There were in the pirate sloops, and ashore in a tent near where the sloops lay, twenty-five hogsheads of sugar, eleven teirces, and one hundred and forty-five bags of cocoa, a barrel of indigo, and a bale of cotton; which, with what was taken from the governor and secretary, and the sale of the sloop, came to £2,500, besides the rewards paid by the governor of Virginia, pursuant to his proclamation; all which was divided among the companies of the two ships, Lime and Pearl, that lay in James River; the brave fellows that took them coming in for no more than their dividend amongst the rest, and were paid it not till four years afterwards.
[1] Spottswood.
II.
CAPTAIN WILLIAM KID.
Commanded a privateer in the West Indies—Recommended to the Government by Lord Bellamont, &c.—Not encouraged—He is sent out in a private man-of-war with the king’s commission—He sails for New York—In his way takes a French banker—Arrived there—Ships more hands—Sails to Madeira, Bonavista, Cape de Verde Islands, and Madagascar—Meets three English men-of-war—Meets with nothing at Madagascar—Goes to the Malabar coast—Cruises about Mohila and Johanna—Borrows money and repairs his ship—At Mabbee he takes some corn—From thence steers for Bab’s Key—He sends a boat along the coast, and gains intelligence—He falls in with a fleet, but is obliged to sheer off—Goes to the Malabar coast—Takes a Moorish vessel—Treats the men cruelly, and discharges the vessel—Touches at Carawar, and is suspected of piracy—Engages a Portuguese man-of-war sent after him and gets off—Takes a Moor ship under pretence of her being French—Keeps company with a Dutch ship—Quarrels with and kills his gunner—Plunders a Portuguese ship on the Malabar coast and lets her go—His cooper is murdered in one of the Malabar Islands—He burns and pillages several houses—Commands a native to be shot—He takes the Queda, and shares £200 a man amongst his crew—He cheats the Indians—Goes to Madagascar—Meets there Culliford the pirate—Shifts into the Queda, and shares the rest of her cargo—His men desert from him to forty—Goes to Amboyna—hears he is declared a pirate in England—Lord Bellamont prints his justification—A pardon granted to pirates—Avery and Kid excepted—Kid goes to, and is secured at, New York—Some of his crew depending on the pardon, are confined—Sent to England and condemned—Three excepted—A distinction of the lawyers—Kid found guilty of the murder of his gunner—Some plead the king’s pardon to no purpose—Mullins’s plea—Kid’s plea useless—He and his men indicted—Executed
We are now going to give an account of one whose name is better known in England than most of those whose histories we have already related; the person we mean is Captain Kid, whose public trial and execution here rendered him the subject of all conversation, so that his actions have been chanted about in ballads; however, it is now a considerable time since these things passed, and though the people knew in general that Captain Kid was hanged, and that his crime was piracy, yet there were scarce any, even at that time, who were acquainted with his life or actions, or could account for his turning pirate.
In the beginning of King William’s war, Captain Kid commanded a privateer in the West Indies, and by several adventurous actions acquired the reputation of a brave man, as well as an experienced seaman. About this time the pirates were very troublesome in those parts, wherefore Captain Kid was recommended by the Lord Bellamont, then governor of Barbadoes, as well as by several other persons, to the Government here, as a person very fit to be entrusted with the command of a Government ship, and to be employed in cruising upon the pirates, as knowing those seas perfectly well, and being acquainted with all their lurking places; but what reasons governed the politics of those times I cannot tell, but this proposal met with no encouragement here, though it is certain it would have been of great consequence to the subject, our merchants suffering incredible damages by those robbers.
Upon this neglect the Lord Bellamont and some others, who knew what great captures had been made by the pirates, and what a prodigious wealth must be in their possession, were tempted to fit out a ship at their own private charge, and to give the command of it to Captain Kid; and to give the thing a greater reputation, as well as to keep their seamen under the better command, they procured the King’s Commission for the said Captain Kid, of which the following is an exact copy:—
“William Rex,—William the Third, by the grace of God, King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, Defender of the Faith, &c. To our trusty and well-beloved Captain William Kid, Commander of the ship the Adventure galley, or to any other the commander of the same for the time being, greeting; Whereas we are informed, that Captain Thomas Too, John Ireland, Captain Thomas Wake, and Captain William Maze, or Mace, and other subjects, natives or inhabitants of New York, and elsewhere, in our plantations in America, have associated themselves, with divers others, wicked and ill-disposed persons, and do, against the law of nations, commit many and great piracies, robberies, and depredations on the seas upon the parts of America, and in other parts, to the great hindrance and discouragement of trade and navigation, and to the great danger and hurt of our loving subjects, our allies, and all others, navigating the seas upon their lawful occasions. Now know ye, that we being desirous to prevent the aforesaid mischiefs, and, as much as in us lies, to bring the said pirates, freebooters and sea-rovers to justice, have thought fit, and do hereby give and grant to the said William Kid (to whom our Commissioners for exercising the office of Lord High Admiral of England, have granted a commission as a private man-of-war, bearing date December 11, 1695), and unto the commander of the said ship for the time being, and unto the officers, mariners, and others, which shall be under your command, full power and authority to apprehend, seize, and take into your custody as well the said Captain Thomas Too, John Ireland, Captain Thomas Wake, and Captain William Maze, or Mace, as all such pirates, freebooters and sea-rovers, being either our subjects, or of other nations associated with them, which you shall meet with upon the seas or coasts of America, or upon any other seas or coasts, with all their ships and vessels; and all such merchandises, money, goods, and wares as shall be found on board, or with them, in case they shall willingly yield themselves; but if they will not yield without fighting, then you are by force to compel them to yield. And we do also require you to bring, or cause to be brought, such pirates, freebooters, or sea-rovers, as you shall seize, to a legal trial, to the end they may be proceeded against according to the law in such cases. And we do hereby command all our officers, ministers, and other our loving subjects whatsoever, to be aiding and assisting to you in the premisses. And we do hereby enjoin you to keep an exact journal of your proceedings in the execution of the premisses, and set down the names of such pirates, and of their officers and company, and the names of such ships and vessels as you shall by virtue of these presents take and seize, and the quantities of arms, ammunition, provision, and lading of such ships, and the true value of the same, as near as you judge. And we do hereby strictly charge and command you as you will answer the contrary at your peril, that you do not, in any manner, offend or molest our friends or allies, their ships, or subjects, by colour or pretence of these presents, or the authority thereby granted. In witness whereof we have caused our Great Seal of England to be affixed to these presents. Given at our Court of Kensington, the 26th day of January, 1695, in the seventh year of our reign.”
Captain Kid had also another commission, which was called a Commission of Reprisals; for it being then war time, this commission was to justify him in the taking of French merchant ships, in case he should meet with any; but as this commission is nothing to our present purpose, we shall not burthen the readers with it.