Buccaneers and pirates of our coastsStockton, Frank R.
History
Buccaneers and pirates of our coasts
Stockton, Frank R.
Buccaneers -- Juvenile literature; Pirates -- Juvenile literature
About the time of Stede Bonnet's terminal adventures a very
unpretentious pirate made his appearance in the waters of New York. This
was a man named Richard Worley, who set himself up in piracy in a very
small way, but who, by a strict attention to business, soon achieved a
remarkable success. He started out as a scourge upon the commerce of the
Atlantic Ocean with only an open boat and eight men. In this small craft
he went down the coast of New Jersey taking everything he could from
fishing boats and small trading vessels until he reached Delaware Bay,
and here he made a bold stroke and captured a good-sized sloop.
When this piratical outrage was reported at Philadelphia, it created a
great sensation, and people talked about it until the open boat with
nine men grew into a great pirate ship filled with roaring desperadoes
and cutthroats. From Philadelphia the news was sent to New York, and
that government was warned of the great danger which threatened the
coast. As soon as this alarming intelligence was received, the New
Yorkers set to work to get up an expedition which should go out to sea
and endeavor to destroy the pirate vessel before it could enter their
port, and work havoc among their merchantmen.
It may seem strange that a small open boat with nine men could stir up
such a commotion in these two great provinces of North America, but if
we can try to imagine the effect which would be produced among the
inhabitants of Staten Island, or in the hearts of the dwellers in the
beautiful houses on the shores of the Delaware River, by the
announcement that a boat carrying nine desperate burglars was to be
expected in their neighborhood, we can better understand what the people
of New York and Philadelphia thought when they heard that Worley had
captured a sloop in Delaware Bay.
The expedition which left New York made a very unsuccessful cruise. It
sailed for days and days, but never saw a sign of a boat containing nine
men, and it returned disappointed and obliged to report no progress.
With Worley, however, progress had been very decided. He captured
another sloop, and this being a large one and suitable to his purposes,
he took possession of it, gave up his open boat, and fitted out his
prize as a regular piratical craft. With a good ship under his command,
Captain Worley now enlarged his sphere of action; on both shores of
Delaware Bay, and along the coast of New Jersey, he captured everything
which came in his way, and for about three weeks he made the waters in
those regions very hot for every kind of peaceable commercial craft. If
Worley had been in trade, his motto would have been "Quick sales and
small profits," for by day and by night, the _New York's Revenge_, which
was the name he gave to his new vessel, cruised east and west and north
and south, losing no opportunity of levying contributions of money,
merchandise, food, and drink upon any vessel, no matter how
insignificant it might be.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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