Captain Bartholomew Roberts tries to persuade a clergyman to join his crew or is it the other way around

 

 

 

As I  mentioned in an earlier post  the only  pirate treasure still   waiting  to be discovered is the Emerald  Cross of the Indies   worn around the skeleton of  captain Roberts 

Despite some internet  buzz  and  the  2011 claim that  the Cross  is  at merely scuba  depth at  off shore Cape  Lopez  Gabon    there are a  number of  doubts  and fictions about  this  Black Bart  Roberts  and  this  tea  drinking ,teetotal    honest man  leading a  pirates  life captaining   a fleet of  killer crewed  treasure  laden   ships  

 

Regarding the cross  of the Indies captured in  Brazil   destined for the king of Portugal  as  the general history of Captain Johnson says  "which was  afterwards  presented to the  Governor of Guiana  to whom they were  obliged"

Roberts may have worn  the red feather in his  hat,  crimson damask  waistcoat and breeches at the last battle   but no  great diamond and emerald gold   cross

 

Praised as  a  teetotal  who forbade drinking and gambling on his ships    Roberts  himself  admitted  failure in   the  enforcement of his  eleven  nice kind   pirate articles   and  of course in the last  battle  in 1722  the  pirate  crews were too drunk to fight off the Royal Navy.

 

Likewise the  story of  Teetotal   tea drinking Roberts   trying to persuade a  captured clergyman to join the  crew that so delighted   the ladybird  book of pirates  see illustration   this too is detailed in Johnson  but no where mentions  Roberts  by name  and that  the  clergyman  chaplain at Cape  Corso   castle  offered the  ships duty of making punch and saying prayers   by a  hung over   over jolly  crew  " left  three  prayer books but was given many gifts in return "  a joke for all concerned

 

Captain Roberts  of whom   the  general history of pirates by Captain  Johnson wrote in a  such a  over the top  way that once made  historians  believe  it was the work of  Daniel Defoe  is written of  himself  saying he neither "feared  or valued any  member of his  crew " personally killing   disobedient or  plain drunk members  of his crew  and   when the mood  took him either freeing slaves and welcoming them as  equal share crew or burning slaves  as   chained up  cargo  to   spite  slave ship owners  that fled   before him,

 

 Roberts  was  a tea drinker   when Tea was an expensive  luxury who stopped  ships to borrow sugar then sank them   and woe  betide any  crew man who  poured  the  Captain's  tea  in the cup before  the milk !