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Food By Sailor Type During the Golden Age of Piracy, Page 2

Fruit

Fruit was one of the few categories that were not typically available when a ships was at sea, except within the first week or two of leaving land.
Artist: William Henry Pyne
Lemons Used in Punch, From Sailors Carousing on Shipboard (c. 1820) The one exception was a day's ration of half a pound of raisins (and one and a half pounds of flour, together be used to make a savory pudding), which the navy provided as an relatively unpopular alternative to salt beef twice a week when a ship sailed below 39th parallel north. Sweet, exotic fruits might have been a popular food with sailors, except for the fact that some surgeons felt 'immoderate' use of them caused fluxes, or diarrheas. This was apparently conveyed to the men; sailor Edward Barlow explained that sailors

drinking altogether water and eating the hot country provisions... and eating many times much of their sweet luscious fruits, changing all our victuals and drink upon a sudden... and if a man be not very moderate and careful, it is a thousand to one if he catch not some disease or another presently, the bloody ‘flukes’ being the rifest, which is seldome helped and killeth a lustry strong man in ten days.¹

This likely tempered some of the consumption of foreign fruits. On the other side of the health coin, fruit was among many other things thought by some sailors and surgeons to be helpful in cases of scurvy even though this was not truly proven to the navy's satisfaction until decades after the golden age of piracy. Still, lemons, limes and oranges, all excellent sources of the needed vitamin C, appear with great frequency among the accounts under study. Admittedly, the scurvy connection likely is less the reason for their popularity among sailors than their use in oft-mentioned period cocktail, punch. This may also have had something to do with the connection of fruit to diarrhea as well.

The sailors accounts are filled with examples of fruits found at various ports in every part of the world where they traveled. A total of 51 different fruits are found in 26 accounts. Several of these fruits are only mentioned in one or two accounts, which suggests that they may have been included more because they were interesting than because they were often eaten by sailors. When fruits mentioned in only one or two sailor's accounts are removed, 30 fruits remain.

Naturally, the numbers alone cannot tell the whole story. Raisins are only mentioned in three accounts, but we know were eaten by many navy sailors as part of the standard diet in the Mediterranean. This is probably in part because there are only a few naval accounts here and in part because it was in the alternative diet and thus didn't seem worth mentioning.

Another important factor was the number of different places where a fruit could be commonly found and was considered worth cultivating. For example, bananas and plantains were grown in many warm, tropical regions including the Caribbean, South and Central America, India, China and Africa, all places sailors commonly stopped during the golden age of piracy. In addition to being generally recognized as a good alternative to bread, the banana leaves had various uses as we will see. So the utility would made it worth cultivation and thus more prevelant in places where might stop. Just about every part of the coconut tree was used in hot countries and the number of occurences on this list bears its cultivation out.

While the names of many of the fruits found here are fairly standard (albeit sometimes mispelled), some of the more exotic and less recognized fruit is called by the names given them by the local inhabitants or are simply described without providing a name at all. For the most part, the fruit mentioned is recognizable by the name. (Nothe that It is entirely possible that some of these fruits have been misidentiied by the sailor writing, an editor of their account or the author of this article, so caveat emptor.)

For ease of reference list to the fruit included in this section is included here. Clicking on the fruit name below will take you directly to the information for that fruit. Each entry will indicate the names(s) by which the fruit is referred in the sailor's accounts, the number of times that fruit appears in the sailor's accounts under study, how many different accounts it appears in and how many different ship's journeys it appears in (some authors accounts present journeys on a variety of ships, so there is some overlap.) A chart is also included showing which types of sailors mention the fruit. A description of the fruit will follow, giving whatever details of the taste and preparation of the fruit are found. This is first based upon sailors' descriptions if they exist and on other period descriptions where they do not. Since this website concerns medicine, some information on humoral properties of the food will be mentioned along with any other specific comments of interest regarding suggested medicinal properties from around this time. (Everything was believed to have humoral properties which, combined with a patient's own humoral makeup, affected their health.)

Fruit Found in Sailor's Accounts from the Golden Age of Piracy
Apple	Apricot	Avocado	Banana	Berries
Bread Fruit	Caper Berries	Cherries	Citron	Coconut
Colcynthis	Dates	Durian	Figs	Grape
Guava	Jackfruit	Lemon	Lime	Lucuma
Lychee	Mamee Apple	Mamey Sapote	Mango	Mangosteen
Manzanita	Melon	Muskmelon	Nectarine	Olive
Orange	Orange(Mandarin)	Pepino	Papaya	Paw Paw
Peach	Pear	Pomegranate	Pineapple	Pinguin
Plantain	Plum	Quince	Raisins & Currants	Rumbutan
Sapodilla	Soursop	Star Apple	Tamarind	Treharne
Watermelon

³ Edward Barlow, Barlow’s Journal of his Life at Sea in King’s Ships, East and West Indiamen & Other Merchantman From 1659 to 1703, p. 209

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Apple

Called by Sailors: Apple

Appear: 6 Times, in 6 Unique Ship Journeys from 5 Sailor Accounts.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Coquimbo and Valdiva, Chile; Pisco, Peru; Cadiz, Spain; Livorno, Italy; and Basra, Iraq

Apples were very familiar to the European sailor (as they are to us today) so little is said about them in the sailor's accounts.They are mostly found in ship stops along European coasts which should not be surprising, French military Engineer Amedee-Francois Frezier mentions them twice in his journey in South America
Making Cider, From A Treatise on Cider, by John Worlidge (1678)
on various ships, noting that in Valdavia, Chile, "the Want of Wine may be supply'd with [hard] Cyder, as in some Provinces of France; there is such a Multitude of Apple-Trees, that there are little Woods of them."²

It is interesting (but not really surprising), that the only description of apples from the period accounts has to do with turning them into an alcoholic beverage. Cider was a popular beverage with some naval officers and appears in some of the pirate accounts as well.

The distribution of apples in the various accounts is somewhat interesting, being found in the temperate latitudes where apples grow well. In Basra, references to apples go back at least to the second century B.C and the death of queen or priestess Puabi whose tomb contained pendants with "stylized depictions of clusters of apples, dates, and date inflorescences. Apples and dates are both associated with the goddess Inanna,who is associated with love and fertility."³

From a medical perspective, Herbalist John Gerade identified apples as having cold and moist humoral properties. He said, "They do easily and speedily passe through the belly, and therefore they doe mollifie the belly, especially being taken before meat [food]."⁴

¹ Edward Barlow, Barlow’s Journal of his Life at Sea in King’s Ships, East and West Indiamen & Other Merchantman From 1659 to 1703, p. 163, Amedee-Francois Frezier, Voyage to the South Seas, 1717, pp. 44 & 186, Alexander Hamilton, British sea-captain Alexander Hamilton's A new account of the East Indies, 17th-18th century, 2002, p. 78, Jean-Baptiste Labat, The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, 1970, p. 262 & Basil Ringrose, The Adventures of Capt. Barth. Sharp, And Others, in the South Sea, 1684, p. 41; ² Frezier, op. 44;Naomi F. Miller, " Symbols of Fertility and Abundance in the RoyalCemetery at Ur, Iraq", American Journal of Archaeology 117 (2013), p. 127; ⁴ John Gerard, The Herball or General Historie of Plantes, 2nd ed, 1636, p. 1460

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Apricot

Called by Sailors: Apricot, Apricott, Apricock

Appear: 5 Times, in 5 Unique Ship Journeys from 4 Sailor Accounts.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Aden and Mocha, Yemen; Basra, Iraq; Tenerife, Canary Islands; and Coquimbo, Chile

Apricots originated in Asia and spread throughout the world from there, so it is not surprising that they appear in the accounts of sailors traveling in the the East Indies. Most of the accounts where they are found only mention them as part of a list of foods which can be found in the locations shown. This suggests that the were familiar enough not to require further explanation. Indeed, English herbalist John Gerard states in his Herball, first published in 1597, that apricot trees "grow in my garden [located in Holborne], and now adaies in many other gentlemens gardens throughout England.
Artist: Jan Mortel - Still Life with Apricotes and Butterflies (1683)
"² They had made their way to South America before the golden age of priacy as well. Buccaneer Basil Ringrose says that "delicate Gardens" of them could be found in Chile in 1680³, where they had been cultivated, almost certainly by Spanish settlers.

English botanist John Parkinson felt the apricot was a type of plum based on the similarities he found between them. In fact, they are closely related to them along with peaches, almonds and cherries.⁴ Parkinson wrote in 1629 that

Apricockes are eaten oftentimes in the same manner that other dainty Plummes are, betweene meales of themselves, or among other fruit at banquets.

They are also preserved and candid [candied], as it pleaseth Gentlewomen to bestowe their time and charge, or the Comfitmaker [candy-maker] to sort among other candid fruits.

Some likewise dry them, like unto Pears, Apples, Damsons [a type of plum], and other Plummes.⁵

These preservation method would have made it possible for apricots and the other fruits like those listed to be carried on ships, but they were probably seen as an unnecessary luxury for the average sailor's diet.

Of the medicinal properties associated with Apricots, herbalist John Gerard suggests they are cold and rnoist: in the second degree. "[T]hey are also most wholsome to the stomack and pleasant to the taste, yet doe they ...putrifie and yeeld but little nourishment, and... [are] full of excrements [unwanted matter]. Being taken after meat [food] they corrupt and putrifie in the stomack; being full eaten before meat they easily descend, and cause other meats to passe down the sooner".

¹ Francis Rogers. Three Sea Journals of Stuart Times, Bruce Ingram, ed., 1936, p. 174, Basil Ringrose, The Adventures of Capt. Barth. Sharp, And Others, in the South Sea, 1684, p. 41, Alexander Hamilton, British sea-captain Alexander Hamilton's A new account of the East Indies, 17th-18th century, 2002, pp. 52 & 78, and Edward Barlow, Barlow’s Journal of his Life at Sea in King’s Ships, East and West Indiamen & Other Merchantman From 1659 to 1703, p. 283; ² John Gerard, The Herball or General Historie of Plantes, 2nd ed, 1636, p. 1449; ⁴ The Editors of the Encyclopedia Britannica, "apricot", Britannica.com, gathered 2/24/22; ⁵ John Parkinson, Paradisi in Sole, Paradisus Terrestris Reprinted from the Edition of 1629, 1904, p. 579-80

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Avocado

Called by Sailors: Avocat, Avogato-Pear, Albecatos, Palta (Peru)

Appear: 4 Times, in 3 Unique Ship Journeys from 3 Sailor Accounts.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Hiloe, Chile; Tabago; Chepillo Island, Panama; Peru; Jamica, French West Indies

Avocados most likely originated in Central America, likely Mexico. They generated quite a bit of interest among various authors who spent time at sea during this period. Descriptions of them are found in the books of English sailor William Dampier and French travelers Amedee-Francois Frezier and Jean-Baptiste Labat. Dampier's spends quite a bit of time describing them:

Photo: Bruno Navez
Avocado Fruit (Persea americana)

The Avogato Pear... Fruit as big as a large Lemon. It is of a green colour, till it is ripe, and then it is a little yellowish. They are seldom fit to eat till they have been gathered two or three Days; then they become soft, and the Skin or Rind will peel off. The Substance in the inside is green, or a little yellowish, and as soft as Butter. Within the Substance there is a Stone as big as a Horse-Plumb. The Fruit has no taste of it self, and therefore ‘tis usually mixt with Sugar and Lime-juice, and beaten together in a Plate; and this is an excellent Dish. The ordinary way is to eat it with a little Salt and a roasted Plantain; and thus a Man that’s Hungry, may make a good Meal of it. It is very wholsome eaten any way. It is reported that this Fruit makes to Lust, and therefore is said to be much esteemed by the Spaniards...²

He elsewhere explains that there are avocados "still in Jamaica in those Plantations that were first settled by the Spaniards, as at the Angels, at 7 Mile Walk, and 16 Mile Walk. There I have seen these Trees which were planted by the Spaniards, but I did never see any improvement made by the English, who seem in that little curious."³

The ever descriptive Pere Labat has more to say about the flavor, adding a third recipe for eating it. "The
Artist: Amanda Almira Newton (1916)
quality of its flesh, which melts by itself in the mouth, could make it look like a kind of peach. ...it can be eaten with a spoon, as if it were jelly and marmalade, the taste it has in this state is quite close to that of a beef marrow pie. Some people put it on a plate with sugar & a little rose water, & orange blossoms."⁴ Frezier notes that they are found in the French Caribbean Islands, noting that the fruit contains "a round Kernel, somewhat pointed, of the Consistence and Bulk of a Chesnut, but of no other Use than a Musk Colour Dye: The Substance that incloses it is greenish, and almost as soft as Butter, and has something in it of that Taste, with a Mixture of that of a Hazle-Nut, eaten with Salt."⁵ He also says it goes well with sugar and lemon juice, being "very wholsome, and good for the Stomach; they say it is a Provocative to Love."⁶

The period fascination with avocado's stimulating properties cannot be passed by without a bit of explanation. "Ahuacatl was the Nahuatl word for "testicle," an apparent testament to the avocado's appearance when growing in pairs, and nod to its supposed properties as an aphrodisiac."⁷ The Nuhuas were the people indigenous to Central America, a group which included the Aztecs.

Physician Hans Sloane, during his voyage to the West Indies in the expained, "This is accounted one of the wholesomeit Fruits of these Countries, not only by Way of Disert, being eat with Juice of Lemons and Sugar to give it a Piquancy, but likewise for supporting Life it self. It is useful not only on these Accounts to Men, but likewise to all Manner of Beasts."⁸ He doesn't identify its humoral properties.

¹ William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, 1699, p. 202 & 204, Bartholomew Sharp, "Captain Sharp's Journal of His Expedition," A collection of original voyages, William Hacke, ed., 1993, p. 33 & Amedee-Francois Frezier, Voyage to the South Seas, 1717, p. 172-3; ² Dampier, p. 203; ³ Dampier, p. 204; ⁴ Jean Baptiste Labat, Nouveau Voyage aux Isles de l'Amerique, Tome 1, Translated by the author, 1724, p. 343; ⁵ Frezier, p. 172; ⁶ Frezier, p. 173; ⁷ Brian Handwerk, "Holy Guacamole: How the Hass Avocado Conquered the World", Smithsonian Magazine (Online), gathered 2/25/22; ⁸ Hans Sloane, A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, St Christophers and Jamaica, Vol. 2, 1725, p. 133

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Banana

Called by Sailors: Banana, Bonano, Bonanoe

Appears: 38 Times, in 23 Unique Ship Journeys from 14 Sailor Accounts.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Madeira, Portugal; Santiago & Sao Vincente, Cape Verde Islands; Principe; Cape Corse Castle, Africa; St. Helena, Cape of Good Hope, South Africa; Ile de la Selle, Comoros Islands; Magascar; Mocha, Yemen; Bombay, Goa, Karwar, Malabar Coast, Surat & Thalassery, India; Sri Lanka; Jakarta, Java & Sumatra, Indonesia; Batanes and Mindanao, Philipines; Guam; Aboyna Cay, Vietnam; Saba, Barbados; Dutch West Indies; Isthmus of Panama, St. Catherine's Island, Brazil; Hiloe, Chile; La Palma, Panama; Pisco, Peru; Atacames, Ecuador; Salahonda, Columbia

Bananas are one of the top five fruits found in sailor's accounts from from this time, probably because they were found in so many places, were cultivated by so many locals and were considered a reasonable substitute for bread by sailors. The sailors appear to have been very interested in this fruit as several of them described and commented upon bananas.

Artist: William Funnell
Banana Tree, From A Voyage Round the World (1707) While at Gorgona Island, off modern Columbia in July of 1709, Edward Cooke aboard the Privateer Dutchess noted that bananasgrew "below the [plant's] Leaves upon a great Stalk, in a Bunch of 50 or 60, in my Opinion much better than the Plantan, gather’d green, and hung up ‘till ripe, and then will melt in the Mouth. Sometimes this Fruit is eaten instead of Bread, as are the Plantans, which are much of the same Nature, but larger and dryer."²

These themes are generally repeated with regard to bananas by other sailors, who likewise had good things to say about bananas. Francis Rogers said that while the Arabia at Ile de la Selle in the Comoros Islands in 1702 of the banana: "When they are ripe, they are yellow, soft and mellow, and as pleasant as a fig."⁴ Sailor William Funnel said in 1704 when the privateer St. George was in Salhonda, Columbia, "The Fruit is very mellow and extraordinary sweet and good."⁴ Comparing bananas found at Mindanao in the Phillipines to the plantain, William Dampiers noted that they were "more mellow and soft, less luscious, yet of a more delicate taste."⁵ Sea surgeon John Atkins also compared the bananas he found in Sierra Leone to thier plantanes, finding them "juicier, and of a preferable Taste."⁶

Bananas are mentioned in the pirate accounts of Howell Davis while at Principe and Edward England while at Madagascar, although it is contained in the background information written by Atkins to add color to the locations mentioned in the texr rather than in direct connection with the pirates themselves.⁷ Atkins also noted his preference for bananas in a section included in the General History of the Pirates, suggesting that they were the jucier fruit because they were smaller in size.⁸

Artist: Albert Eckhout
Bananas, goiaba e outras frutas (17th c.)
Some banana recipes appeared in the sailor's accounts. Dampier explained that bananas were sued for "making Drink oftner than Plantains, and it is best when used for Drink, or eaten as Fruit, but it is not so good [as plantains] for Bread, nor doth it eat well at all when roasted or boil'd; so 'tis only necessity that makes any use it this way."⁹ Such a drink is described by physician William Hughes. "When they are full ripe, the Planters peel them, and macerate [soak] the meat, either alone or with boiled Potatoes and water, &c and make a very good drink thereof."¹⁰ Atkins suggests another recipe, after bananas have been "peeled of their Coat, they are roasted and eat as Bread, fried or eaten raw."¹¹ This is how plantains are typically eaten. Curiously, Hans Sloane noted that they were "less coveted for food" than plantains. He adds, "They are when ripe eaten by those who love them by way of Disert"¹².

Atkins also had some advice on how banana leaves could be used in medicine, explaining that they provided "an admirable Detergent [cleanser] in foul sanious Ulcers, stripped of the inner Skin, and applied as you do Housleek in Corns."¹³ In the General History, he adds, "I have seen [banana leaves] cure the most obstinate scorbutick [scurvy-caused] Ulcers."¹⁴ Of the banana itself, surgeoni William Hughes says it "is excellent good both for meat [food] and medicine; good for the Reines [reins - kidney region], Kidneys, and to provoke Urine; and it is said to nourish the childe in the Womb: but being immoderately eaten, it oppresseth the stomack"¹⁵.

¹ John Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea and Brazil, 1735, p. 26; Edward Barlow, Barlow's Journal, 1934, pp. 86, 186, 188, 199, 208, 211, 312, 372-3, 375, 431, 467-8 & 480-1; Edward Cooke, A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World, V1, 1712, p. 316-7; William Ambrose Cowley, "Cowley's Voyage Round the World", A Collection of Original Voyages, William Hacke, 1699, pp. 2-3 & 15-16; William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, 1699, pp. 311 & 426; Clement Downing, A Compendious History of the Indian Wars, 1737, p. 79; Amedee-Francois Frezier, Voyage to the South Seas, 1717, pp. 22, 172-3 & 186; William Funnell, A Voyage Round the World, 1969, p. 5, 60-2, 150-1, 267-8, 286-7 & 293-4; Daniel Defoe [Charles Johnson], A General History of the Pyrates, Manuel Schonhorn, ed., 1999, pp. 130 & 185-6; Jean-Baptiste Labat, The Memoirs of Pere Labat, 1693-1705, John Eadon ed, 1970, p. 100; Francis Rogers, "The Diary of Francis Rogers", Three Sea Journals of Stuart Times, 1936, pp. 178, 191 & 233; Woodes Rogers, A Cruising Voyage Round the World, 1712, p. 25-6; George Shelvocke, A Voyage Round the World by Way of the Great South Sea, 1726, p 54; Nathaniel Uring, The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring, 1928, pp. 11 & 12; Lionel Wafer, A New Voyage and Description of the Isthmus of Panama, 1903, p. 97; ² Edward Cooke, A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World in the Years 1708 to 1711, 1969, p. 164; ³ Francis Rogers, p. 158; ⁴ Funnell, p. 62; ⁵ Dampier, p. 316; ⁶ Atkins, p. 48; ⁷ Atkins writing in Defoe [Johnson], p. 130 & 185; ⁸ Atkins writing in Defoe [Johnson], p. 187; ⁹ Dampier, p. 316; ¹⁰ William Hughes, The American physitian, 1672, p. 75; ¹¹ Atkins, p. 48; ¹² Hans Sloane, A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, St Christophers and Jamaica, Vol. 2, 1707, p. 147; ¹³ Atkins, p. 48; ¹⁴ Atkins writing in Defoe [Johnson], p. 187; ¹⁵ Hughes, p. 75

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Berries

Called by Sailors: Berries, Blackberries, Strawberries and Gooseberries

Appears: 3 Times, in 3 Unique Ship Journeys from 3 Sailor Accounts.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Alexandria, Egypt; Sierra Leone, Africa; Coquimbo, Chile

The term 'berries' has been used here as a catch-all category for the sorts of berries mentioned in various English sailors' descriptions of the travels. Each of the three sailor's accounts cited here talk about different sorts of berries. Surgeon John Atkins is the only one to use the generic term 'berries' which he said he found when HMS Swallow was in Sierra Leone in 1721.² Historian Peter Earle cites the records of the merchant vessel Viner Frigott which found blackberries while spending a week in Alexandria, Egypt in the late 1670s.³ Basil Ringrose notes that buccaneer captains John Cox in the Mayflower and Bartholomew Sharp in the Trinity found "Strawberries, Gooseberries, and other Fruit" in Coquimbo, Chile in 1680.⁴ None of these accounts do more than mention these fruits as being available where they were, probably because they were as familiar to the sailors then as they are to us today.

As with many of the fruits discussed here,
Artist: John Gerard
Stone blacke-Berry Bush, from The Herball or
General Historie of Plantes (1636) it is possible that something which looked like a familiar fruit may have been something else entirely. In his book of traveling in the West Indies, physician Hans Sloane, who would have viewed plants with more precision than the average sailor, discusses unidentified "Sort[s] of Trees which are very numerous, having Leaves of Canella, or Malabathrum, (wild cinnamon) elegantly nervous, and a coronated Fruit which comes nearest to a Gooseberry of any European Fruit I remember."⁵ Without further information, no such conclusion can be drawn, however.

From a health perspective, herbalist John Gerard says that unripe blackberries "do very much dry and binde witthall: being chewed they take away the heate and inflammation of the mouth,and almonds of the throat [tonsils]: they stay [stop] the bloudy flix, and other fluxes, and all manner of bleeding". He adds that they also heal "eies that hang out, hard knots in the fundament [anal canal], and stay the hemorrhoides"⁶. He later notes that when ripe, blackberries are not unpleasant to eat.

Gerard says that strawberries are of a cold and moist humor. They "quench thirst and do allaw [allay] the inflammation or heate of the stomacke: the nourishment which they yeeld is little, thin, and waterish"⁷. This last comment refers to the generation of humors for use by the body, something for which he clearly believes strawberries are of little or no use. However, he goes on to state, "The ripe Strawberries quench thirst,coole heate of the stomack and inflammation of the liver, [and] take away,if they be often used, the rednesse and heate of the face."⁸t

Gerard identifies gooseberries as having a cold and dry humor.⁹ Botonist John Parkinson says that 'ordinary' gooseberries "while they are small, greene, and hard, are much used to bee boyled or scalded to make sawce, both for fish and flesh of divers sorts, for the sicke sometimes as well as the sound, as also before they bee neere ripe, to bake into tarts, or otherwise... They are a fit dish for women with childe to stay their longings, and to procure an appetite unto meate [food]."¹⁰ Gerard says they are like other berries, stopping bleeding and the stomach.¹¹

¹ John Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea and Brazil, 1735, p. 48-9; Peter Earle, Sailors English Merchant Seamen 1650-1775, 1998 p. 88; Basil Ringrose, The Adventures of Capt. Barth. Sharp, And Others, in the South Sea, 1684, p. 41; ² Atkins, p. ³ Earle, p. 88; ⁴ Ringrose, p. 41; ⁵ Hans Sloane, A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, St Christophers and Jamaica, Vol. 2, 1707, p. 75; ⁶ John Gerard, The Herball or General Historie fof Plantes, 2nd ed, 1636, p. 1274; ⁷ Gerard, p. 998; ⁸ Gerard, p. 999; ⁹ Gerard, p. 1324; ¹⁰ John Parkinson, Paradisi in Sole Paradisus Terrestris, 1904, p. 561; ⁹ Gerard, p. 1325

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Breadfruit

Called by Sailors: Bread-fruit, Melory Fruit

Appears: 2 Times, in 1 Unique Ship Journey from 1 Sailor Account.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Guam & Great Nicobar Island, India

Of the sailor's accounts, under study, breadfruit is only found in William Dampier's text when he was sailing on the buccaneer ship Cygnet in the late 1680s. He mentions (and describes) it twice, once in 1686 and later in 1688, thinking it to be two different fruits. He describes it what he found at Guam thus: "The Fruit grows on the boughs like Apples: it is as big as a Pennyloaf, when Wheat is at five Shillings the Bushel. It is of a round shape, and hath a thick tough rind. When the Fruit is ripe, it is yellow and soft and the taste is sweet and pleasant."² His report of the Indian melory fruit (actually a variety of breadfruit³) expands on this description. "It is shaped like a Pear, and hath a pretty tough smooth Rind, or a light green Colour. The inside of the Fruit is in Substance much like an Apple; but full of small Strings, as big as a brown Thread."⁴

Dampier provides details of how the natives in Guam prepared the fruit.

Photo:Joan Simon
Breadfruit, Artocarpus altilis

When the Fruit is ripe, it is yellow and soft; and the taste is sweet and pleasant. The Natives of the Island use it for Bread: they gather it when full grown, while it is green and hard; then they bake it in an Oven, which scorcheth the rind and makes it black: but they scrape off the outside black Crust, and there remains a tender thin Crust, and the inside is soft, tender and white, like the Crumb of a Penny Loaf. There is neither Seed nor Stone in the inside, but all is of a pure substance like Bread: it must be eaten new, for if it is kept above 24 Hours, it becomes dry, and eats harsh and choaky; but ‘tis very pleasant before it is too stale. This Fruit lasts in season eight Months in the Year; during which time the Natives eat no other sort of Food of Bread-kind.⁵

He also explains how 'melory fruit' was prepared in Great Nicobar Island, using a method different from that employed at Guam, noting that the Indian natives use

great Earthen Pots to boil the Melory Fruit in, which will hold 12 or 14 Gallons. These Pots they fill with the Fruit; and putting in a little Water, they cover the Mouth of the Pot with Leaves, to keep the steem while it boils. When the Fruit is soft they peel off the Rind and scrape the Pulp from the strings with a flat stick jade like a Knife; and then make it up in great lumps, as big as a Holland Cheese; and then it will keep six or seven Days. It looks yellow, and tastes well, and is their chiefest Food⁶

While the Cygnet was stopped in the Nicobar Islands, Dampier says, "We had then a great Loaf of Melory which was our constant Food... Thus we lived till our Melory was almost spent; being still in hopes that the Natives would come to us, and sell it as they had formerly done."⁷

¹ William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, 1699, p. 296 & 478; ² Dampier, 1699, p. 296-7; ³ Dampier, Dampier's Voyages, Vol. 1, John Masfield, ed., p. 475; ⁴ Dampier, 1699, p. 478; ⁵ Dampier, 1699, p. 297; ^6,7 Dampier, 1699, p. 480

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Capers

Called by Sailors: Capers

Appears: 1 Time, in 1 Unique Ship Journey from 1 Sailor Account.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Marseilles, France

Sailor Edward Barlow includes capers as one of the products of Marseilles when the Marey Gould stopped there in 1675. Barlow noted that "they transport such as will keep."² When not at war with each other (and, to a degree, even when they were), France exported desireable products to England where they found a ready market. Herbalist John Gerard says that they grow in 'hot regions' including Italy Spain. He describes the berry as "a smal fruit long and round like the Cornell berry,of a brown colour." He explains, "They are eaten boiled (the salt first washed off) with oile and vineger, as other sallads [fresh produce] be, and somtimes are boiled with meat."³

Photo: Wiki user Ziegler175 - Caper Flower, Capparis Spinosa Gerard lists their humoral property as hot when he seeds have not fully ripened, although he doesn't indicate if the properties are the same when the seeds are ripe. Capers share many health properties with other berries he describes. "They stir up an appetite to meat, are good for a moist stomack, and stay the watering thereof. They open the stoppings of the liver and milt, stomach clensing away the flegme [phlegm - one of the bodily humors] that cleaveth unto it. They open the stoppings of the Iiver and milt [spleen]: with meat [food] they are good to be taken of those that have a quartan Ague [fever - most likely referring to malaria] and ill spleens."⁴ The spleen and liver were believed to be intergral parts of processing food into humors which the body could use.

^1,2 Edward Barlow, Barlow’s Journal of his Life at Sea in King’s Ships, East and West Indiamen & Other Merchantman From 1659 to 1703, p. 272; ^3,4 John Gerard, The Herball or General Historie fof Plantes, 2nd ed, 1636, p. 896

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Cherries

Called by Sailors: Cherries

Appears: 1 Time, in 1 Unique Ship Journey from 1 Sailor Account.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Coquimbo, Chile

Buccaneer Basil Ringrose found cherries in Coquimbo, Chile when Captains John Cox (on the Mayflower) and Bartholomew Sharp (of the Trinity) stayed there for four days. He said the cherry trees were found in orchards planted ther by the Spanish.² Beyond that, he says no more, most likely because cherries would have been instantly familiar to an English audience.

Botanist John Gerard describes several varieties of cherry trees, the discussion of which would be beyond the scope of this article. Concerning the fruit, he advises,

Artist: Osias Beert - Still life with cherries (early 17th c.)

The best and principall Cherries be those that are somewhat sower: those Iittle sweet ones which bd wild and soonest wripe be the worst: they contain bad juyce, they very soone putrifie, and doe in gender ill bloud [one of the bodily humors], by reason whereof they do not onely breed wormes in the belly, but. trouble some agues [malarial fevers], and often pestilent feuers: and therefore in well governed common wealths it is carefully provided that they should not be sold in the markets in the plague time.³

He says that Spanish cherries (those most likely to be found in Coquimbo) had similar properties, but they didn't putrify [create bad humors in the body when eaten] as fast as other cherries did. He says that cherries have cold and moist humoral properties, which he says meant that when eaten before a meal, "doe soften the belly very gently, [but] they are unwholesome either unto moist and rheumaticke bodies, or for unhealthie and cold stomackes."⁴ He also added that black cherries were better than red cherries because they strengthened the stomach.

^1,2 Basil Ringrose, The Adventures of Capt. Barth. Sharp, And Others, in the South Sea, 1684, p. 41; ³ John Gerard, The Herball or General Historie fof Plantes, 2nd ed, 1636, p. 1506; ⁴ Gerard, p. 1507

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Citron

Called by Sailors: Citron

Appears: 7 Times, in 6 Unique Ship Journeys from 6 Sailor Accounts.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Tunis, Tunisia; Cape Corso Castle, Africa; São Tomé, Príncipe, and Annobón; Madagascar; Barbados; St. Catherine, Brazil; St. Catherine, Brazil

Although listed in a variety of sailor's accounts, none of them provide any details about citrons. They are found in descriptions written by sea surgeon John Atkins for the General History of the Pirates to add detail the accounts of Edward England's time in Madagascar and Howell Davis' stop at São Tomé, Príncipe, and Annobón.² However, no direct connection is made between these crews and citrons.

Physician Hans Sloane says that they "are frequently to be met with set in Walks, by the Way-Sides, or the Seeds are dropp'd near Plantations, in most Parts of this Island [Jamaica], as well as the Caribes."³ He also mentions that the Portuguese planted them in Brazil where they 'greatly multiply'd'. Botanist John Gerard says "the fruit is long... often Iesser, and not much greater than the Limon [lemon]: the barke or rinde is of a light golden colour, set with divers knobs or bumps, and of a very pleasant smeIl the pulpe or subslance next unto it is thicke, white, having
Photo: Leslie Seaton - Whole and Sliced Citron a kinde of aromaticall or spicie smell,almost without any tastie at all: the softer pulpe within that, is not so firme or sollid, but more spungie, and full of a sower juyce"⁴. He later explains that citron juice can be mixed with sugar to make it taste good.

Gerard says the citron's humoral properties vary; the rind and seed are hot and dry, the pulp is cold, containing a 'grosse' juice, and the inner substance ('pap') is cold and dry.⁵ 'Gross' foods were thought to engender undesirable humors in the body. Gerard goes on to warn that the citron's pulp is "very hardly concocted [converted for use by the stomach], and ingendreth a grosse, cold, and phlegmaticke juyce". Phlegm is one of the four bodily humors. Bodily humors could be either beneficial or detrimental to the body, depending on their qualities. However, mixing it with sugar not only improves the taste, but "easie to be digested, more nourishing, and Iesse apt to obstruction and binding or stopping."⁶

Physician John Pechey casts the citron in a more positive light. He says, "Every part of the Citron, the outward and inward Bark, the Juice, arid Pulp, and the Seeds, are of great use in Physick [medicine]."⁷ Drying the 'bark' [rind] makes it Cordial ( good for the heart) and Alexipharmic (able to cure poisoning.) "lt
discusses Wind powerfully, concocting [combining] and digesting crude Humours [making them useful to the body] that are contain'd in the Stomach or Bowels. Being chewed in the Mouth, it cures a Stinking Breath, promotes Concoction of the Meat, and is good for Melancholy."⁸ Melancholoy was believed to be caused by an excess of the humor black bile.

¹ John Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea and Brazil, 1735, p. 217; John Covel, Diary, Early Voyages in the Levant, Thomas Dallam, ed., 1893, p. 120; Amedee-Francois Frezier, Voyage to the South Seas, 1717, p. 22; Daniel Defoe, A General History of the Pyrates, Manuel Schonhorn, ed., 1999, p. 130; George Shelvocke, A Voyage Round the World by Way of the Great South Sea, 1726 p. 54; Nathaniel Uring, The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring, 1928, p. 106; ² Atkins writing in Defoe [Johnson], pp. 130 & 179; ³ Hans Sloane, A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, St Christophers and Jamaica, Vol. 2, 1707, p. 177; ⁴ John Gerard, The Herball or General Historie fof Plantes, 2nd ed, 1636, p. 1462; ⁵ Gerard, p. 1464; ⁶ Gerard, p. 1465; ⁷ John Pechey, The Compleat Herbal, 1707, p. 241-2; ⁸ Pechey, p. 242

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Coconut

Called by Sailors: Coconut, Cocoanut, Coco-nut, Cocoa-nut, Cocao-nut

Appears: 32 Times, in 22 Unique Ship Journeys from 16 Sailor Accounts.¹

Locations Found in Sailor's Accounts: Santiago, Cape Verde; Cape Corso Castle and Sierra Leone, Africa; Comoros Islands; Anjouan, Comoros Islands; Qeshm Island, Iran; Belopatan, Bombay, Goa, Karwar, Laccadive Islands, Malabar Coast, Mangaluru and Thalassery, India; Sri Lanka; Buton, Java, Palau Sanding(?), Palau Sinka(?), Panaitan and Sumatra Straights, Indonesia; Malacca, Malaysia; Guam; Rattan, Honduras; Tabago (?); Paita, Peru; Atacames, Ecuador; Salahonda, Columbia

Of all the fruit found in sailor's accounts during this period, none seems to have captured their imagination quite like the coconut. Seven different authors felt the need to discuss coconuts in some detail, highlighting their flavor and qualities as food, the uses of both the fruit and the parts of the tree they grew upon and how they were to be prepared, among other things. William Dampier devoted six pages of his first book to describing the coconuts found on Guam, adding a few more sentences on those found on a small island (possibly modern Palau Sinka) in Indonesia.²

Coconuts are described in the various sailor's texts as "a
A vertical section of a coconut, From The Encyclopedia of
Food, by Artemas Ward (1923) very good fruit", "sweet", "a pleasant mess [meal] enough"and "sweet and pleasant to eat, and very filling."³ Coconut milk is even more highly praised, being referred to as "a cool pleasant liquor they call milk, which is mighty pleasing to drink", "pure clear Water, which is very cool, brisk, pleasant and sweet", a "sweet, delicate, wholsom and refreshing Water" and "sweet and good"⁴. Such comments refer to both the liquid found in the coconut natuarally and that obtained by making coconut milk.

The process of creating coconut milk was interesting enough for sailors to describe it. While the Buccaneer Revenge was at Guam in 1685, Ambroise Crowley explained "a French Jesuite ...taught us to make Milk of the Cocoa-Nuts, by scraping of them, and putting Water to them, and then squeezing them; which will cause them to look like Milk, and receive a very pleasant taste."⁵ Dampier describes the process differently, noting that when making coconut milk, you start "with a small Iron Rasp made for the purpose, the Kernel or Nut is rasped out clean, which being put into a little fresh Water."⁶ Privateer William Funnel describes a similar process, adding a variety of interesting details. "The Kernel of the Nut is also very good; which if it be pretty old, we scrape all to pieces; the scrapings we set to soak in about a quart of fresh Water for three or four hours, and then strain the Water; which when strain'd hath both the colour and taste of Milk: And if it stand a while, it will have a thick scum on it, not unlike Cream."⁷

Dampier talks about consuming coconuts and the differences he found. He said that some of the natives of Guam eat them while they are "young and soft like Pap... scraping it out with a Spoon, after they have drunk the Water that was within it. I like the Water best when the Nut is almost ripe, for it is then sweetest and briskest."⁸ He also says that even though some coconut trees grown in places where the salt water washes over the land on islands near Sumatra, "the Kernel is thick and sweet; and the Milk or Water in the inside, is more pleasant and sweet than of the Nuts that grow in rich ground, which are commonly large indeed, but not very sweet. These at Guam grow in dry ground, are of a middle size, and I think the sweetest that I did ever taste."⁹

Coconut oil could also be extracted from the coconut milk-making
Processing Coconut Oil in the Philippines process. Dampier suggesting it was "the greatest use of the Kernel... [used for] both for burning and for frying."He explains, "The way to make the Oyl is to grate or rasp the Kernel,and steep it in frew [fresh] Water; then boil it, and scum off the Oyl at top as it rises: But the Nuts that make the Oyl ought to be a long time gathered, so as that the Kernel may be turning soft and oily."¹⁰ Writing for the General History of the Pirates, Surgeon John Atkins said that coconuts produced a "pleasant scented Oyl, used as Food and Sauce all over the Coast, but chiefly in the Windward Parts of Africa, where they stamp, boil and skim it off in great Quantities"¹¹. Privateer Funnell provides a different take, explaining that when a coconut "be very old, the Kernel will of it self turn to Oyl, which is often made use of to fry with, but most commonly to burn in Lamps."¹² Missionary Domingo Navarette said that in 1657, the people who lived in Makasar, Indonesia "are always employ’d in making Oil of Coconuts, of which they sell very much, and pay a great deal of Tribute to the King of Macasar. Whilst we were there, he sent to demand of them 90,000 Pecks of Oil."¹³

A vertical section of a coconut, From The Encyclopedia of
Food, by Artemas Ward (1923) In addition to providing food, various parts of the tree and fruit were used. While in India aboard the Indiaman Experiment in 1670, Edward Barlow said the coconut was "the 'necessariest' fruit that grow, they making things for all uses, being both meat and drink, and clothing and cables and rigging for this country's vessels." He was so impressed with them he brought some home "to show some that were desirous to see the fashion of them"¹⁴. Atkins says that West African palms trees "may be reckoned the first [most important] of their natural Curiosities, in that they afford them Meat, Drink and Cloathing"¹⁵. Sailor Francis Rogers likewise explains that the coconut "tree affords meat, drink, lodging, and cordage" to the inhabitants of the Comoros Islands, north of Madagascar.¹⁶ Dampier apologizes for devoting so much time to the coconut in his text, explaining that it "is possibly of all others [referring to plants] the most generally serviceable to the conveniences, as well as the necessities of humane Life."¹⁷

Dampier goes on to make an interesting observation; "Yet this Tree, that is of such great use, and esteemed so much in the East-Indies, is scarce regarded in the West-Indies, for want of the knowledge of the benefits it may produce."¹⁷ He was quite astute in his observations and certainly had spent enough time in both the East and West Indies during this period to comment accurately on the topic.

However, the usefulness of coconuts was not completely ignored in the West Indies. Privateer William Funnel of the St. George says
Artist: Camille Pissarro - Coconut Trees "au bord de la mer}, St. Thomas (1856) that in 1704 the natives of Salhonda Bay, Columbia produced "Meat, Drink, Clothing, houses, Firing and Rigging for their Ships" from the coconut tree.¹⁸ He elsewhere mentions that the shore by the Motine mountains of Ecuador, "is all along planted with Cocoa-nut Trees, for the use of those Ships which come hereabouts"¹⁹. These would clearly have served the sailors as food. When George Shelvocke's privateering ship Speedwell took Paita, Peru, they took "what plunder we had got, which consisted in hogs, fowls, brown and white Calavances [hycianth bean], beans, Indian corn, wheat, flour, sugar, and as much cocoa-nut as we were able to stow away, with pans, and other conveniences for preparing it".²⁰

We begin examining non-food uses of coconuts with the tree itself. There are only a few. William Funnell says, "The Leaves of the Tree, serve to thatch Houses"²¹. Francis Rogers concurs, detailing that in the Comoros Islands, the natives use "the leaves of this tree they cover their houses, which they call Cajan leaves."²² He also mentions that the bark of the tree is used to make ropes, which is explained in the following paragraph. Father Navarette says that for the Indonesians, "the Trunk of the Tree and Branches... serve for many other uses."²³ Unfortunately, he doesn't expand upon this.

The most useful non-food-related part of the coconut was the green husk that covers the nut. Francis Rogers notes that using
Photo: Radwa Radwan - Egyptian Palm Leaf Weaver Making Rope "the green shell, which is tough and stringy, and of which, with the bark of the tree, they make ropes (which they call Bass ropes) for their vessels, etc."²⁴ Funnell expands upon this noting that the husk could be used to "make Ropes for Ships, as Rigging, Cables, &c. which are a good Commodity in most places of the East-Indies."²⁵ Dampier gives more detail on how this is done. "[T]he dry husk is full of small Strings and Threads, which being beaten, becomes soft, and the Other Substance which was mixt among it falls away like Saw-dust, leaving only the Strings. These are afterwards spun into long Yarns, and twisted up into Basts for Convenience; and many of these Rope-Yarns joined together make good Cables."²⁶ In the Maldives, coconut husk "threads sent in Balls into all places that trade thither, purposely for to make Cables."²⁷ Dampier, ever curious, apparently found their manufacture so interesting that he made some cable himself, mentioning that in Achin (Afganistan) it was called 'Coire' cable, which lasted 'very well.' Edward Barlow also refers to the coconut cable found in the Maldives as 'coir', "a thread of yarn made of the husk of cocoanuts".²⁸

The husk had some other uses as well. Navarette explains that in Indonesia, "they make a sort of Okam [oakum, put between boards and sealed with tar] to caulk Ships, and make Ropes, and good Match [piece of rope treated to burn slowly for firing guns] for all sorts of firearms which the Musketiers there make use of."²⁹ Dampier notes that the Spanish caulk their ships with this sort of oakum as well, "which is more serviceable than that made of Hemp, and they say it will never rot."³⁰ He adds that he heard the husk can be woven into a 'coarse cloth' which is used as sails in Ceylon, although he isn't sure it is the same sort of palm tree. (This likely refers to material made from date palms, not coconut palms, something John Atkins discusses in the General History of the Pyrates.³¹)

The inner shell of the coconut also found uses. Francis Rogers notes, "the hard shell ...serves for cups to drink out of"³².
Photo: Cleveland Museum of Art - Carved coconut in silver mount, ( c. 1630) Dampier lists a variety of items. "The Shell of this Nut is used in the East Indies for Cups, Dishes, Ladles, Spoons, and in a manner for all eating and drinking Vessels. Well shaped Nuts, are often brought home to Europe, and much esteemed."³³ William Funnell agrees that coconut shells "make very pretty Drinking-cups: It will also burn very well, and make a very fierce and hot Fire."³⁵ The size of coconuts varies, something mentioned by Dampier. Sailor Alexander Hamilton says the in Melata (Ethiopia), some of the coconuts are so large that they hold "more than an English Quart Pot."³⁴. Funnell, talking about sailing around South Amreica likewise states that some coconuts will hold 'near a quart'.³⁵

Several coconut-based receipes are found in the sailor's accounts. Missionary Domingo Navarette said that people in the East Indies used coconut milk in "several ways, particularly to dress Rice." He adds that they make "an excellent preserve of it, which the Indians call Buchayo [Bukayo - a Filipino dessert of sweetened coconut strips]."³⁶ Dampier says that in Guam, "they boil a Fowl, or any other fort of Flesh, and it makes very savory Broath. English Seamen put this water into boiled Rice, which they eat instead of Ricemilk, carrying Nuts purposely to Sea with them. This they learn from the Natives."³⁷

An type of fermented alcohol can be made from the sap of palm trees including coconut trees which is called i these accounts toddy, tuba and sura, today referrred to as palm wine.
Artist: Sylvain Meinrad Xavier Golbéry
Collecting Sap to Make Palm Wine (1803)
Note the Gourd Mounted to the Side to Collect Sap. Sailing on the East Indiaman Scepter in 1697, Edward Barlow says that in most parts of India, "they make rack and sugar with called ‘todey’ [toddy]."³⁸ Dampier explains while in Guam in 1686 on the Cygnet that toddy "looks like Whey. It is sweet and very pleasant, but it is to be drunk within 24 hours after it is drawn, for afterwards it grows sowre."³⁹ He also indicates how toddy is made. "The way of drawing the Toddy from the Tree, is by cutting the top of a Branch that would bear Nuts; but before it has any Fruit and from thence the Liquor which was to feed its Fruit, distils into the hole of a Callabash [a bowl made from the rind of a fruit] that is hung upon it."⁴⁰ Navarette, somewhat less descriptively, says, "Before the Coco-Nut itself sprouts out they draw an excellent Liquor from the nib of the Branch"⁴¹.

This can be distilled to create arrack, which was popularly used in the East Indies to make the mixed drink punch. Dampier explains, "none [no alcohol] is so much esteemed for making Punch as this sort [arrack], made [distilled] of Toddy, or the sap of the Coco-nut Tree, for it makes most delicate Punch; but it must have a dash of Brandy to hearten it, because this Arack is not strong enough to make good Punch of it self."⁴²

While sailors didn't usually bother mentioning the health benefits of foods they encountered, their fascination with coconuts included this facet of them as well. Navarette said, "The Juice within, when the Coco is fresh, is wholesome and a pleasant drink for sick People, who roast the Coco and, after laying it out all Night in the Open Air, drink the Juice and find a good effect of it."⁴³ Privateer Funnell noted, "This Milk being boiled with Rice, is accounted by our Doctors to be very nourishing; for which reason we often give of it to our sick Men."⁴⁴

Professional opinions from the period support Funnell. Physician Hans Sloane said, "The Water contain'd in the Nuts not ripe, is very pleasant,
Photo: Jan van der Straet
Drinking Meidcine, From A Man in Bed (1600) cooling, and a natural Emulsion [mixture], good in Gonorhœas, Stoppage of Urine, Fevers, Inflammations, &c. and is the most pleasant cooling Liquor that I ever tasted"⁴⁵. Physician John Pechey likewise said good things to say about most of the liquids produced by/from coconuts. He advised that the water found naturally in a coconut "extinguishes Thirst, cures Fevers,clenses the Eyes and the Skin, purifies the Blood, purges the Stomach and Urinary Passages, relieves the Breast, tastes pleasantly, and yields a great Nourishment." He said the milk manufactured by soaking fresh water with the meat of the coconut "is very good for killing Worms, eight Ounces of it being taken in a Morning, with a little Salt". And the fermented toddy "is very good for Consumptions,and excellent for Diseases of the Urine and Reins [kidneys]."⁴⁶ Sloane includes his usual list of recommendations from the writings of other, preceding physicians, several of which agree with Pechey. (It is quite possible Pechey used the same sources.)

Sloane cites another curious medical recommendation, although he clearly had reservations about it. "The inward hard Shell is made into Drinking-Cups, and is thought by some, to give an Alexipharmac [treatment for poisons] nervous Antiparalytic and Antiapoplectic [treatment for strokes] Quality, to any Liquor standing in it, and makes Vessels of all Sorts, but this is not to be depended upon."⁴⁷

Coconuts are found in some accounts relating to pirates and two of them point to pirates procuring them for food. The first is found in the account of John Halsey who
Artist: Gotthilf Heinrich bon Schubert - Ashton's Escape, From Die Nieuwe Robinson Crusoe (1850) "touch’d at Johanna [Anjouan, Comoros Islands], and there took in a Quantity of Goats and Coco Nuts for fresh Provisions"⁴⁸. The second comes from prisoner Philip Ashton's account of his time as a prisoner of Edward Low, who used gathering them as an excuse to escape from the pirates. "I began to make up to the Edge of the Woods; when the Cooper spying me, call'd after me, & asked me where I was going; I told him I was going to get some Coco-Nuts, for there were some Coco-Nut Trees just before me. So soon as I had recovered the Woods, and lost sight of them, I betook my self to my Heels, & ran as fast as the thickness of the Bushes, and my naked Feet would let me."⁴⁹

Once Ashton had made himself a castaway, he dolefully explained that while the coconuts were available for him to eat, "I could have no Advantage from, because I had no Way of coming at the Inside."⁵⁰ The third connection between pirates and coconuts also comes from a castaway, Richard Hawkins, who escaped from Francis Sprigg's crew near Roatan, Honduras, where he found "fetch’d Plenty of Cocoa-Nuts"⁵¹. He was apparently prepared to split open a coconut.

¹ Philip Ashton, Ashton's Memorial, 1726, p. 46-7; John Atkins, A Voyage to Guinea and Brazil, 1735, p. 48-9; Edward Barlow, Barlow's Journal of his Life at Sea in King's Ships, East and West Indiamen & Other Merchantman From 1659 to 1703, p. 186, 188, 189, 208, 211, 372-3, 375, 379, 431, 467-8 & 469; Edward Cooke, A Voyage to the South Sea and Round the World, V. 1, 1712, p. 449; Cooke, A Voyage..., V. 2, 1712, p. 316-7; William Ambrose Cowley, "Cowley's Voyage Round the World", A Collection of Original Voyages, William Hacke, 1699, p. 15, 16 & 18; William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World, 1699, p. 76; Clement Downing, A Compendious History of the Indian Wars, 1737, p. 76, 291-6, 303, 474 & 475-6; William Funnell, A Voyage Round the World, 1969, p. 60-2; Alexander Hamilton, A New Account of the East Indies, 1746, V1, p. 245 & 381; Daniel Defoe, A General History of the Pyrates, Manuel Schonhorn, ed., 1999, p. 130, 467; Francis Rogers, "The Diary of Francis Rogers", Three Sea Journals of Stuart Times, 1936, p. 158; Bartholomew Sharp, "Captain Sharp's Journal of His Expedition", A Collection of Original Voyages, William Hacke, 1699, p. 33; George Shelvocke, A Voyage Round the World by Way of the Great South Sea, 1726, p. 189 & 464; & Nathaniel Uring, The Voyages and Travels of Captain Nathaniel Uring, 1928, p. 106; ² Dampier, pp. 291-6 & 474-5, ³ Francis Rogers, p. 158, Dampier, p. 291 & Cowley, p. 17; ⁵ Hans Sloane, A Voyage to the Islands Madera, Barbados, Nieves, St Christophers and Jamaica, Vol. 2, 1707, p. 75; ⁴ Francis Rogers, p. 158, Dampier, p. 291 & 474, ⁵ Crowley, p. 17; ⁶ Dampier, p. 294; ⁷ Funnell, p. 60; ⁸ Dampier, p. 292; ⁹ Dampier, p. 296; ¹⁰ Dampier, p. 294; ¹¹ Funnell, p. 61; ¹² Atkins writing in Defoe [Charles Johnson], p. 186; ¹³ Domingo Navarrete, The Travels and Controversies of Friar Domingo Navarrete 1618-1686, 1962, p. 110; ¹⁴ Barlow, p. 189; ¹⁵ Atkins writing in Defoe [Charles Johnson], p. 186; ¹⁶ Francis Rogers, p. 158; ¹⁷ Dampier, p. 295; ¹⁸ Funnell, p. 61; ¹⁹ Funnell, p. 60; ²⁰ Shelvocke, p. 189; ²¹ Funnell, p. 61; ²² Francis Rogers, p. 158; ²³ Navarrete, p. 98; ²⁴ Francis Rogers, p. 158; ²⁵ Funnell, p. 60-1; ²⁶ Dampier, p. 294-5; ²⁷ Dampier, p. 295; ²⁸ Barlow, p. 381; ²⁹ Navarrete, p. 98; ³⁰ Dampier, p. 295; ³¹ Atkins writing in Defoe [Charles Johnson], p. 186; ³² Francis Rogers, p. 158; ³³ Dampier, p. 294; ³⁴ Funnell, p. 61; ³⁵ Hamilton, p. 381; ³⁶ Funnell, p. 60; ³⁶ Navarrete, p. 97; ³⁷ Dampier, p. 294; ³⁸ Barlow, p. 469; ⁴⁰ Dampier, p. 293; ⁴¹ Navarrete, p. 97; ⁴² Dampier, p. 293; ⁴³ Navarrete, p. 97; ⁴⁴ Funnell, p. 60; ⁴⁵ Sloane, p. 9; ⁴⁷ John Pechey The Compleat Herbal, 1707, p. 246; ⁴⁷ Sloane, p. 8; ⁴⁸ Defoe [Johnson], p. 467; ⁴⁹ Ashton, p. 42; ⁵⁰ Ashton, p. 46; ⁵¹ “59. Richard Hawkins' account...", Fox, p. 303

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