He also became a heavy drinker, particularly fond of the local rum which he enjoyed, while swapping old war stories with other former privateers and buccaneers.
American ships bound for Great Britain were liable to be captured by French privateers which, in spite of the disasters of the Nile and Trafalgar, ranged the seas.
Less spectacular, and more distinctive, were the deeds of the hundreds of privateers and minor captains who overhauled British supply ships and kept British merchantmen in constant anxiety.
Coming to terms with the fact that the prospects of peace were increasingly remote, Jay turned to military matters and supported the use of privateers to attack British shipping.
Serving their Vietnamese patrons turned the Zhengs and other pirates from ragtag gangs aboard single vessels into professional privateer fleets with dozens of ships able to hold their own at sea.
The confusion becomes even more prominent when the terms overlap, as certain people involved with maritime activities would shift from, for instance, being a privateer to being a pirate and vice versa.
It was nearly three thousand miles from the main base of supplies and, though the British navy kept the channel open, transports were constantly falling prey to daring privateers and fleet American war vessels.