In short, he would write it down. The quartermaster of a 17th-18th pirate ship was usually notable as one of the few crewmen who was skilled at reading, writing and mathematics and as a result was in charge of keeping track of the loot as well as accounting for all of the ship's provisions. Exactly how the treasure was divided depended on the ship's articles of piracy, which were signed by every crewman upon joining. A common example would be the ship's captain and quartermaster each receiving 2 shares, the ship's carpenter, surgeon, and other officers would each receive 1.5 shares, and common crew would receive only 1 share each. Shares were given only for acts of piracy that occurred while a man was a member of the ship's crew (a term often used was "no prey, no pay").

The whyda was discovered with its treasure divided up into 180 separate sacks, supporting the theory that Bellamy was planning to retire once he returned to Massachusetts.