the commands of my father;-Ifay, the fame influence, whatever it was, prefented the most unfortunate of all enterprifes to my view; and I went on board a veffel bound to the coaft of Africa, or, as our failors vulgarly call it, a voyage to Guinea.

It was my great misfortune, that in all these adventures I did not ship myfelf as a failor; whereby, though, I might indeed have worked a little harder than ordi nary, yet at the fame time I had learned the duty and office of a foremaftman, and in time might have qualified myfelf for a mate or lieutenant, if not for a mafter. But as it was always my fate to chufe for the worse, so I did here; for, having money in my pocket, and good clothes on my back, I would always go on board in the habit of a gentleman; and fo I neither had any, business in the fhip, nor learned to do any.

It was my lot firft of all to fall into pretty good company in London, which does not always happen to fuch loofe and unguided young fellows as I then was, the devil generally not omitting to lay fome fnare for them very early; but it was not fo with me. I firft fell acquainted with the master of a fhip who had been on the coaft of Guinea, and who, having had very good fuccefs there, was refolved to go again: this captain, taking a fancy to my converfation, which was not difagreeable at that time, hearing me fay I had a mind to fee the world, told me, if I would 89 the voyage with him, I should be at no expence, I should be his mefimate, and his companion; and ifI would carry any thing with me, I should have all the advantage of it that the trade would admit; and perhaps I might meet with fome encouragement.

I embraced the offer; and, entering into a ftrict -friendship with this captain, who was an honeft, plain dealing man, went the voyage with him, and carried a fmall adventure with me, which, by the difinterested honefty of my friend, the captain, I increafed very confiderably; for I carried about 401. in fuch toys and trifles as the captain directed me to buy: this 401. I had muftèred together by the affiftance of fome of my relations, whom I correfponded with, and who, I believe, got my father, or at least my mother, to contribute fo much as that to my firft adventure.

This was the only voyage which I may fay was fuccefsful in all my adventures, and which I owe to the integrity and honefty of my friend, the captain; under whom I got a competent knowledge of the mathematics, and the rules of navigation; learned how to keep an account of the fhip's courfe, take an obfervation, and, in fhort, to underftand fome things that were needful to be understood by a failor; for, as he took delight to introduce me, I took delight to learn: and, in a word, this voyage made me both a failor and a merchant; for I brought home five pounds nine ounces of gold duft for my adventure, which yielded me in London, at my return, almost 3001.; and this filled me with thofe afpiring thoughts which have fince fo completed my ruin.

Yet, even in this voyage, I had misfortunes too; particularly that I was continually fick, being thrown into a violent calenture by the exceffive heat of the climate; our principal trading being upon the coaft, from the latitude of 15 degrees north, even to the line itself.

I was now fet up for a Guinea trader; and my friend, to my great misfortune, dying foon after his arrival, I refolved to go the fame voyage again; and I embarked in the fame veffel with one who was his mate in the former voyage, and had now got the command of the fhip. This was the unhappieft voyage that ever man made; for though I did not carry quite 1001. of my new gained wealth, fo that I had 2001. left, and which I-lodged with my friend's widow, who was very just to me, yet I fell into terrible misfortunes in this voyage; and the first was this, viz. Our fhip, making her course towards the Canary islands, or rather between those iflands and the African fhore, was furprised in the grey of the morning by a Moorish rover of Sallee, who gave chace to us with all the fail fhe could make. We crowded alfo as much canvafs as our yards would fpread, or our mafts carry, to have got clear: but finding the pirate gained upon us, and would certainly come up with us in a few hours, we prepared to fight, our fhip having twelve guns, and the rover eighteen. About three in the afternoon he came up with us; and, bringing to, by mistake, juft athwart our quarter, instead of athwart our ftern, as he intended, we brought eight of

our

our guns to bear on that fide, and poured in a broadfide upon him, which made him theer off again, after returning our fire, and pouring in alfo his fmall fhot from near two hundred men which he had on board. However, we had not a man touched, all our men keeping close. He prepared to attack us again, and we to defend ourselves; but laying us on board the next time upon our other quarter, he entered ninety men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and hacking the decks and rigging. Weplied them with fmall fhot, half pikes, powder chefts, and fuch like, and cleared our deck of them twice. However, to cut fhort this melancholy part of our story, our ship being difabled, and three of our men killed and eight wounded, we were obliged to yield, and were carried all prifoners to Sallee, a port belonging to the Moors.

The ufuage I had there was not so dreadful as at first I apprehended; nor was I carried up the country, to the Emperor's court, as the reft of our men were, but was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper prize, and made his flave, being young and nimble, and fit for his bufinefs. At this furprifing change of my circumstances, from a merchant to a miferable flave, I was perfectly overwhelmed; and now I looked back upon my father's prophetic difcourfe to me, that I should be miferable, and have none to relieve me; which I thought was now fo effectually brought to pats, that I could not be worfe; and now the hand of Heaven had overtaken me, and I was undone without redemption. But, alas! this was but a taste of the mifery I was to go through, as will appear in the fequel of this ftory.

As my new patron or mafter had taken me home to his houfe, fo I was in hopes that he would take me with him when he went to fea again, believing that it would be fome time or other his fate to be taken by a Spanish or Portugal man of war, and that then I fhould be fet at liberty. But this hope of mine was foon taken away; for when he went to fea, he left me on fhore to look after his little garden, and do the drudgery of flaves about his houfe; and when he came home again from his cruize, he ordered me to lie in the cabin, to look after the ship. Here I meditated nothing but my efcape, and what method I might take to effect it; but found no way that

had

had the leaft probability in it; nothing prefented to make the fuppofition of it rational; for I had nobody to communicate it to, that would embark with me; no fellow flave, no Englishman, Irishmen, or Scotfman there, but myfelf; fo that for two years, though I often pleased myfelf with the imagination, yet I never had the leaft encouraging profpect of putting it in practice.

After about two years an odd circumftance prefented itself, which put the old thoughts of making fome attempt for my liberty again in my head: my patron lying at home longer than ufual, without fitting out his fhip, which, as I heard, was for want of money, he used conftantly once or twice a week, fometimes oftener, if the weather was fair, to take the fhip's pinnace and go out into the road a fishing; and as he always took me and a young Marefco with him, to row the boat, we made him very merry, and I proved very dextrous in catching fifh; infomuch that fometimes he would fend me with a Moor, one of his kinfimen, and the youth Marefco, as they called him, to catch a dish of fish for him.

It happened one time, that going a fishing with him in a calm morning, a fog rofe fo thick, that though we were not half a league from the fhore, we loft fight of it; and rowing we knew not whither, or which way, we laboured all day, and the next night; and when the morning came, we found we had pulled off to fea, inftead of pulling in for the fhore, and that we were at leaft two leagues from the land. However, we got well in again, though with a great deal of labour, and fome danger; for the wind began to blow pretty fresh in the morning; but particularly we were all very hungry.

But our patron, warned by this difafter, refolved to take more care of himself for the future; and having lying by him the long-boat of our English fhip which he had taken, he refolved he would not go a fifhing any more without a compafs and fome provifion. So he ordered the carpenter of his ship, who was also an English flave, to build a little state room, or cabin, in the middle of the long-boat, like that of a barge, with a place to ftand behind it to steer, and hawl home the main sheet; and room before for an hand or two to ftand and work the fails. She failed with what we call a fhoulder of mutton fail; and the boom jibbed over

the

the top of the cabin, which lay very fnug and low, and had in it room for him to lie, with a flave or two, and a table to eat on, with fome fmall lockers to put in fome bottles of fuch liquor as he thought fit to drink; particularly his bread, rice, and coffee.

We were frequently out with his boat a fishing, and as I was moft dexterous to catch fish for him, he never went without me. It happened one day that he had appointed to go out in this boat, either for pleasure or for fifh, with two or three Moors of fome diftinction, and for whom he had provided extraordinarily; and had therefore fent on board the boat over night a larger store of provifions than ufual; and had ordered me to get ready three fufils with powder and fhot, which were on board his fhip, for that they defigned fome fport of fowling as well as fifhing.

I got all things ready as he had directed, and waited the next morning with the boat washed clean, her ancients and pendants out, and every thing to accommodate his guests; when by and by my patron came on board alone, and told me his guefts had put off going, upon fome business that fell out; and ordered me, with the man and boy, as ufual, to go out with the boat and catch them fome fith, for that his friends were to fup at his house he commanded me too, that as soon as I had got fome fish, I should bring it home to his house; all which I prepared to do.

1

This moment my former notions of deliverance darted into my thoughts, for now I found I was like to have a little ship at my command; and my mafter being gone, I prepared to furnish myfelf, not for fifhing butinefs, but for a voyage; though I knew not, neither did I fo much as contider whither I would steer ; for any where to get out of that place was my way.

My first contrivance was to make a pretence to speak to this Moor to get fomething for our fubfiftence on board; for I told him we must not presume to eat of our patron's bread; he fail that was true: fo he brought a large bafket of rufk, or biscuit of their kind, and three jars with fresh water, into the boat. I knew where my patron's cafe of bottles ftood, which it was evident by the make were taken out of fome English prize, and I con