_CAPTAIN KIDD_
Measures to suppress piracy--The _Adventure_ fitted out--Warren's squadron
meets with Kidd--His suspicious behaviour--He threatens the
_Sidney_--Waylays the Red Sea fleet--Captures the _Mary_--Visits Carwar
and Calicut--His letter to the factory--Chased by Portuguese
men-of-war--Chases the _Sedgwick_--Chivers--Action between _Dorrill_ and
_Resolution_--Kidd captures the _Quedah Merchant_--Dilemma of European
traders at Surat--Their agreements with the authorities--Experience of the
_Benjamin_--News of Kidd's piracies reaches England--Despatch of squadron
under Warren--Littleton at Madagascar--Kidd sails for New York--Arrested
and tried--His defence and execution--Justice of his sentence--His
character--Diminution of piracy--Lowth in the _Loyal Merchant_--Act for
suppression of piracy--Captain Millar.
War with France was being actively prosecuted by land and sea. In 1695
the nation was still smarting under reverses in the Low Countries and the
repulse of the Brest expedition. At sea the navy was holding its own,
though English commerce suffered terribly under the attacks of French
corsairs of Dunkirk and St. Malo. The Company applied for a ship to be
sent to the Indian seas to deal with the pirates; but Lord Orford, the
head of the Admiralty, refused to spare one. It was the fashion for
wealthy men to obtain letters of marque for privateering, and a syndicate
was formed, to which the Chancellor, Lord Somers, Lord Orford, Lord
Bellamont, and other Whig nobles were parties, to send out a privateer
against French commerce. For this purpose the _Adventure_ galley was
purchased and fitted out, and the command was given to William Kidd, who
was suggested to Lord Bellamont as a fit person for the task. Kidd was an
old privateers-man who had gained some reputation in the West Indies
during the war. Lord Bellamont had been appointed Governor of New York,
though he did not proceed there till two years later. The king had
charged him to use his utmost endeavours to put a check on the pirates
who sailed from New England, and nothing better occurred to him than to
obtain a commission for Kidd to act against the rovers. A general reward
of £50 was offered for the apprehension of each pirate, and £100 for
Every, increased in the following year to £500.
In December, a commission under the Admiralty Seal was issued to Kidd,
authorizing him to proceed against French shipping. He was to keep a
journal of his proceedings, and any ship captured was to be carried into
the nearest port and legally adjudged by a competent court. If condemned,
he might dispose of it according to custom. Six weeks later, a second
commission under the Great Seal was granted him, in his capacity of a
private man of war, to apprehend all pirates, freebooters, and sea rovers,
the names of Thomas Too (? Tew), John Ireland, Thomas Wake, and William
Maze, or Mace, being specially mentioned. Again, he was enjoined to keep
an exact journal of his doings, and the pirate ships he captured were to
be proceeded against according to law, in the same manner as French
captures. A subsequent warrant was granted to the syndicate, who figure
in it as the Earl of Bellamont, Edmund Harrison, William Rowley, George
Watson, Thomas Reynolds, and Samuel Newton. Under these unpretentious
names were hidden Lords Orford and Somers, and other Whig nobles. They
were to account for all goods and valuables captured in the rovers'
possession: one-tenth was to be reserved for the Crown, the rest being
assigned to them to recoup their expenditure.
The _Adventure_ carried thirty guns and rowed twenty-six or thirty oars.
In May, 1696, Kidd sailed from Plymouth for New York with a crew of about
seventy men. On the way he captured a small French vessel, which was
properly condemned, and the proceeds helped to complete the equipment of
the _Adventure_. In New York he filled up his crew to one hundred and
fifty-five men, and people shook their heads when they saw the men of
doubtful character that he enlisted. It was felt at the time that, either
his intentions were dishonest, or he was taking a crew that he would be
unable to control. The men were promised shares of what should be taken,
while Kidd himself was to have forty shares. Nothing was said as to the
share of the owners or the Crown. In September he sailed for the Cape.
There were plenty of pirates and French trading-ships close at hand on
the American coast, but he did not waste a day in looking for them.
Within a few days of Kidd's leaving Plymouth, a royal squadron consisting
of the _Windsor_, _Tyger_, _Advice_, and _Vulture_, under Commodore
Warren, sailed from Sheerness to visit the harbours and watering-places,
used by East India ships, as far as the Cape, and clear them of pirates.
The squadron, with five East Indiamen under convoy, made its way slowly
along the African coast, losing many men from sickness. Two hundred
leagues west of the Cape they sighted a strange sail that seemed to wish
to avoid them. Warren gave chase and forced it to heave to. On being
signalled to come on board, the commander proved to be Kidd, in command
of the _Adventure_. Asked to account for himself, he told how he was
engaged to look for Every and destroy pirates, and showed his commission.
Apparently, this was the first that Warren had heard of him, but there
was no gainsaying the royal commission, so the usual hospitality was
shown him, and he was bidden to keep company as far as the Cape. Warren
had lost many men on the Guinea coast, and asked Kidd to spare him some.
No better opportunity could have been found for getting rid of
troublesome men, but Kidd declined to part with a single one. As Warren's
wine told on him, his true character showed itself. He boasted of the
feats he was going to do, and the wealth he would get, till Warren was
filled with disgust and suspicion. The _Adventure_ wanted a new mainsail.
Warren could not spare him one. No matter, he would take one from the
first ship he met; and he was finally sent back to the _Adventure_,
reeling drunk. For six days he sailed in company with the squadron. Then
a calm came on, and at night, making use of his oars, Kidd stole away,
and was nearly out of sight when the sun rose.
On reaching the Cape, Warren could get no news of him, but to the
captains of the Company's ships he communicated his suspicions of Kidd.
Three of them, bound for Johanna in the Comoro Islands, the _Sidney_, the
_Madras Merchant_, and the _East India Merchant_, agreed to sail in
company for mutual protection. The _Sidney_, being the faster sailer,
reached Johanna in advance of her consorts, and found the _Adventure_ at
anchor in the roadstead. As the _Sidney_ came to anchor, Kidd sent a boat
to Captain Gyfford, ordering him to strike his colours, and threatening
to board him if he refused. Gyfford prepared to defend himself. Two days
later the _East India Merchant_ and the _Madras Merchant_ appeared,
making for the anchorage, and Kidd lowered his tone. He then invited the
three captains to come on board the _Adventure_, which they refused to do,
letting him plainly see that they distrusted him.
Soon they had to warn him regarding his ill-treatment of the Johanna
people, for which they threatened to call him to account. This
unlooked-for attitude on the part of the three captains made Kidd uneasy;
and finding that they would not leave the anchorage till he had gone, he
made sail and departed. Some of the crew of the _Adventure_ had, however,
used suspicious language, saying they were looking for an East India ship.
When asked if they would attack a single one, they answered evasively,
while continuing to boast of the things they were going to do. These
early proceedings of Kidd effectually dispose of the plea that his
intentions were at first honest, and that he only yielded to the coercion
of his crew in taking to piracy, after reaching the Indian seas. The
truth is that Kidd was resolved on piracy from the first, and had little
difficulty in persuading the majority of the crew to join him. It can
hardly be doubted that the accounts of the great wealth acquired by Every
had turned his head. There were a number of men on board the _Adventure_
who were unwillingly coerced into piracy, and who remained in a chronic
state of discontent, but Kidd was not one of them. Long before he had
made a single capture, it was reported in the ports of Western India that
Kidd was a pirate.
From Johanna he shaped his coarse for Madagascar, but the pirates were
all away in search of prey; so he continued his cruise in the Mozambique
Channel and along the African coast. He is said to have met Indian ships
at this time without molesting them, which was afterwards cited to show
that his intentions were then honest. It is more likely that he was only
doubtful as to his own power, being unacquainted with the weakness of
Asiatics, and reserving himself for the rich prey offered by the Mocha
fleet.
Cruising northwards, he landed at Mabber[1] on the Somali coast, and took
some corn from the natives by force--his first bit of filibustering. Then
making for Perim, he anchored to await the Mocha fleet. Three times he
sent a boat to look into Mocha harbour, and bring notice when the Indian
ships were ready to sail. As the fleet in scattered array emerged from
the straits, he singled out a large vessel and began firing at it. This
at once attracted the attention of the _Sceptre_ frigate that Sir John
Gayer had sent as a convoy, and Kidd took to his heels.
If Every had been in his place, he would have followed the fleet across
the Indian Ocean, and have picked up a straggler or two, but the sight of
the _Sceptre_ and a Dutch man-of-war had been enough for Kidd, and he left
the pilgrim fleet alone. Without molesting them further, he made his way
eastward, and, on the 29th August, off Sanjan, north of Bombay, he took
the _Mary_ brigantine, a small native vessel from Surat. This was Kidd's
first capture on the high seas. Thomas Parker, the master of the _Mary_,
was forced on board the _Adventure_ to act as pilot, a Portuguese was
taken to act as interpreter, and the lascars of the _Mary_ beaten and
ill-treated. A week later he put into Carwar for provisions, flying
English colours; but his character was already known. The Sunda Rajah and
the factory stood on their guard while he was in harbour. Harvey, the
chief of the factory, demanded the surrender of Parker, but Kidd vowed he
knew nothing about him. Eight of his crew deserted, and told their story.
They had no desire for the piratical life into which they had been
trepanned, and reported that many more of the crew would leave him if they
could get the chance. While off Carwar he careened the _Adventure_ on a
small islet in the harbour, which was long known as Kidd's island. A month
later he was off Calicut, where his ever-recurring trouble about supplies
is shown in the following letter to the factory:--
"Adventure Gally, October y'e 4't, 1697.
"S'r,
"I can't but admire y't y'r People is so fearfull to come near us for
I have used all possible means to let them understand y't I am an
Englishman and a ff'rd not offering to molest any of their Cannoes so
think it convenient to write this y't you may understand whome I am
which (I) hope may end all Suspition. I come from England about 15 mos.
agone with y'e King's Commission to take all Pyrates in these seas,
and from Carwar came ab't a month agone, so do believe y't (you) have
heard whome I am before y't and all I come for here is wood and water
wh'h if you will be pleas'd to order me shall honestly satisfie for y'e
same or any thing that they'l bring off which is all from him who
will be very ready to serve you in what lyeth in my Power.
"WILLIAM KIDD."
They knew who he was only too well, so he sailed for the Laccadives,
whence news was soon received of his barbarous treatment of the natives,
and that he had killed his quartermaster.[2] The letter is characteristic
of Kidd's methods. From his first entrance into the Indian seas his
conduct had aroused suspicion. Owing to the large amount of coasting trade
and the frequent necessity of calling at many places for water, the news
of the sea spread from port to port with great rapidity. At the moment of
his writing this letter he had the master of the _Mary_ a prisoner under
hatches, and the factory chiefs of Carwar and Calicut were well aware of
it; but to the end he believed that he could throw dust in the eyes of the
Company's officials by making play with the royal commission.
While he was on the coast, Kidd was chased by two Portuguese armed vessels,
a grab and a sloop. The grab was a poor sailer, and Kidd had no difficulty
in eluding it; but the sloop, a better sailer, allowed itself to be drawn
on in chase, till Kidd, shortening sail, was able to give it several
broadsides, which reduced it to a total wreck; after which he showed a
clean pair of heels. At Kidd's trial it was stated he had ten men wounded
in this business.
In April (1698) the _Sedgwick_, arriving at Fort St. David, reported that
on its way from Anjengo it had been chased for three days and nights by
Kidd, but had been saved by a stiff breeze springing up. On its return
voyage the _Sedgwick_ was less fortunate, being captured off Cape Comorin
by Chivers, a Dutchman, in the _Soldado_, otherwise known as the
_Algerine_, of two hundred and fifty tons and carrying twenty-eight guns.
The cargo of the _Sedgwick_ not being to Chivers' liking, and being put
into good humour with sundry bowls of punch, he let the _Sedgwick_ go,
taking out of her only sails and cordage.
The year 1698 saw the Company's trade almost extinguished owing to the
depredations of the sea rovers and the hostility aroused against Europeans.
Every letter brought accounts of the pirates and the losses occasioned by
them. In small squadrons they swept the coast from Madras to the mouths of
the Indus, and haunted the sea from Cape Comorin to the Straits of Malacca.
In July, the Company's ship _Dorrill_, bound for China, was attacked in
the Straits of Malacca by the _Resolution_, late _Mocha_, commanded by
Culliford, and, after a hot engagement of three hours, made the pirate
sheer off, with heavy losses on both sides. Bowen in the _Speedy Return_,
for the taking of which Green was, with doubtful justice, hanged, Chivers
in the _Soldado_, North in the _Pelican_, Halsey, Williams, White, and
many others of less fame, were plundering and burning everywhere with
impunity. Early in the year, Kidd captured the _Quedah Merchant_ a country
ship bound from Bengal to Surat, belonging to some Armenian merchants who
were on board. The captain was an Englishman named Wright; the gunner was
a Frenchman, and there were two Dutchmen. This was the best prize made by
Kidd, and yielded some £10,000 or £12,000, which was at once divided among
the crew of the _Adventure_, Kidd's forty shares being one-fourth of the
whole. Able seamen got one share; landsmen and servants a half-share only.
The Surat factory was filled with alarm, not without good reason. In vain
Sir John Gayer wrote to the Governor, and sent an agent to the Emperor to
disclaim responsibility. In August came an imperial order directing that
the English, French, and Dutch should be held responsible for all losses,
and that for the _Quedah Merchant_ alone the English should pay two lakhs
of rupees. Guards were placed on the factories; all communication with
them was forbidden; their Mahommedan servants left them, and their
creditors were made to give an account to the Governor of all debts owing
by Europeans. The Dutch and French tried to exonerate themselves by laying
all the blame on the English, but the Governor refused to make any
distinction, and called on the three nations to pay fourteen lakhs of
rupees as a compensation for the losses occasioned by piracy. Sir John
Gayer was a man of action. Like Macrae, to be mentioned later in these
pages, he had first brought himself into notice as a sea-captain, and as
Governor of Bombay had upheld the Company's interests for four years, in
circumstances of no ordinary difficulty. The time for some decided action
had arrived if the Company's trade was to continue. On receiving
intelligence of these occurrences, he appeared off Surat with three armed
ships, and sent word to the Governor that he would neither pay any portion
of the fourteen lakhs, nor give security. At the same time he intimated
that he was ready to furnish convoys for the Mocha ships, as he had
already done, and, in proof of good will in acting against the pirates,
pointed out that, now the war in Europe was at an end, a royal squadron
was on its way to the Indian seas to extirpate them. The European traders
on the west coast had always been so submissive to the Emperor's authority
that this unexpected display of vigour astonished the Governor: he
moderated his tone. The Dutch declared they would abandon the Surat trade
rather than pay; so the Governor consented to make no demand for past
losses, if the English would engage to make good all future losses by
piracy. This was also refused. Finally, the English, French, and Dutch
agreed to act in concert to suppress piracy, and signed bonds by which
they jointly engaged to make good all future losses.
Onerous as these terms were, the agreement came not a moment too soon. The
news of it reached Aurungzeeb just in time to procure the reversal of an
order he had issued, putting a final stop to all European trade in his
dominions. He told the Surat Governor to settle the matter in his own way.
In pursuance of the agreement, the Dutch convoyed the Mecca pilgrims and
patrolled the entrance to the Red Sea, besides making a payment of
Rs.70,000 to the Governor; the English paid Rs.30,000 and patrolled the
South Indian seas; while the French made a similar payment and policed the
Persian Gulf.
An experience of the _Benjamin_ yacht at this time showed that pirates
were not prone to wanton mischief, where there was no plunder to be gained.
In November, the yacht lay at Honore, taking in a cargo of pepper, when
the well-known pirate ships _Pelican_, _Soldado_, and _Resolution_ came
into harbour for provisions. Seeing the Bombay Governor's yacht, they
naturally concluded that some attempt would be made to prevent the natives
from supplying their wants. They at once sent word to the master of the
_Benjamin_ that they had no intention of molesting him, unless he hindered
them in getting provisions, in which case they would sink him. The master
of the yacht was only too glad to be left alone; the pirates got their
provisions, and, in recognition of his behaviour, presented him with a
recently captured Portuguese ship. Sir John Gayer, in much fear lest he
should be accused of being in league with the pirates, quickly made it
over to the Portuguese authorities.
When the intelligence of Kidd's piracies reached England, there was a
storm of indignation in the country. Party feeling was running high and
with unusual violence. The majority in the House of Commons desired the
ruin of Somers and Orford while aiming at the King. The charge of abetment
in Kidd's misdeeds was too useful a weapon to be neglected, so it was
added to the list of accusations against them. It must be admitted that
the circumstances of the Lord Chancellor, the head of the Admiralty, and
other prominent men using their influence to forward a venture from which
they were to profit, under fictitious names, and that had created such a
scandal, demanded inquiry. It was hardly sufficient to say that they had
lost their money. Such an answer would justify any illegal enterprise in
the event of its failure.
The French war had come to an end, so in January, 1699, a royal squadron
of four men-of-war, the _Anglesea_, _Harwich_, _Hastings_, and _Lizard_,
sailed from Portsmouth for Madagascar under Warren.[3] They carried with
them four royal commissioners and a proclamation offering a free pardon,
from which Every and Kidd were excepted, to all pirates who voluntarily
surrendered themselves before the end of April, 1699. The pardon related
only to acts of piracy committed east of the Cape of Good Hope, between
the African and Indian coasts. After calling at St. Augustine's bay, where
several pirates made their submission, the squadron reached Tellicherry in
November. As it came to its anchorage, Warren died, and was buried on
shore the following day. He was succeeded in the command by Littleton. In
the following May, Littleton was on the Madagascar coast, where he
remained till the end of the year before returning home. During the whole
time he was in communication with the pirates. His dealings with them
brought him into disrepute in shipping circles. Hamilton tells us that
"for _some valuable reasons_ he let them go again; and because they found a
difficulty in cleaning the bottoms of their large ships, he generously
assisted them with large blocks and tackle falls for careening them."
Possibly Hamilton's remark was due to the conduct of Captain White of the
_Hastings_, whose behaviour excited such suspicion that Littleton placed
him under arrest, fearing he would make his ship over to the pirates.
Littleton remained on the Madagascar coast for eight months without firing
a shot. When he first reached St. Mary's, the pirates greeted him with a
salute of nine guns, to which he responded with five, and he was in close
and daily communication with them. Whether any pirates made their
submission to him does not appear; but it is probable that his presence
strengthened the resolution to obtain pardon of those who had previously
engaged themselves to Warren; among them Culliford and Chivers. The fact
is that piracy was looked upon then more leniently than we should now
regard it. Plundering and ill-treating Asiatics was a venial offence, and
many a seaman after a cruise with the pirates returned to his calling on
board an honest merchantman, without being thought much the worse for it.
Among all the naval officers sent to the Indian seas at that time, Warren
appears to have been the only one who really tried to protect the Company's
interests. Littleton quarrelled with Sir Nicholas Waite, and had
questionable dealings with the Madagascar pirates. Richards and Harland
quarrelled with Sir John Gayer, and crippled the Company's ships by
forcibly pressing their sailors to fill up their own crews; while Matthews
exceeded them all in outrageous behaviour, as will be recounted in its
place.
After capturing the _Quedah Merchant_, Kidd shaped his course for
Madagascar, where he found Culliford in the _Resolution_, who at first
treated him with suspicion, hearing that he had a commission to capture
pirates. But Kidd soon reassured him over sundry cups of bombo, protesting
with many oaths that 'his soul should fry in hell' sooner than that he
should hurt a hair of one of Culliford's crew; and, as a proof of good
will, presented him with two guns and an anchor. Then, finding the
_Adventure_ had become unseaworthy, he abandoned her, and sailed for New
England in the _Quedah Merchant_. In June, 1799, he reached Boston.
Before his arrival, he heard he had been proclaimed a pirate, so he
deputed a friend to approach Lord Bellamont on his behalf. The _Quedah
Merchant_ was disposed of, and his plunder placed in a safe place. By
assurance, and by a valuable present to Lady Bellamont, he thought he
could face matters out. Bellamont appears to have been puzzled at first
how to treat him. He was unwilling to believe all that was said. At the
end of three weeks he made up his mind and arrested Kidd. For eight months
he lay in Boston gaol, and was then sent to London for trial, remaining in
Newgate for more than a year. Eleven of his crew were also arrested, two
of them being admitted as King's witnesses.
In the interval the storm against the Whig ministers had gathered strength,
and articles of impeachment against Somers, Orford, and others were being
prepared by the House of Commons. On the 27th March, 1701, Kidd was
brought to the House to be examined, but he said nothing to inculpate any
of the owners of the _Adventure_, so a resolution was passed that he
should be proceeded against according to law.
On the 8th and 9th May he was brought up for trial at the Old Bailey. The
first indictment against him was for the murder of Moore, the gunner of
the _Adventure_. There had been a quarrel in which Moore accused Kidd of
having ruined them all, on which Kidd called him a 'lousy dog'; to which
Moore replied in a rage, that if he was a dog it was Kidd who had made him
one. At this Kidd hurled a bucket at him and fractured his skull. The jury
found him guilty. He was then tried, together with nine of his crew, for
the taking of the _Quedah Merchant_. His line of defence was that it was
sailing under a French pass, and therefore a lawful prize, but he evaded
actually saying so. He declared that Lord Bellamont had some French passes
of ships he had taken, but would not produce them. That Kidd had captured
some ships under French passes, and that the passes were in Bellamont's
hands, is extremely probable; but it is incredible that a French pass for
the _Quedah Merchant_ was in Bellamont's hands, and that he held it back.
He had been accused of complicity in Kidd's piracies, and threatened with
impeachment. Every consideration of private and political interest alike
prompted him to clear himself of the charge, and confound those who
accused the leading men of his party as well as himself.
Kidd tried to get the witnesses, some of them favourable to him, to say
they had seen the French pass, but all they could say was that they had
heard him declare there was one. The adverse witnesses deposed that he had
feigned to believe that the French gunner of the _Quedah Merchant_ was the
captain, though they all knew he was not. When asked, "Captain Kidd, can
you make it appear there was a French pass aboard the _Quedah Merchant_?"
he replied, "My lord, these men say they heard several say so." One of the
Armenian owners was in court, but he did not examine him; nor could he say
why he had not had the ship properly condemned, like the French ship taken
between Plymouth and New York. His only reply was that he was not at the
sharing of the goods, and knew nothing of it. For his attack on the Mocha
fleet he offered no explanation.
He was found guilty, and was then tried for the captures of a Moorish ship
(Parker's), a Moorish ketch, and a Portuguese ship. Culliford and two
others were next tried for taking a ship called the _Great Mahomet_. Three
of Kidd's crew were acquitted, the rest of the prisoners were found guilty,
and sentenced to be hanged. Culliford was respited, having made his
submission to Warren. Three of Kidd's crew had hard measure dealt to them.
They had made their submission under the King's proclamation, but not to
one of the commissioners appointed for the purpose, so their submission
went for nothing. On the 12th May, Kidd, with six of his crew and two of
Culliford's, was hanged at Execution Dock, the common place of execution
for pirates.
It is impossible to follow Kidd's career, and to study his trial, without
coming to the conclusion that he deserved his fate. There is no sign that
he was sacrificed to political expediency. Directly the House of Commons
failed to bring home the responsibility for Kidd's piracies to the leaders
of the Whig party, he ceased to be of any importance for political
purposes. The charge of complicity with him was only one of ten charges
against Orford, one of fourteen against Somers. The court is said to have
dealt hardly with him, but courts of justice were not very tender to any
criminals in those days, and the jury did not hesitate to acquit three of
those tried with him. Criminals were not allowed the aid of counsel,
except on a point of law. Kidd did raise a legal point, and was allowed
the aid of a counsel to argue it. His intention was clear from the day he
left New York. The four pirates named in his commission were then on the
American coast; he made no effort to look for them, but steered at once
for the Cape. If he could not control his crew, he could have invoked
Warren's help; instead of which he stole away in the night. His threats to
the _Sidney_ at Johanna, his attack, after three weeks' waiting, on the
Mocha fleet, his detention of Parker, to say nothing of his dealings with
Culliford, can only be interpreted in one way. During his whole cruise he
never put into Surat, Bombay, or Goa, but cruised like any other pirate.
The legend of his buried treasure has survived to our own day, owing to
the fact that he had buried some of his booty before putting himself in
Bellamont's hands; but the record of his trial shows that, beyond what was
obtained from the _Quedah Merchant_, his plunder consisted mostly of
merchandise. That some of his ill-gotten gains were recovered at the time
seems clear from an Act of Parliament passed in 1705, enabling the Crown
to "dispose of the effects of William Kidd, a notorious pirate, to the use
of Greenwich Hospital"; which institution received accordingly 6472-1.
The scandal caused by Kidd's piratical doings under a commission from the
Crown, the political use made of it in Parliament, and the legend of a
vast hoard of buried treasure, have conferred on him a celebrity not
justified by his exploits. As he appears in the Company's records, he
showed none of the picturesque daredevilry that distinguished many of the
sea rovers whose names are less known. No desperate adventure or
hard-fought action stand to his credit. Wherever we get a glimpse of his
character it shows nothing but mean, calculating cunning; and to the end
he posed as the simple, innocent man who was shamefully misjudged. His
crew were always discontented and ready to desert. He had none of the
lavish open-handedness that made the fraternity welcome in so many ports.
Every, Teach, England, and a dozen others in his place, would have thrown
the commission to the winds, and sailed the seas under the red flag. Kidd's
ruling idea appears to have been that he could hoodwink the world as to
his doings under cover of his commission: so that when he heard of the
charges against him he believed he could disarm his accusers by sheer
impudence. At his trial he attempted to lay all the blame on his crew, and
vowed he was 'the innocentest person of them all,' and all the witnesses
were perjured. Whatever touch of misdirected heroism was to be found in
any pirate, it was certainly not to be found in Kidd. He was altogether a
contemptible rascal, and had no claims to be a popular hero.
Though Littleton's squadron captured no pirate ships, its presence till
the autumn of 1700 had a salutary effect.[4] Some made their submission,
and the number who continued to ply their trade was greatly reduced. Many
of them were glad to leave a calling that had now become hazardous, in
which they had been unwillingly forced to join, while the renewal of the
war in Europe furnished a more legitimate outlet for the most turbulent
spirits, in the shape of privateering.
North, after making his submission to Littleton, thought better of it,
seeing the date of grace had expired, and refused to leave Madagascar.
There he remained for several years, fighting and subduing the natives
round St. Mary's, till he was finally killed by them. His comrades
'continued the war' for seven years till they had completely subdued the
country round.
On the 18th December, 1699, the _Loyal Merchant_, Captain Lowth, East
Indiaman, lying in Table Bay, saw a small vessel of sixty tons enter the
harbour under English colours. This proved to be the _Margaret_ of New
York. Lowth's suspicions being awakened, he sent for the captain and some
of the crew, who 'confessed the whole matter,' and were promptly put in
irons. The _Margaret_ was seized, in spite of Dutch protests. Two days
later came in the _Vine_, pink, from St. Mary's, with a number of
'passengers' on board. These were pirates on their way to New England, to
make their submission, among them Chivers and Culliford. Lowth would have
seized them also, but the Dutch interfered, and the behaviour of the Dutch
admiral became so threatening that Lowth cut short his stay and made sail
for Bombay, which he reached safely, taking with him the _Margaret_ and
eighteen prisoners. On reaching England, Culliford was tried and condemned,
but respited, as has already been mentioned.
While Kidd lay in Newgate awaiting trial, an Act was passed for the more
effectual suppression of piracy. Experience had shown that it was useless
to issue proclamations against individuals, but that some new machinery
must be created to deal with the gigantic evil that threatened to become
chronic. Under a former Act, passed in the reign of Henry VIII., the Lord
High Admiral, or his Lieutenant, or his Commissary, had been empowered to
try pirates; but the procedure had long fallen into abeyance. It had been
found almost impossible to bring offenders in distant seas to justice, to
say nothing of the cost and trouble of bringing them to England for trial.
Now it was enacted that courts of seven persons might be formed for the
trial of pirates at any place at sea or upon land, in any of his Majesty's
islands, plantations, colonies, dominions, forts, or factories. It was
necessary that at least one of the seven should be the chief of an English
factory, the governor or a member of council in a plantation or colony, or
the commander of a King's ship. These courts had powers of capital
punishment, and also had power to treat all persons who gave assistance or
countenance to pirates as accessories, and liable to the same punishments
as pirates. The Act was to be in force for seven years only. In 1706 it
was renewed for seven years, and in 1714 again for five years.
The amnesty granted to some pirates, the hanging of others,[5] and the new
Act of Parliament, caused a great abatement of the evil. The Madagascar
settlements still flourished, but for a time European trade was free from
attack. Littleton's squadron had gone home, and was replaced by two royal
ships, the _Severn_ and the _Scarborough_, which effected nothing against
the pirates, but served by their presence to keep them quiet.
The _Severn_ and _Scarborough_ sailed from England in May, 1703, under
Commodore Richards, who died at Johanna in the following March. The
command was then taken by Captain Harland, who visited Madagascar and
Mauritius, where two men were arrested, who afterwards made their escape
at Mohilla. The two ships returned to England in October, 1705.
Hamilton tells us how a
"Scots ship commanded by one Millar did the public more service in
destroying them, than all the chargeable squadrons that have been sent
in quest of them; for, with a cargo of strong ale and brandy, which he
carried to sell them, in anno 1704, he killed above 500 of them by
carousing, although they took his ship and cargo as a present from him,
and his men entered, most of them into the society of the pirates."
[1] This was probably a village near Ras Mabber, about one hundred and
sixty-five miles south of Cape Guardafui.
[2] In ships of this class the quartermaster was next in importance to the
captain or master. The incident refers to the death of Moore, the
gunner of the _Adventure_, who was killed by Kidd in a fit of anger
for saying that Kidd had ruined them all. The killing of Moore was one
of the indictments against Kidd at his trial.
[3] Warren had returned from his first cruise in the autumn of 1697.
[4] One small Arab vessel that rashly attacked the _Harwich_, mistaking it
for a merchant vessel, was disposed of with a broadside.
[5] Twenty were condemned and hung in one batch, in June, 1700; one of the
_Mocha_ mutineers among them. This was probably Guillam, to whom Kidd
had given a passage to America from Madagascar, and was supposed to
have been the man who stabbed Captain Edgecombe.