286                                       HISTORY   OF   NEW-YORK

and that I must find some way to pay their wages, so that I was forced to sell some
rigging for said use, before Captain Appel would come on board; he left one man at
said place, called Whiter, a very troublesome fellow; 7th October, sailed from St.
Thomas -, 20th February, 1699, Captain and Master judged themselves to leeward of
the island Don Mascowrena; Sunday, 13th July, we arrived at Mattatana, (whither
we had been compelled to turn our course,) and. I went on shore to trade for negroes,
but the harbor proving bad we were forced to remove from that place — I having pur¬
chased 50 slaves at St. Mattatana', 24th August, arrived at Fort Dolphin; 27th do., I
acquainted Mr. Abraham Samuel, the king of that place, of my arrival, and came with
him to a trade; 12th September, I went with Mr. Samuel twenty-five miles up in the
country, and on the 14th in the morning, I got the miserable new^s that our ship was
taken by a vessel that came into the harbour the night before. Whereupon I made all
the haste down I could, when we got some of the subjects of Mr. Samuel to assist us,
and we fired upon said pirate for two days, but could do no good. Then I hired two
men to swim off in the night to cut their cables, but Mr. Samuel charged them not to
meddle with them, (as I was informed, said Samuel having got a letter from on board
the said pirates, in which I suppose they made great promises, so that he forbid us upon
our lives not to meddle with any of said pirates). When said ship came in at an anchor
they desired our boat to give them a cast on shore, they having lost their boats, and
pretended to be a merchant ship, and had about 50 negroes on board. At night, said
Captain of said ship desired that our boat might give him a cast on board of his ship,
which was done, and coming on board he desired the men to drink with him, and when
said men were going on board of our ship again they stopped them by violence, and at
about 9 at night, they manned the boat and took our ship, and presently carried away
all the money that was on board, rigging, and other things that they had occasion for,
and then gave the ship and negroes, and other things that were on board to said Mr.
Samuel. The Captain's name of the pirate was Evan Jones', Robert Moore, master;
John Dodde, quarter master; John Spratt, boatswain; Thomas CuUins, Robin Hunt,
from Westchester, New York, and others. Mr. Abraham Samuel took likewise away
from me 22 casks of powder and 49 small arms, likewise all the sails belonging to the
Prophet which were on shore, and then sold the ship again to Isaac Ruff, Thomas
Welles, Edmd. Conklin and Edward Woodman, as it was reported, for 1,400 pieces of
eight. The purchasers designed to go from Fort Dolphin to the island of Don Mas¬
cowrena, and thence to Mattatana, upon Madagascar, and so for America.

^^ Captain Henry Appel, Jacobus Meener and Isaac Sommers went along with them;
some days after there arrived at Fort Dolphin a small pinke, called the Vine, Thomas
Warrent, master, from London, which took in slaves from said place, and bound for
Barbadoes, in which I took my passage, and was forced to pay for the same Q6 pieces
of eight and two slaves.

'^Saturday, 18th November, 1699, I departed from Fort Dolphin with four of the
people more that belonged to the ship Prophet Daniel, in the aforesaid pinke Vine,
for Barbadoes, leaving on shore, of the ship's company, only a mulatto boy, called
Gabriel; 22d December, 1699, arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, where the vessel took
in water and provisions and departed 16th January, 1700; February 2d, arrived at St.
Helena and departed 8th do.; 17th February, arrived at the island of Ascension, got
turtle and fish and departed 18th do.; 24th March,arrived at Barbadoes; 17th April, 1700
departed from Barbadoes in the pinke Blossom, Robert Darkins, commander, bound for
New York ; 11th May, 1700,1 arrived at New York, and because I may not be censured
an ill man, and that it may be thought that I have saved any thing that belongs to the
owners of said ship, I do declare that I have not, directly nor indirectly, saved any
thing that belongs to them, nor wronged them of the value of a farthing, but contrary,
I have done all possible to serve their interest that I could.

'^JoHN Cruger."