he cask of liquor I
found to be a kind of rum, but not such as we had at the Brazils; and, in
a word, not at all good; but when I came to open the chests, I found
several things of great use to me--for example, I found in one a fine
case of bottles, of an extraordinary kind, and filled with cordial
waters, fine and very good; the bottles held about three pints each, and
were tipped with silver. I found two pots of very good succades, or
sweetmeats, so fastened also on the top that the salt-water had not hurt
them; and two more of the same, which the water had spoiled. I found
some very good shirts, which were very welcome to me; and about a dozen
and a half of white linen handkerchiefs and coloured neckcloths; the
former were also very welcome, being exceedingly refreshing to wipe my
face in a hot day. Besides this, when I came to the till in the chest, I
found there three great bags of pieces of eight, which held about eleven
hundred pieces in all; and in one of them, wrapped up in a paper, six
doubloons of gold, and some small bars or wedges of gold; I suppose they
might all weigh near a pound. In the other chest were some clothes, but
of little value; but, by the circumstances, it must have belonged to the
gunner's mate; though there was no powder in it, except two pounds of
fine glazed powder, in three flasks, kept, I suppose, for charging their
fowling-pieces on occasion. Upon the whole, I got very little by this
voyage that was of any use to me; for, as to the money, I had no manner
of occasion for it; it was to me as the dirt under my feet, and I would
have given it all for three or four pair of English shoes and stockings,
which were things I greatly wanted, but had had none on my feet for many
years. I had, indeed, got two pair of shoes now, which I took off the
feet of two drowned men whom I saw in the wreck, and I found two pair
more in one of the chests, which were very welcome to me; but they were
not like our English shoes, either for ease or service, being rather what
we call pumps than shoes. I found in this seaman's chest about fifty
pieces of eight, in rials, but no gold: I supposed this belonged to a
poorer man than the other, which seemed to belong to some officer. Well,
however, I lugged this money home to my cave, and laid it up, as I had
done that before which I had brought from our own ship; but it was a
great pity, as I said, that the other part of this ship had not come to
my share: for I