Lost Treasures of the Pirates of the Caribbean by James A. Owen

“ The Examination of William Blackstock taken before the Hon’ble Gilbert Fleming Lieutenant General and Commander in Chief of all His Majesty’s Leeward Caribbee Islands in America etc this 26 th of Novemb: 1750. Atop the first page of the packet a bold heading proclaimed: As to any particulars regarding the vessel, he would now be obligated to conduct an official investigation – a touchy situation in the port of Charlotte Amalie, where queries regarding the disposition of cargoes or the whereabouts of strangers seldom yielded a favorable response.ĭuty bound to further acquaint himself with the details of the case, Suhm set aside Fleming’s letter and carefully untied a silk ribbon securing a bundle of documents that accompanied the correspondence. Thomas harbor within easy musket shot of his chambers at Christiansfort. Raising an eyebrow, the Vice-Governor reflected that he indeed knew the vessel in question quite well, for some weeks now it had lain at anchor in St. Adding to the delicacy of the situation was Captain Fraser’s insistence that the Honorable Gilbert Fleming, Lieutenant General and Commander in Chief of all His Majesties Leeward Caribbean Islands in America, expected nothing less than a prompt and favorable response to his request for cooperation in this matter.įrom the stiff-handed cursive of Fleming’s message, Suhm could surmise that at issue was an act of piracy, allegedly committed by a North American sloop under the command of an Englishman, Owen Lloyd. Thomas and its British Virgin Islands neighbors to the northeast, but also the barrier of language, which effectively distanced the two colonies to a far greater degree than the three leagues of azure waters that lay between them. Any and all dealings with the English called for utmost diplomacy, not only in light of the long-standing distrust between the Danish colony of St.

Despite its flattering salutation, the letter, which only moments before had been delivered to his office by one Captain Fraser of the British Sloop Otter, induced an immediate sensation of prickly anxiety.

Having thus regained his composure, Suhm leaned forward in his chair to bring the page before him into better focus. Vice-Governor of the Danish West Indies Christian Suhm reached impulsively for his snuffbox and took a liberal pinch of the fine Virginia cut that was his preference. “Freshly provisioned and loaded, only days out of Havana bound for Spain, the Nuestra Señora de Guadelupe had been separated from her convoy by a mighty gale …”

Lost Treasures of the Pirates of the Caribbean by James A. Owen