Before long.  Every made some notable captures.  Off Aden he found five pirate ships of English nationality, three of them from America, commanded by May, Farrell, and Wake.  In the Gulf of Aden he burned the town of Mahet on the Somali coast because the people refused to trade with him.  In September, while cruising off Socotra with the Fancy, two sloops, and a galley, he took the Futteh Mahmood with a valuable cargo, belonging to Abdool Quffoor, the wealthiest and most influential merchant in Surat.  A few days later he took off Sanjan, north of Bombay, a ship belonging to the Emperor, called the Gunj Suwaie (Exceeding Treasure).  This was the great capture that made Every famous.  According to the legend, there was a granddaughter of Aurungzeeb on board, whom Every wedded by the help of a moollah, and carried off to Madagascar.  But the story is only the most sensational of the many romantic inventions that have accumulated round Every’s name.  The native historian[6] who relates the capture of the Gunj Suwaie, and who had friends on board, would certainly not have refrained from mentioning such an event if it had occurred; nor would the Mogul Emperor have failed to wreak vengeance on the English for such an insult to his family.

The Gunj Suwaie was the largest ship belonging to the port of Surat.  It carried eighty guns and four hundred matchlocks, besides other warlike implements, and was deemed so strong that it disdained the help of a convoy.  On this occasion it was returning from the Red Sea with the result of the season’s trading, amounting to fifty-two lakhs of rupees[7] in silver and gold, and having on board a number of Mahommedan ladies returning from pilgrimage to Mecca.  In spite of the disparity of force, Every bore down and engaged.  The first gun fired by the Gunj Suwaie burst, killing three or four men and wounding others.  The main mast was badly damaged by Every’s broadsides, and the Fancy ran alongside and boarded.  This was the moment when a decent defence should have been made.  The sailor’s cutlass was a poor match for the curved sword and shield, so much so that the English were notorious in the East for their want of boldness in sword-play.  But Ibrahim Khan, the captain, was a coward, and ran below at the sight of the white faces.  His crew followed his example, and the vessel was taken almost without resistance.

So rich a prize was not to be relinquished without a very complete search.  For a whole week the Gunj Suwaie was rummaged from stem to stern, while the crew of the Fancy indulged in a horrible orgy, excited beyond measure by the immense booty that had fallen into their hands.  Several of the women threw themselves into the sea or slew themselves with daggers; the last piece of silver was sought out and carried on board the Fancy, the last jewel torn from the passengers and crew, and then the Gunj Suwaie was left to find its way to Surat as it best could.