The following, _Coja Quanesse, Coja Jacob, Armenian; Nacodas_, of the ship _Cara Merchant_, which the Armenian merchant Agapiris Kalender has freighted in Surate from Cohergy ... having declared to us that before their departure from Surate they had taken a passport from the Company which they have presented to us to be dated from the first of January, 1697, signed _Martin_ and subscribed _de Grangemont_; that they feared to be molested during the voyage which they had to make from this port to Surate, and alleging that the aforementioned passport is no longer valid, and that for this reason they begged of us urgently to have another sent to them;--For these reasons we recommend and enjoin upon all those under the authority of the Company; we beg the Chiefs of Squadrons and Commanders of Vessels of His Majesty: and we request all the friends and allies of the Crown in nowise to retard the voyage and to render all possible aid and comfort, promising on a similar occasion to do likewise. In testimony of which we have signed these presents, and caused them to be countersigned by the Secretary of the Company, and the seal of his arms placed thereon. MARTIN. (Dated Jan. 16, 1698.) ====================================================================== [Illustration: The French pass or safe conduct paper found by Kidd in the ship _Quedah Merchant_. This document, which was suppressed by the prosecution, is evidence that the prize was a lawful capture. Kidd vainly begged at his trial that this was another French pass be produced as evidence in his favor.] ====================================================================== It is reasonable to assume that the _Cara Merchant_ of the passport, is intended to designate the ship in which the document was found by Kidd. In various reports of the episode, the name of the vessel was spelled _Quidah, Quedah, Queda_ and _Quedagh_. The word is taken from the name of a small native state of the Malay Peninsula, and even to-day it is set down in various ways, as _Quedah, Kedda_, or _Kedah_. Other circumstances confirm this supposition and go far to prove that the ship was a lawful prize for an English privateer. During the period between the Revolution and the War of 1812, England confiscated many American merchant vessels in the West Indies under pretexts not a whit more convincing than Kidd's excuse for snapping up the _Quedah Merchant_. What Kidd himself had to say about this affair is told in his narrative of the voyage as he related it during his preliminary examination while under arrest in Boston. It runs as follows: A Narrative of the Voyage of Capt. William Kidd, Commander of the _Adventure Galley_, from London to the East Indies.