III.CAPTAIN BARTHOLOMEW ROBERTS AND HIS CREW.
His beginning—Elected captain in the room of Davis—The speech of Lord Dennis at the election—Lord Sympson objects against a papist—The death of Davis revenged—Roberts sails southward in quest of adventures—The names of the prizes taken by them—Brazil described—Roberts falls into a fleet of Portuguese—Boards and takes the richest ship amongst them—Make the Devil’s Islands—An unfortunate adventure of Roberts—Kennedy’s treachery—Irishmen excluded by Roberts and his crew—Articles sworn to by them—A copy of them—Some account of the laws and customs of the pirates—An instance of Roberts’s cunning—He proceeds again upon business, and takes prizes—Narrowly escapes being taken—Sails for the Island Dominico—Another escape—Sails for Newfoundland—Plunders, sinks, and burns twenty-two sail in the harbour of Trepassi—Plunders ten sail of Frenchmen—The mad behaviour of the crew—A correspondence hinted at—The pirates caressed at the island of St. Bartholomew—In extreme distress—Sail for Martinico—A stratagem of Roberts—The insolent device in his colours—Odd compliment paid to Roberts—Three men desert the pirates, and are taken by them—Their trial—Two executed and one saved—the brigantine deserts them—Great divisions in the company—A description of Sierra Leone River—The names of English settled there, and way of life—TheOnslowbelonging to the African Company taken—The pirates’ contempt of soldiers—They are for entertaining a chaplain—Their skirmish with the Calabar negroes—TheKing Solomon, belonging to the African Company taken—The frolics of the pirates—Take eleven sail in Whydah Road—A comical receipt given by the pirates—A cruel action of Roberts—Sails for Anna Bona—The progress of theSwallowman-of-war, in pursuit of Roberts—Roberts’s consort taken—The bravery of Skyrme, a Welsh pirate—The surly humour of some of the prisoners—TheSwallowcomes up with Roberts—Roberts’s dress described—Is killed—His character—His ship taken—The behaviour of the pirates when prisoners—A conspiracy of theirs discovered—Reflections on the manner of trying them—The form of the commission for trying the pirates—The oath taken by the commissioners—The names of those arraigned taken in the shipRanger—The form of the indictment—The sum of the evidence against them—Their defence—The names of the prisoners of theRoyal Fortune—Proceedings against them—Harry Glasby acquitted—The particular trial of Captain James Skyrme—Of John Walden—Of Peter Scudamore—Of Robert Johnson—Of George Wilson—Of Benjamin Jeffries—Of John Mansfield—Of William Davis—The names of those executed at Cape Corso—The petition of some condemned—The court’s resolution—The form of an indenture of a pardoned pirate—The names of those pardoned upon indenture to serve seven years—The pirates how disposed of—The dying behaviour of those executed.
Bartholomew Robertssailed in an honest employ from London, aboard of thePrincess, Captain Plumb, commander, of which ship he was second mate. He left England November, 1719, and arrived at Guinea about February following, and being at Anamaboe, taking in slaves for the West Indies, was taken in the said ship by Captain Howel Davis. In the beginning he was very averse to this sort of life, and would certainly have escaped from them had a fair opportunity presented itself; yet afterwards he changed his principles, as many besides him have done upon another element, and perhaps for the same reason too, viz., preferment; and what he did not like as a private man he could reconcile to his conscience as a commander.
Davis having been killed in the Island of Princes whilst planning to capture it with all its inhabitants, the company found themselves under the necessity of filling up his post, for which there appeared two or three candidates among the select part of them that were distinguished by the title of Lords—such were Sympson, Ashplant, Anstis, &c.—and on canvassing this matter, how shattered and weak a condition their government must be without a head, since Davis had been removed in the manner before mentioned, my Lord Dennis proposed, it is said, over a bowl, to this purpose:
“That it was not of any great signification who was dignified with title, for really and in good truth all good governments had, like theirs, the supreme power lodged with the community, who might doubtless depute and revoke as suited interest or humour. We are the original of this claim,” says he, “and should a captain be so saucy as to exceed prescription at any time, why, down with him! It will be a caution after he is dead to his successors of what fatal consequence any sort of assuming may be. However, it is my advice that while we are sober we pitch upon a man of courage and skilled in navigation, one who by his council and bravery seems best able to defend this commonwealth, and ward us from the dangers and tempests of an unstable element, and the fatal consequences of anarchy; and such a one I take Roberts to be—a fellow, I think, in all respects worthy your esteem and favour.”
This speech was loudly applauded by all but Lord Sympson, who had secret expectations himself, but on this disappointment grew sullen and left them, swearing “he did not care who they chose captain so it was not a papist, for against them he had conceived an irreconcilable hatred, for that his father had been a sufferer in Monmouth’s rebellion.”
Roberts was accordingly elected, though he had not been above six weeks among them. The choice was confirmed both by the Lords and Commoners, and he accepted of the honour, saying that, since he had dipped his hands in muddy water and must be a pirate, it was better being a commander than a common man.
As soon as the government was settled, by promoting other officers in the room of those that were killed by the Portuguese, the company resolved to avenge Captain Davis’s death, he being more than ordinarily respected by the crew for his affability and good nature, as well as his conduct and bravery upon all occasions; and, pursuant to this resolution, about thirty men were landed, in order to make an attack upon the fort, which must be ascended to by a steep hill against the mouth of the cannon. These men were headed by one Kennedy, a bold, daring fellow, but very wicked and profligate; they marched directly up under the fire of their ship guns, and as soon as they were discovered, the Portuguese quitted their post and fled to the town, and the pirates marched in without opposition, set fire to the fort, and threw all the guns off the hill into the sea, which after they had done they retreated quietly to their ship.
But this was not looked upon as a sufficient satisfaction for the injury they received, therefore most of the company were for burning the town, which Roberts said he would yield to if any means could be proposed of doing it without their own destruction, for the town had a securer situation than the fort, a thick wood coming almost close to it, affording cover to the defendants, who, under such an advantage, he told them, it was to be feared, would fire and stand better to their arms; besides, that bare houses would be but a slender reward for their trouble and loss. This prudent advice prevailed; however, they mounted the French ship they seized at this place with twelve guns, and lightened her, in order to come up to the town, the water being shoal, and battered down several houses; after which they all returned on board, gave back the French ship to those that had most right to her, and sailed out of the harbour by the light of two Portuguese ships, which they were pleased to set on fire there.
Roberts stood away to the southward, and met with a Dutch Guineaman, which he made prize of, but, after having plundered her, the skipper had his ship again. Two days after he took an English ship, called theExperiment, Captain Cornet, at Cape Lopez; the men went all into the pirate service, and having no occasion for the ship they burnt her and then steered for St. Thome, but meeting with nothing in their way, they sailed for Annabona, and there watered, took in provisions, and put it to a vote of the company whether their next voyage should be to the East Indies or to Brazil. The latter being resolved on, they sailed accordingly, and in twenty-eight days arrived at Ferdinando, an uninhabited island on that coast. Here they watered, boot-topped their ship, and made ready for the designed cruise.
Upon this coast our rovers cruised for about nine weeks, keeping generally out of sight of land, but without seeing a sail, which discouraged them so that they determined to leave the station and steer for the West Indies; and, in order thereto, stood in to make the land for the taking of their departure; and thereby they fell in unexpectedly with a fleet of forty-two sail of Portuguese ships off the bay of Los Todos Santos, with all their lading in, for Lisbon, several of them of good force, who lay-to waiting for two men-of-war of seventy guns each, their convoy. However, Roberts thought it should go hard with him, but he would make up his market among them, and thereupon mixed with the fleet, and kept his men hid till proper resolutions could be formed. That done, they came close up to one of the deepest, and ordered her to send the master on board quietly, threatening to give them no quarter if any resistance or signal of distress was made. The Portuguese, being surprised at these threats, and the sudden flourish of cutlasses from the pirates, submitted without a word, and the captain came on board. Roberts saluted him after a friendly manner, telling him that they were gentlemen of fortune, but that their business with him was only to be informed which was the richest ship in that fleet; and if he directed them right he should be restored to his ship without molestation, otherwise he must expect immediate death.
Whereupon this Portuguese master pointed to one of forty guns and a hundred and fifty men, a ship of greater force than theRover; but this no ways dismayed them; they were Portuguese, they said, and so immediately steered away for him. When they came within hail, the master whom they had prisoner was ordered to ask “how Seignior Captain did?” and to invite him on board, “for that he had a matter of consequence to impart to him;” which being done, he returned for answer that “he would wait upon him presently,” but by the bustle that immediately followed, the pirates perceived that they were discovered, and that this was only a deceitful answer to gain time to put their ship in a posture of defence; so without further delay they poured in a broadside, boarded, and grappled her. The dispute was short and warm, wherein many of the Portuguese fell, and two only of the pirates. By this time the fleet was alarmed: signals of top-gallant sheets flying and guns fired to give notice to the men-of-war, who rid still at an anchor, and made but scurvy haste out to their assistance; and if what the pirates themselves related be true, the commanders of those ships were blameable to the highest degree, and unworthy the title, or so much as the name, of men. For Roberts, finding the prize to sail heavy, and yet resolving not to lose her, lay by for the headmost of them, which much outsailed the other, and prepared for battle, which was ignominiously declined, though of such superior force; for, not daring to venture on the pirate alone, he tarried so long for his consort as gave them both time leisurely to make off.
They found this ship exceeding rich, being laden chiefly with sugar, skins, and tobacco, and in gold forty thousand moidores, besides chains and trinkets of considerable value; particularly a cross set with diamonds designed for the king of Portugal, which they afterwards presented to the governor of Caiana, by whom they were obliged.
Elated with this booty, they had nothing now to think of but some safe retreat where they might give themselves up to all the pleasures that luxury and wantonness could bestow; and for the present pitched upon a place called the Devil’s Islands in the river of Surinam, on the coast of Caiana, where they arrived, and found the civilest reception imaginable, not only from the governor and factory, but their wives, who exchanged wares, and drove a considerable trade with them.
They seized in this river a sloop, and by her gained intelligence that a brigantine had also sailed in company with her from Rhode Island, laden with provisions for the coast—a welcome cargo! They growing short in the sea store, and, as Sancho says, “No adventures to be made without belly-timber.” One evening, as they were rummaging their mine of treasure, the Portuguese prize, this expected vessel was descried at the masthead, and Roberts, imagining nobody could do the business so well as himself, takes forty men in the sloop, and goes in pursuit of her; but a fatal accident followed this rash, though inconsiderable adventure, for Roberts, thinking of nothing less than bringing in the brigantine that afternoon, never troubled his head about the sloop’s provision, nor inquired what there was on board to subsist such a number of men; but out he sails after his expected prize, which he not only lost further sight of, but after eight days’ contending with contrary winds and currents, found themselves thirty leagues to leeward. The current still opposing their endeavours, and perceiving no hopes of beating up to their ship, they came to an anchor, and inconsiderately sent away the boat to give the rest of the company notice of their condition, and to order the ship to them; but too soon—even the next day—their wants made them sensible of their infatuation, for their water was all expended, and they had taken no thought how they should be supplied till either the ship came or the boat returned, which was not likely to be under five or six days. Here, like Tantalus, they almost famished in sight of the fresh streams and lakes, being drove to such extremity at last that they were forced to tear up the floor of the cabin and patch up a sort of tub or tray with ropeyarns to paddle ashore and fetch off immediate supplies of water to preserve life.
After some days the long-wished-for boat came back, but with the most unwelcome news in the world; for Kennedy, who was lieutenant, and left, in absence of Roberts, to command the privateer and prize, was gone off with both. This was mortification with a vengeance, and you may imagine they did not depart without some hard speeches from those that were left and had suffered by their treachery. And that there need be no further mention of this Kennedy, I shall leave Captain Roberts for a page or two with the remains of his crew, to vent their wrath in a few oaths and execrations, and follow the other, whom we may reckon from that time as steering his course towards Execution Dock.
Kennedy was now chosen captain of the revolted crew, but could not bring his company to any determined resolution. Some of them were for pursuing the old game, but the greater part of them seemed to have inclinations to turn from those evil courses, and get home privately, for there was no act of pardon in force; therefore they agreed to break up, and every man to shift for himself, as he should see occasion. The first thing they did was to part with the great Portuguese prize, and having the master of the sloop (whose name, I think, was Cane) aboard, who, they said, was a very honest fellow—for he had humoured them upon every occasion—told them of the brigantine that Roberts went after; and when the pirates first took him he complimented them at an odd rate, telling them they were welcome to his sloop and cargo, and wished that the vessel had been larger and the loading richer for their sakes. To this good-natured man they gave the Portuguese ship, which was then above half loaded, three or four negroes, and all his own men, who returned thanks to his kind benefactors, and departed.
Captain Kennedy, in theRover, sailed to Barbadoes, near which island they took a very peaceable ship belonging to Virginia. The commander was a Quaker, whose name was Knot; he had neither pistol, sword, nor cutlass on board; and Mr. Knot appearing so very passive to all they said to him, some of them thought this a good opportunity to go off; and accordingly eight of the pirates went aboard, and he carried them safe to Virginia. They made the Quaker a present of ten chests of sugar, ten rolls of Brazil tobacco, thirty moidores, and some gold dust, in all to the value of about £250. They also made presents to the sailors, some more, some less, and lived a jovial life all the while they were upon their voyage, Captain Knot giving them their way; nor, indeed, could he help himself, unless he had taken an opportunity to surprise them when they were either drunk or asleep, for awake they wore arms aboard the ship and put him in a continual terror, it not being his principle (or the sect’s) to fight, unless with art and collusion. He managed these weapons well till he arrived at the Capes; and afterwards four of the pirates went off in a boat, which they had taken with them for the more easily making their escapes, and made up the bay towards Maryland, but were forced back by a storm into an obscure place of the country, where, meeting with good entertainment among the planters, they continued several days without being discovered to be pirates. In the meantime Captain Knot, leaving four others on board his ship who intended to go to North Carolina, made what haste he could to discover to Mr. Spotswood, the governor, what sort of passengers he had been forced to bring with him, who, by good fortune, got them seized; and search being made after the others, who were revelling about the country, they were also taken, and all tried, convicted, and hanged, two Portuguese Jews, who were taken on the coast of Brazil and whom they brought with them to Virginia, being the principal evidences. The latter had found means to lodge part of their wealth with the planters, who never brought it to account. But Captain Knot surrendered up everything that belonged to them that were taken aboard, even what they presented to him, in lieu of such things as they had plundered him of in their passage, and obliged his men to do the like.
Some days after the taking of the Virginiaman last mentioned, in cruising in the latitude of Jamaica, Kennedy took a sloop bound thither from Boston, loaded with bread and flour; aboard of this sloop went all the hands who were for breaking the gang, and left those behind that had a mind to pursue further adventures. Among the former was Kennedy, their captain, of whose honour they had such a despicable notion that they were about to throw him overboard when they found him in the sloop, as fearing he might betray them all at their return to England; he having in his childhood been bred a pickpocket, and before he became a pirate a house-breaker; both professions that these gentlemen have a very mean opinion of. However, Captain Kennedy, by taking solemn oaths of fidelity to his companions, was suffered to proceed with them.
In this company there was but one that pretended to any skill in navigation (for Kennedy could neither write nor read, he being preferred to the command merely for his courage, which indeed he had often signalized, particularly in taking the Portuguese ship), and he proved to be a pretender only; for, shaping their course to Ireland, where they agreed to land, they ran away to the north-west coast of Scotland, and there were tossed about by hard storms of wind for several days without knowing where they were, and in great danger of perishing. At length they pushed the vessel into a little creek and went all ashore, leaving the sloop at an anchor for the next comers.
The whole company refreshed themselves at a little village about five miles from the place where they left the sloop, and passed there for shipwrecked sailors, and no doubt might have travelled on without suspicion, but the mad and riotous manner of their living on the road occasioned their journey to be cut short, as we shall observe presently.
Kennedy and another left them here, and, travelling to one of the seaports, shipped themselves for Ireland, and arrived there in safety. Six or seven wisely withdrew from the rest, travelled at their leisure, and got to their much-desired port of London without being disturbed or suspected, but the main gang alarmed the country wherever they came, drinking and roaring at such a rate that the people shut themselves up in their houses, in some places not daring to venture out among so many mad fellows. In other villages they treated the whole town, squandering their money away as if, like Æsop, they wanted to lighten their burthens. This expensive manner of living procured two of their drunken stragglers to be knocked on the head, they being found murdered in the road and their money taken from them. All the rest, to the number of seventeen, as they drew nigh to Edinburgh, were arrested and thrown into gaol upon suspicion of they knew not what; however, the magistrates were not long at a loss for proper accusations, for two of the gang offering themselves for evidences were accepted of, and the others were brought to a speedy trial, whereof nine were convicted and executed.
Kennedy having spent all his money, came over from Ireland and kept a common B——y-house on Deptford Road, and now and then it was thought, made an excursion abroad in the way of his former profession, till one of his household w——s gave information against him for a robbery, for which he was committed to Bridewell; but because she would not do the business by halves she found out a mate of a ship that Kennedy had committed piracy upon, as he foolishly confessed to her. This mate, whose name was Grant, paid Kennedy a visit in Bridewell, and knowing him to be the man, procured a warrant, and had him committed to the Marshalsea prison.
The game that Kennedy had now to play was to turn evidence himself; accordingly he gave a list of eight or ten of his comrades, but, not being acquainted with their habitations, one only was taken, who, though condemned, appeared to be a man of a fair character, was forced into their service, and took the first opportunity to get from them, and therefore received a pardon; but Walter Kennedy, being a notorious offender, was executed July 19, 1721, at Execution Dock.
The rest of the pirates who were left in the shipRoverstayed not long behind, for they went ashore to one of the West India islands. What became of them afterwards I cannot tell, but the ship was found at sea by a sloop belonging toSt. Christophers, and carried into that island with only nine negroes aboard.
Thus we see what a disastrous fate ever attends the wicked, and how rarely they escape the punishment due to their crimes, who, abandoned to such a profligate life, rob, spoil, and prey upon mankind, contrary to the light and law of nature, as well as the law of God. It might have been hoped that the examples of these deaths would have been as marks to the remainder of this gang, how to shun the rocks their companions had split on; that they would have surrendered to mercy, or divided themselves for ever from such pursuits, as in the end they might be sure would subject them to the same law and punishment, which they must be conscious they now equally deserved; impending law, which never let them sleep well unless when drunk. But all the use that was made of it here, was to commend the justice of the court that condemned Kennedy, for he was a sad dog, they said, and deserved the fate he met with.
But to go back to Roberts, whom we left on the coast of Caiana, in a grievous passion at what Kennedy and the crew had done, and who was now projecting new adventures with his small company in the sloop; but finding hitherto they had been but as a rope of sand, they formed a set of articles to be signed and sworn to for the better conservation of their society, and doing justice to one another, excluding all Irishmen from the benefit of it, to whom they had an implacable aversion upon the account of Kennedy. How, indeed, Roberts could think that an oath would be obligatory where defiance had been given to the laws of God and man, I cannot tell, but he thought their greatest security lay in this—“that it was every one’s interest to observe them, if they minded to keep up so abominable a combination.”
The following is the substance of articles as taken from the pirate’s own informations:—
I.Every man has a vote in affairs of moment, has equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and may use them at pleasure, unless a scarcity (no uncommon thing among them) make it necessary for the good of all to vote a retrenchment.II.Every man to be called fairly in turn by list, on board of prizes, because, over and above their proper share, they were on these occasions allowed a shift of clothes. But if they defrauded the company to the value of a dollar, in plate, jewels, or money, marooning was their punishment. (This was a barbarous custom of putting the offender on shore, on some desolate or uninhabited cape or island, with a gun, a few shot, a bottle of water, a bottle of powder, to subsist with or starve.) If the robbery was only between one another, they contented themselves with slitting the ears and nose of him that was guilty, and set him on shore, not in an uninhabited place, but somewhere where he was sure to encounter hardships.III.No person to game at cards or dice for money.IV.The lights and candles to be put out at eight o’clock at night. If any of the crew after that hour still remained inclined for drinking, they were to do it on the open deck. (Which Roberts believed would give a check to their debauches, for he was a sober man himself, but found at length that all his endeavours to put an end to this debauch proved ineffectual.)V.To keep their piece, pistols, and cutlass clean, and fit for service. (In this they were extravagantly nice, endeavouring to outdo one another in the beauty and richness of their arms, giving sometimes at an auction—at the mast—£30 or £40 a pair for pistols. These were slung in time of service, with different coloured ribbons, over their shoulders, in a way peculiar to these fellows, in which they took great delight.)VI.No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man were found seducing any of the latter sex; and carried her to sea disguised, he was to suffer death. (So that when any fell into their hands, as it chanced in theOnslow, they put a sentinel immediately over her to prevent ill consequences from so dangerous an instrument of division and quarrel; but then here lies the roguery—they contend who shall be sentinel, which happens generally to one of the greatest bullies, who, to secure the lady’s virtue, will let none lie with her but himself.)VII.To desert the ship or their quarters in battle, was punished with death or marooning.VIII.No striking one another on board, but every man’s quarrels to be ended on shore, at sword and pistol. Thus the quartermaster of the ship, when the parties will not come to any reconciliation, accompanies them on shore with what assistance he thinks proper, and turns the disputants back to back at so many paces distance. At the word of command they turn and fire immediately, or else the piece is knocked out of their hands. If both miss, they come to their cutlasses, and then he is declared victor who draws the first blood.IX.No man to talk of breaking up their way of living till each had shared £1,000. If, in order to this, any man should lose a limb, or become a cripple in their service, he was to have 800 dollars out of the public stock, and for lesser hurts proportionably.X.The captain and quartermaster to receive two shares of a prize; the master, boatswain, and gunner, one share and a half, and other officers one and a quarter.XI.The musicians to have rest on the Sabbath-day, but the other six days and nights none without special favour.
I.
Every man has a vote in affairs of moment, has equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any time seized, and may use them at pleasure, unless a scarcity (no uncommon thing among them) make it necessary for the good of all to vote a retrenchment.
II.
Every man to be called fairly in turn by list, on board of prizes, because, over and above their proper share, they were on these occasions allowed a shift of clothes. But if they defrauded the company to the value of a dollar, in plate, jewels, or money, marooning was their punishment. (This was a barbarous custom of putting the offender on shore, on some desolate or uninhabited cape or island, with a gun, a few shot, a bottle of water, a bottle of powder, to subsist with or starve.) If the robbery was only between one another, they contented themselves with slitting the ears and nose of him that was guilty, and set him on shore, not in an uninhabited place, but somewhere where he was sure to encounter hardships.
III.
No person to game at cards or dice for money.
IV.
The lights and candles to be put out at eight o’clock at night. If any of the crew after that hour still remained inclined for drinking, they were to do it on the open deck. (Which Roberts believed would give a check to their debauches, for he was a sober man himself, but found at length that all his endeavours to put an end to this debauch proved ineffectual.)
V.
To keep their piece, pistols, and cutlass clean, and fit for service. (In this they were extravagantly nice, endeavouring to outdo one another in the beauty and richness of their arms, giving sometimes at an auction—at the mast—£30 or £40 a pair for pistols. These were slung in time of service, with different coloured ribbons, over their shoulders, in a way peculiar to these fellows, in which they took great delight.)
VI.
No boy or woman to be allowed amongst them. If any man were found seducing any of the latter sex; and carried her to sea disguised, he was to suffer death. (So that when any fell into their hands, as it chanced in theOnslow, they put a sentinel immediately over her to prevent ill consequences from so dangerous an instrument of division and quarrel; but then here lies the roguery—they contend who shall be sentinel, which happens generally to one of the greatest bullies, who, to secure the lady’s virtue, will let none lie with her but himself.)
VII.
To desert the ship or their quarters in battle, was punished with death or marooning.
VIII.
No striking one another on board, but every man’s quarrels to be ended on shore, at sword and pistol. Thus the quartermaster of the ship, when the parties will not come to any reconciliation, accompanies them on shore with what assistance he thinks proper, and turns the disputants back to back at so many paces distance. At the word of command they turn and fire immediately, or else the piece is knocked out of their hands. If both miss, they come to their cutlasses, and then he is declared victor who draws the first blood.
IX.
No man to talk of breaking up their way of living till each had shared £1,000. If, in order to this, any man should lose a limb, or become a cripple in their service, he was to have 800 dollars out of the public stock, and for lesser hurts proportionably.
X.
The captain and quartermaster to receive two shares of a prize; the master, boatswain, and gunner, one share and a half, and other officers one and a quarter.
XI.
The musicians to have rest on the Sabbath-day, but the other six days and nights none without special favour.
These, we are assured, were some of Roberts’s articles, but as they had taken care to throw overboard the original they had signed and sworn to, there is a great deal of room to suspect the remainder contained something too horrid to be disclosed to any, except such as were willing to be sharers in the iniquity of them. Let them be what they will, they were together the test of all new-comers, who were initiated by an oath taken on a Bible, reserved for that purpose only, and were subscribed to in presence of the worshipful Mr. Roberts. And in case any doubt should arise concerning the construction of these laws, and it should remain a dispute whether the party had infringed them or no, a jury was appointed to explain them, and bring in a verdict upon the case in doubt.
Since we are now speaking of the laws of this company, I shall go on, and, in as brief a manner as I can, relate the principal customs and government of this roguish commonwealth, which are pretty near the same with all pirates.
For the punishment of small offences which are not provided for by the articles, and which are not of consequence enough to be left to a jury, there is a principal officer among the pirates, called the quartermaster, of the men’s own choosing, who claims all authority this way, excepting in time of battle. If they disobey his command, are quarrelsome and mutinous with one another, misuse prisoners, plunder beyond his order, and in particular, if they be negligent of their arms, which he musters at discretion, he punishes at his own arbitrement, with drubbing or whipping, which no one else dare do without incurring the lash from all the ship’s company. In short, this officer is trustee for the whole, is the first on board any prize, separating for the company’s use what he pleases, and returning what he thinks fit to the owners, excepting gold and silver, which they have voted not returnable.
After a description of the quartermaster and his duty, who acts as a sort of a civil magistrate on board a pirate ship, I shall consider their military officer, the captain; what privileges he exerts in such anarchy and unruliness of the members. Why, truly very little—they only permit him to be captain, on condition that they may be captain over him; they separate to his use the great cabin, and sometimes vote him small parcels of plate and china (for it may be noted that Roberts drank his tea constantly), but then every man, as the humour takes him, will use the plate and china, intrude into his apartment, swear at him, seize a part of his victuals and drink, if they like it, without his offering to find fault or contest it. Yet Roberts, by a better management than usual, became the chief director in everything of moment; and it happened thus:—The rank of captain being obtained by the suffrage of the majority, it falls on one superior for knowledge and boldness—pistol proof, as they call it—and can make those fear who do not love him. Roberts is said to have exceeded his fellows in these respects, and when advanced, enlarged the respect that followed it by making a sort of privy council of half a dozen of the greatest bullies, such as were his competitors, and had interest enough to make his government easy; yet even those, in the latter part of his reign, he had run counter to in every project that opposed his own opinion; for which, and because he grew reserved and would not drink and roar at their rate, a cabal was formed to take away his captainship, which death did more effectually.
The captain’s power is uncontrollable in chase or in battle, drubbing, cutting, or even shooting any one who dares deny his command. The same privilege he takes over prisoners, who receive good or ill usage mostly as he approves of their behaviour, for though the meanest would take upon them to misuse a master of a ship, yet he would control herein when he sees it, and merrily over a bottle give his prisoners this double reason for it: first, that it preserved his precedence; and secondly, that it took the punishment out of the hands of a much more rash and mad set of fellows that himself. When he found that rigour was not expected from his people (for he often practised it to appease them), then he would give strangers to understand that it was pure inclination that induced him to a good treatment of them, and not any love or partiality to their persons; for, says he, “there is none of you but will hang me, I know, whenever you can clinch me within your power.”
And now, seeing the disadvantages they were under for pursuing the account, viz., a small vessel ill repaired, and without provisions or stores, they resolved, one and all, with the little supplies they could get, to proceed for the West Indies, not doubting to find a remedy for all these evils and to retrieve their loss.
In the latitude of Deseada, one of the islands, they took two sloops, which supplied them with provisions and other necessaries, and a few days afterwards took a brigantine belonging to Rhode Island, and then proceeded to Barbadoes, off of which island they fell in with a Bristol ship of ten guns, in her voyage out, from whom they took abundance of clothes, some money, twenty-five bales of goods, five barrels of powder, a cable, hawser, ten casks of oatmeal, six casks of beef, and several other goods, besides five of their men; and after they had detained her three days let her go, who, being bound for the abovesaid island, she acquainted the governor with what had happened as soon as she arrived.
Whereupon a Bristol galley that lay in the harbour was ordered to be fitted out with all imaginable expedition of 20 guns and 80 men, there being then no man-of-war upon that station, and also a sloop with 10 guns and 40 men. The galley was commanded by one Captain Rogers, of Bristol, and the sloop by Captain Graves, of that island, and Captain Rogers, by a commission from the governor, was appointed commodore.
The second day after Rogers sailed out of the harbour he was discovered by Roberts, who, knowing nothing of their design, gave them chase. The Barbadoes ships kept an easy sail till the pirates came up with them, and then Roberts gave them a gun, expecting they would have immediately struck to his piratical flag; but instead thereof, he was forced to receive the fire of a broadside, with three huzzas at the same time, so that an engagement ensued; but Roberts, being hardly put to it, was obliged to crowd all the sail the sloop would bear to get off. The galley, sailing pretty well, kept company for a long while, keeping a constant fire, which galled the pirate; however, at length, by throwing over their guns and other heavy goods, and thereby lightening the vessel, they, with much ado, got clear; but Roberts could never endure a Barbadoes man afterwards, and when any ships belonging to that island fell in his way, he was more particularly severe to them than others.
Captain Roberts sailed in the sloop to the island of Dominico, where he watered and got provisions of the inhabitants, to whom he gave goods in exchange. At this place he met with thirteen Englishmen, who had been set ashore by a French Guard de la Coste, belonging to Martinico, taken out of two New England ships that had been seized as prizes by the said French sloop. The men willingly entered with the pirates, and it proved a seasonable recruit.
They stayed not long here, though they had immediate occasion for cleaning their sloop, but did not think this a proper place; and herein they judged right, for the touching at this island had like to have been their destruction, because they, having resolved to go away to the Granada Islands for the aforesaid purpose, by some accident it came to be known to the French colony, who, sending word to the governor of Martinico, he equipped and manned two sloops to go in quest of them. The pirates sailed directly for the Granadilloes, and hall’d into a lagoon at Corvocoo, where they cleaned with unusual dispatch, staying but a little above a week, by which expedition they missed of the Martinico sloops only a few hours, Roberts sailing overnight that the French arrived the next morning. This was a fortunate escape, especially considering that it was not from any fears of their being discovered that they made so much haste from the island, but, as they had the impudence themselves to own, for the want of wine and women.
Thus narrowly escaped, they sailed for Newfoundland, and arrived upon the banks the latter end of June, 1720. They entered the harbour of Trepassi with their black colours flying, drums beating, and trumpets sounding. There were two-and-twenty vessels in the harbour, which the men all quitted upon the sight of the pirate, and fled ashore. It is impossible particularly to recount the destruction and havoc they made here, burning and sinking all the shipping except a Bristol galley, and destroying the fisheries and stages of the poor planters without remorse or compunction; for nothing is so deplorable as power in mean and ignorant hands—it makes men wanton and giddy, unconcerned at the misfortunes they are imposing on their fellow-creatures, and keeps them smiling at the mischiefs that bring themselves no advantage. They are like madmen that cast fire-brands, arrows, and death, and say, Are not we in sport?
Roberts manned the Bristol galley he took in the harbour, and mounted 16 guns on board her, and cruising out upon the banks, he met with nine or ten sail of French ships, all which he destroyed except one of 26 guns, which they seized and carried off for their own use. This ship they christened theFortune, and leaving the Bristol galley to the Frenchmen, they sailed away in company with the sloop on another cruise, and took several prizes, viz., theRichard, of Biddiford, Jonathan Whitfield, master; theWilling Mind, of Pool; theExpectation, of Topsham; and theSamuel, Captain Cary, of London; out of these ships they increased their company by entering all the men they could well spare in their own service. TheSamuelwas a rich ship, and had several passengers on board, who were used very roughly in order to make them discover their money, threatening them every moment with death if they did not resign everything up to them. They tore up the hatches and entered the hold like a parcel of furies, and with axes and cutlasses cut and broke open all the bales, cases, and boxes they could lay their hands on; and when any goods came upon deck that they did not like to carry abroad, instead of tossing them into the hold again, threw them overboard into the sea. All this was done with incessant cursing and swearing, more like fiends than men. They carried with them sails, guns, powder, cordage, and £8,000 or £9,000 worth of the choicest goods, and told Captain Cary “that they should accept of no Act of Grace, that the K—— and P——t might be damned with their Acts of G—— for them; neither would they go to Hope Point to be hanged up a-sundrying, as Kid’s and Braddish’s company were; but that if they should ever be overpowered, they would set fire to the powder with a pistol, and go all merrily to hell together.”
After they had brought all the booty aboard a consultation was held whether they should sink or burn the ship, but whilst they were debating the matter they spied a sail, and so left theSamuel, to give her chase; at midnight they came up with the same, which proved to be a snow from Bristol, bound for Boston, Captain Bowles, master. They used him barbarously, because of his countryman, Captain Rogers, who attacked them off Barbadoes, was of the city of Bristol.
July 16th, which was two days afterwards, they took a Virginiaman called theLittle York, James Philips, master, and theLove, of Liverpool, which they plundered and let go. The next day a snow from Bristol, called thePhœnix, John Richards, master, met with the same fate from them, as also a brigantine, Captain Thomas, and a sloop called theSadbury; they took all the men out of the brigantine and sunk the vessel.
When they left the banks of Newfoundland they sailed for the West Indies, and the provisions growing short, they went for the latitude of the island Deseada, to cruise, it being esteemed the likeliest place to meet with such ships as (they used in their mirth to say) were consigned to them, with supplies. And it has been very much suspected that ships have loaded with provisions at the English colonies, on pretence of trading on the coast of Africa, when they have in reality been consigned to them, and though a show of violence is offered to them when they meet, yet they are pretty sure of bringing their cargo to a good market.
However, at this time they missed their usual luck, and provisions and necessaries becoming more scarce every day, they retired towards St. Christophers, where, being denied all succour or assistance from the Government, they fired in revenge on the town, and burnt two ships in the road, one of them commanded by Captain Cox, of Bristol; and then retreated farther to the island of St. Bartholomew, where they met with much handsomer treatment, the governor not only supplying them with refreshments, but he and the chiefs caressing them in the most friendly manner; and the women, from so good an example, endeavoured to outvie each other in dress and behaviour to attract the good graces of such generous lovers, that paid well for their favours.
Sated at length with these pleasures, and having taken on board a good supply of fresh provisions, they voted unanimously for the coast of Guinea, and in the latitude of 22 N. in their voyage thither, met with a French ship from Martinico, richly laden, and, which was unlucky for the master, had a property of being fitter for their purpose than the banker. “Exchange was no robbery,” they said, and so after a little mock complaisance to monsieur for the favour he had done them, they shifted their men and took leave. This was their first royal fortune.
In this ship Roberts proceeded on his designed voyage; but before they reached Guinea, he proposed to touch at Brava, the southernmost of Cape Verde Islands, and clean. But here again, by an intolerable stupidity and want of judgment, they got so far to leeward of their port, that, despairing to regain it, or any of the windward parts of Africa, they were obliged to go back again with the trade-wind, for the West Indies, which had very near been the destruction of them all. Surinam was the place now designed for, which was at no less than 700 leagues distance, and they had but one hogshead of water left to supply 124 souls for that passage—a sad circumstance that eminently exposes the folly and madness among pirates, and he must be an inconsiderate wretch indeed, who, if he could separate the wickedness and punishment from the fact, would yet hazard his life amidst such dangers as their want of skill and forecast made them liable to.
Their sins, we may presume, were never so troublesome to their memories as now that inevitable destruction seemed to threaten them, without the least glimpse of comfort or alleviation to their misery; for, with what face could wretches who had ravaged and made so many necessitous, look up for relief; they had to that moment lived in defiance of the Power that now alone they must trust for their preservation, and indeed without the miraculous intervention of Providence there appeared only this miserable choice, viz., a present death by their own hands, or a lingering one by famine.
They continued their course, and came to an allowance of one single mouthful of water for twenty-four hours; many of them drank their urine, or sea-water, which, instead of allaying, gave them an inextinguishable thirst, that killed them. Others pined and wasted a little more time in fluxes and apyrexies, so that they dropped away daily. Those that sustained the misery best were such as almost starved themselves, forbearing all sorts of food, unless a mouthful or two of bread the whole day, so that those who survived were as weak as was possible for men to be and alive.
But if the dismal prospect they set out with gave them anxiety, trouble, or pain, what must their fears and apprehensions be when they had not one drop of water left, or any other liquor to moisten or animate? This was their case, when (by the working of Divine Providence, no doubt) they were brought into soundings, and at night anchored in seven fathom water. This was an inexpressible joy to them, and, as it were, fed the expiring lamp of life with fresh spirits; but this could not hold long. When the morning came they saw land from the mast-head, but it was at so great distance that it afforded but an indifferent prospect to men who had drank nothing for the last two days; however, they dispatched their boat away, and late the same night it returned, to their no small comfort, with a load of water, informing them that they had got off the mouth of Meriwinga River on the coast of Surinam.
One would have thought so miraculous an escape should have wrought some reformation, but, alas! they had no sooner quenched their thirst, but they had forgot the miracle, till scarcity of provisions awakened their senses and bid them guard against starving. Their allowance was very small, and yet they would profanely say, “that Providence which gave them drink, would, no doubt, bring them meat also, if they would use but an honest endeavour.”
In pursuance of these honest endeavours, they were steering for the latitude of Barbadoes, with what little they had left, to look out for more, or starve; and, in their way, met a ship that answered their necessities, and after that a brigantine; the former was called theGreyhound, belonging to St. Christophers, and bound to Philadelphia, the mate of which signed the pirates’ articles, and was afterwards captain of theRanger, consort to theRoyal Fortune.
Out of the ship and brigantine the pirates got a good supply of provisions and liquor, so that they gave over the designed cruise, and watered at Tobago, and hearing of the two sloops that had been fitted and sent after them at Corvocoo, they sailed to the island of Martinico, to make the governor some sort of an equivalent, for the care and expedition he had shown in that affair.
RobertsCaptainBartho. Robertswith two Ships, Viz. theRoyal FortuneandRanger,takes Sail inWhydahRoad on the Coast ofGuiney,January 11ᵗʰ., 1721/2
CaptainBartho. Robertswith two Ships, Viz. theRoyal FortuneandRanger,takes Sail inWhydahRoad on the Coast ofGuiney,January 11ᵗʰ., 1721/2
It is the custom at Martinico for the Dutch interlopers that have a mind to trade with the people of the island to hoist their jacks when they came before the town. Roberts knew the signal, and being an utter enemy to them, he bent his thoughts on mischief; and accordingly came in with his jack flying, which, as he expected, they mistook for a good market, and thought themselves happiest that could soonest dispatch off their sloops and vessels for trade. When Roberts had got them within his power, one after another, he told them he would not have it said that they came off for nothing, and therefore ordered them to leave their money behind, for that they were a parcel of rogues, and hoped they would always meet with such a Dutch trade as this was; he reserved one vessel to set the passengers on shore again, and fired the rest, to the number of twenty.
Roberts was so enraged at the attempts that had been made for taking of him by the governors of Barbadoes and Martinico that he ordered a new jack to be made, which they ever after hoisted, with his own figure portrayed, standing upon two skulls, and under them the letters A. B. H. and A. M. H., signifying a Barbadian’s and a Martinican’s head, as may be seen in the plate of Captain Roberts.
At Dominico, the next island they touched at, they took a Dutch interloper of twenty-two guns and seventy-five men, and a brigantine belonging to Rhode Island, one Norton, master. The former made some defence, till some of his men being killed, the rest were discouraged and struck their colours. With these two prizes they went down to Guadalupe, and brought out a sloop and a French fly-boat laden with sugar; the sloop they burnt, and went on to Moonay, another island, thinking to clean, but finding the sea ran too high there to undertake it with safety, they bent their course for the north part of Hispaniola, where, at Bonnet’s Key, in the Gulf of Saminah, they cleaned both the ship and the brigantine. For though Hispaniola be settled by the Spaniards and French, and is the residence of a President from Spain, who receives, and finally determines appeals from all the other Spanish West India Islands, yet are its people by no means proportioned to its magnitude, so that there are many harbours in it to which pirates may securely resort without fear of discovery from the inhabitants.
Whilst they were here two sloops came in, as they pretended, to pay Roberts a visit. The masters, whose names were Porter and Tuckerman, addressed the pirate, as the Queen of Sheba did Solomon, to wit, “that having heard of his fame and achievements,” they had put in there to learn his art and wisdom in the business of pirating, being vessels on the same honourable design with himself; and hoped with the communication of his knowledge they should also receive his charity, being in want of necessaries for such adventures. Roberts was won upon by the peculiarity and bluntness of these two men, and gave them powder, arms, and whatever else they had occasion for, spent two or three merry nights with them, and at parting, said, “he hoped the L—— would prosper their handy works.”
They passed some time here, after they had got their vessel ready, in their usual debaucheries. They had taken a considerable quantity of rum and sugar, so that liquor was as plenty as water, and few there were who denied themselves the immoderate use of it; nay, sobriety brought a man under a suspicion of being in a plot against the commonwealth, and in their sense he was looked upon to be a villain that would not be drunk. This was evident in the affair of Harry Glasby, chosen master of theRoyal Fortune, who, with two others, laid hold of the opportunity at the last island they were at to move off without bidding farewell to his friends. Glasby was a reserved, sober man, and therefore gave occasion to be suspected, so that he was soon missed after he went away, and a detachment being sent in quest of the deserters, they were all three brought back again next day. This was a capital offence, and for which they were ordered to be brought to an immediate trial.
Here was the form of justice kept up, which is as much as can be said of several other courts that have more lawful commissions for what they do. Here was no feeing of council, and bribing of witnesses was a custom not known among them, no packing of juries, no torturing and wresting the sense of the law, for bye ends and purposes, no puzzling or perplexing the cause with unintelligible canting terms and useless distinctions, nor was their sessions burthened with numberless officers, the ministers of rapine and extortion, with ill-boding aspects enough to fright Astrea from the court.
The place appointed for their trials was the steerage of the ship, in order to which a large bowl of rum punch was made and placed upon the table, the pipes and tobacco being ready, the judicial proceedings began. The prisoners were brought forth, and articles of indictment against them read. They were arraigned upon a statute of their own making, and the letter of the law being strong against them, and the fact plainly proved, they were about to pronounce sentence, when one of the judges moved that they should first smoke the other pipe, which was accordingly done.
All the prisoners pleaded for arrest of judgment very movingly, but the court had such an abhorrence of their crime that they could not be prevailed upon to show mercy, till one of the judges, whose name was Valentine Ashplant, stood up, and taking his pipe out of his mouth, said he had something to offer to the court in behalf of one of the prisoners, and spoke to this effect: “By G——, Glasby shall not die, d——n me if he shall.” After this learned speech he sat down in his place and resumed his pipe. This motion was loudly opposed by all the rest of the judges in equivalent terms, but Ashplant, who was resolute in his opinion, made another pathetical speech in the following manner: “G—— d——n ye gentlemen, I am as good a man as the best of you; d——n my s——l if ever I turned my back to any man in my life, or ever will, by G——. Glasby is an honest fellow, notwithstanding this misfortune, and I love him, d——l d——n me if I don’t. I hope he’ll live and repent of what he has done, but d——n me if he must die, I will die along with him.” And thereupon he pulled out a pair of pistols and presented them to some of the learned judges upon the bench, who, perceiving his argument so well supported, thought it reasonable that Glasby should be acquitted; and so they all came over to his opinion, and allowed it to be law.
But all the mitigation that could be obtained for the other prisoners was that they should have the liberty of choosing any four of the whole company to be their executioners. The poor wretches were tied immediately to the mast, and there shot dead, pursuant to their villainous sentence.
When they put to sea again, the prizes which had been detained only for fear of spreading any rumour concerning them, which had like to have been so fatal at Corvocoo, were thus disposed of: they burnt their own sloop and manned Norton’s brigantine, sending the master away in the Dutch interloper, not dissatisfied.
With theRoyal Fortuneand the brigantine, which they christened theGood Fortune, they pushed towards the latitude of Deseada, to look out for provisions, being very short again, and, just to their wish, Captain Hingstone’s ill fortune brought him in their way, richly laden for Jamaica; him they carried to Bermudas and plundered, and stretching back again to the West Indies, they continually met with some consignment or other (chiefly French) which stored them with plenty of provisions and recruited their starving condition, so that, stocked with this sort of ammunition, they began to think of something worthier their aim, for these robberies that only supplied what was in constant expenditure by no means answered their intentions, and accordingly they proceeded again for the coast of Guinea, where they thought to buy gold dust very cheap. In their passage thither they took numbers of ships of all nations, some of which they burnt or sunk, as the carriage or characters of the masters displeased them.
Notwithstanding the successful adventures of this crew, yet it was with great difficulty they could be kept together under any kind of regulation, for, being almost always mad or drunk, their behaviour produced infinite disorders, every man being in his own imagination a captain, a prince, or a king. When Roberts saw there was no managing of such a company of wild, ungovernable brutes by gentle means, nor to keep them from drinking to excess, the cause of all their disturbances, he put on a rougher deportment and a more magisterial carriage towards them, correcting whom he thought fit, and if any seemed to resent his usage he told them “they might go ashore and take satisfaction of him, it they thought fit, at sword and pistol, for he neither valued or feared any of them.”
About four hundred leagues from the coast of Africa, the brigantine, who had hitherto lived with them in all amicable correspondence, thought fit to take the opportunity of a dark night and leave the commodore, which leads me back to the relation of an accident that happened at one of the islands of the West Indies, where they watered before they undertook this voyage, which had like to have thrown their government (such as it was) off the hinges, and was partly the occasion of the separation. The story is as follows:—
Captain Roberts having been insulted by one of the drunken crew (whose name I have forgot), he, in the heat of his passion, killed the fellow on the spot, which was resented by a great many others, but particularly one Jones, a brisk, active young man, who died lately in the Marshalsea, and was his messmate. This Jones was at that time ashore a-watering the ship, but as soon as he came on board was told that Captain Roberts had killed his comrade, upon which he cursed Roberts, and said he ought to be served so himself. Roberts hearing Jones’s invective, ran to him with a sword, and ran him into the body, who, notwithstanding his wound, seized the captain, threw him over a gun, and beat him handsomely. This adventure put the whole company in an uproar, and some taking part with the captain and others against him, there had like to have ensued a general battle with one another, like my Lord Thomont’s cocks. However, the tumult was at length appeased by the mediation of the quartermaster, and as the majority of the company were of opinion that the dignity of the captain ought to be supported on board, that it was a post of honour, and therefore the person whom they thought fit to confer it on, should not be violated by any single member; wherefore they sentenced Jones to undergo two lashes from every one of the company for his misdemeanour, which was executed upon him as soon as he was well of his wound.
This severe punishment did not at all convince Jones that he was in the wrong, but rather animated him to some sort of a revenge, but not being able to do it upon Roberts’s person on board the ship, he and several of his comrades correspond with Anstis, captain of the brigantine, and conspire with him and some of the principal pirates on board that vessel to go off from the company. What made Anstis a malecontent was the inferiority he stood in with respect to Roberts, who carried himself with a haughty and magisterial air to him and his crew, he regarding the brigantine only as a tender, and, as such, left them no more than the refuse of their plunder. In short, Jones and his consort go on board of Captain Anstis on pretence of a visit, and there, consulting with their brethren, they find a majority for leaving of Roberts, and so came to a resolution to bid a soft farewell, as they call it, that night, and to throw overboard whosoever should stick out; but they proved to be unanimous, and effected their design as above mentioned.
I shall have no more to say of Captain Anstis till the story of Roberts is concluded, therefore I return to him in the pursuit of his voyage to Guinea. The loss of the brigantine was a sensible shock to the crew, she being an excellent sailor and had seventy hands aboard; however, Roberts, who was the occasion of it, put on a face of unconcern at this his ill conduct and mismanagement, and resolved not to alter his purposes upon that account.
Roberts fell in to windward nigh the Senegal, a river of great trade for gum on this part of the coast, monopolized by the French, who constantly keep cruisers to hinder the interloping trade. At this time they had two small ships on that service, one of 10 guns and 65 men, and the other of 16 guns and 75 men, who having got a sight of Mr. Roberts, and supposing him to be one of these prohibited traders, chased with all the sail they could make to come up with him; but their hopes which had brought them very nigh, too late deceived them, for on the hoisting of Jolly Roger (the name they give their black flag) their French hearts failed, and they both surrendered without any, or at least very little, resistance. With these prizes they went into Sierra Leone, and made one of them their consort by the name of theRanger, and the other a storeship, to clean by.
Sierra Leone river disgorges with a large mouth, the starboard side of which draughts into little bays, safe and convenient for cleaning and watering; what still made it preferable to the pirates is that the traders settled here are naturally their friends. There are about thirty Englishmen in all, men who in some part of their lives have been either privateering, buccaneering, or pirating, and still retain and love the riots and humours common to that sort of life. They live very friendly with the natives, and have many of them of both sexes to be their gromettas, or servants. The men are faithful and the women so obedient that they are very ready to prostitute themselves to whomsoever their masters shall command them. The Royal African Company has a fort on a small island called Bence Island, but it is of little use, besides keeping their slaves, the distance making it incapable of giving any molestation to their starboard shore. Here lives at this place an old fellow who goes by the name of Crackers, who was formerly a noted buccaneer, and while he followed the calling robbed and plundered many a man; he keeps the best house in the place, has two or three guns before his door, with which he salutes his friends, the pirates, when they put in, and lives a jovial life with them all the while they are there.
Here follows a list of the rest of those lawless merchants and their servants who carry on a private trade with the interlopers, to the great prejudice of the Royal African Company, who, with extraordinary industry and expense, have made and maintain settlements without any consideration from those who, without such settlements and forts, would soon be under an incapacity of pursuing any such private trade. Wherefore it is to be hoped proper means will be taken to root out a pernicious set of people who have all their lives supported themselves by the labours of other men.
Two of these fellows entered with Roberts’s crew, and continued with them till the destruction of the company.
A List of the White Men now living on the high land of Sierra Leone, and the craft they occupy:—
John Leadstone, three boats and a periagoe; his man, Tom; his man, John Brown. Alexander Middleton, one long-boat; his man, Charles Hawkins. John Pierce, William Mead, partners, one long-boat; their man, John Vernon. David Chatmers, one long-boat. John Chatmers, one long-boat. Richard Richardson, one long-boat. Norton, Richard Warren, Robert Glynn, partners, two long-boats and two small boats; his man, John Franks. William Waits, and one young man. John Bonnerman. John England, one long-boat. Robert Samples, one long-boat. William Presgrove, Harry Presgrove, Davis Presgrove, Mitchel Presgrove, Richard Lamb, one sloop, two long-boats, a small boat, and periagoe. With Roquis Rodrigus, a Portuguese. George Bishop. Peter Brown. John Jones, one long-boat; his Irish young man. At Rio Pungo, Benjamin Gun. At Kidham, George Yeats. At Gallyneas, Richard Lemmons.
The harbour is so convenient for wooding and watering that it occasions many of our trading ships, especially those of Bristol, to call in there with large cargoes of beer, cider, and strong liquors, which they exchange with these private traders for slaves and teeth, purchased by them at the Rio Nune’s and other places to the northward, so that here was what they call good living.
Hither Roberts came the end of June, 1721, and had intelligence that theSwallowandWeymouth, two men-of-war, of fifty guns each, had left that river about a month before and designed to return about Christmas; so that the pirates could indulge themselves with all the satisfaction in the world, in that they knew they were not only secure whilst there, but that in going down the coast after the men-of-war they should always be able to get such intelligence of their rendezvous as would serve to make their expedition safe. So after six weeks’ stay, the ships being cleaned and fitted, and the men weary of whoring and drinking, they bethought themselves of business, and went to sea the beginning of August, taking their progress down the whole coast as low as Jaquin, plundering every ship they met of what was valuable in her, and sometimes to be more mischievously wicked, would throw what they did not want overboard, accumulating cruelty to theft.
In this range they exchanged their old French ship for a fine frigate-built ship called theOnslow, belonging to the Royal African Company, Captain Gee, commander, which happened to lie at Sestos, to get water and necessaries for the company. A great many of Captain Gee’s men were ashore when Roberts’s bore down, and so the ship consequently surprised into his hands, though had they been all on board it was not likely the case would have been otherwise, the sailors, most of them, voluntarily joining the pirates, and encouraging the same disposition in the soldiers (who were going passengers with them to Cape Corso Castle), whose ears being constantly tickled with the feats and gallantry of those fellows, made them fancy that to go was only being bound on a voyage of knight errantry (to relieve the distressed and gather up fame) and so they likewise offered themselves. But here the pirates were at a stand; they entertained so contemptible a notion of landmen that they put them off with refusals for some time, till at length, being wearied with solicitations and pitying a parcel of stout fellows, which they said were going to starve upon a little canky and plantane, they accepted of them, and allowed them a quarter share, as it was then termed, out of charity.
There was a clergyman on board theOnslow, sent from England to be chaplain of Cape Corso Castle. Some of the pirates were for keeping him, alleging merrily that their ship wanted a chaplain. Accordingly they offered him a share to take on with them, promising he should do nothing for his money but make punch and say prayers; yet, however brutish they might be in other things, they bore so great a respect to his order that they resolved not to force him against his inclinations; and the parson, having no relish for this sort of life, excused himself from accepting the honour they designed him; they were satisfied, and generous enough to deliver him back everything he owned to be his. The parson laid hold of this favourable disposition of the pirates, and laid claim to several things belonging to others, which were also given up, to his great satisfaction; in fine, they kept nothing which belonged to the Church except three Prayer-books and a bottle-screw.
The pirates kept theOnslowfor their own use, and gave Captain Gee the French ship, and then fell to making such alterations as might fit her for a sea-rover, pulling down her bulkheads and making her flush, so that she became, in all respects, as complete a ship for their purpose as any they could have found; they continued to her the name of theRoyal Fortuneand mounted her with forty guns.
She and theRangerproceeded (as I said before) to Jaquin, and from thence to Old Calabar, where they arrived about October, in order to clean their ships—a place the most suitable along the whole coast, for there is a bar with not above fifteen foot water upon it, and the channel intricate, so that had the men-of-war been sure of their being harboured here, they might still have bid defiance to their strength, for the depth of water at the bar, as well as the want of a pilot, was a sufficient security to the rovers and invincible impediments to them. Here, therefore, they sat easy and divided the fruits of their dishonest industry, and drank and drove care away. The pilot who brought them into this harbour was Captain L——e, who for this and other services was extremely well paid, according to the journal of their own accounts, which do not run in the ordinary and common way of debtorcontracreditor, but much more concise, lumping it to their friends, and so carrying the debt in their heads against the next honest trader they meet.
They took at Calabar, Captain Loane and two or three Bristol ships, the particulars of which would be an unnecessary prolixity, therefore I come now to give an account of the usage they received from the natives of this place. The Calabar negroes did not prove so civil as they expected, for they refused to have any commerce or trade with them when they understood they were pirates. An indication that these poor creatures, in the narrow circumstances they were in, and without the light of the Gospel or the advantage of an education, have, notwithstanding, such a moral innate honesty as would upbraid and shame the most knowing Christian. But this did but exasperate these lawless fellows, and so a party of forty men were detached to force a correspondence or drive the negroes to extremities, and they accordingly landed under the fire of their own cannon. The negroes drew up in a body of two thousand men, as if they intended to dispute the matter with them, and stayed till the pirates advanced within pistol-shot; but finding the loss of two or three made no impression on the rest, the negroes thought fit to retreat, which they did with some loss. The pirates set fire to the town and then returned to their ships. This terrified the natives and put an entire stop to all the intercourse between them, so that they could get no supplies, which obliged them, as soon as they had finished the cleaning and trimming of their ships, to lose no time, but went for Cape Lopez and watered, and at Anna Bona took aboard a stock of fresh provisions, and then sailed for the coast again.
This was their last and fatal expedition, which we shall be more particular in, because it cannot be imagined that they could have had assurance to have undertaken it, but upon a presumption that the men-of-war (whom they knew were upon the coast) were unable to attack them, or else pursuant to the rumour that had indiscretionally obtained at Sierra Leone, were gone thither again.
It is impossible at this time to think they could know of the weak and sickly condition they were in, and therefore founded the success of this second attempt upon the coast on the latter presumption, and this seems to be confirmed by their falling in with the coast as low as Cape Lahou (and even that was higher than they designed), in the beginning of January, and took the ship called theKing Solomon, with twenty men in their boat, and a trading vessel, both belonging to the Company. The pirate ship happened to fall about a league to leeward of theKing Solomon, at Cape Appollonia, and the current and wind opposing their working up with the ship, they agreed to send the long-boat with sufficient men to take her. The pirates are all volunteers on these occasions, the word being always given, Who will go? And presently the staunch and firm men offer themselves, because, by such readiness, they recommend their courage, and have an allowance also of a shift of clothes, from head to foot, out of the prize.
They rowed towards theKing Solomonwith a great deal of alacrity, and being hailed by the commander of her, answered defiance. Captain Trahern, before this, observing a great number of men in the boat, began not to like his visitors, and prepared to receive them, firing a musket as they come under his stern, which they returned with a volley, and made greater speed to get on board. Upon this he applied to his men, and asked them whether they would stand by him to defend the ship, it being a shame they should be taken by half their number without any repulse? But his boatswain, Philips, took upon him to be the mouth of the people, and put an end to the dispute; he said plainly, he would not, laid down his arms in the King’s name, as he was pleased to term it, and called out to the boat for quarters, so that the rest, by his example, were misled to the losing of the ship.
When they came on board, they brought her under sail by an expeditious method of cutting the cable; Walden, one of the pirates, telling the master this hope of heaving up the anchor was a needless trouble when they designed to burn the ship. They brought her under Commodore Roberts’s stern, and not only rifled her of what sails, cordage, &c., they wanted for themselves, but wantonly threw the goods of the Company overboard, like spendthrifts, that neither expected or designed any account.
On the same day also they took theFlushing, a Dutch ship, robbed her of her masts, yards, and stores, and then cut down her foremast; but what sat as heavily as anything with the skipper was, their taking some fine sausages he had on board, of his wife’s making, and stringing them in a ludicrous manner round their necks, till they had sufficiently showed their contempt of them, and then threw them into the sea. Others chopped the heads of his fowls off, to be dressed for their supper, and courteously invited the landlord, provided he would find liquor. It was a melancholy request to the man, but it must be complied with, and he was obliged, as they grew drunk, to sit quietly and hear them sing French and Spanish songs out of his Dutch prayer-books, with other profaneness, that he, though a Dutchman, stood amazed at.
In chasing too near in they alarmed the coast, and expresses were sent to the English and Dutch factories, giving an account of it. They were sensible of this error immediately, and, because they would make the best of a bad market, resolved to keep out of sight of land, and lose the prizes they might expect between that and Whydah, to make the more sure of that port, where commonly is the best booty, all nations trading thither, especially Portuguese, who purchase chiefly with gold, the idol their hearts were bent upon. And notwithstanding this unlikely course, they met and took several ships between Axim and that place; the circumstantial stories of which, and the panic terrors they struck into his Majesty’s subjects, being tedious and unnecessary to relate, I shall pass by, and come to their arrival in that road.
They came to Whydah with a St. George’s ensign, a black silk flag flying at their mizzen-peak, and a jack and pendant of the same. The flag had a death’s-head on it, with an hour-glass in one hand and cross-bones in the other, a dart by it, and underneath a heart dropping three drops of blood. The jack had a man portrayed on it with a flaming sword in his hand, and standing on two skulls, subscribed A. B. H. and A. M. H.i.e., a Barbadian’s and a Martinican’s head, as has been before taken notice of. Here they found eleven sail in the road, English, French, and Portuguese; the French were three stout ships of thirty guns, and upwards of one hundred men each, yet, when Roberts came to fire, they, with the other ships, immediately struck their colours and surrendered to his mercy. One reason, it must be confessed, of his early victory, was, the commanders and a good part of the men being ashore, according to the custom of the place, to receive the cargoes, and return the slaves, they being obliged to watch the seasons for it, which otherwise, in so dangerous a sea as here, would be impracticable. These all, except thePorcupine, ransomed with him for eight pounds of gold dust, a ship, not without the trouble of some letters passing and repassing from the shore before they could settle it; and, notwithstanding the agreement and payment, they took away one of the French ships, though with a promise to return her if they found she did not sail well, taking with them several of her men for that end.