Cape Cod - Index

Cape Cod - travel_guide_2008 - Index

■ cape & islands pirates
34
WHYDAH MUSEUM
To learn more about the Whydah and to see some
fascinating artifacts brought up from the shipwreck,
visit the Whydah Museum on Macmillan Wharf in
Provincetown (508-487-8899).
The museum is open daily, May 1 through Oct. 31.
Admission: $8; $6 for ages 6 to 12.
Cape Cod Travel Guide Annual 2008
Above and left: When not on tour, artifacts recovered from the
wreck of the Whydah are on display at theWhydah Museum on
Macmillan Wharf in Provincetown. WIILLIAM DESOUSA-MAUK,
SUSAN COLE KELLY
aboard a pirate ship. “This ship might very well be the first
form of democracy,” Clifford says, “one in which we base
our very own views on here in the United States, and on the
Whydah we are learning more and more how it was put into
practice and carried out.”
For the most part, pirates have been depicted as the
derelicts of society. This appears not to have been the case
with the Whydah and her crew. Clifford says, “On the
Whydah, there were people from all walks of life, each
having an equal share of the profits and an equal say in
decisions, no matter what their background, race, religion
or color.”
When he talks about the meticulous process used to
extract one silk ribbon from a hand musket, and how that
process took more than six months, Clifford exudes the
same amount of excitement as if he were speaking about
finding another chest full of Spanish doubloons.
“We found this one concretion which contained a pistol
in it,” he notes. “Wrapped around this pistol was this fabric
of some sort, which, after six months of careful examination
and meticulous preservation, turned out to be a silk ribbon
tied to the handle of the gun. We believe the pirates used
these fabrics so that they could sling the gun from their