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.