151 
CHAP. XIV. 
Account of the Pirates—Their daring Transactions —- 
Preparations for attacking them—TheirFleet destroyed 
—Gain Favour and Consequence with the Natives— 
Introduce the Slave Trade—Consequences to themselves. 
After the abandonment of Fort Dauphin in the 
south of Madagascar, by Bretesche, and the con¬ 
sequent massacre of the garrison, the intercourse 
which the inhabitants had with Europeans was 
merely casual. The East-India ships usually touched 
there to take in a supply of provisions, but no further 
attempt was made to establish a colony; nor did any¬ 
thing transpire worthy of notice, until the beginning 
of the seventeenth century, when the pirates, who, 
from the time that Vasco de Gama opened the route 
to India, had infested the Indian seas, formed an 
establishment at Nossy Hibrahim, (or Isle St. Mary,) 
situated on the north-east coast of Madagascar. 
These marauders had rendered themselves so for¬ 
midable and notorious, by their daring attacks on 
large ships, and by the valuable prizes which they 
continually took, that about the year 1722, those 
nations who were interested in the India trade, began 
to make preparations for putting a stop to their 
depredations, which were carried to an astonishing 
length. In 1721, they had attacked and seized a 
