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, Caesar, 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 tierces, 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 L2,500, 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.
II
CAPTAIN WILLIAM KID
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 great 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.
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 this 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 colors.
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 humor 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 colors,
which, they observing, hoisted French colors 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 color.
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 his 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 colors, 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 honor 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[12] 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.
Kid was tried upon an indictment of murder also--viz., for killing Moor,
the gunner--and found guilty of the same.
As to Captain Kid's defense, 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.