Bombay, while at anchor in the
Madras roads, took advantage of the commander being on shore to run away
with the ship. The whole thing had been planned between the two crews
before leaving Bombay; their intention being to meet off the coast of
Sumatra, and cruise in company. The piratical career of the _Josiah_ did
not last long. Making first for the Nicobars, the crew flocked on shore,
and were soon involved in quarrels with the natives; leaving on board
only two men, one of whom was James Cruffe, the armourer, who had been
forced to join them against his will. The other man was but a lukewarm
pirate, and Cruffe prevailed on him to join in an attempt to carry off
the ship. They cut the cable, and by great good fortune, without any
knowledge of navigation, succeeded in carrying the ship into Acheen.

Stout's command of the _Defence_, once _Mocha_, quickly came to an end.
According to one account, he was put to death by his comrades, at the
Laccadives, for trying to desert them; according to another account, he
was slain by some Malays. His place was taken by Culliford, who had been
the leader of the mutineers of the _Josiah_. He changed the ship's name
to the _Resolution_, and proved himself one of the most daring rovers of
his day.

The untrustworthiness of his crews placed Sir John Gayer in an awkward
dilemma. He had to report to the Directors that he dared not send ships
to convoy pilgrims lest the crews should mutiny; that a boat could not be
manned in Bombay harbour for fear of desertion, while, on shore, he had
not a soldier fit to be made a corporal. A powerful French squadron had
appeared on the coast, and the Surat President calculated that the
Company's recent losses on captured ships sailing from Surat amounted to
a million sterling. The losses of the native merchants were even more
serious; trade was almost at a standstill, while three more pirate ships
from New York appeared in the Gulf of Cambay, and captured country ships
to the value of four lakhs of rupees. Every letter along the coast at
this date speaks of the doings of the rovers: every ship coming into
harbour told of pirates, of chases and narrow escapes, and of reported
captures.

"These pirates spare none but take all they meet, and take the Europe
men into their own ships, with such goods as they like, and sink the
ships, sending the lascars on rafts to find the shore."

So bold were the marauders that they cruised in sight of Bom