pothecary and
surgeon at his trial, who swore that the time the robbery was said to
have been committed he was sick and even at the point of death, upon
which he was acquitted.

But as this was a narrow escape, so his liberty was of no long
continuance, for his companion Fulsom, being apprehended for a felony,
to save himself, made an information against his comrades, and amongst
the rest named Dalton, and gave so exact an account of his haunts that h
e was quickly after apprehended, and at the ensuing sessions convicted
and ordered for transportation.

At sea a great storm arising, they were glad to call up such of the
criminals as they thought might be of use towards managing the ship,
amongst whom was James Dalton, who no sooner was upon deck but he was
contriving to make the crew mutiny and seize the ship. In a very little
time he brought enough of them to be of his mind in order to execute
their intent, and accordingly got the fire-arms and made themselves
masters of the ship, and obliged the men to navigate her to a little
port near Cape Finisterre, in Spain, where they robbed the ship of about
a hundred pounds, and then went on shore and travelled by land to Vigo.
They were scarce got thither before the ship arrived, and the captain
charged them with the piracy they had committed; but from the lenity of
the Spanish Government, they quickly got released, without giving the
captain any satisfaction. The Governor, when they were discharged from
their confinement, gave them a pass in which, after reciting their
names, he styled them all English thieves, which putting them in no
small fright, they resolved to prevent its doing them a mischief,
committed it to the flames, and then ran the hazard of travelling the
country without one. This, accordingly, they did, until they met with a
Dutch ship, the master of which readily gave them a passage to
Amsterdam, from whence Dalton and two or three more, found means to get
over again to England, and came up to London.

On their arrival here they fell to robbing with such fury that the
streets were hardly safe when the sun was set; but Dalton apprehending
that this trade would not lost long, resolved to make a country
expedition, in order to get out of the way. Thereupon down he went again
to his old city of refuge, Bristol. There he did not continue long
before he was apprehended for breaking open a linen-draper's shop but
the burglary not being clearly proved, the jury fo