Galley from which so much had been hoped was the terror of the
merchants of Surat, and of the villagers of the coast of Malabar.
It was thought probable that Kidd would carry his booty to some
colony. Orders were therefore sent from Whitehall to the
governors of the transmarine possessions of the Crown, directing
them to be on the watch for him. He meanwhile, having burned his
ship and dismissed most of his men, who easily found berths in
the sloops of other pirates, returned to New York with the means,
as he flattered himself, of making his peace and of living in
splendour. He had fabricated a long romance to which Bellamont,
naturally unwilling to believe that he had been duped and had
been the means of duping others, was at first disposed to listen
with favour. But the truth soon came out. The governor did his
duty firmly; and Kidd was placed in close confinement till orders
arrived from the Admiralty that he should be sent to England.

To an intelligent and candid judge of human actions it will not
appear that any of the persons at whose expense the Adventure
Galley was fitted out deserved serious blame. The worst that
could be imputed even to Bellamont, who had drawn in all the
rest, was that he had been led into a fault by his ardent zeal
for the public service, and by the generosity of a nature as
little prone to suspect as to devise villanies. His friends in
England might surely be pardoned for giving credit to his
recommendation. It is highly probable that the motive which
induced some of them to aid his design was genuine public spirit.
But, if we suppose them to have had a view to gain, it was to
legitimate gain. Their conduct was the very opposite of corrupt.
Not only had they taken no money. They had disbursed money
largely, and had disbursed it with the certainty that they should