21 6 The V O Y 
Ibme time before, that there was a black Defign in Embryo ; 
for, when 1 met by chance any of my Officers, if I afked 
them, "What they were about, and why they would ad fo 
Contrary to their Duty, as to divert the People from their 
Work, one would anfwer, That he did not know whether 
he ffiould go off the ifland, or no, if my Bundle of Boards 
was ready ; and others told me, That they did not care how 
Matters went ; they could ffiift for themfelves, as well as the 
refh And, when I fpokewith the meaner Sort, fome would 
be furly, and lay nothing ; others would be Slaves to no- 
body i but would do as the reft did. In the Midft of thefe 
ConfufiOns, I ordered my Son to fecure my Commiffion on 
fome dry Place of the Wood or Rocks, if fuch could be 
found ; for I well remembered how Dampier had been ferved 
in thefe Seas. At length I, one Afternoon, miffed all the 
People, and could lee nobody, but Mr. Adamfon , Surgeon, 
Mr . Hendry the Agent, and my Son, and Mr. Dodd, Lieu- 
tenant of Marines, who, for fome Reafons belt known to 
himfelf, had feigned Lunacy. I could not devife what 
could have become of them all j but at Night was informed, 
that they had affembled at the great Tree, to confult toge- 
ther ; where they had formed a new Regulation, and new 
Articles, whereby they excluded the Gentlemen Adventur- 
ers in England from having any Part of what we ffiould take 
for the future ; and divefted me of the Authority of their 
Captain ; and had regulated themfelves according to Ja- 
maica Difcipline. The chief Officers, among the reft, had 
chofen one Morphew to be their Champion and Speaker. 
This Man addreffed himfelf to thole that were prefent, to 
acquaint them, “ That they were now their own Mailers, 
sc and Servants to none ; that altho* Mr. Shelvock e, their 
66 former Captain, took upon him to command them to do 
6C this and that, &V. he ought to be made fenfible, that, 
whoever was their Commander now, it was their Cour- 
8C tefy that made him fo ; but that, however, Mr. Shehocke 
might have the Refufal, if the Majority thought fit, but 
ec not elfe. But, at the fame time, obferved to them, that 
<c my Command was too lofty and arbitrary for a private 
5e Ship ; that I ffiould have continued in Men of War, 
where People were obliged quietly to bear all Hardffiips 
fie impofed upon them, whether right or wrong.” To 
which fome prefent, who had a Regard for me, anfwered, 
That they never knew or faw me treat any body unjuftly 
6C or feverely ; and that, however rigid I might be, they 
had nobody elfe to depend on ; and that they would all 
do Well to conlider, how many Difficulties I had already 
66 brought them through ; that, fuppofing we were pre- 
ferved out of the Hands of our Enemies, how many more 
“ were to come, no one could tell ; that, if they expedled 
se or intended to return to England , it could be by no other 
Means than taking a Turn round the World ; and that, 
sc in that Cafe, there was none capable to undertake the 
Care of them, but myfelf : And reminded them of my 
Commiffion, and the Relpedt due to me upon that, be- 
66 fides the Protection they would receive from it, ffiould 
“ they fall into the Hands of the Spaniards .” This had 
fome Effect on the meaner Sort ; but they were diverted 
from the Thoughts of returning to Obedience by the chief- 
concerned, who were no Ids than my firft Lieutenant 
Brooks , See. who had made the fore-mentioned Morphew 
His Confident, even on board the Ship; for having ferved 
as Foremaft-man the Voyage before he was made my Lieu- 
tenant, he had contracted a mighty Liking to the Forecaftle 
Converfation : And, belides this, they were again fupported 
by Mr. Randall my fecond Lieutenant, who was Brooks's 
Brother-in-law, and others, who, forgetting all the Obliga- 
tions they owed to the Gentlemen in England , and all the 
Refpect due to me, were now running into Ingratitude, and 
into an irrecoverable Damage to their Characters and Inte- 
fefts. . The firft and moft remarkable Outrage committed 
by this Gang of Levellers, was on Mr. la Porte my third 
Lieutenant, whom Morphew affaulted in a barbarous Man- 
ner, and knocked him down on the Beech, whilft Mr. 
Brooks flood by an Eye-witnefs of this Brutality. I expo- 
ftulated with him upon his Conduct warmly; but with very 
little Effect : So that I law plainly, that there was an End 
of all regular Authority amongft us. Very foon after, the 
Affair came to be fully explained ; for the Men framed a 
new Set of Articles, by which they put themfelves upon the 
4 
AGES of Book 1„ 
Jamaica Difcipline, declaring, that, as I had been their 
Captain, fo they were content I ffiould be their Captain ftilj ; 
and, as a further Mark of their Regard, they were willing 
to allow me fix Shares ; whereas, according to the Jamaica 
Model, I ought to have only four. Upon the fame Plan, 
many of my Officers were reduced ; for Inftance, Mr. k 
Porte, Mr. Dodd, and Mr. Hendry, were declared Midffiip- 
men: And to this Scheme their fuperior Officers readily 
confented; fo that there was no hindering it from being 
carried into Execution. Only Mr. Coldfea the Mafter main- 
tained a kind of Neutrality, and neither promoted nor op- 
pofed the Defigns, that were going forward. In this Di~ 
ftrefs, I thought it lawful, and even neceffary, to comply 
with their Demands ; and therefore, in Conjunction with 
the reft of my Officers, I figned thofe Articles : And then 
I thought I ffiould have been able to have got them to work 
hard on the Bark, that was to carry us off ; but I foon 
found, that I was fore to be miftaken, whenever 1 enter- 
tained any good Opinion of them. Inftead of liftening to 
my Advice, which, at the fame time, was intirely calcu- 
lated for their Service, they broke into another Mutiny at the 
great Tree, where they came to a Refolution to demand 
what little Money I had faved for the Owners, which 
amounted to 750 Pieces of Eight in Virgin Silver, a Silver 
Diffi weighing 75 Ounces, and 250 Dollars in ready Mo- 
ney ; with which I was obliged to comply, and was then 
treated worfe than ever, having only the Refufe of the Fiffi, 
when they had chofen the beft, being glad, after an hard 
Day’s Work, to dine upon Seel; while Mr. Morphew , and 
his Counfellors, feafted on the beft Fiffi the Sea afforded. 
The next Stroke of their Infolence was, to get the Arms 
out of my Hands, of which I had hitherto taken the great- 
eft Care, becaufe, having but one Flint to a Mufquet, and 
but very little Ammunition, I forefaw, that, if this was 
wafted, we mu ft be undone : All which I reprefented to 
them, when they made their Demand, but to no manner 
of Purpofe ; for they not only took the Arms, but, as I 
imagined, they fquandered away the little Powder, and the 
few Bullets we had left, in killing Cats, or any thing elfe 
that came in their Way, and they could fire at. This is a 
concife Hiftory of our Tranfacftions in the Ifland of Juan 
Fernandez, from May 24. to Jugufi 1 5. and, I believe, the 
impartial Reader will agree, that no Man could fuffer more 
than I did, lead a worfo Life, or have a more uncomfort- 
able Prolpedt. 
The Account Captain Betagh gives, is fo diametrically 
oppofite to what we have already had from Captain Shel- 
vocke, that, to ffiew my Impartiality, I am obliged to report 
what he has delivered. All his People, fays Captain Be- 
tagh, have affured me, and many others, that there was 
no Wind at all when the Ship was loft ; for, as Captain 
Shelvocke very well knew, that if he ffiould be caught by 
a Gale in that perilous Road, and fo poorly found with 
Ground-tackle, they muft inevitably have periffied, by 
reafon of the prodigious Breaks the Sea makes in any thing 
of Weather againft the funk Rocks and Stones all along 
the Shore, he therefore took care to fecure all their Lives 
by deftroying his Ship in fine ferene Weather ; which the 
ingenious Captain performed by bringing a Spring on his 
Cable, with which he ftove his Ship’s Broadfide againft 
the Swell, and kept her in that Pofition while the Cable 
was torn afunder. Mr. Dodd, who did not pretend to be 
a Seaman, afferted, that, about three Hours before the Ship 
went affiore, fome Hands were at work on the Quarter- 
deck, haling in an Haufer, which was made faft to the 
Cable ; and that he inquired of Gilbert Henderfon, the 
Gunner, what that was for. Henderfon anfwered him, that, 
if he would be rightly informed, he muft go and ask the 
Captain. To confirm this, feveral of his People made 
Affidavit, that it blew no Wind at all ; that every Soul 
of them got commodioufly on ffiore ; and that it is their 
Belief, he loft the Ship on Purpofe : And it is remark- 
able, he made not one Trial to prevent it. As foon as the 
Cable parted, Mr. la Porte , his third Lieutenant, feeing 
immediate Ruin, cry’d out, Set the Forefail, hoping 
thereby to do fome good ; and, while Edward Phipps, 
and others, were actually upon the Yard, Shehocke haftily 
ordered them down, and, taking the Helm in his Hand, 
faid. Never mind it. Boys ; ftand all faft; I will lay her on a 
Feather- 
