A General History of the Pyrates: from their first rise and settlement in the island of Providence, to the present time

He could say little in Defence of himself, acknowledg’d this latter Part of Drunkenness; a Vice, he says, that had too great a Share in insnaring him into this Course of Life, and had been a greater Motive with him than Gold. Guilty.

William Davis

W Illiam Allen deposed, he knew this Prisoner at Sierraleon, belonging to the Ann Galley; that he had a Quarrel with, and beat the Mate of that Ship, for which (as he said) being afraid to return to his Duty, he consorted to the idle Customs and Ways of living among the Negroes, from whom he received a Wife, and ungratefully sold her, one Evening, for some Punch to quench his Thirst. After this, having put himself under the Protection of Mr. Plunket, Governor there for the Royal African Company: The Relations and Friends of the Woman, apply’d to him for Redress, who immediately surrendered the Prisoner, and told them, he did not care if they took his Head off; but the Negroes wisely judging it would not fetch so good a Price, they sold him in his Turn again to Seignior Jossee, a Christian Black, and Native of that Place; who expected and agreed for two Years Service from him, on Consideration of what he had disbursed, for the Redemption of the Woman: But long before the Expiration of this Time, Roberts came into Sierraleon River, where the Prisoner, (as Seignior Jossee assured the Deponent,) entered a Voluntier with them.

The Deponent further corroborates this Part of the Evidence; in that he being obliged to call at Cape Mount, in his Passage down hither, met there with two Deserters from Roberts’s Ship, who assured him of the same; and that the Pyrates did design to turn Davis away the next Opportunity, as an idle good-for-nothing Fellow.

From Glasby and Lilburn, it was evident, that every Pyrate, while they stay’d at Sierraleon, went on Shore at Discretion. That Roberts had often assured Mr. Glyn and other Traders, at that Place, that he would force no Body; and in short, there was no Occasion for it; in particular, the Prisoner’s Row-Mate went away, and thinks, he might have done the same, if he had pleased.

The Prisoner alledged his having been detained against his Will, and says, that returning with Elephants Teeth for Sierraleon, the Pyrate’s Boat pursued and brought him on Board, where he was kept on Account of his understanding the Pilotage and Navigation of that River.

It was obvious to the Court, not only how frivolous Excuses of Constraint and Force were among these People, at their first commencing Pyrates, but also it was plain to them, from these two Deserters, met at Cape Mount, and the discretional Manner they lived in, at Sierraleon; thro’ how little Difficulty several of them did, and others might, have escaped afterwards, if they could but have obtained their own Consents for it. Guilty.

This is the Substance of the Tryals of Roberts’s Crew, which may suffice for others, that occur in this Book. The foregoing Lists, shews, by a * before the Names, who were condemn’d; those Names with a † were referred for Tryal to the Marshalsea, and all the rest were acquitted.

The following Pyrates were executed, according to their Sentence, without the Gates of Cape Corso-Castle, within the Flood-Marks, viz.

The Remainder of the Pyrates, whose Names are under mentioned, upon their humble Petition to the Court, had their Sentence changed from Death, to seven Years Servitude, conformable to our Sentence of Transportation; the Petition is as follows.

To the Honourable the President and Judges of the Court of Admiralty, for trying of Pyrates, sitting at Cape Corso-Castle; the 20th Day of April, 1722The humble Petition of Thomas How, Samuel Fletcher, &c

Humbly sheweth,

T HAT your Petitioners being unhappily, and unwarily drawn into that wretched and detestable Crime of Pyracy, for which they now stand justly condemned, they most humbly pray the Clemency of the Court, in the Mitigation of their Sentence, that they may be permitted to serve the Royal African Company of England, in this Country for seven Years, in such a Manner as the Court shall think proper; that by their just Punishment, being made sensible of the Error of their former Ways, they will for the future become faithful Subjects, good Servants, and useful in their Stations, if it please the Almighty to prolong their Lives.

And your Petitioners, as in Duty, &c.The Resolution of the Court was,

T HAT the Petitioners have Leave by this Court of Admiralty, to interchange Indentures with the Captain General of the Gold Coast, for the Royal African Company, for seven Years Servitude, at any of the Royal African Company’s Settlements in Africa, in such Manner as he the said Captain General shall think proper.

On Thursday the 26th Day of April, the Indentures being all drawn out, according to the Grant made to the Petitioners, by the Court held on Friday the 20th of this Instant; each Prisoner was sent for up, signed, sealed and exchanged them in the Presence of

Captain Mungo Herdman, President,James Phipps, Esq; Mr. Edward Hyde, Mr. Charles Fanshaw, And Mr. John Atkins, Register.A Copy of the Indenture

The Indenture of a Person condemned to serve abroad for Pyracy, which, upon the humble Petition of the Pyrates therein mentioned, was most mercifully granted by his Imperial Majesty’s Commissioners and Judges appointed to hold a Court of Admiralty, for the Tryal of Pyrates at Cape Corso-Castle, in Africa, upon Condition of serving seven Years, and other Conditions, are as follows, viz.

T HIS Indenture made the twenty sixth Day of April, Anno Regni Regis Georgii magnæ Britanniæ, &c. Septimo, Domini, Millessimo, Sepcentessimo viginti duo, between Roger Scot, late of the City of Bristol Mariner, of the one Part, and the Royal African Company of England, their Captain General and Commander in Chief, for the Time being, on the other Part, Witnesseth, that the said Roger Scot, doth hereby covenant, and agree to, and with, the said Royal African Company, their Captain General, and Commander in chief for the Time being, to serve him, or his lawful Successors, in any of the Royal African Company’s Settlements on the Coast of Africa, from the Day of the Date of these Presents, to the full Term of seven Years, from hence next ensuing, fully to be compleat and ended; there to serve in such Employment, as the said Captain General, or his Successors shall employ him; according to the Custom of the Country in like Kind.

In Consideration whereof, the said Captain General, and Commander in chief doth covenant and agree, to, and with, the said Roger Scot, to find and allow him Meat, Drink, Apparel and Lodging, according to the Custom of the Country.

In witness whereof, the Parties aforesaid, to these Presents, have interchangably put their Hands and Seals, the Day and Year first above written.

Signed, sealed and delivered, in the Presence of us, at Cape Corso-Castle, in Africa, where no stamp’dPaper was to be had.Mungo Heardman, President, Witness.John Atkins, Register, Witness.In like Manner was drawn out and exchanged the Indentures of

Thomas How of Barnstable, in the County of Devon.

Samuel Fletcher of East-Smithfield, London.

John Lane of Lombard-Street, London.

David Littlejohn of Bristol.

John King of Shadwell Parish, London.

Henry Dennis of Bidiford.

Hugh Harris of Corf-Castle, Devonshire.

William Taylor of Bristol.

Thomas Owen of Bristol.

John Mitchel of Shadwell Parish, London.

Joshua Lee of Leverpool.

William Shuren of Wapping Parish, London.

Robert Hartley of Leverpool.

John Griffin of Blackwall, Middlesex.

James Cromby of London, Wapping.

James Greenham of Marshfield, Gloucestershire.

John Horn of St. James’s Parish, London.

John Jessop of Wisbich, Cambridgshire.

David Rice of Bristol.

None of which, I hear, are now living, two others, viz. George Wilson and Thomas Oughterlaney, were respited from Execution, till his Majesty’s Pleasure should be known; the former dy’d abroad, and the latter came Home, and received his Majesty’s Pardon; the Account of the whole stands thus,

I am not ignorant how acceptable the Behaviour and dying Words of Malefactors are to the generallity of our Countrymen, and therefore shall deliver what occurr’d, worthy of Notice, in the Behaviour of these Criminals.

The first six that were called to Execution, were Magnes, Moody, Sympson, Sutton, Ashplant, and Hardy; all of them old Standers and notorious Offenders: When they were brought out of the Hold, on the Parade, in order to break off their Fetters, and fit the Halters; none of them, it was observed, appeared the least dejected, unless Sutton, who spoke faint, but it was rather imputed to a Flux that had seiz’d him two or three Days before, than Fear. A Gentleman, who was Surgeon of the Ship, was so charitable at this Time, to offer himself in the room of an Ordinary, and represented to them, as well as he was able, the Heinousness of their Sin, and Necessity which lay on them of Repentance; one particular Part of which ought to be, acknowledging the Justice they had met with. They seem’d heedless for the present, some calling for Water to drink, and others applying to the Soldiers for Caps, but when this Gentleman press’d them for an Answer, they all exclaim’d against the Severity of the Court, and were so harden’d, as to curse, and wish the same Justice might overtake all the Members of it, as had been dealt to them. They were poor Rogues, they said, and so hang’d, while others, no less guilty in another Way, escaped.

When he endeavoured to compose their Minds, exhorting them to dye in Charity with all the World, and would have diverted them from such vain Discourse, by asking them their Country, Age, and the like; some of them answered, ‘What was that to him, they suffered the Law, and should give no Account but to God;’ walking to the Gallows without a Tear, in Token of Sorrow for their past Offences, or shewing as much Concern as a Man would express at travelling a bad Road; nay, Sympson, at seeing a Woman that he knew, said, ‘he had lain with that B – h three times, and now she was come to see him hang’d.’ And Hardy, when his Hands were ty’d behind him, (which happened from their not being acquainted with the Way of bringing Malefactors to Execution,) observed, ‘that he had seen many a Man hang’d, but this Way of the Hands being ty’d behind them, he was a Stranger to, and never saw before in his Life.’ I mention these two little Instances, to shew how stupid and thoughtless they were of their End, and that the same abandoned and reprobate Temper that had carried them thro’ their Rogueries, abided with them to the last.

Samuel Fletcher, another of the Pyrates ordered for Execution, but reprieved, seem’d to have a quicker Sense of his Condition; for when he saw those he was allotted with gone to Execution, he sent a Message by the Provost-Marshal to the Court, to be ‘inform’d of the Meaning of it, and humbly desir’d to know whether they design’d him Mercy, or not? If they did, he stood infinitely oblig’d to them, and thought the whole Service of his Life an incompetent Return for so great a Favour; but that if he was to suffer, the sooner the better, he said, that he might be out of his Pain.’

There were others of these Pyrates the reverse of this, and tho’ destitute of Ministers, or fit Persons to represent their Sins, and assist them with spiritual Advice, were yet always imploying their Time to good Purposes, and behaved with a great deal of seeming Devotion and Penitence; among these may be reckon’d Scudamore, Williams, Philips, Stephenson, Jefferys, Lesly, Harper, Armstrong, Bunce, and others.

Scudamore too lately discerned the Folly and Wickedness of the Enterprize, that had chiefly brought him under Sentence of Death, from which, seeing there was no Hopes of escaping, he petitioned for two or three Days Reprieve, which was granted; and for that Time apply’d himself incessantly to Prayer, and reading the Scriptures, seem’d to have a deep Sense of his Sins, of this in particular, and desired, at the Gallows, they would have Patience with him, to sing the first Part of the thirty first Psalm; which he did by himself throughout.

Armstrong, having been a Deserter from his Majesty’s Service, was executed on Board the Weymouth, (and the only one that was;) there was no Body to press him to an Acknowledgement of the Crime he died for, nor of sorrowing in particular for it, which would have been exemplary, and made suitable Impressions on Seamen; so that his last Hour was spent in lamenting and bewailing his Sins in general, exhorting the Spectators to an honest and good Life, in which alone they could find Satisfaction. In the End, he desir’d they would join with him in singing two or three latter Verses of the 140th Psalm; and that being concluded, he was, at the firing of a Gun, tric’d up at the Fore-Yard-Arm.

Bunce was a young Man, not above 26 Years old, but made the most pathetical Speech of any at the Gallows. He first declaim’d against the guilded Bates of Power, Liberty, and Wealth, that had ensnar’d him among the Pyrates, his unexperienc’d Years not being able to withstand the Temptation; but that the Briskness he had shewn, which so fatally had procured him Favour amongst them, was not so much a Fault in Principle, as the Liveliness and Vivacity of his Nature. He was now extreamly afflicted for the Injuries he had done to all Men, and begg’d their’s and God’s Forgiveness, very earnestly exhorting the Spectators to remember their Creator in their Youth, and guard betimes, that their Minds took not a wrong Byass, concluding with this apt Similitude, That he stood there as a Beacon upon a Rock, (the Gallows standing on one) to warn erring Marriners of Danger.

CHAP. X.

OF

Captain ANSTIS,

And his CREW

T HOMAS Anstis ship’d himself at Providence in the Year 1718, aboard the Buck Sloop, and was one of six that conspired together to go off a pyrating with the Vessel; the rest were, Howel Davis, Roberts’s Predecessor, killed at the Island of Princes; Dennis Topping, killed at the taking of the rich Portuguese Ship on the Coast of Brasil; Walter Kennedy, hanged at Execution-Dock, and two others, which I forbear to name, because, I understand they are at this Day employ’d in an honest Vocation in the City.

What followed concerning Anstis’s Pyracies, has been included in the two preceeding Chapters; I shall only observe that the Combination of these six Men abovementioned, was the Beginning of that Company, that afterwards proved so formidable under Captain Roberts, from whom Anstis separated the 18th of April 1721, in the Good Fortune Brigantine, leaving his Commadore to pursue his Adventures upon the Coast of Guiney, whilst he returned to the West-Indies, upon the like Design.

About the Middle of June, these Pyrates met with one Captain Marston, between Hispaniola and Jamaica, bound on a Voyage to New-York; from whom they took all the wearing Apparel they could find, as also his Liquors and Provision, and five of his Men, but did not touch his Cargo; two or three other Vessels were also plundered by them, in this Cruise, out of whom they stocked themselves with Provision and Men; among the rest, I think, was the Irwin, Captain Ross, from Cork in Ireland; but this I won’t be positive of, because they denied it themselves. This Ship had 600 Barrels of Beef aboard, besides other Provisions, and was taken off Martinico, wherein Colonel Doyly of Montserrat, and his Family were Passengers. The Colonel was very much abused and wounded, for endeavouring to save a poor Woman, that was also a Passenger, from the Insults of that brutish Crew; and the Pyrates prevailing, twenty one of them forced the poor Creature successively, afterwards broke her Back and flung her into the Sea. I say, I will not be positive it was Anstis’s Crew that acted this unheard of Violence and Cruelty, tho’ the Circumstances of the Place, the Time, the Force of the Vessel, and the Number of Men, do all concur, and I can place the Villany no where else; but that such a Fact was done, there is too much Evidence for it to be doubted of.

When they thought fit to put an End to this Cruize, they went into one of the Islands to clean, which they effected without any Disturbance, and came out again, and stretching away towards Burmudas, met with a stout Ship, called the Morning Star, bound from Guiney to Carolina; they made Prize of her, and kept her for their own Use. In a Day or two, a Ship from Barbadoes bound to New-York, fell into their Hands, and taking out her Guns and Tackle, mounted the Morning Star with 32 Pieces of Cannon, mann’d her with a 100 Men, and appointed one John Fenn Captain; for the Brigantine being of far less Force, the Morning Star would have fallen to Anstis, as elder Officer, yet he was so in Love with his own Vessel, (she being an excellent Sailor,) that he made it his Choice to stay in her, and let Fenn, who was, before, his Gunner, Command the great Ship.

Now, that they had two good Ships well mann’d, it may be supposed they were in a Condition to undertake something bold: But their Government was disturbed by Malecontents, and a Kingdom divided within it self cannot stand; they had such a Number of new Men amongst them, that seem’d not so violently enclined for the Game; that whatever the Captain proposed, it was certainly carried against him, so that they came to no fix’d Resolution for the undertaking any Enterprize; therefore there was nothing to be done, but to break up the Company, which seemed to be the Inclination of the Majority, but the Manner of doing so, concerned their common Safety; to which Purpose various Means were proposed, at length it was concluded to send home a Petition to his Majesty (there being then no Act of Indemnity in Force) for a Pardon, and wait the Issue; at the same Time one Jones, Boatswain of the Good Fortune, proposed a Place of safe Retreat, it being an uninhabited Island near Cuba, which he had been used to in the late War, when he went a privateering against the Spaniards.

This being approved of, it was unanimously resolved on, and the underwritten Petition drawn up and signed by the whole Company in the Manner of what they call a Round Robin, that is, the Names were writ in a Circle, to avoid all Appearance of Pre-eminence, and least any Person should be mark’d out by the Government, as a principal Rogue among them.

To his most sacred Majesty George, by the Grace of God, of Great-Britain, France and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &cThe humble PETITION of the Company, now belonging to the Ship Morning Star, and Brigantine Good Fortune, lying under the ignominious Name and Denomination of PYRATES

Humbly sheweth,

T HAT we your Majesty’s most loyal Subjects, have, at sundry Times, been taken by Bartholomew Roberts, the then Captain of the abovesaid Vessels and Company, together with another Ship, in which we left him; and have been forced by him and his wicked Accomplices, to enter into, and serve, in the said Company, as Pyrates, much contrary to our Wills and Inclinations: And we your loyal Subjects utterly abhoring and detesting that impious way of Living, did, with an unanimous Consent, and contrary to the Knowledge of the said Roberts, or his Accomplices, on, or about the 18th Day of April 1721, leave, and ran away with the aforesaid Ship Morning Star, and Brigantine Good Fortune, with no other Intent and Meaning than the Hopes of obtaining your Majesty’s most gracious Pardon. And, that we your Majesty’s most loyal Subjects, may with more Safety return to our native Country, and serve the Nation, unto which we belong, in our respective Capacities, without Fear of being prosecuted by the Injured, whose Estates have suffered by the said Roberts and his Accomplices, during our forcible Detainment, by the said Company: We most humbly implore your Majesty’s most royal Assent, to this our humble Petition.

And your Petitioners shall ever pray.

This Petition was sent home by a Merchant Ship bound to England, from Jamaica, who promised to speak with the Petitioners, in their Return, about 20 Leagues to Windward of that Island, and let them know what Success their Petition met with. When this was done, the Pyrates retires to the Island before proposed, with the Ship and Brigantine.

This Island (which I have no Name for) lies off the Southwest End of Cuba, uninhabited, and little frequented. On the East End is a Lagune, so narrow, that a Ship can but just go in, tho’ there’s from 15 to 22 Foot Water, for almost a League up: On both Sides of the Lagune grows red Mangrove Trees, very thick, that the Entrance of it, as well as the Vessels laying there, is hardly to be seen. In the Middle of the Island are here and there a small thick Wood of tall Pines, and other Trees scattered about in different Places.

Here they staid about nine Months, but not having Provision for above two, they were forced to take what the Island afforded, which was Fish of several Sorts, particularly Turtle, which latter was the chiefest Food they lived on, and was found in great Plenty on the Coasts of this Island; whether there might be any wild Hogs, Beef, or other Cattle, common to several Islands of the West-Indies, or that the Pyrates were too idle to hunt them, or whether they preferr’d other Provisions to that sort of Diet, I know not; but I was informed by them, that for the whole Time they eat not a Bit of any kind of Flesh-Meat, nor Bread; the latter was supply’d by Rice, of which they had a great Quantity aboard: This was boyl’d and squeez’d dry, and so eat with the Turtle.

There are three or four Sorts of these Creatures in the West-Indies, the largest of which will weight 150 or 200 Pound Weight or more, but those that were found upon this Island were of the smallest Kind, weighing 10 or 12 Pounds each, with a fine natural wrought Shell, and beautifully clouded; the Meat sweet and tender, some Part of it eating like Chicken, some like Veal, &c. so that it was no extraordinary Hardship for them to live upon this Provision alone, since it affords variety of Meats to the Taste, of it self. The manner of catching this Fish is very particular; you must understand, that in the Months of May, June and July, they lay their Eggs in order to hatch their Young, and this three times in a Season, which is always in the Sand of the Sea-shore, each laying 80 or 90 Eggs at a time. The Male accompanies the Female, and come ashore in the Night only, when they must be watch’d, without making any Noise, or having a Light; as soon as they land, the Men that watch for them, turn them on their Backs, then haul them above high Water Mark, and leave them till next Morning, where they are sure to find them, for they can’t turn again, nor move from the Place. It is to be observ’d, that besides their laying time, they come ashore to feed, but then what’s very remarkable in these Creatures, they always resort to different Places to breed, leaving their usual Haunts for two or three Months, and ’tis thought they eat nothing in all that Season.