The Pirates of Malabar, and An Englishwoman in India Two Hundred Years Ago byJohn Biddulph chapter VII

EXPEDITION AGAINST GHERIAH

In addition to other embarrassments, Boone became involved, at this time,in a quarrel with the Portuguese. The surrender of Bombay to the Englishhad, from the first, been extremely distasteful to the Goa authorities,who understood the value of the place better than did the authorities inLisbon; and they had so interpreted the treaty that gave Bombay to theEnglish that, at the time of transfer, they had managed to retaineverything except the island of Bombay. The English had been obliged torenounce all claim to Salsette and other dependencies of Bombay, or toexclusive possession of the harbour, and to agree that the Portugueseresidents should be exempted from the payment of customs, and have fullliberty of trade with the Portuguese establishmentsinSalsette. This lastcondition had been repudiated in England, but continued to beclaimed bythe Portuguese, who harassed the position of the English by levying duties,and impeding the passage of supplies, while they gave asylum to desertersand runaways of all kinds. By the treaty, toleration for the exercise ofthe Roman Catholic religion had been secured; and there had remained inBombay a large establishment of Franciscan friars, who made no efforts toconceal their hostility totheCompany'sgovernment. In addition to othertreacherous acts, Boone had to complain of the friars tampering with hissoldiers and slaves, and encouraging them to desert. In order to put anend to the evil, he banished all the Portuguese friars, and installed intheir place an Italian bishop and some Italian Carmelite friars. This washeld by the Goa authorities to be an infringement of the rights of theKing of Portugal. In retaliation, all Roman Catholics in Bombay wereforbidden to recognize the authority of the Italian bishop and friars, andthe Portuguese General of the North was ordered to prohibit allintercourse with Bombay, and to inflict the severest penalties on allpersons attempting to go there or to leave it.

"Those who are captured shall be whipped and put in the galleys for
five years, and, if of noble birth, they shall pay the sum of one
thousand xeraphims in lieu of working in the galleys, and shall be
transported for five years to the fortress of Diu."[1]

It seemed as if Boone was to have a Portuguese war added to his other
troubles. Fortunately, more moderate counsels prevailed, and, in September,conciliatory letter was written to Boone by the Viceroy, announcing hisapproaching departure. A few days later, the new Viceroy, Francisco Josede Sampaio e Castro, arrived in Goa. While the quarrel was in progress, anative ship from Surat, bound for Jeddah, was captured off Bassein by aEuropean pirate ship. This was probably England's ship, Victory, ofwhich we shall hear more directly. The ship and cargo, valued at twelvelakhs, were carried off, and the passengers and crew put ashore at MalabarHill.

A month later, Boone received intelligence of a serious loss to the
Company's trade from the Madagascar pirates. On the 7th August, the
Greenwich, Captain Kirby, and the Cassandra, Captain James Macrae,
bringing the usual yearly investment for Bombay and Surat, were in Johannaroads, engaged in watering. At anchor, near them, was an Ostend ship thathad called for the same purpose. A few days before, they had receivedintelligence that a French pirate, Oliver la Bouche,[2] had run on a reefoff Mayotta, and lost his ship, and was engaged in building a new one.
Thinking that the opportunity of catching the pirates at a disadvantage
should not be lost, Macrae and Kirby agreed to go in search of them and
attack them. They had just completed their arrangements when two strange
sails hove in sight. They proved to be the Victory, a French-built ship
of forty-six guns, commanded by the well-known pirate, Edward England, andthe Fancy, a Dutch-built ship of twenty-four guns, commanded by Taylor.Macrae and Kirby prepared to give them a hot reception, the Ostend shippromising to stand by them. So far were they from simply trying to make
their escape, that they looked forward to the handsome reward the Companywould give them for the capture of the pirates. From what followed it iseasy to see that Macrae's was the guiding spirit in this. Cables were cut,and they stood out to sea, but, owing to the light baffling winds, madelittle way. By next morning the pirates had closed, and bore down with ablack flag (skull and crossbones) at the main, a red flag at the fore, andthe cross of St. George at the ensign staff. The Greenwich and theOstender, having a better wind than the Cassandra, had got some distanceaway. In vain Macrae fired gun after gun at the Greenwich to make Kirbyheave to. In a most dastardly way the captain of the Greenwich pursuedhis course, taking the Ostender with him, till he had got well to windward;when, at a distance of two or three miles, he hove to and watched the fateof the Cassandra.
The Cassandra was a new ship of 380 tons, on her first voyage. Macrae
was a thoroughly good seaman, with a fine crew that were attached to him,and was resolved to fight his ship to the last. Early in the engagement hegave the Victory some shots between wind and water, which made Englandkeep off till he had stopped the leaks. Taylor got out the boats of theFancy and tried to tow her alongside, to carry the Cassandra byboarding, but such good practice was made by the Cassandra's marksmenthat the design was given up. At the end of three hours the Victory hadrepaired damages, and was closing again. Macrae had lost so many of hiscrew, that, giving up all hope of assistance from Kirby, he determined torun his ship ashore. The Fancy, which drew less water, followed with theintention of boarding, but got aground within pistol-shot, with her bowstowards the Cassandra's broadside, and the action recommenced hotterthan ever. There the two ships lay, both fast aground, pelting each otherfuriously, till the crew of the Fancy, finding the Cassandra's firetoo hot for them, left their guns and ran below. Had Kirby come to hisassistance at this moment, Macrae's triumph would have been assured; butthis was the moment chosen by Kirby to bear up and shape his course forBombay. England in the Victory, seeing that the Greenwich might bedisregarded, sent three boats full of men to reinforce the Fancy; bywhich time there had been so many killed and wounded on board theCassandra, that the crew, losing heart, refused to fight the ship anylonger. Thirteen had been killed and twenty-four wounded, among the latterMacrae himself, who had been struck by a musket ball on the head; so, somein the long boat and some by swimming reached the shore, leaving on boardthree wounded men who could not be moved, and who were butchered by thepirates.

Not deeming it safe to linger on the coast, Macrae and his crew hastened
inland, reaching the town of the local chief, twenty-five miles off, the
following morning. Exhausted with fatigue and wounds, almost naked, they
were in a pitiable condition. The natives received them hospitably,
supplied their wants to the best of their ability, and refused to
surrender them to the pirates, who offered a reward for them.

After the first rage of the pirates, at the heavy losses they had
sustained, had abated, and soothed, no doubt, by the capture of a fine newship with L75,000 on board in hard cash, Macrae ventured to open
communications with them. Several among them had sailed with him, and hisreputation for considerate treatment of his men was well known. With alltheir faults, they were not all of them men to resent greatly, after theirfirst fury had cooled, the loss that had been suffered in fair fight; soEngland gave him a promise of safety, and he ventured himself amongthem.
The Cassandra and the Fancy had been floated, and Macrae was
entertained on board his own ship with his own liquors and provisions. Hi position was not without danger, as there were many brutal fellows amongthe pirates. England, who had a reputation for good treatment of prisoners,befriended him; but Taylor, whose influence was greatest among the mostbrutal of the rovers, insisted he should be made an end of. In the midstof the quarrel, a fierce-looking fellow with a wooden leg and his beltfull of pistols, intervened, asking with many oaths for Macrae, whothought his last moment had come.[3] He was pleasantly surprised when theruffian took him by the hand, and swore with many oaths that he would makemince-meat of the first man that hurt him; and protested, with more oaths,that Macrae was an honest fellow, and he had formerly sailed with him. Sothe dispute ended. Taylor was plied with punch till he was prevailed ontoconsent that the Fancy, together with some of the Cassandra's cargo,should be given to Macrae, and before he could recover from his carouse,Macrae had got safe to shore again.

As soon as the pirates had left the coast, in the Victoryand the
Cassandra, Macrae set to work to patch up the much-battered Fancy, and
in a few days sailed for Bombay, with forty-one of his ship's company,
among whom were two passengers and twelve soldiers. After forty-eight daysof terrible sufferings almost naked, half starved, and reduced to a dailypint of water each, they reached Bombay on the 26th October. It would havebeen well for the Company if they had had more captains like Macrae. Hisarrival brought much obloquy on Kirby, whose shameful desertion was now
made known.

The pirates only detained one of the Cassandra's crew--Richard Lazenby,
the carpenter's mate, whom they forced unwillingly to go with them. Thereis still extant a curious account by Lazenby of his cruise with the
pirates. He tells of the cruel tortures inflicted on all captured natives;how on the Malabar coast they had friends, especially among the Dutch atCochin, who bought their plunder, supplied them with provisions, and gavthem information of armed ships to be avoided, and rich prizes to beintercepted. Those who wished to retire from the trade were given passagesto Europe with their ill-gotten gains, in French ships; and finally, afterwitnessing the capture of the Portuguese Viceroy, to be related presently,he was put ashore at Bourbon, whence, in time, he made his way to England.

Since the renewal of war by Angria, at the beginning of the year, Boone
had resolved to strike another blow against Gheriah, and all through the
monsoon preparations had been made for action in September. Great things
were expected of the Phram, which was, however, not ready when the
expedition sailed. The direction of affairs was, on this occasion,
entrusted to Mr. Walter Brown, who was styled for the occasion "Admiral ofthe Fleet, and Commander-in-Chief of all the forces." On the 13th
September anchor was weighed, and on the morning of the 19th they arrivedoff Gheriah. At Dabul, where they had called in for news, they learnedthat the Phram and the Chandos might soon be expected, but that ther
was no prospect of Captain Johnson's machine being ready to take part in
the expedition. What Captain Johnson's machine was we do not learn, but
the intelligence 'mightily disconcerted the soldiery.' The squadron
consisted of the London, which acted as flagship, the Victoryfrigate,
the Revenge and Defiance grabs, the Hunter galley, two gallivats, a
bombketch, a fireship, and a number of fishing-boats for landing troops.
The troops for the expedition consisted of 350 soldiers and topasses and
80 chosen sepoys. Brown appears to have been thoroughly incompetent for
such a command, and the undertaking was destined to add one more to the
dismal list of failures. His first act was to make the London exchange
useless shots with the fort at a mile distance. The following day, the
bombketch was ordered to run close in within pistol-shot, and bombard theplace at night. One shell and one carcass were fired, neither of whichwent halfway, by reason of the mortars being so faultily constructed thatthe chambers could not contain a sufficient charge of powder. 'Thismisfortune set the people a-grumbling.'

On the 21st, Brown held a consultation of his officers, and proposed to
land three hundred men, at night, a mile from the town, so as to surpriseit at daylight. The officers protested against the scheme; they justlyremarked that it would be folly to make such an attack before the arrival
of the whole force. The Phramand the Chandos, with the platoons of
Europeans, were still to come. They represented that the garrison of the
fort alone was a thousand strong, to say nothing of the small walled townwhich must be taken before the fort could be attacked. Such a proposal wasnot likely to increase their confidence in Brown. Sickness had already setin among the troops, and that evening Captain Jeremiah Easthope died offever. Brown was all for immediate action, without having any definiteplan.

On the 22nd, Gordon was ordered to land with fifty men, and occupy a smallbuilding on the top of a hill on the north side of the river. What he wasexpected to do there does not appear. Soon, a number of boats full of menwere observed crossing from the fort to engage Gordon, so a reinforcementof fifty men was sent to him. On reaching the hill, Gordon found that whathad been taken for a building consisted only of a natural pile of loosestones, such as are to be frequently seen on the Deccan hills, and therewas nothing for it but to re-embark. He managed his retreat to thelanding-place in good order, followed by the enemy at musket-shot distance.Several times he faced about, but the enemy always shrank from closequarters. Nothing had been done to cover the place of embarkation, and itwas only after the strongest remonstrances from those on board that Brownwas prevailed on to order the Revenge and the Hunter to stand in andcover the re-embarkation of Gordon's party. In spite of this precaution, alieutenant, a sergeant, a quartermaster of the London_ and six men werekilled, and about twenty men wounded. It is difficult to imagine anythingfeebler and more aimless than the whole proceeding.

The next day the bombketch was again sent in to bombard the fort, with thesame result as before. The proceedings were enlivened by the punishment ofSergeant Passmore, who was reported by Gordon for cowardly behaviour. Hewas sent round the fleet to receive ten lashes alongside each ship. Thenext three days were spent in idleness, awaiting the Phram, from whichso much was expected. On board ship there was no discipline, but plenty ofhard drinking. In order to make the men fight well, Brown's idea was tosupply them with unlimited rum: the officers kept pace with the men intheir libations, and what little discipline existed soon disappeared.Orders were disobeyed, while drunkenness, violence, and insubordinationreigned unchecked. When remonstrances were addressed to Brown, he refusedto stop the supply of liquor, saying that the people must not be put outof humour at this juncture, and they must drink as they pleased: all which
is duly recorded by Captain Upton of the _London_. The enemy meanwhile wasobserved busily constructing new batteries, and boats full of armed menwere constantly crossing the river, but nothing was done to intercept them.

At last, the Chandos, Pelham, and Phram arrived, having spent ten
days in their voyage from Bombay. Nothing better occurred to Brown than tosend the Phram at once to engage the fort. On opening fire, it was foundthat her ports were so low and the gun-carriages so high, that her gunscould only be fired when depressed so as to strike the water twenty yardsoff. So she was brought out again with one man mortally wounded, and the
officers and soldiers so mightily discouraged that they declared, unless
she could be made serviceable, it was useless to attempt anything further.The ships' carpenters were set to work on the Phram, while the dejectionand drinking increased. Fifty men of the Chandos who had not yet had anopportunity of gauging Brown's incapacity, volunteered, for forty rupees ahead, to join a landing party; but not a single seaman in the squadronould consent, 'upon any consideration whatsoever,' to go on board thePhram, till an increased bounty secured the services of the Chandos'
sailors.

By the 29th all was ready for the grand attack. Two landing parties, one
of three hundred and forty soldiers under Captain Stanton, and the other
of two hundred and thirty-seven seamen under Captain Woodward, were held
in readiness, and soon after midday the fleet stood into the inner harbour,
with the exception of the Phram, which engaged the fort from the outer
harbour. Lieutenant Wise had been selected as a fit person to command andpoint the Phram's guns, which he did so badly that his shot mostly fellin the inner harbour. The Mahrattas were quite ready for them, and all theafternoon the cannonade went on, till sunset put an end to it. Five men onboard the Phram were wounded, but it had engaged at too great a distanceto do or suffer much harm. Brown, in the London, had kept out of action,and contented himself with sending six dozen of wine and arrack to the menon board the Phram, together with orders to Stanton, who was on board,to warp into the harbour at night and renew the action next morning. Thefollowing day firing recommenced, and it was found necessary to displaceLieutenant Wise, he being continually drunk, and to allow the sailors topoint their own guns. The closer range caused numerous casualties on board
the Phram. Among the soldiers, Mr. Tuladay and four men were killed, anda great number wounded. The seamen also had several killed and wounded.
Many of the casualties were caused by the bursting of a gun on board the
phram. The explosion fired the gun on the opposite side of the deck,
which was loaded with grape, and pointing over a boat full of topasses.
The flame from the gun ignited their cartridge boxes, and the poor
wretches were terribly scorched and injured. The fire of the ships in theinner harbour was successful in destroying a number of Angria's ships thathad sought refuge in the river; one of five hundred tons, one of twohundred tons, and ten smaller ones were set on fire and burnt. By
nightfall, all hands thought they had done enough, and told Stanton so,
and in spite of Brown's messages of expostulation, they took advantage ofa land breeze to come out. At midnight came Captain Woodward, of the
Revenge, to report, in a panic, to Brown that he had left his ship on
the rocks close to the fort, and that both vessel and crew were as good aslost. Half an hour after, the Revenge was seen coming out with the othervessels. She had not been ashore at all, and the only conclusion was thatWoodward was frightened out of his senses; so he was put in irons for hiscowardice.

Thus came to an end the grand attack, and nothing better was to be
expected. "I have continual disturbances in the ship dayly by the officersexcessive drinking, and noe manner of command carryed," wrote CaptainUpton, of the London. A few days later he records how Captain S. and
Mr. D.[4] fought with their fists in the roundhouse before Mr. Brown, whotook no notice of it.

The next few days were spent in repairing damages. While thus employed,
messengers came from the Kempsant, offering to join hands with the Englishin attacking Angria. A quarrel had arisen between the two chiefs, owing to
Angria having plundered some of the Kempsant's ships. But he stipulated
that Angria's fort at Deoghur, seven leagues to the south, should be firstattacked; so, on the 7th October, part of the fleet was sent down toreconnoitre.
On the 16th, fresh stores of arrack, water and provisions having been
received from Goa, Brown called a consultation of the officers on board
the Addison, and proposed another landing under the Phrams guns. But
the officers were disheartened, undisciplined, and under no control. One
objection after another was raised, and the council of war came to an endby other officers of the squadron, who had learned what was going on,
coming aboard, and conveying to Brown in no measured terms that they wouldhave nothing to do with it. One of them in a passion told Brown he was mad,and did not know what he was about--which was true enough. The next day, afoolish show of landing was made, and then Brown decided to abandon theattempt and transfer his attack to Deoghur.

Deoghur, or, as it was sometimes called, Tamana, was one of the ten
principal forts ceded to Angria in 1713. It commanded the small but good
harbour formed by the Tamana river. This was Angria's southernmost
stronghold. The name Tamana is still to be found at a small place ten
miles up the river. Here Brown brought his squadron on the 18th October.
The usual desultory and harmless bombardment followed; the _Phram_ and thebombketch being equally inefficient. Then, when Brown suggested a landingparty to storm the place, the officers refused to second him, and so, withsome additional loss, the attack on Deoghur came to an end. Not a word issaid as to any assistance rendered by the Kempsant. At daybreak on the21st, the whole squadron sailed northward, but the tale of Brown'sincompetency was not complete.

A little before noon next morning four strange sails were seen in the
offing, which, before long, were made out to be the dreaded Madagascar
pirates, with the Cassandra, Victory, and two prizes they had just
taken. The sight of them struck Brown with terror, though a little
reflection would have shown him that the pirates would have little or no
inducement to attack armed ships carrying no valuable merchandise. He
directed his whole squadron to anchor off Gheriah, which must have
appeared puzzling to his late antagonists in that place. Hoping to evade
the pirate ships, anchor was weighed in the night, and the squadron sailednorthward, no order being preserved, and the fleet getting much scattered.

As it happened, the pirates had mistaken them for Angria's fleet, and were
standing to the northward in search of prey, without any thought of
attacking them. Without any hostile intention on either side, the two
squadrons became intermingled. While it was still dark, the party on the
London was startled by a cannon shot flying over them, and in the faint
morning light they saw a large ship on their quarter. On hailing to ask
her name, an answer came back that it was the _Victory_. Brown preferred
to believe that it was his own ship of that name; but his answering hail,
giving the name of the _London_, was replied to with a broadside, to whicha smart fire was returned by the _Revenge_ and the _Defiance_, that wereclose astern. On both sides there was no willingness to fight. The pirateswere at first seized with consternation at discovering their mistake; theyhad turned their prizes adrift after throwing their sails overboard, and,with only three hundred men for their joint crews, forty of them negroes,were not strong enough to engage the Bombay squadron. But England was aman who preferred fighting to running, so putting a bold face on the
matter, the _Cassandra_ ran through the fleet, firing into the _Victory_,
the _Chandos_, and the _Phram_. The _Chandos_, which was towing the
_Phram_, at once cast it loose. The fleet scattered in all directions,
like a flock of sheep when a strange dog runs through it. Upton, of the
_London_, a chicken-hearted fellow, persuaded Brown that they ought not to
engage, as Boone had sent them to attack Gheriah, but had given them no
instructions about the Madagascar pirates. Brown seemingly did not want
much persuading, and crowded all sail to escape; at the same time striking
his flag to show that he did not intend fighting, which excited the
indignation of his own sailors and the derision of the pirates. He next
sent orders by a gallivat for the _Phram_ to be burned, and thus that
useless machine, from which so much had been expected; and that had cost
so much money and labour, came to an end.

These foolish proceedings gave England the measure of his antagonists.
'Observing the indifferency of the fleet,' the best way of saving himselfwas, he thought, to 'play the Bull-beggar' with them; so he set to work tochase them northward. The superior sailing powers of the pirates enabledthem to do as they pleased.

When they overtook the rearmost of the ships Brown had still got with him,they backed their sails and fired into them till they had got well aheadagain. In this ignominious fashion the greater part of the fleet wasshuffled along for two days by the pirates, as a flock of sheep is drivenby a couple of sheep-dogs, till they at last found refuge in Goa. Thesoldiers on board the _London_ improved the occasion by breaking into the'Lazaretto' and getting drunk on the wine they found there. Part of thefleet made for Carwar, and others found safety under the guns of Anjediva.
The pirates, having effected their purpose of driving them off, turned
south and took the _Elizabeth_ at anchor off Honore.

Before long, an indignant letter from Boone ordered Brown to cruise
southward and engage the pirates at all hazards; so the unhappy Brown put
to sea again. The news of the capture of the _Elizabeth_ was enough for
him: on the third day he turned northward again and made for Bombay; to
make his peace with the exasperated Governor as he best could. It is not
difficult to imagine Boone's disgust at the failure of his schemes, and
the worthlessness of those he had to depend upon; but it must be admitted
that these desultory attacks, first on one place and then on another, were
not calculated to effect anything useful. Had he concentrated his efforts
on Kennery, he might have rendered the waters of Bombay more secure.

Brown laid the blame of his failure on the disobedience of his officers,
which had been so flagrant as to conceal his own incapacity; so, on the
12th December, Boone again despatched him to search for the pirates, and
give protection to the country vessels bringing up pepper from the
southern factories. He took with him a fine squadron: the _Greenwich_, 42
guns; the _Chandos_, 40 guns; the _Victory_, 26 guns; the _Britannia_, 24
guns; the _Revenge_, 16 guns; and a fireship. The pusillanimous Upton was
left behind, and, next to himself in command of the expedition, but in
reality the moving spirit, he took the gallant Macrae. England and Taylor
had meanwhile been constrained to run down to the Laccadives, for want of
water and provisions. Not getting what they wanted, they had come
northward again to Cochin, where they were royally entertained by the
Dutch authorities. They were supplied with everything they required,
including a present, from the Governor, of a boat loaded with arrack, and
sixty bales of sugar, for all of which handsome payment was made, while
handfuls of duccatoons were thrown into the boat for the boatmen to
scramble for. A fine clock and gold watch, found in the _Cassandra_ when
captured, were sent as a present to the Governor's daughter, and formal
salutes were fired on both sides as they entered and left the harbour. No
wonder that they were made welcome along the coast. On leaving Cochin,
they took a small vessel from Tellicherry sailing under a Bombay pass.
From the master they learned that the Bombay squadron, with Macrae in
command, was cruising in search of them. They were roused to fury by this
news of Macrae's 'ingratitude,' and vied with each other in devising the
tortures to which they would subject him if he fell into their hands again,
while their anger was vented on England and all who had stood up for
Macrae after the capture of the _Cassandra_. Before long they were sighted
by Brown, who bore down on them and signalled them to heave to. This
behaviour, so different from their previous experiences, was little to
their liking. They made sail for the southwards, and, for two days, were
held in chase, till by superior sailing they lost their pursuers.

Such an extraordinary change in the behaviour of the Bombay squadron
taught them that the Indian coast was no longer a safe place for honest
rovers. It was expedient to take themselves elsewhere: so sail was made
for Mauritius. Against Macrae their curses were loud and deep. A villain
they had treated so well as to give him a ship and other presents, and now
to be in arms against them! No fate was bad enough for such a man. They
had been cruelly deceived. To appease their wrath they turned upon England.
But for his foolish championship of Macrae, this would not have happened.
Taylor had been right all along. They would only follow him in future. In
their rage they first talked of hanging England, till more moderate
counsels prevailed, and it was decided to maroon him at Mauritius, which
was done. England and three others who had befriended Macrae were set on
shore, among them, no doubt, the one-legged pirate, and in due course of
time made their way over to St. Mary's.[5]

At St. Mary's the command of the _Victory_ was made over to Oliver La
Bouche, or La Buze, whose efforts at shipbuilding had apparently not met
with success, and the two ships, in company, before long took what was
probably the richest prize that ever fell into pirate hands. The
ex-Viceroy of Goa, the Conde de Ericeira, had sailed for Lisbon, in
January, in the _Nostra Senhora de Cabo_, a seventy-gun ship, taking with
him a rich consignment of jewels for the Portuguese Government, and the
proceeds of his own private trading during the three years of his
viceroyalty. Off the Cape they encountered a heavy storm, which dismasted
the ship, forced them to throw many of their guns overboard, and obliged
them to put back to Bourbon to refit. Taylor and La Buze, learning the
helplessness of the Viceroy's ship, sailed into the anchorage under
English colours. A salute from the Viceroy's ship was answered with a
shotted broadside, and, in the confusion that ensued, the Portuguese ship
was boarded and carried almost without resistance. Seldom or never had
such a prize fallen into pirate hands so easily. The booty in diamonds and
money was in the shape most coveted by the rovers. The jewels alone were
estimated at over three million dollars. The hard cash was said to be five
hundred thousand crowns, and the Viceroy was forced to raise another two
thousand crowns as a personal ransom, which would have been higher, had he
not convinced them that part of the jewels and money on board was his own
property.

Bourbon was a French possession, but the Governor, M. Desforges, was
obliged to observe _une grande circonspection_ in his dealings with the
pirates who came and went as they pleased. Bernardin de St. Pierre, who
visited Bourbon nearly fifty years later, repeats a tradition, how La Buze
sat at table between the Viceroy and the Governor, and in an access of
generosity remitted the Viceroy's ransom. He further tells us that La Buze
eventually settled down in the island, and was hung some years later.

Taylor, continuing his cruise in the _Cassandra_, took a fine Ostend ship,
and carried her to St. Mary's. While most of the pirates were on shore,
the prisoners overpowered the few left to guard them, and carried off the
ship. We get a last glimpse of the _Cassandra_ in a private letter written
to the Directors in May, 1723, from Jamaica, in which it is stated that
the _Cassandra_ was lying at Portobello, while Taylor was engaged in
negotiating with the captain of an English man-of-war for a pardon. The
negotiations apparently fell through, as Taylor was eventually given a
commission by the Spaniards. The letter relates how the crew boasted that
they had, each man, twelve hundred pounds in gold and silver, besides a
great store of diamonds and many rich goods. Of the sharing of these
diamonds, Johnson tells a story how one man, being given for his share one
big diamond instead of a number of small ones, broke it up with a hammer,
so that he might have as many 'sparks' as the others.

Macrae's defence of the _Cassandra_, and the boldness and ability he
displayed in his dealings with the pirates, brought him into prominent
notice. The son of a poor Ayrshire cottager, he had worked himself up,
from before the mast, to the command of a ship. Soon after his return to
England, the Directors appointed him to be their supervisor on the west
coast of Sumatra, and, before he sailed, a provisional commission was
given him to succeed to the Presidentship of Madras, on a vacancy
occurring. Eighteen months later, he took his seat as Governor at Fort St.
George. His six years of office were distinguished by his efforts to put
an end to many abuses that had grown up in the Company's affairs. He left
India with a fortune of L100,000, made by private trade, and settled down
near his birthplace, which he had not revisited since he left it as a boy.
He died in 1746.

NOTE.--The account of England's cruise in the _Cassandra_, given in
Johnson's "History of the Pirates," is evidently taken from Lazenby's
narrative to the E.I.C. Directors. Macrae's account of the capture of
the _Cassandra_, given by Johnson, appears also to have been part of a
similar report to the Directors, but the report itself has disappeared.
Additional information is to be found in the logs of the _Greenwich_
and _London_.

[1] Proclamation issued at Goa, 19th July, 1720 (Danvers).

[2] This was Oliver Levasseur, otherwise La Buze of Calais, a noted French
pirate. By the English he was called La Bouche, and, in one ship's log,
Lepouse. On Woodes Rogers assuming the governorship of the Bahamas, La
Bouche and England sailed for Madagascar.

[3] Stevenson, in "Treasure Island," evidently took his idea of John
Silver, the one-legged pirate, from this incident. "Now what a ship
was christened" (he makes him say) "so let her stay, I says. So it was
with the _Cassandra_ as brought us all home from Malabar, after
England took the Viceroy of the Indies.... First with England, then
with Flint; that's my story."

[4] Probably Stanton and Drage.

[5] In Lazenby's narrative, England is mentioned as Seegar, which was
probably his real name, England being only an _alias_.