DAMPIER, THE BUCCANEER.

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39. With the remainder of the gallant sailor's careerhis unjust persecution, his brilliant services in the Chilian War of Independence, his tardy restoration to his deserved honours, and the official recognition of his innocence of any crimes but that of an ardent zeal for his country's gloryit is not necessary for us to concern ourselves. We have selected those incidents in his eventful life which most signally illustrate the fact, that success always attends the perseverant efforts of a man of resolution and fixity of purpose, even if the incapacity or opposition of others tend in some measure to confine it within partial limits. It is only necessary to add that the Earl of Dundonald died, full of years and honours, in 1862

WILLIAM DAMPIER.

1. It would be difficult to find among the sea-heroes of England a more notable example of genius subduing difficulties and rising superior to circumstances than is afforded by William Dampier, the Buccaneer. Throughout his eventful life his great aim was knowledge; knowledge was his overmastering passion; to see, to observe, to learn the manners of men and the characteristics of strange countries; and what he observed and learned to treasure up for the information of his fellows. Under what perilous circumstances, and under what severe discouragements, he steadily and successfully carried out his cherished design, we proceed, very briefly, to indicate.

2. William Dampier was born at East Coker, near Yeovil, in 1652. His father leased and cultivated a small farm, whose scanty yield just sufficed for the maintenance of his family, and he contrived during his lifetime to afford his son the rudiments of a liberal education. After his death he was placed with a Weymouth shipmaster, but had already so well made use of the limited opportunities which had fallen to him that, as it has been justly remarked, he may be accepted as another proof that the best part of a man's learning is what he acquires by himself.'

3. His early inclination induced him to adopt a seafaring

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AN ACUTE OBSERVER.

life. At first he sailed only as far as the French coast. Next he visited Newfoundland, suffering severely from the weather; and thirdly, went upon a long and warm voyage' to Bantam. In this last adventure he began that record of his experiences, his Journal, which is, perhaps, the most interesting contribution to English literature ever made by a sailor. On his return to England he entered the Royal Navy, and was engaged in two great sea-fights with the Dutch, but overcome by ill-health was constrained to quit the service, and retire to his brother's house until he became convalescent.

4. He now undertook a voyage to Jamaica, with the view of accepting there the under-overseership of a plantation belonging to a Colonel Hellier, and partly, perhaps, to gratify his longing for 'fresh scenes and pastures new.' But he soon grew discontented with the monotony of his lot, and his naturally humane disposition revolted from the guardianship of wretched slaves. Quick to observe, and felicitously accurate in noting the results of his observation, he once more embraced a nautical life, engaging himself on board of one of the trading ships which coasted round Jamaica. Next he became a logwood cutter in the Bay of Campeachy, patiently enduring the severest hardships, and suffering no natural curiosity to pass unnoticed. Here is a specimen of his minuteness of observation: The wild pine,' he says, 'is a plant so called because it somewhat resembles the bush that bears the pine; they are commonly supported, or grow from some bunch, knot, or excrescence of the tree, where they take root and grow upright. The root is short and thick, from whence the leaves rise up in folds one within another, spreading off at the top. They are of a good thick substance, and about ten or twelve inches long. The outside leaves are so compact as to contain the rain-water as it falls. They will hold a pint and a half, or a quart; and this water refreshes the leaves and nourishes the roots. When we find these pines, we stick our knives into the leaves just above the root, and that lets out the water, which we catch in our hats, as I have done many times to my great relief.'

THE MOSQUITO MEN.

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5. After a brief but tedious experience of logwood cutting, Dampier turned to buffalo-hunting, and joined three Scotch adventurers in the preparation and sale of buffaloskins. It would appear that in no long time he earned sufficient gains to enable him to return to England in August 1670, to make a respectable marriage, and enjoy a few months of peaceful retirement. He again visited Jamaica in 1679, acquired money enough for the purchase of a small Dorsetshire estate, and was about to sail for England to settle upon it, when a Mr. Hobby prevailed upon him to join a trading voyage to the Mosquito shore, which promised a safe and satisfactory return. On their voyage they put with their vessel into a small bay on the western coast of the island, where they lighted upon certain well-known sea-rovers, or 'buccaneers,' as Dampier calls them-Captains Sharp, Sawkin, and Coxon-who soon induced the crew, and finally Dampier himself, to enlist under their adventurous flags. In coming to this determination our seaman appears to have been almost wholly influenced by his passionate love of knowledge, which no 'moving accidents by flood or field' could weaken.

6. Our design will not permit us to dwell upon the strange adventures through which Dampier passed uninjured. He visited many lands, and made acquaintance with many peoples, recording all that attracted his attention in language felicitously simple, and with an admirable minuteness of detail. Thus, speaking of the Mosquito men, who were faithful auxiliaries of the buccaneers, he says:'They have extraordinary good eyes, and will descry a sail at sea, and see anything better than we. Their chiefest employment in their own country is to strike fish, turtle, or manatee. They are tall, well-made, raw-boned, lusty, strong, and nimble of foot, long visaged, lank black hair, look stern, hard favoured, and of a dark copper complexion. They behave themselves very bold in fight, and never seem to flinch nor hang back; for they think that the white men with whom they are know better than they do when it is best to fight; and, let the disadvantage of their party be never so great, they will never yield nor give back while

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THE ISLAND SOLITARY.

any of their party stand. They delight to settle near the sea, or by some river, for the sake of striking fish, their beloved employment; for within land there are other Indians, with whom they are always at war. After the man hath cleared a spot of land, and hath planted it, he seldom minds it afterwards, but leaves the managing of it to his wife, and he goes out a striking. Sometimes he seeks only for fish, at other times for turtle or manatee, and whatever he gets he brings home to his wife, and never stirs out to seek for more till it is eaten. When hunger begins to bite, he either takes his canoe and seeks for more game at sea, or walks out into the woods and hunts for pecaree and waree, each a sort of wild hogs, or deer, and seldom returns empty-handed, nor seeks any more as long as it lasts. Their plantations have not above twenty or thirty plantain trees, a bed of yams and potatoes, a bush of puninto, and a small spot of pine apples, from which they make a sort of drink, to which they invite each other to be merry.'

7. In the course of their adventures the buccaneers visited the pleasant island of Juan Fernandez, but departing somewhat hurriedly in pursuit of three Spanish vessels, they left on shore a Mosquito Indian, named William. Three years later, when Dampier was cruising with Captain Cook, he again called at Juan Fernandez, and found the Solitary alive and in good health. The account he gave of his mode of life is interesting. When left on shore he had with him his knife, his gun, and some powder and shot, but having soon expended his ammunition, he converted his knife into a saw, and, cutting the barrel of his gun into pieces, wrought them into harpoons, hooks, lances, and a long blade. First he heated the fragments of iron red hot; then hammered and beat them with a large stone, and sawed them with his jagged knife, or ground them to a tolerable edge. While thus employed he lived upon seals, but was afterwards enabled to refresh himself with goats' flesh and fish. hut, which he built in a sequestered nook commanding a prospect of the sea, was lined with goat-skins, and his couch, raised above the ground on posts, was similarly

His

A LONG VOYAGE.

141

covered. The same material supplied him with clothes. Thus it is evident that Dampier's account of the IslandSolitary suggested several incidents to Defoe for his fascinating romance of 'Robinson Crusoe.'

8. After having harassed the shores of the Spanish Main with fire and sword, Captain Swan and Dampier sailed as far north as California, and then boldly stretched across the Pacific to cruise among the rich islands of the Indian seas. The good ship Cygnet began this bold adventure on the 31st of March 1686, and day after day, night after night, she sailed onward-onward through the golden sunshine, onward through the purple darkness, seeing no living thing, whether fish, or bird, or insect'catching no glimpse of the fair fresh land, its hills, and leas, and valleys, until, after a run of no less than 7,000 miles, she anchored on the west side of Guahan at midnight on the 21st of May. Having obtained provisions she next bore away for Mindanao, and afterwards her restless masters cruised in the Gulf of Siam, visited the Philippines, and steered for New Holland or Australia. Of these places and of their inhabitants Dampier has left a graphic description, whose almost literal accuracy has been abundantly confirmed by later navigators.

9. Dampier had long been weary of the uncongenial society and the lawless life to which he was condemned, and when the Cygnet reached the Nicobar Isles he at last obtained his release. Two of his comrades joined him, and four Malays being also set on shore, the seven adventurers, exchanging an axe with one of the natives for a canoe-'a strong and roomy boat, with a good mast, a sail made of mat, and outriggers, which the Malays skilfully contrived' -collected a supply of water, bread-fruit, and cocoa-nuts, and put out to sea. Dampier fortunately had in his possession a small pocket-compass, and a chart of the Indian seas roughly outlined in his pocket-book.

They had not been out more than three days when a terrible storm arose, and exposed them to perils which may best be described in Dampier's own perspicuous language: