English pirate Adam Baldridge, having fled from Jamaica after being charged with murder, had sailed to Madagascar and, by 1685, had established a base of operations on the island of St. Mary's.
By the following year, Baldridge controlled the inland waterway into St. Mary's, having established a virtual stronghold overlooking the island harbor as well as protecting the settlements warehouses.
After subduing the local tribes, native chieftains would be forced to pay Baldridge to mediate between warring tribes.
Baldridge's settlement has by the 1690s become a popular haven among pirates of the Mediterranean with Baldridge supplying pirates in exchange for high fees.
Baldridge reportedly lives a luxurious and extravagant life on the island, which includes his own harem of local girls.
The pirates of St. Mary’s, who plunder merchant-ships in the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea, and the Persian Gulf, loot ships bound for Europe of their silks, cloth, spices, and jewels.
Vessels captured going in the opposite direction (to India) lose their coin, gold, and silver.
The pirates rob the Indian cargo ships that traded between ports in the Indian Ocean as well as ships commissioned by the East India Companies of France, England, and the Netherlands.
The pilgrim fleet sailing between Surat in India and Mocha on the tip of the Arabian Peninsula provides a favorite target, because the wealthy Muslim pilgrims often carry jewels and other finery with them to Mecca.
Merchants in India, various ports of Africa, and Réunion Island show willingness to fence the pirates' stolen goods.
The low-paid seamen who man merchant ships in the Indian Ocean hardly put up a fight, seeing as they have little reason or motivation to risk their lives.
The pirates often recruit crewmen from the ships they plunder.
