168 DUTCH AND ENGLISH ON THE HUDSON

French, "flibustiers" which, was only the French-
man's way of pronouncing "freebooter." In
1652 Samuel Sewall established in Boston a free
mint, which attracted the pirates to that town,
where they could bring their booty in gold and
silver and have it safely dropped into the melting-
pot beyond the reach of either discovery or re-
covery. In 1687 Sir Robert Holmes was sent
with a squadron to the West Indies to put a stop
to the nefarious trade of the freebooters, and in
the next year Nicholson imprisoned at Boston
several pirates whose leader was "one Petersen."
These activities on the part of the authorities
had the effect of driving the "zee rovers" from
the Caribbean to the East Indies for their enter-
prises and from Boston to New York for their
market.

Sea commerce at this time had so far outstripped
a naval power adequate to protect it that piracy
grew more and more profitable, and many a re-
spected merchant held private stock in some more
than dubious sea venture. The coast of Madagas-
car was a meeting place for pirates and merchant-
men, and there Oriental stuffs, gold, and jewels
were exchanged for rum or firearms, and the mer-
chant vessel returned to New York, where her