Kidd kept the French sea passes of the "Quedagh Merchant", as well as the vessel itself. While the passes were at best a dubious defence of his capture, British admiralty and vice-admiralty courts (especially in North America) heretofore had often winked at privateers' excesses into piracy, and Kidd may have been hoping that the passes would provide the legal fig leaf that would allow him to keep "Quedagh Merchant" and her cargo. Renaming the seized merchantman "Adventure Prize", he set sail for Madagascar.