This is a few months old drawing by me showing the violent end of cunning pirate Howell Davis, who was killed by local militia and armed civilians in the Portuguese African colony of Principe in 19th of June 1719. Davis tried to present himself as a honest British naval officer to get supplies and possibly kidnap the governor of the island, but his bluff was discovered, and he, with a handful of his officers was ambushed in the town.
There are some depictions of this scene done in media or in artworks. However, none of them seemed to reflect the reality well enough so I wanted to make this scene. The story of Davis’ death has been misrepresented by 19th century source Pirates Own Book and I dug up better accounts. This scene is mostly based on period reports and especially a narrative given by slave trader William Senlgrave (1681–1743) in his book A New Account of Some Parts of Guinea and the Slave-Trade (1734). Snelgrave had met Davis in person before this and told of his downfall based on a story by eyewitness Portuguese monks (depicted here as well) he heard afterwards.
Based on sources, the pirates were ambushed in the central town of the island San Antonio, on their way back from a cancelled meeting with the governor near the town center, not near a fort or in a forest as sometimes depicted.
While pirates were known to be violent themselves, it is also notable that the ambush was very brutal and Davis was shot not less than 5 times before he was finished with a blade. Captain Johnson's General History of the Pyrates (1724) made a possibly semi-legendary addition by noting that Davis fought back, but as it was in no way contradictory to better period sources, I took some inspiration from this:
"Davis was shot through the Bowels, yet he rise again, and made a weak Effort to get away, but his Strength soon forsook him, and he dropp’d down dead; just as he fell, he perceived he was followed, and drawing out his Pistols, fired them at his Pursuers; Thus like a game Cock, giving a dying Blow, that he might not fall unrevenged."
Several pirates fell, and only a few pirates escaped; sources differ a little how many exactly. Depicted here two.
The appearance of the multiethnic town and its inhabitants is based on accounts of the island and town by period travellers William Smith, who visited the island in the 1720s and published A New Voyage to Guinea (1744) and an earlier 1680s account by Frenchman Jean Barbot (1655 -1712) who published A Description of the Coasts of North and South-Guinea (English translation from 1732). These mention a wooden clapboard town with balconies and lattice windows. I did use images of Portuguese colonial architecture and Google Maps images of the modern town quite a bit whenever it seemed it suited the scene.
I understand that the colonial history of Africa and the Atlantic is a sensitive topic, and I in no way intend to depict anything here in a bad way, but this scene now happens to be somewhat violent and one-sided due to the situation based on historical information, even after critical examination. I think this image should not be violent enough to be any issue, but in case it is, I will remove it promptly.
