firing a single gun, he became master of all that property. Being in
want of water and fresh provisions, Low sent to the governor demanding a
supply, upon condition of releasing the ships he had taken, otherwise he
would commit them to the flames. The request was instantly complied
with, and six of the vessels were restored. But a French vessel being
among them, they emptied her of guns and all her men except the cook,
who, they said, being a greasy fellow, would fry well; they accordingly
bound the unfortunate man to the mast, and set the ship on fire.

The next who fell in their way was Captain Carter, in the Wright galley;
who, because he showed some inclination to defend himself, was cut and
mangled in a barbarous manner. There were also two Portuguese friars,
whom they tied to the foremast, and several times let them down before
they were dead, merely to gratify their own ferocious dispositions.
Meanwhile, another Portuguese, beholding this cruel scene, expressed
some sorrow in his countenance, upon which one of the wretches said he
did not like his looks, and so giving him a stroke across the body with
his cutlass, he fell upon the spot. Another of the miscreants, aiming a
blow at a prisoner, missed his aim, and struck Low upon the under jaw.
The surgeon was called, and stitched up the wound; but Low finding fault
with the operation, the surgeon gave him a blow which broke all the
stiches, and left him to sew them himself. After he had plundered this
vessel, some of them were for burning her, as they had done the
Frenchman; but instead of that, they cut her cables, rigging, and sails
to pieces, and sent her adrift to the mercy of the waves.

[Illustration: _The Cruelties practised by Captain Low._]

They next sailed for the island of Madeira, and took up a fishing boat
with two old men and a boy. They detained one of them, and sent the