y8 % VOYAGES of Book I. 
the Dutch Settlement, and the Hottentots, if- Various Accidents that happened in their Pqfage 
16. He arrives fafely in Holland, and comes from thence to England. 17. Remarks on the Spirit of Na- 
vigation which then prevailed, and on J'ome Particulars in this Voyage . 
1 . ^ H ^ H E Adventures of the Buccaneers in America 
have made too muchNoife in the World to 
Jiw lay me under any Neceffity of fhewing what 
fort of People they were, in this Place efpecially, fince the 
Nature of this Work will hereafter engage me in the par- 
ticular Hiftory of their Exploits, which, however blame- 
able they may be, will render them for ever famous. Thefe 
Men ufually fitted out fmall Veffels in fome of our Co- 
lonies, and cruifed in them till they were able to make 
Prize of a bigger : And, as their Defigns generally re- 
quired Secrecy, they very often took Mailers and Pilots on 
board, under falfe Pretences ; and did not explain the true 
Defign, till they were at Sea, where they were abfolute 
Mailers. This was the Cafe with refpedt to Captain 
Cowley, a very intelligent Man, and a very able Navigator, 
who, being at Virginia in 1683. was prevailed upon to go 
as Mailer in a Privateer which was laid to be bound to the 
French Port of Petit Goave, in the Illand of St. Domingo , 
where fuch People ufed to take Commiffions ; but, in 
Reality, their Defign was to put to Sea, and make what 
Prizes they could, without that Formality •, in which Scheme, 
.if it had been known by Captain Cowley, he might not, 
perhaps, have been fo willing to engage. It may not be 
amifs to inform the Reader here, that this is the fame 
Voyage, at leaft in Part, with Captain D ampler* s firllTour 
round the World, and, therefore, it will be neceflary, 
before we proceed to the Voyage itfelf, to give a concife 
Account of the Grounds on which, and the Commander by 
whom, it was undertaken ; the rather, becaufe, in the 
original Journal of Captain Cowley , publilhed by Captain 
William Hacke, there is very little faid about it *, which 
was, in all Probability, owing to his being a little alhamed 
of having engaged in it. 
2. Amongft the Buccaneers that did the moll Mifchief 
in the Spanijh Weft Indies , there was one Mr. John Cooke , a 
Native of the Hand of St. Cbriftopher $, a brilk bold Man, 
who diftinguilhed himfelf to fuch a Degree, as raifed him 
to the Poft of Quarter-mailer on board Captain Tanky 
and, on their taking a Spanijh Prize, that was turned into 
a Privateer, hd, according to the Cullom of thefe People, 
claimed the Command of her •, and, as he was very po- 
pular amongft them, engaged Men enough to ferve under 
him •, but, a great Majority of the Buccaneers, at the 
time this Tranfadtion happened, being French , they could 
not bear to fee an Englijhman invefted with fuch a Com- 
mand, by the mere Choice of his Crew, without any Com- 
miffion ; and, therefore, to fhew how much honeller Men 
they were, who had fuch Commiffions, after robbing the 
Spaniards under Pretence of them, they took this Occafion 
to plunder the Englijh, who had affifted them, of their 
Ships, Goods, and Arms ; and turned them alhore naked : 
This honourable Tranfadlion happened at the Illand of 
Avache, which our Seamen generally call AJh, on the 
Coaft of St. Domingo ; but Captain Drift ian, on old Buc- 
caneer, having a little more Good-nature than, the reft, 
was prevailed upon to carry Captain Davis , Captain Cooke, 
and eight more of the Englijh, to Petit Goave , which, in 
the Language of the Buccaneers, is ftiled Petit Guavres •, 
where, while they lay at Anchor, and Captain Driftian, 
and many of his Men, were on fhore, the Englijh, to fhew 
how apt Scholars they were, made themfelves Mailers of 
his Ship, turned the Frenchmen , who were much fuperior to 
them in Number, on ffiore, and failed with her imme- 
diately to the Illand of Avache •, and, fending in Captain 
Priftian’s Name to the Governor, procured all their 
Countrymen to be fent on board. As they were now 
llrong enough to fet up for themfelves, they refolved to 
make Prize of whatever came in their Way ; and, in pur- 
fuance of this Refolution, took firft a French Ship, laden 
with Wines and, afterwards, another Ship of confiderable 
Force, in which they embarqued, and carried her to Vir- 
ginia, where they arrived in April 1683. T here they difpofed 
of their Cargo of French Wines, and, having purchafed 
Provifions, Naval Stores, and whatever elfe they wanted, 
fitted out their Prize for a long Voyage, mounting her 
with eight, as Captain Cowley after ts, and with eighteen 
Pieces of Cannon, according to Dampier , and giving her 
the Name of the Revenge , of which Captain John Cooke 
had the Command : His Company confilled, as Captain 
Cowley lays, of 52, but, as Captain Dampier affirms, of 
70 Men. 
3. They failed from Achamack in Virginia , Auguft 23. 
1683 ; aR d were bound. Captain Dampier fays, for the 
South Seas : But Captain Cowley, who navigated the Ship, 
was not in the Secret, and therefore lleered for Petit Goave , 
which they fullered for a Day •, and then told him, they 
were not bound thither, but firft for the Coaft of Gurney : 
Upon which he altered his Courfe, and lleered Eaft South- 
eaft for the Cape de Verd Hands, and arrived before the 
Hand of Salt in the Month of September r They found 
there neither Fruits nor Water, but very great Plenty of 
Filh, and fome Goats, though thefe were but very indif- 
ferent. At this time the Illand, which lies in 1 6° Lati^ 
tude, and in 19 0 33' Longitude, Welt from the Lizard, 
was very oddly inhabited, and as oddly governed ; for there 
were but five Men upon it, and, of thefe, four were dig- 
nified with Titles : One, a Mulatto, was Governor, two 
were Captains, one a Lieutenant, the fifth was a Boy, the 
only Subjedl, Servant, or Soldier, they had : Yet they were 
extremely jealous of their Reputations, and took it very 
ill to be called Negroes, aflerting that they were white 
Portuguefe , and expelled to be treated with Decorum. 
Captain Cooke , who was a Man of more Good-nature than 
Ceremony, in Return for a Prefent the Governor made 
him of Three or four Goats, gave him a Coat to cover him 
with, which he exceedingly wanted, and an old Hat, which 
were very kindly received. They traded here for the great 
Commodity of the Country, which is Salt, made naturally 
by the Influence of the Sun’s Heat upon the Sea-water, 
let into Ponds of about two Englifto Miles in Extent. The 
Quantity they purchafed was no more than twenty Buffiels, 
and they paid for it in old Cloaths, giving the Governor, at 
his earneft Requeft, a little Powder and Shot into the Bar- 
gain. They failed from thence to the Hand of St. Ni- 
colas, which lies Weft South-weft from the Hand of Salt 
twenty-two Leagues, and anchored on the South-eaft Side of 
the Illand, which is of a triangular Form, thelongeft Side 
meafuring thirty Leagues, and tire other two twenty Leagues 
each :■ There they found a Governor, who was really a 
white Man, and had about him three or four People, pretty 
well cloathed, armed with Swords and Pillols ; but the reft 
of his Retinue were in a very pitiful Condition. They dug 
fome Wells on the Shore, and traded for Goats, Fruit, 
and Wine, which was none of the bell. The Country 
near the Coaft is very indifferent, but within Land there 
are fome very fine Valleys, pretty well inhabited, and 
abounding with all the Neceffaries for Life. They conti- 
nued here about five or fix Days, and then held a grand 
Confultation, whether they fhould proceed diredlly to the 
South Seas in the Ship they had, or fail to the Coaft of 
Guiney in Search of another : At laft after mature Deli- 
beration, they came to this wife and honell Refolution, to 
go immediately to the Illand of St. Iago, in Hopes of 
meeting with fome Ship or other in the Road, intending 
to cut her Cable, and run away with her *, of which Cir- 
cumllance Captain Dampier fays not a Word. In purfu- 
ance of this Scheme, they flood away to the Fall of that 
Hand ; and, upon coming near it, they faw, over a Point 
of Land from the Topmall-head, a Ship at Anchor in the 
Road, which feemed extremely fit for their Purpofe, but 
proved quite otherwife ; for, by the time they were 
pretty near her, thofe on board clapped a Spring upon her- 
Cable, ftruck out her Ports below, and, running out her 
under Tier of Guns, convinced Captain Cooke , that he had 
caught a Tartar : Upon which he bore away as fall as he 
could ; and, though the ftrange Ship fent ten Shot after him, 
yet none of them took Place. This was a narrow Efcape ; 
for they were afterwards informed, that the Ship they at- 
tempted 
