The Pirates Own Book (21 page)

We cannot account for this sudden change in his conduct, otherwise than
by supposing that he first meant well, while he had hopes of making his
fortune by taking of pirates; but now weary of ill success, and fearing
lest his owners, out of humor at their great expenses, should dismiss
him, and he should want employment, and be marked out for an unlucky
man; rather, I say, than run the hazard of poverty, he resolved to do
his business one way, since he could not do it another.

He therefore ordered a man continually to watch at the mast head, lest
this fleet should go by them; and about four days after, towards
evening, it appeared in sight, being convoyed by one English and one
Dutch man of war. Kidd soon fell in with them, and getting into the
midst of them, fired at a Moorish ship which was next him; but the
men-of-war taking the alarm, bore down upon Kidd, and firing upon him,
obliged him to sheer off, he not being strong enough to contend with
them. Now he had begun hostilities, he resolved to go on, and therefore
he went and cruised along the coast of Malabar. The first prize he met
was a small vessel belonging to Aden; the vessel was Moorish, and the
owners were Moorish merchants, but the master was an Englishman; his
name was Parker. Kidd forced him and a Portuguese that was called Don
Antonio, which were all the Europeans on board, to take on with him; the
first he designed as a pilot, and the last as an interpreter. He also
used the men very cruelly, causing them to be hoisted up by the arms,
and drubbed with a naked cutlass, to force them to discover whether they
had money on board, and where it lay; but as they had neither gold nor
silver on board, he got nothing by his cruelty; however, he took from
them a bale of pepper, and a bale of coffee, and so let them go.

A little time after he touched at Carawar, a place upon the same coast,
where, before he arrived, the news of what he had done to the Moorish
ship had reached them; for some of the English merchants there had
received an account of it from the owners, who corresponded with them;
wherefore, as soon as Kidd came in, he was suspected to be the person
who committed this piracy; and one Mr. Harvey and Mr. Mason, two of the
English factory, came on board and asked for Parker, and Antonio, the
Portuguese; but Kidd denied that he knew any such persons, having
secured them both in a private place in the hold, where they were kept
for seven or eight days, that is, till Kidd sailed from thence.

However, the coast was alarmed, and a Portuguese man-of-war was sent out
to cruise. Kidd met with her, and fought her about six hours, gallantly
enough; but finding her too strong to be taken, he quitted her; for he
was able to run away from her when he would. Then he went to a place
called Porca, where he watered his ship and bought a number of hogs of
the natives to victual his company.

Soon after this, he came up with a Moorish ship, the master whereof was
a Dutchman, called Schipper Mitchell, and chased her under French
colors, which they observing hoisted French colors too; when he came
up with her, he hailed her in French, and they having a Frenchman on
board, answered him in the same language; upon which he ordered them to
send their boat on board; they were obliged to do so, and having
examined who they were, and from whence they came, he asked the
Frenchman who was a passenger, if he had a French pass for himself; the
Frenchman gave him to understand that he had. Then he told the Frenchman
that he must pass for captain, and by—, says he, you are the captain;
the Frenchman durst not refuse doing as he would have him. The meaning
of this was, that he would seize the ship as fair prize, and as if she
had belonged to French subjects, according to a commission he had for
that purpose; though one would think, after what he had already done, he
need not have recourse to a quibble to give his actions a color.

In short, he took the cargo, and sold it some time after; yet still he
seemed to have some fears upon him, lest these proceedings should have a
bad end; for, coming up with a Dutch ship some time after, when his men
thought of nothing but attacking her, Kidd opposed it; upon which a
mutiny arose, and the majority being for taking the said ship, and
arming themselves to man the boat to go and seize her, he told them,
such as did, never should come on board him again; which put an end to
the design, so that he kept company with the said ship some time,
without offering her any violence. However, this dispute was the
occasion of an accident, upon which an indictment was grounded against
Kidd; for Moor, the gunner, being one day upon deck, and talking with
Kidd about the said Dutch ship, some words arose between them, and Moor
told Kidd, that he had ruined them all; upon which Kidd, calling him a
dog, took up a bucket and struck him with it, which breaking his scull,
he died next day.

But Kidd's penitential fit did not last long; for coasting along
Malabar, he met with a great number of boats, all of which he
plundered. Upon the same coast he also fell in with a Portuguese ship,
which he kept possession of a week, and then having taken out of her
some chests of India goods, thirty jars of butter, with some wax, iron
and a hundred bags of rice, he let her go.

Much about the same time he went to one of the Malabar islands for wood
and water, and his cooper being ashore, was murdered by the natives;
upon which Kidd 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
Englishman, by the name of Wright; for the Indians often make use of
English or Dutchmen to command their ships, their own mariners not being
so good artists in navigation. Kidd chased her under French colors, and
having come up with her, he ordered her to hoist out her boat and 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 cargo. Kidd gave the Armenians to understand, that if they would
offer anything that was worth his taking for their ransom, he would
hearken to it. Upon which, they proposed to pay him 20,000 rupees, not
quite £3,000 sterling; but Kidd 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 cargo as came
to 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 cargo, and when the division was made, it came to
about £200 a man; and having reserved forty shares to himself, his
dividend amounted to about £8,000 sterling.

The Indians along the coast came on board and trafficked 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 pirates, they always
found them men of honor in the way of trade; a people, enemies to
deceit, and that scorned to rob but in their own way.

Kidd put some of his men on board the Queda Merchant, and with this ship
and his own sailed for Madagascar. As soon as he had arrived and cast
anchor, there came on board of him a canoe, in which were several
Englishmen, who had formerly been well acquainted with Kidd. 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. Kidd 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 belonged to a pirate ship, called the Resolution, formerly the
Mocha Merchant, whereof one Capt. Culliford was commander, and which lay
at anchor not far from them. Kidd went on board with them, promising
them his friendship and assistance, and Culliford in his turn came on
board of Kidd; and Kidd, 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 sea again.

The Adventure galley was now so old and leaky, that they were forced to
keep two pumps continually going; wherefore Kidd 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 Capt. Culliford, and
others absconding into the country, so that he had not above 40 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 reached
England, and that he was there declared a pirate.

The truth of it is, his piracies so alarmed our merchants that some
motions were made in parliament, to inquire into the commission that was
given him, and the persons who fitted him out. These proceedings seem to
lean a little hard upon Lord Bellamont, who thought himself so touched
thereby, that he published a justification of himself in a pamphlet,
after Kidd's execution. In the meantime it was thought advisable, in
order to stop the course of these piracies, to publish a proclamation,
offering the king's free pardon to all such pirates as should
voluntarily surrender themselves, whatever piracies they had been guilty
of, at any time before the last day of April, 1699—that is to say, for
all piracies committed eastward of the Cape of Good Hope, to the
longitude and meridian of Socatora, and Cape Cormorin; in which
proclamation, Avery and Kidd were excepted by name.

When Kidd 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, as 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 sailed directly for Boston laden with booty, with a crew of
swaggering companions at his heels. But no sooner did he show himself in
Boston, than the alarm was given of his reappearance, and measures were
taken to arrest him. The daring character which Kidd had acquired,
however, and the desperate fellows who followed like bull-dogs at his
heels, caused a little delay in his arrest. He took advantage of this to
bury the greater part of his immense treasure, which has never been
found, and then carried a high head about the streets of Boston. He even
attempted to defend himself when arrested, but was secured and thrown
into prison. Such was the formidable character of this pirate and his
crew, that a frigate was sent to convey them to England for trial.

Accordingly a sessions of Admiralty being held at the Old Bailey, in May
1701, Capt. Kidd, Nicholas Churchill, James How, Robert Lumly, William
Jenkins, Gabriel Loff, Hugh Parrot, Richard Barlicorn, Abel Owens and
Darby Mullins, were arraigned for piracy and robbery on the high seas,
and all found guilty except three; these were Robert Lumly, William
Jenkins and Richard Barlicorn, 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, though they were proved to be concerned 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 piracy. A pirate 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.

Now a servant, it is true, if he go voluntarily, and have his
proportion, he must be accounted a pirate, for then he acts upon his own
account, and not by compulsion: and these persons, according to the
evidence, received their part, but whether they accounted to their
masters for their shares afterwards, is the matter in question, and what
distinguishes them as free agents, or men that did go under the
compulsion of their masters; which being left to the consideration of
the jury, they found them
not guilty
.

Kidd was tried upon an indictment of murder also, viz. for killing Moor,
the gunner, and found guilty of the same. Nicholas Churchill, and James
How pleaded the king's pardon, as having surrendered themselves within
the time limited in the proclamation, and Col. Bass, governor of West
Jersey, to whom they surrendered, being in court, and called upon,
proved the same. However, this plea was overruled by the court, because
there being four commissioners named in the proclamation, viz. Capt.
Thomas Warren, Israel Hayes, Peter Delannoye, and Christopher Pollard,
Esquires, who were appointed commissioners, and sent over on purpose to
receive the submissions of such pirates as should surrender, it was
adjudged no other person was qualified to receive their surrender, and
that they could not be entitled to the benefit of the said proclamation,
because they had not in all circumstances complied with the conditions
of it.