When captain
Robert Colley of the
Pelican took ill and died in 1698, his crew (which included future captains
Nathaniel North and
George Booth) elected ship's cooper
Joseph Wheeler as captain. They sailed briefly with
Dirk Chivers and
Robert Culliford, then sailed alone to take three ships off India's
Malabar coast, keeping a 26-gun ship and renaming it
Dolphin. Near
Mascarenas a hurricane dismasted their ships, The rest of the crew elected island resident Samuel Inless as the
Dolphin’s new captain. Inless retained Nathaniel North as quartermaster and George Booth as gunner. Sailing for the
Straits of Malacca they took several small Moorish ships which were “but of little value to them.” Culliford and some others accepted the offer; North fled in a longboat, later joining
John Halsey, and Booth escaped to sail with
John Bowen. Inless himself refused the pardon and burned the
Dolphin, but his ultimate fate is unknown. ==See also==