In the beginning of 1692, authority was given to the Company's commanders to seize pirates and hold them till the King's pleasure was known, but the measure was of small effect. The pirates were prime seamen, who outsailed and outfought the Company's ships; while among the Company's crews they had numerous sympathizers. The prizes to be gained were so great and the risks so small, that the Company could hardly restrain their own men from joining the sea rovers. Thus, in 1694, John Steel[1] ran away with the long boat of the _Ruby_ frigate. Sixteen others who had plotted to join him were detected in time, and clapped in irons. The French and Dutch gave passes to all who applied for them, so Steel placed himself under French protection, and for two years 'that rogue Steel' finds frequent mention in the coast letters. Four years later Steel was arrested in England. But though the directors had been supplied with many accounts of his misdeeds, no sworn evidence could be produced against him, so Steel escaped scot-free. All other pirates, however, were destined to be eclipsed in fame by Henry Every, _alias_ Bridgman,[2] who now made his appearance in the Indian seas. His exploits, the great wealth he amassed by piracy, and his reputed marriage with a Mogul princess, continued to excite the public mind long after he had disappeared from the scene. Several biographies of him were written, one of them attributed to Defoe, all of them containing great exaggerations; and a play, _The Successful Pirate_, was written in his honour. His biographers generally give his name as John Avery, but it was as is here given. According to the account of Van Broeck, a Dutchman, who was detained on board his ship for a time, and was on good terms with him, he was born at Plymouth, the son of a trading captain who had served in the navy under Blake. Every himself served in the navy, in the _Resolution_ and _Edgar_, before he got the command of a merchant ship, in which he made several voyages to the West Indies. In May, 1694, he was first mate of the _Charles the Second_, one of the small squadron of English ships hired from Sir James Houblon, by the Spanish Government, to act against French smugglers who were troubling their Peruvian trade.[3]