by Various
IX
CAPTAIN KIDD
An Overrated Pirate
Of all the pirates whose dreaded top-sails appeared along the coast ofAmerica in the old days of the colonies none has left a more grewsomeand romantic reputation behind him than Captain William Kidd, the NewYork ship-master, who was born in 1650. Legends abound of his boldness,his craftiness, and his savage and blood-thirsty disposition, andstories of the immense treasure that he accumulated, the dreadfulmurders that he committed in its acquisition, and when and with whatghastly accompaniments he buried it are still told over the firesides of'longshore hamlets from Maine to the Carolinas.
Fiction has not neglected to turn this pirate's career to its ownpurpose, and one of Poe's most imaginative and thrilling tales is basedupon the discovery on Sullivan's Island, in Charleston Harbor (SouthCarolina), of a parchment which, on being held to the fire, revealed acryptogram of Kidd's that led to the discovery of buried wealthamounting to millions of dollars.
It seems almost a pity to tamper with the halo of romance and mysterywhich posterity has drawn about this worthy's brow, but the fact is thatKidd was an unready, unwise, and vacillating character, and that therewas little truth in the romances told about him. Beside such dreadfullyfamous buccaneers as Blackbeard, Roberts, and Avery he appears a pygmyin his own "profession," and his career, when contrasted with theirs,seems colorless and contemptible.
As to the vast riches that he was supposed to have acquired, it isdoubtful if in his whole course of piracy he was able to accumulate morethan a hundred thousand dollars. One thing is assured--the only moneythat he buried on the coast of America amounted to not more thanseventy-five thousand dollars, which he hid on Gardiner's Island, overagainst New London, and the last penny of this was recovered byBellamont after Kidd's execution.
During King William's War Kidd, who was a handsome man of somewhatpleasing address, made the acquaintance of Lord Bellamont, the Governorof Barbadoes. The two were in New York at the time of the meeting, andas Kidd was a member of a good family and moved in the limitedaristocratic circle of that day, the new acquaintances saw much of eachother. Kidd's plausible tongue, fund of anecdote, and agreeable mannerimpressed the Governor so pleasantly that his liking for the shipmandeveloped into esteem, and esteem into friendship. Through Bellamont'sinfluence Kidd obtained command of a privateer, and a series of luckyevents contributed to his reputation, so that when he returned to NewYork, after his cruise in the Gulf, Bellamont and his other fine friendshailed him with adulation as a conquering hero. He was wined and feted,was toasted by prominent men and noble dames, and over many a steamingbowl and long-stemmed pipe loosed his glib speech in a way to impresshis hearers with a fine notion of his indomitable character. Through thethick clouds of the Virginia tobacco smoke a great idea was born inBellamont's hazy brain. Complaints were made daily of the pirates thatinfested the shores of the colonies. These pirates were rich withplunder. True, they were skilful and bold and crafty, but here was a manwho by his own confession was more skilful and bolder and craftier thanany of them. Then, should Kidd be fitted out with a fine ship and a goodcrew to chase these pirates and capture them, great glory would come toBellamont's name, and great good to Bellamont's pocket.
The idea was acted upon, and the Governor and some other wealthygentlemen purchased the _Adventure_ galley, equipped her, and armed herwith thirty carronades, while Kidd went down among the docks and thesailors' lodging-houses, picking out for his crew sturdy two-handedmariners, men long of the sea, blowzed by the weather, browned by thewind, used to the pike and cutlass--men like ducks on the shore and likemonkeys in the rigging.
The ship was fitted out at Plymouth, and the great day of the sailingarrived at last. The _Adventure_ pushed out into the stream, Kiddsmirking and bowing and striking attitudes on the quarter-deck, the busysailors swarming aloft to loose sail, the good ship heeling over fartherand farther as canvas after canvas was spread to a quartering breeze,and an assemblage of fine ladies and gorgeous beaux waving scarfs andfluttering handkerchiefs from the end of the pier.
Armed with a commission from King William to apprehend the notedCaptains "Thomas Tew, John Ireland, Thomas Wake, and William Maze, orMace, and other subjects, natives or inhabitants of New York andelsewhere in our plantations in America, who have associated withothers, wicked and ill-disposed persons, and do, against the laws ofnations, commit many and great piracies, robberies, and depredations onthe seas, upon the parts of America and in other parts, to the greatdanger of our loving subjects, our allies, and all others navigating theseas upon their lawful occasions," he steered from New York on his wayto the Guinea coast, where his hunt was to begin. By the terms of hiscommission he was to take the aforenamed pirates by force if necessary,with all the pirates, freebooters, and rovers associated with them,wherever they were found. He was to bring them into port, with all suchmerchandise, money, goods, and wares as should be discovered on board.But he was strictly charged and commanded, "As you will answer thecontrary at your peril, that you do not in any manner offend or molestour friends or allies, their ships or subjects, by whom or pretence ofthese presents or the authority thereby granted."
Kidd had another commission, called Letters of Marque and Reprisal, toempower him to act against the French, with whom the English and theircolonies were then at war, and under cover of these he captured aFrench merchantman off Fire Island on his way westward.
Upon arriving at New York he began to request more assistance from hisowners, complained of the size of his ship and his few guns, and, as he"proposed to deal with a desperate enemy," asked permission to increasehis complement. This was granted, after some hesitation, and he finallysailed from New York with a ship's company of one hundred and fifty-fivemen.
He made first for Madeira, thence to one of the Cape Verde Islands, andthence to St. Jago, in order to lay in salt provisions and othernecessaries. He then rounded the Cape and bent his course towardsMadagascar, whose waters were the known rendezvous of swarms of pirates.On the way he fell in with three English men-of-war, to whose commodorehe imparted his errand with much pomp and circumstance. He dined aboardthe flag-ship, and left behind him the same reputation for dare-devilrecklessness and determination that his valiant speech had obtained forhim elsewhere.
He parted with these ships after a few days, and arrived at Madagascarin February, 1697, after a voyage of nine months.
At this time most of the pirate ships were out in search of prey, so,having spent some time in watering his ship and taking aboardprovisions, Kidd tried the coast of Malabar, where he was equallyunsuccessful in finding his quarry. He touched at Mohila and at Johanna,both famous resorts for pirates, but he did not succeed even in gettingnews of those whom he sought. The reason seemed obvious--the pirate ofthose days was a dangerous man to tackle. He had guns, and he knew howto use them; he fought with a halter round his neck, and was game to thelast gasp. He was in the habit of beating the King's ships sent to takehim, and he had a bending plank through the lee gangway for theircaptured officers. A fat, rich merchantman was an easier victim. Why notsound the crew to see if they would agree to a change of policy?
Some such thoughts must have been passing through Kidd's mind at thistime, for with the gift of a brass farthing he could have purchasedfrom the most guileless and affectionate native of Mohila or Johanna hisentire confidence as to the whereabouts of his friends the sea-rovers,and yet after a cruise of many months in this infested neighborhood Kiddhad no tidings of a single pirate craft.
But however disposed towards acts of violence, he had not yet thecourage to put his wishes into execution. On his second voyage past theisland of Mohila he passed several Indian ships, richly laden and tooweak to offer him resistance, but he contented himself with castingenvious eyes upon them and suffered them to go.
The first outrage that he committed was at Mabbee, in the Red Sea,where, after careening his ship, he took some corn from the natives byforce. After this he sailed to Babs Key, near the Strait ofB
ab-el-Mandeb, where he first began to open himself to the ship'scompany, and to disclose to them his change of policy. But instead ofcoming out like a man and saying that he intended to turn to piracy, hehinted and insinuated and beat about the bush. "Unlucky have we beenhitherto; but courage, my lads, we'll make our fortunes out of the Mochafleet." This was the closest his pygmy heart could come to broaching thesubject that occupied his mind. But his mariners met him more thanhalf-way, and he found himself committed to buccaneering before he knewit. By the advice of his quartermaster (the first mate or executiveofficer of those days) he sent a boat to go upon the coast and makediscoveries, while he himself kept men in the tops of the _Adventure_ tolook out for the Mocha fleet.
The boat returned in a few days, bringing word that fifteen or a scoreof ships were about ready to sail, and that they were well laden andrich.
Four days after this the fleet appeared; the eager lookouts reportedthem, and the men rushed to the sheets and halyards, guns andammunition-lockers.
Now was Kidd's opportunity to dash in, seize a valuable prize, and getoff with her; but he hung off and on, perplexed between timidity andcupidity, until by the time he had made up his mind to put his fortuneto the touch his prey became alarmed and began to scatter. He then boredown on the nearest; but by this time he had been sighted by the twomen-of-war of the convoy, and the sight of their black hulls speedingtowards him, straight and steady and business-like through the flyingmerchantmen, was enough for Kidd. He fired a feeble shot or two, squaredhis yards, and made off before the wind for dear life, while the crewsilently handled their tackle, and indulged in I know not whatcontemptuous thoughts of their commander.
But by the act of firing upon a friendly flag Kidd had determined hisstatus; there was nothing for him now but to go on with his pirating.Soon he had an opportunity to show that desperate courage of which, byhis own account, he was possessed. Off the coast of Malabar he met asmall Moorish coasting-vessel. Having discovered that she wasshort-handed and unarmed, he became terrible indeed. He seized her andforced her Captain and quartermaster to take on with him as pilot andinterpreter, the Captain being an Englishman, and the other, DonAntonio, a Portuguese. The men he used cruelly, hoisting them up by thearms, drubbing them with a bare cutlass, and putting them to othertortures to force them to disclose the whereabouts of their treasure;but all he got from them was a parcel of coffee and a bale of pepper.
He then touched at Malabar, but finding himself an object of suspicionhe quickly went away.
The coast was alarmed by this time, however, and a Portuguese man-of-warwas sent out after him. Kidd fought her for a while in a half-heartedway, but, though she was his inferior in men and metal, he soon hadenough of honest combat, and got off by his superior speed.
He next ran down to Porca, where he took on board a number of hogs andother livestock for provisions, and paid for them in good Britishsilver. He also watered his ship and otherwise provided for his ship'scompany.
He then stood to sea again, and came up with a Moorish craft, the masterof which, a Dutchman named Schipper Mitchell, hoisted French colors, asKidd chased under that flag. The pirates hailed in French, and wereanswered in the same tongue by a Frenchman who was one of Mitchell'spassengers. Kidd then ordered the Dutchman to send a boat on board, andwhen it arrived at his gangway he asked the Frenchman if he had a passfor himself. The passenger replied that he had, whereupon Kidd told himto pass for the Captain, "For, by Heaven, you are the Captain, and ifyou say you're not I'll hang you!"
The Frenchman of course dared not refuse to do as he was ordered.
The object of the manoeuvre is apparent. Kidd had not the pluck to goon openly with his high-sea robbery, but fancied that if he seized theship as a prize, pretending that she belonged to French subjects, hewould get into no trouble on account of her. He did not seem to takeinto account the fact that his previous conduct had already stamped himas a criminal, but appeared to think that as long as he did not openlyhoist the black flag he might do as he liked with impunity. Indeed, hiswhole career as a sea-robber consisted of similar acts of fatuous andostrich-like stupidity.
He landed on one of the Malabar islands for wood and water, and as hiscooper was murdered by the natives he plundered and burned theirvillage. He took one of the islanders and had him tied to a tree andshot, after which he again put to sea in quest of prizes. After being atsea less than a week he fell in with and captured the greatest prizethat ever fell into his hands, the Moorish bark _Quedah Merchant_, offour hundred tons. From this vessel he got a cargo which he sold formore than ten thousand pounds.
HE PLUNDERED AND BURNED]
The Indians came on board of him and trafficked, and he performed hisbargains punctually for a time, until he was ready to sail; and then hetook their goods and set them on shore with no payment, which was quitein accord with his despicable character. The Indians had been accustomedto deal with pirates, and had found them, as a rule, men of honor in theway of trade, so it was easy for Kidd to impose upon them.
The pirate put some men aboard of the _Quedah Merchant_, and in hercompany sailed for Madagascar. He had no sooner arrived there than offcame a canoe in which were several old acquaintances of his who had longbeen "upon the account," as they called buccaneering. They belonged to aship called the _Resolution_, which was commanded by one Culliford, anotorious sea-robber. When they met Kidd they told him that they wereinformed he had come to hang them, which they would take very unkind insuch an old friend. Kidd dissipated their fears by telling them that hewas in every respect their brother, and as bad as they, and in token ofamity drank their health in a bowl of grog.
Kidd then went aboard, Culliford promising his friendship andassistance; and Culliford in turn boarded Kidd, and the two worthiesmade a merry night of it in the cabin of the _Adventure_, spinningtheir yarns of the deep seas and laughing at their enemies; and asCulliford was in need of some necessaries, Kidd fitted him out from hisspare tackle.
The _Adventure_ was now so leaky that Kidd transferred her guns andstores to the _Quedah Merchant_ and got to sea again, but not beforemore than half of his disgusted crew had left him.
He touched at Amboyan, and there learned that the news of his conducthad reached England and that he was outlawed. Indeed, the reports of hismisdeeds were so exaggerated that the English merchants became greatlyalarmed, and had Kidd, with one Captain Avery, excepted in a generalpardon of freebooters which had just been promulgated. Kidd knew nothingof this, but relying on some French passes which he had found on one ortwo of his prizes, and deeming his brazen assurance enough to carry himthrough any peril from the law, he made for New York. Here, by theorders of Lord Bellamont, he was promptly seized, with all of hiseffects, and was sent to England to be tried.
Here his conduct was such as to destroy the last shreds of respect thatone might have had for his character. Instead of meeting his fate like aman, he begged and implored and whined and promised, but all to noavail.
He insisted much upon his own innocence and the villainy of his men. Hewent out upon a laudable employment, he said, and had no occasion to gopirating, but the men mutinied against him and did as they pleased. Asto the friendship shown to that notorious villain Culliford, Kidd deniedit, and said that he would have taken him, but his own men, being aparcel of rogues, refused to stand by him, and several of them even ranfrom his ship to join the wicked pirate.
But the evidence was too strong against him, and he was condemned.
When asked what he had to say why sentence should not be pronounced uponhim, he replied that he had nothing to say except that he had been swornagainst by wicked people; and when sentence was pronounced he said: "Mylord, it is a very hard sentence. For my part, I am the most innocentperson of them all, only I have been sworn against by perjured persons."
And so, in 1701, whining and protesting miserably, he was led away tothe scaffold, and there paid the penalty of his crimes.
