Marooned Traditional Cache

Pirates of yore sailed under articles that governed them while at sea.  If violated, the quartermaster enforced the prescribed punishment.  The infractions that merited the severest consequence were stealing from the crew or abandoning one’s post in battle.  The punishment?  Marooning – the most dreaded of all punishments, for it promised a slow, cruel death without hope of reprieve.

Both Bartholomew Roberts’ and John Phillips’ articles included this punishment and listed precisely what items the disgraced pirate would be given if marooned on a deserted island, preferably a sand bar without fresh water, food, or shelter.  He took with him the clothes he wore, a bottle of water (usually one day’s worth), a pistol, powder, and shot.  His mates returned to their ship and sailed away, leaving him to die.