He then went on to state that his present purpose in coming
into those oriental waters was to capture the rich fleet from Mocha
which was due in the lower part of the Red Sea about that time.
The crew of the _Adventure_, who must have been tired of having very
little to do and making no money, expressed their entire approbation of
their captain's change of purpose, and readily agreed to become pirates.
Kidd waited a good while for the Mocha fleet, but it did not arrive, and
then he made his first venture in actual piracy. He overhauled a Moorish
vessel which was commanded by an English captain, and as England was not
at war with Morocco, and as the nationality of the ship's commander
should have protected him, Kidd thus boldly broke the marine laws which
governed the civilized world and stamped himself an out-and-out pirate.
After the exercise of considerable cruelty he extorted from his first
prize a small amount of money; and although he and his men did not gain
very much booty, they had whetted their appetites for more, and Kidd
cruised savagely over the eastern seas in search of other spoils.
After a time the _Adventure_ fell in with a fine English ship, called
the _Royal Captain_, and although she was probably laden with a rich
cargo, Kidd did not attack her. His piratical character was not yet
sufficiently formed to give him the disloyal audacity which would enable
him with his English ship and his English crew, to fall upon another
English ship manned by another English crew.
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