There was but misery in those boats, with universal discontent and oaths and fightings. In their despair they landed, five hundred maddened, starving men, hating themselves and hating each other. They hoped that at a little distance back from the river they might find some villages which had not been abandoned. In this they were disappointed. The natives watched them closely, and fled before them.
They commenced a retreat back to the ship. Many died. Many fell by the wayside and were captured by the savages. The Indians pursued them, watching every opportunity to strike a blow. They were too weak to resist. They could scarcely wield a paddle or lift a musket. Their starvation and misery was so great that they resolved to kill and devour the first Indian they could meet. But this kind of game kept beyond the reach of their balls. They ate their shoes, their leather belts, even the sheaths of their swords.
At length a skeleton band reached the ship. There was but little food there. Still they spread their sails, and disappeared. We hear of them no more.
CHAPTER XII.
The Female Pirate, Mary Read.
Testimony of Charles Johnson.—Marriage of Mary Read’s Mother.—Singular Adventure.—Reasons for Disguising her Daughter.—Early Training of Mary as a Boy.—She Enlists on board a Man-of-war.—The Character she Developed.—Enters the Army.—Skill and Bravery.—Falls in Love with a Fleming.—Reveals her Sex.—The Marriage.—Happy Days.—Death of her Husband.—Adversity.—Resumes Male Attire.
In writing the account of Captain Kidd and other conspicuous pirates of his day, we have had occasion to refer to many ancient documents. In their examination we have come across numerous incidents, extraordinary in their character. Among these are the well-accredited careers of two female pirates, Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Their lives illustrate the common remark that fact is often stranger than fiction. We are mainly indebted, for the wild and wondrous story of their adventures, to the narrative of Captain Charles Johnson. The second edition of his valuable history of the pirates now lies before me. It was published in London, in the year 1724. In the preface to this work the writer says:
“As to the lives of our two female pirates, we must confess they may appear a little extravagant, yet they are nevertheless true. But as they were publicly tried for their piracies, there are living witnesses enough to justify what we have laid down concerning them. It is certain that we have produced some particulars which were not publicly known. The reason is we were more inquisitive into the circumstances of their past lives than other people who had no other design than that of gratifying their own private curiosity. If there are some incidents and turns in their stories, which may give them a little the air of a novel, they are not invented or contrived for that purpose. It is a kind of reading this author is but little acquainted with. But as he himself was exceedingly diverted with them, when they were related to him, he thought they might have the same effect on the reader.”
A young girl in one of the seaports in England, about one hundred and seventy-five years ago, married a sailor. Not many months after their marriage the sailor left home for a distant voyage, and never returned. She never knew whether he deserted her, or whether he died far away. When he sailed she was expecting soon to become a mother. She resided with her husband’s relatives. In due time the child was born, and proved to be a boy.
The mother was a young, light, trifling girl, of fair reputation, and not very careful habits, who ere long found that she was about to become a mother again. As the months advanced, in order to conceal her shame, she took leave of her husband’s relatives, informing them that she was going to visit her own friends at some distance in the country. Her little boy, who accompanied her, was then not a year old.