Adventure Galley
Galleon Privateer 1698

Before 1689, Captain William Kidd was a member of various buccaneer crews and eventually captained a privateer ship that was commissioned to protect the English colonies in the Caribbean against French attacks. Unlike Sir Francis Drake or Sir Henry Morgan who sailed when governments sanctioned acts of piracy and benefitted economically from such acts, William Kidd sailed in the last quarter of the 17th century at a time when governments and investors were no longer willing to condone the unruly actions of a few rogues but preferred to invest in regular, organized commerce. It was William Kidd's misfortune to sail the seas as a privateer/pirate just when the rules changed and the privateer/pirate became an outlaw.

In late January, 1698, the Quedah Merchant was sighted rounding the tip of India. Flying French colors in order to trick the quarry, Kidd and his crew attacked: the prize, yielded money plus a cargo of silk, muslins, calico, sugar, opium, iron and saltpeter which could be sold at the nearest port for a rumored 7,000 pounds. The Quedah Merchant, renamed the Adventure Prize, was kept by Kidd as he made plans to leave the area in his by now leaking ship. The date was March, 1698, nearly two years after leaving London. Unfortunately for Kidd, those two years had brought a change of attitude in England toward piracy. Officialdom now wanted to stamp out piracy in favor of legal trading procedures. And to make matters worse, the Quedah Merchant was not just any cargo ship. It belonged to Muklis Khan, an influential and highly placed member in one of the eastern kingdoms, and he demanded that the East India Company, the English trading company in the East Indies, make restitution. Not only had William Kidd committed an act of piracy he had made an enemy of the commercial establishment in England! He would be made to pay.
Kidd arrived in the West Indies in April, 1699, in the Quedah Merchant, the Adventure Galley having succumbed to rot. The word had been sent out from England -- Kidd should be considered a pirate. Realizing that he would not be safe in any of the normal ports, Kidd headed for Mona Island, an uninhabited island found in the channel between Puerto Rico and Hispaniola (present day Dominican Republic).
But in July, 1699, Kidd was captured and thrown into jail and then sent to England in chains aboard the frigate Advice. His trial started on May 8th 1701 and was completed the next day. The verdict; guilty of murder and piracy. Captain William Kidd was hanged on May 23, 1701, but not easily. The first rope put around this neck broke so he had to be strung up a second time. Captain Kidd would never sail again, but a legend would grow up around his treasure. How much gold did he a actually have and where did he bury it?

Instructions:
Check items you wish to purchase & then click the "Submit" button at the bottom of the page.

...

Use the shopping cart or our Toll Free Order Line 1-888-980-9099 to order

_Tools & Paint section _Book section _Custom made showcases

This page was last updated: March 15th 2007.