THE PIRATES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 59 



employment, and had no occasion, being then in good circumstances, to go a pirating ; 

 that the men had frequently mutinied, and that he had been threatened in his own cabin, 

 and that ninety-five deserted him at one time and set fire to his boat, so that he was 

 disabled from bringing his ship home, or the prizes he took, to have them regularly 

 condemned, which prizes, he said, were taken under virtue of his commission, they 

 having French passes (false). A witness, Colonel Hewson, spoke highly of his previous 

 reputation for bravery. So much of his own statement was doubtful or false that he 

 was found guilty. When the judge put on the black cap, Kidd stood up and said : " My 

 lord, it is a very hard sentence. For my part I am the most innocent person of them all, 

 and have been sworn against by perjured persons." A week after the bodies of Kidd 

 and six of his men were seen by the passei*s-by on the river, hanging high, suspended by 

 chains, a warning especially to the seamen of and entering to the port of London not to- 

 turn pirates. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE PIRATES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY. 



Difference between the Pirates of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries Avery's brief Career A Captain all at 

 Sea Capture of his Ship Madagascar, a Rendezvous for Pirates A Rich Prize The Great Mogul's Ship taken 

 Immense Spoils The Great Mogul's Rage Avery's Treachery His Companions abandon their Evil Ways The Water- 

 rat beaten by Land-rats A very dies in abject Poverty A Pirate Settlement on Madagascar Roberts the Daring 

 Sails among a Portuguese Fleet, and selects the best Vessel for his Prey His Brutal Destruction of Property 

 His End Misson and Caraccioli Communistic Pirates Their Captures High Morality and Robbery combined 

 Their Fates. 



As we have seen, the seventeenth century presented innumerable examples of piracy on a 

 grand scale. The eighteenth presents no examples of formidable organisations ; on the 

 contrary, each pirate, as a rule, worked for himself, and relied on the unaided strength f 

 himself and crew. An example is afforded by Avery. Captain Avery's brief career was, 

 piratically considered, brilliant enough. In 1715 we find him mate of a vessel starting from 

 Bristol, and designed for a privateer. The commander, Captain Gibson, was a convivial 

 sailor, fond of his bottle, and in port was usually found ashore. On the evening on which 

 the event about to be described took place, he was on board, but having taken his usual 

 dose or doses of strong liquor, had retired to his berth. The crew not in the secret were 

 also below, leaving on deck only a few conspirators with whom Avery had made a compact. 

 At the time agreed some other conspirators came off in a long-boat, and Avery hailed 

 them, and was answered in the following terms : " Is your drunken boatswain aboard ? " 

 the watch-word previously arranged. Avery replied in the affirmative, and the boat, manned 

 by sixteen stout fellows, came alongside, and in a few minutes the hatches were secured, 

 and the ship put to sea. There were several vessels in port, and a Dutch skipper was 

 offered a considerable reward to pursue Avery, but he declined. When Captain Gibson 

 awoke he rang his bell, and Avery and one of the men going into the cabin, found. 



