ot too glorious
career by being hanged at Eastman, Massachusetts. Williams was one of the
pirates who accepted King George's offer of pardon at New Providence
Island in 1718.

WILLIAMS, DAVID.

This son of a Welsh farmer was a poor pirate but a born soldier. He was
described by one who knew him as being morose, sour, unsociable, and
ill-tempered, and that he "knew as little of the sea or of ships as he did
of the Arts of Natural Philosophy." But it is recorded to his credit that
he was not cruel. He started life in a merchant ship bound for India, and
was accidentally left behind in Madagascar. Taken care of by friendly
natives, he fought so well on the side of his benefactors in an
inter-tribal battle that the King made him his intimate friend. A little
later this tribe was wiped out and Williams taken prisoner. The King of
this hostile tribe, knowing Williams to be a brave man, put him in charge
of his army, for his success as a leader was known far and wide. He was
next seized by a very powerful King, Dempaino, who made him
Commander-in-Chief over his army of 6,000 men, and supplied him with
slaves, clothes, and everything he could want. After several years as
commander of Dempaino's army, a pirate ship, the _Mocha_ (Captain
Culliford), arrived on the coast, and Williams escaped in her and went for
a cruise. He was afterwards captured by the Dutch pirate Ort Van Tyle of
New York, and made to work as a slave on his plantation. After six months
he escaped and sought safety with a Prince Rebaiharang, with whom he lived
for a year. He next joined a Dutchman, Pro, who had a small settlement,
to be again taken prisoner by an English frigate. In a skirmish between
the crew and some natives, Williams and Pro managed to escape, and,
procuring a boat, joined Captain White's pirates at Methalage, in
Madagascar.

Williams now spent his time pirating, unsuccessfully, until one day in a
sloop he attempted a raid on an Arab town at Boyn. This attempt proved a
fiasco, and Williams was caught by the Arabs, cruelly tortured, and
finally killed by a lance thrust. He was so loved and admired by the
Madagascar natives that his friend and benefactor, King Dempaino, seized
the Arab chief of Boyn and executed him in revenge for the death of
Williams. Williams seems to have been as much beloved by the natives as he
was hated by men of his own colour. As a pirate he was a failure, but as a
soldier of fortune with the native tribes he was