_l_. of my new-gained wealth, so that I had 200_l_. left,
and which I lodged with my friend's widow, who was very just to me, yet
I fell into terrible misfortunes in this voyage; and the first was this,
viz. our ship making her course towards the Canary Islands, or rather
between those islands and the African shore, was surprised in the grey
of the morning by a Turkish rover of Sallee, who gave chase to us with
all the sail she could make. We crowded also as much canvass as our
yards would spread, or our masts carry, to have got clear; but finding
the pirate gained upon us, and would certainly come up with us in a few
hours, we prepared to fight; our ship having twelve guns, and the rogue
eighteen. About three in the afternoon he came up with us, and bringing
to by mistake just athwart our quarter, instead of athwart our stern, as
he intended, we brought eight of our guns to bear on that side, and
poured in a broadside upon him, which made him sheer off again, after
returning our fire, and pouring in also his small-shot from near 200 men
which he had on board. However, we had not a man touched, all our men
keeping close. He prepared to attack us again, and we to defend
ourselves; but laying us on board the next time upon our other quarter,
he entered sixty men upon our decks, who immediately fell to cutting and
hacking the decks and rigging. We plied them with small-shot,
half-pikes, powder-cheats, and such like, and cleared our deck of them
twice. However, to cut short this melancholy part of our story, our ship
being disabled, and three of our men killed and eight wounded, we were
obliged to yield, and were carried all prisoners into Sallee, a port
belonging to the Moors.

The usage I had there was not so dreadful as at first I apprehended; nor
was I carried up the country to the emperor's court, as the rest of our
men were, but was kept by the captain of the rover as his proper prize,
and made his slave, being young and nimble, and fit for his business. At
this surprising change of my circumstances, from a merchant to a
miserable slave, I was perfectly overwhelmed; and now I looked back upon
my father's prophetic discourse to me, that I should be miserable, and
have none to relieve me, which I thought was now so effectually brought
to pass, that I could not be worse; that now the hand of Heaven had
overtaken me, and I was undone without redemption: but, alas! this was
but a taste of the misery I was to go through, as