A General History of the Pirates

Low took a fishing boat off of Block Island, but did not perpetrate so much cruelty to her, contenting himself with only cutting off the master’s head: but after taking two whaleboats near Rhode Island, he caused one of the masters’ bodies to be ripp’d up, and his entrails to be taken out; and cut off the ears of the other, and made him eat them himself with pepper and salt; which hard injunction he comply’d with, without making a word. Several other persons he would have murdered, but humanity prevailing in the tender hearts of his companions, they refused to put his savage orders in execution. From the coast of New England, Low sailed directly for Newfoundland, and, near Cape Briton, took two or three and twenty French vessels; and one of them of 22 guns he mann’d with pirates, making a sort of a man-of-war of her; with which he scour’d the harbours and banks of Newfoundland, and took sixteen or eighteen other ships and vessels, all which they plundered, and some destroyed.

Thus these inhumane wretches went on, who could not be contented to satisfy their avarice only, and travel in the common road of wickedness; but, like their patron, the devil, must make mischief their sport, cruelty their delight, and damning of souls their constant employment. Of all the piratical crews that were ever heard of, none of the English name came up to this, in barbarity; their mirth and their anger had much the same effect, for both were usually gratified with the cries and groans of their prisoners; so that they almost as often murdered a man from the excess of good humour, as out of passion and resentment; and the unfortunate could never be assured of safety from them, for danger lurked in their very smiles. An instance of this had liked to have happened to one Captain Graves, Master of a Virginia ship last taken; for as soon as he came aboard of the pirate, Low takes a bowl of punch in his hand, and drinks to him, saying, Captain Graves, here’s half this to you. But the poor gentleman being too sensibly touched at the misfortune of falling into his hands, modestly desired to be excused, for that he could not drink; whereupon Low draws out a pistol, cocks it, and with the bowl in ’tother hand, told him, he should either take one or the other: so Graves, without hesitation, made choice of the vehicle that contained the punch, and guttled down about a quart, when he had the least inclination that ever he had in his life to be merry.

The latter end of July, (1723,) Low took a large ship, called the Merry Christmas, and fitted her for a pirate, cut several ports in her, and mounted her with 34 guns. Low goes aboard of this ship, assumes the title of admiral, and hoists a black flag, with the figure of death in red, at the main-topmast head, and takes another voyage to the Western Islands, where he arrived the beginning of September. The first vessel he met with there, was a brigantine, formerly an English sloop, commanded by Elias Wild, but lately bought by a Portuguese nobleman, and altered: she was manned partly with English, and partly Portuguese; the latter Low caused to be hang’d, by way of reprisal, for some of his own men sent thither in a sloop from the Cape de Verde Islands, as has been mentioned: the Englishmen he thrust into their own boat, to shift for themselves, and set fire to the vessel.

At St. Michaels, they sent in their boats and cut out of the road, a new London built ship of 14 guns, commanded by Captain Thompson, who was taken there the year before, by Low, in the Rose pink. The boats had fewer men than the ship, and Captain Thompson would have defended himself, but his men through cowardice, or too great an inclination of becoming pirates themselves, refused to stand by him, and he was obliged to surrender; and when he came aboard the pirate, had his ears cut off close to his head, for only proposing to resist Admiral Low’s black flag; they gave him one of his own boats, and burnt his ship.

The next was a Portuguese bark that fell into their hands, whose men came off somewhat better than usual, for they only cut them with their cutlashes, out of wantonness, turned them all into their boat, and set their vessel on fire. When the boat was going from the side of the ship, one of Low’s men, who, we may suppose, was forced into his gang, was drinking with a silver tankard at one of the ports, and took his opportunity to drop into the boat among the Portuguese, and lie down in the bottom, in order to escape along with them: after he had stowed himself in the boat, so as not to be seen, it came into his head, that the tankard might prove of some use to him, where he was going; so he got up again, laid hold of the utensil, and went off, without being discover’d: in which attempt had he failed, no doubt his life, if not the lives of all the people in the boat, would have paid for it: the name of this man is Richard Hains.

Low took his old tour to the Canaries, Cape de Verde Islands, and so to the coast of Guinea; but nothing extraordinary happened till they arrived near Sierra Leone in Africa, where they met with a ship call’d the Delight, Captain Hunt Commander; this ship they thought fit for their own purpose, for she had been a small man-of-war, and carried 12 guns; however, they mounted 16 on board her, mann’d her with 60 men, and appointed one Spriggs, who was then their quartermaster, to be captain of her, who, two days after, separated from the admiral, and went