imperial charter, or at least under colour of it: and so we might go to sea in a threefold capacity, to be made use of as occasion might present, viz., when on the coast of New Spain we sought to trade, we were Frenchmen, had a French captain, and a sufficient number of French seamen, and Flemish or Walloon seamen, who spoke French, so to appear on all proper occasions. When at sea we met with any Spanish ship worth our while, we were English cruisers, had letters of mart from England, had no account of the peace, and were fitted for the attack. And when in the East Indies we had occasion to trade, either at the English or Dutch settlements, we should have imperial colours, and two Flemish merchants, at least in appearance, to transact everything as we found occasion. However, this last part of our project failed us, that affair not being fully ripe.

As this mysterious equipment may be liable to some exceptions, and perhaps to some inquiries, I shall for the present conceal my name, and that of the ship also. By inquiries, I mean inquiries of private persons concerned; for, as to public inquiries, we have no uneasiness, having acted nothing in contradiction to the rules and laws of our country; but I say, as to private persons, it is thought fit to prevent their inquiries, to which end, the captain, in whose name I write this, gives me leave to make use of his name, and conceal my own.

The ship sailed from the river the 20th of December, 1713, and went directly over to the coast of Flanders, lying at an anchor in Newport Pitts, as they are called, where we took in our French Captain Jean Michael Merlotte, who, with thirty-two French seamen, came on board us in a large snow from Dunkirk, bringing with them one hundred and twenty-two small ankers or rundlets of brandy, and some hampers and casks of French wine in wickered bottles. While we were here, we lay under English colours, with pendants flying, our ship being upwards of five hundred ton, and had forty-six guns mounted, manned with three hundred and fifty-six men; we took the more men on board, because we resolved, as occasion should present, to fit ourselves with another ship, which we did not question we should meet with in the South Seas.

We had also a third design in our voyage, though it may be esteemed an accident to the rest, viz., we were resolved to make some attempts for new discoveries, as opportunity offered; and we had two persons on board who were exceeding well qualified for our direction in this part, all which was derived from the following occasion.

The person who was principally concerned in the adventure was a man not only of great wealth, but of great importance; he was particularly addicted to what we call new discoveries, and it was indeed upon his genius to such things, that the first thought of the voyage was founded. This gentleman told me, that he had already sent one ship fully equipped and furnished for a new attempt upon the North-West or North-East passages, which had been so often in vain tried by former navigators; and that he did not question the success, because he had directed them by new measures, and to steer a course that was never attempted yet; and his design in our voyage was to make like discoveries towards the South pole; where, as he said, and gave us very good reasons for it, he did not doubt but we might discover, even to the pole itself, and find out new worlds and new seas, which had never been heard of before.

With these designs, this gentleman came into the other part of our project, and contributed the more largely, and with the more freedom, to the whole, upon that account; in particular, all the needful preparations for such discoveries were made wholly at his expense, which I take notice of here, as being most proper in the beginning of our story, and that the reader may the less wonder at the particular way we took to perform a voyage which might with much more ease have been done by the usual and ordinary way.

We sailed from the coast of Flanders the 2nd of January, and, without any extraordinary incident, made the coast of Galway, in Ireland, the 10th, where we stayed, and took in a very extraordinary store of provisions, three times as much as usual, the beef being also well pickled or double packed, that we might have a sufficient reserve for the length of our voyage, resolving also to spare it as much as possible.

We had a very rich cargo on board, consisting of all sorts of British manufactures suitable for the Spanish trade in their West Indies; and, as we aimed at nothing of trade till we came to the Spanish coast, we sailed directly for the Canary Islands: having not fully resolved whether we would make our voyage to the South Seas first, and so round the globe by the East Indies, as has been the usual way, or whether we would go first by the East Indies, and upon the discoveries we were directed to, and then cross the great Pacific Ocean to the west coast of America, as was at last resolved.

We made the Canaries, the 11th of February; and, coming to an anchor there to take in some fresh water, we put out French colours, and sent our boat on shore, with a French boatswain and all French seamen, to buy what we wanted: they brought us on board five butts or pipes of wine, and some provisions, and having filled our water, we set sail again the 13th. In this time we called a council among ourselves, by which way we should go.

I confess I was for going by the Cape of Good Hope first, and so to the East Indies: then, keeping to the south of Java, go away to the Moluccas, where I made no doubt to make some purchase among the Dutch Spice Islands, and so away to the Philippines; but the whole ship's company, I mean of officers, were against me in this scheme, although I told them plainly, that the discoveries which would be made in such a voyage as that, were the principal reasons why our chief owner embarked in the adventure, and that we ought to regard the end and design of our voyage; that it would certainly in the conclusion amount to the same, as to trade, as if we went the usual way, seeing the places we were to go to were the same one way as the other, and it was only putting the question which we should go to first; that all the navigators, on such voyages as these, went by the South Seas first, which would be no honour to us at all: but, if we went by the East Indies first, we should be the first that ever went such a voyage, and that we might make many useful discoveries and experiments in trying that course; that it would be worth our while, not only to go that way, but to have all the world take notice of it, and of us for it.

I used a great many arguments of the like nature, but they answered me most effectually, with laying before me the difficulties of the voyage, and the contrary methods of trade, which, in a word, made the going that way impracticable: First, the difficulty of the voyage, over the vast ocean called the Pacific Sea, or South Sea, which, if we kept a southern latitude, and took the variable winds, as we should find them, as I proposed to do, might very well be a voyage of six or eight months, without any sight of land, or supply of provisions or water, which was intolerable; that, as to trade, it was preposterous, and just setting the voyage with the bottom upward; for as we were loaden with goods, and had no money, our first business, they said, was to go to the South Seas, where our goods were wanted, and would sell for money, and then to the East Indies, where our money would be wanting, to buy other goods to carry home, and not to go to the East Indies first, where our goods would not sell, and where we could buy no other for want of money.

This was seemingly so strong a way of reasoning, that they were all against me, as well French as English, and even the two agents for discoveries submitted to it; and so we resolved to stand