Blast me! This is the only surviving pirate cemetery

If you ever get the idea to take a look at whales coming to the surface, then there is no better place than the island of Nusi Buraha off the east coast of Madagascar. They say this is an extremely idyllic corner. However, three hundred years ago, woe was to the traveler who was approaching the island (it was then called Saint-Marie) at the distance of a cannon shot. He would have been robbed to the skin in no time and, at best, sent to the open sea by boat.

Legend has it that in the XVIII century the pirate state of Libertalia flourished here. Scientists doubt it, but there were definitely plenty of sea thugs here. This is evidenced by the only extant pirate cemetery.

Located exactly on the route of merchant ships en route from the East Indies to Europe, Saint-Marie was an ideal base for looting. The pirate colonization of the island began with the fact that the fugitive criminal Adam Baldridge founded a base here in 1685 and began patrolling the coastal waters. By the beginning of the XVIII century, when the gentlemen of fortune began to be actively smoked out of the Caribbean, many of them moved to the Indian Ocean.

So a real pirate city grew up on Saint-Marie. Over a thousand corsairs called this place their home. Most of them were bandits of respectable age who lived out their lives here. There were rumors that the commune had the beginnings of statehood: a kind of constitution and a common treasury. The pirate idyll, however, did not last long. The French, who had descended on Madagascar, quickly put their orders in order.

A reminder of those times is the pirate cemetery, perhaps the only one in the world that has been preserved in good condition. At low tide, it can be reached by a narrow stone path, and at high tide you will have to use a pie, which the Magalisians, the indigenous inhabitants of the island, will provide for a reasonable fee.

A large black tomb stands out in the center of the cemetery. Locals claim that this is the resting place of the legendary Captain William Kidd. If you tell them that Kidd was executed in London, the aborigines will put forward another version: after learning about the death of the storm of the seas, his comrades put a monument on Saint-Marie.

The pirate past of the island still reminds of itself. A few years ago, archaeologist John de Brie discovered a map from 1733, where this land was called "Pirate Island". With the help of this map, it was possible to identify the remains of three sunken ships.