify’d beyond common Sense, that it makes all the rest that has been said of those Things ridiculous and absurd.
The like Absurdity in the former Relations of this Matter, is that of the making an Offer of I know not how many Millions to the late Queen, for Captain Avery’s Pardon, with a Petition to the Queen, and her Majesty’s negative Answer; all which are as much true as his being Master of so many Millions if Money, which he nor his Gang never had; and of his being proclaim’d King of Madagascar; marrying the Mogul’s Daughter, and the like: And, by the Bye, it was but ill laid together of those who publish’d, that he first ravish’d her, then murder’d her, and then marry’d her; all which are very remarkable for the recommending the Thing to those that read it.
If these Stories are explain’d here, and duly expos’d, and the History of Captain Avery set in a fairer Light, the End is answer’d; and of this the Readers are to be the only Judges: But this may be said, without any Arrogance, that this Story, stripp’d of all the romantick, improbable, and impossible Parts of it, looks more like the History of Captain Avery, than any Thing yet publish’d ever has done; and, if it is not prov’d that the Captain wrote these Letters himself, the Publisher says, None but the Captain himself will ever be able to mend them.
THE King of PIRATES
YOU may be sure I receiv’d with Resentment enough the Account, that a most ridiculous Book, entitled, My Life and Adventures, had been publish’d in England, being fully assur’d nothing of Truth could be contain’d in such a Work; and tho’ it may be true, that my extravagant Story may be the proper Foundation of a Romance, yet as no Man has a Title to publish it better than I have to expose and contradict it, I send you this by one of my particular Friends, who having an Opportunity of returning into England, has promis’d to convey it faithfully to you; by which, at least, two Things shall be made good to the World; first, that they shall be satisfy’d in the scandalous and unjust Manner in which others have already treated me, and it shall give, in the mean Time, a larger Account of what may at present be fit to be made publick, of my unhappy tho’ successful Adventures.
I shall not trouble my Friends with any Thing of my Original and first Introduction into the World, I leave it to you to add from yourself what you think proper to be known on that Subject; only this I enjoin you to take Notice of, that the Account printed of me, with all the Particulars of my Marriage, my being defrauded, and leaving my Family and native Country on that Account, is a meer Fable and a made Story, to embellish, as the Writer of it perhaps suppos’d, the rest of his Story, or perhaps to fill up the Book, that it might swell to a Magnitude which his barren Invention could not supply.
In the present Account, I have taken no Notice of my Birth, Infancy, Youth, or any of that Part; which, as it was the most useless Part of my Years to myself so ’tis the most useless to any one that shall read this Work to know, being altogether barren of any Thing remarkable in it self, or instructing to others: It is sufficient to me to let the World know, as above, that the former Accounts, made publick, are utterly false, and to begin my Account of myself at a Period which may be more useful and entertaining.
It may be true, that I may represent some Particulars of my Life, in this Tract, with Reserve, or Enlargement, such as may be sufficient to conceal any Thing in my present Circumstance that ought to be conceal’d and reserv’d, with Respect to my own Safety; and therefore, if on Pretence of Justice the busy World should look for me in one Part of the World when I am in another, search for my new Kingdom in Madagascar, and should not find it, or search for my Settlement on one Side of the Island, when it lies on another, they must not take this ill; for Self-preservation being the supreme Law of Nature, all Things of this Kind must submit to that.
In Order then to come immediately to my Story, I shall, without any Circumlocutions, give you Leave to tell the World, that being bred to the Sea from a Youth, none of those romantick Introductions publish’d had any Share in my Adventures, or were any way the Cause of my taking the Courses I have since been embark’d in: But as in several Parts of my wandring Life I had seen something of the immense Wealth, which the Buccaneers, and other Adventurers, met with in their scouring about the World for Purchase, I had, for a long Time, meditated in my Thoughts to get possess’d of a good Ship for that Purpose, if I could, and to try my Fortune. I had been some Years in the Bay of Campeachy, and tho’ with Patience I endur’d the Fatigue of that laborious Life, yet it was as visible to others as to myself, that I was not form’d by Nature for a Logwood-Cutter, any more than I was for a Foremast-man; and therefore Night and Day I apply’d myself to study how I should dismiss myself from that Drudgery, and get to be, first or last, Master of a good Ship, which was the utmost of my Ambition at that Time; resolving, in the mean Time, that when ever any such Thing should happen, I would try my Fortune in the Cruising Trade, but would be sure not to prey upon my own Countrymen.
It was many Years after this before I could bring my Purposes to pass; and I serv’d, first, in some of the Adventures of Captain Sharp, Captain Sawkins, and others, in their bold Adventures in the South Seas, where I got a very good Booty; was at the taking of Puna, where we were oblig’d to leave infinite Wealth behind us, for want of being able to bring it away; and after several Adventures in those Seas, was among that Party who fought their Way Sword in Hand thro’ all the Detachments of the Spaniards, in the Journey over Land, cross the Isthmus of Darien, to the North Seas; and when other of our Men gat away, some one Way, some another, I, with twelve more of our Men, by Help of a Periagua, gat into the Bay of Campeachy, where we fell very honestly to cutting of Logwood, not for Want, but to employ ourselves till we could make off.
Here three of our Men dy’d, and we that were left, shar’d their Money among us; and having stay’d here two Years, without seeing any Way of Escape that I dar’d to trust to, I at last, with two of our Men, who spoke Spanish perfectly well, made a desperate Attempt to travel over Land to L – having bury’d all our Money, (which was worth eight thousand Pieces of Eight a Man, tho’ most of it in Gold) in a Pit in the Earth which we dug twelve Foot deep, and where it would have lyen still, for no Man knew where to look for it; but we had an Opportunity to come at it again some Years after.
We travell’d along the Sea-shore five Days together, the Weather exceeding hot, and did not doubt but we should so disguise ourselves as to be taken for Spaniards; but our better Fortune provided otherwise for us, for the sixth Day of our March we found a Canoe lying on the Shore with no one in her: We found, however, several Things in her, which told us plainly that she belong’d to some Englishmen who were on Shore; so we resolv’d to sit down by her and wait: By and by we heard the Englishmen, who were seven in Number, and were coming back to their Boat, having been up the Country to an Ingenio, where they had gotten great Quantities of Provision, and were bringing it down to their Boat which they had left on the Shore, (with the Help of five Indians, of whom they had bought it) not thinking there was any People thereabouts: When they saw us, not knowing who we were, they were just going to fire at us; when I, perceiving it, held up a white Flag as high as I could reach it, which was, in short, only a Piece of an old Linnen Wastcoat which I had on, and pull’d it off for the Occasion; upon this, however, they forbore firing at us, and when they came nearer to us, they could easily see that we were their own Countrymen: They enquir’d of us what we came there for; we told them, we had travell’d from Campeachy, where being tir’d with the Hardships of our Fortune, and not getting any Vessel to carry us where we durst go, we were even desperate, and cared not what became of us; so that had not they came to us thus happily, we should have put our selves into the Hands of the Spaniards rather than have perish’d where we were.
They took us into their Boat, and afterwards carry’d us on Board their Ship; when we came there, we found they were a worse Sort of Wanderers than ourselves, for tho’ we had been a Kind of Pyrates, known and declar’d Enemies to the Spaniards, yet it was to them only, and to no other; for we never offer’d to rob any of our other European Nations, either Dutch or French, much less English; but now we were listed in the Service of the Devil indeed, and, like him, were at War with all Mankind.
However, we not only were oblig’d to sort with them, while with them, but in a little Time the Novelty of the Crime wore off, and we grew harden’d to it, like the rest: And in this Service I spent four Years more of my Time.