The boats were sent back to shore, and returned with Captain Thompson
and the rest of the sailors, and this reinforcement soon enabled them
to get the mastery of the flames. The ship was found to be the Dover
Castle, a new and very fast ship of the Company's service, of which
all traces had been lost since she left Bombay two years before. She
was now painted entirely black, and a snake had been added for her
figurehead. The original name, however, still remained upon the
binnacle and ship's bell. Her former armament had been increased and
she now carried thirty guns, of which ten were thirty-two pounders.
A subsequent search showed that her hold was stored with valuable
goods; which had, by the marks upon the bales, evidently belonged to
several ships; which she had, no doubt, taken and sunk after removing
the pick of their cargoes. The prize was a most valuable one, and the
captain felt that the board of directors would be highly delighted at
the recovery of their ship, and still more by the destruction of the
two bands of pirates.
The deck of the ship was thickly strewn with dead. Among them was the
body of a man who, by his dress, was evidently the captain. From some
of the pirates who still lived, Captain Thompson learned that the brig
was the original pirate, that she had captured the Dover Castle, that
from her and subsequent prizes they had obtained sufficient hands to
man both ships, all who refused to join being compelled to walk the
plank.
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