The first piece of service this kind governor did to Black-beard was to give him a right to the vessel which he had taken when he was a-pirating in the great ship called the Queen Ann’s Revenge, for which purpose a court of vice-admiralty was held at Bath Town, and, though Teach had never any commission in his life, and the sloop belonging to the English merchants, and taken in time of peace, yet was she condemned as a prize taken from the Spaniards by the said Teach. These proceedings show that governors are but men.
Before he sailed upon his adventures, he married a young creature of about sixteen years of age, the governor performing the ceremony. As it is a custom to marry here by a priest, so it is there by a magistrate; and this, I have been informed, made Teach’s fourteenth wife whereof about a dozen might be still living.
In June, 1718, he went to sea upon another expedition, and steered his course towards Bermudas. He met with two or three English vessels in his way, but robbed them only of provisions, stores, and other necessaries, for his present expense; but near the island before mentioned, he fell in with two French ships, one of them was laden with sugar and cocoa, and the other light, both bound to Martinico. The ship that had no lading he let go, and putting all the men of the loaded ship aboard her, he brought home the other with her cargo to North Carolina, where the governor and the pirates shared the plunder.
When Teach and his prize arrived he and four of his crew went to his Excellency and made affidavit that they found the French ship at sea without a soul on board her; and then a court was called, and the ship condemned. The governor had sixty hogsheads of sugar for his dividend, and one Mr. Knight, who was his secretary and collector for the province, twenty, and the rest was shared among the other pirates.
The business was not yet done; the ship remained, and it was possible one or other might come into the river that might be acquainted with her, and so discover the roguery. But Teach thought of a contrivance to prevent this, for, upon a pretence that she was leaky, and that she might sink, and so stop up the mouth of the inlet or cove where she lay, he obtained an order from the governor to bring her out into the river and set her on fire, which was accordingly executed, and she was burnt down to the water’s edge, her bottom sunk, and with it their fears of her ever rising in judgment against them.
Captain Teach, alias Black-beard, passed three or four months in the river, sometimes lying at anchor in the coves, at other times sailing from one inlet to another, trading with such sloops as he met for the plunder he had taken, and would often give them presents for stores and provisions he took from them; that is, when he happened to be in a giving humour; at other times he made bold with them, and took what he liked, without saying “By your leave,” knowing well they dared not send him a bill for the payment. He often diverted himself with going ashore among the planters, where he revelled night and day. By these he was well received, but whether out of love or fear I cannot say. Sometimes he used them courteously enough, and made them presents of rum and sugar in recompense of what he took from them; but, as for liberties, which it is said he and his companions often took with the wives and daughters of the planters, I cannot take upon me to say whether he paid them ad valorem or no. At other times he carried it in a lordly manner towards them, and would lay some of them under contribution; nay, he often proceeded to bully the governor, not that I can discover the least cause of quarrel between them, but it seemed only to be done to show he dared do it.
The sloops trading up and down this river being so frequently pillaged by Black-beard, consulted with the traders and some of the best of the planters what course to take. They saw plainly it would be in vain to make any application to the governor of North Carolina, to whom it properly belonged to find some redress; so that if they could not be relieved from some other quarter, Black-beard would be like to reign with impunity; therefore, with as much secrecy as possible, they sent a deputation to Virginia, to lay the affair before the governor of that colony, and to solicit an armed force from the men-of-war lying there to take or destroy this pirate.
This governor consulted with the captains of the two men-of-war, viz., the Pearl and Lime, who had lain in St. James’s river about ten months. It was agreed that the governor should hire a couple of small sloops, and the men-of-war should man them. This was accordingly done, and the command of them given to Mr. Robert Maynard, first lieutenant of the Pearl, an experienced officer, and a gentleman of great bravery and resolution, as will appear by his gallant behaviour in this expedition. The sloops were well manned, and furnished with ammunition and small arms, but had no guns mounted.
About the time of their going out the governor called an assembly, in which it was resolved to publish a proclamation, offering certain rewards to any person or persons who, within a year after that time, should take or destroy any pirate. The original proclamation, being in our hands, is as follows:—
By his Majesty’s Lieutenant-Governor and Commander-in-Chief
of the Colony and Dominion of Virginia.
A PROCLAMATION,
Publishing the Rewards given for apprehending or killing
Pirates.