The Pirates Own Book (36 page)

From Newfoundland he steered for the coast of Guinea, where he took a
great many ships, English, Dutch and Portuguese. Among these ships was
one belonging to Carolina, commanded by Capt. Smith. While he was in
chase of this vessel a circumstance occurred, which made his men
believe he dealt with the devil; his fore and main top-mast being
carried away, he, Lewis, running up the shrouds to the maintop, tore off
a handful of hair, and throwing it into the air used this expression,
good devil, take this till I come
. And it was observed, that he came
afterwards faster up with the chase than before the loss of his
top-masts.

Smith being taken, Lewis used him very civilly, and gave him as much or
more in value than he took from him, and let him go, saying, he would
come to Carolina when he had made money on the coast, and would rely on
his friendship.

They kept some time on the coast, when they quarrelled among themselves,
the French and English, of which the former were more numerous, and they
resolved to part. The French therefore chose a large sloop newly taken,
thinking the ship's bottom, which was not sheathed, damaged by the
worms. According to this agreement they took on board what ammunition
and provision they thought fit out of the ship, and put off, choosing
one Le Barre captain. As it blew hard, and the decks were encumbered,
they came to an anchor under the coast, to stow away their ammunition,
goods, &c. Lewis told his men they were a parcel of rogues, and he would
make them refund; accordingly he run alongside, his guns being all
loaded and new primed, and ordered him to cut away his mast or he would
sink him. Le Barre was obliged to obey. Then he ordered them all ashore.
They begged the liberty of carrying their arms, goods, &c. with them,
but he allowed them only their small arms and cartridge boxes. Then he
brought the sloop alongside, put every thing on board the ship, and sunk
the sloop.

Le Barre and the rest begged to be taken on board. However, though he
denied them, he suffered Le Barre and some few to come, with whom he and
his men drank plentifully. The negroes on board Lewis told him the
French had a plot against him. He answered, he could not withstand his
destiny; for the devil told him in the great cabin he should be murdered
that night.

In the dead of the night, the rest of the French came on board in
canoes, got into the cabin and killed Lewis. They fell on the crew; but,
after an hour and a half's dispute, the French were beaten off, and the
quarter master, John Cornelius, an Irishman, succeeded Lewis.

—"He was the mildest manner'd man,
That ever scuttled ship or cut a throat;
With such true breeding of a gentleman,
You never could discern his real thought.
Pity he loved an adventurous life's variety,
He was so great a loss to good society."

He was born at Plymouth, where his mother kept a public house. She took
great care of his education, and when he was grown up, as he had an
inclination to the sea, procured him the king's letter. After he had
served some years on board a man-of-war, he went to Barbadoes, where he
married, got into the merchant service, and designed to settle in the
island. He had the command of the Marygold brigantine given him, in
which he made two successful voyages to Guinea and back to Barbadoes. In
his third, he had the misfortune to be taken by a French pirate, as were
several other English ships, the masters and inferior officers of which
they detained, being in want of good artists. The brigantine belonging
to White, they kept for their own use, and sunk the vessel they before
sailed in; but meeting with a ship on the Guinea coast more fit for
their purpose, they went on board her and burnt the brigantine.

It is not my business here to give an account of this French pirate, any
farther than Capt. White's story obliges me, though I beg leave to take
notice of their barbarity to the English prisoners, for they would set
them up as a butt or mark to shoot at; several of whom were thus
murdered in cold blood, by way of diversion.

White was marked out for a sacrifice by one of these villains, who, for
what reason I know not, had sworn his death, which he escaped thus. One
of the crew, who had a friendship for White, knew this fellow's design
to kill him in the night, and therefore advised him to lie between him
and the ship's side, with intention to save him; which indeed he did,
but was himself shot dead by the murderous villain, who mistook him for
White.

After some time cruising along the coast, the pirates doubled the Cape
of Good Hope, and shaped their course for Madagascar, where, being drunk
and mad, they knocked their ship on the head, at the south end of the
island, at a place called by the natives Elexa. The country thereabouts
was governed by a king, named Mafaly.

When the ship struck, Capt. White, Capt. Boreman, (born in the Isle of
Wight, formerly a lieutenant of a man-of-war, but in the merchant
service when he fell into the hands of the pirates,) Capt. Bowen and
some other prisoners got into the long-boat, and with broken oars and
barrel staves, which they found in the bottom of the boat, paddled to
Augustin Bay, which is about 14 or 15 leagues from the wreck, where they
landed, and were kindly received by the king of Bavaw, (the name of that
part of the island) who spoke good English.

They stayed here a year and a half at the king's expense, who gave them
a plentiful allowance of provision, as was his custom to all white men,
who met with any misfortune on his coast. His humanity not only provided
for such, but the first European vessel that came in, he always obliged
to take in the unfortunate people, let the vessel be what it would; for
he had no notion of any difference between pirates and merchants.

At the expiration of the above term, a pirate brigantine came in, on
board which the king obliged them to enter, or travel by land to some
other place, which they durst not do; and of two evils chose the least,
that of going on board the pirate vessel, which was commanded by one
William Read, who received them very civilly.

This commander went along the coast, and picked up what Europeans he
could meet with. His crew, however, did not exceed 40 men. He would have
been glad of taking some of the wrecked Frenchmen, but for the
barbarity they had used towards the English prisoners. However, it was
impracticable, for the French pretending to lord it over the natives,
whom they began to treat inhumanly, were set upon by them, one half of
their number cut off, and the other half made slaves.

Read, with this gang, and a brigantine of 60 tons, steered his course
for the Persian Gulf, where they met a grab, (a one masted vessel) of
about 200 tons, which was made a prize. They found nothing on board but
bale goods, most of which they threw overboard in search of gold, and to
make room in the vessel; but as they learned afterwards, they threw
over, in their search, what they so greedily hunted after, for there was
a considerable quantity of gold concealed in one of the bales they
tossed into the sea!

In this cruise Capt. Read fell ill and died, and was succeeded by one
James. The brigantine being small, crazy and worm-eaten, they shaped
their course for the island of Mayotta, where they took out the masts of
the brigantine, fitted up the grab, and made a ship of her. Here they
took in a quantity of fresh provisions, which are in this island very
plentiful and very cheap, and found a twelve-oared boat, which formerly
belonged to the Ruby East Indiaman, which had been lost there.

They stayed here all the monsoon time, which is about six months; after
which they resolved for Madagascar. As they came in with the land, they
spied a sail coming round from the east side of the island. They gave
chase on both sides, so that they soon met. They hailed each other and
receiving the same answer from each vessel, viz.
from the seas,
they
joined company.

This vessel was a small French ship, laden with liquors from Martinico,
first commanded by one Fourgette, to trade with the pirates for slaves,
at Ambonavoula, on the east side of the island, in the latitude of 17
deg. 30 min. and was by them taken after the following manner.

The pirates, who were headed by George Booth, now commander of the
ship, went on board, (as they had often done,) to the number of ten, and
carried money with them under pretence of purchasing what they wanted.
This Booth had formerly been gunner of a pirate ship, called the
Dolphin. Capt. Fourgette was pretty much upon his guard, and searched
every man as he came over the side, and a pair of pocket pistols were
found upon a Dutchman, who was the first that entered. The captain told
him that
he was a rogue, and had a design upon his ship
, and the
pirates pretended to be so angry with this fellow's offering to come on
board with arms, that they threatened to knock him on the head, and
tossing him roughly into the boat, ordered him ashore, though they had
before taken an oath on the Bible, either to carry the ship, or die in
the undertaking.

They were all searched, but they however contrived to get on board four
pistols, which were all the arms they had for the enterprise, though
Fourgette had 20 hands on board, and his small arms on the awning, to be
in readiness.

The captain invited them into the cabin to dinner, but Booth chose to
dine with the petty officer, though one Johnson, Isaac and another, went
down. Booth was to give the watchword, which was
hurrah
. Standing near
the awning, and being a nimble fellow, at one spring he threw himself
upon it, drew the arms to him, fired his pistol among the men, one of
whom he wounded, (who jumping overboard was lost) and gave the signal.

Three, I said, were in the cabin, and seven upon deck, who with
handspikes and the arms seized, secured the ship's crew. The captain and
his two mates, who were at dinner in the cabin, hearing the pistol, fell
upon Johnson, and stabbed him in several places with their forks, but
they being silver, did him no great damage. Fourgette snatched his
piece, which he snapped at Isaac's breast several times, but it would
not go off. At last, finding his resistance vain, he submitted, and the
pirates set him, and those of his men who would not join them, on shore,
allowing him to take his books, papers, and whatever else he claimed as
belonging to himself; and besides treating him very humanely, gave him
several casks of liquor, with arms and powder, to purchase provisions in
the country.

I hope this digression, as it was in a manner needful, will be excused.
I shall now proceed.

After they had taken in the Dolphin's company, which were on the island,
and increased their crew, by that means, to the number of 80 hands, they
sailed to St. Mary's, where Capt. Mosson's ship lay at anchor, between
the island and the main. This gentleman and his whole ship's company had
been cut off at the instigation of Ort-Vantyle, a Dutchman of New-York.

Out of her they took water casks and other necessaries; which having
done, they designed for the river Methelage, on the west side of
Madagascar, in the lat. of 16 degrees or thereabouts, to salt up
provisions and to proceed to the East Indies, cruise off the islands of
St. John, and lie in wait for the Moor ships from Mocha.

In their way to Methelage they fell in (as I have said) with the pirate,
on board of which was Capt. White. They joined company, came to an
anchor together in the above named river, where they had cleaned, salted
and took in their provisions, and were ready to go to sea, when a large
ship appeared in sight, and stood into the same river.

The pirates knew not whether she was a merchantman or man-of-war. She
had been the latter, belonging to the French king, and could mount 50
guns; but being taken by the English, she was bought by some London
merchants, and fitted out from that port to slave at Madagascar, and go
to Jamaica. The captain was a young, inexperienced man, who was put in
with a nurse.

The pirates sent their boats to speak with them, but the ship firing at
them, they concluded it a man of war, and rowed ashore; the grab
standing in, and not keeping her wind so well as the French built ship,
run among a parcel of mangroves, and a stump piercing her bottom, she
sunk: the other run aground, let go her anchor, and came to no damage,
for the tide of flood fetched her off.

The captain of the Speaker, for that was the name of the ship which
frightened the pirates, was not a little vain of having forced these two
vessels ashore, though he did not know whether they were pirates or
merchantmen, and could not help expressing himself in these words: "How
will my name ring on the exchange, when it is known I have run two
pirates aground;" which gave handle to a satirical return from one of
his men after he was taken, who said, "Lord! how our captain's name will
ring on the exchange, when it is heard, he frightened two pirate ships
ashore, and was taken by their two boats afterwards."

When the Speaker came within shot, she fired several times at the two
vessels; and when she came to anchor, several more into the country,
which alarmed the negroes, who, acquainting their king, he would allow
him no trade, till the pirates living ashore, and who had a design on
his ship, interceded for them, telling the king, they were their
countrymen, and what had happened was through a mistake, it being a
custom among them to fire their guns by way of respect, and it was owing
to the gunner of the ship's negligence that they fired shot.

The captain of the Speaker sent his purser ashore, to go up the country
to the king, who lived about 24 miles from the coast, to carry a couple
of small arms inlaid with gold, a couple of brass blunderbusses, and a
pair of pistols, as presents, and to require trade. As soon as the
purser was ashore, he was taken prisoner, by one Tom Collins, a
Welshman, born in Pembroke, who lived on shore, and had belonged to the
Charming Mary, of Barbadoes, which went out with a commission but was
converted to a pirate. He told the purser he was his prisoner, and must
answer the damage done to two merchants who were slaving. The purser
answered, that he was not commander; that the captain was a hot rash
youth, put into business by his friends, which he did not understand;
but however, satisfaction should be made. He was carried by Collins on
board Booth's ship, where, at first, he was talked to in pretty strong
terms; but after a while very civilly used, and the next morning sent up
to the king with a guide, and peace made for him.