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A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11 by Robert Kerr

R >> Robert Kerr >> A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Volume 11




"The reader will perceive that the sum total of this dividend falls
short of what I said the capture amounted to; but, in order to set
that matter right, there is a secret article of 627 quadruples of
gold, which Shelvocke graciously shared among private friends, each
quadruple, or double doubloon; being worth sixteen dollars each, or L.
3:14:8 sterling, at 4s. 8d. the dollar. The value of these is 10,032
dollars, which, added to the sum of the foregoing account, make
108,636-3/4 dollars, or L. 25,348:11:6 sterling in all. Which large
sum of money Shelvocke had the prodigious modesty to conceal, under
the mysterious _et cetera_. Stewart's book mentions the double
doubloons, but says not a word as to how they were distributed, so
that we may imagine they were sunk between the two Shelvockes and
Stewart: For, as Stewart was agent, cashier, and paymaster, it was an
easy matter to hide a bag of gold from the public, and to divide it
afterwards in a committee of two or three."--_Betagh._



SECTION VIII.

_Appendix to Shelvocke's Voyage round the World. Containing
Observations on the Country and Inhabitants of Peru, by Captain
Betagh._[1]

[Footnote 1: Harris, I. 240.]

INTRODUCTION.

This article may rather seem misplaced, as here inserted among the
circumnavigations; but, both as having arisen out of the voyage of
Shelvocke, and because arranged in this manner by Harris, it has been
deemed proper and necessary to preserve it in this place, where it
may be in a great measure considered as a supplement to the preceding
voyage. In the opinion of Harris, "The time that Betagh lived among
the Spaniards in Peru, and the manner in which he was treated by them,
gave him an opportunity of acquainting himself with their manners and
customs, and with the nature and maxims of their government, such as
no Englishman had possessed; and the lively manner in which he tells
his story, gives it much beauty and spirit." We have already seen, in
the narrative of Shelvocke, the occasion of Betagh separating from his
commander, along with Hately and a complement of men in the Mercury,
on which occasion Shelvocke alleged that they purposely separated from
him, in consequence of taking a prize containing 150,000 dollars. In
the following narrative, Betagh tells his own story very differently,
and we do not presume to determine between them. The separation of
Shelvocke originally from his own superior officer, Clipperton, is not
without suspicion; and Hately and Betagh may have learnt from their
commander, to endeavour to promote their own individual interests, at
the expense of their duty, already weakened by bad example.--_Ed_.

Sec. 1. _PARTICULARS OF THE CAPTURE OF THE MERCURY BY THE SPANIARDS_.

It was in the beginning of the year 1720, about the middle of March,
when Captain Shelvocke sent Hately and the rest of us to seek our
fortunes in the lighter called the Mercury. He then went in the
Speedwell to plunder the village of Payta, where we might easily have
joined him, had he been pleased to have imparted his design to us.
We had not cruized long off Cape Blanco, when we took a small bark,
having a good quantity of flour and chocolate. There were also on
board an elderly lady, and a thin old friar, whom we detained two
or three days; and, after taking out what could be of use to us, we
discharged the bark and them. Soon after this we took the Pink, which
Shelvocke calls the rich prize. Her people had no suspicion of our
being an enemy, and held on their way till they saw the Mercury
standing towards them, and then began to suspect us; on which, about
noon, they clapt their helm hard a-weather, and crowded all sail
before the wind; and, being in ballast, this was her best sailing, yet
proved also the greatest advantage they could have given us; for, had
she held her wind, our flat-bottomed vessel could never have got up
with theirs. About ten o'clock at night, with the assistance of hard
rowing, we got up within shot of the chase, and made her bring to,
when pretty near the shore. On boarding the prize, in which were
about seventy persons, thirty of whom were negroes, Hately left me and
Pressick in the Mercury, with other four, where we continued two or
three days, till a heavy rain spoiled all our bread and other dry
provisions. We then went on board the prize, sending three men to take
charge of the Mercury.

After this, we stood off and on in the height of Cape Blanco for seven
or eight days, expecting to meet with the Speedwell; and at that
place we sent ashore the Spanish Captain, a padre or priest, and some
gentlemen passengers. At last we espied a sail plying to windward;
and, having no doubt that she was either the Speedwell or the Success,
we stood towards her, while she also edged down towards us. About ten
in the morning we were near enough to make her out to be a ship of
war, but neither of these we wished for. The master of our prize had
before informed us, that he had fallen in with the _Brilliante_,
which was cruizing for our privateers, and we had till now entirely
disregarded his information. Upon this, Hately advised with me what
we ought to do in this emergency, when we agreed to endeavour to take
advantage of the information given us by the Spaniards; considering,
as the Brilliante had spoken so very lately with the Pink, that there
might not be many questions asked now. Accordingly, Hately and
I dressed ourselves like Spaniards, and hoisted Spanish colours,
confined all our prisoners in the great cabin, and allowed none but
Indians and negroes to appear on the deck, that the Pink might have
the same appearance as before. We had probably succeeded in this
contrivance, but for the obstinacy of John Sprake, one of our men,
whom we could not persuade to keep off the deck. As the Brilliante
came up, she fired a gun to leeward, on which we lowered our topsail,
going under easy sail till we got alongside. The first question asked
was, If we had seen the English privateer? We answered, No. The next
question was, How we had got no farther on our way to Lima? To
which we answered, By reason of the currents. To two or three other
questions, we answered satisfactorily in Spanish, and they were
getting their tacks aboard in order to leave us, when Sprake and two
or three more of our men appeared on the main deck. A Frenchman aboard
the Brilliante, who was on the mast-head, seeing their long trowsers,
called out, _Par Dieu, Monsieur, ils sont Anglois_, By Heaven, Sir,
they are English: Upon which they immediately fired a broad-side into
us with round and partridge shot, by one of which Hately was slightly
wounded in the leg.

As soon as we struck our flag, the enemy sent for all the English
on board their ships, and ordered two of their own officers into our
prize. The Brilliante then bore down on the Mercury, into which she
fired at least twenty-five shot, which bored her sides through and
through: Yet such was the construction of that extraordinary vessel,
that, though quite full of water, there was not weight enough to sink
her, and our three men who were in her remained unhurt. Don Pedro
Midrando, the Spanish commander, ordered these three men into his
own ship, in which he intended to sail for Payta. As for me, he gave
directions that I should be sent forty miles up the country, to a
place called _Piura_, and was so kind as to leave Mr Pressick the
surgeon, and my serjeant Cobbs, to bear me company. Mr Hately and
the rest of our men were ordered to Lima by land, a journey of four
hundred miles.[2] Hately had the misfortune to be doubly under the
displeasure of the Spaniards: First, for returning into these seas
after having been long their prisoner, and being well used among them:
And, second, for having stripped the Portuguese captain at Cape Frio
of a good quantity of moidores, which were now found upon him. Don
Pedro proposed to have this business searched to the bottom, and the
guilty severely punished, without exposing the innocent to any danger.

[Footnote 2: Lima is above six hundred miles from Cape Blanco, and
Piura is about seventy-five miles from the same place. Betagh gives no
account of the place where he landed; but forty miles northwards from
Piura would only carry him to the north side of the bay of Payta; and,
as he makes no mention of passing any river, he was probably landed on
the south side of the river Amatape or Chira.--E.]

Sec. 2. _OBSERVATIONS MADE BY BETAGH IN THE NORTH OF PERU._

Leaving Mr Hately for the present, I proceed to the observations I
made on the road, as the admiral was so good as send me up into the
country, till his return from Payta. As the weather in this part of
the world is much too hot to admit of any labour in the middle of the
day, the custom is to travel only from six in the evening till eight
next morning. My Indian guide set me on the best mule he had,
which did not think proper to follow the rest, so that I led my
fellow-travellers while day lasted. The whole country through which we
travelled was an open plain, having Indian plantations laid out with
tolerable regularity, on both sides of us. This champaign country is
from thirty to an hundred miles broad, and extends three hundred
miles along shore; and I was travelling to the southward, having the
Cordelieras, or mountains of the Andes, on my left hand, and the great
Pacific Ocean to the right. As the soil is good and fertile, this land
would be as fine a country as any in the world, if well watered; but
travellers are here obliged to carry water for their mules as well as
themselves. At the approach of night, I was much puzzled to find the
way, my mule still persisting to go foremost, being often stopped by
great sand hills, and my mule as often endeavoured to pull the reins
out of my hand. This being very troublesome, the Indians advised me
to lay the reins on the mule's neck, and on doing that the creature
easily hit the way. These sand hills often shift from place to place,
which I suppose is occasioned by strong eddy winds, reverberated from
the mountains.

We rested at night in an old empty house, about half way, which
the guide told me was built by the inhabitants of Piura, for the
accommodation of the prince of San Bueno, viceroy of Peru, when they
met and regaled him at his entrance on his government. After a short
rest, we continued our journey, and arrived at Piura, a handsome
regularly built town, on the banks of the river _Callan_ or _Piura_.
The Indian conducted us to the house of an honest Spanish gentleman
and his wife, to whose charge he committed us, and then returned to
Payta. In less than a quarter of an hour, the inhabitants of the town
flocked to see us, as a raree-show, and entertained us with respect
and civility, instead of using us as prisoners of war. The gentleman
to whose charge we were committed was named Don Jeronimo Baldivieso,
who had five daughters, who received us in so benevolent a manner,
that we hoped our time would slide easily away, and our captivity
prove no way disagreeable; and I now became sensible of the favour
shewn me by Don Pedro in sending me to this place; for he had such
interest in all Peru, that for his sake we found very good treatment.

After refreshing ourselves, according to the custom of the country,
with chocolate, biscuit, and water, we were serenaded by the sound
of a harp from some inner apartment, of which instrument the artist
seemed to have a good command, as I heard parts of several famous
compositions, both Italian and English. Upon enquiry, I found that
all Don Jeronimo's daughters had learnt music, and sung or played
upon some instrument. Though this seemed unaccountable at first, I
afterwards found that music was much cultivated in Peru. During the
prevalence of the Italian party at the court of Madrid, the last
viceroy of Peru, the prince of San Bueno, who was an Italian, brought
a great many musicians to that country along with him, by whom the
taste for music had spread every where, and had become as good in
Peru as in old Spain. I the rather notice this, because, by our
being lovers of music, and behaving peaceably and civilly to the
inhabitants, we passed our time quietly and chearfully. We were only
exposed to one inconvenience, which lasted all the time we remained
here: which was, the daily assembling of the people to stare at us.
I and my sergeant Cobbs, being used to exercise in public, bore this
pretty well; but Mr Pressick, being a grave man, at first hung down
his head, and was very melancholy. But he grew better acquainted with
the people by degrees, and came to like them so well, that we had much
ado to get him away, when it became necessary for us to remove our
quarters.

Almost all the commodities of Europe are distributed through Spanish
America by a sort of pedlars, or merchants who travel on foot. These
men come from Panama to Payta by sea; and in their road from Payta
to Lima, make Piura their first stage, disposing of their goods, and
lessening their burdens, as they go along. From Piura, some take the
inland road by Caxamarca, and others the road along the coast through
Truxillo. From Lima they take their passage back to Panama by sea,
perhaps carrying with them a small adventure of brandy. At Panama
they again stock themselves with European goods, and return by sea to
Payta. Here they hire mules to carry their goods, taking Indians along
with them to guide the mules and carry them back: And in this
way these traders keep a continual round, till they have gained a
sufficiency to live on. Their travelling expenses are next to nothing;
as the Indians are under such entire subjection to the Spaniards,
that they always find them in lodgings free, and provide them with
provender for their mules. All this every white man may command, being
an homage the Indians have long been accustomed to, and some think
themselves honoured into the bargain. Yet out of generosity, they
sometimes meet with a small recompense. Among the British and French,
a pedlar is despised, and his employment is considered as a very, mean
shift for getting a living: But it is quite otherwise here, where the
quick return of money is a sufficient excuse for the manner in which
it is gained; and there are many gentlemen in old Spain, in declining
circumstances, who send their sons to what they call _the Indies_, to
retrieve their fortunes in this way.

Our lodging while at Piura was in an out-house, which had been built
on purpose for accommodating such travelling merchants. Every day,
according to the Spanish custom, our dinner was served up under
covers, and we eat at the same table with Don Jeronimo; while the good
lady of the house and her daughters sat in another room. Any strong
liquors are only used during dinner: And I think the only circumstance
in our conduct that any way disobliged our good host, was once seeing
me drink a dram with the doctor, at a small eating-house; and, as
nothing is more offensive to the Spaniards than drunkenness, I had
much ado to apologise for this step. Yet they admit of gallantry in
the utmost excess, thus only exchanging one enormity for another.

After remaining about six weeks at Piura, our Indian guide came to
conduct us to Payta, to which place the Brilliante had returned. When
about to take leave, Mr Pressick our surgeon was not to be found,
which detained us a day. They had concealed him in the town, meaning
to have kept him there, being a very useful man; and if he could have
had a small chest of medicines, he might soon have made a handsome
fortune. Next day, however, we mounted our mules, and parted
reluctantly with our kind host and his family. We went on board the
Brilliante at Payta, which had done nothing at sea since we left her,
and now made a sort of cruizing voyage to Calao, the port of Lima.
I have already mentioned the civility I received from Don Pedro
Midranda, who was admiral or general of the South Seas; and I shall
here add one circumstance to the honour of Monsieur de Grange, a
captain under the general. When taken by the Brilliante, the soldiers
stripped us, considering our clothes as the usual perquisite of
conquerors; on which that gentleman generously gave me a handsome suit
of clothes, two pair of silk stockings, shirts, a hat and wig, and
every thing accordant, so that I was rather a gainer by this accident.

Sec. 3. _VOYAGE FROM PAYTA TO LIMA, AND ACCOUNT OF THE ENGLISH PRISONERS
AT THAT PLACE._

Our voyage to Lima occupied about five weeks; and, immediately on our
arrival, we were committed to the same prison in which the rest of
the ship's company were confined, except Mr Hately, who, for reasons
formerly assigned, was confined by himself, and very roughly treated.
A short time after our arrival, commissioners were appointed to
hear our cause, and to determine whether we were to be treated as
criminals, or as prisoners of war. We were charged with piracy,
not solely for what we had done in the South Seas in plundering
the Spaniards, but for having used the like violence against other
nations, before our arrival in that sea, from which they proposed to
infer that we had evinced a piratical disposition in the whole of
our conduct. Of this they thought they had sufficient proof in the
moidores found upon Hately, as they appeared to have been taken from
the subjects of a prince in amity with our sovereign. Happily for us,
Don Diego Morsilio, the viceroy, who was an archbishop in the decline
of life, was pleased to investigate this matter; and finding only one
of us guilty, would not sign an order for taking away the lives of
the innocent. Some were for sending Hatley to the mines for life,
and others for hanging him: But the several accounts of the vile
proceedings of Captain Shelvocke contributed to his deliverance, of
the truth of which circumstance, there were enough of our people at
Lima to witness; for, besides Lieutenant Sergeantson and his men,
who were brought thither, there came also the men whom Shelvocke sent
along with Hopkins to shift for themselves in an empty bark, who were
forced to surrender themselves to the Indians for want of sustenance;
so that the court were satisfied that Shelvocke was the principal in
that piratical act, rather than Hately. Considering that we had all
been sufficiently punished before our arrival at Lima, they thought
fit to let us all go by degrees. Hately was kept in irons about a
twelvemonth, and was then allowed to return to England. I was more
fortunate, as my imprisonment lasted only a fortnight, owing to the
interposition of one Captain Fitzgerald, a gentleman born in France,
who had great interest with the viceroy, and became security for
me, on which I was allowed my liberty in the city, provided I were
forthcoming when called for.

Among my first enquiries was into the condition of other English
prisoners at this place. I learnt from Lieutenant Sergeantson and
his men, who were here before us, that most of them had adopted the
religion of the country, had been christened, and were dispersed among
the convents of the city. The first of these I met had his catechism
in one hand, and a large string of beads dangling in the other. I
smiled, and asked him how he liked it? He said, very well; for having
a religion to chuse, he thought theirs better than none, especially
as it brought him good meat and drink, and a quiet life. Many of
Shelvocke's men followed this example, and I may venture to say, that
most of them had the same substantial reason for their conversion.
It is here reckoned very meritorious to make a convert, and many
arguments were used for that purpose, but no rigorous measures
were used to bring any one over to their way of thinking. Those who
consented to be baptized, generally had some of the merchants of Lima
for their patrons and god-fathers, who never failed to give them a
good suit of clothes, and some money to drink their healths.

About this time four or five of Clipperton's men had leave from the
convents where they resided, to meet together at a public-house kept
by one John Bell, an Englishman, who had a negro wife, who had been
made free for some service or other. The purpose of this meeting was
merely to confirm their new baptism over a bowl of punch; but they all
got drunk and quarrelled, and, forgetting they were true catholics,
they demolished the image of some honest saint that stood in a corner,
mistaking him for one of their companions. Missing them for a few
days, I enquired at Bell what was become of them, when he told me they
were all in the Inquisition; for the thing having taken air, he was
obliged to go himself to complain of their behaviour, but he got them
released a few days after, when they had time to repent and get
sober in the dungeons of the holy office. Bell said, if these men had
remained heretics, their drunken exploit had not come within the verge
of the ecclesiastical power; but as they were novices, they were the
easier pardoned, their outrages on the saint being attributed to the
liquor, and not to any designed affront to the catholic faith, or a
relapse into heresy.

Some time afterwards, about a dozen of our men from the Success and
Speedwell were sent to Calao, to assist in careening and fitting out
the Flying-fish, designed for Europe. They here entered into a plot
to run away with the Margarita, a good sailing ship which lay in the
harbour, meaning to have gone for themselves, in which of course they
would have acted as pirates. Not knowing what to do for ammunition and
a compass, they applied to Mr Sergeantson, pretending they meant to
steal away to Panama, where there was an English factory, and whence
they had hopes of getting home. They said they had got half a dozen
firelocks, with which they might be able to kill wild hogs or other
game, as they went along, and begged him to help them to some powder
and shot, and a compass to steer their way through the woods. By
begging and making catholic signs to the people in Lima, they had
collected some dollars, which they desired Sergeantson to lay out
for them; and he, not mistrusting their plot, bought them what they
wanted. Thus furnished, one of them came to me at Lima, and told me
their intention, and that Sprake was to have the command, as being the
only one among them who knew any thing of navigation. I answered, that
it was a bold design; but as Captain Fitzgerald had engaged for my
honour, I could not engage in it. Their plot was discovered a few days
after, their lodgings searched, their arms taken away, and they were
committed to prison. The government was much incensed against them,
and had nearly determined upon their execution; but they were soon all
released except Sprake, who was the ringleader, and was kept in irons
for two or three months, and then set at liberty.

The dominions belonging to the Spaniards in America are so large and
valuable, that, if well governed, they might render that monarchy
exceedingly formidable. In my long stay in Peru, I had the means of
examining at leisure, and with attention, their manner of living, the
form of their government, and many other circumstances little known
in our part of the world, and had many opportunities of enquiring into
things minutely, which did not fall under my immediate observation;
and of which I propose to give as clear and accurate an account as
I can, constantly distinguishing between what fell under my own
immediate knowledge, and what I received from the information of
others.

Sec. 4. _DESCRIPTION OF LIMA, AND SOME ACCOUNT OF THE GOVERNMENT OF
PERU._

The great and rich city of Lima is the metropolis of Peru, and the
seat of an archbishop. It is all regularly built, the streets being
all straight and spacious, dividing the whole into small squares. It
stands in an open vale, through which runs a gentle stream, dividing
the city in two, as the Thames does London from Southwark. Calao is
the port of Lima, from whence it is about seven miles distant. Because
of the frequent earthquakes, the houses are only of one story, and
generally twelve or fourteen feet high. It contains eight parish
churches, three colleges for students, twenty-eight monasteries of
friars, and thirteen nunneries, so that the religions occupy a fourth
part of the city; yet, by the quick and plentiful flow of money, and
the vast sums bequeathed through the effects of celibacy, they are
well endowed. Besides these, there are two hospitals for sick, poor,
and disabled; and in which several of our men were kindly looked
after. The length of the city from north to south is two miles, and
its breadth one and a half; its whole circumference, including the
wall and the river, being six miles. The other, or smaller part of
the city, is to the east of the river, over which there is a handsome
stone bridge of seven arches. Including all sorts and colours, I
computed that the whole population of Lima amounted to between
sixty and seventy thousand persons; and I should not wonder at any
multiplication in this city, as it is the centre of so much affluence
and pleasure. Besides the natural increase of the inhabitants, all
ships that trade this way, whether public or private, generally leave
some deserters, who remain behind in consequence of the encouragement
given to all white faces.

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