ABSTRACT
On 4 December 1853, celebrated actor and manager Benjamin Webster appeared at the Adelphi as the villainous adventurer Carlos in the spectacular nautical melodrama The Thirst of Gold, or the Lost Ship and the Wild Flower of Mexico. This lengthy play, lasting over three-and-a-half hours, allowed Webster to represent all the variant forms of piracy, from thief, mutineer, profiteer and adventurer, to identity fraudster. For Carlos begins by stealing a treasure map showing the location of gold deposits in California, incites mutiny to commandeer the ship, plunders foreign wealth and finally assumes an ancient family name to reconstruct himself as the Mexican nobleman, the Marquis Del Monte.
