A General History of the Pirates

ships and vessels.

• The Eagle pink, Captain Rickets Commander belonging to Cork, taken the 25th of March, having 6 guns and 17 men on board, seven of which turned pirates.

• The Charlotte Captain Oldson of London taken May the 26th having 8 guns and 18 men on board 13 of which turned pirates.

• The Sarah Captain Stunt of London taken the 27th of May having 4 guns and 18 men on board 3 of which turned pirates.

• The Bentworth Captain Gardener of Bristol taken the 27th of May having 12 guns and 30 men on board 12 of which turned pirates.

• The Buck sloop Captain Sylvester of Gambia taken the 27th of May having 2 guns and 2 men on board and both turned pirates.

• The Carteret Captain Snow of London taken the 28th of May having 4 guns and 18 men on board 5 of which turned pirates.

• The Mercury Captain Maggott of London taken the 29th of May having 4 guns and 18 men on board 5 of which turned pirates.

• The Coward galley Captain Creed of London taken the 17th of June having 2 guns and 13 men on board 4 of which turned pirates.

• The Elizabeth and Katherine Captain Bridge of Barbados taken June the 27th having 6 guns and 14 men on board 4 of which turned pirates.

The Eagle pink being bound to Jamaica, the Sarah to Virginia, and the Buck to Maryland, they let them go, but the Charlotte, the Bentworth, the Carteret, and the Coward galley, they burnt; and the Mercury, and the Elizabeth and Katherine were fitted up for pirate ships, the former was new nam’d Queen Ann’s Revenge, and commanded by one Lane, and the other was call’d the Flying King, of which Robert Sample was appointed captain. These two left England upon the coast, sail’d to the West Indies, where they took some prizes, clean’d, and sail’d to Brazil in November; they took several Portuguese ships there, and did a great deal of mischief, but in the height of their undertakings, a Portuguese man-of-war, which was an excellent sailor, came a very unwelcome guest to them, and gave them chase; the Queen Ann’s Revenge got off, but was lost a little while after upon that coast; and the Flying King, giving herself over for lost, ran ashore: there were then 70 men on board, 12 of which were kill’d, and the rest taken prisoners, of whom the Portuguese hang’d 38, of which 32 were English, three Dutch, two French, and one of their own nation.

England, in going down the coast, took the Peterborough galley of Bristol, Captain Owen; and the Victory, Captain Ridout; the former they detained, but plundered the latter, and let her go. In Cape Corso Road, they saw two sail at anchor, but before they could reach them, they slipp’d their cables and got close under Cape Corso Castle, these were the Whydah, Captain Prince, and the John, Captain Rider: the pirates upon this made a fire ship of a vessel they had lately taken, and attempted to burn them, as though they had been a common enemy, which if effected, they could not have been one farthing the better for it; but the castle firing warmly upon them, they withdrew, and sail’d down to Whydah Road, where they found another pirate, one Captain la Bouche, who getting thither before England arrived, had forestall’d the market, and greatly disappointed their brethren.

Captain England, after this baulk, went into a harbour, clean’d his own ship, and fitted up the Peterborough, which he call’d the Victory; they liv’d there very wantonly for several weeks, making free with the Negro women, and committing such outrageous acts, that they came to an open rupture with the natives, several of whom they kill’d, and one of their towns they set on fire.

When the pirates came out to sea, they put it to a vote what voyage to take, and the majority carrying it for the East Indies, they shap’d their course accordingly, and arrived at Madagascar, the beginning of the year 1720. They stayed not long there, but after taking in water and provisions, sail’d for the coast of Malabar, which is a fine fruitful country in the East Indies, in the empire of the mogul, but immediately subject to its own princes: it reaches from the coast of Kanara to Cape Comorin, which is between 7° 30′, and 12° north latitude, and in about 75° east longitude, counting from the meridian of London. The old natives are pagans, but there are a great number of Muhammadans inhabiting among them, who are merchants, and generally rich. On the same coast, but in a province to the northward lies Goa, Surat, Bombay, where the English, Dutch, and Portuguese have settlements.

Hither our pirates came, having made a tour of half the globe, as the psalmist says of the devils, going about like roaring lions, seeking whom they might devour. They took several country ships, that is, Indian vessels, and one European, a Dutch ship, which they exchanged for one of their own, and then came back to Madagascar.

They sent several of their hands onshore with tents, powder, and shot, to kill hogs, venison, and such other fresh provision as the island afforded, and a whim came into their heads to seek out for the remains of Avery’s crew, whom they knew to be settled somewhere in the island.⁠—Accordingly some of them travell’d several days journey, without hearing any intelligence of them, and so were forc’d to return with the loss of their labour, for these men were settled on the other side of the island, as has been taken notice of under the chapter of Avery.

They stay’d not long here, after they had clean’d their ships, but sailing to Juanna; they met two English, and one