The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1923-12-14
THE PIRATES
A. D. 1850

THE PIRATES
A. D. 1850
There are very few pirates left The
Riff Moors of Gibraltar straits with
In recent years have been known .tC
grab a wind-bound ship when they
got the chance; the Arabs of the Red
sea have taken stranded steamers
Chinese practitioners shipped as pas
sengers, will rise in the night, cut
Threats, and steal the vessel more
over, some little retail business is done
by the Malays round Singapore, but
trade as a whole is slack.
1t was very different in the Seven
teenth and Eighteenth centuries when
the Sallee rovers, the Algerian cor
sairs, buccaneers of the West Indies
the Malays and the Chinese put pirate
fleets to sea to prey on great COM
merce, when Blackboard, Captain Kidd,
Bartholomew, Roberts, Lafitte, Avery
and a hundred other corsairs under
the Jolly Roger could seize tall ships
and make their unwilling seamen
walk the plank. They and their merry
men went mostly to the gallows, rich
ly deserved the same, and yet-well,
nobody need complain that times were
dull.
There were so many pirates one
hardly knows which to deal with, but
Avery was such mean rogue, and
;e IT.
well, here goes He was mate of the
ship Duke, forty-four guns, a merchant
cruiser chartered from Bristol, Eng
land, for the Spanish service. His
skipper was nightly addicted to
punch, and too drunk to object when
Avery, conspiring with the men, made
bold to seize the ship. Then he went
down stairs to wake the captain, who,
in a sudden fright, asked, whats the
matter?" "Oh, nothing" said Avery.
The skipper gobbled at him. But
something's the matter" he cried.
"Does she drive? What weather is it,"
mo, no." answered Avery, we're at
sea-" "At sea! How can that be-"
''Come," says Avery, don't be in
a fright, but put on your clothes, and
I'll let you into the secret-and if
you'll turn sober and mind your bust
ness perhaps, in time, l may make
you one of my lieutenants, if not,
here's boat alongside, and you shall
be set ashore" The skipper, still in
a fright, was set ashore, together with
such of the men as were honest. Then
Avery sailed away to seek his fortune.
On the coast of Madagascar, lying
In bay, two sloOps were found, whose
seamen supposed the Duke to be
ship of war and being rogues, having
stolen these vessels to go pirating,
they fed with rueful faces into the
woods. OF course they were fright
fully pleased when they found out
that they were not going to be hanged
just yet, and delighted when Captain
Avery asked them to sail in his COM
pany. They could fly at big game now,
with this big ship for consort.
Now, as it happened, the Great Mo
gul, emperor of Hindustan, was send
ing his daughter with a splendid ret
inue to make pilgrimage to Mecca and
worship at the holy places of Mahomet.
The lady sailed in a ship with chests
Of gold to pay the expenses of the
Journey, golden vessels for the table,
gifts for the shrines, an escort of
princes covered with jewels, troops,
servants, slaves and a band to play
y1cin oft hn
manner. And it was their serious mis-
fortune to meet with Captain Avery
outside the mouth of the Indus. Ay-
ery's sloop, being very swift, got the
prize, and stripped her of everything
worth taking, before they let her go.
1t shocked Avery to think of all
that treasure in the sloops where 1t
might get lost; so presently, as they
sailed in consort, he invited the cap
tains of the sloops to use the big ship
as their strong room. They put their
treasure on board the Duke, and
watched close, for fear of accidents.
Then came a dark night when Captain
Avery mislaid both sloops, and bolted
with all the plumber, leaving two crews
of simple mariners to wonder where
he had gone.
Avery made off to the New England
colonies, where he made a division
of the plumber, handing the gold to
the men. but privily keeping all the
diamonds for himself. The sailors
scattered out through the American
settlements and the British Isles, mod
estly changing their names. Mr.. Avery
went home to Bristol, where he found
some honest merchants to sell his dia-
monds, and lend him small sum on
account When, however, he called on
them for the rest of the money, he met
the merchants had never heard, they
said, of him or his diamonds, but would
give him to the justices as a pirate
unless he shut his mouth. He went
away and died of grief at Bldeford
in Devon, leaving no money even to
pay for his coffin.
Meanwhile the Great Mogul at Del
hi was making such dismal lamenta-
lions about the robbery of his daugh-'
ter's diamonds that the news of
Avery's riches spread to England.
RumOr made him husband TO the
princess, a reigning sovereign, with a
pirate fleet of his own-at the very
time he was diving of want at Ride-
ford
We left two sloops full of pirates