rockiness of the ground; and one day, blowing more violently than usual,
they were forced to take to sea, leaving several people and most of the
water-casks; but when the gale was over, they returned to take in their
men and water. Their provisions being nearly exhausted, they resolved to
visit the Dutch at Cochin. After sailing three days, they arrived off
Tellechery, and took a small vessel belonging to Governor Adams, and
brought the master on board, very much intoxicated, who informed them of
the expedition of Captain Mackra. This intelligence raised their utmost
indignation. "A villain!" said they, "to whom we have given a ship and
presents, to come against us! he ought to be hanged; and since we cannot
show our resentment to him, let us hang the dogs his people, who wish
him well, and would do the same, if they were clear." "If it be in my
power," said the quarter-master, "both masters and officers of ships
shall be carried with us for the future, only to plague them. Now,
England, we mark him for this."
They proceeded to Calicut, and attempting to cut out a ship, were
prevented by some guns placed upon the shore. One of Captain Mackra's
officers was under deck at this time, and was commanded both by the
captain and the quarter-master to tend the braces on the booms, in hopes
that a shot would take him before they got clear. He was about to have
excused himself, but they threatened to shoot him; and when he
expostulated, and claimed their promise to put him on shore, he received
an unmerciful beating from the quarter-master; Captain Taylor, to whom
that duty belonged, being lame in his hands.
The day following they met a Dutch galliot, laden with limestone, bound
for Calicut, on board of which they put one Captain Fawkes; and some of
the crew interceding for Mackra's officer, Taylor and his party replied,
"If we let this dog go, who has overheard our designs and resolutions,
he will overset all our well-advised resolutions, and particularly this
supply we are seeking for at the hands of the Dutch."
When they arrived at Cochin, they sent a letter on shore by a
fishing-boat, entered the road, and anchored, each ship saluting the
fort with eleven guns, and receiving the same number in return. This was
the token of their welcome reception, and at night a large boat was
sent, deeply laden with liquors and all kinds of provisions, and in it a
servant of John Trumpet, one of their friends, to inform them that it
would be necessary for them to run farther south, where they would be
supplied both with provisions and naval stores.
They had scarcely anchored at the appointed place, when several canoes,
with white and black inhabitants, came on board, and continued without
interruption to perform all the good offices in their power during their
stay in that place. In particular, John Trumpet brought a large boat of
arrack, and sixty bales of sugar, as a present from the governor and his
daughter; the former receiving in return a table-clock, and the other a
gold watch, the spoil of Captain Mackra's vessel. When their provisions
were all on board, Trumpet was rewarded with about six or seven thousand
pounds, was saluted with three cheers, and eleven guns; and several
handsfull of silver were thrown into the boat, for the men to gather at
pleasure.
There being little wind that night, they remained at anchor, and in the
morning were surprised with the return of Trumpet, bringing another boat
equally well stored with provisions, with chests of piece-goods and
ready-made clothes, and along with him the fiscal of the place. At noon
they espied a sail towards the south, and immediately gave chase, but
she outsailed them, and sheltered under the fort of Cochin. Informed
that they would not be molested in taking her from under the castle,
they sailed towards her, but upon the fort firing two guns, they ran
off for fear of more serious altercation, and returning, anchored in
their former station. They were too welcome visitants to be permitted to
depart, so long as John Trumpet could contrive to detain them. With this
view he informed them, that in a few days a rich vessel, commanded by
the Governor of Bombay's brother, was to pass that way.
That government is certainly in a wretched state, which is under the
necessity of trading with pirates, in order to enrich itself; nor will
such a government hesitate by what means an injury can be repaired, or a
fortune gained. Neither can language describe the low and base
principles of a government which could employ such a miscreant as John
Trumpet in its service. He was a tool in the hands of the government of
Cochin; and, as the dog said in the fable, "What is done by the master's
orders, is the master's action;" or, as the same sentiment is, perhaps,
better expressed in the legal axiom; "Qui facit per alium facit per se."
While under the direction of Trumpet, some proposed to proceed directly
to Madagascar, but others were disposed to wait until they should be
provided with a store ship. The majority being of the latter opinion,
they steered to the south, and seeing a ship on shore were desirous to
get near her, but the wind preventing, they separated, the one sailing
northward and the other southward, in hopes of securing her when she
should come out, whatever direction she might take. They were now,
however, almost entrapped in the snare laid for them. In the morning, to
their astonishment and consternation, instead of being called to give
chase, five large ships were near, which made a signal for the pirates
to bear down. The pirates were in the greatest dread lest it should be
Captain Mackra, of whose activity and courage they had formerly
sufficient proof. The pirate ships, however, joined and fled with all
speed from the fleet. In three hours' chase none of the fleet gained
upon them, except one grab. The remainder of the day was calm, and, to
their great consolation, the next day this dreaded fleet was entirely
out of sight.
Their alarm being over, they resolved to spend the Christmas in feasting
and mirth, in order to drown care, and to banish thought. Nor did one
day suffice, but they continued their revelling for several days, and
made so free with their fresh provisions, that in their next cruise they
were put upon short allowance; and it was entirely owing to the sugar
and other provisions that were in the leaky ship that they were
preserved from absolute starvation.
In this condition they reached the island of Mauritius, refitted the
Victory, and left that place with the following inscription written upon
one of the walls: "Left this place on the 5th of April, to go to
Madagascar for Limos." This they did lest any visit should be paid to
the place during their absence. They, however, did not sail directly for
Madagascar, but the island of Mascarius, where they fortunately fell in
with a Portuguese of seventy guns, lying at anchor. The greater part of
her guns had been thrown overboard, her masts lost, and the whole vessel
disabled by a storm; she therefore, became an easy prey to the pirates.
Conde de Ericeira, Viceroy of Goa, who went upon the fruitless
expedition against Angria the Indian, and several passengers, were on
board. Besides other valuable articles and specie, they found in her
diamonds to the amount of four millions of dollars. Supposing that the
ship was an Englishman, the Viceroy came on board next morning, was made
prisoner, and obliged to pay two thousand dollars as a ransom for
himself and the other prisoners. After this he was sent ashore, with an
express engagement to leave a ship to convey him and his companions to
another port.
Meanwhile, the pirates received intelligence that a vessel was to the
leeward of the island, which they pursued and captured. But instead of
performing their promise to the Viceroy, which they could easily have
done, they sent the Ostender along with some of their men to Madagascar,
to inform their friends of their success, with instructions to prepare
masts for the prize; and they soon followed, carrying two thousand
negroes in the Portuguese vessel.
Madagascar is an island larger than Great Britain, situated upon the
eastern coast of Africa, abounding with all sorts of provisions, such as
oxen, goats, sheep, poultry, fish, citrons, oranges, tamarinds, dates,
cocoa-nuts, bananas, wax, honey, rice, cotton, indigo, and all other
fruits common in that quarter of the globe; ebony of which lances are
made, gums of several kinds, and many other valuable productions. Here,
in St. Augustine's bay, the ships sometimes stop to take in water, when
they make the inner passage to India, and do not intend to stop at
Johanna.
When the Portuguese ship arrived there, they received intelligence that
the Ostender had taken advantage of an hour when the men were
intoxicated, had risen upon them, and carried the ship to Mozambique,
from whence the governor ordered her to Goa.
The pirates now divided their plunder, receiving forty-two diamonds per
man, or in smaller proportion according to their magnitude. A foolish
jocular fellow, who had received a large diamond of the value of
forty-two, was highly displeased, and so went and broke it in pieces,
exclaiming, that he had many more shares than either of them. Some,
contended with their treasure, and unwilling to run the risk of losing
what they possessed, and perhaps their lives also, resolved to remain
with their friends at Madagascar, under the stipulation that the longest
livers should enjoy all the booty. The number of adventurers being now
lessened, they burned the Viceroy, cleaned the Cassandra, and the
remainder went on board her under the command of Taylor, whom we must
leave for a little while, in order to give an account of the squadron
which arrived in India in 1721.
When the commodore arrived at the Cape, he received a letter that had
been written by the Governor of Pondicherry to the Governor of Madras,
informing him that the pirates were strong in the Indian seas; that they
had eleven sail, and fifteen hundred men; but adding, that many of them
retired about that time to Brazil and Guinea, while others fortified
themselves at Madagascar, Mauritius, Johanna, and Mohilla; and that a
crew under the command of Condin, in a ship called the Dragon, had
captured a vessel with thirteen lacks of rupees on board, and having
divided their plunder, had taken up their residence with their friends
at Madagascar.
Upon receiving this intelligence, Commodore Matthews sailed for these
islands, as the most probable place of success. He endeavored to prevail
on England, at St. Mary's, to communicate to him what information he
could give respecting the pirates; but England declined, thinking that
this would be almost to surrender at discretion. He then took up the
guns of the Jubilee sloop that were on board, and the men-of-war made
several cruises in search of the pirates, but to no purpose. The
squadron was then sent down to Bombay, was saluted by the fort, and
after these exploits returned home.
The pirate, Captain Taylor, in the Cassandra, now fitted up the
Portuguese man-of-war, and resolved upon another voyage to the Indies;
but, informed that four men-of-war had been sent after the pirates in
that quarter, he changed his determination, and sailed for Africa.
Arrived there, they put in a place near the river Spirito Sancto, on the
coast of Monomotapa. As there was no correspondence by land, nor any
trade carried on by sea to this place, they thought that it would afford
a safe retreat. To their astonishment, however, when they approached the
shore, it being in the dusk of the evening, they were accosted by
several shot. They immediately anchored, and in the morning saw that
the shot had come from a small fort of six guns, which they attacked and
destroyed.
This small fort was erected by the Dutch East India Company a few weeks
before, and committed to the care of 150 men, the one half of whom had
perished by sickness or other causes. Upon their petition, sixteen of
these were admitted into the society of the pirates; and the rest would
also have been received, had they not been Dutchmen, to whom they had a
rooted aversion.
In this place they continued during four months, refitting their
vessels, and amusing themselves with all manner of diversions, until the
scarcity of their provisions awakened them to industry and exertion.
They, however, left several parcels of goods to the starving Dutchmen,
which Mynheer joyfully exchanged for provisions with the next vessel
that touched at that fort.
Leaving that place, they were divided in opinion what course to steer;
some went on board the Portuguese prize, and, sailing for Madagascar,
abandoned the pirate life; and others going on board the Cassandra,
sailed for the Spanish West Indies. The Mermaid man-of-war, returning
from a convoy, got near the pirates, and would have attacked them, but a
consultation being held, it was deemed inexpedient, and thus the pirates
escaped. A sloop was, however, dispatched to Jamaica with the
intelligence, and the Lancaster was sent after them; but they were some
days too late, the pirates having, with all their riches, surrendered to
the Governor of Portobello.
ACCOUNT OF THE LYNN PIRATES
_And Thomas Veal, who was buried in his cave by the Great Earthquake_.
In the year 1658 there was a great earthquake in New-England. Some time
previous, on one pleasant evening, a little after sunset, a small vessel
was seen to anchor near the mouth of Saugus river. A boat was presently
lowered from her side, into which four men descended, and moved up the
river a considerable distance, when they landed, and proceeded directly
into the woods. They had been noticed by only a few individuals; but in
those early times, when the people were surrounded by danger, and easily
susceptible of alarm, such an incident was well calculated to awaken
suspicion, and in the course of the evening the intelligence was
conveyed to many houses. In the morning, the people naturally directed
their eyes toward the shore, in search of the strange vessel--but she
was gone, and no trace could be found either of her or her singular
crew. It was afterwards ascertained that, on the morning one of the men
at the Iron Works, on going into the foundry, discovered a paper, on
which was written, that if a quantity of shackles, handcuffs, hatchets,
and other articles of iron manufacture, were made and deposited, with
secrecy, in a certain place in the woods, which was particularly
designated, an amount of silver, to their full value, would be found in
their place. The articles were made in a few days, and placed in
conformity with the directions. On the next morning they were gone, and
the money was found according to the promise; but though a watch had
been kept, no vessel was seen. Some months afterwards, the four men
returned, and selected one of the most secluded and romantic spots in
the woods of Saugus, for their abode. The place of their retreat was a
deep narrow valley, shut in on two sides by craggy, precipitous rocks,
and shrouded on the others by thick pines, hemlocks and cedars, between
which there was only one small spot, to which the rays of the sun at
noon could penetrate. On climbing up the rude and almost perpendicular
steps of the rock on either side, the eye could command a full view of
the bay on the south, and a prospect of a considerable portion of the
surrounding country. The place of their retreat has ever since been
called the Pirates' Glen, and they could not have selected a spot on the
coast for many miles, more favorable for the purposes both of
concealment and observation. Even at this day, when the neighborhood has
become thickly peopled, it is still a lonely and desolate place, and
probably not one in a hundred of the inhabitants has ever descended into
its silent and gloomy recess. There the pirates built a small hut, made
a garden, and dug a well, the appearance of which is still visible. It
has been supposed that they buried money; but though people have dug
there, and in many other places, none has ever been found. After
residing there some time, their retreat became known, and one of the
king's cruizers appeared on the coast. They were traced to their glen,
and three of them were taken, and carried to England, where it is
probable they were executed. The other, whose name was Thomas Veal,
escaped to a rock in the woods, about two miles to the north, in which
was a spacious cavern, where the pirates had previously deposited some
of their plunder. There the fugitive fixed his residence, and practised
the trade of a shoemaker, occasionally coming down to the village to
obtain articles of sustenance. He continued his residence till the great
earthquake in 1658, when the top of the rock was loosened, and crushed
down into the mouth of the cavern, enclosing the unfortunate inmate in
its unyielding prison. It has ever since been called the Pirate's
Dungeon. A part of the cavern is still open, and is much visited by the
curious.
This rock is situated on a lofty range of thickly wooded hills, and
commands an extensive view of the ocean, for fifty miles both north and
south. A view from the top of it, at once convinces the beholder that it
would be impossible to select a place more convenient for the haunt of a
gang of pirates; as all vessels bound in and out of the harbors of
Boston, Salem, and the adjacent ports, can be distinctly seen from its
summit. Saugus river meanders among the hills a short distance to the
south, and its numerous creeks which extend among thick bushes, would
afford good places to secrete boats, until such time as the pirates
descried a sail, when they could instantly row down the river, attack
and plunder them, and with their booty return to the cavern. This was
evidently their mode of procedure. On an open space in front of the rock
are still to be seen distinct traces of a small garden spot, and in the
corner is a small well, full of stones and rubbish; the foundation of
the wall round the garden remains, and shows that the spot was of a
triangular shape, and was well selected for the cultivation of potatoes
and common vegetables. The aperture in the rock is only about five feet
in height, and extends only fifteen feet into the rock. The needle is
strongly attracted around this, either by the presence of magnetic iron
ore or some metallic substance buried in the interior.
The Pirates' Glen, which is some distance from this, is one of Nature's
wildest and most picturesque spots, and the cellar of the pirate's hut
remains to the present time, as does a clear space, which was evidently
cultivated at some remote period.
[Illustration: _The Dungeon Rock and Pirate's Cave, at Lynn, Mass._]
HISTORY OF THE LADRONE PIRATES
_And their Depredations on the Coast of China: with an Account of the
Enterprises and Victories of Mistress Ching, a Female Pirate_.
The Ladrones as they were christened by the Portuguese at Macao, were
originally a disaffected set of Chinese, that revolted against the
oppression of the Mandarins. The first scene of their depredations was
the Western coast, about Cochin China, where they began by attacking
small trading vessels in row boats, carrying from thirty to forty men
each. They continued this system of piracy, and thrived and increased in
numbers under it, for several years. At length the fame of their
success, and the oppression and horrid poverty and want that many of the
lower orders of Chinese labored under, had the effect of augmenting
their bands with astonishing rapidity. Fishermen and other destitute
classes flocked by hundreds to their standard, and their audacity
growing with their numbers, they not merely swept the coast, but
blockaded all the rivers and attacked and took several large government
war junks, mounting from ten to fifteen guns each.--These junks being
added to their shoals of boats, the pirates formed a tremendous fleet,
which was always along shore, so that no small vessel could safely trade
on the coast. When they lacked prey on the sea, they laid the land under
tribute. They were at first accustomed to go on shore and attack the
maritime villages, but becoming bolder, like the Buccaneers, made long
inland journeys, and surprised and plundered even large towns.
An energetic attempt made by the Chinese government to destroy them,
only increased their strength; for in their first encounter with the
pirates, twenty-eight of the Imperial junks struck, and the remaining
twelve saved themselves, by a precipitate retreat.
The captured junks, fully equipped for war, were a great acquisition to
the robbers, whose numbers now increased more rapidly than ever. They
were in their plenitude of power in the year 1809, when Mr. Glasspoole
had the misfortune to fall into their hands, at which time that
gentleman supposed their force to consist of 70,000 men, navigating
eight hundred large vessels, and one thousand small ones, including row
boats. They were divided into six large squadrons, under different
flags;--the red, the yellow, the green, the blue, the black and the
white. "These wasps of the Ocean," as a Chinese historian calls them,
were further distinguished by the names of their respective commanders:
by these commanders a certain _Ching-yih_ had been the most
distinguished by his valor and conduct. By degrees, Ching obtained
almost a supremacy of command over the whole united fleet; and so
confident was this robber in his strength and daily augmenting means,
that he aspired to the dignity of a king, and went so far as openly to
declare his patriotic intention of hurling the present Tartar family
from the throne of China, and of restoring the ancient Chinese dynasty.
But unfortunately for the ambitious pirate, he perished in a heavy gale,
and instead of placing a sovereign on the Chinese throne, he and his
lofty aspirations were buried in the yellow sea. And now comes the most
remarkable passage in the history of these pirates--remarkable with any
class of men, but doubly so among the Chinese, who entertain more than
the general oriental opinion of the inferiority of the fair sex. On the
death of _Ching-yih,_ his legitimate wife had sufficient influence over
the freebooters to induce them to recognize her authority in the place
of her deceased husband's, and she appointed one _Paou_ as her
lieutenant and prime minister, and provided that she should be
considered the mistress or commander-in-chief of the united squadrons.
This _Paou_ had been a poor fisher-boy, picked up with his father at
sea, while fishing, by _Ching-yih,_ whose good will and favor he had the
fortune to captivate, and by whom, before that pirate's death, he had
been made a captain. Instead of declining under the rule of a woman, the
pirates became more enterprising than ever. Ching's widow was clever as
well as brave, and so was her lieutenant Paou. Between them they drew up
a code of law for the better regulation of the freebooters.
In this it was decreed, that if any man went privately on shore, or did
what they called "transgressing the bars," he should have his ears slit
in the presence of the whole fleet; a repetition of the same unlawful
act, was death! No one article, however trifling in value, was to be
privately subtracted from the booty or plundered goods. Every thing they
took was regularly entered on the register of their stores. The
following clause of Mistress _Ching's_ code is still more delicate. No
person shall debauch at his pleasure captive women, taken in the
villages and open places, and brought on board a ship; he must first
request the ship's purser for permission, and then go aside in the
ship's hold. To use violence, against any woman, or to wed her, without
permission, shall be punished with death.