Chapter 58
The captain and the other men fixed the two boats and sailed to the ship. Once there, they convinced the people on board the ship that it had taken them a while to find the others on the island. As soon as all the men from the boats were on the ship, the captain showed himself, and the attack began. Several sailors were injured in the battle. There was only one person shot, and he was the last of the mutiny leaders.
As soon as he regained possession of the ship, the captain ordered seven guns to be fired, which was the signal we had agreed on. I was happy to hear those shots and fell asleep almost immediately because I was very tired.
I was wakened by the sound of a gunshot and the voice of the captain, who was standing next to me. He hugged me while saying that the ship and all sailors were now under my command. If the captain hadn’t held me, I would have fainted with joy. He made me drink a few drops of liquor, but it still took me some time before I could stop crying and open my mouth to speak again.
After I recovered from the initial excitement, the captain ordered his men to bring whatever food they could find on the ship to the island. We were going to have a small feast to celebrate our victory and my departure from the island. There was Madeira wine, excellent tobacco, pork, beef, and peas. There were biscuits and sugar for dessert.
I was very happy to taste all those things again, but what made me even happier was the new clean clothes the captain gave me. I had a shirt, gloves, stockings, and shoes for the first time after wearing goatskin for more than twenty years. After all that time I had forgotten what clothes felt like, so at the beginning I felt uncomfortable, but soon it was all fine.