Page:Life, strange voyages, and uncommon adventures of Ambrose Gwinett.pdf/19

Rh had amassed together. One article alone will be sufficient to give you an idea of it. Under one shade, I myself reckoned three thousand eight hundred bales of English goods; and I may safely declare, that in other merchandize of almost every kind, they fell nothing behind: and upon an average, there could not be less in their coffers than two hundred thousand pounds sterling in specie, besides a great quantity of gold in bars.

The continual terror that was on my mind while I remained with these people, is not to be imagined: but, to give you a detail of our manner of life, while I endured this worst of bondage, would be tedious, because it had no variety, and shocking to boot, as I was forced to enter into all their horrid schemes. I shall only tell you, that in one of our cruizes, having met with a Jamaica ship, we hoisted out our black colours, and having boarded her, because she made some resistance, and killed one of our men, the captain ordered that the whole crew should be massacred; which wicked command was executed upon the master, five seamen, and a boy, in a manner, before the cruel monster’s eyes; then taking the cargo out, which proved to be rum and sugar, we scuttled the ship, and returned to our fortification.

But to see how the Avenger of wicked deeds makes the fruits of our crimes our punishment, this cargo of rum, which was of a kind not many degrees short of aquafortis, was drunk by the men with such a fury, that in little more than three days, not a drop of it was left; and of our compliment of eighteen men, seven absolutely lost their lives by it, among whom was the captain.

I cannot but confess I had some attachment to his man, because he always appeared particularly attatched to me: when, therefore, I saw him lie senseless