They cruised together as was first agreed on, and after some time they had sight of four ships, to which they gave chase; but these separating, two standing to the northward, and two to the southward, the pirates separated likewise, Bowen standing after those that steered southerly, and Howard crowding after the others. Bowen came up with the heaviest of the two, which proved to be a Moorish ship of 700 tons, bound from the Gulf of Mocha to Surat. The pirates brought the prize into Rajapora, on the coast of India, where they plundered her; the merchandise they sold to the natives, but a small sum of current gold they found aboard, amounting to £22,000 English money, they put into their pockets. Two days after, the Prosperous came in, but without any prize; however, they soon made their friends acquainted that they had not succeeded worse than themselves, for at Surat river’s mouth, where all the four ships were bound, they came up with their chase, and with a broad side, one of them struck, but the other got into the bay. They stood down the coast with the prize till they had plundered her of the best of her cargo, the most valuable of which was 84,000 sequins, a piece of about ten shillings each, and then they left her adrift, without either anchor or cable, off Daman. While they were lying at Rajapora they passed a survey on their shipping, and judging their own to be less serviceable than their prize, they voted them to the flames, and straightway fitted up the Surat ship. They transported both companies aboard of her, and then set fire to the Prosperous and Speedy Return. They mustered at this place 164 fighting men; 43 only were English, the greater number French, the rest Danes, Swedes, and Dutch. They took on board 70 Indians to do the drudgery of the ship, and mounted 56 guns, calling her the Defiance, and sailed from Rajapora the latter end of October, in the year 1703 to cruise on the coast of Malabar. But not meeting with prey in this first cruise, they came to an anchor about three leagues to the northward of Cochen, expecting some boats to come off with supplies of refreshments, for which purpose they fired several guns, by way of signal, but none appearing, the quarter-master was sent in the pinnace to confer with the people, which he did with some caution, keeping the boat upon their oars at the shore side. In short, they agreed very well, the pirates were promised whatever necessaries they wanted, and the boat returned aboard.