other prominent men using their influence to forward a venture from which
they were to profit, under fictitious names, and that had created such a
scandal, demanded inquiry. It was hardly sufficient to say that they had
lost their money. Such an answer would justify any illegal enterprise in
the event of its failure.

The French war had come to an end, so in January, 1699, a royal squadron
of four men-of-war, the _Anglesea_, _Harwich_, _Hastings_, and _Lizard_,
sailed from Portsmouth for Madagascar under Warren.[3] They carried with
them four royal commissioners and a proclamation offering a free pardon,
from which Every and Kidd were excepted, to all pirates who voluntarily
surrendered themselves before the end of April, 1699. The pardon related
only to acts of piracy committed east of the Cape of Good Hope, between
the African and Indian coasts. After calling at St. Augustine's bay, where
several pirates made their submission, the squadron reached Tellicherry in
November. As it came to its anchorage, Warren died, and was buried on
shore the following day. He was succeeded in the command by Littleton. In
the following May, Littleton was on the Madagascar coast, where he
remained till the end of the year before returning home. During the whole
time he was in communication with the pirates. His dealings with them
brought him into disrepute in shipping circles. Hamilton tells us that
"for _some valuable reasons_ he let them go again; and because they found a
difficulty in cleaning the bottoms of their large ships, he generously
assisted them with large blocks and tackle falls for careening them."
Possibly Hamilton's remark was due to the conduct of Captain White of the
_Hastings_, whose behaviour excited such suspicion that Littleton placed
him under arrest, fearing he would make his ship over to the pirates.
Littleton remained on the Madagascar coast for eight months without firing
a shot. When he first reached St. Mary's, the pirates greeted him with a
salute of nine guns, to which he responded with five, and he was in close