other place, which they durst not do; and of two evils chose the least,
that of going on board the pirate vessel, which was commanded by one
William Read, who received them very civilly.

This commander went along the coast, and picked up what Europeans he
could meet with. His crew, however, did not exceed 40 men. He would have
been glad of taking some of the wrecked Frenchmen, but for the
barbarity they had used towards the English prisoners. However, it was
impracticable, for the French pretending to lord it over the natives,
whom they began to treat inhumanly, were set upon by them, one half of
their number cut off, and the other half made slaves.

Read, with this gang, and a brigantine of 60 tons, steered his course
for the Persian Gulf, where they met a grab, (a one masted vessel) of
about 200 tons, which was made a prize. They found nothing on board but
bale goods, most of which they threw overboard in search of gold, and to
make room in the vessel; but as they learned afterwards, they threw
over, in their search, what they so greedily hunted after, for there was
a considerable quantity of gold concealed in one of the bales they
tossed into the sea!

In this cruise Capt. Read fell ill and died, and was succeeded by one
James. The brigantine being small, crazy and worm-eaten, they shaped
their course for the island of Mayotta, where they took out the masts of
the brigantine, fitted up the grab, and made a ship of her. Here they
took in a quantity of fresh provisions, which are in this island very
plentiful and very cheap, and found a twelve-oared boat, which formerly
belonged to the Ruby East Indiaman, which had been lost there.

They stayed here all the monsoon time, which is about six months; after