He arrived, but instead of money he was met with a firm refusal and a threat that they would give information that he was a pirate. This frightened him so much that he returned to Ireland, and from there kept writing for his money, which, however, never came. He was reduced to such a condition of abject poverty that he resolved, in his misery, to go back to Bristol and throw himself on the merchants’ mercy. He therefore shipped on board a trading ship, worked his passage to Plymouth and then walked to Bideford. He had arrived there not many days when he fell ill and died without so much as the money to buy him a burial. So it was true that “there be land rats and water rats, land thieves and water thieves, I mean pirates.” Avery had met a company of men who treated him in the way he had robbed others. Thus, the whole of his long voyaging from sea to sea, the entire series of events from the time when he had seized Gibson’s ship, had been not only profitless but brought upon him the utmost misery, terror, starvation and ultimate death. He had fought, he had schemed, he had done underhand tricks, he had told lies and he had endured bitter anxiety: but all to no purpose whatever.
CHAPTER XVI
A “GENTLEMAN” OF FORTUNE
“In an honest service there are commonly low wages and hard labour: in piracy, satiety, pleasure and ease, liberty and power; and who would not balance creditor on this side, when all the hazard that is run for it at worst is only a sour look or two at choking? No, a merry life and a short one shall be my motto.”
Such was the remark which a certain Captain Bartholomew Roberts, a notorious seventeenth-century pirate, was said to have made, and no doubt there was a certain amount of truth in this statement. The low wages and hard labour in other spheres of life contrasted unfavourably with the possibilities of ease, plenty, liberty and power. This fellow, like the notorious Henry Morgan, was a Welshman and born in Pembrokeshire. He grew up to be a tall, dark, ingenious and daring seaman. For a time he led the hard but honest life of a sailor trading to the Guinea coast, but in the year 1719 he had the bad luck to be captured by Davis, another pirate captain. The latter constrained Roberts to lead this lawless form of life, and it is only fair to state that Roberts at first was distinctly averse from piracy and would certainly have deserted if an opportunity had been forthcoming. However, “preferment claimed his conscience and reconciled him to that which he formerly hated.”
And when Davis ended his days by death in action, the pirate crew decided to choose Roberts as their skipper. “It is my advice,” said one of these at the time of the election, “it is my advice, while we are sober, to pitch upon a man of courage, and one skilled in navigation—one who, by his prudence and bravery, seems best able to 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 in all respects worthy of your esteem and favour.” So the Welshman was prevailed upon to accept this new honour, adding that since he had dipped his hands in muddy water, and must be a pirate, it was better being a commander than a private man.
So the pirate ship sailed south along the Guinea coast with her new commander, captured a Dutch Guinea ship, emptied her of everything they fancied, sent her on her way again, and two days later took an English ship. From her, too, they extracted all that they desired, and since her crew were persuaded to join Roberts’ ship the prize was burnt and the pirate, with a now much bigger company, set sail for the island of St. Thomas, which is in the South Atlantic some distance off the Congo coast. But as they had no further luck in these parts, they eventually resolved by vote to make for Brazil. After a twenty-eight-day voyage across the Atlantic they arrived off the South American shore and for nine weeks or so cruised about unsuccessfully, taking care to keep out of sight of land. But on the way to the West Indies, whither they were now bound, a little disappointed, they unexpectedly fell in with a fleet of forty-two Portuguese ships of Bahia. These vessels were bound for Lisbon, and were now waiting for two 70-gun men-of-war to convoy them home.
Such a rich sight was too much for the pirate. He was sure that his one single ship would have but little chance against such a powerful fleet, especially as some of them were really powerful vessels. But a faint heart never made a prize, and he was minded to have a try. Among the many vicissitudes of these pirate wayfarers the reader must have been struck by the extremely able cunning which these lawless desperate fellows displayed in many of their captures. Somehow one does not associate skill with brutality. But it was very rare that these pirate skippers were at a loss for a stratagem. Force was employed and used without mercy at the proper time, but that was not allowed to take the place of ingenuity. So long as these corsairs remained sober and did not set foot on land, they very rarely met with defeat. They were terrified not by superior forces but by the possibility of being found out when ashore. The sea and its ways they understood: in that sphere they were at home. It was only when they became so foolish as to abandon their natural element that they fell on evil days.
So Roberts set about devising some means of getting what he wanted from this mighty fleet. He got his ship in their midst and kept his own rugged desperate crew concealed. He then took his ship close to one of the biggest Portuguese and hailed her to send her master aboard quietly. If the Portuguese should show the slightest resistance, or make any signal of distress, he would show them no mercy. This cool impudence was successful: for the master now coming on deck, and seeing the sudden flash of pirate cutlasses of the men who had for a time been concealed, there was nothing to do but submit quietly, and the captain repaired on board the pirate as requested. Roberts saluted him in a friendly manner and told him he and his crew were gentlemen of fortune. All they desired from him was to be informed as to which was the richest ship of the fleet. If the captain informed them correctly, then he should be permitted to go back to his ship in safety: but if not, he must expect instant death.
So the Portuguese pointed out a 40-gun vessel which had a crew of 150 men. Certainly she appeared far too big a job for Roberts to tackle, but he made towards her, still keeping the Portuguese captain aboard. As they came alongside, the pirate ordered the Portuguese prisoner to hail her and inquire after the commander’s health and invite him on board, as a matter of importance was waiting to be imparted to him. The reply came that the commander would come presently. But Roberts was not to be put off, for, observing signs of unusual activity on board her, he poured a heavy broadside into her, then ran his ship right alongside in the most approved Elizabethan manner, grappled and boarded her. In a short space of time she had been captured, and there were taken out of her into the pirate’s hold large and valuable quantities of sugar, skins, tobacco, etc., and 4000 gold moidores.