pressed for payment, so he died miserably,
"not worth so much as would buy him a
coffin." Those who escaped the gallows, either
retired to sink into the dregs of poverty and
vice, or settled among savages in Madagascar
and elsewhere. Madagascar was a haunt of
thieves, but their great rookery was among
the ins and outs of the West India Islands;
here, in some desert bay or creek, every pirate
had his offices. Some rock which marked the
entrance to his chambers would be scrawled
over, perhaps, with an inscription put up at
his departure by the pirate, " ' Left this place
the 5th of April, to go to Madagascar for
Limes,' and this, least (like lawyers and men
of business) any visits should be paid in their
absence."

A few more anecdotes of life among the
pirates, and a word or two about their last
scenes, must conclude this gossip. Captain
Bellamy had one among his crew, who had
strutted, aforetime, as a strolling Hamlet.
"This whimsical fellow made a play whilst he
was in board, which he called the Royal
Pirate." It was played but once, for "the
case was this; Alexander the Great, environed
by his guards, was examining a pirate who
was brought before him; the gunner, who
was drunk, took this to be in earnest, and
that his messmate was in danger, and hearing
Alexander say,

'Knowest thou that death attends thy mighty crimes,
And thou shalt hang to-morrow morn betimes?'

ran into the gun-room where he left three
companions over a bowl of rum punch as drunk as
himself, told them that they were going to
hang honest Jack Spinckes, and if they suffered
it they should be all hanged one after another;
but (we omit his oaths) they should not hang
him, for he 'd clear the decks; and taking a
grenade with a lighted match, followed by his
comrades with their cutlasses, he set fire to
the fuze and threw it among the actors. The
audience was on the gang- ways and poop, and
falling in with their cutlass poor Alexander
had his left arm cut off, and Jack Spinckes
his leg broke with the bursting of the shell.
Alexander the Great revenged the loss of his
arm by the death of him who deprived him of
his limb." Under these circumstances, the
drama was withdrawn.

In the vessel of Captain Roberts, one
Glasby had excited suspicion among the
crew by his sobriety, for, " in their sense, he
was looked upon to be a villain that would
not be drunk." In fact, Glasby, with some
others, justified suspicion by afterwards
attempting to desert; they were taken and
brought up for trial on the capital offence.
"The place appointed for their Tryals, was
the steerage of the ship; in order to which
a large bowl of ruin-punch was made, and
placed upon the table; the pipes and tobacco
being ready, the judicial proceedings began;
the prisoners were brought forth; " the case
was clear, and " they were about to pronounce
sentence, when one of the judges moved, that
they should first smoak t'other pipe; which
was accordingly done." Meanwhile the prisoners
implored for mercy; the judges were
stern, when one judge, Valentine Ashplant,
got up and declared with oaths, " Glasby
shall not die," and thereupon sat down and
resumed his pipe. His motion was loudly
opposed, and Ashplant rose again with a vast
number of additional oaths, garnishing the
declaration that " ' Glasby is an honest fellow
notwithstanding this misfortune, and I love
him; if he must die, I will die along with
him.' And, thereupon, he pulled out a pair
of pistols, and presented them to some of the
learned judges on the bench; who, perceiving
his argument so well supported, thought it
reasonable that Glasby should be acquitted;
and so they all came over to his opinion, and
allowed it to be law." The other offenders
were all shot.

What vessel have the pirates now been
chasing?—sugar they hope it contains—
gun-powder, alas! They see her suddenly bring
to, and haul up her lower ports. They strike
their black flag in dismay, for they have
caught a man-of-war; but instantly they haul
their colours up again, and vapour with their
cutlasses. We need not describe the
engagement: quarter to the pirates is but sparing
for a halter; they fight with furious desperation,
and are overcome. While the king's
ship sends a boat to fetch the prisoners, a
blast and smoke pours out of the great cabin.
"Half-a-dozen of the most desperate, when
they saw all hopes had fled, had drawn
themselves round what powder they had left in the
steerage, and fired a pistol into it, but it was
much too small a quantity to effect anything
more than burning them in a frightful
manner." The other men are "gay and
brisk, most of them with white shirts, watches
and a deal of silk vests." The captain, perhaps,
"dressed in a crimson damask waistcoat
and breeches, a red feather in his hat, a gold
chain round his neck, with a diamond cross
hung to it, and sword in his hand, and two
pair of pistols hanging at the end of a silk
sling, flung over his shoulders (according to
the fashion of the pirates); " but a grape shot
has struck him in the throat, and he lies dead
upon the tackles of a gun. A man terribly
disfigured by the blast of powder, just before
mentioned, is asked by an officer, " how he
came blown up in that frightful manner.
' Why,' says he, ' John Morris fired a pistol
into the powder; but ' (oaths omitted) ' they
are all mad and bewitched, for I have lost
a good hat by it. (The hat and he being both
blown out of the cabin gallery into the sea.)
' But what signifies a hat, friend? ' says the
officer. ' Not much,' answered he, the men
being busy in stripping him of his shoes and
stockings."

The captured pirates are soon carried
ashore for trial, where the common plea