On This Subject I First Consulted With The
Carpenter, Who Answered, That He Could Not Make Bricks Without Straw,
And Then Walked From Me In A Surly Humour.
From him I went to the
armourer, and asked what he could do for us in his way that might
contribute to build a small vessel.
To this he answered, that he hoped
he could do all the iron work, as he had fortunately saved his bellows
from the wreck, with four or five spadoes or Spanish swords, which
would afford him steel, and there could be no want of iron along shore;
besides, that we should doubtless find many useful things when we came
to work in good earnest. He desired therefore, that I would get some
charcoal made for him, while he set up his forge.
Upon this encouragement, I called all hands together, and explained to
them the great probability there was of our being able to build a vessel
sufficient to transport us from this island; but that it would be a
laborious task, and must require their united best endeavours. To this
they all consented, and promised to work with great diligence, begging
me to give them directions how to proceed. I then ordered the men who
had axes on shore, before the wreck, to cut wood for making charcoal,
while the rest went down to the wreck to get the boltsprit ashore, of
which I proposed to make the keel of our intended vessel; and I
prevailed on the carpenter to go with me, to fix upon the properest
place for building. The people found a great many useful materials about
the wreck; and among the rest the topmast, which had been washed on
shore, and was of the greatest importance.
We laid the blocks for building upon on the 8th June, and had the
boltsprit ready at hand to lay down as the keel; when the carpenter
turned short round upon me, and swore an oath that he would not strike
another stroke on the work, for he would be slave to nobody, and thought
himself now on a footing with myself. I was at first angry, but came at
length to an agreement with him, to give him a four-pistole piece as
soon as the stern and stern-posts were up, and 100 dollars when the bark
was finished, and the money to be committed to the keeping of any one he
chose to name. This being settled, he went to work upon the keel, which
was to be thirty feet long; the breadth of our bark, by the beam,
sixteen feet, and her hold seven feet deep. In two months we made a
tolerable shew, owing in a great measure to the ingenuity of Poppleston,
our armourer, who never lost a minute in working with his hands, or
contriving in his head. He made us a small double-headed maul, hammers,
chisels, and a sort of gimblets or wimbles, which performed very well.
He even made a bullet-mould, and an instrument to bore cartouch-boxes,
which he made from the trucks of our gun-carriages, covering them with
seal-skins, and contrived to make them not only convenient, but neat.
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