assistance with their quest for independence. While there, he associated himself with .
another interesting character by the name of Bancroft. .
Bancroft was a trained surgeon. He left the colonies for Barbadoes, where he .
served as a surgeon on a plantation. There he was taught about various tropical plants and .
animals, and began to experiment with them, and ultimately having some of his .
experiments and subsequent findings published. He then proceeded to relocate to .
London, bringing along with him samples of several of the plants he experimented with, .
and was there admitted to the Royal Society of Medicine. When the Revolution began, he .
served the American cause by spying on the British and relaying information back to the .
colonies. As it turns out, however, Mr. Bancroft like to burn both ends of a candle to .
serve his own financial purposes, also relaying information regarding the efforts of the .
Americans to the British in return for an annual stipend. .
The ties between Bancroft and Deane were initially beneficial to both of them, as .
each apparently regarded financial gains as far more important than moral character and .
teamed up to defraud both the British insurance markets, and eighteenth century form of .
gambling, and the United States government. Using information obtained in their official .
capacities, the two would purchase insurance policies, essentially betting on things such .
as when war would be declared, battles fought, who would be victorious in these battles, .
etc. The two made quite a lot of money with this scheme. On the shipping front, Deane .
would not declare prior to ships setting sail whether the cargo contained was personal in .
nature or arms intended for use in the Revolution. If the ship was taken by the British .
navy during its voyage, Deane would declare that the goods had been property of the .
United States and the government would absorb the financial loss. If the ship did indeed .