Down into the sloop, therefore, went Teach and fourteen of his cut-throats, expecting an easy triumph. The smoke from the grenades obscured things so that Maynard could not see what had happened; but as it cleared away, and he realised that he had been boarded, he called upon his men, who swarmed up on deck and fell like an avalanche upon the pirates.
Maynard tackled Blackbeard himself. The two fired simultaneously, and Teach was wounded slightly, but not badly enough to prevent him from engaging in some sword play with Maynard. In the midst of that fighting crowd the two men fought hard and long, neither gaining much advantage, until at last Maynard’s sword snapped in two, and he seemed at the mercy of the pirate. He stepped back quickly, cocked his pistol; but ere he could fire Blackbeard had swung down upon him with his cutlass. For a moment it seemed that Maynard was done, but, with a yell, one of his men hurled himself at Teach, slashed at him with a cutlass that gashed his throat and neck and put him off his stroke, so that Maynard received only a slight wound on his finger.
Still the fight went on, thirteen men against fifteen, the odds in favour of the pirates. The deck was slippery with blood; men whom the firing had laid low were trampled upon as the yelling, cursing, hacking crowd swayed this way and that. Now the fight seemed to be going in favour of the pirates, now of the royal crew; and Teach cheered on his men savagely, cursing them, exhorting them.
Blackbeard, although wounded in several places, was a game scoundrel, and kept on with the fight; he was literally covered with pistols, which he kept drawing and firing; and when the fight ended he was smothered with wounds—twenty-five of them! And one wound was mortal, for he dropped dead to the deck, to keep eight of his fourteen company in death. The other six flung themselves overboard, but were captured. Then, the second royal sloop coming up, the remainder of the pirates on the big sloop were attacked, and after a stiff fight they surrendered.
When the vessel was captured, it was found that Teach had arranged for it to be blown up, with its living freight, as soon as Maynard boarded her; and the negro who had had the task allotted to him was with difficulty dissuaded from carrying it out when he found out that Teach had been killed.
Blackbeard’s head was cut off and hung at the bowsprit end of the royal sloop, which sailed with it to Bath Town, where Maynard, having found papers incriminating Governor Eden, forced that gentleman to return the spoils that Teach had given him; and in due course sailed back to the men-o’-war with fifteen prisoners, who were brought to justice.
Captain Howell Davis, who adopted much the same tactics as the old buccaneers, mutinied against his captain and assumed command of the ship, which he turned into a pirate craft. After several little affairs, in which he gained much treasure and many reinforcements of men, till he had seventy under him, he aimed at something higher than merely holding up ships on the seas. He thought he would like to capture Gambia Castle, on the coast of Guinea, a place where there was always a good store of money. Sailing in, he sent all his men below, except a few who were needed to work the ship, and, coming to anchor under the fort, hoisted out a boat, manned it with six men dressed like any ordinary sailormen, and sent the doctor and the master with them as merchants.
The governor, named Foyle, had seen the ship come in, and sent a company of soldiers down to the shore to welcome the new-comers, who were taken into the castle, where the governor greeted them kindly. The pirates lied glibly, telling the governor that they were from Liverpool, bound for Senegal, but, having been chased by a couple of French men-o’-war, had put in at Gambia for safety. Would the governor trade with them for slaves? Gathering that the merchants had a large cargo of plate and iron, the governor agreed to barter, asking incidentally whether they had any liquor aboard. Davis said they had, and promised him a hamper for his own use, if he would care to accept it.
Overwhelmed at the generosity, the governor invited Davis and his comrades to dinner with him; Davis accepted, but said that he must go on board first to see that everything was all right. He would return in time for dinner, bringing the liquor with him.