About this time the coast of Carolina was infested with pirates, who hovered about the mouth of Ashley river, and obstructed the freedom of trade. In the last year of the seventeenth century, the planters had raised more rice than they could find vessels to export. Forty-five persons from different nations, Englishmen, Frenchmen, Portuguese, and Indians, had manned a ship at the Havanna, and entered on a cruise of piracy. While they were on the coast of Carolina, the people felt severely the pernicious effects of that lawless trade, which in former times they were too apt to encourage. Several ships belonging to Charlestown were taken by those public robbers, who sent the crews ashore, but kept the vessels as their prizes. At last having quarrelled among themselves about the division of the spoil, as frequently happens among such free-booters, the Englishmen proving the weaker party, were turned adrift in a long-boat. They landed at Sewee bay, and from thence travelled over land to Charlestown, giving out that they had been shipwrecked, and fortunately escaped to shore in their boat. But, to their sad disappointment and surprise, no less than three masters of ships happened to be at Charlestown at the time, who had been taken by them, and knew them; upon whose testimony the pirates were instantly taken up, tried and condemned, and seven out of nine suffered death. [Sidenote] A hurricane, During the autumn of the same year, a dreadful hurricane happened at Charlestown, which did great damage, and threatened the total destruction of the town. The lands on which it is built being low and level, and not many feet above high-water mark, the swelling sea rushed in with amazing impetuosity, and obliged the inhabitants to fly for shelter to the second stories of their houses. Happily few lives were lost in town; but a large vessel, called the Rising Sun, belonging to Glasgow, and commanded by James Gibson, which had come from Darien with part of the unfortunate Scotch settlers, at the time of the storm rode at anchor off the bar. This ship the hurricane drove from her anchor, and dashed to pieces against the sand-banks, and every person on board perished. Archibald Stobo, a Presbyterian clergyman, Lieutenant Graham, and several more belonging to the ship, being accidentally on shore during the tempest, escaped the disaster. These men going next day in search of their unfortunate countrymen, found the corpses of the greatest part of them driven ashore on James's island, where they spent a whole day in burying them, the last act of humanity they could then perform to their beloved companions. [Sidenote] and other public calamities, visit the province.