Cobham, calling in at Plymouth, met a damsel called Maria, whom he took on board with him, which at first caused some murmuring amongst his crew, who were jealous because they themselves were not able to take lady companions with them on their voyages, for, as the same biographer sagely remarks, "where a man is married the case is altered, no man envies him his happiness; but where he only keeps a girl, every man says, 'I have as much right to one as he has.'" Nevertheless, Maria proved herself a great success, for when any member of the crew was to be punished Maria would use her influence with the captain to get him excused or his punishment lessened, thus winning the affection of all on board. The English Channel becoming too dangerous for Cobham, he sailed across the Atlantic and lay in wait for vessels between Cape Breton and Prince Edward Isle, and took several prizes. In one of these he placed all the crew in sacks and threw them into the sea. Maria, too, took her part in these affairs, and once stabbed to the heart, with her own little dirk, the captain of a Liverpool brig, the _Lion_, and on another occasion, to indulge her whim, a captain and his two mates were tied up to the windlass while Maria shot them with her pistol. Maria always wore naval uniform, both at sea and when in port; in fact, she entered thoroughly into the spirit of the enterprise. Cobham now wished to retire from the sea, but Maria urged him to further efforts, as she had set her heart on his buying her a beautiful place in England called Mapleton Hall, near Poole. Maria's last act at sea was to poison the whole crew of an Indiaman, who were prisoners in irons aboard the pirate ship. Cobham having made a vast fortune, at last decided to settle down, and he bought a large estate near Havre from the Duc de Chartres. It was on the coast, and had a snug little harbour of its own, where the retired pirate kept a small pleasure yacht in which he and Maria used to go for fishing expeditions. One day, when they were out on one of these picnics, a West India brig lay becalmed near by, and Cobham and his crew went on board to visit the captain of the merchant ship. But the temptation proved too strong, and Cobham suddenly shooting the captain, Maria and the yacht's crew quickly despatched the rest. Carrying the prize to Bordeaux, he sold her for a good price. This was Cobham's last act of piracy, and soon afterwards he was made a magistrate, and presided at the county courts. Maria, it was thought, possibly owing to remorse, poisoned herself with laudanum and died. Cobham lived to a good old age, and eventually passed away, leaving many descendants, who, a hundred years ago, "were moving in the first grade at Havre." COBHAM, MRS. MARIA. A bloodthirsty and ambitious woman pirate, the wife of Captain Cobham, late of Poole in Dorset. COCKLYN, CAPTAIN THOMAS.