Page "William Kidd" Paragraph 22

On 1 April 1698, Kidd reached Madagascar.

Here he found the first pirate of his voyage, Robert Culliford, ( the same man who had stolen Kidd ’ s ship years before ) and his crew aboard the Mocha Frigate.

Two contradictory accounts exist of how Kidd reacted to his encounter with Culliford.

According to The General History of the Pirates, published more than 25 years after the event by an author whose very identity remains in dispute, Kidd made peaceful overtures to Culliford: he " drank their Captain's health ," swearing that " he was in every respect their Brother ," and gave Culliford " a Present of an Anchor and some Guns.

" This account appears to be based on the testimony of Kidd's crewmen Joseph Palmer and Robert Bradinham at his trial.

The other version was presented by Richard Zacks in his 2002 book The Pirate Hunter: The True Story of Captain Kidd.

According to Zacks, Kidd was unaware that Culliford had only about 20 crew with him, and felt ill manned and ill equipped to take the Mocha Frigate until his two prize ships and crews arrived, so he decided not to molest Culliford until these reinforcements came.

After the Adventure Prize and Rouparelle came in, Kidd ordered his crew to attack Culliford's Mocha Frigate.

However, his crew, despite their previous eagerness to seize any available prize, refused to attack Culliford and threatened instead to shoot Kidd.

Zacks does not refer to any source for his version of events.