Note 25 — Chapter I · 1684-1697. THE RAISING OF THE REGIMENT: AND THE WARS OF WILLIAM III.
Reading edition
This was probably an Algerian pirate, one of the swarm of Moorish vessels which for centuries preyed upon the merchantmen of southern and western Europe. When they captured a European ship, the crew and passengers were carried off to Algiers and sold as slaves; if there were women on board, they were bought for the harems of rich Moors. In 1816 England sent a great fleet to Algiers and after a very heavy bombardment, effectually crippled the sea-power of its freebooting population.