Isaac Bickerstaffe

“ I shall only tell you that, in one of our cruises, we met with a Jamaica ship, and hoisted our black colours. Having boarded her, because she made some resistance, and killed one of our men, the captain ordered that the whole crew should be massacred. The wicked command was executed upon the master, five seamen, and a boy; then, taking the cargo out, which proved to be rum and sugar, we scuttled the ship, and returned to our fortification. But see how the avenger of wicked deeds makes the fruit of our crimes our punishment! ”

“ The coast had been long infested with pirates, the most desperate gang of villains that can be imagined: and there was scarce a month passed that one or other of their vessels did not fall into the governor's hands, and the crew as constantly were put under my care. ”

“ A more infernal crew than these pirates never breathed upon the face of the earth. Their whole lives was a scene of rapine and murder, which, if they had no opportunity of committing upon the wretches that fell into their clutches during their piratical pursuits, they committed on one another. During the time I remained with them, nearly four years, there were no less than eleven assassinations amongst themselves. There was an uninhabited island in the Gulf of Mexico which those villains called Swallow Island, from the great number of those birds which harbour upon it. ”

“ I warned the fellows of their capacity, and the danger of deeply loading the ship, but they would not give over till she could hold no more; and then the treasure, packed in chests, each man’s share separate to himself, we put in the cabin. ”

“ I have already said, that with these people I remained upwards of three years; on land I acted as store-keeper; and at sea, as a sort of purser to the ship. It is to be observed, that there was always a sufficient number of hands left on the island to man the fort, which was so situated as effectually to prevent the approach of an enemy. Indeed the office of store-keeper was a place of great trust. You would hardly credit me, was I to attempt to tell you the immense riches these robbers robbers had amassed together. One article alone will be sufficient to give you an idea of it. ”

“ I must observe to you, that, when I first went into the ship, I gave a false account of myself, which occasioned my ruin; for, now confessing the truth, and telling them that I had been forced into the pirates’ service, with all that had happened to me among them, my prevarication made them suspect my veracity, and I was two years in prison; when, by what means I know not, some of the wretches with whom I left our island having been taken as pirates upon the Spanish coast of Europe, an order came to bring me over to Cadiz, in Old Spain, in order to be evidence. ”

“ Somebody proposed to search me; several began to turn my pockets inside out, and from my waistcoat tumbled the penknife and the piece of money I have already mentioned.
Upon seeing these, the woman immediately screamed out, "O mercy! there is my uncle’s penknife." Then taking up the money, and calling the people about her, "here," said she, "is what puts the villain’s guilt beyond a doubt: I can swear to this William and Mary's guinea; my uncle has long had it by way of a pocket-piece, and engraved the first letters of his name upon it." ”

“ Collins, I missed him; and then it was I found I had made a mistake; and, instead of getting on board my own boat, which I now saw a-head, I had got into a boat belonging to some of the pirates. I attempted to leap overboard, and should easily have swam ashore; but I was prevented by one of the crew, who gave me a stroke on the head, which immediately laid me senseless; and I found afterwards they mistook me for one of their own men, whom they had sent to purchase something in the town.
A more infernal crew than these pirates breathed, not upon the face of the earth. ”

“ We now began to feel the consequence of too deeply loading the vessel. The first things we threw overboard were our guns, and as our case became more and more desperate, every thing followed them, not excepting our chests of treasure. ”

“ As soon as the poor creatures found that I was an Englishman, they were extremely happy, even in their distressing situation; though, indeed, they were treated with lenity enough, and were only sent to the prison until a suitable lodging could he provided for them, they having been, in the course of the war, made prisoners by the Spaniards as well as myself, and were then on their return home. ”

“ I never saw any man express such concern as he did, while I was pursuing my melancholy adventures; but when I came to the circumstances of being hanged, and afterwards hung in chains, I could hardly prevail upon him to believe my relation, till backed by the most serious asseverations, pronounced in the most solemn manner. ”

“ Better far to allow fifty guilty individuals to escape, than permit one innocent person to suffer. And this is not a solitary case where evidence as clear-—but yet as false—-has been brought against the culprit; and the truth of his innocence has been discovered when it was impossible to repair the injury. ”

“ About six o'clock I arose, no body yet being up in the house. The gentleman was not yet returned to bed, or if he was, had again left it. I drest myself with what haste I could, being impatient to see my sister; and the reckoning being paid over night, I let myself out at the street door.
I will not trouble you with a relation of the kindness with which my sister and her husband received me. We breakfasted together and I believe it might be about eleven o'clock in the fore-noon, when standing at the door, my brother-in-law being by my side, we saw three horsemen galloping towards us. ”

“ We had been six months out upon our cruise having had but very indifferent success, when, being on the coast of Florida, then in the hands of the Spaniards, we unfortunately fell in with a squadron of their men-of-war, and, consequently, being taken without striking a blow, we were all carried prisoners into the harbour of Havanna. ”

“ About three o’clock in the morning we were obliged to heave the ship too under her spare poles, and the sea ran so exceeding high that we could keep no lights on board, tho' the night was so dark that we could scarce see one another at a quarter of a yard distance; the wind still increasing, we sprung the main-mast about six feet from the deck, that nothing could save it. ”

“ The issue of an engagement was fatal to us. The greater part of the crew were killed, and the rest taken prisoners, among which last I was one, having lost my leg in the action.
After this, I passed a long and painful slavery in Algiers, till, with many other English captives, I was released, by agreement between the Dey of Algiers and his Britannic Majesty’s agent. In the year 1730, I returned to England. The first thing I did was to inquire after my relations, but all those nearest to me were dead; and I found that Mr Collins had never returned home ”

“ Richard Collins (the name of the man I was supposed to have murdered) either alive or dead. No information, however, of any kind came to hand; at the assizes, therefore, I was brought to trial, and circumstances appearing strong against me, I received sentence, to be carried in a cart the Wednesday fortnight following, to the town of Deal, and there to be hanged before the innkeeper’s door where I had committed the murder; after which I was to be hung in chains within a little way of my brother’s house. ”

“ To stay in England was impossible without exposing myself to the terrors of the law In this dilemma, a fortunate circumstance occurred. There had been, for some time, at my brother's house one or two of the principal officers of a privateer that was preparing to cruise, just then ready to sail and the captain kindly offered to take me on board with him. ”

“ I endeavoured, however, to keep myself above water as well as I could, though I had no manner of hopes of saving my life. My first attempt was to swim after the ship; but finding that impracticable, I turned about, and, I believe, might have swam about three quarters of an hour, when being very faint and weak, I began to put up my last prayer to God, and commit myself to the deep ”

“ A fellow-prisoner appeared before me in the same woful plight, (he had robbed the mail;) and the smith was measuring him when I came down, while the gaoler, with as much calmness as if he had been ordering a pair of stays to his daughter, was giving directions in what manner the irons should be made, so as to support the man, who was remarkably heavy and corpulent. ”

“ Here I saw, sitting by the fireside, a middle-aged man, in a night-gown and eap, reekoning money at a table. "Unele," said the woman, as soon as I entered, "this is a brother of our friend, Mrs Sawyer; he eannot get a bed anywhere, and is tired after his journey; you are the only one that lies in this house alone, will you give him a part of yours?" To this the man answered, that she knew he had been out of order, that he was bled that day, eonsequently, a bedfellow eould not be very agreeable. However, said he, rather than the young man should sit up, he is weleome to sleep with me. ”

“ I could not be less than thirty hours in this situation, when I was taken up by a Spanish carrick; but I hardly reckon that among fortunate accidents; for the same day that I entered the ship, one of the men, while I was asleep, hanged up my clothes among the shrouds to dry; in doing it, emptied my pockets, and finding several papers relative to the pirates' affairs, as soon as they arrived in Port-Royal, whither they were (illegible text) und, they seized me as one of that desperate (illegible text) g. ”

“ Early next morning, it was known that the gibbet was cut down, and it immediately occurred to every body that it was done by my relations, in order to put a (illegible text) icil over their own shame, by burning the body. But, when my brother was summoned to the mayor’s house in order to be questioned, and he denied knowing anything of the matter, little more stir was made about it ”