Much about the same Time he went to one of the Malabar Islands for Wood and Water, and his Cooper being ashore, was murder’d by the Natives; upon which Kid himself landed, and burnt and pillaged several of their Houses, the People running away; but having taken one, he caused him to be tied to a Tree, and commanded one of his Men to shoot him; then putting to Sea again he took the greatest Prize, which fell into his Hands, while he followed this Trade; this was a Moorish Ship of 400 Tons richly laden, named the Queda Merchant, the Master whereof was an English Man, he was call’d Wright, for the Indians often make Use of English or Dutch Men to command their Ships, their own Mariners not being so good Artists in Navigation.—Kid chased her under French Colours, and having come up with her, he ordered her to hoist out her Boat, and to send on Board of him, which being done, he told Wright he was his Prisoner; and informing himself concerning the said Ship, he understood there were no Europeans on Board, except two Dutch, and one Frenchman, all the Rest being Indians or Armenians, and that the Armenians were Part Owners of the Cargoe. Kid gave the Armenians to understand, that if they would offer any Thing that was worth his taking for their Ransome, he would hearken to it: Upon which, they proposed to pay him twenty thousand Rupees, not quite three thousand Pounds Sterling; but Kid judged this would be making a bad Bargain, wherefore he rejected it, and setting the Crew on Shore, at different Places on the Coast, he soon sold as much of the Cargoe as came to near ten thousand Pounds. With Part of it he also trafficked, receiving in Exchange Provisions, or such other Goods as he wanted; by Degrees he disposed of the whole Cargoe, and when the Division was made, it came to about two hundred Pounds a Man, and having reserved forty Shares to himself, his Dividend amounted to about eight thousand Pounds Sterling.
The Indians along the Coast came on Board and traffick’d with all Freedom, and he punctually performed his Bargains, till about the Time he was ready to sail; and then thinking he should have no further Occasion for them, he made no Scruple of taking their Goods, and setting them on Shore without any Payment in Money or Goods, which they little expected; for as they had been used to deal with Pyrates, they always found them Men of Honour in the Way of Trade: A People, Enemies to Deceit, and that scorn’d to rob but in their own Way.
Kid put some of his Men on Board the Queda Merchant, and with this Ship and his own sail’d for Madagascar; as soon as he was arrived and had cast Anchor, there came on Board of him a Canoe, in which were several Englishmen, who had formerly been well acquainted with Kid; as soon as they saw him they saluted him, and told him, they were informed he was come to take them, and hang them, which would be a little unkind in such an old Acquaintance; Kid soon dissipated their Doubts, by swearing he had no such Design, and that he was now in every Respect their Brother, and just as bad as they; and calling for a Cup of Bomboo, drank their Captain’s Health.
These Men belong’d to a Pyrate Ship, call’d the Resolution, formerly the Mocco Merchant, whereof one Captain Culliford was Commander, and which lay at an Anchor not far from them; Kid went on Board with them, promising them his Friendship and Assistance, and Culliford in his Turn came on Board of Kid; and Kid to testify his Sincerity in Iniquity, finding Culliford in want of some Necessaries, made him a Present of an Anchor and some Guns, to fit him out for the Sea again.
The Adventure Galley was now so old and leaky, that they were forced to keep two Pumps continually going, wherefore Kid shifted all the Guns and Tackle out of her into the Queda Merchant, intending her for his Man of War; and as he had divided the Money before, he now made a Division of the Remainder of the Cargo: Soon after which, the greatest Part of the Company left him, some going on Board Captain Culliford, and others absconding in the Country, so that he had not above forty Men left.
He put to Sea and happened to touch at Amboyna, one of the Dutch Spice Islands, where he was told, that the News of his Actions had reach’d England, and that he was there declared a Pyrate.
The Truth on’t is, his Pyracies so alarmed our Merchants, that some Motions were made in Parliament, to enquire into the Commission that was given him, and the Persons who fitted him out: These Proceedings seem’d to lean a little hard upon the Lord Bellamont, who thought himself so much touch’d thereby, that he published a Justification of himself in a Pamphlet after Kid’s Execution. In the mean Time, it was thought adviseable, in order to stop the Course of these Pyracies, to publish a Proclamation, offering the King’s free Pardon to all such Pyrates as should voluntarily surrender themselves, whatever Pyracies they had been guilty of at any Time, before the last Day of April, 1699.—That is to say, for all Pyracies committed Eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, to the Longitude and Meridian of Socatora, and Cape Camorin. In which Proclamation, Avery and Kid were excepted by Name.
When Kid left Amboyna he knew nothing of this Proclamation, for certainly had he had Notice of his being excepted in it, he would not have been so infatuated, to run himself into the very Jaws of Danger; but relying upon his Interest with the Lord Bellamont, and fancying, that a French Pass or two he found on Board some of the Ships he took, would serve to countenance the Matter, and that Part of the Booty he got would gain him new Friends.—I say, all these Things made him flatter himself that all would be hushed, and that Justice would but wink at him.—Wherefore he sail’d directly for New-York, where he was no sooner arrived, but by the Lord Bellamont’s Orders, he was secured with all his Papers and Effects. Many of his Fellow-Adventurers who had forsook him at Madagascar, came over from thence Passengers, some to New England and some to Jersey; where hearing of the King’s Proclamation for pardoning of Pyrates, they surrendered themselves to the Governor of those Places: At first they were admitted to Bail, but soon after were laid in strict Confinement where they were kept for some time, till an Opportunity happened of sending them with their Captain over to England to be tried.
Accordingly a Sessions of Admiralty being held at the Old Baily, in May 1701, Captain Kid, Nicholas Churchill, James How, Robert Lumley, William Jenkins, Gabriel Loff, Hugh Parrot, Richard Barlicorn, Abel Owens, and Darby Mullins, were arraign’d for Pyracy and Robbery on the High Seas, and all found guilty, except three; these were Robert Lumley, William Jenkins, and Richard Barlicorne, who proving themselves to be Apprentices to some of the Officers of the Ship, and producing their Indentures in Court, were acquitted.
The three above-mentioned, tho’ they were proved to be concern’d in taking and sharing the Ship and Goods mentioned in the Indictment, yet, as the Gentlemen of the long Robe rightly distinguished, there was a great Difference between their Circumstances and the rest; for there must go an Intention of the Mind and a Freedom of the Will to the committing an Act of Felony or Pyracy. A Pyrate is not to be understood to be under Constraint, but a free Agent; for in this Case, the bare Act will not make a Man guilty, unless the Will make it so.