The Pirates of Malabar, and An Englishwoman in India Two Hundred Years Ago | Page 9

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