Chapter VIII: Part 8

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, no. 3033, paper 7. Epaphras Shrimpton was a cousin of Colonel Shrimpton.]

Epaphras Shrimpton, of full Age, Testifieth that Benja. Blacklidge did acknowledge that himselfe and some others which he named took from on borde the Ship _Good hope_ at Madagasker about halfe her Cargoe which she brought from Holland particulerly Hollands, duck, Riging, Ketles, Powder, etc., belonging to Col. Sam. Shrimpton, and said that with part of the Ketles they Sheath'd the bow of the Ship which he came from Madagasker in, and offer'd if Colo. Shrimpton would be kinde to him he would discover the Persons that were to bring home the remainder of the Ship _Good hopes_ Cargoe. the said Blacklidge said that himselfe and other of his Confederates took the above mention'd goods out of the Shipp _Good hope_ at Madagasker just before he came from thence to New England. this he acknoledg'd to Colo. Shrimpton in the Prison house in Boston in New England in the year 1693.

EPAPH. SHRIMPTON.

_55. Deposition of Jeremiah Tay. July 6, 1694._[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, no. 3033, paper 6.]

Jer. Tay, aged thurty five yeres, Testifieth that hee being att the Ile of May, Master of the Shipe _goodhope_ belonging to Coll. Samuell Shrimpton, In february one thousand six hundred and ninety, That then And thare was surprised and tacken by A pyrate, one James alloson, Comander, That after thay had posseshon of the Above said Shipe The next day sent for My Men from the Pond to come on bord of said Shipe, Telling them that thoose as would goe willingly should have as good A shaar in shipe and goods as Anny of themselves, whare upon one bengeman blackledg of boston, with sundry more, tuck up armes with the pyrats, hee macking choyce of one of my one[2] small armes for him selfe. This was dun by said blackledg without anny force or Compulshon, as the pyrats themselves did declare That thay did not nor would not force him nor sundry more which did intend To goo with them. I doue furder Ad that sence I came from London, being to the Westward, was tolde by sum of those men that came home in Massons shipe A Longe with said blackledge Last yere, to the est end of Long island, whare Thare was A bundance of the goods which Came out of My Shipe the _goodhope_, As Canvos and Riging of sundry sorts, whare itt was Im baseled,[3] and given all most to anny that would ask for itt. Also that thay did heere some of my one Men tell blackledge that hee was A great Rooge, in that hee had gott his Cloose out of the shipe _goodhope_ in to The shipe beefore the Shipe was Tacken, that so hee mought goe with the Shipe wheather the Shipe was tacken or not. I doue also ad that in the day of it, when the shipe was in thare posseshon, the pyrats did then and thare say to mee, had it not beene by purswashon of sum of my one men telling of Them thare was A bundance of Monnys A bourd of said Shipe be sids goods, thay had not tacken hur, which A parrantly proved to bee true, for thare was sundrey of them ware for punishing of Mee to Mack mee Confes whar itt was, but thay so difered in thare Judgments that that was not dun by them.

JER. TAY.

July 6, 1694. Sign'd and Sworn by Capt. Jeremia Tay.

Coram nobis SAM'L SEWALL } Justices
JER. DUMER } of the
} Peace.

[Footnote 2: Own.]

[Footnote 3: Embezzled.]

_56. Indictment of Benjamin Blackledge. October 30, 1694._[1]

[Footnote 1: Suffolk Court Files, no. 3033, paper 2.]

Province of the Massachusetts Bay in New England, Suffolk, SS:

At a Court of Assize and Generall Goale delivery held in Boston for the County of Suffolk aforesaid the Last Tuseday in October 1694, Annoq[ue] R[egi]s et Reginae Gulielmi et Mariae, Angliae, etc., Sexto.

The Jurors for our Sov'r Lord and Lady the King and Queen aforesaid Present, That Benjamin Blackleich of Boston aforesaid, mariner, on the fourth day of February in the year of our Lord 1690/1, at the Isle of May otherwise called Santo-May, one of the Islands of Cape de verd, being then and there a Seaman or Marriner, on bord the Ship called the _Good Hope_, Jeremiah Tay Comander, did Wickedly, Felloniously and Piratically Rise up in Rebellion against the sd Master Jeremiah Tay, and with one James Allison A Pirate or Sea Rover, Master of a Sloop, and his Company, did Conspire, Abett and Joyne, and with the sd James Allison and his Company did Seize, Surprize, and Piratically take from the sd Jeremiah Tay The sd Ship _Good Hope_, of Burthen about Three hundred Tonns, and her Loading, being to the Value of Two Thousand Pounds, of the Goods and Chattels of Collonol Samuel Shrimpton of Boston aforesaid, and of the said Ship and Loading the said Master and Owner did Dispoyle, Disposess and Exclude, against the Peace of Our Sov'r Lord and Lady the King and Queen, their Crown and Dignity, and the Laws in Such Case made and Provided.

Egnoramos.[2]

RICH'D CRISP, foreman, with the Rest.

[Footnote 2: For "Ignoramus" (we ignore), the word by which a grand jury indicated its refusal to prosecute an indictment. We here find the Superior Court, the highest common-law court of Massachusetts under the second charter, taking cognizance of a case of piracy. Governor Phips had a commission as vice-admiral (text in _Publications_ of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts, II. 206-215, 372-380), but no judge of admiralty had yet been appointed, nor any special commission to try pirates.]

* * * * *

_57. Deposition of Thomas Larimore. October 28, 1695._[1]

[Footnote 1: Among the manuscripts of the Massachusetts Historical Society. Captain Larimore in 1704 played an equivocal part in the case of Quelch and his pirate crew (see no. 104, _post_), assisting their attempts to escape, but his testimony as to prize-money is to be valued, as that of an experienced shipmaster and privateer. In 1677 he had assisted the authorities of Virginia against the rebel Bacon by conveying troops in his ship. _Journals of the House of Burgesses_, II. 70, 79, 86. In 1702 he was sent by Governor Dudley to Jamaica with a company of volunteers, the first Massachusetts force to serve overseas. _Publications of the Colonial Society of Massachusetts_, XVIII. 84-93.]

The Deposition of Thomas Larimore, aged Thirty two Yeares or thereabouts. This Deponent testifyeth and saith that whenever any person is fitted out to go in a Private man of Warr there is not wont to be any Writing drawne betwixt the person fitting and the person fitted out, and Yet the person fitted out always allows to the person fitting him out One full Quarter part of a whole share of whatsoever is gained on the Voyage.

Boston Octobr THOMAS LARIMORE.
28th, 1695. Sworne in Court 30th Octobr. 1695
Attest JONA. ELATSON Cler.
A true Copy of that on file
Examd. AD'TON DAVENPORT, Cler.[2]

[Footnote 2: Addington Davenport, clerk of the Superior Court from 1695 to 1698, and one of its judges from 1715 to 1736.]

CASE OF HENRY EVERY.

_58. Petition of the East India Company. July, 1696._[1]

[Footnote 1: London, Privy Council, Unbound Papers, 1:46. This petition is addressed, not to the king in Council, but to the lords justices who were exercising his functions during the absence of William III. in Holland, whither he had gone on account of his war with Louis XIV. The paper is endorsed as read July 16, 1696. A proclamation was immediately issued, July 18, declaring Henry Every and his crew pirates, ordering colonial governors to seize them, and offering a reward of L500, which the East India Company agreed to pay, for their apprehension; _Acts of the Privy Council, Colonial_, II. 299-302. Several of the crew were apprehended, tried, and hanged in November; their trial is reported in Hargrave's _State Trials_, V. 1-18. Others found a refuge in the colonies, despite the proclamation, Governor Markham of Pennsylvania in particular being loudly accused of connivance; _Calendar of State Papers, Colonial_, 1696-1697, pp. 613-615. Every (or Avery) was one of the most famous of the pirates. His history is told in Captain Charles Johnson's _General History of the Pyrates_ (second ed., London, 1724), pp. 45-63. Two popular ballads respecting him are in Professor Firth's _Naval Songs and Ballads_, pp. 131-134. We print first the documents which first brought knowledge of his misdeeds, but the whole story in a consecutive order is better found in the examination of John Dann, document no. 63, _post_. The case is only partly American, but ramifies, as will be seen, over much of the globe.]

To their Excellencyes The Lords Justices of England in Council,

The humble Petition of the Governour and Company of Merchants of London trading into the East Indies

Most humbly sheweth

That the said Governour and Company have lately received certain Intelligence That Henry Every, Commander of a Ship called the _Fancy_, of 46 Guns, is turned Pirate and now in the Seas of India or Persia, who with divers other Englishmen and Forreigners to the number of about 130 (the names of some of which are hereunto annexed) run away with the sa[id Ship], then called the _Charles_, from the Port of Corona[2] in Spain and that the said Pirate ha[vin]g ... at the Island of Johanna[3] had left there the following Declaration: vizt.:

[Footnote 2: Coruna.]

[Footnote 3: The chief of the Comoro Islands, in the Mozambique Channel, northwest of Madagascar. The document which follows is also printed, from a manuscript in the India Office, in the Hakluyt Society's _Diary of William Hedges_, II. cxxxviii-cxxxix, where are other extracts concerning Every.]

To all English Commanders, let this satisfie, That I was riding here at this instant in the Ship _Fancy_ Man of War, formerly the _Charles_ of the Spanish Expedition,[4] who departed from Croniae the 7th of May 1694 Being (and am now) in a Ship of 46 Guns, 150 Men, and bound to Seek our Fortunes. I have never as yet wronged any English or Dutch, nor ever intend whilst I am Commander. Wherefore as I commonly speak with all Ships, I desire whoever comes to the perusall of this to take this Signall, That if you, or any whom you may inform, are desirous to know what wee are at a distance, Then make your Ancient[5] up in a Ball or Bundle and hoist him at the Mizenpeek, the Mizen being furled. I shall answer with the same and never molest you, for my Men are hungry, Stout, and resolute, and should they exceed my Desire I cannot help myself. As yet an Englishmans Friend

At Johanna February 28th, 1694. HENRY EVERY.

[Footnote 4: The expedition which sailed for Spain in the spring of 1694, to deter the French from attacking Barcelona.]

[Footnote 5: Ensign.]

The Copy of which said Declaration was brought by Some of the said Company's Ships to Bombay and from thence transmitted to England with the annexed Clause of a Letter relating thereunto.[6]

[Footnote 6: Document no. 59, _post_.]

And the said Governour and Company having likewise understood by some fresh Advices from Persia hereunto annexed That the said Pirate had in pursuance of his said Declaration pillaged severall Ships belonging to the Subjects of the Mogull[7] in their passage from the Red Sea to Surrat,[8] upon notice whereof the Factoryes of the said Company at Surrat had guards set upon their Houses by the Governour of the place till such time The Mogulls pleasure was known, Whereby the said Governour and Company have reason to fear many great inconveniences may attend them not only from the Reprizalls which may be made upon them at Surrat or other their Factories But also from the Interruption which may be thereby given to their Trade from Port to Port in India, as well as to their Trade to and from thence to England.

[Footnote 7: Aurangzeb, the Mogul emperor of Hindustan.]

[Footnote 8: Surat, 150 miles north of Bombay, and the seat of an important trading factory of the East India Company.]

Wherefore your Peticioners do most humbly beseech your Excellencies to use such effectuall means for the preventing the great Loss and damage which threatens them hereby, as to your Excellencies great wisdom shall be thought fit.

And your Peticioners shall ever pray etca.

Signed by order of the Governour and Company

RO. BLACKBORNE, Secretarie.

_59. Extract, E.I. Co. Letter from Bombay. May 28, 1695._[1]

[Footnote 1: London, Privy Council, Unbound Papers, 1:46, accompanying our no. 58. Bombay was the main post of the East India Company; a council there supervised all its trade along the west coast of Hindustan.]

Extract of a Clause in the Generall Letter from Bombay dated the 28th May, 1695.

By our shipping now arrived who touched at Johanna Wee have News That Strongs ship which was one of them that w[ent] for the Spanish Expedition is runn away with from the Groyn[2] and come into these seas carrying 46 Guns and 130 men, as your Honours will perceive by Copy of the Captains Letter left at Johanna that accompanyes this. Your Honours Ships going into that Island gave him chase, but hee was too nimble for them by much, having taken down a great deal of his upper work and made her exceeding snugg, which advantage being added to her well sailing before, causes her to sail so hard now that shee fears not who follows her. This Ship will undoubtedly into the Red Seas and Wee fear disappoint us of Our above expected Goods, And it is probable will after shee had ransacked that Gulph proceed to Persia and doe what mischief possible there, which will procure infinite clamours at Suratt and the Government will be for embargoing all that ever Wee have there.

[Footnote 2: Coruna, which the English then frequently called "The Groyne."]

_60. Abstract, E.I. Co. Letters from Bombay. October 12, 1695._[1]

[Footnote 1: London, Privy Council, Unbound Papers, 1:46, accompanying our no. 58.]

By Letters received the 4th of this Inst. from the Generall[2] and Councill for the English Affairs residing att Bombay dated 12th October 1695 the Company are advised as followeth, vizt.

[Footnote 2: Sir John Gayer, governor of Bombay, which at this time was the chief seat of the company's operations in India.]

That on the 29th August the Generall and Councill dispatched the Company's ship the _Benjamin_, Burthen 468 Tunns, Captain Brown Commander, in Company of two Dutch ships that wintered here, for Surrat, with almost all the Cargoes of the three ships, except the Lead that the _Mocha_ carryed in her for Persia (which wee had nott time to take out, she arriving so late). On the 7th of September she arrived Surrat Rivers mouth, where the President, according to Orders, fell to unlading her, but by that time they had gott the Guns, 4 or 500 Bales, and some other Goods on shoar, on the 11th Ditto, One of Abdull Gofores[3] Ships arriving, their people sent the Governour word, that they were plundered by an English Vessell, severall of their Men killed in fight, and others barbarously used; Upon which there was a great noise in Towne, and the Rabble very much incensed against the English, which caused the Governour to send a Guard to Our Factory to prevent their doing any violence to Our People. the 13th in the Morning, the _Gunsway_, one of the Kings Ships, arrived from Judda and Mocho,[4] the Nocqueda[5] and Merchants, with one voice, proclaiming that they were robbed by four English Ships near Bombay of a very great Sume, and that the Robbers had carryed their plundered Treasure on Shoar there, on which there was farr greater noise than before. upon this the Governour[6] sent a very strong Guard to the Factory and clapt all our People in Irons, shut them up in a room, planked up all their windows, kept strict Watches about them, that no one should have pen, ink, or paper to write, stopped all the passages, that no Letters might pass to Us. att this time Captain Brown being att Surat, with some of his Officers and Boats Crew, faired in Common with the rest, and so did some others, that were on shoar, to look after their sick att Swally;[7] and their Long boat and Pinnace going on Shoar there, for Water and Provisions, They sent one Man to the Choultrey,[8] to inquire what News, (having heard somewhat of the Rumour). this person they seized on, by severall Peons, which caused them immediately to putt their boats off, which they had no sooner done, but sundry small Armes were discharged at them. This Caused the Boats to repair to their Ship, att the Rivers mouth, where the Dutch told them, they durst not supply them with any thing while there. But one of them, being ready to sail for Batavia, said, if they would sail in Company with them, they would supply them with what they wanted, as soon as they were out of sight of the Rivers Mouth, which was done according to promise, and so the _Benjamin_, by the Generall Consent of their Officers, came hither, having left her Captain and thirty nine more of her Company behind. as soon as we had a full relation of these things, we immediately wrote to Court, to one Issa Cooley, an Armenian, whom wee intend to make our Vakeel[9] to represent Our Cause to the King, and to Excuse Our Selves from being concerned in those barbarous Actions. Wee Also wrote to the Governour of Surrat and all the Great Umbraws[10] round Us to the same effect, hearing by all that come from Surrat, that that Citty is in an uproar about Us, and being informed also, that Severall Letters are gone to the Siddy[11] (who is very near Us with an Army) from Court and Surat, wee are making what preparation Wee can for our Own defence, nott knowing what this Extream ferment may produce.

[Footnote 3: Abd-ul-Ghaffar was the richest merchant in Surat. "Abdul Gafour, a Mahometan that I was acquainted with, drove a Trade equal to the English East-india Company, for I have known him to fit out in a Year above twenty Sail of Ships, between 300 and 800 Tuns." Capt. Alexander Hamilton, _A New Account of the East Indies_, I. 147. The Indian historian Khafi Khan, who was at Surat at the time, gives an account of the transactions which follow, translated in Elliot and Dowson, _History of India as told by its own Historians_, VII. 350-351.]

[Footnote 4: "The royal ship called the _Ganj-i sawai_, than which there was no larger in the port of Surat, used to sail every year for the House of God [at Mecca, or to Jiddah, its port]. It was now bringing back to Surat fifty-two lacs of rupees in silver and gold, the produce of the sale of Indian goods at Mocha and Jedda." Khafi Khan, _ubi sup._]

[Footnote 5: Urdu _nakhoda_, captain or master of a vessel.]

[Footnote 6: The Mogul's governor of Surat, Itimad Khan.]

[Footnote 7: Suwali, the port of Surat.]

[Footnote 8: Caravanserai, or place for public business.]

[Footnote 9: Agent or envoy.]

[Footnote 10: Urdu _umar[=a]_, grandee of the great Mogul's court.]

[Footnote 11: Urdu _s[=i]d[=i]_, a title given in western India to African Mohammedans of high position under the Mogul. The particular _s[=i]d[=i]_ here mentioned was probably Kazim Khan, admiral to the Mogul.]

On the 28th past, We received a Letter from the President and Councill by the Governour's permission, Coppy of which is enclosed with a Coppy of Our Answer. Wee have also wrote the Governour a Second time and the Vockanavis, Cozze and Hurcorra,[12] and have sent a Letter to the King, Asset Cawn, and the Cozyse[13] att Court, endeavouring as much as possible to allay the heat, by clearing our innocency, and have promised that if Our Shipping arrives according to Expectation, that wee will send one or two next Season to Mocho and Judda to convoy their Fleet.

[Footnote 12: News-writer (_wakanavis_), civil judge (_k[=a]z[=i]_, cadi), and messenger.]

[Footnote 13: _Kazis._]

Wee are informed, that one English man in Surrat carrying to Prison, was so wounded by the Rabble, that he dyed three days after, and that severall others were barbarously used. it is certain the Pyrates, which these People affirm were all English, did do very barbarously by the People of the _Gunsway_ and Abdul Gofors Ship, to make them confess where their Money was, and there happened to be a great Umbraws Wife (as Wee hear) related to the King, returning from her Pilgrimage to Mecha, in her old age. She they abused very much, and forced severall other Women, which Caused one person of Quality, his Wife and Nurse, to kill themselves to prevent the Husbands seing them (and their being) ravished. All this will raise a black Cloud att Court, which We wish may not produce a severe storme.

The Pyrates, being neglected of all hands, begin to grow formidable, and if some Course be nott taken to destroy them, they will yearly increase, having found their trade so beneficiall, and how soon the Companys servants, as well as their Trade, may be sacrificed to revenge the Quarrell of the Sufferers, they know not.

_61. Letter from Venice. May 25, 1696._[1]

[Footnote 1: London, Privy Council, Unbound Papers, 1:46, accompanying our no. 58.]

Coja[2] Panous Calendar has received a Letter from his Friend at Venice, dated the 25th May last, S.V., which advises him That he received a Letter from Spahaune[3] dated the 16th of December last, which sayes that Four ships, one of the Mogulls, and Three belonging to the Merchants, were coming from Mocha and Juddah to Surratt, mett with a Pyrate who took them and Plundered them of the Gold and Silver and goods on board them, and then let the ships go, who arriving at Surratt complained thereof to the Governour, and that the Pyrate was under English Colours. The Governour thereupon setts Guards upon the Companies House and sends up the Account to the Mogull.

[Footnote 2: Persian _kh[=o]jah_, scribe.]

[Footnote 3: Ispahan.]

Coja's Letter does not give an Account when the Ships returned to Surratt, but believes it must be in the beginning of September, that being the time when Ships return from Mocha to Surratt.

_62. Abstract, Letters from Ireland. June 16-July 7, 1696._[1]

[Footnote 1: London, Privy Council, Unbound Papers, 1:46, accompanying our no. 58.]

An Abstract of Letters relating to the Sloop _Isaac_ of Providence, whereof Captain Thomas Hollandsworth Commander.[2]

[Footnote 2: Providence here means New Providence in the Bahamas. Hollingsworth was one of those who came from Madagascar to New Providence in the _Fancy_ with Every. _Calendar of State Papers, Colonial_, 1700, pp. 278, 411.]

Thomas Bell Esqr., Sheriff of the County of Mayo, in his Letter of the 16th of June 1696 says That on the 7th instant came into Westport[3] a small Vessell of about 30 tuns, whereof he had no account till the 14th, upon which he immediately went thither, and only found the Master, whom they call Captain Thomas Hollinsworth, and two men more on board. That they had no other Loading but Gold and Silver, which they conveyd away, and sold the Ship to one Thomas Yeeden and Lawrence Deane of Gallway, Merchants. It was a very considerable Sume they had, of which Mr. Bell desires the Government may be informd, that he may have further direction therein; And adds that he found two baggs of about Forty pound worth of Mony not passable in this Kingdom,[4] in the hands of the said Mr. Yeeden and Mr. Dean, and took their Bond of a hundred pound to have the same forthcomeing to answer the Governments pleasure.

[Footnote 3: A seaport in northwestern Ireland, co. Mayo, about 40 miles north of Galway in a direct line, but a much larger distance around the coast.]

[Footnote 4: Foreign coin; _e.g._, Indian or Arabian.]

The said Mr. Bell in his Letter of the 20th of June further says, That since the writing of the above Letter he mett two of the Crew belonging to the said Vessell, by name, James Trumble and Edward Foreside, in whose hands he found about 200 l., and seizd on their persons and goods, but found none of the said Guilt or Bullion in their Custody, and now hath them with their said goods in his hands, and hopes to find a great deale more of the said Guilt and Bullion in the Country, or those that carry it away, the common report being that the said Ship was worth Twenty Thousand pounds in Gold, Silver and Bullion; And further adds That he receivd a Warrant from Sir Henry Bingham, Barronet,[5] and John Bingham, Esquire, requiring him forthwith to produce the said Trumble and Foreside with their Goods before them, which he obeyd and will give a further account per next post.

[Footnote 5: The third baronet, grand-uncle of the first earl of Lucan.]

Mr. Farmer Glover, Generall Supervisor of the Revenue, in his Letter of the 25th of June from Gallway says, That having had some Account of a sloop being putt into Westport he hastned thither, but she was gon thence (the day before he gott there) towards Gallway; On examinacion he found she came from New Providence in America by Cocquett[6] from thence, had on board Three Tunn and a half of Brazelett[7] Wood and a great quantity of Coyne and Bullion; It is likewise reported that before her Arrivall at Westport she putt into a place calld Ackill[8] and there landed severall Passengers and Goods; That the Officer at Westport says he dischargd at one time 32 baggs and one Cask of Mony, each as much as a man could well lift from the ground; That there are severall Reports in the Country, some saying she was a Privateer, others a Buckaneer, or that she had Landed some of the Assassinators,[8a] which no doubt but their way of comeing into the Country gave great cause of Suspition, for as soon as they had Landed they offerd any Rates for Horses--Ten pounds for a Garran[9] not worth Forty shillings and Thirty shillings in Silver for a Guinea for lightness of carriage;[10] That on these consideracions he seizd the Sloop untill Bond was given according to Law; That she is sold to two Merchants of Gallway and designd to be fraighted out soon.

[Footnote 6: In old days, a certificate from customs officials that merchandise on board had paid its duties.]

[Footnote 7: Braziletto, a dyewood.]

[Footnote 8: The Isle of Achill lies off the Irish coast, northwest of Westport.]

[Footnote 8a: Conspirators for the assassination of King William, in connection with the plot headed by Robert Charnock and Sir George Barclay. Several had been executed this spring, but some were at large.]

[Footnote 9: An inferior Irish horse.]

[Footnote 10: _I.e._, because the gold was so much lighter to carry. In 1695, 30 shillings for a guinea would not have been an unusual price in London (Great Britain then had the silver standard), but the Recoinage Act passed in January, 1696, had enacted that it should be penal to give or take more than 22 shillings for a guinea.]

Mr. Lee the Collector of Gallway, in his Letter of the 26th of June, gives an Account That the Sloop that lay at Westport is come into the Harbour of Gallway; That the Master hath made Report of his Ship and Invoyced upon Oath at the Custom House, and entred into Bond with Security not to depart without Lycence as usuall; That the Master says each person on board took his share of the Silver and Gold and went away with it, That Mony paying no Duty, and being frightned in thither by a Privateer, there being no place there to make a Report, he could not hinder the men to carry off their Fortunes, but on Oath denys the knowledge of any other Goods whatsoever; That the Officer placed on board swears that since he came thither he did not see dischargd or carried out of the Ship any Goods whatsoever but Mony and Melted Silver, of which they took out 32 baggs and one small Cask; That he opened severall of the baggs, in which were Dollars,[11] and that this quantity belongd to two men and the Master, the rest being carried away and the men gon, they have brought part of their Mony hither by Land, And that the Sheriff hath caused part of it to be Lodgd in the Country untill further Order. The said Mr. Lee has also inclosed a Copie of the Masters Pass and Clearings at the Custom House in Providence, And that the Captain of the Sloop brought a Pacquett for His Majestie and deliverd into the Post Office in Gallway.

[Footnote 11: _I.e._, presumably, Spanish money.]

Mr. Vanderlure, Collector at Ballinrobe,[12] in his Letter of the 2d of July writes, That he has usd all Lawfull ways and means to discover what Goods were Landed on that Coast where the Sloop from New Providence arrivd, which was near Westport, but before that she sett on Shoar at Ackill head about a dozen Passengers, English and Scotch, who had a considerable quantity of Gold and Silver Coyne with some Bullion. most part of the latter they parted with at Westport and elswhere, but as for any thing else he cannot learn they had; That he has in his keeping in a small bagg about 5 l. worth of broken Silver belonging to Mr. Currin and Mr. Samuel Bull and likewise about 9 l. worth of course melted Silver Securd with one Mr. John Swaile in Foxford,[13] which also belongs to them, which they alleadg they brought from the aforesaid Passengers; That there is one Crawford, a dweller in Foxford, who told the said Mr. Vanderlure and others, That there was one of the Passengers who had some peices of Muslin[14] in a bagg. the said Crafford absented himself when Mr. Glover and Mr. Cade were at Foxford to examin that matter, but there is a Summons left at his house to appear at Gallway on Munday next to give his Testimony and knowledge therein; That assoon as the said Mr. Vanderlure had notice of that Sloop being in that part of the Country he desird the Surveyor to send an Express to Mr. Lee, the Collector of Gallway, to acquaint him of the Vessell's Arrivall, which accordingly was don and an Officer sent from Gallway who went in the Vessell thither; That two of the Ships Crew are st[op]t and in Custody of the High Sheriff of the County of Mayo by a Warrant from Major Owen Vaughan, a Justice of Peace, upon an Information of one of the Passengers That that Sloop was the King's Pacquett Boat. they have 2700 plate Cobbs[15] in the sheriffs hands, which he secured when he Seizd the said persons. It is said they have about 100 worth of the Coyne. The names of the said Seizd persons are Edward Foreside and James Trumble, who desire themselves and cash might be removd to Dublin, to answer what shall be laid to their Charge.

[Footnote 12: About 20 miles southeast of Westport, between that place and Galway.]

[Footnote 13: About 20 miles northeast of Westport.]

[Footnote 14: Muslin (meaning organdie; from Mosul in Mesopotamia) was not then made in Europe, but was brought from India.]

[Footnote 15: Plate means silver. Cob was the name then used in Ireland to designate Spanish pieces of eight (dollars). Sir William Petty, _Political Anatomy of Ireland_, p. 71.]

Mr. Bartholomew Cade, Surveyor at Ballinrobe, in his Letter of the 2d of July says he has been with Mr. Glover according to the Commissioners directions, and for an account of their proceedings in each particular referrs to Mr. Glovers Letter.

Mr. Glover in his Letter of the 3d of July from Gallway gives an account That he is returned from Ballinrobe District, where he has been making all strict Enquiry about the Sloop putt in at Westport, and says, That as yett there appears no substantiall proof of any Goods Landed lyable to Duty, except such as were taken by the Officer, Mr. Currin, which he says he had seized from them, that the said Mr. Glover has taken them from the officer and deliverd them into the Custom House. As for the 14 pound 3/4 worth of Silver bought by the Officer, it is in Charge with the Collector Mr. Vanderlure. No question but the Master of the Sloop hath forfeited and been lyable to the Penalty according to Law, for by Affidavit of one of his Sailers he proves that at Ackill, where they first landed their Passengers, there being no Officers present, there was taken off board and Landed severall large baggs belonging to the Passengers. what was in the baggs he cannot tell, but that they were stuffed full of something. That the said Mr. Glover had likewise Informacions from severall persons that they heard one George Crawford of Foxford say that he had seen Eight peices of Muslin with some of the Passengers which came out of the Sloop. That he went to Foxford to examin the said Crawford, but he went out of the way so that the said Glover could not see him, but left a Summons at his house for his appearing at Gallway the Munday following.

Mr. Humphry Currin, in his Letter of the 7th of July from Gallway, says, That a small Sloop from the West Indies Landed at Ackill about 10 or 12 Passengers and that he saw them at Westport and one of them was putting something in a bagg which he examined and found 5 yards and 1/2 of Striped Muslin, 2 yards and 1/2 of Cottened Cloth, 2 yards of Quilted Linnen, with 10 small Cravatts and 4 Silk Handkerchiefs, which he then Seizd as lyable to Duty, and said he must carry them to the Custom House of Gallway; That he supposd the Kings share would be remitted and ignorantly gave him the next day 4 Cobbs for it and told him if the Law would allow him more he should have it; That the said Currin shewd the Linnen to Mr. Cade and told him he must go with them to Gallway, but delayd it till after the next Office; That he was advisd to carry the Passengers to a Justice of Peace, which he accordingly did; That he bought for himself and a friend 5 pound of broken silver and 9 pound of melted course Silver and deliverd it to Mr. Glover's Order.

_63. Examination of John Dann. August 3, 1696._[1]

[Footnote 1: London, Public Record Office, C.O. 323:2, no. 25 IV. Endorsed: "In closed in Mr. Blackborne Secretary to the East India Company his letter of the 18th December 1696", as to which letter see _Calendar of State Papers, Colonial_, 1696-1697, pp. 259-264.]

The Examination of John Dann of Rochester, Mariner, taken the 3d of August 1696.

Danns Examination.

This Informant saith that 3 yeares agoe he was Coxwain in the _Soldado_ Prize, That he deserted the said shipp to goe in Sir James Houblons[2] Service, upon an Expedition to the West Indies, under Don Authuro Bourne. hee went on board the _James_, Captain Gibson Commander, and the whole Company shifted their Ship in the Hope, and went on board the _Charles_ in which they went to the Corunna. The Shipps Company mutinied at Corunna for want of their pay, there being 8 months due to them; some of the men proposed to Captain Every, who was master[3] of the _Charles_, to carry away the Shipp, which was agreed on and sworne too; accordingly they sayled from the Corunna the 7th of May 1693.[4] when they were gone out they made up about 85 men. Then they asked Captain Gibson, the Commander, whether he was willing to goe with them, which he refusing, they sett him a shoar, with 14 or 15 more.

[Footnote 2: An alderman of London and a director of the Bank of England. "Sir Arthur Bourne, an Irish commander, who has served on board the Spanish fleet 5 years; he is to command 5 English and Dutch men of warr, and sail for the West Indies" (1692). Luttrell, _Brief Relation_, II. 330.]

[Footnote 3: Navigating officer.]

[Footnote 4: Error for 1694.]

The first place they came to was the Isle of May,[5] where they mett three English Ships and tooke some provisions out of them, with an Anchor and Cable and about 9 men. They went next to the Coast of Guinea, and there they tooke about 5 li. of Gold Dust, under the pretence of Trade; from Guinea they went to Philandepo,[6] where they cleaned their ship and tooke her lower; from thence they went to Princes Island,[7] where they mett with 2 Deanes[8] ships, which they tooke after some restraine. in those Shipps they tooke some small Armes, Chestes of Lynnen and perpetuenes,[9] with about 40 l. in Gold dust and a great quantity of Brandy. they putt them on shoar Except 18 or 20 they tooke with them. they carryed the best of the Danes Shipps with them and burnt the other. They stood then for Cape Lopez, and in the way mett with a small portugeese, laden with slaves from Angola. they tooke some Cloathes and silkes from them and gave them some provisions which they were in want of. att Cape Lopaz they only bought Honey, and sunke the little shipp, the men not being satisfied with the Commander. They went next to Annabo[10] and takeing provisions there they doubled the Cape and sailed to Madagascar, where they tooke more provisions and cleared the ship. from thence they sailed to Johanna,[11] where they mett a small Junke, put her a shore and tooke 40 peices out of her, and had one of their men killed. they only tooke in provisions at Johanna. Three English Merchant ships came downe thither at the same time, but they did not speake with them. They went thence to a place called Paddy,[12] and soe back to Johanna, touching at Comora by the way, where they tooke in provisions. at Johanna they tooke a Junke laden with Rice, which they stood in need of; here they tooke in 13 French men that had been privateering in those Seas under English Colours and had lost their ship at Molila, where it was cast away. Then they resolved to goe for the Red Sea. in the way they mett with two English Privateers, the one called the _Dolphin_, the other _Portsmouth Adventure_. The _Dolphin_, Captaine Want Comander, was a Spanish Bottom, had 60 men on board and was fitted out at the Orkells[13] neare Philadelphia. She came from thence about 2 yeares agoe last January. The _Portsmouth Adventure_ was fitted out at Rhode Island about the same time, Captain Joseph Faro Comander. this ship had about the like number of men and about 6 Gunns each and they joyned Company. They came to an Island called Liparan,[14] at the entrance into the Red Sea, about June last was 12 months. they lay there one night and then 3 sale more of English came to them, One comanded by Thomas Wake[15] fitted out from Boston in New England, another the _Pearle_ Brigantine, William Mues Comander, fitted out of Rhode Island, the third was the _Amity_ Sloop, Thomas Tew Comander,[16] fitted out at New Yorke. they had about 6 Guns each. two of them had 50 men on board and the Brigantine betweene 30 and 40. they all Joyned in partnership, agreeing Captain Every should be the Comander. After they had laine there some time they were apprehensive the Moors shipps would not come downe from Mocha,[16a] soe they sent a pinnace thither, which tooke two Boates. they brought away 2 men, which told them the shipps must come downe. In the meane time they stood into the sea about 3 Leagues and came to an Anchor there, and hearing by the Pinnace the Moors Shipps were ready to come downe they weighed and stood to Leparon againe. After they had lain there 5 or 6 dayes the Moores shipps (being about 25 in number) past by them in the night unseen, though the passage was not above 2 miles over. they[17] was in August last on Saturday night. the next morning they saw a Ketch comeing downe, which they tooke, and by them they heard the ships were gone by, whereupon it was resolved they should all follow them and accordingly they wheighed on Monday, but the _Dolphin_ being an ill sayler they burnt her and tooke the men most of them aboard Captain Every and the Brigantine they tooke in two [tow]. the sloop fell asterne and never came up to them. Captain Wake likewise lagged behind but came up to them afterwards. the _Portsmouth_ kept them company. they steered their Course for Suratt, whether the Moores ships were bound. about 3 dayes before they made Cape St. John[18] they mett with one of the Moores ships, betweene 2 and 300 tons, with 6 Guns, which they tooke, she haveing fired 3 shott. they tooke about 50 or 60,000 l. in that ship in Silver and gold, and kept her with them till they made the land, and comeing to an anchor they espied another ship. they made sale up to her. she had about 40 Guns mounted and as they said 800 men. Shee stood a fight of 3 houres and then yeilded, the men runing into the Hold and there they made their Voyage. They tooke out of that ship soe much Gold and Silver in Coyned money and Plate as made up each mans share with what they had taken before about 1000 l. a man, there being 180 that had their Dividents, the Captain haveing a Double share and the Master a share and a halfe. The _Portsmouth_ did not come into the Fight and therefore had noe Divident, but the Brigantine had, which was taken away from them againe by reason that the _Charles's_ men changing with them Silver for Gold they found the Brigantine men Clippt the Gold, soe they left them only 2000 peices of Eight to buy provisions. They gave a share to the Captain of the _Portsmouth_ and brought him away with them. Captain Want went into his ship and sailed into the Gulph of Persia and the Brigantine (he thinkes) went to the Coast of Ethiopia. Captain Wake went to the Island of St. Maries near Madagascar,[19] intending for the Red Sea the next time the Moores ships were expected from thence. Captain Every resolved to goe streight for the Island of Providence. In the way the men mutinied, some being for carrying her to Kian[20] belonging to the French, neere Brazill, but Captain Every withstood it, there being not above 20 men in the Shipp that Joyned with him. when they came to the Island of Mascareen[21] in the Latitude of 21 they left as many men there as had a mind to stay in that Island, and about March or Aprill last they arrived in the Island of Providence with 113 men on board. they came first to an Anchor off the Island of Thera,[22] and by a sloop sent a Letter to Nicholas Trott, Governor of Providence,[23] to propose bringing their ship thither if they might be assured of Protection and Liberty to goe away, which he promised them. They made a collection of 20 peices of 8 a man and the Captain 40, to present the Governor with, besides Elephants Teeth and some other things to the value of about 1000 l. Then they left their Ship which the Governor had and 46 Guns in her. they bought a sloop which cost them 600 l. Captain Every and about 20 more came in her for England and Every tooke the name of Bridgman; about 23 more of the men bought another Sloop and with the Master, Captain Risby, and the rest of the men went for Carolina.

[Footnote 5: Maio, one of the Cape Verde Islands.]

[Footnote 6: Fernando Po, in the Bight of Biafra.]

[Footnote 7: Ilha do Principe. The islands of St. Thome, Principe, and Annobon are fully described, in their then state, in the second edition of Johnson, _General History of the Pyrates_, pp. 188-204.]

[Footnote 8: Danish. Fourteen of the Danes joined the pirate crew, so says Philip Middleton in a narrative not identical with our no. 64, _post_ (_Cal. St. Pap. Col._, 1696-1697, p. 261); and the Court of the East India Company, in a letter to the General and Council at Bombay, Aug. 7, 1696, report that Every's motley company "consisted of 52 French, 14 Danes, the rest {104} English, Scottish, and Irish". Beckles Willson, _Ledger and Sword_, I. 434.]

[Footnote 9: Perpetuana, a durable woolen fabric.]

[Footnote 10: The island of Annobon, in lat. 1 deg. 24' S.; see note 7.]

[Footnote 11: One of the Comoro group of islands, lying between the north point of Madagascar and the mainland of Africa. It may be useful to mention that at this time the East India Company's monopoly of trade in the Indian Ocean had been broken by a declaration of the House of Commons, Jan. 11, 1694, that every British subject had the right to trade with India.]

[Footnote 12: Probably Patta, off British East Africa, but then Portuguese. Comoro is the principal island in the group of which Johanna is one. Molila, below, is most likely Mohelli, another of the group.]

[Footnote 13: Whorekill, _i.e._ Lewes Creek, Delaware.]

[Footnote 14: Perim, in the straits of Bab-el-Mandeb.]

[Footnote 15: See doc. no. 68, paragraph 8, _post_.]

[Footnote 16: Tew appears in Jamaica, Rhode Island, and New York, everywhere with an ill reputation. Edward Randolph (Toppan, _Edward Randolph_, V. 158) declares that from this present voyage he brought L10,000 in gold and silver into Rhode Island. He had gone out with a privateering commission from Governor Fletcher of New York (_N.Y. Col. Doc._, IV. 310, etc.), though, according to Bellomont, Fletcher must have known of his piratical habits. Fletcher in his not too satisfying "defence" (_ibid._, IV. 447) says: "This Tew appeared to me not only a man of courage and activity, but of the greatest sence and remembrance of what he had seen, of any seaman I had mett. He was allso what they call a very pleasant man; soe that at some times when the labours of my day were over it was some divertisement as well as information to me, to heare him talke. I wish'd in my mind to make him a sober man, and in particular to reclaime him from a vile habit of swearing. I gave him a booke to that purpose." But it appears from paragraph 9 of our no. 68 that Tew was killed, in the act of piracy, within the year of the issue of his commission, and it is impossible to say how far the reformation of his speech had progressed.]

[Footnote 16a: Mocha lies inside the straits, on the Arabian side of the Red Sea.]

[Footnote 17: This.]

[Footnote 18: Probably Cape Diu.]

[Footnote 19: Off the northeast coast. A celebrated resort of pirates; see Capt. Adam Baldridge's deposition, no. 68, _post_.]

[Footnote 20: Cayenne, French Guiana. The editor remembers that old New England people, in his boyhood, still pronounced the name Ky-ann.]

[Footnote 21: Now Reunion, then called by the French (to whom it belonged) Bourbon, or Mascaregne, from the Portuguese commander Pedro Mascarenhas, who discovered it in 1512.]

[Footnote 22: Eleuthera.]

[Footnote 23: Governor of the Bahama Islands from 1693 to 1696, when he was removed because of his suspicious dealings with the pirates. He was a cousin of that Chief-Justice Nicholas Trott (1668-1740) who was so great a power in South Carolina, and who in 1718 sentenced Stede Bonnet's company with such severity. See the next document.]

Captain Every alias Bridgman and this Informant landed at Dumfaneky[24] in the North of Ireland towards the latter end of June last, where this Informant parted with Captain Every and heard he went over for Donaghedy in Scotland.[25] when this Informant was at Dublin he heard Every was there, but did not see him. he heard him say he would goe to Exeter when he came into England, being a Plymouth man.

[Footnote 24: Dunfanaghy, co. Donegal, on the north coast of Ireland.]

[Footnote 25: Probably an error for "from Donaghedy to Scotland". Dunaghadee is in Ireland, co. Down, at one of the points nearest to Scotland.]

This Informant says that he parted with Captain Every at Esquire Rays, within 6 miles of Dumfannaky; That the Land water[26] of that Port, one Mawrice Cuttle, gave this Informant a Passe to goe to Dublin for himselfe, 5 men more and 2 boyes, and came along with them to a place called Lidderkenny,[27] and there he would have detained their money but this Informant and another of the Company had liberty to goe to Derry[28] to cleere themselves to Captain Hawkins, but by the way Cuttle agreed with them to lett them goe for three pounds weight in Gold, which they gave him at a place called St. Johnstons,[29] and then they had liberty to goe on to Dublin.

[Footnote 26: Landwaiter.]

[Footnote 27: Letterkenny, co. Donegal.]

[Footnote 28: Londonderry.]

[Footnote 29: St. Johnstown, on the Foyle above Londonderry.]

This Informant heard likewise that the said Cuttle made an agreement with the other men before he lett them goe but he cannot tell what they gave him.

This Informant came from Dublin about 3 weekes agoe and landed at Holyhead and soe to London, where he arrived on Tuesday last. the man that came over with him was Thomas Johnson, who lives neare Chester, and there he left him.

This Informant went to Rochester on Thursday last and was seized there the next morning by meanes of a Maid, who found his Gold Quilted up in his Jackett hanging with his coate. he was carryed before the Mayor, who comitted him to Prison and kept his Jackett, in which and in his pocketts were 1045 l. Zequins[30] and 10 Guineas, which the Mayor now hath in his Custody.

[Footnote 30: A Venetian or Turkish gold coin, worth about nine shillings.]

This informant sayes further that the wife of Adams, who was their Quarter Master, came with them from the Island of Providence, that shee was with Captain Every at Donoughedee and beleives they went over together; as this Informant came to London hee saw this woman at St. Albans, who was goeing into a stage Coach. She told this Informant that shee was goeing to Captaine Bridgmans but would not tell him where he was.

This Informant saith that the Sloope they came home in was given to Joseph Faroe, Comander of the above mencioned _Portsmouth Adventure_, and that he intended to returne in her to America. the vessell is called the _Sea Flower_, about 50 Tuns and 4 Guns. This Informant heard she was at Derry.

This Informant sayes that the other Sloop, which Captaine Richy came over in, landed somewhere neare Galloway.[31] hee saw some of the men att Dublin. And this Informant beleives that most of the men which came with Captaine Every to Ireland are now in Dublin.

[Footnote 31: Galway.]

_64. Affidavit of Philip Middleton. November 11, 1696._[1]

[Footnote 1: Public Record Office, C.O. 5:1257, no. 47 I. Besides this examination before the London magistrate, Middleton had made a statement, Aug. 4, 1696, to the lords justices of Ireland, fully summarized in _Cal. St. Pap. Col._, 1696-1697, pp. 260-262; it nearly duplicates that of John Dann, our no. 63, _supra_. Note also the affidavit of John Elston of New Jersey, another of the crew, in _N.J. Archives_, first series, II. 223-226.]