but it is in the highest degree improbable that he was known to be living
in poverty, and yet that the large reward offered for his apprehension
was not earned. What is alone certain is that he was never apprehended,
and that in a few months he carried off an amount of plunder such as
never before was taken out of the Indian seas by a single rover. For long
he was the hero of every seaport town in England and North America;
innumerable legends gathered round his name, and an immense impulse was
given to piracy.

A few months after his departure, there were five pirate ships in the Red
Sea, under English colours; two more, each mounting fourteen guns, were
in the Persian Gulf, and another was cruising off Tellicherry. At
Madagascar others were coming in fast. The news of Every's great booty
had spread from port to port, and every restless spirit was intent on
seeking his fortune in this new Eldorado, as men nowadays flock to a new
goldfield. The Company's sailors were not proof against the temptation.
While on the way from Bombay to China the crew of the _Mocha_ frigate
mutinied, off the coast of Acheen, killed their captain, Edgecombe, and
set afloat in the pinnace twenty-seven officers and men who refused to
join them. The _Mocha_ was then renamed the _Defence_, and for the next
three years did an infinity of damage in the Indian Ocean. At the same
time, the crew of the _Josiah_ ketch from Bombay, while at anchor in the
Madras roads, took advantage of the commander being on shore to run away
with the ship. The whole thing had been planned between the two crews
before leaving Bombay; their intention being to meet off the coast of
Sumatra, and cruise in company. The piratical career of the _Josiah_ did
not last long. Making first for the Nicobars, the crew flocked on shore,
and were soon involved in quarrels with the natives; leaving on board
only two men, one of whom was James Cruffe, the armourer, who had been
forced to join them against his will. The other man was but a lukewarm