their rage they first talked of hanging England, till more moderate
counsels prevailed, and it was decided to maroon him at Mauritius, which
was done. England and three others who had befriended Macrae were set on
shore, among them, no doubt, the one-legged pirate, and in due course of
time made their way over to St. Mary's.[5]

At St. Mary's the command of the _Victory_ was made over to Oliver La
Bouche, or La Buze, whose efforts at shipbuilding had apparently not met
with success, and the two ships, in company, before long took what was
probably the richest prize that ever fell into pirate hands. The
ex-Viceroy of Goa, the Conde de Ericeira, had sailed for Lisbon, in
January, in the _Nostra Senhora de Cabo_, a seventy-gun ship, taking with
him a rich consignment of jewels for the Portuguese Government, and the
proceeds of his own private trading during the three years of his
viceroyalty. Off the Cape they encountered a heavy storm, which dismasted
the ship, forced them to throw many of their guns overboard, and obliged
them to put back to Bourbon to refit. Taylor and La Buze, learning the
helplessness of the Viceroy's ship, sailed into the anchorage under
English colours. A salute from the Viceroy's ship was answered with a
shotted broadside, and, in the confusion that ensued, the Portuguese ship
was boarded and carried almost without resistance. Seldom or never had
such a prize fallen into pirate hands so easily. The booty in diamonds and
money was in the shape most coveted by the rovers. The jewels alone were
estimated at over three million dollars. The hard cash was said to be five
hundred thousand crowns, and the Viceroy was forced to raise another two
thousand crowns as a personal ransom, which would have been higher, had he
not convinced them that part of the jewels and money on board was his own
property.

Bourbon was a French possession, but the Governor, M. Desforges, was