166 The V O Y 
fourth Day, when they came to a Town beyond the Mines, 
and thought all Danger had been paft, an Order came from 
the chief Spanifh Officer to cut them all off, which the 
Indians and Spanijh Troops did, as thofe poor difarmed 
Wretches fat at Victuals-, fo that in this barbarous Manner 
they were all maffacred in a few Minutes, except a Seals, 
a French , and an Englijh Boy, with twelve free Negroes, 
which, at the Interceffion of a Prieft, they kept for Slaves. 
This Man, being one of them, happened to be fold firfb to 
the Mines, where, he fays, he cleared at leaft three Pieces 
of Eight a Day for his; Matter •, and from thence he was 
fold to this Place. We took Notice of this to the. Mor ells, 
•who came the next Morning with Money to ranfom what 
they could of us, putting them in mind of the different 
Treatment they had from us, and how grateful they ought 
to be for it ; which they feemed very readily to acknow- 
ledge, and, indeed, behaved, upon all Occafions, with 
much Honour. We fold them good Bargains, ’tis true • 
but, on the other hand, they ran great Hazards in trading 
with us, and trufted us always with their Perfons and 
Money, at the fame time that we had the Effects in our 
Hands they came to purchafe. On the 1 8th, a Negron 
belonging to the Duchefs , was bit by a fmall, brown, 
fpeckled Snake, and died within twelve Hours,' notwith- 
ftanding the Dodtor ufed his utmoft Endeavours to five 
him. There are abundance of Snakes on this Eland •, and, 
the Spaniards fay, fome are as thick as the Middle of a 
Man’s Thigh. I faw one as big as my Leg, and above 
three Yards long. Their Bite proves generally mortal. 
In the Afternoon we had a Confuitation, and agreed, that 
the fame Bark we took, belonging to the Main, right 
againft this Eland, fhould be given to the Lieutenant’s 
Brother that we plundered, and who came over with our 
Bark’*, for, being a Man in fome Authority on fhore, we 
hoped this Favour would influence them to trade with us 
whilft v/e were here. That Morning, Meffieurs Morell 
and Navarre went a fecond time in our Bark for Money. 
One of the fame Sort of Snakes, that killed the Negro, 
was found on our Fore-cattle, as they went off, and killed 
-by our Men. We fuppofe it came aboard' on the Cable, 
they being often feen in the Water. - 
20. On the rft of Augujl, the Officers we appointed to 
appraife the Plunder, met on board the Galleon, and valued 
the Clothing, in order to divide it amongft the Officers 
and Men of each, according to their refpedtive Shares. 
On the 3d in the Afternoon, they made an End of ap- 
praifmg the Cloths, at a very low Rate, amounting to 
four hundred Pounds ; and the Silver-hilted Swords, 
Buckles, Snuff-boxes, Buttons, and Silver Plate in Ufe 
aboard every Prize we took, and allowed to be Plunder, 
at four Shillings and Sixpence per Piece of Light, amounted, 
to 74 3/. 15 s. befides 3 lb. 12 oz. which was in Rings, 
Gold" Snuff-boxes, Ear-rings, and Gold Chains, taken 
about Prifoners. This 1 believe an exaft Account. Early 
next Morning we had like to have had a Mutiny amongft 
our Men : The Steward told me, that feveral of them 
had laft Night made a private Agreement ; and that he 
heard fome Ringleaders, by way of Encouragement, boaft 
to the reft, that fixty Men had already fignecl the Paper. 
Not knowing what this Combination meant, or how it was 
defigned, I fent for the chief Officers into the Cabin, 
where we armed ourfelves, fecured two of thofe mutinous 
Fellows, and preifently feized two others : The Fellow that 
wrote the Paper we put in Irons: By this time, all Hands 
were upon Deck, and we had got their Agreement from 
thofe who were in the Cabin : The Purport of which was, 
to oblige themfelves not to take their Plunder, nor to move 
from thence, till they had Juftice done them, as they 
termed it. There being fo many concerned in this De- 
fip-n, the Captains Dover and Fry defired I would d if charge 
thofe in Confinement, upon their asking Pardon, and 
faithfully promifing never to be guilty of the like, or any 
other Combination, again. , The Reafon we fliewed them 
this Favour was, that there were too many guilty to punifh 
them at once ; and, not knowing what was defigned aboard 
the Duchefs and Marquis , we were of Opinion, they had 
concerted to break the Ice aboard the Duke , and the reft to 
Hand by them. Upon this, I ufed all the Arguments I 
could offer, fliewed them the Danger and Folly of Com- 
AGES of Book I. 
binations, and exhorted them to believe, they would have 
Juftice done them in England , fhould any thing feem un- 
eafy to them now, or in the whole Courfe of the Voyage ; 
adding, that we had done all that we could for their Good, 
and would continue our Endeavours, not doubting their 
good Intentions, provided they were not milled. With 
thefe, and other healing Arguments, all appeared eafv and 
quiet, and every Man feemed willing to ftand to what had 
been done, provided the Gentlemen, that were Officers, 
and not Sailors amongft us, had not flich large Shares, 
which they alleged was unreafonahle ; and that they could 
not poffibly, in a Privateer, deferve what they were allowed, 
in proportion to the Ship’s Company. This we did in 
part yield to, in order to appeafe thefe Malecontents, by 
making fome Abatements on Mr. White' s, Mr. Bath's, 
and Mr. Vanbrugh's Shares ; fo that we hoped this difficult 
Work would, with lefs Danger than v/e dreaded, be 
brought to a Conclufion •, for Difputes about Plunder 
are the common Occafion of Privateers quarrelling amongft 
themfelves, and ruining their Voyages. Another Paper 
was drawn up, for every Man to fwear what Cloaths, 
Goods, CL. he had received of the Agents, and to reftore 
whatever he had taken without the Agents Knowledge, in 
order to a juft Diftribution of the Plunder ; and every one 
was to oblige himlelf in a Penalty of twenty Shillings for 
every Shilling Value that fhould be found about him con- 
cealed, befides the former Penalty agreed on, of lofing his 
Share of any Prize or Purchace, for concealing above the 
Value of half a Piece of Eight. And, for the Encou- 
ragement of Difcoveries, the Informer was to have half 
the Penalty, and the Protection of the Commander. This 
Paper was objected againft by feveral of the Officers, who 
infifted, that there ought to be a greater Latitude allowed 
them to advantage themfelves, fince they had ventured 
their Lives thither on fo difficult an Undertaking: Which 
made us defer figning it till a better Opportunity •, for, 
unlefs fuch Agreements as thefe had been conftantly pro- 
moted, as Occafion required, the Temptation of Intereffc 
would have made us fall into irrecoverable Confufions 
aboard, which generally end in a Separation, or worfe. 
Some time after this, I propofed another thing, which, I 
thought, would prove very advantageous for our Owners, 
and the common Intereft ; and this was, the fending 
Captain Cooke, in the Marquis , with a Cargo of our Prize- 
goods, to the Brafils ; which Commiffion he would have 
executed. By this I propofed to fave our Provifions, fince 
he would not have required any great Stock for that 
Voyage, and, confequentiy, might have remained longer 
in the South Seas. In the next Place, I propofed Profit ; 
for thefe Goods would have come to an extraordinary 
Market at the Brafils , and have yielded tv/ice or thrice as 
much as we could make of them any other Way : And, 
laftly, after fecuring, in this manner, fo confiderable an 
Advantage on our Voyage, as we muft have reaped from 
the Produce of thefe Goods, our Ships had been fuffi- 
ciently provided for attacking the Acapulco Ship. But my 
Conforts did not underftand, or at leaft would not approve, 
thefe Reafons ; and fo the Project fell to the Ground, which 
they, however, repented afterwards, when it was too late. 
27. On the 7th, we gave Sig. Morell and Navarre 
their Ships, and all the Goods we could not carry away, 
for what Money our Agents received of them. As for the 
Effects in the Bark, we agreed for 12,000 Pieces of Eight, 
which, with 3000 there remained of the. old Debt for the 
Ranfom of Guiaquil , made 15,0.00 in the "Whole, and 
which were to be brought in twelve Days. Captain Cooke 
valued the Money now on board, for the Ufe of the 
Owners, 20,00© Pounds, and the Goods at 60,000 
Pounds. We gave thefe Gentlemen a Paper, which might 
ferve to protect them, in cafe they fell into the Hands or 
the Spaniards \ and we intended to have taken an Acknow- 
ledgment under their Hands, as to the Particulars of the 
Bargain ; but the Bark failed away from us in the Night. 
I cannot help taking notice here of the honourable Be- 
haviour of our Crew during the Time thefe Prifoners were 
on board, in order to fliew how much they regarded the 
Credit of their Commiffion, and of their Country. Amongft 
our Prifoners taken on board Sig. Navarre's Ship from 
Panama, there was a Gentlewoman, and her Family ; hei 
eldeft 
