natives with him, besides a Scotchman and a Dane, and that his castle had
plenty of guns mounted, he decided to trade with him instead. The pirates
made no secret of having taken part in the capture of the Goa Viceroy's
ship, and of a rich native vessel with eighteen lakhs of rupees on board.
So hats, shoes, stockings, wine, and arrack were made over to John
Plantain, for which he paid a good price in gold and diamonds. In spite of
his notions as to piracy, John Plantain showed himself an honester man
than Matthews. Having paid liberally for the things he had bought, he left
the hogsheads of wine and arrack on the beach under a small guard. As soon
as his back was turned, Matthews manned his boats, brought off all the
liquor he had been paid for, and some of the native guard as well. After
which notable achievement he sailed away for Bengal, consoling himself
with the thought that he was not like one of "those vile pirates, who,
after committing many evil actions, had settled down among a parcel of
heathens to indulge themselves in all sorts of vice."[5]

After a fortnight at Charnock's Point, the squadron made its way round the
north of Madagascar to Manigaro (Manankara) Bay, whence they steered for
Johanna. As the Directors afterwards remarked, Matthews ought to have
divided his squadron, and searched both coasts of the great island; but
his heart was not in the quest for pirates; he was bent only on trade.
Sending the _Salisbury_ and _Exeter_ to cruise towards Socotra, he took
the _Lyon_ and _Shoreham_ to Bengal, and, in the beginning of August, he
was at anchor in the Hoogly, near Diamond Harbour. There he remained till
the end of October. There were no pirates in the Bay of Bengal, but the
sugar trade was very lucrative, and he wanted to invest in it.

He was not long in Calcutta without coming to loggerheads with the Council
concerning Mrs. Gyfford, who, as Mrs. Chown, has already been mentioned in
these pages,[6] and whose third husband had perished in the Anjengo