"I was born and bred in the State of New York. My father I never knew.
My mother was kind and good; but she yielded to the dictates of her
heart rather than to those of her judgment. She over-indulged me; she
neglected to root out the bad seeds Satan is always striving to sow in
the heart of man; and they grew up and flourished, till they brought me
to what I now am. I was of a roving, unsettled disposition. I required
excitement. I believe that I might, with care, have been led into the
right way, but that care was wanting. I was fond of excitement; when I
could not obtain it in reality, I sought it in fiction, and therefore
eagerly devoured all books which could satisfy my craving; but never did
I look into one which would confer any real benefit upon me.
"The adventures of robbers and pirates delighted me most, and the
history of a man, whose name I by chance bore, had a fatal influence on
my destiny. I thought him a hero, and fancied it would be a grand thing
to become like him.
"It did not occur to me, that the stories about him were mostly false;
that the book was a fiction, dressed up to please the vicious palate of
the uneducated public, and that the man himself was a miserable wretch,
little better than a brute, who dared not think of the past or
contemplate the future. What he was I am too well able to tell, from
knowing what I myself now am. I was well educated; but my knowledge was
ignorance. I soon grew weary of the trammels of home, and fancying that
I should have greater licence afloat, with a vague notion that I would
imitate some of the heroes of my imagination, I, without even wishing my
mother farewell, ran away to sea. I had no difficulty in finding a
ship; and if Satan himself had wished to choose one for me, he would not
have fixed on a craft where I could more certainly have learned to
follow his ways. The master set an example of wickedness, in which the
crew willingly followed; and thus I grew up among the scenes of the
grossest vice. It was not long before I engaged in transactions
considered criminal by the laws. My companions and I succeeded so well
without detection, that the rascally merchants, who had employed us,
engaged us on several occasions for a similar object. At last our
practices were suspected; and I was warned not to return to my native
place. I accordingly took a berth on board a ship bound for India.
Arrived there, I deserted, and joined an opium clipper. I soon got
tired of that life, for there was some little danger at times, the
excitement was but trifling, and the discipline was stricter than I
liked. I got back, at length, to India, where there was much fighting
going forward with the native princes; and European recruits being
wanted, I enlisted, pretending I was an Englishman.
"I gained some credit for bravery, though, being discovered on a
pillaging expedition, I narrowly escaped a severe punishment. I went by
the name of `the sailor', in the regiment to which I belonged; and
having, while in liquor, described some of my adventures, my character
was pretty well-known, not only to my comrades, but to some of my
officers, as it appeared. It was not long before my conduct brought me
into trouble. I escaped narrowly with my life, and was turned out of my
regiment without a farthing in my pocket. I was wandering about the
streets of Calcutta, considering what I should next do, when one
evening, as it was growing dark, I observed a person watching me. He
followed me to a secluded place, and when no one was in sight, he came
up, and, addressing me by name, told me if I wanted a job which would
put money in my pocket, to come to a certain house in two hours' time,
binding me by an oath not to mention the circumstance to any one. I
went at the time agreed on, and was shown by a servant into a room,
where, soon afterwards, I was joined by a young officer, whom I knew to
be a gambler and a man of ruined fortune. I therefore guessed that he
wanted me to perform some desperate piece of work or other for him.
`Well, what is it you want of me?' I asked, in rather a sulky mood, for
somehow or other I did not like the gentleman; and, bad as I was, I felt
rather degraded in being employed by him; but yet my fortunes were too
low, to allow me to be nice in what I undertook. He looked rather
astonished at my manner; but recovering himself, he said, `I want you to
manage a very delicate affair for me, Kidd; and if you do so, I intend
to pay you well.' `What do you call well?' I asked calmly. `Why, I
propose giving you two hundred pounds down, and fifty pounds a year for
your life, if you remain faithful,' he answered. `You must swear to me
that you will not betray me, and that no threats or bribes shall move
you.' I took the oath he prescribed. He then said, `You must know that
there are two children, now in the East, who are about to be sent home
to their friends in England. Both their parents are dead, and they
stand between my father and a large property. If they come of age, it
will be theirs, and while they live he cannot enjoy it. Now,
understand, I do not want you to murder the children; we must have
nothing of that sort on our consciences; but you must manage to get hold
of them, and bear them away where they shall be no more heard of. I
leave you to form the plan, and to carry it out, only let me know the
result. Will you undertake the work?' I told him that I would. `Well,
then,' he continued, `the children are now in the Mauritius; their names
are Marmaduke and Ellen Seaton. You will have time to reach them before
they sail; and you must contrive to get a berth on board the ship they
go by. It is whispered that you have contrived to cast away a ship or
so, when you were well paid for it. Perhaps the same turn may serve you
now.'
"The plan was soon arranged. The directions for finding out the
children were given me, and, putting fifty pounds into my hands for my
expenses, he told me to start off at once, and to come back to him when
the matter was settled. I reached the Mauritius without difficulty, and
found that the children, under charge of an Indian nurse, were to
proceed by the _Penguin_, a small free-trader, touching there on her
homeward voyage. In aid of my plan, the second mate had died, so I
applied for and obtained the berth; besides which I fell in with two
seamen who had been with me before, when a ship I sailed in was lost by
my means. I opened my project to them, and they promised to assist me.
The nurse was devotedly attached to the children and by nursing them,
and being attentive to her, I soon won her confidence. I found,
however, much more difficulty than I expected in my attempt to wreck the
vessel. The captain was a good navigator, and very attentive to his
duty, as was the first mate; so that when, during my watch on deck at
night, I got the ship steered a wrong course, in the hopes of edging her
in on the African coast, I was very soon detected. I laid the blame on
the helmsman, one of my accomplices, who stoutly asserted that he had
been steering a proper course. I again tried to effect my object; but
the captain had, it appeared, a compass above his head, in his own
cabin, and being awake, discovered the attempt.
"I made every plausible excuse I could think of, but I felt that I was
suspected, and dared not venture to play the same trick again. I had,
however, another resource, which, dangerous as it was, I determined to
risk. You may well start with horror. It was nothing less than to set
the ship on fire. I then intended with my comrades to carry off the
nurse and children to the coast of Africa, and to dispose of them to
some of the African chiefs a little way in the interior, where no white
man was ever likely to fall in with them. One night, the wind being
from the westward, I managed to set fire to a quantity of combustible
matter among the cargo. I waited till the alarm was given, and then,
hurrying to the Indian nurse and the children, told her that, if she
would trust to me, I would save her. My men had been prepared, and
instantly lowered a boat, in which she and her charges were placed with
two of my accomplices. I had a chart, with a few nautical instruments,
my money, and some provisions, all ready; having thrown a keg of water
and a few biscuits into the boat, I hurried forward to my cabin to get
them. The flames had burned much faster than I expected, and while I
was in my cabin, just about to return aft to the boat, they had reached,
it appeared, the magazine. Suddenly a dreadful noise was heard; I felt
myself lifted off my feet, and then I lost all consciousness of what was
occurring. At length I found myself clinging to a mass of floating
wreck, and in almost total darkness. I could discover no boat near me.
I hailed; but no one answered. Oh, the horrors of that night! It is
impossible to picture them. A laughing fiend kept whispering in my ear
that I had caused all this havoc, that I had destroyed the lives of so
many of my fellow-creatures, and that I should not miss my reward.
Daylight came, and I was alone on the wild waters. A shattered portion
of the mainmast and main-top buoyed me up, and a bag of biscuits I had
had on my arm still hung there. I ate mechanically. The sun came out
with fiery heat and scorched my unprotected head, and I had no water to
quench my burning thirst. Thus for three days I lay drifting, I knew
not where, expecting every moment to be my last, and a prey to my own
bitter recollections. Then conscience for a time usurped its sway; and
I believe, had I fallen into good hands I might have repented; but it
was not to be so. A vessel at length hove in sight. I had just
strength left to wave my hand to show that I was alive. I was taken on
board; not that feelings of compassion dwelt in the bosoms of her crew,
but they saw my white skin, and thought that I might be useful in
navigating their evil-employed craft, for fever had thinned their
numbers. She was a slaver, and had some four hundred human beings
groaning in chains beneath her confined decks.
"I speedily recovered, and assuming a bold, independent manner, I soon
gained considerable influence over the crew, who were composed of
Spaniards, Portuguese, Mulattoes, and desperadoes from every country in
Europe. My companions found me so useful that they would not part with
me, so I sailed in the vessel for the next voyage. She was a large
brig, well armed. Slaving alone was too tame for us. If we fell in
with a merchantman, we plundered her; and instead of going on the coast
for slaves, we lay in wait for the smaller vessels returning home, when
we used to take the slaves out of them, sometimes paying them in goods,
and sometimes, if we were not afraid of detection, refusing them any
recompense, and threatening to sink them if they dared to complain. For
two years I remained in the slave brig without being able to leave her.
I had no dislike to the work, and our gains were very large; but I was
anxious to get back to India to secure the reward which had been
promised me. It may seem strange that I should be eager after a sum
which was paltry, compared to what I was now making; but I did not like
to lose what I considered my right, gained, too, with so much risk and
crime.
"Fortune did not always favour us. We were captured by an English ship
of war; and clear evidence of our guilt being brought forward, I, with
several of the officers and crew, was sentenced to be hung at Sierra
Leone. The sum of my iniquities was not yet full. Two of my
companions, confined with me, formed a plan for escaping; and, as my
knowledge of English would be useful, they invited me to join them.
"We succeeded; and after going through incredible hardships and dangers,
in travelling down the coast, under which one of our number sunk, the
survivor and I got on board a slaver, and reached the Brazils. I was
here very nearly recognised by the master of a Brazilian craft we had
plundered; so, with my Spanish comrade, I worked my way to India. When
I arrived, I made inquiries for the officer who had employed me, and was
to pay me my reward. He was dead; and I found that I had lost the
fruits of my crime.
"The children, I felt convinced, had been lost in the burning ship; and
with the proof of her destruction, I contemplated going to England, and
claiming the price agreed on for this work from the officer's father,
who, I doubted not, was enjoying the fortune which should have been
theirs. Each time, however, that I attempted to go, I was prevented;
once I had actually got part of the way, when I was wrecked at the Cape
of Good Hope; and all the time I had my misgivings about going. First,
that I might be recognised by those who knew me as a pirate; and then,
after all, that the old gentleman would refuse to acknowledge my claims.
A poor rogue, I knew, would have but little chance with a rich one. He
had not tempted me to commit the crime, and might probably defy
scrutiny. I speak of myself as poor; for, not withstanding all the sums
I had possessed, not a dollar remained. Ill-gotten wealth speedily
disappears, and leaves only a curse behind. Years passed away, when, at
the port of Macao, in China, I took a berth as first mate on board the
American brig _Emu_, trading in the Indian Seas.
"A lady, who was reputed to have great wealth with her, and a little
girl, whom I supposed to be her child, came on board as passengers to
Singapore. Two of the crew were my former comrades. I sounded the
rest, and found that they had no scruples about joining me in any
project I might propose. The prospect of possessing the lady's dollars
was too tempting to be resisted. The master, we feared, would not join
us. To make sure, he was shot, and thrown overboard; and I took the
command. I have perpetrated so many crimes, that I can speak of murder
as of a common occurrence."
"But what became of my sister and Mrs Clayton?" I exclaimed as the
pirate had got thus far in his narrative.
"I took them from the first under my charge," he answered. "I treated
the lady with care; because I hoped that if I were captured, she might
intercede for me, and assist in preserving my life. It was not for some
time that I discovered who the little girl was. I had won her
confidence; for in her presence I always felt myself a better man, and
more than once I had resolved to repent, and obeying my mother's earnest
prayers, to return home to lead a virtuous life; but my evil passions
had got too strong a hold of me, and my good resolutions were speedily
broken.
"One day little Eva told me that she had been picked up in a boat at
sea; and she afterwards showed me a gold chain and locket which had been
found round her neck. I remembered it perfectly; and when she told me
that she had a brother, and I considered that the initials of the names
were the same, I had not the slightest doubt that I had discovered the
children who were supposed to have been lost at sea. It at once
occurred to me that I might turn the circumstance to my own advantage;
and I resolved to return to England, and to put her in the way of
regaining her rights. I knew that there was a great risk, but the
romance and adventure pleased me; and when I told her that I had the
means of serving you and her, she vowed that she would never consent to
see me punished for anything that had occurred, and that she was certain
that you also, and Sir Charles Plowden, would protect me.
"When I proposed to go to England, my crew would not hear of it. They
had been disappointed in their share of Mrs Clayton's property; and
they declared that they must have the ship full of booty before they
would go into harbour, and that if I would not consent I should share
the fate of the master.
"We were tolerably successful, and for a long time no ship of war
appeared inclined to molest us; at length your schooner appeared, and on
two or three occasions nearly came up with us. I should have fought
you, and might have beaten you off; but when, after some time, I learned
who you were, which information I gained by going in disguise to some of
the Dutch settlements where you had touched, I was anxious to avoid you.
I had a notion that if I attempted further to injure you, the attempt
would recoil on my own head. During this time your young sister was
tolerably contented on board. I did my best to amuse her, for I truly
was fond of the child, and she little knew how bad we were.
"Mrs Clayton, however, suffered much, and her health and strength soon
gave way. She prayed me to set her and Eva on shore; but I dared not do
so, lest they might betray me; and I had my own reasons, which I have
told you, for keeping the little girl with me. At last the poor lady
sunk beneath her sorrows. Even my fierce crew pitied her; and, when too
late, they would have set her on shore. She died, and we buried her at
sea. I thought I should have lost the poor little girl also, her grief
was so great. I did my best to comfort her, and she somewhat recovered
her spirits.
"There is an uninhabited island in these seas, not far from this, where
we used to go to take in wood and water, and to refit the vessel when
necessary. Some months ago we went there, and having safely moored the
schooner in a snug harbour, carried some of her guns on shore, with the
intention, on the following day, of conveying all her stores, for the
purpose of heaving her down to give her a thorough overhaul. We erected
tents and huts, and all the crew went to live on shore. Eva remained on
board, to be more out of harm's way; for on such occasions they were apt
to get drunk, and quarrel, and sometimes to discharge their fire-arms at
each other. Our movements, it appeared, had been watched by the scouts
of a pirate fleet of Malays. While the greater part of the people were
sleeping on shore, not suspecting danger, a number of armed prahus
pulled into the harbour, and, undiscovered, they got alongside the brig.
Before any alarm was given, most of the fellows who remained on board
were krissed, and the lighter and most valuable portion of our cargo was
carried off. Two or three of our men managed to jump overboard and to
swim on shore, unperceived by the Malays. Fortunately, we had our boats
with us, and instantly manning them, we pulled off to the brig. We had
everything to fight for; for if we lost her, we were undone. We
succeeded in surprising our enemies before they had time to cut the
cables, or to set her on fire. Some we cut down, others we drove back
to their vessels, and others into the water. So fierce was our attack,
that they must have fancied that we mustered many more men than we
actually did; and casting off their prahus, they swept them out of the
harbour. Not a living being was found on board; the bodies of the men
were still there, but your little sister, my good angel, was gone. I
almost went mad when I made the discovery. I hoped, at first, that she
might have concealed herself in the vessel, but I searched for her in
vain. Nothing that could have occurred could have so moved me. I vowed
that I would search for her in every direction, and would kill every
Malay I met till I found her. After this I grew worse than ever, and
more fierce and cruel. Even my own people were afraid of me.
"We had lost so many men, that it was necessary to be careful till we
had recruited ourselves. We at last attacked a large Spanish brig.
Some of her crew volunteered to join us; the rest shared the fate of
many of our victims. We set her on fire and left her. We found an
immense booty on board her; and it was necessary to repair to our island
to share it. The people quarrelled with me about the division. I was
also anxious to cruise among the Sooloo Islands, and to visit other
places to which I thought little Eva might have been carried. To this
they were opposed, instigated by the new hands. I grew furious, and
blew out the brains of one of the ringleaders. It silenced them for the
moment; but that night I found myself bound hand and foot, and that the
brig was under weigh. After being at sea about a week, I was landed on
this rock. I had no means of judging whereabouts it was. I was put on
shore at night, and the brig made sail again at night. They left me
neither arms, ammunition, nor food. At first I thought I should die;
but I found ample means of existence, and I resolved to live to be
revenged on those who had thus ill-used me. I felt all the time like a
caged hyena, and used to walk about the island, thinking how I could
escape. With some spars washed on shore I made the flag-staff you saw;
but I could take no other measures, for I had no tools to construct a
boat or even a raft. At last fever overtook me, and reduced me to the
condition in which I now am.
"Such is a short outline of my history; but I have more to say to you.
Some papers, to prove the claims of the children, kept in a tin case,
were entrusted to the faithful nurse, who had charge of them. I got
these papers from her, and they were in my pocket when I set the ship on
fire, and I have ever since preserved them, thinking they might be of
some use to me. I now return them, as they are of great importance to
you."
The dying pirate ceased his strange narrative. Prior and Fairburn at
once got him to give the names and addresses of people, and several
dates, and other particulars, which were afterwards of the greatest
importance to me. I was so overcome and astonished at what I had heard,
that I should have neglected to have done so. I eagerly received the
case, for I longed to learn who I was, which I supposed the papers in it
would inform me; but my desire to attend to the dying man would not then
allow me to look at them.
He might have done me much injury, but he had been kind to Eva; and on
that account I almost forgot that he was a pirate, and looked upon him
as a friend. Had he been even my enemy, at that moment I would not have
deserted him. The tin case I entrusted to Prior, and begged him to give
it me when we returned on board; and I then sat myself down by the side
of the pirate. He intimated that he could talk, and listen to me better
alone.
"I shall not keep you long, sir," he observed. "As the sun sets, my
spirit too will take its flight. Alas, to what region must it be bound!
Oh, who would commit sin, if they remembered what anguish they were
preparing for themselves at their last moments!"
Thinking that some medicine might be of use to him, I proposed carrying
him on board but he entreated to be left where he was.
"I am not afraid that you would betray me," he said, with a ghastly
smile; "I wish that the gibbet could make atonement for my sins, or that
the gold I have robbed could buy masses for my soul, as the cunning
priests of Rome tell their dupes it would do, but it is of no use. I
shall not live to see another day; and if I can be saved, it must be
through the unspeakable mercy of the great Saviour, of whom you are
telling me."
Still believing that he might live longer than he supposed, I begged my
friends to return on board, as it wanted still two hours to sunset, and
to bring some food and medicine, while I remained with the unhappy man.
As there could be no risk in my being left alone, from the island being
uninhabited, they yielded to my request, and immediately set off down
the hill to rejoin the boat.
It was a lovely evening. The cavern wherein I sat, by the side of the
dying pirate, looked towards the west. Above our head and round us were
the dark rocks; below, a mass of the rich and varied foliage of the
tropics, between which was seen a strip of yellow sand and a line of
coral reefs; and beyond, the calm blue sea, on which the sun was shining
in full radiance from the unclouded sky. At a little distance off was
my little schooner, with her sails idly flapping against the masts, now
lying perfectly becalmed. There I sat, and humbly strove to show the
dying pirate the way to seek forgiveness of his God.