The Big Book of Treasures – Leseprobe

The
Whydah Gally
300 YEARS AGO, THE CARIBBEAN TEEMED WITH PIRATE SHIPS.
BUT ONLY ONE — THE WHYDAH GALLY OF THE FAMOUS
CAPTAIN “BLACK SAM” — WAS FOUND AS A SHIPWRECK, ALONG
WITH STOLEN TREASURES AND THE REMAINS OF
THE YOUNGEST EVER PIRATE: AN 11 YEAR OLD BOY.
Eleven-year-old John King and his
mother were passengers on a boat
called Bonetta, traveling from Antigua
to Jamaica on November 9, 1716, when
a frightened cry went out: “Pirates!”
Within no time, the famous Samuel
“Black Sam” Bellamy and his crew of
scoundrels captured the ship. After 15
days of looting, Black Sam, who owed
his nickname to his long black hair,
was ready to move on, but a little
voice shouted at him to wait. “I want
to join you!” demanded John. Black
Sam laughed at the boy’s wish. But
John would not take no for an
answer. He threatened to hurt his own
mother if he was not allowed to go.
The pirates were impressed by such
terrible behavior and agreed to take
John on as a crew member.
Bellamy, who had served in Britain’s
Royal Navy before turning into an
outlaw on the seas, was incredibly
good at pirating. He seized 53 boats
in only one year, becoming incredibly
rich in the process. “The Prince of
Pirates,” they called him, for he was a
rather polite pirate, tidily dressed in
velvet coats and well mannered.
In February 1717, Black Sam pulled
off his biggest coup, capturing the
Whydah Gally near the Bahamas. The
112-foot-long (34-meter-long) British
ship had sailed from Benin in West
BELLAMY, WHO HAILED FROM DEVONSHIRE
IN ENGLAND, WAS ALSO KNOWN
AS THE “ROBIN HOOD OF THE SEA.”
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