Title: The Pirates of Malabar, and an Englishwoman in India Two Hundred Years Ago
Author: Biddulph, J. (John), 1840-1921
Language: English
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THE PIRATES OF MALABAR
AND
AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN INDIA TWO
HUNDRED YEARS AGO


[Illustration: MAHRATTA GRABS AND GALLIVATS ATTACKING AN ENGLISH SHIP.]


THE
PIRATES OF MALABAR
AND
AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN INDIA
TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO

BY
COLONEL JOHN BIDDULPH

1907


PREFACE

For most people, interest in the doings of our forefathers in India dates
from our wars with the French in the middle of the eighteenth century.
Before then their lives are generally supposed to have been spent in
monotonous trade dealings in pepper and calico, from which large profits
were earned for their masters in England, while their principal
excitements were derived from drinking and quarrelling among themselves.
Little account has been taken of the tremendous risks and difficulties
under which the trade was maintained, the losses that were suffered, and
the dangers that were run by the Company's servants from the moment they
left the English Channel. The privations and dangers of the voyage to
India were alone sufficient to deter all but the hardiest spirits, and
the debt we owe to those who, by painful effort, won a footing for our
Indian trade, is deserving of more recognition than it has received.
Scurvy, shortness of water, and mutinous crews were to be reckoned on in
every voyage; navigation was not a science but a matter of rule and thumb,
and shipwreck was frequent; while every coast was inhospitable. Thus, on
the 4th September, 1715, the _Nathaniel_, having sent a boat's crew on
shore near Aden, in search of water, the men allowed themselves to be
inveigled inland by treacherous natives, who fell upon them and murdered
twelve out of fourteen who had landed from the ship. Such an occurrence
now would be followed by a visit from a man-of-war to punish the
murderers. Two hundred years ago it was only an incident to set down in
the ship's log-book. But all such outrages and losses were small in
comparison with those to which traders were exposed at the hands of
pirates.

It is difficult to realize, in these days, what a terrible scourge piracy
was to the Indian trade, two hundred years ago. From the moment of losing
sight of the Lizard till the day of casting anchor in the port of
destination an East India ship was never safe from attack, with the
chance of slavery or a cruel death to crew and passengers, in case of
capture. From Finisterre to Cape Verd the Moorish pirates made the seas
unsafe, sometimes venturing into the mouth of the Channel to make a
capture. Farther south, every watering-place on the African coast was
infested by the English and French pirates who had their headquarters in
the West Indies. From the Cape of Good Hope to the head of the Persian
Gulf, from Cape Comorin to Sumatra, every coast was beset by English,
French, Dutch, Danish, Portuguese, Arab, Malay or other local pirates. In
the Bay of Bengal alone, piracy on a dangerous scale was practically
unknown.

There was no peace on the ocean. The sea was a vast No Man's domain,
where every man might take his prey. Law and order stopped short at
low-water mark. The principle that traders might claim protection and
vengeance for their wrongs from their country, had not yet been
recognized, and they sailed the seas at their own risk. Before the close
of the seventeenth century the buccaneers had passed away, but their
depredations, in pursuit of what they called "free trade," were of a
different nature from those of the pirates who succeeded them. Buccaneer
exploits were confined to the Spanish main, where they ravaged and burnt
Spanish settlements on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, moving with large
forces by sea and land. According to Esquemeling, Morgan sailed on his
expedition against Panama with thirty-seven sail and two thousand
fighting men, besides mariners and boys. But the Spanish alone were the
objects of their attack. So long as Spain claimed a monopoly of South
American trade, it was the business of Spain alone to keep the marauders
away; other Governments were not disposed to assist her. Hardly had the
last of the buccaneers disappeared from the Western seas, when a more
lawless race of rovers appeared, extending their operations into the
Indian Ocean, acting generally in single ships, plundering vessels of
every nationality, though seldom attacking places on shore.

Of these men, chiefly English, the most notorious were Teach, Every, Kidd,
Roberts, England, and Tew; but there were many others less known to fame,
who helped almost to extinguish trade between Europe, America, and the
East. Some idea of the enormous losses caused by them may be gathered
from the fact that Bartholomew Roberts alone was credited with the
destruction of four hundred trading vessels in three years. In a single
day he captured eleven vessels, English, French, and Portuguese, on the
African coast.

War in Europe, and the financial exhaustion that ensued, rendered it
almost impossible for the maritime powers to put an effective check on
the pirates either in the East or the West. With peace their numbers
increased by the conversion of privateersmen into freebooters. Slaver,
privateers-man, and pirate were almost interchangeable terms. At a time
when every main road in England was beset by highwaymen, travellers by
sea were not likely to escape unmolested. But the chief cause of their
immunity lay in the fact that it was the business of nobody in particular
to act against them, while they were more or less made welcome in every
undefended port. They passed themselves off as merchantmen or slavers,
though their real character was well known, but they paid royally for
what they wanted; and, as gold, silver, and jewels were the principal
booty from which they made their 'dividend,' many a rich bale of spices
and merchandise went to purchase the good will of their friends on shore,
who, in return, supplied their wants, and gave them timely information of
rich prizes to be looked for, or armed ships to be avoided. They prided
themselves on being men of honour in the way of trade; enemies to deceit,
and only robbing in their own way. The Malabar coast was scandalized when
Kidd broke the rule, and tricked or bullied people out of supplies.
Officials high in authority winked at their doings from which they drew a
profit, and when armed squadrons were sent to look for them, the
commanders were not always averse to doing business with the freebooters.

The greatest sufferers among European traders in India were the English;
for not only were the greater number of pirates of English blood, but
pirate captains of other nationalities often sailed under English colours.
The native officials, unable to distinguish the rogues from the honest
traders, held the East India Company's servants responsible for the
misdeeds of the piccaroons, from whom they suffered so grievously. Still,
whatever their nationality might chance to be, it is fair to say that the
generality of them were courageous rascals and splendid seamen, who, with
their large crews, handled their ships better than any merchantmen could
do. When a pirate ship was cast away on a desolate coast, they built
themselves another; the spirit of the sea was in their veins; whether
building and rigging a ship, or sailing and fighting her, they could do
everything that the most skilful seamen of the age could do. As was said
half a century later of La Bourdonnais, himself a true corsair in spirit,
their knowledge in mechanics rendered them capable of building a ship
from the keel; their skill in navigation, of conducting her to any part
of the globe; and their courage, of fighting against any equal force.
Their lives were a continual alternation between idleness and extreme
toil, riotous debauchery and great privation, prolonged monotony and days
of great excitement and adventure. At one moment they were revelling in
unlimited rum, and gambling for handfuls of gold and diamonds; at another,
half starving for food and reduced to a pint of water a day under a
tropical sun. Yet the attractions of the life were so great that men of
good position took to piracy. Thus, Major Stede Bonnet, of Barbados,
master of a plentiful fortune, and a gentleman of good reputation, fitted
out a sloop and went a-pirating, for which he was hanged, together with
twenty-two of his crew, in November, 1718. Even women, like Anne Bonny
and Mary Read, turned pirates and handled sword and pistol. Desperate,
reckless, and lawless, they were filled with the spirit of adventure, and
were the forerunners of the men that Hawke, Nelson, and Dundonald led to
victory.

Long after they had disappeared from the seas the Indian trade continued
to be exposed to the ravages of native pirates, who were not finally
coerced into good behaviour till well into the nineteenth century. Of the
European pirates Kidd, the most ignoble of them all, is alone remembered,
while the name of Angria is only recalled in connection with the
destruction of Gheriah by Watson and Clive. The long half-century of
amateur warfare waged by Bombay against the Angrian power is dismissed in
a few words by our Indian historians, and the expeditions sent forth by
Boone against Angrian strongholds are passed over in silence. An account
of some of them is given in Clement Downing's curious little book "Indian
Wars," valuable as the relation of an eye-witness; but the work,
published in 1737, is inaccessible to the general reader, besides shewing
many omissions and inaccuracies.

The early records of the East India Company have furnished the foundation
on which this neglected chapter of our Indian history has been compiled.
If the Company's servants appear at times in an unfavourable light, the
conditions of their service must be considered, while the low standard of
conduct prevailing in England two hundred years ago must not be forgotten.
They were traders, not administrators, and the charter under which the
Company traded was of very insecure duration. Twice the Crown broke faith
with them, and granted charters to rival associations. As the stability
of the Company became assured, the conduct of its servants improved.

It is not intended in these pages to give an exhaustive account of all
the pirates who haunted the Indian seas, but to present some idea of the
perils that beset the Indian trade--perils that have so entirely passed
away that their existence is forgotten.

Scattered among the monotonous records of the Company's trade are many
touches of human interest. Along with the details relating to sugar,
pepper, and shipping, personal matters affecting the Company's servants
are set down; treating of their quarrels, their debts, and, too often, of
their misconduct, as ordinary incidents in the general course of
administration. At times a bright light is turned on some individual, who
relapses into obscurity and is heard of no more, while the names of
others emerge again and again, like a coloured thread woven in the canvas;
showing how much romance there was in the lives of the early traders. One
such thread I have followed in the account of Mrs. Gyfford, from her
first arrival in India till her final disappearance in the Court of
Chancery, showing the vicissitudes and dangers to which an Englishwoman
in India was exposed two hundred years ago.

To Mr. William Foster, of the India Office, I am especially indebted for
aid in directing my attention to old documents that would otherwise have
escaped notice, and who has generously placed at my disposal some of the
results of his own researches into the history of the Company in the
seventeenth century, as yet unpublished.

My thanks are also due to Sir Ernest Robinson for permitting me to use
his picture of an engagement with Mahratta ships, as a frontispiece.

J.B.



CONTENTS

CHAPTER I

RISE OF EUROPEAN PIRACY IN THE EAST

Portuguese pirates--Vincente Sodre--Dutch pirates--Royal
filibustering--Endymion Porter's venture--The Courten Association--The
Indian Red Sea fleet--John Hand--Odium excited against the English in
Surat--The _Caesar_ attacked by French pirates--Danish depredations--West
Indian pirates--Ovington's narrative--Interlopers and permission
ships--Embargo placed on English trade--Rovers trapped at Mungrole--John
Steel--Every seizes the _Charles the Second_ and turns pirate--His letter
to English commanders--The Madagascar settlements--Libertatia--Fate of
Sawbridge--Capture of the _Gunj Suwaie_--Immense booty--Danger of the
English at Surat--Bombay threatened--Friendly behaviour of the Surat
Governor--Embargo on European trade--Every sails for America--His reputed
end--Great increase of piracy--Mutiny of the _Mocha_ and _Josiah_
crews--Culliford in the _Resolution_--The _London_ seized by Imaum of
Muscat.


CHAPTER II

CAPTAIN KIDD

Measures to suppress piracy--The _Adventure_ fitted out--Warren's squadron
meets with Kidd--His suspicious behaviour--He threatens the
_Sidney_--Waylays the Red Sea fleet--Captures the _Mary_--Visits Carwar
and Calicut--His letter to the factory--Chased by Portuguese
men-of-war--Chases the _Sedgwick_--Chivers--Action between _Dorrill_ and
_Resolution_--Kidd captures the _Quedah Merchant_--Dilemma of European
traders at Surat--Their agreements with the authorities--Experience of
the _Benjamin_--News of Kidd's piracies reaches England--Despatch of
squadron under Warren--Littleton at Madagascar--Kidd sails for New
York--Arrested and tried--His defence and execution--Justice of his
sentence--His character--Diminution of piracy--Lowth in the _Loyal
Merchant_--Act for suppression of piracy--Captain Millar ...


CHAPTER III

THE RISE OF CONAJEE ANGRIA

Native piracy hereditary on the Malabar coast--Marco Polo's
account--Fryer's narrative--The Kempsant--Arab and Sanganian
pirates--Attack on the _President_--Loss of the _Josiah_--Attack on the
_Phoenix_--The _Thomas_ captured--Depredations of the Gulf
pirates--Directors' views--Conajee Angria--Attacks English
ships--Destroys the _Bombay_--Fortifies Kennery--Becomes
independent--Captures the Governor's yacht--Attacks the _Somers_ and
_Grantham_--Makes peace with Bombay--His navy--Great increase of
European and native piracy ...


CHAPTER IV

AN ACTIVE GOVERNOR

Arrival of Mr. Boone as Governor--He builds ships and improves defences of
Bombay--Desperate engagement of _Morning Star_ with Sanganians--Alexander
Hamilton--Expedition against Vingorla--Its failure--Hamilton made
Commodore--Expedition against Carwar--Landing force defeated--Successful
skirmish--Desertion of Goa recruits--Reinforcements--Landing force again
defeated--The Rajah makes peace--Hamilton resigns Commodoreship--A
noseless company--Angria recommences attacks--Abortive expedition against
Gheriah--Downing's account of it--Preparations to attack Kennery ...


CHAPTER V

THE COMPANY'S SERVANTS

The Company's civil servants--Their comparison with English who went to
America--Their miserable salaries--The Company's military
servants--Regarded with distrust--Shaxton's mutiny--Captain
Keigwin--Broken pledges and ill-treatment--Directors' vacillating
policy--Military grievances--Keigwin seizes the administration of
Bombay--His wise rule--Makes his submission to the Crown--Low status of
Company's military officers--Lord Egmont's speech--Factors and writers as
generals and colonels--Bad quality of the common soldiers--Their bad
treatment--Complaint against Midford--Directors' parsimony ...


CHAPTER VI

EXPEDITION AGAINST KENNERY

Sivajee's occupation of Kennery--A naval action--Minchin and
Keigwin--Bombay threatened--The Seedee intervenes--Conajee Angria occupies
Kennery--Boone sails with the expedition--Manuel de Castro--Futile
proceedings--Force landed and repulsed--Second landing--Manuel de Castro's
treachery--Gideon Russell--Bad behaviour of two captains--Defeat--Attack
abandoned--The _St. George_--The _Phram_--Manuel de Castro
punished--Bombay wall completed--Angria makes overtures for peace--Boone
outwitted ...


CHAPTER VII

EXPEDITION AGAINST GHERIAH

Trouble with the Portuguese--Madagascar pirates again--Loss of the
_Cassandra_--Captain Macrae's brave defence--The one-legged
pirate--Richard Lazenby--Expedition against Gheriah--Mr. Walter Brown--His
incompetency--Gordon's landing--Insubordination and drunkenness--Arrival
of the _Phram_--General attack--Failure--The Kempsant's alliance--Attack
on Deoghur--The Madagascar pirates, England and Taylor--Ignominious
flight--Fate of the _Phram_--Brown despatched south again--The pirates at
Cochin--They take flight to Madagascar--Their rage against Macrae and
England--England marooned--Taylor takes Goa ship--Rich prize--Governor
Macrae ...


CHAPTER VIII

EXPEDITION AGAINST COLABA

Measures taken in England against pirates--Woodes Rogers at the
Bahamas--Edward Teach--Challoner Ogle--Bartholomew Roberts
killed--Matthews sent to the East Indies--Naval officers' duels--Portuguese
alliance--Expedition against Colaba--Assault--Defeat--A split in the
alliance--Plot against Boone--His departure--Matthews' schemes--His
insulting behaviour--He quarrels with everybody--Goes to Madagascar--The
King of Ranter Bay--Matthews goes to Bengal ...


CHAPTER IX

A TROUBLED YEAR IN BOMBAY

Loss of the _Hunter_ galley--Quarrel with Portuguese--Alliance of
Portuguese with Angria--War with both--A double triumph--Portuguese make
peace--Angria cowed--Matthews reappears--Trouble caused by him--He
returns to England--Court-martialled--The last of Matthews ...


CHAPTER X

TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF CONFLICT

The case of Mr. Curgenven--Death of Conajee Angria--Quarrels of his
sons--Portuguese intervention--Sumbhajee Angria--Political
changes--Disaster to _Bombay_ and _Bengal_ galleys--The _Ockham_ beats
off Angria's fleet--The Coolees--Loss of the _Derby_--Mahrattas expel
Portuguese from Salsette--Captain Inchbird--Mannajee Angria gives
trouble--Dutch squadron repulsed from Gheriah--Gallant action of the
_Harrington_--Sumbhajee attacks Colaba--English assist Mannajee--Loss
of the _Antelope_--Death of Sumbhajee Angria--Toolajee Angria--Capture
of the _Anson_--Toolajee takes the _Restoration_--Power of
Toolajee--Lisle's squadron--Building of the _Protector_ and
_Guardian_ ...


CHAPTER XI

THE DOWNFALL OF ANGRIA

Toolajee fights successful action with the Dutch--He tries to make peace
with Bombay--Alliance formed against him--Commodore William
James--Slackness of the Peishwa's fleet--Severndroog--James's gallant
attack--Fall of Severndroog--Council postpone attack on Gheriah--Clive
arrives from England--Projects of the Directors--Admiral
Watson--Preparations against Gheriah--The Council's instructions--Council
of war about prize-money--Double dealing of the Peishwa's
officers--Watson's hint--Ships engage Gheriah--Angrian fleet burnt--Fall
of Gheriah--Clive occupies the fort--The prize-money--Dispute between
Council and Poonah Durbar--Extinction of coast piracy--Severndroog
tower ...



       *       *       *       *       *



AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN INDIA TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO


ILLUSTRATIONS

MAHRATTA GRABS AND GALLIVATS ATTACKING AN ENGLISH SHIP.
MAP OF MALABAR COAST.



       *       *       *       *       *



THE PIRATES OF MALABAR



CHAPTER I

_RISE OF EUROPEAN PIRACY IN THE EAST_

Portuguese pirates--Vincente Sodre--Dutch pirates--Royal
filibustering--Endymion Porter's venture--The Courten Association--The
Indian Red Sea fleet--John Hand--Odium excited against the English in
Surat--The _Caesar_ attacked by French pirates--Danish depredations--West
Indian pirates--Ovington's narrative--Interlopers and permission
ships--Embargo placed on English trade--Rovers trapped at Mungrole--John
Steel--Every seizes the _Charles the Second_ and turns pirate--His letter
to English commanders--The Madagascar settlements--Libertatia--Fate of
Sawbridge--Capture of the _Gunj Suwaie_--Immense booty--Danger of the
English at Surat--Bombay threatened--Friendly behaviour of the Surat
Governor--Embargo on European trade--Every sails for America--His reputed
end--Great increase of piracy--Mutiny of the _Mocha_ and _Josiah_
crews--Culliford in the _Resolution_--The _London_ seized by Imaum of
Muscat.


From the first days of European enterprise in the East, the coasts of
India were regarded as a favourable field for filibusters, the earliest
we hear of being Vincente Sodre, a companion of Vasco da Gama in his
second voyage. Intercourse with heathens and idolaters was regulated
according to a different code of ethics from that applied to intercourse
with Christians. The authority of the Old Testament upheld slavery, and
Africans were regarded more as cattle than human beings; while Asiatics
were classed higher, but still as immeasurably inferior to Europeans. To
prey upon Mahommedan ships was simply to pursue in other waters the
chronic warfare carried on against Moors and Turks in the Mediterranean.
The same feelings that led the Spaniards to adopt the standard of the
Cross in their conquest of Mexico and Peru were present, though less
openly avowed, in the minds of the merchants and adventurers of all
classes and nationalities who flocked into the Indian seas in the
sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. With the decadence of buccaneering
and the growth of Indian trade, there was a corresponding increase of
piracy, and European traders ceased to enjoy immunity.

In 1623 the depredations of the Dutch brought the English into disgrace.
Their warehouses at Surat were seized, and the president and factors were
placed in irons, in which condition they remained seven months. This
grievance was the greater, as it happened at the time that the cruel
torture and execution of Captain Towerson and his crew by the Dutch took
place at Amboyna. It was bad enough to be made responsible for the doings
of their own countrymen, but to be punished for the misdeeds of their
enemies was a bitter pill to swallow. In 1630, just as peace was being
concluded with France and Spain, Charles I., who was beginning his
experiment of absolute government, despatched the _Seahorse_, Captain
Quail, to the Red Sea to capture the ships and goods of Spanish subjects,
as well as of any other nations not in league and amity with England.
There were no Spaniards in the Red Sea or the Indian Ocean, but
international arrangements in Europe were not regarded when the equator
had been crossed. Quail captured a Malabar vessel, for which the Company's
servants at Surat were forced to pay full compensation. The _Seahorse_
returned to England in 1633, but in view of the new field of enterprise
opened up, Endymion Porter, Gentleman of the King's bedchamber, embarked
on a piratical speculation, in partnership with two London merchants,
Bonnell and Kynaston, with a licence under the privy seal to visit any
part of the world and capture ships and goods of any state not in league
and amity with England. Two ships, the _Samaritan_ and _Roebuck_, were
fitted out with such secrecy that the East India Company were kept in
ignorance, and sailed in April, 1635, for the Red Sea, under Captain Cobb.

The _Samaritan_ was wrecked in the Comoro Islands; but Cobb, continuing
his cruise with the _Roebuck_, captured two Mogul vessels at the mouth of
the Red Sea, from one of which he took a large sum of money and a
quantity of goods, though the vessel had a pass from the Surat factory.
Again the Company's servants at Surat were imprisoned, and not released
till they had paid full compensation. Some small satisfaction was
experienced when it became known that John Proud, master of the _Swan_,
one of the Company's ships, had encountered the _Roebuck_ in the Comoro
Islands, and had attacked the freebooter. He was unable to capture it,
but succeeded in procuring restitution of the captured goods; the
treasure, however, was carried off to London, where it must have seemed
as if the days of Drake and Hawkins had come again.

The Company laid their grievance before the King, who expressed much
concern, promising to write to the Great Mogul and explain matters; so
the Company commenced an action against Bonnell and Kynaston in the
Admiralty Court. Porter was too highly placed to be struck at. Bonnell
evaded arrest and escaped to France, but Kynaston was arrested and lodged
in gaol; upon which Charles ordered his release on bail, saying he would
try the case himself at his leisure.

But Porter's views went beyond a single piratical voyage. Hardly had Cobb
started on his cruise, when he entered into partnership with Sir William
Courten for an association to establish a separate trade to the East
Indies. A royal grant was obtained, and the King himself was credited
with a share to the nominal extent of £10,000. The grant was a flagrant
breach of faith, and was the inauguration of the system of interlopers
that in after years caused so much loss and trouble to the Company. Four
ships were equipped and sent out, and before long it became known that
two vessels from Surat and Diu had been plundered by Courten's ships, and
their crews tortured. Again the Company's servants at Surat were seized
and thrown into prison, where they were kept for two months, being only
released on payment of Rs.1,70,000, and on solemnly swearing to respect
Mogul ships.

The Civil War brought these courtly piracies to an end, and the decay of
the Spanish power drew the more turbulent spirits of Europe and America
to the Spanish main, so that for a time there was a diminution of
European piracy in Indian waters. As buccaneering became more dangerous,
or less lucrative, adventurers of all nations again appeared in Eastern
waters, and the old trouble reappeared in an aggravated form. The Indian
Red Sea fleet offered an especially tempting booty to the rovers. Lobo, a
Jesuit priest, writing in the seventeenth century, tells us that so vast
was the commerce of Jeddah, and so great the value of the ships trading
to that place, that when, in India, it was wished to describe a thing of
inestimable price, it was customary to say, 'It is of more value than a
Jeddah ship.' Every year during the winter months, Indian traders, and
pilgrims for Mecca, found their way in single ships to the Red Sea. On
the setting in of the monsoon, they collected at Mocha, and made their
way back in a single body. All Indian trade with the Red Sea was paid for
in gold and silver, so that the returning ships offered many tempting
prizes to freebooters.

In 1683 John Hand, master of the _Bristol_, interloper, cleared his ship
with papers made out for Lisbon and Brazil, and sailed for Madeira. There
he called his crew together, and told them he intended to take his ship
to the East Indies. Those who were unwilling were overawed, Hand being a
mighty 'pastionate' man. He appears to have been half pirate and half
trader; equally ready to attack other traders, or to trade himself in
spices and drugs. On the Sumatra coast, finding the natives unwilling to
do business with him, he went ashore with a pistol in his pocket to bring
the 'black dogs' to reason. The pistol went off in his pocket and
shattered his thigh, and that was the end of John Hand.

In the same year, six men, of whom four were English and two Dutch, while
on passage in a native merchant's ship from the Persian Gulf to Surat,
seized the ship, killing the owner and his two wives. The lascars were
thrown overboard, six being retained to work the ship. Their cruise did
not last long. Making for Honore, they threw the six lascars overboard
when nearing the port. The men managed to get to land, and reaching
Honore, gave information of the would-be pirates to the local authorities,
who seized the ship, and soon disposed of the rogues.

Three years later, two ships under English colours, mounting respectively
forty-four and twenty guns, were reported to have captured vessels in the
Red Sea, to the value of Rs.600,000. The Seedee of Jinjeera, who styled
himself the Mogul's Admiral, received a yearly subsidy of four lakhs for
convoying the fleet, a duty that he was quite unable to perform against
European desperadoes. Public opinion at Surat was at once excited against
the English, and further inflamed by the Dutch and French, who were only
too anxious to see a rival excluded from the trade. Sir John Child, to
pacify the Governor, offered to send a man-of-war to look for the pirates;
but the Dutch and French factors continued to 'spitt their venom' till
the Governor laughed in their faces and asked why they did not join in
sending vessels to look for the rogues, since the matter seemed to them
so serious.

In the same season a gallant engagement was fought against pirates,
though not in Indian waters. The Company's ship _Caesar_, Captain Wright,
bound from England for Bombay, was chased off the coast of Gambia by five
ships, carrying each from twenty to thirty guns, under French colours.
Wright had no intention of yielding without a struggle, so put his ship
before the wind, to gain time for getting into fighting trim. The
_Caesar_ was carrying soldiers, and there were plenty of men to fight the
ship. The boats were cut away, the decks cleared, ammunition and arms
served out, three thousand pounds of bread which cumbered the gun-room
were thrown overboard, and the tops were filled with marksmen. As soon as
all was ready, the mainsail was furled, and the ship kept under easy sail.
Before long the two smaller ships came up, hoisted the red flag, and
began firing, one on the _Caesar's_ quarter and one astern. Soon the
three other ships, two of which Wright styled the Admiral and
Vice-Admiral, came up. The Admiral ranged up on the quarter and tried to
board, but was obliged to sheer off, with the loss of many men and a
bowsprit shot away. The Vice-Admiral tried to board at the bow, but with
no better success, losing a foreyard and mizzen-mast. For five hours the
engagement lasted, but the small-arm men in the _Caesar's_ tops fired so
well that the pirates could hardly serve their guns. The crew showed a
wonderful spirits cheering loudly at every successful shot, till the
discomfited pirates bore up, leaving the _Caesar_ to pursue her way to
Bombay, much knocked about as to hull, but having lost only one man
killed and eight wounded.

In the following year came news to Surat of two vessels, under Danish
colours, that had stopped English ships and seized native ones between
Surat and Bombay. The _Phoenix_, a British man-of-war, was at Surat at
the time, so, together with the _Kent_, East Indiaman, it was despatched
to look after the marauders, taking with them also two small boys, sent
to represent the French and the Dutch. In due time Captain Tyrrell
returned, and reported that he had found a squadron of four vessels; that
after a two days' chase he had brought them to, when they turned out to
be two Danish ships, with two prizes they had taken. They showed him
their commission, authorizing them to make reprisals on the Mogul's
subjects for affronts offered to Danish traders; so he left them alone. A
few months later the Portuguese factory at Cong, in the Persian Gulf, was
plundered by an English pirate; another was heard of in the Red Sea,
while Philip Babington an Irish pirate, was cruising off Tellichery in
the _Charming Mary_.

By 1689 a number of sea rovers from the West Indies had made their
appearance, and the factory at Fort St. George reported that the sea
trade was 'pestered with pirates.' The first comers had contented
themselves with plundering native ships. Now their operations were
extended to European vessels not of their own nationality. In time this
restriction ceased to be observed; they hoisted the red or black flag,
with or without the colours of the nationality they affected, and spared
no vessel they were strong enough to capture.

The Armenian merchants were loud in their complaints. An Armenian ship,
bound from Goa to Madras, with twenty thousand pagodas on board, was
taken by a pirate ship of two hundred tons, carrying twenty-two guns and
a crew of sixty men. Another Armenian ship, with fifty thousand xeraphims,
was taken near Bombay, on its voyage from Goa to Surat. Besides those
that beset the Malabar coast, there were pirates in the Persian Gulf, at
the mouth of the Red Sea, and in the Mozambique Channel, while five
pirate vessels were cruising off Acheen. During the next ten years the
losses caused by the pirates were prodigious.

Ovington mentions that at St. Helena (1689) they were told, by a slaver,
of three pirates, two English and the other Dutch, so richly laden with
booty that they could hardly navigate their ships, which had become
weather-beaten and unseaworthy from their long cruises off the Red Sea
mouth. Their worn-out canvas sails were replaced with double silk.

    "They were prodigal in the expences of their unjust gain, and
    quenched their thirst with Europe liquor at any rate this Commander
    (the slaver) would put upon it; and were so frank both in distributing
    their goods, and guzzling down the noble wine, as if they were both
    wearied with the possession of their rapine, and willing to stifle
    all the melancholy reflections concerning it."

Such an account was bound to fire the imagination of every seaman who
heard it.

The number of pirates was increased by the interlopers, merchant
adventurers trading without a licence, who, like John Hand, when they
failed to get cargoes, plundered native ships. Their proceedings were
imitated by the permission ships, vessels that held the Company's licence
for a single voyage. Not seldom the crews of interlopers and permission
ships rose and seized the vessel against the will of their owners and
commanders and hoisted the Jolly Roger. Commissions were granted to the
East India Company's commanders to seize interlopers; but the interlopers,
as a rule, were remarkably well able to take care of themselves. As
pirates and interlopers alike sailed under English colours, the whole
odium fell on the English. In August, 1691, a ship belonging to the
wealthy merchant, Abdul Guffoor, was taken at the mouth of the Surat
river, with nine lakhs in hard cash on board. A guard was placed on the
factory at Surat, and an embargo laid on English trade. As the pirate had
shown the colours of several nationalities, the authorities were loth to
proceed to extremities. Fortunately for the English Company, a member of
the pirate crew was captured, and proved to be a Dane; so the embargo on
English trade was taken off.

Though they plied their calling at sea, almost with impunity, the pirates
occasionally fell victims to Oriental treachery on shore. Thus, James
Gilliam, a rover, having put into Mungrole, on the Kattiawar coast, was
made welcome and much praised for the noble lavishness with which he paid
for supplies. Soon there came an invitation to a banquet, and Gilliam,
with some of his officers and crew, twenty in all, were received by the
representative of the Nawab of Junaghur with excessive ceremony. Much
polite curiosity was evinced about the noble strangers. "Why did they
always go armed? Were their muskets loaded? Would they discharge them to
show their host the European method?" The muskets were discharged, and
immediately the banquet was announced. "Delay to reload the muskets was
inexpedient. It would be time to recharge their weapons after the feast."
And then, when seated and defenceless, there was an irruption of armed
men, and Gilliam, with his followers, were seized and fettered. For a
year they lay at Junaghur, where two of them died. In vain Gilliam
contrived to send a letter to the Surat factory, asking that they might
be claimed as British subjects. President Harris knew that the least
interest shown in the fate of the rovers would be fatal to the interests
of the Company, and was relieved when he heard that they had been sent to
Aurungzeeb's camp; after which they are heard of no more.

In the beginning of 1692, authority was given to the Company's commanders
to seize pirates and hold them till the King's pleasure was known, but
the measure was of small effect. The pirates were prime seamen, who
outsailed and outfought the Company's ships; while among the Company's
crews they had numerous sympathizers. The prizes to be gained were so
great and the risks so small, that the Company could hardly restrain
their own men from joining the sea rovers. Thus, in 1694, John Steel[1]
ran away with the long boat of the _Ruby_ frigate. Sixteen others who had
plotted to join him were detected in time, and clapped in irons. The
French and Dutch gave passes to all who applied for them, so Steel placed
himself under French protection, and for two years 'that rogue Steel'
finds frequent mention in the coast letters. Four years later Steel was
arrested in England. But though the directors had been supplied with many
accounts of his misdeeds, no sworn evidence could be produced against him,
so Steel escaped scot-free.

All other pirates, however, were destined to be eclipsed in fame by Henry
Every, _alias_ Bridgman,[2] who now made his appearance in the Indian
seas. His exploits, the great wealth he amassed by piracy, and his
reputed marriage with a Mogul princess, continued to excite the public
mind long after he had disappeared from the scene. Several biographies of
him were written, one of them attributed to Defoe, all of them containing
great exaggerations; and a play, _The Successful Pirate_, was written in
his honour. His biographers generally give his name as John Avery, but it
was as is here given. According to the account of Van Broeck, a Dutchman,
who was detained on board his ship for a time, and was on good terms with
him, he was born at Plymouth, the son of a trading captain who had served
in the navy under Blake. Every himself served in the navy, in the
_Resolution_ and _Edgar_, before he got the command of a merchant ship,
in which he made several voyages to the West Indies. In May, 1694, he was
first mate of the _Charles the Second_, one of the small squadron of
English ships hired from Sir James Houblon, by the Spanish Government, to
act against French smugglers who were troubling their Peruvian trade.[3]

The Spaniards were bad paymasters, and Houblon's squadron was detained at
Corunna three or four months, while the crews became more and more
discontented as their wages remained unpaid. As their sense of grievance
increased, a plot was formed among the most turbulent spirits to seize a
ship and turn rovers, under Every's command. On the night of the 30th May,
the captain of the _Charles the Second_ was made prisoner while in bed. A
boat-load of men sent from the _James_ to prevent the capture, joined the
mutineers; the cables were cut, and the ship ran out of harbour. The
captain and all who were unwilling to join were put into a boat, and the
_Charles_, renamed the _Fancy_, was headed south for the coast of Africa.
The only man detained against his will was the doctor, as he was a useful
man.

Some months were spent on the Guinea coast, where some negroes were
captured, and five ships--three English and two Danish--were plundered
and burnt. Before the end of the year Every was east of the Cape, intent
on the Red Sea traders. The first intelligence of him that reached Bombay
was in May, 1695, when three outward-bound merchantmen reported that they
had seen him at Johanna.

     "Your Honor's ships going into that island gave him chase, but he was
     too nimble for them by much, having taken down a great deale of his
     upper works and made her exceeding snugg, which advantage being added
     to her well sailing before, causes her to sail so hard now, that she
     fears not who follows her. This ship will undoubtedly (go) into the
     Red Sea, which will procure infinite clamours at Surat."

Accompanying this report came the following characteristic letter from
Every:--

"February y'e 28th, 1695/4.

    "To all English. Commanders lett this Satisfye that I was Riding here
    att this Instant in y'e Ship fancy man of Warr formerly the Charles
    of y'e Spanish Expedition who departed from Croniae y'e 7th of May.
    94: Being and am now in A Ship of 46 guns 150 Men & bound to Seek our
    fortunes I have Never as Yett Wronged any English or Dutch nor never
    Intend whilst I am Commander. Wherefore as I Commonly Speake w'th all
    Ships I Desire who ever Comes to y'e perusal of this to take this
    Signall that if you or aney whome you may informe are desirous to
    know w't wee are att a Distance then make your Antient Vp in a Ball
    or Bundle and hoyst him att y'e Mizon Peek y'e Mizon Being furled I
    shall answere w'th y'e same & Never Molest you: for my men are hungry
    Stout and Resolute: & should they Exceed my Desire I cannott help my
    selfe.

as Yett
An Englishman's friend

HENRY EVERY."

    "Here is 160 od french Armed men now att Mohilla who waits for
    Opportunity of getting aney ship, take Care of your Selves."[4]

According to Van Broeck, he was a man of good natural disposition, who
had been soured by the bad treatment he received at the hands of his
relations. The letter shows him to have been a man of some education, and
during his short but active career in the Indian seas he appears to have
attacked native ships only. The Company's records do not mention the loss
of a single English ship at Every's hands, a circumstance that no doubt
told heavily against the English in native opinion at Surat.

The same ships that brought Every's letter to Sir John Gayer brought
intelligence of a well-known French pirate having got aground at Mohilla.
The three Company's ships watering at Johanna, heard of the occurrence,
and proceeded to the spot, burnt the French ship after taking out what
treasure was on board, and captured six of the Frenchmen, who were
brought to Bombay. Every's friendly warning about the '160 od French
armed men' evidently referred to the wrecked crew.

The value of Perim, or Bab's Key, as it was then called by mariners, to
command the trade of the Red Sea, was at once perceived by Every, who
attempted to make a settlement there. After some unprofitable digging for
water, he abandoned the project, and established himself in Madagascar,
which had before this become known as a pirate resort. During the next
thirty years the only traders who dared show themselves on the Madagascar
coast were those who did business with the pirates, owing to the number
of pirate settlements that sprang up at different points; the best known
being at St. Mary's Island, St. Augustine's, Port Dauphin, and Charnock's
Point. They built themselves forts and established a reign of terror over
the surrounding country, sometimes taking a part in native quarrels, and
sometimes fighting among themselves; dubbing themselves kings, and living
in squalid dignity with large seraglios of native women. Captain Woodes
Rogers, who touched at Madagascar for slaves, sixteen years after Every's
time, described those he met as having been on the islands above
twenty-five years, with a motley crowd of children and grandchildren.

    "Having been so many years upon this Island, it may be imagined their
    Cloaths had long been worn out, so that their Majesties were
    extremely out at the Elbows: I cannot say they were ragged, since
    they had no Cloaths, they had nothing to cover them but the Skins of
    Beasts without any tanning, but with all the Hair on, nor a Shoe nor
    Stocking, so they looked like the Pictures of Hercules in the Lion's
    Skin; and being overgrown with Beard, and Hair upon their Bodies,
    they appeared the most savage Figures that a Man's Imagination can
    frame."[5]

One remarkable settlement was founded in the north, near Diego Suarez, by
Misson, a Frenchman, and the most humane of pirates, with whom was allied
Tew, the English pirate. Misson's aim was to build a fortified town "that
they might have some place to call their own; and a receptacle, when age
and wounds had rendered them incapable of hardship, where they might
enjoy the fruits of their labour and go to their graves in peace." The
settlement was named Libertatia. Slavery was not permitted, and freed
slaves were encouraged to settle there. The harbour was strongly
fortified, as a Portuguese squadron that attacked them found to its cost.
A dock was made; crops were sown; a Lord Conservator was appointed for
three years, with a Parliament to make laws. The colony was still in its
infancy when it was surprised and destroyed by the natives, while Misson
was away on a cruise; and so Libertatia came to an end. Tew succeeded in
escaping to his sloop with a quantity of diamonds and gold in bars. On
Misson rejoining him, they determined to go to America. Misson's ship
foundered in a storm, while Tew made his way to Rhode Islands, and lived
there for a time unquestioned. But the fascinations of a rover's life
were too much for him. He fitted out a sloop and made again for the Red
Sea, and was killed in action there with a Mogul ship.

From their Madagascar settlements the pirates scoured the east coast of
Africa, the Indian Ocean as far as Sumatra, the mouth of the Red Sea,
where the Mocha ships offered many rich prizes, the Malabar coast, and
the Gulf of Oman. From time to time, ships from New England and the West
Indies brought supplies and recruits, taking back those who were tired of
the life, and who wished to enjoy their booty. European prisoners were
seldom treated barbarously when there was no resistance, and the pirate
crews found many recruits among captured merchantmen. Their worst
cruelties were reserved for the native merchants of India who fell into
their hands. They believed all native traders to be possessed of jewels,
as was indeed often the case, and the cruellest tortures were inflicted
on them to make them surrender their valuables. One unhappy Englishman we
hear of, Captain Sawbridge, who was taken by pirates, while on a voyage
to Surat with a ship-load of Arab horses from Bombay. His complaints and
expostulations were so annoying to his captors that, after repeatedly
telling him to hold his tongue, they took a sail needle and twine and
sewed his lips together. They kept him thus several hours, with his hands
tied behind him, while they plundered his ship, which they afterwards set
on fire, burning her and the horses in her. Sawbridge and his people were
carried to Aden and set on shore, where he died soon after.

Before long. Every made some notable captures. Off Aden he found five
pirate ships of English nationality, three of them from America,
commanded by May, Farrell, and Wake. In the Gulf of Aden he burned the
town of Mahet on the Somali coast because the people refused to trade
with him. In September, while cruising off Socotra with the _Fancy_, two
sloops, and a galley, he took the _Futteh Mahmood_ with a valuable cargo,
belonging to Abdool Quffoor, the wealthiest and most influential merchant
in Surat. A few days later he took off Sanjan, north of Bombay, a ship
belonging to the Emperor, called the _Gunj Suwaie_ (Exceeding Treasure).
This was the great capture that made Every famous. According to the
legend, there was a granddaughter of Aurungzeeb on board, whom Every
wedded by the help of a moollah, and carried off to Madagascar. But the
story is only the most sensational of the many romantic inventions that
have accumulated round Every's name. The native historian[6] who relates
the capture of the _Gunj Suwaie_, and who had friends on board, would
certainly not have refrained from mentioning such an event if it had
occurred; nor would the Mogul Emperor have failed to wreak vengeance on
the English for such an insult to his family.

The _Gunj Suwaie_ was the largest ship belonging to the port of Surat. It
carried eighty guns and four hundred matchlocks, besides other warlike
implements, and was deemed so strong that it disdained the help of a
convoy. On this occasion it was returning from the Red Sea with the
result of the season's trading, amounting to fifty-two lakhs of rupees[7]
in silver and gold, and having on board a number of Mahommedan ladies
returning from pilgrimage to Mecca. In spite of the disparity of force,
Every bore down and engaged. The first gun fired by the _Gunj Suwaie_
burst, killing three or four men and wounding others. The main mast was
badly damaged by Every's broadsides, and the _Fancy_ ran alongside and
boarded. This was the moment when a decent defence should have been made.
The sailor's cutlass was a poor match for the curved sword and shield, so
much so that the English were notorious in the East for their want of
boldness in sword-play. But Ibrahim Khan, the captain, was a coward, and
ran below at the sight of the white faces. His crew followed his example,
and the vessel was taken almost without resistance.

So rich a prize was not to be relinquished without a very complete search.
For a whole week the _Gunj Suwaie_ was rummaged from stem to stern, while
the crew of the _Fancy_ indulged in a horrible orgy, excited beyond
measure by the immense booty that had fallen into their hands. Several of
the women threw themselves into the sea or slew themselves with daggers;
the last piece of silver was sought out and carried on board the _Fancy_,
the last jewel torn from the passengers and crew, and then the _Gunj
Suwaie_ was left to find its way to Surat as it best could.

The vials of long-accumulated wrath were poured out on the English.
Instigated by Abdul Guffoor, the populace of Surat flew to arms to wreak
vengeance on the factory. The Governor, Itimad Khan, was well disposed to
the English, but popular excitement ran so high that he found it
difficult to protect them. Guards were placed on the factory to save it
from plunder. A mufti urged that the English should be put to death in
revenge for the death of so many true believers, and quoted an
appropriate text from the Koran. Soon came an order from Aurungzeeb
directing the Seedee to march on Bombay, and for all the English in Surat
and Broach to be made prisoners. President Annesley and the rest,
sixty-three in all, were placed in irons, and so remained eleven months.
To make matters worse, news arrived of Every having captured the
_Rampura_, a Cambay ship with a cargo valued at Rs.1,70,000.

    "It is strange," wrote Sir John Gayer, "to see how almost all the
    merchants are incensed against our nation, reproaching the Governor
    extremely for taking our part, and as strange to see that
    notwithstanding all, he stems the stream against them more than well
    could be imagined, considering his extreme timorous nature."

The strangeness of the merchants' hostility is hardly apparent, but it is
not too much to say that Itimad Khan's friendly behaviour alone saved
English trade from extinction. The Dutch, always hostile in the East,
whatever might be the relations between Holland and England in Europe,
strove to improve the occasion by fomenting popular excitement, and tried
to get the English permanently excluded from the Indian trade. In the
words of Sir John Grayer, "they retained their Edomitish principles, and
rejoice to see Jacob laid low." But Itimad Khan knew that the pirates
were of all nationalities, and refused to hold the English alone
responsible. To propitiate the Governor, Sir John Gayer made over to him
the six French pirates taken at Mohilla, not without qualms at handing
over Christians to Mahommedan mercies. He fully expected that the
treasure taken out of the wreck would also be demanded of him; but Itimad
Khan was not an avaricious man, and no such demand was made. "His
contempt of money is not to be paralleled by any of the King's Umbraws or
Governors," Sir John wrote, a year later, when Itimad Khan was dead. To
forestall the Dutch with the Emperor, Gayer sent an agent offering to
convoy the Red Sea fleet for the future, in return for a yearly payment
of four lakhs a year. The offer was refused, but it served to place the
English in a more favourable light, and to procure the cancelling of
orders that had been given for attacking Bombay and Madras. Had it been
accepted, the Seedee would have been added to the number of the Company's
enemies. The Dutch, not to be outdone, offered to perform the same
service in return for a monopoly of trade in the Emperor's dominions.
This brought all other Europeans into line against the Dutch proposal,
and the intrigue was defeated. The embargo on all European trade at
Surat was maintained, while the Dutch, French, and English were directed
to scour the seas and destroy the pirates. It was further ordered that
Europeans on shore were not to carry arms or use palanquins, and their
ships were forbidden to hoist their national flags. The Dutch and French
hung back. They would not send a ship to sea without payment, except for
their own affairs. Sir John Gayer, more wisely, sent armed ships to
convoy the Mocha fleet, at the Company's charge, and so the storm passed
off.

Meanwhile, Every, glutted with booty, made up his mind to retire[8] with
his enormous gains. According to Johnson, he gave the slip, at night, to
his consorts, sailed for Providence in the Bahamas, where his crew
dispersed, and thence made his way to England, just at the time a royal
proclamation offering £500 for his apprehension was published. The reward
was doubled by an offer of four thousand rupees from the Company; eight
rupees being the equivalent of a pound at that time. Several of his crew
also straggled home and were captured; but before he left the Indian
coast, twenty-five Frenchmen, fourteen Danes, and some English were put
ashore, fearing to show themselves in Europe or America. This fact would
seem to throw some doubt on the account of his having left his consorts
by stealth.

On the 19th October, 1696, six of his crew were tried and sentenced at
the Old Bailey, and a true bill was found and an indictment framed
against Every himself, though he had not been apprehended. According to
Johnson,[9] Every changed his name and lived unostentatiously, while
trying to sell the jewels he had amassed. The merchant in whose hands he
had placed them, suspecting how they had been come by, threatened him.
Every fled to Ireland, leaving his jewels in the merchant's hands, and
finally died in Devonshire in extreme poverty. But the authority for this,
as for most of the popular accounts of Every, is extremely doubtful. That
he was cheated out of some of his ill-gotten gains is probable enough,
but it is in the highest degree improbable that he was known to be living
in poverty, and yet that the large reward offered for his apprehension
was not earned. What is alone certain is that he was never apprehended,
and that in a few months he carried off an amount of plunder such as
never before was taken out of the Indian seas by a single rover. For long
he was the hero of every seaport town in England and North America;
innumerable legends gathered round his name, and an immense impulse was
given to piracy.

A few months after his departure, there were five pirate ships in the Red
Sea, under English colours; two more, each mounting fourteen guns, were
in the Persian Gulf, and another was cruising off Tellicherry. At
Madagascar others were coming in fast. The news of Every's great booty
had spread from port to port, and every restless spirit was intent on
seeking his fortune in this new Eldorado, as men nowadays flock to a new
goldfield. The Company's sailors were not proof against the temptation.
While on the way from Bombay to China the crew of the _Mocha_ frigate
mutinied, off the coast of Acheen, killed their captain, Edgecombe, and
set afloat in the pinnace twenty-seven officers and men who refused to
join them. The _Mocha_ was then renamed the _Defence_, and for the next
three years did an infinity of damage in the Indian Ocean. At the same
time, the crew of the _Josiah_ ketch from Bombay, while at anchor in the
Madras roads, took advantage of the commander being on shore to run away
with the ship. The whole thing had been planned between the two crews
before leaving Bombay; their intention being to meet off the coast of
Sumatra, and cruise in company. The piratical career of the _Josiah_ did
not last long. Making first for the Nicobars, the crew flocked on shore,
and were soon involved in quarrels with the natives; leaving on board
only two men, one of whom was James Cruffe, the armourer, who had been
forced to join them against his will. The other man was but a lukewarm
pirate, and Cruffe prevailed on him to join in an attempt to carry off
the ship. They cut the cable, and by great good fortune, without any
knowledge of navigation, succeeded in carrying the ship into Acheen.

Stout's command of the _Defence_, once _Mocha_, quickly came to an end.
According to one account, he was put to death by his comrades, at the
Laccadives, for trying to desert them; according to another account, he
was slain by some Malays. His place was taken by Culliford, who had been
the leader of the mutineers of the _Josiah_. He changed the ship's name
to the _Resolution_, and proved himself one of the most daring rovers of
his day.

The untrustworthiness of his crews placed Sir John Gayer in an awkward
dilemma. He had to report to the Directors that he dared not send ships
to convoy pilgrims lest the crews should mutiny; that a boat could not be
manned in Bombay harbour for fear of desertion, while, on shore, he had
not a soldier fit to be made a corporal. A powerful French squadron had
appeared on the coast, and the Surat President calculated that the
Company's recent losses on captured ships sailing from Surat amounted to
a million sterling. The losses of the native merchants were even more
serious; trade was almost at a standstill, while three more pirate ships
from New York appeared in the Gulf of Cambay, and captured country ships
to the value of four lakhs of rupees. Every letter along the coast at
this date speaks of the doings of the rovers: every ship coming into
harbour told of pirates, of chases and narrow escapes, and of reported
captures.

    "These pirates spare none but take all they meet, and take the Europe
    men into their own ships, with such goods as they like, and sink the
    ships, sending the lascars on rafts to find the shore."

So bold were the marauders that they cruised in sight of Bombay harbour,
and careened their ships in sight of factories along the coast.

To avenge their losses, the Muscat Arabs, in April, 1697, seized the
_London_, belonging to Mr. Affleck, a private merchant. The Arabs were
engaged in hostilities with the Portuguese at the time, and forced the
crew of the _London_ to fight for them. Those who were unwilling were
lashed to masts exposed to Portuguese fire, from which they did not
escape scatheless. In vain the commanders of two of the Company's vessels
assured the Imaum that the _London_ was not a pirate.

    "You have sent me a letter," he wrote, "about my people taking one of
    your ships. It is true that I have done so, in return for one you
    English took from me, so now we are even and have ship for ship; for
    this one I will not surrender. If you wish to be friends, I am
    willing to be so; if not, I will fight you and take all the ships I
    can."

One pirate ship was reported to have chased two Cong ships, capturing one
and forcing the other ashore, where it became a total wreck. "What
influence this may have on the Rt. Hon. Company's affairs, God alone
knows," wrote the Surat President, mournfully. Soon he was in better
spirits. The same pirates had landed and plundered Cong; but, allowing
themselves to be surprised, fifty-six of the crew had been set upon and
killed.

With few exceptions, the English pirates came from the American colonies.
Every year, from New York, Boston, Jamaica, and the Bahamas, ships were
fitted out, nominally for the slave trade, though it was no secret that
they were intended for piracy in the Eastern seas. Whatever compunction
might be felt at attacking European ships, there was none about
plundering Asiatic merchants, where great booty was to be gained with
little risk. Sometimes the Governors were in league with the pirates, who
paid them to wink at their doings. Those who were more honest had
insufficient power to check the evil practices that were leniently, if
not favourably, regarded by the colonial community, while their time was
fully occupied in combating the factious opposition of the colonial
legislatures, and in protective measures against the French and Indians.
The English Government, absorbed in the French war, had no ships in the
Indian seas; but the straits to which English trade in the East had been
reduced, and the enormous losses caused by the pirates, at last forced
some measures to be adopted for coping with the evil that had assumed
such gigantic proportions.


[1] It appears likely that this was the John Steel mentioned by Drury as
    his uncle in Bengal. There is very little doubt that much of Drury's
    alleged slavery in Madagascar was spent among the pirates.

[2] It would appear that he assumed the name of Every on taking to piracy.

[3] Sir James Houblon was an Alderman of London, and a Governor of the
    Bank of England at the time.

[4] The letter appears to have been left by Every with the natives of
    Johanna, who gave it to the merchant captains who brought it to
    Bombay.

[5] The quotation is taken from Johnson's History of the Pirates. In his
    cruising voyage round the world Woodes Rogers did not touch at
    Madagascar. On that occasion (1711) he met two ex-pirates at the Cape,
    who had received pardons, and told him that the Madagascar
    settlements had dwindled to sixty or seventy men, "most of them very
    poor and despicable, even to the natives," and possessed of only one
    ship and a sloop. But, he adds, "if care be not taken, after a peace,
    to clear that island of them, and hinder others from joining them, it
    may be a temptation for loose straggling fellows to resort thither,
    and make it once more a troublesome nest of freebooters."

[6] Elliot's History of India as told by its own historians. Muntakhabu-l
    Lubab of Khafi Khan.

[7] Equal to £534,000 at that day.

[8] According to the statement of a lascar, taken in the _Futteh Mahmood_
    and carried to Madagascar, Every sailed for the Bahamas in the autumn
    of 1695, so that his career in the Indian seas lasted only six months.
    On reaching Providence, Every presented the Governor with forty
    pieces of eight and four pieces of gold for allowing them to come and
    go in safety.

[9] Johnson's "General History of the Pyrates," 1724.



CHAPTER II

_CAPTAIN KIDD_

Measures to suppress piracy--The _Adventure_ fitted out--Warren's squadron
meets with Kidd--His suspicious behaviour--He threatens the
_Sidney_--Waylays the Red Sea fleet--Captures the _Mary_--Visits Carwar
and Calicut--His letter to the factory--Chased by Portuguese
men-of-war--Chases the _Sedgwick_--Chivers--Action between _Dorrill_ and
_Resolution_--Kidd captures the _Quedah Merchant_--Dilemma of European
traders at Surat--Their agreements with the authorities--Experience of the
_Benjamin_--News of Kidd's piracies reaches England--Despatch of squadron
under Warren--Littleton at Madagascar--Kidd sails for New York--Arrested
and tried--His defence and execution--Justice of his sentence--His
character--Diminution of piracy--Lowth in the _Loyal Merchant_--Act for
suppression of piracy--Captain Millar.


War with France was being actively prosecuted by land and sea. In 1695
the nation was still smarting under reverses in the Low Countries and the
repulse of the Brest expedition. At sea the navy was holding its own,
though English commerce suffered terribly under the attacks of French
corsairs of Dunkirk and St. Malo. The Company applied for a ship to be
sent to the Indian seas to deal with the pirates; but Lord Orford, the
head of the Admiralty, refused to spare one. It was the fashion for
wealthy men to obtain letters of marque for privateering, and a syndicate
was formed, to which the Chancellor, Lord Somers, Lord Orford, Lord
Bellamont, and other Whig nobles were parties, to send out a privateer
against French commerce. For this purpose the _Adventure_ galley was
purchased and fitted out, and the command was given to William Kidd, who
was suggested to Lord Bellamont as a fit person for the task. Kidd was an
old privateers-man who had gained some reputation in the West Indies
during the war. Lord Bellamont had been appointed Governor of New York,
though he did not proceed there till two years later. The king had
charged him to use his utmost endeavours to put a check on the pirates
who sailed from New England, and nothing better occurred to him than to
obtain a commission for Kidd to act against the rovers. A general reward
of £50 was offered for the apprehension of each pirate, and £100 for
Every, increased in the following year to £500.

In December, a commission under the Admiralty Seal was issued to Kidd,
authorizing him to proceed against French shipping. He was to keep a
journal of his proceedings, and any ship captured was to be carried into
the nearest port and legally adjudged by a competent court. If condemned,
he might dispose of it according to custom. Six weeks later, a second
commission under the Great Seal was granted him, in his capacity of a
private man of war, to apprehend all pirates, freebooters, and sea rovers,
the names of Thomas Too (? Tew), John Ireland, Thomas Wake, and William
Maze, or Mace, being specially mentioned. Again, he was enjoined to keep
an exact journal of his doings, and the pirate ships he captured were to
be proceeded against according to law, in the same manner as French
captures. A subsequent warrant was granted to the syndicate, who figure
in it as the Earl of Bellamont, Edmund Harrison, William Rowley, George
Watson, Thomas Reynolds, and Samuel Newton. Under these unpretentious
names were hidden Lords Orford and Somers, and other Whig nobles. They
were to account for all goods and valuables captured in the rovers'
possession: one-tenth was to be reserved for the Crown, the rest being
assigned to them to recoup their expenditure.

The _Adventure_ carried thirty guns and rowed twenty-six or thirty oars.
In May, 1696, Kidd sailed from Plymouth for New York with a crew of about
seventy men. On the way he captured a small French vessel, which was
properly condemned, and the proceeds helped to complete the equipment of
the _Adventure_. In New York he filled up his crew to one hundred and
fifty-five men, and people shook their heads when they saw the men of
doubtful character that he enlisted. It was felt at the time that, either
his intentions were dishonest, or he was taking a crew that he would be
unable to control. The men were promised shares of what should be taken,
while Kidd himself was to have forty shares. Nothing was said as to the
share of the owners or the Crown. In September he sailed for the Cape.
There were plenty of pirates and French trading-ships close at hand on
the American coast, but he did not waste a day in looking for them.

Within a few days of Kidd's leaving Plymouth, a royal squadron consisting
of the _Windsor_, _Tyger_, _Advice_, and _Vulture_, under Commodore
Warren, sailed from Sheerness to visit the harbours and watering-places,
used by East India ships, as far as the Cape, and clear them of pirates.
The squadron, with five East Indiamen under convoy, made its way slowly
along the African coast, losing many men from sickness. Two hundred
leagues west of the Cape they sighted a strange sail that seemed to wish
to avoid them. Warren gave chase and forced it to heave to. On being
signalled to come on board, the commander proved to be Kidd, in command
of the _Adventure_. Asked to account for himself, he told how he was
engaged to look for Every and destroy pirates, and showed his commission.
Apparently, this was the first that Warren had heard of him, but there
was no gainsaying the royal commission, so the usual hospitality was
shown him, and he was bidden to keep company as far as the Cape. Warren
had lost many men on the Guinea coast, and asked Kidd to spare him some.
No better opportunity could have been found for getting rid of
troublesome men, but Kidd declined to part with a single one. As Warren's
wine told on him, his true character showed itself. He boasted of the
feats he was going to do, and the wealth he would get, till Warren was
filled with disgust and suspicion. The _Adventure_ wanted a new mainsail.
Warren could not spare him one. No matter, he would take one from the
first ship he met; and he was finally sent back to the _Adventure_,
reeling drunk. For six days he sailed in company with the squadron. Then
a calm came on, and at night, making use of his oars, Kidd stole away,
and was nearly out of sight when the sun rose.

On reaching the Cape, Warren could get no news of him, but to the
captains of the Company's ships he communicated his suspicions of Kidd.
Three of them, bound for Johanna in the Comoro Islands, the _Sidney_, the
_Madras Merchant_, and the _East India Merchant_, agreed to sail in
company for mutual protection. The _Sidney_, being the faster sailer,
reached Johanna in advance of her consorts, and found the _Adventure_ at
anchor in the roadstead. As the _Sidney_ came to anchor, Kidd sent a boat
to Captain Gyfford, ordering him to strike his colours, and threatening
to board him if he refused. Gyfford prepared to defend himself. Two days
later the _East India Merchant_ and the _Madras Merchant_ appeared,
making for the anchorage, and Kidd lowered his tone. He then invited the
three captains to come on board the _Adventure_, which they refused to do,
letting him plainly see that they distrusted him.

Soon they had to warn him regarding his ill-treatment of the Johanna
people, for which they threatened to call him to account. This
unlooked-for attitude on the part of the three captains made Kidd uneasy;
and finding that they would not leave the anchorage till he had gone, he
made sail and departed. Some of the crew of the _Adventure_ had, however,
used suspicious language, saying they were looking for an East India ship.
When asked if they would attack a single one, they answered evasively,
while continuing to boast of the things they were going to do. These
early proceedings of Kidd effectually dispose of the plea that his
intentions were at first honest, and that he only yielded to the coercion
of his crew in taking to piracy, after reaching the Indian seas. The
truth is that Kidd was resolved on piracy from the first, and had little
difficulty in persuading the majority of the crew to join him. It can
hardly be doubted that the accounts of the great wealth acquired by Every
had turned his head. There were a number of men on board the _Adventure_
who were unwillingly coerced into piracy, and who remained in a chronic
state of discontent, but Kidd was not one of them. Long before he had
made a single capture, it was reported in the ports of Western India that
Kidd was a pirate.

From Johanna he shaped his coarse for Madagascar, but the pirates were
all away in search of prey; so he continued his cruise in the Mozambique
Channel and along the African coast. He is said to have met Indian ships
at this time without molesting them, which was afterwards cited to show
that his intentions were then honest. It is more likely that he was only
doubtful as to his own power, being unacquainted with the weakness of
Asiatics, and reserving himself for the rich prey offered by the Mocha
fleet.

Cruising northwards, he landed at Mabber[1] on the Somali coast, and took
some corn from the natives by force--his first bit of filibustering. Then
making for Perim, he anchored to await the Mocha fleet. Three times he
sent a boat to look into Mocha harbour, and bring notice when the Indian
ships were ready to sail. As the fleet in scattered array emerged from
the straits, he singled out a large vessel and began firing at it. This
at once attracted the attention of the _Sceptre_ frigate that Sir John
Gayer had sent as a convoy, and Kidd took to his heels.

If Every had been in his place, he would have followed the fleet across
the Indian Ocean, and have picked up a straggler or two, but the sight of
the _Sceptre_ and a Dutch man-of-war had been enough for Kidd, and he left
the pilgrim fleet alone. Without molesting them further, he made his way
eastward, and, on the 29th August, off Sanjan, north of Bombay, he took
the _Mary_ brigantine, a small native vessel from Surat. This was Kidd's
first capture on the high seas. Thomas Parker, the master of the _Mary_,
was forced on board the _Adventure_ to act as pilot, a Portuguese was
taken to act as interpreter, and the lascars of the _Mary_ beaten and
ill-treated. A week later he put into Carwar for provisions, flying
English colours; but his character was already known. The Sunda Rajah and
the factory stood on their guard while he was in harbour. Harvey, the
chief of the factory, demanded the surrender of Parker, but Kidd vowed he
knew nothing about him. Eight of his crew deserted, and told their story.
They had no desire for the piratical life into which they had been
trepanned, and reported that many more of the crew would leave him if they
could get the chance. While off Carwar he careened the _Adventure_ on a
small islet in the harbour, which was long known as Kidd's island. A month
later he was off Calicut, where his ever-recurring trouble about supplies
is shown in the following letter to the factory:--

"Adventure Gally, October y'e 4't, 1697.

"S'r,

    "I can't but admire y't y'r People is so fearfull to come near us for
    I have used all possible means to let them understand y't I am an
    Englishman and a ff'rd not offering to molest any of their Cannoes so
    think it convenient to write this y't you may understand whome I am
    which (I) hope may end all Suspition. I come from England about 15 mos.
    agone with y'e King's Commission to take all Pyrates in these seas,
    and from Carwar came ab't a month agone, so do believe y't (you) have
    heard whome I am before y't and all I come for here is wood and water
    wh'h if you will be pleas'd to order me shall honestly satisfie for y'e
    same or any thing that they'l bring off which is all from him who
    will be very ready to serve you in what lyeth in my Power.

"WILLIAM KIDD."

They knew who he was only too well, so he sailed for the Laccadives,
whence news was soon received of his barbarous treatment of the natives,
and that he had killed his quartermaster.[2] The letter is characteristic
of Kidd's methods. From his first entrance into the Indian seas his
conduct had aroused suspicion. Owing to the large amount of coasting trade
and the frequent necessity of calling at many places for water, the news
of the sea spread from port to port with great rapidity. At the moment of
his writing this letter he had the master of the _Mary_ a prisoner under
hatches, and the factory chiefs of Carwar and Calicut were well aware of
it; but to the end he believed that he could throw dust in the eyes of the
Company's officials by making play with the royal commission.

While he was on the coast, Kidd was chased by two Portuguese armed vessels,
a grab and a sloop. The grab was a poor sailer, and Kidd had no difficulty
in eluding it; but the sloop, a better sailer, allowed itself to be drawn
on in chase, till Kidd, shortening sail, was able to give it several
broadsides, which reduced it to a total wreck; after which he showed a
clean pair of heels. At Kidd's trial it was stated he had ten men wounded
in this business.

In April (1698) the _Sedgwick_, arriving at Fort St. David, reported that
on its way from Anjengo it had been chased for three days and nights by
Kidd, but had been saved by a stiff breeze springing up. On its return
voyage the _Sedgwick_ was less fortunate, being captured off Cape Comorin
by Chivers, a Dutchman, in the _Soldado_, otherwise known as the
_Algerine_, of two hundred and fifty tons and carrying twenty-eight guns.
The cargo of the _Sedgwick_ not being to Chivers' liking, and being put
into good humour with sundry bowls of punch, he let the _Sedgwick_ go,
taking out of her only sails and cordage.

The year 1698 saw the Company's trade almost extinguished owing to the
depredations of the sea rovers and the hostility aroused against Europeans.
Every letter brought accounts of the pirates and the losses occasioned by
them. In small squadrons they swept the coast from Madras to the mouths of
the Indus, and haunted the sea from Cape Comorin to the Straits of Malacca.
In July, the Company's ship _Dorrill_, bound for China, was attacked in
the Straits of Malacca by the _Resolution_, late _Mocha_, commanded by
Culliford, and, after a hot engagement of three hours, made the pirate
sheer off, with heavy losses on both sides. Bowen in the _Speedy Return_,
for the taking of which Green was, with doubtful justice, hanged, Chivers
in the _Soldado_, North in the _Pelican_, Halsey, Williams, White, and
many others of less fame, were plundering and burning everywhere with
impunity. Early in the year, Kidd captured the _Quedah Merchant_ a country
ship bound from Bengal to Surat, belonging to some Armenian merchants who
were on board. The captain was an Englishman named Wright; the gunner was
a Frenchman, and there were two Dutchmen. This was the best prize made by
Kidd, and yielded some £10,000 or £12,000, which was at once divided among
the crew of the _Adventure_, Kidd's forty shares being one-fourth of the
whole. Able seamen got one share; landsmen and servants a half-share only.
The Surat factory was filled with alarm, not without good reason. In vain
Sir John Gayer wrote to the Governor, and sent an agent to the Emperor to
disclaim responsibility. In August came an imperial order directing that
the English, French, and Dutch should be held responsible for all losses,
and that for the _Quedah Merchant_ alone the English should pay two lakhs
of rupees. Guards were placed on the factories; all communication with
them was forbidden; their Mahommedan servants left them, and their
creditors were made to give an account to the Governor of all debts owing
by Europeans. The Dutch and French tried to exonerate themselves by laying
all the blame on the English, but the Governor refused to make any
distinction, and called on the three nations to pay fourteen lakhs of
rupees as a compensation for the losses occasioned by piracy. Sir John
Gayer was a man of action. Like Macrae, to be mentioned later in these
pages, he had first brought himself into notice as a sea-captain, and as
Governor of Bombay had upheld the Company's interests for four years, in
circumstances of no ordinary difficulty. The time for some decided action
had arrived if the Company's trade was to continue. On receiving
intelligence of these occurrences, he appeared off Surat with three armed
ships, and sent word to the Governor that he would neither pay any portion
of the fourteen lakhs, nor give security. At the same time he intimated
that he was ready to furnish convoys for the Mocha ships, as he had
already done, and, in proof of good will in acting against the pirates,
pointed out that, now the war in Europe was at an end, a royal squadron
was on its way to the Indian seas to extirpate them. The European traders
on the west coast had always been so submissive to the Emperor's authority
that this unexpected display of vigour astonished the Governor: he
moderated his tone. The Dutch declared they would abandon the Surat trade
rather than pay; so the Governor consented to make no demand for past
losses, if the English would engage to make good all future losses by
piracy. This was also refused. Finally, the English, French, and Dutch
agreed to act in concert to suppress piracy, and signed bonds by which
they jointly engaged to make good all future losses.

Onerous as these terms were, the agreement came not a moment too soon. The
news of it reached Aurungzeeb just in time to procure the reversal of an
order he had issued, putting a final stop to all European trade in his
dominions. He told the Surat Governor to settle the matter in his own way.
In pursuance of the agreement, the Dutch convoyed the Mecca pilgrims and
patrolled the entrance to the Red Sea, besides making a payment of
Rs.70,000 to the Governor; the English paid Rs.30,000 and patrolled the
South Indian seas; while the French made a similar payment and policed the
Persian Gulf.

An experience of the _Benjamin_ yacht at this time showed that pirates
were not prone to wanton mischief, where there was no plunder to be gained.
In November, the yacht lay at Honore, taking in a cargo of pepper, when
the well-known pirate ships _Pelican_, _Soldado_, and _Resolution_ came
into harbour for provisions. Seeing the Bombay Governor's yacht, they
naturally concluded that some attempt would be made to prevent the natives
from supplying their wants. They at once sent word to the master of the
_Benjamin_ that they had no intention of molesting him, unless he hindered
them in getting provisions, in which case they would sink him. The master
of the yacht was only too glad to be left alone; the pirates got their
provisions, and, in recognition of his behaviour, presented him with a
recently captured Portuguese ship. Sir John Gayer, in much fear lest he
should be accused of being in league with the pirates, quickly made it
over to the Portuguese authorities.

When the intelligence of Kidd's piracies reached England, there was a
storm of indignation in the country. Party feeling was running high and
with unusual violence. The majority in the House of Commons desired the
ruin of Somers and Orford while aiming at the King. The charge of abetment
in Kidd's misdeeds was too useful a weapon to be neglected, so it was
added to the list of accusations against them. It must be admitted that
the circumstances of the Lord Chancellor, the head of the Admiralty, and
other prominent men using their influence to forward a venture from which
they were to profit, under fictitious names, and that had created such a
scandal, demanded inquiry. It was hardly sufficient to say that they had
lost their money. Such an answer would justify any illegal enterprise in
the event of its failure.

The French war had come to an end, so in January, 1699, a royal squadron
of four men-of-war, the _Anglesea_, _Harwich_, _Hastings_, and _Lizard_,
sailed from Portsmouth for Madagascar under Warren.[3] They carried with
them four royal commissioners and a proclamation offering a free pardon,
from which Every and Kidd were excepted, to all pirates who voluntarily
surrendered themselves before the end of April, 1699. The pardon related
only to acts of piracy committed east of the Cape of Good Hope, between
the African and Indian coasts. After calling at St. Augustine's bay, where
several pirates made their submission, the squadron reached Tellicherry in
November. As it came to its anchorage, Warren died, and was buried on
shore the following day. He was succeeded in the command by Littleton. In
the following May, Littleton was on the Madagascar coast, where he
remained till the end of the year before returning home. During the whole
time he was in communication with the pirates. His dealings with them
brought him into disrepute in shipping circles. Hamilton tells us that
"for _some valuable reasons_ he let them go again; and because they found a
difficulty in cleaning the bottoms of their large ships, he generously
assisted them with large blocks and tackle falls for careening them."
Possibly Hamilton's remark was due to the conduct of Captain White of the
_Hastings_, whose behaviour excited such suspicion that Littleton placed
him under arrest, fearing he would make his ship over to the pirates.
Littleton remained on the Madagascar coast for eight months without firing
a shot. When he first reached St. Mary's, the pirates greeted him with a
salute of nine guns, to which he responded with five, and he was in close
and daily communication with them. Whether any pirates made their
submission to him does not appear; but it is probable that his presence
strengthened the resolution to obtain pardon of those who had previously
engaged themselves to Warren; among them Culliford and Chivers. The fact
is that piracy was looked upon then more leniently than we should now
regard it. Plundering and ill-treating Asiatics was a venial offence, and
many a seaman after a cruise with the pirates returned to his calling on
board an honest merchantman, without being thought much the worse for it.

Among all the naval officers sent to the Indian seas at that time, Warren
appears to have been the only one who really tried to protect the Company's
interests. Littleton quarrelled with Sir Nicholas Waite, and had
questionable dealings with the Madagascar pirates. Richards and Harland
quarrelled with Sir John Gayer, and crippled the Company's ships by
forcibly pressing their sailors to fill up their own crews; while Matthews
exceeded them all in outrageous behaviour, as will be recounted in its
place.

After capturing the _Quedah Merchant_, Kidd shaped his course for
Madagascar, where he found Culliford in the _Resolution_, who at first
treated him with suspicion, hearing that he had a commission to capture
pirates. But Kidd soon reassured him over sundry cups of bombo, protesting
with many oaths that 'his soul should fry in hell' sooner than that he
should hurt a hair of one of Culliford's crew; and, as a proof of good
will, presented him with two guns and an anchor. Then, finding the
_Adventure_ had become unseaworthy, he abandoned her, and sailed for New
England in the _Quedah Merchant_. In June, 1799, he reached Boston.

Before his arrival, he heard he had been proclaimed a pirate, so he
deputed a friend to approach Lord Bellamont on his behalf. The _Quedah
Merchant_ was disposed of, and his plunder placed in a safe place. By
assurance, and by a valuable present to Lady Bellamont, he thought he
could face matters out. Bellamont appears to have been puzzled at first
how to treat him. He was unwilling to believe all that was said. At the
end of three weeks he made up his mind and arrested Kidd. For eight months
he lay in Boston gaol, and was then sent to London for trial, remaining in
Newgate for more than a year. Eleven of his crew were also arrested, two
of them being admitted as King's witnesses.

In the interval the storm against the Whig ministers had gathered strength,
and articles of impeachment against Somers, Orford, and others were being
prepared by the House of Commons. On the 27th March, 1701, Kidd was
brought to the House to be examined, but he said nothing to inculpate any
of the owners of the _Adventure_, so a resolution was passed that he
should be proceeded against according to law.

On the 8th and 9th May he was brought up for trial at the Old Bailey. The
first indictment against him was for the murder of Moore, the gunner of
the _Adventure_. There had been a quarrel in which Moore accused Kidd of
having ruined them all, on which Kidd called him a 'lousy dog'; to which
Moore replied in a rage, that if he was a dog it was Kidd who had made him
one. At this Kidd hurled a bucket at him and fractured his skull. The jury
found him guilty. He was then tried, together with nine of his crew, for
the taking of the _Quedah Merchant_. His line of defence was that it was
sailing under a French pass, and therefore a lawful prize, but he evaded
actually saying so. He declared that Lord Bellamont had some French passes
of ships he had taken, but would not produce them. That Kidd had captured
some ships under French passes, and that the passes were in Bellamont's
hands, is extremely probable; but it is incredible that a French pass for
the _Quedah Merchant_ was in Bellamont's hands, and that he held it back.
He had been accused of complicity in Kidd's piracies, and threatened with
impeachment. Every consideration of private and political interest alike
prompted him to clear himself of the charge, and confound those who
accused the leading men of his party as well as himself.

Kidd tried to get the witnesses, some of them favourable to him, to say
they had seen the French pass, but all they could say was that they had
heard him declare there was one. The adverse witnesses deposed that he had
feigned to believe that the French gunner of the _Quedah Merchant_ was the
captain, though they all knew he was not. When asked, "Captain Kidd, can
you make it appear there was a French pass aboard the _Quedah Merchant_?"
he replied, "My lord, these men say they heard several say so." One of the
Armenian owners was in court, but he did not examine him; nor could he say
why he had not had the ship properly condemned, like the French ship taken
between Plymouth and New York. His only reply was that he was not at the
sharing of the goods, and knew nothing of it. For his attack on the Mocha
fleet he offered no explanation.

He was found guilty, and was then tried for the captures of a Moorish ship
(Parker's), a Moorish ketch, and a Portuguese ship. Culliford and two
others were next tried for taking a ship called the _Great Mahomet_. Three
of Kidd's crew were acquitted, the rest of the prisoners were found guilty,
and sentenced to be hanged. Culliford was respited, having made his
submission to Warren. Three of Kidd's crew had hard measure dealt to them.
They had made their submission under the King's proclamation, but not to
one of the commissioners appointed for the purpose, so their submission
went for nothing. On the 12th May, Kidd, with six of his crew and two of
Culliford's, was hanged at Execution Dock, the common place of execution
for pirates.

It is impossible to follow Kidd's career, and to study his trial, without
coming to the conclusion that he deserved his fate. There is no sign that
he was sacrificed to political expediency. Directly the House of Commons
failed to bring home the responsibility for Kidd's piracies to the leaders
of the Whig party, he ceased to be of any importance for political
purposes. The charge of complicity with him was only one of ten charges
against Orford, one of fourteen against Somers. The court is said to have
dealt hardly with him, but courts of justice were not very tender to any
criminals in those days, and the jury did not hesitate to acquit three of
those tried with him. Criminals were not allowed the aid of counsel,
except on a point of law. Kidd did raise a legal point, and was allowed
the aid of a counsel to argue it. His intention was clear from the day he
left New York. The four pirates named in his commission were then on the
American coast; he made no effort to look for them, but steered at once
for the Cape. If he could not control his crew, he could have invoked
Warren's help; instead of which he stole away in the night. His threats to
the _Sidney_ at Johanna, his attack, after three weeks' waiting, on the
Mocha fleet, his detention of Parker, to say nothing of his dealings with
Culliford, can only be interpreted in one way. During his whole cruise he
never put into Surat, Bombay, or Goa, but cruised like any other pirate.

The legend of his buried treasure has survived to our own day, owing to
the fact that he had buried some of his booty before putting himself in
Bellamont's hands; but the record of his trial shows that, beyond what was
obtained from the _Quedah Merchant_, his plunder consisted mostly of
merchandise. That some of his ill-gotten gains were recovered at the time
seems clear from an Act of Parliament passed in 1705, enabling the Crown
to "dispose of the effects of William Kidd, a notorious pirate, to the use
of Greenwich Hospital"; which institution received accordingly 6472-1.

The scandal caused by Kidd's piratical doings under a commission from the
Crown, the political use made of it in Parliament, and the legend of a
vast hoard of buried treasure, have conferred on him a celebrity not
justified by his exploits. As he appears in the Company's records, he
showed none of the picturesque daredevilry that distinguished many of the
sea rovers whose names are less known. No desperate adventure or
hard-fought action stand to his credit. Wherever we get a glimpse of his
character it shows nothing but mean, calculating cunning; and to the end
he posed as the simple, innocent man who was shamefully misjudged. His
crew were always discontented and ready to desert. He had none of the
lavish open-handedness that made the fraternity welcome in so many ports.
Every, Teach, England, and a dozen others in his place, would have thrown
the commission to the winds, and sailed the seas under the red flag. Kidd's
ruling idea appears to have been that he could hoodwink the world as to
his doings under cover of his commission: so that when he heard of the
charges against him he believed he could disarm his accusers by sheer
impudence. At his trial he attempted to lay all the blame on his crew, and
vowed he was 'the innocentest person of them all,' and all the witnesses
were perjured. Whatever touch of misdirected heroism was to be found in
any pirate, it was certainly not to be found in Kidd. He was altogether a
contemptible rascal, and had no claims to be a popular hero.

Though Littleton's squadron captured no pirate ships, its presence till
the autumn of 1700 had a salutary effect.[4] Some made their submission,
and the number who continued to ply their trade was greatly reduced. Many
of them were glad to leave a calling that had now become hazardous, in
which they had been unwillingly forced to join, while the renewal of the
war in Europe furnished a more legitimate outlet for the most turbulent
spirits, in the shape of privateering.

North, after making his submission to Littleton, thought better of it,
seeing the date of grace had expired, and refused to leave Madagascar.
There he remained for several years, fighting and subduing the natives
round St. Mary's, till he was finally killed by them. His comrades
'continued the war' for seven years till they had completely subdued the
country round.

On the 18th December, 1699, the _Loyal Merchant_, Captain Lowth, East
Indiaman, lying in Table Bay, saw a small vessel of sixty tons enter the
harbour under English colours. This proved to be the _Margaret_ of New
York. Lowth's suspicions being awakened, he sent for the captain and some
of the crew, who 'confessed the whole matter,' and were promptly put in
irons. The _Margaret_ was seized, in spite of Dutch protests. Two days
later came in the _Vine_, pink, from St. Mary's, with a number of
'passengers' on board. These were pirates on their way to New England, to
make their submission, among them Chivers and Culliford. Lowth would have
seized them also, but the Dutch interfered, and the behaviour of the Dutch
admiral became so threatening that Lowth cut short his stay and made sail
for Bombay, which he reached safely, taking with him the _Margaret_ and
eighteen prisoners. On reaching England, Culliford was tried and condemned,
but respited, as has already been mentioned.

While Kidd lay in Newgate awaiting trial, an Act was passed for the more
effectual suppression of piracy. Experience had shown that it was useless
to issue proclamations against individuals, but that some new machinery
must be created to deal with the gigantic evil that threatened to become
chronic. Under a former Act, passed in the reign of Henry VIII., the Lord
High Admiral, or his Lieutenant, or his Commissary, had been empowered to
try pirates; but the procedure had long fallen into abeyance. It had been
found almost impossible to bring offenders in distant seas to justice, to
say nothing of the cost and trouble of bringing them to England for trial.
Now it was enacted that courts of seven persons might be formed for the
trial of pirates at any place at sea or upon land, in any of his Majesty's
islands, plantations, colonies, dominions, forts, or factories. It was
necessary that at least one of the seven should be the chief of an English
factory, the governor or a member of council in a plantation or colony, or
the commander of a King's ship. These courts had powers of capital
punishment, and also had power to treat all persons who gave assistance or
countenance to pirates as accessories, and liable to the same punishments
as pirates. The Act was to be in force for seven years only. In 1706 it
was renewed for seven years, and in 1714 again for five years.

The amnesty granted to some pirates, the hanging of others,[5] and the new
Act of Parliament, caused a great abatement of the evil. The Madagascar
settlements still flourished, but for a time European trade was free from
attack. Littleton's squadron had gone home, and was replaced by two royal
ships, the _Severn_ and the _Scarborough_, which effected nothing against
the pirates, but served by their presence to keep them quiet.

The _Severn_ and _Scarborough_ sailed from England in May, 1703, under
Commodore Richards, who died at Johanna in the following March. The
command was then taken by Captain Harland, who visited Madagascar and
Mauritius, where two men were arrested, who afterwards made their escape
at Mohilla. The two ships returned to England in October, 1705.

Hamilton tells us how a

    "Scots ship commanded by one Millar did the public more service in
    destroying them, than all the chargeable squadrons that have been sent
    in quest of them; for, with a cargo of strong ale and brandy, which he
    carried to sell them, in anno 1704, he killed above 500 of them by
    carousing, although they took his ship and cargo as a present from him,
    and his men entered, most of them into the society of the pirates."


[1] This was probably a village near Ras Mabber, about one hundred and
    sixty-five miles south of Cape Guardafui.

[2] In ships of this class the quartermaster was next in importance to the
    captain or master. The incident refers to the death of Moore, the
    gunner of the _Adventure_, who was killed by Kidd in a fit of anger
    for saying that Kidd had ruined them all. The killing of Moore was one
    of the indictments against Kidd at his trial.

[3] Warren had returned from his first cruise in the autumn of 1697.

[4] One small Arab vessel that rashly attacked the _Harwich_, mistaking it
    for a merchant vessel, was disposed of with a broadside.

[5] Twenty were condemned and hung in one batch, in June, 1700; one of the
    _Mocha_ mutineers among them. This was probably Guillam, to whom Kidd
    had given a passage to America from Madagascar, and was supposed to
    have been the man who stabbed Captain Edgecombe.



CHAPTER III

_THE RISE OF CONAJEE ANGRIA_

Native piracy hereditary on the Malabar coast--Marco Polo's
account--Fryer's narrative--The Kempsant--Arab and Sanganian
pirates--Attack on the _President_--Loss of the _Josiah_--Attack on the
 _Phoenix_--The _Thomas_ captured--Depredations of the Gulf
pirates--Directors' views--Conajee Angria--Attacks English ships--Destroys
the _Bombay_--Fortifies Kennery--Becomes independent--Captures the
Governor's yacht--Attacks the _Somers_ and _Grantham_--Makes peace with
Bombay--His navy--Great increase of European and native piracy.


Europeans were not the only offenders. The Delhi Emperor, who claimed
universal dominion on land, made no pretension to authority at sea. So
long as the Mocha fleet did not suffer, merchants were left to take care
of themselves. There was no policing of the sea, and every trader had to
rely on his own efforts for protection. The people of the Malabar coast
were left to pursue their hereditary vocation of piracy unmolested. The
Greek author of the "Periplus of the Erythraean Sea," who wrote in the
first century of our era, mentions the pirates infesting the coast between
Bombay and Goa. Two hundred years before Vasco da Gama had shown the way
to India by sea, Marco Polo had told Europe of the Malabar pirates.

    "And you must know that from this Kingdom of Melibar, and from,
    another near it called Gozurat, there go forth every year more than a
    hundred corsair vessels on cruize. These pirates take with them their
    wives and children, and stay out the whole summer. Their method is to
    join in fleets of 20 or 30 of these pirate vessels together, and then
    they form what they call a sea cordon, that is, they drop off till
    there is an interval of 5 or 6 miles between ship and ship, so that
    they cover something like a hundred miles of sea, and no merchant ship
    can escape them. For when any one corsair sights a vessel a signal is
    made by fire or smoke, and then the whole of them make for this, and
    seize the merchants and plunder them. After they have plundered they
    let them go, saying, 'Go along with you and get more gain, and that
    mayhap will fall to us also!' But now the merchants are aware of this,
    and go so well manned and armed, and with such great ships, that they
    don't fear the corsairs. Still mishaps do befal them at times."[1]

    From the Persian Gulf to Cape Comorin the whole coast was beset by
    native pirates, and, with the rise of the Mahratta power, the evil
    increased. Petty chiefs sometimes levied blackmail by giving passports
    to those who would pay for them, claiming the right to plunder all
    ships that did not carry their passes; but often the formality was
    dispensed with. Owing to the paucity of records of the early days, and
    the more serious hostility of the Portuguese and Dutch, we hear little
    of the losses sustained from native pirates, except when some ship
    with a more valuable cargo than usual was captured. Fryer tells us how,
    in his day, a rock off Mangalore was known as Sacrifice Island, "in
    remembrance of a bloody butchery on some English by the pirate
    Malabars." He further tells us how, in 1674, between Goa and Vingorla,
    he took part in an attack on a pirate ship that they came on as it was
    plundering a prize it had just taken, while the Dutch watched the
    engagement from the shore.

    "We soon made him yield his prize to engage with us, which they did
    briskly for two hours, striving to board us, casting stink-pots among
    us, which broke without any execution, but so frightened our rowers,
    that we were forced to be severe to restrain them. They plied their
    chambers and small shot, and slung stones, flourishing their targets
    and darting long lances. They were well manned in a boat ten times as
    big as our barge, and at least sixty fighting men besides rowers. We
    had none to manage our small gun," the gunner having deserted at Goa.

However, the pirates were beaten off, and Fryer and his companions were
mightily praised by the Dutch. These pirates hailed probably from Vingorla,
where the Sawunt Waree chief, known in those days as the 'Kempsant,'[2]
carried on a brisk piratical trade. The name was a corruption of Khem
Sawunt, a common name of the Vingorla chiefs; the Portuguese changed it
into Quemar Santo, 'the saint burner,' on account of his sacrilegious
treatment of their churches.

There were no more determined pirates than the Arabs of Muscat and the
Sanganians of Beyt and Dwarka, who, between them, intercepted the trade of
the Persian Gulf, while the Coolee rovers of Guzarat took their toll of
the plunder. In 1683 the Company's ship _President_ was attacked by the
Muscat Arabs with two ships and four grabs, and fought a gallant action.
The grabs[3] were generally two-masted ships, from one hundred and fifty
to three hundred tons burden, built to draw very little water, and
excellent sailers, especially in the light winds prevalent on the Western
coast. They had no bowsprit, but the main-deck was continued into a long
overhanging prow. The favourite mode of using them was for two or three of
them to run aboard their victim at the same time, and attack, sword in
hand, along the prow. Being built for fighting, and not for trade, they
could sail round the clumsy merchantmen that hailed from the Thames, and,
if pressed, could find safety in the shallow bays and mouths of rivers
along the coast. Three grabs grappled the _President_ at once, but the
boarders were beaten back, and all three were blown up and sunk, on which
the rest of the squadron made off. The _President_ was set on fire in
sixteen places, and lost eleven men killed and thirty-three wounded.

In the following year the _Josiah_ ketch was attacked by the Sanganians
while at anchor, and in the heat of the engagement blew up. A few of the
crew saved themselves in a skiff, but the greater number perished, among
them the commander, Lieutenant Pitts, whose father was known in Bombay as
'the drunken lieutenant.'

In September, 1685, the _Phoenix_, a British man-of-war that had been sent
for a two-years' cruise in Indian waters, was attacked by a Sanganian
vessel that mistook her for a merchantman. It was almost a calm, and
Captain Tyrrell hoisted out his boats to capture the Sanganian ship, but
they were beaten off, so he sunk her with a couple of broadsides.
Forty-one of the pirates were picked up, but many of them refused quarter,
and one hundred and seven were killed or drowned. The _Phoenix_ had three
men killed, one wounded, and two drowned. According to Hamilton, Sir George
Byng, the first lieutenant, was dangerously wounded; but the log of the
_Phoenix_ is silent on that point, though it gives the names of the
casualties.

Three years later, the _Thomas_, Captain Lavender, was less fortunate.
Attacked by four Beyt ships, after a brave resistance, the _Thomas_ took
fire, and all on board perished.

Their depredations were not confined to the sea. In 1697 some Beyt pirates
landed and plundered a village within sight of Broach.

But the losses occasioned by native pirates were at first nearly lost
sight of in the more serious losses occasioned by European corsairs.

    "As for those Sanganians and those Mallabars and professed pirates,"
    wrote the Directors in 1699, "we see no cause why you should not wage
    an offensive as well as a defensive war against them when they fall in
    your way: but it is hardly worth the while to keep small vessels to
    look after them, for they are poor rogues and nothing to be got of
    them to answer any charge."

In 1707, the year of Aurungzeeb's death, the pirates of the Persian Gulf
made a great haul of plunder. A squadron of them made their way to the Red
Sea, waylaid the Mocha fleet, and returned home laden with booty. In the
following year, a squadron of fourteen Arab ships from the Gulf, carrying
from thirty to fifty guns, and with seven thousand men on board, appeared
on the Malabar coast and surprised Honore, Mangalore, and Balasore(?); but
the people, having lately been plundered by the Seedee, were ready with
their arms, and beat them off with the loss of four or five hundred men.

    "The Arab insolencies are often in the thoughts of the Court," wrote
    the London directors, "but the Court fears they shall not be able to
    do anything effectually to check their growing strength during the
    present war, which finds employment for all our naval force. Further,
    the Court sympathizes with Madras on their severe losses by the
    pirates, which puts a damp on the Company's trade, and affects their
    revenues."

Annoying as were the losses that were suffered from the chronic
depredations of the Arabs and Sanganians, they sank into insignificance
when compared with the troubles experienced on the rise to power of
Conajee (Kanhojee) Angria. The growth of the Mahratta power under Sivajee
had been accompanied by the formation of a formidable fleet which harried
the coast of the Concan, and against which the Seedee chief, the Emperor's
representative afloat, could hardly maintain himself. In 1698 Conajee
Angria succeeded to the command of the Mahratta navy, with the title of
Darya-Sáranga. In the name of the Satara chief he was master of the whole
coast from Bombay to Vingorla, with the exception of the Seedee's
territory. Defenceless towns as far south as Travancore were attacked and
plundered, while, at sea, vessels of native merchants were preyed upon.
For a time he seems not to have meddled with the Company's vessels; as the
size of his ships increased, he grew bolder, and, in 1702, his doings
began to excite apprehension. In that year he was addressed to release a
small trading vessel from Calicut with six Englishmen on board that had
been seized and carried into one of his harbours. What had roused his
anger against the English does not appear, but a month later we find him
sending word to Bombay that he would give the English cause to remember
the name of Conajee Angria, a threat that he carried out only too well.
Two years later we find him described as a 'Rebel Independent of the Rajah
Sivajee,' and Mr. Reynolds was deputed to find him and tell him that he
could not be permitted searching, molesting, or seizing vessels in Bombay
waters: to which he returned a defiant answer, that he had done many
benefits to the English, who had broken faith with him, and henceforth he
would seize their vessels wherever he could find them. In 1707 his ships
attacked the _Bombay_ frigate, which was blown up after a brief engagement,
and for the next half-century Angrian piracy was a scourge to the European
trade of the West coast. In 1710 Conajee Angria seized and fortified
Kennery, and his ships fought the _Godolphin_ for two days, within sight
of Bombay, but were finally beaten off. He had now grown so powerful that,
in 1711, the Directors were told he could take any ship except the largest
Europe ones; "along the coast from Surat to Dabul he takes all private
merchant vessels he meets."

Owing to the minority and imprisonment of Sivajee's grandson, Sahoojee,[4]
the Mahrattas were torn by internal divisions, in which Conajee Angria
played his part. On the death of Aurungzeeb, Sahoojee regained his liberty,
and was seated on the guddee of Satara. Owing to his want of hardihood,
and weakness of character, the dissensions continued, and Sivajee's
kingdom seemed to be on the point of breaking up into a number of
independent chiefships. Among those aiming at independence was Conajee
Angria. In 1713, an army sent against him under the Peishwa, Bhyroo Punt,
was defeated, and Bhyroo Punt taken prisoner. It was reported that Conajee
was preparing to march on Satara. Ballajee Rao, who afterwards became
Peishwa, was placed at the head of such troops as could hastily be
collected together, and opened negotiations with Conajee. An accommodation
was arrived at, by which Conajee agreed to acknowledge allegiance to
Satara, in return for which he was confirmed in command of the fleet, with
the title of Surkheil, and granted twenty-six forts and fortified places
with their dependent villages.[5] The first result of this treaty was a
war with the Seedee, who had enjoyed some of the places in question for a
number of years. Conajee was supported by the Satara arms, and the Seedee
was forced to submit to the loss. To all intents and purposes, Conajee was
now an independent chief. He was the recognized master of a strip of
territory between the sea and the western ghauts, extending from Bombay
harbour to Vingorla, excluding the Seedee's territories, a tract, roughly
speaking, about two hundred and forty miles in length by forty miles in
breadth. With his harbours strongly fortified, while the western ghauts
made his territories difficult of access by land, he was in a position to
bid defiance to all enemies. Moreover, he was the recognized chief of the
hardy coast population of hereditary seamen, who to this day furnish the
best lascars to our Indian marine.

Angria's exploits on land had not interfered with his interests at sea. In
November, 1712, he captured the Governor of Bombay's armed yacht, together
with the _Anne_ ketch from Carwar.[6] In the engagement, Mr. Chown, chief
of the Carwar factory, was killed, and his young wife, a widow for the
second time at the age of eighteen, became Angria's prisoner. A month
later, the _Somers_ and _Grantham_, East Indiamen, on their voyage from
England to Bombay, were attacked by a grab and a gallivat belonging to
Angria, off the coast north of Goa. Owing to there being a calm at the
time, the East Indiamen were unable to bring their guns to bear: "for
which reason and by y'e earnest intercession of y'e whole ship's company
to y'e captain" the boats of the _Somers_ and _Grantham_ were hoisted out,
and an attempt was made to board the pirates. The attack was beaten off
with the loss of four men killed and seventeen wounded; but the pirates
found the entertainment so little to their liking that they made off.

On hearing of the capture of the Governor's yacht, the Portuguese wrote to
propose a joint attack on Angria. A few months before, he had captured the
greater part of a Portuguese 'armado,' and disabled a thirty-gun man-of-war
that was convoying it. Governor Aislabie declined the Portuguese offer,
but it had the effect of bringing Angria to terms. Thinking it politic to
make peace with the English, while his affairs with the Rajah of Satara
were still unsettled, he sent a messenger to Bombay, offering to deliver
up all vessels, goods, and captives taken from the Company, if an
Englishman of credit was sent to him to settle on terms of peace for the
future. Aislabie demanded that in future English ships should be free from
molestation; that no ships of any nation coming into Bombay should be
interfered with between Mahim and Kennery; that English merchants should
have liberty of trade in Angria's ports, on payment of the usual dues; and
that Angria should be responsible for any damage done in future by the
ships belonging to his Mahratta superiors. In return, the Governor engaged
to give passes only to ships belonging to merchants recognized by the
Company, and to allow Angria's people full trading facilities in Bombay,
on the usual dues being paid. To these terms Angria agreed, but failed to
get the Governor's consent to additional terms of an egregious nature;
that he should be supplied by the Company with powder and shot on payment;
that a place should be assigned to him to make powder in; that if pressed
by his enemies, he should be assisted by the Company; that merchant ships
should not be convoyed in or out of Bombay harbour.

There remained the duty of sending him 'an Englishman of credit' to
'deliver him the articles.' The Council, 'knowing him to be a man of ill
principles,' thought it improper to order any man on such a risky service,
but Lieutenant Mackintosh, in consideration of a gratuity of one thousand
rupees, undertook to go, and departed for Colaba, with Rs.30,000 as
ransom for the European prisoners, the convention sealed with the Council's
seal, and ships to bring back the restored goods.

And so for a time there was security from Angria's attacks, but, with his
hands free on the Satara side, and in a more secure position than ever, it
was not likely that the peace would be of long continuance. With a fleet
of armed vessels carrying thirty and forty guns apiece, with Kennery
island in his possession within sight of Bombay harbour, Angria and his
successors continued to be a menace to the existence of Bombay, while the
Angrian territory became the Alsatia of the Indian seas, where desperadoes
of all nationalities were made welcome.

The next few years saw an enormous increase of piracy in the Indian seas.
Angria was practically secure in his fastnesses along the coast, and
plundered every ship not strong enough to defend itself. His finest
vessels were commanded by Europeans, generally Dutch. The signing of the
Peace of Utrecht brought a fresh swarm of European adventurers to reap the
harvest of the seas. The privateersmen, disregarding the peace, under
pretence of making war on France and Spain, plundered ships of all nations.
Conden,[7] White, England, Taylor, and many others, made Madagascar their
headquarters, and emulated the feats of Every and Kidd. The Beyt pirates
were as mischievous as ever, while the Muscat Arabs could muster, in 1715,
a ship of seventy-four guns, two of sixty, one of fifty, eighteen carrying
thirty-two to twelve guns each, and a host of smaller vessels carrying
never less than four guns. The Company was forced to rely on its own
exertions, as there was not a single King's ship in Indian waters. The few
armed vessels belonging to Bombay convoyed the more valuable vessels along
the coast. The larger ships, that made the ocean voyage between India and
Europe, sailed in company for mutual protection.


[1] Yule's "Marco Polo."

[2] The 'Kempason' and 'King Kemshew' of Downing.

[3] From the Arabic _ghorab_, 'a raven.'

[4] Known in the English annals of the time as the Sow Rajah, and the
    South Rajah.

[5] The principal forts were Kennery, Colaba, Severndroog, Viziadroog or
    Gheriah, Jyeghur, Deoghur, Manikdroog, Futtehghur, Oochitghur; and
    Yeswuntdroog.

[6] See page 264.

[7] The name of this pirate is also given as Congdon and Condent.



CHAPTER IV

_AN ACTIVE GOVERNOR_

Arrival of Mr. Boone as Governor--He builds ships and improves defences of
Bombay--Desperate engagement of _Morning Star_ with Sanganians--Alexander
Hamilton--Expedition against Vingorla--Its failure--Hamilton made
Commodore--Expedition against Carwar--Landing force defeated--Successful
skirmish--Desertion of Goa recruits--Reinforcements--Landing force again
defeated--The Rajah makes peace--Hamilton resigns Commodoreship--A
noseless company--Angria recommences attacks--Abortive expedition against
Gheriah--Downing's account of it--Preparations to attack Kennery.


On the 26th December, 1715, Bombay was _en fête_. The East Indiamen
_Stanhope_ and _Queen_ had arrived from England, bringing the new Governor,
Mr. Charles Boone, and three new councillors. His predecessor, Mr.
Aislabie, had sailed for England in October. At the landing-place the
new-comers were met by the late council and the principal inhabitants and
merchants of Bombay. Thirty-one pieces of ordnance greeted them with a
salvo, and, as they put foot on shore, three companies of soldiers saluted
them with three volleys of small arms.

Boone was a man of very different stamp from his predecessors. The
quarrels, intrigues, and self-seeking that had been so disastrous a
feature during the tenure of office of Child, Waite, and Gayer were
abhorrent to him. He was a zealous servant of the Company, whose interests
he did his best to promote with the inadequate means at his disposal. In
coming up the coast he had touched at the places where the Company had
factories, and by the time of his arrival in Bombay he had fully realized
that the pirate question demanded serious treatment.

Bombay was then an open town, only the factory being fortified. Soon after
receiving Bombay from the Crown, the Directors had ordered it to be
fortified, but had refused to employ skilled officers, because "we know
that it is natural to engineers to contrive curiosities that are very
expensive." The only protection to the town was such as was afforded by a
number of martello towers along the shore. Nineteen years before Boone's
time the Muscat Arabs had made a descent on Salsette, ravaging, burning,
and plundering as they pleased, killing the Portuguese priests and
carrying off fourteen hundred captives into slavery. Since then the
formidable power of Angria had arisen, but nothing had been done to
improve the defences of the settlement. Boone's first care was to trace
out an enclosing wall, the building of which was to be paid for by
contributions from the native merchants.

At the same time he set to work to build fighting ships. Within a few
months of his arrival, the _Britannia_, eighteen guns, built at Carwar,
the _Fame_, sixteen guns, built at Surat, and the _Revenge_, sixteen guns,
built at Bombay, were flying the Company's flag. It was easier to build
ships than to get sailors to man them, in view of the miserable pay given
by the Company, and the attractions of service under native chiefs. Many
of the crews were foreigners, who were ready enough to take service with
Angria, if the inclination took them, and the bulk of the crews were
Indian lascars. A few months later, the _Victory_, twenty-four guns, was
launched, and two years after his arrival, Boone had at his disposal a
fine fleet consisting of nineteen frigates, grabs, ketches, gallivats, and
rowing galleys, carrying two hundred and twenty guns, besides a bomb
vessel and a fireship. With such a force much ought to have been
accomplished, but throughout his tenure of office Boone's efforts were
crippled by the incompetency and indiscipline of those on whom he depended
to carry out his designs: while the efficiency of the ships was diminished
by their employment to carry cargoes along the coast.

In March, 1717, Bombay was stirred by the arrival of a private ship, the
_Morning Star_, which had escaped the Beyt pirates after a long and severe
encounter. The affair is described by Hamilton; but he modestly conceals
the fact that he was himself in command of the _Morning Star_, of which he
was chief owner. The ship was on its way from Gombroon to Surat, with a
valuable cargo, of which the pirates had intelligence; and two squadrons
were fitted out to waylay her. On the 20th March she was assailed by eight
pirate ships, the largest of which was of five hundred tons, three others
being of nearly three hundred tons each, and the rest galleys and shybars,
or half-galleys. Between them they carried about two thousand men. On
board the _Morning Star_ there were only six Europeans, a number of native
merchants, and about thirty-five or forty lascars, about half of whom were
trustworthy. The first attack was made by the largest of the pirate ships
alone, and was beaten off with loss to the assailants. In the fight,
Hamilton had his thigh pierced through with a lance. For the rest of that
day and the whole of the following no further attack was made; but the
pirates hung around planning another assault. On the 22nd it was delivered.
The two largest pirates ran the _Morning Star_ aboard, one on her bow and
one on her quarter, while three others poured their crews across the decks
of their comrades. For four hours a desperate combat ensued, the six
vessels being locked together. In the heat of the fight the native
merchants went on board the pirates to try and ransom themselves, and were
accompanied by half the lascars who deserted their commander; only the
Europeans and seventeen lascars remained to fight the ship. She caught
fire in three places, the poop and half-deck being burned through. The two
pirate ships likewise caught fire, which caused them to slacken their
efforts. In the confusion Hamilton managed to disengage his ship, and made
sail; the five pirate ships being so entangled together that they were
unable to pursue, and two of them so injured as to be in a sinking
condition. So Hamilton brought off his ship in safety, after as gallant a
feat of arms as was ever performed. Seven of his men were killed, and
about the same number wounded, and finding no surgeon in Surat, he came on
to Bombay. The native merchants who were carried off by the pirates were
made to pay a ransom of £6000, and brought back word that great slaughter
had been done on the pirates, while their Commodore lost his head, on
returning to Beyt, for allowing so rich a prize to escape.

In April, Boone sent down the _Fame_ and the _Britannia_, under Commodore
Weekes, to attack Vingorla. They carried a company of sepoys under Stanton,
one of the Company's military officers. On the way they were joined by the
_Revenge_, and they also had with them ten or twelve gallivats. Weekes
appears to have been timid and incompetent, while the force was altogether
insufficient for the purpose. Several days were spent in trying to find a
landing-place, without success, on the rocky, surf-beaten shore, while the
fortress was bombarded from different points. A violent quarrel occurred
between Weekes and Stanton, and the expedition returned to Bombay. This
was the first, but not the most serious, of Boone's failures. It was
characteristic of all the warlike expeditions he sent out, that while he
was indefatigable in preparing armaments, all other details requisite to
success were left to chance. The Council resolved that Weekes was unfit to
be Commodore, and deposed him. To fill his place the veteran Alexander
Hamilton, whose recent defence of the _Morning Star_ had shown his
fighting capacity, was induced to relinquish his private trade, and made
Commander-in-Chief of all the Company's frigates on a salary of Rs.80 a
month. His ship, the _Morning Star_, was also hired by the Council.

As soon as the monsoon was over, he was required to conduct an expedition
to relieve the Carwar factory, which was beleaguered by the Sunda Rajah.
The chief of the factory at this time was Mr. George Taylor. In the spring
of 1717, a Bombay merchant's ship carrying an English pass and flying
English colours had been seized by the Rajah, who imprisoned the crew.
Demands for their surrender were being made, when, in May, the _Elizabeth_,
belonging to Mr. Strutt, a private merchant at Surat, with £15,000 worth
of treasure on board, went ashore near Carwar. Before more than half the
treasure could be removed in safety to the factory, the Rajah sent down an
armed force to seize the ship as jetsam, imprisoned the captain and crew,
and laid siege to the factory. So Hamilton was sent down with a small
squadron and some troops. Fortunately the factory was exceptionally well
provisioned. On the 30th August, the _Morning Star_, with five gallivats
and a sloop, arrived off Carwar, and blockaded the harbour till the
arrival of Hamilton and the rest of the force on the 12th September. In
command of the land force was Midford, one of the Company's factors. On
the 13th, the troops were landed, under Midford and Stanton, in a heavy
surf which drove the gallivats[1] on shore and upset them, throwing the
whole party into the water. Midford, with some of his men, struggled on
shore, but Stanton was taken out of the water senseless.[2] In the midst
of this scene of confusion they were suddenly charged by the Rajah's
horsemen. Half drowned, undisciplined, and with their ammunition spoiled
by water, they could make only a feeble resistance. Midford and his
English Serjeant, Hill, were desperately wounded and made prisoners,
together with five Europeans and forty-seven topasses, while sixty men
were killed and two gallivats lost. The wretched topasses had their noses
cut off, five European heads were stuck up in derision before the factory,
while Midford and Hill were alternately cajoled and threatened to induce
them to take service with the Rajah.

In consequence of this disaster, the factory sued for peace, but the
Rajah's terms were so humiliating that they were rejected, and it was
decided to await further reinforcements from Bombay; but two months
elapsed before their arrival. Meanwhile, a post of four hundred men was
established on shore to guard the water-supply required for daily use.
This gave rise to a skirmish, which put some heart into the invaders.
Early one morning the post was attacked by the enemy, who found, to their
surprise, that they had come under fire of the guns of some small vessels
Hamilton had anchored close inshore. After an hour's cannonade, they broke
and fled, pursued by the party on shore, who accounted for some two
hundred of them. Encouraged by this success, Stanton continued to harass
the Rajah by small night attacks, and by burning some of his villages,
while at sea they did him more damage by intercepting his ships laden with
salt and other necessaries, and especially three, bringing Arab horses
from Muscat; though the captors were much troubled in providing water and
provender for them. Meanwhile, the factory, which was five or six miles up
the river, on the north bank, continued to be invested, and in order to
prevent any communication with the squadron, a boom was laid across the
river, commanded by a battery on the south side. In spite of this,
communication was kept up through the Portuguese factory, and, more than
once, Lieutenant Forbes contrived to pass in and out in a rowing-boat, but
it was impossible to send in provisions.

About this time we find Hamilton reporting to Bombay--

    "The recruits from Goa had a skirmish at break of day, on 28[th]
    September, with the enemy, wherein they behaved themselves bravely,
    but that on an attempt to burn some villages afterwards, they advised
    the enemy of it, and deserted with some arms and granadoes."

At last the looked-for reinforcements arrived from Bombay, under Captain
Gordon, raising the whole strength of the expedition to 2250 men,
including seamen, and a landing in force was determined on. Two of the
prizes had been equipped as floating batteries, with shot-proof bulwarks,
and were laid ashore to engage the Rajah's batteries. At four o'clock in
the morning of the 16th November, 1250 men were put ashore, under Gordon,
without hindrance from the enemy, who were ready to take to flight before
such a force. Gordon's idea was to advance in a hollow square, which, in
spite of Hamilton's sneer at him as a 'freshwater land officer,' was a
good enough formation in the circumstances; but so much time was consumed
in getting the men into the required formation, owing to the inexperience
and want of discipline among both officers and men, that the enemy took
heart again and advanced to meet them. When the square at last moved
forward, with Gordon at their head, they were met with a hot fire, and
Gordon was a mark for every aim. Before long he fell, shot in the breast,
and Captain Smith, 'commonly called Old Woman,' on whom the command
devolved, at once gave the word to retreat. According to Hamilton, 'he
pulled off his red coat and vanished.' The Rajah's horsemen charged down,
sword in hand, on the disordered ranks; the men threw down their arms and
fled to the boats, leaving some two hundred and fifty of their number dead
on the field. Fortunately, the floating batteries covered the embarkation,
and prevented the enemy, who had suffered some loss, from gathering the
spoils of the fallen. Eighty seamen were sent on shore, and brought back
about two hundred muskets that had been thrown away in flight, most of
them loaded. Thus ingloriously ended the attempts at landing.

The factory was by this time reduced to great straits for food, and this
fresh disaster made peace imperative; the Rajah, in spite of his success
so far, was anxious to come to an accommodation. The expense of
maintaining so many armed men threatened to ruin him; the sea blockade and
the detention of the horses were events on which he had not reckoned: and,
worse still, his northern borders were harried by the Sow Bajah, 'which
made him incline very much towards a peace:' so an agreement was quickly
arrived at, and, on the 29th November, peace was proclaimed on easy terms
for both parties. The expedition had cost the Company Rs.68,372 in hard
cash. The inability of the landing force to advance beyond range of the
ships' guns bears witness to their military incapacity.

His short experience of six months under the Company had completely
disgusted Alexander Hamilton. Immediately on his return to Bombay he
resigned his post as Commander-in-Chief of their ships-of-war, and resumed
business as a private trader. His relations with the military officers
during the expedition appear to have been satisfactory, but against Taylor,
the head of the Carwar factory, he formulated a series of charges,
accusing him of having been the cause of the trouble with the Rajah,
through his indiscretion and bad faith. Taylor retaliated by accusing
Hamilton of not having taken proper measures to relieve the factory. The
Council investigated the charges, and contented themselves with cautioning
Taylor to behave better in future.

The unfortunate topasses, who had had their noses cut off, were formed
into a company of marines, and had their pay augmented to Rs.5 a month.[3]
In this odd way the Bombay Marine Battalion appears to have had its origin.

We get some idea of the Sunda Rajahs of the period in a letter from Carwar,
dated the 20th January, 1698.

    "He" (the Sunda Rajah) "is so excessive craving after money, that he
    is about sacrificing twelve men and twelve women with child, to get
    two pots of treasure which one of his magicians tells him lies buried
    near his palace."

While these events were taking place at Carwar, Boone found himself
involved in trouble with Angria. For some time after the treaty made by
Aislabie, Angria had respected Bombay trading ships, but of late he had
begun to show his teeth again. In the beginning of 1716 he had made prize
of a Company's boat in sight of the harbour, and of another belonging to a
private merchant. Four private ships from Mahim, valued at 30,000
xeraphims, were also captured by him, and his ships trading to Bombay
refused to pay harbour dues. While Hamilton was engaged at Carwar, Angria's
fleet attacked and took the _Success_, East Indiaman, on its way from
Surat. With an impoverished exchequer, a force weakened and disorganized
by the Carwar adventure, and no ammunition in his magazine, Boone found
himself in no condition to take active measures for the present.

In the vain hope of bringing Angria to reason, a letter of expostulation
was written, which met with a hostile response, quickly followed by the
capture of the _Otter_, a Bengal ship. A second letter of defiance was
received, so, on the 7th May, in spite of inadequate resources, the
Council resolved on striking a blow. An expedition against Gheriah was
determined on, and twenty gallivats were sent down, manned with sepoys, to
retake, if possible, the captured vessels, "if they were attacked, to
repel force by force, and if possible plunder his country." The official
record of the expedition is as follows:--

    _4th June_.--Two gallivats returned having plundered a town in Angria's
    country, and brought away sixteen prisoners.

    _9th June_.--Returned our gallivats, having by mismanagement of the
    chief officer lost about fifty men and destroyed one town of Angria's.

Downing, who was present, gives an account of the attack on Gheriah,
though he makes a mistake as to the date. As it is the only account we
have of what took place, it will be better to give it in his own words.

    "On the 10th of the same instant the President reviewed the land
    forces on shore, and saw all things put in good and sufficient order.
    Major Vane, chief engineer for the Company, had tried all the mortars
    and coehorns, then fitted and stocked for the expedition. Mr. John
    Minims was appointed chief engineer for the direction of these mortars
    and coehorns, which did great service. We proceeded down the coast for
    Gerey, which is not above twelve hours' sail from Bombay, where we
    with all our navy soon arrived, and run boldly into the harbour.
    Captain Berlew (Bellew?) Commodore, and ranged a line from the
    eastermost part of the fortifications to the outer part of the harbour.
    Keeping all our small galleys and galleywats on the off-side under
    shelter. But they had strong fortifications on both sides; so that we
    left our strongest ships in the harbour, to make a breach in the walls,
    in order to storm the castle. The rocks were very high, and so
    slippery that one could hardly stand without a staff, and consequently
    not a place convenient to draw men up in any posture of defence. We
    endeavoured to get the fireship in, but could not; for on the east
    part of the fort they had a cove or creek, where they had laid up a
    great part of their fleet, and had got a strong boom across the same;
    so that we could not annoy them any otherwise than by throwing our
    bombs and coehorns very thick into the garrison, which we did for a
    considerable time, and were in hopes after the first and second day's
    siege, that we should have drove them out of that strong castle, but
    we soon found that the place was impregnable. For as we kept throwing
    our shells as fast as we could in regular time, cooling our chambers
    before we loaded again; after we had beat over two or three houses in
    the castle, the shells fell on the rocks in the inside the castle, and
    their weight and force of falling would break them without so much as
    their blowing up.... As to storming the walls, they were so high that
    our scaling ladders would not near reach the top of them...."

    "After the second day we landed all our forces, taking the opportunity
    of the tide.... We got them all on shore, and marched up the country,
    without molestation; only now and then the castle would let fly a shot
    or two, which did us small damage. We attempted to march the army down
    to their shipping, and to set them on fire; but when we came within a
    mile of the place the land was all swampy, and so very muddy by the
    spring tides flowing over that we could not proceed. On our retreat
    they galled us very much by firing from the castle, we being obliged
    to come near the castle walls to take our forces off again. Here the
    gallant Captain Gordon was slightly wounded again.... I question
    whether there were a hundred men in the castle during the time of the
    siege...."

    "We drew off our forces on the 18th April, and went up to Bombay to
    repair our frigates and take care of our wounded men, of whom we had a
    considerable number."

In no way discouraged by the failure, Boone at once set to work to prepare
for a fresh attack on Angria. This time it was determined that Kennery,
within sight of Bombay harbour, should be the object of attack, and all
through the monsoon preparations were made.


[1] Galleywats, or gallivats, were large rowing-boats with two masts, of
    forty to seventy tons, and carrying four to eight guns.

[2] In a letter, three years later, on the conduct of military officers,
    it is stated that "Stanton was drunk the time he should have gone upon
    action at Carwar."

[3] Bombay Consultations, 22nd January, 1718.



CHAPTER V

_THE COMPANY'S SERVANTS_

The Company's civil servants--Their comparison with English who went to
America--Their miserable salaries--The Company's military servants--
Regarded with distrust--Shaxton's mutiny--Captain Keigwin--Broken pledges
and ill-treatment--Directors' vacillating policy--Military grievances--
Keigwin seizes the administration of Bombay--His wise rule--Makes his
submission to the Crown--Low status of Company's military officers--Lord
Egmont's speech--Factors and writers as generals and colonels--Bad quality
of the common soldiers--Their bad treatment--Complaint against Midford--
Directors' parsimony.


It may be useful here to consider the difference in the men sent out, by
England, to the East and West Indies during the seventeenth and part of
the eighteenth centuries. To the West Indies went out representatives of
the landed gentry from every county in England. Charters were obtained
from the Crown, conferring estates, and sometimes whole islands, on men of
ancient families. Slaves were cheap, and sugar cultivation brought in
great wealth; the whole machinery of English life was reproduced in the
tropics--counties, parishes; sheriffs, rectories, tithes, an established
church, etc. The same causes that sent the Cavaliers to Virginia, sent a
smaller migration to the West Indies. At the Restoration, the men who had
conquered Jamaica for Cromwell were unwilling to return to England.
Monmouth's rebellion and the expulsion of the Stuarts produced a fresh
influx. But, whether Cavaliers or Roundheads or Jacobites, they came from
the landholding class in England. The evidence may still be read in old
West Indian graveyards, where the crumbling monuments show the carefully
engraved armorial bearings, and the inscriptions record the families and
homes in England from which those whom they commemorate had sprung.

In the East Indies nothing of the kind was possible. The acquisition of
land for agriculture was out of the question. Trade was the only opening,
and that was monopolized by the Company. Except as a servant of the
Company, an Englishman had no legal status in the East. The chief profits
went to the shareholders in London. If at the end of twenty-five years or
so a Company's servant could return to England with a few thousands made
by private trade, he was a fortunate man. Private traders and a few of the
governors were alone able to make fortunes. The shaking of the pagoda tree
did not begin till after Plassey. The result was that the men who went to
India were of a totally different class from those who went to America and
the West Indies; they were young men from small trading families in London,
Greenwich, and Deptford, or from seaport towns like Bristol and Plymouth.
Among them were some restless and adventurous spirits who found life in
England too tame or too burdensome. For such men India was long regarded
as a useful outlet. "If you cannot devise expedients to send contributions,
or procure credit, all is lost, and I must go to the Indies," wrote
William the Third, in bitter humour, at a desperate crisis in his affairs.
Fryer tells us (1698) how the Company had entertained Bluecoat boys as
apprentices for seven years, after which time they were to be made writers,
if able to furnish the required security. The salaries they received from
the Company were only nominal. A Bombay pay-list of January, 1716, shows
us the official salaries at that time. The Governor received £300 per
annum. Next to him came eight merchants, who with him constituted the
Council, and received respectively, one £100, one £70, two £50, and four
£40 each. Below them came three senior factors at £30 each, three junior
factors at £15, and seven writers at £5.[1] The tale is completed by the
accountant and the chaplain, who received £100 each. A writer on entering
the service had to find security for £500, which was increased to £1000
when he rose to be a factor. The unmarried servants of the Company were
lodged at the Company's expense; the married ones received a lodging
allowance, and a public table was maintained. In fact, the Company treated
them as if they were apprentices in a warehouse in St. Paul's Churchyard,
and, when the conditions of their service are taken into account, it is
not surprising that there was a considerable amount of dishonesty among
them. These conditions apart, they were neither worse nor better than the
men of their time. As the original Company gained stability by the
incorporation of its upstart rival established in 1698,[2] which put an
end to a condition of affairs that promised to be ruinous to both, and by
the grant of perpetuity issued in the year following incorporation, there
was a gradual improvement in the quality of their civil servants. Though
no increase in the salaries of junior officers took place for many years
afterwards, the greater facilities opened to them, for trade, attracted
better men into the service, among them some cadets of good family.

Miserable as was the display of military incompetency at Carwar and on
subsequent occasions, it is hardly surprising when the condition of the
Company's soldiers is considered. The Company's policy was to keep
officers and men in a state of degrading subjection; to prevent the
officers from having any authority over their men, while pledges as to pay
were often broken.

When the Company first received Bombay from the Crown, the royal troops in
the island were invited to remain in the Company's service on the same
rank and pay, on the condition that they might resign when they pleased--a
condition that made discipline impossible. The greater number of them
accepted the terms. Two years later, a company was sent out under Captain
Shaxton to fill vacancies. Shaxton was evidently a man of good abilities
and position; one who had been trained in the stern military school of the
civil wars. He was to be a factor in addition to his military command, and
if, after trial, his qualifications would admit of it, he was to hold the
office of Deputy Governor. The men were engaged for three years.

By the time he had been two years in Bombay, Shaxton found that, under the
penurious rule of the Company, efficiency was impossible, while the two
European companies maintained for the defence of the island could only be
kept up to strength by filling the vacancies with natives. Four years
later,[3] a mutiny broke out, in which Shaxton supported the demands of
his men. They complained that a month's pay, promised to them on
engagement, was due to them, and claimed their discharge, as their time of
service had expired. President Aungier behaved with prudence and firmness.
He pacified the men by granting their demands, and brought the ringleaders
to trial by court-martial. Three of them were condemned to death, of whom
one, Corporal Fake, was shot, and the other two pardoned. Shaxton was then
brought to trial, found guilty of some of the charges, and sent to England
for punishment according to the King's pleasure.

Two years later a troop of horse was formed, and sent out under Captain
Richard Keigwin, who was to command the garrison on a salary of £120 a
year. Keigwin was a man of good Cornish family, who had entered the King's
navy in 1665, and taken part in Monk's memorable four days' battle against
the Dutch in the following year. When St. Helena was recaptured from the
Dutch (1673), he had distinguished himself in command of the boats that
made the attack, and was left as Governor of the island till it was taken
over by the East India Company. As a reward for his services, the Company
made him their military commandant at Bombay. Two years later again, the
Company, in a fit of economy, reduced their military establishment to two
lieutenants, two ensigns, and one hundred and eighty-eight rank and file.
The troop of horse was disbanded, Keigwin was discharged from the service,
and thirty soldiers, who had been detached to Surat to defend the factory
against Sivajee, were refused any extra allowance, which caused much
discontent. Before long the Directors became alarmed at the defenceless
state of Bombay, and sent out Keigwin again with troops and artillery, to
have the chief military command and the third seat in Council. To meet the
expense, the other officers were made to suffer in rank and pay, and the
whole of the small force fell into a dangerous state of discontent. Among
other reductions in the pay of their military force, the Directors reduced
the rate of exchange, a measure that affected the men as well as the
officers; and, not content with making these changes prospective, insisted
that the officers should refund the surplus of what they had received.
Keigwin also had his personal grievance. He claimed subsistence money,
like the rest of the merchants and factors, the Company's table having
been abolished.[4] After much altercation, a grant was made to him, on the
condition that it would have to be refunded if disallowed by the Directors.
He was sick of the Company, with their greed and their selfish economies
at the expense of their servants, their broken pledges and stupid changes
of policy in military affairs, the intrigues of Sir John Child at Surat,
and the schemes of his brother, Sir Josiah Child, in England. Like many
other Englishmen, he considered the Company was an anomaly, dangerous to
the authority of the Crown, and his distrust was increased by the
mismanagement and corruption that existed among their servants in the East.

On the 27th December, 1683, he seized Mr. Ward, the Deputy Governor, and
such of the Council as sided with him, assembled the troops, and issued a
proclamation declaring the Company's authority at an end, and that the
island was henceforth under the King's protection. By general consent he
was elected Governor, and at once proceeded to restore order. The troops
and inhabitants were called on to take an oath of allegiance to the King,
and to renounce their obedience to the Company, a demand that was
universally complied with. Officials were appointed, grievances were
redressed, and trade was encouraged, to be carried on without molestation
so long as Keigwin's authority was not challenged. Money arriving from
England was lodged in the fort, with a declaration that it would be
employed only in defence of the island, and letters were addressed by
Keigwin to the King and the Duke of York, stating his determination to
hold the island for the King till his Majesty's pleasure should be known,
together with the causes that had led to the revolt; one of them being the
necessity of preserving it from becoming a conquest to the native powers.

Never had Bombay been so well governed as it was during the eleven months
of Keigwin's rule. The Seedee sent a friendly deputation to him. From the
Rajah of Satara he obtained confirmation of the articles agreed on by
Sivajee, a grant for the establishment of factories at Cuddalore and
Thevenapatam, an exemption from duties in the Carnatic, and the payment of
twelve thousand pagodas in compensation for losses sustained at different
places formerly plundered by the Mahrattas. There was no disorder or
bloodshed; the only thing of the kind that has been recorded being a wound
received by Keigwin himself in a quarrel at table. So great was the
enthusiasm for Keigwin, that when, first commissioners, and then Sir John
Child himself, came from Surat to try and re-establish the Company's
authority, it was with difficulty that the crews of their vessels could be
prevented from joining Keigwin and his adherents.[5] It was well for the
Company that he was a man of solid character and not an adventurer. On the
arrival of Sir Thomas Grantham from England in November, 1684, Keigwin
surrendered the island to him, as a King's officer, on condition of a free
pardon for himself and his associates, and proceeded to England.[6] The
Company's treasure was intact, and, except for the dangerous spirit
against the Company that had been aroused, Bombay was in a better state
than it had been at the time of the revolt.

After this the Company decided to have nothing more to do with
professional soldiers. It was the time when the great feeling of hostility
to a standing army was growing up in England, under the mischievous
preaching of agitators, which reached its height thirteen years later.
They took into their service men of low origin, devoid of military
training, who would have no influence over their men, and who would submit
to any treatment. Boone, writing to the Directors in 1720, says--

    "It is well known the Company's servants, in all the settlements I
    have been in, seldom keep company with the military, especially the
    Council. Now and then they may invite one to take a dinner, which is a
    favour; but the men which he distinguishes are not company for your
    second."


The social status of the Company's officers appears later, when an Act was
passed to extend the Mutiny Act to the East Indies and St. Helena, in
consequence of the Company's right to exercise martial law having been
questioned. In opposing the bill, the Earl of Egmont said--

    "If I am rightly informed, there are some of the Company's officers of
    a very low character. One of them was formerly a trumpeter at a raree
    show in this country, and when he was discharged that honourable
    service he listed himself in the Company's service as a common soldier,
    and I suppose was made an officer by one of those governors for
    trumpeting to him better than any other man could do it in the country.
    Another, I am told, was a low sort of barber--one of our
    shave-for-a-penny barbers--here in London. And another of
    them was a butcher here, and when he is not upon duty I am
    told he still exercises his trade there. Can we think that such
    officers will not be despised by gentlemen who have the honour to
    bear his Majesty's commission?"

He based his opposition to the bill on the unfitness of the Company's
officers to exercise authority, and to the bad relations sure to arise
between them and the King's officers.[7]

In quarters they were not allowed to give any orders to their men, or to
have any control over them, the most trivial matters being kept in the
hands of the merchants and factors. To such an extent was this carried,
that for fifty years afterwards no military officer was allowed to give
out the parole and countersign.[8] Their only duties were to command the
men when under arms. Commissions were granted and taken away by the
Council without reference to the Directors.

Under such treatment there could be neither self-respect nor pride in
their profession. Of their general behaviour, we may gather some idea
from an entry concerning Lieutenant Parker at this time. He was arraigned
before the Council for drinking, brawling with his men, and frequenting
base houses, for which the Council deprived him of his commission; but as
he was 'an extraordinary person in disciplining (drilling) soldiers,' he
was appointed adjutant of the regiment till he should give a specimen of
improved behaviour. When there was fighting to be done, the command was
taken by factors and writers, who were given temporary commissions as
captains, colonels, etc. Midford, Brown, Cowan, and others we hear of in
command of troops, were only soldiers for the occasion. So far back as
1676 the Directors had enjoined on their civil servants to acquire a
knowledge of military discipline, that in the event of any sudden attack
they might bear arms. Clive was far from being the first of the Company's
servants to lay down the pen for the sword, but he was the first to do so
permanently.

The inferior quality of the Company's officers through the first half of
the century is reflected in the fact that among the many who distinguished
themselves in the hard fighting that went on from 1751 to 1764, we find
only two who had not graduated in the King's service. These were Clive,
who entered the Company's service as a writer, and Preston, who was sent
to India as a civil engineer. Of the Company's purely military officers we
hear little or nothing.

The men were worse than the officers. Instead of the sturdy agricultural
labourers and farmers' sons that filled the ranks of the King's regiments,
they were 'the refuse of the vilest employments in London,' as Orme
described them fifty years later; 'the worst of their kind,' according to
Clive. Of all nationalities, ages, and colours, badly armed, badly fed,
and badly paid, they were almost without discipline. The native chiefs
vied with each other in getting Europeans into their service, so that none
but the most wretched would stay to serve the Company. At the best they
were only factory guards, and maintained for purposes of escort and
display; and it was always the Company's practice to retain officers and
men in their service up to any age. On one occasion we find Boone writing
to the Directors that 'it would not do to disgust the men too much.'
Miserable as was their pay of sixteen laris[9] a month, we find them
complaining to the Council that Midford had kept back two laris a month
from each man. To which Midford replied that he never received nor took
any more profit from the soldiers than what other officers did, all
through the island of Bombay; with which answer the Council was apparently
satisfied. The real grievance of the men appears to have been that Midford,
not being a military officer, was not entitled to make the deduction. The
Directors were careful in enjoining that powder was not to be wasted at
exercise; "but sometimes the men must be used to firing, lest in time of
action they should start at the noise or the recoil of their arms." To
bring such officers and men into the field was to invite disaster.
Soldiers are not made by dressing men in uniform and putting muskets into
their hands.

[Illustration: Map]


[1] According to the Company's instructions in 1675, writers were to
    receive no salary at all for the first five years, and after that £10
    a year. In 1699 the Court of Directors settled the salaries of
    merchants at £60, factors at £40, and writers at £20 per annum (Bruce);
    but in 1716 the salaries were as above stated.

[2] The London Company and the English East India Company were amalgamated
    in 1708.

[3] 1674.

[4] It was afterwards re-established, and again abolished in Boone's time.

[5] Bombay was subordinate to the Surat factory till 1685.

[6] Four years after returning to England, Keigwin was given the command
    of a frigate. In 1690 he accompanied the expedition against the French
    in the West Indies, and fell at the head of his men in the assault of
    Basseterre, St. Christopher's.--_Dic. Nat. Bio_.

[7] Hansard, 1754.

[8] The first General Order issued by the Commander-in-Chief in Madras was
    dated the 22nd November, 1772.

[9] The lari was the well-known hook money of the Persian Gulf. It was
    worth about sixpence.



CHAPTER VI

_EXPEDITION AGAINST KENNERY_

Sivajee's occupation of Kennery--A naval action--Minchin and
Keigwin--Bombay threatened--The Seedee intervenes--Conajee Angria
occupies Kennery--Boone sails with the expedition--Manuel de
Castro--Futile proceedings--Force landed and repulsed--Second
landing--Manuel de Castro's treachery--Gideon Russell--Bad behaviour
of two captains--Defeat--Attack abandoned--The _St. George_--The
_Phram_--Manuel de Castro punished--Bombay wall completed--Angria
makes overtures for peace--Boone outwitted.


The islet of Kennery, about ten miles from the mouth of the harbour, and
three from the mainland, had long been a thorn in the side of Bombay trade.
At the time of the first occupation of Bombay it was uninhabited. In 1679
it was suddenly occupied by Sivajee, who began to fortify it. The danger
of this to Bombay was at once seen, and part of the garrison was sent in
small vessels, afterwards reinforced by the _Revenge_, frigate, to
intercept the communication between Kennery and the mainland. On the 18th
October, the Mahratta fleet bore down and engaged. In half an hour the
_Dove_, grab, hauled down its colours and was captured, and all the
smaller vessels made sail for Bombay, leaving the _Revenge_, like its more
famous namesake, alone amidst its foes. Fortunately, there were on board
two sturdy Englishmen, Minchin, the Company's commodore, and Keigwin, the
commander of the garrison. Undismayed by the odds against them, Minchin
and Keigwin gallantly fought their ship; all attempts at boarding were
repelled with loss, five of the Mahratta gallivats were sunk, and, at last,
the whole Mahratta fleet took to flight, pursued by the _Revenge_, and
sought refuge in the shallow waters at the mouth of the Negotna river. Two
days later, they came out again, but found Keigwin and Minchin so ready to
engage, that they desisted from the attempt to reach Kennery. In this way,
for some time, a partial blockade of the Negotna river was maintained by
the _Revenge_, which had been reinforced by the _Hunter_ frigate, and a
number of small vessels from Bombay. In spite of all efforts, a few
Mahratta vessels from time to time evaded the blockade, and kept Kennery
supplied with provisions and arms. This unexpected opposition from a
company of traders stirred Sivajee to settle the matter by an attack on
Bombay, which was in no condition to make any resistance. He marched five
thousand men to Kalyan, and demanded permission, of the Portuguese, to
land at Thana and march on Bombay. The permission was refused, but the
Bombay Council were so alarmed lest the Portuguese should ultimately give
way, that they opened negotiations with Sivajee. Meanwhile, his seizure of
Kennery had alarmed the Seedee, who sent his fleet into Bombay harbour,
and offered his co-operation to the President, who accepted it with some
misgivings. Before long, it was discovered that the Seedee intended to
keep Kennery for himself, if he could capture it, which seemed to the
Council as bad as if it were in Sivajee's hands, so the English squadron
held aloof, while the struggle for Kennery continued between the Seedee
and the Mahrattas. Sivajee was too much occupied with other matters to
trouble about Bombay, and in March, 1680, a treaty of peace was made. His
struggle with the Seedee for the possession of Kennery went on, with
results that are not recorded; but eventually both parties appear to have
left the place to itself. In 1710, Conajee Angria seized the islet and
fortified it.

By the end of October all was ready. The ships from England, with the
merchandise and money for the yearly investment, had arrived, and joined
in the expedition. In order to put an end to the quarrels among commanders
that had marked the failure of former expeditions, Boone resolved to take
the command himself; so, on the 1st November, he hoisted his flag on board
the _Addison_, East Indiaman, having with him Mr. Walter Brown and other
factors and writers. There was at this time in the service a renegade
Portuguese, one Manuel de Castro, who had been in Angria's service before
Boone had given him employment. He had been present at Hamilton's attack
on Carwar, when his misbehaviour had been such as to make all present
distrust him. By his boasts of his knowledge of Angria's harbours he had
gained the confidence of the Council, and had been appointed Commodore of
the Company's gallivats. But several of the English captains refused to
serve under him, protesting that they knew his character better than the
Governor did; so Boone contented himself by giving him command of only
five gallivats. On the 2nd, the squadron weighed anchor, and, on the
following day anchored off Kennery. It consisted of the _Addison_ and
_Dartmouth_, East Indiamen, the _Victoria_ frigate, the _Revenge_ and
_Defiance_ grabs, the _Fame_ galley, the _Hunter_ ketch, two bombketches,
and forty-eight gallivats. On the 6th they were joined by the _Morrice_,
and on the 12th by the _Stanhope_, East Indiamen. Directly after anchoring,
a futile bombardment was opened on the Kennery fort, but the distance was
so great that nothing was effected but waste of ammunition. The ships then
stood in closer, and opened fire again, while the _Dartmouth_ ran in and
fired several broadsides. While this was going on, the _Victory_ and
_Revenge_ were signalled to attack two grabs that were seen coming out of
the harbour; but, on fourteen gallivats coming out to assist the grabs,
they were recalled. The 4th was spent in preparations for a landing, and
the gallivats rowed round the island to choose a landing-place. It was
finally arranged that the soldiers and marines should land to windward,
while the sepoys, covered by the fire of grabs and gallivats, should land
at the opposite side of the Island, to leeward. But when the moment
arrived, next morning, the sepoys absolutely refused to land, in spite of
the severest measures.[1] The soldiers and marines, three hundred in
number, landed, but were beaten back with a loss of eighteen killed and
fifty wounded, "more by ye force of stones hoven from ye rocks than fier
arms." Some loss was occasioned by the bursting of a gun on board one of
the gallivats. Manuel de Castro, with his squadron of gallivats, had been
ordered to lie off the mouth of the harbour and prevent reinforcements
reaching Kennery. Notwithstanding, he allowed five of Angria's gallivats
to slip in with ammunition and provisions for the besieged, of which they
were believed to stand much in need.

The 6th was occupied in making preparations for another attack, and
volunteers were called for from among the sailors, for which service they
were to receive forty rupees each, which, at the existing rate of exchange,
was reckoned equal to five pounds sterling. The loss of a leg or arm was
to be recompensed by a sum of £30 on return to England, and employment for
life under the Company. The married men were promised, if killed, that
their widows should receive £30, with £10 for each child. These offers
procured some forty volunteers, who were to be led by Gideon Russell, mate
of the _Morrice_.

Early next morning the attacking party were put into the boats, to land
under cover of the fire of the _Britannia_, _Fame_ and _Revenge_; when it
was found that a strong current prevented disembarkation, and the boats
were forced to lie off under a heavy fire, until the tide changed. To make
matters worse, Manuel de Castro ran two of his gallivats ashore under the
guns of the castle, so that fifty or sixty men were killed or wounded
before a landing was effected. At ten o'clock the boats pulled for the
landing-place; but the tide was still running so strongly that they were
thrown into confusion, and many of the attacking party never landed at all.
The sepoys again refused to land. A small party of seamen, headed by
Gideon Russell, attacked the gateway under a shower of shot and stones,
and, before long, Russell fell, grievously wounded. He was carried back to
the _Morrice_, where he died next day. The seamen continued their attack
under Clement Downing, backed by Major Stanton, Captain Coxsidge, and the
soldiers. John Steele, the carpenter's mate of the _Morrice_, with his
broad axe hewed at the gate and nearly effected an entrance, when the
cowardice of two of Stanton's captains caused the attack to miscarry. One
of them threw down his sword, which was carried to Boone, who, on return
to Bombay, ordered him to be broke at the head of the garrison. The other,
somewhat more courageous, came boldly up to the gate and fired his pistol;
but the bullet rebounded and struck him on the nose; upon which he ordered
the drums to beat a retreat, and the soldiers got back to the boats,
leaving a small handful of seamen to prosecute the attack. These, in turn,
seeing the hopelessness of any further attempts, retreated to their boats,
and rowed off under a heavy fire, leaving many wounded to be massacred by
the enemy. It was the old story, repeated so often on these occasions; a
badly planned attack carried out half-heartedly by undisciplined men,
under one or two resolute leaders; as soon as the leaders were disabled,
the rest retreated with more or less loss.

A desultory bombardment was continued for some days, and some shots were
fired against Colaba; but Kennery was now well provided with ammunition,
and could return two shots for every one fired by the Bombay squadron. On
the 11th, Angria sent a flag of truce to offer terms, which were rejected.
On the 14th, Boone returned to Bombay in the _Dartmouth_, seeing that
nothing more could be effected, and, on the 24th, the whole squadron made
sail for Bombay, after exhausting all their ammunition. Their return seems
to have been hastened by the appearance of Angria's fleet from Gheriah,
which had Bombay for a time at its mercy.

The failure of the attack on Kennery, under his own eyes, taught Boone
that, without some assistance from England, he could hope to accomplish
little against Angria, whose ships now lay off the harbour, making it
difficult for trading vessels to go in or out. Three times the _Morrice_
got under way, and three times had to return, before she could start on
her return voyage to Europe. In consequence of Boone's representations,
the Directors sent out the _St. George_, a sixty-gun ship, to act as a
guardship for the harbour. Her arrival only served to show the
incompetency of many of the Company's naval officers at that time. In
laying the ship on shore to scour its bottom after the voyage from England,
its back was broken, and the _St. George_ became a total wreck.

Meanwhile, with an eye to a future campaign against Angria's strongholds,
Boone set to work to build a floating battery. The _Phram_, as it was
called, was designed with shot-proof sides to carry twelve 48-pdrs.; but,
as will appear before long, its fate was as ignominious as that of the _St.
George_.

His own observation had convinced Boone of the treachery of Manuel de
Castro. On his return to Bombay, the renegade was put in irons, and
shipped off to St. Helena. There he was detected in fomenting a mutiny
among the convicts and slaves. He was deported, and before long made his
way back into Angria's service.

Meanwhile, the wall round the town, the building of which had been one of
Boone's earliest projects, was nearing completion. It was built entirely,
or almost entirely, by contributions from the native merchants, and Boone
reported to the Directors that, when the whole space was built over, the
ground-rents would realize Rs.8890 a year for the Company's treasury. The
church also, the building of which had been started by Aislabie, was
finished about this time. The original chapel inside the factory was no
longer able to accommodate the increasing English population, besides
being in a ruinous condition.

Like other chiefs along the coast, the Bombay authorities gave passes to
traders living under their protection, and in their warfare with Angria
they had adopted the practice of other chiefs, of not recognizing the
immunity of vessels that did not carry passes from themselves. We find at
this time the Kattiawar traders complaining of two ships having been
seized that held protective passes from Angria. In reply they were told
that they must have English passes. The Company was at war with Angria,
and his power was increased by those who paid him for protection. So, like
all neutrals, they had to suffer in a war with which they had no concern.

Apprehensive of a fresh attack after the monsoon, Angria opened delusive
negotiations for a treaty of peace, through his feudal lord, Sahoojee.
Boone was regularly taken in, and announced with satisfaction, to the
Directors, that a treaty had been made, under which Angria contracted to
restore all ships and vessels he had taken, except the _Success_, which
was hopelessly decayed, for which he was to pay Rs.10,000, or to restore
goods to that amount. In lieu of captured cargoes he was to pay Rs.50,000,
or to give goods of equal value, and within two years he was to pay
Rs.10,000 more, for which payment Sahoojee undertook to be surety. Boone
reported that he had captured from Angria prizes to the value of Rs.9785,
which, together with the above payment, and a two-per-cent. war-tax on the
people of Bombay, would go some way to recoup the Company for their losses
and the cost of the expeditions. Altogether, the prospects of increased
trade were brighter, but, so long as Angria held Colaba, he considered
there could be no permanent peace. He was soon undeceived. As soon as
Angria saw that he was safe from attack for another season, he repudiated
the treaty, and by the beginning of the new year his piratical doings were
renewed.


[1] "Killed and wounded several of them, but all to no purpose."--_Log of
    the Addison_.



CHAPTER VII

_EXPEDITION AGAINST GHERIAH_

Trouble with the Portuguese--Madagascar pirates again--Loss of the
_Cassandra_--Captain Macrae's brave defence--The one-legged pirate--Richard
Lazenby--Expedition against Gheriah--Mr. Walter Brown--His
incompetency--Gordon's landing--Insubordination and drunkenness--Arrival
of the _Phram_--General attack--Failure--The Kempsant's alliance--Attack
on Deoghur--The Madagascar pirates, England and Taylor--Ignominious
flight--Fate of the _Phram_--Brown despatched south again--The pirates at
Cochin--They take flight to Madagascar--Their rage against Macrae and
England--England marooned--Taylor takes Goa ship--Rich prize--Governor
Macrae.


In addition to other embarrassments, Boone became involved, at this time,
in a quarrel with the Portuguese. The surrender of Bombay to the English
had, from the first, been extremely distasteful to the Goa authorities,
who understood the value of the place better than did the authorities in
Lisbon; and they had so interpreted the treaty that gave Bombay to the
English that, at the time of transfer, they had managed to retain
everything except the island of Bombay. The English had been obliged to
renounce all claim to Salsette and other dependencies of Bombay, or to
exclusive possession of the harbour, and to agree that the Portuguese
residents should be exempted from the payment of customs, and have full
liberty of trade with the Portuguese establishments in Salsette. This last
condition had been repudiated in England, but continued to be claimed by
the Portuguese, who harassed the position of the English by levying duties,
and impeding the passage of supplies, while they gave asylum to deserters
and runaways of all kinds. By the treaty, toleration for the exercise of
the Roman Catholic religion had been secured; and there had remained in
Bombay a large establishment of Franciscan friars, who made no efforts to
conceal their hostility to the Company's government. In addition to other
treacherous acts, Boone had to complain of the friars tampering with his
soldiers and slaves, and encouraging them to desert. In order to put an
end to the evil, he banished all the Portuguese friars, and installed in
their place an Italian bishop and some Italian Carmelite friars. This was
held by the Goa authorities to be an infringement of the rights of the
King of Portugal. In retaliation, all Roman Catholics in Bombay were
forbidden to recognize the authority of the Italian bishop and friars, and
the Portuguese General of the North was ordered to prohibit all
intercourse with Bombay, and to inflict the severest penalties on all
persons 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,
a conciliatory letter was written to Boone by the Viceroy, announcing his
approaching departure. A few days later, the new Viceroy, Francisco José
de Sampaio e Castro, arrived in Goa. While the quarrel was in progress, a
native ship from Surat, bound for Jeddah, was captured off Bassein by a
European pirate ship. This was probably England's ship, _Victory_, of
which we shall hear more directly. The ship and cargo, valued at twelve
lakhs, were carried off, and the passengers and crew put ashore at Malabar
Hill.

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 Johanna
roads, engaged in watering. At anchor, near them, was an Ostend ship that
had called for the same purpose. A few days before, they had received
intelligence that a French pirate, Oliver la Bouche,[2] had run on a reef
off 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, and
the _Fancy_, a Dutch-built ship of twenty-four guns, commanded by Taylor.
Macrae and Kirby prepared to give them a hot reception, the Ostend ship
promising to stand by them. So far were they from simply trying to make
their escape, that they looked forward to the handsome reward the Company
would give them for the capture of the pirates. From what followed it is
easy 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, made
little way. By next morning the pirates had closed, and bore down with a
black flag (skull and crossbones) at the main, a red flag at the fore, and
the cross of St. George at the ensign staff. The _Greenwich_ and the
Ostender, having a better wind than the _Cassandra_, had got some distance
away. In vain Macrae fired gun after gun at the _Greenwich_ to make Kirby
heave to. In a most dastardly way the captain of the _Greenwich_ pursued
his 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 fate
of 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 he
gave the _Victory_ some shots between wind and water, which made England
keep off till he had stopped the leaks. Taylor got out the boats of the
_Fancy_ and tried to tow her alongside, to carry the _Cassandra_ by
boarding, but such good practice was made by the _Cassandra's_ marksmen
that the design was given up. At the end of three hours the _Victory_ had
repaired damages, and was closing again. Macrae had lost so many of his
crew, that, giving up all hope of assistance from Kirby, he determined to
run his ship ashore. The _Fancy_, which drew less water, followed with the
intention of boarding, but got aground within pistol-shot, with her bows
towards the _Cassandra's_ broadside, and the action recommenced hotter
than ever. There the two ships lay, both fast aground, pelting each other
furiously, till the crew of the _Fancy_, finding the _Cassandra's_ fire
too hot for them, left their guns and ran below. Had Kirby come to his
assistance at this moment, Macrae's triumph would have been assured; but
this was the moment chosen by Kirby to bear up and shape his course for
Bombay. England in the _Victory_, seeing that the _Greenwich_ might be
disregarded, sent three boats full of men to reinforce the _Fancy_; by
which time there had been so many killed and wounded on board the
_Cassandra_, that the crew, losing heart, refused to fight the ship any
longer. Thirteen had been killed and twenty-four wounded, among the latter
Macrae himself, who had been struck by a musket ball on the head; so, some
in the long boat and some by swimming reached the shore, leaving on board
three wounded men who could not be moved, and who were butchered by the
pirates.

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 new
ship with £75,000 on board in hard cash, Macrae ventured to open
communications with them. Several among them had sailed with him, and his
reputation for considerate treatment of his men was well known. With all
their faults, they were not all of them men to resent greatly, after their
first fury had cooled, the loss that had been suffered in fair fight; so
England gave him a promise of safety, and he ventured himself among them.
The _Cassandra_ and the _Fancy_ had been floated, and Macrae was
entertained on board his own ship with his own liquors and provisions. His
position was not without danger, as there were many brutal fellows among
the pirates. England, who had a reputation for good treatment of prisoners,
befriended him; but Taylor, whose influence was greatest among the most
brutal of the rovers, insisted he should be made an end of. In the midst
of the quarrel, a fierce-looking fellow with a wooden leg and his belt
full of pistols, intervened, asking with many oaths for Macrae, who
thought his last moment had come.[3] He was pleasantly surprised when the
ruffian took him by the hand, and swore with many oaths that he would make
mince-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. So
the dispute ended. Taylor was plied with punch till he was prevailed on to
consent 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 _Victory_ and 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 days
of terrible sufferings almost naked, half starved, and reduced to a daily
pint of water each, they reached Bombay on the 26th October. It would have
been well for the Company if they had had more captains like Macrae. His
arrival 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. There
is 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 at
Cochin, who bought their plunder, supplied them with provisions, and gave
them information of armed ships to be avoided, and rich prizes to be
intercepted. Those who wished to retire from the trade were given passages
to Europe with their ill-gotten gains, in French ships; and finally, after
witnessing 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 of
the Fleet, and Commander-in-Chief of all the forces." On the 13th
September anchor was weighed, and on the morning of the 19th they arrived
off Gheriah. At Dabul, where they had called in for news, they learned
that the _Phram_ and the _Chandos_ might soon be expected, but that there
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 _Victory_ frigate,
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 the
place at night. One shell and one carcass were fired, neither of which
went halfway, by reason of the mortars being so faultily constructed that
the chambers could not contain a sufficient charge of powder. 'This
misfortune 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 surprise
it at daylight. The officers protested against the scheme; they justly
remarked that it would be folly to make such an attack before the arrival
of the whole force. The _Phram_ and 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 town
which must be taken before the fort could be attacked. Such a proposal was
not likely to increase their confidence in Brown. Sickness had already set
in among the troops, and that evening Captain Jeremiah Easthope died of
fever. Brown was all for immediate action, without having any definite
plan.

On the 22nd, Gordon was ordered to land with fifty men, and occupy a small
building on the top of a hill on the north side of the river. What he was
expected to do there does not appear. Soon, a number of boats full of men
were observed crossing from the fort to engage Gordon, so a reinforcement
of fifty men was sent to him. On reaching the hill, Gordon found that what
had been taken for a building consisted only of a natural pile of loose
stones, such as are to be frequently seen on the Deccan hills, and there
was nothing for it but to re-embark. He managed his retreat to the
landing-place in good order, followed by the enemy at musket-shot distance.
Several times he faced about, but the enemy always shrank from close
quarters. Nothing had been done to cover the place of embarkation, and it
was only after the strongest remonstrances from those on board that Brown
was prevailed on to order the _Revenge_ and the _Hunter_ to stand in and
cover the re-embarkation of Gordon's party. In spite of this precaution, a
lieutenant, a sergeant, a quartermaster of the _London_ and six men were
killed, and about twenty men wounded. It is difficult to imagine anything
feebler and more aimless than the whole proceeding.

The next day the bombketch was again sent in to bombard the fort, with the
same result as before. The proceedings were enlivened by the punishment of
Sergeant Passmore, who was reported by Gordon for cowardly behaviour. He
was sent round the fleet to receive ten lashes alongside each ship. The
next three days were spent in idleness, awaiting the _Phram_, from which
so much was expected. On board ship there was no discipline, but plenty of
hard drinking. In order to make the men fight well, Brown's idea was to
supply them with unlimited rum: the officers kept pace with the men in
their libations, and what little discipline existed soon disappeared.
Orders were disobeyed, while drunkenness, violence, and insubordination
reigned unchecked. When remonstrances were addressed to Brown, he refused
to stop the supply of liquor, saying that the people must not be put out
of 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 was
observed busily constructing new batteries, and boats full of armed men
were 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 to
send the _Phram_ at once to engage the fort. On opening fire, it was found
that her ports were so low and the gun-carriages so high, that her guns
could only be fired when depressed so as to strike the water twenty yards
off. 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 dejection
and drinking increased. Fifty men of the _Chandos_ who had not yet had an
opportunity of gauging Brown's incapacity, volunteered, for forty rupees a
head, to join a landing party; but not a single seaman in the squadron
would consent, 'upon any consideration whatsoever,' to go on board the
_Phram_, 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 and
point the _Phram's_ guns, which he did so badly that his shot mostly fell
in the inner harbour. The Mahrattas were quite ready for them, and all the
afternoon the cannonade went on, till sunset put an end to it. Five men on
board the _Phram_ were wounded, but it had engaged at too great a distance
to 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 men
on 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. The
following day firing recommenced, and it was found necessary to displace
Lieutenant Wise, he being continually drunk, and to allow the sailors to
point their own guns. The closer range caused numerous casualties on board
the _Phram_. Among the soldiers, Mr. Tuladay and four men were killed, and
a 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 the
inner harbour was successful in destroying a number of Angria's ships that
had sought refuge in the river; one of five hundred tons, one of two
hundred 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 of
a 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 as
lost. Half an hour after, the _Revenge_ was seen coming out with the other
vessels. She had not been ashore at all, and the only conclusion was that
Woodward was frightened out of his senses; so he was put in irons for his
cowardice.

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 officers
excessive drinking, and noe manner of command carryed," wrote Captain
Upton, 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, who
took 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 English
in 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 first
attacked; so, on the 7th October, part of the fleet was sent down to
reconnoitre.

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 end
by other officers of the squadron, who had learned what was going on,
coming aboard, and conveying to Brown in no measured terms that they would
have 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, a
foolish show of landing was made, and then Brown decided to abandon the
attempt 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 the
bombketch being equally inefficient. Then, when Brown suggested a landing
party to storm the place, the officers refused to second him, and so, with
some additional loss, the attack on Deoghur came to an end. Not a word is
said as to any assistance rendered by the Kempsant. At daybreak on the
21st, the whole squadron sailed northward, but the tale of Brown's
incompetency 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 sailed
northward, 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 which
a smart fire was returned by the _Revenge_ and the _Defiance_, that were
close astern. On both sides there was no willingness to fight. The pirates
were at first seized with consternation at discovering their mistake; they
had 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 a
man 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 himself
was, he thought, to 'play the Bull-beggar' with them; so he set to work to
chase them northward. The superior sailing powers of the pirates enabled
them 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 ahead
again. In this ignominious fashion the greater part of the fleet was
shuffled along for two days by the pirates, as a flock of sheep is driven
by a couple of sheep-dogs, till they at last found refuge in Goa. The
soldiers on board the _London_ improved the occasion by breaking into the
'Lazaretto' and getting drunk on the wine they found there. Part of the
fleet 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 £100,000, 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_.



CHAPTER VIII

_EXPEDITION AGAINST COLABA_

Measures taken in England against pirates--Woodes Rogers at the
Bahamas--Edward Teach--Challoner Ogle--Bartholomew Roberts
killed--Matthews sent to the East Indies--Naval officers'
duels--Portuguese alliance--Expedition against Colaba--Assault--Defeat--A
split in the alliance--Plot against Boone--His departure--Matthews'
schemes--His insulting behaviour--He quarrels with everybody--Goes to
Madagascar--The King of Ranter Bay--Matthews goes to Bengal.


As long as their forces had been occupied with the French war and the
Highland rising, the English ministry had been powerless to check the
depredations of the pirates, which had become intolerable both in the East
and West Indies. Now Europe was at peace, and measures could be concerted
to put a stop to the evil. As usual, the Peace of Utrecht was followed by
an increase of piracy, through the privateersmen being thrown out of
employment.

On the 5th September, 1717, a royal proclamation was published, offering a
free pardon, to all pirates on the American coast surrendering within one
year, for all piracies committed before the 5th January. As rewards for
the capture of pirate ships, to every captain £100, to other officers £40,
to petty officers £30, and to ordinary seamen £20 were to be paid on
conviction of the offenders. To pirates, a reward of £200 was offered for
the surrender of a pirate captain or commander before the 6th September,
1718. The effect of the proclamation, in conjunction with the measures
taken in the Bahamas, was very great. By the 1st July, 1719, to which date
the time of grace was extended, all but three or four of the most
desperate rovers had retired from business. But against the most audacious
of them more vigorous measures were necessary.

It was of little use to hunt down pirates at sea, so long as their haunts
in the Bahamas and Madagascar were allowed to flourish, and, as the West
Indian rovers were the most mischievous to European trade, the Bahamas
were first taken in hand.

During the war, the Bahamas had been twice taken and plundered by the
French and Spanish; all semblance of authority had disappeared, and it was
estimated that there were upwards of two thousand pirates in and about
Providence. In 1718, Captain Woodes Rogers leased the islands for
twenty-one years, from the proprietors, and received a commission as
Governor; he sailed, for Providence, with a naval force and powers to
offer an amnesty to all who submitted. Five or six well-known pirate
captains made their peace with the Government, and a number of their crews,
though some of them went back to their old trade before long. England, La
Buze, and others slipped away and made for Madagascar. A council was then
formed, consisting of six of the adventurers and six of the inhabitants
who had never been pirates themselves. This was followed by the submission
of others; some were hung, and order of a sort was re-established in the
Bahamas.

The coasts of Virginia and North Carolina were at this time beset by a
number of pirates, the most notorious of whom was Edward Teach, _alias_
Blackbeard, a Bristol man, who had begun his piratical career in the
spring of 1717; the most sinister figure in the annals of piracy. Pirate
captains were, as a rule, chosen by their crews, and if their conduct was
unsatisfactory to the rovers, they were deposed and sometimes put to death
or marooned; but Teach, as fearless as he was merciless, ruled his crew by
terror. As an instance of his savage humour, it is related that on one
occasion, in a drinking bout, he blew out the light and fired two pistols
among his companions, wounding Israel Hands, his sailing master, severely.
On being asked why he did it, he damned them, and said if he did not kill
one of them now and then, they would forget who he was. So impressed were
his crew with his wickedness, that they believed they carried the devil on
board, who appeared at intervals among them as one of the crew, but could
not be identified as belonging to the ship's company. Once he fought the
_Scarborough_, a man-of-war of thirty guns, and beat her off. He boldly
went ashore when he pleased, forcing the Governor of North Carolina to
marry him, and to supply him with medicines for his crew. With his face
covered with black hair, and a beard of extravagant length, fantastically
tied up in ribbons, he presented a wild and truculent figure that was the
terror of the coast.

An extract of a journal he kept, found after his death, is given by
Johnson--

    "Such a day, Rum all out:--Our company somewhat sober: A damn'd
    confusion amongst us!--Rogues a plotting;--great talk of
    separation.--So I look'd sharp for a Prize;--such a day took one,
    with a great deal of Liquor on board, so kept the Company hot, damned
    hot, then all things went well again."

Eden, the Governor of North Carolina, was suspected of sharing in Teach's
plunder, and his conduct was so suspicious that it could only be set down
to dishonesty or to extreme pusillanimity; so, in their distress, the
North Carolina planters sought the assistance of the Governor of Virginia.
There were at this time two men-of-war, the _Pearl_ and the _Lime_, lying
in the James river, but their size was too great to permit of their
searching the creeks and inlets frequented by Teach; therefore, two small
sloops, without guns, were fitted out and placed under command of Maynard,
first lieutenant of the _Pearl_. At the same time a proclamation was
published in Virginia offering rewards for the apprehension of pirates,
with a special reward of £100 for Teach. Though the whole had been planned
with great secrecy. Teach received warnings from friends on shore, but
paid no attention to them, and Maynard surprised him at anchor in a small
inlet.

Teach cut his cable and tried to stand out to sea, but ran aground.
Maynard anchored within half gunshot and set to work to lighten his sloops,
while Teach roared out curses and threats, to which Maynard replied that
he expected no quarter and would give none. Just as Maynard was ready to
attack, Teach got afloat and bore down on the sloops, giving them a
broadside that partially disabled one sloop, and killed or wounded twenty
men in Maynard's. Nothing discouraged, Maynard kept his men under cover
and ran the pirate aboard, and was at once attacked by Teach with fourteen
men. Teach and Maynard met hand to hand, and there was a desperate
encounter, Teach fighting like a ferocious animal at bay. Maynard's sword
broke, but he was saved by one of his men coming to his assistance, and
Teach at last fell dead on the deck of the sloop with twenty-five wounds.
The second sloop, meanwhile, had boarded and captured the pirate ship, and
Maynard sailed back to the James river with Teach's head at his bowsprit.
Fifteen of the pirates were taken alive, of whom thirteen were hung.

A year after Teach's death there appeared on the American coast
Bartholomew Roberts, a Welshman from Haverfordwest, who, for over two
years, was the scourge of the American and African traders. It was said of
him that he was a sober man who drank tea constantly, which made him an
object of suspicion to his crew. His temperance did not prevent him from
being the most wantonly wicked pirate who sailed the seas. In a
Newfoundland harbour, on one occasion, he burned and sank twenty-one
vessels, destroyed the fisheries and stages, and wrought all the havoc he
could, out of pure wantonness. On another occasion, he captured a slaver
with eighty slaves on board, and burned it, slaves and all, because it
would cost too much time and trouble to unshackle the unfortunate wretches.
At the same time, he was a man of order and method. He drew up a set of
rules, to which his crew subscribed, in which, among other things, it was
laid down that no women should be allowed on board; dice and gambling were
prohibited; lights were put out at 8 o'clock; and musicians were exempt
from playing on Sundays. The chaplain of Cape Coast Castle having been
captured, he was pressed to join the pirates, being promised that nothing
would be required of him except to make punch and say prayers. On his
declining the office, all church property was restored to him "except
three prayer books and a bottle-screw."

In pursuit of Roberts, the British Government despatched Captain Challoner
Ogle, with the _Swallow_ and _Weymouth_. Failing to find him in American
waters. Ogle steered for the African shore, and, on the 5th February, 1722,
when separated from the _Weymouth_, he came on the pirates at anchor off
Cape Lopez. Putting the _Swallow_ about, and handling his sails as if in
confusion and alarm, Ogle stood out to sea, pursued by the _Ranger_. When
well out of sight of land, the _Ranger_ was allowed to draw up, and the
pirate crew suddenly found themselves under the fire of a sixty-gun ship,
for which their own thirty-two guns were no match, and after a short
engagement the black flag was hauled down. On the 10th, Ogle stood in
again to engage the _Royal Fortune_, disposing his flags to make the
pirates believe his ship had been captured by the _Ranger_. Roberts fought
with desperation when he discovered the ruse. Dressed in rich crimson
damask, a scarlet feather in his hat, a gold chain with large diamond
cross round his neck, he made a resistance worthy of his reputation,
determined to blow up his ship rather than yield. At the main he hoisted a
black flag, on which were displayed a skeleton and a man with a flaming
sword; the jack was black, showing a man standing on two skulls, and St.
George's ensign was at the ensign staff. After a desperate encounter,
Roberts was slain by a grape-shot, and the _Royal Fortune_ carried by
boarding, the pirates resisting to the last. Out of two hundred and
seventy-six men captured in the two ships, fifty-two were executed, all of
them Englishmen. Ogle was knighted for his able and gallant conduct.

The re-establishment of authority at the Bahamas had led to an increase in
the numbers of the Madagascar pirates; so Commodore Thomas Matthews was
despatched to the East Indies with a strong squadron, consisting of the
_Lyon_, 50 guns; _Salisbury_, 40 guns; _Exeter_, 50 guns; and _Shoreham_,
20 guns. The Company's ship _Grantham_ was also placed under his orders,
to act as a store-ship. In Byng's successful action with the Spanish, off
Cape Passaro (August, 1718), Matthews had commanded the _Kent_ with credit;
but with the exception of courage, he apparently failed to possess a
single quality for independent command. Irascible, domineering to his
subordinates, and insolent to all others he was brought in contact with,
he was entirely devoid of judgment or discretion. Twenty years later, when
he became better known, Walpole wrote of his 'brutal manners,' and Horace
Mann nicknamed him 'Il Furibondo.' There could not have been a worse
selection for the work in hand.

The desire of the Directors was that the squadron should, before going to
Bombay, proceed to St. Augustine's Bay and St. Mary's. Thence, that a ship
should be detached to Bourbon, where it was supposed a new pirate
settlement was being formed; after which, they wished the squadron to
proceed to the mouth of the Red Sea, where pirates would in all
probability be found waiting for the Indian ships in July and August. But
Matthews had views of his own, and was not much concerned with the wishes
of the Directors, who had designs of opening up trade with Madagascar, and,
as a preliminary step, desired to see the pirate settlements rooted out.

In February, 1721, the squadron sailed from Spithead, with orders to
rendezvous at St. Augustine's Bay. Soon after leaving the Channel, the
_Salisbury_ and _Exeter_ were dismasted in a storm, and were obliged to
put into Lisbon to repair damages. Matthews continued his voyage with the
_Lyon_ and the _Shoreham_ to St. Augustine's Bay. He found no pirate ships
there at the time, and good policy demanded that he should await the
_Salisbury_ and the _Exeter_. Instead of doing so, he continued his voyage
to Bombay, where he arrived on the 27th September. Before leaving, he
entrusted to the natives of St. Augustine's Bay a letter for Captain
Cockburn, of the _Salisbury_, in which a number of particulars were given
of the squadron. The proceeding was so ill-advised and so well calculated
to defeat the object of the squadron's coming into Indian waters, that it
was believed in the squadron that Matthews had done it purposely to put
the pirates on their guard. Whether this was his intention or not, it
serves to show the opinion held of him by those under his command. Soon
after Matthews' departure, Taylor and La Buze reached St. Augustine's Bay,
read the letter, and sailed at once for Fort Dauphin, in the south-eastern
end of Madagascar. The _Salisbury_ and _Exeter_ arrived soon afterwards,
and getting no news either of Matthews or the pirates, sailed for Bombay.
These proceedings were not of happy augury for the success of the
expedition. The pirates had information of the squadron being in the
Indian seas, and were doubtless kept henceforth informed, from time to
time, of its movements through their various sources of intelligence.
Taylor, satisfied with his gains, sailed for the West Indies and
surrendered to the Spaniards, who gave him a commission.

Matthews' first act on dropping anchor, was to force the native vessels in
harbour, belonging to Bombay traders, to strike the English colours they
were in the habit of displaying, and he next embarked in a squabble with
the Governor as to who was to fire the first salute, a matter that was not
settled without many messages to and fro. The officers of the squadron,
taking their cue from Matthews, 'looked as much superior to us,' Downing
tells us, 'as the greatness of their ambition could possibly lead them.
There were daily duels fought by one or other of them, and challenges
perpetually sent round the island by the gentlemen of the navy.' The duels
seem mostly to have taken place among the naval officers, who must have
been a quarrelsome lot. On the voyage from England, Mr. Mitchell and Mr.
Sutherland, 'son of My Lord Sutherland,' had quarrelled, and Mitchell,
considering himself aggrieved, demanded his discharge on arrival at Bombay,
which was granted. He then sent a challenge to Sutherland, who wounded and
disabled him. But all duels were not so harmless. A few days afterwards,
Sutherland and Dalrymple, 'grandson of Sir David Dalrymple, His Majesty's
Advocate for Scotland,' both midshipmen, quarrelled over dice, and fought
a duel, without seconds, the following morning; when Dalrymple was run
through the body and killed on the spot--a fate that was apparently not
altogether undeserved. Sutherland was tried by court-martial, found guilty
of murder, and sentenced to death; but as it was necessary for the
death-warrant to be signed by the King, it was arranged to carry him a
prisoner to England. Touching at Barbadoes, he made his escape, and
remained there till a free pardon was granted him. Not long afterwards a
duel, arising out of a quarrel about a lady's health, was fought between
Stepney, the second lieutenant, and Berkeley, the third lieutenant of the
_Salisbury_, in which both were badly wounded. Stepney died a fortnight
after the duel, but, as the surgeon certified that he had not died of his
wound, Berkeley was not brought to a court-martial.

Meanwhile, great preparations were being made for a fresh campaign against
Angria, and while these bickerings went on among the subordinates, the
Governor and Matthews were engaged in planning the attack. Long before
Matthews' arrival, negotiations had been opened between the Portuguese
Viceroy, Francisco José de Sampaio e Castro, and the Bombay Council, for a
joint attack on Colaba. Through the management of Mr. Robert Cowan, who
had been deputed, in March, to Goa, for the purpose, a treaty of mutual
co-operation had been drawn up, by which the Bombay Council undertook to
furnish two thousand men and five ships. The Portuguese authorities
undertook to furnish an equal force. The negotiation was not completed
till the beginning of September, and Cowan, in recognition of the ability
he had displayed, was given a seat in the Council. The combined forces
were to assemble at Chaul, then a Portuguese possession, and march
overland to attack Colaba. Forgetting the old adage about selling the skin
of the bear while the animal was still alive, it was further agreed that
Colaba, after capture, was to be the property of Portugal, while Gheriah
was to be handed over to the English. The arrival of Matthews' squadron
therefore brought a welcome addition to the Bombay armaments.

A camp was formed for the expeditionary force; drilling was the order of
the day; Cowan was named general, and various commissions as colonels,
majors, and captains were granted to officers of the navy who volunteered
for land service. On the 30th October, a seven days' fast was ordered, to
secure the Divine blessing on the undertaking, and the chaplain was
directed to preach an appropriate sermon.

On the 29th November, the expedition left Bombay, and anchored off Chaul,
where the Portuguese force had already assembled. The English force
consisted of 655 Europeans and topasses, a troop of 40 horsemen, and 1514
sepoys. Matthews also contributed 200 seamen, of whom 50 were to serve the
guns. The artillery consisted of two 24-pounders, two 18-pounders, four
9-pounders, six small field guns, two mortars, and eight coehorns. The
Portuguese force consisted of 1000 Europeans, 160 horsemen, 350 volunteers,
and 2400 sepoys, with six 24-pounders, six 18-pounders, ten field pieces,
and eight mortars, commanded by the General of the North. The Viceroy was
also present. Such a force, combined with the men-of-war, was sufficient,
under proper direction, to have destroyed all Angria's strongholds along
the coast.

Some delay was caused by the necessity of building a bridge over the
Ragocim river, and then the army advanced, to be quickly brought to a
standstill again till sufficient transport could be brought from Bombay.
On the 12th December, after marching round the head of the Alibagh river,
the army encamped close to Alibagh fort; while the men-of-war anchored in
the roads. During the march, a few of Angria's horsemen had been seen from
time to time. On one occasion, while the Viceroy, accompanied by Matthews,
Cowan, and other commanders, was riding to view the country, a horseman
approached them under cover of a cactus hedge, and threw his lance,
wounding Matthews in the thigh. Matthews vainly pursued him, beside
himself with rage at his wound and at his pistols missing fire.

On the 13th, an assault was made on the fort, though the heavy guns had
not been landed. Outside the fort there were fifteen hundred horse and a
thousand foot sent by Sahoojee to Angria's assistance. The Portuguese were
to face them, while five hundred English soldiers and marines, led by
naval officers, were to force the gateway and scale the rampart. Common
sense demanded that Sahoojee's force outside the fort should be disposed
of, and the heavy guns that had been brought with so much labour from
Chaul should be mounted and used, before any attempt at an assault was
projected; but there was a woeful absence of ordinary capacity among the
commanders. At four in the afternoon, the little force under Brathwaite,
first lieutenant of the _Lyon_, who held the rank of colonel for the
occasion, advanced to the assault. The gateway was blocked, and could not
be forced; many of the scaling ladders were too short, and the affair
resolved itself into a struggle, by a small number who had gained the
rampart, to maintain themselves, while the rest remained exposed to the
fire from the walls. In the midst of it, Sahoojee's force advanced on the
Portuguese, who broke and fled in wild confusion, leaving the English,
force to their fate. The assaulting party, seeing their danger, drew off,
leaving many of their wounded behind them, the whole force gave ground,
and soon there was a wild rush for the camp, luckily not followed by the
Mahratta horsemen. Thirty-three had been killed and twenty-seven wounded;
among the latter, Lieutenant Bellamy of the navy, who had behaved with
great dash and bravery. Matthews' marines suffered heavily. Though wanting
in discipline, they displayed much courage. All the field guns and a great
deal of ammunition fell into the hands of the Mahrattas. The whole blame
was laid on the Portuguese, to whom treachery was imputed. Matthews,
always violent, flew at the General of the North and assaulted him,[1] and
treated the Viceroy not much better. A little more enterprise on the part
of the Mahrattas would have destroyed the whole force. The following day
some heavy guns were landed, and a four-gun battery was constructed. But
the Portuguese had had enough of it, and were determined to withdraw.

From the beginning, there had been little cordiality between the
ill-matched allies. In the English camp, Cowan was devoid of military
experience or instinct, and commanded little confidence among men
habituated to defeat in their attacks on Angrian strongholds; while
Matthews, violent and overbearing, claimed a right to direct operations
that he knew nothing about. The Portuguese, on their side, proud in the
recollection of the great position they had once held on the Malabar coast,
and which, though now fast falling into decay, was still immeasurably
superior to that of the English merchants, were disgusted at the constant
drunkenness, quarrelling, and want of discipline among the English, and
incensed at the charge of treachery, for which there was no justification.
Feigning illness, the Viceroy betook himself to his ship. Angria saw his
opportunity of breaking up the alliance, and opened negotiations with him.
On the 17th, the Viceroy wrote to the English, proposing a suspension of
arms. With a bad grace they were obliged to consent, seeing in the
negotiation, which was against the compact that neither should treat
separately, farther confirmation of their suspicion of treachery. Angria
granted the Portuguese full reparation for injuries, and formed an
offensive and defensive alliance with them. The English were left to shift
for themselves. Full of wrath, they embarked at once, and sailed for
Bombay on the 28th.

While the force was engaged at Colaba, the Malwans[2] strove to make a
diversion in Angria's favour by attacking English ships, under pretence
that they were Portuguese vessels; they being at war with Goa at the time.
The Sunda Rajah also attacked a private English ship, but was beaten off.
In the Gulf, the Bombay sloop _Prince_ took a Muscat ship of fourteen guns,
but after some days was obliged to relinquish its prize to a Muscat
squadron.

It is impossible not to sympathize with Boone's disappointment at the
failure of this long-planned expedition, which he had looked forward to as
the crowning achievement of his presidentship. The time had come for him
to return to England. His successor, Mr. William. Phipps, had arrived from
Mocha, in August, and had taken the second seat in Council, while awaiting
Boone's departure. Boone's last year in Bombay was embittered by a
dangerous intrigue against him, headed by Parker and Braddyll, two of the
Council. Investigation showed that they had plotted to seize his person,
and had even uttered threats against his life. Being arrested and ordered
to leave Bombay, they fled to Goa. After a time, Braddyll made his way in
a small boat to Bombay, and sought protection on board the _Lyon_, which
was readily extended to him by Matthews. As Braddyll's name appears among
those present in Council in Bombay, in 1723, he must have succeeded in
making his peace with the Company. Under the Company's rule, in those days,
all but the worst offences were condoned, so long as they were not
directly aimed at the Company's trade. A plot against the Governor's
freedom might be pardoned, but, for assistance given to the Ostenders
there was no _locus poenitentiae_.

On the 9th January, Boone embarked on board the _London_, after making
over the governorship to Mr. Phipps, followed by the good wishes of the
community. During his six years of office he had proved himself a faithful
and zealous servant of the Company: 'a gentleman of as much honour and
good sense as any that ever sat in that chair,' according to Hamilton. He
had found Bombay with a languishing trade and open to attack. Under his
fostering care, trade had improved, so that merchants from Bengal and
Madras had found it profitable to settle there. A good wall had been built
to guard the town against sudden raids, and a respectable naval force had
been created to keep piracy in check. He deserves remembrance as the first
Bombay Governor who tried to put down the coast pirates by active measures.
Though his expeditions against them had been uniformly unsuccessful, he
had taught Angria that the Company's trade could not be attacked with
impunity, and his ill-success was entirely due to the worthlessness of his
instruments. At his departure, salutes were fired from every gun ashore
and afloat, except from Matthews' squadron, which did not fire a gun. As
he sailed down the coast, accompanied by the _Victoria_ and _Revenge_,
loaded with stores for Carwar and Anjengo, he was attacked by Angria's
squadron, but beat them off. Off Anjediva he came on the Kempsant's grabs
plundering a ship, which he rescued. One of the grabs was taken and
another driven ashore; and so he was gratified with a small success over
his inveterate enemies, as he bid farewell to the Indian coast.

As soon as Matthews had returned to Bombay, after the Alibagh fiasco, he
applied himself to what, to him, was the principal reason for his coming
to India, viz. private trade. For the Company's interests he did not care
a button; in fact, anything that injured the Company found an advocate in
him. As for the pirates, if they did not come in his way, he was not going
to trouble himself much about them. To enrich himself by starting a
private trade of his own, was his one object, and, with this end in view,
he sailed for Surat. With him he took Mrs. Braddyll and Mrs. Wyche, with
sundry chests of treasure, in spite of Phipps' remonstrances: the estates
of both having been attached by the Council. In Surat he tried to raise a
large sum for a venture in the China trade; but the arbitrary conduct of
the King's officers had raised so much distrust among the native merchants,
that he was unsuccessful. Within three weeks he was back again in Bombay,
and was at once involved in an angry correspondence with the Council. Not
confining himself to an acrimonious exchange of letters, he affixed at the
sea gate an insulting proclamation. Phipps ordered it to be removed, on
which Matthews wrote that, if it were not at once replaced, he would
publish it by beat of drum through Bombay, and, should any resistance be
offered, he would not leave a house standing in the place. In this dilemma
the Council consented to replace it, but, to save their dignity, added a
notice that it was licensed by the Secretary. It is difficult to see how
this improved the matter. However, Matthews sailed the next day for
Madagascar, so no doubt the proclamation did not long remain after his
departure.

His absence from Bombay, though doubtless felt as a relief by Phipps and
the Council, was probably, before long, a cause of regret in the troubles
that shortly beset them: but for the moment we will follow his movements.
Not contented with his quarrels with the Council, Matthews was soon at
daggers drawn with his own captains. First he proposed to them to employ
their ships in trading, on condition that two-thirds of the profits were
to be his. The captains refused to have anything to do with the proposal.
He had already had a quarrel with Cockburn, his second in command, the
first of many that were to follow. Before leaving Bombay, a quarrel arose
between him and Sir Robert Johnson, of the _Exeter_. Johnson threw up his
command, and took passage for England in one of the Company's ships, which
was lost with all hands on the voyage. With Sir Robert Johnson, his son, a
lieutenant in the navy, perished. Brathwaite was appointed to the command
of the _Exeter_. It had already come to be widely known that anybody who
was in trouble with the Company would find countenance and protection from
Matthews. He told the Portuguese officials that the Company's vessels were
only traders, and therefore not entitled to a salute, gun for gun. This
matter of salutes was a very important one in Matthews' eyes. Every
trading ship, however small it might be, carried guns, and there was a
great deal of saluting. In acknowledging such salutes Matthews always
responded with three or four less guns than were given him. On one
occasion there is a record of his replying with one gun only.[3] Wherever
Matthews could find an opportunity for lowering the credit or hurting the
interests of the Company, he seized it.

On reaching Carpenter's Bay in Mauritius, he found an impudent message
from the pirates, 'writ on Captain Carpenter's tomb with a piece of
charcoal,' to the effect that they had been expecting him and had gone to
Port Dauphin. The squadron next proceeded to Bourbon, where they sold some
casks of arrack and madeira to the French for a very good profit, and
thence proceeded to Charnock Point, St. Mary's Island, Madagascar. Here
they found the wrecks of several merchant ships that had been run ashore
by the pirates. Scattered on the beach were lying their cargoes, china
ware, rich drugs and spices, cloth, guns, and other articles, lying where
the pirates had cast them. Men waded knee-deep in pepper, cloves, and
cinnamon, such was the quantity. In shallow water were lying the remains
of a fine Jeddah ship that had been taken, with thirteen lakhs of treasure
on board, by a pirate named Conden, who commanded a ship called the
_Flying Dragon_. Matthews at once began to transfer the guns and such
commodities as were least damaged to his own ships. A flag of truce had
been first sent ashore to communicate with England and the other pirates,
but it was found that they had fled inland. A week later, a white man,
accompanied by a well-armed guard of natives, made his appearance. He told
them that he was a Jamaica man named John Plantain, that he had been a
pirate, but was tired of the trade, and had settled down on the spot. This
John Plantain was a man of some note in the piratical world. Every and
England had sailed with him, and treated him with much consideration and
some fear. He had made himself master of a considerable tract of country,
so that the pirates had given him the name of the King of Ranter Bay.[4]
He gave an invitation to Matthews to visit his castle, where he
entertained some of the officers of the squadron. Matthews' first idea was
to seize him, but finding that John Plantain had a good number of armed
natives with him, besides a Scotchman and a Dane, and that his castle had
plenty of guns mounted, he decided to trade with him instead. The pirates
made no secret of having taken part in the capture of the Goa Viceroy's
ship, and of a rich native vessel with eighteen lakhs of rupees on board.
So hats, shoes, stockings, wine, and arrack were made over to John
Plantain, for which he paid a good price in gold and diamonds. In spite of
his notions as to piracy, John Plantain showed himself an honester man
than Matthews. Having paid liberally for the things he had bought, he left
the hogsheads of wine and arrack on the beach under a small guard. As soon
as his back was turned, Matthews manned his boats, brought off all the
liquor he had been paid for, and some of the native guard as well. After
which notable achievement he sailed away for Bengal, consoling himself
with the thought that he was not like one of "those vile pirates, who,
after committing many evil actions, had settled down among a parcel of
heathens to indulge themselves in all sorts of vice."[5]

After a fortnight at Charnock's Point, the squadron made its way round the
north of Madagascar to Manigaro (Manankara) Bay, whence they steered for
Johanna. As the Directors afterwards remarked, Matthews ought to have
divided his squadron, and searched both coasts of the great island; but
his heart was not in the quest for pirates; he was bent only on trade.
Sending the _Salisbury_ and _Exeter_ to cruise towards Socotra, he took
the _Lyon_ and _Shoreham_ to Bengal, and, in the beginning of August, he
was at anchor in the Hoogly, near Diamond Harbour. There he remained till
the end of October. There were no pirates in the Bay of Bengal, but the
sugar trade was very lucrative, and he wanted to invest in it.

He was not long in Calcutta without coming to loggerheads with the Council
concerning Mrs. Gyfford, who, as Mrs. Chown, has already been mentioned in
these pages,[6] and whose third husband had perished in the Anjengo
massacre eighteen months before. In flying from Anjengo she had carried
off the factory books, together with all the money she could lay her hands
on. As the Company had large claims on Gyfford's estate, the Council was
bent on making her disgorge. Matthews espoused her quarrel, as he did that
of all who were in the Company's bad books, and, in defiance of the
Council, carried her off to Bombay, and eventually to England.


[1] 'Thrust his cane in his mouth.'--_Downing_.

[2] Malwan was a small fortified harbour belonging to Kolapore, about
    sixty miles north of Goa. The Malwans were noted pirates.

[3] When Watson came to India, he returned salutes gun for gun.

[4] Perhaps Autongil Bay.

[5] This account of Matthews' visit to Madagascar rests to a great extent
    on the narrative of Clement Downing, who held the rating of a
    midshipman on board the _Salisbury_ at the time. It is confirmed by
    the logs of the _Lyon_ and _Salisbury_. He makes no attempt to conceal
    his opinion of Matthews' misdoings. He also gives the history of John
    Plantain, who finally made his way to Gheriah, and took service with
    Angria.

[6] See p. 80.



CHAPTER IX

_A TROUBLED YEAR IN BOMBAY_

Loss of the _Hunter_ galley--Quarrel with Portuguese--Alliance of
Portuguese with Angria--War with both--A double triumph--Portuguese make
peace--Angria cowed--Matthews reappears--Trouble caused by him--He
returns to England--Court-martialled--The last of Matthews.


The year succeeding Boone's departure was a stirring one in Bombay. On the
27th February, the _Eagle_ and _Hunter_ galleys, while off Bassein,
convoying a Surat ship, were attacked by four of Angria's grabs. After a
five-hours' engagement, during which the _Hunter_ made three attempts at
boarding, an unlucky shot ignited some loose powder, and the galley blew
up, every soul on board perishing. A similar explosion, though less
serious, took place on board the _Eagle_, which forced her to take refuge
in a shattered condition in Saragon harbour. Here the Portuguese showed
such unfriendliness, that the Council were obliged to send other galleys
to protect and bring the _Eagle_ away.

Since the conclusion of the Portuguese treaty with Angria, an angry
correspondence had gone on between Goa and Bombay, and soon the old causes
of quarrel were revived. The chief of these was the levying of duties at
certain places. The General of the North, who had tried to force on a
quarrel a year before, smarting, doubtless, under the treatment he had
received from Matthews at the siege of Alibagh, began to levy duties on
provisions coming from Bombay to Portuguese territory. Phipps retaliated
by levying customs duties at Mahim, which the Portuguese had always
claimed to be free to both nations. The quarrel grew hot. The General of
the North forbade all communication with Bombay, and, on the 26th May, a
British gallivat was fired on at Mahim. The Council resolved to uphold
their rights, but were in a poor condition to do so. Meanwhile, it became
known that Angria's assistance was being invited by the Portuguese. On the
23rd June, a party from Bombay landed and destroyed the Portuguese fort at
Corlem, and shelled Bandara. Captain Loader, of the _Revenge_, without
orders, burned the undefended village on Elephanta, for which he was
suspended from his command; but at the end of a week he was reinstated.
Want of shipping for a time prevented any vigorous prosecution of
hostilities on the part of the Council. They were obliged to remain on the
defensive, while Portuguese galleys cruised off the island, making
occasional raids, killing a militiaman or two, and burning villages. Mahim,
Riva, and Darvi were all raided, but with small benefit to the assailants.
On the 28th August, at night, a Portuguese force landed and destroyed the
fort at Warlee, assisted by the treachery of a renegade Portuguese. On the
3rd and 4th September, two attempts to land at the Breach were repulsed,
and the Council were cheered by the arrival of the _Salisbury_ and
_Exeter_ from their Red Sea cruise.

Cockburn, of the _Salisbury_, less churlish than Matthews, at once put two
pinnaces and seventy-six men at the Council's disposal. A small expedition
of eleven gallivats under Stanton was also fitted out, and a battery
erected by the Portuguese at Surey to hinder provisions coming into Bombay,
was captured. One man of the _Exeter_ was killed and another wounded. Just
then came news that Angria was fitting out an expedition of five thousand
men to attack Carwar, and the _Exeter_ sailed there to defend the factory.

At the beginning of November, the tide turned. News having been received
that some of Angria's grabs were cruising off Warlee, the _Victoria_ and
_Revenge_, manned with crews from the _Salisbury_, were sent out. After a
hot engagement, Angria's commodore, a Dutchman, was killed, and his ship,
mounting sixteen guns, taken.

On the same day that the captured ship was brought into Bombay, two other
captures entered the harbour. The Directors had sent out from England
three galleys, the _Bombay_, the _Bengal_, and the _Fort St. George_,
manned with sailors from the Thames. As they were proceeding up the coast
they found themselves dogged for two days by two strange grabs showing no
colours. Resolved to put an end to it, on the third day, on the 1st
November, off Cape Ramus, they shortened sail and called on the strangers
to show their colours. They proved to be Portuguese, and the English hails
were answered by threats and shouts of defiance. The _Bengal_ then fired a
shot across the bows of the leading grab, which was answered by a
broadside, killing the second mate and two seamen. The _Bombay_ closed in,
while the _Fort St. George_ turned its attention to the second grab. In
half an hour both of the Portuguese vessels struck their colours, and the
galleys continued their course for Bombay with their two prizes, each
carrying twenty guns. Such was the difference made by having British
seamen, instead of the miserable crews that had hitherto manned the
Company's ships.

It was well for the Bombay Council that Matthews had been absent while
this was going on. For two months and a half he had remained at anchor in
the Hooghly. Early in December he reached Bombay, and at once recommenced
his quarrels with the Council and his captains. Cockburn, of the
_Salisbury_, was placed under arrest, presumably for the assistance he had
given to the Council. After a time he was transferred to the _Exeter_, and
ordered to proceed to England.

In coming up the coast Matthews had touched at Goa, and informed the
Viceroy of his disapproval of the Company's actions, and that his squadron
would soon be leaving the Indian seas. But the Viceroy had had enough
fighting. The capture of his grabs had brought him to reason. He laid all
the blame for recent hostilities on the General of the North, and a
peaceful accommodation was come to with the Council, Matthews being
disregarded.

In spite of Matthews' failure to destroy the Madagascar pirates, the
presence of his squadron in Indian waters impelled them to seek safety in
the West Indies, and henceforward they ceased to be dangerous to the
trade-ships of India. The Madagascar settlements lingered on till they
died a natural death. Angria, too, had been tamed by the slaying of his
commodore and the capture of his ships. For years the sea-borne trade of
Bombay had not been so little subject to molestation as it was for the
next three or four years.


Matthews had sent home two of his ships, remaining, himself, to do another
year's trading, during which he lost no opportunity of worrying and
insulting the Company's officers. Everybody at variance with the Council
found an advocate in him. A Parsee broker, named Bomanjee, was under
arrest for fraud; Matthews demanded his surrender. The Council placed
Bomanjee in close confinement in the fort, to prevent his being carried
off. Matthews promised Bomanjee's sons he would take one of them to
England, and undertook to make the Directors see things in a proper light.
Men charged with abominable crimes received countenance from him. He told
the Council that they were only traders, and had no power to punish
anybody. The Crown alone had power to punish. He (Matthews) represented
the Crown, and was answerable only to the King of England. One may picture
to one's self the satisfaction with which, at the end of the year, the
Council learned that Matthews was really going.

In December, 1723, he set sail for England. During the two years he had
been in the Indian seas he had accomplished nothing he ought to have done,
and done almost everything he ought not to have done. He had been sent out
to suppress the pirates and to protect the Company's interests. He had not
captured a single pirate ship or rooted out a single pirate haunt.
Claiming, as a King's officer, to be exempt from the provisions of the
Company's charter, he had indulged in private trade, and had even had
dealings with the pirates. He had flouted the Company's authority wherever
it existed, and had encouraged others to resist it. Every person who had a
dispute with the Company received protection from him. He told the Goa
authorities that the Company's vessels were only traders, and therefore
not entitled to the salutes they had always received. He had refused to
give up the Company's sailors whom he encouraged to desert to his ship. He
forbade the Bombay traders to fly British colours, but allowed his own
trading friends to do so. He had gone trading to Bengal and Mocha, where
there were no pirates; two months and a half he had spent in the Hooghly;
three months and a half he had spent at Madras and St. David's for trade
purposes; and, when the quarrel between the Bombay authorities and the
Portuguese was going on, he gave out that he would send the Goa Viceroy a
petticoat, as an old woman, if he did not take every one of the Company's
ships. He had quarrelled with all his captains, and one of them, Sir
Robert Johnson, owed his death to him. At Surat he had found a discharged
servant of the Company, one Mr. Wyche, on whose departure the Governor had
laid an embargo till his accounts were cleared. Matthews took him and his
eleven chests of treasure on board his ship, in defiance of the Governor's
orders, and put him ashore at Calicut, whence he escaped to French
territory. From Surat also he carried to England the broker's son,
Rustumjee Nowrojee, to worry the Directors. He carried off Mrs. Gyfford,
and brought her to England in his ship. His last act on the coast was to
call at Anjengo, in order to obtain property she claimed there: but it is
probable that he also secured a cargo of pepper.

It is small wonder that, on his arrival in England, in July, 1724, the
wrath of the Directors was kindled against him, and an account of his
misbehaviour was forwarded to the Secretary of State. The naval
authorities called on the Directors to produce their witnesses for the
charge of trading with the pirates. The difficulty of doing so was obvious,
as the witnesses were all under Matthews' command; so the charge was
dropped, and the Directors sued him in the Court of Exchequer for
infringing their charter by private trading.

Meanwhile the naval authorities had their own account to settle with
Matthews; Captain Maine, of the _Shoreham_, having made various charges
against him. In the last week of December, 1724, he was brought to a
court-martial on board the _Sandwich_ in the Medway, and the finding of
the court was thus recorded:--

    "The Court, having read the complaints of the Directors of the E.I. Co.
    of several irregularities said to be committed by Captain Thomas
    Matthews while Commander-in-Chief of a squadron of his Majesty's ships
    sent to the East Indies, a Publication being made three several times,
    if any Person or Persons were attending on behalf of the said
    Directors, in order to prove the several matters therein contained,
    and not any appearing, the Court proceeded on the complaints exhibited
    by Captain Covil Maine, and having strictly examined into the several
    particulars and matters therein contained and heard divers witnesses
    upon oath, they are unanimously of opinion, that the said Captain
    Matthews hath in all respects complied with his Instructions, except
    that of receiving Merchandize on board before the late Act of
    Parliament, Instituted an Act for the more effectual suppression of
    Piracy, came to hand, but not afterwards; and it appearing to the
    Court, that he had sent men irregularly to Merchant Ships, and finding
    he falls under the 33rd Article of War, they have Resolved he be
    Mulcted four Months' pay, and that the same be applied for the benefit
    of the Chest of Chatham, and he is hereby mulcted accordingly."

Six weeks later, the Directors obtained a decree against him in the Court
of Exchequer, for £13,676 17_s_. 6_d_., which, according to Act of
Parliament, was doubled as a penalty.

In 1742, Matthews again found favour with an English Ministry. He was
appointed Minister at Turin and Commander-in-Chief in the Mediterranean.
In February, 1744, he encountered a combined French and Spanish fleet off
Toulon. His behaviour to his subordinates had excited their ill-will to
such an extent that his second in command and many of the captains refused
to follow him. The allied fleet escaped with the loss of one ship only.
Both admirals and five captains were cashiered, and that is the last we
hear of Matthews. The remembrance of his behaviour long rankled in the
minds of the Directors, and twenty years elapsed before they could again
bring themselves to apply for the despatch of a royal squadron to the
Indian seas.[1]


[1] The squadron under Barnet, which was sent out in 1744, on the
    declaration of war with France.



CHAPTER X

_TWENTY-SIX YEARS OF CONFLICT_

The case of Mr. Curgenven--Death of Conajee Angria--Quarrels of his
sons--Portuguese intervention--Sumbhajee Angria--Political
changes--Disaster to _Bombay_ and _Bengal_ galleys--The _Ockham_ beats
off Angria's fleet--The Coolees--Loss of the _Derby_--Mahrattas expel
Portuguese from Salsette--Captain Inchbird--Mannajee Angria gives
trouble--Dutch squadron repulsed from Gheriah--Gallant action of the
_Harrington_--Sumbhajee attacks Colaba--English assist Mannajee--Loss
of the _Antelope_--Death of Sumbhajee Angria--Toolajee Angria--Capture
of the _Anson_--Toolajee takes the _Restoration_--Power of
Toolajee--Lisle's squadron--Building of the _Protector_ and _Guardian_.


As an instance of the miseries to which men were exposed by Angria's
piracies, may be mentioned the case of Mr. Curgenven, a private merchant
of Madras. Being bound on a trading voyage to China, he sailed from Surat
in August, 1720, in the _Charlotte_. Before he could get clear of the
coast, he was captured by Angria's fleet and carried into Gheriah. There
he remained for nearly ten years, during the whole of which time he was
made to wear fetters and work as a slave. In spite of the letters he was
able to send to Bombay, nothing appears to have been done to procure his
liberty. At last, on payment of a ransom, he was set free, and joined his
wife in England. But the fetters he had worn so long had injured one of
his legs, and amputation was necessary. As he was recovering from the
operation, an artery burst, and he died on the spot.

With Boone's departure from India the attacks on the Angrian strongholds
came to an end. They were henceforth regarded as impregnable, and Boone's
successors contented themselves with checking the Angrian power at sea.

In June, 1729, Conajee Angria died. He left two legitimate sons, Sakhajee
and Sumbhajee; three illegitimate sons, Toolajee, Mannajee, and Yessajee.
Sakhajee established himself at Colaba, while Sumbhajee Angria remained at
Severndroog, to carry on the predatory policy of their father. In March,
1734, Sakhajee died, and Mannajee and Yessajee were sent to hold Colaba
for Sumbhajee. Before long, Mannajee quarrelled with Sumbhajee and
Yessajee, and fled to Chaul. The Portuguese espoused his quarrel, and
furnished him with a force against Colaba, which was taken; Mannajee
gallantly leading the assault, sword in hand. He at once imprisoned
Yessajee, and put out his eyes. As soon as the Portuguese force was
withdrawn, Sumbhajee attacked Colaba. Mannajee invoked the aid of the
Peishwa, who compelled Sumbhajee to raise the siege, and received the
Angrian forts of Koolta and Rajmachee in return, while Mannajee proclaimed
his allegiance to the Peishwa, and henceforth was secure under his
protection. The Portuguese, incensed against Mannajee, who had broken his
promises to cede them certain districts in return for their assistance in
capturing Colaba, joined hands with Sumbhajee Angria against him. This
brought down upon them the hostility of the Mahratta court, who, after two
years' severe fighting, expelled them from Salsette and all their
possessions in the neighbourhood of Bombay, while the English looked on at
the contest waged at their doors with indifference.

In order to strengthen themselves against the Dutch, the Portuguese had
ceded Bombay to the English, and then, by their bad faith in retaining
Salsette and Thana, they had opened a sore that never was healed. By
espousing the quarrel of Mannajee they had earned the enmity of Sumbhajee;
and by joining in Sumbhajee's quarrel against Mannajee they had brought
down on themselves the formidable power of the Peishwa. Before long,
Sumbhajee turned against them again, and they were left without a single
ally to struggle as they could. Their intervention in Angrian quarrels was
the final cause of the downfall of Portuguese power on the West coast.

The old political landmarks were fast disappearing. Everywhere the Mogul
power was crumbling to pieces, and new principalities were being formed.
The Peishwa had shaken off his allegiance to Satara, and his armies were
making his authority felt all over Hindostan and the Deccan; while
Mahratta rule was being established in Guzerat by the Gaicowar. The Dutch
and French had ceased to make progress; the Portuguese power was on the
wane; the Seedee was losing territory under the attacks of Mannajee and
the Peishwa, while the Angrian power was divided. Meanwhile, the Company's
position on the West coast was steadily improving. European pirates had
ceased to haunt the Indian seas; Mannajee Angria found it necessary to
maintain good relations with the English, though occasional acts of
hostility showed that he was not to be trusted; while the Peishwa, whose
aims were directed inland, had no quarrel with them, and concluded a
treaty with Bombay. Trade was flourishing, though the piracies of
Sumbhajee Angria, in spite of his feud with Mannajee, caused losses from
time to time. The English ships, better manned and better found, no longer
contented themselves with repelling attacks, but boldly cruised in search
of Sumbhajee's vessels, capturing them or driving them to seek refuge in
their fortified harbours.

To relate in detail all the encounters that took place would be tedious;
but some of them may be mentioned, in order to give an idea of the warfare
that went on for thirty years after Boone's relinquishment of office.

In October, 1730, intelligence having been received of Angrian gallivats
cruising north of Bombay, some Bombay gallivats were sent out, and after a
smart action captured three of them, each carrying five guns. A month
later, the _Bombay_ and _Bengal_ galleys were attacked off Colaba by four
grabs and fifteen gallivats. There was a calm at the time: the hostile
grabs were towed under the galleys' stern and opened a heavy fire. The
galleys were only able to reply with small arm fire, and suffered severely.
Several attempts to board were repelled, when an unlucky shot exploded two
barrels of musket cartridges on board the _Bengal_. The quarter-deck was
blown up, and, in the confusion, the enemy boarded and carried the ship.
The first lieutenant, although wounded, jumped overboard and swam to the
_Bombay_, which was also in evil plight. A similar explosion had occurred,
killing the captain, the first lieutenant, and many of the crew. At this
juncture came a welcome breeze, bringing up the _Victory_ grab, which had
witnessed the fight without being able to take part in it, and the
Angrians drew off. No less than eighty Europeans were lost to the Company
in this action.

In January, 1732, the _Ockham_, East Indiaman, coming up the coast with a
light wind, was beset, off Dabul, by an Angrian squadron of five grabs and
three gallivats. At sunset they came within shot, and a little harmless
cannonading took place at long range, till dark. At one in the morning,
the moon having risen, they bore down again and attacked the _Ockham_ in
their favourite manner, astern. For some time the East Indiaman was
exposed to the fire of ten nine-pounders, to which it could only reply
with two stern-chasers. Captain Jobson, finding his rigging much cut up,
and seeing that the loss of a mast would probably entail the loss of his
ship, determined to entice them to close quarters, in the good breeze that
was springing up. The plan was explained to the crew, who were in good
heart, and encouraged by a promise of two months' pay. Every gun was
manned, while the fire of the two stern-chasers was allowed to slacken, as
if ammunition was running short. The bait took; the grabs drew up on the
_Ockham's_ quarter, with their crews cheering and sounding trumpets. At a
cable's distance the _Ockham_ suddenly tacked; and as she gathered way on
her new course, she was in the midst of the grabs, firing into them round
shot and grape, together with volleys of small arms. This unexpected
manoeuvre made the Angrians draw off, and the _Ockham_ resumed her course.
At daybreak, only four grabs were in chase, the fifth having evidently
suffered severe injuries. A stiff breeze had sprung up, and the crew were
eager for another bout, so the _Ockham_ tacked again, and stood for the
grabs. But they had had enough of it, and evaded coming to close quarters.
Their best chances of successes lay in calms and light airs. With an
antagonist like Jobson, in a good stiff wind, the odds were against them;
they had lost many men; so after hovering round for some hours they made
off to Severndroog.

In 1734, the Coolee rovers, who infested the coast of Guzerat, gave much
trouble. Their stronghold was at Sultanpore, on the river Coorla, and
they enjoyed the protection of several wealthy persons who shared in their
plunder. A squadron under Captain Radford Nunn was sent against them,
which captured five armed vessels and burnt fourteen more. To save others
from capture they burnt about fifty more small sailing-boats themselves.
Six months later, ten more of their boats were burnt and two captured.
Under these blows they were quiet for a time.

In December, 1735, a valuable ship fell into Sumbhajee Angria's hands,
owing to the bad behaviour of its captain. The _Derby_, East Indiaman,
bringing a great cargo of naval stores from England, and the usual
treasure for investment, was due to arrive in Bombay in November. The
captain, Anselme, was a schemer, and wished to remain in India for a year,
instead of returning to England at once, as had been arranged. Accordingly,
he lingered a month in Johanna, and shaped his course northward along the
African coast. Thence getting a fair wind which would have brought him
directly to Bombay, without running the risk of working along the Malabar
coast, he, instead, steered for the latitude of Goa, and thence crept
northwards, making as much delay as possible, so as not to reach Bombay
till January. On the 26th December, an Angrian squadron of five grabs and
four gallivats bore down on the _Derby_, off Severndroog, and engaged in
their favourite way of attacking a big ship, astern. There was little wind,
and the _Derby_ would neither stay nor wear. Only two guns could be
brought to bear at first; there were no guns mounted in the gun-room, and
no encouragement was given to the crew. Two years before, the Directors
had authorized the captains of outward-bound ships, when exposed to a
serious attack, to hoist two treasure chests on deck, for distribution,
after the engagement, to the ship's company, in order to encourage them in
making a good resistance. The captains of homeward-bound ships were
empowered to promise £2000 to their crews in the same circumstances.
Nothing of the kind was done by Anselme. The crew, discontented, fought
with little spirit; many of them refused to stand to their guns. The main
and mizzen masts were shot away, seven men, including the first mate, were
killed, five were dangerously, and a number more slightly, wounded. Still,
many of the officers and men were willing to continue the fight, but were
overruled by the captain, who insisted on surrender, and the _Derby_ with
115 prisoners, of whom two were ladies, was carried into Severndroog.

No such loss had befallen the Company for many years. The much-needed
naval stores went to equip Angria's fleet, and the money for the season's
investment was lost. The whole Bombay trade was dislocated. Angria,
desirous of peace, opened negotiations. The Council, wishing to redeem the
prisoners, offered a six months' truce, and, after eleven months of
captivity the prisoners were sent to Bombay, with the exception of three
who took service with Angria.

In December, 1736, the _King George_ and three other vessels captured a
large grab belonging to Sumbhajee Angria, together with 120 prisoners. A
Surat ship that had been taken was also recovered.

The year 1738 was an anxious one in Bombay. The Mahrattas were occupied
with the siege of Bassein, which was defended with desperate valour by the
Portuguese. Sumbhajee's vessels were active on the coast, and Mannajee was
restless and untrustworthy. Commodore Bagwell, with four of the Company's
best ships, the _Victory, King George, Princess Caroline_, and
_Resolution_, was sent to cruise against Sumbhajee, while Captain Inchbird
was deputed on a friendly mission to Mannajee. On the 22nd December,
Bagwell sighted Sumbhajee's fleet of nine grabs and thirteen gallivats
coming out of Gheriah. He gave chase, and forced them to take refuge in
the mouth of the Rajapore River, where they anchored. Bagwell, ignorant of
the navigation, and with his crews badly afflicted with scurvy, boldly
bore down on them; on which they cut their cables and ran into the river.
Before they could get out of shot, he was able to pour in several
broadsides at close range, killing Angria's chief admiral, and inflicting
much damage. Fearing to lose some of his ships in the shoal water, he was
obliged to draw off, having had one midshipman killed.

Mannajee at once took advantage of Sumbhajee's temporary discomfiture to
attack and capture Caranjah from the Portuguese. Then, elated at his
success, and in spite of his own professions of friendship, he seized
three unarmed Bombay trading ships and two belonging to Surat. To punish
him, Captain Inchbird was sent with a small squadron, and seized eight of
his fighting gallivats, together with a number of fishing-boats.
Negotiations were opened, broken off, and renewed, during which Mannajee
insolently hoisted his flag on the island of Elephanta. With the Mahratta
army close at hand in Salsette, the Bombay Council dared not push matters
to extremity; so, invoking the help of Chimnajee Appa, the Peishwa's
brother, they patched up a peace with Mannajee. At the same time, Bombay
succeeded in making a treaty of friendship with the Peishwa, which secured,
to the English, trading facilities in his dominions.

While this was going on, a Dutch squadron of seven ships of war and seven
sloops attacked Gheriah, and were beaten off. A little later, Sumbhajee
took the _Jupiter_, a French ship of forty guns, with four hundred slaves
on board. To English, Dutch, French, and Portuguese alike, his fortresses
were impregnable.

In January, 1740, a gallant action was fought by the _Harrington_, Captain
Jenkins. The _Harrington_ was returning from a voyage to China, and, in
coming up the coast, had joined company with the _Pulteney_, _Ceres_, and
_Halifax_. Between Tellicherry and Bombay they were attacked by fifteen
sail of Angria's fleet. Four grabs ran alongside the _Harrington_, but
were received with such a well-directed fire that they dropped astern. The
four Company's ships then formed line abreast, and were attacked from
astern by Angria's ships. The brunt of the fight fell on the _Harrington_.
Jenkins had trained his crew, and was prepared for this method of attack.
After five hours of heavy firing the Angrian ships drew off, showing
confusion and loss. At daylight the next morning they attacked again. The
_Ceres_ had fallen to leeward, and three grabs attacked her, while three
more bore down on the _Harrington_ to windward. Disregarding his own
attackers, Jenkins bore down on the assailants of the _Ceres_, and drove
them off; then, hauling his wind, he awaited the attack of the others. The
three leeward grabs were towed up within range, and for the next two or
three hours the _Harrington_ engaged all six, almost single-handed. The
wind had fallen; the _Ceres_ and _Halifax_ were out of gunshot; the
_Pulteney_ alone was able to give assistance at long range. So well served
were the _Harrington's_ guns that she inflicted more damage than she
received, and, by ten o'clock, four of the grabs gave up the contest and
were towed away to windward. The other two grabs continued the action for
some time, till they also were towed out of action. The two squadrons,
just out of gunshot of each other, consulted among themselves. Jenkins
found he had only seven rounds left for his big guns, and his consorts,
which were more lightly armed, were in little better plight to renew the
combat. Still, he put a good face on it, showing no unwillingness to
continue the fight; and, on a breeze springing up, the Angrians drew off,
leaving the East Indiamen to pursue their voyage. Only one man on board
the _Harrington_ was wounded, though the ship was much knocked about.
Jenkins was much commended for his skill and courage, and two years later
we find him acting as Commodore of the Company's fleet at Bombay.

Three weeks later, Sumbhajee's fleet of five grabs and some gallivats
appeared off Bombay, and cruised off the mouth of the harbour, as if
inviting attack. Commodore Langworth, with the _Pulteney_, _Trial,
_Neptune's Prize_, a bombketch, and five of the largest gallivats, was
sent out. The Angrian fleet stood away to the southward, followed by
Langworth. The demonstration was a trick to draw off the Bombay fighting
ships. When they were well out of the way, Sumbhajee made a sudden attack
on Mannajee's territories with two thousand men and forty or fifty
gallivats. Sumbhajee had gained over a number of Mannajee's officers, and
Alibagh, Thull, and Sagurgurh fell into his hands at once. He attacked
Chaul, but was beaten off by the Portuguese, and then laid siege to Colaba.
Mannajee was at once reduced to great straits. Half his garrison were
untrustworthy, and his water supply was cut off. In his distress he
appealed to Bombay for assistance. Though the Council bore him little good
will, they recognized that it was better to maintain him in Colaba than to
allow Sumbhajee to establish himself there; so, in great haste, the
_Halifax_, a small country ship, the _Futteh Dowlet_ grab, the _Triumph_,
_Prahm_, and the _Robert_ galley were equipped and sent down, under
Captain Inchbird, arriving just in time to save the place. Water was
supplied to the garrison, and Bombardier Smith, together with gunner's
mate Watson, a mortar and plenty of ammunition were put into the fort.
Sumbhajee's batteries were much damaged by the shells from the mortar, his
camp was bombarded by Inchbird, and his gallivats forced to run for
Severndroog. This prompt action of the Bombay Council upset Sumbhajee's
plans. He addressed remonstrances to the Council, offering to restore the
_Anne_, which he had taken some months before. A week later, a Mahratta
force, from Salsette, under the Peishwa's son, Ballajee Bajee Rao,
appeared on the scene, attacked Sumbhajee's camp, destroyed some of his
batteries, killing a number of his men, and taking prisoner his
half-brother, Toolajee.

In his distress, Sumbhajee tried to come to terms with Mannajee. Each
distrusted the other, and both were afraid of the Peishwa. At this
juncture the death of the Peishwa was announced. Ballajee Bajee Rao was
obliged to return to Satara, and Sumbhajee was allowed to retreat, after
making peace with the Mahrattas. The promptitude and energy with which the
English had come to the assistance of Mannajee raised them greatly in the
esteem of the new Peishwa, and strengthened the bonds of the alliance.

Mannajee now found it expedient to make a solid peace with the English.
The new Peishwa had his hands full at Satara. The only power able to
afford him ready protection against Sumbhajee was the English, the value
of whose friendship he had lately experienced. So he sent agents to Bombay,
offering to pay a sum of Rs.7500, on restitution of the gallivats taken
from him by Inchbird the year before. On this basis a peace was made.

At the same time, the Portuguese, whose power and resources were fast
diminishing, recognized the difficulty of retaining the isolated fortress
of Chaul. They offered it first to the Dutch and then to the English, but
the dangerous gift was refused by both. Finally they made it over to the
Peishwa by agreement.[1]

While these things were going on, the _Antelope_, gallivat, fell a prey to
the Coolee rovers of Sultanpore. Through the treachery of the pilot it was
run ashore. The crew defended themselves gallantly, but in the course of
the action the ship blew up, and ten Europeans, two sepoys, and two
lascars were killed.

In view of the losses he had sustained, Sumbhajee Angria now tried to
patch up a peace with Bombay. In order to test his sincerity, he was
required, as a preliminary step, to restore the English prisoners he held.
Just then he scored a success against the Portuguese, from whom he
captured two fine grabs and a convoy; so the negotiation came to a
standstill. But his fortunes were declining, his people were leaving his
service, while Mannajee, protected by the Peishwa and the English, was
increasing in power; so he again addressed the Bombay Governor, in a
letter beginning 'For thirty years we have been at war.' But it was soon
discovered that his object was to have his hands free to attack Mannajee,
and his overtures came to nothing. In May, 1743, he captured the Bombay
ketch _Salamander_, off Colaba, but before it could be carried off it was
rescued by some of Mannajee's ships from Chaul, and restored to Bombay.
Very shortly afterwards, Sumbhajee died, and was succeeded by his
half-brother, Toolajee. The reputation of the English in Bombay was now so
good, that a quarrel between Mannajee and the Peishwa was referred to them
for arbitration.

The predatory policy of the Angrian family did not suffer in the hands of
Toolajee. Within a few weeks of Sumbhajee's death, his squadron fought a
prolonged action with the _Warwick_ and _Montagu_, East Indiamen, and
carried off five small vessels sailing under their convoy. Commodore Hough
in the _Restoration_, together with the _Bombay_ grab, was at once sent
down the coast, and found seven Angrian grabs with a number of gallivats,
which he forced to take shelter under the guns of Severndroog. A year
later, the _Princess Augusta_ from Bencoolen was captured by Toolajee, and
taken into Gheriah. After plundering it, Toolajee found it was too poor a
sailer to be of use to him, so he allowed the Bombay Council to redeem it
for Rs.8000.

Meanwhile, war with France had broken out, and the capture of Madras by La
Bourdonnais dealt a severe blow to English prestige. The restless Mannajee
began stopping and plundering small native craft belonging to Bombay, with
the intention, no doubt, of flying at higher game in time. Reprisals were
at once ordered, and a vessel of Mannajee's was captured. This brought him
to reason, and the vessel was released on his signing a bond to make good
the losses he had caused. The loss of Madras was telling against the
English, everywhere. In Bengal the Mahrattas seized the Cossimbazaar
flotilla bound for Calcutta, valued at four lakhs of rupees. Mannajee
still continued to be troublesome, till the Seedee, taking advantage of
the situation, attacked and captured Thull, which kept him quiet for a
time.

Considerable anxiety was caused in Bombay, at this time, by the appearance
of three French men-of-war cruising on the coast, with the evident
intention of waylaying the Company's ships from Europe. One of them was a
fifty-gun ship, and there was nothing in Bombay harbour to cope with her.
To meet the difficulty, a large number of fishing-boats were sent out,
each with an English sailor on board, to creep along the coast and warn
all incoming ships. In spite of these precautions, the _Anson_ missed the
boats sent to warn her, and was attacked by the French _Apollo_ and
_Anglesea_ within sight of the harbour. Captain Foulis defended himself
long enough to enable him to send off the dispatches and treasure he
carried, in his boats, before he was forced to surrender.[2] The Directors
bestowed on him a gratuity of £400 for his able conduct.

Fortunately for Bombay, Toolajee Angria's energies were at this time
directed against Canara, where in two successive expeditions he sacked
Mangalore and Honore, carrying off a large booty.

In October, 1749, Toolajee, who for some time had been giving little
trouble, inflicted a severe loss on the Bombay marine. The _Restoration_
was the most efficient ship at the Council's disposal. It had been
commanded by Captain Hough, a bold and resolute man, who had done good
service in her, attacking Angria's ships and chasing them into their
fortified harbours. She carried seventy-five European seamen, sixteen
lascars, and thirty soldiers--unruly fellows who wanted a firm hand over
them. Hough had fallen ill, and the command was given to Captain Thomas
Leake, an irresolute man, not fitted to command such, a crew. They very
soon fell into disorder. While coming up the coast from Goa they were
attacked by Toolajee's fleet of five grabs, accompanied by a swarm of
gallivats. From noon till dark the _Restoration_ was surrounded and
cannonaded. Her guns were so badly served that they inflicted little or no
damage, while her own sails and rigging were badly cut about. During the
night, the action was fitfully continued, her ammunition being lavishly
and uselessly expended. Toolajee himself was present, and had a number of
European gunners with him. At noon the next day his grabs edged down again,
fell aboard the _Restoration_, and boarded. On this, the colours were
struck, Leake ran below, an example that was followed by his crew, and the
ship was taken. When they were released, some months afterwards, the
Council, after due inquiry, decided that Leake and his officers should not
serve the Company again till the Directors' pleasure was known.

Meanwhile, the Coolees of Guzerat had become very troublesome. In 1749,
they captured a Bengal ship with Rs.60,000 in hard cash on board, and a
cargo of nearly equal value. Their depredations continuing, the Dutch
proposed joint action against them; so, in December, 1750, a joint Dutch
and English squadron forced the defences of the Coorla River, burnt and
captured twenty-three of their vessels, and reduced them to quietness for
a time.

Toolajee had now become very powerful. From Cutch to Cochin his vessels
swept the coast in greater numbers than Conajee had ever shown, and
cruised defiantly off Bombay harbour. But for the presence of four King's
ships on the coast, Bombay trade would have suffered severely. When
Boscawen left Indian waters,[3] after receiving over Madras from the
French, he detached four ships, the _Vigilant_, Tartar_, _Ruby_, and
_Syren_, to cruise on the West coast, under Commodore Lisle. For two years,
the protection afforded by Lisle's squadron gave some security to the
Bombay coast trade. As the small sailing boats, in which the coast trade
was carried on, made their way under convoy of the King's ships, Angria's
squadrons hovered round to pick up stragglers, and several slight
encounters took place. The superior sailing powers of the Mahratta vessels
enabled them to keep out of range of the big guns, while they snatched
prizes within sight of the men-of-war. Thus, in February, 1750, three
small traders were snapped up, while under convoy of the _Ruby_, by an
Angrian squadron that hung on their tracks for four days, between Bombay
and Vingorla. In October, the _Tartar_, with twenty-six sail under convoy,
was followed for three days, between Bombay and Surat, by eleven Angrian
gallivats, and lost one of the number. Three weeks later, the _Syren's_
convoy was attacked in the same waters by thirteen Angrian vessels, which
were beaten off without loss. In March, 1751, thirty-six trading vessels,
under convoy of the _Vigilant_ and _Ruby_, were attacked by six Angrian
vessels, which behaved with great boldness. Instead of devoting themselves
to the traders, they bore down on the _Ruby_, and opened fire at close
range, with great guns and small arms. Before long an Angrian grab was
seen to be on fire, and in a short time the after part blew up. Several
pieces of mast were blown on board the _Ruby_, tearing her sails and
wounding two men. The grab sunk, and her consorts made off. Hardly had
Lisle's squadron sailed for England[4] when the Council sustained a loss
in the _Swallow_ sloop, which was taken by Toolajee, together with a
convoy of rice-boats.

The great benefit conferred on the coast trade by Lisle's squadron taught
the Directors the necessity of a change of policy. Hitherto their fighting
ships had been utilized to carry cargoes along the coast, a practice that
greatly hampered their action. They now determined on keeping ships for
fighting only; so they ordered the building of the _Protector_, a
forty-gun ship, and the _Guardian_, a sloop. The two new ships left
Sheerness in the winter of 1751, commanded by Captains Cheyne and James,
and the most stringent orders were sent with them that they were to carry
no cargoes, and were to be kept on the Malabar coast as long as Angria
should keep the sea. During the next three years, the _Protector_ and
_Guardian_ did much useful work, convoying the coasting trade, and
offering battle to Angria's ships whenever they met them.


[1] September, 1740.

[2] 2nd September, 1747.

[3] November, 1749.

[4] November, 1751.



CHAPTER XI

_THE DOWNFALL OF ANGRIA_

Toolajee fights successful action with the Dutch--He tries to make peace
with Bombay--Alliance formed against him--Commodore William James--
Slackness of the Peishwa's fleet--Severndroog--James's gallant attack--
Fall of Severndroog--Council postpone attack on Gheriah--Clive arrives
from England--Projects of the Directors--Admiral Watson--Preparations
against Gheriah.--The Council's instructions--Council of war about
prize-money--Double dealing of the Peishwa's officers--Watson's
hint--Ships engage Gheriah--Angrian fleet burnt--Fall of Gheriah--Clive
occupies the fort--The prize-money--Dispute between Council and Poonah
 Durbar--Extinction of coast piracy--Severndroog tower.


In the beginning of 1754, the Dutch suffered a severe loss at Toolajee's
hands. A vessel loaded with ammunition was taken, and two large ships were
blown up after a stiff fight, in which Toolajee had two three-masted grabs
sunk and a great number of men killed. Six months later, Toolajee sent an
agent to Bombay to propose terms of accommodation. They were terms to
which a conciliatory answer, at least, would have been returned in Conajee
Angria's time. The Council's reply betrays a consciousness of increased
strength. "Can you imagine that the English will ever submit to take
passes of any Indian nation? This they cannot do. We grant passes, but
would take none from anybody." Toolajee was told that if he was in earnest
in desiring peace, he should return the vessels he had taken, and send men
of figure and consequence to treat, instead of the obscure individual
through whom his overtures had come. In spite of this peremptory reply,
Toolajee continued to make half-hearted proposals for peace. The fact was
that he was now at open war with the Peishwa, who had made himself master
of the Concan, with the exception of the coastline. According to Orme,
Toolajee had cut off the noses of the agents sent by the Peishwa to demand
the tribute formerly paid to Satara. The Poonah Durbar were so incensed
against him that they were determined on his destruction, though without
the assistance of the English they had little expectation of success
against his coast fortresses. The Bombay Council was ready enough to join
in the undertaking, but was unwilling to take immediate action. This
unwillingness was apparently due to their desire to see order first
restored in Surat, where affairs had fallen into great disorder in the
general break-up of Mogul rule.

The Mahratta Court at Poona had been close observers of the long war waged
in the Carnatic between the English and French. They had seen Madras taken,
only to be regained by diplomacy, and after the English had been foiled at
Pondicherry. They had witnessed the rise of French power under Dupleix;
rulers deposed and others set up, in the Deccan and the Carnatic, by
French arms; and then, when Mahomed Ali, the rightful ruler of the
Carnatic, was at his last gasp, they had seen his cause espoused by the
English, and one humiliation after another inflicted on French armies,
till at last the French were forced to recognize Mahomed Ali's title,
while a powerful English squadron and a King's regiment had been sent out
to make good the claim. The good relations established between the
Peishwa's government and Bombay by the treaty of 1739, had been
strengthened since the arrival of Mr. Richard Bourchier, as Governor, in
1750; the fighting in the Carnatic had raised the military reputation of
the English, while their support of Mahomed Ali, whom the Mahrattas styled
'their master,' had greatly increased the esteem in which they were held.

When it was definitely known that hostilities between the English and
French were at an end, Ramajee Punt, the Sirsoobah of the Concan, was
dispatched to Bombay to concert measures against Toolajee. Mr. Bourchier
was urged to summon the King's ships from Madras to co-operate with the
Peishwa's forces.

To await the arrival of Watson's squadron from Madras would have lost the
favourable season before the monsoon, so it was determined to fit out at
once what ships were in the harbour, and send them under Commodore William
James. Articles of agreement were drawn up, by which it was settled that
Severndroog, Anjanvel, and Jyeghur should be attacked by the Mahrattas,
while the English engaged to keep the sea, and prevent Toolajee's fleet
from throwing succours into the places attacked. A division of the spoils
between the victors was agreed on, by which the English were to receive
Bankote and Himmutghur, with five villages, in perpetual sovereignty. The
Peishwa's fleet was to be under James's orders, and he was instructed to
give all the assistance in his power, but not to lend any of his people,
except a few to point the guns.

Very little is accurately known of James's career before his entry into
the East India Company's service. He was born in Pembrokeshire in humble
circumstances, and went to sea at an early age. According to one account,
he served in Hawke's ship, but, wherever his training was received, it had
made him a first-rate seaman. In 1747, he entered the Company's marine
service, being then about twenty-six years of age.

In 1751, he sailed from England in command of the _Guardian_ sloop, one of
the two men-of-war built by the Directors for the protection of Bombay
trade. His services against the coast pirates, during the next two years,
procured his advancement to the post of Commodore at Bombay, and it was
soon remarked that the sailing of the _Protector_, on which his flag was
now hoisted, had greatly improved by the changes he had made. By his
capture of Severndroog, now to be related, he became famous. He played his
part at the capture of Gheriah, and, in the following year, when the news
of the disaster at Calcutta became known in Bombay, he was sent down in
the _Revenge_, with four hundred men, to join the force sent up from
Madras under Watson and Clive. Off Calicut he encountered the French ship
_Indien_, carrying twenty-four guns and over two hundred men, and captured
her. He afterwards joined the board of Directors, was created a baronet,
had a seat in Parliament, and, in time, became chairman of the Company.
Sterne, in the last year of his life, formed a close friendship with Mr.
and Mrs. James, and, a few days before he died, recommended his daughter
Lydia to their care.

On the 22nd March, 1755, James sailed from Bombay in the _Protector_,
forty guns, having with him the _Swallow_, sixteen guns, the _Viper_
bombketch, and the _Triumph_ prahm. The following day, he sighted an
Angrian squadron of seven grabs and eleven gallivats, which he chased for
a couple of hours without success. Two days later, he was joined off Chaul
by the Peishwa's fleet, consisting of seven grabs, two batellas, and about
forty gallivats. To James's annoyance, he found his allies in no hurry to
get on. Twice they insisted on landing, lingering for over three days in
one place. On the 29th, Severndroog was sighted, and Angria's fleet of
seven grabs and ten gallivats was observed coming out. The signal to chase
was made, but obeyed with little alacrity by the Peishwa's people, though
experience had shown that they could outsail the Bombay ships. James gave
chase with his little squadron, his Mahratta allies being left, by evening,
hull down, astern. The Angrians made prodigious exertions to escape,
hanging out turbans and clothing to catch every breath of air. All the
following day the ineffectual chase continued, the _Protector_ outsailing
its own consorts, and losing sight altogether of its Mahratta allies.
Finding it useless to persevere, James hauled his wind, and stood to the
northward for Severndroog, which he had left far behind in the chase. Here
he found Ramajee Punt, who had landed a few men, and entrenched himself at
about two miles from the nearest fort, with a single four-pounder gun.

The harbour of Severndroog[1] is formed by a slight indentation in the
coast and a small rocky islet about a quarter of a mile from the mainland,
on which was the Severndroog fort, with walls fifty feet high, and, in
many places, parapets cut out of the solid rock; the whole armed with
about fifty guns. On the mainland, opposite to Severndroog, was another
fort. Fort Gova, armed with, about forty-four guns, while southwards of
Gova were two smaller forts on a small promontory, Futteh Droog and Kanak
Droog, armed with twenty guns each.

James at once saw that the reduction of the different forts by the
Peishwa's troops would be a matter of months, even if he was able to keep
out succours from the sea, which the monsoon would render impossible; so,
in spite of the Council's orders, he resolved on taking matters into his
own hands. He had been brought up in a good school, and knew that, to
match a ship against a fort with success, it was necessary to get as close
as possible, and overpower it with weight of metal. After taking the
necessary soundings, on the 2nd April he stood in to four-fathom water,
taking with him the _Viper_ and _Triumph_, and bombarded Severndroog fort.
The Mahratta fleet gave no assistance, so the _Swallow_ was detached to
guard the southern entrance. All day long the cannonade continued, till a
heavy swell setting into the harbour, in the evening, obliged a cessation
of fire. The fort fired briskly in return, but did little damage; while
the Mahratta fleet lay off out of range, idle spectators of the conflict.
At night came Ramajee Punt on board the _Protector_, bringing with him a
deserter from the fort, who reported that the Governor had been killed and
a good deal of damage done. He told them that it was impossible to breach
the side on which the _Protector's_ fire was directed, as it was all solid
rock.

In the morning, the _Protector_ weighed and ran in again, James placing
his ships between Severndroog and Gova. The flagship engaged Severndroog
so closely that, by the small arm fire of men in the tops, and by firing
two or three upper-deck guns at a time instead of in broadsides, the
Severndroog gunners were hardly able to return a shot. With her lower-deck
guns on the other side the _Protector_ cannonaded the mainland forts,
which also received the attention of the _Viper_ and _Triumph_. It would
be difficult to find a parallel to this instance of a single ship and two
bombketches successfully engaging four forts at once, that far outnumbered
them in guns; but so good were James's arrangements that neither his ships
nor his men suffered harm. Soon after midday a magazine exploded in
Severndroog; the conflagration spread, and, before long, men, women, and
children were seen taking to their boats, and escaping to the mainland.
Numbers of them were intercepted and taken by the _Swallow_ and the
Mahratta gallivats. The bombardment of the mainland forts was continued
till night, and resumed the following morning, till about ten o'clock,
when all three hauled down their colours. Thus, in forty-eight hours, did
James by his vigorous action reduce this Angrian stronghold that was
second only to Gheriah in strength. The Mahrattas were never slow at
seizing any advantage that had been won by others, as was shown a few
months later at Gheriah; but on this occasion they were so struck by
James's intrepidity that they refused to enter Gova without him. The
English flag was hoisted in all three forts, amid the cheers of the
English sailors. It was then found that, by mismanagement, the Governor of
Gova had been allowed to escape over to Severndroog, and gallantly
reoccupied it, with a small body of sepoys, hoping to hold out till
assistance could reach him from Dabul. So the _Protector's_ guns were set
to work again, and, under cover of their fire, a party of seamen was
landed, who hewed open the sally port with their axes and made themselves
masters of the fort. Thus, in a few hours, and without losing a single man,
had "the spirited resolution of Commodore James destroyed the timorous
prejudices which had for twenty years been entertained of the
impracticability of reducing any of Angria's fortified harbours."

The whole success of the expedition had been due to James, and the
Peishwa's officers ungrudgingly acknowledged the fact, as well as the bad
behaviour of their own people. "I have learnt with particular satisfaction
that the fleet your Honor sent to the assistance of Ramajee Punt have by
their courage and conduct reduced Severndroog, the suddenness of which
transcends my expectations; and I allow myself incapable of sufficiently
commending their merit," wrote the Peishwa's Commander-in-Chief to
Bourchier. Ramajee Punt wrote in similar terms, and sent a dress of honour
to James. In their elation, the Peishwa's officers wished to complete the
destruction of Angria without delay. Bankote was surrendered to them
without firing a shot, and a demonstration was made against Rutnaghiri.
But the Council was cautious, and forbade James to risk his ships. The
Mahrattas offered him two lakhs of rupees if he would support them in
attacking Dabul, but he dared not exceed his orders again, and returned to
Bombay. The success of a second _coup-de-main_ could not be relied on, and
a repulse would have restored Toolajee's drooping spirits, and made future
success more difficult. The soldiers Bombay had lent to Madras were no
longer required, so James was sent there in the _Protector_, to bring them
back after the monsoon.

In the end of October, an unexpected accession of force, from England,
reached Bombay. In the suspension of arms that had been concluded at
Madras between the English and French, Carnatic affairs alone were made
the subject of agreement. Bussy, with a French force, remained in the
Deccan, engaged in extending the Nizam's influence, a proceeding that was
viewed with alarm by the Peishwa. With the object of expelling the French
from the Deccan, the English Government sent out to Bombay a force of
seven hundred men, to act against Bussy, in concert with the Mahratta
Government. The command was to be taken by Lieutenant-Colonel Scott, the
Company's engineer-general at Madras. The Directors had also sent Clive to
Bombay to act as second in command to Scott. But Scott had died, in the
mean time, and the _Doddington_, East Indiaman, bringing the Directors'
instructions to the Bombay Council, had been wrecked near the Cape. Before
the middle of November, Watson's squadron arrived, in furtherance of the
Deccan project, together with James, in the _Protector_, bringing two
hundred and fifty-five Bombay soldiers from Madras. Clive, alone, knew of
the Directors' plan for the Deccan, and urged it on the Council. Ramajee
Punt was in Bombay urging them to complete the destruction of Angria, and
inviting them to take possession of Bankote;[2] so they decided to devote
themselves to Gheriah, on the grounds that the Deccan expedition would be
an infringement of the late agreement with the French.

Seeing that nothing was to be done in the _Deccan_, Watson tendered the
services of his squadron to assist in the reduction of Gheriah, and Clive
offered to command the land forces. James was sent down in the _Protector_,
with the _Revenge_ and _Guardian_, with Sir William Hewitt, Watson's flag
lieutenant, to reconnoitre and take soundings. Nothing was known of
Gheriah. It was supposed to be as high, and as strong as Gibraltar. Like
that celebrated fortress, it stood on rocky ground at the end of a
promontory, connected with the mainland by a narrow neck of ground, at the
month of a small estuary. James found that it was less formidable than it
had been represented, and that large ships could go close in. To prevent
Toolajee's ships from escaping, the _Bridgewater_, _Kingsfisher_, and
_Revenge_ were sent to blockade the place till the expedition was ready to
start.

On the 11th February, the whole force was assembled off Gheriah, a greater
armament than had yet ever left Bombay harbour. In addition to Watson's
squadron of six vessels, four of them line-of-battle ships, and displaying
the flags of two admirals, the Company's marine made a brave show of
eighteen ships, large and small, carrying two hundred and fourteen guns,
besides twenty fishing-boats to land troops with, each carrying a
swivel-gun in the bows. Between them they carried eight hundred European
and six hundred native troops. With Watson also went Captain Hough,
superintendent of the Company's marine, as representative of the Council.

Part of the instructions given to Clive and Hough by the Council will bear
repeating.

    "It is probable that Toolajee Angria may offer to capitulate, and
    possibly offer a sum of money; but you are to consider that this
    fellow is not on a footing with any prince in the known world, he
    being a pirate in whom no confidence can be put, not only taking,
    burning, and destroying ships of all nations, but even the vessels
    belonging to the natives, which have his own passes, and for which he
    has annually collected large sums of money. Should he offer any sum of
    money it must be a very great one that will pay us for the many rich
    ships he has taken (which we can't enumerate), besides the innumerable
    other smaller vessels; but we well remember the _Charlotte_ bound from
    hence to China, belonging to Madras; the _William_ belonging to Bombay,
    from Bengal; the _Severn_, a Bengal freight ship for Bussorah, value
    nine or ten lakhs of rupees; the _Derby_ belonging to the Hon'ble
    Company, with the Grab _Restoration_, value Rs.5,22,743-4-6; the sloop
    _Pilot_ and the _Augusta_; also the _Dadaboy_ from Surat, _Rose_ from
    Mangalore, Grab _Anne_ from Gombroon, _Benjimolly_ from the Malabar
    coast, and _Futte Dowlat_ from Muscat."

The Council were desirous of getting Toolajee into their own custody,
fearful that, if left in Mahratta hands, he would be set free before long,
and the work would have to be done over again.

Before the expedition left Bombay, a council of war was held, to decide on
the division of spoils, between the sea and land forces. Such agreements
were common enough, on such occasions, in order to prevent subsequent
disputes and individual plundering. In settling the shares of the officers,
the council decided that Clive and Chalmers, who was next to Clive in
command of the troops, should have shares equal to that of two captains of
King's ships. To this Clive objected that, though as Lieutenant-Colonel,
his share would, according to custom, be equal to that of a naval captain,
on this occasion, as Commander-in-Chief of the troops, it should be
greater, and ought not to be less than that of Rear-Admiral Pocock. The
council of war refused to agree to this, as the naval officers, who formed
the majority, could not be brought to consent. Like Drake, who would
rather diminish his own portion than leave any of his people unsatisfied,
Watson undertook to 'give the Colonel such a part of his share as will
make it equal to Rear-Admiral Pocock's;' and this was duly entered in the
proceedings.

In the division of spoils, no mention is made of their Mahratta allies.
They were left out of account altogether, and the reason is not far to
seek. Experience had shown that, in the coming military operations, the
Mahrattas would count for nothing. All the hard knocks would fall on the
English, and it was but fair that they should have the prize-money; the
Mahrattas would gain a substantial benefit in the possession of Gheriah,
which was to be made over to them after capture.

The arrangements for the command of the troops showed that the lessons of
the last ten years of warfare against the French had borne fruit. The
command was left to those who made it their profession. Henceforth we hear
no more of factors and writers strutting about in uniform, calling
themselves colonels and captains for a few weeks, and then returning to
their ledgers. We have done with the Midfords and the Browns. Out of the
thirteen years he had served the Company, Clive had been a soldier for
eleven. He had definitely abandoned his civil position, and had embraced a
military career, and his merits had been recognized by the grant of a
Lieutenant-Colonel's commission from the King. The subordinate military
officers also had improved. The worst of them had been weeded out, and
many of them had learned their business under Lawrence in the Carnatic.
Though much unnecessary interference still went on in quarters, they were
left unfettered in the command of their men in the field.

A few hours after leaving Bombay, the expedition was overtaken by
despatches from Bourchier, with intelligence that the Mahrattas were
treating with Toolajee. On reaching Gheriah, they found the Mahratta army
encamped against it, and Ramajee Punt himself came off to tell the
commanders that, with a little patience, the fort would surrender without
firing a shot, as Toolajee was already in their hands and ready to treat.
Alarmed at the great armament coming against him, and cowed by recent
reverses, Toolajee had come as a suppliant into the Mahratta camp to try
if, by finesse and chicanery, he might escape utter destruction, while, in
Gheriah, he had left his brother-in-law with orders to defend it to the
last. The Peishwa's officers, on their side, were anxious to get the place
into their hands without admitting the English to any share of the booty;
a design that was at once seen through by Hough and Watson. Ramajee
promised to bring Toolajee with him the following day, to show that he was
not treating separately. Instead of doing so, he sent some subordinate
officers, together with some of Toolajee's relations, with excuses, to
keep Watson in play, while a large bribe was offered to Hough to induce
him to persuade the Admiral to suspend operations. Watson, who had already
summoned the fort to surrender, let them know that he would not wait very
long. They were taken to view the ship with its tiers of heavy guns, and,
as a grim hint of what might be expected, he presented Toolajee's friends
with a thirty-two pound shot as they left the ship.

At half-past one in the afternoon, the flag of truce having returned with
the Governor's refusal to surrender, signal was made to weigh, and the
whole fleet stood into the harbour in three divisions, led by the
_Kingsfisher_, sloop, and the _Bridgewater_. The inner line, nearest to
the fort was formed by the line-of-battle ships and the _Protector_: the
Company's grabs and bombketches, with the _Guardian_, formed the second
line, while the gallivats and small vessels formed a third, outer line. As
the _Kingsfisher_ came opposite the fort, a shot was fired at her. The
signal was made to engage, and as each ship reached its station it came to
an anchor, the inner line being within musket-shot of the fort. Across the
mouth of the river, Toolajee's grabs were drawn up, among them being the
_Restoration_, the capture of which, six years before, had caused so much
heart-burning in Bombay. As the heavy shot and shell came pouring in from
over one hundred and fifty guns at close range, the Gheriah defenders
manfully strove to repay the same with interest. But so terrific was the
fire brought to bear on them, that it was impossible for them to lay their
guns properly. In that February afternoon many a cruel outrage was
expiated under that hail of iron. After two hours' firing, a shell set the
_Restoration_ on fire; it spread to the grabs, and before long the Angrian
fleet,[3] that had been the terror of the coast for half a century, was in
a blaze. The boats were ordered out, and, as evening came on, Clive was
put on shore with the troops, and took up a position a mile and a half
from the fort. The Mahrattas joined him, and Toolajee, from whom the
Peishwa's people had extorted a promise to surrender the fort, found means
to send a letter into the place, warning his brother-in-law against
surrender to the English. In the fort all was terror and dismay, though
the Governor manfully did his duty. From the burning shipping the flames
spread to the bazaars and warehouses. All night the bombketches threw in
shells, while the conflagration continued. One square tower in the fort
burned with such violence as to resemble a fabric of red-hot iron in a
smithy.

Early next morning, Watson sent in a flag of truce again, but surrender
was still refused, so the line-of-battle ships were warped in and
recommenced firing; while Clive, who had approached the fort, battered it
from the land side. At four in the afternoon a magazine in the fort blew
up, and a white flag was hoisted. An officer was sent on shore, but the
Governor still attempted to evade surrender. He consented to admit five or
six men into the fort to hoist English colours, but would not definitely
surrender possession till next day. So fire was reopened, and in twenty
minutes more the Angrian flag was hauled down for the last time, and the
last shred of Angrian independence had ceased to exist.

Sixty men, under Captains Forbes and Buchanan, were marched up to hold the
gate for the night. A body of the Peishwa's troops tried to gain admission,
and offered the officers a bill on Bombay for a lakh of rupees to allow
them to pass in. The offer was rejected, but the Peishwa's officer still
continued to press in, till Forbes faced his men about, and, drawing his
sword, swore he would cut him down if he persisted.

The following morning, the fort was taken possession of by Clive. The
success had been gained at the cost of about twenty men killed and wounded.

Ramajee Punt at once made a formal demand for the fort to be given up to
him. Watson, in return, demanded that Toolajee should be made over into
English custody. Meanwhile, a hunt for the treasure secreted in different
places went on. "Every day hitherto has been productive of some new
discoveries of treasure, plate, and jewels, etc.," wrote Hough three days
later. Altogether about one hundred and thirty thousand pounds' worth of
gold, silver, and jewels were secured, and divided between the land and
sea forces. True to his promise, Watson sent Clive a thousand pounds to
make his share equal to Pocock's. Clive sent it back again. He was
satisfied with the acknowledgment of his claim, but would not take what
came out of Watson's private purse. "Thus did these two gallant officers
endeavour to outvie each other in mutual proofs of disinterestedness and
generosity," wrote Ives in his narrative. A thousand pounds was a larger
sum then than it would be now, and Clive was a poor man at the time, but
he was never greedy of money. The incident justifies his boast, long
afterwards, of his moderation when the treasures of Bengal were at his
mercy. It is allowable to suppose that it strengthened the mutual respect
of both, and facilitated their co-operation in Bengal, a year later. It
was a fortunate thing for England that Watson was not a man of Matthews'
stamp.

The Europeans in Toolajee's service appear to have left him before the
attack began, as no mention is made of them; but ten Englishmen and three
Dutchmen were found in the place, in a state of slavery, and released.

In delivering over Bankote, the Mahrattas had failed to give, with the
fort, the five villages according to agreement. The Council were desirous
of having Toolajee in their own keeping, so they refused to give over
Gheriah, and for some months a wrangle went on concerning the points in
dispute. The Council proposed that they should retain Gheriah and give up
Bankote. The Peishwa taunted the Council with breach of faith, and refused
to give up Toolajee. The squabble was at last settled by the Mahrattas
engaging to give ten villages near Bankote, and that Toolajee should not
receive any territory within forty miles of the sea. On these conditions
Gheriah was delivered over. Toolajee, instead of being given any territory,
was kept a prisoner for the rest of his life. Some years afterwards, his
sons made their escape, and sought refuge in Bombay.

With the fall of Gheriah, the heavy cloud that had so long hung over
Bombay trade was dispelled. Thenceforward none but the smallest vessels
had anything to fear on the coast south of Bombay, though another
half-century elapsed before the Malwans were compelled to give up piracy.
The Sanganians continued to be troublesome, at times, till they too were
finally reduced to order in 1816, after more than one expedition had been
sent against them. Persian Gulf piracy continued to flourish till 1835,
when it was brought to an end by a happy combination of arms and diplomacy.

On Shooter's Hill, adjoining Woolwich Common, the tower of Severndroog,
erected by James's widow to commemorate his great achievement, forms a
conspicuous landmark in the surrounding country. Here, in sight of the
spot where the bones of Kidd and his associates long hung in chains as a
terror to evil-doers, there still lingers a breath of that long struggle
against the Angrian pirates, and of its triumphant conclusion.

    "This far-seen monumental tow'r
    Records the achievements of the brave,
    And Angria's subjugated pow'r,
    Who plundered on the Eastern wave."

_"Walks through London," David Hughson_.


[1] Properly Suvarna Droog, 'the Golden Fortress.'

[2] Bankote was made over on the 6th December, and the British flag
    hoisted there on the 10th January, 1756.

[3] Three three-masted ships carrying twenty guns each; nine two-masted,
    carrying from twelve to sixteen guns; thirteen gallivats, carrying
    from six to ten guns; thirty others unclassed; two on the stocks,
    one of them pierced for forty guns.



       *       *       *       *       *



AN ENGLISHWOMAN IN INDIA TWO HUNDRED YEARS AGO

On the 9th March, 1709, the _Loyall Bliss_, East Indiaman, Captain Hudson,
left her anchorage in the Downs and sailed for Bengal. As passengers, she
carried Captain Gerrard Cooke, his wife, a son and two daughters, together
with a few soldiers. For many years Cooke had served the Company at Fort
William, as Gunner, an office that included the discharge of many
incongruous duties. After a stay in England, he was now returning to
Bengal, as engineer, with the rank of captain. The _Loyall Bliss_ was a
clumsy sailer, and made slow progress; so that August had come before she
left the Cape behind her. Contrary winds and bad weather still detained
her, and kept her westward of her course. By the middle of September, the
south-west monsoon, on which they depended to carry them up the bay, had
ceased to blow, so--

    "our people being a great many Downe with the scurvy and our water
    being short, wee called a Consultation of Officers it being too late
    to pretend to get bengali the season being come that the N.E. Trade
    wind being sett in and our people almost every man tainted with
    distemper," it was determined to make for Carwar and "endever to gett
    refresments there."

On the 7th October, they came to anchor in the little bay formed by the
Carwar River. The next day, hearing of a French man-of-war being on the
coast, they procured a pilot and anchored again under the guns of the
Portuguese fort on the island of Angediva, where lay the bones of some
three hundred of the first royal troops ever sent to India. Twenty-six
soldiers were sent on shore, 'most of them not being able to stand.' The
chief of the Company's factory at Carwar at that time was Mr. John Harvey,
who entertained Captain Hudson and all the gentlemen and ladies on board
'in a splendid manner.' One may picture to one's self the pleasure with
which they escaped for a time from the ship and its scurvy-stricken crew.
To Mr. Harvey and the Company's officials they were welcome as bringing
the latest news from England. They were able to tell of Marlborough's
victory at Oudenarde, and the capture of Lille and Minorca, while Harvey
was able to tell them of Captain Kidd's visit to Carwar twelve years
before, and to show them where the freebooter had careened his ship. But
Mr. John Harvey found other matter of interest in his visitors. There were
few Englishwomen in India in those days, and the unexpected advent of a
fresh young English girl aroused his susceptibilities to such an extent
that he forgot to report to Bombay the arrival of the _Loyall Bliss_, for
which, he, in due time, received a reprimand. He quickly made known to
Captain Cooke that he had taken a very great liking to his eldest daughter.
Mistress Catherine Cooke, 'a most beautiful lady, not exceeding thirteen
or fourteen years of age.' Cooke was a poor man, and had left two more
daughters in England; so, as Mr. Harvey 'proffered to make great
Settlements provided the Father and Mother would consent to her marriage,'
Mistress Catherine Cooke, 'to oblige her parents,' consented also. There
was little time for delay, as the captain of the _Loyall Bliss_ was
impatient to be off. The Company's ship _Tankerville_ was on the coast,
bound southward, and it was desirable they should sail in company for
mutual protection. So, on the 22nd October, the _Loyall Bliss_ made sail
for Bengal, where she safely arrived in due time, leaving behind the young
bride at Carwar.

To the lookers-on the marriage was repugnant, and can hardly have been a
happy one for the young girl, as Harvey was 'a deformed man and in years.'
He had been long on the coast, and by diligent trading had acquired a
little money; but he had other things to think of besides his private
trade, as we find recorded at the time that 'the Rajah of Carwar continues
ill-natured.' By the end of 1710, he made up his mind to resign the
Company's service, wind up his affairs, and go to England; so Mr. Robert
Mence was appointed to succeed him at Carwar, and, in April, 1711, Harvey
and his child-wife came to Bombay. But to wind up trading transactions of
many years' standing was necessarily a long business, and there was no
necessity for hurry, as no ship could leave for England till after the
monsoon. As always happened in those days, his own accounts were mixed up
with those of the Company, and would require laborious disentanglement.
Before leaving Carwar, he had leased to the Company his trading grab, the
_Salamander_, and had taken the precaution to pay himself out of the
Company's treasure chest at Carwar. Before long, there was an order to the
Carwar chief to recharge Mr. Harvey 402 Pagodas, 17 Jett, and 4 Pice he
had charged to the Company for the use of the _Salamander_, the account
having been liquidated in Bombay; from which it would appear that he had
been paid twice for his ship. The accounts of those days must have been
maddening affairs owing to the multiplicity of coinages. Pounds sterling,
Pagodas, Rupees, Fanams, Xeraphims, Laris, Juttals, Matte, Reis, Rials,
Cruzadoes, Sequins, Pice, Budgerooks, and Dollars of different values were
all brought into the official accounts. In 1718, the confusion was
increased by a tin coinage called Deccanees.[1] The conversion of sums
from one coinage to another, many of them of unstable value, must have
been an everlasting trouble.[2] In August we find Harvey writing to the
Council to say that he had at Tellicherry a chest of pillar dollars
weighing 289 lbs. 3 ozs. 10 dwts., which he requests may be paid into the
Company's cash there, and in return a chest of dollars may be given him at
Bombay.

His young wife doubtless assisted him in his complicated accounts, and
gained some knowledge of local trade. It must have been a wonderful
delight to her to escape from the dulness of Carwar and mix in the larger
society of Bombay, and she must have realized with sadness the mistake she
had made in marrying a deformed man old enough to be her grandfather, at
the solicitation of her parents. She made, at this time, two acquaintances
that were destined to have considerable influence on her future life. On
the 5th August, the _Godolphin_, twenty-one days from Mocha, approached
Bombay, but being unable to make the harbour before nightfall, anchored
outside; a proceeding that would appear, even to a landsman, absolutely
suicidal in the middle of the monsoon, but was probably due to fear of
pirates.[3]

That night heavy weather came on, the ship's cable parted, and the
_Godolphin_ became a total wreck at the foot of Malabar Hill. Apparently,
all the Englishmen on board were saved, among them the second supercargo,
a young man named Thomas Chown, who lost all his possessions. There was
also in Bombay, at the time, a young factor, William Gyfford, who had come
to India, six years before, as a writer, at the age of seventeen. We shall
hear of both of them again.

In October, came news of the death of Mr. Robert Mence at Carwar. 'Tho his
time there was so small wee find he had misapplyed 1700 and odd pagodas to
his own use,' the Bombay Council reported to the Directors in London. In
his place was appointed Mr. Miles Fleetwood, who was then in Bombay
awaiting a passage to the Persian Gulf where he had been appointed a
factor. With him returned to Carwar, Harvey and his wife, to adjust some
depending accounts with the country people there.

We get an account of Carwar thirty years before this, from Alexander
Hamilton, which shows that there was plenty of sport near at hand for
those who were inclined for it, and it is interesting to find that the
Englishmen who now travel in search of big game had their predecessors in
those days--

    "This Country is so famous for hunting, that two Gentlemen of
    Distinction, viz: Mr. _Lembourg_ of the House of _Lembourg_ in
    _Germany_, and Mr. _Goring_, a Son of my Lord _Goring's_ in _England_,
    went _incognito_ in one of the _East India_ Company's Ships, for India.
    They left Letters directed for their Relations, in the Hands of a
    Friend of theirs, to be delivered two or three Months after their
    Departure, so that Letters of Credit followed them by the next Year's
    Shipping, with Orders from the _East India_ Company to the Chiefs of
    the Factories, wherever they should happen to come, to treat them
    according to their Quality. They spent three Years at _Carwar, viz:_
    from Anno 1678 to 1681, then being tired with that Sort of Pleasure,
    they both took Passage on board a Company's Ship for _England_, but Mr.
    _Goring_ died four days after the Ship's Departure from _Carwar_, and
    lies buried on the Island of _St. Mary_, about four Leagues from the
    Shore, off _Batacola_, and Mr. _Lembourg_ returned safe to _England_."

Four months after his return to Carwar, Harvey died, leaving his girl-wife
a widow. She remained at Carwar, engaged in winding up the trading affairs
of her late husband, and asserting her claim to his estate, which had been
taken possession of by the Company's officials, according to custom.
According to the practice of the day, every merchant and factor had
private trading accounts which were mixed up with the Company's accounts,
so that on retirement they were not allowed to leave the country till the
Company's claims were settled. In case of death, their estates were taken
possession of for the same reason. Two months later, Mr. Thomas Chown, the
late supercargo of the _Godolphin_, was sent down to Carwar as a factor,
and, a few weeks after his arrival, he married the young widow.
Application was now made to the Council at Bombay for the effects of her
late husband to be made over to her, and orders were sent to Carwar for
the late Mr. Harvey's effects to be sold, and one-third of the estate to
be paid to Mrs. Chown, provided Harvey had died intestate. The Carwar
factory chief replied that the effects had realized 13,146 rupees 1 fanam
and 12 budgerooks; that Harvey had left a will dated the 8th April, 1708,
and that therefore nothing had been paid to Mrs. Chown. It was necessary
for Chown and his wife to go to Bombay and prosecute their claims in
person. The short voyage was destined to be an eventful one.

On the 3rd November (1712), Chown and his wife left Carwar in the _Anne_
ketch, having a cargo of pepper and wax on board, to urge their claim to
the late Mr. Harvey's estate. The coast swarmed with pirate craft, among
which those of Conajee Angria were the most numerous and the most
formidable. It was usual, therefore, for every cargo of any value to be
convoyed by an armed vessel. To protect the _Anne_, Governor Aislabie's
armed yacht had been sent down, and a small frigate, the _Defiance_,[4]
was also with them. The day after leaving Carwar they were swooped down
upon by four of Angria's ships, and a hot action ensued. The brunt of it
fell on the Governor's yacht, which had both masts shot away and was
forced to surrender. The ketch tried to escape back to Carwar, but was
laid aboard by two grabs, and had to surrender when she had expended most
of her ammunition. In the action, Chown had his arm torn off by a
cannon-shot, and expired in his wife's arms. So again, in little more than
three years from her first marriage, Mrs. Chown was left a widow when she
could hardly have been eighteen. The captured vessels and the prisoners
were carried off; the crews to Gheriah and the European prisoners to
Colaba. To make matters worse for the poor widow, she was expecting the
birth of an infant.

Great was the excitement in Bombay when the news of Mrs. Chown's capture
arrived. The Governor was away at Surat, and all that could be done was to
address Angria; so a letter was written to him 'in English and Gentues,'
asking for the captives and all papers to be restored, and some medicine
was sent for the wounded. Just at this time also news was received of the
Indiaman _New George_ having been taken by the French near Don
Mascharenas.[5] Sir John Gayer, who was on board, finished his troubled
career in the East by being killed in the action.

After keeping them a month in captivity Angria sent back his prisoners,
except the captains ransom. In acknowledgment of kindness shown to the
released prisoners by the Seedee, that chief was presented with a pair of
Musquetoons, a fowling-piece, and five yards of 'embost' cloth. But in the
Governor's absence the Council could do nothing about payment of ransom.
When he returned, negotiations went on through the European prisoners in
Colaba. Angria being sincerely anxious for peace with the English while he
was in arms against his own chief, terms were arranged, and Lieutenant
Mackintosh was despatched to Colaba with Rs.30,000 as ransom for the
Europeans, and the sealed convention. On the 22nd February (1713), he
returned, bringing with him Mrs. Chown and the other captives, the
captured goods, and the _Anne_ ketch, but the yacht was too badly damaged
to put to sea. According to Downing, Mrs. Chown was in such a state that
Mackintosh, 'was obliged to wrap his clothes about her to cover her
nakedness.' But her courage had never forsaken her; 'she most courageously
withstood all Angria's base usage, and endured his insults beyond
expectation.' Shortly afterwards she was delivered of a son. Out of her
first husband's estate one thousand rupees were granted her for present
necessities, with an allowance of one hundred xeraphims a month.

Very shortly afterwards we find her being married for the third time, to
young William Gyfford, with the Governor's approval. According to the
statute law of Bombay, no marriage was binding, except it had the
Governor's consent; Hamilton tells us how on one occasion a factor, Mr.
Solomon Loyd, having married a young lady without the Governor's consent,
Sir John Gayer dissolved the marriage, and married the lady again to his
own son. In October, two years and a half after her first husband's death,
seven thousand four hundred and ninety-two rupees, being one-third of his
estate, were paid over to her. It is carefully recorded that neither of
her deceased husbands had left wills, though the existence of Harvey's
will had been very precisely recorded by the Council, fifteen months
before. Young Gyfford, who was then twenty-five, appears to have been a
favourite with the Governor, and had lately been given charge of the
Bombay Market. Eighteen months after his marriage, we find William Gyfford
appointed supercargo of the _Catherine_, trading to Mocha. The office was
a most desirable one for a young factor. It afforded him opportunities for
private trade at first hand, instead of through agents, that in the mind
of an adventurous young man quite outbalanced the perils of the sea.

In spite of small salaries, a goodly appearance was made by the Company's
servants in public. At the public table, where they sat in order of
seniority, all dishes, plates, and drinking-cups were of pure silver or
fine china. English, Portuguese, and Indian cooks were employed, so that
every taste might be suited. Before and after meals silver basins were
taken round for each person to wash his hands. Arrack, Shiraz wine, and
'pale punch,' a compound of brandy, rose-water, lime-juice, and sugar,
were drunk, and, at times, we hear of Canary wine. In 1717, Boone
abolished the public table, and diet money was given in its place. Boone
reported to the Directors that, by the change, a saving of nearly
Rs.16,000 a year was effected, and the Company's servants better satisfied.
On festival days the Governor would invite the whole factory to a picnic
in some garden outside the city. On such an occasion, a procession was
formed, headed by the Governor and his lady, in palanquins. Two large
ensigns were carried before them, followed by a number of led horses in
gorgeous trappings of velvet and silver. Following the Governor came the
Captain of the Peons on horseback, with forty or fifty armed men on foot.
Next followed the members of the Council, the merchants, factors, and
writers, in order of seniority, in fine bullock coaches or riding on
horses, all maintained at the Company's expense. At the Dewallee festival
every servant of the Company, from the Governor to the youngest writer,
received a 'peshcush' from the brokers and bunyas, which to the younger
men were of much importance; as they depended on these gifts to procure
their annual supply of clothes.

Of the country, away from the coast, they were profoundly ignorant. The
far-off King of 'Dilly' was little more than a name to them, and they were
more concerned in the doings of petty potentates with strange names, such
as the Zamorin, the Zammelook, the Kempsant, and the Sow Rajah, who have
long disappeared. They talked of the people as Gentoos, Moors, Mallwans,
Sanganians, Gennims, Warrels, Coulis, Patanners, etc., and the number of
political, racial, religious, and linguistic divisions presented to their
view must have been especially puzzling. Owing to the numerous languages
necessary to carry on trade on the Malabar coast, they were forced to
depend almost entirely on untrustworthy Portuguese interpreters. Their
difficulties in this respect are dwelt on by Hamilton--

    "One great Misfortune that attends us _European_ Travellers in _India_
    is, the Want of Knowledge of their Languages, and they being so
    numerous, that one intire Century would be too short a Time to learn
    them all: I could not find one in Ten thousand that could speak
    intelligible _English_, tho' along the Sea coast the _Portuguese_ have
    left a Vestige of their Language, tho' much corrupted, yet it is the
    Language that most _Europeans_ learn first, to qualify them for a
    general Converse with one another, as well as with the different
    Inhabitants of _India_."

After two years' work, as supercargo, on different ships, Gyfford was sent
down to Anjengo as chief of the factory. Anjengo was at that time one of
the most important factories on the Malabar coast, though of comparatively
recent establishment. It was first frequented by the Portuguese, who,
after a time, were ousted by the Dutch. It belonged to the Rani of Attinga,
who owned a small principality extending along sixty miles of coast. In
1688,[6] Rani Ashure invited the English to form a trading settlement in
her dominions, and two were formed, at Vittoor (Returah) and Villanjuen
(Brinjone). But for some reason, she became dissatisfied with the English,
and the hostility of the Dutch, in spite of the alliance between the two
countries in Europe, caused great trouble. In November, 1693, John
Brabourne was sent to Attinga, where, by his successful diplomacy, the
sandy spit of Anjengo was granted to the English, as a site for a fort,
together with the monopoly of the pepper trade of Attinga. Soon, the Dutch
protests and intrigues aroused the Rani's suspicions. She ordered
Brabourne to stop his building. Finding him deaf to her orders, she first
tried to starve out the English by cutting off supplies, but as the sea
was open, the land blockade proved ineffectual. She then sent an armed
force against Brabourne, which was speedily put to flight, and terms of
peace were arranged. The fort was completed, and a most flourishing trade
in pepper and cotton cloth speedily grew up. Anjengo became the first port
of call for outward-bound ships. The Anjengo fortification appeared so
formidable to the Dutch, that they closed their factories at Cochin,
Quilon, and Cannanore.[7] About 1700, Rani Ashure died, and the little
principality fell into disorder. It was a tradition that only women should
reign, and Ashure's successor was unable to make her authority felt. The
Poolas, who governed the four districts into which the principality was
divided, intrigued for power against each other, and before long the Rani
became a puppet in the hands of Poola Venjamutta. In 1704, a new Governor,
Sir Nicholas Waite, was appointed to Bombay. For some reason he left
Brabourne without instructions or money for investment.[8] Their small
salaries and their private trading seem to have made the Company's
servants very independent. We constantly find them throwing up the service
and going away, without waiting for permission. Brabourne went off to
Madras, after delivering over the fort to Mr. Simon Cowse, who had long
resided there, apparently as a private merchant, and who proved, as times
went, a good servant to the Company. The Company's service in those days
was full of intrigue and personal quarrels. The merchant second in rank at
Anjengo, John Kyffin, intrigued against Cowse so successfully, that Cowse
was deposed, and Kyffin was made chief of the settlement. He appears to
have been a thoroughly unscrupulous man. To enrich himself in his private
pepper trade 'he stuck at nothing.' He took part in the local intrigues of
Attinga, from which his predecessors had held aloof, played into the hands
of Poola Venjamutta, quarrelled with the other local officials, and
behaved with great violence whenever there was the slightest hitch in his
trade. Kyffin's want of loyalty to the Company was still more clearly
shown by his friendly dealings with their rivals, a proceeding that was
strictly forbidden.

In June, 1717, Kyffin made known to the Council at Bombay his wish to
retire, and William Gyfford was appointed to succeed him as soon as the
monsoon would permit. So, in due course of time, Gyfford and his wife went
to Anjengo; but, in spite of his resignation, Kyffin stuck to his office,
and evidently viewed Gyfford with unfriendly eyes. In the following April,
intelligence reached the Council at Bombay that Kyffin had had dealings
with the Ostenders, and had been 'very assisting' to them; so, a
peremptory order went down from Bombay, dismissing him from the Company's
service, if the report of his assisting the Ostenders was true. If the
report was not true, no change was to be made. A commission to Gyfford to
assume the chiefship was sent at the same time. Interlopers and Ostenders,
he was told, were not to receive even provisions or water. So Kyffin
departed, and Gyfford reigned at Anjengo in his stead.

But the follies of Kyffin had roused a feeling against the English that
was not likely to be allayed by Gyfford, who exceeded Kyffin in dishonesty
and imprudence. He threw himself into the pepper trade, using the
Company's money for his own purposes, and joined hands with the Portuguese
interpreter, Ignatio Malheiros, who appears to have been a consummate
rogue. Before long, religious feeling was aroused by the interpreter
obtaining possession of some pagoda land in a money-lending transaction.
Gyfford also aroused resentment, by trying to cheat the native traders
over the price of pepper, by showing fictitious entries in the factory
books, and by the use of false weights. The only thing wanting for an
explosion was the alienation of the Mahommedan section, which, before long,
was produced by chance and by Gyfford's folly. It happened that some
Mahommedan traders came to the fort to transact business with Cowse, who
had resumed business as a private merchant; but he was not at leisure, so
they went to the interpreter's house, to sit down and wait. While there,
the interpreter's 'strumpet' threw some _hooli_ powder on one of the
merchants. Stung by the insult, the man drew his sword, wounded the woman,
and would have killed her, if he and his companions had not been disarmed.
Gyfford, when they were brought before him, allowed himself to be
influenced by the interpreter, and ordered them to be turned out of the
fort, after their swords had been insultingly broken over their heads. The
people of Attinga flew to arms, and threatened the fort. For some months
there were constant skirmishes. The English had no difficulty in defeating
all attacks, but, none the less, trade was brought to a standstill; so
Mr. Walter Brown was sent down from Bombay to put matters straight. Poola
Venjamutta, who had all the time kept himself in the background, was quite
ready to help an accommodation, as open force had proved useless. Things
having quieted down, Gyfford, 'flushed with the hopes of having Peace and
Pepper,' devoted himself to trade. He had at this time a brigantine called
the _Thomas_, commanded by his wife's brother, Thomas Cooke, doing his
private trade along the coast. The year 1720 passed quietly. Force having
proved unavailing, the Attinga people dissembled their anger, and waited
for an opportunity to revenge themselves. So well was the popular feeling
against the English concealed, that Cowse, with his long experience and
knowledge of the language, had no suspicions.

There had been an old custom, since the establishment of the factory, of
giving presents yearly to the Rani, in the name of the Company; but for
some years the practice had fallen into abeyance. Gyfford, wishing to
ingratiate himself with the authorities, resolved on reviving the custom,
and to do so in the most ceremonious way, by going himself with the
presents for seven years. Accordingly, on the 11th April, 1721,
accompanied by all the merchants and factors, and taking all his best men,
about one hundred and twenty in number, and the same number of coolies,
Gyfford started for Attinga, four miles up the river. Here they were
received by an enormous crowd of people, who gave them a friendly
reception. The details of what followed are imperfectly recorded, and much
is left to conjecture, but Gyfford's foolish over-confidence is
sufficiently apparent. In spite of their brave display, his men carried no
ammunition. Poola Venjamutta was not to be seen. They were told he was
drunk, and they must wait till he was fit to receive them. He was
apparently playing a double part, but the blame for what followed was
afterwards laid on his rival, Poola Cadamon Pillay. Cowse's suspicions
were aroused, and he advised an immediate return to Anjengo, but Gyfford
refused to take the advice. He is said to have struck Cowse, and to have
threatened with imprisonment. The Rani also sent a message, advising a
return to Anjengo. It was getting late, and to extricate himself from the
crowd, Gyfford allowed the whole party to be inveigled into a small
enclosure. To show his goodwill to the crowd, he ordered his men to fire a
salvo, and then he found that the ammunition carried by the coolies had
been secured, and they were defenceless. In this hopeless position, he
managed to entrust a letter addressed to the storekeeper at Anjengo, to
the hands of a friendly native. It reached Anjengo at one o'clock next day,
and ran as follows:--

    "Captain Sewell. We are treacherously dealt with here, therefore keep
    a very good look-out of any designs on you. Have a good look to your
    two Trankers,[9] We hope to be with you to-night. Take care and don't
    frighten the women; we are in no great danger. Give the bearer a
    Chequeen."[10]

But none of the English were to see Anjengo again. That night, or the next
morning, a sudden attack was made, the crowd surged in on the soldiers,
overwhelmed them, and cut them to pieces. The principal English were
seized and reserved for a more cruel death. In the confusion, Cowse, who
was a favourite among the natives, managed to disguise himself, got
through the crowd, and sought to reach Anjengo by a little frequented path.
By bad luck he was overtaken by a Mahommedan merchant who owed him money.
Cowse offered to acquit him of the debt, but to no purpose. He was
mercilessly killed, and thus the debt was settled. 'Stone dead hath no
fellow,' as the chronicler of his death says. The rest of the English were
tortured to death, Gyfford and the interpreter being reserved for the
worst barbarities. Ignatio Malheiros was gradually dismembered, while
Gyfford had his tongue torn out, was nailed to a log of wood, and sent
floating down the river.

It is easy to picture to one's self the consternation in Anjengo, that
12th April, when, soon after midday, Gyfford's hasty note was received,
and the same evening, when a score of wounded men (topasses) straggled in
to confirm the worst fears; 'all miserably wounded, some with 12 or 13
cutts and arrows in their bodyes to a lower number, but none without any.'
Gyfford had taken away all the able men with him, leaving in the fort only
'the dregs,' old men, boys, and pensioners, less than forty in number. At
their head were Robert Sewell, who describes himself as Storekeeper,
Captain and Adjutant by order of Governor Boone; Lieutenant Peter
Lapthorne, Ensign Thomas Davis, and Gunner Samuel Ince. The first three of
them were absolutely useless, and Gunner Ince, whose name deserves to be
remembered, was the only one of the four who rose to the situation. His
first care was for the three English women, whose husbands had just been
killed. By good fortune there happened to be in the road a small country
ship that had brought a consignment of cowries from the Maldives. Mrs.
Gyfford, for the third time a widow, Mrs. Cowse with four children, and
Mrs. Burton with two, were hastily put on board, and sailed at once for
Madras. No mention appears of Mrs. Gyfford having any children with her,
but she carried off the factory records and papers, and what money she
could lay her hands on. She was no longer the confiding girl, who had
given herself to Governor Harvey eleven years before. She had learned
something of the world she lived in, and intended to take care of herself
as well as she could. She even tried to carry off Peter Lapthorne with her,
but Sewell intervened and prevented it. So giving him hasty directions to
act as her agent, she passed through the dangerous Anjengo surf and got on
board. A letter to her from Lapthorne, written a few weeks later, relates
that the only property he could find belonging to her were 'two wiggs and
a bolster and some ophium' in the warehouse.

Having got rid of the white women, Sewell and his companions set to work
to hold the fort against the attack that was inevitable. From the old
records we get an idea of what the fort was like. As designed by Brabourne,
it covered a square of about sixty yards each way, but this did not
include the two Trankers, palisaded out-works, alluded to in Gyfford's
note. Ten years before, the attention of the Council at Bombay had been
drawn to the bad condition of the

    "Fort house, being no more then timber covered with palm leaves
    (cajanns) so very dangerous taking fire," and the chief of the factory
    was ordered to build "a small compact house of brick with a Hall, and
    conveniencys for half a dozen Company's servants. And being advised
    that for want of a necessary house in the Fort, they keep the Fort
    gate open all night for the guard going out and in, which irregularity
    may prove of so pernicious consequence as the loss of that garrison,
    especially in a country where they are surrounded with such
    treacherous people as the Natives and the Dutch," it was ordered that
    a "necessary house over the Fort walls" should be built, and the gates
    kept locked after 8 o'clock at night.

How far these orders had been carried out does not appear; but the
Company's goods were still kept in a warehouse outside the walls: some of
the Company's servants also had houses outside, and the palm-leaf roofs
were still there. For garrison they only had about thirty-five boys and
pensioners, 'whereof not twenty fit to hold a firelock,' and, for want of
a sufficient garrison, it was necessary to withdraw from the Trankers,
which were thought to be so important for the safety of the place.
Desperate as was the outlook. Gunner Ince exerted himself like a man,
animating everybody by his example. By his exertions, seven hundred bags
of rice, with salt fish for a month, and the Company's treasure were got
in from the warehouse, and an urgent appeal was sent to Calicut. The
surgeon had been killed with Gyfford; they had no smith or carpenter or
tools, except a few hatchets, and the Attinga people swarming into Anjengo
burned and plundered the settlement, forcing a crowd of women and children
to take refuge in the small fort. Though no concerted attack was made at
first, the assailants tried with fire arrows to set fire to the palm-leaf
roofs, which had to be dismantled; and all through the siege, which lasted
six months, the sufferings of the garrison were increased by the burning
rays of a tropical sun or the torrential rains of the monsoon.

On the 25th April, they were cheered by the arrival of two small English
ships from Cochin, where the intelligence of the disaster had reached; and
received a small reinforcement of seven men with a consignment of
provisions. A message of condolence also had come from the Rajah of Quilon,
who offered to receive the women and children, so one hundred and fifty
native women and children, widows and orphans of the slain, were sent off.
On the 1st May, an ensign and fifty-one men, collected by Mr. Adams from
Calicut and Tellicherry, joined the garrison, and gave some relief from
the constant sentry duty that was necessary. The enemy, meanwhile, had
contented themselves with harassing the garrison by firing long shots at
them; but it was rumoured that the Rajah of Travancore was sending troops,
and then they would have to sustain a serious attack. Gunner Ince, on whom
the whole weight of the defence rested, let it be known that in the last
extremity he would blow up the magazine. It is cheering to find that there
was at least one man who was prepared to do his duty. Sewell and Lapthorne
got drunk, and joined with the warehouseman, a Portuguese named Rodriguez,
in plundering the Company's warehouse and sending goods away to Quilon;
the soldiers followed the example, and plundered the rooms inside the fort,
while the late interpreter's family were allowed to send away, to Quilon,
effects to the value of one hundred thousand fanams, though it was known
that the Company had a claim on him for over two-thirds of the amount, on
account of money advanced to him. Davis was dying of a lingering illness,
to which he succumbed in the beginning of July.

On the 24th June, a vigorous attack was made on the fort from three sides
at once. On one side the enemy had thrown up an entrenchment, and on the
river side they had effected a lodgment in Cowse's house, a substantial
building close to the wall of the fort. This would have soon made the fort
untenable, so a small party was sent to dislodge the occupants. At first
they were repulsed, but a second attempt was successful. Marching up to
the windows, 'where they were as thick as bees,' they threw hand grenades
into the house, which was hurriedly evacuated; numbers of the enemy
leaping into the river, where some of them were drowned. Ince then
bombarded them out of the entrenchment, and the attack came to an end.
Several of the garrison were wounded, but none killed; but what chiefly
mortified them was that the arms of the men slain with Gyfford were used
against them. After this the land blockade lingered on, but no very
serious attack seems to have been made. A second reinforcement of thirty
men was sent down by Adams from Calicut, and the Rani and Poola Venjamutta
sent 'refreshments,' and promised that the attacks of their rebellious
subjects should cease. The Rani also wrote to the Madras Council, and sent
a deputation of one hundred Brahmins to Tellicherry, to express her horror
of the barbarities committed by her people, and her willingness to join
the Company's forces in punishing the guilty.

Intelligence of the disaster at Anjengo did not reach Bombay till the
beginning of July. The monsoon was in full force, and no assistance could
be sent till it was over. Men and supplies were gathered in from Carwar
and Surat, and, on the 17th October, Mr. Midford, with three hundred men,
reached Anjengo. His report on the state of affairs he found there makes
it a matter of surprise that the place had not fallen. The safety of the
fort had been entirely due to Gunner Ince. Sewell's behaviour was that of
a fool or a madman. Together with Lapthorne, he had set the example of
plundering the Company, and their men had done as much damage as the enemy.
Sewell, as storekeeper, had no books, and said he never had kept any.
Lapthorne had retained two months' pay, due to the men killed with Gyfford,
and asserted his right to it. Much of the Company's treasure was
unaccounted for, and Mrs. Gyfford had carried off the books. Midford sent
Sewell and Lapthorne under arrest to Bombay, where they were let off with
a scolding, and proceeded to restore order. The Rani and Venjamutta were
friendly, but told him he must take his own vengeance on the Nairs for
their inhuman action. So he commenced a series of raids into the
surrounding country, which reduced it to some sort of subjection. Soon
there came an order for most of his men to be sent back to Bombay, where
warlike measures against Angria were on foot. A cessation of arms was
patched up, and Midford installed himself as chief.

He proved to be no honester than his predecessors. He monopolized the
pepper trade on his own private account, making himself advances out of
the Company's treasury. In less than a year he was dead, but before his
death Alexander Orme,[11] then a private merchant on the coast, was sent
to Anjengo as chief of the factory, at the special request of the Rani.
Before long, Orme had to report to the Council that there were due to the
Company, from Gyfford's estate, 559,421 fanams, and that 140,260 gold
fanams had disappeared during Midford's chiefship which could not be
accounted for. Midford had also drawn pay for twenty European soldiers who
did not exist. The Council ascribed Midford's misdeeds to his
'unaccountable stupidity,' and the Directors answered that 'the charges
against Mr. Midford are very grievous ones.'

In September, 1722, the Council received from Orme a copy of the treaty he
had made with the Rani. The following were the chief provisions. The
ringleaders in the attack on Gyfford were to be punished and their estates
confiscated; all Christians living between Edawa and Brinjone were to be
brought under the Company's protection; the Rani was to reimburse the
Company for all expenses caused by the attack on Anjengo; the Company was
to have exclusive right to the pepper trade, and were empowered to build
factories in the Rani's dominions wherever they pleased; the Rani was to
return all arms taken in the late out-break, and to furnish timber to
rebuild the church that had been burned. The treaty was guaranteed by the
Rani's brother, the Rajah of Chinganatta. By the Directors it was received
with mixed feelings.

    "Last years Letters took some notice about the Affair at Anjengo, We
    had not then the Account of the Treaty Mr. Orme made with the Queen of
    Attinga and King of Chinganetty, We are sorry to find it included in
    the Treaty, That We must supply Souldiers to carry on the War against
    her rebellious Subjects for which she is to pay the Charge, and in the
    Interim to pawn Lands for answering principal and Interest, because it
    will certainly involve us in a trouble if We succeed, and more if We
    dont, add to this, the variable temper and poverty of those people may
    incline them to refuse to refund, and in time they may redemand and
    force back their Lands, If the Articles are fully comply'd with they
    seem to be for the Companys benefit, But We fear we shall have the
    least Share of it, To what purpose is her Grant to Us of all the
    Pepper in her Countrey, If Our unfaithful people there get all for
    themselves and none for Us, as you Charge Mr. Midford with doing, We
    dont want an Extent of Lands, if We could but (obtain) pepper cheap
    and sufficient, And what benefit will it be to Us, to have the liberty
    of building Factorys, which in Event is only a Liberty to lavish away
    Our Money, and turning Quick Stock into dead, unless you could be
    morally certain it would be worth while to get a small residence in
    the King of Chengenattys Countrey, where it is said the Dutch make
    great Investments of Peice Goods cheaper and better, than they used to
    do at Negapatam, and therefore have deserted it, We consider further,
    if such Goods as are proper for Our Europe Market were procurable, how
    comes it We have had none hitherto, It is true We have had Cloth from
    Anjengo good of the Sorts, but Invoiced so dear that We forbad sending
    more unless to be purchased at the prices We limited, since then We
    have heard no more about it, But we are told it is Traded in to Bombay
    to some profit, What profit will the putting the Christians between
    Edova and Brinjohn under Our Jurisdiction yeild to Us, and what
    Security can you have that the King of Chenganattys Guarranteeship
    will answer and give full satisfaction, These are what appear to Us
    worthy your serious and deliberate consideration to be well thought of
    before you come to a determination What Orders to give, We find by
    your Consultations in January 1722/23 You had sent down Treasure to
    Anjengo, to enable the Chief to levy Souldiers to revenge the Murder
    of the English, since you could not spare Forces which as there
    exprest is absolutely necessary, for else the Natives will have but
    contemptible thoughts of the English, who will then loose their Esteem,
    had We ever found a benefit by their Esteem, something might be said
    for it, But in the present Case We fear We shall buy Our Esteem at too
    dear a Rate, We should be extreamly glad to be mistaken and to find in
    effect what your 120th Paragraph says in words, that you hope to make
    it a Valuable Settlement."[12]

We left Mrs. Gyfford flying from Anjengo in a small country ship, with two
other English women and six children. The misery that the three poor
widows must have endured for a month, crowded into a small country boat,
without preparation or ordinary comforts, at the hottest time of the year,
must have been extreme. On the 17th May, the fugitives landed at Madras.
The Council there granted them a compassionate allowance, of which Mrs.
Gyfford refused to avail herself. After a time she made her way to
Calcutta and joined her father's family, leaving, with an agent in Madras,
the Anjengo factory books, which, after repeated demands, were surrendered
to the Madras Council. From Madras to Calcutta she was pursued by the
demands of the Bombay Council. The books had been restored at Madras, and
the Bengal Government extracted Rs.7312 from her; but, in reply to further
demands, she would only answer that she was 'an unfortunate widow,
struggling with adversity, whose husband had met his death serving our
Honourable Masters,' and that it was shameful to demand money from her,
when she herself was owed large sums by the Company. She could only refer
them to her agents at Madras and Anjengo. Still, she was in a considerable
dilemma, as she could not get out of the country without a full settlement
of accounts, and, if resistance was carried too far, her father might be
made to suffer.

At this juncture an unexpected way of escape presented itself. Twelve
months before this, Commodore Matthews had arrived in Bombay with a
squadron of the Royal Navy for the suppression of piracy. But Matthews was
more bent on enriching himself by trade than on harrying pirates; and, as
his own trading was inimical to the Company's interests and certain to set
the Company's servants against him, he had from the first assumed a
position of hostility to the Company. Every opportunity was seized of
damaging the Company's interests and lowering the Company's authority. All
who were in the Company's bad books found a patron and protector in
Matthews; so, when in September, 1722, the flagship appeared in the
Hooghly, Mrs. Gyfford was quick to grasp the opportunity, that presented
itself, of bidding defiance to her pursuers. She at once opened
communication with Matthews, and besought his protection. She was an
unfortunate widow who had lost two husbands by violent deaths in the
Company's service, and, now that she was unprotected, the Company was
trying to wring from her the little money she had brought away from
Anjengo, while she herself had large claims against the Company. This was
quite enough for Matthews. Here was a young and pretty woman with a good
sum of money, shamefully persecuted by the Company, to which he felt
nothing but hostility. At one stroke he could gratify his dislike of the
Company and succour a badly treated young woman, whose hard fate should
arouse sympathy in every generous mind; so the Bengal Council were told
that Mrs. Gyfford was now under the protection of the Crown, and was not
to be molested.

In the hope of securing some portion of the money due to the Company, the
Council attached the brigantine _Thomas_, commanded by Mrs. Gyfford's
brother. A letter was at once forthcoming from Matthews to say that he had
purchased Mrs. Gyfford's interest in the vessel. Finding themselves thus
forestalled, the Council begged Matthews not to take her away from
Calcutta till she had furnished security for the Company's claim of
Rs.50,000, Matthews replied that he should take her to Bombay, where she
would answer anything that might be alleged against her. As soon as he had
completed his trading in Bengal, Mrs. Gyfford, with her effects, embarked
on board the _Lyon_, and so returned to Bombay. There, in January, 1723,
we find her living under Matthews' roof, much to the wrath of the Council
and the scandal of her former acquaintances. By this time, the Council had
received from Anjengo more precise details as to what was due to the
Company from Gyfford's estate. All the cowries, pepper, and cloth that
were said to belong to Gyfford had been bought with the Company's money,
and the Company's claim against his estate was nearly £9000. A stringent
order was sent to Mrs. Gyfford, forbidding her to leave Bombay till the
claim was settled. Matthews at once put her on board the _Lyon_ again, and
there she remained; not venturing to set foot on shore, lest the Council
should lay hands on her.

By the end of the year, Matthews was ready to return to England. Intent to
the last on trade, he touched at Carwar, Tellicherry, and St. David's, and,
in Mrs. Gyfford's interests, a visit was also paid Anjengo, to try and
recover some of the property she claimed to have left there. She was not
going to be put off with Lapthorne's 'two wiggs and a bolster.' In July
(1724) the _Lyon_ reached Portsmouth, and was put out of commission.

At first the Directors appear to have paid little attention to Mrs.
Gyfford, perhaps not thinking her worth powder and shot. Their principal
anger was directed against Matthews, against whom they obtained a decree
in the Court of Chancery for unlawful trading. But Mrs. Gyfford would not
keep silence. Perhaps she really believed in the justice of her claims.
She bombarded the Directors with petitions, till at last, two years after
her arrival in England, they tardily awoke to the fact that they
themselves had substantial claims against her. They offered to submit the
claims to arbitration, to which Mrs. Gyfford consented; but as she still
refrained from coming to close quarters, they filed a suit against her in
the Court of Chancery, nearly four years after her arrival in England. Mrs.
Gyfford promptly replied with a counter-suit, in which, among other things,
she claimed £10,000 for presents taken by Gyfford to the Rani of Attinga
on that fatal 11th April, seven years before. Four years later, she was
still deep in litigation, having quarrelled with her agent, Peter
Lapthorne, among others. It is to be hoped, for her sake, that Chancery
suits were cheaper than they are now. Here we may say good-bye to her. For
those who are curious in such matters, a search among the Chancery records
will probably reveal the result, but it is improbable that the Company
reaped any benefit from their action. And so she passes from the scene, a
curious example of the vicissitudes to which Englishwomen in India were
exposed, two hundred years ago.


[1] They were issued at the rate of sixty-five for a rupee; before long,
    their value was reduced to seventy-two for a rupee, at which price
    they were much in request, and the Governor reported that he expected
    to coin sixteen tons of them yearly.

[2] In October, 1713, the Bombay Council decided that the Xeraphims, being
    much debased with copper and other alloy, their recognized value
    should in future be half a rupee, or two Laris and forty reis. The
    Xeraphim was a Goa coin, originally worth less than one and sixpence.
    The name, according to Yule, was a corruption of the Arabic _ashrafi_.

[3] The year before, the _Godolphin_ had escaped from an Angrian fleet,
    after a two days' encounter within sight of Bombay.

[4] The records are silent as to the _Defiance_, but it is mentioned by
    Downing, who says that, instead of doing his duty, the captain made
    the best of his way to Bombay. The story seems to be borne out by a
    faded letter from the captain to the Directors, appealing against
    dismissal from the service.


[5] The name is now given to the group of islands to which Bourbon and
    Mauritius belong. At that time it generally applied to Bourbon, and
    especially to St. Paul's Bay, which was a favourite place of call for
    ships to water at.

[6] According to some accounts, the first settlement was a few years
    earlier, but the dates of the early travellers are very unreliable.
    Hamilton says that a present was sent in 1685 to the Queen; "A
    beautiful young English gentleman had the honour to present it to her
    black Majesty; and as soon as the Queen saw him, she fell in love with
    him, and next day made proposals of marriage to him, but he modestly
    refused so great an honour however, to please her Majesty, he staid at
    court a month or two and satisfied her so well that when he left her
    court she made him some presents."

[7] Bruce.

[8] This is the reason given by Bruce for Brabourne leaving Anjengo, but
    the death of Brabourne's wife, in 1704, probably had a good deal to do
    with his leaving the place. Her tomb still exists.

[9] Tranqueira (Port.), a palisade.

[10] Meaning sequin: the origin of the modern Anglo-Indianism, chick.'

[11] The father of Robert Orme, the historian, who was born at Anjengo.

[12] Letter from Court of Directors to Bombay, 25th March, 1724.



INDEX

A

Abdul Guffoor, his ship seized off Surat;
  his ship, _Futteh Mahmood_, taken by Every;
  incites the natives of Surat against the English.
Adams, Mr., sends relief to Anjengo.
_Addison_, the, East Indiaman, commanded by Boone, against Kennery;
  consultation on board.
_Adventure_ galley, the, fitted out as a privateer;
  commanded by Kidd;
  size and defence of;
  anchors off Johanna;
  anchors at Perim;
  flies English colours at Carwar;
  sails to Calicut;
  chased by two Portuguese vessels;
  chases the _Sedgwick_;
  her crew divide the spoil of the _Quedah Merchant_;
  becomes unseaworthy;
  her owners not inculpated by Kidd.
_Advice_, the, King's ship, under Warren.
Affleck, Mr., owner of the _London_.
Aislabie, William, President of Bombay, his negotiations with Angria;
  sails for England;
  begins building the church at Bombay;
  his armed yacht taken by Angria.
_Algerine_, the.
  _See Soldado_, the.
Alibagh fort, unsuccessfully assaulted by the English and Portuguese;
  taken by Sumbhajee Angria.
_Anglesea_ the, man-of-war.
_Anglesea_ the, French man-of-war, attacks the _Anson_;
Angria, Conajee (Kanhojee), pirate, rise of the power of;
  succeeds to the command of the Mahratta navy;
  styled Darya-S ranga;
  destroys the _Bombay_ frigate;
  fortifies Kennery;
  attacks the _Godolphin_;
  concludes a treaty with the Mahrattas;
  becomes an independent chief;
  captures the _Anne_ ketch;
  his ships attack the _Somers_ and _Grantham_;
  captures a Portuguese 'armado,';
  opens negotiations with the English;
  articles of agreement delivered to, by Lieutenant Mackintosh;
  his territory a refuge for desperadoes;
  defies Governor Boone;
  fruitless attack made on his fort at Gheriah;
  offers terms to Governor Boone;
  negotiates with the English through Sahoojee;
  his ships burnt in Gheriah harbour;
  makes a treaty with the Portuguese;
  fits out an expedition against Carwar;
  his commodore killed and ship taken;
  his power weakened;
  his treatment of Curgenven;
  his death.
Angria, Mannajee, illegitimate son of Conajee Angria;
  quarrels with Sumbhajee;
  takes Colaba;
  imprisons Yessajee;
  his relations with the English;
  captures Caranjah;
  seizes Bombay ships;
  Captain Inchbird sent to punish;
  his territories attacked by Sumbhajee;
  increase of power of.
Angria, Sakhajee, son of Conajee Angria;
  establishes himself at Colaba;
  dies.
Angria, Sumbhajee, son of Conajee Angria;
  quarrels with Mannajee;
  his gallivata captured;
  captures the _Derby_;
  opens negotiations with Bombay;
  his fleet chased by Bagwell;
  takes the _Jupiter_;
  attacks Mannajee's territories;
  his camp bombarded by Inchbird;
  retreats from Colaba;
  makes overtures of peace to Bombay;
  captures the _Salamander_;
  dies.
Angria, Toolajee, illegitimate son of Conajee Angria;
  taken prisoner by Mahrattas;
  succeeds Sumbhajee;
  captures the _Princess Augusta_;
  sacks Mangalore and Honore;
  captures the _Restoration_;
  captures trading boats;
  chases the _Tartar_;
  attacks the _Ruby_;
  takes the _Swallow_;
  proposes terms to the Bombay Council;
  the English co-operate with the Peishwa against;
  his fleet chased by James;
  his fort at Severndroog bombarded;
  the Council's orders as to terms of capitulation with;
  leaves Gheriah and treats with the Mahrattas;
  warns his brother-in-law against surrendering Gheriah;
  his person demanded from the Mahrattas;
  his fleet destroyed at Gheriah;
  imprisoned for life by the Mahrattas;
  escape of his sons from captivity.
Angria, Yessajee, illegitimate son of Conajee Angria;
  imprisoned by Mannajee.
Anjediva, island, part of Brown's fleet finds refuge at;
  Portuguese fort on.
Anjengo, the Dutch oust the Portuguese from;
  English factory and fort at;
  unrest at;
  massacre of the English at;
  state of the garrison at;
  fort at, besieged;
  the Company's goods at, plundered;
  monopoly of pepper trade at, secured to the Company;
  the Company's remarks on trade at.
_Anne_, the, grab, taken by Toolajee Angria.
_Anne_, ketch, the, sails for Bombay;
  how protected;
  attacked and captured by Angrian ships;
  recovered from Angria;
  taken by Sumbhajee Angria.
Annesley, Daniel, President of Surat, imprisoned
Anselme, Captain, commander of the _Derby_, purposely delays his ship;
  surrenders the _Derby_ to Angria.
_Anson_, the, East Indiaman, attacked by French man-of-war.
_Antelope_, the, taken by the Coolee rovers.
_Apollo_, the, French man-of-war, attacks the _Anson_.
Arabs, the, of Muscat, pirates;
  attack the Company's ship _President_;
  ravage Salsette.
Armenian merchants, their complaints of pirates.
Armenian ships, plundered by pirates.
Ashure, Rani of Attinga, the English settle in her territory;
  dies.
Attinga, monopoly of the pepper trade at, granted to the English;
  internal divisions in;
  massacre of the English from Anjengo at.
Attinga, Rani of, the, blockades the English at Anjengo;
  makes peace with the English;
  yearly presents to;
  sends food to the besieged at Anjengo;
  disclaims participation in the massacre of the English;
  requests Orme to be chief at Anjengo;
  to compensate for attack on Anjengo.
  _See also s.v._ Ashure.
_Augusta_, the, taken by Toolajee Angria.
Aungier, Gerald, President of;
  Bombay, quells mutiny among the soldiers.
Aurungzeeb, Mogul Emperor;
  his ship, _Gunj Suwaie_, taken by Every;
  story of the capture of his granddaughter;
  his order to imprison the English in Surat and Bombay;
  holds the English responsible for loss of the _Quedah Merchant_;
  reverses his order to stop European trade;
  death of.

B

Babington, Philip, Irish pirate;
  commands the _Charming Mary_.
Bab's Key
  _See_ PERIM.
Bagwell, Commodore;
  chases Sumbhajee Angria's fleet into Rajapore river.
Bahama Islands, the;
  a haunt of pirates.
Ballajee Bajee Rao, the Peishwa's son;
  attacks Sumbhajee Angria's camp;
  his alliance with the English.
Ballajee Rao.
  _See_ PEISHWA, THE.
Bandara, shelled by the English.
Bankote
  to be made over to the English;
  surrender of, to the Mahrattas;
  surrender of, to the English.
Bassein
  besieged by the Mahrattas.
Bellamont, Lady;
  Kidd's present to.
Bellamont, Lord;
  supports syndicate to send out a privateer against French commerce;
  appointed Governor of New York;
  obtains a commission for Kidd;
  arrests Kidd;
  said by Kidd to have French passes of captured ships;
  accused of complicity in Kidd's piracies.
Bellamy, Lieutenant;
  killed before Alibagh.
_Bengal_ galley, the;
  engages Portuguese grabs;
  attacked off Colaba and boarded by Angrian ships.
_Benjamin_ yacht, the;
  unmolested by pirates.
_Benjimolly_ the;
  taken by Toolajee Angria.
Berkeley, Lieutenant;
  fights a duel with Lieutenant Stepney.
Berlew (? Bellew), Captain;
  directs attack on Gheriah;
  Beyt, pirates from.
Bhyroo Punt.
  _See_ PEISHWA, THE.
Blackbeard.
  _See_ TEACH, EDWARD.
Bomanjee, a Parsee broker;
  arrest of, for fraud;
  his cause espoused by Matthews.
Bombay, its defenceless position;
  seized by Keigwin for the King;
  surrendered to Grantham;
  Boone builds a wall round;
  conditions imposed by the Portuguese at the cession of;
  increased reputation of the English at;
  council-of-war held at;
  freed from the pirates;
  state kept up by the Company's servants at.
Bombay Council, conclude a six months' truce with Sumbhajee Angria;
  send warning to merchantmen of French man-of-war;
  their reply to Toolajee Angria's overtures;
  co-operate with the Peishwa against Toolajee Angria;
  terms of agreement between the Mahrattas and;
  their instructions to Olive and Hough;
  proceed against Mrs. Gyfford.
_Bombay_ frigate, the, destroyed by Angria's vessels.
_Bombay_ galley, the, engages Portuguese grabs;
  attacked off Colaba by Angrian ships;
  sent against the Angrian fleet.
Bombay Marine Battalion, formation of.
Bonnell and Kynaston, partners of Porter;
  action brought against, by the East India Company.
Boone, Charles, President of Bombay;
  his character and capacity;
  fleet organized by;
  failure of his attempt on Vingorla;
  sends an expedition to Gheriah;
  plans an attack on Kennery;
  his opinion of the Company's military;
  rejects Angria's terms;
  builds the _Phram_, a floating battery;
  builds a wall round Bombay;
  his trouble with the Portuguese;
  plans a second expedition against Gheriah;
  orders Brown to engage the Madagascar pirates;
  plans a fresh attack on Angria;
  his disappointment at failure of the expedition against Colaba;
  intrigues against;
  embarks for England;
  attacked on his homeward journey by Angria;
  rescues a ship from the Kempsant's grabs;
  succeeded by William Phipps;
  abolishes the public table at Bombay.
Boscawen, Admiral, leaves four ships to protect the coast of India.
Bourbon, Isle of, the _Nostra Senhorade Cabo_ taken by pirates at;
  governor of, compelled to countenance pirates;
  Matthews trades at.
Bourchier, Richard, President of Bombay, strengthens alliance with
  the Peishwa.
Bowen,--, pirate, commands the _Speedy Return_.
Brabourne, John, procures grant of Anjengo for the English;
  completes the fort at Anjengo;
  leaves Anjengo.
Braddyll, Mr., member of Bombay Council, intrigues against Boone;
  is protected by Matthews.
Braddyll, Mrs., taken to Surat by Matthews.
Brathwaite, Lieutenant, of the _Lyon_ leads the assault on Alibagh;
  made captain of the _Exeter_.
_Bridgewater_, the, blockades Gheriah.
Bridgman, Henry.
  _See_ EVERY, HENRY.
Brinjone.
  _See_ VILLANJUEN.
_Bristol_, the, taken to Sumatra on a piratical cruise.
_Britannia_, the, Company's armed ship, built at Carwar, by
  Boone's orders;
  sent to attack Vingorla;
  takes part in the attack on Kennery;
  sent in search of pirates.
Brown, Walter, factor, commands Company's troops;
   serves on the _Addison_ against Kennery;
   commands the expedition against Gheriah;
   cowardice and incompetency;
   plans a night surprise on Gheriah;
   abandons the attack on Gheriah and Deoghur;
   his fleet chased by the pirates;
   orders the _Phram_ to be burned;
   sent in search of pirates;
   chases the _Cassandra_ and _Victory_;
   sent to Anjengo to accommodate matters.
Buchanan, Captain, holds Gheriah after its capture.
Burton, Mrs., escapes from Anjengo.
Byng; Sir George, First Lieutenant of the _Phoenix_.

C

_Caesar_, the, engages with pirates.
Calicut, Kidd's letter of protest to the factory at;
  relief sent to Anjengo from.
Carolina, North, pirates off the coasts of;
  governor of, intimidated by Teach;
  planters at, seek assistance from Virginia.
Carpenter's Bay, Mauritius, message from the pirates found at.
Carwar, Kidd's visit to;
  factory at, besieged by the Sunda Rajah;
  part of Brown's fleet escapes to;
  threatened by Angria's forces;
  Captain Hudson entertained at;
  Hamilton's account of.
_Cassandra_, the, Company's ship (later a Madagascar pirate ship),
  her fight with pirates;
  taken by England;
  falls in with Brown's fleet;
  chases the English fleet to Goa;
  spoil from, presented to the daughter of the Governor of Cochin;
  chased by Brown and Macrae;
  with the _Victory_, takes the _Nostra Senhora de Cabo_;
  takes an Ostend ship;
  Macrae's defence of;
  booty acquired by the crew of.
_Catherine_, the, trades to Mocha.
_Ceres_, the, Company's ship, attacked by Angrian pirates.
Chalmers, Lieut.-Colonel, commands troops at Gheriah.
_Chandos_, the,
  employed in the attack on Gheriah;
  fired on by the _Cassandra_;
  sent with Brown in search of pirates.
_Charles the Second_, the,
  seized by Every and mutineers;
  renamed the _Fancy_.
_Charlotte_, the, Madras ship, taken by Angria's fleet.
_Charming Mary_, the, a pirate ship.
Charnock's Point, St. Mary's Island,
  a pirate settlement;
  wrecks of merchant ships at;
  Matthews takes booty at.
Chaul,
  the rendezvous for the Colaba expedition;
  Mannajee Angria escapes to;
  attacked by Sumbhajee Angria;
  made over to the Peishwa;
  James joined by the Mahratta fleet at.
Cheyne, Captain, commands the _Protector_
Child, Sir John, President of Surat
  attempts to pacify the native governor;
  compared with Governor Boone;
  his intrigues at Surat;
  endeavours to re-establish the Company's authority at Bombay.
Child, Sir Josiah.
Chimnajee Appa, the Peishwa's brother,
  his aid invoked against Mannajee Angria.
Chinganatta, the Rajah of, guarantees the treaty at Anjengo.
Chivers, a Dutchman,
  commands the _Soldado_ or _Algerine_;
  captures and releases the _Sedgwick_;
  promises submission to Warren.
Chown, Catherine (_née_ Cooke),
  sails for Bombay on the _Anne_;
  her second husband killed;
  is captured by Angrian pirates;
  taken prisoner to Colaba;
  a ransom demanded for;
  birth of her son;
  marries William Gyfford.
  _See also s.v._ COOKE, CATHERINE; GYFFORD, CATHERINE; HARVEY, CATHERINE.
Chown, Thomas,
  supercargo of the _Godolphin_;
  wrecked;
  goes to Carwar as factor;
  marries Catherine Harvey;
  sails for Bombay to prosecute his wife's claims;
  killed in action with Angria's fleet.
Clive, Robert (Lord);
  commands land forces against Gheriah;
  Bombay Council's instructions to;
  dispute as to his share of spoil at Gheriah;
  his capacity as a soldier.
Cobb, Captain,
  commands the _Samaritan_ and _Roebuck_;
  captures two Mogul vessels.
Cockburn, Captain, commander of the _Salisbury_,
  Matthews' letter to;
  Matthews quarrels with;
  assists the Council at Bombay;
  placed under arrest by Matthews;
  transferred to the _Exeter_.
Coins, multiplicity of, at Bombay.
Colaba,
  granted to Conajee Angria by treaty;
  Lieutenant Mackintosh goes to, with articles of treaty;
  fired on by the English;
  English and Portuguese make an unsuccessful attack on;
  appropriated by Sakhajee Angria;
  taken by Mannajee Angria;
  attacked by Sumbhajee Angria;
  engagement between Angrian ships and Bombay gallivats off.
Conajee Angria.
  _See_ ANGRIA, CONAJEE.
Concan, the coast of,
  harried by Sivajee's fleet;
  the Peishwa becomes master of.
Conden (Congdon, Condent), pirate,
  his headquarters, Madagascar;
  commands the _Flying Dragon_.
Cong, plundered by pirates.
Cooke, Catherine,
  daughter of Captain Cooke, gunner;
  marries John Harvey.
  _See also s.v._ CHOWN, CATHERINE; GYFFORD, CATHERINE; HARVEY, CATHERINE.
Cooke, Captain Gerrard,
  gunner at Fort William;
  made engineer and captain;
  father of Catherine Gyfford;
  marries his daughter to Harvey.
Cooke, Thomas, Gyfford's brother-in-law,
  commands the _Thomas_;
  his ship attached by the Bengal Council.
Coolee rovers, the.
Coorla, River, defences of;
  forced by the English and;
  Dutch.
Corlem, Portuguese fort at,
  destroyed by the English.
Courten, Sir William,
  his attempt to establish a separate trade in the East Indies.
Cowan, Robert, factor,
  commands Company's troops;
  negotiates treaty between English and Portuguese at Goa;
  his services recognized;
  made a general in the expedition against Colaba;
  his military incapacity.
Cowse, Mrs., escapes from Anjengo.
Cowse, Simon,
  Anjengo left in charge of, by Brabourne;
  deposed by Kyffin;
  resumes business as private merchant;
  his advice to Gyfford;
  killed in escaping to Anjengo;
  the enemy occupy his house at Anjengo.
Coxsidge, Captain,
  takes part in the attack on Kennery.
Cruffe, James, armourer,
  recaptures the _Josiah_ ketch.
Cuddalore, establishment of a factory at.
Culliford, ----, mutineer and pirate,
  succeeds Stent as commander of the _Defence_;
  renames her the _Resolution_;
  attacks the _Dorrill_, 50;
  promises submission to Warren;
  Kidd's dealings with;
  trial, condemnation and respite of.
Curgenven, Mr., private merchant,
  sails for China on the _Charlotte_;
  captured by Angria's fleet;
  a prisoner for ten years.

D

Dabul, the _Ockham_ attacked off,
  by Angrian pirates;
  the Mahrattas offer James a reward to attack.
_Dadaboy_, the, taken by Toolajee Angria.
Dalrymple, Mr., killed in a duel with Mr. Sutherland.
Danes, the, their supposed piratical outrages;
  implicated in the capture of Abdul Guffoor's ship.
_Dartmouth_, the, East Indiaman,
  takes part in the attack on Kennery.
Darya--S ranga.
  _See_ ANGRIA, CONAJEE.
Davis, Thomas, besieged in Anjengo;
  dies at Anjengo.
Deccanees, tin coins, value of.
_Defence_, the (formerly the _Mocha_ frigate, _q.v._), becomes a pirate;
  renamed the _Resolution_.
_Defiance_ grab, the, present at the attacks on Kennery;
  present at Gheriah;
  engages the _Victory_, pirate ship.
_Defiance_, the, frigate, attacked by Angria's ships.
_Derby_, the, Company's ship, taken by Toolajee Angria.
Deoghur (or Tamana), granted to Conajee Angria by treaty;
  Angria's southernmost stronghold;
  attack on, abandoned.
_Derby_, the, East Indiaman, taken by Sumbhajee Angria's ships.
Desforges, M., Governor of Bourbon.
Diego Suarez, pirate settlement of Libertatia at.
_Doddington_, the, East Indiaman, wrecked.
_Dorrill_, the, Company's ship, attacked by the _Resolution_.
_Dove_ the, Company's grab, captured by Mahratta fleet.
Downing, Clement, takes part in the attack on Kennery.
Dutch, the, torture and execute Captain Towerson;
  obstruct the English at Surat;
  protect pirates at the Cape;
  entertain England and Taylor at Cochin;
  unite with the English against Coolee rovers;
  their disastrous engagement with Toolajee Angria;
  their hostility to the English at Anjengo;
  their investments in Chinganatta.
Dwarka, pirates at.

E

_Eagle_ galley, the, attacked by Angria's grabs;
  takes refuge in Saragon harbour.
Easthope, Captain Jeremiah, dies of fever, before Gheriah.
East India Company, the, their servants at Surat imprisoned;
  bring an action against Bonnell and Kynaston;
  grant commissions to seize interlopers and pirates;
  offer a reward for Every's apprehension;
  untrustworthiness of their crews;
  petition the Admiralty for a ship to deal with pirates;
  their trade in India ruined by pirates;
  character and pay of their servants;
  incompetence of their military;
  send out a guardship to Bombay;
  their action with regard to Matthews;
  build the _Guardian_ and _Protector_ for protection of coast trade;
  complicated accounts of;
  in India;
  state kept up by their servants at Bombay;
  their remarks on the treaty with the Rani of Attinga;
  file a suit against Mrs. Gyfford.
_East India Merchant_, the, Company's ship.
Edawa.
Eden,--, Governor of North Carolina, suspected of complicity with Teach.
_Edgar_, the, Every serves in.
Edgecombe, Captain, commander of the _Mocha_ frigate;
  his crew mutiny;
  stabbed.
Egmont, Earl of, his estimation of the Company's military officers.
Elephanta, island, Portuguese village on, burned;
  Mannajee Angria hoists his flag on.
_Elizabeth_, the, private ship, plundered by the Sunda Rajah;
  taken by pirates off Honore.
England, Edward, pirate;
  his headquarters, Madagascar;
  commands the _Victory_;
  his engagement with the _Cassandra_;
  entertains Macrae on board the _Cassandra_;
  engages Brown's fleet and chases it to Goa;
  entertained at Cochin by the Dutch;
  his crew incensed against Macrae;
  marooned at Mauritius;
  goes to St. Mary's.
English, the, in ill-odour at Surat;
  blamed for piracy of other nations.
  suffer for Every's seizure of the _Gunj Suwaie_.
Ericeira, Conde de, ex-Viceroy of Goa, his ship boarded by pirates;
  forced to ransom himself.
Every, Henry, _alias_ Bridgman, his career as a pirate;
  parentage of;
  seizes the _Charles the Second_ and renames her;
  his piratical outrages on the Guinea Coast;
  his friendly warning to the English;
  establishes himself at Madagascar;
  takes the _Futteh Mahmood_;
  takes the _Gunj Suwaie_;
  his reported abduction of Aurungzeeb's granddaughter;
  captures the _Rampura_;
  retires to England;
  reward for his apprehension offered;
  his reported flight, to Ireland, and death in Devonshire;
  compared with Kidd.
Every, John.
  _See_ EVERY, HENRY.
Execution Dock, Kidd hanged at;
_Exeter_, the, King's ship,
  sent out against pirates;
  dismasted;
  her captains;
  takes part in the expedition against the Portuguese;
  goes to the defence of Carwar.

F

Fake, Corporal, mutinies, and is shot.
_Fame_, the, Company's armed ship;
  built at Surat by Boone's orders;
  sent to attack Vingorla;
  takes part in the attack on Kennery.
_Fancy_, the pirate ship,
  commanded by Taylor;
  her engagement with the _Cassandra_;
  given to Macrae.
_Fancy_, the (formerly the _Charles the Second, q.v.)_, pirate ship;
  commanded by Every;
  takes the _Futteh Mahmood_;
  takes the _Gunj Suwaie_.
Farrell, Captain, pirate.
Fleetwood, Miles, succeeds Mence as chief at Carwar.
_Flying Dragon_, the, pirate ship.
Forbes, Lieutenant, communicates with the besieged in Carwar factory;
  holds Gheriah after its capture.
_Fort St. George_, the, galley, engages Portuguese grabs.
Foulis, Captain, commander of the _Anson_;
  his bravery against the French.
French, the, at Surat;
  their men-of-war menace the Company's ships;
  their defeat in the Carnatic;
  take the _New George_;
  East Indiaman.
_Futteh Dowlet_ grab, the;
  sent by Bombay Council to assist Mannajee Angria;
  taken by Toolajee Angria.
Futteh Droog, Angrian fort, bombarded by James.
Futtehghur, granted to Conajee Angria by treaty.
_Futteh Mahmood_, the, taken by Every.

G

Gallivats, large rowing boats.
Gayer, Sir John, President of Surat, receives news of Every;
  delivers French pirates to the Governor of Surat;
  offers to convoy the Red Sea fleet;
  harassed by untrustworthiness of English crews;
  disclaims responsibility with regard to the _Quedah Merchant_;
  hands over to the Portuguese their ship taken by pirates;
  Harland and Richards quarrel with;
  compared with Governor Boone;
  killed in action on the _New George_;
  annuls a marriage.
Gheriah or Viziadroog, granted to Conajee Angria by treaty;
  account of attack on;
  Angria's fleet from;
  menaces Bombay;
  second expedition against;
  its fate settled;
  attacked by a Dutch squadron;
  capture of;
  attacked by allied forces;
  reported impregnability of;
  blockaded by James;
  division of spoil taken at;
  European slaves at;
  surrendered to the Mahrattas.
Gilliam, James, pirate,
  seized and imprisoned at Mungrole;
  sent to Aurungzeeb's camp.
Goa, proclamation issued from, to the Portuguese at Bombay;
  Viceroys of.
_Godolphin_, the, attacked by Angria's ships_;
  wrecked outside Bombay.
Gordon, Captain, takes reinforcements to Carwar;
  is wounded;
  his fruitless action at Gheriah.
Goring, Mr., his visit to Oarwar,
  dies at sea.
Gova, fort, bombarded by James;
  governor of;
  escapes to Severndroog.
Grabs, two-masted ships, description of.
_Grantham_, the, East Indiaman,
  attacked by Angria's ships;
  placed under Matthews' orders against pirates.
Grantham, Sir Thomas;
  Keigwin surrenders Bombay to.
Green,--, pirate, takes the _Speedy Return_;
  hanged.
_Greenwich_, the, Company's ship, leaves the _Cassandra_
  in her contest with pirates;
  sent in search of pirates.
_Guardian_, sloop, the, man-of-war, built to protect the Malabar coast;
  commanded by James;
  takes part in the combined attack on Gheriah.
Giuliam,--, pirate, hanged;
_Gunj Suwaie_ (Exceeding Treasure), the;
   taken by Every.
Guzerat, coast of;
  infested by Coolee rovers.
Gyfford, Captain, commander of the _Sidney_;
   distrusts Kidd.
Gyfford; Catherine _(née_ Cooke),
  a third of Harvey's estate paid to;
  her third husband killed at Anjengo;
  escapes from Anjengo;
  carries off factory records from Anjengo;
  appoints Lapthorne her agent;
  lands at Madras;
  goes to Calcutta;
  declines to satisfy claims against her husband;
  Matthews espouses her quarrel with the Bengal Council;
  is carried off to Bombay by Matthews;
  attempts to secure her effects at Anjengo;
  is brought to England by Matthews;
  petitions the Directors for redress;
  files a suit against the Company;
  quarrels with Lapthorne.
  _See also s.v._ CHOWN, CATHERINE; COOKE, CATHERINE;
  HARVEY, CATHERINE.
Gyfford, William, factor at Bombay,
  marries Catherine Chown;
  appointed supercargo of the _Catherine_;
  chief of Anjengo factory;
  his dishonesty;
  insults Mahommedan traders;
  his private trade;
  goes to Attinga with presents for the Rani;
  is inveigled into an ambush and tortured to death;
  his estate a debtor to the Company.

H

_Halifax_, the, Company's ship, attacked by Angrian pirates.
_Halifax_, the, country ship, sent to assist Mannajee Angria.
Halsey,--, pirate.
Hamilton, Alexander, his defence of Littleton;
  his account of the engagement
  between the _Phoenix_ and a Sanganian pirate;
  commands the _Morning Star_;
  is attacked by pirates;
  made commander-in-chief of the Company's frigates;
  sent to relieve Carwar factory;
  resigns his post as commander-in-chief;
  brings charges against Taylor;
  his account of Carwar.
Hand, John, master of the _Bristol_, interloper.
Hands, Israel, wounded by Teach.
Harland, Captain, quarrels with Sir John Gayer;
  succeeds Richards as commander of the
  _Severn_ and the _Scarborough_.
_Harrington_, the, Company's ship, engages pirate ships.
Harris, President at Surat, declines to interfere
  to procure Gilliam's release.
Harvey, Catherine _(née_ Cooke),
  goes to Bombay;
  returns to Carwar;
  asserts her claim, to Harvey's estate;
  marries Thomas Chown;
  sails for Bombay.
  _See also s.v._ CHOWN, CATHERINE;
  COOKE, CATHERINE; GYFFORD, CATHERINE.
Harvey, John, chief of Carwar factory,
  demands the surrender of Parker by Kidd;
  entertains Captain Hudson;
  marries Catherine Cooke;
  his deformity;
  resigns the Company's service;
  goes to Bombay to wind up his affairs;
  returns to Carwar;
  dies.
_Harwich_, the, man-of-war, under Warren,
  attacked by a pirate vessel.
_Hastings_, the, man-of-war, under Warren,
Hewitt, Lieutenant, sent to reconnoitre at Gheriah.
Hill, Serjeant, wounded in the attack on Carwar.
Himmutghur, to be made over to the English.
Honore, seizure of a pirate ship at;
  pirates provision their ships at;
  attacked by Arab pirates;
  sacked by Toolajee Angria,
Houblon, Sir James, his ships hired by the Spanish Government.
Hough, Commodore, drives Angrian grabs to Severndroog;
  his ability,
  present at the attack on Gheriah.
Hudson, Captain, commands the _Loyall Bliss_.
_Hunter_, the, reinforces the _Revenge_;
  takes part in the attack on Kennery;
  present at Gheriah;
  attacked by Angria's grabs.

I

Ibrahim Khan, captain of the _Gunj Suwaie_, cowardice of.
Ince, Samuel, gunner, defends Anjengo;
  is reinforced from Cochin;
  his bravery.
Inchbird, Captain, sent on a mission to Mannajee Angria;
  seizes Mannajee Angria's gallivats;
  commands ships sent to the relief of Mannajee Angria at Colaba.
_Indien_, the, French ship, captured by Commodore James.
Interlopers, unlicensed merchant adventurers.
Ireland, John, pirate, commission to Kidd to apprehend.
Itimad Khan, Governor of Surat, protects the English;
  character of.

J

_James_, the, one of Houblon's squadron;
  her men join the mutineers on the _Charles the Second_.
James, Commodore William, commands the _Guardian_;
  commands a squadron against Gheriah;
  his early life;
  his capacity;
  captures the _Indien_;
  his success at Severndroog;
  director of the East India Company, baronet, and member of Parliament,
  sent to Madras.
Jenkins, Captain of the _Harrington_,
  his conflict with Angrian pirates;
  his courage commended.
Jinjeera, the Seedee of, complains of English outrages.
Jobson, Captain, commander of the _Ockham_, beats off Angrian pirates.
Johnson, Sir Robert, captain of the _Exeter_, Matthews quarrels with;
  perishes at sea;
  Matthews answerable for the death of.
Jolly Roger, the, hoisted by mutinous ships.
José, Francisco de Sampaio e Castro, Viceroy of Goa;
  unites with Boone in the expedition against Colaba;
  treatment of, by Matthews;
  comes to terms with the Council at Bombay.
_Josiah_ ketch, the, taken by her crew;
  recaptured by Cruffe and carried to Acheen;
  attacked by the Sanganians.
Junaghur, imprisonment of Gilliam and his followers at.
_Jupiter_, the, French ship, taken by Sumbhajee Angria.
Jyeghur, granted to Conajee Angria by treaty;
  the Mahrattas to attack.

K

Kanak Droog, Angrian fort, bombarded by James.
Keigwin, Captain Richard, sent to Bombay;
  his troop disbanded;
  again sent out to Bombay;
  distrusts the Company;
  takes possession of Bombay;
  his good government, and popularity;
  surrenders Bombay to Sir Thomas Grantham;
  his death at St. Christopher's;
  fights the Mahratta fleet in the _Revenge_.
Kempsant, the, the Sawunt Waree chief at Vingorla;
  quarrels with Angria;
  proposes an alliance with the English;
  his attitude at the attack on Deoghur.
Kennery, occupied by Sivajee;
  blockaded by the Company's ships;
  seized and fortified by Conajee Angria;
  granted to Conajee Angria by treaty;
  the Seedee and Mahrattas struggle for the possession of;
  reinforced and provisioned by Angria;
  Boone commands an expedition against;
  failure of attack on.
_Kent_ the, East Indiaman, sent in search of Danish pirates;
  commanded by Matthews in the action off Cape Passaro.
Kidd, William, account of his career;
  commands the _Adventure_ galley;
  commissions granted to, against pirates;
  excites Warren's suspicion;
  his piratical intentions discussed;
  attacks the Mocha fleet;
  takes the _Mary_ brigantine;
  his cruelty to the natives of the Laccadives;
  chases the _Sedgwick_;
  captures the _Quedah Merchant_;
  attitude of the English Government towards;
  fraternizes with Culliford;
  abandons the _Adventure_;
  sails to Boston on the _Quedah Merchant_;
  hides his plunder;
  arrested by Lord Bellamont;
  tried at the Old Bailey;
  found guilty on several charges;
  hanged;
  a contemptible character.
Kidd's Island, why so named.
_King George_, the, Company's ship, captures an Angrian grab;
  sent against Sumbhajee Angria.
_Kingsfisher_, the, sloop, blockades Gheriah.
Kirby, Captain, commander of the _Greenwich_;
  his cowardice.
Koolta, fort, ceded to the Peishwa.
Kyffin, John, second at Anjengo, intrigues against Cowse;
  chief at Anjengo;
  his disloyalty to the Company;
  dismissed the Company's service.
Kynaston and Bonnell, partners of Porter.

L

La Buze, Oliver (La Bouche, Levasseur), French pirate, loses his ship
  off Mayotta;
  made commander of the _Victory_;
  tradition of his life at Bourbon, and his end;
  at Madagascar;
  escapes Matthews' squadron.
Lari, the (coin), value of.
Lavender, Captain, commander of the _Thomas_, perishes with his ship.
Langworth, Commodore, sent against Sumbhajee Angria's fleet.
Lapthorne, Lieutenant Peter, besieged in Anjengo;
  agent for Mrs. Gyfford's affairs;
  his drunkenness and dishonesty;
  sent under arrest; to Bombay.
Latenby, Richard, carpenter's mate of the _Cassandra_,
  his account of his enforced cruise with the pirates.
Leake, Captain Thomas, succeeds Hough as Commodore of the _Restoration_;
  his ship taken by Toolajee Angria;
  his incapacity punished.
Lembourg, Mr., his visit to Carwar.
Levasseur (La Bouche), Oliver.
  _See_ LA BUZE, OLIVER.
Libertatia, model pirate settlement;
  history of.
_Lime_, the, man-of-war, sent in search of Teach.
Lisle, Commodore, his squadron protects Bombay coast trade;
Littleton, Commodore, succeeds Warren;
  suspected of dealings with the pirates;
  Hamilton's defence of;
  quarrels with Sir Nicholas Waite;
  effect of the presence of his squadron.
_Lizard_, the, man-of-war, under Warren.
Loader, Captain, of the _Revenge_,
  burns a village in Elephanta.
_London_, the, seized by Muscat Arabs;
  her crew forced to fight with the Portuguese;
  acts as flagship in the attack on Gheriah;
  fired on by the _Victory_;
  pirate ship;
  her crew break into the Lazaretto at Goa;
  Boone sails for England in.
Lowth, Captain, of the _Loyal Merchant_;
  seizes the _Margaret_;
  prevented by the Dutch from seizing the _Vine_.
_Loyall Bliss_, the, East Indiaman,
  her voyage to Bengal;
  puts in at Carwar.
_Loyal Merchant_, the, takes the _Margaret_, a pirate ship.
Loyd, Solomon, his marriage annulled.
_Lyon_, the, King's ship, sent out against pirates;
  taken by Matthews to Bengal;
  Mrs. Gyfford sails to England on;
  put out of commission.

M

Mace, William.
  _See_ MAZE, WILLIAM.
Mackintosh, Lieutenant, goes to Colaba with articles of
  treaty with Angria.
Macrae, Captain James, Commander of the _Cassandra_;
  his ship attacked and taken by pirates off Madagascar;
  escapes with his crew;
  communicates with the pirates;
  the _Fancy_ given to;
  serves under Brown in the expedition in search of pirates;
  chases the _Cassandra_ and _Victory_;
  his parentage and character;
  becomes Governor of Fort St. George.
Madagascar, a pirate resort.
Madras, capture of, by La Bourdonnais.
_Madras Merchant_, the, Company's ship, joins the _Sidney_ at Johanna.
Mahim, freedom of trade at, claimed by the Portuguese;
  raided.
Mahomed Ali, his power re-established by the English.
Mahrattas, the, their fleet repulsed by Minchin and Keigwin;
  rise of the power of;
  besiege Bassein;
  attack Sumbhajee Angria's camp;
  seize a flotilla bound for Calcutta;
  their respect for English arms;
  articles of agreement between the English and;
  their inefficiency as allies;
  treat with Toolajee Angria;
  encamp against Grheriah;
  dispute with the English as to Toolajee Angria;
  Gheriah delivered over to.
Maine, Captain Covil, of the _Shoreham_ brings charges against Matthews.
Malheiros, Ignatio, Portuguese interpreter at Anjengo;
  insults Mahommedan traders;
  seized by Attinga natives and tortured to death.
Malwans, the, pirates, attack English ships.
Mangalore, attacked by Arab pirates;
  sacked by Toolajee Angria.
Manikdroog, granted to Conajee Angria, by treaty.
Mannajee Angria.
  _See_ ANGELA, MANNAJEE.
Manuel de Castro, Portuguese renegade,
  appointed commodore of the Company's gallivats;
  distrusted by English captains;
  permits Angria's gallivats to reinforce Kennery;
  treachery of, punished;
  foments a mutiny at St. Helena;
  returns to Angria.
_Margaret_, the, of New York, pirate ship, seized by Captain Lowth.
_Mary_ brigantine, the, taken by Kidd off Sanjan;
  her master imprisoned on the _Adventure_.
Matthews, Commodore Thomas, sent with a squadron
  against Madagascar pirates;
  his character;
  suspected of complicity with pirates;
  his quarrels in India;
  takes part in the expedition against Angria;
  his conduct at Alibagh;
  his private trade;
  his disloyalty to the Company;
  espouses Mrs. Gyfford's cause;
  effect of his squadron on Madagascar pirates;
  the Directors bring an action against;
  tried by court-martial for irregularities;
  appointed commander-in-chief in the Mediterranean.
May, Captain, commander of a pirate ship, taken by Every,.
Maynard, Lieutenant of the _Pearl_,
  commands sloops sent in search of Teach;
  engages, and kills Teach.
Maze (or Mace), William, pirate,
   commission to Kidd to apprehend.
Mecca, pilgrims from, taken in the _Gunj Suwaie_;
  pilgrims to, protected by the Dutch.
Mence, Robert, succeeds Harvey as chief at Oarwar;
  embezzles the Company's money;
  dies at Oarwar.
Midford, Mr., factor, commands the land force sent to relieve Carwar;
  commands Company's troops;
  keeps back soldiers' pay;
  his incapacity;
  sent to the relief of Anjengo;
  his punitive expeditions in Attinga;
  becomes chief at Anjengo;
  his dishonesty;
  death of.
Minchin, Commodore, repels Mahratta ships.
Minims, John, appointed engineer for the attack on Gheriah.
Misson, French pirate, establishes the settlement of Libertatia;
is drowned on the way to America.
Mitchell, Mr., fights a duel with Mr. Sutherland.
Mocha fleet, the, Kidd's attack on.;
  waylaid by Arab pirates.
_Mocha_ frigate, the, crew of, mutiny off Acheen;
  renamed the _Defence_;
  renamed the _Resolution_.
_Montagu_, the, East Indiaman, attacked by Toolajee Angria's fleet.
Moore,----, gunner of the _Adventure_, murdered by Kidd.
_Morning Star_, the, private ship, commanded by Alexander Hamilton;
  her encounter with pirates;
  hired by the Council at Bombay;
  sent to relieve Carwar.
_Morrice_, the, East Indiaman, takes part in the attack on Kennery;
  in danger from Angria's fleet.
Mungrole, seizure of Gilliam at.
Muscat, Arabs of, seize the _London_ to avenge their losses.

N

Negotna, river, blockaded by English ships.
_Neptune's Prize_, the, bombketch, sent against Sumbhajee Angria's fleet.
_New George_, the, East Indiaman, taken by the French.
North, ----, pirate, commands the _Pelican_;
  recants his submission to Warren;
  is killed by natives of St. Mary's.
_Nostra Senhora de Cabo_, the, Portuguese ship;
  taken by the _Cassandra_ and _Victory_.
Nunn, Captain Radford, sent against the Coolee rovers.

O

_Ockham_, the, East Indiaman,
  fierce engagement between Angrian pirates and.
Ogle, Captain Challoner, sent in pursuit of Roberts;
  engages the _Ranger_ and _Royal Fortune_;
  knighted for bravery against pirates.
Oochitghur, granted to Conajee Angria by treaty.
Orford, Lord, head of the Admiralty, refuses a ship to repress pirates;
  supports syndicate to send out a privateer against French commerce;
  secretly interested in Kidd's mission;
  impeachment against, prepared.
Orme, Alexander, becomes chief at Anjengo;
  reports defalcations in accounts at Anjengo;
  provisions in his treaty with the Rani.
Ostend ships.
Ostenders, the, Kyffin's dealings with;
  peremptory orders regarding.
_Otter_, the, Bengal ship, taken by Angria's forces.

P

Parker, Lieutenant, deprived of his commission.
Parker, Mr., member of the Bombay Council, intrigues against Boone.
Parker, Thomas, master of the _Mary_, his ship captured by Kidd;
  imprisoned on the _Adventure_.
Passmore, Sergeant, punished for cowardice.
_Pearl_, the, man-of-war, sent in search of Teach.
Peishwa, the, defeated by Conajee Angria's forces;
  makes terms with Conajee Angria;
  assists Mannajee Angria;
  Angrian forts ceded to;
  shakes off his allegiance to Satara;
  concludes a treaty with Bombay;
  death of;
  Chaul resigned to the new, by the Portuguese;
  his agents mutilated by Toolajee Angria;
  invokes assistance of Bombay against Angria;
  his friendly relations with Bombay;
  his fleet takes part in the attack on Severndroog;
  his troops take part in the attack on Gheriah.
_Pelham_, the, employed in the attack on Gheriah.
_Pelican_, the, pirate ship, gets provisions at Honore.
Perim, its value as a trading port.
Permission ships, imitate pirates.
Persian Gulf, piratical outrages in the.
Phipps, William, succeeds Boone as Governor of Bombay;
  remonstrates against Matthews;
  levies customs duties at Mahim;
_Phoenix_, the, man-of-war, goes in search of Danish pirates;
  attacked by Sanganian pirates.
_Phram_, the, floating battery, designed by Boone;
  employed against Gheriah;
  her uselessness;
  casualties on;
  fired on by the _Cassandra_;
  her ultimate fate.
_Pilot_ sloop, the, taken by Toolajee Angria.
Pirates, earliest mention of, in India;
  their efficiency as seamen;
  extent of their raids from Madagascar;
  in India, whence recruited;
  their treatment of English prisoners;
  their cruelty to native merchants;
  commissions issued to Kidd for capture of;
  Warren sent with a squadron against;
  Royal Squadron sent from Europe to extirpate;
  pardon offered to, for voluntary surrender of;
  acts passed for repression of;
  rewards for capture of;
  execution of;
  Matthews sent against;
  cessation of danger from.
Pitts, Lieutenant, commander of the _Josiah_, perishes with his ship.
Plantain, John, ex-pirate, entertains Matthews.
Pocock, Hear-Admiral, his share in the spoil of Gheriah.
Poola Cadamon Pillay, blamed for the massacre at Anjengo.
Poolas, the, their intrigues in Attinga.
Poola Venjamutta, usurps power in Attinga;
  intrigues with Kyffin;
  treats with Walter Brown;
  plays a double part;
  sends food to the besieged at Anjengo;
  friendly to the English.
Port Dauphin, a pirate settlement.
Porter, Endymion, licensed with Bonnell
  and Kynaston to prey on ships of non-friendly nations;
  his association with Sir William Courten.
Portuguese, the, the crew of the _London_ compelled to attack;
  their 'armado' captured by Angria;
  refuse to allow Sivajee to land at Thana;
  friction with, at Bombay;
  their co-operation secured against Angria;
  attacked at Alibagh by Sahoojee's forces;
  ill-feeling between the English and;
  Angria opens negotiations with;
  their General of the North insulted by Matthews;
  two of their grabs captured by English galleys;
  come to terms with the Council at Bombay;
  espouse the cause of Mannajee Angria;
  ally themselves with Sumbhajee Angria;
  expelled from Salsette by the Mahrattas;
  effect of their intervention in Angrian quarrels;
  besieged at Bassein;
  Caranjah taken from, by Mannajee Angria;
  drive Sumbhajee Angria from Chaul;
  resign Chaul to the Peishwa;
  employed as interpreters.
_President_, the, Company's ship, attacked by Muscat Arabs.
_Prince_, the, Bombay sloop, takes a Muscat ship.
_Princess Augusta_, the, captured by Toolajee Angria;
  redeemed.
_Princess Caroline_, the, Company's ship, sent against Sumbhajee Angria.
_Protector_, the, sloop, man-of-war,
  built to protect the Malabar coast from Angrian pirates;
  commanded by _James_;
  takes part in the attack on Severndroog;
  sent to Madras;
  returns to Bombay;
  takes part in the combined attack on Gheriah.
Proud, John, master of the _Swan_, attacks the _Roebuck_.
Providence Island, a pirate resort.
_Pulteney_, the Company's ship,
  attacked by Angrian pirates;
  sent against Sumbhajee Angria's fleet.

Q

Quail, Captain,
  commands the _Seahorse_.
_Quedah Merchant_, the,
  country ship, captured by Kidd.
_Queen_, the, East Indiaman.
Quemar Santo, the saint burner.
  _See_ KEMPSANT.
Quilon, the Rajah of,
  succours the Anjengo garrison;
  plundered goods from Anjengo sent to.

R

Rajmachee, fort,
  ceded to the Peishwa.
Ramajee Punt, Sirsoobah of the Concan;
  concerts measures against Toolajee Angria;
  assists in the attack on Severndroog;
  urges the English to complete Angria's destruction;
  treats with Toolajee Angria;
  promises to surrender Toolajee Angria;
  his ill-faith with the English;
  demands surrender of Gheriah to the Mahrattas.
_Rampura_, the,
  captured by Every.
Ramus, Cape,
  engagement between the English and Portuguese off.
_Ranger_, the,
  pirate ship, taken by Ogle.
Red Sea, the,
  a favourite resort of pirates.
_Resolution_, the,
  (_alias_ the _Mocha_ and the _Defence, q.v._),
  pirate ship commanded by Culliford;
  attacks the _Dorrill_;
  at Honore;
  at Madagascar.
_Resolution_, the,
  Company's ship, sent against Sumbhajee Angria.
_Resolution_, the,
  King's ship, Every serves in.
_Restoration_, the,
  sent against Angrian grabs;
  taken by Toolajee Angria;
  is opposed to the English at Gheriah.
Returah.
  _See_ VITTOOR.
_Revenge_, the,
  Company's grab, built at Bombay, by Boone's orders;
  sent to attack Vingorla;
  sent to blockade Kennery;
  engaged by the Mahratta fleet;
  takes part in the attacks on Gheriah;
  engages the _Victory_, pirate ship;
  sent in search of pirates;
  accompanies Boone in the _London_;
  attacks Angria's grabs;
  goes to the relief of Calcutta.
Reynolds, Mr., protests against Conajee Angria's actions.
Richards, Commodore, quarrels with Sir John Gayer;
  commands the _Severn_ and _Scarborough_;
  dies at Johanna.
_Robert_ galley, the, sent to assist Mannajee Angria.
Roberts, Bartholomew, pirate, scours the American coast;
  his cruelty and strict rule;
  Captain Ogle sent in search of;
  slain on the _Royal Fortune_.
Rodriguez, a Portuguese, plunders the Company's warehouse at Anjengo.
_Roebuck_, the, fitted out by Porter, Bonnell, and Kynaston.
Rogers, Captain Woodes,
  his description of the pirate settlers at Madagascar;
  governor of the Bahamas.
_Rose_, the, taken by Toolajee Angria.
_Royal Fortune_, the, pirate ship, taken by Ogle.
_Ruby_, the, King's ship, placed under Lisle's command;
  her convoy attacked by Angrian vessels.
_Ruby_ frigate, the, long-boat of, stolen by John Steel.
Russell, Gideon, mate of the _Morrice_,
  leads volunteers in the attack on Kennery;
  is wounded and dies.
Rustumjee Nowrojee, son of Bomanjee, taken to England by Matthews.
Rutnaghiri, Angrian stronghold, attacked by the Mahrattas.

S

Sacrifice Island, why so called.
Sagurgurh, taken by Sumbhajee Angria.
Sahoojee, Sivajee's grandson, dissensions in his kingdom;
  called the Sow Rajah by the English;
  treats with Boone in Angria's behalf;
  sends a force to Alibagh to assist Angria.
St. Augustine's, a pirate settlement.
_St. George_, the, sent out by the Company as a guard ship;
  wrecked.
St. Mary's Island, a pirate settlement.
Sakhajee Angria.
  _See_ ANGRIA, SAKHAJEE.
_Salamander_, the, Bombay ketch, captured by Sumbhajee Angria;
  rescued by Mannajee Angria.
_Salamander_, the, trading grab, leased to the Company by Harvey.
_Salisbury_, the, King's ship, sent
  out under Matthews against pirates.
Selsette, attacked and plundered by Muscat Arabs;
  the English renounce all claim on;
  the Portuguese expelled from.
_Samaritan_, the, fitted out by Porter, Bonnell, and Kynaston,
  wrecked.
_Sandwich_, the, Matthews court-martialled on.
Sanganiana, the, pirates, attack the _Josiah_;
  attack the _Phoenix_;
  reduced to order.
Satara, Sahoojee proclaimed at;
  Conajee Angria's relations with;
  the Rajah of, treats with Keigwin.
Sawbridge, Captain, seized by pirates.
_Scarborough_, the, man-of-war;
  beaten off by Teach.
_Sceptre_, the, sent as a convoy for the Mocha fleet.
Scott, Lieutenant Colonel, the Company's chief engineer at Madras.
_Seahorse_, the, sent to the Red Sea.
_Sedgwick_, the, captured off Cape Comorin.
Seedee, the, ordered to march on Bombay and imprison the English;
  plunders towns on the Malabar coast;
  Conajee Angria makes war on;
  sends a deputation to Keigwin;
  offers to co-operate with the English;
  loses territory;
  captures Thull;
  his kindness to English prisoners.
_Severn_, the, Bengal freight ship, taken by Toolajee Angria.
_Severn_, the, man-of-war, effects nothing against the pirates.
Severndroog, granted to Conajee Angria by treaty;
  Sumbhajee Angria's headquarters;
  attacked and taken by the English and Mahrattas, under James.
Severndroog, tower of, why erected.
Sewell, Robert, Gyfford's letter to;
  storekeeper at Anjengo;
  his drunkenness and dishonesty;
  sent, under arrest, to Bombay.
Shaxton, Captain, commands the Company's military at Bombay;
  tried for complicity with mutineers.
_Shoreham_, the, King's ship, sent out under Matthews against pirates.
_Sidney_, the, Company's ship, threatened by Kidd.
Sivajee, his fleet harries the Concan coast;
  his agreement with the English;
  occupies and fortifies Kennery;
  plans an attack on Bombay;
  concludes peace with the English.
Smith, Bombardier, sent to assist
  Mannajee Angria at Colaba.
Smith, Captain, succeeds Gordon as commander
  of the force sent to relieve Carwar;
  his cowardice.
_Soldado_, the, or _Algerine_, the, pirate ship, commanded by Chivers.
_Somers_, the, East Indiaman, attacked by Angria's ships.
Somers, Lord, secretly interested in Kidd's mission;
  impeachment against, prepared.
_Speedy Return_, the, pirate ship, commanded by Bowen.
_Stanhope_, the, East Indiaman;
  takes part in the attack on Kennery.
Stanton, Major, commands sepoys sent to attack Vingorla;
  quarrels with Weekes;
  commands the land force sent to relieve Carwar;
  takes part in the attack on Kennery;
  commands the landing party against Gheriah;
  commands the expedition against the Portuguese.
Steel, John, deserts the Company's service and turns pirate;
  arrest and release of.
Steele, John, Carpenter's mate of the _Morrice_,
  his prowess before Kennery.
Stepney, Lieut, on the _Salisbury_, fights a duel with Lieut. Berkeley.
Stout, ----, mutineer, commands the _Defence_;
  accounts of his end.
Strutt, Mr., private merchant, owner of the _Elizabeth_.
_Success_, the, East Indiaman, taken by Angria's fleet;
  indemnity for.
Sultanpore, headquarters of the Coolee rovers.
Sumbhajee Angria.
  _See_ ANGRIA, SUMBHAJEE.
Sunda Rajah, the, refuses dealings with Kidd;
  attacks English ships;
  seizes the _Elizabeth_;
  besieges Carwar factory;
  comes to terms with the English;
  cruelty of.
Surat, the Company's servants at, imprisoned;
  populace of, influenced against the English;
  trade at, crippled, owing to piracy;
  fourteen lakhs of rupees demanded from Europeans at;
  Europeans at, combine to suppress piracy;
  disorders at.
Surey, Portuguese battery at, captured by Stanton.
Surkheil, title given to Conajee Angria.
Sutherland, Mr., fights duels with Mitchell and Dalrymple;
  sentenced to death;
  pardoned.
_Swallow_, the, King's ship, commanded by Captain Ogle;
  engages pirate ships;
  takes part in the attack on Severndroog.
_Swallow_, the, sloop, taken by Toolajee Angria.
_Swan_, the, encounters the _Roebuck_.
_Syren_, the, protects the Bombay coast trade;
  her convoy attacked by Angrian vessels.

T

Tamana.
  _See_ DEOGHUR.
_Tankerville_, the, Company's ship, sails with the _Royall Bliss_.
_Tartar_, the, King's ship, protects the Bombay coast trade;
   her convoy chased by Angrian vessels.
Taylor, ----, pirate, his headquarters at Madagascar;
  commands the _Fancy_;
  engages the _Cassandra_;
  prevented from murdering Macrae;
  resigns the _Fancy_ to Macrae;
  commands the _Cassandra_;
  takes the _Nostra Senhorade Calo_ and an Ostend ship;
  negotiates for a pardon;
  escapes Matthew's squadron;
  surrenders to the Spaniards and obtains a commission.
Taylor, George, chief of the factory at Carwar;
  charged with indiscretion by Hamilton;
  cautioned by the Bombay Council.
Teach, Edward, pirate, _alias_ Blackbeard;
  his fearlessness and cruelty;
  reward offered for his capture;
  killed in hand-to-hand encounter.
Tew (? Thomas Too), English pirate, allied with Misson;
  escapes from Libertatia;
  killed in action;
  commission to Kidd to apprehend.
Thevenapatam, establishment of a factory at.
_Thomas_, the, attacked by four Beyt ships.
_Thomas_, the, brigantine, owned by Gyfford;
  attached by the Bengal Council.
Thull, taken by Sumbhajee Angria;
  captured by the Seedee.
Too, Thomas.
  _See_ TEW, THOMAS.
Toolajee Angria.
  _See_ ANGRIA, TOOLAJEE.
Topasses, mutilated at Carwar;
  nucleus of the Bombay Marine Battalion;
  many, burned on the _Phram_ before Gheriah.
Towerson, Captain, torture and execution of.
_Trial_, the, sent against Sumbhajee Angria's fleet.
_Triumph_, the, prahm sent to assist Mannajee Angria;
  takes part in the attack on Severndroog.
Tuluday, Mr., soldier, killed on board the _Phram_.
_Tyger_, the, King's ship, under Warren.
Tyrell, Captain, commander of the _Phoenix_;
  sent in search of Danish pirates;
  sinks a Sanganian pirate ship.

U

Upton, Captain, commander of the _London_;
  his cowardice.
Utrecht, Peace of, effect of the, on piracy;

V

Van Broeck, his account of Every.
Vane, Major, chief engineer to the Company.
Venjamutta.
  _See_ POOLA VENJAMUTTA.
Viceroys of Goa.
  _See_ ERICEIRA; JOSÉ, FRANCISCO DE SAMPAIO.
_Victoria_, the, accompanies the _London_;
  attacks Angria's grabs.
_Victory_, the, Company's armed ship, built by Boone's orders;
  takes part in the attack on Kennery;
  present at Gheriah;
  fired on by the _Cassandra_;
  sails in search of pirates;
  comes to the relief of the crews of the _Bengal_ and _Bombay_ galleys;
  sent against Sumbhajee Angria.
_Victory_, the, pirate ship, commanded by England;
  engages the _Cassandra_;
  mistaken for the Company's ship;
  La Buze made commander of.
_Vigilant_, the, King's ship, protects the Bombay coast trade;
  attacked by Angrian vessels.
Villanjuen (Brinjone), in Attinga, trading settlement at.
Vincente Sodre, an early pirate.
_Vine_ pink, the, pirate ship;
  the Dutch prevent Captain Lowth from seizing.
Vingorla, pirates at.
_Viper_, the, bombketch, takes part in the attack on Severndroog.
Virginia, pirates off the coasts of;
  governor of, sends ships in search of Teach.
Vittoor (Returah), in Attinga, trading settlement at.
Viziadroog.
  _See_ GHERIAH.
_Vulture_, the, King's ship, under Warren.

W

Waite, Sir Nicholas, President of Surat;
  compared with Governor Boone;
  appointed Governor of Bombay.
Wake, Captain Thomas, commander of a pirate ship taken by Everyl
  commission to Kidd, to apprehend.
Ward, Mr., Deputy Governor of Bombay, seized by Keigwin.
Warlee, fort at, destroyed by the Portuguese;
  engagement with Angria's grabs off.
Warren, Commodore, commands a Royal squadron against the pirates;
  suspects Kidd's intentions;
  returns from his first cruise;
  commands a squadron in 1699 to extirpate pirates;
  reaches Tellicherry and dies.
_Warwick_, the, East Indiaman, attacked by Toolajee Angria's fleet.
Watson, Admiral,
  commands a squadron in the attack on Gheriah;
  his generosity to Olive;
  his reception of Toolajee's friends;
  demands Toolajee Angria from the Mahrattas.
Watson, gunner's mate, sent to relieve Mannajee Angria at Colaba.
Weekes, Commodore, commands the
  _Fame_ and the _Britannia_ against Vingorla;
  quarrels with Stanton;
  deposed.
West Indies, character of settlers.
_Weymouth_, the, King's ship, sent in pursuit of pirates.
White, ----, pirate,
  his headquarters at Madagascar.
White, Captain, commander of the _Hastings_, arrested by Littleton.
_William_, the, Bombay ship, taken by Toolajee Angria.
Williams, ----, pirate.
_Windsor_, the, King's ship, under Warren.
Wise, Lieutenant, directs the _Phram's_ guns;
  drunkenness of.
Woodward, Captain, commands the landing-party at Gheriah;
  commander of the _Revenge_;
  his cowardice punished.
Wright, Captain, commands the _Caesar_, engages five pirate ships.
Wright, Captain of the _Quedan Merchant_.
Wyche, Mr., discharged the Company's service;
  his escape connived at by Matthews.
Wyche, Mrs., taken to Surat by Matthews.

X

Xeraphims, value of.

Y

Yessajee Aligna
  _See_ ANGRIA, YESSAJEE.
Yeswuntdroog, granted to Conajee Angria by treaty.


THE END





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