Captain Kidd was commissioned to capture pirates and, as Britain was perpetually at war with France, he was also authorized to capture French ships. This type of venture could be extremely profitable for everyone involved in the voyage, from the financial backers to individual sailors, as each of them would receive some percentage of the take. But somehow, Kidd was able to sail for months in pirate-infested waters and never encounter a pirate. This meant the crew was away from home working for nothing.
There seems always to be a risk of mutiny when sailors get too discontent. What’s a captain to do when his crew rebels in the middle of the ocean thousands of miles from home? And whose testimony will be believed if the matter comes to trial. Typically, the captain’s. But what if the crew has burned his meticulously kept ship’s log? And what if crew members have been bribed with their lives to lie?
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