Chapter XVIII (2)

The lieutenant caused Black-beard’s head to be severed from his body, and hung up at the boltsprit end; then he sailed to Bath Town, to get relief for his wounded men.

It must be observed that, in rummaging the pirate’s sloop, they found several letters and written papers, which discovered the correspondence between Governor Eden, the secretary and collector, and also some traders at New York, and Black-beard. It is likely he had regard enough for his friends to have destroyed these papers before the action, in order to hinder them from falling into such hands, where the discovery would be of no use either to the interest or reputation of these fine gentlemen, if it had not been his fixed resolution to have blown up together, when he found no possibility of escaping.

When the lieutenant came to Bath Town, he made bold to seize in the governor’s storehouse the sixty hogsheads of sugar, and from honest Mr. Knight, twenty; which it seems was their dividend of the plunder taken in the French ship. The latter did not survive this shameful discovery, for, being apprehensive that he might be called to an account for these trifles, fell sick, it is thought, with the fright, and died in a few days.

After the wounded men were pretty well recovered, the lieutenant sailed back to the men-of-war in James River, in Virginia, with Black-beard’s head still hanging at the boltsprit end, and fifteen prisoners, thirteen of whom were hanged, it appearing, upon trial, that one of them, viz., Samuel Odell, was taken out of the trading sloop but the night before the engagement. This poor fellow was a little unlucky at his first entering upon his new trade, there appearing no less than seventy wounds upon him after the action; notwithstanding which he lived and was cured of them all. The other person that escaped the gallows was one Israel Hands, the master of Black-beard’s sloop, and formerly captain of the same, before the _Queen Ann’s Revenge_ was lost in Topsail inlet.

The aforesaid Hands happened not to be in the fight, but was taken afterwards ashore at Bath Town, having been sometime before disabled by Black-beard, in one of his savage humours, after the following manner: One night, drinking in his cabin with Hands, the pilot, and another man, Black-beard, without any provocation, privately draws out a small pair of pistols, and cocks them under the table, which being perceived by the man, he withdrew and went upon deck, leaving Hands, the pilot, and the captain together. When the pistols were ready he blew out the candle, and, crossing his hands, discharged them at his company; Hands, the master, was shot through the knee and lamed for life, the other pistol did no execution. Being asked the meaning of this, he only answered by damning them, that “if he did not now and then kill one of them, they would forget who he was.”

Hands being taken, was tried and condemned, but just as he was about to be executed a ship arrived at Virginia with a proclamation for prolonging the time of his Majesty’s pardon to such of the pirates as should surrender by a limited time therein expressed. Notwithstanding the sentence, Hands pleaded the pardon, and was allowed the benefit of it, and was alive some time ago in London, begging his bread.

Now that we have given some account of Teach’s life and actions, it will not be amiss that we speak of his beard, since it did not a little contribute towards making his name so terrible in those parts.

Plutarch and other grave historians have taken notice that several great men amongst the Romans took their surnames from certain odd marks in their countenances--as Cicero, from a mark, or vetch, on his nose--so our hero, Captain Teach, assumed the cognomen of Black-beard, from that large quantity of hair which, like a frightful meteor, covered his whole face, and frightened America more than any comet that has appeared there a long time.

This beard was black, which he suffered to grow of an extravagant length; as to breadth, it came up to his eyes. He was accustomed to twist it with ribbons, in small tails, after the manner of our Ramilie wigs, and turn them about his ears. In time of action he wore a sling over his shoulders, with three brace of pistols hanging in holsters like bandaliers, and stuck lighted matches under his hat, which, appearing on each side of his face, his eyes naturally looking fierce and wild, made him altogether such a figure that imagination cannot form an idea of a fury from hell to look more frightful.

If he had the look of a fury, his humours and passions were suitable to it. We shall relate two or three more of his extravagances which we omitted in the body of his history, by which it will appear to what a pitch of wickedness human nature may arrive if its passions are not checked.

In the commonwealth of pirates, he who goes the greatest length of wickedness is looked upon with a kind of envy amongst them as a person of a more extraordinary gallantry, and is thereby entitled to be distinguished by some post, and if such a one has but courage, he must certainly be a great man. The hero of whom we are writing was thoroughly accomplished this way, and some of his frolics of wickedness were so extravagant, as if he aimed at making his men believe he was a devil incarnate; for being one day at sea, and a little flushed with drink, “Come,” says he, “let us make a hell of our own, and try how long we can bear it.” Accordingly he, with two or three others, went down into the hold, and closing up all the hatches, filled several pots full of brimstone and other combustible matter, and set it on fire, and so continued till they were almost suffocated, when some of the men cried out for air. At length he opened the hatches, not a little pleased that he held out the longest.

The night before he was killed he sat up and drank till the morning with some of his own men and the master of a merchantman; and having had intelligence of the two sloops coming to attack him, as has been before observed, one of his men asked him, in case anything should happen to him in the engagement with the sloops, whether his wife knew where he had buried his money? He answered, “That nobody but himself and the devil knew where it was, and the longest liver should take all.”

Those of his crew who were taken alive told a story which may appear a little incredible; however, we think it will not be fair to omit it since we had it from their own mouths. That once upon a cruise they found out that they had a man on board more than their crew; such a one was seen several days amongst them, sometimes below and sometimes upon deck, yet no man in the ship could give an account who he was, or from whence he came, but that he disappeared a little before they were cast away in their great ship; but it seems they verily believed it was the devil.

One would think these things should induce them to reform their lives, but so many reprobates together, encouraged and spirited one another up in their wickedness, to which a continual course of drinking did not a little contribute, for in Black-beard’s journal, which was taken, there were several memorandums of the following nature found writ with his own hand: Such a day rum all out; our company somewhat sober; a damned confusion amongst us; rogues a-plotting; great talk of separation; so I looked sharp for a prize; such a day took one with a great deal of liquor on board, so kept the company hot, damned hot, then all things went well again.

Thus it was these wretches passed their lives, with very little pleasure or satisfaction in the possession of what they violently take away from others, and sure to pay for it at last by an ignominious death.

The names of the pirates killed in the engagement, are as follows:--

Edward Teach, commander; Philip Morton, gunner; Garret Gibbens, boatswain; Owen Roberts, carpenter; Thomas Miller, quartermaster; John Husk, Joseph Curtice, Joseph Brooks (1), Nath. Jackson. All the rest, except the two last, were wounded, and afterwards hanged in Virginia:--John Carnes, Joseph Brooks (2), James Blake, John Gills, Thomas Gates, James White, Richard Stiles, Cæsar, Joseph Philips, James Robbins, John Martin, Edward Salter, Stephen Daniel, Richard Greensail, Israel Hands, pardoned, Samuel Odel, acquitted.

There were in the pirate sloops, and ashore in a tent near where the sloops lay, twenty-five hogsheads of sugar, eleven teirces, and one hundred and forty-five bags of cocoa, a barrel of indigo, and a bale of cotton; which, with what was taken from the governor and secretary, and the sale of the sloop, came to £2,500, besides the rewards paid by the governor of Virginia, pursuant to his proclamation; all which was divided among the companies of the two ships, _Lime_ and _Pearl_, that lay in James River; the brave fellows that took them coming in for no more than their dividend amongst the rest, and were paid it not till four years afterwards.

[1] Spottswood.

II.

CAPTAIN WILLIAM KID.

Commanded a privateer in the West Indies--Recommended to the
Government by Lord Bellamont, &c.--Not encouraged--He
is sent out in a private man-of-war with the king’s
commission--He sails for New York--In his way takes a
French banker--Arrived there--Ships more hands--Sails
to Madeira, Bonavista, Cape de Verde Islands, and
Madagascar--Meets three English men-of-war--Meets with
nothing at Madagascar--Goes to the Malabar coast--Cruises
about Mohila and Johanna--Borrows money and repairs his
ship--At Mabbee he takes some corn--From thence steers
for Bab’s Key--He sends a boat along the coast, and
gains intelligence--He falls in with a fleet, but is
obliged to sheer off--Goes to the Malabar coast--Takes a
Moorish vessel--Treats the men cruelly, and discharges
the vessel--Touches at Carawar, and is suspected of
piracy--Engages a Portuguese man-of-war sent after him
and gets off--Takes a Moor ship under pretence of her
being French--Keeps company with a Dutch ship--Quarrels
with and kills his gunner--Plunders a Portuguese ship on
the Malabar coast and lets her go--His cooper is murdered
in one of the Malabar Islands--He burns and pillages
several houses--Commands a native to be shot--He takes the
_Queda_, and shares £200 a man amongst his crew--He cheats
the Indians--Goes to Madagascar--Meets there Culliford
the pirate--Shifts into the _Queda_, and shares the rest
of her cargo--His men desert from him to forty--Goes to
Amboyna--hears he is declared a pirate in England--Lord
Bellamont prints his justification--A pardon granted to
pirates--Avery and Kid excepted--Kid goes to, and is
secured at, New York--Some of his crew depending on the
pardon, are confined--Sent to England and condemned--Three
excepted--A distinction of the lawyers--Kid found guilty of
the murder of his gunner--Some plead the king’s pardon to
no purpose--Mullins’s plea--Kid’s plea useless--He and his
men indicted--Executed

We are now going to give an account of one whose name is better known in England than most of those whose histories we have already related; the person we mean is Captain Kid, whose public trial and execution here rendered him the subject of all conversation, so that his actions have been chanted about in ballads; however, it is now a considerable time since these things passed, and though the people knew in general that Captain Kid was hanged, and that his crime was piracy, yet there were scarce any, even at that time, who were acquainted with his life or actions, or could account for his turning pirate.

In the beginning of King William’s war, Captain Kid commanded a privateer in the West Indies, and by several adventurous actions acquired the reputation of a brave man, as well as an experienced seaman. About this time the pirates were very troublesome in those parts, wherefore Captain Kid was recommended by the Lord Bellamont, then governor of Barbadoes, as well as by several other persons, to the Government here, as a person very fit to be entrusted with the command of a Government ship, and to be employed in cruising upon the pirates, as knowing those seas perfectly well, and being acquainted with all their lurking places; but what reasons governed the politics of those times I cannot tell, but this proposal met with no encouragement here, though it is certain it would have been of great consequence to the subject, our merchants suffering incredible damages by those robbers.

Upon this neglect the Lord Bellamont and some others, who knew what great captures had been made by the pirates, and what a prodigious wealth must be in their possession, were tempted to fit out a ship at their own private charge, and to give the command of it to Captain Kid; and to give the thing a greater reputation, as well as to keep their seamen under the better command, they procured the King’s Commission for the said Captain Kid, of which the following is an exact copy:--

“WILLIAM REX,--William the Third, by the grace of God,
King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender
of the Faith, &c. To our trusty and well-beloved Captain
William Kid, Commander of the ship the _Adventure_ galley,
or to any other the commander of the same for the time
being, greeting; Whereas we are informed, that Captain
Thomas Too, John Ireland, Captain Thomas Wake, and Captain
William Maze, or Mace, and other subjects, natives or
inhabitants of New York, and elsewhere, in our plantations
in America, have associated themselves, with divers others,
wicked and ill-disposed persons, and do, against the law
of nations, commit many and great piracies, robberies, and
depredations on the seas upon the parts of America, and in
other parts, to the great hindrance and discouragement of
trade and navigation, and to the great danger and hurt of
our loving subjects, our allies, and all others, navigating
the seas upon their lawful occasions. Now know ye, that
we being desirous to prevent the aforesaid mischiefs,
and, as much as in us lies, to bring the said pirates,
freebooters and sea-rovers to justice, have thought fit,
and do hereby give and grant to the said William Kid (to
whom our Commissioners for exercising the office of Lord
High Admiral of England, have granted a commission as a
private man-of-war, bearing date December 11, 1695), and
unto the commander of the said ship for the time being, and
unto the officers, mariners, and others, which shall be
under your command, full power and authority to apprehend,
seize, and take into your custody as well the said Captain
Thomas Too, John Ireland, Captain Thomas Wake, and Captain
William Maze, or Mace, as all such pirates, freebooters
and sea-rovers, being either our subjects, or of other
nations associated with them, which you shall meet with
upon the seas or coasts of America, or upon any other seas
or coasts, with all their ships and vessels; and all such
merchandises, money, goods, and wares as shall be found on
board, or with them, in case they shall willingly yield
themselves; but if they will not yield without fighting,
then you are by force to compel them to yield. And we do
also require you to bring, or cause to be brought, such
pirates, freebooters, or sea-rovers, as you shall seize,
to a legal trial, to the end they may be proceeded against
according to the law in such cases. And we do hereby
command all our officers, ministers, and other our loving
subjects whatsoever, to be aiding and assisting to you
in the premisses. And we do hereby enjoin you to keep an
exact journal of your proceedings in the execution of the
premisses, and set down the names of such pirates, and of
their officers and company, and the names of such ships and
vessels as you shall by virtue of these presents take and
seize, and the quantities of arms, ammunition, provision,
and lading of such ships, and the true value of the same,
as near as you judge. And we do hereby strictly charge
and command you as you will answer the contrary at your
peril, that you do not, in any manner, offend or molest
our friends or allies, their ships, or subjects, by colour
or pretence of these presents, or the authority thereby
granted. In witness whereof we have caused our Great Seal
of England to be affixed to these presents. Given at our
Court of Kensington, the 26th day of January, 1695, in the
seventh year of our reign.”

Captain Kid had also another commission, which was called a Commission of Reprisals; for it being then war time, this commission was to justify him in the taking of French merchant ships, in case he should meet with any; but as this commission is nothing to our present purpose, we shall not burthen the readers with it.

With these two commissions he sailed out of Plymouth in May, 1696, in the _Adventure_ galley of thirty guns and eighty men. The place he first designed for was New York; in his voyage thither he took a French banker, but this was no act of piracy, he having a commission for that purpose, as we have just observed.

When he arrived at New York he put up articles for engaging more hands, it being necessary to his ship’s crew, since he proposed to deal with a desperate enemy. The terms he offered were that every man should have a share of what was taken, reserving for himself and owners forty shares. Upon which encouragement he soon increased his company to a hundred and fifty-five men.

With this company he sailed first for Madeira, where he took in wine and some other necessaries; from thence he proceeded to Bonavist, one of the Cape de Verde islands, to furnish the ship with salt, and from thence went immediately to St. Jago, another of the Cape de Verde islands, in order to stock himself with provisions. When all this was done he bent his course to Madagascar, the known rendezvous of pirates. In his way he fell in with Captain Warren, commodore of three men-of-war; he acquainted them with his design, kept them company two or three days, and then leaving them made the best way for Madagascar, where he arrived in February, 1696, just nine months from his departure from Plymouth.

It happened that at this time the pirate ships were most of them out in search of prey, so that, according to the best intelligence Captain Kid could get, there was not one of them at that time about the island, wherefore, having spent some time in watering his ship and taking in more provisions, he thought of trying his fortune on the coast of Malabar, where he arrived in the month of June following, four months from his reaching Madagascar. Hereabouts he made an unsuccessful cruise, touching sometimes at the island of Mahala, sometimes at that of Joanna, between Malabar and Madagascar. His provisions were every day wasting, and his ship began to want repair; wherefore, when he was at Joanna, he found means of borrowing a sum of money from some Frenchmen who had lost their ship, but saved their effects, and with this he purchased materials for putting his ship in good repair.

It does not appear all this while that he had the least design of turning pirate, for near Mahala and Joanna both he met with several Indian ships richly laden, to which he did not offer the least violence, though he was strong enough to have done what he pleased with them; and the first outrage or depredation I find he committed upon mankind was after his repairing his ship and leaving Joanna. He touched at a place called Mabbee, upon the Red Sea, where he took some Guinea corn from the natives, by force.

After this he sailed to Bab’s Key, a place upon a little island at the entrance of the Red Sea. Here it was that he first began to open himself to his ship’s company, and let them understand that he intended to change his measures; for, happening to talk of the Moca fleet which was to sail that way, he said, “We have been unsuccessful hitherto; but courage, my boys, we’ll make our fortunes out of this fleet.” And finding that none of them appeared averse to it he ordered a boat out, well manned, to go upon the coast to make discoveries, commanding them to take a prisoner and bring to him, or get intelligence any way they could. The boat returned in a few days, bringing him word that they saw fourteen or fifteen ships ready to sail, some with English, some with Dutch, and some with Moorish colours.

We cannot account for this sudden change in his conduct, otherwise than by supposing that he first meant well, while he had hopes of making his fortune by taking of pirates; but now, weary of ill-success, and fearing lest his owners, out of humour at their great expenses, should dismiss him, and he should want employment, and be marked out for an unlucky man--rather, I say, than run the hazard of poverty, he resolved to do his business one way, since he could not do it another.

He therefore ordered a man continually to watch at the mast-head, lest this fleet should go by them; and about four days after, towards evening, it appeared in sight, being convoyed by one English and one Dutch man-of-war. Kid soon fell in with them, and, getting into the midst of them, fired at a Moorish ship which was next him; but the men-of-war, taking the alarm, bore down upon Kid, and, firing upon him, obliged him to sheer off, he not being strong enough to contend with them. Now he had begun hostilities he resolved to go on, and therefore he went and cruised along the coast of Malabar. The first prize he met was a small vessel belonging to Aden; the vessel was Moorish, and the owners were Moorish merchants, but the master was an Englishman; his name was Parker. Kid forced him and a Portuguese that was called Don Antonio, which were all the Europeans on board, to take on with them; the first he designed as a pilot, and the last as an interpreter. He also used the men very cruelly, causing them to be hoisted up by the arms, and drubbed with a naked cutlass, to force them to discover whether they had money on board, and where it lay; but as they had neither gold nor silver on board he got nothing by his cruelty; however, he took from them a bale of pepper, and a bale of coffee, and so let them go.

A little time after he touched at Carawar, a place upon the same coast, where, before he arrived, the news of what he had done to the Moorish ship had reached them; for some of the English merchants there had received an account of it from the owners, who corresponded with them; wherefore, as soon as Kid came in, he was suspected to be the person who committed this piracy, and one Mr. Harvey and Mr. Mason, two of the English factory, came on board and asked for Parker and Antonio, the Portuguese, but Kid denied that he knew any such persons, having secured them both in a private place in the hold, where they were kept for seven or eight days, that is till Kid sailed from thence.

However, the coast was alarmed, and a Portuguese man-of-war was sent out to cruise. Kid met with her, and fought her about six hours, gallantly enough; but finding her too strong to be taken, he quitted her, for he was able to run away from her when he would. Then he went to a place called Porco, where he watered the ship, and bought a number of hogs of the natives to victual his company.

Soon after this he came up with a Moorish ship, the master whereof was a Dutchman, called Schipper Mitchel, and chased her under French colours, which, they observing, hoisted French colours too. When he came up with her he hailed her in French, and they, having a Frenchman on board, answered him in the same language; upon which he ordered them to send their boat on board. They were obliged to do so, and having examined who they were, and from whence they came, he asked the Frenchman, who was a passenger, if he had a French pass for himself? The Frenchman gave him to understand that he had. Then he told the Frenchman he must pass for captain, and “by G--d,” says he, “you are the captain.” The Frenchman durst not refuse doing as he would have him. The meaning of this was, that he would seize the ship as fair prize, and as if she had belonged to French subjects, according to a commission he had for that purpose; though, one would think, after what he had already done, that he need not have recourse to a quibble to give his actions a colour.

In short, he took the cargo and sold it some time after; yet still he seemed to have some fears upon him lest these proceedings should have a bad end, for, coming up with a Dutch ship some time, when his men thought of nothing but attacking her, Kid opposed it; upon which a mutiny arose, and the majority being for taking the said ship, and arming themselves to man the boat to go and seize her, he told them, such as did, never should come on board him again, which put an end to the design, so that he kept company with the said ship some time, without offering her any violence. However, this dispute was the occasion of an accident, upon which an indictment was afterwards grounded against Kid; for Moor, the gunner, being one day upon deck, and talking with Kid about the said Dutch ship, some words arose between them, and Moor told Kid that he had ruined them all; upon which Kid, calling him dog, took up a bucket and struck him with it, which, breaking his skull, he died the next day.

But Kid’s penitential fit did not last long, for, coasting along Malabar, he met with a great number of boats, all which he plundered. Upon the same coast he also lighted upon a Portuguese ship, which he kept possession of a week, and then, having taken out of her some chests of Indian goods, thirty jars of butter, with some wax, iron, and a hundred bags of rice, he let her go.

Much about the same time he went to one of the Malabar islands for wood and water, and his cooper, being ashore, was murdered by the natives; upon which Kid himself landed, and burnt and pillaged several of their houses, the people running away; but having taken one, he caused him to be tied to a tree, and commanded one of his men to shoot him; then putting to sea again he took the greatest prize which fell into his hands while he followed this trade. This was a Moorish ship of four hundred tons, richly laden, named the _Queda_, merchant, the master whereof was an Englishman--he was called Wright, for the Indians often make use of English or Dutch men to command their ships, their own mariners not being so good artists in navigation. Kid chased her under French colours, and, having come up with her, he ordered her to hoist out her boat and to send on board of him, which, being done, he told Wright he was his prisoner; and informing himself concerning the said ship, he understood there were no Europeans on board except two Dutch, and one Frenchman, all the rest being Indians or Armenians, and that the Armenians were part owners of the cargo. Kid gave the Armenians to understand that if they would offer anything that was worth his taking for their ransom, he would hearken to it; upon which they proposed to pay him twenty thousand rupees, not quite three thousand pounds sterling; but Kid judged this would be making a bad bargain, wherefore he rejected it, and setting the crew on shore at different places on the coast, he soon sold as much of the cargo as came to near ten thousand pounds. With part of it he also trafficked, receiving in exchange provisions or such other goods as he wanted. By degrees he disposed of the whole cargo, and when the division was made it came to about two hundred pounds a man, and, having reserved forty shares to himself, his dividend amounted to about eight thousand pounds sterling.

The Indians along the coast came on board and trafficked with all freedom, and he punctually performed his bargains, till about the time he was ready to sail; and then, thinking he should have no further occasion for them, he made no scruple of taking their goods and setting them on shore without any payment in money or goods, which they little expected; for as they had been used to deal with pirates, they always found them men of honour in the way of trade--a people, enemies to deceit, and that scorned to rob but in their own way.

Kid put some of his men on board the _Queda_, merchant, and with this ship and his own sailed for Madagascar. As soon as he was arrived and had cast anchor there came on board of him a canoe, in which were several Englishmen who had formerly been well acquainted with Kid. As soon as they saw him they saluted him and told him they were informed he was come to take them, and hang them, which would be a little unkind in such an old acquaintance. Kid soon dissipated their doubts by swearing he had no such design, and that he was now in every respect their brother, and just as bad as they, and, calling for a cup of bomboo, drank their captain’s health.

These men belonged to a pirate ship, called the _Resolution_, formerly the _Mocco_, merchant, whereof one Captain Culliford was commander, and which lay at an anchor not far from them. Kid went on board with them, promising them his friendship and assistance, and Culliford in his turn came on board of Kid; and Kid, to testify his sincerity in iniquity, finding Culliford in want of some necessaries, made him a present of an anchor and some guns, to fit him out for the sea again.

The _Adventure_ galley was now so old and leaky that they were forced to keep two pumps continually going, wherefore Kid shifted all the guns and tackle out of her into the _Queda_, merchant, intending her for his man-of-war; and as he had divided the money before, he now made a division of the remainder of the cargo. Soon after which the greatest part of the company left him, some going on board Captain Culliford, and others absconding in the country, so that he had not above forty men left.

He put to sea and happened to touch at Amboyna, one of the Dutch spice islands, where he was told that the news of his actions had reached England, and that he was there declared a pirate.

The truth of it is, his piracies so alarmed our merchants that some motions were made in Parliament, to inquire into the commission that was given him, and the persons who fitted him out. These proceedings seemed to lean a little hard upon the Lord Bellamont, who thought himself so much touched thereby that he published a justification of himself in a pamphlet after Kid’s execution. In the meantime it was thought advisable, in order to stop the course of these piracies, to publish a proclamation, offering the king’s free pardon to all such pirates as should voluntarily surrender themselves, whatever piracies they had been guilty of at any time, before the last day of April, 1699. That is to say, for all piracies committed eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, to the longitude and meridian of Socatora and Cape Camorin. In which proclamation Avery and Kid were excepted by name.

When Kid left Amboyna he knew nothing of this proclamation, for certainly had he had notice of his being excepted in it he would not have been so infatuated to run himself into the very jaws of danger; but relying upon his interest with the Lord Bellamont, and fancying that a French pass or two he found on board some of the ships he took would serve to countenance the matter, and that part of the booty he got would gain him new friends--I say, all these things made him flatter himself that all would be hushed, and that justice would but wink at him. Wherefore he sailed directly for New York, where he was no sooner arrived but by the Lord Bellamont’s orders he was secured with all his papers and effects. Many of his fellow-adventurers who had forsook him at Madagascar, came over from thence passengers, some to New England, and some to Jersey, where, hearing of the king’s proclamation for pardoning of pirates, they surrendered themselves to the governor of those places. At first they were admitted to bail, but soon after were laid in strict confinement, where they were kept for some time, till an opportunity happened of sending them with their captain over to England to be tried.

Accordingly, a Sessions of Admiralty being held at the Old Bailey, in May, 1701; Captain Kid, Nicholas Churchill, James How, Robert Lumley, William Jenkins, Gabriel Loff, Hugh Parrot, Richard Barlicorn, Abel Owens, and Darby Mullins, were arraigned for piracy and robbery on the high seas, and all found guilty except three: these were Robert Lumley, William Jenkins, and Richard Barlicorn, who, proving themselves to be apprentices to some of the officers of the ship, and producing their indentures in court, were acquitted.

The three above mentioned, though they were proved to be concerned in taking and sharing the ship and goods mentioned in the indictment, yet, as the gentlemen of the long robe rightly distinguished, there was a great difference between their circumstances and the rest; for there must go an intention of the mind and a freedom of the will to the committing an act of felony or piracy. A pirate is not to be understood to be under constraint, but a free agent; for, in this case, the bare act will not make a man guilty, unless the will make it so.

Now a servant, it is true, if he go voluntarily and have his proportion, he must be accounted a pirate, for then he acts upon his own account, and not by compulsion. And these persons, according to the evidence, received their part, but whether they accounted to their masters for their shares afterwards is the matter in question, and what distinguishes them as free agents or men, that did go under the compulsion of their masters, which being left to the consideration of the jury, they found them “Not Guilty.”

Kid was tried upon an indictment of murder also--viz., for killing Moor, the gunner--and found guilty of the same. Nicholas Churchill and James How pleaded the king’s pardon, as having surrendered themselves within the time limited in the proclamation, and Colonel Bass, governor of West Jersey, to whom they surrendered, being in court, and called upon, proved the same; however, this plea was overruled by the court, because there being four commissioners named in the proclamation, viz., Captain Thomas Warren, Israel Hayes, Peter Delannoye, and Christopher Pollard, Esqs., who were appointed commissioners, and sent over on purpose to receive the submissions of such pirates as should surrender, it was adjudged no other person was qualified to receive their surrender, and that they could not be entitled to the benefit of the said proclamation because they had not in all circumstances complied with the conditions of it.

Darby Mullins urged in his defence that he served under the king’s commission, and therefore could not disobey his commander without incurring great punishments; that whenever a ship or ships went out upon any expedition under the king’s commissioners, the men were never allowed to call their officers to an account, why they did this, or why they did that, because such a liberty would destroy all discipline; that if anything was done which was unlawful, the officers were to answer it, for the men did no more than their duty in obeying orders. He was told by the court that acting under the commission justified in what was lawful but not in what was unlawful. He answered, he stood in need of nothing to justify him in what was lawful, but that the case of seamen must be very hard, if they must be brought into such danger for obeying the commands of their officers, and punished for not obeying them; and if they were allowed to dispute the orders, there could be no such thing as command kept up at sea.

This seemed to be the best defence the thing could bear. But his taking a share of the plunder, the seamen mutinying on board several times, and taking upon them to control the captain, showed there was no obedience paid to the commission, and that they acted in all things according to the custom of pirates and freebooters, which weighing with the jury they brought him in guilty with the rest.

As to Captain Kid’s defence, he insisted much upon his own innocence, and the villainy of his men. He said he went out in a laudable employment, and had no occasion, being then in good circumstances, to go a-pirating; that the men often mutinied against him, and did as they pleased; that he was threatened to be shot in his cabin, and that ninety-five left him at one time, and set fire to his boat, so that he was disabled from bringing his ship home, or the prizes he took, to have them regularly condemned, which he said were taken by virtue of a commission under the broad seal, they having French passes. The captain called one Colonel Hewson to his reputation, who gave him an extraordinary character, and declared to the court that he had served under his command, and been in two engagements with him against the French, in which he fought as well as any man he ever saw; that there were only Kid’s ship and his own against Monsieur du Cass, who commanded a squadron of six sail, and they got the better of him. But this being several years before the facts mentioned in the indictment were committed, proved of no manner of service to the prisoner on his trial.

As to the friendship shown to Culliford, a notorious pirate, Kid denied, and said he intended to have taken him, but his men, being a parcel of rogues and villains, refused to stand by him, and several of them ran away from his ship to the said pirate. But the evidence being full and particular against him, he was found guilty as before mentioned.

When Kid was asked what he had to say why sentence should not pass against him, he answered that “he had nothing to say, but that he had been sworn against by perjured, wicked people.” And when sentence was pronounced, he said, “My lord, it is a very hard sentence. For my part I am the innocentest person of them all, only I have been sworn against by perjured persons.”

Wherefore, about a week after, Captain Kid, Nicholas Churchill, James How, Gabriel Loff, Hugh Parrot, Abel Owen, and Darby Mullins, were executed at Execution Dock, and afterwards hung up in chains, at some distance from each other down the river, where their bodies hung exposed for many years.

III.

CAPTAIN BARTHOLOMEW ROBERTS
AND HIS CREW.

His beginning--Elected captain in the room of Davis--The
speech of Lord Dennis at the election--Lord Sympson objects
against a papist--The death of Davis revenged--Roberts
sails southward in quest of adventures--The names of the
prizes taken by them--Brazil described--Roberts falls into
a fleet of Portuguese--Boards and takes the richest ship
amongst them--Make the Devil’s Islands--An unfortunate
adventure of Roberts--Kennedy’s treachery--Irishmen
excluded by Roberts and his crew--Articles sworn to by
them--A copy of them--Some account of the laws and customs
of the pirates--An instance of Roberts’s cunning--He
proceeds again upon business, and takes prizes--Narrowly
escapes being taken--Sails for the Island Dominico--Another
escape--Sails for Newfoundland--Plunders, sinks, and burns
twenty-two sail in the harbour of Trepassi--Plunders
ten sail of Frenchmen--The mad behaviour of the crew--A
correspondence hinted at--The pirates caressed at the
island of St. Bartholomew--In extreme distress--Sail for
Martinico--A stratagem of Roberts--The insolent device
in his colours--Odd compliment paid to Roberts--Three
men desert the pirates, and are taken by them--Their
trial--Two executed and one saved--the brigantine deserts
them--Great divisions in the company--A description of
Sierra Leone River--The names of English settled there,
and way of life--The _Onslow_ belonging to the African
Company taken--The pirates’ contempt of soldiers--They
are for entertaining a chaplain--Their skirmish with the
Calabar negroes--The _King Solomon_, belonging to the
African Company taken--The frolics of the pirates--Take
eleven sail in Whydah Road--A comical receipt given by
the pirates--A cruel action of Roberts--Sails for Anna
Bona--The progress of the _Swallow_ man-of-war, in pursuit
of Roberts--Roberts’s consort taken--The bravery of
Skyrme, a Welsh pirate--The surly humour of some of the
prisoners--The _Swallow_ comes up with Roberts--Roberts’s
dress described--Is killed--His character--His ship
taken--The behaviour of the pirates when prisoners--A
conspiracy of theirs discovered--Reflections on the manner
of trying them--The form of the commission for trying
the pirates--The oath taken by the commissioners--The
names of those arraigned taken in the ship _Ranger_--The
form of the indictment--The sum of the evidence against
them--Their defence--The names of the prisoners of
the _Royal Fortune_--Proceedings against them--Harry
Glasby acquitted--The particular trial of Captain James
Skyrme--Of John Walden--Of Peter Scudamore--Of Robert
Johnson--Of George Wilson--Of Benjamin Jeffries--Of John
Mansfield--Of William Davis--The names of those executed
at Cape Corso--The petition of some condemned--The court’s
resolution--The form of an indenture of a pardoned
pirate--The names of those pardoned upon indenture to
serve seven years--The pirates how disposed of--The dying
behaviour of those executed.

Bartholomew Roberts sailed in an honest employ from London, aboard of the _Princess_, Captain Plumb, commander, of which ship he was second mate. He left England November, 1719, and arrived at Guinea about February following, and being at Anamaboe, taking in slaves for the West Indies, was taken in the said ship by Captain Howel Davis. In the beginning he was very averse to this sort of life, and would certainly have escaped from them had a fair opportunity presented itself; yet afterwards he changed his principles, as many besides him have done upon another element, and perhaps for the same reason too, viz., preferment; and what he did not like as a private man he could reconcile to his conscience as a commander.

Davis having been killed in the Island of Princes whilst planning to capture it with all its inhabitants, the company found themselves under the necessity of filling up his post, for which there appeared two or three candidates among the select part of them that were distinguished by the title of Lords--such were Sympson, Ashplant, Anstis, &c.--and on canvassing this matter, how shattered and weak a condition their government must be without a head, since Davis had been removed in the manner before mentioned, my Lord Dennis proposed, it is said, over a bowl, to this purpose:

“That it was not of any great signification who was dignified with title, for really and in good truth all good governments had, like theirs, the supreme power lodged with the community, who might doubtless depute and revoke as suited interest or humour. We are the original of this claim,” says he, “and should a captain be so saucy as to exceed prescription at any time, why, down with him! It will be a caution after he is dead to his successors of what fatal consequence any sort of assuming may be. However, it is my advice that while we are sober we pitch upon a man of courage and skilled in navigation, one who by his council and bravery seems best able to defend this commonwealth, and ward us from the dangers and tempests of an unstable element, and the fatal consequences of anarchy; and such a one I take Roberts to be--a fellow, I think, in all respects worthy your esteem and favour.”

This speech was loudly applauded by all but Lord Sympson, who had secret expectations himself, but on this disappointment grew sullen and left them, swearing “he did not care who they chose captain so it was not a papist, for against them he had conceived an irreconcilable hatred, for that his father had been a sufferer in Monmouth’s rebellion.”

Roberts was accordingly elected, though he had not been above six weeks among them. The choice was confirmed both by the Lords and Commoners, and he accepted of the honour, saying that, since he had dipped his hands in muddy water and must be a pirate, it was better being a commander than a common man.

As soon as the government was settled, by promoting other officers in the room of those that were killed by the Portuguese, the company resolved to avenge Captain Davis’s death, he being more than ordinarily respected by the crew for his affability and good nature, as well as his conduct and bravery upon all occasions; and, pursuant to this resolution, about thirty men were landed, in order to make an attack upon the fort, which must be ascended to by a steep hill against the mouth of the cannon. These men were headed by one Kennedy, a bold, daring fellow, but very wicked and profligate; they marched directly up under the fire of their ship guns, and as soon as they were discovered, the Portuguese quitted their post and fled to the town, and the pirates marched in without opposition, set fire to the fort, and threw all the guns off the hill into the sea, which after they had done they retreated quietly to their ship.

But this was not looked upon as a sufficient satisfaction for the injury they received, therefore most of the company were for burning the town, which Roberts said he would yield to if any means could be proposed of doing it without their own destruction, for the town had a securer situation than the fort, a thick wood coming almost close to it, affording cover to the defendants, who, under such an advantage, he told them, it was to be feared, would fire and stand better to their arms; besides, that bare houses would be but a slender reward for their trouble and loss. This prudent advice prevailed; however, they mounted the French ship they seized at this place with twelve guns, and lightened her, in order to come up to the town, the water being shoal, and battered down several houses; after which they all returned on board, gave back the French ship to those that had most right to her, and sailed out of the harbour by the light of two Portuguese ships, which they were pleased to set on fire there.

Roberts stood away to the southward, and met with a Dutch Guineaman, which he made prize of, but, after having plundered her, the skipper had his ship again. Two days after he took an English ship, called the _Experiment_, Captain Cornet, at Cape Lopez; the men went all into the pirate service, and having no occasion for the ship they burnt her and then steered for St. Thome, but meeting with nothing in their way, they sailed for Annabona, and there watered, took in provisions, and put it to a vote of the company whether their next voyage should be to the East Indies or to Brazil. The latter being resolved on, they sailed accordingly, and in twenty-eight days arrived at Ferdinando, an uninhabited island on that coast. Here they watered, boot-topped their ship, and made ready for the designed cruise.

Upon this coast our rovers cruised for about nine weeks, keeping generally out of sight of land, but without seeing a sail, which discouraged them so that they determined to leave the station and steer for the West Indies; and, in order thereto, stood in to make the land for the taking of their departure; and thereby they fell in unexpectedly with a fleet of forty-two sail of Portuguese ships off the bay of Los Todos Santos, with all their lading in, for Lisbon, several of them of good force, who lay-to waiting for two men-of-war of seventy guns each, their convoy. However, Roberts thought it should go hard with him, but he would make up his market among them, and thereupon mixed with the fleet, and kept his men hid till proper resolutions could be formed. That done, they came close up to one of the deepest, and ordered her to send the master on board quietly, threatening to give them no quarter if any resistance or signal of distress was made. The Portuguese, being surprised at these threats, and the sudden flourish of cutlasses from the pirates, submitted without a word, and the captain came on board. Roberts saluted him after a friendly manner, telling him that they were gentlemen of fortune, but that their business with him was only to be informed which was the richest ship in that fleet; and if he directed them right he should be restored to his ship without molestation, otherwise he must expect immediate death.

Whereupon this Portuguese master pointed to one of forty guns and a hundred and fifty men, a ship of greater force than the _Rover_; but this no ways dismayed them; they were Portuguese, they said, and so immediately steered away for him. When they came within hail, the master whom they had prisoner was ordered to ask “how Seignior Captain did?” and to invite him on board, “for that he had a matter of consequence to impart to him;” which being done, he returned for answer that “he would wait upon him presently,” but by the bustle that immediately followed, the pirates perceived that they were discovered, and that this was only a deceitful answer to gain time to put their ship in a posture of defence; so without further delay they poured in a broadside, boarded, and grappled her. The dispute was short and warm, wherein many of the Portuguese fell, and two only of the pirates. By this time the fleet was alarmed: signals of top-gallant sheets flying and guns fired to give notice to the men-of-war, who rid still at an anchor, and made but scurvy haste out to their assistance; and if what the pirates themselves related be true, the commanders of those ships were blameable to the highest degree, and unworthy the title, or so much as the name, of men. For Roberts, finding the prize to sail heavy, and yet resolving not to lose her, lay by for the headmost of them, which much outsailed the other, and prepared for battle, which was ignominiously declined, though of such superior force; for, not daring to venture on the pirate alone, he tarried so long for his consort as gave them both time leisurely to make off.

They found this ship exceeding rich, being laden chiefly with sugar, skins, and tobacco, and in gold forty thousand moidores, besides chains and trinkets of considerable value; particularly a cross set with diamonds designed for the king of Portugal, which they afterwards presented to the governor of Caiana, by whom they were obliged.

Elated with this booty, they had nothing now to think of but some safe retreat where they might give themselves up to all the pleasures that luxury and wantonness could bestow; and for the present pitched upon a place called the Devil’s Islands in the river of Surinam, on the coast of Caiana, where they arrived, and found the civilest reception imaginable, not only from the governor and factory, but their wives, who exchanged wares, and drove a considerable trade with them.