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Two to Fifty. p. 22. 
 
THE 
 
 MOMECHS OF THE MAIN. 
 
 BY 
 
 WALTER THOHNBURY, ESQ. 
 
 AUTHOE OF 
 
 "ART AWD NATURE," "SONGS OF THE CAVALIERS AND JACOBITES,'' 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 "One foot OQ sea and one on shore. 
 To one thing- constant never." 
 
 Much Ado about Nothing. 
 
 % yefo €bition, toltb Illustrations b |fei^. 
 
 LONDON: 
 ROUTLEDGE, WARNE, & ROUTLEDGE, 
 
 FAKRINGDON STREET; 
 NEW YORK: 56, AVALKER STREET. 
 
 1861. 
 
PRESERVATION 
 COPY ADDED 
 ORIGINAL TO BE 
 RETAINED 
 
 NOV 1 2 1992 
 
i 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 The history of tlie Buccaneers has hitherto remained un- 
 written. Three or four mouldy forgotten volumes contain 
 Jiterally all that is recorded of the wars and conquests of 
 these extraordinary men. Of these volumes two are French, 
 one Dutch, and one English. The majority of my readers, 
 therefore, it is probable, know nothing more of the free- 
 booters but their name, confound them with the mere 
 pirates of two centuries later, and derive their knowledge 
 of Flibustier manners from those dozen lines of the Abbe 
 Reynal, that have been transferred from historian to his. 
 torian, and from writer to writer, for the last two 
 centuries. 
 
 The chief records of Buccaneer adventurers are drawn 
 literally from only three books. The first of these is 
 (Exmelins Histoire des Aventuriers. 12mo. Paris, 1688. 
 CExmelin was a Frenchman, who went out to St. Domingo 
 as a planter's apprentice, or engage, eventually l^ecame 
 
 a 2 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 surgeon in the Buccaneer fleet — knew Lolonnois, and ac- 
 companied Sir Henry Morgan to Panama. 
 
 The second is Esquemeling's Zee Hoovers. Amsterdam. 
 4to. 1684. — A book constantly mistaken by booksellers 
 and in catalogues for (Exmelin. Esquemeling was a Dutch 
 engage at St. Domingo. The writer appears of humbler 
 birth than (Exmelin, but served also at Panama. 
 
 The third is Bingroses History of the Cruises of Sharpe, 
 <kc. This man, who served with Dampier, seems to have 
 been an ignorant sailor, and a mere log-keeper. 
 
 The fourth is Ravenau de LussarCs Narrative. De 
 Lussan was a young French officer of fortune, who served 
 in some of Ringrose's cruises. This is a book written by 
 a vivacious and keen observer ; it is less complete than CEx- 
 melin's, but is equally full of anecdote, and very amusing. 
 
 For secondary authorities we come to the French Jesuit 
 historians of the West Indian Islands : diffuse Eochefort ; 
 gossiping hon vivant Labat ; Tertre, dry and prejudiced ; 
 Charlevoix, careful, condensed, and entertaining ; and Eay- 
 nal, polished, classical, second-hand, and declamatory. 
 
 The English secondaries are, Dampier, and his com- 
 panions, Wafer and Cowley. Several old pamphlets contain 
 quaint versions of Morgan's conquest of Panama ; and in 
 1817, Burney, in his " History of Discoveries in the South 
 Sea," devotes many chapters to a dry but very imperfect 
 abridgment of Buccaneer adventure, omitting carefully every- 
 
PREFACE. V 
 
 thing that gives either life or colour. Captain Southey, in 
 his " History of the West Indies," supplies many odd scraps 
 of old voyages, and presents many scattered figures, but 
 attempts no picture. 
 
 Nor has modern fiction, however short of material, dis- 
 covered these new and virgin mines. Mrs. Hall has a 
 novel, it is true, called The Buccaneer, the scene of which 
 is, however, laid in England ; and poor Angus B. Reach 
 skimmed the same subject, but had evidently not even read 
 half the three existing authorities. Dana, the American 
 poet, has a poem called the Buccaneer, but it is merely 
 a collection of lines on the sea. Even Warburton's Darie^i 
 leaves the ground almost untouched. Sir Walter Scott's 
 Bertram, although he had been a Buccaneer, is a mere 
 ruffian, who would do for any age, and Scott himself places 
 Morgan's conquest of Panama in the reign of Charles I., 
 when it actually took place in that of Charles II., fifty 
 years later. 
 
 Defoe himself, little conscious of the rich region he was 
 treading, sketched a Buccaneer sailor when he re-christened 
 Alexander Selkirk, Bobinson Crusoe, and condensed all the 
 spirit of Dampier into a book still read as eagerly by the 
 man as by the boy. 
 
 When I find a writer of Scott's profundity of reading 
 and depth of research placing the great event of Buccaneer 
 history fifty years before its time, accurate booksellers mis- 
 
VI PKEFACE. 
 
 taking a Dutcli for a French writer, and living historians 
 confounding the Flibustiers of Tortuga, who attacked only 
 the Spaniards, with their degraded successors, the pirates of 
 New Providence, who robbed all nations, even their own, 
 without mercy, I think I have proved that my book is not 
 a superfluity. 
 
 My book brings new scenes and new creations to the 
 novel reader, jaded with worn-out types of conventional 
 existence. It supplies the historian with a page of English, 
 French, and Spanish history that the capricious muse of 
 history has hitherto kept in MS. It traces the foundation 
 of our colonial empire. To the psychologist it furnishes deep 
 matter for thought, while the philosopher may see in its 
 pages humanity in a new aspect, and man's soul exposed to 
 new temptations. 
 
 What Dampier has described and Defoe drawn materials 
 from, no man can dare to assert is wanting in interest. 
 The readers to whom these books are new will be astonished 
 to find the adventures of Xenophon paralleled in De Lus- 
 san's retreat over the Isthmus, and Swift forestalled in his 
 conception of some of the oddest customs of Lilliput. 
 (Exmelin, I may boldly assert, is a much more amusing 
 writer than half our historians ; he was a keen and enlight- 
 ened observer, who looked upon Buccaneering as a chivalrous 
 life, in which the sea knight got equally hard knocks as the 
 land hero, but more money. 
 
 I 
 
PREFACE. Vll 
 
 If my characters are not so grand as those of history, I 
 can present to my reader men as greedy of gold, ambitious 
 and sagacious as Pizarro or Cortes, and as reckless as 
 Alexander, and as cruel as Ccesar. If the Buccaneers were 
 but insects, bred from the putrefaction of a decaying 
 empire, their plans were at least gigantic, and their courage 
 unprecedented. 
 
 Anomalous beings, hunters by land and sea, scaring whole 
 fleets with a few canoes, sacking cities with a few grenadiers, 
 devastating every coast from California to Cape Horn, they 
 only needed a common principle of union to have founded 
 an aggressive republic, as wealthy as Venice and as warlike 
 as Carthage. One great mind and the New World had been 
 their own. 
 
 But, from the first, Providence sowed amongst them those 
 seeds of discord — difference of religion and difference of 
 race. Never settling, their race had its ranks renewed, 
 not by descendants, but by fresh recruits, men with new 
 interests and lower aims. In less than a century the 
 Brotherhood had passed away, their virtues were forgotten 
 and their vices alone remembered. 
 
 The Buccaneers were robbers, we own, yet they sought 
 something beyond gold. Mansvelt took the island of St. 
 Catherine, and planned a republic ; and Morgan contem- 
 plated the destruction of the Bravo Indians. They were 
 outlaws and religious robbers, yet generous and regardful 
 
VIH PREFACE. 
 
 of the minutest delicacies of honour ; lovers of freedom, 
 yet obeying the sternest discipline ; cruel, yet tender to 
 ..their friends. 
 
 All the light and shade of the darkest fiction look poor 
 beside the adventures of these men. Catholics, Protestants, 
 Puritans, gallants, officers, common seamen, farmers' sons, 
 men of rank, hunters, sailors, planters, murderers, fanatics, 
 Creoles, Spaniards, negroes, astrologers, monks, pilots, 
 guides, merchants — all pass before us here in a motley 
 and ever-changing masquerade. The back grounds to these 
 scenes are the wooded shores of the West Indian Islands, 
 woods sparkling at night with fire-flies, broad savannahs 
 dark with wild cattle, the volcanic islands peopled by 
 marooned sailors, stormy promontories, the lonely sand 
 " keys " of Jamaica, and the rocky fastnesses of Tortuga. 
 
MOMECHS or THE MAIN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 Derivation of the words Buccaneer and Flibustier — Tbe three classes — 
 Dress of the hunters — West Indian scenery — Method of hunting — 
 Wild dogs — Anecdotes — Wild oxeu, wild boars, and wild horses — 
 Buccaneer food — Cow killing — Spanish .method — Amusements — 
 Duels — Adventures with the Spanish militia— The hunters driven to 
 sea — The engages, or apprentices — Hide-curi.Dg — Hardships of the 
 bush life — The planter's engages— CvvlqUiqs of planters — The matc- 
 lotage — Huts — Food. 
 
 The Imnters of the wild cattle in tlie savannahs of His- 
 paniola were known under the designation of Buccaneers as 
 early as the year 1630. They derived this name from hoifr 
 canj^ an old Indian word which their luckless predecessors, 
 the Caribs, gave to the hut in which they smoked the fle.-'sh 
 of the oxen killed in hunting, or not nnfrequently the limbs 
 of their persecutors the Spaniards. They applied the same 
 term, from the poverty of an undeveloped language, to the 
 barbecue, or square wooden frame upon which the meat was 
 dried. In course of time this hunters' food became known 
 as viande boucayiee, and the hunters themselves gradually 
 assumed the name of Buccaneers. 
 
 Their second title of Flibustiers was a mere corruption of 
 the English word freebooters — a German term, imported 
 into England during the Low Country wars of Elizabeth's 
 reign. It has been erroneously traced to the Dutch word 
 flyboat ; but the Jesuit traveller, Charlevoix, asserts that, 
 in fact, this species of craft derived its title from being first 
 
 * Charlevoix's "Histoire de I'lle Espagnole," p. 6, vol. ii. 
 
 B 
 
2 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 used by the Flibustiers, and not from its swiftness. This, 
 however, is evidently a mistake, as Drayton and Hakhiyt 
 use the word ; and it seems to be of even earlier standing 
 in the French language. The derivation from the English 
 word freebooter is at once seen when the s in Flibustier 
 becomes lost in pronunciation. 
 
 In 1630, a party of French colonists, who had failed in- 
 an attack on St. Christopher's, finding Hispaniola almost 
 deserted by the Spaniards, who neglected the Antilles to 
 push their conquests on the mainland, landed on the south 
 side and formed a settlement, discovering the woods and 
 the plains to be teeming with wild oxen and wild hogs. 
 The Dutch merchants promised to supply them with every 
 necessary, and to receive the hides and tallow that they 
 collected in exchange for lead, powder, and brandy. These 
 first settlers were chiefly Normans, and the first trading 
 vessels that visited the toast were from Dieppe. 
 
 The origin of the Buccaneers, or hunters, and the Flibus- 
 tiers, or sea-rovers, as the Dutch called them, was contem- 
 poraneous. From, the very beginning many grew weary of 
 the chase and bcjcame corsairs, at first turning their arms 
 against all nations save their own ; but latterly, as strict pri- 
 vateersmeu, revenging their injuries only on the Spaniards, 
 with ^^hom France was frequently at war, and generally 
 under the authority of regular or forged commissions 
 obtained from the governor of St. Domingo, or some other 
 French settlement. Between the Buccaneers and the Fli- 
 bustiers no impassable line was drawn ; to chase the wild 
 ox or the Spaniard was the same to the greater part of the 
 colonists, and on sea or land the hunter's musket was an 
 equally deadly weapon. 
 
 Two 3^ears after the French refugees from St. Christopher's 
 had landed on the half- deserted shores of Hispaniola, the 
 Flibustiers seized the small adjoining island of Tortuga, 
 attracted by its safe and well-defended harbour, its fertility, 
 and the strength of its natural defences. The French and 
 English colonists of St. Christopher's began now to cultivate 
 the small j)lantations round the harbour, encouraged by the 
 number of French trading vessels that visited it, and by the 
 riches that the Flibustiers captured from the Spaniards. 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 3 
 
 These vessels brought over young men from France to be 
 bound to the planters for three years as engages, by a con- 
 tract that legalized the transitory slavery. 
 
 There were thus at once established four classes of men — 
 Buccaneers, or hunters ; planters, or inhabitants ; engages, 
 who were apprenticed to either the one or the other; and 
 sea-rovers. They governed themselves by a sort of demo- 
 cratic compact — each inhabitant being monarch in his own 
 plantation, and every Flibustier king on his own deck. But 
 the latter was not unfrequently deposed by his crew; and 
 the former, if cruel to his engages, was compelled to submit 
 to the French governor's interference. Before giving any 
 history of the various revolutions in Tortuga, or the wars of 
 the Spaniards in Hispaniola, we will describe the manners 
 of each of the three classes we have mentioned. 
 
 And first of the Buccaneers, or hunters, of Hispaniola. 
 
 These wild men fed on the bodies of the cattle they killed 
 in hunting, and by selling their hides and tallow obtained 
 money enough to buy the necessaries and even the luxuries 
 of life, — for the gambling table and the debauch. While 
 the Flibustiers called each other " brothers of the coast," 
 the Buccaneers were included in the generic term gens de 
 la cote, and in time the names of Buccaneer and Flibustier 
 were used indiscriminately. 
 
 The hunter's dress consisted of a plain shirt, or blouse 
 (Du Tertre calls it a sack), belted at the waist with a bit of 
 green hide. It was soon dyed a dull purple with the blood 
 of the wild bull, and was always smeared with grease. 
 " When they returned from the chase to the boucan," says 
 the above-named writer, " you would say that these are the 
 butcher's vilest servants, w4io have been eight days in the 
 slaughter-house without washing." As they frequently 
 carried the meat home by cutting a hole in the centre, and 
 thrusting their heads through it, we may imagine the canni- 
 bals that they must have looked. They wore drawers, or 
 frequently only tight mocassins, reaching to the knee ; their 
 sandals were of bull's hide or hog skin, fastened with leather 
 laces. 
 
 In QExmelin's " Histoire des Aventuriers," the hunter is 
 represented with bare feet, but this could not have been 
 
 b2 
 
4 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 usual, when we remember the dangers of chigoes, snakes,' 
 and scorpions, not to speak of prickly pear coverts and 
 thorny brakes. From their leather waist-belt hung a short, 
 heavy manchete or sabre, and an alligator skin case of Dutch 
 hunting knives. On their heads they wore a round close 
 leather skull-cap, shaped like our modern jockey's, with a 
 peak in front. They wore their hair falling wildly on their 
 shoulders, and their huge beards increased the ferocity of 
 their appearance. CExmelin particularly mentions the 
 beard, although no existing engraving of the Buccaneer 
 chiefs represents them with this grim ornament. According 
 to Charlevoix, some of them wore a shirt, and over this a 
 sort of brewer's apron, or coarse sacking tunic, open at the 
 sides. From this shirt being always stained with blood, 
 perhaps sometimes purposely dipped into it, the Abbo Reynal 
 supposes that such a shirt was the necessary dress of the 
 Buccaneer. CExmelin says that as his vessel approached 
 St. Domingo, " a Buccaneer's canoe came off with six men 
 at the paddles, whose appearance excited the astonishment 
 of all those on board, who had never before been out of 
 France. They wore a small linen tunic and short drawers, 
 reaching only half down the thigh. It required one to look 
 close to see if the shirt was linen or not, so stained was it 
 with the blood which had dripped from the animals they 
 kill and carry home. All of them had large beards, and 
 carried at their girdle a case of cayman skin, in which were 
 four knives and a bayonet." Like the Canadian trappers, 
 or, indeed, sportsmen in general, they were peculiarly careful 
 of their muskets, which were made expressly for them in 
 France, the best makers being Brachie of Dieppe, and Gelu 
 of Nantes. These guns were about four feet and a half 
 long, and were known everywhere as " Buccaneering pieces." 
 The stocks were square and heavy, with a hollow for the 
 shoulder, and they were all made of the same calibre, single 
 barrel, and carrying balls sixteen to the pound. Every 
 hunter took with him fifteen or twenty pounds of powder, 
 the best of which came from Cherbourg. They kept it in 
 waxed calabashes to secure it from the damp, having no 
 ' shelter or hut that would keep out the strong West Indian 
 rains. Their bullet pouch and powder horn hung on either 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 5 
 
 side, and tlieir small mosquito nets they carried, rolled up 
 tight like bandoliers, at their waist, for they slept wherever 
 they halted, and generally in their clothes. 
 
 We have no room and no colours bright enough to paint 
 the chief features of the Indian woods, the cloven cherry, 
 that resembles the arbutus, the cocoa with its purple pods, 
 the red bois immortel, the stunted bastard cedar, the log- 
 wood with its sweet blossom and hawthorn-like leaf, the 
 cashew with its golden fruit, the oleander, the dock-like 
 yam, and the calabash-tree. 
 
 What Hesperian orchards are those where the citron, 
 lemon, and lime cling together, where the pine-apple grows 
 in prickly hedges, where soft custard apples hang out their 
 bags of sweetness, and the avocada swings its pears big as 
 pumpkins; where the bread-fruit with its gigantic leaves, 
 the glossy star apple, and the golden shaddock, drop their 
 masses of foliage among the dewy and fresh underwood of 
 plantains, far below the tall and graceful cocoanut tree ? 
 
 Michael Scott depicts with photographic exactness and 
 brilliancy every phase of the West Indian day, and enables 
 us to imagine the light and shade that surrounded the 
 strange race of whom we write. At daybreak, the land 
 wind moans and shakes the dew from the feathery palms; 
 the fire-flies grow pale, and fade out one after the other, 
 like the stars; the deep croaking of the frog ceases, and the 
 lizards and crickets are silent ; the monkeys leave off yelling ; 
 the snore of the tree toad and the wild cry of the tiger-cat 
 are no more heard; but fresh sounds arise, and the woods 
 thrill with the voices and clatter of an awaking city; the 
 measured tap of the woodpecker echoes, with the clear, flute- 
 like note of the pavo del monte, the shriek of the macaw, 
 and the chatter of the parroquet; the pigeon moans in the 
 inmost forest, and the gabbling crows croak and scream. 
 
 At noon, as the breeze continues, and the sun grows ver- 
 tical, the branches grow alive with gleaming lizards and 
 coloured birds, noisy parrots hop round the wild pine, the 
 cattle retreat beneath the trees for shelter, to browse the 
 cooler grass, and the condouli and passion flowers of all 
 sizes, from a soup plate to a thumb ring, shut their blossoms ; 
 the very humming birds cease to drone and buzz round the 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 orange flowers, and the land-crab is alone heard rustling 
 among the dry grass. In the swamps the hot mist rises, 
 and the wild fowl flock to the reeds and canes in the muddy- 
 lagoons, where the strong smell of musk denotes the lurking 
 alligator ; the feathery plumes of the bamboos wave not, 
 and the cotton tree moves not a limb. 
 
 The rainy season brings far difl'erent scenes: then the sky 
 grows suddenly black, the wild ducks fly screaming here 
 and there, the carrion crows are whirled bodingly about the 
 skies, the smaller birds hurry to shelter, the thick mountain 
 clouds bear down upon the valleys, and a low, rushing sound 
 jirecedes the rain. The torrents turn brown and earthy, all 
 nature seems to wait the doom with fear. The low murmur 
 ot the earthquake is still more impressive, with the distant 
 thunder breaking the deep silence, and the trees bending 
 and groaning though the air is still. Besides the rains and 
 the earthquakes, the tornadoes are still more dreadful visit- 
 ants, when the air in a moment grows full of shivered 
 branches, shattered roofs, and uptorn canes. 
 
 The great features of the West Indian forests are the fire- 
 flies and the monkeys. At night, when the wind is rustling 
 in the dry palm leaves, the sparkles of green fire break out 
 among the trees like sparks blown from a thousand torches; 
 the gloom pulses with them as the flame ebbs and flows, 
 and the planters' chambers are filled with these harmless 
 incendiaries. The yell of the monkeys at daybreak has 
 been compared to a devils' holiday, to distant thunder, loose 
 iron bars in a cart in Fleet-street, bagpipes, and drunken 
 men laughing. 
 
 To various travellers we are indebted for word-pictures of 
 the cabbage tree and the silk cotton buttressed trunks ; the 
 banyan with its cloistered arcades ; the wild plantain with 
 its immense green leaves rent in slips, its thick bunches of 
 fruit, and its scarlet pendent seed ; the mangroves, with 
 their branches drooping into the sea ; the banana, with its . 
 jointed leaves ; the fern trees, twenty feet high ; the gold 
 canes, in arrowy sheaves ; and the feathery palms. Nor do 
 we forget the figuera, the bois le Sueur, or the wild pine 
 burning like a to})az in a calix of emerald. Beneath the 
 broad roof of creepers, from which the oriole hangs its 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 7 
 
 hammock nest, grow, in a wild jungle of beauty, tlie scarlet 
 cordia, tlie pink and saffron flower fence, the plumeria, and 
 the white datura. 
 
 The flying fish glided by us, says H. N. Coleridge, speak- 
 ing of the Indian seas, bonitos and albicores played around 
 the bows, dolphins gleamed in our wake, ever and anon a 
 shark, and once a great emerald-coloured whale, kept us 
 company. Elsewhere he describes the silver strand, fringed 
 with evergreen drooping mangroves, and the long shrouding 
 avenues of thick leaves that darkly fringe the blue ocean. 
 By the shore grow the dark and stately manchineel, beauti- 
 ful but noxious, the white wood, and the bristling sea-side 
 grape, with its broad leaves and bunches of pleasant berries. 
 The sea birds skim about the waves, and the red flamingoes 
 stalk around the sandv shoals, while the allig-ators wallow on 
 the mud banks, and the snowy pelicans hold their torpid 
 councils in solemn stupidity. 
 
 Leaving the sea and the shore, we wander on into the 
 interior, for the West Indian vegetation has everywhere a 
 common character, and see delighted the forest trees grow- 
 ing on the cliffs, knotted and bound together with luxuriant 
 festoons of evergreen creepers, connecting them in one vast 
 network of leaves and branches, the wild pine si3arkling on 
 the huge limbs of the wayside trees, beside it the dagger-like 
 Spanish needle, the quilted pimploe, and the maypole aloe 
 shooting its yellow flowered crown twenty feet above the 
 traveller, or amid the dark foliage, twines of purple wreaths 
 or lilac jessamine ; and the woods ringing with the song of 
 birds, interrupted at times by strange shrieks or moanings 
 of some tropic wanderer ; we see with these the snowy 
 amaryllis, the gorgeous hibiscus with its crown of scarlet, 
 the quivering limes and dark glossy orange bushes ; we rest 
 under the green tamarind or listen to the mournful creaking 
 , of the sand box tree. 
 
 The Buccaneers went in pairs, every hunter having his 
 camerade or matelot (sailor), as well as his engages. They 
 had seldom any fixed haljitation, but pitched their tents 
 where the wild cattle were to be found, building temporary 
 sheds, thatched with palm leaves, to defend them from the 
 rain, and to lodge their stock of hides till they could barter 
 
8 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 it witli the next vessel for wine, brandy, linen, arms, pow- 
 der, or lead. They would return three leagues from the 
 chase to their huts, laden with meat and skins, and if they 
 ate in the open country it was always with their musket 
 cocked and near at hand for fear of surprise. With their 
 matelots they had everything in common. The chief occu- 
 pation of these voluntary outlaws was the chase of the wild 
 ox, that of the wild boar being at first a mere amusement, 
 or only followed as the means of procuring a luxurious 
 meal ; at a later period, however, many Frenchmen lived by 
 solely hunting the hog, whose flesh they boucaned and sold 
 for exportation, its flavour being superior to that of any 
 other meat. 
 
 The Buccaneers went in companies of ten or twelve, each 
 man having his Indian attendant besides his apprentices. 
 Before setting out they arranged a spot for rendezvous in 
 case of attack. If they remained long in one place, they 
 built thatched sheds under which to pitch their tents. They 
 rose at davbreak to start for the chase, leavinsf one of the 
 band to guard the huts. The masters generally went first 
 and alone (sometimes the worst shot was left in the tent to 
 cook), and the engages and the dogs followed ; one hound, 
 the venteur, went in front of all, often leading the hunter 
 through wood and over rock where no human path had ever 
 been. When the quarry came in sight the dogs barked 
 round it and kept it at bay till the hunters could come up 
 and fire. They generally aimed at the breast of the bull, or 
 tried to hamstring it as soon as possible. Many hunters 
 ran down the wild cattle in the savannah, and attacked it 
 with their dogs. If only wounded the ox would rush upon 
 them and gore all he met. But this happened very seldom, 
 for the men were deadly shots, seldom missed their coup, 
 and were always sufficiently active, if in danger, to climb 
 the tree from behind which they had fired. The venteur 
 dog had a peculiar short bark by which lie summoned the 
 pack to his aid, and as soon as they heard it the engages 
 rushed to the rescue. When the beast was half flayed, the 
 master took out the largest bone and sucked the hot marrow, 
 which served him for a meal, giving a bit also to the venteur, 
 but not to any other dogs, lest they should grow lazy in 
 
MANI.^ERS OF THE HUNTERS. 9 
 
 hunting ; the last lagger in the pack had sometimes a bit 
 thrown him to incite him to greater exertion. He then left 
 the engages to carry the sskin to the boucan, with a few of 
 the best joints, giving the rest to the carrion crows, that 
 soon sniffed out the blood. They continued the chase till 
 each man had killed an ox, and the last had returned home, 
 laden like the rest with a hide and a portion of raw meat. 
 By this time the first comer had prepared dinner, roasted 
 some beef, or spitted a whole hog. The tables were soon 
 laid ; they consisted of a flat stone, the fallen trunk of a 
 tree, or a root, with no cloth, no napkin, no bread, and no 
 wine ; pimento and orange juice were sufficient sauce for 
 hungry men, and a contented mind and a keen appetite 
 never quarrelled with rude cooking. This monotonous life 
 was only varied by a conflict with a wounded bull, or a 
 skirmish with the Spaniards. The grand fete days were 
 when the hunter had collected as many hides as he had con- 
 tracted to supply the merchant, and carried them to Tor- 
 tuga, to Cape Tiburon, Samana, or St. Domingo, probably to 
 return in a week's time, weary of drinking or beggared from 
 the gambling table, tired of civilization, and restless for the 
 bull chase. 
 
 The wild cattle of Hispaniola — the oxen, hogs, horses, and 
 dogs — were all sprung from the domestic animals originally 
 brought from Spain. The dogs had been introduced into 
 the island to chase the Indians, a cruelty that even the mild 
 Columbus practised, Esquemeling says, those first con- 
 querors of the New "World made use of dogs " to range and 
 search the intricate thicket of woods and forests for those 
 their implacable and unconquerable enemies ; thus they 
 forced them to leave their old refuge and submit to the 
 sword, seeing no milder usage would do it. Hereupon they 
 killed some of them, and, quartering their bodies, placed 
 them on the highways, that others might take a warning 
 from such a punishment. But this severity proved of ill 
 consequence, for, instead of frighting them and reducing 
 them to civility, they conceived such horror of the Spaniards 
 that they resolved to detest and fly their sight for ever ; 
 hence the greatest part died in caves and subterraneous 
 places of the woods and mountains, in which places I myself 
 
10 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 have often seen great numbers of huQian bones. The Span- 
 iards, finding no more Indians to appear about the woods, 
 turned away a great number of dogs they had in their 
 houses ; and they, finding no masters to keep them, betook 
 themselves to the woods and fields to hunt for food to pre- 
 serve their lives, and by degrees grew wild." 
 
 The young of these maroon dogs the hunters were in the 
 habit of bringing up. When they found a wild bitch with 
 whelps, they generally took away the puppies and brought 
 them to their tents, preferring them to any other sort of 
 dog. They seem to have been between a greyhound and a 
 mastiffl The Dutch writer whom we have just quoted 
 mentions the singular fact, that these dogs, even in a wild 
 state, retained their acquired habits. The venteur always 
 led the way, and was allowed to dip the first fangs into the 
 victim. The wild dogs went in packs of fifty or eighty, and 
 were so fierce that they would not scruple to attack a whole 
 herd of wild boars, bringing down two or three at once. 
 They destroyed a vast number of wild cattle, devouring the 
 young as soon as a mare had foaled or a cow calved. 
 
 " One day," says Esquemeling, " a French Buccaneer 
 showed me a strange action of this kind. Beinsc in the 
 fields hunting together, we heard a great noise of dogs 
 which had surrounded a wild boar. Having tame dogs with 
 lis, we left them in custody of our servants, being desirous 
 to see the sport. Hence my companion and I climbed up 
 two several trees, both for security and prospect. The 
 wild boar, all alone, stood against a tree, defending himself 
 with his tusks from a great number of dogs that enclosed 
 him, and killed with his teeth and wounded several of them. 
 This bloody fight continued about an hour, the wild boar 
 meanwhile attempting many times to escape. At last 
 flying, one dog leaped upon his back ; and the rest of the 
 dogs, perceiving the courage of their com])anion, fastened 
 likewise on the boar, and presently killed him. This done, 
 all of them, the first only excepted, laid themselves down 
 upon the ground about the prey, and there peaceably conti- 
 nued till he, the first and most courageous of the troop, had 
 eaten as much as he could. When this dog had left off, all 
 the rest fell in to take their share till nothing was left." 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTEES. 11 
 
 In 1668, the Governor of Tortuga, finding these dogs 
 were rendering the wild boar almost extinct, and alarmed 
 lest the hunters should leave a place where food was growing 
 scarce, sent to France for poison to destroy these mastiffs, 
 and placed poisoned horse-flesh in the woods. But although 
 this practice was continued for six months, and an incredi- 
 ble number of dogs were killed, yet the race soon appeared 
 almost as numerous as before. 
 
 The wild horses went in troops of about two or three 
 hundred. They were awkward and misshapen, small and 
 short-bodied, wdth large heads, long necks, trailing ears, and 
 thick legs. They had always a leader, and when they met 
 a hunter, stared at him till he approached within shot, then 
 galloped off altogether. They were only killed for their 
 skins, though their flesh was sometimes smoked for the use 
 of the sailors. These horses were caught by stretching nooses 
 along their tracks, in which they got entangled by the neck. 
 When taken, they were quickly tamed by being kept two 
 or three days without food, and were then used to carry 
 hides. They were good workers, but easily lamed. When 
 a Buccaneer turned them adrift from want of food to keep 
 them through the winter, they were known to return ten 
 months after, or, meeting them in the savannah, begin to 
 whine and caress their old masters, and suffer themselves to 
 be recaptured. They were also killed for the sake of the 
 fat about the neck and belly, which the hunters used for 
 lamp- oil. 
 
 The wild oxen were tame unless wounded, and their 
 hides were generally from eleven to thirteen feet long. They 
 were very strong and very swift, in spite of their short and 
 slender legs. In the course of a single century from their 
 introduction, they had so increased, that the French Bucca- 
 neers, when they landed, seldom went in search of them, 
 but waited for them near the shore, at the salt pools where 
 they came to drink. The herds fed at night on the savan- 
 nahs, and at noon retired to the shelter of the forests. A 
 wounded bull would often blockade, for four hours, a tree in 
 which a hunter had taken refuge, bellowing round the 
 trunk and ploughing at the roots with his horns. The 
 French hunters generally shot them ; but the Spanish 
 
12 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 " hocksers " rode them down on horseback, and hamstrung 
 them with a crescent-shaped spear, in form something like a 
 cheese-knife with a long handle. 
 
 The wild boars, when much j.ressed, adopted the same 
 stratagem as the oxen. They tlirew themselves into the 
 form of a hollow square, the sows in the rear and the suck- 
 ing pigs in the middle, the white sabre tusks of the boars 
 gleaming outwards towards the foe. The dogs always fast- 
 ened upon the defenceless sow in preference to the ferocious 
 male, whom they seldom attacked if it got at bay under a 
 tree, though it might be alone, glaring before the red jaws 
 of eighty yelping dogs. The wild-boar hunting was less 
 dangerous than that of the wild oxen, and less profitable. 
 The hogs soon grew scarce, a party of hunters sometimes 
 killing one hundred in a day, and only carrying home three 
 or four of the fattest. It was not uncommon for solitary 
 hunters or engages who had lost their way in the woods to 
 amuse themselves by training up the young hogs they found 
 basking under the trees, and teaching them to track their 
 own species and pull them down by tugging at their long 
 leathery ears. CExmelin, the most intelligent of the few 
 Buccaneer writers, relates his own success in training four 
 pigs, whom he taught to follow at his heels like dogs, to 
 play with him, and obey his orders. When they saw a herd 
 of boars they would run forward and decoy them towards- 
 him. On one occasion, one of them escaped into the plains, 
 but returned three days after, very complacently heading a 
 herd of hogs, of which his master and his matelot killed 
 four. It is not many years since that an English game- 
 keeper brought up a pig to get his own bread as a pointer. 
 
 At first, when the green savannahs were spotted black 
 with cattle, the hunters were so fastidious that they seldom 
 ate anything but the udders of cows, considering bull meat 
 too tough. Many a herd was killed, as at present in Aus- 
 tralia or California, for the hide and tallow. If the first 
 animal killed in the day's hunt was a cow, an engage was 
 instantly sent to the tent with part of the Hesh to cook for 
 the evening. When the engages had each gone home with 
 his joint and his hide, the Buccaneer followed with his own 
 load, his dogs, tired and panting, lagging at hi 5 heels. If 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUKTERS. 13 
 
 on his way back lie met a boar, or more oxen, he threw 
 down his fardel, slew a fresh victim, and, flaying it, hung 
 the hide on a tree out of reach of the wild dogs, and came 
 back for it on the morrow. 
 
 On returning to the boucan, each man set to work to 
 stretch (hrocheter) his hide, fastening it tightly out with 
 fourteen wooden pegs, and rubbing it with ashes and salt 
 mixed together to make it dry quicker. "When this was 
 done, they sat down to partake of the food that the first 
 comer had by this time cooked. The beef they generally 
 boiled in the large cauldron which every hunter possessed, 
 drawing it out when it was done with a wooden skewer. 
 A board served them for a dish. With a wooden spoon 
 they collected the gravy in a calabash ; and into this they 
 squeezed the juice of a fresh- picked lemon, a crushed citron, 
 or a little pimento, which formed the hunter's favourite 
 sauce, pimentado. This being done with all the care of a 
 Ude, they seized their hunting-knives and wooden skewers, 
 and commenced a solemn attack upon the ponderous joint. 
 The residue they divided among their dogs. Pere Labat, 
 an oily Jesuit, if we trust to his portrait, describes, with 
 great gusto, a Buccaneer feast at which he was present ; and 
 at which a hog was roasted whole. The boucanned meat 
 was only used in voyages, or when no oxen could be met 
 with. 
 
 When they wanted to boucan a pig, they first flayed it 
 and took out all the bones. The meat they cut in long slips, 
 which they placed in mats, and there left it till the next 
 day, when they proceeded to smoke it. The boucan was a 
 small hut covered close with palm-mats, with a low entrance, 
 and no chimney or windows : it contained a wooden frame- 
 work seven or eight feet high, on which the meat was placed, 
 and underneath which a charcoal fire was lit. The fire they 
 always fed with the animal's own skin and bones, which 
 made the smoke thick and full of ammonia. The volatile 
 salt of the bones being more readily absorbed by the meat 
 than the mere ligneous acid of wood, the result of this 
 process was an Epicurean mouthful far superior to our 
 Westphalia hams, and more like our hung beef. (Exmelin 
 waxes quite eloquent in its praise. He says it was so 
 
14 MANNERS OF THE HUNTEUS. 
 
 exquisite that it needed no cooking ; its very look, red as a 
 rose, not to mention its delightful fragrance, tempted the 
 worst appetite to eat it, whatever it might prove. The 
 only misfortune was that six months after smoking, the 
 meat grew tasteless and unfit for use ; but when fresh, it 
 was thought so wholesome that sick men came from a 
 distance to live in a hunter's tent and share his food for a 
 time. The first thing that passengers visiting the West 
 Indies saw was a Buccaneer's canoe bringing dry meat for 
 sale. The boucanned meat was sold in bales of sixty pounds 
 weight : their pots of tallow were worth about six pieces of 
 eight. 
 
 Labat — no ordinary lover of good cheer, if we may judge 
 from his portrait, which represents him with cheeks as 
 plump as a pulpit cushion, and with thick fat rolls of double 
 chin — describes the Buccaneer fare with much unction, 
 having gone to a hunter's feast, — a corporeal treat intended 
 as a slight return for much spiritual food. Each Buccaneer, 
 he says, had two skewers, made of clean peeled wood, one of 
 them having two spikes. The boucan itself was made of 
 four stakes as thick as a man's arm, and about four feet 
 long, stuck in the ground to form a square five feet long 
 and three feet across. On these forked sticks they placed 
 cross bars, and upon these the spit, binding them all with 
 withes. The wild boar, being skinned and gutted, was 
 placed whole upon this spit, the stomach kept open with a 
 stick. The fire was made of charcoal, and put on with bark 
 shovels. The interior of the pig was filled with citron 
 juice, salt, crushed pimento, and pepper j and the flesh was 
 constantly pricked, so that this juice might penetrate. 
 When the meat was ready, the cooks fired off a musket 
 twice, to summon the hunters from the woods, while banana 
 leaves were placed round for plates. If the hunters brought 
 home any birds, they at once picked them and threw tiiem 
 into the hot stomach of the pig, as into a pot. If the 
 hunters were novices, and brought home nothing, they were 
 sent out again to seek it ; if they were veterans, they were 
 compelled to drink as many cups as the best man had that 
 day killed deer, bulls, or boars. A leaf served to hold the 
 pimento sauce, and a calabash to drink from, while bananas 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 15 
 
 were their substitute for bread. The engages waited on 
 their masters, and one of the penalties for clumsy serving 
 was to be compelled to drink ofif a calabash fall of sauce. 
 
 The English " cow killers" and the French hunters were 
 satisfied with getting as many hides as they could in the 
 shortest possible time, but the Spanish matadores gave the 
 trade an air of chivalrous adventure by rivalling the feats 
 of the Moorish bull-fighters of Granada. They did not use 
 firearms, but carried lances with a half-moon blade, employ- 
 ing dogs, and, being generally men of wealth and planters, 
 had servants on foot to encourage them to the attack. 
 When they tracked an ox in the woods, they made the 
 hounds drive him out into the prairie, where the matadors 
 could spur after him, and, wheeling round the monster, 
 hamstring him or thrust him through with a lance. Dam- 
 pierre describes minutely the Spanish mode of hocksing. 
 The horses were trained to retreat and advance without 
 even a signal. The hocksing-iron, of a half-moon shape, 
 measuring six inches horizontally, resembled in form a 
 gardner's turf-cutter. The handle, some fourteen feet long, 
 was held like a lance over the horse's head, a matador's 
 steed being always known by its right ear being bent down 
 with the weight of the shaft. The place to strike the bull 
 was just above the hock ; when struck, the horse instantly 
 wheeled to the left, to avoid the charge of the wounded ox, 
 who soon broke his nearly severed leg, but still limped 
 forward to avenge himself on his formidable enemv. Then 
 the hockser, riding softly up, struck, with his iron again, 
 but this time into a fore leg, and at once laic^ him prostrate, 
 moaning in terror and in pain. Then, dismounting, the 
 Spaniard took a sharp dagger and stabbed the beast behind 
 the horns, severing the spinal marrow. This operation the 
 English called " polling." The hunter at once remounted, 
 and left his skinners to remove the hide. 
 
 The stately Spaniard delighted in this dangerous chase, 
 with all its stratagems, surprises, and hairbreadth escapes, 
 when life depended on a turn of the bridle or the prick of a 
 spur. However pressed for food or endangered by enemies, 
 he practised it with all the stately ceremonies of the 
 Madrid arena, though the fiery animal, streaming with 
 
16 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 blood and foam, bellowed with rage and pain, frequently 
 trampled and gored the dogs and slew both horse and rider. 
 Q^xmelin mentions a bull at Cuba which killed three horses 
 in the same day, the lucky rider making a solemn pilgrimage 
 to the shrine of Our Lady of Guadaloupe when he had 
 given his victim the coup de grace. 
 
 These SjDanish hunters did not rough it like the Bucca- 
 neers, and kej)t horses to carry their bales. They were 
 particular in their food, ate bread and cassava with their 
 beef ; drank wine and brandy ; and were very choice 
 in their fruit and preserves. Gay in their dress, they 
 prided themselves on their white linen. Every separate 
 hunting field had its own customs. At Campeachy, where 
 the ground was swampy, the logwood-cutters frequently 
 shot the oxen from a canoe, and were sometimes pursued by 
 a wounded beast, who would try to sink the boat. When 
 the woodmen killed a bull, they cut it into quarters, and, 
 taking out all the bones, cut a hole in the centre of each 
 piece large enough to pass their heads through, and trudged 
 home with it to their tents on the shore. If they grew 
 tired or were pursued, they cut off a portion of the meat and 
 lightened their load. 
 
 The Spaniards, less poor, greedy, and thoughtless than 
 the English and French adventurers, killed only the bulls 
 and old cows, and left the younger ones to breed. The 
 gayer French were notorious for their wanton waste, using 
 oxen merely as marks for their bullets, and as utterly 
 indifferent to the future as Autolycus, who " slept out the 
 thought of it."' About 1650 the wild cattle of Jamaica 
 were entirely destroyed, and the Governor procured a fresh 
 supply from Cuba. 
 
 Whenever the oxen grew scarce, they became wilder 
 and more ferocious. In some places no hunter dared to 
 fire at them if alone, nor ever ventured into their pastures 
 unattended. All animals grow shy if frequently pursued, 
 and no fish are so unapproachable as those of a much 
 frequented stream. Dampierre says that at Beef Island the 
 old bulls who had once been wounded, when they saw the 
 hunters or heard their muskets, would instantly form into a 
 square, with their cows in the rear and the calves in the 
 
ITANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 17 
 
 middle, turning as the hunters turned, and presenting their 
 horns like a cluster of bayonets. It then became necessary 
 to beat the woods for stragglers. A beast mortally 
 wounded always made at the hunter ; but if only grazed by 
 the bullet it ran away. A cow was thought to be more 
 dangerous than a bull, as the former charged with its eyes 
 open, and the latter with them closed. The danger was 
 often imminent. One of Dampierre's messmates ventured 
 into the savannah, about a mile from the huts, and coming 
 within shot of a bull, wounded it desperately. The bull, 
 however, had strength enough to pursue and overtake the 
 logwood-cutter before he could load again, to trample 
 him, and gore him in the thigh. Then, faint with loss of 
 blood, it reeled down dead, and fell heavily beside the 
 bleeding and groaning hunter. His comrade, coming the 
 next morning to seek for the man, found him weak and 
 almost dying, and, taking him on his back, bore him to his 
 hut, where he was soon cured. The rapidity of such cures 
 is peculiar to savages^ or men who devote their whole life 
 to muscular exertion ; for the flesh of the South Sea Islanders 
 is said to close upon a sword as india-rubber does upon the 
 knife that cuts it. Often, in the heat and excitement of these 
 pursuits, the solitary hunter, and still more often, from want 
 of experience and from youthful rashness, the engage, would 
 lose his way in the woods, or, falling into a forest pool, 
 become a prey of the lurking cayman, if not alarmed by the 
 premonitory odour of musk that indicated its dangerous 
 vicinity. Nature is full of these warnings : and the vibrating 
 rattle of the Indian snake has saved the life of many a Buc- 
 caneer. 
 
 Besides an unceasing supply of beef on shore, and salted 
 turtle at sea, the Buccaneers ate the flesh of deer and of pec- 
 cary. On the mainland wild turkeys were always within 
 shot, and fat monkeys and plump parrots were resources for 
 the more hungry and less epicurean. The rich fruits of the 
 West Indies, needing no cultivation to improve their flavour, 
 grew around their huts, and were to be had all the year 
 round for the picking. The parched hunters delighted in the 
 resinous-flavoured mango and the luscious guava as much as 
 our modern sailors. In such a country every one is a vege- 
 
 c 
 
18 MANNERS OP THE HUNTERS. 
 
 tarian when dinner is over ; to be a fruit-eater then needs 
 no very hermit-like asceticism. The plantain and the yam 
 served them instead of the bread-fruit of the Pacific, or the 
 potato of Virginia, and the custard- apple took the place of 
 pastry ; but the great dainty which all their chroniclers 
 mention was the large avocado pear, which they supposed to 
 be an aphrodisiac. This prodigious lemon-coloured fruit was 
 allowed to mellow, its soft pulp was then scooped out and 
 beaten up in a plate with orange and lime juice ; but hungry 
 and more impatient men ate it at once, with a little salt and 
 a roast plantain. A Buccaneer never touched an unknown 
 fruit till he had seen birds pecking it on the tree. No bird 
 was ever seen to touch the blooming but poisonous apples of 
 the manchineel, which few animals but crabs could eat with 
 impunity. The verified stories of the manchineel excel the 
 fables related of the upas of Batavia. The very dew upon 
 its branches poisoned those upon whom it dropped. Esque- 
 meling says : " One day, being hugely tormented with mos- 
 quitoes or gnats, and being as yet unacquainted with the 
 nature of this tree, I cut a branch to serve me for a fan, but 
 all my face was swelled the next day, and filled with blisters 
 as if it were b\irnt, to such a degree that I was blind for 
 three days." 
 
 The hunters tormented by mosquitoes and sand flies used 
 leafy branches for fans, and anointed their faces with hog's 
 grease to defend themselves from the stings. By night in 
 their huts they burned tobacco, without which smoke they 
 could not have obtained sleep. The mosquitoes were of all 
 sorts, the buzzing and the silent, tormentors by day and 
 night ; but they dispersed when the land breeze rose, or the 
 wind increased. The common mosquito was not visible by 
 day, but at sunset it filled the woods with its ominous hum- 
 ming. QSxraelin describes on one occasion his lying for eight 
 hours in the water of a brook to escape the torturers, sitting 
 on a stone or on the sand, and keeping his fiice which was 
 above water, covered with leaves to protect him from the 
 fiery little stings. 
 
 The Buccaneers made their pens of reeds, and their paper 
 of the leaves of a peculiar sort of palm, the outer cuticle 
 of which was thin, white^ and soft ; their ink was the black 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 19 
 
 juice of the juniper-berries, letters written with which 
 turned white in nine days. They kept harmless snakes in 
 their houses to feed on the rats and ujice, just as we do cats, 
 or as the Copts did the ichneumons. They frequently used 
 a handful of fire-flies instead of a lantern ; Esquemeling, him- 
 self a Buccaneer, says, that with three of these in his cottage 
 at midnight he could see to read in any book, however small 
 the print. 
 
 The Buccaneers carried in their tobacco pouches the horn 
 of an immense sort of spider, which Esquemeling describes 
 as big as an egg, with feet as long as a crab, and four black 
 teeth like a rabbit, its bite being sharp but not venomous. 
 These teeth or horns they used either as tooth-picks or pipe- 
 cleaners ; they were supposed to ha' o the property of 
 preserving the user from toothache. They are described as 
 about two inches long, black as jet, smooth as glass, sharp as 
 a thorn, and a little bent at the lov/er end. 
 
 Their favourite toy, the dice, they cut from the white 
 ivory-like teeth of the sea-horse. Great observers of the use 
 of things, and well lessoned in the bitter school of expe- 
 rience, they turned every new natural production they met 
 with to some useful purpose, uniting with the keen sagacity 
 of the hunter the shrewd instinct of the savasje. Their 
 horsewhips they formed from the skin of the back of a wild 
 bull or sea-cow. The lashes were made of slips of hide, two 
 or three feet long, of the full thickness at the bottom, and 
 cut square and tapering to the point. These thongs they 
 twisted while still green, and then hung them up in a hut 
 to dry ; in a few weeks they shrank and became hard as 
 wood, and tough as an American cowhide, an Abyssinian 
 scourge, or the far-famed Russian knout. From the skin of 
 the manitee they cut straps, which they used in their canoes 
 instead of the ordinary tholes. 
 
 The wild boar hunters frequently lived in huts four or five 
 together, and remained for months, frequently a year, in the 
 same place, supplying the neighbouring planters by contract. 
 The most perfect equality reigned between the niatelots ; 
 and if one of them wanted powder or lead, he took it from 
 the other's store, telling him of the loan, and repaying it 
 when able. 
 
 c 2 
 
20 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 When a dispute arose between any of them, their asso- 
 ciates tried to reconcile the difference. A dispute about a 
 shooting wager, or the smallest trifle, gave rise to deadly 
 feuds between such lawless and vindictive exiles, unaccus- 
 tomed to control, and ready to resort to arms. If both still 
 determined to have revenge, the musket was the impassive 
 arbiter appealed to. The friends of the duellists decided at 
 what distance the combatants should stand, and made them 
 draw lots for the first fire. If one fell dead, the bystanders 
 immediately held a sort of inquest, at which they decided 
 whether he had been fairly dealt with, and examined the 
 body to see that the death-shot had been fairly fired in 
 front, and not in a cowardly or treacherous manner, handling 
 his musket to see whether it was discharged and had been 
 in good order, A surgeon then opened the orifice of the 
 wound, and if he decided that the bullet had entered behind, 
 or much on one side, they declared the survivor a murderer ; 
 Lynch law was proclaimed, they tied the culprit to a tree, 
 and shot him with their muskets. In Tortuga, or near a 
 town, this rude justice was never resorted to, and, even in 
 the wilder places, was soon abandoned as the hunters grew 
 more civilized. These duels generally took place on the sea 
 beach if the Flibustiers were the combatants. 
 
 As these men took incessant exercise, were indifferent 
 to climate, and fed chiefly on fresh meat, they enjoyed good 
 health. They were, however, subject to flying fevers that 
 passed in a day, and which did not confine them even to 
 their tents. 
 
 "With the Spanish Lanceros, or Fifties, as they were called 
 by the Buccaneers, the hunters were perpetually at war, 
 their intrepid infantry being generally successful against the 
 hot charges of these yeomanry of the savannahs. There 
 Avere four companies of them in Hisjianiola, with a hundred 
 spearmen in each company ; half of these were generally on 
 the patrol, while the remainder rested, and from their 
 number they derived their nickname. Their duty was to 
 surprise the isolated hunters, to burn the stores of hides, 
 make prisoners of the engages, and guard the Spanish settlers 
 against any sudden attack. At other times they were em- 
 ployed in killing off the herds of wild cattle that furnished 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 21 
 
 the Buccaneers with food, and drewfresli bands to tlie plains 
 where they abounded. In great enterprises the whole coqis 
 cried " boot and saddle," and they took with them at all 
 times a few muleteers on foot, either to carry their baggage, 
 or to serve as scouts in the woods, where the cow-killers 
 built their huts. But, in spite of negro foragers and Indian 
 spies, the keener-eyed Buccaneers generally escaped, or, if 
 met with, broke like raging wolves through their adversaries' 
 toils. Accustomed to the bush, inured to famine and fatigue, 
 and more indifierent than even the Spaniards to climate, the 
 Buccaneers were seldom taken prisoners. Unerring marks- 
 men, with a spice of the wild beast in their blood, they pre- 
 ferred death to flight or even capture. 
 
 It is probable that even for this toilsome and dangerous 
 pursuit the Spaniards easily obtained recruits. Constant 
 sport with the wild cattle, abundant food, and a spirit of 
 adventure, would prove an irresistible bait to the bravos of 
 Carthagena, or the matadors of Cam peachy. The hangers- 
 on of the wine-shops and the pulque drinkers of Mexico 
 would readily embark in any campaign that would bring them 
 a few pistoles, and give them good food and gay clothing. 
 
 CExmelin relates several instances of the daring escapes of 
 the Buccaneer hunters from the bloodthirsty pursuit of the 
 Fifties. It was their custom, directly that news reached the 
 tents that the Lanceros were out, to issue an order that the 
 first man who caufjht sio-ht of the horsemen should inform 
 the rest, in order to attack the foe by an ambuscade, if they 
 were too numerous to meet them in the open held. The 
 great aim, on the other hand, of the Lanceros, was to wait 
 for a night of rain and wind, when the sound of their hoofs 
 could not he heard, and to butcher the sleepers when their 
 fire-arms were either damp or piled out of reach. Fre- 
 quently they surrounded the hunters when heavy after a 
 debauch, and when even the grim sentinels were asleep at 
 the tent doors. 
 
 The following anecdote conveys some impression of these 
 encounters. A French Buccaneer going one day into the 
 savannahs to hunt, followed by his engage, was suddenly 
 surrounded by a troop of shouting Lanceros. He saw at 
 once that the Fifties had at last trapped him. He was sur- 
 
22 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 rounded, and escape from their swift pursuit, with no tree 
 near, was hopeless ; biit he would not let hope desert him so 
 long as the spears were still out of his heart. His engage 
 was as brave as himself, and both determined to stand at 
 bay, and sell their lives dearly. The hunter of mad oxen, 
 and the tamer of wild horses need not fear man or devil. 
 The master and man put themselves back to back, and, 
 laying their common stock of powder and bullets in their 
 caps between them, prepared for death. The Spaniards, who 
 only carried lances, kept coursing round them, afraid to 
 narrow in, or venture within shot, but crying out to them 
 with threats to surrender. Tired of the suspense, they next 
 offered them quarter, and at last promised to disarm but not 
 hurt them, saying, they were only executing the orders of 
 their general. The two Frenchmen replied, mockingly, that 
 they would never surrender, and wanted no quarter, and 
 that the first lancer who a})proached would pay dear for his 
 visit. The Spaniards still hovered round, afraid to advance, 
 none of them willing to be the first victim, or to play the 
 scapegoat for the rest. " C'est le premier pas qui coute," 
 and the first step they made was backward. After some 
 consultation at a safe distance, they finally left the Buc- 
 caneers still standing threateningly back to back, and spurred 
 off, half afraid that the Tartars they had nearly caught 
 miffht turn the tables, and advance aijainst them. Another 
 time a wild Buccaneer, while hunting alone, was surprised by a 
 similar party of mounted pikemen. Seeing that there was 
 some distance between him and the nearest wood, and that 
 his capture was certain, he bethought himself of the following 
 ruse. Putting his gun up to his shoulder, he advanced at a 
 trot, shouting exultingly, " A moi, d, moi ./" as if he was fol- 
 lowed by a band of scattered companions who had been in 
 search of the Si)aniards. The cavaliers, believing at once 
 that they had fallen into an ambush, took flight, to the joy 
 of the ingenious hunter, who quickly made his escape, 
 laughing and swearing, into the neighbouring covert. 
 
 The Spaniards were worn out at last with this border 
 warfare, unprofitable because it was waged with men who 
 were too poor to reward the plunderer, and dangerous 
 because fought with every disadvantage of weapon and 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 23 
 
 fcituation. In the savannahs the Spaniards were formidable, 
 but in the woods they became a certain prey to the mus- 
 keteer. Unable to drive the plunderers out of the island, 
 the Spaniards at last foolishly resolved to render the island 
 not worth the plunder. Orders came from Spain to kill off 
 the wild cattle that Columbus had originally brought to the 
 island, and particularly round the coast. If the trade with the 
 French vessels and the barter of hides for brandy could once 
 be arrested, the hunters would be driven from the woods by 
 starvation, or perish one by one in their dens. They little 
 thought that this scheme would succeed, and what would be 
 the consequence of such success. The starved hunters turned 
 sea crusaders, and the sea became the savannah where they 
 sought their human game. Every creek soon thronged with 
 men more deadly than the Danish Vikings : wrecked on a 
 habitable shore, they landed as invaders, and turned hunters 
 as before ; driven to their boats, they became again adven- 
 turers. In this name, and in that of " soldiers of fortune," 
 they delighted : a more honest and less courteous age would 
 have termed them pirates. By the year 1686, the change 
 from Buccaneer to Flibustier had been almost wholly effected. 
 
 The Buccaneers' engages led a life very little better than 
 those white slaves whom the glittering promises of the 
 planters had decoyed from France. The existence of the 
 former was, however, rendered more bearable by their 
 variety of adventure, by better food, and by daily recreation. 
 If all day in the hot sun they had to toil carrying bales of 
 skins from their masters' huts towards the shore, we must 
 remember that American seamen still work contentedly 
 at the same labour in California for a sailor's ordinary 
 wages. ]\[utual danger produced necessarily, except in the 
 most brutal, a kind of fellowship between the master and 
 the servant of the boucan. Up at daybreak, the engagi 
 sweltered all day through the bush, groaning beneath his 
 burden of loathsome hides ; but the good meal came before 
 sunset, and then the pipes were lit, and the brandy went 
 round, and the song was sung, and the coarse tale was 
 told, while the hunters shot at a mark, or made wagers upon 
 the respective skill of their matelots or their engages. 
 
 We hear, indeed, from Charlevoix, that young prodigals 
 
24 3IANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 of good family had been known to prefer the canvass tent to 
 the tapestried wall, and to have grasped the hunter's musket 
 with the hand that might have wielded the general's baton 
 or the marshal's staff. 
 
 The Buccaneers' life was not one of mere revehy and ease; 
 no hixurious caves or safe strongholds served at once for their 
 treasure-house, their palace, and their fortress. They were 
 wandering outlaws, hated both by the Spaniards and the 
 Indians, and they ate with a loaded gun within their reach. 
 The jaguar lurked beside them, the coppersnake glared at 
 them from his lair. If their foot stumbled, they were gored 
 by the ox, or ripped up by the boar ; if they fled, they 
 became a prey to the cayman of the pool ; they were swept 
 away as they forded swollen rivers ; they were swallowed up 
 by that dreadful foretype of the Judgment, the earthquake. 
 The shark and the sea monster swam by their canoe ; the 
 carrion crow that fed to-day upon the carcass they had left, 
 too often fed to-morrow on the slain hunter. The wildest 
 transitions of safety and danger, plenty and famine, peace 
 and war, health and sickness, surrounded their daily life. 
 To-day they were on the savannah dark with the wild herds, 
 to-morrow compelled to feast on the flesh of a murdered 
 comrade ; to day surrounded by revelling friends, to-morrow 
 left alone to die. 
 
 The present system of hide-curing practised in California 
 seems almost identical with that em})loyed by the Bucca- 
 neers. The following extract from Dana's " Three Years 
 before the Mast " will convey a correct impression of what 
 constituted the greater portion of an engage s labour. He 
 describes the shore piled with hides, just out of reach of 
 the tide ; each skin doubled lengthwise in the middle, and 
 nearly as stiff' as a board, and the whole bundles carried 
 down on men's heads from the place of curing to the stacks. 
 " When the hide is taken from the bullock," he says, " holes 
 are cut round it, near the edge, and it is staked out to dry, 
 to prevent shrinking. They are then to be cured, and are 
 carried down to the shore at low tide and made fast in small 
 piles, where they lie for forty-eight hours, when they are 
 taken out, rolled up in wheelbarrows, and thrown into vats 
 full of strong brine, where they remain for forty-eight hours. 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 25 
 
 The sea water only cleans and softens them, the brine pickles 
 them. They are then removed from the vats, lie on a plat- 
 form twenty-four hours, and are then staked out, still wet 
 and soft; the men go over them with knives, cutting off all 
 remaining pieces of meat or fat, the ears, and any part thao 
 would either jDrevent the packing or keeping. A man can 
 clean about twenty-five a-day, keeping at his work. This 
 cleaning must be done before noon, or they get too dry. 
 When the sun has been upon them for a few hours they are 
 gone over with scrapers to remove the fat that the sun 
 brings out; the stakes are then pulled up and the hides 
 carefully doubled, with the hair outside, and left to dry. 
 About the middle of the afternoon, they are turned upon 
 the other side, and at sunset piled up and turned over. The 
 next day they are spread out and opened again, and at night, 
 if fully dry, are thrown up on a long horizontal pole, five at 
 a time, and beaten with flails to get out the dust; thus, 
 being salted, scraped, cleaned, dried, and beaten, they are 
 stowed away in the warehouses." 
 
 The Buccaneer's life was not spent in quaffing sangaree 
 or basking under orange blossoms — not in smoking beside 
 mountains of flowers, where the humming-birds fluttered 
 like butterflies, and the lizards flashed across the sunbeams, 
 shedding jewelled and enchanted light. No Indian in the 
 mine, no Arab pearl-diver, no worn, pale children at an 
 English factory, no galley-slave dying at the oar, led such a life 
 as a Buccaneer engage, if bound to a cruel master. Imagine 
 a delicate youth, of good but poor family, decoyed &om 
 a Norman country town by the loud-sounding promises of a 
 St. Domingo agent, specious as a recruiting sergeant, voluble 
 as the projector of bubble companies, greedy, plausible, and 
 lying. He comes out to the El Dorado of his dreams, and 
 is at once taken to the hut of some rude Buccaneer. The 
 first night is a revel, and his sleep is golden and full of 
 visions. The spell is broken at daybreak. He has to carry 
 a load of skins, weighing some twenty-six pounds, three or 
 four leagues, through brakes of prickly pear and clumps of 
 canes. The pathless way cannot be traversed at greater 
 speed than about two hours to a quarter of a league. The 
 sun grows vertical, and he is feverish and sick at heart. 
 
26 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 Three years of this purgatory are to follow, varied only by 
 blows and curses. The masters too often loaded their ser- 
 vants with blows if they dared to faint through weakness, 
 hunger, thirst, or fatigue. Some hunters had the forbearance 
 to rest on a Sunday, induced rather by languor than by 
 piety; but on these days the engage had to rise as usual at 
 dciybreak, to go out and kill a wild boar for the day's feast. 
 This was disembowelled and roasted whole, being placed on 
 a spit supported on two forked stakes, so that the flames 
 might coin])letely surround the carcass. 
 
 Most Buccaneers, even if they rested on Sunday, required 
 their apprentices to carry the hides down as usual to the 
 place of shipment, fearing that the Spaniards might choose 
 that very day to burn the huts and destroy the skins. An 
 engage once complained to his master, and reminded him 
 that it Avas not right to work on a Sunday, God himself 
 having said to the Jews, *' Six days shalt thou labour and 
 do all thou hast to do, for the seventh day is the Sabbath 
 of the Lord thy God." "And I tell you," said the scowling 
 Buccaneer, striking the earth with the butt-end of his gun, 
 and roaring out a dreadful curse, "I tell you, six days shalt 
 thou kill bulls and skin them, and the seventh day thou j 
 shalt carry them down to the beach," beating the daring 
 remonstrant as he spoke. 
 
 There was no remedy for these sufferers but patience. 
 Time or death alone brought relief Three years soon run 
 out. Tlie mind grows hardened under suffering as flesh, 
 does under the lash. Nature, where she cannot heal a 
 wound, teaches us where to find unfailing balms. Some 
 grew reckless to blows, or learned to ingratiate themselves 
 with their masters by their increasing daring or sturdy 
 industry. An apprentice whose bullet never flew false, or 
 who could run down the wild ox on the plain, acquired a 
 fame greater than that of his master. The engages knew 
 that in time tliey themselves would be Buccaneers, and. 
 could inflict the very cruelties from which they now suffered. 
 There were even instances where acts of service to the 
 island, or feats of unusual bravery, raised an engage of a 
 single year to the full rank of hunter. An apprentice who 
 could bring in more hides than even his master, must have 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 27 
 
 been too valuable an acquisition to have been lost by a 
 moment of spleen. That horrible eases of cruelty did occur, 
 there can be no doubt. There were no courts of justice in 
 the forest, no stronger arm or wiser head to which to appeal. 
 But there are always remedies for despair. The loaded gun 
 was at hand, the knife hung in the belt, and the poisoned 
 berries grew by the hut. There was the unsubdued passion 
 still at liberty in the heart — there was the will to seize the 
 weapon and the hand to use it. Providence is fruitful in 
 her remedies of evils, and preserves a balance which no 
 sovereignty can long disturb. No tyrant can shut up the 
 volcano, or chain the earthquake. There were always the 
 mountains or the Spaniards to take refuge araougst, though 
 famine and death dwelt in the den of the wild beasts, and, 
 if they fled to the Spaniards, they were often butchered as 
 mere runaway slaves before they could explain, in an un- 
 known language, that they were not spies. But still the 
 very impossibility of preventing such escapes must have 
 tended to temper the severity of the masters. A Flibustier, 
 anxious for a crew, must have sometimes carried ofl' discon- 
 tented engages both from the plantations and the ajoupas. 
 The following story illustrates the social relations of the 
 Buccaneer master and his servant. 
 
 A Buccaneer one day, seeing that his apprentice, newly 
 arrived from Fra,nce, could not keep up with him, turned 
 round and struck him over the head with the lock of his 
 musket. The youth fell, stunned, to the ground ; and the 
 hunter, thinking he was dead, stripped him of his arms, and 
 left his body where it had fallen, weltering in the blood 
 flowing from the Avound. On his return to his hut, afraid 
 to disclose the truth, he told his companions that the lad, 
 who had always skulked work, had at last marooned (a 
 Spanish word applied to runaway negroes). A few curses 
 were heaped upon him, and no more was thought about his 
 disappearance. 
 
 Soon after the master was out of siijht the lad had re- 
 covered his senses, arisen, pale and weak, and attempted to 
 return to the tents. Unaccustomed to the woods, he lost 
 his way, got off the right track, and finally gave himself up 
 as doomed to certain death. For some days he remained 
 
28 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 wandering in despair round and round the same spot, with- 
 out either recovering the path or being able to reach the 
 shore. Hunger did not at first press him, for he ate the 
 meat with which his master had loaded him, and ate it raw, 
 not knowing the Indian manner of procuring fire, and his 
 knives being taken from his belt. Ignorant of what fruits 
 were safe to eat, where animals fit for food were to be found, 
 and not knowing how to kill them unarmed, he prepared 
 his mind for the dreadful and lingering torture of starvation. 
 But he seems to have been of an ingenious and persevering 
 disposition, and hope did not altogether forsake him. He 
 had, too, a companion, for one of his master's dogs, which had 
 grown fond of his playmate, had remained behind, licking 
 the hand that had so often fed him. 
 
 At first he spent whole days vainly searching for a path. 
 Very often he climbed up a hill, from which he could see the 
 great, blue, level sea, stretching out boundless to the hori- 
 zon, and this renewed his hope. He looked up, and knew 
 that God's sky was above him, and felt that he might be 
 still saved. At night he was startled by the screams of the 
 monkeys, the bellowing of the wild cattle in the distant 
 savannah, or the unearthly cry of some solitary and unknown 
 bird. Superstition filled him with fears, he felt deserted by 
 man, tormented by the things of evil. The tracks of the 
 wild cattle led him far astray. His faithful dog, driven by 
 hunger, procured food for both. Sometimes beneath the 
 spreading boughs of the river-loving yaco-tree, they would 
 surprise a basking sow, surrounded by a wandering brood of 
 voracious sucklings. The dog would cling to the sow, while 
 the boy aided him in the pursuit of the errant progeny. 
 When they had killed their prey, they would lie down and 
 share their meal together. The boy learned to like the raw 
 meat, and the dog had acquired his ajjpetite long before. 
 Experience soon taught them both where to captui-e their 
 prey in the quickest and surest manner. He caught the 
 puppies of a wild dog, and trained them in the chase ; he 
 even taught a young wild boar that he had caught alive to 
 join in the capture of his own species. After having led this 
 life for nearly a year, he one day suddenly came upon the 
 long-lost path, which soon brought him to the sea-shore. His 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 29 
 
 master's tents were gone, and, from various appearances, 
 seemed to have been long struck. 
 
 The lad, now grown accustomed to his wild life, resigned 
 himself to his condition, feeling sure that, sooner or later, 
 he should meet with a party of Buccaneers. His deliverance 
 was not long delayed. After about twelve months' life in 
 the bush, he fell in with a troop of skinners, to whom he 
 related his story. They were at first distrustful and 
 alarmed, as his master had told them that he had ina- 
 rooned, and had joined the Indians. His appearance soon 
 con^dnced them that his story was true, and that he was 
 neither a maroon nor a deserter, for he was still clothed in 
 the rags of his engage s shirt and drawers, and had a strip 
 of raw meat hanging from his girdle. Two tame boars 
 and three dogs followed at his heels, and refused to leave 
 him. He at once joined his deliverers, who, freeing him 
 from all obligations to his master, gave him arms, powder, 
 and lead to hunt for himself, and he soon became one of the 
 most renowned Buccaneers on that coast. It was a long 
 time before he could eat roasted meat, which had become 
 not only distasteful, but made him ill. Long after, when flay- 
 ing a wild boar, he was frequently unable to restrain himself 
 from eating the flesh raw. 
 
 When an apprentice had served three years, his master 
 was expected to give him as a reward a musket, a pound of 
 powder, six pounds of lead, two shirts, two pairs of drawers, 
 and a cap. The valets, as the French called them, then be- 
 came comrades, and ceased to be mere engages. They took 
 their own matelots, and became in their turn Buccaneers. 
 When they had obtained a sufficient quantity of hides, they 
 either sent or took them to Tortuga, and brought from 
 thence a young apprentice to treat him as they themselves 
 had been treated. 
 
 The jjlanters' engages led a life more dreadful than that of 
 their wilder brethren. They were decoyed from France 
 under the same pretences that once filled our streets with 
 the peasants' sons of Savoy, and the peasants' daughters 
 from Frankfort, or that now lure Italian children from the 
 pleasant borders of Como, to pine away in a London den. 
 The want of sufficient negroes led men to resort to all 
 
o 
 
 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 artifices to obtain assistance in cultivating the sugar-cane 
 and the tobacco plant. In the French Antilles they were 
 sold for three years, but often resold in the interim. 
 Amongst the English they were bound for seven years, and 
 being occasionally sold again at their own request, before 
 the expiration of this term, they sometimes served fifteen 
 or twenty years before they could obtain their freedom. 
 At Jamaica, if a man could not pay even a small debt at a 
 tavern, he was sold for six or eight months. The planters 
 had agents in France, England, and other countries, wlio sent 
 out these apprentices. They were worked much harder than 
 the slaves, because their lives, after the expiration of the 
 three years were of no consequence to the masters. They 
 were often the victims of a disease called " coma," the effect 
 of hard usage and climate, which ended in idiotcy. Pere 
 Labat remarks the quantity of idiots in the West Indies, 
 many of whom were dangerous, 'although allowed to go at 
 liberty. Many of these worse than slaves were of good 
 birth, tender education, and weak constitutions, unable to 
 endure even the debilitating climate, and much less hard 
 labour. Esquemeling, himself originally an engage, gives a 
 most piteous description of their sufferings. Insufficient 
 food and rest, he says, were the smallest of their sufferings. 
 They were frequently beaten, and often fell dead at their 
 masters' feet. The men thus treated died fast : some be- 
 came dropsical, and others scorbutic. A man named Bet- 
 tesea, a merchant of St. Christopher's, was said to have 
 killed more than a hundred apprentices Avith blows and 
 stripes. " This inhumanity," says Esquemeling, " I have 
 ofte7i seen with great grief" The following anecdote of 
 human suffering equals the cruelty of the Virginian slave- 
 owner, who threw one slave into the vat of boiling molasses, 
 and baked another in an oven : — 
 
 " A certain planter (of St. Domingo) exercised such cruelty 
 towards one of his servants as caused him to run away. 
 Having absconded for some days in the woods, he was at 
 last taken, and brought back to the wicked Pharaoh. No 
 sooner had he got him but he commanded him to be tied 
 to a tree ; here he gave him so many lashes on his naked 
 back as made his body run with an entire stream of blood j 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 31 
 
 then, to make tlie smart of his wounds tlie greater, he 
 anointed him with lemon-juice, mixed with salt and pepper. 
 In this miserable posture he left him tied to the tree for 
 twenty-four hours, which being past, he began his punish- 
 ment again, lashing him as before, so cruelly, that the mise- 
 rable creature gave up the ghost, with these dying words, 
 ' I beseech the Ahnighty God, Creator of heaven and earth, 
 that He permit the wicked spirit to make thee feel as many 
 torments before thy death as thou hast caused me to feel 
 before mine.' 
 
 " A strange thing, and worthy of astonishment and admi- 
 ration : scarce three or four days were past, after this 
 horrible fact, when the Almighty Judge, who had heard the 
 cries of that tormented wretch, suffered the evil one sud- 
 denly to possess this barbarous and inhuman homicide, so 
 that those cruel hands which had punished to. death the 
 innocent servant were the tormentors of his own body, for 
 he beat himself and tore his flesh after a miserable manner, 
 till he lost the very shape of a man, not ceasing to howl and 
 cry without any rest by day or night. Thus he continued 
 raving till he died." 
 
 It was by the endurance of such sufferings as these that 
 the early Buccaneers were hardened into fanatical monsters 
 like Montbars and Lolonnois. 
 
 In the early part of his book, Esquemeling gives us his 
 own history. A Dutchman by birth, he arrived at Tor- 
 tuga, in 1G80, when the French West India Companj^ 
 unable to turn the island into a depot, as they had intended, 
 were selling off their merchandise and their plantations. 
 Esquemeling, as a bound engage of the company, was sold to 
 the lieutenant-governor of the island, who treated him with 
 great severity, and refused to take less than three hundred 
 pieces of eight for his freedom. Falling sick through vexa- 
 tion and despair, he was sold for seventy pieces of eight to a 
 chirurgeon, who proved kind to him, and finally gave him 
 his liberty for a hundred pieces of eight, to be paid after 
 his first Flibustier trip. 
 
 CExmelin was probably sold almost at the same time as 
 Esquemeling, and was bought by the commandant-general. 
 Not allowed to pursue his own profession of a surgeon, he 
 
32 jrAXNERS OP THE HUNTERS. 
 
 was employed in the most laborious and painful work, 
 transplanting tobacco, oi' thinning the young plants, grating 
 cassava, or pressing the juice from the banana. Overworked 
 and under-fed, associating with slaves, and regarded with 
 hatred and suspicion, he scarcely received money enough to 
 procure either food or clothing ; his malicious master refus- 
 ing, even for the inducement of two crowns a day, to allow 
 him to practise as a physician. A single year of toil at the 
 plantations threw him into dangerous ill health ; for weeks 
 sheltered only under an outhouse, he was only kept alive by 
 the kindness of a black slave, who brought him daily an 
 egg. Feeble as he was, the great thirst of a tropical fever 
 compelled him often to rise and drag himself to a neigh- 
 bouring tank, that he might drink, even though to drink 
 were to die. Recovering from this fever, a wolfish hunger 
 was the first sign of convalescence, but to appease this he 
 had neither food, nor money to buy it. In this condition 
 he devoured even unripe oranges, green, hard, and bitter, 
 and resorted to other extremities which he is ashamed to 
 confess. On one occasion as he was descending: from the 
 rock fort, where his master lived, into the town, he met a 
 friend, the secretary of the governor, who made him come 
 and dine with him, and gave him a parting present of a 
 bottle of wine ; his master, who had seen what had passed, 
 by means of a telescope, from his place of vantage, when he 
 returned, took away the wine, and threw him into a dun- 
 geon, accusing him of being a spy and a traitor. This 
 prison was a cellar, hollowed out of the rock, full of filth 
 and very dark. In this he swore CExmelin should rot in 
 spite of all the governors in the world. Here he was kept 
 for three days, his feet in irons, fed only by a little bread 
 and water that they passed to him through an aperture, 
 without even opening the door. One day, as he lay naked 
 on the stone, and in the dark, he felt a snake twine itself, 
 cold and slimy, round his body, tightening the folds till 
 they grew painful, and then sliding off to its hole. On the 
 fourth day they o})ened the door and tried to discover if he 
 had told the governor anything of his master's cruelties ; 
 they then set him to dig a plot of ground near the fort. 
 Finding himself left uiiguarded, lit? resolved to go and com- 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 33 
 
 plain to the governor, having jBrst consulted a good old 
 Capuchin, who took compassion on his pale and famished 
 aspect. The governor instantly took pity on the wretched 
 runaway, fed and clothed him, and on his recovery to health 
 placed him with a celebrated surgeon of the place, who paid 
 his value to his master : the opovernor beinnf unwillinof to 
 take him into his own service^ for fear he should be accused 
 to the home authorities of taking away slaves from the 
 planters. 
 
 The engages were called to their work at daybreak by a 
 shrill whistle (as the negroes are now by the hoarse conch 
 shell) ; and the foreman, allowing any one who liked to 
 smoke, led them to their w^ork. This consisted in fellins: 
 trees and in picking or lopping tobacco ; the driver stood 
 by them as they dug or picked, and struck those who 
 slackened or rested, as a captain would do to his galley 
 slaves. Whether sick or well they were equally obliged to 
 work. They were frequently employed in picking mahot, a 
 sort of bass bark used to tie up bales. If they died of 
 fatigue they were quietly buried, and there an end. Early 
 in the morning one of the band had to feed the pigs with 
 potato leaves, and prepare his comrades' dinner. They 
 boiled their meat, putting peas and chopped potatoes into 
 the water. The cook worked with the gang, but returned 
 a little sooner to prepare his messmates' dinner, while they 
 were stripping the tobacco stalk. On feast-days and Sun- 
 days they had some indulgences. (Exmelin relates an 
 instance of a sick slave being employed to turn a grindstone 
 on which his master was sharpening his axe ; being too weak 
 to do it well, the butcher turned round and clove him down 
 between the shoulders. The slave fell down, bleeding pro- 
 fusely, and died within two hours ; yet this master was one 
 of a body of planters deemed very indulgent in comparison 
 to those of some other islands. One planter of St. Christo- 
 pher, named Belle Tete, who came from Dieppe, prided 
 himself on having killed two hundred engages who would 
 not work, all of whom, he declared, died of sheer laziness. 
 When they were in the last extremities he was in the habit 
 of rubbing their mouths with the yolk of an egg, in order 
 that he might conscientiously swear he had pressed them. 
 
 D 
 
34 MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 to take food till the very last. Upon a priest one day- 
 remonstrating with him on his brutality, he replied, with 
 jiertect effrontery, that he had once been a bound engage, 
 and had never been treated better ; that he had come all 
 the way to that shore to get money, and provided he 
 could get it and see his children roll in a coach, he did not 
 care himselt if the devil drove him offl 
 
 The following anecdote shows what strange modifications 
 of crime this species of slavery might occasionally produce. 
 There was a rich inhabitant of Guadaloupe, whose father 
 became so poor that he was obliged to sell himself as an 
 engage, and, by a singular coincidence, sold hiuiself to a 
 merchant who happened to be his son's agent. The poor 
 fellow, finding himself his son's servant, thought himself 
 well off, but soon found that he was treated as brutally as 
 the rest. The son, finding the father was old and discon- 
 tented, and therefore unable to do much work, and afraid to 
 beat him, for the sake of the scandal, sold him soon after to 
 another planter, who treated him better, gave him more to eat, 
 and eventually restored him to liberty. Of the ten thou- 
 sand Scotch and Irish whom Cromwell sent to the West 
 Indies, many became engages, and finally Buccaneers. Many 
 of the old Puritan soldiers, who had served in the same wars, 
 ■were enrolled in the same ranks. 
 
 The same principle of brotherhood applied to the planters as 
 to the ordinary Buccaneers. They called each other matelots, 
 and, before living together, signed a contract by which they 
 agreed to share everything in common. Each had the 
 power to dispose of his companion's money and goods, and 
 an agreement signed by one bound the otlier also. If the 
 one died, the survivor became the inheritor of the whole, 
 in preference even to heirs who might come from EurojDe to 
 claim the share or attempt to set up a claim. The engage- 
 ment could be broken up whenever either wished it, and 
 was often cancelled in a moment of petulance or of transi- 
 tory vexation. A third person was sometimes admitted 
 into the brotherhood on the same conditions. By this sin- 
 gular custom, friendshijis were formed as firm as those 
 between a Highlander and his foster-brother, a Canadian 
 
MANNERS OF THE HUNTERS. 35 
 
 trapper and his comrade, or an English sailor and his 
 messmate. 
 
 The matelotage, or comiongnon a Ion lot, being thus 
 formed, the two planters would go the governor of the 
 island and request a grant of land. The officer of the 
 district was then sent to measure out what they required, 
 of a specified size in a specified spot. The usual grant was 
 a plot two hundred feet wide and thirty feet long, as near 
 as possible to the sea-shore, as being most convenient for 
 the transport of goods, as well as for the ease of procuring 
 salt water, which they used in preparing the tobacco leaf. 
 When the sea-shore was covered with cabins, the planters 
 built their huts higher up and four deep, those nearest to 
 the beach being obliged to allow a roadway to those who 
 were the furthest back. Their lodges, or ajoupas, were 
 raised upon ground cleared from wood, the thicket being 
 first burnt, with the lower branches of the larger trees. 
 The trunks, too large to remove, were cut down to within 
 two or three feet of the earth, allowed to dry and rot for 
 several summers, and finally also consumed by fire. The 
 savages, on the other hand, cut down all the trees, let them 
 dry as they fell, and then, setting the whole alight, reduced 
 it at once to ashes, without any clearing, lopping, or piling. 
 When about thirty or forty feet of ground was thus cleared, 
 they began to plant vegetables and cultivate the ground — 
 peas, potatoes, manioc, banana, and figs being the daily 
 necessaries of their lives. The banana they planted near 
 water, no planter residing in a place where there was not 
 some well or spring. Their 'casa, or chief lodge, was sup- 
 ported by posts fifteen or sixteen feet high, thatched with 
 palm branches, rushes, or sugar-canes, and walled either with 
 reeds or palisades. Inside, they had barbecues, or benches 
 rising two or three feet from the ground, iTpon which lay 
 their mattresses stufied with banana leaves, and above it the 
 mosquito net of thin white linen, which they called a 
 pavilion. A smaller lodge served for cooking or for ware- 
 housing. Friends and neighbours always assisted in building 
 these cabins, and were treated in return with brandy by the 
 planter. The laws of the society obliged the settlers to help 
 each other, and this kindness was never refused. The same 
 
 D 2 
 
36 MANNEp^S OF THE HUNTERS. 
 
 system of mutnal support originated the Scotch penny wed- 
 dings and the friendly English custom of ploughing a young 
 farmer's fields. 
 
 Now the ajoiipa was built, the tobacco ground had to be 
 dug. An enclosure of two thousand plants required much 
 care, and was obliged to be kept clean and free from weeds. 
 They had to be lopped, and transplanted, and irrigated, and 
 finally picked and stored. The people of Tortuga, the Buc- 
 caneers' Island, exchanged their tobacco with the French 
 merchants for hatchets, hoes, knives, sacking, and above all 
 for wine and brandy. 
 
 From potatoes, which the planters ate for breakfast, they 
 extracted maize, a sour but pleasant beverage. The cassava 
 root they grated for cakes, making a liquor called veycon of 
 the residue. From the banana they also extracted an 
 intoxicating drink. 
 
 With the mid boar hunters they exchanged tobacco leaf 
 for dried meat, often paying away at one time two or three 
 hundredweight of tobacco, and frequently sending a servant 
 of their own to the savannahs to help the hunter and to 
 supply him with powder and shot. 
 
HISTORY OF TORTLTGA. 37 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 
 HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 Tlie precursors of the Buccaneers — Description of Tortuga — Origin of 
 the Buccaneers — Conquest of Tortuga by the French — The hunters,, 
 planters, and corsairs — Le Basque takes Ma^racaibo — War in His- 
 paniola — French West Indian Company buy Tortuga — The Governor, 
 M. D'Ogeron. 
 
 Drake, Cavendisli, Oxenhain, and the other naval heroes of 
 Elizabeth's reign, were the precursors of the Buccaneers. 
 The captains of those '•' tall ships " that sailed from Plymouth 
 Sound, and the green nooks of the sunny coast of Devon, to 
 capture stately carracks laden deep with silks, spices, pearls, 
 and precious stones, the treasure of Potosi and Peru, were 
 but Buccaneers under another name, agreeing with them in 
 the great principle of making war on none but Spaniards, 
 but on Spaniards unceasingly. "■ No peace beyond the line " 
 was the motto on the flag of both Drake and Morgan. 
 
 Sir John Hawkins, who began the slave trade, and who 
 w^as Drake's earliest patron, took the town of Bio de la 
 Hacha, and struggled desperately with the galleons in the 
 port of St. Juan d'Ulloa. Drake sacked Nombre de Dios, 
 and, passing across the isthmus, stormed Vera Cruz. He 
 destroyed St. Domingo and Carthagena, burnt La Rancheria, 
 and attacked Porto Rico. But still more truly a Buccaneer 
 was John Oxenham, one of Drake's followers, who, cruising 
 about Panama, captured several bullion vessels ; but was at 
 last slain, with all his men, having fallen in love with a 
 Spanish captive, and liberated her son, who surprised him 
 with reinforcements from Nombre de Dios. Then came 
 Raleigh, more chivalrous than them all — looser in principle, 
 but wiser in head. He planned an attack on Panama, and 
 ravaged St. Thomas's. 
 
 The first Buccaneers were poor French hunters, who, 
 
38 HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 clriveu by the Spaniards out of Hispaniola, fled to tlie neigh- 
 bouring rocky island of Tortuga, and there settled as 
 )l^ters. 
 
 This Buccaneer colony of Tortuga arose rather by accident 
 than by the design of any one ambitious mind. The French 
 ihad established a colony in the almost deserted island of 
 \St. Christopher's, which had begun to flourish, when the 
 Spaniards, alarmed at a hostile j)ower's vicinity to their 
 mines, to which their thoughts then alone tended, put a 
 stop to the prosperity of the French settlements by the fre- 
 quent attacks made by their fleets on their way to New 
 Spain. From the just hatred excited by these unprovoked 
 forays sprang the first impulse of retaliation. These injuries 
 provoked the French, as tliey had done the Dutch, to fi^t 
 out privateers. But a still more j^owerful motive soon be- 
 came paramount. A spirit of cupidity arose, which was 
 stimulated by the heated imaginations of men poor and 
 angry. Before them lay regions of gold, timidly guarded 
 by a vindictive but feeble enemy ; and Spain became to 
 these pioneer settlers what a bedridden miser is to the 
 dreams of a needy bravo. 
 
 The report of the Dutch successes spread through all the 
 ports of France. Sailors wei'e the ready bearers of wild 
 tales they had themselves half invented. Some hardy ad- 
 venturers of Dieppe fitted out vessels to carry on a warfare 
 that retaliation had now rendered just, war made legal, and 
 chance rendered profitable. The sailor who was to-day 
 munching his onion on tlie quays of Marseilles raig^ht, a lew 
 weeks hence, be lord of Carthagena, or rolling in the trea- 
 sures of a Manilla galleon, clothed in eastern silks, and 
 delighted with the perfumes of India. Finding their enter- 
 prise successful, but St. Kitt's too distant to form a con- 
 venient depot for their booty, they began to look about for 
 some nearer locality. At first they found their return 
 voyages to the West Indian islands frequently occu})y three 
 months, which seemed years to men huriying to store up 
 old plunder, and to sally forth for new. In search of an 
 asylum, these privateersmen, therefore, touched at Hispa- 
 niola, hoj)ing to find some lonely island near its shores ; but 
 as soon as they had landed, and saw the great forests full of 
 
HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 39 
 
 game, and broad savannahs alive with wild cattle, the 
 Spaniards gone, and the Indians nearly all dead or emigrated, 
 they determined to settle at a place so full of advantages, 
 where they could re victual their ships, and remain secure 
 and unobserved. The sight of Tortuga, a small neighbouring 
 island, rocky, and yet not without a harbour, soon convinced 
 them that nature had constructed for their growing emjjire 
 at once a magazine, a citadel, and a fortress. They had 
 now a sanctuary and a haven, a shelter for their booty and 
 food for their men. 
 
 The Spaniards, although not occupying the island, were 
 anxious that it should not be occupied by others. They 
 had lonjj had a forebodino- that this island would become a 
 resort for pirates, and had just garrisoned it with an alfarez 
 and twenty-five men. The French had, however, little 
 difficulty in getting rid of this small force, the Castilian 
 soldiers being enraged at finding tliemselves left by their 
 countrymen, without provisions or reinforcements, upon a 
 barren, insulated rock. 
 
 Once masters of the heap of stones, the French began to 
 deliberate by what means they could retain it. The sight 
 of buildings already begun, and the prospect of more food 
 than they could get at St. Christopher's, determined these 
 restless men to at once settle on the spot they had won. 
 Part of them returned to Hispaniola to kill oxen and boars, 
 and to salt the flesh for those who would remain to plant ; 
 and others, men who determined to build, assured those who 
 wished to turn sailors, that stores of dry meat should 
 always be ready to revictual their ships. 
 
 The adventurers, having a nucleus for their operations, 
 widened their operations. They became now divided into 
 three distinct classes, always intermingling, and never very 
 definitely divided, but still for the main part separate : the 
 searovey^s, or flibustiers ; the -planters, or habitans ; and the 
 hunters, or buccaneers. For the first class, there Avere many 
 names : the English, following an Indian word, called them 
 Buccaneers ; the Dutch denominated them Zee Roovers ; 
 and the French, Flibustiers, or Aventuriers. A fourth 
 class, growing by degrees either into the Buccaneers or the 
 planters, were the apprentices, or engages. 
 
40 HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 These few Frencli planters could not, however, have re- 
 tained the island, had not their numbers been swelled by 
 the addition of many English. In a short time, French 
 vessels touched at the island, to trade for the booty that 
 now arrived more frequently, unintermittingly, and in 
 greater quantities. The trade grew less speculative and 
 uncertain. Frencli captains found it profitable to barter 
 not only for hides and meat with the Buccaneers, but with 
 the Flibustiers for silver-plate and pieces of eight. The 
 high ])rices paid for wine and brandy soon rendered the 
 commerce with Bordeaux a matter worthy even the atten- 
 tion of the French government. In a few days of Buccaneer 
 excess more was spent in barter than could have been 
 realized in months of average traffic with the more cautious. 
 
 The Spaniards, fully alive to the danger of this planter 
 settlement, determined to destroy it at a single blow. The 
 design was easy of accomplishment, for the Buccaneers, 
 grown careless from long impunity, had long since crowned 
 themselves undisputed kings of Hispaniola and its depen- 
 dencies. Taking advantage of a time when the English 
 corsairs were at sea, and the French Buccaneers hunting 
 on the mainland, the Spanish general of the Indian fleet 
 landed with a handful of soldiers, and retook the island 
 in an hour. The few planters were overpowered before 
 they could run together, — the hunters before they could 
 seize their arms. Some were at once put to the sword, 
 and others hung on the nearest trees. The larger portion, 
 however, taking advantage of well-known lurking j^laces, 
 waited for the friendly night, and then escaped to the 
 mainland in their canoes. The Spaniards, satisfied with 
 the terror they had struck, left the island ungarrisoned, 
 and returned exultingly to St. Domingo. Hearing, liow- 
 ever, that there were a great many Buccaneers still settled 
 as hunters in Hispaniola, and that the wild cattle were 
 diminishing by their ravages, the general levied some troops 
 to put them down. To these men, who were known as 
 the Spanish Fijties, we have already adverted. 
 
 The S{)anish fleet was scarcely well out of sight before the 
 Buccaneers, angry but unintimidated, flocked back to their 
 now desolated island, full of rage at the sight of the bodies 
 
HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 41 
 
 of their companions and the ashes of their ruined houses. 
 The English returned headed by a Buccaneer named Willis, 
 who gave an English character to the new colony. The 
 French adventurers, jealous of English interference, and 
 fearful that the island would fall into the possession of Eng- 
 land, left Tortuga, and, going to St. Christopher's, informed 
 the governor, the Chevalier de Poncy, of the ease with 
 which it could be conquered. De Poncy, alive to the scheme 
 and jealous for French honour, fitted out an expedition, and 
 intrusted the command to M. Le Yasseur, a brave soldier 
 and good engineer, just arrived from France, who levied a 
 force of forty French Protestants, agreed to conquer the 
 island for De Poncy and to govern in his name, as well as to 
 pay half the expenses of the conquest. In a few days he 
 dropped anchor in Port Margot, on the north side of Plis- 
 paniola, about seven leagues from Tortuga. He instantly 
 collected a force of forty French Buccaneers from the woods 
 and the savannahs, and, having arranged his plans, made a 
 descent upon the island in the month of April, 1640. As 
 soon as he had landed, he sent a message to the English 
 governor to say that he had come to avenge the insults re- 
 ceived by the French flag, and to warn him that if he did 
 not leave the island with all those of his nation in twenty- 
 four hours, he should lay waste every plantation with fire 
 and sword. The English, feeling their position untenable, 
 instantly embarked in a vessel lying in the road, without (as 
 CExmelin, a French writer, says) striking a blow in self-de- 
 fence. The French population of the island then, rising in 
 arms, welcomed the invaders as friends. 
 
 Le Vasseur, the bloodless conqueror of this new Barataria, 
 was received with shouts and acclamations. He at once 
 visited every nook of the island that needed defence, and 
 prepared to insui'e it against reconquest either by the Span- 
 iards or the English. He found it scarped and inaccessible 
 on three sides ; and built a fort, on a peak of impregnable 
 rock, rising 600 feet above the narrow path which it com- 
 manded. The summit of this rock was about thirty feet 
 square, and could only be ascended by steps cut in the stone 
 or by a movable iron ladder. The fort held four guns. A 
 spring of water completed the advantages of the spot, which 
 
42 HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 was surrounded with walls and fenced in with hedges, woods, 
 precipices, and every aid that art or nature could furnish. 
 The only approach to this steep was a narrow avenue, up 
 which no more than three men could march abreast. 
 
 The French Buccaneers now flocked to Tortuija in greater 
 numbers than before, some to congratulate the new governor 
 on his victory, and others to enrol themselves as his sub- 
 jects : all who came he received with promises of support 
 and protection. The Spaniards, in the mean while, deter- 
 mining to crush this wasps' nest, fitted out at St, Domingo 
 a new armament of six vessels, having on board 500 or 600 
 men. They at first anchored before the fort, but, receiving 
 a rough volley, moored two leagues lower down, and landed 
 their troops. In attempting to storm the fort by a coup de 
 viain, they were beaten off with the loss of 200 men, the 
 garrison sallying out and driving them back to their ships. 
 
 The now doubly victorious governor was hailed as the de- 
 fender and saviour of Tortuga. The news of victory soon 
 reached the ears of M. de Poncy, at St. Christopher's, who, 
 at first rejoicing at the success, soon became afraid of the 
 ambition ot his new ally. Fearing that he would repudiate 
 the contract, and declare himself an independent sovereign, 
 he took the precaution of testing his sincerity. He sent two 
 of his relations to Tortuga to request land as settlers, but 
 really to act as spies. Le Vasseur, subtle and penetrating, 
 at once detected their object. He received the young men 
 with great civility, but took care to secure their speedy re- 
 turn to St. Christopher's. Having now attained the summit 
 of his wishes, he became, as many greater men have been, 
 intoxicated with power. His temper changed, and he grew 
 severe, suspicious, intolerant, and despotic. He not only 
 bound his subjects in chains, but delighted to clank the 
 fetters, and remind them of their slavery. He ill-used the 
 planters, loaded the merchants with taxes, punished the most 
 venial faults, and grew as much hated as he had been once 
 beloved. He went so far in his tyranny as to forbid the 
 exercise of the Catholic reliijion, to burn the churches and 
 expel the priests. The murder of such a ])ersecutor has al- 
 ways been held a sin easily forgiven by the confessor, and 
 lust and superstition soon gave birth to murder. 
 
HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 43 
 
 Charlevoix relates an amnsing instance of the governor's 
 contumacy. De Poncy, informed that Le Vasseur's vessels 
 had taken a silver idol (a Virgin Mary) from some Spanish 
 cathedral, wrote to demand its surrender. Le Yasseur re- 
 turned a wooden image by the messenger, desiring him to 
 say that, for religious purposes, wood or silver was equally 
 good. One of his most cruel inventions Le Vasseur called 
 his " hell." It seems to have resembled the portable iron 
 cages in which Louis XL used to confine his state prisoners. 
 
 M. de Poncy, informed of the change in the character of 
 Le Vasseur, endeavoured to beguile him by promises, threats, 
 and entreaties. Justice gave him now a pretext of enforcing 
 what self-interest had long meditated. The toils were grow- 
 ing closer round the doomed man, but Heaven sent a speedier 
 j)unishment. Le Vasseur, still waiving all openings for 
 formal complaint, was exulting in all the glory of a small 
 satrapy, when two nephews conspired against his life. 
 Cupidity inspired the crime, and they easily j)ersuaded them- 
 selves that God and man alike demanded the expiation. One 
 w^riter calls them simply captains, " companions of fortune," 
 and another, the nephews of Le Vasseur. 
 
 These ungrateful men had already been declared his heirs, 
 but they had quarrelled with him about a mistress he had 
 taken from them ; one fault in a triend ol)literates the 
 remembrance of many virtues. They believed that the 
 inhabitants, rejoiced at deliverance from such tyranny, would 
 appoint them joint governors in the first outburst of their 
 gratitude. They shot him from an ambush as he was de- 
 scending from the rock fort to the shore, but, only wounding 
 him slightly, were obliged to complete the murder with a 
 poniard. The wounded man called for a priest, and de- 
 clared himselt, with his last breath, a steadfast Catholic. Lie 
 seems to have been a dark, wily man, of strong j^assions, 
 tenacious narrow ambition, and ungovernable will. 
 
 While this crime was perpetrating, De Poncy, determined 
 to recover possession of at least his share of Tortuga, and 
 weary and angry at the subterfuges of Le Vasseur, had re- 
 solved upon a new expedition. The leader was a Chevalier 
 de Fontenoy, a soldier of fortune, who, attracted by the 
 sparkle of Spanish gold, had just arrived at St. Kitt's in a 
 
44 HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 French frigate. Full of chivalry, he at once proposed to 
 sail, although informed that the place was impregnable, and 
 could only be taken by stratagem. While the armament 
 was fitting up, he made a cruise round Carthagena, on the 
 look out for Spanish prizes, and joined M. Feral, a nephew 
 of the general, at Port de Paix, a rendezvous twelve leagues 
 from Tortuga. Informed there of the murder of Le Vasseur, 
 he at once sailed for the harbour, and landed 500 men at 
 the spot where the Spaniards had formerly been repulsed. 
 The two murderers immediately capitulated, on condition of 
 being allowed to depart with all their uncle's treasure. The 
 chevalier was proclaimed governor, and received with as 
 many acclamations as Le Yasseur had been before him. 
 The old religion was restored, and commerce patronized and 
 protected, by royal edict. Two bastions were added to the 
 fort, and more guns mounted. The Buccaneers crowded 
 back in greater numbers than even on Le Vasseur's arrival. 
 Before, they had only imagined the advantages of this con- 
 quest, but now they had tasted them. The chevalier hailed 
 all Buccaneers as friends and brothers, and even himself 
 fitted out privateers. The Spanish ships could now scarcely 
 venture out of port, and one mercliant alone is known to 
 have lost 300,000 crowns' worth of merchandise in a single 
 year. 
 
 It is easier to conquer than to retain a conquest, and 
 vigilance grows blunted by success. The chevalier, too 
 confident in his strength, allowed half his population to 
 embark in cruisers. The sick, the aged, the maimed, were 
 left alone to labour in the plantations with the slaves. The 
 Spaniards, informed of this, landed in force, without resis- 
 tance. The few Buccaneers crowded into the fort, which 
 the enemy dared not approach. Discovering, however, a 
 mountain that commanded the rock, precipitous but still 
 accessible, they determined to plant a battery upon it, and 
 drive the Buccaneers from their last foothold. With infinite, 
 vigour and determination they hewed a road to the moun- 
 tain between two rocks. Making rough frames of wood, 
 they lashed their cannons upon them, and forced the slaves 
 and prisoners to drag them to the summit, and, with a bat- 
 tery of four guns, suddenly opened fire upon the unguarded 
 
HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 45 
 
 fort. The clievalier, not expecting this enterprise, had just 
 deprived himself of his last defence, by cutting down the 
 large trees that grew round the walls. In spite of all the 
 threats and expostulations of the governor, the garrison, 
 galled by this plunging fire, at once capitulated. They left 
 the island in twenty-four hours, with arras and baggage, 
 drums beating, colours flying, and match burning, and set 
 sail in two half-scuttled vessels lying in the road, having 
 first given hostages not to serve against Spain for a given 
 time. In another vessel, but alone, set sail the two mur- 
 derers, who, being short of food, consummated their crimes 
 by leaving the women and children of their company on a 
 desert island. 
 
 The Spanish general, repairing the fort, garrisoned it with 
 sixty men, whom he supplied with provisions. Fontenoy, 
 repulsed in an attempt to recover the island, soon afterwards 
 returned to France. 
 
 In 1655, when Admiral Penn appeared off St. Domingo 
 with Cromwell's fleet, the Spaniards, to increase their forces 
 ill Hispaniola, recalled the troop which had held Tortuga 
 eighteen months — the commander first blowing up the fort, 
 burning the church, the houses, and the magazines, and 
 devastating the plantations. Not long afterwards, an 
 English refugee of v»^ealth, Elias Ward (or, as the French 
 call him, Elyazoudrd), came from Jamaica, with his family 
 and a dozen soldiers, to settle there, and with an English 
 commission from the general, and was soon joined by about 
 120 French and English adventurers. 
 
 The treaty of the Pyrenees, in 1659, brought no repose to 
 the hunters of Hispaniola from Spanish inroads. The 
 planters were compelled to work armed, and to keep watch 
 at night for fear of being murdered in their beds. In 1667 
 the war, recommencing, let the bloodhounds, who had long 
 been straining in the leash, free to raven and devour. De 
 Lisle again plundered St. Jago, and obtained 2,500 piastres 
 ransom ; each of his adventurers secured 300 crowns, the 
 Spaniards abandoning the defiles and carrying oflf their trea- 
 sure to Conception. 
 
 This was the golden age of Buccaneering. Yauclin, 
 Ovinet, and Tributor plundered the towns of Cumana, 
 
46 HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 Coro, St. Martha, and Nicaragua. Le Basque, with only 
 forty men, surprised Maracaibo by night. He seized tlie 
 principal inhabitants, shut them in the cathedral, and 
 threatened to instantly cut off their heads if their fellow- 
 citizens ventured to rise in arms. Daylight discovering his 
 feeble force, he could obtain no ransom. The Flibustiers 
 then retreated, each man driving a prisoner before him, a 
 pistol slung in one hand and a naked sabre raised over the 
 Spaniard's head in the other. These hostages were detained 
 twenty-four hours, and released at the moment the French 
 departed. This is the same Le Basque whom Charlevoix 
 describes as cutting out the Margaret from under the cannon 
 of Portobello, and winning a million piastres. At another 
 time, they retreated laden with booty, carrying with them 
 the governor and the j^rinci^^al citizens of St. Jago ; but the 
 Spaniards, rallying, placed themselves, 1,000 in number, in 
 in an ambuscade by the way, trusting to their numbers and 
 expecting an easy victory. The French, aiming well, 
 scarcely missed a shot, in a short time killed 100 of the 
 enemy's men, and, wounding a great many more, drove them 
 off after two hours' fighting. The i)lanters rallied and 
 returned in a short time, determined to conquer or die; 
 but the French, showing the prisoners, declared that if a 
 shot was fired by the enemy they would kill them before 
 their eyes, and would then sell their own lives dearly. This 
 menace frightened the Spaniards, and the Flibustiers con- 
 tinued their retreat unmolested. Having waited some 
 time in vain on the coast for the ransom, thev left the 
 prisoners behind unhurt, and returned gaily to Tortuga. 
 
 In 1663, Spain, finding that France in secret encouraged 
 the Buccaneers of Hispaniola, gave orders to exterminate 
 every Frenchman in the island, promising recompense to 
 those who distinguished themselves in the war. An old 
 Flemish officer, named Vandelinof, who had served with 
 distinction in the Low Country wars, took the command. His 
 first stratagem was to attemj)t to surprise the chief French 
 boucan, at Gonaive, on the Brul6 Savannah, with 800 men. 
 The hunters, observing them, gave the alarm, and collecting 
 100 "brothers," advanced to meet them in a defile where the 
 Spanish numbers were of no avail. The old Fleming was 
 
 ,1 
 
HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 47 
 
 killed at the first volley, and after an obstinate struggle the 
 Spaniards fled to the mountains. 
 
 The enemy, after this defeat, returned to their old and 
 safer plan of night surprises — which frequently succeeded, 
 owing to the negligent watch kept by the Buccaneers. The 
 hunters, much harassed by the constant sense of insecurity, 
 began to retire every night to the small islands round St. 
 Domingo, and seldom went alone to the chase. Some 
 boucans, such as those at the port of Samana, grew rapidly 
 into towns. Near this excellent harbour the cattle were 
 unusually abundant, and in a few hours the Flibustier 
 could carry his hides to his market at Tortuga. Gradually 
 French and Dutch vessels began to visit the port to buy 
 hides and to trade. 
 
 Every morning before starting to the savaunali, the 
 hunters climbed the highest hill to see if any Spaniards 
 were visible. They then agreed on a rendezvous for the 
 evening, arriving there always to the moment. If any one 
 was missin<? he was at once known to be taken or killed, 
 and none were permitted to return home till their comrade's 
 death had been avenged. One evening the hunters of 
 Samana, missing four of the band, marched towards St. 
 Jago, and, discovering from some prisoners that their com- 
 panions had been massacred, entered a Spanish village and 
 slew every one they met. 
 
 The Spaniards too had sometimes their revenge. " The 
 River of Massacre," near Samana, was so called from thirty 
 Buccaneers who were slain there while fording the river laden 
 with hides. Another band of hunters, led by Charles Tore, 
 had been hunting at a place called the Bois-Brule Savannah, 
 and having completed the number of skins the merchants had 
 contracted for, returned to Samana. Crossing a savannah, 
 they were surprised by an overwhelming force of Spaniards, 
 and, in spite of a desperate resistance, slain to a man. The 
 Buccaneers, irritated by these losses, began to think of 
 revenge. When the Spaniards destroyed the wild cattle, 
 some turned planters about Port de Paix, and others became 
 Flibustiers. 
 
 The death of De Poncy threw the French colonies into 
 some disorder, and Tortuga was for a while forgotten both 
 
48 HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 by the home and colonial government. During this interval 
 a gentleman of Perigord, named E-ossy, a retired Buccaneer, 
 resolved to resume his old profession. Returning to St. 
 Domingo, he was hailed as a father by the hunters, who 
 proposed to him to recover Tortuga. Rossy, knowing that 
 fidelity is the last virtue that forsakes the heart, accejjted 
 their proposal with the enthusiasm of a gambler accustomed 
 to such desperate casts, and was soon joined by 500 refugees, 
 burning for conquest and revenge. They assembled in 
 canoes at a rendezvous in Hispaniola, and agreed to land 
 100 men on the north side of the island and surprise the 
 mountain fort. The Spaniards in the town, not even 
 entrenched, were soon beaten into the lines. The garrison 
 of the rock were rather astonished to be awoke at break of 
 day by a salute from the neighbouring mountain, when they 
 could see the enemy still quietly encamped below. Sallying 
 out, they could discern no opponents, but before they could 
 regain the fort were all cut to pieces or made prisoners. 
 The survivors were at once thrust into a boat and sent to 
 Cuba, and Rossy declared governor. He soon after received 
 a commission from the French king, together with permis- 
 sion to levy a tax, for the support of his dignity, of a tenth 
 of all prizes brought into Tortuga. Rossy governed quietly 
 for some years, and eventually retired to his native country 
 to die, and La Place, his nephew, reigned in his stead. 
 
 In 1664, the French West India Company became 
 masters of Tortuga and the Antilles, and appointed 
 M. D'Ogeron, a gentleman of Anjou who had failed in 
 commerce, as their governor. He proved a good adminis- 
 trator, and built magazines and storehouses for his grateful 
 and attached people. D'Ogeron soon established order and 
 prosperity in the island, which became a refuge for the red 
 flag and the terror of the Spaniards. He colonized all the 
 north side of Hispaniola, from Port Margot, where he had a 
 house, to the three rivers opposite Tortuga. He attracted 
 colonists from the Antilles, and brought over women from 
 France, in order to settle his nomade and mutinous popula- 
 tion. In 1661, the West India Comjiany, dissatisfied with 
 the profits of their merchandize resolved to relinquish the 
 colony and call in their debts ; and it was in the }it. JoJiii, 
 
HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 49 
 
 sent out for this purpose, that the Buccaneer historian 
 QExmelin, whom we shall have frequently to quote, first 
 visited Tortuga. D'Ogeron, determined not to relinquish a 
 settlement already beginning to flourish, hastened to France, 
 and persuaded some private merchants to continue the 
 trade. They promised to fit out twelve vessels annually, if 
 he would supply them with back freight. He, on his part, 
 agreed to provide the colonists with slaves and to destroy 
 the wild dogs, which were committing great ravages among 
 the herds of Hispaniola. This new company did not answer. 
 The inhabitants suffered by the monopoly, and grew discon- 
 tented at only being allowed to trade with certain vessels, 
 and being obliged to turn their backs on better bargains 
 or cheaper merchandize. An accident lit the train. 
 M. D'Ogeron attempted to prevent their trading with some 
 Dutch merchants, and they rose in arms. Shots were fired 
 at the governor, and the revolters threatened to burn out 
 the planters who would not join their flag. But succours 
 from the Antilles soon brought them to their senses, and, 
 one of their ringleaders being hung, they surrendered at 
 discretion. The governor, alarmed even at an outbreak that 
 he had checked, made in his turn concessions. He permitted 
 all French merchants to trade upon jDaying a heavy harbour 
 due, and the number of ships soon became too numerous 
 for the limited commerce of the place. M. D'Ogeron next 
 procured colonists from Brittany and Anjou, and eventually, 
 after some further exploits, very daring but always unfor- 
 tunate, he was succeeded in command by his nephew M. 
 De Poncy. 
 
 There are several Tortugas. There is one in the Carib- 
 bean sea, another near the coast of Honduras, a third not 
 far from Carthagena, and a fourth in the gulf of California ; 
 they all derived their names from their oval shape, resem- 
 bling the turtle which throng in these seas. 
 
 The Buccaneer fastness with which we have to do is the 
 Tortuga of the North Atlantic Ocean, a small rocky island 
 about GO leagues only in circumference, and distant barely 
 six miles from the north coast of Hispaniola. This Tortuga 
 was to the refugee hunters of the savannahs what New 
 Providence became to the pirates, and the Galapagos 
 
 £ 
 
50 HISTOrvY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 islands to the South Sea adventurers of half a century later. 
 It had only one port, the entrance to which formed two 
 channels : on two sides it was iron-bound, and on the other 
 defended by reefs and shoals, less threatening than the cliffs, 
 but not less dangerous. Though scantily supplied with 
 spring water — a defect which the natives balanced by 
 a free use of "the water of life" — the interior was very 
 fertile and well wooded. Palm and sandal wood trees grew 
 in profusion ; sugar, tobacco, aloes, resin, China-root, indigo, 
 cotton, and all sorts of tropical plants were the riches 
 of the planters. The cultivators were already receiving 
 gifts from the earth, which — liberal benefactor — she gave 
 without expecting a return, for the virgin soil needed little 
 seed, care, or nourishment. Tlie island was too small for 
 savannahs, but the tangled brushwood abounded in wild 
 boars. 
 
 The harbour had a fine sand bottom, was well sheltered 
 from the winds, and was walled in by the Coste de Fer 
 rocks. Kound the habitable part of the shore stretched 
 yellow sands, so that it could not be approached but by 
 boats. The town consisted of only a few stoi-e-houses and 
 wine shops, and was called the Basse Terre. To supply the 
 want of springs, the planters collected the rain water 
 in tanks. The soil of the island was alternately sand and 
 clay, and from the latter they made excellent pottery. The 
 mountains, though rocky, and scarcely covered with soil, 
 were shaded with trees of great size and beauty, the roots of 
 which clung like air plants to the bare rock, and, netting 
 them round, struck here and there deeper anchors into the 
 wider crevices. This timber was so dry and tough that, if 
 it was cut and exposed to the heat of the sun, it would 
 split with a loud noise, and could therefore only be used as 
 fuel. 
 
 The favoured island boasted all the fruits of the Antilles: 
 its tobacco was better than that of anv other island ; its 
 sugar canes attained an enormous size, and their juice was 
 sweeter than elsewhere ; its numerous medicinal plants were 
 exported to heal the diseases of the Old World. The only 
 four-iof)tcd animal was the wild boar, originally transplanted 
 from Hispaniola. As it soon grew scarce, the French 
 
HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 51 
 
 governor made it illegal to hunt with dogs, and required the 
 hunter to follow his prey single-handed and on foot. The 
 wood-pigeons w^ere almost the only birds in the island. 
 They came in large flocks at certain periods of the year ; 
 CExmelin says that, in two or three hours, without going 
 eighty steps from the road, he killed ninety-five with his 
 own hand. As soon as they ate a certain berry their flesh 
 became bitter as that of English larks when they move 
 from the stubbles into the turnips. Fish abounded round 
 the island, the night fishermen carrying torches of the 
 candle-wood tree. The shell-fish was the food of servants 
 and slaves, and was said to be so indigestible as to frequently 
 produce giddiness and temporary blindness ; the turtle and 
 manitee, too, formed part of their daily diet. The planters 
 were much tormented by the white and red laud- crabs, 
 or tourtourons, which lived in the earth, visited the sea to 
 spawn, and at night gnawed the sugar-canes and the roots 
 of plants. The only venomous reptile was the viper, which 
 they tamed to kill mice ; in a wild state, it fed on poultry 
 or pigeons. From the stomach of one Q^xmelin drew seven 
 pigeons and a large fowl, which had been swallowed about 
 three hours before, and cooked them for his own dinner, 
 verifying the old proverb of " robbing Peter to j)ay Paul." 
 In times of scarcitv these snakes were eaten for food. 
 Besides chameleons and lizards, there were small insects 
 with shells like a snail. These were considered good to eat 
 and very nourishing. When held near the fire, they 
 distilled a red oily liquid useful as a rheumatic liniment. 
 Though the scorpions and scolopendrias were not venomous, 
 nature, always just in her compensations, had covered the 
 island with ^^oisonous shrubs. The most fatal of these was 
 the noxious mancanilla. It grew as high as a pear tree, had 
 leaves like a wild laurel, and bore fruit like an a]iple ; this 
 fruit was so deadly, that even fish that ate of it, if they did 
 not die, became themselves poisonous, and were known by 
 the blackness of their teeth. The only antidote was olive 
 oil. The Indian fishermen used, as a test, to bite the heart 
 of the fish they caught, and if it proved bitter they knew at 
 once that it had been poisoned, and threw it away. The 
 very rain- drops that fell from the leaves were deadly to man 
 
 E 2 
 
52 HISTORY OF TORTUGA. 
 
 and beast, and it was as dangerous to sleep under its 
 shadow as under the upas. The friendly boughs invited 
 the traveller (as vice does man) to rest under their shade ; 
 but when he awoke he found himself sick and faint, and 
 covered with feverish sores. New-comers were too fre- 
 quently tempted by the sight and odour of the fruit, and 
 the only remedy for the rash son of Adam was to bind him 
 down, and, in spite of heat and pain, to prevent him 
 •drinking for two or three days. The body of the sufferer 
 became at first " red as fiire, and his tongue black as ink," 
 then a great torment of thirst and fever came upon him, 
 and slowly passed away. Another poisonous shrub resem- 
 bled the pimento ; its berries were used by the Indians to 
 rub their eyes, giving them, as they believed, a keener sight, 
 and enabling them to see the fish deeper in the v/ater and 
 to strike the turtle at a greater distance with the harpoon. 
 The root of this bush was a poison, so deadly that the only 
 known antidote for it was its own berries, bruised and 
 drunk in wine. Of another plant, CExmelin relates an 
 instance of a negro girl being poisoned by a rejected lover, 
 by merely slipping some of its leaves between her toes 
 when asleep. 
 
THE FLIBUSTIERS. 53 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE FLIBUSTIERS, OR SEA ROVERS. 
 
 Originated in the Spanish persecution of French Hunters — Customs — 
 Pay and Pensions — The Mosquito Indians, their Habits — Food — 
 Lewis Scott, an Englishman, first Corsair — John Davis : takes St. 
 Francisco, in Canipeachy — Debauchery — Love of Gaming — Religion 
 — Class from which they sprang — Equality at Sea — Mode of Fightmg 
 — Dress. « 
 
 The Flibustiers first began by associating together in bands 
 of from fifteen to twenty men. Each of them carried the 
 Buccaneer musket, holding a ball of sixteen to the pound, 
 and had, generally, pistols at his belt, holding bullets of 
 twenty or twenty-four to the pound, besides this they wore 
 a good sabre or cutlass. When collected at some precon- 
 certed rendezvous, generally a key or small island off Cuba, 
 they elected a captain, and embarked in a canoe hollowed 
 out of the trunk of a single tree in the Indian manner. This 
 canoe was either bought by the association or the captain. 
 If the latter, they agreed to give him the first shij^ they 
 should take. As soon as they had all signed the charter- 
 party, or mutual agreement, they started for the destined 
 port off which they were to cruise. The first Spanish vessel 
 they took served to repay the captain and recompense them- 
 selves. They dressed themselves in the rich robes of Castilian 
 grandees over their ow^n blooded shirts, and sat down to revel 
 in the gilded saloon of the galleon. If they found their 
 prize not sea-worthy, they would take her to some small 
 sand island and careen, while the crew helped the Indians 
 to turn turtle, and procure bull's flesh. The Spanish crew 
 they kept to assist in careening, for they never v/orked them- 
 selves, but fought and hunted while the unfortunate prisoners 
 were toiling round the fire where the pitch boiled, or the 
 turtle was stewing. The Flibustiers divided the spoil as 
 
5i THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 soon as each had taken an oath that nothing had been 
 secreted. AVhen the ship was ready for sea they let the 
 Spaniards go, and kept only the slaves. If there were no 
 negroes or Indians, they retained a few Spaniards to wait 
 upon them. If the prisoners were men of consequence they 
 detained them till they could obtain a ransom. Every Fli- 
 bustier brought a certain supply of powder and ball for the 
 common stock. Before starting on an expedition it was a 
 common thing to plunder a Spanish hog-yard, Avhere a thou- 
 sand swine were often collected, surrounding the keeper's 
 lodge at night, and shooting him if he made any resistance. 
 The tortoise fishermen were often forced to fish for them 
 gratuitously, although nearly every ship had its Mosquito 
 Indian to strike turtle and sea-cow, and to fish for the whole 
 boat's crew. " No prey, no pay," was the Buccaneers' motto. 
 The chai'ter-party specified the salary of the captain, surgeon, 
 and carpenter, and allowed 200 pieces of eight for victualling. 
 The boys had but half a share, although it was either their 
 duty or the surgeon's, when the rest had boarded, to remain 
 behind to fire the former vessel, and then retire to the prize. 
 
 The Buccaneer code, worthy of Napoleon or Justinian, 
 ■was equal to the statutes of any land, insomuch as it an- 
 swered the want of those for whom it was compiled, and 
 seldom required either revision or enlargement. It was 
 never appealed from, and was seldom found to be unjust or 
 severe. 
 
 The captain was allowed five or six shares, the master s 
 mate only two, and the other officers in proportion, down to 
 the lowest mariner. All acts of special bravery or merit 
 were rewarded by special grants. The man who first caught 
 sight of a prize received a hundred crowns. The sailor who 
 struck down the enemy's captain, and the first boarder who 
 reached the enemy's deck, were also distinguished by honours. 
 The surgeon, always a great man among a crew whose lives 
 so often depended on his skill, received 200 crowns to supply 
 his medicine chest ; if they took a prize, he had a share like 
 the rest. If they had no money to give him, he was re- 
 warded with two slaves. 
 
 The loss of an eye was recompensed at 100 crowns, or one 
 slave. 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. 55 
 
 Tlie loss of both eyes with 600 crowns, or six slaves. 
 
 The loss of a right hand or right leg at 200 crowns, or 
 two slaves. 
 
 The loss of both hands or legs at 600 crowns, or six slaves. 
 
 The loss of a finger or toe at 100 crowns, or one slave. 
 
 The loss of a foot or leg at 200 crowns, or two slaves. 
 
 The loss of both legs at 600 crowns, or six slaves. 
 
 Nothing but death seems to have been considered as worth 
 recompensing with more than 600 crowns. For any wound 
 which compelled a sailor to carry a canulus (issue-pipe), 200 
 crowns were given, or two slaves. If a man had not even, 
 lost a member, but was for the present deprived of the use 
 of it, he was still entitled to his compensation as much as if 
 he had lost it altofijether. The maimed were allowed to take 
 either money or slaves. 
 
 The charter-party drawn up by Sir Henry Morgan before 
 his famous expedition, which ended in the plunder and de- 
 struction of Panama, shows several modifications of the 
 earlier contract. 
 
 To him who struck the enemy's flag, and planted the 
 Buccaneers', fifty piastres, besides his share. 
 
 To him who took a prisoner who brought tidings, 100 
 piastres, besides his share. 
 
 For every grenade thrown into an enemy's port- hole, five 
 piastres. 
 
 To him who took an officer of rank at the risk of his life, 
 proportionate reward. 
 
 To him who lost two legs, 500 crowns, or fifteen slaves. 
 
 To him who lost two arms, 800 piastres, or eighteen slaves. 
 
 To him who lost one leg or one arm, 500 piastres or six 
 slaves. 
 
 To him wlio lost an eye, 100 piastres, or one slave. 
 
 For both eyes, 200 piastres, or two slaves. 
 
 For the loss of a finger, 100 piastres, or one slave. A 
 Flibustier who had a limb crippled, received the same pay as 
 if it was lost. A wound requiring an issue, was recompensed 
 with 500 piastres, or five slaves. These shares were all 
 allotted before the general division. If a vessel was taken 
 at sea, its cargo was divided among the whole fleet ; but the 
 crew first boarding it received 100 crowns it its value ex- 
 
56 THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 ceeded 10,000 crowns, and for every 10,000 crowns' worth 
 of cargo, 100 went to the men that boarded. The surgeon 
 received 200 piastres, besides his share. 
 
 The Mosquito Indians were the helots of the Buccaneers ; 
 they employed them to catch fish, and their vessels had 
 generally a small canoe, kept for their use, in which they 
 might strike tortoise or manitee. These Indians used no 
 oars, but a pair of broad-bladed paddles, which they held 
 perpendicularly, grasping the staff with both hands, putting 
 back the water by sheer strength, and with very quick, short 
 strokes. Two men generally went in the same boat, the one 
 sitting in the stern, the other kneeling down in the head. 
 They both paddled softly till they approached the spot where 
 their prey lay ; they then remained still, looking very warily 
 about them, and the one at the head then rose up, with his 
 striking-staff in his hand. This weapon was about eight 
 feet long, almost as thick as a man's arm at the larger end, 
 at which there was a hole into which the harpoon was put ; 
 at the other extremity was placed a piece of light (bob) 
 wood, with a hole in it, through which the small end of the 
 staff came. On this bob wood a line of ten or twelve fathoms 
 was neatly wound — the end of the one line being fastened 
 to the wood, and the other to the harpoon, the man keeping 
 about a fathom of it loose in his hand. When he struck, the 
 harpoon came off the shaft, and, as the wounded fish swam 
 away, the line ran off fi-om the reel. Although the bob and 
 line were frequently dragged deej) under water, and often 
 caught round coral branches, or sunk wreck, it generally rose 
 at last to the surface of the water. The Indians struijsfled to 
 recover the bob, which they were accustomed to do in about 
 a quarter of an hour. 
 
 "When the sea-cow grew tired and began to lie still, they 
 drew in the line, and the monster, feeling the harpoon a 
 second time, would often make a maddened rush at the 
 canoe. It then became necessary that the steersman should 
 be nimble in turning the head of the canoe the wav his 
 companion pointed, as he alone was able to see and feel the 
 way the manitee was swimming. Directly the fish grew 
 tired, they hauled in the line, which the vexed creature drew 
 out again a dozen times with ferocious but impotent speed. 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. 57 
 
 "When its strengtli grew quite exhausted, they would drag it 
 up the side of their boat and knock it on the head, or, pull- 
 ing it to the shore, made it fast while they went out to 
 strike another. From the great size of a sea-cow it was 
 always necessary to go to shore in order to get it safely into 
 their boats; hauling it uy) in shoal water, they upset their 
 canoes, and then rolling the fish in righted again with the 
 weight. The Indians sometimes paddled one home, and 
 towed the other after them. Dampier says he knew two 
 Indians, who every day for a week brought two manitee on 
 board his ship, the least not weighing less than six hundred 
 pounds, and yet in so small a canoe that three Englishmen 
 could row it. 
 
 If the fishermen struck a sea-cow that had a calf they 
 generally captured both — the mother carrying the young 
 under her side fins, and always regarding their safety before 
 her own; the young, moreover, would seldom desert their 
 mother, and would follow the canoe in spite of noise and 
 blows. The least sound startled the manitee, but the turtles 
 required less care. These fish had certain islands near Cuba 
 which they chose to lay their eggs in. At certain seasons 
 they came from the gulf of Honduras in such vast multi- 
 tudes, that ships, which had lost their latitude, very often 
 steered at night, following the sound of these clattering 
 shoals. When they had been about a month in the Carib- 
 bean sea they grew fat, and the fishing commenced. Salt 
 turtle was the Buccaneers' healthiest food, and was supposed 
 to free them from all the ailments of debauchery. The 
 Indians struck the turtle with a short, sharp, triangular- 
 headed iron, not more than an inch long, which fitted into 
 a spear handle. The lance head was loose and had the 
 usual line attached. Their lines they made of the fibrous 
 bark of a tree, which they also used for their rigging. 
 
 The manitee, or sea-cow, was a favourite article of food 
 with these wandering seamen. It was a monster as big as 
 a horse, and as unwieldy as a walrus, with eyes not much 
 larger than peas, and a head like a cow. Its flesh was 
 white, sweet, and wholesome. The tail of a young fish was 
 a dainty, and a young sucking calf, roasted, was an epicure's 
 
08 THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 morsel. The head and tail of older animals were tough, but 
 the belly was frequently eaten. 
 
 Dampier speaks of his companions feasting on pork and 
 peas, and beef and dough-boys, and this nautical coarseness 
 was generally found associated with occasional tropical luxu- 
 riousness. In cases of necessity, wrecked sailors fed on 
 sharks, which they first boiled, then squeezed dry, and 
 stewed with pepper and vinegar. The oil of turtle they 
 used instead of butter for their dumplings. The best turtle 
 were said to be those that fed on land; those that lived on 
 sea-weed, and not on grass, being yellow and rank. The 
 larijer fish needed two men to turn them on their backs. 
 The Flibustiers also ate the iguanas, or large South American 
 lizards. Vast flocks of doves were found in many of the 
 islands, sometimes in such abundance that a sailor could 
 knock down five or six dozen of an afternoon. 
 
 The Buccaneers' history is a singular example of how evil 
 generates evil. The Spaniards destroyed the wild cattle, 
 and the hunters turned freebooter.s. Spain discontinued 
 trading to prevent piracy, and the adventiirers, stai'ved for 
 want of gold, made descents upon the mainland. The evil 
 grew by degrees till the worm they had at first trod upon 
 arose in their path an indestructible and devastating monster 
 of a hundred heads. First single ships, then fleets, were 
 swept off by these locusts of the deep; first, islands were 
 burnt, then villages sacked, and at last cities conquered. 
 First the North and then the South Pacific were visited, 
 till the whole coast from Panama to Cape Horn trembled at 
 the very flutter of their scarlet flag. The first Flibustier, 
 Lewis Scott, scared Cam peachy with a few canoes. Grognet 
 grappled the Lima fleet with a whole squadron of pirate 
 craft. The Buccaneer spirit arose from revenge, and ended 
 in robbery and murder. At first fierce but merciful, they soon 
 grew rapacious, loathsome, and bloody. Their early chivalry 
 forsook them — they sank into the enemies of God and all 
 mankind, and the last refuse of them exi)ired on the gallows 
 of Jamaica, children of Cain, unpitied by any, their very 
 courage despised, and their crimes detested. At their cul- 
 minating point, united under the sway of one great mind, 
 i/hey might have formed a large empire in South America, 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. 59 
 
 or conquered it as tributaries to France or England. Always 
 thirsty for gold, they were often chivalrous, generous, intre- 
 pid, merciful, and disinterested. 
 
 A greater evil soon cured the lesser. The Spaniards, 
 dreading robbery worse than death, ceased in a great measure 
 to trade. The poorer merchants were ruined by the loss of 
 a single cocoa vessel ; the richer waited for the convoy of 
 the plate fleets, or followed in the wake of the galleon, 
 hoping to escape if she was captured, as the chickens do 
 when the hen goes cackling up in the claws of the kite. 
 For every four vessels that once sailed not more than one 
 could be now seen. AVhat with the war of France on Hol- 
 land, and England on France, and all on Spain, there was 
 little safety for the poor trader. Yet those who could risk 
 a loss still made great profits. This cessation of trade was 
 a poor remedy against the sea-robber: it was to rob oneself 
 instead of being robbed, to commit suicide for fear of murder. 
 It was a remedy that saved life, but rendered life hateful. 
 The Buccaneers, starving for want of prey, remained moodily 
 in the rocky fastnesses of Tortuga, like famished eagles 
 looking down on a country they have devastated. To 
 accomplish greater feats they united in bodies, and made 
 forays on the coast. They had before remained at the 
 threshold — they now rushed headlong into the sanctuary, 
 and they got their bread, or rather other people's bread, by 
 daring dashes and surprises of towns, leaving them only 
 when wrapped in flames or swept by the pestilence that 
 always followed in their train. 
 
 We may claim for our own nation the first pioneer in this 
 new field of enterprise. Lewis Scott, an Englishman, led 
 the way by sacking the town of St. Francisco, in Cam peachy, 
 and, compelling the inhabitants to pay a ransom, returned 
 safely to Jamaica. Where the carcase is there will the 
 eagles be gathered together; for no sooner had his sails 
 grown small in the distance than Mansweld, another Buc- 
 caneer, made several successful descents upon the same luck- 
 less coast, unfortunate in its very fertility. He then equipped 
 a fleet and attempted to return by the kingdom of New 
 Granada to the South Sea, passing the town of Carthagena. 
 This scheme failed, in consequence of a dispute arising 
 
60 THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 between tlie FrencTi and English crews, who were always 
 quarrelling over their res}~)ective share of provisions ', but in 
 spite of this he took the island of St. Catherine, and 
 attempted to found a Buccaneer state. 
 
 John Davis, a Dutchman, excelled both his predecessors 
 in daring. Cruising about Jamaica he became a scourge to 
 all the Spanish mariners who ventured near the coasts of 
 the Caraccas, or his favourite haunts, Carthagena and the 
 Boca del Toro, where he lay in wait for vessels bound to 
 Nicaragua. One day he missed his shot, and having a long 
 time traversed the sea and taken nothing — a failure which 
 generally drove these brave men to some desperate expedient 
 to rei)air their sinking fortunes — he resolved with ninety 
 men to visit the lagoon of Nicaragua, and sack the town of 
 Granada. An Indian from the shores of the lagoon pro- 
 mised to guide him safely and secretly; and his crew, Avith 
 one voice, declared themselves ready to follow him wherever 
 he led. By night he rowed thirty leagues up the river, to 
 the entry of the lake, and concealed his ships under the 
 boughs of the trees that grew upon the banks; then putting 
 eighty men in his three canoes he rowed on to the town, 
 leaving ten sailors to guard the vessels. By day tbey hid 
 under the trees; at night they pushed on towards the un- 
 suspecting town, and reached it on the third midnight — 
 taking it, as he had expected, without a blow, and by sur- 
 prise. To a sentinel's challenge they re})lied that they were 
 fishermen returning home, and two of the crew, leaping on 
 shore, ran their swords through the interrogator, to stop 
 further questions wliich might have been less easily answered. 
 Following their guide they reached a small covered way that 
 led to the right of the town, while another Indian towed 
 their canoes to a point to which they had agreed each man 
 should bring his booty. 
 
 As soon as they arrived at the town they separated into 
 small bands, and were led one by one to the houses of the 
 richest inhabitants. Here they quietly knocked, and, being 
 admitted as friends, seized the inmates by the throat and 
 compelled them, on pain of death, to surrender all the money 
 and jewels that they had. They then roused the sacristans 
 of the principal churches, from whom they took the keys 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. 61 
 
 and carried off all the altar plate that could be beaten up or 
 rendered portable. The pixes they stripped of their gems ; 
 they gouged out the jewelled eyes of Virgin idols, and 
 hanynered up the sacramental cups into convenient lumps 
 of metal. 
 
 This quiet and undisturbed pillage had lasted for two 
 hours without a struggle, when some servants, escaping from 
 the adventurers, began to ring the alarm bells to warn the 
 town, while a few of the already plundered citizens, breaking 
 into the market-place, filled the streets with uproar and 
 affright. Davis, seeing that the inhabitants v/ere beginning 
 to rally from that panic which had alone secured his victory, 
 commenced a retreat, as the enemy were now gathering in 
 armed and threatening numbers. In a hollow square, with 
 their booty in the centre, the Buccaneers fought their way 
 to their boats, amid tumultuous war-cries and shouts of 
 derision and exultation. In spite of their haste, they were 
 prudent enough to carry with them some rich Spaniards, 
 intending to exchange them for any of their own men they 
 might lose in their retreat. On regaining their ships they 
 compelled these prisoners to send them as a ransom 500 
 cows, with which they revictualled their ships for the pas- 
 sage back to Jamaica. They had scarcely well weighed 
 anchor, before they saw 600 mounted Spaniards dash down 
 to the shore in the hopes of arresting their retreat. A few 
 angry broadsides were the parting greetings of these un- 
 welcome visitors. 
 
 This expedition was accomplished in eight days. The 
 booty consisted of coined money and bullion, amounting to 
 about 40,000 crowns. Esquemeling computes it at 4,000 
 pieces of eight, and in ready money, plate, and jewels, to 
 about 50,000 pieces of eight more. 
 
 Thus concluded this adventurous raid, in which a town 
 forty leagues inland, and containing at least 800 well-armed 
 defenders, was stormed and robbed by eighty resolute sailors. 
 Davis reached Jamaica in safety with his plunder, which 
 was soon put into wider circulation by the aid of the dice, 
 the tavern keepers, and the courtesans. The money once 
 expended, Davis was roused to fresh exertion. He asso 
 ciated himself with two or three other captain.s, who, super- 
 
62 THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 stitiously relying on his good fortune, cliose him as admiral 
 of a small flotilla of eight or nine armed gunboats. The less 
 fortunate rewarded him with boundless confidence. His 
 first excursion was to the town of St. Christopher, in Cuba, 
 to wait for the fleet from New Spain, in hopes to cut off 
 some rich unwieldy straggler. But the fleet contrived to 
 escape his sentinels and pass untouched. Davis then sallied 
 forth and sacked a small town named St. Augustine, of 
 Florida, in spite of its castle and garrison of 100 men. He 
 suffered little loss ; but the inhabitants proved very poor, 
 and the booty was small. 
 
 In making war against Spain, the hunters were mere 
 privateersmen, cruising against a national enemy ; but in 
 their endurance, patience, and energy, they stood alone. 
 In their onset — rushing, singing, and dancing through fire 
 and flame — they resembled rather the old Barsekars, or the 
 first levies of Mohammed. But in one point they were very 
 remarkable ; that they did more, and were yet actuated by 
 a lower motive. Almost devoid of religion, they fought 
 with all the madness of fanaticism against a people them- 
 selves constitutionally fanatic, but already enervated by 
 climate, by sudden wealth, and a long experience of con- 
 taminating luxury. The galleons of Manilla were their final 
 aim, as they gradually passed from the devastated shores of 
 South America to the Philippine Islands and the coasts of 
 Guinea. They had been the instrument of Providence, and 
 knew themselves so, to avenge the wrongs of the Indian 
 upon the Spaniard ; they were soon to become the first 
 avengers of the Negro. Long years of plunder had made 
 ^ the Spaniard and the Creole as secretive as the Hindu. 
 ' At the first intelligence of some terrified fisherman, the 
 frightened townsman threw his pistoles into wells, or mor- 
 tared them up in the walls of his fortresses. Laden mules 
 were driven into the interior ; the women fled to the nearest 
 plantation ; the old men barred themselves up in the church. 
 Their first thought was always flight ; their second, only 
 to turn and strike a blow for all they loved, valued and 
 revered. 
 
 The debauchery of the Buccaneers was as unequalled as 
 their courage. CExmelin relates a story of an Englishman 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. 63 
 
 who gave 500 crowns to his mistress at a single revel. This 
 man, who had earned 1,500 crowns by exposing himself to 
 desperate dangers, was, within three months, sold for a term 
 of three years to a planter, to discharge a tavern debt which 
 he could not pay. A conqueror of Panama might be seen 
 to-morrow driven by the overseer's whip among a gang of 
 slaves, cutting sugar canes, or picking tobacco. 
 
 Another Buccaneer, a Frenchman, surnamed Yent-en- 
 Panne, was so addicted to play that he often lost everything 
 but his shirt. Every pistole that he could earn he spent in 
 this absorbing vice — so tempting to men who longed for 
 excitement, were indilSerent to money, and daily risked their 
 lives for the prospect of gain. On one occasion he lost 
 500 crowns, his whole share of some recent prize-money, 
 besides 300 crowns which he had borrowed of a comrade, 
 who would now lend him no more. Determined to try his 
 fortune again, he hired himself as servant at the very 
 gambling-house where he had been ruined, and by lighting 
 pipes for the players, and bringing them in wine, earned 
 fifty crowns in two days. He staked this, and soon won 
 12,000 crowns. He then paid his debts, and resolved to 
 lose no more, shipping himself on board an English vessel 
 that touched at Barbadoes. At Barbadoes he met a rich 
 Jew who offered to play him. Unable to abstain, he sat 
 down and won 1,300 crowns, and 100,000 lbs. of sugar 
 already shipped for England, and, in addition to this, a large 
 mill and sixty slaves. The Jew, begging him to stay and 
 give him his revenge, ran, borrowed S(mie money, and re- 
 turned and took up the cards. The Buccaneer consented, 
 more from love of play than generosity ; and the Jew, 
 putting down 1,500 jacobuses, won back 100 crowns, and 
 finally all his antagonist's previous winnings — stripping him 
 even to the very clothes he v/ore. The delighted winner 
 allowed him for very shame to retain his clothes, and gave 
 him money enough to return, disconsolate and beggared, to 
 Tortuga. Becoming again a Buccaneer, he gained 6,000 or 
 7,000 crowns. M. D'Ogeron, the governor, treating him as 
 a wayward child, taking away his money, sent him back to 
 Prance with bills of exchange for the amount, Yent-en- 
 Panne, now cured of his vice, took to merchandize; but, 
 
64 THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 always unfortunate, was killed in his first voyage to the 
 West Indies, his vessel being attacked by two Ostend 
 frigates, of twenty-four guns each, which were eventually, 
 however, driven off by the dead man's crew of only thirty 
 Buccaneers. 
 
 When the pleasures of Tortuga or Jamaica had swallowed 
 up all the hard-earned winnings of these men, they returned 
 to sea, expending their last pistoles in powder and ball, and 
 leaving heavy scores still unsettled with the cabaretiers. 
 They then hastened to the quays, or small sandy islands off 
 Cuba, to careen their vessels and to salt turtle. Sometimes 
 they repaired to Honduras, where they had Indian wives ; 
 latterly, to the Galapagos Isles, to the Boca del Toro, or the 
 coast of Castilla del Oro. 
 
 Some Buccaneers, Esquemeling says, would spend 3,000 
 piastres in a night, not leaving themselves even a shirt in 
 the morning. " My own master," he adds, " would buy a 
 whole pipe of wine, and, placing it in the street, would force 
 every one that passed by to drink with him, threatening also 
 to pistol them in case they would not do it. At other times 
 he would do the same with barrels of ale or beer ; and very 
 often with both his hands he would throw these liquors about 
 the street, and wet the clothes of such as walked by, without 
 regard whether he spoiled their apparel or not, or whether 
 they were men or women." Port Royal was a favourite 
 scene for such carousals. 
 
 Even as late as 1G94, Montauban gives us some idea of 
 the wild debaucheries committed by the Buccaneers even at 
 Bourdeaux. " My freebooters," he says, " who had not seen 
 France for a long time, finding themselves now in a great 
 city where pleasure and plenty reigned, were not backward 
 to refresh themselves after the fatigues they had endured 
 while so long absent from their native country. They spent 
 a world of money here, and proved horribly extravagant. 
 The merchants and their hosts made no scruple to advance 
 them money, or lend them as much as they }»leased, upon 
 the reputation of their wealth and the noise there was 
 throughout the city of the valuable prizes whereof they had 
 a share. All the nights they spent in such divertisements 
 as pleased them best j and the days, in running up an.-' 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. 65 
 
 down the town in masquerade, causing themselves to be 
 carried in chairs with lighted flambeaux at noon — of which 
 debauches some died, while four of my crew fairly deserted 
 me." 
 
 This, it must be remembered, was at a time when bucca- 
 neering had sunk into privateering — the half-way house to 
 mere piracy. The distinguishing mark of the true Buccaneer 
 was, that he attacked none but Spaniards. 
 
 Of the Buccaneers' estimation of reli^'ion Charlevoix sfives 
 us some curious accounts. He says, " there remained no 
 traces of it in their heart, but still, sometimes, from time to 
 time, they appeared to meditate deeply. They never com- 
 menced a combat without first embracing each other, in sign 
 of reconciliation. They would at such times strike them- 
 selves rudely on the breast, as if they wished to rouse some 
 compunction in their hearts, and were not able. Once 
 escaped from danger, they returned headlong to their de- 
 bauchery, blas))hemy, and brigandage. The Buccaneers, 
 looking upon themselves as worthy fellows, regarded the 
 Flibustiers as wretches, but in reality there was not much 
 difference. The Buccaneers were, perhaps, the less vicious, 
 but the Flibustiers preserved a little more of the externals 
 of religion ; vjith the exception of a certain honour among 
 tltem, and their abstinence from human Jlesh, few savages were 
 more wicked, and a great number of them much less so." 
 
 This passage shows a very curious jealousy between the 
 hunters and the corsairs, and a singular distinction as to 
 religious feeling. Pere Labat, however, speaks of the Fli- 
 bustiers as attending confession immediately after a sea- 
 fight with most exemplary devotion. A more important 
 distinction than that made by Charlevoix was that between 
 the Protestant and Roman Catholic adventurers, the latter 
 being as superstitious as the former were irreverent. Ba- 
 venau de Lussan always speaks with horror of the blasphemy 
 and irreligion of his English comrades, one of whom was 
 an old trooper of Cromwell's ; and Grognet's fleet eventually 
 separated from the English ships, on account of the latter 
 crews lopping crucifixes with their sabres and firing at 
 images with their pistols. A Flibustier captain, named 
 Daniel, shot one of his men in a Spanish church for behaving 
 
6Q THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 irreverently at mass ; and Ringrose gives an instance of an 
 Ensflisli commander who threw the dice overboard, if he 
 found his men gambling on a Sunday. 
 
 We find Ravenau de Lussan's troop singing a Te Deum 
 after victories, and QExmelin tells us that prayers were said 
 daily on board Flibustier ships. 
 
 It is difficult to say from what class of life either the 
 Buccaneers or the Flibustiers sprang. The planters often 
 became hunters, the hunters sailors, and the reverse. Mor- 
 gan was a Welsh farmer's son, who ran away to sea j Mon- 
 tauban, the son of a Gascon gentleman ; D'Ogeron had been 
 a captain in the French marines ; Von Horn, a common 
 sailor in an Ostend smack ; Dampier was a Somersetshire 
 yeoman, and Esquemeling a Dutch j^lanter's apprentice. 
 Charlevoix says, " Few could bear for many years a life so 
 hard and laborious, and the greater part only continued in 
 it till they could gain enough to become planters. Many, 
 continually wasting their money, never earned sufficient to 
 buy a plantation ; others grew so accustomed to the life, and 
 so fond even of its hardships and painful risks, that, though 
 often heirs to good fortunes, they would not leave it to 
 return to France." 
 
 The life of M. D'Ogeron, the governor of Tortuga, is an 
 example of another class of Buccaneers, and of the causes 
 which led to the choice of such a profession. At fifteen, he 
 was captain of a regiment of marines, and in 1656, joining a 
 company intending to colonize the Matingo river, he em- 
 barked in a ship fitted out at the expense of 17,000 livres. 
 Disappointed in this bubble, he tried to settle at Martinique, 
 but, deceived by the governor, who withdrew a grant of land, 
 lie determined to settle with the Buccaneers of St. Domingo. 
 Embarking in a rickety vessel, he ran ashore on Hispaniola, 
 and lost all his merchandise and provisions. Giving his 
 engages their liberty, he joined the hunters, and became dis- 
 tinguished as well for his courage as virtue. His goods sent 
 from France were sold at a loss, and he returned to his 
 native country a poor man. Collecting his remaining money, 
 he hired engages, and loaded a vessel with wine and brandy. 
 Finding the market glutted, he sold his cargo at a loss, and 
 was cheated by his Jamaica agent. Beturning again to 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. 67 
 
 France, he fitted out a third vessel, and finally settled as a 
 planter in Hispaniola. At this juncture the French West 
 India Company fixed their eyes upon him, and in 1665 made 
 him governor of their colony. 
 
 Ravenau de Lussan illustrates the motives that sometimes 
 led the youth of the higher classes to turn Buccaneers. He 
 commences his book with true French vanity, by saying, 
 that few children of Paris, which conta,ins so many of the 
 vv'onders of the world (ten out of the eight, we suppose), 
 seek their fortune abroad. From a child he was seized with 
 a passionate disposition for travel, and would steal out of his 
 father's house and play truant when he was yet scarce seven. 
 He soon reached La Vilette and the suburbs, and by degrees 
 learnt to fearlessly lose sight of Paris. With this passion 
 arose a desire for a military life. The noise of a drum in 
 the street transported him with joy. He made a friend of 
 an officer, and, offering him his sword, joined his company, 
 and witnessed the siege of Conde, ending his campaign still 
 unwearied of his new form of life. He then became a cadet 
 in a marine regiment. The captain drained him of all his 
 money, and his father, at a great expense, bought him his 
 discharge. Under the Count D'Aveo^eau he entered the 
 French Guards, and fought at the siege of St. Guislain. 
 Growing, on his return, weary of Paris, he embarked again, 
 having nothing but voyages in his head ; the longest and 
 most dangerous appearing to his imagination, he says, the 
 most delightful. Travelling by land seemed to him long and 
 difficult, and he once more chose the sea. deeming it only tit 
 for a woman to remain at home ignorant of the world. His 
 affectionate parents tried in vain to reason him out of this 
 gadding humour, and finding him only grow firmer and more 
 inflexible, they desisted. 
 
 Not caring whither he went, so he could get afloat, he 
 embarked in 1697 from Dieppe for St. Domingo. Here he 
 remained for five months engage to a French planter, " more 
 a Turk than a Frenchman." " But what misery," he says, 
 " soever I have undergone with him, I freely forgive him, 
 being resolved to forget his name, which I shall not mention 
 in this place, because the laws of Christianity require that 
 at my hand, though as to matters of charity he is not to ex- 
 
 F 2 
 
6S THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 pect mucli of that in me, since he, on his part, has been 
 every way defective in tlie exercise thereof upon my ac- 
 count." But his patience at last vi^orn out, and weary of 
 cruelties that seemed endless, De Lussan applied to M. de 
 Franquesnay, the king's lieutenant, who gave him shelter in 
 his house for six months. He was now in debt, and think- 
 ing it "honest to pay his creditors," he joined the free- 
 booters in order to satisfy them, not willing to apply again 
 for money to his parents. " These borrowings from the 
 Spaniards," he says, " have this advantage attending them, 
 that there is no obligation to repay them ; " there was war 
 between the two crowns, so that he was a legal privateers- 
 man. Selecting a leader, De Lussan pitched on De Graff, 
 as a brave corsair, who happened to be then at St. Domingo, 
 eager to sail, furnishing himself with arms at the expense of 
 Franquesnay. " We were," he says, " in a few hours satis- 
 fied with each other, and became such friends as those are 
 wont to be who are about to run the same risk of fortune, 
 and ap})arently to die together." The 22nd of November, 
 the bright day he sailed from Petit Guave, seemed the 
 happiest of his life, , 
 
 Dampier mentions an old Buccaneer, who was slain at 
 the taking of Leon, " He was," he says, " a stout, grey- 
 lieaded old man, aged about eighty-four, who had served 
 under Oliver Cromwell in the Irish rebellion ; after which 
 he was at Jamaica, and had followed privateering ever since. 
 He woidd not accept the offer our men made him to tarry 
 ashore, but said he would venture as far as the best of them; 
 but when surrounded by the Spaniards he refused to take 
 quarter, but discharged his gun amongst them, keeping a 
 pistol still charged ; so they shot him dead at a distance. 
 His name was Swan (rara avis). He was a very merry, 
 hearty old man, and always used to declare he would never 
 take {[uarter." 
 
 When the adventurers were at sea, they lived together as 
 a friendly brotherhood. Every morning at ten o'clock the 
 ship's cook put the kettle on the fire to boil the salt beef for 
 the crew, in fresh water if they had plenty, but if they ran 
 short, in brine ; meal was warmed at the same time, and 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. G9 
 
 made into a tliick porridge, which was mixed with the gravy 
 and the fat of the meat. The whole vv'as then served to the 
 crew on large platters, seven men to a plate. If the captain 
 or cook helped themselves to a larger share than their mess- 
 mates, any of the republican crew had a right to cliange 
 plates with them. But, notwithstanding this brotherly 
 equality, and in spite of the captain being deposable by his 
 crew, there was maintained at all moments of necessity the 
 strictest discipline, and the most rigid subordination of rank. 
 The crews had two meals a day. They always said grace 
 before meat : the French Catholics sinmncj the canticles of 
 Zecharias, the Magnificat, or the Miserere ; the English 
 reading a chapter trom the New Testament, or singing a 
 psalm of David. 
 
 Directly a vessel hove in sight, the Flibustiers gave chase. 
 If it showed a Spanish flag, the guns were run out, and the 
 decks cleared ; the pikes were lashed ready, and every man 
 prepared his musket and powder, of which he alone was the 
 guardian (and not the gunner), these articles being gene- 
 rally paid for from the common stock, unless provided by the 
 captain. 
 
 They first fell on their knees at their quarters (each group 
 round its gun), to pray God that they might obtain both 
 victory and plunder. Then all lay down flat on the deck, 
 except the few left to steer and navigate — proceeding to 
 board as soon as their musketeers had silenced the enemy's 
 fire. If victorious, they put their prisoners on shore, attended 
 to the wounded, and took stock of the booty. A third part 
 of the crew went on board the prize, and a prize captain was 
 chosen by lot. No excuse was allowed ; and if illness pre- 
 vented the man elected taken the oflice, his Quafelot, or com- 
 j^anion, took his place. 
 
 On arriving at Tortuga, they paid a commission to the 
 governor, and before dividing the spoil, rewarded the cap- 
 tain, the surgeons, and the wounded. The whole crew then 
 threw into a common heap all they possessed above the value of 
 five sous, and took an oath on the New Testament, holding up 
 their right hands, that they had kept nothing back. Any one 
 detected in perjury was marooned, and his share either given 
 
70 THE FLIBUSTIERS, 
 
 to the rest, to the heirs of the dead, or as a bequest to some 
 chapel. The jewels and merchaudize were sold, and the 
 produce divided. 
 
 " It was impossible," says (Exmelin, '' to put any obstacle 
 in the way of men who, animated simply by the hope of gain, 
 were capable of such great enterprises, having nothing hut life 
 to lose and all to win. It is true that they would not have 
 persisted long in their expeditions if they had had neither boats 
 nor provisions. For ships they never wanted, because they 
 were in the habit of going out in small canoes and capturing 
 the largest and best provisioned vessels. For harbours they 
 could never want, because every body fled before them, and 
 they had but to ap})ear to be victorious." This intelligent and 
 animated v/riter concludes his book by expressing an opinion 
 that a firm and organized resistance by Spain at the outset 
 might have stopped the subsequent mischief; but this 
 opinion he afterwards qualifies in the following words, which, 
 coming from such a writer, so well acquainted w4th those of 
 Avhom he Avrites, speaks volumes in favour of Buccaneer 
 prowess : " Je dis 'peut-etre^ car les aventuriers sont de terribles 
 
 Tlie first Flibustiers sallied out in canoes with twenty-five 
 or thirty men, without pilot or provisions, to capture pearl- 
 fishers and surprise small cruizers. If they succeeded, they 
 went to Tortuga, bought a vessel, and started 150 strong, 
 going to Cuba to take in salt turtle, or to Port Margot or 
 Bayaha for dried pork or beef — dividing all upon the codv- 
 pagnon ci bon lot principle. They always said public prayer 
 before starting on an expedition, and returned solemn thanks 
 to God for victory. 
 
 " They were," says a Jesuit writer, " at first so crowded 
 in their boats that they had scarcely room to lie down ; and, 
 as they practised no economy in eating, they were always 
 short of food. They were also night and day exposed to the 
 inclemency of the weather, and yet loved so much the inde- 
 pendence in which they lived, that no one murmured. Some 
 sang when others wished to sleep, and all were by turns 
 compelled to bear these inconveniences without complaint. 
 But one may imagine men so little at their ease spared no 
 pains to gain more comforts ; that the sight of a larger and 
 
OR SEA ROVERS. 71 
 
 more convenient vessel gave them courage sufficient to cap- 
 ture it ; and that hunger deprived them of all sense of the 
 danger of procuring food. They attacked all they met 
 without a thought, and boarded as soon as possible. A 
 single volley would have sunk their vessels ; but they were 
 skilful in manoeuvre, their sailors were very active, and they 
 presented to the enemy nothing but a prow full of fusiliers, 
 who, firing through the portholes, struck the gunners with 
 terror. Once on board, nothing could prevent them becom- 
 ing masters of a ship, however numerous the crew. The 
 Spaniards' blood grew cold when those whom they called, 
 and looked upon as demons came in sight, and they fre- 
 quently surrendered at once in order to obtain quarter. If 
 the prize was rich, their lives were spared ; but if the cargo 
 proved poor, the Buccaneers often threw the crew into the 
 sea in revenge." 
 
 Their favourite coasts were the Caraccas, Carthagena, 
 Nicaragua, and Cam peachy, where the ports were numerous 
 and well frequented. Their best harbours at the Caraccas 
 were Cumana, Canagote, Coro, and Maracaibo ; at Cartha- 
 gena, La Eancheria, St. Martha, and Portobello. Bound 
 Cuba they watched for vessels going from New Spain to 
 Maracaibo. If going, they found them laden with silver ; 
 if returning, full of cocoa. The prizes to the Caraccas 
 were laden with the lace and manufactures of Spain ; those 
 from Havannah, with leather, Cam peachy-wood, cocoa, 
 tobacco, and Spanish coin. 
 
 The dress of the Buccaneer sailors must have varied with 
 the changes of the age. Retaining their dark-red shirts and 
 leather sandals as the working-dress of their brotherhood, we 
 find them donning all the splendour rummaged from Spanish 
 cabins, now wearing the plumed hat and laced sword-belt of 
 Charles the Second's reign, and now the tufted ribbons of 
 the perfumed court of Louis Quatorze. Sprung from all 
 nations and all ranks, some of them prided themselves upon 
 the rough beard, bare feet, and belted shirt of the rudest 
 seaman ; while others, like Grammont and De Grafie, 
 flaunted in the richest costumes. They must have passed 
 from the long cloak and loose cassock of the Stuart reign to 
 the jack-boots and Dutch dress of William of Orange ; from 
 
72 THE FLIBUSTIERS, OR SEA ROVERS. 
 
 the laced and flowing Steenkirk to tlie fringed cock-hat and 
 deep-flapped waistcoat of Queen Anne. In the English 
 translation of Esquemeling, Barthelemy Portugues, one of 
 the earliest sea-rovers, is represented as having his long lank 
 hair parted in the centre and falling on his shoulders, and 
 his moustachios trailing long and rough. He wears a plain 
 embroidered coat with a neck-band, and carries in his arms a 
 short broad sabre, unsheathed, as was the habit with many 
 Buccaneer chiefs. Koche Brazilian o appears in a plain 
 hunter's shirt, the strings tying it at the neck being fastened 
 in a bow. Lolonois has the same shirt, showing at his neck 
 and puffing through the openings of his sleeve, and he carries 
 a naked broadsword with a shell guard. In the portrait of 
 Sir Henry Morgan we see much more affectation of aristo- 
 cratic dress. He has a rich coat of Charles the Second's period, 
 a laced cravat tied in a fringed bow with long ends, and his 
 broad sword-belt is stiff with gold lace. The hunter's shirt, 
 however, still shows throu.o-h the cheating Welshman's slashed 
 sleeves. 
 
PETEH THE GREAT, THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 73 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PETER THE GREAT, THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 
 
 Plunder of Segovia — Pierre-le-Grand — Pierre Francois — Barthelemy 
 Portugues — His Escapes — -Roche, the Brazilian — Fanatical hatred of 
 Spaniards — Wrecks and Adventures. 
 
 The date of the first organized Buccaneer expedition is 
 uncertain. We only know, that about the year 1654, a large 
 party of Buccaneers, French and English, joined in an expe- 
 dition to the continent. They ascended, in canoes, a river 
 on the Mosquito shore, a small distance on the south side of 
 Cape Gracias a Dios, and after labouring for a month against 
 a stronof stream full of torrents, left their boats and marched 
 to the town of Nueva Segovia, which they plundered, and 
 then returned to the coast. 
 
 It is difficult to trace the exact beginning of the Flibus- 
 tiers, or, as they were soon called, the Buccaneers. Accord- 
 ing to most writers, the first successful adventurer known at 
 Tortuga, was Pierre-le-Grand (Peter the Great). He was a 
 native of Dieppe, and his greatest enterprise was the capture 
 of the vice-admiral of the Spanish ^o^a, while lying ofi" Cape 
 Tiburon, on the west side of Hispaniola. This he accom- 
 plished in a canoe with only twenty-eight companions, and 
 surprised his unwieldy antagonist in the channel of Bahama, 
 which the Spaniards had hitherto passed in perfect security. 
 He had been now a long time at sea without obtaining any- 
 prize worth taking ; his provisions were all but exhausted, 
 and his men, in danger of starving, were almost reduced to 
 despair. While hanging over the gunwale, listless and dis- 
 contented, the Buccaneers suddenly spied a large vessel of 
 the Spanish fleet, separated from the rest, and fast approach- 
 ing them. They instantly sailed towards her to ascertain 
 her strength ; and though they found it to be vastly superior 
 
74 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 to theirs, partly from despair, and partly from cupidity, they 
 resolved at once to take it, or die in the attempt. It was 
 but to die a little quicker if they failed, and the blood in 
 their veins might as well be shed in a fierce moment as 
 slowly stagnate witli famine. If they did not conquer they 
 would die ; but if they did not attack, and escape notice, 
 they Avoulcl also perish, and by the most painful and linger- 
 ing of deaths. Being now come so near that flight was im- 
 jDOSsible, they took a solemn oath to their captain to stand 
 by him to the last, and neither to flinch nor skulk, partly 
 hoping that the enemy was insufiiciently armed, and that 
 they might still master her. It was in the dusk of the even- 
 ing, the coming darkness facilitated their boarding, and con- 
 cealed the disadvantage of numbers. While they got their 
 arms ready they ordered their chirurgeon to bore a hole in 
 the sides of the boat, in order that the utter hopelessness of 
 their situation might impel them to more daring self-devo- 
 tion, that they might be forced to attack more vigorously 
 and board more quickly. But their courage needed no such 
 incitement. With no other arms than a sword in one hand 
 and a pistol in the other, they immediately climbed up the 
 sides of the Spaniard, and made their way pell-mell to the 
 state-cabin. There they found the captain and his officers 
 playing at cards. Setting a pistol to their breasts, they 
 commanded them to deliver up the ship. The Spaniards, 
 surprised to hear the Buccaneers below, and not having seen 
 them board, and seeing no boat by which they could have 
 arrived (for the surgeon had now sunk it, and rejoined his 
 friends through a porthole), cried out, in an agony of super- 
 stitious fear, '' Jesu, bless us, these are devils !" thinking the 
 men had fallen from the clouds, or had been shaken from 
 some shooting star. In the mean time Peter's kinsfolk 
 fought their way into the gun-room, seized the arms, killed 
 a few sailors who snatched up swords, and drove the rest 
 under hatches. 
 
 That very morning some of the Spanish sailors had told 
 their captain that a pirate-boat was gaining upon them, but 
 when he came up to see, and beheld so small a craft, he 
 laughed at their fears of a mere cockle-shell, and went down 
 again, despising any vessel, though it were even as big and 
 
Pierre -le- Grand Surprising the Spanish Captaoja. p, 74. 
 
* 
 
THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 75 
 
 strong as his own. Upon a second alarm, late in tlie day, 
 when his lieutenant asked him if he should not run out a 
 cannon or two ready, he grew angry, and replied, " No, no, 
 rig the crane out, and hoist the boat aboard." Peter, having 
 taken this rich prize, detained as many of the Spanish sea- 
 men as he needed, and put the rest on shore in Hispaniola, 
 which was close at hand. The vessel was full of provisions 
 and great riches, and Pierre prudently steered at once for 
 France, never returning to resume a career so well begun. 
 
 The news of this capture set Tortuga in an uproar. The 
 jilanters and hunters of Hispaniola burned to follow up a 
 profession so glorious and so profitable. It had been dis- 
 covered now that a man's fortune could be made by one 
 single scheme of daring and enterprise. Not being able to 
 purchase or hire boats at Tortuga, they set forth in their 
 canoes to seek them elsewhere. Some be2:an cruisincr about 
 Cape de Alvarez, carrying off small Spanish vessels that 
 carried hides and tobacco to the Havannah. Returning 
 with their prizes to Tortuga, they started again for Cam- 
 peachy or New Spain, where they captured richer vessels of 
 greater burden. In less than a month they had brought into 
 harbour two plate vessels, bound from Campeachy to the 
 Caraccas, and two other ships of great size. In two years 
 no less than twenty Buccaneer vessels were equipped at 
 Tortuga, and the Spaniards, finding their losses increase and 
 transport becoming precarious, despatched two large men- 
 of-war to defend the coast. 
 
 The next scourge of the Spaniard in these seas was 
 Pierre Francois, a native of Dunkirk, whose combinative 
 far-seeing genius and dauntless heart soon raised him above 
 the level of the mere footpads of the ocean. His little 
 brigantine, with a picked crew of twenty-six men — hunters 
 by sea and land — cruised generally about the Cape de la 
 Vela, waiting for merchant ships on their way from Mara- 
 caibo to Campeachy. Pierre had now been a long time 
 afloat and taken no prize, the nsual prelude to great enter- 
 prises amongst these men, who defied all dangers and all 
 enemies. The provisions were running short, the boat was 
 leaky, the captain moody and silent, and the crew half 
 mutinous. To return empty-handed to Tortuga was to be a 
 
76 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 butt for every sneerer, a victim to unrelenting creditors ; to 
 the men it would be beggary, to. Pierre a loss of fame and 
 all future promotion. But, there being a perfect equality 
 in these boats, the crews seldom rose in open rebellion ; 
 and as every one had a voice in the proposal of a scheme, 
 there was no one to rail at if the scheme failed. At last, 
 amid this suspense, more tedious than a tropic calm, a 
 sailor, more daring or more far-seeing than the rest, stood 
 up and suggested a visit to the pearl-hshings at the Eiviere 
 de la Hache. History, always drowsy at critical periods, 
 docs not say if Frangois was the pro})oser of this scheme or 
 not. We may be sure he was a sturdy seconder, and that 
 the plan was carried amid wild cheering and waving of hats 
 and guns and swords enough to scare the sharks floating 
 hungrily round the boat, and frighten the glittering flying- 
 fish back into the sea. These Kaucheria fishings were at a 
 rich bank of pearl to which the people of Carthagena sent 
 annually twelve vessels, with a man-of-war convoy, gene- 
 rally a S})anish armadilla with a crew of two hundred men, 
 and twenty-four pieces of cannon. Every vessel had two or 
 three negro slaves on board, who dived for the pearls. 
 These men seldom lived long, and were frequently ruptured 
 by the exertion of holding breath a quarter of an hour 
 below the waves. The time for diving was from October 
 till May, when the north winds were lulled and the sea 
 calm. 
 
 The large vessel was called the Cajntana, and to this the 
 proceeds of the day were brought every night, to prevent 
 any risk of fraud or theft. Rather than return unsuccess- 
 ful, Pierre resolved to swoop down upon this guard of the 
 covey, and carry off the ship of war in the sight of all the 
 fleet ; a feat as dangerous as the abduction of an Irish 
 heiress on the brink of marriage. He found the fishing- 
 boats riding at anchor at the mouth of the Piviere de la 
 Hache, and the man-of-war scarcely half a league distant. 
 In the morning he approached them, and they seeing him 
 hovering at a distance like a kite above a farmyard, ran 
 under shelter of their guardian's guns, like chickens under 
 the hen's wing. Keeping still at a distance, they supposed 
 he was afraid to approach, and soon allowed their fears to 
 
THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 77 
 
 subside. The captain of the armadilla, however, took the 
 precaution of sending three armed men on board each boat, 
 believing the pearls the object of the Buccaneer, and left his 
 own vessel almost defenceless. The hour had come. Farlino- 
 his sails, Pierre rowed along the coast, feigning himself a 
 Spanish vessel from Maracaibo, and when near the pearl-bank, 
 suddenly attacked the vice-admiral with eight guns and sixty 
 men, and commanded him to surrender. The Spaniards, 
 although surprised, made a good defence, but at last sur- 
 rendered after half an-hour's hand-to-hand fight, before the 
 almost unmanned armadilla could approach to render assist- 
 ance. Pierre now sank his own boat, which had only been kept 
 afloat by incessant working at the pumps. Many men would 
 have rested satisfied with such a prize, but Pierre knew 
 no Capua, and " thought nought done while aught remained 
 to do." He at once resolved, by a stratagem, to capture 
 the armadilla, for then the whole fleet would be his own. 
 The night being very dark, and the wind high and favour- 
 able, he weighed anchor, forcing the prisoners to help his 
 own crew. The man-of-war, seeing one of its fleet sailing, 
 followed, fearing that the sailors were absconding with the 
 pearls. As soon as it approached, Pierre made all the 
 S})aniards, on pain of instant death, shout out " Victoria, 
 victoria ! we have taken the lad rones," upon which the 
 man-of-war drew ofi", promising to send for the prisoners in 
 the morning. Laughing in his sleeve, Pierre gave orders 
 for hoisting all sail, and stood away for the open sea, putting 
 forth all his strength to get out of sight by daybreak. But 
 the blood of the murdered Spaniards, yet hot upon the 
 deck, was crying to Heaven against him ; he was pursued. 
 He had not got a league before the wind fell, and his ship 
 lay like a log on the water, just within sight of his pur- 
 suers, who ke])t a long way off", burning with impatience 
 and shame, and fretting like hounds in leash when the boar 
 breaks out. About evening the wind rose, after much 
 invocatory whistling, many prayers, and many curses. 
 Pierre, ignorant of the power of his prize, and what canvas 
 she could bear, hoisted at random every stitch of sail and 
 ran for his life, pursued by the armadilla, wrathful, white- 
 winged, and swift. Like many a fleet runner, Pierre 
 
78 PETER THE GIIEAT, 
 
 stuuiljlecl in his very eagerness for speed. He overloaded 
 liis vessel with sail. The wind grew higher, and howled 
 like an avenging spirit, liis mainmast fell with the crash of 
 a thunder-split oak. But Pierre held firm ; he threw his 
 prisoners into the hokl nailed down the hatches, and, trust- 
 ing to night to escape, stood boldly at bay. He despaired 
 of meeting force by force, having only twenty -two sound 
 men, the rest being, before long, either killed or wounded. 
 All in vain ; the great bird of prey bore down upon him 
 like a hawk ujjon. a throstle, gaining, gaining every moment. 
 Pierre defended himself courageously, and at last surren- 
 dered on condition. The Spanish captain agreed that the 
 Buccaneers should not be employed in carrying building- 
 stones for three or four years like mere negroes, but should 
 be set safe on dry land, for as yet the deep animosity of the 
 two races had not sprung up. The prize Pierre so nearly 
 bore off contained aVjove 100,000 pieces of eight in peai^ls, 
 besides provisions and goods. At first the captain would 
 have, put them all to the sword, but his crew persuaded him 
 to keep his word. The Frenchmen were then thrust down 
 with curses into the same dark hold from whence the 
 imprisoned Spaniards were now released ; so " the whirligig 
 of time brings about its revenge." When the crest-tallen 
 Buccaneers were brought on shore before the oovernor of 
 Carthagena, an outcry arose among the populace that the 
 robbers should all be hung, to atone for an alfarez whom 
 the hunters had killed, and who, the mob said, was worth 
 the whole French nation put together. The governor, 
 however, though he did not put the sailors to death, unge- 
 nerously broke the terms of his agreement, and compelled 
 his prisoners to work at the fortifications of San Francisco, 
 in his own island. After about three years of this painful 
 slavery, amid the jeers and contumely of the very negroes, 
 they were sent to Spain, and from thence escaping one by 
 one to France, made their way back to the Spanish main, 
 more eager than ever to revenge their wron^rs at the hands 
 of a nation whose riches furnished a ready means of expia- 
 tion, and whose cowardice rendered them incapable of 
 frequent retaliation. 
 
 The third hero on our stage, equally bold and no less 
 
THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 79 
 
 memorable, was Barthelemy Portngues, a native of Por- 
 tugal, as his name implied. 
 
 Housed by the rumours of adventures which insured gold 
 and glory, Barthelemy (no saint, and certainly more ready 
 to flay others than to submit to flaying) sought out a small 
 vessel at Jamaica, and fitted it up at his own expense. As 
 only his most remarkable enterprises are recorded it is pro- 
 bable, from his having money, that he was soon known as a 
 successful Flibustier. This boat he armed with four three- 
 pounders, and embarked with a crew of thirty men. 
 Leaving Kingston with a good wind at his back, he set sail 
 to cruise off Cape de Corriente, which he knew was the 
 high road where he should meet vessels coming from the 
 Caraccas or Carthageua, on their way to Campeachy, New 
 Spain, or the Havannah. He had not been loug beating 
 about the Cape — a point rounded with as much care by a 
 Spanish merchantman, afraid of Buccaneers, as Cape St. 
 Vincent was by the European captain, dreading the Salee 
 rovers — before a great vessel, bound from IMaracaibo and 
 Carthagena to the Havannah, hove in sight. It had a crew 
 of seventy men, and carried twenty guns, and many pas- 
 sengers and marines. The Flibustiers, thinking a Spaniard 
 so well armed and manned to be more than their match, 
 held one of their republican councils round the mast, and 
 refused to attack unless the captain wished. He decided 
 that no opportunity should be lost, for that nothing in any 
 part of the world could be won without risk. They instantly 
 gave chase to the vessel that quietly awaited their approach, 
 as astonished at the attack as a swallow would be if it were 
 pursued by a gnat. Receiving one flaming broadside, noisy 
 but harmless, the half-stripped rovers instantly threw them- 
 selves on board, but were repulsed by the Spaniards, who 
 were numerous, hopeful, and brave. Returning to their 
 vessel and throwing down their cutlass for the musket, they 
 kejjt up a close fire of small arms for five hours without 
 ceasing. Every gunner and every reefer that showed him- 
 self was picked off, the decks were red, the return fire grew 
 slack as the defence grew weaker, and the foe's proud 
 courage cooled ; the Buccaneers again threw themselves on 
 board, and made themselves masters of the ship, with the 
 
80 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 loss of only ten men and four wounded. They had now 
 only tift(^en men left to navigate a vessel containing nearly 
 forty prisoners. This number was all that were left alive, 
 and of these many were maimed with blue shot wounds or 
 gashed with red sword cuts. The conquerors' first act was 
 to throw the dead overboard, officer and sailor, just as they 
 fell, stripping off the jewels and ransacking pockets for the 
 dead men's doubloons. The living Spaniards, wounded and 
 dying, they drove into one small boat, and gave them their 
 liberty, afraid to keep them as prisoners and unwilling 
 to shed their blood. They then set to work to splice the 
 rigging and piece the sails, and lastly, to rummage for the 
 plunder. They found the value of their prize to be 75,000 
 crowns, besides 120,000 pounds of cocoa, worth about 5,000 
 additional. Having refitted the shattered vessel, they would 
 have sailed round the island of Jamaica, but a contrary wind 
 and current obliged them to steer to Cape St. Anthony, the 
 west extremity of Cuba, where they landed and took in 
 water, of which they were in great want. 
 
 They had scarcely hoisted sail to resume their course, pro- 
 bably intending to return to port to sell their spoil before 
 starting afresh, when they unexpectedly fell upon three large 
 vessels coming from New Spain to the Havannah, who gave 
 chase, as certain of victory as three greyhounds bounding after 
 a single hare. The Flibustiers, heavy laden with plunder, 
 and unable to make way, were almost instantly retaken, 
 falling as easy a prey as a gorged wolf does to the hunter. 
 In a few hours the Buccaneers were under hatches, stripped 
 of even their very clothes, and counting the moments before 
 execution — the Puritan doling out his hymns, the Catholic 
 muttering his Miserere, and the rude Cowkiller vowing hot 
 vengeance if he could but escape. Two evenings after 
 a storm arose and separated the leash of armed merchant- 
 men. 
 
 The vessel containinoc the luckless Portuijues arrived 
 first at St. Francisco, Campeachy. Barthelemy, who spoke 
 Spanish, had been well treated by the captain, who did not 
 know what a prize he had taken. The news of the capture 
 soon ran through the town, the captain became a public 
 man, the bells rung, the people flocked to see the caged 
 
THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 81 
 
 lions, the principal mercliants of the place crowded to con- 
 gratulate him on his success. Among the curious and timid 
 visitors was one who recognized Barthelemy, in spite of all 
 his oaths and denials, and demanded his surrender. No 
 hate can match the hate of injured avarice and frustrated 
 cupidity, "This is Barthelemy the Portuguese," he told 
 every one, "the most wicked rascal in the world, who has 
 done more harm to Spanish commerce than all the other 
 pirates put together." He ran everywhere and declared 
 they had at last got hold of the man so famous for the ma:iy 
 insolences, robberies, and murders he had committed on 
 their coast, and by whose cruel hands many of their kins- 
 men had perished. The captain, rather distrustful — some- 
 what favourable to Barthelemy perhaps, considering him as 
 a brother seaman worth any ten land-lubbers, and annoyed 
 at the arrogance of the merchant's demand — refused to 
 surrender the silent Portuguese, or to send him on shore. 
 The enraged merchant, upon this, proceeded to the governor, 
 who, listening to his complaint, sent to demand the Bucca- 
 neer in tlie king's name. He was instantly arrested, spite 
 of the captain's entreaties, and placed on board another 
 vessel, heavily ironed, for fear he should escape, as he had 
 done on a former occasion, A gibbet was erected, and the 
 next day it was resolved to lead him at once from his cabin 
 to the place of execution, without the hypocritical and 
 useless ceremony of even a prejudged trial. For some time 
 Portugues remained uncertain of his fate, till a Spanish 
 sailor (for he seems to have had the power of winning 
 friends) told him that his gibbet was already putting toge- 
 ther, and the rope was ready noosed. In that delay was his 
 safety ; that very night he resolved to escape, or perish by 
 a quicker or less disgraceful death. No doubt, with that 
 strange mixture of religion remaining in the minds of most 
 Buccaneers, he prayed to God and the saints to aid him. 
 
 He soon freed himself from his irons. Discovering in his 
 cabin two of those large earthen jars in which wine was 
 brought from Spain to the Indies, he closed over the orifices, 
 and hung them to his side with cords, being unable to 
 swim, and the distance being too far to the shore. Find- 
 ing that he could not elude the vigilance of the slee^^less 
 
 G 
 
82 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 sentinel that paced at his door, he stabbed him with a knife 
 he had secretly purchased, and let himself noiselessly down 
 from the mainchains into the sea, floating to land without 
 the splash that a swimmer would have made in still water. 
 Once on land he concealed himself in a wood, prepared 
 to bear any danger, and glad at heart to endure starvation 
 rather than suffer a public and shameful death. He was 
 too cunning to set off at once on a route that would be 
 explored, but hid himself among trees hali' covered with 
 water, in order to prevent the possibility of his being 
 tracked by the maroon bloodhounds — a common stratagem 
 with the moss-troopers, who found the sound of running 
 water drown the noise of their movements and the murmur 
 of their breathing, and the wet mud destroy all traces of 
 their track. Bruce and Wallace had long before escaped by 
 the artifice that now saved a robber and a murderer.. His 
 must have been anxious nights, varied by the shouts of 
 negroes, the deep bay of the dogs, the oaths of the Spaniards, 
 the discharge of fire-arms, the toll of the alarm bells, the 
 glare of beacons, and the flash of torches. For these three 
 days he lived on yams and other roots growing around him. 
 From a tree in which he sometimes harboured he had the 
 satisfaction of seeing his pursuers search the wood in vain, 
 and finally relinquish the pursuit. 
 
 Believing that the danger had now in some degree de- 
 creased, the lion-hearted sailor determined to push for 
 the Golpho Triste, forty leagues distant, where he hoped 
 to find a Buccaneer ship careening. He arrived there after 
 fourteen days of incredible endurance. He started in the 
 evening from the seashore, within sight of the lit-up town, 
 where a black gibbet was still standing bodingly against the 
 sky. His forced marches were full of terrible dangers and 
 perils. He had no provisions with him, and nothing but a 
 small calabash of water hung at his side. Hunger and thirst 
 strode beside him — the wild beast glared in his path — fierce 
 Spanish voices seemed to pursue him. His subsistence was 
 the raw shell-fish that he found washed among the rocks 
 upon the shore, fresh or putrid he had no time to consider. 
 He had to ford streams dark with caymans, and he had to 
 traverse woods where the jaguars howled. AVhenever he 
 
THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 83 
 
 came to a stream unusually dark, deep, and dangerous, and 
 ■where no ford was visible (for he could not swim), he threw 
 in large stones as he waded to scare away the crocodiles that 
 lurked round the shallows. In one spot he travelled five or 
 six leagues swinging like a sloth from bough to bough of a 
 pathless wood of mangroves, never once setting foot upon 
 the ground. His day's progress was often scarcely per- 
 ceptible. At one river more than usually deep he found an 
 old plank, which had drifted ashore when the seaman was 
 washed off, and from this he obtained some large rusty 
 nails. Extracting these, he sharpened them on a stone with 
 great labour, and used them as knives to cut down some 
 branches of trees, which he joined together with osiers and 
 pliable twigs, and slowly constructed a raft. Hunger, 
 thirst, heat, and fear beset him round ; and the voice of the 
 sea, always on his right hand, came to him like the hungry 
 howl of an enemy. In these fourteen nights he must 
 have literally tasted death, and anticipated the horrors of 
 hell. 
 
 " Fortune favours the brave." He found a Buccaneer 
 vessel in the gulf, and he was saved. The crew were old 
 companions of his, newly arrived from Jamaica and from 
 England. He related to them his adversities and his mis- 
 fortunes. All listened eagerly to adventures that might 
 to-morrow be their own. He thought alone of revenge, 
 and told them that if they chose he would give them a ship 
 worth a whole fleet of their canoes. He desired their help. 
 He only asked for one boat and thirty men. With these 
 he promised to return to Campeachy and capture the vessel 
 that had taken him but fourteen days before. They soon 
 granted his request, the boat was at once equipped, and he 
 sailed along the coast, passing for a smuggler bringing con- 
 traband goods. In eight days he arrived at Campeachy, 
 undauntedly and without noise boarding the vessel at mid- 
 night. They were challenged by the sentinel. Barthelemy, 
 who spoke good Spanish, replied, in a low voice,/' We are 
 part of the crew returning with goods from land, on which 
 no duty has been paid." The sentinel, hoping for a share, 
 or at least some hush-money, did not repeat the question. 
 Allowing him no time to detect the trick, they stabbed him, 
 
 G 2 
 
8'4 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 and, rushing forward, overpowered the watch. Cutting the 
 cable, they surprised the sleepers in their cabins ; weighing 
 anchor, soon compelled the Spaniards, by a resolute attack, 
 to surrender ; and, setting sail from the port, rejoined 
 their exulting comrades, unpursued by any vessel. Great 
 was the joy of the adventurers in becoming possessors of so 
 brave a ship. Portugues was now again rich and powerful, 
 though but lately a condemned prisoner in the very vessel 
 upon whose deck he now stood the lord of all. With this 
 cargo of rich merchandise Barthelemy intended to achieve 
 enterprises ; for though the Spaniards' plate had been all 
 disembarked at Campeachy, the booty was still large. 
 
 But let no hunter halloo till he is out of the wood, and 
 no sailor laugh till he gets into port. While he was making 
 his voyage to Jamaica, and already counting his profits as 
 certain, a terrible storm arose olF the isle of Pinos, on the 
 south of Cuba, which drove his prize against the Jardine 
 rocks, where she went to pieces. Portugues and his com- 
 panions escaped in a canoe to Jamaica, and before long 
 started on new adventures. What eventually became of 
 him we know not, but we are told that " he was never for- 
 tunate after." Whether he swung on the Campeachy gibbet 
 after all, became a prey to the Darien man-eater, was pierced 
 by the Greek bullet, or was devoured by the sea, long 
 expecting its victim, we shall never know. He sails away 
 from Kingston with colours flying, and wanders away from 
 us into unknown deeps. 
 
 Of this wild man's end nothing was ever known. He 
 was living at Jamaica when Esquemeling left for England. 
 His bones, perhaps, still whiten on some Indian bay, with 
 the sea moaning around that nameless dust for ever — the 
 sea that, doomed to destroy man, laments the very desola- 
 tion it occasions. 
 
 Roche Braziliano (or Roc the Brazilian, as the English 
 adventurers called him) was born at Groningen, in East 
 Friesland ; and his own name being forgotten, he was 
 called tlie Brazilian, because his parents had been Dutch 
 settlers in tlic Brazils. Roche w^as taught the Indian and 
 Portuguese languages at an early age, and when the latter 
 nation retook the Brazils, removed with his parents to the 
 
THE FIRST BUCCANEER. SO 
 
 French Antilles, wliere be leai^ned French. Disliking the 
 nation, he passed into Jamaica. Here he learned to speak 
 English, and, settling among our more congenial race, 
 became attached to the country of his adoption. But he 
 bad lingered too long in the desert to have much taste for 
 even Goshen. He had already acquired the Arab's love 
 for wandering, and poverty combined to lead him into an 
 adventurer's ship. Into this mode of life all restless talent 
 and love of enterprise v/as now driven, or drawn as by 
 gravitation. 
 
 After only three voyages, Roche became commander of a 
 brig whose crew had mutinied from their captain and offered 
 him the command. In a few days, this almost untried man 
 had the good fortune to capture a large vessel coming from 
 New Spain with a great quantity of plate on board. On 
 his arrival in Jamaica, Hoc became at once the acknow- 
 ledged leader of all the Vikings of the Spanish main — 
 their first sailor, their hero, and their model. He soon grew 
 so terrible that the Spanish mothers used his name as a 
 hushword to their children. 
 
 Roc is described as having a stalwart and vigorous body. 
 He was of ordinary height, but stout and muscular. Ilis 
 face was wide and short, his cheek-bones prominent, and his 
 ■eyebrows bushy and oi unusual size. He was skilful in the use 
 of all Indian and Catholic (Spanish) arms, a good hunter, a 
 good fisherman, and a good shot — as skilful a pilot as he was a 
 brave soldier. He generally carried a naked sabre resting 
 on his arm, and made no scruple of cutting down any of 
 his crew who were idle, mutinous, or cowardly. He was 
 much dreaded even in Jamaica, and particularly when 
 drunk, says his candid biographer. At those times he 
 would frequently run a-muck through the streets, beating 
 and wounding any one he met, especially if they dared to 
 oppose or resist him. Jn his sober moments he was 
 esteemed and feared, but he too often abandoned himseli to 
 every sort of brutal debauchery. 
 
 In Roc we see the first indication of a new phase of Buc- 
 caneering life — a fanatical hatred of the Spaiiiard. The 
 sailor, at first a mere privateersman at sea, and a hunter on. 
 shore, was now a legal robber, with a spice of the crusader : 
 
86 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 a chivalrous vendetta feeling had become superadded to the 
 mere love of booty. A thirst for gold had proved irresisti- 
 ble alone : what would it be now when it became heightened 
 by a thirst for blood ? 
 
 To the Spaniards Eoc was always very barbarous and 
 cruel, out of an inveterate hatred to that nation. He seldom 
 gave them quarter, and treated thera with untiring ferocity. 
 He taxed his invention for new modes of torture, revenging 
 upon them by a rather indirect mode of retaliation the 
 wrongs inflicted upon his parents by the Portuguese. He 
 is said to have even roasted some of his prisoners alive on 
 wooden spits, like boucanned boars, because they refused to 
 disclose the hog-yards where he might victual his ships. By 
 the Spaniards he was reported to be really an apostate out- 
 law of their own nation, this being the only way in which 
 they could account for his needless and useless cruelties. 
 
 On one occasion, as he was cruising on the coast of Cam- 
 peachy, a dismal tempest, says the chronicler, " surprised 
 ,him so violently" that his ship was wrecked, himself and 
 r,ns crew only escaping with their muskets, a little powder, 
 and a few bullets, lead being much more useful, however, 
 th an gold on such a coast. They reached shore not far from 
 Golpho Triste, the scene of Barthelemy's escape. Koc was 
 not the man to be cast down by an accident no more re- 
 garded by true adventurers than the upsetting of a coach by 
 an ordinary traveller. Getting ashore in a canoe, he deter- 
 mined to march quickly along the coast, and repair to the 
 gulf, a well-known haunt of the members of their craft. 
 Koc bade his men be of good heart, and he would bring 
 them safe out of every danger, and, giving them hoi^e, the 
 promise was already half accomplished. Getting on the 
 main road, they proceeded on their march through a hostile 
 country, with the air of men who had conquered the whole 
 Indies. They had already reached a desert track, and were 
 grown fatigued, hungry, and thirsty, when some Indians 
 gave the alarm, and the S])aniards were soon down upon 
 them, to the number of one hundred well-armed and well- 
 mounted horsemen, while the Buccaneers Avere but thirty 
 men 
 
 As soon as Boo saw the enemy, the Brazilian cried out, 
 
THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 87 
 
 " Courage, 7nes freres, we are hungry now, "but, Caramba, 
 you shall soon have a dinner if you follow me;" then, per- 
 ceiving the imminent danger, he encouraged his men, telling 
 them they were better soldiers than the Spaniards, and that 
 they ought rather to die fighting under their arms, as became 
 men of courage, than to surrender, and have their lives 
 pressed out by the extreraest torments. Seeing their com' 
 mander's courage, the wrecked men resolved to attack, 
 instead of waiting tamely for the enemy's approach, and, 
 facing the Spaniards, they at once discharged their guns so 
 dexterously, that they killed a horseman with almost every 
 shot. After an hour's hot fighting, the Spaniards fled. The 
 adventurers lost only two men, two more being lamed. 
 Stripping the dead, they took from them every valuable, and 
 despatched the wounded with the butt-end of their muskets. 
 They then feasted on the wine and brandy they found in 
 their knapsacks, or at their saddle-bows, declared themselves 
 ready to attack as many again ; and having finished their 
 meal, mounted on the stray horses, and proceeded on their 
 march. 
 
 The victors had not gone more than two days' journey 
 before they caught sight of a well-manned Spanish vessel, 
 lying off the shore beneath. It had come to protect the 
 boats which landed the men who cut the Campeachy dye- 
 wood. Ptoc saw that the poultry-yard knew nothing of the 
 kite that was hovering near. He instantly concealed his 
 band, and went with six comrades into a thicket near the 
 beach to watch. Here they passed the night. At day- 
 break the Spaniards, pulling to shore in their canoe, were 
 received in a courteous but unexpected manner by the Buc- 
 caneers. Roc instantly summoned his men, boarded and 
 took the vessel. The man-of-war contained little plate, but, 
 what was of equal use, two hundredweight of salt, with 
 which Roc salted down a few of the horses which he killed. 
 The remaining ones he gave to his Spanish prisoners, telling 
 them laughingly, that the beasts were worth more than the 
 vessel, and that once on their backs on dry land no rascal 
 need fear drowning. 
 
 A Buccaneer's first thought on obtaining one prize was to 
 gain another as soon as possible. Roc had still twenty-six 
 
88 PETER THE GREAT, 
 
 men by liim, and a good vessel to move in. He soon took 
 a sliip, bound to Maracaibo from New Spain, laden with 
 merchandise and money designed to buy a cargo of cocoa- 
 nuts. With this they repaired to Jamaica, letting the 
 vessel scorch in harbour till their money was all gone. 
 Having spent all, Braziliano put out to sea again, impatient 
 of poverty and resolved to trust to fortune, for be was her 
 favourite child. He sailed for the rendezvous at Campeacby, 
 and after fifteen days started in a canoe to hover round the 
 port, beating about like a hawk in search of prey. 
 
 He was soon after captured and taken with his men 
 before a S2)anish governor, who cast them into a dungeon, 
 intending to hang the rascals every one. But fortune only 
 hid her smiles for a moment, and bad not deserted him. 
 E,oc, as subtle as he was intrejjid, had not yet exhausted 
 his wiles. He was at bay, the dogs were gathered round, 
 but they had not yet got him by the throat. He made 
 friends with the black slave who brought him food, and 
 promised to give him money to buy his freedom if he would 
 aid his scheme. He did not wish to comjDromise the slave: 
 he only wished him to be the bearer of a letter to the 
 governor. The slave told the governor that he had been 
 put on shore in the bay by some Buccaneers and had been 
 ordered to deliver the letter. 
 
 The letter was an angry threat, supposed to be indited by 
 the captain of a French vessel lying in the offing. It 
 advised the governor " to have a care how he used those 
 persons he had in his custody, for in case he should do 
 them any harm, they did swear unto him, they would never 
 give quarter unto any person of the Spanish nation that 
 should fall into their hands." The governor, lifting up his 
 eyes and twisting his moustachios at the threat, was intimi- 
 dated, and became anxious to get rid as soon as possible of 
 such dangerous prisoners, for Campeacby had already been 
 taken once by the adventurers, and he feared what mischief 
 the companions who visited Spanish towns might do. He 
 began now to treat his ])risoners with greater kindness, and 
 on the first opportunity sent for them, and, exacting a simple 
 oath that they would abandon piracy, shii)ped them on board 
 the galleon fleet bound for Spain. Koc, with his usual versa- 
 
THE FIRST BUCCANEER. 89 
 
 tillty, soon made himself so much beloved that the Spanish 
 captain offered to take him as a sailor, and he accepted the 
 offer. During this single voyage to Spain he made a sum. 
 of no less than 500 crowns by selling the officers fish that 
 he struck in the Indian manner with arrows and harpoons 
 from the main-chains. His comrades, whom he never forgot, 
 were treated with consideration on his account. 
 
 On his arrival in Spain, Roc, in spite of his oath, which had 
 been exacted by fear of death, and was therefore absolvable 
 by any priest, lost no time in getting back to Jamaica, where 
 he arrived without a vessel to call his own, but in other 
 respects in better circumstances than when he left. He 
 joined himself at once to two French adventurers. 
 
 The chief ol these, named Tributor, was an old Buccaneer 
 of great experience. They determined to land upon the 
 peninsula of Yucatan, in hopes of taking the town of Merida. 
 Roc, who had been there before as a prisoner, and had 
 doubtless proposed the scheme, served as guide, but some 
 Indians got upon their trail and alarmed the Spaniards, who 
 fortified the place and prepared for an attack. On the 
 Buccaneers' arrival they found the town well garrisoned and 
 defended, and while they were still debating whether to 
 advance or retreat, the question was abruptly decided for 
 them by a body of the enemy's horsemen, who fell u])on their 
 rear, cut half of them to pieces, and made the rest prisoners. 
 The wily Roc, never taken much by surprise, contrived to 
 escape, but old Tributor and his men were all captured. 
 CExmelin expresses his wonder at Roc's escajje, because he 
 had always held it vile cowardliness to allow another man to 
 strike before himself " Hitherto he had been the last to 
 yield, even when he Avas overborne by enemies, and had been 
 heard to say that he preferred death to dishonour." Nemo 
 mortalium, &c. 
 
90 LOLCXifOig THE CHUEL. 
 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 Lolonnois — His stratagem — His cruelty — His partner, Michaei le 
 Basque — Takes Maracaibo — Tortures the citizens — SacliS the town — 
 Takes Gibraltar — Attempt on Merida — Famine and pestilence — 
 Division ot spoil — Takes S. Pedro — Burns Veragua — Wrecked in 
 Honduras — Attacked by Indians — Killed and eaten by the savages. 
 
 The Spanish ships now decreased in number, merchants 
 relinquishing a trade so uncertain and perilous. The con- 
 sequence of this was that the Buccaneers, finding their sea- 
 cruises grow less profitable, began to venture upon the 
 mainland, and attack towns and even cities. If trade would 
 not come to them, they must go to trade. 
 
 The first Buccaneer who distinguished himself in this 
 wider field of action was Francis Lolonnois. He was born 
 among the wild sands of Olonne, in Poictou, and drew his no7n 
 de guerre from that lone and fitting birth-place. He quitted 
 France in early life, and embarked at Bochelle as an engage 
 for the Caribbean Islands, where he served the customary 
 slavery of three years. Having heard much, during this 
 servitude of the hunters, of Hispaniola, he sailed for that 
 island as soon as his apprenticeship had expired, and he was 
 again a free adventurer. He first bound himself as a valet 
 to a hunter, and finally became a Buccaneer, having now 
 passed through all the usual experiences of a young West 
 Indian colonist. Spending some time upon the grassy 
 savannahs, he became restless and tired of shore, and 
 desirous of enlisting as a freebooter under the red flag. 
 Kepairing to Tortuga, the head-quarters of Flibustier enter- 
 prise, he enrolled himself among the rovers of the sea, with 
 whom he made many voyages as simple mariner or com- 
 l)anion. From the first day he trod plank he is said to 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 91 
 
 have shown himself destined to attain high distinction, 
 surpassing all the "Brothers" in adroitness, agility, and 
 darinof. 
 
 In these floating republics talent soon rose to the surface. 
 Lolonnois was elected master of a vessel, with which he 
 took many prizes, but at last lost everything by a storm 
 which wrecked his ship, drowned his men, sank his cargo, 
 and cast him alone, bleeding and naked, upon a savage 
 shore. His courage and conduct, however, had won the 
 admiration of the Governor of Tortuga, M. de la Place, 
 whose island he had enriched by the frequent sale of prizes, 
 and who launched him again in a new ship to encounter 
 "bnce more all the fury of the sea, the hurricane, and the 
 Spaniard. Fortune was at first favourable to him, and he 
 acquired great riches. His name became so dreaded by the 
 Indians and the Spaniards that they chose rather to die or 
 burn or drown than surrender to one who never knew the 
 word mercy. He never learned how to chain fortune to his 
 mast, and was soon a second time wrecked at Campeachy. 
 The men were all saved, but on reaching land were pursued 
 and killed by the Spaniards. Lolonnois, himself severely 
 wounded, saved his life by a stratagem. Mixing the sand 
 of the shore with the blood flowing from his wounds, he 
 smeared his face and body, and hid himself dexterously 
 under a heap of dead, remaining there till the Spaniards 
 had carried off one or two of his less severely wounded 
 companions into Campeachy. As soon as they were gone 
 he arose with a grim smile Irom his lurking-place among the 
 slain, and betook himself to the woods. He then washed 
 his now stiffened wounds in a river, and bound up his 
 gashes as he could. When they were healed (the flesh of 
 these men soon healed), he put on the dress of a slain 
 Spaniard, and made his way boldly into the neighbouring 
 city. In the suburbs he entered into conversation with 
 some slaves he met, whom he bribed by an ofter of freedom 
 if they would obey him and follow his guidance. 
 
 They listened to his proposal, and, stealing their master's 
 canoe, brought it to the sea-shore, where Lolonnois lay con- 
 cealed. But before this the disguised Buccaneer had gone 
 rambling fearlessly through the enemy's town, witnessing 
 
S3 LOLONXOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 the rejoicings made at his own supposed death ; for his 
 companions, who were kept close prisoners in a dungeon, 
 had been asked what had become of their captain, to Avhich 
 they had always replied that he was dead, upon which the 
 Spaniards lit up bonfires in their open squares, thanking 
 God for their deliverance from so cruel a pirate. 
 
 The flames of these fires were red upon the bay when 
 Lolonnois and the slaves pushed off their canoe and made 
 haste to escape. They reached Tortuga in safety, Lolonnois 
 kept his promise, and set the slaves at liberty — although, if 
 he had been base and worthless enough, he could have 
 refitted his boat with the profits of their sale. He now 
 thought only of revenging himself on the Spaniards for 
 their cruelty in murdering the survivors of a wreck. He 
 spent whole days in considering how he could capture a 
 vessel and restore himself to his former reputation lor skill 
 and fortune. By some extraordinary plan, Esquemeling — 
 who writes always with affected horror of the men amongst 
 whom he lived — says, with " craft and subtlety," he soon 
 obtained a tliird ship, with a crew of twenty-one men and a 
 surgeon. Being well provided with arms and necessaries — 
 how provided by a penniless man it is impossible to guess 
 — he resolved to visit De Los Cayos, a village on the south 
 side of Cuba, where he knew vessels from the Havannah 
 passed to the port of Boca de Estera, whe)-e they purchase 
 tobacco, sugar, and hides, coming generally in small boats, 
 for the sea ran very shallow there. At this place meat was 
 also obtained to victual the Spanish fleets. 
 
 Lolonnois was very sanguine of booty, but some fisher- 
 men's boats, observing him, alarmed the town. One of 
 these canoes thej'' captured, and, placing in it a crew of 
 eleven men, proceeded to coast about the Bayes du Nord. 
 The Buccaneers kept at some distance from each other, in 
 hopes of sooner surrounding their j.>rey, for each of their 
 crews was strong enough to capture any merchant vessel 
 that had not more than fifteen or sixteen unarmed men on 
 board. They remained some months beating ofi" and on 
 Cuba, but caught nothing, although this was the very 
 height of the commercial season. After a long delay ot 
 wonder and vexation, they learned the cause of their failure 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 05 
 
 from the crew of a fishing-boat which they captured, who 
 told them that the people of Cayos would not venture to 
 sea because they knew that they were there. It would be 
 dangerous for them to remain, they added, for the chief 
 merchants of the port had instantly despatched a " vessel 
 overland " to the Governor of Havannah, telling him that 
 Lolonnois had come in two canoes to destroy them, and 
 begging him to send and destroy the " ladrones." Tlie 
 governor could with difficulty at first be persuaded to listen 
 to the petition, because he had just received letters from 
 Campeachy bidding him rejoice at the death of that pirate ; 
 but, aroused by the continued importunities of his angry 
 petitioners, he at last sent a ship to their relief 
 
 This ship carried ten guns, and had a crew of ninety 
 young, vigorous, and well-armed men, to whom he gave at 
 parting an express command that they should not return 
 into his presence without having first destroyed those 
 pirates. He sent with them a negro hangman, desiring 
 him to kill on the spot all they should take, except Lolon- 
 nois, the captain, who was to be brought alive in triumph to 
 the Havannah. The ship had scarcely arrived at Cayos 
 when the pirate, advertised of its approacii, came to seek it 
 at its moorings in the river Estera. Lolonnois cried out, 
 when he saw it loom in the distance, '•' Courage, mes cama- 
 rades ! courage, mes bons freres ! we shall soon be well 
 mounted." Capturing some fishermen busy with their nets, 
 he forced them at night to show him the entrance of the 
 port. 
 
 Rowing very quietly under the shadow of the trees that 
 bordered the river's banks and hid their approach, they 
 arrived under the vessel's side a little after two o'clock in the 
 morning — not long before daybreak. The watch on board 
 the ship hailed them, and asked them whence they came 
 and if they had seen any pirates ? They made one of the 
 fishermen who guided them reply in Spanish that they had 
 seen no pirates or anything else ; and this made the 
 Spaniards believe that Lolonnois had fled at their approach 
 The Buccaneers instantly began to open fire on both sides 
 from their canoes. The Spaniards, who ke}>t good guard, 
 returned the fire, but without much efiect, for their enemies 
 
04 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 lay down flat in their boats, and the trees served them as 
 gabions. The Spaniards fought bravely, in spite of the 
 suddenness and vigour of the attack, and made some use of 
 their great guns. The combat lasted from dawn till mid- 
 day, the crew of the vessel discharging ineffectual volleys of 
 musketry, which seldom injured the assailants, whose 
 bullets, on the other hand, killed or wounded every moment 
 some of the Havannah youth. When the firing began to 
 slacken, Lolonnois pulled his canoes out into the stream, 
 and boarded the vessel, which almost instantly surrendered. 
 Those who survived were beaten down under the hatches, 
 while the wounded on the decks received the coup de grace. 
 When this had been done, Lolonnois commanded his men 
 to bring up the prisoners one by one from the hold, cutting 
 off their heads as they came up with his own hand, and 
 tasting their blood. The negro hangman, seeing the fate 
 of his predecessors, threw himself passionately at the feet 
 of the Buccaneer chief, and exclaimed in Spanish, " If you 
 will not kill me, I will tell you the truth." Lolonnois, 
 supposing he had some secret to tell, bade him speak on. 
 But he refused to open his lips further till life were pro- 
 mised him ; upon the promise being made, the trembling 
 wretch exclaimed, " Seiior capitan, monsieur, massa, the 
 governor of the Havannah, not doubting but that this well- 
 armed frigate would have taken the strongest of your vessels, 
 sent me on board to serve as executioner, and to hang all 
 the prisoners that his men took, in order to intimidate your 
 nation, so that they should not dare ever to approach a 
 Spanish vessel." Esquemeling, who always exaggerates the 
 cruelty of his quondam companions, says, Lolonnois, making 
 the black confess what he thought fit, commanded him to 
 be murdered with the rest ; but (Exmelin gives a more 
 probable version. At the negro's mention of his being a 
 hangman he grew furious, and but for his words, " I give 
 thee quarter, and even liberty, because I promised it thee," 
 would certainly have put him to death. He then slew all 
 the rest of the crew but this one man, whom he spared 
 in order to send him back with a letter to the governor 
 of the Havannah. The letter ran thus : " I have returned 
 your kindness by doing to your men what they designed 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 95 
 
 to do to me and my companions. I shall never hence- 
 forward give quarter to any Spaniard whatsoever, and I have 
 great hopes of executing upon your own person the very 
 same punishment I have done upon those you sent against 
 me. It would be better for you to cut your throat than 
 to fall into my power." 
 
 The governor, enraged at the loss of his ship and crew, 
 and exasperated by the insolent daring of the letter, swore 
 in the presence of many that he would not grant quarter to 
 any pirate who fell into his hands. Furious that two 
 canoes, with twenty-two half-naked men, should be able to 
 deride the might of Spain in his person, he instantly sent 
 round word to the neighbouring Indian forts to hang all 
 their French and English prisoners, instead of, as usual, 
 embarking them for Spain. The citizens and planters of 
 Havannah, hearing of this imprudent bravado, sent a 
 deputation to the governor to represent to him that, for one 
 Englishman or Frenchman that the Spaniards captured, the 
 Buccaneers took every day a hundred of their people, that 
 the men of Havannah were obliged to get their living by 
 trading, that life was far dearer to them than mere money, 
 which was all the Buccaneers wanted ; and lastly, that all 
 their fishermen would be daily exposed to danger, the Buc- 
 caneers having frequent opportunity for reprisal. Upon 
 this the angry governor was at last persuaded to bridle his 
 passion and remit the severity of his oath. 
 
 Lolonnois, now provided with a good ship, resolved to 
 cruise from port to port to obtain provisions and men. Off 
 Maracaibo he surprised a ship laden with plate, outward- 
 bound to buy cocoa-nuts, and with this prize returned to 
 Tortuga, much to his own satisfaction and the general joy of 
 that strange colony of runaway slaves, disbanded soldiers, 
 hunters, privateersmen, pirates, puritans, and papists. He 
 had not been long in port before he planned an expedition 
 to Maracaibo, joining another adventurer in equipping a 
 body oi five hundred men. In Tortuga he found prisoners 
 for guides, and disbanded adventurers resolute enough to be 
 his companions. His partner was Michael le Basque, a 
 Buccaneer who had retired very rich, and was now major of 
 the island. He had done great actions in Europe, and bore 
 
96 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 tlie repute of being a good soldier. Lolonnois was to rule by 
 sea and Le Basque by land. 
 
 Le Basque knew all the avenues of Maracaibo, and had 
 lately taken in a prize two Indians, who knew the port well 
 and offered to act both as pilots and guides. Le Basque 
 had consented to join Lolonnois, struck by the daring and 
 compreliension of his plans^ and Lolonnois was overjoyed at 
 the alliance of so tried a rover. Notice was instantly given 
 to all the unemployed Buccaneers that they were planning 
 a great expedition with much chance of booty. All who 
 were willing to join them were to come by a certain day to 
 the rendezvous, on the north side of Hispaniola, where he 
 revictualled his fleet, took some French hunters as volunteers 
 into his company, careened his vessels, and procured beef and 
 pork by the chase. 
 
 His fleet consisted of eight small ships, of which his own, 
 the largest, carried only twenty pieces of cannon ; his crews 
 amounted alto2:ether to about 400 men. Settinoj sail from 
 Bayala the last day in July, while doubling Ponta del Es- 
 pada (Sword Point), the eastern cape ot Hispaniola, Lolon- 
 nois overtook two Spanish vessels coming from Porto Bico 
 to New Spain, and one of these Lolonnois insisted on cap- 
 turing with his own hand, sending in his fleet to Savona. 
 The Spaniards, although they had an opportunity for two 
 whole hours, refused to fly, and, being well armed, prepared 
 for a desperate resistance ', the combat lasted for three 
 hours. The ship carried sixteen guns, and was manned by 
 fifty fighting men. They found in her a cargo of 120,000 
 pounds' weight of cocoa, 40,000 pieces of eight, and the 
 value of 10,000 more in jewels. Lolonnois instantly sent this 
 prize back to Tortuga to be unloaded, with orders to return 
 to the rendezvous at Savona. On their way to this place, his 
 vanguard had also been in luck, having met with a Spanish 
 vessel bringing military stores and money from Cumana for 
 the garrisons of Hispaniola. In this vessel, which they took 
 without any resistance, though armed with eight guns, they 
 found 7,000 pounds' weight of powder, a great number of 
 muskets and other arms, together with 12,000 pieces of 
 eight. 
 
 These successes encouraged the adventurers, and to super- 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 97 
 
 stitious men seemed like promises of good fortune and 
 success. The generosity of the governor of Tortuga also 
 tended to heighten their spirits. M. D'Ogeron, the French 
 governor, had been greatly delighted at the early arrival of 
 so rich a prize, worth, at the lowest calculation, 180,000 
 livres, and threw open all his store-houses for the use of the 
 prize crew. Ordering her to be quickly unloaded, he sent 
 her back to Lolonnois full of provisions and necessaries. 
 Many persons who had come from France with the governor 
 now joined an expedition which had begun so auspiciously, 
 desirous of gaining a fortune with the same rapidity as the 
 older colonists. By hazarding a little money a planter 
 could now obtain a chance of sharing in the plunder of a 
 distant city without moving from under the shadow of his 
 tamarind tree, and the governor's approval threw an air of 
 legal government patronage over the expedition. D'Ogeron 
 even sent his two nephews on board, young gallants newly 
 arrived from France, and one of whom afterwards ruled the 
 island in the room of his uncle. With a fleet recruited with 
 men in room of those killed by the fever or the Spaniards, 
 and full of hope and spirits, Lolonnois sailed for Maracaibo. 
 His own vessel he gave to his comrade Anthony du Puis, 
 and went himself on board the Cacaoyere, as the largest 
 prize was called. 
 
 Before sailing, he reviewed his little invincible armada. 
 His own new frigate carried sixteen guns and 120 men. 
 His vice-admiral, Moses Vauclin, had ten guns and ninety 
 men ; and his matelot, Le Basque, sailed in a vessel called 
 La Poudriere, because it contained all the powder, the am- 
 munition, and the money for the sailors' pay. It carried 
 twenty pieces of cannon and ninety men. Pierre le Picard 
 steered a brigantine with forty men. Moses had equipped 
 another of the same size, and the two other smaller vessels 
 were each managed by a crew of thirty men. Every sailor was 
 armed with a good musket, a brace of pistols, and a strong 
 sabre. At this review Lolonnois first disclosed his whole 
 plan, which was to visit Maracaibo, in the province of New 
 Venezuela, and to pillage all the towns that border the lake. 
 He then produced his guides, one of whom had been a pilot 
 over the bar at Maracaibo, and who vouched lor the ease 
 
 H 
 
98 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 with which the attack could be made. Shouts and clamour 
 announced the universal satisfaction at the proposal. They 
 all agreed to follow him, and took an oath that they would 
 obey him implicitly on the penalty of being mulcted of their 
 booty. The usual chassepartie, or Buccaneer's agreement, 
 was then drawn up, specifying the exact share that each one 
 should receive of the spoil, from the captain down to the 
 boys of the ships, and not forgetting the wounded and the 
 guides. 
 
 Venezuela, or " Little Venice," derived its name from its 
 being very low land, and only preserved from frequent inun- 
 dation bv artificial means. At six or seven leasfues' distance 
 from the Bay of Maracaibo, or Gulf of Venezuela, are two 
 small islands — the island of the Watch Tower, and the island 
 of the Pigeons. Between these two islands runs a channel 
 of fresh water — as wide across as an eight-pound shot can 
 carry, about sixty leagues long, and thirty broad — which 
 empties itself into the sea. On the Isla de las Vigilias stood 
 a hill surmounted by a watch-tower ; on the Isla de las Pa- 
 lombas, a fort to impede the entrance of vessels, which were 
 obliged to come very near, tlie channel being narrowed by 
 two sand -banks, which left only fourteen feet water. The 
 sand-drifts were very numerous ; some of them, particularly 
 one called El Tablazo, not having more than six feet water. 
 
 " West hereof," says Esquemeling — for we must describe 
 the past, not the present city — " is the city of Maracaibo, 
 very pleasant to the view, its houses being built along the 
 shore, having delightful prospects all round. The city may 
 contain three or four thousand persons, slaves included, all 
 which make a town of reasonable bigness. There are judged 
 to be about 800 persons able to bear arms, all Spaniards. 
 Here are one parish church, well built and adorned, four 
 monasteries, and one hospital. The city is governed by a 
 dej)uty-governor, substituted by the governor of the Carac- 
 cas. The trade here exercised is mostly in hides and tobacco. 
 The inhabitants possess great numbers of cattle and many 
 plantations, which extend thirty leagues in the country, 
 especially towards the great town of Gibraltar, where are 
 gathered great quantities of cocoa-nuts and all other garden- 
 fruits, which serve for the reorale and sustenance of the 
 
LOLONXOTS THE CRUEL. 9§ 
 
 inhabitants of Maracaibo, whose territories are much drier 
 than those of Gibraltar. Hither those of Maracaibo send 
 great quantities of flesh, they making returns in oranges, 
 lemoiis, and other fruits ; for the inhabitants of Gibraltar 
 want flesh, not being capable of feeding cows and sheep." 
 
 The inner lake within the great bar, so difiicult to cross, 
 was fed by upwards of seventy streams, of which several were 
 navigable. The two capes on either side of the gulf were 
 named respectively Cape St. Roman and the Cape of Caqui- 
 bacoa. The east side, though frequently flooded, was un- 
 healthy but very fertile, something resembling the Maremma, 
 where, according to an Italian proverb, a man gets rich in 
 six months, and dies in seven. 
 
 In the bay itself, ten or twelve leagues from the lake, are 
 the two islands of Onega and Las Monges. On the east side, 
 near the embouchure, there was a fishermen's village called 
 Barbacoa, where the Indians lived in trees to escape the 
 floods ; for, after great rains, the lands were often overflowed 
 in broad tracts of two or three leagues. A few miles frotu 
 this was the town of Gibraltar, where the best cocoa in the 
 Indies was grown, aswell as the celebrated " priests' tobacco." 
 Beyond this twenty leagues of jurisdiction rose mountains 
 perpetually covered with snow, contrasting remarkably with 
 the swampy fields and the rich tropical vegetation of the 
 well-irrigated district below. On the other side of these 
 mountains lay the mother city of Merida, between which, 
 during the summer alone, mules carried merchandise to Gib- 
 raltar ; the cocoa and tobacco of Merida beinsc exchansfed 
 for Peruvian flour and the fruits of Gibraltar. Near this 
 latter town were rich plantations and wooded districts, 
 abounding with the tall cedars from which the Indians 
 scooped out solid piraguas, or canoes, capable of carrying 
 thirty tons, which were rigged with one large sail. 
 
 The territory of Gibraltar was flat, and naturally fertile, 
 watered by rivers and brooks, besides being artificially irri- 
 gated by small channels, necessary in the frequent droughts. 
 Everything desirable for food, and pleasant to the sight, 
 grew here in abundance ; the air was filled with birds as 
 beautiful as wandering blossoms, and the rivers teemed with 
 many-coloured fish. But into this Indian Paradise death 
 
 H 2 
 
100 LOLOXNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 often entered, and these swamps were the lairs of the dead- 
 liest fevers that devastate humanity. In the rainy season 
 the merchants left Gibraltar, just as the rich do Rome in 
 autumn, and retired to Merida or Maracaibo to escape the 
 pestilence that walked, not merely in darkness, but even in 
 the bright noon. At six leagues from this town and its 
 1,500 inhabitants, ran a river navigable by vessels of fifty 
 tons' burthen. 
 
 Maracaibo itself had a spacious and secure port, and was 
 well adapted for building vessels, owing to the abundance oi 
 timber in the neighbourhood. In the small island of Borica 
 were fed great numbers of goats, which were bred chiefly for 
 their skins. In curious contradistinction to all this bustle of 
 commerce, life, and wealth, on the south-east border of the 
 lake lived the Bravo-Indians, a savage race, who had never 
 been subdued by the Spaniard. They also, like the fisher- 
 men, dwelt in huts built in the branches of the mangrove- 
 trees at the very edge of the water, safe from the floods, 
 and from the equally annoying, though less fatal, visitation 
 of the mosquitoes. Beyond them to the west spread a dry 
 and arid country — where nothing but cacti and stunted, 
 bitter shrubs grew, so thorny as to be almost impassable by 
 the traveller — waste and barren. Here the Spaniards pas- 
 tured a few flocks, and the only houses were the huts of the 
 armed shepherds who tended the lonely herds. These cattle 
 were killed chiefly for their fat and hides, the flesh being left 
 for the flocks of merchant birds — a sort of vulture, four or five 
 of whom would pick an ox to the bone in a day or two. 
 
 Lolonnois, arriving at one of the islands in the gulf, landed 
 and took in provisions, not wishing to arrive at the bar till 
 daybreak, in hopes of surprising the fort ; and anchoring out 
 of sight of the watch-tower, weighed anchor in the evening 
 from the island of Onega, and sailed all night, but was seen 
 by the sentinels, who immediately made signals to the fort, 
 which discharged its cannon and announced the approach of 
 an enemy. 
 
 Mooring off the bar, Lolonnois lost no time in landing to 
 attack the fort that guarded the veiy door through which 
 he must pass. The batteries consisted of simple gabions, or 
 baskets masked with turf, concealing fourteen pieces of can- 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 101 
 
 non and 250 men, with' flanking earthworks thrown up to 
 protect • the gunners. Lolonnois and Le Basque landed at 
 a league from the fort, and advanced at the head of their 
 men. The governor, seeing them land, had prepared an 
 ambuscade, in hopes of attacking them at the same time in 
 flank and rear. The Buccaneers, discovering this, got before 
 the Spaniards, and routed them so utterly that not a single 
 man returned to the fort, which was instantly attacked 
 " with the usual desperation of this sort of people," says 
 Esquemeling. The fighting continued for three h()urs. The 
 Buccaneers, aiming with hunters' precision, killed so many 
 of the Spaniards, and reduced their numbers so terribly, that 
 the survivors could not prevent the savage swordsmen storm- 
 ing the embrasures, slaying half the survivors, and taking 
 the rest prisoners. A few l)leeding wretches are said to have 
 fled in confusion into Maracaibo, crying, " The pirates will 
 presently be here with 2,000 men." 
 
 The rest of the day Lolonnois spent in destroying the fort 
 he had captured, first signalling his ships to come in, as the 
 danger was over. His men levelled the earth ramparts, 
 spiked the guns, buried the dead, and sent the wounded on 
 board the fleet. The next day, very early in the morning, 
 the ships weighed anchor and directed their course, in close- 
 winged phalanx, like a flock of locusts, towards the doomed 
 city of Maracaibo, now only six leagues distant. They made 
 but slow way, in spite of all their impatience, for there was 
 very little wind ; and it was not till the next morning that 
 they drew in sight of the town, standing pleasantly on the 
 cool shore, with its galleries of shaded balconies, its towers 
 and steeples — the goal to which they steered. 
 
 Suspicious of ambuscades, after the danger at the bar, 
 Lolonnois put his men into canoes, and pulled to shore 
 under protection of salvos from his great guns, which he 
 ordered to be pointed at the woods which lined the beach. 
 Half the men went in the canoes, and half remained on 
 board ; but these furious discharges were thrown away, the 
 Spaniards having long since fled. To their great astonish- 
 ment, the town itself was deserted. The people, remembering 
 the horrors of a former Buccaneer descent, when ]\J aracaibo 
 had been " sacked to the uttermost," had escaped to Gibraltar 
 
102 LOLOXNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 in their boats and canoes, taking with them all the jewels 
 and money they could cany. 
 
 To the alarmed friends who received them, they said that 
 the fort of the bar had been taken, and nothing been saved, 
 nor any soldiers escaped. At Gibraltar they believed them- 
 selves safe, thinking the Buccaneers would pillage the unfor- 
 tunate and defenceless town and then retreat over the bar. 
 
 The hungry sailors, who had lived scantily for four weeks, 
 found the deserted houses well provided with flour, bread, 
 pork, poultry, and brandy, and with these they made good 
 cheer. The warehouses were brimming with merchandise, the 
 cellars were flowing with Spanish wine. The more prudent 
 fell to plunder, the more thoughtless to revel. The former 
 class probably embraced the older, and the latter the younger 
 men. Each party abused the vice from which he abstained, 
 and gave himself up without scruple to his own more 
 favourite indulgence. But soon the man weary of wine 
 began to plunder, and the man loaded with pieces of eight 
 began to drink. The moment that plunder ceased, waste 
 began, and prudence and folly alike ended the day poor 
 and drunk. The commanders at once seized on the best 
 houses, indulging their natural love of order and justice by 
 placing sentinels at the larger shops and warehouses. 
 
 The great monastery of the Cordeliers served them as a 
 guard-house, for a long time the abode of thieves, yet never 
 so manifestly as now ; for a long time the shrine of mam- 
 mon, yet now for the first time filled by his avowed 
 worshippers. Had the town not been deserted, that night 
 would have heard the groans of the victims of cruelty ; as it 
 was, it echoed only with the songs and shouts of debauchery. 
 The Buccaneer had reached his Capua, but there was no 
 Judith ready to slay this llolofernes in his drunken sleep. 
 Perhaps a night surprise would have failed. These men 
 were still the vigilant hunters and the watchful sailors ; 
 sunken rocks and lurking Spaniards, breakers and wild bulls, 
 reefs and wild panthers had taught them never to sleep 
 unguarded and unvvatched. 
 
 The next day a fresh source of plunder was opened. 
 Lolonnois — for Le Basque's command, even by land, seems 
 to have been secondary — sent a body of 160 men to recon- 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 103 
 
 noitre the neiglibouring woods, where some of the inhabitants 
 were, it was supposed, concealed. They returned the same 
 night, discharging their guns, and dragging after them 
 a miserable weeping train of twenty prisoners, men, women, 
 and children ; besides this, a sack of 20,000 pieces of eight, 
 and many mules, laden with household goods and merchan- 
 dise. 
 
 Some of the prisoners were at once racked, to make them 
 confess where they had hidden their riches, but neither pain 
 nor fear could extort their secrets. Lolonnois, who valued 
 not murdering, though in cold blood, ten or twelve Spaniards, 
 drew his cutlass and hacked one of them to pieces before all 
 his companions ; and while the pale tortured men were still 
 writhing and groaning by his side, declared, " If you do not 
 confess and declare where you have the rest of your goods, I 
 will do the like to all your companions." In spite of all 
 these horrible cruelties and inhuman threats, only one was 
 found base enouoh to offer to conduct the Buccaneers to a 
 place where the rest of the fugitives were hidden. When 
 they arrived there, they found their coming had been 
 announced, the riches had been removed to another place, 
 and the Spaniards, had fled. The exiles now changed their 
 hiding-places daily, and, amid the universal danger and dis- 
 trust, a father would not even rely on his own son. 
 
 After fifteen days "taking stock" at Maracaibo, Lolonnois 
 marched towards Gibraltar, intending afterwards to sack 
 Merida, as at these places he expected to find the wealth 
 transported from the City of the Lake. Several of his 
 prisoners offered to serve as guides, but warned him that he 
 would find the place strong and fortified. "No matter," 
 cried the Buccaneer, " the better sign that it is worth taking." 
 
 Gibraltar was already prepared. The inhabitants, expect- 
 ing Lolonnois, had entreated aid from the governor of 
 Merida, a stout old soldier who had served in Flanders. 
 He sent back word, that they need take no care, for he 
 hoped in a little while to exterminate the pirates. He had, 
 soon after this hopeful bravado, entered the town at the head 
 of 400 well-armed men, and was joined by an equal number 
 of armed townsmen, whom he at once enrolled. On the side 
 of the town towards the sea he raised with great rapidity a 
 
104 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 battery, mounting twenty guns, well protected by baskets of 
 earth, and flanked by a smaller traverse of eight pieces. 
 He lastly barricaded a narrow passage to the town, through 
 which the pirates, he knew, must pass, and opened another 
 decoy path leading to a swampy wood that was quite 
 impassable. 
 
 Three days after leaving Maracaibo, Lolonnois, who 
 approached Gibraltar, seeing the royal standard hung out, 
 perceived there were breakers ahead, and called a general 
 council, one of those republican gatherings that distinguished 
 the Buccaneer armies, and remind us of the less unanimous 
 consultations that Xenophon describes. He confessed that 
 the difficulty of the enterprise was great, seeing the Spaniards 
 had had so much time to put themselves in a state of 
 defence, and had now got together a large force and much 
 ammunition ; " But have a good courage," said he, " we must 
 either defend ourselves like good soldiers or lose our lives 
 with all the riches we have got. Do as I shall do, who am 
 your captain. At other times we have fought with fewer 
 men of our own than we have now, and yet have overcome 
 a greater number of enemies than can be in this town ; 
 the more they are the more riches we shall (/ain." His men 
 all cried out, with one voice, that they would follow and 
 obey him. " 'Tis well," he replied, " but know ye, the first 
 man who will show any fear or the least apprehension 
 thereof, I will pistol him with my own hands." 
 
 The Buccaneers cast anchor near the shore, about three- 
 quarters of a league from the town, and the next day before 
 sunrise landed to the number of 380 determined men, each 
 armed with a cutlass, a brace of pistols, and thirty charges 
 of powder and bullets. On the shore they all shook hands 
 with one another, many for the last time, and began their 
 march, Lolonnois exclaiming, " Come, mes freres, follow me 
 and have good courage." Their guide, ignorant of what 
 the governor of Merida had done, led them in all good faith 
 up the barricaded way, where to his surj)rise, he found the 
 paths in one place blocked up with large trees, newly cut, 
 and in another swamped so that the soft black mud reached 
 up above their thighs. 
 
 Lolonnois, seeing the passage hopeless, attempted the' 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 105 
 
 narrow way, which had been carefully cleared as a trap for 
 them. Here only six men could go abreast, and the shots 
 of the town ploughed incessantly down the path. At the 
 same time the Spaniards, in a small terraced battery of six 
 guns, beat their drums and hung out their silk flags. The 
 adventurers, harassed by the fire that they could not return, 
 and slipping on the swampy path, grew vexed and impatient. 
 " Courage, ray brothers," cried their leader, " we must beat 
 these fellows or die ; follow me, and if I fall don't give in 
 for that." With these words he ran full butt, with head 
 down like a mad bull, against the Spaniards, followed by all 
 his men, quite as daring but less patient than himself. 
 Cutting down boughs they made a rude netted pathway, 
 firm and sure, over the deep mud. When within about a 
 pistol shot from the entrenchments, they began again to 
 sink up to their knees, and the enemy's grape-shot fell thick 
 and hot upon the impeded ranks. Many dropped, but their 
 last words were always, "Courage, never flinch, mes f Teres, 
 and you'll win it yet." All this time they could scarce see 
 or hear, so blinded and deafened were they by the thunder 
 and fire. 
 
 In the midst of this discomfiture the Spaniards suddenly 
 broke through the gloom, just as they got out of the wood 
 and trod upon firmer ground, and drove them back by a 
 furious onslaught, many of them being killed and wounded. 
 They then attempted the other passage again, but without 
 success ; and finding the Spaniards would not sally out, and 
 the gabions too heavy to tear up by hand, Lolonnois resorted 
 to the old stratagem, so successful at Hastings, by which 
 the very impatience of courage is made to prove fatal to an 
 enemy. 
 
 At a preconcerted signal the Buccaneers began to retreat, 
 upon which the defenders of the battery, exclaiming, " They 
 fly ! they fly ! kill, kill ! follow, follow !" sallied forth in 
 disorder to the pursuit, shouting and firing like an undis- 
 ciplined rabble. Once out of gun-shot of the batteries, the 
 pursued turned into pursuers, and falling on the foe, sword 
 in hand, slew about 200. Fighting their way through those 
 who survived, the Buccaneers soon became masters of all 
 the fortifications. Not more than 100 out of the 600 de- 
 
106 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 fenders remained alive, and these, as Falstaff says, would 
 liave to limp to the town-end and beg for life. The brave 
 old governor lay dead among his foremost men. 
 
 The survivors who could crawl or run hid themselves in 
 the woods, impeded in their flight by the very obstructions 
 they had themselves raised. The men in the battery sur- 
 rendered, and obtained quarter. Neither Lolonnois nor Le 
 Basque was scratched, but forty of their companions perished, 
 and eighty were grievously wounded. The greater part of 
 these died through the fevers and subsequent pestilence. 
 Five hundred dead Spaniards were found, but many more 
 had hidden themselves, to die alone in peace. 
 
 The Buccaneers, now masters of Gibraltar, pulled down 
 the Spanish colours from tower and steeple, and hoisted their 
 own red and black flag. Making prisoners of all they met, 
 they shut them up under guard in the chief church, where 
 they erected a battery of great guns, in case the Spaniards 
 should attempt to rally in a fit of despair. They then col- 
 lected the dead bodies of the Spaniards, and, piling them up, 
 scarred and gashed, in two large canoes, towed them out a 
 quarter of a league at sea, and scuttled them. They then 
 gathered from every house, rich or poor, all the plate, mer- 
 chandise, and household stuff, which was not too hot or too 
 heavy to carry off, as rapacious as the borderer who stopped 
 wistfully opposite the hay-stack, wishing it had but four 
 legs, that he might make it " gang awa' wi' the rest." The 
 .Spaniards having buried their treasure, as usual, armed 
 parties were sent into the surrounding woods to search for 
 buried money, and to bring in hunters and planters as pri- 
 soners to torture. Hung up by the beard, or burnt with 
 gun-matches, the wretched sufferers were forced to confess 
 their friends' hiding-places. 
 
 Lolonnois soon turned the fertile country into a smoking 
 black desert ; and, still insatiable for money and blood, 
 planned an expedition over the snow mountains to Merida, 
 but reluctantly relinquished it when he found his men un- 
 willing to risk what they had got for the mere uncertainty 
 of getting more, though Merida was only forty leagues dis- 
 tant. They had now 150 prisoners, besides 500 slaves, and 
 many women and children, many of whom were dying daily 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 107 
 
 of famine, so short were provisions already in a city in which 
 the small army had been encamped only eighteen days. 
 
 When they had spent six weeks in the town, Lolonnois 
 determined to return, nothing now being left to pillage. 
 Disease and famine were worse enemies than the Spaniard 
 or the Indian, and cared for neither steel nor lead. A 
 pestilence appeared, in consequence of the numerous dead 
 bodies left in the woods, exposed to the wild beasts and the 
 birds. Those that lay nearest to the walls had been only 
 strewn over with earth, the rest were left to taint the air, 
 and slay the living — a putrid fever broke out ; the Spaniards 
 killed more of the enemy after their death than they had 
 done in their life. The Frenchmen's wounds, already closing, 
 began now to re-open, the sick died daily, and the strongest 
 pined and sickened ; all longed to return, even plunder 
 grew distasteful to them without health, and once more at 
 sea they hoped soon to be well. 
 
 Men who had been revelling in the plenty of two captured 
 cities, could not return without imj^atience to the restraints 
 of a time of scarcity. Gibraltar always depending upon 
 Maracaibo for its meat, and not well supplied with flour, was, 
 in fact, like a miser dying for want of a loaf, while his store- 
 houses were brimmed over with gold. The little meat and 
 flour were quickly consumed by the Buccaneers, who left 
 their prisoners to shift for themselves. The cattle they soon 
 appropriated, giving the mules' and asses's flesh to those 
 Spaniards whose hunger was strong enough to conquer their 
 disgust. A few of the women were allowed better fare, and 
 many who had become the mistresses of their captors were 
 well treated by their lovers. Some of these were mere 
 slaves, others were voluntary concubines, but the greater 
 part had been compelled by jDoverty and fear to abandon their 
 fathers and husbands. 
 
 Lolonnois, sending four of his prisoners into the woods, 
 demanded a ransom of 80,000 pieces of eight within two 
 days, threatening the fugitives to burn the town to ashes if 
 his desire was not acceded to. The Spaniards, already half- 
 beggared, disagreed about the ransom ; th6 bolder and the 
 more avaricious refused to pay a piastre, the old, the timid, 
 and the more generous preferred poverty to such a loss. 
 
108 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 Some said it would serve as a mere bribe to allure a third 
 adventurer, and others declared it was the only means of 
 saving Merida. While they wero thus disputing the two 
 days passed, and the debate was put an end to by the sight 
 of flame ascending above the roofs. The city w^as already 
 fired in two or three places, when the inhabitants, promising 
 to bring the ransom, persuaded the Buccaneers to assist in 
 quenching the flames, not, however till the chief houses were 
 burned, and the chief monastery was ruined. 
 
 CExmelin merely says that Lolonnois set fire to the four 
 corners of the town, and in six hours reduced the whole to 
 ashes. Palm thatch and cedar walls burn quickly, and the 
 sea-breeze was there to fan the flames, while the Buccaneers 
 were learned in the art of destruction. Lolonnois then col- 
 lected his men by beat of drum, and embarked his booty. 
 Before he sailed, he sent two of his prisoners again into the 
 woods, to tell the inhabitants that all the prisoners in his 
 hands would be at once put to death it the ransom were 
 not paid. All who had not paid their ransom he took with 
 him, even the slaves being valued at so much, and having put 
 on board all riches that were movable, and a large sum of 
 money as a ransom for what was immovable, the Buccaneer 
 fleet returned to Maracaibo. The city, now partly repeopled, 
 was thrown asrain into disorder, nor much lessened when 
 three or four prisoners came to the governor, bearing a 
 demand from Lolonnois to pay at once 30,000 pieces of eight 
 down upon his deck, or to expect a second sack, and the fate 
 of Gibraltar. While these terms were under concession, and 
 the Spanish merchants were chaffering with the sailors, as 
 a lowland farmer might have done with a highland cateran, 
 a party of well- inclined Flibustiers, unwilling to waste their 
 time, rowed on shore, and stripped the great church of its 
 pictures, images, carvings, clocks, and bells, even to the very 
 cross on its steeple, piously desiring to erect a chapel at Tor- 
 tuga, where there was much need of spiritual instruction. 
 The Spaniards at last agreed to pay for their ransom and 
 liberty 20,000 piastres, 10,000 pieces of eight, and 500 cows, 
 provided the fleef would do no further injury, and depart at 
 at once, the blessing of Maracaibo with them. 
 
 We can imagine the trembling and suppressed joy with 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 109 
 
 which the people of Maracaibo must have beheld the fleet 
 sail slowly out of their harbour, all eyes on board bent on- 
 ward to the horizon and the golden future — none looking 
 back with a moment's regret upon the misery and the black 
 ruin left behind. How many orphans must have cursed 
 them as they sailed, and how many widows ! Three days 
 after the embarkation, to the horror of the city, a vessel 
 with a red flag at its masthead was seen re-entering the har- 
 bour, but only, as it soon appeared, to demand a pilot to take 
 the fleet over the bar. 
 
 On their way to Hispaniola, Lolonnois touched at the Isle 
 de laYacca, intending to stay there and divide the spoil. 
 This island was inhabited by French Buccaneers, who sold 
 the flesh of the animals they killed to vessels in want of 
 victual. But a dispute arising here, the fleet again set out 
 to disband the crew at Guaves, in Hispaniola. 
 
 They arrived in two months, and, unlading the whole 
 " cargazon of riches," proceeded to make a dividend of their 
 prizes and their gains. Lolonnois and the other captains 
 began by taking a solemn oath in public, that they had con- 
 cealed and held back no portion of the spoil, but had thrown 
 all without reserve into the public stock. The ceremony of 
 this oath must have been an imposing sight : wild groups of 
 half-stripped sailors, wounded men, and female captives, 
 negroes and Indians, Spanish soldiers, mulatto fishermen, 
 and in the middle piled bales of silks, heaps of glittering 
 coin and rich stuffs streaming over scattered arms and costly 
 jewels, while looking on perhaps wistfully, leaning on their 
 muskets, a few hunters fresh from the sa\ annahs, bull's-hide 
 sandals on their feet, and long knives hanging from their belts, 
 After the captains had taken the oath, the common matelois, 
 down even to the cabin boys, took the vow that they had 
 given up all their spoil, to be shared equally by those who 
 had equally ventured their lives to win it. 
 
 After an exact calculation, the total value of their profits 
 in jewels and money was discovered to be 260,000 crowns, 
 not including 100,000 crowns' worth of church furniture 
 and a cargo of tobacco. On the final division, every man 
 received money, silk, and linen to the value of about 100 
 pieces ot eight. The surgeon and the wounded were as usual 
 
110 LOLOKNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 paid first. The slaves were then sold by auction^ and their 
 purchase-money divided among the various crews. The un- 
 coined plate was weighed, and sold at the rate of ten pieces 
 of eight to a pound ; the jewels were sold at false and fan- 
 ciful prices, and were generally undervalued, owing to the 
 ignorance of the arbitrators. A Buccaneer always preferred 
 coin to jewels, and jewels, as being portable, to heavy mer- 
 chandise, which they often threw overboard or wantonly 
 destroyed. The adventurers then all took the oath a second 
 time, and proceeded to apportion the shares of such as had 
 fallen, handing them to the matelots, or messmates, to for- 
 ward to their heirs or nearest relations. We do not know 
 whether, in peculiar cases, a matelot became his camarade^s 
 heir. 
 
 The dividend over, they returned to Tortuga, amid the 
 general rejoicing of all over whom love or cupidity had any 
 power. " For three weeks, while their money lasted," says 
 Q^xmelin, probably an eye-witness of the scene, " there was 
 nothing but dances, feasts, and protestations of unceasing 
 friendship." The caharetiers and the gambling-house keepers 
 soon revenged the cruelties of Maracaibp. The proud cap- 
 tors of that luckless city in a few weeks were hungry beggars, 
 basking on the quay of Tortuga, straining their eyes to catch 
 sight of some vessel that might take them on board, and re- 
 lieve them from that reaction of wretchedness. They were 
 ieered at as mad spendthrifts by the very men who had 
 urged them to their folly. The love of courtesans grew 
 colder as the pieces of eight diminished, and men were 
 refused charity by the very wretches whom their foolish 
 generosity had lately enriched. No doubt watches were 
 fried and bank-bills eaten as sandwiches, just as they were, 
 during the war, at Portsmouth or at Dover. The prudent 
 were those who made the money spin out a day longer than 
 their fellows, and the wildest were those who had found out 
 that two dice-boxes and two fiddlers ran through the bur- 
 densome money a little faster than only one dice-box and 
 one fiddler. 
 
 Some of the Buccaneers, skilful with the cards, added to 
 their store and returned at once to France, resolved to turn 
 merchants, and trade with the Indies they had wasted. The 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. Ill 
 
 extravagant prices paid by these men for wine, and particu- 
 larly brandy, rendered that trade a source of great profit. 
 Just before the return of the fleet two French vessels had 
 arrived at Tortuga laden with spirits, which at first sold at 
 very moderate rates, but ultimately, from the great demand 
 and the limited means of supply, reached an exorbitant 
 price, a gallon selling for as much as four pieces of eight. 
 
 The tavern-keepers and the jilles de joie obtained most of 
 the money so dearly earned, and lavished it as those from 
 whom they won it had done. Cards and dice helped those 
 who had not struck a blow at the Spaniard, to now quietly 
 spoil the captors. The story of Sampson and Delilah was 
 daily acted. Even the governor hastened to benefit by the 
 expedition. He bought a cargo of cocoa of the Buccaneers, 
 and shipped it at once to France in Lolonnois' vessel, giving 
 scarcely a twentieth part of its value, and realizing a profit 
 of £120,000. The adventurers did not grudge him this 
 bargain, as he had risked everything for Tortuga, and had 
 suflfered considerable losses. " M. D'Ogeron," says CExmelin, 
 with some naivete, " aimait les ' honnetes gens,' les obligeait 
 sans cesse, et ne les laissait jamais manquer de rien." 
 
 Neither Lolonnois' talent, rank, nor courage kept him 
 further from the tavern door than the meanest of his crew. 
 The poor drudge of a negro cook that served as a butt to the 
 sailors could not give way to baser debauchery. It was the 
 voice of the cannon alone that roused him to great actions. 
 On land he was a Caliban, at sea a Barbarossa. In spite of 
 his great booty, in a few short weeks he was poorer than his 
 crew. Tortuga was to him the Circe's island that trans- 
 formed him into a beast. As soon as his foot trod the 
 plank, he became again the wily and the wise Ulysses : the 
 first in daring or in suffering, ready to endure or to attack, 
 above his fellow men in patience and impatience. His ex- 
 penses were large, when the prizes ceased to come in he was 
 soon reduced to live upon his capital, and that quickly 
 melted away in open-house feasting and entertainments 
 given to the governor. He had been before he returned, 
 moreover, so burdened with debts that even his prize-money 
 could not have defrayed them. There was but one means 
 of release — another expedition. Let the Spanish mother 
 
112 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 clasp her child closer to her breast, for she knows not how 
 soon she may have to part with it for ever. Is there no 
 comet that may warn an unprepared and a doomed people 1 
 
 Lolonnois had now acquired great repute at Tortuga. He 
 was known to be brave, and, what is a rare combination, 
 prudent. Under his guidance men who had forgot his pre- 
 vious misfortunes, thought themselves secure of gold, and 
 without glory gold is not to be won. He needed now no 
 entreaties to induce men to fill his ships ; the difficulty was 
 in selecting from the volunteers. Those who had before 
 stayed behind now determined to venture ; those who had 
 once followed him were already driven by mere poverty to 
 enlist. The privations of land were intolerable to men who 
 had just revelled in riches — the privations of sea could be 
 endured by the mere force of habit. The planters threw by 
 their hoes, and quitted the hut for the cabin. 
 
 The towns of Nicaragua were now to share the fate of 
 those of V^enezuela. About 700 men and six ships formed 
 the expedition. Lolonnois himself sailed in a large Jlilte 
 which he had brought from Maracaibo with 300 men ; the 
 other adventurers embarked in five smaller vessels. Having 
 careened and revictualled at Bayala, in Hispaniola, he 
 steered for Matamana, a port on the south side of Cuba. He 
 here informed his companions of the plan of the expedition, 
 and produced an Indian of Nicaragua who had offered to 
 serve as guide. He assured them of the riches of the 
 country, and expressed his belief that they could surprise 
 the place before the inhabitants had secreted their money. 
 His proposal was received with the usual unhesitating 
 applause. 
 
 At Matamana, Lolonnois collected by force all the canoes 
 of the tortoise fishermen, much to their grief and dismay, 
 these poor men having no other means of subsistence but 
 fishing. These boats he needed to take him up the channel 
 of Nicaragua, which was too shallow for vessels of any larger 
 burthen. While attempting to round Cape Gracias a Dios, 
 the fleet was arrested by what the Spanish sailors call a 
 " furious calm" — a sad and tedious imprisonment to men to 
 whom every delay involved the success of their enterprise. 
 
 In spite of all their endeavours, they were carried by the 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 113 
 
 current into the Gulf of Honduras. Both wind and tide 
 being against them, the smaller vessels — better sailers and 
 more manageable than that of Lolonnois — made more way 
 than he could do ; but were obliged to wait for him, and 
 stay for his orders, being quite powerless without him and 
 his 300 men. 
 
 They spent nearly a month in trying to recover their 
 path, but all in vain, losing in two hours what they gained in 
 two days, and, their provisions running short, put ashore to 
 revictual. 
 
 Touching at the first land they could reach, they sent 
 their canoes up the river Xagua — their guides bringing them 
 to the villages of the " long-eared Indians," a race tributary 
 to Spain, whose traders bartered knives and mirrors with 
 them for cocoa. The Buccaneers burned their huts and 
 carried off their millet, hogs, and poultry, loading the canoes 
 with all the food they could bring away to their impatient 
 comrades, who determined to remain here till the untavour- 
 able weather had passed, and burn and pillage along the 
 whole borders of the gulf. The Indian provisions proved 
 but scanty for so numerous a band, but were divided equally 
 among the ships that were seeking food like locusts, and 
 moving daily on to new pastures. 
 
 A council of war was now held to discuss their position. 
 Some were for discontinuing the expedition, since the pro- 
 visions ran so short. The oldest and most experienced pro- 
 posed plundering round the gulf till the bad season had 
 passed ; and this plan was decided on. Having rifled a few 
 villages, they came to Puerto Cavallo, a place where Spanish 
 ships frequently anchored, and which contained two store- 
 houses full of cochineal, indigo, hides, &c., from Guatimala. 
 There happened then to be lying in the port a Spanish ves- 
 sel of twenty-four guns and sixteen patarerros. Its cargo, 
 however, was nearly all unloaded and carried up into the 
 interior to be exchanged in barter with the Indians. This 
 ship was instantly seized ; and Lolonnois, landing without 
 any resistance, burned the magazines and all the houses, and 
 made many prisoners. The Spaniards he put to the torture 
 to induce them to confess. If any refused to answer, he 
 pulled out their tongues, or cut them to pieces with his 
 
 I 
 
114 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 hanger, " desiring," says Esquemeling, " to do so to every 
 Spaniard in the world." Many, terrified by the rack, pro- 
 mised to confess, really having nothing to disclose. These 
 men were always cruelly put to death in revenge. One 
 mulatto was bound hand and foot and thrown alive into the 
 sea to intimidate the rest, and to induce two survivors to 
 show the French chief the nearest road to the neighbouring 
 town of San Pedro. 
 
 For this expedition Lolonnois selected 300 men, leaving 
 his lieutenant, Moses Vauclin, to govern in his absence, and 
 despatching a few of his small flotilla to help him by a 
 diversion on the coast. Before starting, he told his com- 
 panions that he would never refuse to march at their head, 
 but that he should kill with his own hand " the first who 
 turned tail." San Pedro was only ten leagues distant. He 
 had not proceeded three before he fell into an ambuscade. 
 
 The Spaniards' favourite scheme of attack was the trea- 
 cherous surprise — a mere sort of attempt at wholesale assas- 
 sination — seldom successful, and always exasperating the 
 enemy to greater cruelties. They had now entrenched 
 themselves behind gabions in a narrow road, impassable on 
 either side with trees and strong thickets. Lolonnois in- 
 stantly striking down the guides, whether innocent or guilty, 
 charged the enemy with desperate courage, and put them to 
 flight after a long encounter, ending in a total rout. They 
 killed a few Buccaneers and left many of their own men 
 dead upon the ground. The wounded Spaniards, being first 
 questioned as to the distance from San Pedro, and the best 
 way to get there, were instantly beheaded. The prisoners 
 informed him that some runaway slaves, escaped from Porto 
 Cavallo, had told them of the intended attack on San Pedro. 
 Determined to prevent this, they had planned tlie ambus- 
 cade, and two other still stronger earthworks which awaited 
 him farther on. To prevent connivance, or any possible 
 treachery, Lolonnois then had the Spaniards brought before 
 him one by one, and demanded of each in turn if there were 
 no means of getting into another and less guarded road. 
 On their each denying that there was, he grew frenzied and 
 almost mad at the thoughts of sucli inevitable danger, and 
 had them all murdered but two; and then, in ungovernable 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 115 
 
 passion, lie ripped open with liis cutlass the breast of one of 
 these survivors, who was bound to a tree. Esquemeling 
 asserts that he even tore out his heart and gnawed it " Hke 
 a ravenous wolf," swearing and shouting that he would serve 
 them all alike if thev did not show him another wav. The 
 miserable survivor, willing to save his life at any risk, his 
 memory or invention quickened by the imminent danger, 
 conducted him into another path, but so bad a one that 
 Lolonnois preferred to return to the old one in spite of all 
 its perils, so difficult, slow, and laborious was the march. 
 He now seems to have grown almost fevered with rage, 
 anxiety, and vexation. " Mon Dieu," he growled, " les 
 Espagnols me le payeront," and he cursed the delay that 
 kept him from the enemy. 
 
 There is no doubt that in these men a fanatical and 
 almost superstitious hatred of the enemy had sprung up, 
 inflamed by mutual cruelties, for forgiveness was not the 
 chief virtue of the victorious Spaniard. To the Buccaneer 
 the Spaniard seemed cruel, cowardly, treacherous, and de- 
 graded ; to the Spaniard the Buccaneer seemed a monster 
 scarcely human — bloody, voluptuous, faithless, and rapacious. 
 
 That same evening the chief fell into a second ambuscade, 
 which, says Esquemehng, *•' he assaulted with such horrible 
 fury " that in less than au hour's time he routed the Spaniards 
 and killed the greater part of them, the rest flying to the 
 tliird ambush, which was planted about two leagues from 
 the town. The Spaniards had thought, by these repeated 
 attacks, to destroy the enemy piecemeal, and for this object, 
 which they did not attain, frittered their forces into small 
 and useless detachments. 
 
 Lolonnois and his people, weary with fighting and march- 
 inir, and half-faintinc( with hunoer and thirst, lav down in 
 the woods that night, and slept till the morning, the mate- 
 lots keeping good watch and ward, and guarding their sleep- 
 ing companions. At daybreak they resumed their journey, 
 with confidence increased by the clear light and with bodies 
 invigorated by rest. The third ambuscade was stronger and 
 more advantageously placed than even the two preceding. 
 They attacked it with showers of lire-balls, and drove out 
 the enemy, slaying without mercy, and giving no quarter. 
 
 I 2 
 
116 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 " No quarter, no quartei^," cried tlieir ferocious leader, still 
 thirsty for human blood, when some would have stayed their 
 hands, from exhaustion rather than from pity. '• The more 
 we kill here, the less we shall meet in the town," was his 
 war-cry. Yery few of the enemy escaped to San Pedro, 
 the greater part being either slain or wounded. 
 
 Before they ventured to make the final attack, the Buc- 
 caneers rested to look to their arms and prepare their am- 
 munition. In vain they attempted to discover a second 
 approach. There was but one, and that was well barricaded, 
 and planted all round with thorny shrubs, which the best 
 shod traveller could not pass, much less barefooted men, clad 
 only in a shirt and drawers. These thorns, (Exmelin says, 
 were more dangerous than those crow's-feet used in Europe 
 to annoy cavalry. 
 
 Lolonnois, seeing that no other way was left, and that 
 delay would imply fear in his own men, and excite hope in 
 the enemy, resolved to storm the works, in spite of the rage 
 and despair of a well-armed and superior force, sheltered 
 from shot and commanding his approach. " The Spaniards," 
 says Esquemeling, " posted behind the said defences, seeing 
 the pirates come, began to ply them with their great guns ; 
 but these, perceiving them ready to fire, used to stoop down, 
 and, when the shot was made, to fall upon the defendants 
 witli fire-balls and naked swords, killing many of the town." 
 Driven back for a time, they renewed the attack with fewer 
 men ; husbanding their shot, for they were now short of 
 powder ; never shooting at a long distance, and seldom firing 
 but with great deliberation when an enemy's head appeared 
 above the rampart ; and occasionally giving a general dis- 
 charge, in which nearly every bullet killed an enemy. 
 Several times the Buccaneers advanced to the very mouths 
 of the guns, and, throwing down bursting fire-balls into the 
 works, leaped after them, sword in hand, through the em- 
 brasures ; but only to be again driven back. 
 
 This obstinate combat, so eager on both sides, had lasted 
 about four hours, and night was fast approaching, when 
 Lolonnois, ordering a last furious attack, put the now weak- 
 ened Spaniards to flight, a great number of them being killed 
 as soon as they turned their backs. The citizens then liung 
 
LOLOXXOIS THE CRUEL. 117 
 
 out a white flag, and, coming to a parley, agreed to snrrendei- 
 the town on condition of receiving two hours' re>;pite, 
 Durinof this time, Lolonnois found that he had lost about 
 thirty men, ten more being w^ounded. This demand of two 
 hours was employed by the townspeople in loading them- 
 selves with their riches and preparing for flight — the Buc- 
 caneers virtuously abstaining from any molestation till the 
 time had duly expired, and then pursuing the fugitives and 
 plundering them of every maravedi. But neither their self- 
 denial nor their vigilance was well rewarded, for fortune 
 gave them nothing but a few leather sacks full of indigo, 
 the rest, even in that short time, having been buried or 
 destroyed — a disappointment which, we think, no reasonable 
 person can regret. Lolonnois had particularly ordered that 
 not only all the goods should be seized, but that every fugi- 
 tive should be made prisoner. 
 
 The Buccaneer chief, having stayed a few days at San 
 Pedro, and " committed most horrid insolences," was anxious 
 to send for a new reinforcement, and attack the town of 
 Guatimala — a place a long way distant, and defended by 400 
 men. On his men as usual refusing to accede to such an 
 apparently rash project, Lolonnois contented himself by pil- 
 laging San Pedro, intending to impress a recollection of his 
 visit upon the grateful inhabitants by burning their town. 
 He obtained no great booty, for the inhabitants were a poor 
 people, trading in nothing but dyes. If he had chosen to 
 carry away their stores of indigo, he might have realised 
 more than 40,000 crowns; but the Buccaneers cared for 
 nothing but coin and bullion, and were too ignorant, too 
 lazy, and too improvident to stop their debauches by 
 loading their vessels with a perishable cargo of uncertain 
 value. 
 
 Having remained now eigliteen days in San Pedro without 
 obtaining much, for the West Indian Spaniard had already 
 learned to hide as skilfully as the Hindoo ryot, Lolonnois 
 called together his prisoners, and demanded from them a 
 ransom as the condition of sparing their town. They dog- 
 gedly answered, with all the insolence of despair, that he 
 had taken from them all they had, and that they had 
 nothing more to give; that they could not coin without 
 
118 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 gold, and that, as far as they went, he might do what he 
 liked to the town. 
 
 Loloiinois then reduced the town to ashes, and, marching 
 to the sea-side to rejoin his companions, found that they 
 had been employing tlieir time, innocently and usefully, in 
 capturing the fishing-boats of Guatimala. Some Indians, 
 newly taken, informed him that a hour que, a vessel of 800 
 tons, bringing goods from Spain to the Honduras, was then 
 lying in the great river of Guatimala. Resolving to careen 
 and victual at the islands on the other side of the gulf, they 
 stationed two canoes at the mouth of the river to give notice 
 when the vessel should venture forth. 
 
 The time spent in thus watching outside the covert, they 
 devoted to turtle-fishing, dividing theinselves into parties, 
 each having his own station, to prevent disputes. Their nets 
 they made of the bark of the macoa tree ; a natural pitch or 
 bitumen for their boats they found in fused heaps upon the 
 shore. The formation of this pitch, or " wax," as Esque- 
 meling calls it, the sailors attributed to wild bees ; the 
 hollow trees in which they built being torn down by storms 
 and swept down into the sea. The rest of their time — 
 v;hich never seems to have been wearisome, unless the sub- 
 sequent mutiny indicates it, for these men had the tenacity 
 of a slot-hound in the pursuit of blo6d — was spent in cruises 
 among those Indians of the coast of Yucatan, who seek for 
 amber on the shore. These tribes were the willing serfs of 
 Spain, having served them without resistance for a full 
 century. The Spaniards had, as they believed, converted 
 the whole nation to Christianity by sending a priest to 
 them once a-week, but, on their sudden return to idolatry, 
 had begun to persecute them, angry at their own failure. 
 
 According to the Buccaneers' account, these Indian chiefs 
 worshipped each a peculiar spirit, to whom they offered 
 sacrifices of fire, burning incense of sweet-scented gums. 
 They had a singular custom of carrying their new-born 
 children into their temples, and leaving them for a night in 
 a hole filled with wood-ashes, generally in an open place, 
 untended, and where wild boasts could enter. Leaving the 
 child here, they generally found in the morning the foot- 
 prints of some wild beast on the ashes. To this animal, 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 119 
 
 whatever it might be, jaguar, snake, or cayman, they dedi- 
 cated tlie child, whose patron god it became. To this 
 animal the child prayed for vengeance against its enemies, 
 and to it he offered sacrifices. 
 
 Their marriages were accompanied by a very beautiful 
 and simple ceremony. A young man, having satisfied his 
 intended bride's father as to his fitness to manage a planta- 
 tion, was presented with a bow and arrow. He then visited 
 the maiden, and put on her head a wreath of green leaves 
 and sweet-smelling flowers, taking off the crown usually 
 worn by virgins. A meeting of her relations was then 
 called, the maize juice was drunk, and the day after 
 marriage the bride's garland was torn to pieces with cries 
 and feigned lamentations. 
 
 In these islands the Buccaneers found canoes of the 
 Aregues Indians, which must have drifted 600 leagues. 
 They had remained turtle-fishing and amber-seeking about 
 three months, when the welcome tidings came that the 
 enemy's vessel had ventured out. All hands were now 
 employed in preparing the careening ships. It was, how- 
 ever, at last agreed to wait for its return, when, as they 
 expected, it would not only contain merchandise but money. 
 They therefore sent their canoes to observe her motions, 
 and, hearing of the ambuscade, the Spaniards returned to 
 port. 
 
 Lolonnois, as weary of delay as a greyhound is vexed 
 by a hare's repeated doubling, determined to do what 
 Mahomet did when the mountain would not go to him ; 
 since the Spaniards would not come to him, he went himself 
 to the Spaniards. Informed of their approach by spies, 
 Indians or fishermen, the vessel was pre])ared to receive 
 him. The decks were cleared, the boarding-nettings up, 
 and the guns double-shotted. The ^Spaniard carried fifty- 
 six pieces of cannon, and the crew were well provided with 
 hand grenades, torches, fusees, and fire-balls, especially on 
 the quarter-deck and bows, while a crew of some 130 men 
 stood armed and threatening at their quarters. But Lolon- 
 nois cared for none of these things, and the rich cargo 
 shone, to his eye, through the ship's transparent sides. 
 With his small craft of twenty-two guns, with a single fly- 
 
120 LOLONXOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 boat as his only ally, he boldly attacked the enemy, but was 
 at first beaten off. 
 
 To the Buccaneer a slight check was almost a certain 
 precursor of victory ; waiting till about sixty of the Spanish 
 sailors had fallen from the fire of his deadly musketry, when 
 their courage slackened, and the smoke of their powder lay 
 in a dark mist round the bulwarks, hiding his movements, 
 he boarded with four canoes, well manned. In spite of the 
 brave defence, the Buccaneers fought with such fury, that 
 they forced the Spaniards to surrender. 
 
 Lolonnois then sent his boats up the river to secure a 
 small 'patache, which they knew lay near at hand, laden with 
 plate, indigo, and cochineal. But the inhabitants, alarmed 
 at the capture of the larger vessel, swept away from under 
 their very eyes, saved the 'patache by preventing her de- 
 parture. 
 
 The booty of the prize was much less than was expected, 
 the vessel being already almost entirely unladen. Its cargo 
 consisted of iron and paper, and it still contained 20,000 
 reams of paper, and 100 tons of iron bars, which had served 
 as ballast. The few bales of merchandise w^ere nothing but 
 linens, serges, and cloth, thread, and a few jars of wine. In 
 the return cargo there would have been at least a million in 
 specie. These heterogeneous articles were of no use to men 
 who wanted nothing but coin or jewels, lead or powder. 
 Dividing the paper, they used it for napkins, and other 
 useless trifles, and several jars of almond and olive oil were 
 wasted in the same reckless manner. 
 
 Having now accomplished their purpose, without much 
 return for their three months' patience, Lolonnois called a 
 general council of the fleet, and declared his intention of 
 going to Guatimala. Upon this announcement a division 
 arose in the assembly, and the hoarse murmurs of a coming 
 tempest were heard around the speaker. Many of the ad- 
 venturers, new to the trade, could no longer conceal their 
 weariness and their disappointment. They had set sail from 
 Tortuga with the feeling with which a country boy comes 
 to London. They had believed that pieces of eight grew on 
 the trees like fiears, and had overlooked the dragons that 
 guarded the Hesperian trees. Having seen their prede- 
 
LOLOXNOIS THE Cr^UEL. 121 
 
 cessors return Lome laden with the plunder of Maracaibo, 
 many had forgotten the toil and dangers by which it was 
 won, in the sight of the joy and prodigality with which it 
 was lavished; they had seen only the rich j^earls, and had for- 
 gotten the stonny seas from which they had been gathered. 
 They were weary of the hardships, and mutinous for want 
 of food. The mere seeker for gold could not endure what 
 was submitted to by those who were desirous of earning 
 distinction. The older hands laughed at their pinings, 
 derided their complaints, and swore that they would rather 
 die and starve there, than return home with empty purses, 
 to be the scorn and laughing-stock of all Hispaniola. The 
 majority of the experienced men, foreseeing that the voyage 
 to Nicaragua would not succeed, and was " little to their 
 purpose," separated from Lolonnois, and set sail secretly in 
 the swift sailing-vessel that Moses Yauclin had captured in 
 the port of Cavallo, and which he now commanded, boasting, 
 with reason, that it was the swiftest sailing-vessel that had 
 been seen in the West Indies for fifty years. With Moses 
 "Vauclin went Pierre le Picard, who, seeing others desert 
 Lolonnois, resolved to do the same. 
 
 Steering homewards, the fugitives coasted along the whole 
 continent till they came to Costa Eica, where they landed a 
 good party, marched up to Yeraguas, and burnt the town, 
 pillaging the Spaniards, who made a stout resistance, carry- 
 ing off a few prisoners, and. obtaining a scanty booty of some 
 seven or eight pounds' worth of gold, which their slaves 
 washed from the mud of the rivers. Alarmed at the multi- 
 tude of Spaniards that began to gather round them, the 
 marauders abandoned their design of attacking the town of 
 Nata, on the south sea-coast, although many rich merchants 
 lived there, whose slaves worked in the gold-w;!shings of 
 Yeraguas. Pteturning to Tortuga, these undisciplined men, 
 impatient of poverty, united themselves under the flag of a 
 noble adventurer, the Chevalier du Plessis, who had just 
 arrived in the Indies, poor and proud, and prepared to cruise 
 against the Spaniards in those seas. Yauclin being an 
 experienced pilot, well acquainted with the turtle islands, 
 and every key and reef the surf washed from California to 
 Cape Horn, was taken into favour by the titled privateers- 
 
122 LOLONNOIS THE CKUEL. 
 
 man, wlio jjroniised him tlie first prize lie captured if he 
 would sail in his company. But a serious difficulty arose in 
 the execution of this liberal promise, for the Chevalier was 
 soon after shot through the head while grappling with 
 a Spanish ship of thirty- six guns, and Moses was elected 
 captain in his stead. In his first cruise, the brave deserter 
 was fortunate enough to take a cocoa vessel from the 
 Havannah, with a cargo valued at 150,000 livres. 
 
 During this time, however, Lolonnois and his men 
 remained alone and deserted in the gulf of Honduras. He 
 was now in some distress, short of provisions, and in a vessel 
 too " great to get out at the reflux of those seas." His 300 
 men had no food but that which they contrived to kill daily 
 on shore, living chiefly on the flesh of parrots and monkeys. 
 By day they generally fished or hunted ; by night, taking 
 advantage of the land-breeze, they sailed painfully on till 
 they rounded Cape Gracios a Dios, and slowly the Pearl 
 Islands hove in sight. Stanch and inexorable, Lolonnois, 
 amid all the tedium of this enervating idleness, still nourished 
 the project of making a swoop upon Nicaragua, intending to 
 leave his cumbrous vessel behind, and row up the river 
 St. John in canoes, until he reached the lake. But the same 
 reason that made his vessel lag behind those of his com- 
 panions, now drove it ashore in a shallow near Cape Gracias, 
 where it drew too much water to be extricated. lu vain 
 he unloaded his guns and iron, and used every means that 
 experience and ingenuity could suggest to lighten the ship, 
 and float her again into deep water. Always firm and 
 resolute, Lolonnois at once determined to break her to pieces 
 on the sand-shoal, and with her planks and nails to construct 
 a boat. 
 
 His men, with perfect sang froid, not even impatient at 
 the loss, much less afraid of danger, escaping to land, began 
 to build Indian ajoupas, or huts. Lolonnois, accustomed to 
 such reverses, concealed his chagrin, if he even felt any. 
 Begardless of himself, he adjured his men to lose no courage, 
 for he knew of a means of escape, and, what was more, a 
 way to make their fortune yet, before they returned to 
 Tortuga. Pre])ared for every emergency, and even for the 
 longest delay, part of the crew were at once employed 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 12 
 
 o 
 
 in planting peas and other vegetables, the remainder in 
 fishing and hnnting, all but the few who worked busily at 
 the boat in which Nicaragua was to be visited. In spite of 
 desertion, ftiilure, wreck, and famine, Lolonnois held on to 
 the plan of the expedition, which he deemed cowardly and 
 shameful to abandon. The men, confident in the sagacity 
 and courage of their leader, surrendered themselves like 
 children to his guidance. 
 
 The Indians of the Perlas Islands, on which they had 
 struck, were a fierce and untameable race, strong and agile, 
 swift as horses, hardy divers, brave but cruel, warlike, and 
 man-eaters. Their wooden clubs v/ere jagged with croco- 
 diles' teeth ; they had no bows or arrows, but used lances a 
 fathom and a half long. They built no huts, and lived on 
 fruits grown in plantations cleared from the forest. Fishers 
 and swimmers, they were so dexterous as to be able to bring 
 up with a rope an anchor of six cwt. from a rock, a feat 
 which Esquemeling himself saw a few of them perform. 
 The seamen in vain attempted to propitiate these wild free- 
 men, to serve them as guides or hunters. At last, finding a 
 great number together, and pursuing the fugitives, they 
 tracked five men and four women to a cave, and took much 
 pains to propitiate them. The captives remaining obsti- 
 nately silent, as if from fear, in spite of the food that was 
 given them, were dismissed with presents of knives and 
 beads. They left, promising to return j " but soon forgot 
 their henpf actors^'' says Esquemeling, disgustfully. The 
 sailors believed that at night all the Indians swam to a 
 neighbouring island, as they never saw either boat or Indian 
 
 again. 
 
 Some time before this the Frenchmen's terror had been 
 excited by the discovery that these Indians were cannibals. 
 Two Buccaneers, a Frenchman and a Spaniard, had straggled 
 into the woods in search of game. Pursued by a troop of 
 savages, the latter, after a desperate struggle, was captured, 
 and heard of no more ; the former, the swifter footed of tlie 
 two, escaped. A few days after, an armed party of a dozen 
 FlibustierG, led by this survivor, went into the same part of 
 the forest to see if they could find any traces of the Indian 
 encampment. Near the place where the Spaniard had 
 
124 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 fallen into the ambush they discovered the ashes of a fire, 
 still warm, and among the embers some human bones, well 
 scraped, and a white man's hand with two fingers half roasted, 
 but still unconsumed. 
 
 For six months, till the long-boat was com.pleted, the 
 Buccaneers lived on Spanish wheat, bananas, and on the 
 fruits and green crops which they had sown on landing. 
 Their bread they baked in portable ovens saved from the 
 wreck. 
 
 Lolonnois now once more prepared to carry out his 
 unabandoned project. With part of his crew he resolved to 
 row up the river of Nicaragua, to capture some canoes, and 
 return to fetch away those whom the new boat would not 
 hold. The men cast lots for the choice of sailins: with him. 
 He took about one-half of the shipwrecked crew with him, 
 part in the long-boat and part in a skiff which had been 
 saved when the larger vessel drove on the bank. They 
 arrived in a few days at Desaguadera, near Nicaragua ; but 
 attacked on the beach by an overpowering number of 
 Spaniards and Indians, they were driven back to their boats, 
 with the loss of many men, and escaped with difficulty, 
 beaten and desponding. 
 
 Lolonnois, now fairly at bay with fortune, still resolv^ed 
 neither to return to Tortuga ragged and penniless, nor to 
 rejoin his comrades till he had obtained a sufiicient number 
 of canoes to embark his companions. In order the better to 
 obtain provisions he divided his men into two bands. The 
 one party proceeded to the Cape Gracias a Dios, where they 
 were well received ; the other sailed to Boca del Toro, on 
 the coast of Carthagena, where adventurers frequently 
 repaired for turtle and other provisions, intending to embark 
 in the first friendly vessel that should arrive. 
 
 Nicaragua was still destined to remain unscathed. " God 
 Almighty," says Esquemeling, who writes with some bitter- 
 ness, and probably much hypocris}', " the time of His divine 
 justice being now come, had appointed the Indians of Darien 
 to be the instruments and executioners thereof" Landing 
 at a place called the La Pointe a Diegue to obtain fresh 
 water, Lolonnois and his men, weary of "wave, and wind, 
 and oar," drew their canoes to land, and threw up entrench- 
 
LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 1£5 
 
 ments, knowing that they were now in the neighbourhood 
 of the Bravo Indians, the most savage race known on the 
 niainkmd — as cruel as sharks, and as numerous and greedy 
 of blood as the vultures. He himself and a few others, 
 passing the river, near the Gulf of Darien, landed in order 
 to sack a town and obtain provisions. Here this modern 
 Ulysses found a termination to his troubles and his life, for, 
 being taken prisoner by the Indians, he was killed, chopped 
 to pieces, and devoured. Many of his comi3anions were also 
 burnt alive, and but a few escaped to Tortuga, by the detail 
 of their horrors to check for a few days the love of adven- 
 ture in the minds of its restless and impetuous adventurers. 
 
 Esquemeling, or his English translator — who generally 
 considers it necessary to conclude his chapters with a sancti- 
 monious moral, a snuffle of the nose, and a lifting up of the 
 eyes — says, " Hither Lolonnois came (brought by his evil 
 conscience that cried for punishment), thinking to act his 
 cruelties ; but the Indians, within a few days after his 
 arrival, took him prisoner, throwing his body limb by limb 
 into the fire, and his ashes into the air {virtuous indignation), 
 that no trace or memory might remain of such an infamous, 
 inhuman creature. . . . Thus ends the history, the life^ 
 and the miserable death of that infernal wretch, Lolonnois, 
 who, full of horrid, execrable, and enormous deeds, and 
 debtor to so much innocent blood, died by cruel and butcherly 
 hands, such as his own were in the course of his life." To- 
 wards the conclusion of his malediction Esquemeling's wrath 
 unfortunately gets much the better of his grammar. 
 
 The men left behind in the island de las Perlas, after long 
 waiting for their companions — who had only escaped Scylla 
 to run into Charybdis — were taken off by an English ad- 
 venturer, who, collecting a body of 500 men, resolved on an 
 expedition to the mainland. Ascending the river Mous- 
 tique, near Cape Gracias, he sailed on, expecting to find some 
 inlet to the lake' of Nicaragua, round which Lolonnois' men 
 still hovered. The expedition started full of hope, for the 
 shipwrecked men were rejoiced at ending ten months of 
 suffering, anxiety, and privation. 
 
 The result was worse than mere disappointment. In 
 fifteen days they reached no Spanish town^ but only some 
 
126 LOLONNOIS THE CRUEL. 
 
 poor Indian villages, which they found deserted by the 
 natives, who, aware of their coming, had fled, carrying off 
 all the produce of their plantations. These they burnt in 
 their rage, and marched recklessly onwards. They had 
 carried no provision with them, expecting to find everywhere 
 sufficient ; and, to render their condition worse, had brought 
 all their 500 men, exce})t five or six who were left to guard 
 each vesseL " These their hopes," says Esquemeling — turn- 
 ing up as usual the whites of his eyes — who looks with great 
 contempt on all unsuccessful attempts at thieving, " were 
 found totally vain, as not being grounded^ In a few days 
 the hope of plunder, which had first animated them, grew 
 clouded by despondency. Scarcity rapidly became want, 
 and they were reduced to such extreme necessity and hun- 
 ger that they gathered the plants that grew on the river's 
 bank for food. In a fortnisfht their courajxe and viijour had 
 entirely gone ; their hearts sank, and their bodies were 
 wasted by famine. 
 
 Leaving the river they took to the woods, seeking for 
 Indian villages where they might obtain food. Ranging up 
 and down the woods for some days in a fruitless search, they 
 returned to the river, now their only guide, and struck back 
 towards the point of coast where their ships lay. In this 
 laborious journey they were reduced to much extremity — 
 eating their shoes, tlieir leather belts, and the very sheaths 
 of their knives and swords. They grew at last so ravenous 
 as to resolve to kill and devour the first Indian they could 
 meet ; but they could not obtain one either for food or as a 
 guide. Some fell sick, and, fainting by the wayside, were 
 left to perish. Many were killed and eaten by the natives, 
 and others died of starvation. At last they reached the 
 shore, and, finding some comfort and relief to their present 
 miseries, at once set sail to encounter more. After remain- 
 ing some time on land, they re-embarked, but a quarrel 
 arising between the French and English Buccaneers^ who 
 seldom kept long friends, tliey separated into small parties, 
 and engaged in fresh expeditions. 
 
ALEX^VNDRE BRAS-DE-FER, AXD MOIs TEARS. 12' 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 ALEXANDRE BRAS-DE-FER, AND MONTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. 
 
 Bras-de-Fer compared to Alexander the Great — His adventures and 
 stratagems — Montbars — Anecdotes of his childiiood — Goes to sea — 
 His first fight — Meets and joins the Buccaneers — Defeats the Spanish 
 Fifties — His uncle killed — His revenge — The negro vessel — Adam 
 and Anne le E,oux plunder Santiago. 
 
 "We now come to a cla&s of Buccaneere who lived at we 
 scarcely know what period, altliough they were probably 
 contemporaries of (Exmelin. Their adventures, though on 
 a narrower scale, are perhaps more interesting than those 
 that had subsequently taken place, and are valuable as 
 illustrations of manners. 
 
 OExmelin relates, in his usual shrewd and vivacious man- 
 ner, the singular exploits of Alexandre Bras-de-Fer, a French 
 adventurer, with whom he was acquainted, and who, unlike 
 his contemporaries, never joined in large expeditions, pre- 
 ferring the promptitude of a single swift cruiser, with none 
 to share his risks or subtract from his bootv. His life seems 
 to have been crowded with romantic and strange incidents. 
 His character appears to have been a strange combination of 
 bravery and chivalry, a love of rapine, and a fantastic vanity. 
 CExmelin says naively, that this modern Alexander was as 
 great a man among the adventurers of Tortuga as the 
 ancient Alexander was among the conquerors of the East. 
 Nor does he see much difference between the two worthies, 
 except that the Macedonian was the adventurer upon the 
 larsjer scale, 
 
 CI? 
 
 Our Alexandre was vigorous in body and handsome in 
 feature — so, at least, vouches CExmelin, who, a surgeon by 
 profession, once cured him of a severe wound that he had 
 received — a cure which, if xVlexandre had been generous 
 
128 ALEXANDRE BRAS-DE-FER, 
 
 (which lie was not, in this instance at least), might have 
 made the doctor's fortune. 
 
 Bras-de-Fer displayed as great judgment in the conception 
 of his enterprises as he did courage in the carrying them 
 out. His head and hand worked well together, and he sel- 
 dom had to fight his way out of dangers into which his own 
 incautiousness had led him. The vessel which he commanded 
 he called the Plioenix^ because it was of such a unique and' 
 peculiar structu]"e that it was said to be among vessels what 
 the phoenix was fabled to be among birds. 
 
 Alexandre always went alone, in preference to crowding 
 in a fleet. His pride or his prudence may have given him 
 a fondness for solitary cruises, for the Phoenix was a bird of 
 p)rey. A picked crew and a single swift vessel had many 
 advantages over a rebellious flotilla — and subordinate cap- 
 tains were often mutinous if not treacherous. If solitude 
 increased his risk, it also increased his probability of success. 
 
 CExmelin, the only writer who mentions Alexandre, re- 
 lates but one of his adventures, which he took down, as he 
 tells VIS, from the hero's own lips. The rest of his exploits 
 he suppresses, either from a fear of being tedious or a dread 
 of being considered a mere romancer. 
 
 On the occasion of which he speaks, Alexandre was 
 bound upon an expedition of great consequence — which, 
 however, as it did not succeed, the narrator, with a wise 
 modesty, does not think worth mentioning. After lying 
 some time imprisoned in a tedious calm, his prayers for a 
 change of weather were . answered by a great storm, that 
 blew up the sea into mountains — wind and fire seeming to 
 struggle together in the air for the possession of the helpless 
 ship and its pale crew. The furious thunder drowned the 
 very roar ot the sea, and the masts soon went by the board. 
 The lightning, striking its burning arrows through the deck, 
 set lire to the powder-magazine, and blew up the part of the 
 vessel in which it was stored. Half of the crew- were 
 hurled into the air, and were killed before they reached the 
 boiling sea that eagerly waited for their fall. The remain- 
 der of the crew, finding the vessel going down by the head, 
 took to swimming, and soon reached dry land : Alexandre 
 
 strong and brawny, brave, but desirous of life, and always 
 
AND MOXTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. 129 
 
 awake to the means of its preservation — by no means the 
 last, setting an example at once of prudence, coolness, and 
 decision. On shaking the brine from their limbs and look- 
 ing around, the wrecked men found that thej had been 
 thrown upon a tract of land as much to be dreaded bj the 
 Buccaneer as the realm of Polyphemus was by the wise 
 Ulysses. They stood upon an island near the Boca del 
 Drago (Dragon's Mouth), inhabited by a tribe of Indians, 
 fierce and cruel cannibals. Remaining for some time upon 
 the shore, they exerted themselves in recovering wdiat they 
 could from the scorched driftinsfs of the wreck. Amono^st 
 other things they saved — what was more valuable than food, 
 because they presented the means of saving their lives for 
 the present and for the future — a number of their hunters' 
 muskets, sufficient to arm all their number, together with a 
 quantity of powder and lead for bullets. "Without either of 
 the three requisites the other two had been useless. They 
 now gathered courage from the possibility of escape, and de- 
 termined to secure themselves from the Indians, reconnoitre 
 the place for fear of surprise, and after that remain patiently 
 encamped till some friendly vessel should arrive. 
 
 One dav, while some of the band w^ere smokinof, singfiner, 
 and talking, their past dangers already half forgotten in the 
 desire of escaping the present by encountering fresh in the 
 future, the sentinels on the look-out hill gave the signal of 
 an approaching vessel. On all rushing to the spot, the 
 keener eyes detected a large ship, dark against the grey 
 horizon. It presently discharged a gun at the shore, and in 
 the direction in which they stood. Preparing for the worst, 
 Alexandre and his men hid themselves in a wooded hollow, 
 and held a council of war. Some were of opinion that they 
 should wait for the stranger's arrival, and then quietly beg 
 the captain to take them on board. The more impatient 
 and lawless, less pacific in such an emergency, believed that 
 such a plan would lead, if the vessel proved, as it probably 
 would, a Spaniard, to their all being taken prisoners, and at 
 once strung from the yard-arm, without inquiry, as French- 
 men and pirates. Bras-de-Fer spoke last, and crushed all 
 opposition by his voice and gesture. He was for war to the 
 deathj and escape at any risk. Better Spanish rope than 
 
 K 
 
130 ALEXANDRE BRAS-DE-FER, 
 
 Indian fire, better pistol shot than starvation. Quick in 
 decision and firm in execution, he had at once determined 
 not merely to stand on the defensive, but at all risks to 
 assume the aggressive. The adventurers yielded as if an 
 angel had spoken, for Alexandre had more than the usual 
 ascendancy of a leader over them. Both his mind and body 
 were of a more athletic bulk and iron mould. He could 
 dare and suffer more. His active and his passive, his moral 
 and physical courage, were greater than theirs. They loved 
 him because he shared their dangers, and did not humiliate 
 them by the assumption of his real superiority. He wore 
 the crown, but he was not always dazzling their eyes with 
 its oppressive glitter. They respected him because he could 
 control both his own passions and those of the men whom he 
 led to victory and never* to defeat. The success of his vic- 
 tories he doubled by the prudence with which they were 
 followed up, and the skill with which he conducted a retreat 
 rendered his very defeats in themselves successes. 
 
 The vessel, which proved to be a Spanish merchant ship, 
 with war equipments, approached nearer, standing off 
 and on, attracted by the fruit and flowers whose perfume 
 spread over the level sea, and allured by that fragrance, a 
 sure proof of the existence of good water not far from the 
 shore. The boats were lowered, and a well-armed party 
 landed with much caution. The captain marched at their 
 head, followed by his best soldiers, dreading an ambuscade 
 of the Indians of that coast, who were known to be warlike 
 and treacherous, but not suspecting the Buccaneers, who 
 kept themselves in the wood, ready to swoop down upon 
 their i)rey, like the kite upon the dovecot. 
 
 Already well acquainted with the paths and foot-tracks, 
 Alexandre's men crept quietly through the trees, which grew 
 thick and dark, and, defiling by secret avenues, surrounded 
 the principal approach by which the Spaniards had already 
 entered, in good order, and on the alert, but with apprehen- 
 sions already subsiding. The adventurers being very inferior 
 in number, and scantily armed, kept themselves hidden, 
 waiting for chance to give them some momentary advantage; 
 "When the enemy was well encircled in the defile, mistaking, 
 perhaps, the lighted matches for fire-flies among the branches, 
 
AND MONTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. 131 
 
 the Frencli siicklenly opened a murderous fire upon the sol- 
 diers, who found themselves girt by a belt of flame, coming 
 from they knew not where. A pilgrim seeing a volcano 
 opening at his feet could not be more astonished. The 
 Spaniards, seeing no enemies to aim at, withheld their fire, 
 thinking that the Indians were burning the forest. The 
 absence of arrows, and the report of muskets, convinced them 
 more deadly enemies awaited them, and that Europeans and 
 not Indians were the preparers of the ambush. With much 
 promptitude, instead of flying in a foolish headlong rout, 
 they threw themselves upon their faces ; and the captain 
 gave the word of command not to fire till the enemy came 
 in sight, being ignorant yet of their number and their 
 nation. 
 
 The adventurers looked through the loop-holes which they 
 had cut in the thick underwood for the passage of their fire- 
 arms, to see what eflfect their volley had produced, the smoke 
 now clearing away and permitting them to see more clearly. 
 To their astonishment they could see no one ; the enemy had 
 vanished, as if blown to pieces by the fire. They began to 
 think that they had retreated, although they had heard no 
 sound of their retreat ; they could scarcely believe that they 
 were all dead. 
 
 Alexandre's impatience soon decided the question ; deter- 
 mined to conquer, he chafed at the delay and mystery. His 
 resolution was soon made. He left his ambush, and broke 
 out from the wood into the open. The mystery was quickly 
 solved, for he was instantly attacked by the Spaniards, who, 
 when they saw him break cover, sprang up to their feet, with 
 a shout, as swift as the foes of Cadmus. Alexandre, retreat- 
 ing for a moment, to make his S23ring the surer, leaped upon 
 the hostile captain, and aimed a blow at his head with his 
 sabre, which was warded ofl" by a large skull-cap, from which 
 the steel glanced. Bras-de-Fer was about to repeat his 
 stroke with better effect, when his foot caught in a root, and 
 he fell. Closely pressed by his antagonist, and requiring all 
 his skill to save his life, rising up with his left hand, and with 
 his strong right arm he struck the uplifted sabre from 
 the hand of his enemy. This lucky blow of a defenceless 
 man gave Alexandre time to leap up and call the adven- 
 
 K 2 
 
132 ALEXANDRE BRAS-DE-FER, 
 
 turers, who had not then left the ambush, and were now pour- 
 ing out on every side, pressing the enemy in the rear and on 
 the flank. Having made a great carnage among the Spani- 
 ards, the Flibustiers, at a signal from Alexandre, closed in, 
 and, bearing down upon the craven and terrified foe sword 
 in hand, slew them to a man, taking special care that not a 
 single one should escape, for fear of spreading an alarm. 
 
 The Spanish crew remaining to keep guard in the vessel 
 had heard the sound of musketry, and at once supposed that 
 their people had fallen in with some hostile Indians ; but 
 knowing that their troops were brave and numerous, and 
 believing they could easily cut a few savages to pieces, they 
 sent no reinforcement, but contented themselves by discharg- 
 ing a noisy broadside, to turn the scale of the supposed battle 
 and increase the terror of the fugitives. On the other hand, 
 the victorious adventurers lost no time in following up their 
 ambush by an ingenious stratagem. They stripped the dead, 
 arrayed themselves in their dress and arms, and collected a 
 quantity of their own Indian arrows, which they had previ- 
 ously taken from savages whom they had killed ; then pulling 
 their broad-brimmed Panama hats over their eyes (even the 
 captain's, with a red gash through it), and shouldering their 
 arms, imitating the Si)anish march, and uttering shouts of 
 " victory, victory," proceeded to the shore at the point 
 nearest the vessel. The guards on board, seeing their sup- 
 posed companions returned so soon, victorious, laden with 
 spoil, and each one carrying a sheaf of arrows, received them 
 with open arms as they clambered up by the main-chains. 
 Before they could recover from their astonishment, the Buc- 
 caneers were masters of the vessel. There was scarcely any 
 struggle, for only the sailors and a few marines had been left 
 on board. The surprise was complete and sudden, and the 
 most watchful might be pardoned for being deluded by such 
 an artifice. The adventurers found the vessel laden with 
 costly merchandise, and soon started with it upon a trip of 
 a verv different nature from that for which it had been first 
 intended. 
 
 CExmelin laments, that in many other adventures which 
 Alexandre told him, he found that he passed too liglitly over 
 his own exploits, and attributed all the glory to the courage 
 
AND MOXTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. 133 
 
 of his companions. But when his comrades related the story, 
 they were not so generous to him as he had been to them, 
 and, either from envy or shame, suppressed many of liis 
 noblest actions. He conchides his sketch of the two Alex- 
 anders with incom[)arable naivete, in the following manner : 
 " Au reste, je ne pretends pas que la comparaison soit toute- 
 a-fait juste, car s'il y a quelque rapport, il y a encore plus de 
 difference. En effet il etoit aussi brave que temeraire, et lui 
 6toit brave que prudent. Alexandre aymoit le vin, et hii 
 I'eau-de-vie. Aussi Alexandre fuyoit les femmes par grandeur 
 dame, et luy les cherchoit par tendresse de coeur ; et pour 
 preuve de ce que je dis il s'en trouve une assez belle dans le 
 vaisseau dont j'ay parle, qu'il prefera a tout I'avantage du 
 butin." 
 
 " To conclude : if I have compared him to the great Alex- 
 ander, I do not pretend that the comparison is altogether just ; 
 for, if there are some points of resemblance, there are many 
 more of difference. Of a truth, the one Alexander was as 
 brave as he was headstrong, the other as brave as he was 
 prudent ; the one loved wine, and the other brandy ; the 
 one fled from women through real greatness of heart, the 
 other sought them from a natural tenderness of soul ; and, 
 as a proof of what I say, he met a beautiful woman in the 
 vessel of which I have spoken, whom he valued more than 
 all the other spoil." 
 
 Providence, a French moral philosopher ventures to 
 gravely suggest, raised up the Buccaneers to revenge on the 
 Spaniards all the sufferings and injustices of the Indians. 
 The Spaniard was the scourge of the Indian, and the Buc- 
 caneer the scourge of the S]Daniard. 
 
 Lolonnois and Montbars are always considered as equal 
 claimants for the hateful pre-eminence of being the most 
 ferocious of the whole Buccaneer brotherhood, considerins: 
 them from their origin to their extinction. But the sove- 
 reignty of blood must be at once awarded to Lolonnois. 
 Montbars seldom killed a Spaniard who begged for mercy, 
 while Lolonnois delighted to spurn them from his feet, and 
 slew all he could without pity, or even regard for ransom. 
 It was from the very lips of Lolonnois that CExmelin was 
 informed that Montbars was sprung from one of the best 
 
134 ALEXANDRE BRAS-DE-FER, 
 
 families in Languedoc. He was well educated, but soon dis- 
 regaixled every other study to practise martial exercise, and 
 particularly shooting. These warlike sports he pursued with 
 a concentrated, unremitting eagerness, approaching insanity. 
 Even as a boy, when firing with his cross-bow, he said he 
 only wished to shoot well that he might know how to kill 
 a Spaniard. 11 is mind had already become filled with a 
 generous but cruel determination, which grew rapidly into 
 monomania. The animal force of a strong but ill-balanced 
 mind all grew to this point, and his thoughts by day, and 
 his dreams by night, became but a reiteration and reblending 
 of the one master passion. No one ever became his confi- 
 dant, but the following is the general explanation given of 
 the deeds of his after life. It is said that, in his early 
 childhood, Montbars had read of the almost incredible cruel- 
 ties practised by the Spaniards during the conquest of 
 America. In the Antilles, they had exhibited the horrors 
 of the Inquisition in broad daylight. Fanaticism, avarice, 
 and ambition had ruled like a trinity of devils over the 
 beautiful regions, desolated and plague-smitten ; whole 
 nations had become extinct, and the name of Christ was 
 polluted into the mere cypher of an armed and aggressive 
 commerce. These books had impressed the gloomy boy 
 with a deep, absorbing, fanatical hatred of the conquerors, 
 and a fierce pity for the conquered. He believed himself 
 marked out by God as the Gideon sent to their relief. 
 Dreams of riches and gratified ambition spurred him uncon- 
 sciously to the task. He thought and dreamed of nothing 
 but the murdered Indians. He inquired eagerly from tra- 
 vellers for news from America, and testified prodigious and 
 ungovernable joy when he heard that the Spaniards had 
 been defeated by the Caribs or the Bravos. 
 
 He indeed knew by heart every deed of atrocity that 
 historv recorded of liis enemies, and would dilate on each 
 one with a rude and impatient eloquence. The following 
 story he was frequently accustomed to relate, and to gloat 
 over with a look that indicated a mind ca]>able of even 
 greater cruelty, if once led away by a fanatic spirit of retali- 
 ation. A Spaniard, the story ran, was once upon a time 
 appointed governor of an Indian province, which was in- 
 
AND MONTBAP.S THE EXTERMINATOR. 135 
 
 habited by a fierce and warlike race of savages. He proved 
 a cruel governor, unforgiving in his resentments, and insa- 
 tiable in his avarice. The Indians, unable any longer to 
 endure either his barbarities or his exactions, seized him, 
 and, showing him gold, told him that they had at last been 
 able, by great good luck, to find enough to satisfy his de- 
 mands. They then held him firm, and melting the ore, 
 poured it down his throat till he expired in torments under 
 their hands. 
 
 On one occasion, Montbars openly showed that his reason 
 was somewhat disturbed, and that, on the one subject of his 
 thoughts, he had ceased to be able to reflect calmly. While 
 a boy, he had to take part in a comedy which was to be 
 acted by himself and the fellow-students of the college, for 
 his friends either ignored or disregarded his dreams and 
 fancies. Amongst other scenes was a prologue, in the shape 
 of a dialogue between a Spaniard and a Frenchman. Mont- 
 bars was to represent the Frenchman, and his companion 
 the Spaniard. The Spaniard, appearing first upon the stage, 
 began to utter a thousand invectives against France, mingled 
 with much ribald rhodomontade, and Montbars became 
 excited, and could not contain his impatience. To his heated 
 mind the mimic scene became a reality. He broke in upon 
 the stage, furiously interrupted his comrade in the middle of 
 his speech, and, loading him with blows, would certainly 
 have put him to death on the spot, as " a Spanish liar and 
 murderer," had the combatants not been separated by the 
 terrified bystanders. 
 
 His father, rich, and loving his son much, perhaps all the 
 better for these wayward eccentricities, which, he believed, 
 contact of the world and the pleasures of youth would soon 
 drive from his memory, desired to enrol him in the army, or 
 induce him to enter some profession. But to all his ques- 
 tions and entreaties the boy only replied, that all he wanted 
 was " to fight against the SjDaniards." Seeing that his friends 
 would oppose his project, he ran away from his father's house, 
 and took refuge at Havre with an uncle who commanded 
 one of the French king's ships. He was about to start on a 
 cruise against Spain, with whom France was then at war, 
 and, pleased at the boy's avowed attachment to a maritime 
 
136 ALEXANDRE BRAS-DE-FER, 
 
 life, wrote to liis father, approving of the boy's resolution. 
 The father reluctantly gave what could be construed into a 
 consent, and in a few days the vessel sailed. 
 
 During the voyage out, tlie young fanatic evinced the 
 greatest eagerness for an engagement, and directly a vessel 
 appeared in sight ran to arm himself, hoping it might be a 
 Spaniard. At length, one did in reality appear, and he had 
 an opportunity of distinguishing himself against his declared 
 enemies. They gave chase to the Spanish vessel, and received 
 her broadside. The elder Montbars, seeing his nephew in- 
 toxicated with joy, and, disregarding all risk of exposure, 
 determining to throw away his life, clapped him under 
 hatches, as a reckless boy, and only let him rush out when 
 the boarding commenced, and the enemy's vessel was evi- 
 dently their own. The liberated youth led the boarders 
 with all the calmness of a veteran man-of-war's-man. Leap- 
 ing, sabre in hand, upon the foe, he fought with them pell- 
 mell, broke through their thickest ranks, and, followed by a 
 few whom his courage animated to rival his own rashness, 
 rushed twice from end to end of the Spanish vessel, mowing 
 down all he met to the right and left. The Spaniards were 
 refused quarter, those who escaped the sword perished in 
 the sea, and Montbars, to whom the honour of the victory was 
 unanimously awarded, refused quarter to a single one. The 
 prize was found full of spoil, the hold crammed with riches, 
 containing 30,000 bales of cotton, 2,000 bales of silk, besides 
 Indian stuffs, 2,000 packets of incense, and 1,000 of cloves, 
 which made up the treasure. In addition to all this, they 
 found a small casket of diamonds, the case clasped with iron, 
 and fastened with four locks, the contents of which alone 
 outvalued ail the bulkier merchandise. Wliile his uncle and 
 the sailors exulted over these treasures, Montbars was count- 
 ing the dead Spaniards, and gloating over the first victims 
 of the hecatomb he still hoped to slay. Blood, and not 
 booty, was his oVjject. 
 
 In spite of the young victor, a few Spanish sailors and 
 ofiicers had been spared in the general carnage. From these 
 survivors they learnt that two other vessels had been parted 
 from them in a storm, near where they then were (St. 
 Domingo), and that their rendezvous had been fixed at Port 
 
AND MONTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. 137 
 
 Margot. Captain Montbars determined to wait for them 
 there, and to capture them by the stratagem of sending the 
 captured vessel with its Spanish colours out to meet them, 
 as a decoy. While the French vessel and its prize lay 
 waiting at the rendezvous, some huntsmen's boats came off 
 to sea, bringing boucanned meat to barter for brandy. The 
 Buccaneers apologized for bringing so little meat, saying, 
 " that a band of Spanish Fifties had lately ravaged their 
 district, burnt their hides, stolen their dried meat, and burnt 
 their boucans." 
 
 " And why do you suffer it ?" said Montbars, impetuously, 
 for he had been listening eagerly all this time, to the recital 
 of a new proof of Spanish perfidy. 
 
 " We do not suffer it," answered the huntsmen, rouglily, 
 " The Spaniards know well what sort of people we are, and 
 they chose a time when we were all away cow-killing ; but 
 our day is coming. We are now collecting our companions, 
 who have suffered worse than we have ; we have given 
 notice far and wide, and if the fifty grow to a thousand, we 
 shall soon bring them to bay." 
 
 " If you are willing," says Montbars, " I will march at 
 your head. I do not want to command you, but to expose 
 myself first, to show you what I am ready to do against 
 these accursed Spaniards." 
 
 The old hunters, astonished at the daring of a mere 
 youth, and glad of another musket, accepted his proposal. 
 His uncle, unable to rein him in, and already weary of so 
 hot-brained a volunteer, yielded to his entreaties. He per- 
 mitted him to go, giving him a party of seamen to guard 
 him, and supplied him with but few provisions, in hopes of 
 bringing him quickly back. He threatened on parting, to 
 leave him behind if he was not on board to the very hour, 
 then calling him a foolish madcap, and cursing him for a 
 hair-brain, he dismissed him with his blessing, swearing the 
 next minute there wasn't a braver lad at that moment 
 treading a plank. « 
 
 Montbars departed with some uneasiness, not caring 
 about his uncle's advice or the scantiness of provisions, 
 but only afraid that he might miss the Spaniards on land, 
 and be absent also when the Spanish vessels were attacked. 
 
138 ALEXANDRE BPxAS-DE-FER, 
 
 He wanted no greater inducement to hurry his return than 
 the })ros2iect of a naval engagement. He liad scarcely 
 landed with his men, when the hunters brought them into 
 a small savannah surrounded by hills and woods. They had 
 not taken many steps across this broad hunting-ground 
 before they saw some mounted Spaniards appear in the dis- 
 tance — these men were part of a troop that had collected, 
 hearing that the Buccaneers were assembling to attack them. 
 
 Montbars, transported with rage at the sight of a Spaniard, 
 would have rushed at once upon them, single-handed, but 
 an old experienced Buccaneer caught him by the arm : 
 " Stop," said he, " there is plenty of time, and, if you do 
 what I tell you, not one of these fellows shall escape." 
 These words, " not one," would at any time have arrested 
 Montbars, and they did so then. The old Buccaneer, crying 
 a halt, bade the men turn their backs on the Spaniards, as 
 if they had not seen them. He next unrolled the linen 
 tent, which he carried in the usual fashion of his craft, and 
 began to pitch it, followed by all his companions, who did 
 the same, imitating their fugleman, without inquiry, trusting 
 to the address that had often before delivered them out of 
 danger. They then drew out their brandy-flasks and 
 affected to prepare for a revel, intending to deceive the 
 Spaniards, who, they knew, would give them time to drink, 
 in hopes of surprising them, an easy prey, when asleep. 
 The empty horns were passed round with jokes, and songs, 
 and shouts, and the corked flasks circulated as merrily as if 
 the feast had been a real one. "Without appearing to 
 observe, they could see the Spanish patrols disappear over 
 the ridge of the hill, to warn their men in the valley to 
 prepare for a night surprise. The Buccaneer leader, passing 
 the signal from hand to hand, sent an engage into the 
 woods to quickly rouse all the " brothers " in the neigh- 
 bourhood, to bid them come and help them, and to prepare 
 an ambush in the opposite forest. In the mean time, other 
 scouts were sent to watch the motions of the enemy, to be 
 sure that they were coming, and were not making any flank 
 movement. 
 
 At dusk the Buccaneers sli})ped quietly from beneath 
 their tents, and crept into the adjacent woods. Here they 
 
AND MOXTExVr.S THE EXTERMINATOR. 139 
 
 found tlieii" companions and tlieir engages already assembled 
 and eager for the attack. Montbars, weary of all prepara- 
 tions, Avas now burning to see the Spaniards, declared they 
 never would come, and that they had better go out and 
 surprise them while night lasted ; but the Spaniards were 
 purposely delaying, knowing that the longer they delayed 
 the deeper would be the sleep of the revellers. At day- 
 break they could see a dark troop beginning to move for- 
 ward over the ridge, and soon to descend the hill into the 
 plain in good order, a small detachment marching before 
 them as a forlorn hope. The Buccaneers, well posted and 
 unobserved, waited for them, sure of their prey, for the 
 tents being pitched at some distance one from the other, 
 they could see every movement of the Spaniards. As they 
 drew nearer, the Fifties broke into small troops, and each 
 encircled a tent. To their astonishment, at that moment, 
 the wood grew a flame, and a hot rolling fire led on the 
 advancing Buccaneers, who, breaking out with yell and 
 shout, very terrible in the silence of the dawning, overthrew 
 horse and rider. Montbars, inspired by the fever of the 
 onslaught, wliich always seemed for a moment to restore the 
 balance of his mind, leaped on a horse, whose rider he had 
 killed, and headed the attack. Wherever resistance was 
 made, he rode in, charging every knot of troopers as they 
 attempted to rally. Hurrying on too far beyond his com- 
 j)anions, while breaking into the heart of the squadron, he 
 was surrounded, and would have been quickly overpowered 
 had he not been rescued by a determined rush of his men. 
 More furious at this escape, he pursued the scattered enemy 
 right and left, with increased fury, inflicting blows as dread- 
 ful as they were unusual. One of the Buccaneers, seeing 
 many of his men suffering from the Indian arrows, cried 
 out to the Indians, in Spanish, pointing to Montbars, " Do 
 you not see that God has sent you a liberator, wly) fights 
 for you, to deliver you from the Spaniards, and yet you still 
 fight for your tyrants V Hearing these words, and asto- 
 nished at Montbars' contempt for death, the archers 
 changed sides and turned their arrows against the Spaniards, 
 who fled, overwhelmed by this new misfortune, and perhaps 
 impelled by an undefmable and superstitious terror. 
 
140 ALEXANDRE BI^AS-DE-FER, 
 
 Montbars looked upon this day as tlie happiest in his life. 
 He had seen the Indians he had so pitied fighting by his 
 side, and regarding him as their protector. Cleaving down 
 a wounded Spaniard, who clung to his knees and begged for 
 mercy, he cried, " I would you were the last of this accursed 
 race." An eye-witness of the battle describes the carnage 
 as horrible — the living trampling on the living, and stum- 
 bling over the dying and the dead. The Buccaneers and 
 the Indians rejoicing in their liberty and their revenge, 
 entreated Montbars to follow up his successes, and wanted 
 at once to ravage the Spanish plantations, and extirpate the 
 survivors, while they were still discouraged. Montbars 
 gladly consented to the proposal, and was about to march 
 exultingly at their head, when the boom of a cannon was 
 heard. It was the report of a gun from his uncle's vessel, 
 and he could not resist obeying a signal that might be the 
 signal of an approaching battle. He instantly hurried 
 back, but found, to his annoyance, that the signal had 
 been only fired as a warning to announce the hour of instant 
 sailing. 
 
 The hunters, already attached to their young leader, 
 refused to leave him, and the Indians were afraid to abide 
 the vengeance of the Spaniards. They were all therefore at 
 once placed on board the prize, and supplied with muskets 
 and sabres. The delighted uncle appointed INIontbars as 
 captain, with an old ofiicer, under the name of lieutenant, to 
 act as his guardian. 
 
 After eight days' sail, Montbars was attacked, at the 
 mouth of a large quay, by four Spanish vessels, each one 
 larger than his own. They surrounded him so suddenly 
 that he had no time to escape, and he lay amongst them like 
 a wolf at bay. They formed, in fact, the van of the great 
 Indian plate fleet, which was, every year, as eagerly expected 
 by the king of Spain as it was by all the marauders of the 
 Spanish main. The elder Montbars, bold and hardy, un- 
 hesitatingly attacked two of the vessels, and several times 
 drove back their boarders. Although gouty himself and 
 unable to move, the staunch old Gascon shouted his orders 
 from his elbow chair ; and, cursing alternately the enemy 
 and the disease, defended his ship to the lust extremity. 
 
AND MONTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. 1-il 
 
 Haviuir fouolit for more than three hours with ferocious 
 obstinacy, and seeing his young hero terribly pressed by 
 his two adversaries, he resolved upon a final effort, the last 
 struggle of a wild beast that leels the knife is at his throat. 
 Firing a tremendous broadside, he attacked both his enemies 
 with such fury that he sank them and himself, and died 
 " laughing" in all the exultation of that revenge which is 
 the only victory of despair. 
 
 Montbars the younger made great exertions to save him- 
 self and to avenge his uncle. The old lion was dead, but 
 the cub had much life in him yet. He sank one of his 
 antagonists with a crushing shot and boarded the other. 
 His Indians, seeing their leader enter the Spanish vessel at 
 one end, threw themselves into the water and clambered 
 promptly up the other. Their war-cries and arrows pro- 
 duced a powerful diversion, and took the Spaniards by 
 surprise. Throwing many into the sea, they killed others, 
 while Montbars put all that resisted to the sword. In 
 a short time he was master of a vessel larger even than 
 those that had been sunk. The friendly Indians, who now 
 looked upon him as an invincible demigod, he employed in a 
 fruitless search for his uncle's body. Conquerors and con- 
 quered were destined to remain locked in each other's arms, 
 and piled over with bloody trophies of burnt wreck until 
 the day that the blue sea should give up her dead. 
 
 The hunters renewed their proposal of a descent upon the 
 mainland, and Montbars agreed to any scheme which would 
 enable him to avenge his uncle and his friends. He had 
 formerly lived to avenge the wrongs of others, to these were 
 now added his own. The governor of the province, hearing 
 of the contemplated attack, prepared an ambuscade of 
 negroes and militiamen. Putting himself at the head of 
 800 men, divided into three battalions, his wings strengthened 
 with cavalry and his van guarded with cannon, he prepared 
 to prevent the landing of the " Exterminator." 
 
 These preparations only increased the ardour of Montbars. 
 It seemed cowardly to ravage an unprotected country : its 
 devastation, after defeating its defenders, was a reward of 
 conquest. Montbars was the first to leap from the canoes, 
 and the first to rush upon the Spanish pikes. The front 
 
142 ALEXANDRE BRAS-DEFER, 
 
 battalion was soon repulsed, and some Indians taking the 
 reserve force in the flank, they were driven back in great 
 disorder. Montbars, hotly pursuing, made a prodigious car- 
 nage of the enemy, and carried fire and sword far into the 
 interior. 
 
 One day, while at sea, the young captain, already a veteran 
 in experience, was obliged to put into a bay to careen. To 
 his great surprise, although the place was a mere track of 
 sand, he saw some Spaniards on a distant plain, marching in 
 good order and well-armed. Fearing that if they saw his 
 men they would take to flight, he sent a few of his favourite 
 Indians to decoy them towards him. Then falling upon 
 them with fury as they cried out for quarter Montbars 
 shouted, in Spanish, that they had nothing to hope for till 
 they had killed himself and all his men. These dreadful 
 words, together with his revengeful looks, drove them to 
 take up their arms and fight with dogged and brutal despair, 
 till they were slain almost to a man. Advancing into the 
 country in search of more human prey, Montbars carried off 
 the arras of the Spaniards and a great quantity of fruits and 
 provisions. 
 
 It appeared, from a survivor, that these Spaniards had 
 arrived in that country in a singular manner. They had 
 formed the crew in guard of a vessel full of negro slaves 
 who had conspired together to drive the ship on shore. 
 The Africans had secretly bored holes in the ship's hold, in 
 which they had placed pluggets, which they drew out, and 
 replaced, unseen, and in a moment. While the Spaniards 
 were seated together, talking with their usual stately, stolid 
 phlegm, this unaccountable leak would break out and fill the 
 cabin, or drench them in their hammocks. The slaves never 
 seemed alarmed, but were always duly astonished, and filled 
 the air with interjections, in the Congo language. The water 
 rushing in pell-mell, even the ship's carpenter did not know 
 from where, drove all hands, at great danger to the ship, 
 almost to leave the helm to save the cargo, which was 
 already damaged. The negroes, quiet and orderly, would 
 generally succeed, after a time, in stopping the leak, and 
 excited general admiration by their promptitude and naval 
 skill All then went on well for a time ; but with the 
 
AND MOKTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. 143 
 
 least wind or storm the dreadful and mvsterious leak reconi' 
 menced, till the very captain began reluctantly to confess, 
 with tears in his eyes, that they were all as good as lost, for 
 the vessel was dangerous and not seaworthy. In the middle 
 of the night, or at meal time, this supernatural leak would 
 recommence, till the pumps were all but worn out, and the 
 men faint with want of sleep. One day, when the vessel 
 was skirting a reef, the negroes watched the opportunity, 
 and the leak commenced with redoubled fury, the slaves 
 howling as if from the very disquietness of their hearts. 
 The Spaniards, thinking all hope lost, and the vessel, as 
 they declared, already beginning to settle down, abandoned 
 the ship, and threw themselves on that very tongue of land 
 where Montbars afterwards surprised them. The trick had 
 been cleverly planned and cleverly executed, but a hitch in 
 the machinery had nearly ruined all. One of the blacks, 
 more timid or less sagacious than the rest, seeing the water 
 pour in with more than usual impetuosity, and on all sides, 
 lost his presence of mind. Not able at once, in his panic, 
 to find the hole which he had to stop, he believed that his 
 companions had also failed, and that all was indeed lost, and, 
 throwing himself overboard without inquiring, he joined the 
 Spaniards, who were thanking God (prematurely) for their 
 deliverance. 
 
 Looking back for his companions, to his horror he saw a 
 dozen of them tugging at the helm, and putting out wildly 
 to sea. The truth flashed upon him, and he knew in a 
 moment that his safety was a loss. Giving way to uncon- 
 trollable despair, he tore his wool, and stamped his feet, and 
 cursed his fetish, and stretched out his foolish black hands, 
 as if to stay the parting vessel. The Spaniards, astonished 
 at this api)arently passionate desire to be drowned, began 
 slowly to discover the successful stratagem. They looked : 
 " Demonio ! — San Antonio ! " — the vessel did not sink, but 
 glided swiftly out to sea. They could see the blacks laugh- 
 ing, pulling at the ropes, and grinning with white teeth 
 from the port-holes. They turned with fury on the unhappy 
 survivor, and put him to the torture till he confessed the 
 truth. 
 
 And this story completes all that history has preserved of 
 
144 ALEXANDRE BRAS-DE-FER, 
 
 one of the strangest combinations of fanatic and soldier that 
 has ever appeared since the days of Loyola. In another age, 
 and under other circumstances, he might have become a 
 second Mohammed. Equally remorseless, his ambition, 
 though narrower, seems to have been no less fervid. If 
 he was cruel, we must allow him to have been sincere even 
 in his fanaticism. Daring, untiring, of unequalled courage, 
 and unmatched resolution, the cruelty of the Spaniards he 
 put down by greater cruelty. He passes from us into 
 unknown seas, and we hear of him no more. He died 
 probably unconscious of crime, unpitying and un pitied. 
 
 OExmelin, who saw Montbars at Honduras, describes him 
 as active, vivacious, and fall of fire, like all the Gascons. He 
 was of tall stature, erect and firm, his air grand, noble, and 
 martial. His complexion was sun-burnt, and the colour of 
 his eyes could not be discerned under the deep, arched 
 vaulting of his bushy eyebrows. His very glance in battle 
 was said to intimidate the Spaniards, and to drive them to 
 despair. 
 
 In 1659, Santiago was pillaged by the Flibustiers, in 
 revenge for the murder of twelve Frenchmen, who had been 
 shot by a Spanish captain, who took them from a Flemish 
 vessel, si)aring only a woman, and a child who hid itself 
 under the robe of a monk. 
 
 Determined on retaliation, the people of the coast assem- 
 bled, to the number of 500. Obtaining an English commis- 
 sion, they embarked on board a frigate from Nantes, and a 
 number of small craft — De Flsle being their commander, 
 and Adam, Lormel, and Anne le Roux their lieutenants. 
 They landed at Puerto de Plata, " le Dimanche des Ra- 
 meaux " (Palm Sunday), and marched upon St. Jago at day- 
 break. Passing over the bodies of the guards, they rushed 
 to the governor's house, and surprised him in bed. He, 
 knowing French, threw himself on his knees, and told them 
 that peace was about to be declared between the two nations. 
 They replied that they carried an English commission, and, 
 reproaching him for his cruelties, bade him either prepare 
 for death, or pay down 60,000 crowns. Part of this ransom 
 he instantly paid in hides. The pillage of the town lasted 
 twenty- four hours, and nothing was spared ; the very bells 
 
AND MONTBARS THE EXTERMINATOR. 145 
 
 were carried from the cliurclies, and tlie altars stripped of 
 tlieir plate. No violence, however, we are glad to record, 
 was offered to the women, the brotherhood having, with 
 some chivalry, agreed that any such offender should lose his 
 share of the spoil. 
 
146 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Son of a farmer — Runs to sea — Turns Buccaneer— Joins Mansvelt, and 
 takes the Island of St, Catherine — -Mansvelt dies — St. Catherine 
 retaken by the Spaniards — Takes Port-au-Prince — Quarrel oi French 
 and English Buccaneers about a marrow-bone— Takes Porto Bello — 
 Captures " Le Cerf Volant," a French vessel — It blows up — Takes 
 Maracaibo — City deserted — Tortures an idiot — Le Picard — Storms 
 Gibraltar — Also deserted — Tortures the citizens — With a fire-ship 
 destroys Spanish fleet, and repasses the bar — Escapes by stratagem 
 — Rancheria expedition — Sails for Panama — Captain Bradley takes 
 the Castle of Chagres — Anecdote of wounded Buccaneer. 
 
 o 
 
 Morgan's campaigns farnisli one of the amplest chapters of 
 Buccaneer history. Equally daring, but less cruel than 
 Lolonnois, less fanatical than Montbars, and less generous 
 and honest than De Lussan or Sharpe, he appears to have 
 been the only freebooting leader who obtained any formal 
 recognition from the English government. From an old 
 pamphlet we find that the expedition to Panama was under- 
 taken under the commission, and with the full approbation, 
 of the English governor of Jamaica. 
 
 Sir Henry Morgan was the son of a Welsh farmer, of easy 
 circumstances, " as most who bear that name in Wales are 
 known to be," says Esquemeling, his Dutch historian. 
 Taking an early dislike to the monotonous, unadventurous 
 life of his father's house, he ran away from home, and, 
 coming to the coast, went to sea. 
 
 Embarking on board a vessel bound for Barbadoes, he 
 engaged himself in the usual way to a planter's agent, who 
 resold him for three years immediately on his arrival in the 
 West Indies. Having served his time, and obtained his 
 hard-earned liberty, he repaired to Jamaica — a place of 
 which wild stories were told all over the Main. He resolved 
 
p 
 
 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 147 
 
 to seek his fortune at that El Dorado, and arriving there, 
 sav/ two Buccaneer vessels just fitting out tor an expedition. 
 Being now in search oi employment, and finding this suit 
 his daring and restless spirit, he determined to embrace 
 the life of a Flibustier. The gentlemen of fortune were 
 successful, and had not been long at sea before they took a 
 valuable prize. 
 
 This early success was as fatal to Morgan as good luck is 
 to a young gambler on his first visit to a hell. It roused 
 his ambition, heightened his hope, and encouraged him to 
 continue a career so auspiciously begun. He followed the 
 Buccaneer chiefs, and learnt their manners of living. In 
 the course of only three or four voyages he signalized 
 himself so much as to acquire the reputation of a good 
 soldier, remarkable for his valour and success. He was a 
 good shot, and renowned for his intrepidity, coolness, and 
 determination. He seemed to foresee all contingencies, and 
 set about his schemes with a firm confidence that insured 
 their success. 
 
 Having already laid by much money, and being fortunate 
 both in his voyages and in gambling, Morgan agreed with a 
 few rich comrades to join stock, and to buy a vessel, of 
 which he was unanimously a})i)ointed commander. Such 
 was the usual beGfinninof of an adventurer's career. Setting 
 out from Jamaica, he soon became remarkable for the 
 number of prizes which he took, his well-known stations 
 being round the coast of Cam peachy. With these prizes he 
 returned triumphantly to Jamaica, his name established as a 
 terror to the Spaniard, and a war-cry to the English. Find- 
 ing Mansvelt, an old Buccaneer, lying in harbour, about to 
 start on a grand expedition to the mainland, he joined him, 
 and was at once elected as vice-admiral of a small fleet of 
 fifteen vessels and 600 men, part English and part French. 
 
 They sailed first to the island of St. Catherine, near the 
 continent of Costa Bica, and distant about thirty -five 
 degrees from the river of Chagres. Here they made their 
 first descent, and found the Spaniards well entrenched in 
 forts, stror;gly built of hewn stone ; but, landing most of 
 their men, they soon forced the garrisons to surrender. 
 Morgan distinguished himself remarkably in this expedi- 
 
 L 2 
 
148 SIR HEXRY :.IORGAIT. 
 
 tion, forcing even liis very enemies to laud his skill and 
 valour. He now proceeded to demolish all the castles but 
 one, in which he placed 100 men, with the slaves and 
 j^risoners, and proceeded to attack a small neighbouring 
 island. In a few days they threw over a bridge to join it 
 to St. Catherine's, and conveyed over it all the larger ord- 
 nance which they had taken, laying waste their first conquest 
 with fire and sword. They then set sail again, having first 
 set their })risoners ashore near Porto Bello, intending to 
 cruise along Costa Rica, as far as the river Colla, and burn 
 and pillage all the towns up to Nata. They had, in fact, 
 only taken the island in order to procure a guide who could 
 lead them on their way to ISTata, knowing that the Spaniards 
 used St. Catherine's as a depot for their prisoners of all 
 nations. The first step towards a Buccaneer expedition was 
 always to procure a guide. They found, to their delight, a 
 mulatto who knew Nata, and who undertook to lead them 
 to the destruction of a people whom he hated. It is pro- 
 bable, too, that Mansvelt had already projected founding a 
 colony at St. Catherine's, which might be neither dependent 
 on the French nor the English. But both their schemes 
 were frustrated ; for the governor of Panama, hearing of 
 their approach, and of their past success, advanced to meet 
 them with a body of men, and compelled them to retreat 
 suddenly, the whole country being now alarmed, and their 
 plans all known. 
 
 Morgan, however, seeing St. Catherine's to be a well- 
 fortified island, easily defended, and important as to situation, 
 because its harbour was good, and near the Spanish settle- 
 ments, resolved to hold it, appointing as governor Le Sieur 
 Simon, a Frenchman, whom he left behind, with a garrison 
 of lUO men. St. Simon had behaved well in his absence, 
 and put the island in a good posture of defence ; he had 
 strengtliened the four large forts, and turned the smaller 
 island into a citadel, p;uarding carefully the three accessible 
 spots, planting vegetables and clearing plantations in the 
 smaller island, where abundance of fresh water could be 
 procured, providing victual enough for the fleet for two 
 voyages. 
 
 The two commanders now determined to return to 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 149 
 
 Jamaica, promising to send recruits to Simon, for fear of an. 
 invasion, and themselves engaging to bring speedy succours, 
 intending to make the island a sanctuary and refuge for the 
 brotherhood of both nations. The governor of Jamaica 
 refused to accede to Mansvelt's requests for soldiers, afraid 
 to weaken the forces of the island without permission from 
 England. Mansvelt, worn out with delay, hastened to Tor- 
 tuga, and died wliile collecting volunteers, his plans being 
 still in embryo. Had his scheme succeeded, and been pushed 
 with energy, the Buccaneers might have founded a republic, 
 and have eventually driven the Spaniards out of the Indies. 
 
 While Simon was impatiently expecting succour from 
 Jamaica, and astonished at llansvelt's really unavoidable 
 silence, the Spaniards were preparing to smoke out the 
 wasps' nest that lay so dangerously near their orchard. A 
 new governor of Costa Ptica threw unusual decision into 
 their plans. Fearing they should lose the Indies piecemeal, 
 they resolved to crush the evil ere it grew indestructible. 
 Don Juan Perez de Guzman equip])ed a fleet of four vessels, 
 witli fifty or sixty men each, commanded by Don Joseph 
 Sancho Ximenes, major-general of the garrison of Porto 
 Bello. Don Juan, in a letter to Simon, promised him a 
 reward if he would surrender the island to his Catholic 
 Majesty, and threatened him with punishment if he resisted. 
 Simon, seeing the impossibility and uselessness of resistance, 
 surrendered it after a few shots, on the same condition with 
 which Morgan had obtained it from the enemy. 
 
 The Spaniards made much of their victory, publishing "a 
 true relation and particular account of the victory obtained 
 by the arms of his Catholic Majesty, against the English 
 pirates, by the direction and valour of Don Juan Perez de 
 Guzman, knight of the order of St. James, governor and 
 captain-general of Terra Firma and the province of Ve- 
 
 raguas." 
 
 The account goes on to describe the arrival of fourteen 
 English vessels on the coast, 1665, their arrival at Puerto 
 de Naos, and the capture of St. Catherine's from the 
 governor, Don Estevan del Campo, the enemy landing 
 unperceived. Upon this the valorous Don Juan called a 
 council of war, wherein he declared the great progress the 
 
150 SIR HEXRY MORGAN. 
 
 said pirates liad made in the dominions of his Catholic 
 Majesty, and propounded, "that it was absohitely necessary 
 to send some forces to the isle of St. Catherine, suf- 
 ficient to retake it from the pirates, the honour and interest 
 of his Majesty of Spain being very narrowly concerned 
 herein, otherwise the pirates, by such conquests, might 
 easily, in course of time, possess themselves of ' all the coun- 
 tries thereabout.'" The less vapouring, or more pacific, 
 ingeniously proposed to leave the pirates alone till they 
 ])erished for want of provisions ; but Don Juan^ overruling 
 their timidity, sent stores to the militia of Porto Bello, and 
 conveyed himself there, with no small dano-er of his life. 
 At this port he found the aS'^. Vincent^ a good ship, belonging 
 to the Negro Company, which he equipped with a crew of 
 270 soldiers, thirty-seven prisoners, thirty-two of the Spanish 
 garrison, tweuty-nine mulattos of Panama, twelve Indian 
 archers, seven gunners, two lieutenants, two pilots, a surgeon, 
 and a Franciscan chaplain. Before they set sail, Don Juan 
 (wlio did not go with them) encouraged them to tight against 
 the enemies of their country and their religion, "those 
 inhuman pirates who had committed so many horrid cruel- 
 ties upon the subjects of his Catholic Majesty," promising 
 liberal rewards to all who behaved themselves well in the 
 service of their king and country. At Carthagena, they 
 received a reinforcement of one frigate, one galleon, a boat, 
 and 127 men. 
 
 On arriving at the island, the pirates discharged three 
 guns, refused to surrender, and declared they preferred to lose 
 their lives. The next day three negro deserters, swimming 
 to the admiral, told him there were only seventy-two men 
 on the island, and two days after the day of the Assumption 
 the Spaniards landed and commenced the affray. The aS'^. 
 Vincent attacked tlie Conception battery, the *S'^. Peter the 
 St. James's forts, the pirates driving off many of the enemy 
 by loading their guns with part of the pipes of a church 
 organ, threescore pipes at a time. The pirates lost six men 
 before surrendering, the Spaniards one. They found in the 
 island 8001bs. of powder, and 2501bs. of bullets. Two 
 Spanish deserters, discovered amongst the prisoners, were 
 " shot to death" the next day. The prisoners were trans- 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 151 
 
 ported to Puerto Yelo, all but three, who, hy order of the 
 governor, were kept as trophies, like chained Samsons, to 
 work in the castle of St. Jerome at Panama, a fortress 
 building by the governor at his own expense. 
 
 A day or two after this unavoidable surrender, a vessel 
 arrived at St. Catherine's, bringing reinforcements and j)ro- 
 visions from the governor of Jamaica, who had repented of 
 his rejection of Mansvelt's proposal, but had not even yet 
 the courage to be boldly dishonest. The Spaniards, hoisting 
 an English flag, persuaded Simon to welcome it, and betray 
 it into their hands. There were fourteen men on board and 
 two women, all of whom were made prisoners. 
 
 On the death of Mansvelt, Morgan became without oppo- 
 sition the leader of all the adventurers of Jamaica. He at 
 once published far and wide his intention of setting out on 
 a grand expedition, and named Cuba as a rendezvous, St. 
 Catherine's not being far distant. Morgan had been no 
 less anxious than Mansvelt to make this island a fortress 
 and a storehouse. He had written to the merchants of 
 Virginia and New England, to contract with them for am- 
 munition and provisions ; but this hope being ended by the 
 Spanish conquest, he felt himself free to embark on a wider 
 and more ambitious Held. His plans were for a moment 
 defeated, but his courage and ambition were not a whit 
 humbled. 
 
 Two months spent in the southern ports of Cuba sufficed 
 him to collect a fleet of twelve sail, with 700 fighting men, 
 part English, part French, resolved to follow him to the 
 death. To prevent the disunion so frequent between the 
 two nations, Morgan had a clause inserted in the charter- 
 party, empowering him to condemn to instant death any 
 adventurer who killed or wounded another. A council was 
 then called to decide on what place they should tirst fall. 
 Some proposed Santiago, which had been before sacked, 
 others a swoop on the tobacco of the Havannah, or the dye- 
 woods of Campeachy. Many voices were strong for a night 
 assault on the Havannah, which, they said, could be taken 
 before the castle could be ready to defend itself The very 
 ransom of the clergy they might carry off, would be worth 
 more than the pillage of a smaller town. But some Buc- 
 
152 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 caneers, who had been prisoners there, said nothing could be 
 done with less than 1,500 men, and the proposal was aban- 
 doned, when they proved that they must first go to the island 
 de los Pinos, and land in small boats at Matamana, fourteen 
 leagues from the city. 
 
 At last some one proposed a visit to Port-au-Prince, a 
 town of Cuba, very rich from its traffic in hides, and which, 
 being far inland and built on a plain, could be very easily 
 surprised. The speaker knew the city well, and was sure 
 that it never had been sacked. Despairing of collecting 
 forces enough to attempt the Havannah, they pursued the 
 Spaniard's plan. Morgan at once acceded to this scheme, 
 and, giving the captain the signal of weighing anchor, steered 
 for Port St. Mary, the nearest harbour to Port-au-Prince. 
 The night of their arrival in the bay a Spanish prisoner 
 threw himself into the sea, and swimming on shore went to 
 inform the governor of the Buccaneers' plans, having, with 
 a scanty knowledge of English, gathered a full insight, 
 deeper than history tells us, of Morgan's intentions. 
 
 The governor instantly sent to the neighbouring town for 
 succour, and collected, in a few hours, a force of 800 armed 
 freemen and slaves, occupying a pass which the Buccaneers 
 must traverse. He cut down the trees, barricaded the ap- 
 proaches, and planned eight ambuscades, strengthened by 
 cannon to play upon them on their march. He then 
 marched out into a savannah, where he might see the Buc- 
 caneers at a long distance. 
 
 The townsmen, in the meanwhile, prepared for the worsti 
 with the usual timidity of the rich, hiding their riches and 
 carrying away their movables. The adventurers, on en-* 
 tering the place, found the paths almost impassable with 
 trees, but, supposing themselves discovered, took to the 
 woods, and thus fortunately escaped the ambuscade. 
 
 The governor, seeing the enemy, to his astonishment,, 
 emerge from the trees into the plain, instantly ordered his- 
 cavalry to surround them as he would have done a troop of 
 wolves, intending first to disperse them with his horse and 
 then pursue them with his main body. The Buccaneers, 
 nothing daunted by the flashing of the spears or the tramp 
 of the horsemen, advanced boldly, with drums beating and 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 153 
 
 colours displayed. They drew up in a semicircle to receive 
 the charge, and advanced swiftly towards the enemy, not 
 waiting to be attacked. The Spaniards charge'd them hotly 
 for awhile, but, finding their enemies dexterous at their 
 arms, movinsr their feet forward rather than backward, and 
 seeing their governor and many of their companions dead at 
 their feet, fled headlong to the town ; those who escaped 
 towards the wood being killed before they could reach it. 
 The Buccaneers with few men either killed or wounded, 
 advancing still in their phalanx, cut down without mercy all 
 they met, for the space of the four hours that the fight 
 lasted. The fuijitives of the town barred themselves in 
 their houses and kept up a fire from the windows and loop- 
 holes. The shots from the roofs and balconies still con- 
 tinuing, though the town was taken, the Buccaneers threat- 
 ened, if the firing did not cease, to set the town in a flame, 
 and cut the women and children in pieces before the eyes of 
 the survivors. 
 
 Having thus silenced all resistance, Morgan drove all his 
 prisoners, men, women, children, and slaves, into the cathe- 
 dral, where he placed a guard. He then gave the town 
 over to pillage, for the benefit of his joint-stock company, 
 finding much that was valuable, but little money, so skilful 
 had the Spaniards grown in hiding. Parties were next sent 
 out, as usual, to plunder the suburbs, and bring in provisions 
 and prisoners for the torture. 
 
 The revelry then began, while the prisoners were allowed 
 to starve in the churches ; old women and children were 
 daily tortured to make them disclose where their money was 
 hidden. 
 
 The monks had been the first to fly from the English 
 heretics, but bands of them were frequently captured in tlie 
 woods, and thrown, half dead with fear, to confess the dying 
 in the prisons. When pillage and provisions grew scanty, 
 and they themselves began to feel the privations they had 
 inflicted on others, the Buccaneers resolved to depart, after 
 fifteen days' residence, a favourite time with the brother- 
 hood. 
 
 They now demanded a double ransom of their chief pri- 
 soners ; first, for themselves, under pain of being transported 
 
I'J-i SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 to Jamaica ; and secondly, for the town, or it would be 
 burned to the ground. Four merchants were chosen to col- 
 lect the contributions, and some Spaniards were first tortured 
 in their presence, to increase the zeal of their applications. 
 After a few days, they returned empty-handed, and de- 
 manded a respite of iifteen days, which Morgan granted. 
 They had searched all the woods, they said, and found none 
 of their countrymen. Delay now grew dangerous — a party 
 of foragers had captured a negro, with letters from the 
 governor of Santiago, telling the citizens not to make too 
 much haste to pay the ransom, but to put off the pirates 
 with excuses till he could come to their aid. Enraged at 
 what he deemed treachery, Morgan swore he would have no 
 more delay, and would burn the town the next day if the 
 ransom was not paid down, but not alluding to the detected 
 letter, and betraying no apprehension. Still unable to ob- 
 tain money, Morgan consented to take 500 oxen, which he 
 insisted on the Spaniards placing on board his ships at Port- 
 au-Prince, together with salt enough to " powder " them, 
 needing the flesh to re- victual for a fresh and more profita- 
 ble expedition. 
 
 The same day IMorgan left the city, taking with him six 
 of the principal citizens as hostages. The next day came 
 the cattle, but he now required the Spaniards to assist him 
 in killing and salting them. This was done in a great hurry, 
 Morgan expecting every moment the Santiago vessels would 
 appear in sight. As soon as the butchering was completed 
 he released his hostages and set sail, unwilling to fight when 
 nothing could be gained by victory. 
 
 At this juncture, the smouldering jealousy of the two 
 nations that formed his crews broke into a flame. The 
 grudges of the last voj^age had been per])etuated, and had 
 grown into a deep and lasting feud, producing ultimately a 
 disunion fatal to all increase of the power of the brotherhood 
 of tlie coast. 
 
 While the prisoners were toiling at salting the beeves, the 
 sailors employed themselves in drinking and rejoicing at 
 their success, cooking the richest morsels while they were 
 still fresh, and all hands intent on securing the hot marrow 
 bones, the favourite delicacy of the hunters of Hispaniola. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 155 
 
 A FrenchmaTi, employed as one of the butchers, had drawn 
 out the dainty and placed it by his side, as a bonne houche 
 when his work was over. An English Buccaneer, more 
 hungry than polite, passing by, and knowing no reservation 
 of property in such a republic, snatched up the reeking bone 
 and carried it off. The Frenchman, pursuing him with 
 angry vociferations, challenged him to fight for it, but before 
 they could reach the place of combat, the aggressor stabbed 
 his adversary in the back, and laid him dead on the spot. 
 The Frenchmen, rising in arms, made it a national quarrel, 
 and demanded redress. Morgan, just and impartial by 
 nature and from policy, arrested the murderer and con- 
 demned him to be instantly shot, declaring that he had a 
 right to challenge his adversary, but not to stab him treach- 
 erously. Qilxmelin says, the man was sent in chains to 
 Jamaica (and there tried and hanged), Morgan promising to 
 see justice done upon him. The French, however, remained 
 discontented, lamented the fate of their comrade, and vowed 
 revenge. 
 
 Morgan, not waiting for the governor of Jamaica to share 
 his spoil, sailed to a small island, at some distance, to make 
 the dividend. To the general grief and disgust, they found 
 the whole amounted to only 00,000 crowns, not enough to 
 pay their debts at Jamaica : this did not include the silk 
 stuffs and other merchandise, which gave a poor pittance of 
 80 crowns to each man, as the return for so much danger 
 and privation. 
 
 Morgan, as unwilling as the rest to revisit Port Royal 
 empty-handed, proposed a new expedition, in search of a 
 greater prize. But the French, not able to agree with the 
 English, left the fleet, in spite of all their commander's per- 
 suasions, but still with every external mark of friendship, 
 entreating noisily to the last to have justice done to the 
 " mjame" 
 
 Morgan, who had always placed great reliance on the 
 courage of the French adventurers, was not going to relin- 
 quish his new expedition on account of their desertion. 
 He had inspired his men with courage and the ho})e of 
 acquiring riches, and they all resolved to follow him to the 
 attack of the place, whose name he would not yet disclose, 
 
156 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 exciting tlicm by a mystery, which prevented the possibility 
 of treachery. 
 
 He put forth to sea with eight small vessels, but was soon 
 joined by an adventurer of Jamaica, just returning from 
 Campeachy ; with this new ally, he had now a force of nine 
 vessels and 470 men, many French being still among them, 
 and arrived at Costa Rica with all his fleet safe. 
 
 As soon as they sighted land, he disclosed his design to 
 Ms captains, and soon after to all his seamen. He intended 
 to storm Porto Bello by night, and to put the whole city to 
 the sack : he was confident of success, because no one knew 
 of his secret ; although some of his men thought their force 
 too small for such an enterprise. To these Morgan replied, 
 that if their number was small, their courage was great, and 
 the fewer they were the more booty for each, with the 
 greater prospect of union and secrecy ; and upon this, all 
 agreed unanimously to the design. 
 
 By good fortune, or by preconcerted arrangement, one of 
 Morgan's crew turned out to be an Englishman who, only a 
 short time before, had been a prisoner at Porto Bello, and 
 his past sufferings now proved to have been the foundation 
 of his future good fortune. Having escaped from that place, 
 he knew every inch of the coast, which had been so ])ainfully 
 impressed on his mind, and Morgan submitted, with perfect 
 confidence, to his guidance. By his advice, they steered 
 straight for the bay of Santa IMaria, arriving there purposely 
 about dusk, and reached a spot about twelve leagues from 
 the city, without meeting any vessel. They then sailed up 
 the river to Puerto Pontin, four leagues distant, taking ad- 
 vantage of the land-wind that sprang up, cool and fresh, at 
 night. 
 
 They here anchored, and embarked in boats, leaving 
 a few men to bring on the ships. Bowing softly, they 
 reached about midnight a j^lace called Esterade Longa lenios, 
 where they all landed, and marched u2)on the outposts of 
 the city. 
 
 Micliael Scott describes Porto Bello as built in a misera- 
 ble, dirty, damp hole, surrounded by high forest-clad hills, 
 wreathed in mist, and reeking with dirt and fever. Ever- 
 lasting vapours obscure the sun, and mingle with the exhala- 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. lo7 
 
 tion of the steaming marshes of the lead-coloiiredj land- 
 locked cove that forms the harbour. 
 
 They were now within reach of the strongest city in the 
 Spanish West Indies, except Havannah and Carthagena, the 
 port of Panama, and the great mart for silver and negroes. 
 Leaving as usual a party to guard the boats, and preceded by 
 their guide, they began halfway to the town to prepare their 
 arms. Upon approaching the first sentinel, Morgan sent 
 forward the guide and three or four others to surprise him. 
 They did it cunningly, before he could fire his musket, and 
 brought him with his hands bound to Morgan, who, threat- 
 ening him with death, asked him how things in the city went, 
 and what forces they had, making a " thousand menaces to 
 kill him if he did not speak the truth." The terrified Span- 
 iard informed them that the town was well garrisoned, but 
 that there were very few inhabitants ; the merchants only 
 residing in the town while the galleons are loading, and that 
 he woidd be able to take the place in spite of all the fort- 
 resses and the 300 soldiers. Morgan then pushed on to the 
 fort, carrying the man bound before them, and after a quar- 
 ter of a league reached the castle, where tlie man's company 
 was stationed, closely surrounding it, so that no one could 
 get in or go out. The prisoner had in vain attempted to 
 avoid this redoubt, to which he had served as picket, en- 
 couraged by Morgan's promises of reward, and avowal that 
 he would not give him up to his countrymen. 
 
 The Spaniards, finding the sentinel gone, had already 
 spread the alarm of the Buccaneers' approach. From 
 beneath the walls Morgan commanded the sentinel to 
 summon the garrison to surrender at once to his discretion, 
 or they should be cut in pieces without quarter. Not 
 regarding these threats, the Spaniards began instantly to 
 discharge their guns and muskets to alarm the town and 
 obtain succour. But though they made a good resistance 
 they were soon overpowered, aud the Buccaneers, driving 
 them into one room, set fire to the powder which lay about 
 on the floor, and blew the tower and its defenders together 
 into the air ; while all the survivors they put to the sword, 
 in order to strike terror in the city. 
 
 At daybreak they fell upon the place, and found the 
 
158 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 inhabitants, some still asleep and others scared and alarmed ; 
 many had thought of nothing but hiding their treasure, and 
 only the professional soldier prepared for resistance. The 
 governor, unable to rally the citizens, fled into the citadel, 
 and fired upon the town as well as the enemy, as the 
 frightened herd, stupid with fear, were throwing their 
 money and jewels into wells and cisterns, or burying their 
 treasure in their courtyards, cellars, gardens, and chapels. 
 The adventurers, abstakiing from pillage, sent a chosen party 
 to the convents to make prisoners of the religious, male and 
 female ; while another division prepared ladders to escalade 
 the fort, not relaxing for a moment either in attack or 
 defence. They attempted in vain to burn down a castle- 
 gate wliich proved to be of iron, and baffled their efforts, 
 and kept up a warm fire at the embrasures, aiming with 
 such dexterity at the mouths of the guns as to kill a gunner 
 or two every time the pieces were either run out or loaded. 
 The firing continued from daybreak till noon, and even 
 then the result seemed doubtful, for when the adventurers 
 approached the walls with their grenades to burn the doors 
 the defenders threw down upon them earthen pots full 
 of powder, and lighted by a fusee, together with showers of 
 stones and other missiles. Morgan himself began to despair 
 of success, and did not know how to escape from that strait,- 
 when the English flag suddenly arose above the smaller fort, 
 and a troop of men ran forth to proclaim victory with shouts 
 of joy. The remaining castle, however, was the /;i«?c5 de 
 resistance, being the store-house of the church plate, and the 
 wealth of the richer citizens now with the garrison. A 
 stratagem was suggested, appealing strongly to Si»anish 
 sujierstition, and, as it happened, successfully. Ten or 
 twelve ladders were made so broad and strong that three or 
 four men might mount them abreast. To all threats the 
 governor replied he would never surrender alive, although 
 the religious should themselves plant the ladders. The 
 monks and nuns were then dragged to the heads of the 
 companies, and forced to plant the ladders, in s})ite of the 
 hot rain of fire and shot ; the governor " using his utmost 
 endeavours to destroy all who came near the walls, firing on 
 the servants of God, although his kinsmen, and prisoners, 
 

 <■ 
 _ -f- 
 
 
 
 'k 
 
 V- r 
 
 The Monks ai-e compelled to carry the Scahng Ladders. p. 15S. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 159 
 
 and forced to the service. Delicate women and aged men 
 were goaded at the sword's point to this hateful labour, 
 derided by the English, and unpitied by their countrymen." 
 
 All this time the Buccaneers maintained an unceasing 
 fire along the whole line of grey battlements at every aper- 
 ture where a pike-head glittered or a lighted match 
 smouldered ; suffering much in return, unarmed as they 
 were, guarded neither by steel-cap nor cuirass, and unshel- 
 tered by palisade or earthwork. In sjjite of the cries of the 
 religious as they reared the ladders, their prayers to the 
 saints, and their entreaties to the garrison to remember 
 their common blood and nation, many of the priests were 
 shot before the walls could be scaled. The more super- 
 stitious of the Spaniards were unnerved at hearing the 
 dying curse of the consecrated servants of God, rising slirill 
 above the roar of the battle. The ladders were at last 
 planted, amid a shower of fire-pots that killed almost as 
 many of the Spaniards as the English, and the Buccaneers 
 sprang up with all the agility of sailors and the determina- 
 tion of Berserkers ; their best marksmen shooting down the 
 few Spaniards who awaited their arrival at the summit. 
 Their falling bodies struck a few Buccaneers from their 
 ladders. Every man that went up carried hand-grenades, 
 pistols, and sabre, but the musket was now laid aside, for it 
 had done its work, and was a mere encumbrance in the 
 grapple of closer combat. The English swarmed up in great 
 numbers, and reaching the top kindled their fusees and. 
 threw down their fire-pots upon the crowded ranks of the 
 enemy, with destructive effect. Before they could recover 
 their dismay, sabre in hand, as if they were boarding, they 
 leaped down upon the garrison, who drove them off with 
 pikes and clubbed muskets, and closing with them, hurled 
 many from the ramparts, or, stabbing them, fell clenched 
 with the foe in their despair. When their cannon was 
 taken, the Spaniards threw down their arms and begged for 
 quarter, exce{)t the governor and a few officers, who deter- 
 mined to die fighting against the robbers and heretics, the 
 enemies of God and Spain. 
 
 The Buccaneers, seeing the red flag flying from the first 
 fort, which was the strongest, and built on an eminence 
 
160 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 which commahdecl the towers below, advanced with con- 
 fidence to the attack of the remaining one, hitherto thought 
 impregnable, which defended the port, and prevented the 
 entrance of their vessels, which they wished to secure safe in 
 the harbour, as the number of their wounded would require 
 their long stay in the place they had captured. The 
 governor, proud and brave, still refused to surrender, and 
 fired upon them with his cannon, which were soon silenced 
 by the superior fire of the newly-taken fort, which flanked 
 his position. Out of this last stronghold, the weary and 
 des[)airing defenders were quickly driven. 
 
 Major Castellon, the stout-hearted governor, disdaining to 
 ask quarter of a pack of heretic seamen, killed several of his 
 own men who would not stand to their arms and called on 
 him to save their lives, striking down many of the hunters 
 who tried to take him alive, not from a generous compassion, 
 for pity seldom entered a Buccaneer's heart, but in order to 
 obtain liis ransom. A still more cruel trial of his courage, 
 and duty to his king, awaited him : his wife and children 
 fell at his knees, and, with cries and tears, begged him to 
 lay down his arms and save both their lives. But he 
 obstinately and sternly refused, replying, " Better this than 
 a scaSbld," preferring to die as a valiant soldier at his post, 
 than to be hanged as a coward for deserting it. He died 
 the death of a brave man, fighting desperately, and was 
 found buried under the bodies of his dead enemies. If 
 unpitied by his ferocious foes, he has left a name to be 
 honoured by all brave men, as one worthy of a more chival- 
 rous age, and a better cause. 
 
 It now being nearly sunset, and the city their own, the 
 adventurers enclosed all their prisoners in the citadel, 
 separating the wounded, and, although heedless of their 
 sufferings, employing the female slaves to wait upon them. 
 It now being nearly night, they gave way to all the excesses 
 of soldiers in a town taken by storm, exasperated by the 
 recollection of past danger, and the death of friends, and 
 maddened by both the certainty of present pleasure and the 
 power of indulging in every success. CExmelin says, fifty 
 brave Spaniards might have put all the revellers to death, 
 and recovered the place. We do not, however, hear that a 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 161 
 
 single Spanish Jael was found to revenge lierself on these 
 modern ki^iseras. 
 
 The following morninG: Morgan summoned his vessels 
 into the harbour, and collecting all the loose wealth of the 
 town, had it brought into the fort. Directing the repairs 
 of the ramparts, scorched and shattered, he remounted the 
 guns, in order to be ready to repel any attack from Panama. 
 He collected a few of the prisoners who had been persuaded 
 to say they were the richest merchants in Porto Bello, and 
 put all who would not confess to the torture. He maimed 
 some and killed others, who remained silent because they 
 were in reality poor, and had concealed no treasure. Having 
 spent fifteen days in these alternate cruelties and debauch- 
 eries, Morgan resolved to retreat. No Buccaneer general 
 had ever taken a city which could not be stripped clean in 
 fourteen days. Famine and disease began ungratefully to 
 take the part of the Spaniards against the nation that had 
 fed them with so many victims. Wild waste compelled 
 them already to devour their mules and horses, rather than 
 die of huno-er, or turn cannibals. Parties of hunters were 
 sent into the suburbs to huiat the cattle, whose flesh they 
 then devoured, saving the mules for their prisoners, who, 
 between their wounds and their hunger, were reduced to 
 dreadful extremities. 
 
 A death more terrible than that of a blow in battle now 
 appeared in their midst. Many had already died victims of 
 excess, and even the most prudent perished. The bad food, 
 the sudden transition from excess to want, and the impurity 
 of the tainted air, produced as usual a pestilence. The 
 climate of Porto Bello, always unhealthy, as Hosier's squadron 
 afterwards experienced, was poisoned by the putrefaction of 
 the dead bodies, hastily buried, and scarcely covered by earth. 
 The wounded nearly all sickened, and the intemperate were 
 the first to die. 
 
 The prisoners, crowded together, and already weakened 
 mentally by despondency, and physically by famine, soon 
 caught the fever, and fell with dreadful rapidity. Kich 
 merchants, accustomed to every luxury, and to the most 
 varied and seasoned food, pined under a diet of half-putrid 
 mule's flesh, and bad, unfiltered water. Everything warnet^ 
 
 M 
 
162 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Morgan that it was time to weigh anchor, for the president 
 of Panama was already on his march towards the city at the 
 head of 1,500 men. Informed of their approach from a 
 slave captured by a hunting party, Morgan held a council, 
 at which it was agreed not to retreat until they had ob- 
 tained a ransom for the town greater than the spoil at 
 present collected ; and, in order to prevent a surprise, he 
 placed a body of 100 well-armed men in a narrow defile, 
 where but a few men could go abreast, and through which 
 the president much pass. They found that that general had 
 fewer troops with him than was reported, and these took 
 flight at the first encounter, and did not attemi)t again to 
 force a passage, but waited for reinforcements. The presi- 
 dent, with the usual gasconade of a Spaniard, sent word to 
 Morgan, that if he did not at once leave Porto Bello he 
 should receive no quarter when he should take him and his 
 companions, as he hoped soon to do. 
 
 To this, Morgan, knowing he had a sure means of escape, 
 said he should not leave till he had received 180,000 pieces 
 of eight as a ransom for the city; and if he could not get 
 this, he should kill all his prisoners, blow up the castle, and 
 burn the town ; two men were sent by him to the president 
 to procure the money. 
 
 The president, seeing that nothing could either deceive or 
 intimidate Morgan, gave up Porto Bello to its fate, not caring 
 to erect a silver bridge for a flying enemy. In vain he sent 
 to Carthagena for a fleet to block up the ships in the river ; 
 in vain he kept the citizens in suspense as to the money, in 
 hopes of gaining time. He was deaf and obdurate to all 
 the entreaties of the citizens, who sent to inform him that 
 the pirates were not men but devils, and that they fought 
 with such fury that the Spanish oflicers had stabbed them- 
 selves, in very despair, at seeing a supposed im])regnable 
 fortress taken by a handful of jieople, when it should have 
 held out against twice the number. 
 
 Don Juan Perez de Guzman, the president, a man of great 
 parts, and who had attained high rank in the war in Flan- 
 ders, expressed himself, with candour, as astonished at the 
 exploits of 400 men (not regular soldiers) who, with no other 
 arms but their muskets, had taken a city which any general 
 
SIR HENllY MORGAN. 1(13 
 
 in Europe would have found necessaiy to have blockaded in 
 due form. He gave the people of Porto Bello, at the same 
 time, leave to compound for their safety, but offered them 
 no aid to insure it. 
 
 To Morgan himself he could not refrain from expressing 
 astonishment. He admired his success, with no ordnance 
 for batteries, and against the citizens of a place who bore 
 the reputation of being good soldiers, never wanting courage 
 in their own defence. He begged, at the same time, that 
 he would send him some small pattern of the arms where- 
 with he had, with such vigour, taken so great a city. Morgan 
 received the messenger with great kindness and civility, 
 flattered by the compliment from an enemy, and glad of an 
 opportunity of expressing contempt of any assailants. He 
 took a hunter's musket from one of his men, and sent it, 
 together with a handful of Buccaneer bullets, to the presi- 
 dent, begging him to accept it as a small pattern of the 
 arms wherewith a rover had taken Porto Bello, hoping he 
 would keep it a twelvemonth or two, at which time he hoped 
 to visit Panama and fetch it away. The Spaniard, aston- 
 ished at the wit and civility of the captain, whom he had 
 deemed a mere brutal sea-thief, sent a messenger to return 
 the present, as he did not need the loan of weapons, but 
 thanking Morgan and praising his courage, remarking at the 
 same time that it was a pity that such a man should not be 
 employed in a just war, and in the service of a great and 
 good prince, and hoping, in conclusion, that he would not 
 give himself the trouble of coming to see him at Panama, 
 as he would not fare there so well as he had done at Porto 
 Bello. Having delivered this message, so chivalrous in its 
 tone, the messenger presented Morgan with a beautiful gold 
 ring, set with a costly emerald, as a remembrance of his 
 master Don Guzman, who had already supplied the English 
 chief with fresh provisions. 
 
 Having now provided himself with all necessaries, and 
 stripped the unfortunate city of almost everything but its 
 tiles and its paving stones, carried off half of the castle 
 guns and spiked the rest, the Welshman then set sail, taking 
 on board the ransom, which was punctually paid in the shape 
 of silver bars. Corn seldom grew where his foot had once 
 
 M 2 
 
164 SIR HENRY MORGAN". 
 
 been, and he left behind him famine, pestilence, poverty, 
 and death. Orphans and widows, mutilated men and vio- 
 lated women leaped for joy as his fleet melted into the 
 distance. 
 
 Setting sail, with great speed, he arrived in eight days at 
 Cuba, where the spoil was divided. 
 
 They found that they had in gold and silver, whether in 
 coin or bar, and in jewels, which from haste and ignorance 
 were seldom estimated at one-fourth part of their value, to 
 the value of 260,000 pieces of eight. This did not include 
 the silks and merchandise, of which they paid little heed, 
 only valuing coin or bullion, and regarding the richest prize 
 without coin as scarce worth the taking. This division 
 accomplished to the general satisfaction of all but the 
 people of Porto Bello, who were now poor enough to defy 
 all thieves, they returned at once to Jamaica, where they 
 were magnificently received, (Exmelin says, surtout des 
 caharetie7's. Every door was open to them, and for a whole 
 week all loudly praised their generosity and their courage ^ 
 at the end of a month, every door was shut in their i'aces, 
 all but one — that of the prison for debt, and that closed 
 behind their backs. " They spent in a short time," says one 
 of their historians, " with boundless prodigality, what they 
 had gained with boundless danger and unremitting toil." 
 The people of Tortuga considered them as mere slaves, who 
 dived to get their pearls, and cared not whether they perished 
 by the wave or by the shark, so the pearls which they had 
 gathered could be first secured, 
 
 " Not long after their arrival in Jamaica," says Esqueme- 
 ling, " being that short time needed to lavish away all their 
 riches, they concluded on another enterprise to seek new 
 fortunes:" a sailor spends his money quickly, and so does a 
 hisjhwavman — in them both trades were combined. Mor^fan 
 remained at rest as long as most Buccaneers did, that is to 
 say, till he had drunk out half his money, strung the jewels 
 of Spanish matrons around the necks of the fairest courte- 
 sans in Jamaica, and stripped himself at the gambling-table 
 to-day in the hope of recovering the losses of yesterday. As 
 his purse grew thin his heart grew stout, as his hunger grew 
 greater his thirst for blood began also to increase. At last 
 
 J 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 165 
 
 he looked seaward, turned his back on the hot lotus-land 
 and the painted sirens, and prepared for sea. 
 
 His rendezvous this time was fixed in a small island on the 
 south side of Hispaniola, in order to invite aboard both the 
 French hunters and the sailors of Tortuga. By this sign of 
 confidence Morgan hoped to remove all rankling prejudice 
 between the French and English adventurers, and to obtain 
 recruits from both nations. He resolved this time upon an 
 expedition which would enable him and his men to retire 
 from the sea life for ever, or at least to hold a longer revel. 
 
 The Buccaneers of the coast seeing him always successful, 
 and never returning without booty, less cruel and less rash 
 than Lolonnois, and not only very brave but very fortunate, 
 flocked to his flag almost without a summons. Every one 
 furbished up his musket, cast bullets, bought powder, or 
 fitted up a canoe. Parties were at once despatched to hunt 
 in the savannahs, and to prepare salted meat sufficient for 
 the voyage. Great numbers of French and English crowded 
 to Cow Island. 
 
 A powerful ally appeared at this crisis, in the shape of a 
 French vessel, Le Cerf Volant, of St. Malo, which had come 
 out to the Indies, virtuously intending to trade with the 
 Spaniards, but, finding this difficult or unprofitable, had less 
 virtuously determined to live by plundering them, and was 
 now manned by French adventurers from Tortuga, no friends 
 to Morgan, but anxious to share his booty. The vessel, 
 which had also a lonsj-boat towimx at its stern, had a short 
 time before attacked a Genoese ship, trading with negroes, 
 but which, mounting forty-eight cannon, had driven it off*, 
 and compelled the captain to return home and refit. The 
 crew seemed unwilling to trust the English, and would not 
 listen to any terms. Morgan who had just been joined by a 
 ship from New England with thirty-six cannon, longed to 
 add the twenty-four iron 2:uns and the twelve brass ones of 
 Le Cerf Volant to his collection. In spite of his wish to 
 unite the two nations, and close the green and still rankling 
 wound, the temptation was rather too strong for him. His 
 guardian angel slept for a moment, and when she awoke the 
 English riag fioate 1 at the Frenchman's peak. 
 
 The change happened thus : the French captain having 
 
16G SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 refused to join Morgan's expedition, unless he drew up a 
 peculiar charter-party opposed to all Buccaneer law, and 
 quarrelling about this, swore ventre St. -Gris, he would return 
 to Tortuga, reload his cargo, and return to France. 
 
 The blow was to be struck now or never. The English 
 part of the St. Malo crew had already deserted to Morgan. 
 Some of these men furnished him with an opportunity of 
 revenge. The merchant captain, unaccustomed to the looseness 
 of Buccaneer discipline, had treated them as sailors, and not 
 as matelots and brothers. They told Morgan, that being 
 short of victual, he had lately stopped an English vessel, 
 and taken provisions by force, paying the commander only 
 with bills of exchange, cashable at Jamaica ; and that he 
 carried secretly a Spanish commission empowering him to 
 plunder the English. These charges, though full of malice, 
 had a specious appearance of truth. The captain had indeed 
 stopped an English vessel, but had paid for all he had taken 
 with honest bills. He did also carry a Spanish commission, 
 having been driven to anchor at the port of Baracoa, on the 
 north-east side of Cuba, where he had obtained letters of 
 marque from the governor, in order to conceal his real 
 errand. Morgan considered this a sufficient pretext, and 
 sounded his crew to ascertain how far they would help him 
 at the moment of need. It was at this very moment of 
 indecision that the New England vessel joined the fleet, and 
 enabled him to bear down any opposition. This ship, which 
 Qllxmelin calls the lIaktsivo7't (Oxford 1), carried a crew of 
 300 men. It was said to belong to the king of England 
 (Charles II.), and to have been lent by him to the present 
 captain. 
 
 [A strange, improbable story, unless the English govern- 
 ment had really determined to encourage the Buccaneer 
 movement. The Haktswort was really sent by the governor 
 of Jamaica to join the expedition.] 
 
 With this timely succour IMorgan's mind was instantly 
 made up. He asked the St. Malo captain and all his officers 
 to dinner on board tlie newly-arrived vessel, and there made 
 them prisoners, without any resistance, away from their 
 cvew, and with their ship exposed to an overwhelming fire. 
 He then affected the anger of indignant justice, declared they 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 167 
 
 were robbers, who plundered tlie Englisli imder a commission 
 from the enemy, and came there as mere spies and traitors. 
 Fortunately for him, the English vessel that had been 
 stopped by the St. Malo crew, arrived at the very moment 
 to repeat and exaggerate the charge. The ship was now his 
 own, and only God could take it from him. And " God did 
 so," says Esquemeling, who sees a judgment in all misfor- 
 tunes that befall an enemy, but none in those that befall 
 his friends. 
 
 Morgan, victorious and exulting, called a council of war, 
 and summoned all his captains to attend him on board his 
 large prize. They praised the vessel, laughed at the tricked 
 Frenchmen, and discussed their jDlans. They calculated what 
 provisions they had in store, and of what their force was 
 capable. The island of Savona was agreed upon as a rendez- 
 vous, as at that east corner of Hisj)aniola they might lurk 
 and cut off stragglers from the armed Spanish flota, now 
 daily expected. Having completed their arrangements they 
 gave way to pleasure, tlie real occupation and business of a 
 Buccaneer's life, his toil being only expended to procure the 
 means for pleasure, and time to enjoy it. They began to 
 feast and drink healths, the officers below and the sailors on 
 deck. Prayers for a successful voyage were blended with 
 drunken songs and unintelligible blasphemies. The captain 
 and the cook were both drunk, the very gunners who dis- 
 charged a broadside when the toasts were drained, fell sense- 
 less beside their smoking guns. Those who could not move 
 slept, those who could walk drank on. By some accident, a 
 spark from a smoking match caught the powder, and in an 
 instant the vessel blew up. In perfect equality all ranks 
 were lifted up towards heaven in a wide column of flame, only 
 to fall back again to perish, burnt and helpless, in the sea. 
 More than 350 of the 400 men that formed the crew were 
 drowned. By a singular coincidence, the officers nearly all 
 escaped. The English having their j^owder stored in the fore 
 part of the vessel, and not in the stern like the French, the 
 sailors only perished ; the officers and the St. Malo prisoners 
 who were drinking with them were merely blown, much 
 bruised, into the water. The English adventurers, declaring 
 that the French had set fire to the powder, would have killed 
 
168 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 them on tlie spot, but Morgan, not apparently the least 
 chapfallen by the disappointment, sent them all as prisoners 
 to Jamaica. Tlie thirty men seated in the great cabin at 
 some distance from the main force of the powder, escaped, 
 and many more would have been saved had they been 
 sober. 
 
 The French prisoners in vain endeavoured to obtain justice 
 in Jamaica, were long detained in confinement, and threatened 
 with death when they demanded a trial. Had Morgan re- 
 turned unsuccessful they might have perhaps been listened to. 
 
 Eight days after this loss Morgan commanded his men to 
 collect the floating bodies now putrefying, not to give them 
 Christian burial, but to save the clothes, and to remove the 
 heavy gold rings which the English Buccaneers wore upon 
 their forefingers, abandoning their unsalable bodies to the 
 birds and to the sharks. 
 
 Undaunted by this accident, Morgan found he had still a 
 force of fifteen vessels, and 860 men ; but his gun-ship, the 
 largest of all, only carried fourteen small guns. They now made 
 way to Savona, where all were to repair and careen, and the 
 swift to wait for the slow. Letters were soon placed in 
 bottles, and buried at a spot indicated by a mark agreed on. 
 Coasting Hispaniola, they were detained by contrary winds, 
 and attempted for three weeks in vain to double Cape 
 Lobos. 
 
 Always seeking for pleasure, though in emergencies capa- 
 ble of the severest self-denials, six or seven of the fleet 
 remained clustering round a vessel. They met to purchase 
 brandy, as eager and thoughtless as stragglers round a vivan- 
 dicre. The more thoughtful and earnest pressed on with Mor- 
 gan, and, reaching the bay of Ocoa, waited for them there, 
 the men spending their time usefully, as they had agreed 
 before, in hunting and foraging for water and provisions, 
 killinf? some oxen and a few horses. Detained here bv 
 continued bad weather, Morgan maintained strict disci- 
 pline, compelling every captain to send daily on shore 
 eight men from each ship, making a total force of sixty-four. 
 He also instituted a convoy, or a body of armed men, who 
 attended the hunters as a guard ; for they were now near 
 St. Domingo, which was full of Greek soldiers and Spanish 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN". 169 
 
 matadors. The Spaniards, few in number, did not attack 
 tliem ; but, adopting a Fabian policy, whicli suited their 
 pride and phlegm, sent for 300 or 400 men to kill all the 
 cattle round the bay. Another party drove all the herds far 
 into the interior, wishing to starve the foe out of the island, 
 knowing that a Buccaneer, pressed by hunger, did not care 
 whether he ate horse, mule, or ass, falling back upon mon- 
 keys and parrots, and resorting even to sharks' flesh, or his 
 own shoes, as a last resource. But when the Buccaneers 
 spread further inland, a body of soldiers was despatched to 
 the coast, to practise a stratagem, and to form an ambuscade. 
 
 The following was their plan, which completely succeeded, 
 but, nevertheless, ended in the Spaniards' total rout. A band 
 of fifty Buccaneers having resolved to venture further than 
 usual into the woods, a party of Spanish muleteers were 
 ordered, to drive the bait, a small herd of cattle, past the 
 shore, where they had landed, pretending to fly when they 
 caught sight of their enemies. When they approached the 
 ambuscade, two Spaniards were sent out, carrying a white 
 flag of truce. The Buccaneers, ceasing the pursuit, pushed 
 forward two men to parley. 
 
 The treacherous Spaniards beseeched them plaintively not 
 to kill their cows, offering to sell them cattle, or furnish 
 them with food. The Buccaneers, with all the good faith of 
 seamen, replied that they would give a crown and a half for 
 each ox, and that the seller could make his own profit be- 
 sides on the hide and the tallow. During this parley, which 
 was planned to give time for the operation, the Spanish 
 troops were turning the flank of the enemy, and had now 
 surrounded the small band on all sides. They interrupted 
 the conversation by breaking out of the wood, with shots and 
 cries of "J/a^a, mata" — " kill, kill," imagining they could 
 cut to pieces so small a force without a struggle. The Buc- 
 caneers, differing from them in opinion, faced about with 
 good heart, threw themselves into a square, and beat a slow 
 retreat to the forest, keeping up a rolling fire from all four 
 sides of their brave phalanx. 
 
 The Spaniards, considering the retreat a sure proof of 
 despair and fear, attacked them with great courage, but 
 great loss. The Buccaneers losing no men, while the 
 
170 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Spaniards fell thick and fast, cried out, in imprudent bra- 
 vado, that the enemy were only trying to frighten them, 
 and put no balls in their muskets. This jest cost them dear, 
 for the Spaniards had been only aiming high, wishing to kill 
 them on the spot, and to make no prisoners. They now 
 tried to maim as well as kill, and soon wounded so many in 
 the legs that the Buccaneers were obliged to retreat to a 
 clump of trees, where they stood at bay, and from whence 
 the Spaniards did not dare to beat them. They then began 
 to prepare to carry off their dead and wounded to the vessels; 
 but seeing a small party of Spaniards piercing one of the 
 bodies with their swords, they fired upon them, charged 
 them, drove them off, tracking their way by their dead, and 
 then retreated, killing the cattle and bearing them off in 
 sorrowful triumph to their vessels. The very next day, at 
 the first light, Morgan, furious to revenge this treachery of 
 the Spaniards, landed himself at the head of 200 men, and 
 entered the woods, visiting the scene of the last night's skir- 
 mish. But the Spaniards had long since fled, discovering 
 that in driving cattle towards the shore as a lure for the 
 Buccaneer, they only brought destruction upon themselves, 
 and a dangerous enemy nearer to their homes and treasures. 
 Morgan, finding his search useless, returned to his ship, 
 bavins: first burned down all the deserted huts he could find : 
 '^ Beturaing," says Esquemeling, " somewhat more satisfied 
 in his mind for having done considerable damage to the 
 enemy, wliich was always his ardent desire." 
 
 The day after, deciding not to venture an attack upon 
 Bourg d'Asso, Morgan, impatient at the delay of his vessels, 
 resolved to sail without them, and visit Savona, hoping there 
 to meet his lingering companions. Alarming the people of 
 St. Domingo, he coasted round Hispaniola. He determined 
 to wait eight days at Savona, and, weary of rest, still want- 
 ing provisions, he sent some boats and 150 men to plunder 
 the towns round St. Domingo, but they, finding the Span- 
 iards vigilant and desperate, gave up the enterprise as hope- 
 less, and returned empty-handed to endure the curses and 
 sneers of their commander. Morgan now held a council of 
 war, for provisions were very scanty, and time was going. 
 The eight shifts did not arrive, and all agreed, with their 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 171 
 
 seven small vessels and their 300 men, some place of import- 
 ance mioht still be taken. Morgfan had hitherto resolved to 
 cruise about the Caraccas and plunder the towns and villages, 
 mere hen-roost robbing and footpad work compared with the 
 enterprise proposed by one of his French captains, amid great 
 applause. 
 
 This captain was Pierre le Picard, the matelot of the 
 famous Lolonnois when he took Maracaibo : he it was who 
 had steered the vessels over the bar, and had served both as 
 pilot at sea and guide on land ; he reefed and fought, and 
 could handle a rope as well as a musket. He now proposed 
 a second attack upon the same place, and, with all the rude 
 eloquence of sincerity, proved the facility of the attempt, 
 and the riches that lay within their reach. As he spoke 
 good English that could be understood by all, and was, more- 
 over, much esteemed by Morgan, the scheme for a new cam- 
 paign was at once rapturously approved. He disclosed in 
 the council all the entries, passages, forces, and means. A 
 charter-party was drawn up, containing a clause, that if the 
 rest of the fleet joined them before they had taken a fortress, 
 they should be allowed to share like the rest. 
 
 Having left a letter at Savona, buried in the usual way, 
 the Buccaneers set sail for Curacoa, stopping after some 
 days' sail at the island of Omba, to take in water and 
 provisions. This place was distant some twelve leagues 
 from Maracaibo. Here they stayed twenty-four hours, buy- 
 ing goats of the natives for hanks of thread and linen. 
 Sheep, lambs, and kids were the only products of the island, 
 which abounded with spiders whose bite produced madness, 
 unless the sufferer was tied hands and feet, and left without 
 food for a night and a day. The fleet set sail in the night, 
 to prevent the islanders discovering the object of their 
 voyage. 
 
 The next morning they sighted the small islands that lie 
 at the entrance of the lake of Maracaibo, anchoring out of 
 sight of the Vigilia in hopes to escape notice, but were 
 observed by the sentries, whose signal gave the Spaniards 
 ample time for defence. The fleet remained becalmed, 
 unable to reach the bar till four o'clock in the afternoon. 
 The canoes were instantlv manned, in order to take the Bar 
 
172 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Fort, rebuilt since Picard's last visit. Its guns played upon 
 the boats as tliey pulled to land. Morgan exhorted his men 
 to be brave and not to give way — for he expected the 
 Spaniards would defend themselves desperately, seeing their 
 fire was so rolling and incessant that the fort seemed like 
 the crater of a small volcano, and they could now see that 
 the huts round the wall had been burnt and removed, to 
 leave no protection or shelter. " The dispute continued 
 very hot, being managed with great courage from morning 
 till dark night." 
 
 That latterly the fighting died away to occasional shots is 
 evident ; for, at six o'clock when it grew dusk, Morgan, we 
 hear, reconnoitred the fort and found it deserted. The ces- 
 sation of the tire had already aroused their suspicions. 
 Suspecting treachery, Morgan searched the place to see if 
 any lighted fuses had been placed near the powder, and 
 a division was employed to enter ,the place before the main 
 body. There was no lack of volunteers for this experimental 
 and cat's-paw work.' Morgan himself clambered up first. 
 As they expected, they found a lighted match, and a dark 
 train of powder communicating with the magazine. A little 
 later and the whole .band had perished together. ]Moi-gan 
 himself snatched up the match. This fort was a redoubt of 
 five toises high, six long, and three round. In the magazine 
 they found 3,000 pounds of gunpowder that would have 
 been wasted had the place been blown up ; fourteen pieces 
 of cannon, of eight, twelve, and fourteen pounds calibre, and 
 abundance of fire-pots, hand-grenades, and carcasses ; twenty- 
 four muskets, and thirty pikes and bandoliers had been left 
 by the runaways. The fort was only accessible by an iron 
 ladder, which could be drawn up into the guard-room. But 
 courage requires no ladder, and, like love, can always find 
 out a way. When they had once examined the place, the 
 Buccaneers broke down the parapet, spiked the cannon, 
 threw them over the walls, and burnt the gun-carriages. 
 
 The Spaniards waited in vain for the roar of their burst- 
 ing mine. Their own city was rocking beneath their feet ; 
 a more dreadful visitation than the earthquake or the hurri- 
 cane was at their doors. At daybreak the fleet sailed up 
 the lake, the ruined fort smoking behind them. Making 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN". 173 
 
 great haste, the rovers arrived at Maracaibo the next day, 
 haviiirc first divided amono: themselves the arms and ammu- 
 nition of the fort. The water being very low and the shoals 
 numerous, they disembarked into their boats, with a few 
 small cannon. From some cavaliers whom they could see 
 on the walls they believed that the Spaniards were fortifying 
 themselves. The Buccaneers therefore landed at some dis- 
 tance from the town, anchoring and disembarking amid 
 discharges of their own cannon, intending to clear the 
 thickets on the shore. Their men they divided into two 
 divisions, in order to embarrass the enemy by a double 
 attack. 
 
 But these precautions were useless. The timid people 
 had already fled into the woods ; only the beggars, who 
 feared no plunderers, and the sick, who were praying for 
 death, remained in Maracaibo. The brave fled with the 
 coward, the monk with the sinner, the thief from the 
 thieves, the soldiers from the seamen, the Catholic from 
 the dreaded Protestant, and the Spaniard from the enemies 
 of his name and race. The sick were expecting death, and 
 cared not if it came by the hand of the doctor or the Bucca- 
 neer ; the beggar hoped to benefit by those who could not 
 covet, and might pity, their rags. " A few miserable folk, 
 ■who had nothing to lose," says Esquemeling, " alone re- 
 mained." Crippled slaves, not worth removing, lay in the 
 streets ; the dying groaned untended in the hospital. Chil- 
 dren fled from parents, and parents from children ; rich old 
 age was left to die in spite of all the inducements of avarice. 
 The prostitute fled to escape dishonour, and the murderer to 
 avoid bloodshed. 
 
 The houses were empty, the doors open, the chambers 
 stripped of every movable, costly or precious. The first 
 care of the invaders was to search every corner for prisoners, 
 the next to secure, each party as they arrived, the richest 
 palaces for their barracks. The palaces were their dens, the 
 churches their prisons; everything they defiled and polluted, 
 the loathsome things they made still more horrible, the 
 holiest they in some degree contaminated. At sea they 
 were brave, obedient, self-denying, religious in formula (half 
 the world goes no further), determined, and irresistible ; on 
 
174 SIR HENRY MORGAN-. 
 
 land cruel, bloody, rebellious, and ferocious. At sea they 
 exceeded most men in the practice of the sterner virtues, on 
 land they were demons of wrath, devils of drunkenness and 
 lust, mercenaries and outlaws in their bearing and their 
 actions. The three former days of terror had sapped the 
 courage of the bravest, and alarm and fear had, by a common 
 panic, induced the inhabitants to hide the merchandise in 
 the woods. The men who tied had had fathers and children 
 killed and tortured in the first expedition. Friends, still 
 maimed by the rack, increased their fears by their narra- 
 tions. The Buccaneers seemed a judgment from God, 
 irresistible and unavertible. The desire to defend riches 
 seems to be a weaker principle in the human mind than the 
 desire to obtain them. Great conquerors have generally 
 been poorer than the nations they have conquered. 
 
 Scarcely any provisions remained in the town. There 
 was no vessel or boat in the port, all had been removed into 
 the wide lake beyond. The small demilune fort, with its 
 four cannon, that was intended to guard the harbour, was 
 also deserted. The richer the man, the further he had 
 escaped inland ; the needy were in the woods, the drunken 
 beggars revelled alone in the town, rejoicing in an event 
 that at least made them rich : '' It is an ill wind that blows 
 nobody good." 
 
 The very same day the Buccaneers despatched a body of 
 100 men to search the woods for refugees, any attempt to 
 secrete treasure being a heavy offence in the eyes of Morgan. 
 These men returned the next evening with thirty prisoners, 
 fifty mules, and several horses laden witli baggage and rich 
 merchandise. Both the male and female prisoners seemed 
 poor and worthless. They were immediately tortured, in 
 order to induce them to disclose whei'e their richer and 
 more vu'tuous fellow citizens were hidden. Morgan, finding 
 none to resist him, quartered his men in the richest houses, 
 selecting the church as their central guard-houso and rally- 
 ing point, their store-room for plunder, their court of justice 
 (blind and with false weights), and their torture-chamber. 
 
 Some of the })risoners offered to act as guides to places 
 where they knew money and jewels were hidden. As 
 several places were named, two parties went out the same 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN". 175 
 
 night upon this exciting search. The one party returned on 
 the morrow with much booty, the other did not wander in 
 for two days, having been misled by a prisoner, who, in the 
 hopes of finding means to escape through his knowledge of 
 the country, had led them into such dangerous and unin- 
 habited places that they had had a thousand difficulties in 
 avoidinof. Furious at findins: themselves mocked bv their 
 guide, they hung him on a tree without any parley. In 
 returning they came, however, suddenly upon some slaves 
 who were seeking for food by night, having been hiding in 
 the woods all dav. Torture was at once resorted to, to find 
 out where the masters lay, for slaves could not be there 
 alone. The braver of the two suffered the most horrible 
 pain without disclosing a syllable, and was eventually cut to 
 pieces without confessing ; the weaker, and perhaps younger 
 negro, endured his sufferings at first with equal fortitude, 
 although he was offered liberty and reward if he would 
 sj)eak. But when the seamen drew their sabres, still red 
 w^ith the blood of his companion, and began to hew and 
 gash his brother's limbs that still lay palpitating on the 
 ground, his courage fell, and he offered to lead them to his 
 master. The Spaniard was soon taken with 30,000 crowns' 
 worth of plate. 
 
 For eight days the men practised unheard-of cruelties 
 upon the wretched townsmen, already starved and beggared, 
 wretches whose only crime had been their yielding to the 
 natural impulse of self-preservation. They hung them up 
 by their beards and by the hair of their heads, by an arm or 
 a leg ; they stretched their limbs tight with cords, and then 
 beat with rattans upon the rigid flesh ; they placed burning 
 matches between their fingers ; they twisted cords about 
 their heads, tightening the strain by the leverage of their 
 pistol-stocks, till the eyes sprang from the sockets. The 
 death-blow was never given from pity, but only as the 
 climax and consummation of suffering, when the execu- 
 tioners were weary of their cruelty. In vain the tortured 
 Spaniards screamed that the treasure w^as all removed to 
 Gibraltar, and that they were not the rich citizens but very 
 poor men, monks and servants of Jesus, God help them ! 
 Many died before the rack could be loosened. 
 
176 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Captain Picarcl, exulting in the success of his expedition, 
 was now very urgent in pressing Morgan to advance on 
 Gibraltar before succours could arrive there from Merida, 
 believins: that it would surrender as it had done to Lolon- 
 nois. Morgan having in his custody about a hundred of the 
 chief families of Maracaibo, and all the accessible booty, 
 embarked eight days after his landing and proceeded to 
 Gibraltar, ho))ing to rival Lolonnois in every virtue. His 
 prisoners and plunder went with him, and he determined to 
 hazard a battle. Expecting an obstinate defence, every 
 Buccaneer made his will, consoling himself by the thought 
 of revelry at Jamaica if he was one of those lucky enough 
 to escape. " Death," says CExmelin, " was never much 
 mixed up in their thoughts, especially when there was booty 
 in view, for if there were only some hopes of plunder they 
 would fight like lions." Before the fleet started, two pri- 
 soners had been sent to Gibraltar to warn the governor that 
 Captain JM organ would give him no quarter if he did not 
 surrender. 
 
 Picard, who remembered the former dangerous spots, 
 made his men land about a quarter of a league from the 
 town, and march through the woods in hopes of taking 
 the Spaniards in the rear, in case they should be again 
 entrenched. The enemy received them with quick dis- 
 charges of cannon, but the men cheered each other, saying, 
 " We must make a breakfast of these bitter things ere we 
 sup on the sweetmeats of Gibraltar." They landed early in 
 the morning, and found no more difficulty than at Mara- 
 caibo. The Spaniards, deceived by a stratagem, had ex- 
 pected their approach by the road, and not by the woods. 
 They had no time to throw up entrenchments, and only a 
 few l^arricades, planted with cannon, protected their flight. 
 They remembered Lolonnois ; their hearts became as water, 
 and they fled ere the Buccaneers took peaceable possession 
 of the town. The Spaniards took with them their riches, 
 and all their ammunition, to use at some more convenient 
 season. Morgan, rejoicing in the easy victory, posted his 
 men at the strong points of the town, while a hundred men, 
 under Picard, went out to pursue and bring in prisoners. j 
 They found the guns spiked, and every house sacked by its ' 
 
Sm HENrvY MORGAN. 177 
 
 owner, mucli spoiled, much carried off, and the heavy and 
 worthless alone left. 
 
 The only inhabitant remaining in the town was a poor 
 half-witted Spaniard, who had not clearly ascertained what 
 he ought to do. He was so well dressed that they at first 
 took him, much to his delight, for a man of rank, and asked 
 him what had become of all the people of Gibraltar. He 
 replied, "They had been gone a day, but he did not know 
 where ; he had not asked, but he dared say they would soon 
 be back, and for his part he, Pepe, did not ca^re." When 
 they inquired where the sugar-mills were, he replied that he 
 had never seen any in his life. The church money, he 
 knew, was hid in the sacristy of the great church. Taking 
 them there he showed them a large coffer, where he pre- 
 tended to have seen it hid. They opened it and found it 
 empty. To all other inquiries he now answered, '•' I know 
 nothing, I know nothing." Some of the Buccaneers, angry 
 at the disappointment, and vexed at the subtlety of the 
 Spaniards, declared the fellow was more knave than fool, 
 and dragged him to torture. They gave him first the 
 strapado, till he began to wish the people were returned ; 
 they then hung him up for two hours with heavy stones 
 tied to his feet, till his arms were dislocated. At last he 
 cried out, " Do not plague me any more, but come with me 
 and I will show you my goods and my riches." He then 
 led them to a miserable hovel, containing only a few earthen 
 pots and three pieces of eight, wrapped in faded finery, 
 buried under the hearth. He then said his name was Don 
 Sebastian Sanchez, brother of the governor of Maracaibo, 
 that he was worth more than 50,000 crowns, and that he 
 Would write for it and give it up if they would cease to hang 
 and plague him so. They then tortured him again, thinking 
 he was really a grandee in disguise, till he offered, if he was 
 released, to show them a sugar refinery. They had not got 
 a musket-shot from the hut before he fell on his knees and 
 gave himself up as a criminal. " Jesu Maria ! " he cried, 
 " what will you do with me, Englishmen 1 I am a poor 
 man who live on alms, and sleep in the hospital. I know 
 nothing." They then lit palm-leaves and scorched him, and 
 would have burnt off all his clothes had he not been released 
 
 N 
 
178 SIE HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 by one of the Buccaneers who now saw he was an idiot. 
 The poor fellow died in great torment in about half an hour, 
 and before he grew cold was dragged into the woods and 
 buried. 
 
 The following day Picard brought in an old peasant and 
 his two daughters ; the old man, his crippled limbs having 
 been tortured, offered to serve as guide, and lead them to 
 some houses in the suburbs. Half-blind and frightened, he 
 mistook his way, and the Buccaneers, thinking the error 
 intentional, made a slave, who declared he had intentionally 
 misled them^ hang him on a tree by the road side. 
 
 Slavery here brought its own retribution, for this same 
 slave, burning to avenge some ill-treatment he had received, 
 offered, on being made free, to lead them to many of the 
 Spanish jolaces of refuge. Before evening ten or twelve 
 families, with all their wealth, were brought into Gibraltar. 
 It had now become difficult to track the fugitives, as fathers 
 refused even to trust their children ; no one slept twice in 
 the same spot, for fear that some one who knew of the 
 retreat would be captured, and then, under torture, betray 
 the spot, generally huts in the darkest recesses of the 
 woods, where their goods were stored from the weather. 
 These exiles were, however, obliged to steal at night to 
 their country-houses to obtain food, and then they were 
 intercepted. From some of these merchants Morgan heard 
 that a vessel of 100 tons, and three barges laden with silver 
 and merchandise belonging to Maracaibo, now lay in the 
 river, about six leagues distant, and a hundred men were 
 despatched to secure the prize. 
 
 In scouring the woods again with a body of two hundred 
 human bloodhounds, Morgan surprised a large body of 
 Spaniards. Some of these he forced the negro guide to kill 
 before the face of the others, in order to im])licate him in 
 the eyes of the survivors. After eight days' search the 
 band returned with 250 j^risoners, and a long train of 
 baggage mules, bound for Merida. The prisoners were 
 each sei)arately examined as to where the treasure was hid. 
 Those who would not confess, and even those who had 
 nothing to confess, were tortured to death — burnt, maimed, 
 or had their life slowly crushed out of them. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 179 
 
 Amongst the greatest sufferers in this purgatory on earth 
 was an old Portuguese of venerable appearance, perhaps 
 either a miser or purposely disguised. This man the blood- 
 thirsty negro, now high in favour with the Buccaneers, and 
 trying to rival them in cruelty, declared was very rich. 
 The poor old man, tearing his thin grey hair, swore by the 
 Virgin and all the saints that he had but 100 pieces of 
 eight in the whole world, and these had been stolen, from 
 him a few days before, during the general chaos, by a run- 
 away slave. This he vowed on his knees with tears and 
 prayers, doubly vehement when coming from one already on 
 the grave's brink. The cruel slave still looked sneeringly on, 
 and swore he was known to be the richest merchant in all 
 Gibraltar. The Buccaneers then stretched the Portuguese 
 with cords till both his arms broke at the shoulder, and 
 then bound him by the hands and feet to the four corners of 
 a room, placing upon his loins a stone weighing five cwt., 
 while four men, laughing at his cries, kept the cords that 
 tied him in perpetual motion. This inhuman ])unishment 
 they called " swimming on land." As he still refused to 
 speak, they held fire under him as he swung groaning, burnt 
 off his beard and moustaches, and then left him hanging 
 while they strapadoed another. The next man they threw 
 into a ditch, after having pierced him with many sword- 
 thrusts ; for they seem to have been as insatiable for variety 
 of cruelty as they were for cruelty itself They left him for 
 dead ; but he crawled home, and eventually recovered, 
 although several sword-blades had passed completely 
 through his body. 
 
 As for the old Portuguese, his sufferings were far from 
 ended. Putting him on a mule, they brought him into 
 Gibraltar, and imprisoned him in the church, binding him 
 to a pillar, apart from the rest, supplying him with food 
 barely sufficient to enable him to endure his tortures. Four 
 or five days having passed, he entreated that a certain fellow- 
 prisoner, whom he named, might be brought to him. This 
 request being complied with, as the first step to obtaining a 
 ransom while he still remained alive, he offered them, through 
 this agent, a sum of 500 pieces of eight. But the Buccaneers 
 
 N 2 
 
ISO SIR HENSY MORGAN. 
 
 lauglied at so small a sum, and fell upon him with clubs, 
 crying, " 500,000, old hunks, and not 500, or you shall not 
 live." After several more days of continued suffering, 
 during which he incessantly protested that he was a poor 
 man, and kept a small tavern, the raiser confessed that he 
 had a store of 2,000 i)ieces of eight buried in an earthen jar ; 
 and all these, bruised and mutilated as he was, and much as 
 he loved money, he gave for his liberty, and a few days more 
 of painful life. 
 
 IJjion the other prisoners, without regard to age, sex, or 
 rank, they inflicted tortures too disgusting and shocking to 
 mention. Fear, hatred, and avarice generated crimes, till 
 the prisoners grew as vile as their persecutors. 
 
 A slave, who had been cruelly treated by his master, per- 
 suaded the Buccaneers to torture him on the plea that he 
 was very rich, although he was in reality a man of no 
 wealth. The other prisoners, roused from the selfishness of 
 self-preservation by a thrill of involuntary compassion, told 
 Morgan that the Spaniard was a poor man, and that the 
 slave had perjured himself to obtain revenge. Morgan 
 released the Spaniard directly ; but he had been already 
 tortured. The slave was given up to his master to be 
 punished by any sort of death he chose to inflict. Handed 
 over to the Buccaneers, he was chopped to })ieces in his 
 master's presence, still exulting in his revenge. *' This," 
 says CExmelin, with a cold naivete, " satisfait I'Espagnol, 
 quoyqu'il fast fort mal traite, et en danger d'estre estropie " 
 (this satisfied the Spaniard, though he had been very badly 
 treated, and almost lamed for life). Some of the prisoners 
 were crucified ; others were burnt with matches tied between 
 their toes or fingers ; many had their feet forced into the 
 lires till they dro[)ped from the leg black and charred. All 
 that the Indians had suffered was now retaliated on the 
 Spaniards. The Buccaneers themselves considered the 
 l»unishment a vengeance of Providence. The only mercy 
 ever shown to a Spaniard was to end his sufferings by 
 death. The coup de grace was a kindness when it ended the 
 misery of a groaning wretch, bruised and burnt, lying in the 
 hot sun, half mortified, or with his body already paralyzed 
 four or five days since. The masters being all tortured, the 
 
sill HENRY MORGAN. 181 
 
 slaves next received the strapado. These men, weaker 
 ill tlieir moral nature, and with no motive for concealment 
 but fear, told everything. Many of the hiding-places v/ere, 
 however, not known to them. One of them, during the 
 fever of his wound, declared he knew where the governor of 
 the town was secreted, with many of the ladies of Gibraltar, 
 and a large portion of the treasure. Threats of death 
 revealed the rest ; and he confessed that a ship and four 
 boats, laden with Maracaibo wealth, lay in a river of the 
 lake. The Buccaneers were instantly on their feet. Morgan, 
 with 200 men and the slave guide, set out to capture the 
 governor ; and 100 others, in two large settees (boats), sallied 
 out to capture the treasure and the ships. The governor 
 was not easily caught, for it needed a battalion of balloons 
 to surprise him. His first retreat was a fort thrown up in 
 the centre of a small island in the river, two days' march 
 •distant. Hearing that Morgan was coming in force, he 
 retreated to the top of an adjoining mountain, into which 
 there was but one ascent, so straight, narrow, and perilous, 
 that it could only be mounted in single file. 
 
 The expedition altogether broke down ; the rock proved 
 inaccessible to any but eagles ; a "huge rain" wetted their 
 baggage and ammunition. In fording a river swollen by 
 this " huge rain," many of their female prisoners were lost, 
 and, wdiat they valued more, several mules laden with plate 
 were whirled down the torrents. Many of the women and 
 children sank under the fatigue, and some escaped. Involved 
 in a marshy country, up to their middles in water, the Buc- 
 caneers had to toil on for miles. A few lost their lives, 
 others their arms (the means of preserving them). A body 
 of fifty determined men, the Buccaneer historian himself 
 says, could have destroyed the v/hole body. But the 
 Spaniards were already so paralyzed by fear, that they fled 
 at the very rustle of a leaf. Twelve days v/ere spent in this 
 dangerous and useless expedition. Two days after them 
 arrived their comrades, who had been somewhat more suc- 
 cessful. The Spaniards had unloaded the vessels, and were 
 beginning to burn them when they arrived ; but many bales 
 were left in the haste of flight ; and the boats, full of 
 plunder, were brought away in tow. 
 
182 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Morcfan had now been lord in Gibraltar for five whole 
 weeks, practising all insolences that a conqueror ever inflicts 
 on the conquered ; revenging on them the sufferings of the 
 conquest, and trampling them under foot for the very pleasure 
 of destruction. Provisions now failing, he resolved to depart ; 
 the provisions of Gibraltar, except the fruits, coming entirely 
 from Maracaibo, were delayed and intercepted, lie first 
 sent some prisoners into the woods to collect a ransom from 
 the fugitives, under pain of again burning down their newly 
 rebuilt city. He demanded 5,000 pieces. They promised to 
 pay it in eight days, and gave four of their richest citizens as 
 hostages. The governor, safe from all danger himself, had, 
 however, forbidden them to pay any ransom ; and they 
 prayed Morgan to have patience. 
 
 Setting sail with his hostages, he arrived in three days at 
 Maracaibo, afraid that during his long absence the Spaniards 
 had fortified themselves, and he should have to fight his way 
 through the passes. Before his departure he released all his 
 prisoners who had paid ransom, but detained the slaves. He 
 refused particularly to give up the treacherous negro, because 
 he knew the planters would burn him alive. 
 
 The only inmate of all the rich palaces and wide squares 
 of Maracaibo was a poor sick man, who informed him (Mor- 
 gan), to his astonishment, that three Spanish men-of-war had 
 arrived at the bar, and had repaired and garrisoned the fort. 
 Their commander was Don Alonso del Campo d'Espinosa, 
 the vice-admiral of the Indian fleet, who had been despatched 
 to those seas to protect the S])anish colonists, and put to the 
 sword every adventurer he could meet. This news did not 
 alarm those who every day " set their lives u})on the hazard 
 of a die ;" but it enraged men who thought themselves 
 secure of their plunder, and which they now might have to 
 throw off to lighten them in their retreat. Morgan instantly 
 despatched his swiftest vessel to reconnoitre the bar. The 
 men returned next day, assuring him that the story was too 
 true, and they were in very imminent danger. They had 
 approached so near as to be in peril of the shot. The biggest 
 ship mounted forty guns, the next thirty, and the smallest 
 twenty, while Morgan's flag-ship had only fourteen. They 
 had seen the castled flag of Castile waving ou the redoubt. 
 
SIR HEXEY MORGAN. 183 
 
 There was no means of escape by sea or land; and all were in 
 despair at sucli enemies so placed. 
 
 Morgan, undaunted and roused to new courage by the 
 extremity, grew more full of audacity than ever. He at 
 once sent a flag of truce to the Magdalene, the Spanish 
 admiral's vessel, demanding 20,000 pieces of eight, or he 
 should set Maracaibo in flames. The admiral, amused and 
 astonished at such temerity, wrote back to say, that hearing 
 that they had committed hostilities in the dominions of His 
 Catholic Majesty, his sovereign lord and master, he had 
 come to dispute their passage out of the lake, from that 
 castle, which they had taken out of the hands of a parcel of 
 cowards, and he intended to follow and pursue them every- 
 where, as was his duty. The letter continued : " Notwith- 
 standing if you be contented to surrender with humility all 
 you have taken, together with the slaves and other prisoners, 
 I will let you pass freely without trouble or molestation, on 
 condition tliat you retire home presently to your own 
 country. But if you make any resistance or opposition to 
 what I offer you, I assure you I will command boats to 
 come from the Caraccas, wherein I will put my troops, and, 
 coming to Maracaibo, will put you every man to the sword. 
 This is my last and absolute resolution ; be prudent, there- 
 fore, and do not abuse my bounty with ingratitude. I have 
 with me very good soldiers, who desire nothing more 
 .ardently than to revenge on you and your people all the 
 cruelties and base infamous actions vou have committed 
 upon the Spanish nation in America." 
 
 This vapouring letter Morgan read aloud to his men in 
 the broad market-place at Maracaibo, first in French and 
 then in English, begging their advice on the whole matter 
 — asking them whether they would surrender everything 
 for liberty, or fight for both liberty and hard- won treasure. 
 They all answered unanimously, they did not care for the 
 ■Spanish brag, and they would rather figlit to the last drop 
 of their blood than surrender booty got with such peril. 
 One of the men stepping forward, cried, " You take care of 
 the rest, I'll build a hriilot, and with twelve men will burn 
 the biggest of the three Spaniards." 
 
 The scheme was adopted, but resolved once more to try 
 
/ 
 
 184 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 negotiation, now that he was prepared for the worst, Mor- 
 gan wrote again to Don Alonso, offering to leave Maracaibo 
 uninjured, surrender all the prisoners, half the slaves, and to 
 give up the hostages. The Don, trusting in his superior 
 strength, and believing Morgan fairly intimidated or at 
 least entirely in his mercy, refused to listen to any terms 
 but those he had proposed, adding, that in two days he 
 should come and force him to yield. Morgan resolved upon 
 this to fight his way out and surrender nothing, his men, 
 though discouraged, being still brave and desperate. All 
 things were put in order to fight. The Englishman of 
 Morgan's crew proceeded as fast as possible with his hrulotf 
 or fire-ship. He took the small vessel captured in the 
 Riviere des Espines, filling it full of palm-leaves dipped in 
 tar, and a mixture of brimstone and gunpowder. He put 
 several pounds of powder under each of the ten sham guns, 
 which were formed of negro drums. The partitions of the 
 cabins were then broken down, so that the flame miaht 
 spread unimpeded. The crew were wooden posts, dressed 
 up with swords, muskets, bandoliers, and hats or montero 
 caps. This fire-ship bore the English colours, so that it 
 might pass for Morgan's vessel ; and in eight days, by all 
 hands working upon it, it was ready. During the prepara- 
 tion an extra guard was kept upon the prisoners, for even 
 one escaping would have destroyed all their hopes of safety. 
 The male prisoners were kept in one boat, and the females^ 
 slaves, plate, and jewels in another. In others, guarded by 
 twelve men each, came the merchandise. The hrulot was to 
 go first and grapple with the admiral's ship. 
 
 All things being now completed, Morgan, with a heart as 
 gay as if he fought for God and the right, made his men 
 take the usual Buccaneer oath, employed on all occasions of 
 pressing danger, when mutual confidence was peculiarly 
 necessary. They vowed to fight till death, and neither 
 to give nor take quarter. He promised a reward to all 
 who distinguished themselves, exciting all the strongest 
 feelings of their nature — revenge, avarice, and self-pre- 
 servation. 
 
 With these desperate resolves, full of hope, for they were 
 accustomed to consider his promises of victory as certain. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. IS-J 
 
 prophecies, they set sail on the 30th day of April, 1G69, to 
 seek the Spaniards. 
 
 They found the Spanish fleet riding at anchor in the 
 middle of the entry of the lake, like gaolers of their spacious 
 prison. It being late and almost dark, JNIorgan gave orders 
 to anchor within range of the enemy, determined to resist if 
 attacked, but to wait for light. They kept a strict watch, 
 and at daybreak lifted anchor and set sail, bearing down 
 straight upon the Spaniards, who seeing them move, ad- 
 vanced to meet them. 
 
 Poor fishing boats the Buccaneer's barques seemed beneath 
 those proud floabing castles ; '• but the race is not always to 
 the swift, nor the battle to the strong." The hrulot sailed 
 first, pushing on to the admiral's vessel, which lay stately 
 between its two companions, and was suffered to approach 
 within cannon shot. The Spaniards believing that it was 
 Morgan's vessel, and intended to board them, waited till it 
 came closer to crush it with a broadside. They little 
 thought that they were fighting with the elements. The 
 fire-ship on a sudden fell uj)on the Spaniard, and clung to 
 its sides like a wild cat on an elephant. Too late the 
 Spaniard attempted to push her oft", but the flames had 
 ah'eady leaped from their lurking places ; first the sails 
 were swathed in fire, then the tackling shrivelled up, and 
 soon the solid timbers burst into a blaze. The stern wa,s 
 first consumed, and the fore part sank hissing into the sea. 
 The wretched crew, flying from one element to the other, 
 perished, some by fire, some by water ; the half-drowning 
 clung to the burning planks and withered in the glare ; the 
 burning sailors were sucked down by the vortex of the 
 sinking wreck. Don Alonso, seeing the danger, called out 
 to them in vain to cut down the masts, and throwing him- 
 self with difficulty into his sloop, escaped to land. The 
 sailors, refusing quarter, were allowed to perish by the Buc- 
 caneers' boats' crews, who at first oftered to save them. 
 Perhaps the recollection of their oath lessened their ex- 
 ertions. 
 
 The boats were pulling round the burning vessel in hopes 
 of saving plunder, and not of saving lives. The second 
 vessel was boarded by the Buccaneers and taken^ in the 
 
1S6 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 confusion, almost without resistance. The third ship, 
 cutting its cables, drifted towards the fort, and there ran 
 ashore, the crew setting fire to her to prevent capture. The 
 Buccaneers, proud of their victory, determined to push it to 
 extremities by landing and attempting to storm the fort at 
 the bar, without ladders, and relying only on their hand 
 grenades, but their artillery was too small to make any 
 practicalile breach. The fort they found well supplied with 
 men, cannon, and ammunition. The garrison had not suf- 
 fered personally by the loss of a fleet manned by strangers, 
 and they repulsed all attacks. Unwilling to retire, Morgan 
 spent the whole of the day till dusk in firing muskets at any 
 defenders who showed themselves above the walls, and at 
 dusk lit them up with a shower of fireballs, but the Span- 
 iards desperately resisted, and shot so furiously at them as to 
 drive them back to the ships, with the loss of thirty killed 
 and as many wounded — more loss than they had suffered in 
 the capture of Maracaibo and Gibraltar, while the fleet had 
 been destroyed without the loss of a single man. The gar- 
 rison, expecting a fresh attack at daybreak, laboured all 
 night to strengthen their works, levelling the ground 
 towards the sea, and throwing up entrenchments from spots 
 that commanded the castle. 
 
 The next day Morgan, not intending to renew the attack, 
 employed himself in saving the Spanish sailors who were 
 still floating on charred pieces of the wreck ; not rescuing 
 them from mercy, but in order to make them help in re- 
 covering part of the sunk treasure. They acknowledged 
 that Don Alonso had compelled them before the engage- 
 ment, after they had confessed to the chaplain, to come and 
 take an oath to give the enemy no quarter, which was the 
 reason many had refused to be saved. 
 
 The pilot of the smaller vessel being saved, and promised 
 his life, disclosed all Don Alonso's plans. He had been 
 sent, upon the tidings of the loss of Porto Bello, by direction 
 of the supreme council of state, with orders to I'oot out the 
 English pirates in those parts, and to destroy as many as he 
 could, for dismal lamentations had been made to the court 
 of Spain, to the Catholic king, to whom belonged the care 
 and preservation of the New AVorld, of the damages and 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAX. 1S7 
 
 hostilities committed by the English, and he had resolved to 
 punish these proceedings and avenge his subjects. The king 
 of England being complained to, constantly replied that he 
 never gave any letters-patent to such men or such ships. 
 Sending home his more cumbrous ships, the Don had heard 
 at St. Domingo of the fleet sailing from Jamaica, and a pri- 
 soner, taken at Alta Grecia, disclosed Morgan's plan on the 
 Garaccas. On arriving there the wild Are had already 
 broken out at Maracaibo a second time, and hither he came 
 to extinguish it. A negro slave had indeed informed the 
 admiral of the fire-ship, but with short-sighted pride he de- 
 rided the idea, saying that the English had had neither wit, 
 tools, nor time to build it. 
 
 The pilot who made these disclosures was rewarded by 
 Morgan, and, yielding to his promises, entered into his ser- 
 vice. He informed him, with the usual zeal of a deserter, 
 that there was plate to the value of 40,000 pieces of eight 
 in the sunken sliip, for he had seen it brought on board in 
 boats. The divers eventually recovered 2,000 pounds' worth 
 of it, some " in plate " and others in piastres, that had 
 melted into large lum]^s, together with many silver hilts of 
 swords and other valuables. 
 
 Leaving a vessel to superintend this profitable fishery, 
 Morgan hurried back to Maracaibo, and, fitting up his 
 largest prize for himself, gave his own ship to a companion. 
 He also sent to the governor, now somewhat crest-fallen, to 
 re-demand the ransom, threatening more violently than be- 
 fore to Ijurn down the city in eight days if it was not 
 brought in. He also demanded, in addition, 500 cows as 
 victual for his fleet. These were brought in in the short 
 space of two days, with part of the money, and eleven more 
 days were spent in salting the meat and preparing for sea. 
 Then returning to the mouth of the lake, he sent to Don 
 Alonso to demand a free passage, offering to send all the 
 prisoners on shore as soon as he had once passed out, but- 
 otherwise to tie the prisoners to the rigging, exposing them 
 to the shot of the fort, and then to kill and throw overboard 
 those who were not struck. The prisoners also sent a 
 petition, praying the governor to spare their lives. But the 
 Don, quite undaunted, sternly answered to the hostages, 
 
188 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 who besouglit liim on tlieir knees to save them from the 
 sword and rope, " If you had been as loyal to your king in 
 hindering the entry of these pirates as I shall be in hinder- 
 ing their going out, you had never caused these troubles, 
 either to yourselves or to our whole nation, which hath suf- 
 fered so much through your pusillanimity. I shall not 
 grant your request, but shall endeavour to maintain that 
 respect which is due to ray king, according to my duty." 
 
 When the terrified messengers returned and told JMorgan, 
 he replied, " If Alonso will not let me pass, I will find out 
 a way without him," resolving to use either force or strata- 
 gem, and perhaps both. 
 
 Fearing that a storm might separate his fleet, or that some 
 might not succeed in escaping, Morgan divided the booty 
 before he attempted to pass the bar. Having ail taken the 
 the usual oath, he found they had collected 250,000 pieces of 
 eight, including money and jewels, and in addition a vast 
 bulk of merchandize and many slaves. Eight days were 
 spent in this division, which took place within sight of the 
 exasperated garrison in the fort. 
 
 The followinof stratafjem was then resorted to. Knowing 
 that the S})aniards were expecting a final and desperate 
 attack on the day before their departure, the Buccaneers 
 made great show of preparing to land and attack the fort. 
 Part of each ship's crew embarked with their colours in 
 their canoes, which were instantly rowed to shore. Here 
 the men, concealed by the boughs on the banks, lay down 
 flat in their boats, and were rowed back again to their ves- 
 sels by only two or three sailors. This feigned landing they 
 repeated several times in the day. The tS{)aniards, certain 
 of an escalade, at night brought down the great eighteen 
 pound ship guns of the fort to the side of the island looking 
 towards the land, and left the sea-shore almost defenceless. 
 When night came Morgan weighed anchor, and, by moon- 
 light setting sail, at the commencement of the ebb tide, 
 dropped gently down the river, till the vessels were almost 
 alongside of the castle. Then spreading sails, quick as magic, 
 he drove past, firmly but warily. Every precaution was 
 taken. The crew were couched flat on the poop, and some 
 placed below to plug the shot-holes as they came. The 
 
SIR HENRY moega:\*. 189 
 
 Spaniards, astonished at tlieir daring, and enraged at their 
 escape, ran with all speed and shifted their battery, firing 
 hastily, furiously, and with little certainty ; but by this time, 
 a favourable wind springing up, the Buccaneers were almost 
 out of reach, with few men killed, and little damage done. 
 
 In this manner escaped Morgan from the clutches of Don 
 Alonso, who had thought himself sure of his prey. The 
 baffled rage of the Spaniards and the wild joy of the Buc- 
 caneers, their clamorous approval of Morgan's skill, the ex- 
 ultation of their triumph, and the prisoners' dismay, may be 
 easily imagined. Generous in success, Morgan, once out of 
 range of the guns that thundered in pursuit, sent a canoe 
 on shore with his prisoners from Maracaibo, but those of 
 Gibraltar he carried off, as they had not yet paid their ran- 
 som. The joy of one and the grief of the other, their 
 parting and the tears, were painful to witness. As he set 
 sail, and the fort was still looming to the right, Morgan dis- 
 charged a farewell salute of eight guns, to which the chap- 
 fallen Spaniards had not the heart to return even a single 
 musket shot. 
 
 But out of Scylla into Charybdis was a Buccaneer's fate : 
 one danger was succeeded by another, hope by hope, despair 
 by despair. The very day of their escape the judgment of 
 Heaven seemed to overtake the sea-rovers, as if to warn 
 them that no stratagem could defeat God. The fleet was 
 surprised by such a tempest that they were compelled to 
 anchor in five or six fathom water. The storm increased, 
 they were obliged to weigh again, and at any risk keep off 
 the land. Their only choice seemed to be death by the 
 Spaniard, the Indian, or the wave — all equally hostile and 
 deaf to mercy. 
 
 Q^xmelin says he was on board the least seaworthy vessel 
 of the whole fleet, that, having lost anchors and mainsail, 
 they had great difficulty in keeping afloat, and were obliged 
 to bale as well as work night and day at the pumps, amid 
 deafening thunder and mountainous seas that threatened to 
 drown them even while the vessel still floated. The ship, 
 but for the ropes that held it together, would have instantly 
 sunk. The lightning and the wave disputed for their prey, 
 but the rude arbiter, the wind, came in and snatched them 
 
190 sm henhy morgan. 
 
 from these destroyers. " Indeed," says CExmelin, " though 
 worn out with fatigue and toil, we could not make up our 
 minds to close our eyes on that blessed light which we might 
 so soon lose sight of for ever, for no hope of safety now re- 
 mained. The storm had lasted four days, and there was no 
 probability of its termination. On one side we saw rocks 
 on which our vessel threatened every instant to drive, on 
 the other were Indians who would no more have spared us 
 than the Spaniards who were behind us ; and by some evil 
 fortune the wind drove us ceaselessly towards the rocks and 
 the Indians, and away from the place whither we desired 
 to go." 
 
 In the midst of these distresses, six armed vessels gave 
 them chase through the storm when they were near the 
 bay of Venezuela. They turned out to be vessels of the 
 Count d'Estrees, the French admiral, who generously ren- 
 dered them aid, and the wind abating enabled them to reach 
 the shore. Morgan and some others made for Jamaica, and 
 the French for St. Domingo, — the Spaniards at the fort 
 probably believing they had perished in the gale. 
 
 The laggers of Morgan's fleet, who had never joined him, 
 were less fortunate than the admiral they deserted. Four 
 hundred in number, they landed at Savona, but could not 
 find the buried letter. They determined to attack the town 
 of Comana, on the Caraccas, choosing Captain Hansel, who 
 had distinguished himself at Porto Bello, as their commander. 
 This town was distant sixty leagues from Trinidad. On 
 landing they killed a few Indians who awaited them on the 
 beach, but the Spaniards, disputing briskly the entry of the 
 town, drove them back at last to their ships with great 
 loss and confusion. On returning to Jamaica they were 
 jeered at by Morgan's men, who used to say, " Let us see 
 what sort of money you brought from Comana, and if it be 
 as good as that which we won at Maracaibo." 
 
 Morgan, encouraged by success, soon determined on fresh 
 enterprises. On arriving at Jamaica, ''he found many of 
 his officers and soldiers already reduced to their former 
 indigency by their vices and debaucheries. Hence they 
 perpetually importuned him for new exploits, thereby to get 
 something to exjiend still in wine and strumpets, as they 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 191 
 
 had already done what they got before. Captain Morgan, 
 willing to follow fortune's call, stopped the mouths of many 
 inhabitants of Jamaica who were creditors to his men for 
 large sums, with the hopes and promises of greater achieve- 
 ments than ever in a new expedition. This done, he could 
 easily levy men for any enterprise, his name being so famous 
 through all these islands, as that alone would readily bring 
 him in more men than he could v/ell employ." 
 
 Affecting a mystery, attractive in itself, and necessary 
 where Spanish spies might be present, Morgan aj)poiuted a 
 rendezvous at Port Couillon, on the south side of Hispaniola, 
 and made known his intentions to the English and French 
 adventurers, whether in Tortuga or St. Domingo. He wrote 
 letters to all the planters and old Buccaneers in Hispaniola, 
 and desired their attendance at a common council. At 
 many a hunting fire this announcement was read, and many 
 an engages heart beat high at the news, for Morgan was 
 now the champion and hero of all the Buccaneers of 
 America, Great numbers flocked to the port in sliips and 
 canoes, others traversed the woods and arrived there by 
 land, through a thousand dangers. Such crowds came that 
 it soon became difiicult to obtain a place in the crev/s. 
 Vessels and provisions were now all that was wanted. 
 Plunder was certain, and they had but to choose on what 
 rich coast they should land. The French adventurers, ever 
 gay and ready, were first in the field. Morgan himself, 
 punctual and prompt, followed in the Flying Stag, the 
 St. Malo vessel we have before mentioned, earring forty-two 
 guns. The vessel had been lately confiscated and sold by 
 the governor of Jamaica, the unfortunate captain escaping 
 with his life, happy in being free although penniless. 
 
 At the rendezvous on the 24th dav of October, 1670, 
 1600 men were present, and twenty-four vessels assembled 
 at the muster, amid shouting, gun-firing, flag-waving, and 
 great joy and hope. Morgan's proposition was to attack 
 some rich place which was well defended — the more danger 
 the more booty, for it was only rich places that the Spaniards 
 cared to defend. Several previous expeditions had failed 
 from want of provisions, and the necessity of attacking 
 small places to obtain food gave the alarm to the Spaniards 
 
192 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 and frustrated their plans. They therefore resolved to visit 
 La Ptancheria; a small place on the banks of the Kiver de 
 la Hache, on the mainland, with four vessels and 400 men. 
 This was a place where corn and maize were brought by the 
 farmers for the supply of the neighbouring city of Cartha- 
 gena, and they hoped to capture in the port some pearl 
 vessels from that place. 
 
 In the meanwhile, Morgan, not caring for lesser prey, 
 employed his men in careening, cleaning, rigging, and pitch- 
 ing their vessels ready for sea, that all might be ready to 
 weigh anchor the moment the expedition of foragers returned. 
 It augured terribly to the Spaniard that it was necessary 
 to sack a town or two before the Buccaneer fleet could even 
 set sail. 
 
 Part of the men were in the woods boar-hunting, and 
 others salting the flesh for the voyage. Each crew had a 
 certain part of the woods allotted it for its own district, so 
 perfect v/as Morgan's discipline. Each party prepared the 
 salt pork for its own use, while the caldrons of pitch were 
 smoking on the beach, and the clank of the shipwrights' 
 hammers could be heard all niijht bv the hunters. The 
 English, who were not so expert in hunting as their Gallic 
 brethren (so says a French writer), generally took a French 
 hunter with them, to whom they gave 150 or 200 piastres. 
 Some of these men had trained packs of dogs that would 
 kill enough boars in a day to load twenty or thirty men. 
 
 The Eancheria expedition arrived in six days within sight 
 of the river, and was unfortunately becalmed for some time 
 within a gunshot of land, this gave the Spaniards time to 
 prepare for their defence, and either to bury their goods or 
 throw u}) entrenchments, for these repeated visits of the 
 Buccaneers had rendered them quick on such occasions. A 
 land-wind at last springing up, gave a corn vessel from 
 Carthagena, lying in the river, an opportunity to sally out 
 and attempt its escape, but being a bad sailer it was soon 
 captured, much to the Englishmen's delight, for corn was the 
 object of their visit. By a singular coincidence, it turned 
 out to be that very cocoa vessel which Lolonnois sold to the 
 governor of Tortuga, Avho, on his return from France, had 
 sold it to Cajitain Champaigne, a French adventurer, who in 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 193 
 
 his turn sold it to the same merchant captain who then com- 
 manded it. He told the Buccaneers that it made the 
 twelfth vessel taken from him by the brotherhood of the 
 coast in five years only, and yet that, with all these losses, 
 he had contrived to make a fortune of 500,000 crowns. 
 "On pent juger par la," says CExmelin, with a shrug, " s'il y 
 a des geus riches dans rA.merique." 
 
 Landing at daybreak, in spite of the mowing fire from a 
 battery, and under protection of their own cannon, they 
 drove the Spaniards back to their strongly fortified village, 
 which they at once attacked. Here the enemy rallied and 
 fought desperately, hand-to-hand, sword blow and pusli 
 of pike, from ten in the morning till night, when they fled, 
 having suffered great loss, into secret places in the woods. 
 The Buccaneers, who had suffered scarcely less loss, pushed 
 on at once headlong to the town, which they found deserted; 
 and next day pursuing the Spaniards, took many prisoners, 
 and proceeded to torture them, inflicting on fear and inno- 
 cence all the horrors of the Madrid inquisition. In fifteen 
 days they captured many prisoners and much booty, and 
 with the usual threats of destroying the town, they obtained 
 4,000 hanegs, or bushels of maize, sufficient for the whole of 
 the fleet. They preferred this to money, and in three days, 
 the whole quantity being brought in by the people, eager 
 for their departure, they at once sailed. 
 
 Morgan, alarmed at their five weeks' absence, had begun 
 to despair of their return, thinking Bancheria must have 
 been relieved from Carthagena or Santa Maria. He also 
 thought that they might have had good fortune, and deserted 
 him to return to Jamaica. His joy was great to see them 
 arrive laden with corn, and more in number than when they 
 departed. A council of war was actually holding to plan 
 a new expedition, when Captain Bradley and his six vessels 
 hove in sight. The maize was divided among the fleet, but 
 the plunder was awarded to the captain who had risked his 
 life for the general good. 
 
 The captured ship arrived very opportunely, and it was 
 instantly awarded by general consent to Le Gascon, a French 
 adventurer, who had lately lost his vessel. Morgan, having 
 divided the meat and corn, and personally inspected every 
 
 o 
 
194 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 bark, set sail for Cape Tiburon, at the west end of His- 
 paiiiola, a spot convenient lor laying in stores of wood and 
 water. Here he was joined by several ships from New 
 England, refitted at Jamaica. Morgan now found himself 
 suzerain of a fleet of thirty-seven vessels, large and small, 
 carrying sixteen, fourteen, twelve, ten, even down to four 
 pound guns. To man these there were 2,200 sailors, well 
 armed and ready for fight and plunder. The fleet was 
 divided into two squadrons, under his vice-admiral and sub- 
 ordinate officers. To the captains he gave letters-patent, 
 guaranteeing them from all the eflects of Spanish hostility, 
 from " the open and declared enemies of the king his master " 
 (Charles II.). 
 
 The charter-party, which we give elsewhere, was then 
 signed ; the rewards were higher than usual, and many 
 modifications were introduced. In the jjrivate council 
 three places proposed as rich and accessible — Panama, Car- 
 thagena, and Vera Cruz. In these consultations the only 
 thing considered was whether a town was rich or poor, not 
 whether it was well or ill defended. 
 
 " The lot fell" on Panama, as the richest of the three, 
 though the least known to them, being further from the 
 North Pacific than any Buccaneer had yet gone. Panama 
 was the galleon port, and the El Dorado of the adventurers' 
 yarns. Being so unknown a place, they determined to first 
 recapture St. Catherine's, where in the prisons they might 
 obtain many guides, who had seen both the North and 
 South Pacifies, for outlaws made, they found, the best guides 
 for outlaws ; and they agreed before sailing that, if they 
 took a Spanish vessel, the first captain who boarded it should 
 have for his reward a tenth part of lier cargo. 
 
 They had begun by sacking a town to victual their fleet, 
 they now proposed to storm a fort to obtain a guide — St. 
 Catherine's stone batteries, if resolutely manned, being able 
 to beat off three such wooden fleets. 
 
 The admiral, it was agreed, should have a share for every 
 hundred men, and every captain eight shares if the vessel they 
 took was large. The crews then one by one took the oath of 
 fidelity. On the 18th December, 1670, the fleet set sail for 
 St. Catherine's, whose prisoners would rejoice at their arrival. 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 195 
 
 The one squadron carried the royal English and the other 
 a white flas:. The admiral's division bore a red banner with 
 a white cross, " Le pavilion du parlement,' and at the bow- 
 sprit one of three colours, blue, white, and red. Those of 
 the other divisions carried a white and red flag. Morgan 
 also appointed peculiar signals for all emergencies. 
 
 On their way to St. Catherine's they chased two Dutch 
 vessels from Cuba, which escaped by aid of contrary winds 
 that baffled their pursuers. In four days the fleet arrived 
 at St. Catherine's, and Morgan despatched two small vessels 
 to guard the port. The next day, before sunrise, they an- 
 chored in the bay of Aguada Grande, where the Spaniards 
 had erected a four-gun battery. Morgan, at the head of 
 100 men, landed and made his way through the woods, 
 having no guides but some old Buccaneers, who had been 
 there before with Mansvelt. On arriving that night at the 
 governor's house and the Platform Battery, they found the 
 Spaniards had retreated by a bridge into the smaller and 
 almost impregnable island, which they had made strong 
 enough to beat off 10,000 men. Being driven back at first 
 by a tremendous fire, Morgan was obliged to encamp that 
 night in the woods or open country — no hardship to hunters 
 or sailors in fine weather. There still remained a whole 
 league of dense brush betv>-een them and their enemies, at 
 once their protection and destruction. A chilling torrent 
 of rain began to beat upon them, and instead of ceasing, as 
 they had hoped, lasted till noon of the next day. They 
 pulled down two or three thatched huts, and made small 
 damp fires, that scorched a few, but warmed none. They 
 could not shelter themselves, and, what was worse, could 
 not keep their arms and powder dry. But more than this, 
 they suftered from hunger, having had no food for a whole 
 day. The men for the greater part being dressed with no 
 clothes but a seaman's shirt and trowsers, and without shoes 
 or stockings, suffered dreadfully after the burning of a 
 tropic noon from this freezing cold and rain. One hundred 
 men, says Esquemeling, even indifferently well armed, might 
 have cut them all to pieces. At daybreak they were roused 
 from their shivering sleep by the Spanish drums beating 
 the diane, or reveille. The rain had now ceased, and their 
 
 o 2 
 
196 SIR HENRY MORGAN". 
 
 courage rose as higli as ever. But they could not answer 
 this challenge, for their own drums were loose and soaked 
 with wet, and they had now to employ themselves in quickly 
 drying their arms. Scarcely had they done this, when it began 
 to cloud over and rain with increased fury, as if the " sky were 
 melting into waters," which blinded them and prevented them 
 again from advancing to the attack. Many of them grew 
 faint-hearted, and talked of returning. The men were now 
 feeble for want of sleep, and faint with cold and hunger. 
 The eager foragers found in a field " an old horse, lean, and 
 full of scabs and blotches, with galled back and sides." This 
 was instantly killed and flayed, and divided in small pieces 
 among as many as could get any, and eagerly eaten without 
 salt or bread by the few lucky e])icures — " eaten," says the 
 historian, " more like ravenous wolves eat than men." 
 
 The rain still gushing down, and the men, worn out in 
 mind and body, growing angry, discontented, and clamorous, 
 it became necessary for Morgan to act with promptitude. 
 About noon, to his great joy, the rain ceased and the sun 
 broke out. Taking advantage of this lull — for the rain had 
 barred even their retreat — Morgan ordered a canoe to be 
 rigged out in great haste, and despatched four men with a 
 white flag to the Spanish governor, declaring, that if they did 
 not all surrender, he would put them to the sword without 
 quarter. His audacity was luckily crowned with success. 
 Op])osed armies are often men mutually afraid, trying to 
 frighten each other. The governor was intimidated. He 
 demanded two hours to confer with his oflGicers. At the end 
 of this time, on Morgan giving hostages, two soldiers with 
 white flags were sent to arrange terms. The governor had 
 decided in full conference that he could not defend the island 
 a^-^ainst such an armada, but he proposed a certain (Dalgetty- 
 like) stratagem of war to save his own head, and preserve 
 the reputation of his officers at home and abroad. 
 
 Morgan was to come at night and assault the fort of St. 
 Jerome, which stood near the bridge that joined the two 
 islands, and at the same moment his fleet was to attack the 
 castle of ^anta Teresa by sea, and land troops near the bat- 
 tery of St. Matthew. These men were to intercept and take 
 prisoner the governor as he made his way to the St. Jerome 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 197 
 
 batteries. He would then at once lead them to the castle, 
 as if they were his own men. On both sides there was to 
 be continual firing, but only v/ith powder and no bullets. 
 The forts thus taken, the island would of course surrender. 
 
 This well-arranged performance took place with great 
 eclat. Morgan, in acceding to the terms, had insisted on. 
 their strict performance of every item, and gave notice, for 
 fear of ambush, that every straggling Spaniard would be 
 shot. Afraid of a stratagem, some Buccaneers loaded their 
 muskets with ball, and held themselves ready for any danger. 
 "With much smoke and great consumption of powder, the 
 unsuspecting Spaniards were driven iike sheep into the 
 church, the island surrendered, and by this bloodless artifice 
 Spanish pride remained unhurt. 
 
 But a cruel massacre now commenced. The Buccaneers 
 had eaten nothing for nearly two days. They made war 
 upon all the poultry and cattle — the oldest cow was slain, 
 the toughest rooster strangled. For several days the island 
 was lit up with huge fires, round which the men roasted 
 their meat, and revelled and caroused. When wood grew 
 scarce they pulled down cottages to light their fires, and, 
 having no wine, very wisely made use of water. 
 
 The day after the surrender they numbered their prisoners, 
 and found they had collected 450 souls — seventy of the 
 garrison, forty-three children, and thirty-one slaves. The 
 men were all carefully disarmed, and sent to the plantations 
 to bring in provisions ; the women were left in the church 
 to pray and weep. They next inspected all the ten batteries, 
 wondering at their strength, and exulting in their victory. 
 In the magazine they found 30,000 pounds of powder, which 
 they at once shipped, with all the other ammunition. In 
 the St. Jerome battery Morgan left a guard, but in all the 
 other forts the guns were spiked and the gun-carriages 
 burnt. 
 
 The object of his visit was still to seek. Examining the 
 prisoners, who were now crowded in with merchants and 
 grandees, he inquired for banditti from Panama, and three 
 slaves stepped forward who knew every path and avenue to 
 the city. These men he chose as guides, promising them a 
 full Buccaneer's share of the spoil if they brought him by a 
 
198 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 secure way to the city, and, in addition, their liberty when 
 they reached Jamaica. Tliese vohmteers consisted of two 
 Indians and a mulatto. The former denied all knowledge of 
 the place ; the latter — a " rogue, thief, and assassin, who had 
 deserved breaking on the wheel rather than mere gamson 
 service" — readily accepted Morgan's propositions, and pro- 
 mised to serve him faithfully. He had a great ascendancy 
 over the two Indians, and domineered over them as he 
 pleased, without their daring to disobey a half-blood already 
 on the point of preferment. 
 
 The next step to Panama was to capture Chagres and its 
 castle, and Morgan a,t once despatched five vessels, well 
 equipped, with 400 men on board, to undertake this expe- 
 dition, remaining himself at St. Catherine's, lest the people of 
 Panama should be alarmed. Pie was to follow his van-guard 
 in eight days, guided by the Indians, who knew Chagres. 
 This time he and his men prudently spent in pulling manioc 
 roots for cassava, and digging potatoes for the voyage. 
 
 The Ciiagres expedition was led by the same Captain Brad- 
 ley who commanded at Ptancheria. He had been with 
 Mansvelt formerly, and had rendered himself famous by his 
 exploits both among the Buccaneers and the S[)aniards. 
 He arrived in three days at Chagres, opposite Port St. Law- 
 rence, which was built on a mountain commanding the en- 
 trance of the river. As soon as the Spaniards saw the red 
 flag spreading from his vessels, they displayed the royal 
 colours of Spain, and saluted him with a volley too hasty and 
 angry to be very destructive. The Buccaneers, according to 
 their usual stratagem, landed at Narangui, a place a quarter 
 of a league distant from the castle, their guide leading them 
 through thick woods, through which they had to cut a path 
 v/itli their sabres. It was early morning when they landed, 
 and requiring half a day to perform the short distance, they' 
 did not reach a hill commandinij the castle till two o'clock. 
 The mire and dirt of the road combined with the darkness 
 of the way to lengthen their march. The guides served 
 them well, but brought them at one spot so near to the 
 castle, and in so open and bare a place, that they lost many 
 •men by the shot. In other parts the wood was so thick 
 that they could only tell that they were near the castle by 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 199 
 
 the discharge of the cannon. The hill they had now reached 
 was not within musket range, and they were thus deprived 
 of the use of their favourite weapon. Could they have dragged 
 cannon so far, they might have taken the place without 
 losing a man. 
 
 The castle of Chaofres was built on a his^h mountain at the 
 entry of a river, and surrounded by strong wooden palisadoes 
 banked with earth. The top of the mountain was divided 
 into two parts, between which ran a ditch thirty feet deep ; 
 the tower had but one entrance ; by a drawbridge towards 
 the land it had four bastions, and towards the sea two more. 
 The south wall was inaccessible crag, the north was moated 
 by the broad river. At the foot of the hill lay a strong fort 
 with eight guns, which commanded the river's mouth ; a 
 little lower down were two other batteries, each of six guns, 
 all jiointing tlie same way. At another side were two great 
 store- houses, full of goods, brought from the inland, and near 
 these a flight of steps, cut in the rock, led to the castle of the 
 summit. On the west side was a small port not more than 
 seven or eight fathoms deep, with good anchorage for small 
 vessels, and before the hill a great rock rose from the waves, 
 which almost covered it at low water. 
 
 The place appeared such a perfect volcano of fire, and so 
 threatening and dangerous, that the Buccaneers, but for 
 fear of Morgan's rage and contempt, would have at once 
 turned back. After many disputes, and much doubt and 
 perplexity, they resolved to hazard the assault and risk their 
 lives. When they descended from their hill into the plain, 
 they had to throw themselves on their faces to escape the 
 desolating shower of balls j but their marksmen, quite un- 
 covered and without defence, shot at the Spanish gunners 
 through the loops of the palisading, and killed all who 
 showed themselves. This skirmishing continued till the 
 evening, when the Buccaneers, who had lost many men, their 
 commander having his leg broken with a cannon shot, began 
 to waver and to think of retiring, having in vain tried to 
 burn down the place with their fire-balls, and charged up to 
 the very walls, which they tried in vain to climb, sword in 
 hand. AYhen the Spaniards saw them drawing back through 
 the dusk in some disorder, carrying their wounded men and 
 
200 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 gnashing tlieir teeth in rage at the dark lines of defence, they 
 shouted out, " Come on, you dogs of heretics ; come on, you 
 English devils : you shan't get to Panama this bout, for we'll 
 serve your comrades as we have served you." The Buc- 
 caneers, astonished at their cries, now for the first time 
 learnt that Morgan's expedition had been heard of at 
 Panama. 
 
 Night had already begun, and the rain of bullets, shot, 
 and Indian arrows (more deadly almost than the bullets), 
 harassing and well-aimed, continued as grievous as by day. 
 Taking advantage of the gloom, another party advanced to 
 the palisadoes ; the light of tlieir burning fuses directed the 
 aim of the Spaniards. 
 
 A singular accident of war gave the place, so briskly de- 
 fended, into the hands of the assailants. A party of the 
 French musketeers were talking together, devising a plan 
 of advance, when a swift Indian arrow fell among them and 
 pierced one of the speakers in the shoulder (Esquemeling 
 says in the back and right through the body, another writer 
 says in the eye). A thought struck the wounded man, for 
 the wound had spurred his imagination : coolly drawing the 
 point from his shoulder, he said to those near him : " At- 
 tendez, mes freres, je m'en vais faire perir tous les Espagnols 
 — tous — avec cette sacree fleche" (Wait a bit, my mates, I'll 
 
 kill all the Spaniards — all — with this d arrow) ; so 
 
 saying, he drew from his pocket a handful of wild cotton, 
 which the Buccaneers kept as lint to stanch their wounds, 
 and wound it round the dart ; then putting it in his loaded 
 musket, from which he extracted the ball, he fired it back 
 at the castle roof It alighted on some dry thatch, which 
 in a moment began to smoke, and in another second broke 
 into a bright flame, more visible for the darkness. The 
 Buccaneers shouted and pushed on to the attack, and 
 the wounded men forgot their wounds. Some of the men, 
 seeing the result of the experiment, gathered up the Indian 
 arrows that lay thick around them, and fired them into the 
 place. Many houses were soon in flames. The Spaniards, 
 busy with the defence, did not see the fire until it had 
 gained some head, and reaching a parcel of powder blown it 
 up and caused ruin and cousternatiou within the fort. If 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 201 
 
 they left tlie walls, the Buccaneers gained ground ; if they 
 left the fire, the flames spread more terribly than before ; 
 the want of sufficient water increased the confusion, and 
 while they tried to quench the conflagration, the Buccaneers 
 set fire to the palisadoes. 
 
 (Exmelin, who was present as a surgeon at this attack of 
 Chagres, relates an anecdote of courage which he himself 
 witnessed, to show the indomitable fury of the assailants. 
 One of his own friends was pierced in the eye by an Indian, 
 arrow, and came to him to beg him to pull it out, the pain 
 was so intense and unbearable. Although a surgeon, 
 (Exmelin had not the nerve to inflict such torture, however 
 momentary, on a friend, and turned away in pity, upon 
 which the hardy seaman tore out the arrow with a curse, 
 and, binding up the wound, rushed forward to tlie wall. 
 The few Buccaneers who had retreated, seeing the flames, 
 now hurried back to the attack. The Spaniards could no 
 longer see the enemy at whom they fired, the night was so 
 dark and starless, while the Buccaneers shot down with the 
 unerring aim of hunters the Spaniards, whose bodies stood 
 out dark and well-defined against the bright background of 
 flame. All this time, before the fire of the roofs could be 
 extinguished, the Buccaneers had swarmed through the 
 fosse, and, mounting upon each other's shoulders, burnt 
 down part of the palisadoes, as we have before described, in 
 spite of the hand-grenades that were thrown from above, 
 and which burst among them. The fire ran along the wall, 
 leaping like a winged thing, and devoured wherever it 
 clung, spreading with dreadful rapidity. 
 
 The fight continued all night, and when the calm daylight 
 broke on the worn soldiers, the Buccaneers saw with spar- 
 kling eyes that the gabions had smouldered through, and that 
 the earth had fallen down in large heaps into the fosse. 
 The breaches in many places were practicable. The armour 
 had fallen piece-meal from their giant adversary, and he now 
 stood before them bare, wounded, and defenceless. The 
 Buccaneers, creeping within musket-shot of the walls, shot 
 down the gunners in the breaches, to which the cannon had 
 been dragged, by the governor's orders, during the night. 
 Divided into two bands, one party kept up a constant fire 
 
202 SIR HENllY MORGAN. 
 
 on the guns, and the other watched the motions of the 
 enemy. About noon they advanced to a spot which the 
 governor himself defended, belted round with twenty-five 
 brave Spaniards, armed with pikes, halberds, swords, and 
 muskets. They advanced under a dreadful hail of fire and 
 lead, the defenders casting down flaming pots full of com- 
 bustible matter and " odious smells''' which destroyed many 
 of the English, But we do not know how smells could 
 drive back men who would have marched through red hell 
 if it had been only the shortest way to Panama. 
 
 Nothing could equal the unflinching courage of the Spani- 
 ards — they disputed every inch of ground — they yielded 
 slowly like wounded lions when the hunters narrow their 
 circles. They showered stones and all available missiles on 
 their assailants, only wishing to kill a Buccaneer, but feeling 
 that resistance was hopeless ; some, rather than yield, threw 
 tliemselves from the cliffs into the sea, and few survived the 
 fall. As the Buccaneers won their way to the castle the 
 Spaniards retreated to the garde du corps, where they 
 entrenched themselves with two cannon ; to the last the 
 governor refused quarter, and at last fell, shot through the 
 brain. The few who remained surrendered when the guns 
 v/ere taken and would have been turned asfainst them. 
 
 Only fourteen men were found unhurt in the fort, and 
 about nine or ten wounded, who had hid themselves among 
 the dead. They told Morgan that they were all that were 
 left of a garrison of 314 soldiers. The governor, seeing that 
 he was lost, had despatched the survivors to Panama to 
 alarm the city, and remained behind to die. No oflacer was 
 left alive ; they had been the first to set their men the 
 example of a glorious death. It appeared that a Buccaneer 
 deserter, an Irishman, whom Morgan had not even informed 
 of his design, had come to the port, and assured them of the 
 attack on La Bancheria, and the contemplated movement 
 on Panama. The governor of tliat place had instantly sent 
 to Ch:)gres a reinf<>rcement of IGi men with ammunition 
 and provisions, and had placed ambuscades along the river. 
 He was at that very moment, they said, awaiting them in 
 the savannah with 3, GOO men : of these 2,000 were infantry, 
 400 cavalry, and 600 Indians. He had also employed 200 
 
SIR HENRY MORGAN. 203 
 
 muleteers and hunters to collect a drove of 1,000 wild cattle 
 to drive down upon the invaders. 
 
 " The taking of this castle," says Esquemeling, " cost the 
 pirates excessively dear, in comparison to what they were 
 wont to lose, and their toil and labour was greater than at 
 the conquest of the Isle of St. Catherine." On numbering 
 their thinned ranks, many voices were silent at the roll call. 
 More than 100 men were found to be dead, and more than 
 seventy grievously wounded. There were sixty who could 
 not rise, and many in the ranks wore on their arms strips 
 of the Spanish colours, or had their heads bound round with 
 bloody cloths. The prisoners they compelled to drag their 
 own dead to the edge of the cliffs and cast them among the 
 shattered bodies on the beach, then to bury them where the 
 sea could not wash them out of their graves, or the birds 
 devour them. The castle chapel they turned into an hos- 
 pital for the wounded, and the female slaves were employed 
 to tend them, for the surgeons in the heat of battle had only 
 had time to amputate a limb or bind an artery. 
 
204 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 March from "Chagres — Famine — Ambuscade of Indians — Wild bulls 
 driven down upon them — Victory — Battle of the Forts — Takes the 
 city — Burns part of it — Cruelties — Debauchery — Retreat with pri- 
 soners — Virtue of the Spanish prisoner, and her sufferings — Ransom 
 — Division of booty — Treason of Morgan — Escapes by night to 
 Jamaica — Dispersion of the fleet — Morgan's subsequent fate. 
 
 The bodies of their comrades, who had died that they who 
 survived might conquer, were buried, not without some tears 
 even from these rude men, in large (plague-pit) graves, dug 
 by the prisoners. The women were violated in the first fury 
 of the sack. During their plunder they found a great quan- 
 tity of provisions and ammunitions stored up for the use 
 of the fleet. Their next act was to repair the fort and 
 render it tenable. 
 
 Morgan, instantly informed of the fall of Chagres, did not 
 remain long behind. Having first collected all the Indian 
 wheat and cassava he could carry, he embarked his prisonei'S 
 and provisions, taking with him Don Joseph Ramirez de 
 Leiba, the governor, and the chief officers. The cannon he 
 spiked, or threw into the sea in places where he might reco- 
 ver them, intending to return and fortify the place as a 
 stronghold if his design on Panama failed. The forts, and 
 church and house he fired, with the exception of the castle 
 of Santa Teresa. 
 
 In sailing to Chagres a storm arose and dispersed his ves- 
 sels, keeping them many days at sea. The admiral, always 
 watchful in danger, suiiered himself for a moment to sleep 
 in the hour of prosperity. When he approached the river 
 mouth and saw the English flag floating frbm the blackened 
 walls, he could not restrain the heedless joy of his crew — 
 not waiting for the pilot canoe that was putting out to warn 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 205 
 
 them of their danger, he drove on the sunken rock at the 
 foot of the castle hill. His own and three other vessels 
 sank, yet the crews and cargoes were all saved^ and but for 
 a strong " norther " the ships themselves would have been 
 preserved. 
 
 Brought into the castle with acclamations and hearty con- 
 gratulations at his escape, Morgan employed the Spanish 
 prisoners from St. Catherine's in repairing the palisading of 
 the fort, carefully destroying all thatched sheds for fear of 
 fire. He then chose a garrison by lot, and divided the 
 stores. He heard with delight the details of the victory, 
 but lamented the absent dead and the many brave men that 
 had shared so often his own hopes and fears. His next 
 movement was to seize some diatten, or small Spanish vessels 
 that were still in the river. They were small craft that went 
 to and fro between Cliagres and Porto Bello, or Nicaragua, 
 or plied with merchandise up and down the river. They 
 mounted six guns, two iron, and four small brass, and were 
 navigated by six men. He also took four small frigates of 
 fourteen and eight guns, and all the canoes he could lay 
 hands on, requiring them for the expedition. He left 
 behind him 100 men, under command of Captain Le Maurice, 
 and 150 men to guard the ships. 
 
 For Panama, Morgan took with him 1,300 of the best 
 armed and the most robust of his band, five boats with artil- 
 lery, and thirty two canoes. He imprudently carried little 
 provisions, expecting to obtain plenty from the Spaniards they 
 should kill in the ambuscades. In spite of the recent vic- 
 tory, and of Morgan's certainty of conquest, many of the 
 Buccaneers were less sanguine than on former expeditions. 
 The Spanish prisoners had succeeded in alarming them by 
 rumours of the dangers and intricacy of the road, and the 
 ambuscades that had been two months in preparation. Some, 
 more superstitious than the rest, thought the wreck of 
 Morgan's ship, and the severe loss at Chagres, bad omens 
 for their success at Panama. But these were mocked at by 
 the rest, as white-livered ; and Morgan having divided the 
 provisions between the garrison and the St. Catherine pri- 
 soners, reviewed his men, and examined himself their arms 
 and ammunition. He quieted their fears, and spoke of vie- 
 
206 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 tory as already obtained. He exhorted them to show more 
 thau usual courage, in order to return as soon as possible 
 rich and glorious to Jamaica. With a shout of '^ Long live 
 the king of England, and long live Harry Morgan ! " they 
 began their march towards the doomed city on the 18th of 
 January, 1670. 
 
 The first day they advanced only six leagues to Rio de los 
 BraQos, where they got out of their canoes to sleep on shore, 
 being crippled with overcrowding in the boats. They could 
 have brought no provisions, for few had any food that day, 
 but a pipe of tobacco " to stop the orifice of the stomach." 
 They could find nothing in the deserted plantations, where 
 even the unripe fruits had been plucked and the roots pulled 
 up before their arrival. The men longed to fight, in order 
 that they might eat. By noon of the next day they reached 
 Cruz de Juan Gallego, where they were obliged to leave 
 their canoes ; the river was very dry and shallow from want 
 of rain, and much impeded with fallen trees, but their hopes 
 were excited by the guide's intelligence, that about two 
 leagues further the roads grew better. Here they left 
 their boats with 160 men to guard them, as a resource in 
 case of defeat, giving them strict injunctions not to land, for 
 fear of ambuscades in the neighbouring woods, which were 
 so thick as to seem impenetrable. Finding the forest almost 
 impassable, Morgan ordered a few of the canoes to be 
 rowed, though with immense labour, to a place called Cedro 
 Bueno, farther up the river, taking half the men at a time 
 and returning for the rest ; so by nightfall all the men were 
 once more united. From discovering no ambuscades, in s})ite 
 of all the wishes of these hungry soldiers, it was supposed 
 that the Spanish spies, willing to avoid a fight, had fright- 
 ened their officers by exaggerating the number of the adven- 
 turers. On the third day Morgan sent forward some guides, 
 who could find no road, the country being flat, inundated, 
 and marsh}^ The men, who had scarcely eaten anything since 
 their departure, grew faint and Inmgry, and a few of them 
 gathered and fed on the leaves from the forest trees. It 
 being night before they could ])ass the river, they slept 
 on the bank, ex])Osed, half-clothed as they were, to the 
 tropical damps and cold. 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 207 
 
 The fourth day's march they advanced in divisions ; the 
 largest went by land, the smaller in canoes. The guides 
 were always kept two musket shots in advance, to give 
 notice of ambuscades, and in hopes of capturing stragglers, 
 wlio might furnish intelligence. But the Spaniards had also 
 scouts, very wary, and very " dexterous" in giving notice of 
 all accidents, frequently bringing the Panama men intelli- 
 gence of the Buccaneers' approach six hours before the 
 enemy arrived. About noon the army reached a post 
 named Torna Cavallos, so called probably from the rough- 
 ness of the road ; and at this spot the guide of the canoes 
 cried out that he saw an ambuscade. With infinite joy the 
 hungry men, thirsting for blood, flew to arms, knowing that 
 the Spaniards always Avent luxuriously provided with food, 
 and knowin'g that a dead Spaniard could want no more 
 provender. As soon as they came within sight of the 
 entrenchment, which was shaped like a half-moon, and the 
 palisading formed of entire trees, they uttered a dreadful 
 shout, and, driven on by rage and hunger, began to race like 
 starved wolves, seeing which could first cross swords with 
 the enemy, whom they believed to be about 400 strong. 
 But their hearts fell within them wdien they found the place 
 a mere deserted rampart, and all the provisions, but a few 
 crumbs which lay scattered about, either burnt or carried 
 off. Some leather bags lay here and there, as if left in 
 a hasty retreat. Enraged at this, they at once pulled down 
 the Spanish huts, and cutting the leather bags, tore them up 
 for food. Quarrels then arose for the largest messes ; but 
 before they could well finish this unsavoury banquet, the 
 drum sounded for the march. About 500 Spaniards seem 
 to have held these entrenchments ; and many of the men 
 threatened to devour the first fugitive they could meet with. 
 About night they reached another deserted ambuscade, 
 called Torna Munni, equally bare of food ; and the remain- 
 der of the bags were now devoured. Those fortunate enough 
 to obtain a strip, first soaked slices of it in water, next beat 
 it between two stones, then scraped off the hair with their 
 hunters' knives, and, roasting it in the fire, ate it leisurely in 
 small pieces. " I can assure the reader," says (Exmelin, 
 " that a man can live on this fare, but he can hardly get 
 
208 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 'very faV Frequent draughts of water (wliicli by good 
 fortune they had at hand) seasoned this not very palatable 
 food of men accustomed to revel on venison and brandy. 
 " Some who were never out of their mothers' kitchens," says 
 Esquemeling, "may ask how these pirates could eat and 
 digest those pieces of leather, so hard and dry ; whom 
 I answer, that could they once experience what hunger, or 
 rather famine, is, they would find the way as the pirates 
 did." 
 
 The fifth day at noon they arrived at a place called 
 Barbacoa, where there were more deserted barricades, and 
 the adjacent plantations were equally bare of either man, 
 animal, or plant. Searching with all the zeal and perse- 
 verance of hungry men, they found at last, buried in the 
 flioor of a cave lately hewn out of the rock, two sacks of flour, 
 two jars of wine, and some plantains, and Morgan generously 
 divided these among the most exhausted of his troops, some 
 being now nearly dead with famine. The flour they mixed 
 with water, and wrapping the dough in banana leaves, baked 
 it in the fire. Somewhat refreshed, they renewed their 
 mai'ch with increased skill and vigour. The laafffina: men 
 they placed in the canoes, till they reached at night some 
 deserted jilantations known as the Tabernillas, where they 
 slept. 
 
 On the sixth day they marched slowly, after resting a 
 time from real weakness, some of the strongest being sent 
 into the woods to pluck berries and pull roots, many even 
 eating leaves and grass. The same day at noon they arrived 
 at a plantation. Eagerly foraging here, but not expecting 
 to find anything, they turned a little from the road, and 
 came upon a barn full of maize in the husk. Beating down 
 the door, they fell upon it and devoured it as rapaciously as a 
 herd of swine, till they fell ofl' satiated. A distribution was 
 then made of it to each man, for hunger does not care for 
 cooking. Loaded with this grain they continued their 
 march in high spirits for about two hours, when they came 
 suddenly on about 200 Indians, and soon after passed a 
 deserted ambuscade. Those who had maize still left threw 
 it away, thinking that the Sj)aniards and better food were 
 at hand. These archers were on the opposite side of the river. 
 
I 
 
 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 209 
 
 The Buccaneers, firing, killed a few, and pursued tlie others 
 as far as Santa Cruz. The nimblest escaped by swimming, 
 but two or three adventurers, who waded after them, were 
 pierced with arrows at the ford. The Indians, as they fled, 
 hooted — "Ah perros Ingleses, a la savanah, a la savanah :" 
 "English dogs, English dogs, come to the savanvLahr Pass- 
 ing the river they were now compelled to begin their march 
 on the opposite side. There was little sleep that night, but 
 great dejection, and murmurs arose against Captain Morgan 
 and his conduct. He was blamed for not having brought 
 provisions, and for not having yet met the Spaniards ; con- 
 demned for irreconcilable errors, and reviled for even his 
 past successes. Some declared they would return home, 
 others would willingly have done so, yet were afraid to 
 retreat ; but a large j^arty declared they would rather die 
 than go back a step. One of the guides, perhaps bribed by 
 Morgan, promised that it should not be long before they 
 met with peo})le from whom they should derive no small 
 •advantage, and this comforted them. A tinge of super- 
 stition would have soon converted this into one of those 
 prophecies by which Cromwell and Cortes both consoled 
 their desponding troopers. 
 
 On the seventh morning, expecting enemies, the men all 
 cleaned their arms, and every one discharged his musket 
 and pistols without ball, to let the Spaniards hear they were 
 coming, and that their ammunition was not damaged. 
 Leaving Santa Cruz, where they had rested, they crossed 
 the river in their canoes, and arrived at the town of Cruz. 
 
 At some distance from Cruz they had beheld, to their 
 great joy, a great smoke arising above the roofs, which they 
 thought arose from kitchen chimneys, and quickening their 
 pace, they began to laugh, and shout, and leap, — joking at 
 the Spanish waste of fuel, and saying, " The S})anish cooks 
 are roasting meat for our dinner when we have mastered 
 their masters ;" but as the smoke grew thicker, they began 
 to think that the enemy were burning some houses that 
 interfered with the fire of the entrenchments. 
 
 Two hours after, on arriving panting and hot at Cruz, 
 they found the place deserted and stri[)ped, and no meat, 
 but many fires, for every Spaniard had burnt his own house, 
 
 P 
 
210 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 and only the royal store-house and stables were left standing. 
 A few crackling ruins were all that remained of the great 
 halfway house between Chagres and Panama, for here the 
 Chagres merchandise was always landed and transported to 
 Panama on the backs of mules, being distant only twenty- 
 six S2)anisli leagues from the river of Chagres, and eight 
 from Panama. The disappointed Buccaneers spent the 
 remainder of the day at Cruz in seeking food and resting. 
 Every cat and dog was soon killed and eaten, for the cattle 
 had been all driven off. Morgan, growing now more strict 
 in discipline, gave orders that no party of less than 100 men 
 should leave the town. Five or six Englishmen who dis- 
 obeyed the order were killed by the Indians. In the king's 
 stables fifteen or sixteen jars of Peruvian wine Avere found, 
 and a leather sack full of biscuit. Morgan, afraid that his 
 men would fall into excesses, sj^read a report that the 
 Spaniards had poisoned the wine — a report confirmed by 
 the violent sickness of all who drank of it ; althoutrh half- 
 starved men, fed for a week on vegetable refuse, would have 
 been injured by any excess. It was, however, eagerly 
 drunk, and would have been had there been death in every 
 cup. This sickness detained them a day at Cruz. The 
 canoes, being now useless, were sent back, guarded by sixty 
 men, to join the other boats ; one alone being hid in a 
 thicket, for fear of any emergency or any necessity arising, 
 and to transmit intelligence to the vessels. Morgan feared 
 that, if left at Cruz, they might be captured, and would 
 at least require an extra guard. 
 
 On the eighth day at morning he reviewed his troop, and 
 found that he had 1,100 able and resolute men still at his 
 back. He persuaded them that their comrade who was 
 carried off by the Indians had returned, having only lost his 
 way in the woods, fearing they might be discouraged at his 
 disappearance. He then chose a band of the best marksmen 
 as a forlorn hope, " a hundred of these men," says CExmelin, 
 " are worth six hundred of any other nation." He divided 
 the remainder into a van and wings, knowing that he should 
 have to pass many places where not more than two men 
 could pass abreast. 
 
 After ten hours' march they arrived at a place called 
 
CONQUEST OP PANAMA. 211 
 
 Quebrada Ohscura, a dark wooded gorge wliere tlie sunliglit 
 rarely entered. Here, on a sudden, a shower of 300 or 400 
 arrows poured down upon them, killing eight or nine men, 
 and wounding ten. These arrows came from an Indian 
 ambuscade hid on a wooded and rocky mountain, perforated 
 by a natural arch, through which only one laden beast could 
 pass. The Buccaneers, though they could see nothing but 
 rocks and trees, instantly returned the fire, and two Indians 
 rolled down into the path. One of these, who appeared to 
 be a chief, for he wore a coronet of variegated feathers, at- 
 tempted to stab an English adventurer with his javelin, but 
 a companion, parrying the thrust with his sabre, slew the 
 Indian, This brave man was, it is supposed, the leader of 
 the ambuscade, for the savages, seeing him fall, took at once 
 to flight, and never discharged another shaft. As they 
 entered a wood, the rest of the Indians fled to seize the next 
 height, from whence they might observe the enemy and 
 harass their march. The Buccaneers found them too swift 
 to capture, and pursued them in vain : but two or three of 
 the wounded fugitives were found dead in the road. A few 
 armed and disciplined men could have made this pass good 
 against a hundred, but these Indians were now scattered 
 and without a leader, and they had only flred at random, 
 and in haste, through trees and thickets that intercepted 
 their arrows. On leaving this defile the Buccaneers entered 
 a broad prairie, where they rested while the wounded were 
 tended. At a long distance before them they could see the 
 Indians on a rocky eminence, commanding the road where 
 they must pass. Fifty active men were dispatched to take 
 them in the rear in the hopes of obtaining some prisoners, 
 but all in vain, for the Indians were not only more agile but 
 knew all the passes. Two hours after, they were seen at 
 about two gun-shots' distance, on the same eminence from 
 which they had been just driven, while the Buccaneers were 
 now on an opposite height, and between them lay a wood. 
 The Buccaneers supposed that a Spanish ambuscade was hid 
 here, for whenever thev came near enough, the Indians cried 
 out "A la savanah, a la savanah, cornudos perros Ingleses :" 
 " To the savannah, to the savannah, you cuckold English 
 dogs." Morgan sent a hundred men to search this wood, 
 
 p 2 
 
212 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 and upon tins the Spaniards and Indians came down from 
 tlie mountain as if to attack them, but appeared no more. 
 
 About night, a great rain falling, the Buccaneers marched 
 faster, in order to prevent their arms getting wet, but they 
 could find no houses to barrack in, for the Indians had burnt 
 them all, and driven away the cattle, hojjing to starve out 
 the men whom they could not drive out. They left the main 
 road after diligent search, and found a few shepherds' huts, 
 but too few to shelter all their company ; they therefore 
 piled their arms, and chose a small number from each com- 
 pany to guard them. Those who slept in the open air 
 endured much hardship, the rain not ceasing all night. They 
 made temporary sheds, which they covered with boughs, in 
 order to sleep under a shelter, however impei-fect ; and 
 sentinels were placed, Morgan being afraid of the Indians, 
 who chose wet nights for their onslaughts, when fire-arms 
 were often useless. 
 
 Next morning very early, being the ninth of their tedious 
 journey, they recommenced their march, Morgan bidding 
 them all discharge their guns and then reload them, for fear 
 of the wet having damped the powder. The fresh air of the 
 morning, clear after the storm, was still about them, and the 
 clouds had not yet yielded to the tropical sun, as they pushed 
 on over a path more difficult than before. In about two 
 hours' time a band of twenty Spaniards began to appear in 
 the distance, and the Indians were also visible, but Morgan 
 could obtain no prisoners, though he offered a reward of oOO 
 crowns for every Spaniard brought in. When pursued the 
 enemy hid themselves in caves and eluded all search. 
 
 At last, toiling slowly up a high mountain, the adven- 
 turers unexpectedly beheld from the to]:) the South Sea glit- 
 tering in the distance. This caused them as great joy as 
 the sight of '' Thalatta " did to the soldiers of Xenophon. 
 They thought their expedition now completed, for to them 
 victory was a certainty. They could discern upon the sea, 
 never before beheld, a large ship and six small boats setting 
 forth from Panama to the islands of Tavogra and Tavoofilla, 
 which were only six leagues distant. Fortune smiled upon 
 them to-day, for, descending this mountain, they came into 
 a grassy prairie vcvlley, full of all sorts of cattle, which were 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 213 
 
 being pursued by mounted Si^aniards, who fled at the sight 
 of the Buccaneers. Upon these animals Morgan's men 
 rushed with the avidity of half-starved hunters, the eager- 
 ness of sailors to obtain fresh meat, and all the haste that 
 brave men exhibit to get at an enemy. One shot a horse, 
 another felled a cow, but the greater part slaughtered the 
 mules, which were the most numerous. Some kindled tires, 
 others collected wood, and the strongest hunted the cattle, 
 while the invalids slew, and skinned, and flayed. The whole 
 plain was soon alight with a hundred fires. The hungry 
 men cut ofl:' lumps of flesh, carbonadoed them in the flame, 
 and ate them half raw with incredible haste and ferocity. 
 " They resembled," Esquemeling says, " rather cannibals than 
 Christians, the blood running down their beards to the mid- 
 dle of their bodies." But no hunger, no fear, no passion 
 threw Morgan ofl" his guard. Hungry and weary himself, 
 and sympathizing with his men's hunger, he saw the danger 
 of this reckless gluttony, which produced a reaction of inert- 
 ness as dangerous as intoxication. Dreading surprise, for he 
 was surrounded by enemies, lie beat a false alarm, and seizing 
 their arms, his men, ashamed of their excess, renewed their 
 march. The remainder of the meat, half-roasted or quite 
 raw, they strung to their bandoliers. " The very look of 
 these men," says Esquemeling, " was enough to liave terrified 
 the boldest, for we know that in love as well as war, the eyes 
 are the soonest conquered." Morgan, anxious at not having 
 yet obtained a prisoner as guide, again despatched a van- 
 guard of fifty men, who about evening saw in the distance 
 500 Spaniards, who shouted to them they knew not what. 
 
 Soon after, almost at dusk, mounting a small eminence, 
 they saw a better sight than even the South Sea — the 
 highest steeples of Panama, bright in the sunset ; upon this, 
 like the German soldiers at the sight of the Bhine, the Buc- 
 caneers gave three cheers, to show their extreme joy, leaping 
 and shouting, and throwing their hats into the air, as if they 
 had already won the victory. At the same time the drums 
 beat stormily and proudly, and each man shot oft' his piece, 
 while the red flag was displayed waving in defiance of the 
 Spaniard, and high above all the trumpet sounded. 
 
 The camp was pitched for the night by the men, who 
 
214 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 waited impatiently for the morning, when the battle should 
 join ; with equal pride and courage 200 mounted Spaniards 
 shouted in return, as they dashed up within musket shot, 
 " To-morrow, to-morrow, ye dogs, we shall meet in the savan- 
 nah j" and as they ended, their trumpet sounded clearer and 
 louder than even that of Morgan's. These horsemen were 
 soon joined by several companies of infantry and several 
 squadrons of cavalry, who wheeled round tliem within can- 
 non shot. These troops had been despatched when the 
 sounds of the Buccaneers' approach reached the gates of the 
 city. There were still two hours of light, but Morgan de- 
 termined not to fight till early in the morning, when he 
 might be able to move freely in the unknown country, and 
 when there would be a whole clear, bright day for the 
 battle. As night drew on, all the Spaniards retired to the 
 city, excepting seven or eight troopers, who hovered abouc 
 to watch the enemy's motions, and give the alarm if a night 
 attack was contemplated. On his side Morgan placed 
 double sentinels, and every now and then ordered false 
 alarms to be beat to keep his men on the alert. Those who 
 had any meat left ate it raw, as they had often done when 
 hunters. No fires were allowed to be kindled, and the men 
 lying, ready armed, on the grass, waited eagerly for the day- 
 light. 120 cavaliers again joined the Spanish scouts, and 
 affected to maintain a strict blockade, and the city all night 
 2)layed with its biggest guns upon the camp, but, being at so 
 great a distance, did little harm to the Buccaneers. 
 
 At daybreak of the tenth day of their march the Spaniards 
 beat the diane, and Morgan, replying heartily, began with 
 great eagerness to push forward to the city, the S[)aniards 
 wheeling cautiously around his wings. One of the guides 
 warned Morgan against the high road, which he knew would 
 be blocked uj) and crowded with ambuscades, and the army 
 defiled into a wood to the right, where the passage was so 
 difficult tluit none but Buccaneers could have forced a way, — 
 " very irksome indeed," says Esquemeling. The Spaniards, 
 completely bailled and astonished by this diversion, left their 
 batteries in a hurry, and, without any distinct plan of 
 attack, crowded out into the })lain. After two hours' march 
 the Buccaneers reached the top of a small hill. From this 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 21-5 
 
 eminence tliey could now see their goal, and Panama, with 
 all the roofs that hid its treasure, lay before them. Below, 
 on the plain, they might also discern the Spanish army 
 drawn up in battalia^ awaiting their descent. Even Esque- 
 meling admits that the forces seemed numerous. " There 
 were two squadrons of cavalry, four regiments of foot, and a 
 still more terrible enemy, a huge number of wild bulls, 
 roaring and tossing their horns, driven by a great number of 
 Indians and a few neijroes and mounted matadors." The 
 historian, more truthful in his confessions than his boasts, 
 says, " They were surprised with fear, much doubting the 
 fortune of the day ; yea, few or none there were but wished 
 themselves at home, or at least free from the obligation of 
 that engagement, it so nearly concerning their lives. 
 Having been for some time wavering in their minds, they 
 at last reflected on the strait they had brought themselves 
 into, and that now they must either fight resolutely or die, 
 for no quarter could be expected from an enemy on whom 
 they had committed so many cruelties. Hereupon they 
 encouraged one another, resolving to conquer or spend the 
 last drop of their blood." 
 
 They then divided themselves into three battalions, send- 
 ing before 200 Buccaneers, very dexterous at their guns, who 
 descended the hill, marching directl}'' upon the Spaniards, 
 and the battle closed. The Spanish cavalry uttered cries of 
 joy, as if they were going to a bull-fight. The infantry shouted 
 " Viva el rey ! " and the vari-coloured silks of their doublets 
 glistened in the sun. The Buccaneers, giving three cheers, 
 charged upon the enemy. The forlorn hope Morgan 
 despatched against the cavalry and the bulls. The cavalry 
 galloped forward to meet them, but, the ground being 
 marshy, they could not advance with speed, and sank one by 
 one before the unceasing dropping fire of 200 Buccaneers, who 
 fell on one knee and poured in a full volley of shot, the foot 
 and horse in vain trying to break through this hot line of 
 flame and death. The bulls proved as fatal to those who em- 
 ployed them as the elej^hants to Porus. Driven on the rear 
 of the Buccaneers, they took fright at the noise of the battle ; 
 a few only broke through the English companie-s, and tramjjled 
 the red colours under foot, but these were soon shot by the 
 
216 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 old hunters ; a few fled to the savannah, and the rest tore 
 back and carried havoc through the Spanish ranks. 
 
 The firing lasted for two hours ; at the end of that time 
 the cavalry and infantry had separated, and the troopers 
 had fled, only about fifty of their number succeeding in 
 escaping. The infantry, discouraged at their defeat, and 
 despairing of success, fired off one more vollej^ and then 
 threw down their arms ; the victory was won. Morgan, 
 having no cavalry, could not pursue, and a mountain soon 
 hid the fugitives from the Buccaneers' sight, who would 
 not follow, expecting the flight was a mere decoy to lure 
 them into an ambuscade. The Buccaneers, weary and faint, 
 threw themselves down to rest. A few Spaniards found 
 hiding in the bushes by the sea-shore were at once slain, 
 and several cordeliers belonging to the army, being dragged 
 before Morgan, were pistolled in spite of all their cries and 
 entreaties. A Spanish captain of cavalry was taken pri- 
 soner by the English musketeers, who had hitherto given 
 no quarter, and confessed that the governor of Panama 
 had led out that morning 2,000 men, 200 bulls, 1,450 horse, 
 and twenty- four companies of foot, 100 men in each, 60 In- 
 dians, and some negroes. In the city, he said, were many 
 trenches and batteries, and at the entrance a fort with fifty 
 men and eight brass guns. The women and wealth had all 
 been sent to Tavoga Island, and 600 men with twenty -eight 
 pieces of cannon were inside the town, defended by ram- 
 parts of flour sacks. The ambuscade had been waiting 
 fifteen days in the savannah, expecting Morgan. 
 
 On reviewing their men, the English found a much greater 
 number of killed and wounded than they had expected, so 
 Esquemeling confesses, but does not give the number. 
 CExmelin puts the loss at only two killed and two wounded, 
 an incredible statement, trustworthy as he generally is. 
 The Spaniards lost 600 men. 
 
 " The pirates, nothing discouraged," says the former his- 
 torian, " seeing their number so diminished, but rather filled 
 with greater pride, perceiving what liuge advantage they 
 had obtained against their enemies, having rested some time, 
 prepared to march courageously towards the city, plighting 
 their oaths one to another that they would fight till not a 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 217 
 
 man was left alive. With this courage they recomraencecl 
 their march, either to conquer or be conquered, carrying 
 with them all the prisoners." 
 
 They avoided the high road from Vera Cruz, on which the 
 Spaniards had placed a battery of eight pieces of cannon, 
 and selecting that from Porto Bello, they advanced to the 
 town before the people could rally, and while the exagge- 
 rated rumours of the defeat were still uncontradicted. 
 Trembling fugitives filled the streets, and terror was in 
 every face. 
 
 The Spaniards fought desperately, but without hope. 
 In spite of Morgan's endeavour to maintain strict discipline, 
 his men began to undervalue the enemy, and to advance 
 straggling and reckless. The Spaniards, observing this, 
 fired a broadside, killing twenty-five or thirty of the van- 
 guard at the first discharge, and wounding nearly as many, 
 but before they could reload were overpowered and slain at 
 their guns, the Buccaneers stabbing all whom they met. 
 
 Of this attack, Esquemeling gives the following graphic 
 but rambling account : " They found much difiicultyin their 
 approach to the city, for within the town the Sj^aniards had 
 placed many great guns at several quarters, some charged 
 with small pieces of iron, and others with musket- bullets. 
 With all these they saluted the pirates at their approaching, 
 and gave them full and frequent broadsides, firing at them 
 incessantly, so that unavoidably they shot at every step 
 great numbers of men. But neither these manifest dangers 
 of their lives, nor the sight of so many as dropped con- 
 tinually at their sides, could deter them from advancing and 
 gaining ground every moment on the enemy ; and though 
 the Spaniards never ceased to fire and act the best they 
 could for their defence, yet they were forced to yield after 
 three hours' combat, and the pirates, having possessed 
 themselves, killed and destroyed all that attempted in the 
 least to oppose them." 
 
 Morgan was now master of Panama, as he had been of 
 St. Catherine's, la Bancheria, Maracaibo, and Gibraltar, but 
 his vigilance did not yet relax. As soon as the first fury 
 of the entrance was over, he assembled his men, and com- 
 manded them, under great penalties, not to drink or taste 
 
218 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 any wine, as lie had been informed by a prisoner that it had 
 been poisoned by the Spaniards. Though much wealth had 
 been hidden, great warehouses of merchandise, they rejoiced 
 to find, w^ere still well stocked with silks, cloths, and linens. 
 Morgan's only fear now was, that with so small a body of 
 men as remained to him, the Spaniards might rally, or his 
 men, grown intoxicated by success and intent on plunder, 
 be cut ofi" without resistance. Having placed guards at all 
 the important points of defence within and without the 
 city, he ordered twenty-five men to seize a boat laden with 
 merchandise, that owing to the low water in the harbour 
 could not })ut out to sea. The command of this vessel he 
 gave to an English captain. 
 
 The houses of Panama were built chiefly of cedar, and a 
 few of stone. 
 
 Fortunately, Michael Scott sketches for us nearly the 
 whole scenery of Morgan's march. " One side of the harbour 
 of Chagres is formed," he says, '•' by a small promontory that 
 runs 500 yards into the sea. This bright little bay looks 
 upon an opposite shore, long and muddy, and covered with 
 mangroves to the water's brink. On the uttermost bluff" is 
 a narrow hill, with a fort erected on its apex. The rock is 
 precipitous on three sides. The river of Chagres is about 
 100 yards across, and very deep. It rolls sluggishly along, 
 through a low, swampy country. It is covered down to the 
 water w4th thick sedges and underwood, and where the 
 water is stagnating, generates mosquitoes and fevers. The 
 gigantic trees grow close to the water, and are laced together 
 by black, snake-like withes. Here and there, black slimy 
 banks of mud slope out near the shore, and on these, mon- 
 strous alligators roll or sleep, like logs of rotting drift-wood. 
 For some miles below Cruz, where the river ceases to be 
 navigable by canoes, oars are laid aside, and long ]:>oles used 
 to pro})el the boats, like punts, over the shoals. Panama is 
 distant about seven leagues from Cruz. The road is only 
 passable for mules : in some places it has been hewn out of 
 the rock, and zig-zags along the face of hills, in parts scarcely 
 passable for two persons meeting. 
 
 " The scenery on each side is very beautiful, as the road 
 winds for the most part amongst steeps, overshadowed by 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 210 
 
 magnificent trees, among which birds of all sizes, and of the 
 most gorgeous plumage, are perpetually glancing, while a 
 monkey every here and there sits grimacing and chattering 
 overhead. The small, open savannahs gradually grow larger, 
 and the clear spaces widen, until the forest you have been 
 travelling under breaks into beautiful clumps of trees, like 
 those of a gentleman's park, and every here and there are 
 placed clear pieces of water, s])reading out full of pond- 
 turtle, and short grass, that sparkles in the dew." 
 
 As you approach the town, the open spaces become more 
 frequent, until at length you gain a rising ground about 
 three miles from Panama, where the view is enchanting. 
 Below lies the city, and the broad Pacific, dotted with ships, 
 lies broad and glassy beyond. 
 
 Basil Hall, an accurate but less poetical observer, sketches 
 the bay of Panama, its beach fringed with plantations 
 shaded by groves of oranges, figs, and limes, the tamarinds 
 surrounding all but the feathery tops of the cocoanut trees; 
 the ground hidden with foliage, among which peep cane- 
 built huts and canoes pulling to shore. Tavoga he describes 
 as a taugle of trees and flowers. " The houses of the city 
 are very curious and magnificent," says Esquemeling, " and 
 richly adorned with paintings and hangings, of which a part 
 only had been removed." The buildings were all stately, 
 and the streets broad and well arranged. There were within 
 the walls eight monasteries, a cathedral, and an hospital, 
 attended by the religious. The churches and monasteries 
 were richly adorned with paintings, and in the subsequent 
 fire may have perished some of the masterpieces of Titian, 
 Murillo, or Yelasquez. The gold plate and fittings of these 
 buildings the priests had concealed. The number of rich 
 houses was computed at 2,000, and the smaller shops, &c., 
 at 5,000 additional. The grandest buildings in the town 
 were the Genoese warehouses connected with the slave trade ; 
 there were also long rows of stables, where the horses and 
 mules were kept that wore used to convey the royal plate 
 from the South to the North Pacific Ocean. Before the 
 city, like oflferings spread before a throne, lay rich plantations 
 and pleasant gardens. 
 
 Panama was the city to which all the treasures of Peru 
 
220 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 were annually brought. The plate fleet, laden with bars of 
 gold and silver, arrived here at certain periods, brimming 
 with the crown wealth, as well as that of private merchants. 
 It returned laden with the merchandise of Panama and the 
 Spanish main, to be sold in Peru and Chili, and still oftener 
 with droves of negro slaves that the Genoese imported from 
 the coast of Guinea to toil and die in the Peruvian mines. 
 So wealthy was this golden city that more than 2,000 mules 
 were employed in the transport of the gold and silver from 
 thence to Porto Bello, where the galleons were loaded. The 
 merchants of Panama were proverbially the richest in the 
 whole S})anish West Indies. The governor of Panama was 
 the suzerain of Porto Bello, of Nata, Cruz, Veragua, <i:c., 
 and the Bishop of Panama was primate of the Terra Firma, 
 and suffragan to the Archbishop of Peru. The district of 
 Panama was the most fertile and healthy of all the Spanish 
 colonies, rich in mines, and so well wooded that its ship- 
 timber peopled with vessels both the northern and the 
 southern seas; its land yielded full crops, and its broad 
 savannahs pastured innumerable herds of wild cattle. 
 
 The Buccaneers found the bootv in the half-devastated 
 town ample beyond their exj)ectations, in spite of all that 
 had been destroyed, buried, or removed. The stores were 
 still full of wealth, which not even a month of alarm had 
 given the merchants time to remove to their overcharged 
 vessels. Some rooms were choked with corn, and others 
 piled high with iron, tools, ploughshares, &c., for Peru. In 
 many was found " metal more attractive," in the shape of 
 wine, olive oil, and spices; while silks, cloths, and linen lay 
 around in costly heaps. 
 
 Morgan, still afraid of surprise, resorted to a reckless 
 scheme to avert the danger. The very night he entered 
 Panama he set lire to a few of the chief buildings, and 
 before morning the greater part of the city was in a 
 flame, although the flrst blaze had been detected in the 
 suburbs. No one knew his motive, and few that the enemy 
 had not done it. He carefully spread a report, both among 
 the prisoners and his own people, that the Spaniards them- 
 selves were the authors of the fire. The citizens and even 
 the English strove to extinguish the flames, by blowing up 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 221 
 
 some houses witli gunpowder and pulling down others, but 
 being of wood, the fire spread rapidly from roof to roof In. 
 less than half an hour a whole street was consumed. The 
 Genoese warehouses and many of the slaves were burnt, and 
 only one church was left standing ; 200 store buildings were 
 destroyed. Q^xmelin seems to lament chiefly the slaves and 
 merchandise, and scarcely even affects a regret for the stately 
 city. The ruins continued to smoke and smoulder for a 
 month, and at daybreak of the morning after their arrival, 
 little of the great city they had lately seen glorious in the 
 sunset remained but the president's house, where Morgan 
 and his staff lodged, a small clump of muleteers' cottages, 
 and two convents, that of St. Joseph and that of the 
 Brothers of the Eedemption. Still fearful of surprise, the 
 adventurers encamped outside the walls in the fields, from a 
 wish to avoid the confusion, and in order to keep togetlier 
 in case of a,n attack by a superior force. The wounded were 
 put into the only church that had escaped the fire. 
 
 The next day Morgan despatched 160 men to Chagres to 
 announce his victory, and to see that his garrison wanted for 
 nothing. They met whole troops of Spaniards running to 
 and fro in the savannah, but who, in spite of their expecta- 
 tions, never rallied. In the afternoon the Buccaneers re- 
 entered the city, and selected houses out of the few left to 
 barrack in. They then dragged all the available cannon 
 they could find and placed them round the church of the 
 Fathers of the Trinity, which they entrenched. In this 
 they placed the wounded and the prisoiiers. The evening 
 they spent in searching the ruins for gold, melted or hidden, 
 and found much spoil, especially in wells and cisterns. 
 
 A few hours after, Morgan's vessels returned with three 
 prizes, laden with plate and other booty, taken in the South 
 Sea. The day they sailed, arriving at one of the small 
 islands of refuge near Panama, they took a sloop with its 
 crew of seven men, belong to a royal Spanish vessel of 400 
 tons, laden with church plate and jewels, removed by the 
 richest merchants in Panama; there were also on board all 
 the religious women of the nunnery, with the valuable orna- 
 ments of their church, and she was so deeply laden as not 
 to require ballast. It carried only seven guns and a dozen, 
 
222 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 muskets, liad no more sails than tlie '' uppermost of the 
 mizen/' was short of ammunition and food. The Buccaneers 
 received thi.s intelligence from some Indians who had spoken 
 to the seamen of the galleon when they came ashore in a 
 cock-boat for water. Had they given chase they might have 
 easily captured it, but Captain Clark let the golden oppor- 
 tunity slip through his hands. Thinking himself sure of his 
 prize as he had got her sloop, his men spent the night in 
 drinking the rich wines they found in the sloop, and reposing 
 in the arms of their Spanish mistresses, the more beautiful 
 for their tears and despair. During these debaucheries the 
 galleon slipped by and was no more seen, and so they lost a 
 prize of greater value than all the treasure found in Panama. 
 In the morning, weary of the revel, they crowded all sail 
 and des])atched a well-armed boat to pursue tlie cripple, 
 ascertaining that the Spanish ship was in bad sailing order 
 a,nd incapable of making any resistance. In the islands of 
 Tavoga and Tavogilla they captured several boats laden with 
 merchandise. Informed by a prisoner of the probable moor- 
 ings of the galleon, Morgan, enraged at her escape, sent 
 every boat in Panama in pursuit of her, bidding them seek 
 till they found her. They were eight days cruising from port 
 to creek. Peturning to the isles, they found here a large 
 ship newly come from Payta, laden with cloth, soap, sugar, 
 biscuit, and 20,000 pieces of eight ; another small boat near 
 was also taken and laden with the divided merchandise. 
 With these glimpses of wealth the boats returned to Panama 
 somewhat consoled for the loss of their larger prize. The 
 Buccaneers' vessels now began to excite the astonishment 
 of the S])aniards, they being the first Englishmen, since 
 Drake, who had appeared as enemies on those seas. 
 
 During this expedition JMorgan had employed the rest of 
 his men in scouring the country in daily companies of 200, 
 one party relieving another, and perpetually bringing in 
 flocks of pale and bleeding prisoners, or mules laden with 
 treasure. Some tortured the ca|)tives, others ex})lored the 
 mines, and the rest burnt glittering herij^s of gold and silver 
 stuffs, merely to obtain the metal, expecting to have to fight 
 their way back to their ships at Chagres, and not wishing 
 to be encumbered with unwieldy bundles on that toilsome 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 223 
 
 and dangerous march. Morgan, complaining mucli of the 
 fruitless labours of his foragers, at last jjlaced himself at the 
 head ot 350 men, and sallied into the country to torture 
 every wealthy Spaniard he could meet. 
 
 The following anecdote presents us with such a complete 
 picture of the demoralization of a panic, that it reminds us 
 of Thucydides' description of Athens during the plague, or 
 Boccaccio's of Florence during the raging of the pest. On 
 one occasion Morgan's men met with a poor Spaniard, who, 
 during the general confusion, had strolled into a rich man's 
 house and dressed himself in the costume of a merchant of 
 rank. He had just stripped off his rags, and, first luxuri- 
 ating in a change of costly Dutch linen, had slipped on a 
 pair of breeches of fine red taffety, and picking up the silver 
 key of some coffer, had tied it to one of his points. Esque- 
 meling represents the man as a poor retainer of the house. 
 He was still wondering childishly at his unwonted finery, 
 when the Buccaneers broke into the house and seized him 
 as a prize. Finding him richly dressed and in a fine house, 
 they believed him at once to be the master. His story they 
 treated as a subtle invention. In vain he pointed to the 
 black rags he had thrown off — in vain he protested, by all 
 the saints, that he lived on charity, and had wandered in 
 there and put on the clothes by the merest chance, and 
 without a motive but of venial theft. Spying the little key 
 at his girdle, they became sure that he lied, and they de- 
 manded where he had hid his cabinet. They had at first 
 laughed at his ingenious story — they now grew angry at his 
 denials of wealth. They stretched him on the rack and 
 disjointed his arms, they twisted a cord round his wrinkled 
 forehead " till his eyes appeared as big as eggs, and were 
 ready to fall out,"" and as he still refused to answer, they 
 hung him up and loaded him with stripes. They then cut 
 off his nose and ears, singeing his face with burning straw 
 till he could not even groan or scream, and at last, desjDairing 
 of obtaining a confession, gave him over to their attendant 
 band of negroes to put him to death with their lances, " the 
 common sport and recreation of the pirates," says Esquemel- 
 ing, " being such cruelties." 
 
 They spared no sex, age, or condition ; priest or nun, 
 
224 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 peasai)t or noble, old man, maiden, and child were all 
 stretched on the same bed of torture. They granted no 
 quarter to any who could not pay a ransom, or who would 
 not pay it speedily. The most beautiful of the prisoners 
 became their mistresses, and the virtuous were treated with 
 rigour and cruelty. Captain Morgan himself seduced the 
 fairest by alternate presents and threats. There were 
 women found base enough to forsake their religion and their 
 homes to become the harlots of a pirate and a murderer. 
 But to his iron heart love found a way, and enervated the 
 mind of the man whom nothing before could soften. 
 
 After ten days spent in the country beyond the walls, 
 Morgan returned to Panama, and found a shipload of 
 Spanish prisoners newly arrived. Amongst these was a 
 woman of exquisite beauty, the wife of a Spanish merchant, 
 then absent on business in Peru. He had left her in the 
 care of some relations, with whom she was captured. Es- 
 quemeling says : " Her years were few, and her beauty so 
 great, as, perad venture, I may doubt whether in all Christen- 
 dom any could be found to surpass her perfections, either 
 of comeliness or honesty." CExmelin, a more skilful ob- 
 server, and who saw her, being a sharer in the expedition, 
 describes her hair as ink black, and her complexion of 
 dazzling purity. Her eyes were piercing, and the Spanish 
 pride, usually so cold and repulsive, served in her only as a 
 foil to her surpassing beauty, and to attract respect. The 
 roughest sailors and rudest hunters grew eloquent when 
 they praised her. The common men would willingly have 
 drawn swords for such a prize. But their commander was 
 already the slave of her whom he had captured. His 
 demeanour changed : he was no longer brutal and truculent: 
 he became sociable in manner, and more attentive to the 
 richness of his dress, for lovers grow either more careless or 
 more regardful of their attire. 
 
 The Buccaneer's aspect was changed. He separated the 
 lady from the other prisoners, and treated her with marked 
 respect. An old negress, who waited on her, served at once 
 as an attendant and a spy. She was told to assure her 
 mistress, that the Buccaneers were gentlemen, and no tJiieves 
 or cannibals, and men who knew what politeness and gal- 
 

 M 
 
 
 
 Morgan and the Spanish Lady. -p. 225. 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 225 
 
 lantiy were as well as any. The lady wept and entreated 
 to be placed with the other prisoners, for she had heard 
 that her relations were afraid of some plot against her good 
 fame. 
 
 The lady, like other Spanish v/omen, had been told by 
 their priests and husbands that the Buccaneers had the 
 shape of beasts and not of men. The more intelligent 
 reported they were robbers, murderers, and heretics ; men. 
 who foreswore the Holy Trinity, and did not believe in 
 Jesus Christ. " The oaths of Morgan,'' says Esquemeling, 
 with most commendable gravity, " soon convinced her that he 
 had heard of a God" It was said, that a woman of Panama 
 who had long desired to see a pirate, on their first entrance 
 into the city cried out, " Jesu Maria, the thieves are men, 
 like the Spaniards, after all;" and some volunteers, when, 
 they went out to meet Morgan's army, had promised to 
 bring home a pirate's head as a curiosity. 
 
 Morgan, refusing to restore the beauty to her friends, 
 treated her with more flattering care than before. Tapes- 
 tries, robes, jewels, and perfumes, lay at her disposal. Such 
 kindness, after all, was cheap generosity, and part of this 
 treasure may even have been her husband's. In her inno- 
 cence, she began to think better of the Buccaneers. They 
 might be thieves, but they were not, she found, all atheists, 
 nor very cruel, for Captain Morgan sent her dishes from his 
 own table. She at first received his visits with gratitude 
 and pleasure, surprised at the rough, frank kindness of the 
 seaman, and loudly denounced his slanderers, that had so 
 cruelly attempted to poison her mind against him, her 
 guardian and protector. The snares were well set, and the 
 bird was fluttering in. But Heaven preserved her, and she 
 passed through the furnace unhurt. Morgan soon threw olf 
 his dis2fuise, and offered her all the treasures of the Indies if 
 she would become his mistress. She refused his presents ot 
 gold and pearl, and resisted all his artifices. In vain he 
 tried alternately kindness and severity. He threatened her 
 with a thousand cruelties, and she replied, that her life was 
 in his hands, but that her body should remain pure, though 
 her soul was torn from it. On his advancing nearer, and 
 threatening violence, she drew out a poniard, and would 
 
226 CONQUEST OF PANA3IA. 
 
 have slain him or herself, had he not left her uninjured. 
 Enraged at her pride, as he miscalled her virtue, he deter- 
 mined to break her spirit by suffering. She was stripped of 
 her richest apparel, and thrown into a dark cellar, with 
 scarcely enough food allowed her to suj^port life, and the 
 chief demanded 30,000 piastres as her ransom, to prevent 
 her being sold as a slave in Jamaica. Under this hardship 
 the lady prayed, like a second Una, daily to God, for con- 
 stancy and patience. Morgan, now convinced of her purity, 
 and afraid of his men, who already began to express openly 
 their sympathy with her sufferings, to account for his 
 cruelty, accused her to his council of having abused his 
 kindness by corresponding with the Spaniards, and declared 
 that he had intercepted a letter written in her own hand. 
 " I myself," says Esquemeling, " was an eye-witness to the 
 lady's sufferings, and could never have judged such con- 
 stancy and chastity to be found in the world, if my own eyes 
 and ears had not assured me thereof." Amid blood, and 
 dust, and vapour of smoke, the virtue of this incomparable 
 lady shines out like a pale evening star, visible above all the 
 murky crimson of an autumn sunset. 
 
 A new danger now arose to Morgan from this adventure, 
 for the seamen began to murmur, saying that the love of this 
 beautiful Spaniard kept them lingering at Panama, and gave 
 the Spaniards time to collect their forces, and surprise them 
 on their return. But Morgan, having now stayed three 
 weeks, and nothing more being left to plunder, gave orders 
 to collect enough mules to carry the spoil to Cruz, where it 
 could be shipped for Chagres, and so sent homeward. 
 
 There can be no doubt that various causes had for some 
 time been undermining the long subsisting attachment be- 
 tween Morgan and his men. He had shown himself a slave 
 to the passions which enchained their own minds ; their 
 riches, perhaps, made therii independent, and therefore mu- 
 tinous. It was while the mules were collectinir that he 
 became aware of the loaded mine over which he stood. A 
 plot was discovered, in which there were 100 consjurators. 
 They had resolved to seize the two vessels they had captured 
 in the South Sea, and with tliese to take possession of an 
 island, which they could fortify for a stronghold. They would 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 227 
 
 then fit out the first large Spanish vessel they could obtain, 
 and with a good pilot and a bold ca])tain start privateering 
 on their own account, and work home by the Straits of 
 Magellan. As the spoil had not yet been divided, it is pro- 
 bable that all these men had broken the Buccaneer oath, 
 and had secreted part of the plunder. They had already 
 hidden in private places, cannons, muskets, provisions, and 
 ammunition. They were on the very point of raising the 
 anchor, when one of them betrayed the scheme, and Morgan 
 at once ordered the vessel to be dismasted and the rigging 
 burnt. The vessels he would also have destroyed ; but these 
 he spared at the intercession of the friend he had appointed 
 their captain. From this time all confidence seems to have 
 ceased between Morgan and his men. Many a king has 
 been made a tyrant by the detection of a conspiracy. The 
 men dreaded his vengeance, and he their treachery. From 
 this hour he appears to have resolved to enrich himself and 
 his immediate friends at any risk, leaving the French to 
 shift for themselves. It is not improbable but that the old 
 French and English feud may have had something to do 
 with this quarrel. In war it ceased, but rankled out again 
 in ])eace. The French seem to have been his greatest 
 enemies, and the English friendly or indifferent. This dis- 
 tinction is visible even in the historians, for Esquemeling 
 speaks of him with mere distrust, and ffixmelin with bitter 
 hatred. 
 
 In a few days the mules were ready, and the gold packed 
 in convenient bales ; for Spanish or English gold it was all 
 one to the mules. The costly church-plate was beaten up into 
 heavy, shapeless lumps, and the heavier spoil was left behind 
 or destroyed. Better burn it, they thought, than leave it to 
 the accursed Spaniard ; for we always hate those whom we 
 have injured. The artillery of the town being carefully 
 spiked, and all ready to depart, Morgan informed his 
 prisoners that he was about to march, and that he should 
 take with him all those v»^ho were either unable or unwilling 
 at once to bring in their ransom. The sight was heart- 
 rending, and the panic general. At his words, says the 
 historian, there was not one but trembled, not one but 
 hurried to write to his father, his brother, or his friends, 
 
 Q 2 
 
2-8 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 praying for instant deliverance or it would be too late. The 
 slaves vi^ere also priced, and hostages were sent to collect the 
 money. \Yhile this was taking place, a party of 150 men 
 were sent to Chagres, to bring up the boats and to look out 
 for ambuscades, it being reported that Don Juan Perez de 
 Guzman, the fugitive president of Panama, had entrenched 
 himself strongly at Cruz, and intended to dispute the passage. 
 Some prisoners confessed that the president had indeed so 
 intended, but could get no soldiers Avilling to fight, though 
 he had sent for men as far as Carthagena ; for the scattered 
 troopers fled at the sight of even their own friends in the 
 distance. 
 
 Having waited four days impatiently for the ransom, 
 Morgan at last set out on his return on the 24th of February, 
 1671. He took with him a laroje amount of baijo-acre, 175 
 beasts of burden laden with gold, silver, and jewels, and 
 about 600 prisoners, men, women, children, and slaves, 
 having first spiked all the cannon and burnt the gun-car- 
 riages. He marched in good order for fear of attack, with a 
 van and rear-guard, and the prisoners guarded between the 
 two divisions. 
 
 The departure was an affecting sight, as even the two 
 historians, who were Buccaneers themselves and eye wit- 
 nesses, admit. Lamentations, cries, shrieks, and doleful 
 sighs of women and children filled the air. The men wept 
 silently, or muttered threats between their teeth, to avoid 
 the blows of their unpitying drivers. Thirst and hunger 
 added to their sufferings. Many of the women threw them- 
 selves on their knees at Morgan's feet, and begged that he 
 would permit them to return to Panama, there to live with 
 their dear husbands and children in huts till the city could 
 be rebuilt. But his fierce answer was, that he did noti. come 
 there to hear lamentations, but to seek money, and that if 
 that was not found, wherever it was hid, they should assur- 
 edly follow him to Jamaica. All the selfishness and all the 
 goodness of each nature now came to the surface. The selfish 
 fell into torpid and isolated despair — the good forgot their 
 own sufferings in trying to relieve those of others. Some 
 gazed at each other silently and hopelessly, others wailed and 
 wept, a few cursed and raged. Here stood one mourning for 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 220 
 
 a brother — there another hxmenting a wife. Maii}^ believed 
 that they should never see each other again, but would be 
 sold as slaves in Jamaica. 
 
 The first evening the army encamped in the middle of a 
 green savannah on the banks ot a cool and pleasant river, 
 'l his was a great relief to the wretched |)risoners, who had 
 been dragged all day through the heat of a South American 
 noon by men themselves insensible to climate — urged forward 
 by the barrels of muskets and blows from the butts of pikes. 
 Some of the women were here seen begging the Buccaneers, 
 with tears in their eyes, for a drop of water, that they might 
 moisten a little floui- for their children, v%'-ho hunsf crvinir 
 at their parched and dried-up breasts. The next day, when 
 they resumed the march, the shrieks and lamentations were 
 more terrible than before. " They would have caused com- 
 passion in the hardest heart," says Esquemeling, "but Captain 
 Morgan, as a man little given to mercy, was not moved in 
 the least." The lagging Spaniards were driven on faster 
 with blows, till some of the women swooned with the intense 
 heat, and were left as dead by the road-side. Those who 
 had husbands gave them the children to carry. The young 
 and the beautiful fared best. 
 
 The fair Spaniard was led between two Buccaneers, still 
 apart from the rest. She w^ept as she walked along, crying 
 that she had entrusted two priests, in whom she relied, to 
 procure her ransom-money, 30,000 piastres, from a certain 
 hidden j^lace, and that they had employed it in ransoming 
 their friends. A slave had brought a letter to the lady and 
 disclosed the treachery. Her com})laint being told to Morgan, 
 he inquired into it, and found it to be true. The religious 
 men confessed their crime, but declared they had only bor- 
 rowed the money, intending to repay it in a week or so. He 
 therefore at once released the ladv, and detained the monks 
 in her place, taking them on to Chagres, and despatching 
 two men to obtain their ransom. 
 
 On arriving at Cruz, the mules were unloaded ])reparatory 
 to embarkation. Tlie Buccaneers encamned round the kins^'s 
 warehouse, where it was stored. Three days were given to 
 collect the ransom. The S[)aniards, tardy or unwilling in 
 the collection, brought in the money the day after. Vast 
 
230 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 quantities of corn, rice, and maize, were collected here for 
 victualling the ships. Morgan embarked 150 slaves, and a 
 few poor and obstinate Spaniards, who had not yet paid their 
 ransom. The monks Avere redeemed, and escaped happy 
 enough. Apart of the Buccaneers marched by land. Many 
 tears of joy and sorrow were shed when the prisoners and 
 those who were liberated took farewell. 
 
 On reaching Barbacoa the division of the spoil began. 
 Mustering his men, Morgan compelled them all to swear 
 they had concealed nothing, even of the smallest value, and, 
 what was more unusual, he ordered them all to be indivi- 
 dually searched from top to toe, down even to the very soles 
 of their shoes. This search was sus])icious and insulting. 
 The Frenchmen, hot-blooded and mutinous, would have 
 openly resisted had they not been in the minority. But 
 Morgan allowed himself to be first searched to lessen the 
 general discontent, and one man in every company was em- 
 jiloyed as searcher, No precautions were neglected that 
 could be suggested by long experience of plundering. 
 
 This unusual vigilance was a mere cloak for Morgan's own 
 dishonesty. Every man was now compelled to discharge 
 his musket before the searchers, that they might be sure no 
 precious stones were hidden in the barrel. These searchers 
 were generally the lieutenants of each crew, and had all 
 taken an additional oath to perform their duty with fidelity. 
 The murmurs against Morgan had now reached such a 
 height, and were so hourly increasing, that many Frenchmen 
 threatened to take his life before they reached Jamaica. 
 The more temperate controlled the younger and the more 
 impetuous, and the band reached Chagres without any re- 
 volt. They found the garrison short of provisions and glad 
 to be relieved, but the wounded had nearly all died of their 
 wounds. 
 
 From Chagres Morgan sent a great boat to Porto Bello 
 with all the St. Catherine's prisoners, and demanded a ran- 
 som for s])aring the castle of Chagres. The people of Porto 
 Bello replied they would not give one farthing, and he might 
 burn it as he chose. 
 
 The day after their arrival, Morgan divided the booty. It 
 amounted to only 443,000 pounds, estimating at ten piastres 
 
CONQUEST OF PAXAIIA. 231 
 
 tlie poiTiicI. The jewels were sold unfairly, the admiral and 
 his cabal buying the greater part very cheap, having already, 
 it was believed, retained all the best of the spoil. Every 
 one had expected at least 1,000 pieces each, and was disap- 
 pointed and indignant at receiving only about 200. There 
 was an end now to all co-operation between English and 
 French adventurers, and the hopes of a Buccaneer republic 
 were at an end for ever. The murmurs again rose incon- 
 trollably high, some even proposed to seize I\lorgan and 
 lorce him to a fair division. 
 
 The suspected admiral, trying in vain to pacify them, and 
 finding he could obtain no price for Chagres, divided the. 
 provisions of the fort among the vessels, removed the cannon 
 and ammunition, then demolished the fortifications, and 
 burnt the buildings. Suddenly taking alarm, or more pro- 
 bably following a preconcerted plan, Morgan sailed out of 
 the harbour without any signal or notice, and hurried to 
 Jamaica, followed by four English vessels, whose captains 
 had been his confidants. 
 
 In the first paroxysm of their rage, the French adven- 
 turers would have pursued Morgan, and attacked his vessel, 
 but he escaped while they were still hesitating. We shall 
 find him finally settled in Jamaica, and married to the 
 daughter of the chief person of the island, a sure proof, says 
 the indignant and philosophical (Exmelin, that any one is 
 esteemed in this world provided he has money. 
 
 The same vivacious writer gives a lively picture of the 
 rage of the crews at the treacherous flight of Morgan. They 
 shouted, swore, staraj^ed, clenched their fists, gnashed their 
 teeth, and tore their hair, fired off their pistols in the air, 
 and brandished their arms, with imprecations loud and deep. 
 They longed for the plunder they had lost, and longed still 
 more eagerly for revenge. They never now mentioned the 
 "Welsh name but with an execration. Strange anomaly of 
 the human mind, that men who lived by robbery, should be 
 astonished at a small theft committed by a comrade ! In 
 the first bitterness of their vexation, they drew their sabres, 
 and hewed and thrust at their imaginary enemy. Others 
 bared their arms, and pointed out to each other the cicatrices 
 of their half-healed wounds. 
 
232 CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 
 
 Confirmations of the admiral's treachery now reached 
 them from every side. 
 
 They remembered too late that Morgan had been latterly 
 unusually reserved and unsociable, closeting himself with a 
 few English confidants, to whom he had been seen whisper- 
 ing even during public conferences. He had, it was now 
 recollected, grown silent during all discussions, and more par- 
 ticularly when the booty was mentioned. 
 
 (Exmelin (a surgeon) also mentions, that, on one occasion, 
 as he was visiting a wounded Buccaneer, Morgan came up to 
 the hammock, and said in English, thinking he could not be 
 overheard, '• Courage, get soon well, you have helped me to 
 conquer, and you must help me to profit by the conquest." 
 Another day, as (Exmelin was searching by the river for a 
 medical herb, he turned round suddenly, and saw Morgan 
 secreting something in the corner of a canoe, and looking 
 frequently over his shoulder to see if he was observed. 
 When he observed OExmelin, he looked troubled, and, 
 coming up, asked him what he was doing there, to which 
 the surgeon made no answer, but, stooping down, picked the 
 plant he was in search of, and began to tell him its proper- 
 ties. Morgan turned off the subject, beginning to converse 
 on indifferent topics, and, although the proudest of men, in- 
 sisted on accompanying the doctor home. CExmelin took 
 care to find an opportunity afterwards to rummage the 
 canoe, but found nothing ; but this same canoe he always 
 observed Morgan took great care of, and never permitted to 
 row out of his sight. But these stories none had dared to 
 utter, for since the victory of Panama, the admiral, always 
 proud, sensual, and cruel, had grown every day more stern, 
 and had rendered himself dreaded by his severities. 
 
 The adventurers souo^ht for a lonof time some means of 
 avenging thetnselves on Morgan for his successful treachery. 
 They at last heard that he had resolved to take possession of 
 St. Catherine's Island, being apprehensive of the governor of 
 Jamaica. In this spot he had determined to fortify himself, 
 renew his Buccaneering, and defy both open enemies and 
 treacherous friends. The Buccaneers agreed to waylay him. 
 on his passage, and carry him off, with his wife, children, 
 and ill-gotten treasure. They then planned either to kill 
 
CONQUEST OF PANAMA. 233 
 
 lihn, or compel liiin to render an account of tlie spoil of Pa- 
 nama. But an unexpected accident saved JM.organ, and 
 defeated their scheme of vengeance. At the very crisis, a 
 new governor, Lord G. Yaughan, arrived at Port Royal, and 
 brought a royal order for Morgan to be sent to England to 
 answer the complaints of the King of Spain and his subjects. 
 Of his trial we hear nothing, but we soon after see the cul- 
 jDrit knighted by Charles II., and appointed Commissioner of 
 Admiralty for Jamaica. The king, who frolicked with 
 Rochester, and smiled at the daring villany of Blood, had no 
 scruples in disgracing knighthood by such an addition. 
 
 In the autumn of 1680, the Earl of Carlisle, then governor 
 of Jamaica, finding his constitution undermined by the cli- 
 mate, returned to England, leaving Morgan as his deputy. 
 
 His opportunity of revenge had now come, and he remem- 
 bered his old dangers of ruin and assassination. Many of 
 the French Buccaneers were hanged by his authority, and 
 some of them were delivered up to the governor of Cartha- 
 gena. A new governor arrived, and terminated his cruelties, 
 and the justice inspired by a personal hatred. He still re- 
 mained commissioner. In the next reign he was thrown 
 into prison, where he remained three years. Of his final 
 fate we know nothing certain. 
 
234 THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSOrvS OF MORGAN. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 
 
 Dispersion of the fleet — (Exmelin's interview with the old Buccaneer — 
 Adventure with Indians — Esquemeling's escapes — 1673. D'Og^eron's 
 escape irom the Spaniards — 1676. Buccaneers' fight at Tobago 
 against the Dutch — 1678. Captain Cook captures a Spanish vessel — 
 1679. Captains Coxen and Sharp begin their cruise. 
 
 On the departure of Morgan, the Buccaneers, without food, 
 and without leaders, underwent many sufferings, and 
 remained uncertain what to do. 
 
 OSxmelin and a few of his French friends being informed 
 by a female slave that an old Buccaneer lived in the neigh- 
 bourhood, determined to go to him and barter goods, as 
 they w^ere told that, although a Spaniard, such was his 
 custom. Following the slave with great expectation, they 
 reached the veteran's fort after about six hours' march. The 
 Buccaneers' " peel " towers were scattered all over the West 
 Indies, and Waterton mentions seeing the ruins of one near 
 Demerara. This fort was defended by a fosse of immense 
 depth, and by massy walls of an extraordinary thickness, 
 flanked at each corner by a bastion well supplied with 
 cannon. The Frenchmen displayed their colours and beat 
 their drums as a greeting, yet no one appeared, and no one 
 answered ; but, at the end of a quarter of an hour, they saw 
 a light in one of the bastions, and perceived a man about to 
 discharge a cannon. Throwing themselves on their faces 
 with professional dexterity, the shot flew over their heads, 
 and they then rose and retreated out of range. Believing at 
 once that they had been betrayed, for many dangers had 
 made them suspicious, they were about to cut their guide to 
 pieces, when, running from them, she cried to the gunner, 
 " Why is your master false to his word ? Did he not i^ro- 
 
THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 235 
 
 mise to receive these gentlemen ?" " It is true," cried 
 the soldier, " but he has changed his mind ; and if you 
 and your people do not go off, I will blow out your 
 brains," The Buccaneers, enraged at the insolence of this 
 threat, and the capricious change of intention, were about 
 to attempt to storm the place, when four Spaniards 
 advanced and demanded a truce, in the name of their 
 master. " We had," they explained, " been alarmed at 
 your numbers, and feared foul play or treachery." The old 
 adventurer was now willing to receive them, if they would 
 send four of their band as ambassadors and hostages. 
 CExmelin was one of the four chosen. They found the old 
 man, grey and venerable, seated between two others. He 
 was so old and feeble that he could not speak audibly, but, 
 he smiled and moved his lips, and stroked his long white 
 beard, as they entered, and they could observe that he was 
 pleased to see once more the well-remembered dress of the 
 Buccaneer seamen. His majestic bearing was impressive. 
 Though he could not rise to welcome them, he bent his head 
 in answer to their greetings, and beckoned to one of his 
 attendants to speak for him. By his orders they were at 
 once taken to his store-rooms, where they bartered their 
 goods, and obtained all that they required. They first 
 eagerly selected some brandy, and CExmelin is never tired 
 of repeating " Ses gens I'aiment avec passion." On their 
 way back to the ships with the guide, delighted at their 
 success, the Spaniards who carried the goods they had 
 bought told them their master's history. He was, it 
 appeared, properly speaking, neither an adventurer nor a 
 Castilian, but a Portuguese, who had lived long both with 
 adventurers and with Spaniards. A Spanish ship had 
 picked him up in a drifted canoe when quite a boy, and he 
 had been employed among the slaves in a cocoa plantation, 
 where he soon became a successful steward, and much 
 beloved by his master. His patron sent every year a vessel 
 to his plantation to be loaded with cocoa. One day, as the 
 steward was on board superintending the lading, a sudden 
 squall came on, snapped the cable and drove them out 
 to sea. He being a good pilot, and accustomed to naviga- 
 , tion, attempted to put back to land as soon as the storm 
 
236 THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 
 
 abated, but the slaves, with one voice, declared that they would 
 not return, and that he should not take them, for they knew 
 that their master would suspect, and would cruelly punish 
 them. At that time the slightest offence of a slave was 
 punished with death. The steward remonstrated with 
 them ; but the slaves resolved to be free, although they 
 knew not where to steer. At this crisis the bark was 
 pursued by a Buccaneer vessel, from which a storm for 
 a short time released them, but they were eventually over- 
 taken and captured. 
 
 The Buccaneer captain brought these prisoners to the for- 
 tress they had just visited. Here he became again a faithful 
 steward, and finally inherited the place at his master's death, 
 and continued to trade with the Buccaneers, as his jiredeces- 
 sor had done. The fortress had been originally built to 
 repel the Spaniards, w4io had been several times beaten off 
 with loss. 
 
 It is very seldom that we can follow the Buccaneer to the 
 last scene of all : he flashes across our scene from darkness 
 to darkness, and we hear of him no more. In the present 
 instance, (Exmelin enables us to fill up the vacuum and tell 
 out the tale. In a subsequent voyage he returned to the 
 old spot, the scene of an oft-told story. Devastation had 
 fallen upon the devastator, the fortress was completely 
 demolished and no dwelling remained. He ascertained 
 from the Spaniards that the old man had died and left his 
 riches to his two sons, who, impatient of a slothful w^ealth, 
 and with imaginations excited from their youth by the 
 recital of Buccaneer adventures, had at last turned Flibus- 
 tiers. Before their father's death they had often expressed 
 a wish to conquer the country of the ferocious Bravo Indians, 
 but he had always discouraged them from the dangerous 
 and unprofitable expedition, being afraid of attacks from the 
 Spaniards in their absence. They were never heard of 
 again, but report was current that, having been shipwrecked, 
 the two Buccaneers had been taken by the Indians, and 
 killed and eaten. 
 
 Leaving the Boca del Toro, about thirty leagues distant 
 from Chagres, Q^xmelin and his companions arrived at the 
 country of these very dreaded Indians, who were known to 
 
THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSOrvS OF MORGAN. 23f 
 
 be warlike cannibals, cruel and very treacherous. They 
 were expert archers, and could discharge their arrows, like 
 the Parthians, even when in full retreat. They had axes 
 and spears, and wore metal ornaments, the clash of which 
 animated them to the charge. They carried tortoise-shells 
 for shields, which covered their whole bodies ; they were most 
 to be dreaded when few in number and quite overpowered, 
 for they would then throw themselves like wild cats on the 
 foe, and think only of destroying their enemy's life, regard- 
 less of their own. Morgan, who seems to have made every 
 preparation for an extensive Buccaneer empire, had often 
 sworn to totally destroy this nation, which had slain so many 
 shipwrecked men, and so frequently frustrated his plans. 'No 
 Buccaneer historian ever seems to have reflected that these 
 savages, rude as they were, fought as patriots defending 
 their country. We sing of Tell and rave of Wallace, but 
 we have no interest in a hero without breeches ! 
 
 These Indians had at first been friendly to the Bucca- 
 neers, who had sold them iron in exchange for food ; but, on 
 one fatal occasion, at a Buccaneer debauch, a quarrel had 
 arisen, and some Indians had been killed and their wives 
 carried off. From this time irreconcilable hatred existed 
 between the two people, and to be wrecked on the Bravo 
 shore was equivalent to certain death. On reaching Cape 
 Diego (so called, like many other points of land, from an old 
 adventurer), Q^xraelin w^as compelled by hunger to feed 
 on crocodile eggs, which were found buried in. the sand. 
 Meetino: here with some French adventurers, they all 
 removed to an adjacent spot, where they caught turtle and 
 salted it for the voyage. 
 
 Ascending a river to obtain provisions, they surprised and 
 killed two Indians, of whom one had a beard-case of tortoise- 
 shell and another one of beaten gold : one of these savages 
 they took for a chief. Putting ofi* from here, and meeting 
 with contrary winds that drove them from Jamaica, they 
 returned again to Chagres, and were pursued by a ship 
 of Spanish build, which they feared had been sent from 
 Carthagena to rebuild the fort. 
 
 They attempted in vain to escape, and were clearing the 
 decks, preparing to fight to the last, when the enemy hoisted 
 
238 THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 
 
 the red flag, and proved to be one of their companions' 
 vessels driven back by the biso, or north-east wind. They 
 lost two days' sail by this accident, more than they could 
 regain in a fortnight, returned to the Boca del Toro to get 
 provisions and kill sea-cows, and then passed on to the 
 Boca del Drago, Tlie islands- here they knew to be in- 
 habited, for the fragrance of the fruits was wafted on the 
 sea wind. One day a fishing party gave chase to two Indians 
 in a canoe, which they instantly drew ashore and carried 
 with them into the woods. This boat, weighing above 
 2,000 lbs., and requiring eleven men afterwards to launch it, 
 was made of wild cedar, roughly hewn ; being nimble the 
 savages both escaped the Buccaneers. A pilot who had 
 been often in those parts, told them that a few years before, 
 a Buccaneer squadron arriving at that place, the men went 
 in canoes to catch the humming birds that swarmed round 
 the flowering trees of the coast. They were observed by 
 some Indians who had hid themselves in the trees, who, 
 leaping down into the sea, carried off the boats and men 
 before their comnanions could arrive to their aid. The 
 admiral instantly landed 800 men to rescue the prisoners, 
 but so many Indians collected that they found it necessary 
 to retreat in haste to their ships. 
 
 The next day the Buccaneers arrived at Bio de Zuera, 
 but the Spaniards were all fled, leaving no provisions ; they 
 therefore filled their boats with plantains, coasting for a 
 fortnight along the shore to find a convenient place to 
 careen, for the vessel had now grown so leaky that slaves 
 and men were obliged to work night and day at the pumps. 
 Arriving at a port, called the Bay of Blevelt, from a Buc- 
 caneer who used to resort there, half the crew were em- 
 ployed to unload and careen the bark on the shore, and half 
 to hunt in the woods — still much afraid of the Indians, 
 though they had as yet seen none. The huntsmen shot 
 several porcupines of great size, and many monkeys and 
 pheasa.nts. The men took great pleasure in the midst of 
 their danger in this pursuit. They laughed to see the 
 females carrying tlieir little ones on their backs, just like 
 the negro women, — they admired the love and fidelity which 
 some showed when their friends were wounded, and were 
 
THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 239 
 
 delighted when they pelted their pursuers with fruit and 
 dead boughs. The men were obliged to shoot fifteen or sixteen 
 to secure three or four, as even when dead they remained 
 clinging to the trees, and remained so for several days, 
 hanging by their fore-paws, or their tails. When one was 
 wounded the rest came chattering round him, and would 
 lay their paws on the wound to stop the flow of blood, others 
 would gather moss from the trees to bandage the place, or, 
 gathering certain healing herbs, chew them and apply them 
 as a poultice. If a mother was killed the young ones would 
 not leave the body till they were torn away. 
 
 But these amusements were soon to come to an end. 
 The Indians were upon their track. They had been now 
 eight days hunting. It was the daybreak of the ninth day, 
 and the fishermen and hunters were preparing their nets 
 and guns to start for the sea and for the v/oods. The slaves 
 were on the beach burning shells to make lime, which served 
 instead of pitch for the vessels, and the women were draw- 
 ins: water at the wells which had been dusr in the shore. A 
 few of them were washing dishes, and others sewing, for 
 they had risen earlier than usual. While the rest went to 
 the wells, one of them lingered behind to pick some fruit 
 that grew near the beach. Seeing suddenly some Indians 
 running from the spot where she had left her companions, 
 she ran to the tents, crying, " Indians, Indians, Christians, 
 the Indians are come." The Buccaneers, running to arms, 
 discovered that three of their female slaves were lying dead 
 in the wood, pierced with fourteen or fifteen flint-headed 
 arrows. These darts were about eight feet long, and as 
 thick as a man's thumb ; at one end w^as a wooden hook, 
 tied on with a string, at the other, a case containing a few 
 small stones. Searching the woods, no traces of Indians, or 
 any canoes, were to be found, but the Buccaneers, fearing 
 they should be surrounded and overpowered, re-embarked 
 all their goods, and sailed in great haste and fear. 
 
 They soon arrived at Cape Gracias a Dios, and rejoiced to 
 find themselves once more among friendly Indians, and at a 
 port where Buccaneer vessels often resorted, the rudest sailors 
 giving thanks to God for having delivered them out of so 
 many dangers, and brought them to a place of refuge. The 
 
240 THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 
 
 Indians provided them with every necessary, and treated 
 them with friendship. For an old knife or hatchet the 
 men each bought an Indian woman, who supplied them with 
 food. These savages often went to sea with the Buccaneers, 
 and, remaining several years, returned home with a good 
 knowledge of French and Englisli. They were used as 
 fishermen, and for striking tortoises and manitees, one Indian 
 being able to victual a vessel of 100 men. Qj]xmelin's crew 
 liaving on board two sailors who could S23eak the Indian 
 tongue, they were unusually well received. 
 
 This nation was not more than 1,700 in number, includ- 
 ing a few negro slaves, who had swum ashore from a wreck, 
 having murdered the Spanish crew, and, in their ignorance 
 of navigation, stranded the vessel. Some of them cultivated 
 the ground, and others wandered about hunting and fishing. 
 They wore little clothes but a palm-leaf hat, and a short 
 apron, made of the bark of some tree. Their arms were 
 spears, pointed v/ith crocodile's teeth. They believed in a 
 Supreme Being, and, as Esquemeling quaintly says, " Believe 
 not in nor serve the devil, as many other nations of America 
 do, and hereby they are not so much tormented by him as 
 other nations are." Their food was chiefly fruit and fish. They 
 prepared pleasant and intoxicating liquors from the plaintain 
 and from the seed of the palm, and at their banquets every 
 guest was expected to empty a four-quart calabash fuUof achioc, 
 as the palm drink was called, merely a whet to the feast to 
 follow. Their achioc was as thick as gruel. When they were 
 in love, they pierced themselves with arrow^s to prove their 
 sincerity. When a youth wished to marry a maiden, the first 
 question of the bride's father to the lover was, whether 
 he could make arrows, or spin the thread with which they 
 bound them. If he answered in the affirmative, the father 
 called for a calabash of achioc, and he himself, the bride, 
 and the bridegroom, all tasted of the beverage. When one 
 of these hardy women was delivered, she rose, went to the 
 nearest brook, washed and swathed the child, and wont 
 about her ordinary labour. AVhen a husband died, the wife 
 buried him, with all his spears, aprons, and ear jewels, and 
 for fifteen moons after (a year) brought meat and drink daily 
 to the grave. Some writers contend that the devil visited 
 
r 
 
 THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 241 
 
 the graves, and caiTied away these offerings to the manes ; 
 but Esqiiemeling says, he knows to the contrary, having 
 often taken away the food, which was always of the choicest 
 and best sort. At the end of the year, an extraordinary 
 custom prevailed. The widow had then to open the grave, 
 and take out all the bones ; she scraped, washed, and dried 
 them in the sun ; then placed them in a satchel, and for a 
 whole year was obliged to carry them upon her back by day, 
 and sleep upon them by night. At the end of the year, she 
 hung up the bag at her door-post, or, if she was not mistress 
 of her house, at the door of her nearest relation. A widow 
 could not marry again till this painful ceremony was com- 
 pleted, and even if an Indian woman married a pirate, the 
 same custom prevailed. The negroes, however, maintained 
 the habits of their own countries. 
 
 After refreshing themselves in this friendly region, the 
 Buccaneers steered for the island de los Pinos, and, arriving 
 in fifteen days, refitted their vessel, now become dangerously 
 leaky. Half the crew were employed in careening, and half 
 in fishing ; and, by the help of some of the Cape Gracias In- 
 dians who accompanied them, they killed and salted a suffi- 
 cient number of wild cattle and turtle to revictual the ship. 
 In six hours they could capture fish sufficient for a thousand 
 persons. " This abundance of provision," says Esquemeling, 
 " made us forget the miseries we had lately endured, and we 
 began to call one another again by the name of brother, 
 which was customary among us, but had been disused in our 
 miseries." They feasted here plentifully, and without fear 
 of enemies, for the few Spaniards who were on the island 
 were friendly, and past dangers grew mere dreams in the 
 distance. Their only anxiety was now about the crocodiles, 
 which swarmed in the island, and, when hungry, would devour 
 men. 
 
 On one occasion a Buccaneer and his negro slave, while 
 hunting in the wood, were attacked by one of these monsters. 
 With incredible agility it fastened upon the Englishman's leg, 
 and brought him to the ground. The negro fled. The hunter, 
 a robust and courageous man, drawing his knife, stabbed the 
 crocodile to the heart, after a desperate fight, and then, tired 
 with the combat and weak with loss of blood, fell senseless by 
 
 & 
 
A 
 
 242 THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 
 
 its side. The negro, returning, from curiosity rather than 
 compassion, to see how the duel had. ended, lifted his master 
 on his back, and brought him to the sea-shore, a whole league 
 distant, where he placed him in a canoe and rowed him 
 aboard. After this, no Buccaneer dared to go into the 
 woods alone ; but the next day, sallying out in troops, they : 
 killed all the monsters they could meet. These animals 
 would come every night to the sides of the vessel and attempt 
 to climb up, attracted probably by the smell of food. One 
 of these, when seized with an iron hook, instead of diving 
 or swimming, began to mount the ladder ol the ship, till 
 they killed him with blows of pikes and axes. After 
 remaining some time here they sailed for Jamaica, and 
 arrived there in a few days, after a prosperous voyage, 
 being the first adventurers who had arrived there from 
 Panama since Morgan. 
 
 In 1673, when the war between the French and Hol- 
 landers (Dutch) was still raging, the inhabitants of the 
 French West Indian colonies equipped a fleet to attack the 
 Dutch settlements at Curacoa, engaging all the Buccaneers 
 that could be induced to join the white flag, either from 
 hopes of plunder or from hatred to the Dutch. M. D'Oge- 
 on, the governor of Tortuga, the planner of this invasion, 
 iieaded the fleet in a large vessel named after himself, built 
 by himself, and manned by 500 picked adventurers. His 
 unlucky star led them to misfortune. The new frigate ran 
 upon the rocks near the Guadanillas Islands, and broke 
 into a thousand pieces, during a storm near Porto Pico. 
 Being at the time very near to land, the governor and all 
 his men swam safe to shore. The next day, discovered by 
 the Spaniards, they were attacked by a large force, who 
 supposed they had come purposely to plunder the islands, 
 as the Buccaneers had done before. The whole country, 
 alarmed, rose in arms. The shipwrecked men were sur- 
 rounded by an overpowering army, who, finding them almost 
 without arms, refused to give them quarter, slew the greater 
 part without mercy, and made the remainder prisoners. 
 Binding them with cords, two by two, they drove them 
 through the woods into the open champaign. To all in- 
 quiries as to the fate of their commander, whom they could 
 
THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 243 
 
 not distiiiguisli from the rest, they rei^lied that he had sunk 
 with the wreck. D'Ogeron, following up this deception 
 with French sagacity, behaved himself as a mere half-witted 
 suttler, diverting the Spanish soldiers by his tricks and 
 mimicry, and was the only Buccaneer whom they allowed to 
 go at liberty. The troopers at their camp-fires gave him 
 scraps from their meals and rewarded him with more food 
 than his companions. 
 
 Among the prisoners there was also a Frencli surgeon, 
 who had on former occasions done some service to the 
 Spaniards, and him they also allowed to go at large. 
 D'Ogeron agreed with him to attempt an escape at all 
 risks, and after a mature deliberation, they both agreed 
 upon a plan, and succeeded in escaping safely into the 
 woods, and making their way to the sea-side. They deter- 
 mined to attempt to build a canoe, although unsuj^plied with 
 any tool except a hatchet. By the evening they reached the 
 sea-shore, to their great joy, and caught some shell-fish on the 
 beach from a shoal that ran in upon the sands in pursuit of 
 their prey. Fire to roast them they obtained by rubbing two 
 sticks together in the Indian fashion. The next morning 
 early they began to cut down and prepare timber to build 
 the canoe in which to escape to Yera Cruz. While they 
 were toiling at their work they observed in the distance a 
 large boat, which they supposed to contain an enemy, steer- 
 ing directly towards them. Retreating to the woods, they 
 discovered, as soon as it touched land, that it held only two 
 poor fishermen. These unsuspecting men they determined if 
 possible to overpower, and to capture the boat. As the 
 mulatto came on shore alone, with a string of calabashes 
 on his back to draw water, they killed him with a blow of 
 their axe, and then slew his fellow, a Spaniard, who, alarmed 
 at the sound of voices, was attempting in vain to push from 
 the shore. Having filled the dead man's calabashes they 
 set sail, using the precaution of taking the dead bodies with 
 them out into the deep sea, in order to conceal their death 
 from the Spaniards. 
 
 They steered at once for Porto Bico, and passed on to 
 Hispaniola. A fair wind soon brought them to Saniana, 
 where they found a party of their people. Leaving the 
 
 R 2 
 
244 THE COMPANIOXS AND SUCCESSORS OF MORGAN. 
 
 surgeon to collect men at Samana, D'Ogeron sailed to Tor- 
 tuga to collect vessels and crews to return and deliver his 
 companions, and revenge his late disaster. He sailed even- 
 tually with 300 men, and took great precautions to prevent 
 the Spaniards being aware of his coming, using only his 
 lower sails in order that his masts should not rise above the 
 horizon. In spite of this the Spaniards, informed of his 
 approach, had placed troops of horse upon the shore at 
 various assailable points. 
 
 D'Ogeron landed his men under favour of a discharge 
 from his great guns, which drove the horsemen into the 
 woods, where, as he little suspected, the infantry lay in 
 ambush. Eagerly pursuing, his men, wdio thought the vic- 
 tory their own, found themselves hemmed in on every side. 
 Few escaped even to the ships. The Sj)aniards, cruel from 
 the reaction of fear, cut off the limbs of the dead and carried 
 them home as trophies. They lighted bonfires on the shore 
 as tokens of defiance to the retreating fleet. 
 
 The first prisoners were now treated worse than ever. 
 Some of them were sent to Havannah and employed on 
 the fortifications all day, and chained up like wild beasts at 
 niglit, to prevent their desperate attempts at escaj)e. Many 
 were sent to Cadiz, and from thence escaped over the Pyre- 
 nees into France, and, assembling together, like sworn 
 members of a common brotherhood, returned by the first 
 ship to Tortuga. 
 
 These very men some time after equipped a small fleet, 
 under command of Le Sieur Maubenon, which sacked Trini- 
 dad, put the island to a ransom of 10,000 pieces of eight, 
 and from thence proceeded to the Caraccas. 
 
 The Buccaneers fought against the Dutch, in 1676, and 
 helped the French to recover Cayenne, that had been taken 
 by Vice- Admiral Binkes. After this conquest, M. D'Es- 
 trees attacked Tobago, but was rejiulsed with the loss of 
 150 killed, and 200 wounded. His ship, the Glorieux, of 
 seventy guns, was blown up, and two others stranded ; 
 several of the Dutch vessels were, however, burnt. 
 
 D'Estrees, returning to Brest, was ordered back to To- 
 bago, with twenty sail of vessels of war, besides a great 
 number of small craft. Fifteen hundred men were landed, 
 
THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSOKS OF MORGAN. 245 
 
 and, approacliing a fortified place called Le Cort, summoried 
 Heer Biiikes to surrender. The French began their attack 
 by throwing fire-balls into the castle ; the third grenade 
 fell upon some loose powder in the path leading to the 
 magazine, and blew it up. Heer Binkes and all his officers 
 but one were killed. Five hundred French instantly stormed 
 the works, killing all but 300 men, who were sent prisoners 
 to France. D'Estrees then destroyed every fort and house 
 in the island, and sailed away. 
 
 It was in 1678 that the same Comte D'Estrees collected 
 1,200 Buccaneers from Hispaniola, and twenty vessels of 
 war, besides fire-ships, to capture Curacoa, which could have 
 been taken with 300 Bucca,neers and three vessels. This 
 fieet was, however, lost on the Isles d'Aves, as we shall 
 describe more fully in Dampier's voyage. 
 
 In the year 1678 a certain Captain Cook loaded his 
 vessel with logwood, at Campeachy, and, v/hile anchoring 
 at the island of Bubia, on his way to Tobago, was captured 
 by three Spanish men-of-war, who left his crew upon the 
 shore, and carried ofi" his ship and cargo. They had not 
 lain there long before a Spanish sloop of sixteen men 
 arrived, laden with cocoa and plate, and gave them oppor- 
 tunity for escape and for revenge. Borrowing muskets of 
 the Dutch governor, they employed six of their men in 
 seizing the sloop's boat as it came to land, and then em- 
 barked and took the larger vessel, leaving their prisoners 
 bound upon the beach, to watch the combat that would 
 decide their fate. Two men navigated, two more loaded the 
 guns, and two others fired into the enemy as fast as they 
 could pour their shot into the stern-ports. The Spaniards 
 resisted stoutly for some time ; but seeing their priest and 
 captain shot dead, threw their arms overboard, and cried for 
 quarter. The Buccaneers gave the Dutch governor a hand- 
 some reward, with a recompense for the arms, and divided 
 among themselves about £4,000 worth of plate. On arriving 
 at Jamaica they burnt the prize, and embarked their goods 
 for England. 
 
 In the year of ovn- Lord 1679, a Buccaneer fleet of five 
 sail, commanded by Captains Coxen, Essex, Alliston, Hose, 
 and Sliarp, set sail from Port-Royal, and steered for the 
 
246 THE COMPANIONS AND SUCCESSOKS OF MORGAN". 
 
 island of Pines, losing two vessels in their passage, at tlie 
 Zamballos islands. They met a French ship, whose com- 
 mission was only for three months, and showed its captain, 
 with great exultation, their forged commission for three 
 years, purchased for only ten pieces of eight. This cruise we 
 reserve for our next chapter. 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKIXS AND SHAEP. 247 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 
 
 Land at Darien — March overland — Take Santa Maria — Sail to Panama 
 — Ringrcse is wrecked — Failure of expedition — Driven ofi by 
 Sj^anish fleet — Coxen accused of cowardice — Sharp elected 
 commander — Plunder Hillo and take La Serena — Take Arica — 
 Saved with difficulty — Conspiracy of slaves — Land at Antigua — 
 Keturn to England — Sharp's trial — Seizes a French ship in the 
 Downs, and returns to Jamaica. 
 
 The cruises of Sawkins and Sharp are recorded in tlie 
 travels of Ringrose, who was present at all their exploits. 
 At this time the Buccaneers widened their field of opera- 
 tions, and passed from the South into the North Pacific. 
 The whole coast of South America, on either side, met the 
 fate of the West Indian islands. The gold mines of Peru 
 were the next object of their speculation. 
 
 A fleet which took Porto Bello a second time rendez- 
 voused at Boca del Toro. A new expedition was then 
 formed to follow Captain Bournano, a French commander, 
 who had lately attacked Chepo, to Tocamora, a great and 
 very rich place, whither the Darien Indians had offered to 
 conduct him, in spite of a late treaty with the Spaniards. 
 
 The vessels first dispersed into coves and creeks, to careen 
 and salt turtle, and then re-united at the Water key. The 
 fleet consisted of nine vessels, with a total of 22 guns and 
 458 men. 
 
 The expedition sailed March 26, 1679. The first place to 
 
 , touch at was the Zemblas Islands, where they traded with 
 
 r the friendly Indians, who brought fruits and venison in 
 
 exchange for beads, needles, knives, and hatchets. These 
 
 Indians were quite naked, but richly decorated with gold 
 
 and silver plates of a crescent form, and gold rings worn in 
 
248 THE cnuiSES of sawkins and skaep. 
 
 tlie noFie, wlrlcli they Lad to lift np when they drank. They 
 were generally painted with streaks of black and red, but 
 were a handsome race, and frequently as fair as Europeans. 
 The sailors believed that they could see better by night than 
 by day. 
 
 The Indians dissuaded the captains from the march upon 
 Tocamora, and agreed to guide them to the vicinity of 
 Panama. The way to Tocamora, they declared, was moun- 
 tainous and uninhabited, and ran through wild places, where 
 no provisions could be obtained. In this change of plan, 
 Eow and Bournano, whose crews were all French, separated, 
 being unwilling to risk a long march by land, and remained 
 at the Zemblas, while Andrseas, an Indian chief, guided the 
 remaining vessels to the Golden Island, a little to the west- 
 ward of the mouth of the great river of Darien. There the 
 seven remaining vessels rendezvoused April 3, 1680. 
 
 They here agreed to follow the Indians' advice, and 
 attack the town of Santa Maria, situated on the river of the 
 same name, which runs into the South Sea by the gulf 
 of St. Miguel. It was garrisoned by 400 soldiers ; and 
 from hence the gold gathered in the neighbouring moun- 
 tains was carried to Panama, on which they could march if 
 they could not find enough at Santa Maria. 
 
 On the 5th of April they landed 331 men, leaving 
 Captains Alleston and Macket to guard the ships in their 
 absence. Each man carried with him three or four " dough- 
 boys" (cakes), trusting to the rivers for drink. Captain 
 Sharp, who went at their head, was still faint from a late 
 sickness. His company carried a red flag and a bunch of 
 white and green ribbons. The second division, led by Captain 
 Pichard Sawkins, had a red flag, striped with yellow. 
 
 The Indian guides led them through a wood and over a 
 bay two leagues up a W(X)dy valley, along a good path, with 
 here and there old plantations. At a river, then nearly dry, 
 they built huts to rest in. Another Indian chief, a man " of 
 great parts," and called Captain Antonio, now promised to 
 be their leader, as soon as his child, who was then sick, had 
 died, which he expected would be next day. This Indian 
 warned them against lying in the grass, which was full of 
 large snakes. 
 
THE CBUISES OF SAWKIXS AND SHARP. 249. 
 
 The men, breaking sorae of the stones washed down from 
 the mountains, found them glitter like gold ; but, in spite of 
 this, several grew tired, and returned to the shi23s, leaving 
 only 327 sailors and six Indian guides. 
 
 The next day they ascended a very steep hill, and found 
 at the foot of it a river, on which Andrseas told them Santa 
 Maria was built. About noon they ascended another and 
 higher mountain, by so perpendicular and narrow a path, 
 that only one man could pass at a time. Having marched 
 eighteen miles, they halted that night on the banks of the 
 same river, much rain falling during both rights. The next 
 day they crossed the river, after wading sometimes up to the 
 knee, sometimes to the middle, in a steep current. At noon 
 they reached the Indian village, near which the king of 
 Darien resided. The houses were neatly built of cabbage- 
 tree, with the roofs of wild canes, thatched with palmito 
 royal, and were surrounded by plantain walks, but had 
 no upper stories. The king, queen, and family came to 
 visit them in royal robes. Like most savages, he was 
 all ornament and nakedness, gold and dirt. His crow^n was 
 made with woven white reeds, lined with red silk. In the 
 middle was a thin plate of gold, some beads, and several 
 ostrich feathers ; in each ear a gold ring ; and in his nose a 
 half-moon of the same metal. His robe was of thin white 
 cotton, and in his hand he held a long bright lance, sharp as 
 a knife. The queen wore several red blankets, and her two 
 marriageable daughters and young child were loaded with 
 coloured beads, and covered v/ith strips of rag. The women 
 seemed " free, easy, and brisk," but modest, and afraid of 
 their husbands. The king gave the sailors each three plan- 
 tains, and some sugar-canes to suck ; but, after that regal 
 munificence, did not disdain to sell his stores like his 
 subjects, who proved very cunning dealers in their pur- 
 chases of knives, pins, and needles. Resting here a day, 
 Captain Sawkins was appointed to lead the forlorn hope of 
 eighty men. Their march still lay along the river, and here 
 and there they found a house. The Indians, standing at the 
 doors, would present each with a rijDe plantain or cassave 
 root, or count them by dropping a grain of millet for each 
 one that passed. They rested at night at some native houses. 
 
250 THE CKUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 
 
 The next day Sharp, Coxen, and Cook, and ninety men, 
 embarked in fourteen canoes to try how far the stream was 
 navigable, Captain Andrseas being with them, and two 
 Indians in each canoe serving as guides. But the water 
 proved more tedious than the land ; for at the distance of 
 every stone's-cast, they were constrained to get out of the 
 boats and haul them over sands, rocks, or fallen trees, and 
 sometimes over spits of land. That night they built huts 
 on the bank, being worn out with fatigue. 
 
 The next day proved a repetition of the past ; at night a 
 tiger came near them, but they dared not fire for fear of 
 alarming tlie Spaniards. The following day was worse than 
 before, and their men grew mutinous and suspicious of the 
 Indians, who, they thought, had divided the troop in order 
 to betray them. The fourth day, resting on " a beachy point 
 of land," where another arm joined the river, they were 
 joined by their companions, whom they had sent their 
 Indians to seek, and who had grown alarmed at their con- 
 tinued absence. That night they prepared their arms for 
 action. On the morrow they re-embarked, in all sixty-eight 
 canoes and 327 Englishmen, with fifty Indian guides. They 
 made themselves paddles, threw away the Indian poles, and 
 rowed with all speed, meeting several boats laden with plan- 
 tains. About midnight they arrived within'half a mile of 
 Santa Maria, and landed. The mud was so deep that they 
 had to lay down their paddles and lift themselves up by the 
 Troughs of the trees ; then cutting a way through the woods, 
 they took up their lodging there for the night, hoping to 
 surprise the Spaniards, 
 
 At daybreak, to their disappointment, they were awoke 
 by the discharge of a musket and the beating of a drum. 
 The Spaniards had already prepared some lead for their 
 reception, and had sent away their gold to Panama. Directly 
 they emerged into the plain, the enemy ran into a large 
 palisaded fort, twelve feet high, and began to fire quick and 
 close. The vanguard, running up, pulled down part of the 
 stockade and broke in and took them prisoners, the whole 
 280 men. A few English were wounded, not one being 
 killed of the fifty men who led the attack. Two hundred 
 other Spaniards were in the mines conveying away the gold. 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 251 
 
 the mines there being the richest of the western world. 
 Twenty-six Spaniards were killed in the fort and sixteen 
 wounded, but the governor, priest, and chief men all escaped 
 by flight. The town proved to be merely a few cane houses, 
 built to check the Indians, who frequently rebelled. Some 
 days before, three cwt. of gold had been sent in a barque to 
 Panama, the same quantity being despatched twice or thrice 
 a-year. 
 
 During the fight the Indians, frightened at the whistling 
 of the bullets, had hidden themselves in a hollow ; when all 
 was over they entered the place, with great courage, stabbing 
 the prisoners with their lances, and putting about twenty 
 to death in the woods, till the Buccaneers interfered. In 
 the town the Indians found the eldest daughter of the 
 Darien king, whom one of the garrison had carried off, and 
 who was then with child by him. Rather than be left to 
 the mercy of the Indians, this man offered to lead them to 
 Panama, where they hoped to capture all the riches of Potosi 
 and Peru. Sawkins in a canoe attempted in vain to over- 
 take the governor and his officers, and rather than return 
 empty-handed, resolved to go to Panama, to satisfy what 
 Pingrose calls " their hungry appetite of gold and riches." 
 
 Captain Coxen was chosen commander, and the booty 
 and prisoners sent back to the ships under a guard of twelve 
 men. The Indians, being rewarded with presents of needles 
 and beads, also returned, all but the king. Captain Andrseas, 
 Captain Antonio, and the king's son. King Golden Cap 
 (honete d'oro), as the Spaniards called him, resolved to go on, 
 desiring to see Panama sacked, and offering to aid them with 
 a large body of men. The Spanish guide declared he would 
 not only lead them into the town, but even to the very door 
 of the governor of Panama's bed-chamber, and that they 
 should take him by the hand, and seize him and the whole 
 city, before they should be discovered by the Spaniards. 
 
 After remaining two days at Santa Maria, they departed 
 April 17th, 1680, for Panama. 
 
 They embarked in thirty- five canoes and a piragua which 
 they had found lying at anchor, rowing down the river to 
 the gulf of Belona, where they would enter the South Sea 
 and work round to Panama. At the request of the Indian 
 
552 THE CRUISES OF SAV/KINS AND SHAPcP. 
 
 king the fort, church, and town were all burnt. The Spanish 
 prisoners, afraid of being put to death by the savages if 
 left behind, collected some bark logs and leaky canoes, 
 although the Buccaneers could scarcely find boats for them- 
 selves, and went with them. 
 
 E/ingrose and four other men were put in the heaviest 
 and slowest canoe, and, getting entangled between a shoal 
 two miles long, and obliged to wait for high water, the boat 
 being too heavy to row against tide, were soon left behind. 
 At night, it being again low water, they stuck up an oar in 
 the river, and, in spite of a weltering rain, slept all night by 
 turns in the moored canoe. The next morning, rowing two 
 leagues, they overtook their companions filling water at an 
 Indian hut, there being no more for six days' journey. 
 Hurrying to a pond a quarter of a mile distant with their 
 calabashes, they leturnecl to their boats and found the rest 
 again gone and out of sight. " Such," moralises Ringrose, 
 " is the procedure of these wild men, that they care not in 
 the least whom they lose of their company or leave behind. 
 We were now more troul:)led in our minds than before, 
 fearing lest we should fall into the same misfortune we had 
 so lately overcome." 
 
 They rowed after them as fast as possible, but in vain, 
 and lost their way among the innumerable islands of the 
 river's mouth ; but at last, with much trouble and toil, hit 
 the Bocca Chica, the desired passage. But though they 
 saw the door, they could not pass through, the "young flood" 
 running violently against them — although it was only a 
 stone's-cast ofl^ and not a league broad. Here, then, in 
 despair they put ashore, fastening the rope to a tree, almost 
 covered by a tide that flowed four fathoms deep. 
 
 As soon as the tide turned, they rowed to an island about 
 a league and a half from the river's mouth, in the gulf of 
 St. Miguel, in much danger from the waves, their boat being 
 twenty feet long, but not quite a foot and a half broad. 
 Here they rested for the night, wet through with the con- 
 tinual and impetuous rain, without water to drink, and 
 unable to light a fire, " for the loss of our company, and the 
 dangers we were in," says Eingrose, " made it the sorrow- 
 fullest night that, until then, I ever experimented." None 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 253 
 
 slept that tedious night, for a vast sea surrounded them on 
 one side, and the mighty power of the Spaniards on the 
 other. They were all without shoes, and their clothes were 
 drenched through. They could see nothing but sea, moun- 
 tain, and I'ock. 
 
 At break of day they rowed past several islands to the 
 Point St. Laurence, one man incessantly employed in baling. 
 As they passed one of these islands, a huge sea over-turned 
 their boat, but they gained the beach, swimming for life, and 
 the canoe came tumbling beside them. The arms fast 
 lashed at the bottom of the boat, the locks cased and waxed 
 down like the cartouche boxes, and powder horns, escaped 
 uninjured, but the bread and fresh water were either spoiled 
 or lost. Yv^hile carefully wiping and cleaning their arms, for 
 a Buccaneer's musket was as his wife and child to him, they 
 saw another canoe tossed to shore, a little to leeward. This 
 proved to be six of the Spanish prisoners, who had escaped 
 in an old piragua which v/as split to pieces, the English boat, 
 formed of wood, six inches thick, having escaped unhurt. 
 A common misfortune makes all men friends, and the Eng- 
 lish and Spaniards sat down together and broiled their meat 
 amicably at the same fire. They then held a council, dis- 
 cussing for two or three hours what course to take, and all 
 the men but Kingrose were for returning and living with the 
 Indians, if they could not reach the ships lying in the 
 northern sea. With much ado, Ringrose prevailed on them 
 to persist for one day longer, and, just as they were con- 
 cluding their debate, the man on the look-out cried that he 
 saw Indians. Pursued into the woods bv two Buccaneers, 
 they found that he was one of the expedition, and had 
 arrived with seven others in a great canoe. They were glad 
 to see them, and declared, to their joy, that, all in one 
 canoe, they could overtake the boats in the course of a day. 
 On seeing the Spaniards (Wankers they called them), they 
 would have put them to death but for Bingrose's interpo- 
 sition, for his men stood by indifferent. They then insisted 
 on keeping one as a slave. Bingrose, still fearing for their 
 lives, gave the five Spaniards his own canoe, and bade thera 
 shift for their lives. Now in a large canoe, with a good sail, 
 and a fresh and strong gale, they made brave way, with 
 
254 THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 
 
 infinite joy and comfort of heart, the smooth and easy pas- 
 sage, and the pleasant, fresh ripple of the sea, filling them 
 with hope and gladness ; but that very evening it grew very 
 dark, and rained heavily. Suddenly two fires were seen to 
 blaze up from the opposite shore of the continent, and the 
 Indians, thinking they must indicate the encampment of 
 their people, shouted, " Captain Antonio, Captain Andraeas," 
 and made for the shore as fast as they could pull. The 
 canoe, however, had hardly got amongst the breakers, before 
 sixty Spaniards, armed with clubs, leaped from the woods, 
 and, drawing the boat on land, made all the crew their pri- 
 soners. Ringrose seized his gun, and prepared for resistance, 
 but was pulled down by four or five of the enemy. The 
 Indians, leaping overboard, escaped nimbly into the woods. 
 Ringrose spoke to his captors in French and English, with- 
 out obtaining any answer. On addressing the strangers in 
 Latin, he discovered that they were the Spanish prisoners 
 from Santa Maria, who had been liberated, for fear they 
 might escape when nearer Panama, and inform the city of 
 the Buccaneers' approach. The Englishmen were presently 
 taken with shouts of joy into a hut made of boughs, and ex- 
 amined by the Spanish captain, who meditated retaliating 
 upon them the injuries inflicted on the town. At this 
 critical juncture, the Spaniards whom Ringrose had liberated 
 came in, and explained how they had been delivered from 
 the Indians. On hearing this, the Spanish captain rose, 
 and, embracing Ringrose, said, " The English were good 
 people, and very friendly enemies, but the Indians very 
 rogues, and a treacherous nation." He then made him sit 
 down and eat with him, and consented, for the kindness he 
 had shown his countrymen, to give him and all his men, and 
 even the Indians, if they could find them, their lives and 
 liberties, which otherwise would have been forfeited. Finally, 
 giving them a canoe, the noble-hearted enemy bade them go 
 in God's name, praying that they might be as fortunate as 
 they had been generous. All that night they skirted a 
 dangerous and iron coast, without daring to land. 
 
 The next morning, after sailing, paddling, and rowing for 
 a few hours, they saw a canoe suddenly making towards 
 them. It was one of the English boats, which had mistaken 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 255 
 
 them for a Spanish piragua. They at once conducted them 
 to a deep bay, sheltered by rocks, where the rest lay at 
 anchor. They were all delighted to see liingrose and his 
 men, having given them up as lost. They then made their 
 way with all speed to a hilly island, about seven leagues dis- 
 tant, and surprised an old man, who was stationed there to 
 watch. The road up to the hut was very steep, and the 
 Buccaneers surrounded the old man, who did not see them 
 till they had already entered his plantain walk. They were 
 much encouraged by his declaration, that no tidings of their 
 arrival had yet reached Panama. About dusk, two of their 
 boats surprised a small bark that came and anchored outside 
 the island. The crew had been absent eight days from the 
 city, landing soldiers on the adjacent shore, to curb and 
 drive back the Indians. The crews of the smaller canoes 
 now crowded into this vessel to the number of 137 men, 
 together with Captain Cook and Captain Sharp, the latter 
 of whom Kingrose calls " a sea artist, and valiant com- 
 mander." 
 
 Next morning, rowing all day over shallow water, they 
 chased a bark, which Captain Harris took after a sharp dis- 
 pute, putting on board a prize crew of thirty men. During 
 this pursuit the vessels scattered, and did not reunite till 
 next day at the island of Chepillo, a preconcerted rendezvous. 
 They again chased a bark, but with less success, and Captain 
 Coxen's canoe missed the prize, owing to a breeze springing 
 up, having one man killed and another wounded, and, what 
 was worst of all, the vessel not only escaped, but spread the 
 alarm at Panama. At Chepillo they took fourteen negro 
 and mulatto prisoners, and secured two fat hogs, plenty of 
 plantains, and some good water. Believing it useless now 
 to attack Panama, the Buccaneers resolved to hurry on to 
 the town to at least surprise some of the shipping. Their 
 boats had the addition of another piragua, which they found 
 lying at Chepillo. Before starting, the cajDtains cruelly de- 
 cided, for reasons which Ringrose could not fathom, to allow 
 the Indians to murder all the Spanish prisoners before their 
 eyes, the savages having long thirsted for their blood. But 
 by a singular coincidence the prisoners, though without arms, 
 forced their way by a sudden rush through all the Indian 
 
256 THE CRUISES of sawkins and sharp. 
 
 spears and arrows, and escaped unhurt into the woods, to 
 the chagrin of both white and black savages. 
 
 Staying only a few hours at Chepillo, the boats started at 
 four o'clock in the evening, intending to reach Panama, 
 wliich was only seven leagues distant, before the next morn- 
 ing. The next day (St. George's day), before sunrise they 
 arrived at Panama, " a city," says Pingrose, " which has a 
 very pleasant prospect seaward." They could see all the 
 shi2)S of the city lying at anchor at the island of Perico, two 
 leagues distant, where storehouses had been built. There 
 now rode at anchor five great ships and three smaller arma- 
 dillas (little men-of-war). This fleet, which had been hastily 
 manned to defend the city, as soon as they saw the Buc- 
 caneers, weighed anchor, got under sail, and bore down at 
 once upon them, directly before the wind, and with such 
 velocity as to threaten to run them down. The Spanish 
 admiral's vessel was manned by ninety Biscayans, agile sea- 
 men and stout soldiers. They were all volunteers, and had 
 come out to show their valour under the command of Don 
 Jacinto de Barahona, high-admiral of those seas. In the 
 second were seventy-seven negroes, led by a brave old An- 
 dalusian, Don. Francisco de Peralta. In the third, making 
 228 men in all, were sixty -five mulattoes, under Don Diego 
 de Carabaxal. The Spaniards had strict orders given them 
 to grant no quarter. 
 
 To add to the disparity of numbers, only a few of the 
 Buccaneers' boats were able to arrive in time. The first five 
 canoes that came up, leaving the heavy piraguas still lagging 
 behind, contained only thirty-seven men, and these were 
 tired with rowing in the wind's eye, and trying to get close 
 to the windward of the enemy. The lesser piragua coming 
 up with thirty-two more men, made a total force of sixty 
 Buccaneers, including the king of Darien, engaged in this 
 darinij resistance to an overwhelmincf force. 
 
 Carabaxal's vessel, passing between Sawkins's and Ping- 
 roae's canoes, fired at both, wounding four men in the former 
 and one in the latter, but being slow in tacking, the Spaniard 
 paid dear for his passage, the first return volley killing 
 several men upon his decks. Almost before they had time 
 to reload, the admiral passed, but the Buccaneers' second 
 
 I 
 

 Sawkins Boarding Peralta's Ship. p. 257- 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 257 
 
 volley quite disabled their giant antagonist, killing tlie man 
 at the helm ; the ship ran into the wind and her sails lay 
 aback. She fell now like a lamed elephant at the mercy oi' 
 the hunters ; the canoes, pulling under her stern, fired con- 
 tinually upon the deck, killing all who dared to touch the 
 helm, and cutting asunder the mainsheet and mainbrace. 
 Sawkins, whose canoe was disabled, went next into the 
 piragua to meet Peralta, leaving the four canoes to harass 
 the admiral. Between Sawkins and Peralta, lying alongside 
 of each other, the fight was desperate, each crew trying to 
 board, and firing as quick as they could load. In the mean- 
 time the first vessel tacked about and came to relieve the 
 admiral, but the canoes, seeing the danger of being beaten 
 from the admiral's stern and allowing him to rally, sent two 
 of their number (Springer and Ringrose) to meet Peralta. 
 The admiral stood upon his quarter-deck, waving his hand- 
 kerchief as a signal for his captains to come at once to his 
 help. The canoes pursued Peralta, and would have boarded 
 him had he not given them the helm and made away. 
 
 Giving a shout, the remaining boats wedged up the ad- 
 miral's rudder and poured in a blinding volley, that killed 
 the admiral and chief pilot. Two-thirds of the S^janiards 
 being now killed, many wounded, and all disheartened at 
 the bloody massacre of the Buccaneers' shot, cried for 
 quarter, which they had been already several times offered, 
 and at once suiTendered. Captain Coxen then boarded the 
 prize, taking with him Captain Harris, vdio had been shot 
 through both legs as he was heading a boarding party. 
 They put all their other wounded men on board, and, 
 manning two canoes, hurried off to aid Sawkins, who had 
 already been three times beaten off by Peralta. 
 
 Coming close under his side and giving him a full volley, 
 they were expecting a return, when suddenly a volcano of 
 fire spouted up from the deck, and all the Spaniards abaft 
 the mast were blown into the air or sea. While the brave 
 captain, leaping overboard, was helping the drowning men 
 in spite of the rain of shot and the pain of his own burns, 
 another jar of powder blew up in the forecastle. Under 
 cover of the smoke and confusion, Sawkins boarded and took 
 the ship, or at least all that was left of it. Eingrose says it 
 
 s 
 
258 THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 
 
 was a miserable sight, not a man but was either killed or 
 desperately wounded, blind, or horribly burnt with the 
 po\yder. In some cases the white wounds where the flesh 
 had peeled to the bone, showed through the blackening of 
 the powder. The admiral had but twenty-five men left out 
 of eighty-six, and of these twenty-five only eight were now 
 able to bear arms. 
 
 The blood ran down the deck in streams, and every rope 
 and plank was smeared with gore. 
 
 Peralta, as prudent as he was brave, attempted by every 
 possible argument, forgetful of his own wounds and the 
 death of his men, to induce the Buccaneers not to attack 
 the remaining vessels in the harbour. In the biggest alone 
 he said there were 350 men, and the rest were well defended. 
 But a dying sailor, lifting up his head from the deck, con- 
 tradicted him, and said that they had not a man on board, 
 all their crews being placed in the armadillas. Trusting to 
 dying treason rather than living fidelity, the Buccaneers 
 instantly proceeded to the island, and found the ships de- 
 serted. The largest. La Santissima Trinidada, had been set 
 on fire, the crew, loosing her foresail, having pierced her 
 bottom. The captains soon quenched the fire, and stopping 
 the leak turned their prize into a floating hospital-ship. 
 They found they had eighteen men killed and twenty-two 
 wounded (only two of whom died) in this desperate sea 
 battle, which began an hour after sunrise and ended at noon. 
 The third vessel, it appeared, while running away had met 
 with two others, but even with this reinforcement refused 
 to fight. 
 
 Their brave prisoner, Peralta, now that all was over, 
 broke out into rej)eated praises of their courage, which was 
 so congenial to his own. He said : " You Englishmen are 
 the valiantest men in the whole world, always desiring to 
 figlit open, while all other nations invent all the ways 
 imaginable to barricade themselves, and fight as close as 
 possible." *• Notwithstanding all this," adds Ringrose, " we 
 killed more of our enemies than they of us." Two days 
 after the battle the Buccaneers buried Captain Harris, a 
 brave Englishman of the county of Kent, whose death was. 
 much lamented by the fleet. 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 259 
 
 The new city of Panama, built four miles more easterly 
 than that which IMorgan burnt, had been three times 
 destroyed by fire since that event. A few people still lived 
 round the cathedral in the old town. The new city was 
 bigger than the old one, and built chiefly of brick and stone, 
 and was defended by a garrison of 300 soldiers and 1,000 
 Biilitia-men. They afterwards learnt that the troops were 
 then absent, and that if they had landed instead of 
 attacking the fleet, they might have taken the place, all the 
 best shots beini; on board the admiral's vessel. 
 
 In the five vessels taken at Perico there was much s^'poil. 
 The Trinidada (400 tons) was laden with wine, sugar, 
 sweetmeats, skins, and soap. The second, of 300 tons, 
 partly laden with bars of iron, one of the richest commodi- 
 ties brought into the South Sea, was burnt by the Bucca- 
 neers, because the Spaniards would not redeem it. The 
 third of 180 tons, laden with sugar, was given to Cai)tain 
 Cook. The fourth, an old vessel (60 tons), laden with meal, 
 was burnt as useless, with all her cargo. The fifth, of 50 
 tons, with a piragua, fell to the lot of Captain Coxen. The 
 tv/o armadillas, the rigging and sails being saved, and a 
 barque laden with poultry, were also burnt. 
 
 Captain Coxen, indignant at charges made against him of 
 cowardice in the late action, determined to rejoin the shijDS 
 in the northern seas, together with seventy men who had 
 assisted in his election. The Indian king, Don Andreeas, 
 and Don Antonio, returned with him. The king left his 
 son and nephew in the care of Captain Sawkins, who was 
 now commander-in-chief, and desired him not to spare the 
 Spaniards. A few days after Captain Sharp returned from 
 the King's islands, having taken a Spanish vessel and burnt 
 his own. Captain Harris's crew had also taken a vessel, 
 and, dismasting their ov/n, turned their prisoners adrift 
 in the hulk, and soon after taking a poultry vessel, the 
 meanest of the Spaniards were treated in the same way. 
 
 Having remained now ten days at Panama, the fleet 
 steered to the island of Tavoga, where they found a village 
 of 100 houses quite deserted, and many of these were burnt 
 by the carelessness of a drunken sailor. The Panama mer- 
 chants came here to sell the Buccaneers commodities and to 
 
 s 2 
 
260 THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 
 
 purchase the plunder from their own vessels, giving 200 
 pieces of eight for every negro. Staying eight days, they 
 captured a vessel from Truxillo laden with money to pay the 
 garrison of Panama, while in the hold were 2,000 jars of 
 wine and fifty jars of gunpowder. A flour vessel from the 
 same place informed them that a ship was coming in a few 
 days laden with 100,000 more pieces of eight. 
 
 To a message from the president, who sent by some mer- 
 chants to ask why they came into those parts, Captain Saw- 
 kins replied, that he came to assist the king of Darien, the 
 true lord of the country, and he required a ransom of 500 
 pieces of eight for each sailor, and 1,000 for the commander. 
 He must also promise not to molest the Indians, who were 
 the natural owners of the soil. Hearing from the messen- 
 gers that a certain priest, now bishop of Panama, formerly 
 of Santa Martha, lay in the city, Sawkins, remembering that 
 he had been his prisoner when he took that city five years 
 before, sent him two loaves of sugar as a present. The next 
 day the bishop replied by forwarding him a gold ring. The 
 president at the same time, sent another letter, desiring to 
 see his commission, that he might know to what power to 
 complain. Sawkins replied, that as yet all his men were 
 not come together, but when they had met, they would come 
 up to Panama, and bring their commissions on the muzzles 
 of their guns, at which time he should read them as plain as 
 the flame of gunpowder would let him. 
 
 The men growing now mutinous for fresh meat, Sawkins 
 was compelled to give up his hopes of capturing the rich 
 vessel from Peru, and to sail to the island of O toque, to buy 
 fowls and hogs, losing two barques, one with seven, and the 
 other with fifteen men. While lying ofi* the pearl fishery of 
 Cayboa, Sawkins and Sharp made un unfortunate attack 
 with sixty men on the town of Puebla Nueva. They were 
 piloted up the river in canoes by a negro prisoner. A mile 
 below the town, great trees had been laid to block up the 
 stream, and before the town three strong breastworks were 
 thrown up. Sawkins, running furiously up the sloping 
 ramparts, was shot dead, and his men driven back to their 
 boats, two men being killed, and three wounded, in tlie 
 retreat, which was made in pretty good order. They soon 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 261 
 
 after, however, captured a vessel laden with indigo, and 
 burnt two others. This Captain Sawkins, Eingrose says^ 
 Avas as valiant and courageous as any, and, next to Cai)tain 
 Sharp, the best beloved. His death was much lamented, 
 and occasioned another overland expedition. Sharp surren- 
 dering his last prize to Captain Cook, took his vessel and 
 gave it to the sixty-three men who wished to return home. 
 They led with them all the Indians to serve as guides over- 
 land. 
 
 Before they started, Sharp, in full council on board the 
 Trinidada, offered to insure to all who would carry out 
 Sawkins's scheme, and go home by the Straits of Magellan, 
 £1,000 profit, but none would stay. Eingrose himself 
 acknowledges he should have left Avith them, but was afraid 
 of the Indians, and the long and dangerous journey in the 
 rainy season. 
 
 At Cayboa, the men took in water and cut %vood, killing 
 alligators, and salting deer and turtle. Here two " remark- 
 able events" happened to Eingrose. In the first place, he 
 ate an oyster so large that he found it necessary to cut it 
 into four large mouthfuls : secondly, as he "was washing him- 
 self in a pond, some drops fell on him from a mancaniila 
 tree, and these drops broke out into a red eruption that 
 lasted a Aveek. Here Sharp l)urnt one of his prizes for the 
 sake of the iron work, and received Captain Cook, whose 
 men had revolted, on board his own ship, making John Cox, 
 a New^ Englander, commander in his stead. 
 
 Sharp now determined to careen at the island of Gorgona, 
 and then to proceed to Guayaquil, where Captain Juan, the 
 captain of the Tavoga money-ship, assured them they might 
 throw away their silver and lade with gold. They selected 
 Gorgona, because, on account of the perpetual rain, the 
 Spaniards seldom touched there. The sailors, who had lost 
 their money at gambling, were impatient of these delays, 
 and declared that the Spaniards would now gain time, and 
 the whole coast be alarmed, and on the defensive. But the 
 richer men, wanting rest, decided for Gorgona. 
 
 In this island, they fished their mainmast, shot at whales, 
 killed monkeys, snakes, and turtle for food, being short of 
 provision, caught a large sloth, and killed a serpent, four- 
 
262 THE CRUISES OF SAWKIXS AND SHARP. 
 
 teen inclies thick and twelve feet long. While moored here, 
 Joseph Gabriel, the Chilian, who stole the Indian king's 
 daughter, died of a malignant calenture. He had been very 
 faithful, and discovered many plots and conspiracies among 
 the prisoners of intended escapes and murders. 
 
 Sharp now abandoned the design on Guayaquil, and 
 resolved to attack Arica, the depot of all the Potosi plate. 
 An old man who had served much with the Spaniards, 
 promised them £2,000 a man. 
 
 After a fortnight's sail they arrived at the island of Plate, 
 so called from Drake dividing his plunder there among his 
 men. The Spaniards had a tradition, that he took twelve 
 score tons of plate in the galleon armada, and that each of 
 his forty-five men had sixteen bowls full of coined money — 
 his ships being so full that they were obliged to throw much 
 of it overboard. In the adjoining bay of Manta, in Crom- 
 well's time, a Lima vessel, laden with thirty millions of 
 dollars, on its way as a present to Charles I., was lost by 
 keeping too near the shore. While catching goats on this 
 island, on which the cross of the first Spanish discoverer 
 still stood, they were joined by Captain Cox, whom they 
 had lost a fortnight before, as they feared, irrecoverably. 
 They killed and salted on this island 100 goats in a day, 
 and one man alone in a few hours, in one small bay, turned 
 seventeen turtle. Peralta congratulated them on getting as 
 far to windward in two weeks as the Spanish captains did 
 in three months, from their keeping boldly so far from the 
 shore. 
 
 While passing Guayaquil, they espied a Spanish vessel 
 and gave chase. Being hailed in Spanish by an Indian 
 prisoner, to lower their topsails, the enemy replied they 
 would pull down the Englishman's first, and answered with 
 their arquebuses to the Buccaneers' muskets, till, one bullefc 
 killing the man at the helm and another cutting their main- 
 top halliards, they cried out for quarter. There were thirty- 
 five men on board, including twenty-four Spaniards and 
 several persons of quality. The captain's brother, since the 
 death of Don Jacinto do Barahona at Panama, was admiral 
 of the armada. The Buccaneers' ri2r2;in£r was much cut 
 during the fight, and two men were wounded, besides a 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 2C3 
 
 sailor wlio was shot by an accident. The captain, it appears, 
 had in a bravado sworn to attack their fleet if he could meet 
 it. The Spaniard, a very " civil and meek gentleman," in- 
 formed them that the governor of Lima, hearing of their 
 visit to Panama, had collected five ships and 750 sailors ; 
 while two other vessels and 400 soldiers, furnished by the 
 viceroy, were preparing to start. A patache witii twenty- 
 four guns was also lying at Callao, ready to remove the 
 king's plate from Arica. At Guayaquil they had built two 
 forts, and mustered 850 men of all colours. The same day 
 the English unrigged their new prize and sank her. 
 
 Reckoning up the pillage, they found they had now 3,276 
 jDieces of eight, which were at once divided. The same day 
 they punished a Spanish friar, who was chaplain in the last 
 prize, and, shooting him on the deck, flung him overboard 
 before he was dead. " Such cruelties," says Ringrose, " though 
 I abhorred very much in my heart, yet here I was forced to 
 hold my tongue and not contradict them, as having no 
 authority to oversway them." The prisoners now confessed 
 thev had killed a boat full of the Buccaneers' men, lost near 
 Cayboa, and had discovered from the only survivor the plan 
 on Guayaquil. 
 
 Captain Cox's vessel being so slow as to require towing, 
 they sank it, so there were now 140 men and boys and 
 fifty-five prisoners in one and the same bottom. While to 
 the leeward of Tumbes, Peralta told them a legend of a 
 priest having once landed there in the face of 10,000 Indians, 
 who stared at his uplifted cross. As he stepped out of his 
 boat on the shore, before the water could efiiace his foot- 
 prints, two lions and two tigers came out of the woods to 
 meet him, but when he gently laid the cross on their backs, 
 they fell down and worshipped it, upon which all the Indians 
 came forward and were baptized. 
 
 The night they passed Paita they espied a sail and gave 
 chase, following it by the lights which it showed through negli- 
 gence. Scantiness of provisions made them more eager in the 
 pursuit ; and coming up, the Spaniard instantly lowered all 
 her sails and surrendered. The Buccaneers casting dice as to 
 who should first board, the lot fell to the larboard watch. 
 The vessel contained fifty packs of cocoa, and a great deal of 
 
26*4 THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHAKP. 
 
 raw silk and India cloth, besides many bales of thread stock- 
 ings. The prize being plundered and dismasted, the prisoners 
 were turned adrift in it, supplied with only a foresiiil, some 
 water, and a little flour. The chief prisoners, as Don Thomas 
 de Argandona, commander of the Guayaquil vessel, and his 
 friends Don Christoval and Don Baltazar, gentlemen of 
 quality, Captain Peralta, Morena, a pilot, and twelve slaves, 
 to do the drudgery, were still kept. The next day the sailor 
 wounded in taking the Guayaquil vessel died, and was buried 
 v/ith ceremony, three French volleys being fired as the body 
 was let down into the deep. 
 
 Their next expedition was to attack Arica with 112 
 men, first sending five boats to capture some fishermen 
 at the river of Juan Diaz, whom they might employ as 
 spies. 
 
 To their great chagrin they found the landing impractic- 
 able, and the whole coast in arms. Troops of horse covered 
 the low hills round the bay, and close beneath six ships rode 
 at anchor. Abandoning this project, these indefatigable 
 marauders (more pirates than real Buccaneers) despatched 
 four canoes and fifty men to plunder the town of Hillo. On 
 the shore the English were met by some horsemen, who fled 
 after a few volleys. Marching to the town, they forced their 
 way through a small breastwork of clay and sandbags and 
 took the town. Keeping good watch for fear of surprise, a 
 dying Indian, wounded in the skirmish, told them that the 
 townspeople had heard from Lima nine days before, and ex- 
 pected their coming. In the town they found pitch, wine, 
 oil, and flour, and sixty of the ablest men were sent up the 
 adjoining valley to reconnoitre. They found it beautifully 
 planted with fig, lemon, lime, olive, and orange trees, and 
 four miles up came to a sugar-mill, the greater part of the 
 sugar having been removed. The Spaniards, watching them 
 from the hills, rolled stones upon them, but hid themselves 
 when a musket-shot was fired in retaliation. Captain Cox 
 and a Dutch interpreter being despatched with a flag of truce 
 to the Spaniards, they agreed to give eighty beeves as a ran- 
 som for the mill, and a message was despatched to Captain 
 Sharp not to injure the drivers of the oxen when they came. 
 Hearing that sixteen beeves had already arrived at the port,. 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 260 
 
 the men, contrary to Ringrose's opinion, returned to tlie 
 ships laden with sugar, and found the whole story of the 
 oxen's arrival a mere ruse de guerre. The Spaniards, being- 
 appealed to, promised the cattle should arrive that night, 
 but at last declared the wind was so high that they could 
 not drive the herds. Enraged at this delay, the Buccaneers, 
 who had now taken in water, marched 100 men up the 
 vallc}^, and burned the house, the mill, and the canes, carried 
 off the sugar, broke the oil jars, and cracked the copper 
 w^heels. Near the shore they were charged by a body of 300 
 horsemen, who took them by surprise, but not before they 
 had thrown dowai the sugar and taken up their arms. 
 
 Kingrose shall tell the rest : " "We being in good rank and 
 order," he says, " fairly proffered them battle upon the bay ; 
 but, as we advanced to meet them, they retired and rid 
 towards the mountains, to surround us, and take the rocks 
 from us, if possibly they could. Hereupon, perceiving their 
 intentions, we returned back and possessed ourselves of the 
 said rocks, and also of the lower town, as the Sj)aniards 
 themselves did of the upper town (at the distance of half a 
 mile from the lower), the hills and the woods adjoining 
 thereunto. The horsemen being now in possession of those 
 quarters, we could perceive, as far as we could see, more and 
 more men resort unto them, so that their forces increased 
 hourly to considerable numbers. We fired at one another 
 as long as we could see, and the day would permit. But in 
 the mean time we observed that several of them rid to the 
 watch-hill and looked out often to the seaward. This gave 
 us occasion to fear that they had more strength and forces 
 coming that way, which they expected every minute. Here- 
 upon, lest we should speed worse than we had done before, 
 we resolved to embark silently in the dark of the night." 
 They carried off a great chest of sugar (seven pounds and a 
 half to each man), thirty jars of oil, and much fruit, wild and 
 cultivated. From appearances next morning, they believed 
 the enemy had also fled in the night, as only fifty men could 
 be seen. The prisoners, seeing a comet at dusk, told the 
 Englishmen that many such appearances had preceded the 
 arrival of the Buccaneers in the South Sea. Their brave 
 prisoner, Captain Peralta, began at this time to show signs 
 
266 THE CRUISES OF SAWKIXS AND SHARP. 
 
 of insanity, his mind being shaken by continued hardship 
 and despair at his long imprisonment. 
 
 The Buccaneers next landed 100 men, hoping to take by 
 surprise the city of La Serena. Here, too, they found the 
 Spaniards vigilant, and had to break through 100 horsemen 
 to reach the town, kilhng three officers and wounding four 
 men. The town contained seven great churches, and many 
 rich merchants' houses surrounded by gardens. The inhabi- 
 tants had fled, and either carried away or buried all their 
 treasures, and a Chilian prisoner said the Spaniards had 
 killed most of their negro, and even their Chilian, slaves, for 
 fear of their revolting and joining the Buccaneers. A party 
 of forty men, with a Chilian guide, searched the woods in 
 vain to secure prisoners for guides. The Spaniards, sending 
 a flag of truce, agreed to pay 95,000 pieces of eight as ran- 
 som for the town ; but, not bringing it, the place was set on 
 fire. Taking advantage of an earthquake, the Spaniards 
 opened the sluices and inundated the streets. Every house, 
 Kingrose says, was separately fired, to render the conflagra- 
 tion complete. Two parties w-ere then despatched laden 
 with booty to the ships, who on their way beat up an am- 
 buscade of 250 Spanish horse. During their absence, a 
 daring attempt was made to burn their ship. The enemy 
 hired a man, who floated under the stern of the ship on a 
 horse's hide, blown out like a bladder. He then stufted 
 oakum and brimstone between the keel and the stern-post, 
 and set the rudder on fire. The men, alarmed at the smoke, 
 ran up and down, not knowing where the fire could be, and 
 believing the prisoners had done it in order to escape. The 
 source of the evil was at last discovered, and the flames ex- 
 tinguished. The Buccaneers, before sailing, released all their 
 prisoners, not kno%ving what to do with them, and fearing 
 that they would revolt, or perhaps try to burn the ship. 
 
 On reaching the island of Juan Fernandez, they solem- 
 nized the festival of Christmas by discharging three volleys of 
 shot, and killing sixty goats in one day. The shore was 
 covered so thick with seals, that they were obliged to shoot 
 a few in order to land. They then filled 200 water-jars, and 
 were nearly lost in a place called '' False Wild Harbour," 
 where they killed several sea-lions. Their beds they made 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 267 
 
 of fern. It was on this island, their pilot told them, a 
 deserted sailor (Alexander Selkirk) had lived five j^ears. 
 
 The men, now in the midst of storms and dangers, were 
 all in a mutiny. Some were for going back to England, or 
 the plantations, and returning by the Straits of Magellan ; 
 others for continuiug longer in those seas. All agreed to 
 depose Captain Sharp and elect John Watling, an old pri- 
 vateer, " and a stout seaman." The next Sunday was the 
 first, says Ringrose, that had been kept by common consent 
 since the death of Sawkins, who would throw the dice over- 
 board if he found any in use on that day. 
 
 Juan Fernandez abounded in cabbage-palms and building 
 timber. The fish swarmed in such quantities, that they 
 could be caught with the bare hook, one sailor in a few hours 
 capturing enough for the whole crew. Shoals a mile long 
 were seen in the bay. While busily employed in catching 
 fish, shooting goats, and cutting timber, the hunters suddenly 
 gave the alarm of three Spanish men-of-v/ar approaching the 
 island, and, slipping their cables, the Buccaneers put out 
 hurriedly to sea. In the confusion, William, a Mosquito 
 Indian, who could not be found at the time, was left behind 
 to endure the hardships that a few days before he may have 
 heard the pilot relate as experienced by the celebrated 
 Alexander Selkirk (the prototype of Robinson Crusoe). 
 
 The three Spanish vessels proved to be the El Santo 
 Christo, of 800 tons, carrying twelve guns ; the San Fran- 
 cisco, of 600 tons, with ten guns ; and a third of 350 tons. 
 As soon as they came in sight they hung out "bloody 
 flags ;" and the Buccaneers, nothing daunted, did the same. 
 The English, keeping close under the wind, were very 
 unwilling to fight, as the Spaniards held together ; and their 
 new commander, Watling, showed a faint heart. The trio 
 eventually sheered olF, glad to escape uninjured. 
 
 Determining to pay a second visit to Arica, twenty-five 
 men and two canoes were despatched to obtain guides from 
 the island of Yqueque. On the shore of the mainland they 
 found a hut built of whales' bones, a cross, and some broken 
 jars. 
 
 They brought away from the island, which they could not 
 at first discover, two old white men and two Indians. The 
 
268 THE CRUISES OF SAWKIN3 AND SHAHP. 
 
 people of Arica, they found, came to this place to buy clay ; 
 and the natives were obliged to fetch all the water they 
 used from the mainland. The Indians wore no clothes, and 
 chewed leaves which died their teeth green. One of the old 
 prisoners, being examined, was shot to death by order of the 
 commander, who believed him to be lying, although, as it 
 afterwards appeared, he told nothing but the truth. Sharp 
 was troubled and dissatisfied at this cruel and rash order ; 
 and, taking water and washing his hands, he said, " Gentle- 
 men, I am clear of the bJood of this old man ; and will 
 warrant you a hot day for this piece of cruelty whenever we 
 come to fight at Arica." The other prisoner said that he 
 was the suj^erintendent of fifty slaves belonging to the 
 governor of the town. These slaves caught fish and sold 
 them, when dried, in the inland towns. There were then 
 three Chilian ships and a bark in the harbour, and a fortifi- 
 cation of twelve guns in the town. The people had already, 
 he said, heard from Coquimbo of their arrival, and removed 
 and buried their treasure. There were also, they heard, 
 breast- works round the town, and barricades in. every 
 street. 
 
 Disregarding these warnings, the Buccaneers embarked 
 next day in a launch and four canoes, rowing and sailing all 
 night, in hopes of surprising Arica. At daybreak they hid 
 themselves under the cliffs, for fear of being seen, and at 
 night began again to row. On Sunday, Jan. 30, 1680 — 
 " sacred to the memory of King Charles the Martyr" (?) — they 
 landed among some rocks four miles to the south of the 
 town, ninety-two men going on shore, the rest staying 
 to defend the boats. The signal agreed on was, that at one 
 smoke they should come up to the harbour in one canoe ; 
 but if there were two smokes, they should " bring all away, 
 leaving only fifteen men with the boats." Mounting a steep 
 hill, they could see no Spaniards, and hoped that the surprise 
 was complete ; but, as they \vere descending the other 
 side, three horsemen on the look-out hill rode down at full 
 speed and alarmed the city. The fort}^ men who attacked 
 the fort with hand-grenades, seeing their companions over- 
 powered, ran down into the valley to join them. " Here the 
 battle was very desperate \ and they killed and wounded two 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 269 
 
 more of our men, from tlieir outworks, before we could gain 
 upon them. But our rage increasing with our wounds, we 
 still advanced, and at last beat the enemy out of all, and 
 filled every street in the city with dead bodies. The enemy 
 made several retreats from one breast-work to another ; but 
 we had not a sufficient number of men to man all places 
 taken. Insomuch, that we had no sooner beat them out of 
 one place but they came another w^ay, and manned it again 
 with new forces and fresh men." So says E-ingrose. 
 
 Imprudently overburdening themselves with prisoners, 
 they found there were in the place 400 soldiers from Lima, 
 200 armed townsmen, and 300 men garrisoning the fort. 
 Being now nearly masters of the place, the English sent to 
 demand the surrender of the fort, and, receiving no answer, 
 advanced to the attack. Several times repulsed, the Bucca- 
 neers at last mounted the top of a neighbouring house, and 
 fired dowTi into the castle ; but, being again surrounded by 
 the enemy, they were obliged to desist. The number and 
 vigour of the enemy increased hourly ; and, almost over- 
 powered, the English were compelled to retreat to the 
 hospital, where the surgeons were tending the wounded. 
 Captain Watling and both quartermasters were killed, 
 and many were disabled. We will let Ringrose tell the 
 rest : — 
 
 " So that now, the enemy rallying against us, and beating 
 us from place to place, we were in a very distracted condi- 
 tion, and in more likelihood to perish, every man, than 
 escape the bloodshed of that day. Now we found the words 
 of Captain Sharp true, being all very sensible that we had a 
 day too hot for us, after that cruel heat in killing and mur- 
 dering in cold blood the old Mestiso Indian. 
 
 '•'Being surrounded with difficulties on all sides, and in 
 great disorder, having nobody to give orders, what was to be 
 done 1 We were glad to have our eyes upon our good old 
 commander. Captain Bartholomew Sharp, and beg of him 
 very earnestly to commiserate our condition, and carry us 
 off. It was a great while before he would take any notice of 
 our request, so much was he displeased with the former 
 mutiny of our people against him, all which had been 
 occasioned by the instigation of Mr. Cook. 
 
270 THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 
 
 " But Mr. Sharp is a man of an undaunted courage and 
 excellent conduct, not fearing in the least to look an insult- 
 ing enemy in the face, and a person that knows both the 
 theory and practice of navigation as well as most do. Here- 
 upon, at our earnest request and petition, he took upon him 
 the command in chief again, and began to distribute his 
 orders for our safety. He would have brought off our 
 surgeons _; but they, having been drinking while we assaulted 
 the fort, would not come with us when they were called. 
 They killed and took of our number twenty-eight men, 
 besides eighteen that we brought off, who were desperately 
 wounded. At that time we were all extremely faint for 
 want of water and victuals, whereof we had none all that 
 day. We were likewise almost choked with the dust of the 
 town, being so much raised by the work that their guns had 
 made, that we could scarce see each other. They beat us out 
 of the town, then followed us into the savannahs, still 
 charging as fast as they could. But when they saw that we 
 rallied again, resolving to die one by another, they ran from 
 ns into the town, and sheltered themselves under their 
 breast-works. Thus we retreated in as good order as we 
 possibly could observe in that confusion. But their horse- 
 men followed us as we retired, and fired at us all the way, 
 though they would not come within reach of our guns ; for 
 theirs reached further than ours, and outshot us above one- 
 third. We took the sea-side for our greater security, which 
 when the enemy saw, they betook themselves to the hills, 
 rolling down great stones and whole rocks to destroy us. 
 Meanwhile those of the town examined our surgeons, and 
 other men whom they had made prisoners. These gave 
 them our signs that we had left to our boats that were 
 behind us ; so that they immediately blew up two fires, 
 which were perceived by the canoes. This was the greatest 
 of our dangers ; for had we not come at that instant that we 
 did to the sea-side, our boats had been gone, they being 
 already under sail, and we had inevitably perished every 
 inau. Thus we put off from the shore, and got on board 
 about ten at night, having been involved in a bloody fight 
 with the enemy all the day." 
 
 The Buccaneers, thus cruelly baffled, plied for some time 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKIXS AND SHARP. 271 
 
 outside the port, hoping to be revenged on the three ships ; 
 but they did not venture out. Arica, Pdngrose describes as 
 a square place, with a castle at one corner. The houses were 
 only eleven feet high, and built of earth. It was the place 
 of embarkation for all minerals sent to Lima. Of the 
 English prisoners, only ten survived. The Spaniards lost 
 more than seventy men, three times as many being wounded, 
 and of forty-five allies from Hillo only two returned alive. 
 
 On dividing the plate, they found only thirty-seven pieces 
 of eight fell to each man. Landing at Guasco, they took in 
 500 jars of water, and carried off 120 sheep, 80 goats, and 
 200 bushels of flour. At Hillo they surprised the towns- 
 men asleep, and heard a false report that 5,000 Englishmen 
 had taken Panama. They carried off eighteen jars of wine 
 and some new figs, and, ascending to the sugar- work they 
 had before visited, laded seven mules with molasses and sugar. 
 The townsmen told them, that the owner of the mill had 
 brought an action against them for having done him more 
 injury than the Buccaneers. 
 
 A few days after this another mutiny broke out, and forty- 
 seven men, refusing to serve any longer under Captain Sharp, 
 landed near the island of Plate, with five Indian slaves to 
 serve as guides. jS'ear the island of Chica they captured 
 two Spanish vessels, one of them the very ship they 
 had captured before at Panama. They heard here that 
 some of their overland parties had taken a good ship at 
 Porto Bello. Capturing some Spanish shipwrights at this 
 place, they employed them for a fortnight in altering their 
 vessel, and then set them at liberty, with some others of their 
 prisoners, giving them one of their prizes, and manning 
 the other with six men and two slaves. 
 
 Thev now agreed in council to bear up for Golfo Dolce, 
 there to careen their vessels, and then to cruise about under 
 the equinoctial. They landed in Golfo Dolce, and, treating 
 kindly some Indians whom they took prisoners, bought 
 honey and plantains of them. Here they learned that the 
 Spaniards, having treacherol^sly captured forty Darien chiefs, 
 had forced the natives into a peace. Having careened here, 
 they soon after captured a rich prize, the San Pedro, bound 
 from Truxillo to Panama, deeply laden with 37,000 pieces of 
 
272 THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 
 
 eight in chest and bags, besides plate. This was the same 
 vessel they had taken the year before, and it was now their 
 prize a second time in fourteen months. The crew consisted 
 of forty men, besides friars and merchants. Taking out part 
 of her lading of cocoa, they cut down her masts and turned 
 her adrift with all the old slaves, as " a reward for good ser- 
 vice,'^ taking new ones from the prize. Francisco, a negro, 
 who had attempted to escape by swimming on shore in the 
 Oolfo Dolce, they retained as a prisoner, as a punishment 
 his insubordination. From this prize each Buccaneer 
 received 234 pieces of eight, much being left for a future 
 division. They learnt from this vessel that a new viceroy 
 of Peru, arrived at Panama, had not dared to venture to 
 Lima in his ship of twenty-five guns, but had waited for 
 the armada as a convoy. A few days later, they captured 
 the packet that ran between Lima and Panama. A friar and 
 five negroes escaped on shore, but two white women were 
 captured. Ptummaging the boat, they found nothing of 
 value but a letter announcing the departure of the viceroy 
 with four ships. The prisoners and the boat were then 
 released. " That week," says Ringrose, " we stood out to 
 -sea all night long, most of our men being fuddled." 
 
 The next day they captured a Spanish vessel that had at 
 first frightened them by its size. The volle)7^s of the Bucca- 
 neers soon drove the Spaniards into the hold and made them 
 cry for quarter, having killed the captain at the first fire, 
 and wounded the boatswain. Captain Sharp and twelve 
 others were the first to board. She proved to be £Jl Santo 
 liosario, commanded by Don Diego Lopez, bound from Cal- 
 lao to Panama. The crew were forty in number. She was 
 deeply laden with plate and coined money, and carried 620 
 jars of wine and brandy. At Cape Passao Sharp sank the 
 bark taken at Nicoya, preserving her rigging, and disabling 
 the last prize set the prisoners adrift in it, keeping only the 
 one man, named Francisco, who had described himself as the 
 best pilot in those seas. They then divided the booty, which 
 came to ninety-four pieces of eight a man. From these pri- 
 soners they learned that their men taken at Arica had been 
 kindly treated at Callao. Of the last party that one had 
 been captured, and the rest had had to fight their way over- 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAV/KIKS AND SHARP. 273 
 
 land through Indians and Spaniards. Ten Buccaneers were 
 also announced as about to enter the South Sea. In Aus^ust 
 they landed again to kill goats on the island of Plate, where 
 Ringrose and James Chappel, a quartermaster, fought a duel 
 on shore, with what result we do not knovr. The same eve- 
 ning a conspiracy of the slaves was detected, in v/hich they 
 had plotted to slay all their masters when in drink, not 
 sparing any. The ringleader, San Jago, a prisoner from 
 Yqueque, leaped overboard when the plot was discovered, 
 and was shot by the captain. The rest, being terrified at 
 his death, were forgiven ; and the same night the usual de- 
 bauch took place in spite of the danger. From their pilot 
 they heard that a Lima vessel Vjound for Guayaquil had run 
 ashore lately on Santa Clara, losing 100,000 pieces of eight, 
 that would have been their prize. They heard also that the 
 viceroy of Peru had beheaded the great Admiral Ponce for 
 not destroying the Buccaneer fleet while at Gorgona. 
 
 They next made a descent on Paita, but found the place 
 garrisoned by three companies, horse and foot, well armed, 
 from Puira, twelve leagues up the country : 150 musketeers 
 and 400 lancers occupied a hill and a breastwork, and fired 
 upon the canoes. Had they suffered them to land they might 
 have killed them to a man. Finding the whole coast now 
 alarmed, they bore at once away for the Straits of Magellan. 
 Touching at some unknown islands, they were almost in- 
 clined to winter there. Here they shot geese, made broth 
 of limpets, and one of the boats captured an Indian and 
 shot another dead. The prisoner was clad in a seal's skin, 
 and carried a net to catch f)enguins. He was so strong as 
 to be able to open mussels with his fingers, and they kept 
 him as a slave, and called him Orson. They then proceeded 
 to divide eight chests of money still unallotted, and each man 
 received 322 pieces of eight. 
 
 On December 7th, Captain Sharp received intelligence of 
 a conspiracy to shoot him during the ensuing festivities of 
 Christmas-day. The only precaution he took was at once to 
 ilivide all the wine in store, believing that no sober man 
 would attempt so dastardly an act. Each mess received 
 three jars. The cold grew now so intense that several of the 
 negro slaves had their feet mortify, and some died. Christ- 
 
 T 
 
274 THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 
 
 mas-day was celebrated by tilling a fat sow, this being the 
 first flesh the men had eaten since they left the island of 
 Plata. By January IGth, the days grew very hot again, and 
 the nights cool and dewy. Tl\e men weary of the voyage, 
 offered a piece oi eight " each man " to him who first disco- 
 vered land. The sight oi birds soon indicated this, and 
 January 2Sth, the look-out spied Barbadoes ; but hearing of 
 peace, they dared not put in for fear of being seized, and 
 therefore steered for Antigua, much afraid of frigates, and 
 shunning even a Bristol interloper that lay in the ofiing. 
 Bingrose says : " Here I cannot easily express the infinite 
 joy we were possessed with all this day, to see our own coun- 
 trymen again." They then freed a negro shoemaker, whom 
 they had kept as a prisoner, and who had been very ser- 
 viceable during the voyage. To Captain Sharp the men gave 
 a mulatto boy as slave, for a token oi the respect of ]iis 
 whole company to him for having led them safely through 
 so many dangerous adventures. They then divided the last 
 parcels of money, and received twenty -four pieces oi eight a 
 man. A little Spanish shock dog, taken from a prize, was 
 also sold at the mast by public outcry, for forty pieces of 
 eight, the owner promising all he gained should be devoted 
 to a general feast. Ca2)tain Sharp bought the dog, saying he 
 would eat it if they did not soon get leave to land. 100 
 pieces of eight was also added to the store, the boatswain, 
 carpenter, and quartermaster having quarrelled about the 
 last dividend. 
 
 On reaching Antigua, Sharp sent a canoe ashore to buy 
 tobacco and other necessaries, and to ask leave of the 
 governor to land. The conclusion of Bingrose's book tells 
 the rest : " The gentry of the place and common people 
 were very willing and desirous to receive us, but on Wednes- 
 day, February 1st, the governor flatly refused us entry, at 
 which all the gentry were much troubled, showing them- 
 selves very kind to us ; hereupon we agreed among ourselves 
 to give the ship to those of our company who had no money 
 left them of all their purchase in this voyage, having lost it 
 at play, and then put ourselves on board two ships bound 
 for England. So I myself and thirteen more of our com- 
 pany went on board Captain Bobert Porteen's ship called 
 
THE CRUISES OF SAWKINS AND SHARP. 275 
 
 the Lisbon Merchant, set sail from La Antigua February 1 Itb, 
 and landed in England March 26th, anno 1682." 
 
 On his arrival in England, Captain Sharp was tried for 
 piracy and acquitted. He at once resolved to return to the 
 "West Indies, but all the merchant ships refused to carry 
 him, afraid he would tempt their men to revolt against their 
 master, and run away with the ship for a privateer, as he 
 had done before. No promises or entreaties could avail, and 
 he seemed doomed to remain a prisoner in an island for 
 which he entertained no filial afiection. 
 
 He, therefore, hit upon a desperate scheme, worthy of such 
 a man. Collecting a little money he bought an old, half- 
 rotten boat, lying near London-bridge, for £20, and em- 
 barked with sixteen desperadoes equally fearless as himself, 
 carrying a supply of butter and cheese, and two dozen pieces 
 of salt beef. He sailed down the river and reached the 
 Downs, and there he boarded and captured a French vessel 
 and sank his boat. By a foray on Eomney Marsh he sup- 
 plied himself with cattle, and sailed away like a bold Bucca- 
 neer as he was, to die no one knows where. 
 
276 dampier's voyages. 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 dampier's voyages. 
 
 Leaves Captain Shar^D — Land inarch over the Isthmus — Joins Captain 
 Wright — Wreck oi the French fleet — Returns to England — Second 
 voyage with Captain Cook — Guinea coast — Juan Fernandez — Takes 
 Ampalla — Takes Paita— Dampier's scheme of seizing the mines — 
 Attacks Manilla galleon — Captain Swan — Death unknown — Van 
 Horn — Captures galleons — Takes Vera Cruz — Killed in a duel by 
 Le Graff. 
 
 Dampier, one of the wisest and best of English travellers, 
 was himself a Buccaneer. Son of a Somersetshire farmer, he 
 ■went early to sea, and became a freebooter without much 
 compunction, just at tlie time when the brothers of the 
 coast were sinking into mere j)irates. " No peace beyond 
 the line," was their early motto ; '• Friends to God and 
 enemies to all mankind," was the later. The flag, once 
 reddened by the Spaniards' blood, grew now black with the 
 shadows of death and of the grave. 
 
 Dampier was among those who left Captain Sharp after 
 the dreadful repulse from Arica. His party consisted of 
 forty-four Englishmen and two Mosquito Indians, who deter- 
 mined to recross the Isthmus of Darien, and return to the 
 North Pacific Ocean. They carried with them a large 
 quantity of flour and chocolate mixed with sugar, and took 
 a mutual and terrible oath, that if any of their number sank 
 from fatigue, he should be shot by his comrades, rather than 
 allow him to fall into the hands of the Spaniards, who would 
 not only torture him horribly, but compel him to betray his 
 companions. 
 
 In a fortnight after leaving the vessels they landed at 
 the mouth of a river in the Bay of St. Michael, where un- 
 loading their provisions and arms they sank their boats ; 
 and while prejmring for the inland journey, the Indians 
 
dampier's voyages. ^ 277 
 
 >• 
 
 caught fish, and built huts for them to sleep in. The next 
 day they struck into an Indian path and reached a village, 
 but found, to their alarm, that the Spaniards had j^laced 
 armed ships at the mouths of all the navigable rivers to 
 intercept them on their return. Hiring an Indian guide, 
 they reached the day after a native house, but the savage 
 would neither give them food nor information. At any 
 other time the Buccaneers would have at once put him on 
 the rack, or hanged him at his own door, but they felt this 
 Avas no place to be angry, for their lives lay in the enemy's 
 hands. Neither dollars, hatchets, nor knives, would move 
 this stubborn man, till a sailor pulled a sky-blue petticoat 
 from his bag and threw it over the head of the Indian's 
 wife. Delighted with the gift, she coaxed her husband till 
 he gave them information and found a guide. It had rained 
 hard for two days, the country was difficult and fatiguing, 
 and there was no path that even an Indian eye could 
 discover. They guided themselves by day by the rivers, 
 and at night by the stars. They had frequently to 
 ford the rivers twenty or thirty times in twelve hours. 
 Eain, cold, fatigue, and hunger made them forget even the 
 Spaniards. 
 
 In a few days they reached the house of a young Spanish 
 Indian, who had lived with the bishop of Panama, and who 
 received them kindly. Here, wliile resting to dry their 
 arms and powder, their surgeon, Mr. Wafer, had his knee 
 burnt by an accidental explosion. After dragging himself 
 along with pain for another day, he determined to remain 
 behind with two or three more. He stayed five months 
 with the Indians, and the published account of his expe- 
 riences still exists. 
 
 The rainy season, that frightened Mr. Ringrose, had now 
 set in, and the thunder and lightning was frequent and 
 violent. The vallevs and river banks were overflowed, and 
 the Buccaneers had to sleep in trees or under their shade, 
 instead of building warm and sheltering huts. In the very 
 height of their misery, the slaves fled and carried away 
 all they could. Dampier, whose only anxiety was to jDre- 
 serve his journal, placed it in a bamboo, closed at both ends 
 with wax. In fording one of the rivers, a Buccaneer, who 
 
278 . dampier's voyages. 
 
 «i 
 
 carried 300 dollars on liis back, was swept down the stream 
 and drowned, but the survivors were too hopeless and weary 
 to look for either body or gold. 
 
 In eighteen days the English reached the river Concepcion, 
 and, obtaining Indian canoes, rowed to Le Sound's Key, one 
 of the Samballas islands, where Buccaneers rendezvoused. 
 Here they embarked on board a French privateer, com- 
 manded by Captain Tristian, dismissing their Indian guides 
 with presents of money, beads, and hatchets. At Springer's 
 Key, Tristian joined them with other vessels, and would 
 have attacked Panama had not Dampier and his men de- 
 terred them. For a week the council deliberated about the 
 available towns worth plundering from Trinidad to Vera 
 Cruz. The French and English could not agree, but at last 
 all sailed for Carpenter's Eiver, touching at the isle of St. 
 Andreas. The ships separated in a gale ; and Dampier 
 taking a dislike to his French commander, induced Captain 
 "Wright, an Englishman, to fit out a small vessel and cruise 
 for provisions along the coast. While the sailors shot pecary, 
 deer, parrots, pigeons, monkeys, and cuvassow birds, their 
 Mosquito Indians struck turtle for their use. 
 
 On returning to Le Sound's Key they were joined by Mr. 
 Wafer, who had escaped from the Darien Indians, but he 
 was so painted and bedizened that it was some time before 
 thev could recognize him. An Indian chief had offered him 
 his daughter in marriage, and he had only got away by pre- 
 tending to go in search of English dogs for hunting. Pass- 
 ing Carthagena, they cast wistful eyes at the convent dedi- 
 cated to the Virgin, situated on a steep hill behind the 
 town. There was immense wealth hoarded in this place, 
 rich offerings being frequently made to it, and many miracles 
 worked by our Lady. Any misfortune that befel the Buc- 
 caneer was attributed to this Lady's doing, and the Spaniards 
 re[)orted that she w^as abroad that night the Oxford man-of- 
 war blew up at the isle of Vaca, and that she came home all 
 wet, and with clothes soiled and torn. 
 
 Captain Wright's company pillaged several small places 
 about the Kio de la Hache and the liancherias pearl fish- 
 eries, and captured, after a smart engagement, an armed 
 ship of twelve guns and forty men, laden with sugar, tobacco, 
 
dampier's voyages. 279 
 
 and raarmaiade, boiiDd to Carthagena from Santiago, in Cuba. 
 The Dutch governor of Curacoa, having much trade v/ith 
 the Spaniards, would not openly buy the cargo, but offered, 
 if it was sent among the Danes of St. Thomas, to purchase 
 it through his agents. The rovers, declining this, sold it at 
 another Dutch colony, and then sailed for the isle of Aves, 
 so called from the quantity of boobies and men-of-war birds. 
 On a coral reef near this island, Count d'Estrees had shortly 
 before lost the whole French fleet. He himself had first run 
 ashore, and firing guns to warn the rest of the danger, they 
 hurried on to the same shoal, thinking, in the darkness, that 
 he had been attacked by the enemy. The ships held 
 together till the next day, and many men were saved. The 
 ordinary seamen died of hunger and fatigue, but the Bucca- 
 neers, hardier, and accustomed to frequent wrecks, made the 
 escape an excuse for revel and debauchery. As Dampier 
 says, they, "being used to such accidents, lived merrily, 
 and if they had gone to Jamaica with £30 in their pockets, 
 could not have enjoyed themselves more ; for they kept a 
 gang by themselves and watched when the ships broke up, 
 to get the goods that came out of them, and, though much 
 was staved against the rocks, yet abundance of wine and 
 brandy floated over the reef where they waited to take it 
 up." * '^ " There were about forty Frenchmen aboard 
 one of the ships, in which was good store of liquor, till the 
 after part of her broke, and floated over the reef and was 
 carried away to sea, with all the men drinking and singing, 
 who, being in drink, did 'not mind the danger, l)ut were 
 never heard of afterwards." 
 
 This wreck having left the Bird Island a storehouse of 
 masts and spars, the Buccaneer vessels had begun to repair 
 thither to careen and refit. Among others, a Captain Pan, 
 a Frenchman, had been there. A Dutch vessel of twenty 
 guns, despatched from Curacoa to fish up the sunken cannon, 
 obser\'ing the privateer, resolved to capture him before he 
 began his diving. Pan, afraid of the Dutchman's superior 
 force, abandoned his vessel, and, landing his guns, prepared 
 to throw up a redoubt. While thus engaged, a Dutch sloo]:^ 
 entered the road, and at night anchored at the opposite end 
 of the island. In the night. Pan, with two canoes, boarded 
 
280 dampier's voyages. 
 
 the sliip, and made off, leavhig liis empty hulk for the Dutch 
 man-of-war. 
 
 At this island, Dampier's men careened their largest 
 vessel, scrubbed the sugar prize, and recovered two guns 
 from the wreck. At the island of E.ocas, a Knight of Malta, 
 captain of a French thirty-six gun ship, bought ten tons of 
 their sugar. Failing to sell any more sugar at Petit Guaves, 
 they sailed for Blanco, an uninhabited island, full of lignum- 
 vitse trees, and teeming with iguanas, that were to be found 
 in the swamps, among the bushes, or in the trees. Tlieir 
 eggs were eaten by the Buccaneers, who made soup of the 
 flesh for their sick. 
 
 While cruising on the Caraccas coast, they landed in some 
 of the bays, and took seven or eight tons of cocoa, and three 
 barques laden with hides, brandy, earthenware, and European 
 goods. Returning to the Eocas, they divided the spoil, and 
 Dam pier and nineteen others embarking in one of the prizes, 
 reached Virginia July 1G82. 
 
 Dampier's next voyage w^as wdth a Creole, named Cook, 
 who arrived at Virginia with a French vessel he had cap- 
 tured by a trick at Petit Guaves. He had been quarter- 
 master, or second in command, under a French Flibustier 
 named Gandy. By the usual Buccaneer law, he had been 
 made captain of a large Spanish prize. The French com- 
 manders in the same fleet, jealous of this promotion, seized 
 the ship, plundered the English prize crew, and sent them 
 ashore. Tristan, another French captain, took ten of them 
 with him to Petit Guaves. Cook and his nine companions, 
 taking advantage of a day when Tristan and many of his 
 men were absent, overpowered the rest of the crew, sent 
 them ashore, and sailed to the Isle a la Vache. Here he 
 picked up a crew of English Buccaneers, and steered for 
 Virginia, taking two prizes by the way, one of which was a 
 French vessel, laden with wines. He then sold his wine 
 and two of the ships, and equipped the largest, the Revenge^ 
 with eighteen guns. Amongst the crew were Dampier, 
 "Wafer, and Cowley, all of whom have written narratives of 
 their voyages. They sailed from the Chesapeak on the 23rd 
 of August, 1G83, and captured a Dutch vessel, laden with 
 Avine and provisions. At the Cape de Verd islands they 
 
dampier's voyages. 281 
 
 encountered a dreadful storm, that lasted a week. While 
 the ship scudded before wind and sea under bare poles, she 
 was suddenly broached to by order of the master, and would 
 have foundered but for Dampier and another man who, 
 going aloft and spreading out the flaps of their coats, righted 
 the ship. At the isle of Sal, the sailors feasted on flamingo 
 tonoues. These birds stood in ranks round the feedinj^ 
 ponds, so as to resemble a new brick wall. They purchased 
 here some ambergris, which, Dampier says, was in a lump 
 of lOOlbs. weight. Its origin was at that time unknown ; 
 it is now believed to be a secretion of the whale. The 
 governor and his court at this island rejoiced in rags, their 
 revenues beiDg small, and drawn ])rincipally from the salt 
 ponds, from which the island derives its name. Having 
 dug wells, watered, and careened, they went to Mayo to 
 obtain provisions, but were not allowed to land, as only 
 al30ut a week before Captain Bond, a pirate of Bristol, had 
 carried ofi" the governor and some of his people. 
 
 Steering to the Straits of Magellan, they were driven to- 
 the Guinea coast, and there captured a Danish ship by a 
 stratagem. Captain Cook, concealing his men under deck, 
 approached the Dane like a weak, unarmed merchant-vessel. 
 When quite close, he commanded in a loud voice the helm 
 to be put one way, while by a preconcerted plan the steers- 
 man shifted into another, and fell on board the Dane, which 
 was captured with the loss of only five men. She was double 
 their size, carried thirty-six guns, and was equipped and 
 victualled for a long voyage. 
 
 This vessel they called the Bachelor's Delight, and they at 
 once burned the Revenge, that she might " tell no tales." 
 
 During frequent tornadoes near the straits, being short of 
 fresh meat, the sailors caught sharks during the calms, and 
 boiling their flesh, stewed it with pepj^er and vinegar. 
 When they reached the Falkland, or Sebald de Weist 
 Islands, as they were then called, Dampier proposed to the 
 captain to reach Juan Fernandez by Cape Horn, avoiding 
 the straits. Their men being privateers, wilful, and not 
 much in command, he feared would not give suflicient 
 attention in a passage so ditiicult, and, tliough he owns they 
 were more than usually obedient, he says he could not ex- 
 
282 dampier's voyages. 
 
 pect to find tliem at an instant's call in critical moments. 
 At these islands tliey found the sea for a mile round red 
 with shoals of small, scarlet-shelled lobsters. Dampier's 
 advice was not taken, but on entering the South Sea they 
 met the Nicholas, of London, a vessel fitted out ostensibly 
 as a trader, but being in reality a Buccaneer. The captain 
 came on board, related his adventures, and gave them a sup- 
 ply of bread and beef They reached Juan Fernandez 
 together, and heard from the Nicholas of a vessel from Lon- 
 don, called the Cygnet, commanded by Captain Swan, which 
 was sailing in those latitudes. It was a trader, holding a 
 licence from the Duke of York, then High Admiral of 
 Ed gland. 
 
 The crews discovered on the island the Mosquito Indian 
 left behind by Captain "VVatling, because he was hunting 
 goats when the vessel sailed. He was warmly greeted by 
 Dampier, a fellow-countryman named Kobin, and some old 
 messmates. Kobin, running up to him, fell flat on his face 
 at his feet, and then rose and embraced him. They found 
 he had killed three goats, and prepared some cabbage palms, 
 to feast his visitors. The interview, writes Dampier, was 
 tender, solemn, and affecting. When abandoned, William 
 had nothing with him but his gun and a knife, some powder, 
 and some shot. By notching his knife into a saw, he cut his 
 gun barrel into pieces. These he hammered in the fire, and 
 ground them into lances, harpoons, hooks, and knives. He 
 hunted goats, fished, and killed seals. His clothes he made 
 of skins, and with these also he had lined his hut ; and he 
 had contrived to elude the search of the Spaniards. Wild 
 goats, originally brought by the Spaniards, abounded on the 
 hills and in the grassy vallej'^s. There was abundance of 
 water and good timber, and the bays abounded with seals 
 and sea-lions, that covered the sea for a mile. 
 
 Bemaining here sixteen days, for the sake of the sick and 
 those ill with the scurvy, and getting in water and provision, 
 Cook then steered for the American coast, standing out 
 fourteen or fifteen leagues to escape the notice of the Span- 
 iard. The ridges were blue and mountainous. They soon 
 captured a timber ship from Guayaquil laden with timber 
 for Lima, from whose crew tliey heard that their arrival was 
 
dampier's voyages. 2 S3 
 
 known. They anchored next at the sandy islet of Lobos de 
 la Mar, and scrubbed their ships. Captain Eaton, of the 
 NicJiolas, proposing to march with them in their descents, 
 xind the two vessels mustering 108 able men, Cook soon took 
 another prize, and Eaton two more, which he pursued. They 
 were laden with flour from Lima for Panama, and in one of 
 them were eight tons of quince marmalade. The prisoners 
 informed them that, on the rumour of their approach, 
 800,000 pieces of eight had been landed at an. intermediate 
 port. They sailed next to the Galapagos Islands, abandon- 
 ing a design on Truxillo, which they heard had been lately 
 fortified. On these rock}'-, barren shores they feasted on 
 turtle, pigeons, fish, and the leaves of the mammee tree. OflT 
 Cape Blanco, Captain Cook died, and was buried on land. 
 
 Capturing some Spanish Indians who had been sent as 
 spies by the Governor of Panama, they used them as guides, 
 and landed on the coast in search of cattle. Here a few of 
 the men were surprised by fifty armed Spaniards, and their 
 boat burned. The sailors thus imperilled waded out neck 
 deep to an insulated rock near the shore, and remained there 
 for seven hours exposed to the Spanish bullets, till they were 
 taken oflf by a boat from their ship just as the tide was 
 rising to devour them. The Spanish, lurking in ambush, 
 made no attempt to resist the rescue. 
 
 The quartermaster, Edward Davis, was now elected com- 
 mander ; and after cutting lancewood for the handles of 
 their oars, they bore away for Ria Lexa, steering for a high 
 volcano that rises above the town and the island that forms 
 the harbour. But here, too, the Spaniards had thrown up 
 breast-works and placed sentinels, and the Buccaneers sailed 
 for the Gulf of Ampalla and the Island of Mangera. Davis 
 captured the padre of a village and two Indian boys, and, 
 proceeding to Ampalla, informed the people that he com- 
 manded a Biscay shij?, sent by the King of Spain to clear 
 those seas of pirates, and that he had come there to careen. 
 The sailors were well received, and entertained with feasts 
 and music, and they all repaired together to celebrate a 
 festival by torchlight in the church. Here Davis hoped to 
 cage them till he could dictate a ransom, but the impatience 
 of one of his men frustrated the plan. Pushing in a 
 
284 dampier's voyages. 
 
 lingering Indian too angrily, the man spread an alarm, the 
 people all fled, and the Buccaneers, firing, killed one of their 
 chiefs. They remained, however, good friends, and these 
 A''ery Indians soon after helped to store the ship with cattle 
 belonging to a nunnery, situated on an island in the gulf. 
 On leaving, Davis gave them one of his prize ships, and a 
 quantity of flour, and released the priest who had helped 
 liim in his first stratagem. 
 
 The crews now quarrelled, and Davis, who claimed the 
 largest share of the common plunder, left them, taking Dam- 
 pier with him. Eaton touched at Cocos Island, purchased a 
 store of flour, and took in water and cocoa-nuts. Davis 
 landed at Manta, a village near Cape St. Lorenzo, and 
 captured two old women, in order to obtain information. 
 They learnt that many Buccaneers had lately crossed tTie 
 isthmus, and were coming along the coast in canoes and 
 piraguas. The viceroy had left no means untried to check 
 them j the goats on the uninhabited islands had been de- 
 stroyed, provisions were removed from the shoi*e, and ships 
 even burnt to save them from the enemy. At La Plata, 
 Davis was joined by Captain Swan in the Cygnet, who had 
 turned freebooter in self-defence. He had been joined by 
 Peter Harris, who commanded a small bark, and was nephew 
 of the Buccaneer commander killed in a sea-fight at Panama 
 three years before. They now sent for Eaton, but found 
 from a letter at the rendezvous at Lobos, that he had already 
 sailed for the East Indies. While the ships were refitting 
 at La Plata, a small bark taken by Davis, after the Span- 
 iards had set it on fire, captured a Spaniard of 400 tons, 
 laden with timber, and brought word that the viceroy was 
 fitting out ten frigates to sweep them from the seas. Cap- 
 tain Swan, at this crisis, turned wholly freebooter, and 
 cleared his ship of goods by selling them to every Buccaneer 
 on credit. The bulky bales he threw overboard, the silks. 
 and muslins he kept, and retained the iron bars for ballast. 
 In compensation for these sacrifices, the Buccaneers agreed 
 to set aside ten shares of all booty for Ca2)tain Swan's 
 owners. 
 
 Having cleaned the vessels and fitted up a fire-ship, the 
 squadron landed at Paita, but found it deserted. x\nchoring 
 
dampier's voyages. 285 
 
 off the place, they demanded as ransom 300 pecks of flour, 
 3,000 pounds of sugar, twenty-five jars of wine, and 1,000 
 of water, and having coasted six da5^s and obtained nothing, 
 they burnt tlie town in revenge, and sailed away. They 
 found afterwards that Eaton had been there not long before, 
 landed his prisoners, and burnt a ship in the road. Burning 
 Harris's vessel, which proved unseaworthy, the squadron 
 steered for the island of Lobos del Tierra, and, being short 
 of food, took in a supply of seals, penguins, and boobies, 
 their Mosquito men supplying them with turtle, while the 
 ships were cleaned and provided with firewood, preparatory 
 to a descent upon Guayaquil. Embarking in their canoes, 
 they captured in the bay a small ship laden with Quito cloth 
 and two vessels full of negroes. One of these they dis- 
 ■ masted, and a few only of the slaves they took with them. 
 From disagreement between the two crews, the expedition, 
 failed. Having lain in the woods all night, and cut a road 
 with great difficulty, they abandoned the scheme without 
 firing a shot, when almost within a mile of the tovrn, which 
 they believed, was alarmed, and on the watch. 
 
 Dampier now proposed a scheme as feasible and grand as 
 any of Ealeigh's. He declared that they never had a greater 
 opportunity of enriching themselves. His bold plan was, 
 with the 1,000 negroes lying in the three prizes, to go and 
 work the sold mines of St. Martha. The Indians v/ould at 
 once join them, from their hatred of the Sjoaniards. For 
 provision they had 200 tons of flour laid up in the Galapa- 
 gos Islands ; the North Sea would be open to them ; thou- 
 sands of Buccaneers \yould join them from all parts of the 
 West Indies ; united they would be a match for all the 
 forces of Peru, and might be at once masters of the west 
 -coast as high as Quito. This golden cloud melted into mere 
 foof. The Buccaneers returned to La Plata, divided the 
 Quito cloth, and turned the Guayaquil vessel into a tender 
 for the Swan. The old Buccaneers of Davis now quarrelled 
 •with the new recruits in the Swan, accused them of cowardice 
 and of having baulked the attempt on Guayaquil, and com- 
 plained of ha^dng to supply them with flour and turtle, for 
 •they had neither provisions nor Indian fishermen. Unable 
 to divorce, the ill-assorted pair proceeded to attack together 
 
2S6 DAMPIEPv's VOYAGES. 
 
 Lavelia, in the Bay of Panama. From charts found in the- 
 prizes they checked the deceptions and errors of the Spanish 
 and Indian prisoners whom they employed as pilots. Their 
 object was now to search for canoes in rivers unvisited by 
 the Spaniards, where their schemes might remain still un- 
 discovered. 
 
 Such rivers abounded from the equinoctial line to the Gulf 
 of St. 3Iichael. When five davs out from La Plata thev 
 made a sudden swoop on the village of Tomaco, and captured 
 a vessel laden with timber, with a Spanish knight, eight 
 sailors, and a canoe containing twelve jars of old wine. A 
 boat i^arty that rowed up the St. Jago river visited a house 
 belonging to a lady of Lima, whose servants traded with the 
 Indians for gold, several ounces of which were found left by 
 them in their calabashes when they fled. 
 
 The twin vessels next sailed for the Island of Gallo, cap- 
 turing by the way a packet-boat from Lima, fishing up the 
 letters, which the Spaniards had thrown overboard attached 
 to a buoy. From these they learnt that the governor of 
 Panama was hastening the departure of the triennial plate 
 fleet from Callo to Panama, where it would be carried on 
 mules across the isthmus. To intercept this fleet and to 
 grow millionaires in a day was now their only dream. They 
 proceeded at once to careen their ships at the Pearl Islands 
 in the Bay of Panama. Their force consisted of two ships, 
 three barks, a fire-ship, and two small tenders. Near the 
 uninhabited Island of Gorgona they captured a flour ship, 
 and landing most of their prisoners at Gorgona, they pro- 
 ceeded to the bay, captured a small provision boat, and con- 
 tinued their watch, cruising round the city. 
 
 Having cut off all communication between Panama and 
 the islands in the bay, Davis proposed an exchange of pri- 
 soners, surrendering forty monks, whom he was glad to get 
 rid of, for one of Harris's band and a sailor who had been 
 surprised while hunting on an island. The Lima fleet still 
 delaying, the Buccaneers anchored at Tavoga, an island 
 abounding in cocoa and mammee trees, and beautiful water. 
 About this time they were nearly ensnared by a Spanish 
 ship, sent to the island at midnight under pretence of clan- 
 destine traflic. This scheme originated in Captain Bond, aa 
 
dampier's voyages. 287 
 
 English pirate who had desei*ted to the enemy. The squa- 
 dron, which had scattered in alarm, to avoid the fire-ship, 
 were just re-uniting and looking for their abandoned anchors, 
 when a cry arose that a fleet of armed canoes were steering 
 direct towards them through the island channel. This was 
 the French Flibustiers, oi Vvdiich we have given an account 
 hereafter in the adventures of Ravenau de Lussan. 
 
 After joining in the sea-fight ofi' Panama, and the descent 
 upon Leon and Eia Lexas, the Buccaneers again split into 
 small parties. Dampier joined Swan and To-vs-nley, who 
 determined to cruise along the shores of the mine country 
 oi Mexico, and then, sailing as high as the south-west point 
 of Calitornia, cross the Pacific, and return to England by 
 India. At Guatalico, famous for its blo%ving rock, thev 
 landed their sick for a few days, and obtained provisions, 
 and, in a descent near Acapulco, stopped a string of sixty 
 laden mules and killed eighteen beeves, carrying ofi* all the 
 cattle safely to their ships. 
 
 To obtain provisions, Swan sacked the town of St. Pecaque, 
 on the coast of ^N'ew Gallicia, where large stores were kept 
 for the use of the slaves of the neighbouring mines. A 
 great many of these he carried off the first day on hoi'se- 
 back and on the shoidders of his men. These visits were 
 repeated — a party of Buccaneei-s keeping the town till the 
 Spaniards had collected a force. Of this Captain Swan gave 
 his men due warning, exhorting them, on their way to their 
 canoes with the burdens of maize, to keep together in a 
 compact body, but they chose to follow theii' own course, 
 every man straggling singly while leading his horse, or carry- 
 in o- a load on his shoulder. Thev accordin^lv fell into the 
 ambush the Spaniards had laid for them, and to the amount 
 of fifty were surprised and mercilessly butchered. The 
 Spaniards, seizing their arms and loaded horses, fled, before 
 Swan, who heard the distant firmg, could come to the assist- 
 ance of his men. Fiftv-four Englishmen and nine blacks 
 fell in this afiair, which vras the most severe the Buccaneers 
 had encountered in the South Sea. Dampier relates that 
 Captain Swan had been warned of this disaster by an astro- 
 lo£:er he had consulted before he sailed from Enoiand. 
 Many of the men, too, had foreboded the misforcune; ana 
 
288 dampiek's voyages. 
 
 the previous night, while lying in the church of St. Pecaque, 
 liacl been disturbed by frequent groanings wliich kept them 
 from sleeping. 
 
 This disaster drove Swan from the coast to careen at Cape 
 St. Lucas, the South point of California — in revenge for his 
 loss leaving his pilot and prisoners on an uninhabited island. 
 "While lying here, Dampier was cured of dropsy by being 
 buried all but his head in hot sand. The whole 150 men 
 w^ere now living on short allowances of maize, and the fish 
 the Indians struck salted for store. One meal a day was 
 now the rule, and the victuals were served out by the 
 quartermaster with the exactness of gold. Yet, even in 
 this distress, two dogs and two cats received their daily 
 shares. They now started for their cruise among the Philip- 
 pines. In a long run of 7,302 miles they saw no living 
 thing — neither bird, fish, nor insect, except one soHtary flight 
 of boobies. At the end of the voyage the men were almost 
 in mutiny at the want of food, and had secretly resolved to 
 kill and eat their captain (Swan), and afterwards, in regular 
 order, all who had promoted the voyage. At the island of 
 Gualan, where there was a Spanish fort and a garrison of 
 thirty men, the Buccaneers traded with the natives, who 
 took them for Spaniards from Acapulco. 
 
 Captain Eaton, who had visited the island before them on 
 his way to India, had, at the instigation of the Spaniards, 
 plundered and killed many of the natives, and driven the 
 rest to emigration. While trading here the Acapulco vessel 
 arrived, and, being signalled by the governor, took to flight; 
 but in her hurry to escape ran upon a shoal, from which she 
 was with difficulty extricated. Swan, who now grew anxious 
 for quiet commerce, discouraged the pursuit, and proceeded 
 quietly on his voyage. At Mindanao, Captain Swan and 
 thirty-six men were left behind by his crew, who were only 
 anxious for plunder, and soon after captured a Spanish vessel 
 bound for Manilla. Captain Swan was eventually drowned 
 while attempting to escape to a Dutch vessel lying in the 
 river. Weary of the mean robberies of the crew, who now 
 turned mere pirates, Dampier left them at the Nicobar 
 islands, and, embarking in canoes, reached Sumatra, and 
 eventually sailed for England. 
 
dampier's voyages. 289 
 
 The Buccaneers left behind in the South Sea prospered, 
 and made many successful descents. At Lavelia Townley 
 ■captured the treasure and merchandise landed from the 
 Lima ship in the former year, for which Swan had watched 
 so long in vain, and for which the Buccaneers had fought ia 
 the Bay of Panama. Townley died of his wounds. Harris 
 followed Swan across the Pacific ; and Knight, another 
 English Buccaneer, satiated with plunder, returned home 
 laden with Spanish gold ; and oif Cape Corrientes they lay 
 in wait in vain for the Manilla ship, the great prize aimed 
 at by all adventurers. Soon after, a malignant fever break- 
 ing out among the crews, many left the squadron and re- 
 turned towards Panama, carrying back the Darien Indians, 
 but leaving the Mosquito Indians in the Cygnet. 
 
 Davis sailed from Guayaquil to careen at the Gallapagos 
 islands, which were in the South Pacific what Tortuga was 
 in the North, the harbour and sanctuary of the Buccaneers. 
 In returning by Cape Horn, Davis discovered Easter Island, 
 and left five of his men and five negro slaves on Juan 
 Fernandez. These men had been stripped at the gambling- 
 table, and were unwilling to return empty-handed. The 
 Bachelor s Delight eventually doubled Cape Horn, and he 
 reached the West Indies just in time to avail himself of a 
 pardon ofiered by royal proclamation. 
 
 Dampier reached England in 1691, and having published 
 his travels, was sent out in 1691 by William III. on a 
 voyage of discovery to New Holland, and was wrecked near 
 Ascension. In Queen Anne's reign, during the War of the 
 Succession, he commanded two j^rivateers, and cruised against 
 the Spaniards in the South Sea. His objects were to 
 capture the Spanish plate vessels sailing from Buenos Ayres, 
 to lie in wait for the gold ship from Boldivia to Lima, and 
 to seize the Manilla galleon. Off Juan Fernandez he fought 
 ■a French Buccaneer vessel for seven hours, but parted 
 without effecting a capture. So strong were his old Flibus- 
 tier habits upon him, that he confesses it was with reluctance 
 that he attacked any vessel not a Spaniard. Before they 
 reached the proper latitude the Boldivia vessel had sailed. 
 
 Captain Stradling, the commander of his companion ship, 
 parted company. A surprise of Santa Maria, in the bay of 
 
 u 
 
290 dampier's voyages. 
 
 Panama, failed, but Dampier made a few small prizes. 
 While lyiiig in tlie gulf of Nicoya, his chief mate, John 
 Clii)perton, mutinied, and, seizing his tender, with its 
 ammunition and stores, put out to sea. A worse disap- 
 pointment awaited the commander — off the Fort de Narida 
 he came suddenly upon the Manilla galleon, and gave her 
 several broadsides before she could clear for action. But 
 even at this disadvantage the Spaniards' twenty-four 
 pounders soon silenced Dampier's five pounders, drove 
 in the rotten planks of his vessel, the St. George, and com- 
 pelled him to sheer off — the galleon's crew quadrupling that 
 of the English. 
 
 The men growing despondent and weary of the voyage, 
 Dampier put thirty-four of them into a prize brigantine of 
 seventy tons, and appointed one named Funnel as their 
 commander. Allowing them to sail for India, he with 
 twenty-nine men returned to Peru and plundered the town 
 of Puna. The vessel being no longer fit for sea, they 
 abandoned her at Lobos de la Mar, and embarking in a 
 Spanish brigantine crossed the Pacific. In India, Dampier, 
 having had his commission stolen by some of his deserters, 
 was imj^risoned by the Dutch. When he reached England 
 at last, he found that Funnel had returned and published 
 his voyage to the West Indies. A few of his men who had 
 lost their money in gambling remained in the Bachelor's 
 Delight with Davis. 
 
 It is supposed he now fell into very extreme poverty, for 
 in 1708 we find him acting as pilot to the two Bristol 
 privateers that circumnavigated the globe, and were as 
 successful as he had been unfortunate. At Juan Fernandez 
 the commander, Woodes Eogei's, brought ofi^ the celebrated 
 Alexander Selkirk, who had been abandoned here four years 
 before, by Dampier's mutinous consort, Ca2:>tain Stradling, 
 and, by the traveller's advice, the poor outcast was made 
 second mate of the Duke. At Guayaquil, where Dampier 
 commanded the artillery, they obtained yjlundcr to the 
 value of £21,000, besides 27,000 dollars, as ransom for the 
 town. Ofl" Cape Lucas they captured a rich Manilla ship, 
 laden with merchandise, and containing £12,000 in gold 
 and silver. Thev also encountered the ffreat Maiulla 
 
Woodes Rogers brings off Alexander Selkirk. p. 290. 
 
dampier's voyages. 291 
 
 galleon, but were beaten off after a severe engagement with 
 a loss of twenty-five men. After a run of two months they 
 reached Gualan, and obtained provisions by anchoring under 
 Sjoanish colours. Visiting Batavia, they waited a long time 
 at the Cape for a home-bound fleet, and in July, 1711, 
 entered the Texel five-and-twenty sail, Dutch and English ; 
 and in October sailed up the Thames with booty valued at 
 £150,000. Of the great Dampier we hear no more, and 
 his very burial place is unknown. 
 
 Now we come in due course to Van Horn, who, originally 
 a common Dutch sailor, having, by dint of the prudence of 
 his nation, saved 200 dollars, entered into partnership with 
 a messmate who had laid by the same sum, and, going 
 to France, obtained a privateer's commission, and fitted up 
 a fishing-boat with a crew of thirty men. Cruising first as 
 Dutch, he then purchased a large vessel at Ostend, and, 
 hoistins: the French fiao- made war on all nations. The 
 French court ordered M. d'Estrees to detain this Flying 
 Dutchman, whose commission had now expired, and a ship 
 was sent for the purpose ; but as the commander had 
 no orders to proceed to extremities, and Van Horn was 
 determined not to go alive, he was suffered to escape. 
 Quite undaunted he proceeded to Puerto Eico, entered the 
 bay sounding his trumpets, and, sending on shore, told the 
 governor that he had come to offer his services to escort the 
 galleons which were then ready to sail. The governor 
 accepted the offer, and Van Horn sailed off with them ; but 
 being soon joined by some Buccaneer companions, he turned 
 on the prey, seized the richest, sank some others, and 
 pursued the rest. Such was the commencement of this 
 adventurer's career. His after life was worthy of such 
 a beginning. 
 
 Yan Horn became immensely rich. He usually wore a 
 string of pearls of extraordinary size, and a large ruby of 
 Sfreat beautv. His widow lived afterwards at Ostend. 
 
 In 1683, Van Horn, who had all his life fought under 
 French colours, though not very scrupulous about what 
 nation a vessel was, so it were rich, having gone to St. Do- 
 mingo to sell negroes, had his ship confiscated by the 
 Spanish governor. The Buccaneer's imgovernable passions 
 
 u 2 
 
292 dampier's voyages. 
 
 could no more brook such an insult than a knight would 
 have borne a blow. Buccaneer pride desired revenge ; 
 Buccaneer cupidity desired redress. Resolved on vengeance, 
 the angry Dutchman hastened to Petit Guaves, and took 
 out a commission from the governor of Tortuga, and at 
 once enrolled 300 of the bravest Buccaneers, with a deter- 
 mination of attacking Vera Cruz. Among his crew were 
 enrolled several of the leading Buccaneer chiefs. Grammont, 
 who had lately lost his ship at the Isles des Aves, lately a com- 
 mander, was now a mere volunteer. Such were the vicissi- 
 tudes of Buccaneer life. Laurence de Graff was also there. 
 He was a Dutchman like Van Horn, but one came from 
 Ostend and the other from Dort. Among the less cele- 
 brated were Godefroy and Jonque. Their numbers soon 
 swelled to 1,200 jDicked men, in six vessels, under the 
 command of Van Horn and De Graff, who had each a 
 frigate of fifty guns, while the rest had simple barks. 
 Their common aim was Vera Cruz, the emporium of all the 
 riches of New Spain, and they needed no other incitement 
 to urge them to speed and unity. 
 
 From some Spanish prisoners they heard that two large 
 vessels laden with cocoa were hourly expected at Vera Cruz 
 from the Caraccas. The Buccaneer leaders instantly fitted 
 up two of their largest ships in the Spanish fashion, and, 
 hoisting the Spanish flag, sent them boldly into the harbour, 
 as if just returning as peaceful but armed traders from a 
 long and successful voyage. It was the eve of the Assump- 
 tion, and crowds of sailors and townsmen lined the quays, 
 and the expectant populace cheered the rich merchantmen 
 as they steered with a stately sweep into the haven. The 
 keener eyes, however, soon observed that the Caraccas vessels 
 advanced very slowly, although the wind was good, and their 
 suspicions became excited almost before the Buccaneers could 
 work into port. Some even ran to tell the governor that all 
 was not right, but Don Luis de Cordova told them that their 
 fears were foolish, the two vessels he knew by unmistakable 
 signs to be the two vessels he expected ; and he returned 
 the same answer to the commander of the fort at St. Jean 
 d'Ulloa, who also sent to bid him be upon his guard. 
 
 About midniglit, the French, under cover of the dark, 
 
dampier's voyages. 293 
 
 lancled afc the old town, about three leagues to the west of 
 the more modern city. They obtained easy access to the 
 place, and surprised the governor in his bed. The drowsy 
 sentinels once overpowered, the small fortress with its twelve 
 guns was in the possession of their men. At every corner 
 pickets were placed. The surprise was so complete, that 
 when the tocsin rang at daybreak, the watchmen being- 
 alarmed at some musket shots they heard, they found the 
 town already bound hand and foot. At the first clang of 
 the bell, the garrison rushed out of their barracks, and 
 ranged themselves under their colours, but saw the French 
 already in arms at the head of all the principal streets. 
 They were surrounded and helpless. When the day broke, 
 nobody dared show themselves, for all those who ran out 
 armed were instantly struck down. Sentinels were placed 
 at every door in the principal streets, a barrel of pow^der 
 wdth the lid off by their sides, ready to fire the train that 
 connected one witli the other at the least signal of danger. 
 We believe it vras on this occasion that Van Horn forced a 
 monk into the cathedral, to preach to the people on the 
 vanity of worldly riches, and the necessity of abandoning 
 them to the spoiler. The Buccaneers then drove all the 
 Spaniards into their houses, and forced the women and chil- 
 dren into the churches. Here they remained, crowded 
 together, weeping and hungry, for three days, while their 
 enemies collected the booty. The Buccaneers, now safe, 
 abandoned themselves, as usual, to debauchery and gluttony 
 —some dying from immoderate gluttony. Fortunately for 
 this wretched people, the bishop of the town, happening to 
 be near Vera Cruz at the time, began to treat for their ran- 
 som. It was fixed at two million piastres, of which a part 
 "was paid the very same day — the Buccaneers only disj^ensing 
 with the remaining million, as the vice-royal was already 
 approaching to the town at the head of a lai'ge force. Dan- 
 gers were now hemming in the Dutchman and his band. 
 About eleven o'clock in the morning, the look-out on the 
 tower of St. Catherine's reported that a fleet of fourteen sai 
 ■was approaching the city. 
 
 The Buccaneers, alarmed, sprang to arms. Aghast at this 
 intelligence, the French, dreading to be shut in between two 
 
294 dampier's voyages. 
 
 fires, decided upon an immediate retreat. The townspeople, 
 terrified at the prospect of being massacred by their infu- 
 riated and despairing enemies, were as apprehensive of dan- 
 ger as the Buccaneers themselves. Van Horn embarked 
 with speed all the plate and cochineal, and the more valuable 
 and portable of the spoil, and y/aited eagerly for the ransom 
 which was now almost in sight. It, however, never arrived ; 
 for the drivers of the mules, hearing the firing, halted till the 
 fleet came within sight. The Buccaneers had no time to 
 lose, and compensated themselves by carrying off 1,500 slaves 
 to their vessels, which lay moored at some leagues' distance, 
 at Grijaluc, a place of safety. 
 
 They spent the night in great disorder, in continual appre- 
 hension of being attacked by the Spanish fleet, Avhich was, 
 at the same time, congratulating itself on reaching Vera 
 Cruz unharmed. The danger of the Buccaneers was, indeed, 
 not yet removed, for they had neither water nor sufiicient 
 provisions, and some 1,500 prisoners were on board. About 
 these hostages the leaders difiered in opinion, and words ran 
 high. The two chiefs fought, and Van Horn received a 
 sword-thrust in the arm from De Grafi". The several crews 
 took up their captains' quarrels, and would have come to 
 blows, had not De Graff divided the prey, and at once set 
 sail. Van Horn followed, but died on the passage, a gan- 
 grene having formed upon a wound at first very slight. 
 He was devotedly beloved by his men, says Charlevoix, 
 though he was in the disagreeable habit of cutting down 
 any sailor whom he saw flinch at his guns. He left his 
 frigate with his dying breath to Gramniont, who reached 
 St. Domingo, after dreadful sufferings, having lost three- 
 fourths of his prisoners by famine — his patache being cast 
 away and taken by the Spaniards. De Grafi"s vessel was 
 also wrecked, but the crew made their way one by one to 
 St. Domingo, where, in spite of the ill reception of the 
 governor, they were welcomed by the hospitality of the in- 
 habitants, Avho longed to share the treasure of Vera Cruz. 
 The governor, M. de .Franquesnoy, without fortress or gar- 
 rison, and exposed to the inroads of the Spaniards, could 
 make no resistance to these wild refugees, who, on one occa- 
 sion, hearing that he intended to seize upon part of the Vera 
 
DAMPIERS VOYAGES. 295 
 
 Cruz booty, surrounded his house to the number of 120 men, 
 and threatened his life. At this time, a general outbreak of 
 the French was expected. 
 
 It was in the very next year that the governor of Car- 
 thagena, hearing that Michael le Basque and Jonque were 
 cruizing near his port, sent two vessels against them, one of 
 48 guns and 300 men, and the other of 40 guns and 250 
 men, with a small bark as a decoy. The Buccaneer chiefs 
 each commanded a vessel of 30 guns and 200 men. They 
 both grappled the Spaniards, held them for an hour and a 
 half, swept their decks with musketry, tortured them with 
 hand-grenades and missiles, and eventually bore them off in 
 triumph. All the Spaniards who were not killed were put 
 on shore with a note to the governor, thanking him for 
 having sent them two such good vessels, as their own had 
 long been unfit for service. They, moreover, promised to 
 v/ait fifteen days off Carthagena for any other vessel he might 
 wish to get rid of, provided he would send money in them, 
 of which they were in great need. 
 
296 HAVEN AU DE LUSSAN, 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 RAVENAU DE LUSSAX. 
 
 Joins De Graff — Cruises round Carthagena — Crosses the Isthmus — 
 Hardships — Joins Buccaneer fleet — Grogniet — Previous history of' 
 the vessels — Fight with Greek mercenaries — Take La Seppa — En- 
 gagement off" Panama — Take Puebla Nueva — Separate from English 
 — Take Leon — Take Chiriquita — Take Granada — Capture Villia — 
 Surprised by ambuscade — Treachery of Greek spy — Capture vessels- 
 — Behead prisoners — Burn the savannahs — Quarrel between French 
 and English — Take Guayaquil — Love adventure of De Lussan — 
 Ketreat by land from North to South Pacific — Daring stratagem of 
 De Lussan — Escape — River and torrents — Hafts — Arrive at St, 
 Domingo. 
 
 For tlie cruises of Grogniet we are indebted to the jDages of 
 Eavenau de Lussan, a young soldier as brave and as saga- 
 cious as Xenophon. 
 
 On the 22nd of November, 1684, Ravenau de Lussan 
 departed from Petit Guaves with a crew of 120 adventurers, 
 on board of a prize lately taken near Carthagena by Captain 
 Laurence de Graff, Their intention was to join themselves 
 to a Buccaneer fleet then cruising near Havannah. They 
 had hitherto acted as convoy to the lieutenant-general and 
 the intendant of the French colonies, w^ho were afraid of 
 being attacked by the Spanish piraguas. Soon after de- 
 scrying the mainland, they were hailed by a French tartane, 
 who, not believing that they were of his own nation, or had 
 a commission from the Count of Tholouse, the lord high 
 admiral of France, gave them two guns and commanded 
 them to strike. The Buccaneers, thinking they had met a 
 Spaniard, knocked out the head of two barrels of powder, 
 intending to burn themselves and blow up the vecsel, rather 
 than be cruelly tortured and hung at the yard-arm with 
 their commissions round their necks. A signal, however, 
 
EAVEXAU DE LU3SAK. 297 
 
 discovered the mistake, and they were soon after joined by 
 the vessels they sought. One of these was the Mutinous^ 
 formerly the Peace, commanded by Captain Michael Lan- 
 dresson, and carried fifty guns. The other was the Neptune^ 
 formerly the St. Francis, and carried forty-four guns. They 
 had both been Spanish armadillas, had sallied out of Car- 
 thagena to take Captain De Gratf, Michael, Quet, and Le 
 Sage, and were themselves captured before the very walls. 
 The four other boats belonged to Rose Vigneron, La Garde^ 
 and an " English traitor from Jamaica." They were then 
 watching for the patache of Margarita, and a squadron of 
 Spanish shijDS. 
 
 At Cura9oa they sent a boat ashore to ask leave to land 
 and remast Laurence de Graff's vessel that had suffered in a 
 hurricane, but were refused, although they showed their 
 commission, and the men who landed were required to leave 
 their swords at the gate. At Santa Cruz they saluted the 
 fort, and the governor, finding 200 of them roaming about 
 the town, commanded them by drum-beat to return to their 
 ships, offering them two shallops for two pieces of eight a 
 man to take them to their ships, but refusing to let them 
 walk through the island. They found the reason of this 
 was that Michael and Laurence's ships had lately taken 
 200,000 ]jieces of eight in two Dutch ships near the 
 Havannah. This the freebooters did not touch, being at 
 peace with Holland, but the sailors had stolen it and laid it 
 to the French. 
 
 Arriving at Cape LaVella, they placed fifteen sentinels to 
 watch for the patache, and sent a boat to the La liache 
 river to obtain prisoners, but, in spite of various stratagemS;, 
 failed in the attempt. A dispute now arose among the 
 crews, who were weary of waiting for the patache, such dis- 
 putes invariably breaking out in all seasons of misfortune, 
 when union was more than usually necessary. 
 
 Laurence de Graff, whom they accused of fraud, sailed at 
 once for St. Domingo, followed by eighty-seven men in the 
 prize, and Kavenau accompanied Captain Rose and Captain 
 Michael to Carthagena, where they cai')tured seven piraguas 
 laden with maize. From the prisoners they heard that two 
 galleons lay in the port, that the fleet was at Porto Bello^, 
 
298 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 and that some ships were about to set out. Soon after this, 
 finding themselves separated from Captain Kose and 
 Michael, Raven au determined to cross over the continent 
 and get into the South Sea, as he heard a previous expedition 
 some months before had done. 
 
 Near Cape IMatance a remarkable adventure happened. 
 A Spanish soldier belonging to the galleons, who had been 
 taken in one of the maize vessels, although treated v/ith 
 every kindness, attempted to drown himself b}' throwing 
 himself into the sea ; his body, however, floated on its back, 
 although he did all he could to drown, till at last, refusing 
 the tackle thrown him from very compassion, he turned him- 
 self upon his face, and sank to the bottom. On landing at 
 Golden Island and fixing a flag to warn the Indians, they 
 saw a pennon hoisted upon the shore, and discovered it to 
 belong to three of Captain Grogniet's men, who had refused 
 to follow the expedition, which had just started for the 
 South Sea. Some Indians soon after brought them letters 
 left for the first freebooters who should land, announcing 
 that Grogniet and 170 men had gone into the South Sea, 
 and that 115 Englishmen had preceded them. Soon after 
 Michael and Rose, pursuing a Spanish vessel from Santiago 
 to Carthagena, came in to water, and many of the crew 
 resolved to join their march, 118 men left Michael, and the 
 w^liole sixty-four of Rose's crew, reimbursing the owners, 
 burnt their vessel and joined them. Ravenau's ship was 
 left in the care of Captain Michael, and the united 264 men 
 now encamped on shore. 
 
 On Sunday, March 1st, 1685, after recommending them- 
 selves to the Almighty's protection, the expedition set out 
 under the command of Captains Rose, Picard, and Desma- 
 rais, with two Indian guides and forty Indian porters. 
 
 The country proved so rugged that they could only travel 
 three leagues a day ; it was full of mountains, precipices, 
 and impenetrable forests. Great rains fell, and increased 
 the hardship of the journey, and the weight of their arms 
 and ammunition clogged them in ascending the precijiices. 
 On descending into the plain, which, though ])athless, ap- 
 peared smooth and level, they found they had to cross the 
 same river forty-four times in the space of only two leagues, 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 299 
 
 and this upon dangerous and slippery rocks. Arriving next 
 day at an Indian caravansary, they remained some time 
 shooting deer, monkeys, and wild hogs, flame-coloured loirds, 
 wild pheasants, and partridges that abounded in the woods. 
 At length, after six days of painful and wearisome travel, 
 thf^ Buccaneers reached the Bocca del Chica river, that 
 empties itself in the South Sea. Here, guided by the 
 Indians, they fell to work making canoes, and bartered 
 knives, needles, and hatchets, with the savages, for maize, 
 potatoes, and bananas. Though well assured that their 
 march had been impossible but for the friendliness of these 
 savages, they still kept on their guard, fearing treachery. 
 " They had," says Bavenau, v/ith a pious sigh of pity, " no 
 sign of religion, or of the knowledge of God amongst them, 
 holding that they have communion \vith the devil,"' and, 
 indeed, as he declares, after spending solitary nights in the 
 woods, often foretelling events to the Frenchmen, that came 
 true to the minutest detail. 
 
 Just as they had finished making their canoes, Lussan 
 heard that the English expedition, under Captain Townley, 
 had captured two provision vessels from Lima, and soon after 
 one of Grogniet's men, who had been lost while hunting, 
 joined them. Hearing that Grogniet awaited them at 
 King's Islands before he attacked the Peru fleet, they 
 started on the 1st of April in fourteen canoes, with twent}^ 
 oars a-piece, and with a score of Indian guides, who were 
 sanguine of plunder. On the fourth they halted for strag- 
 glers, and mended their canoes, much injured by the rocks 
 -and flats of the river. In some places they were even, 
 forced to carry their boats, or to drag them over fallen trees 
 that blocked the deeper parts by the flood. Several men 
 died, and many w^ere seized with painful diseases, produced 
 by hard food and immersion in the water. They were now 
 reduced to a handful of raw maize a day. 
 
 From some Indians sent forward to meet them, they heard 
 that provisions awaited them at some distance, and that 
 1,000 Spaniards had prepared an ambuscade on the river's 
 banks. This, however, they avoided, by stirring only at 
 dark, and then without noise. Surprised one night by the 
 tide, the canoes were driven swiftly down the river, and 
 
300 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 some of them upset against a snag ; the men were saved, 
 but the arms and ammunition were lost. On approaching 
 the Indian ambuscade at Lestocada, they placed their canoes 
 one in the other, and telling the sentinels that they were 
 Indian boats, bringing salt into the South Sea, escaped 
 unhurt. On the 12th it grew so dark that the rowers could 
 hardly see each other, and the heavy rain filled the boat so 
 dangerously as to require two men to bale perpetually. At 
 midnight they entered shouting into the South Sea, and 
 found the provisions awaiting them at Bocca Chica, toge- 
 ther with two barks to bring them to the fleet. Resting for 
 a day or two, they repaired to the King's Islands to await 
 the ships. These mountainous islands were the stronghold 
 of Maroon negroes. 
 
 On the 22nd, Easter-day, the fleet arrived. It consisted 
 of ten vessels — Captain David's frigate of thirty-six guns ; 
 Captain Samms, vice-admiral, with sixteen guns ; Captain 
 Townley, with two ships; Captain Grogniet, Captain Brandy, 
 and Captain Peter Henry had also each a vessel, and the two 
 small barks were commanded by quarter-masters. Except 
 Grogniet, who was a Frenchman, and David, who was a 
 Eleming, the rest were all Englishmen. Their total force 
 amounted to the number of 1,100. 
 
 Of the diflerent vessels, Bavenau gives the following lau- 
 datory account. The admiral's belonged to the English, who, 
 at St. Domingo, had surprised a long bark, commanded by 
 Captain Tristan, a Frenchman, while waiting for a wind. 
 They took next a Dutch ship, and, changing vessels, went and 
 made several prizes on the coast of Guinea, and, at Castres 
 capturing a vessel from Hamburg, joined this expedition. 
 They were, Ravenau declared, little better than pirates, 
 attacking even their own countrymen, which no true Bucca- 
 neer ever did. They had a short time before been chastised 
 by a frigate, who, giving them a broadside and a volley of 
 small shot, killed their captain and twenty men. 
 
 The vice-admiral's was a vessel they had forced to join 
 them, and had lately taken a shi]) called the Sainte Rose, 
 laden with corn and wine, bound from Truxillo to Panama, 
 and this vessel Davis gave to the French. The others were 
 all prizes captured in the South Seas. 
 
RAVEN AU DE LUSSAN. 301 
 
 This lioly alliance soon after took an advice-boat that was 
 carrying letters from Madrid to Panama, and despatches 
 from the viceroy of Peru ; but both the captain and pilot 
 were bound by an oath rather to die than deliver up their 
 packets or divulge any secret, and had thrown overboard 
 the rolls as well as a casket of jewels. On the same evening 
 500 men, in twenty-two canoes, embarked to take La Seppa, 
 a small town seven leagues to windward of Panama. The 
 next day, early in the morning, two armed piraguas, man- 
 ned with Spanish mercenaries, seeing some of the Buccaneer 
 canoes and forty-six men approaching them, ran ashore on 
 an island in the bay and prepared to defend themselves. 
 These troops were composed of all nations, and had been 
 «ent to defend this coast. One of the " Greek " boats split 
 on the beach. The other the Buccaneers took, but the fugi- 
 tives, planting their flag of defiance on a rising ground, 
 fought desperately, and compelled the freebooters to land 
 on another part of the island and take them in the rear. 
 After an hour's conflict they fled into the woods, leaving 
 thirty-five men dead round their colours and two prisoners. 
 
 The attack upon La Seppa proved a failure, for the sea 
 rovers had to row two leagues up a river, where they were 
 soon discovered by the sentinels. Yet for all this they fell 
 furiously on, and took it with the loss of only one man ; but 
 the booty proved inconsiderable. 
 
 The fleet now anchored at the beautiful islands called the 
 Gardens of Panama. All the rich merchants of the city 
 had pleasure-houses here surrounded by rich orchards and 
 arbours of jessamine, and v^^atered by rills and streams. 
 The hungry sailors revelled in the fruits, and reaped plenti- 
 ful harvests of maize and rice, which Pavenau says " the 
 Spaniards, I believe, did not sow with an intention they 
 should enjoy." 
 
 On the 8th of May they passed the old and new towns of 
 Panama in bravado, with colours and streamers flying, and 
 anchored at Tavoga, another island of pleasure. Having 
 caulked their ships, they sent out a long bark as a scout, and 
 arranged a plan of attacking the Spanish fleet. Davis and 
 Grogniet were to board the admiral ; Samms and Brandy, 
 the vice-admiral ; and Henry and Tov>^nley, the -patache ; 
 
302 RAVENAU DE LUS3AN. 
 
 while the armed piraguas would hover about and keep off 
 the enemy's lire-ships. The next day they put ashore forty 
 prisoners at Tavoga ; and the same day, the sound of cannon, 
 which they could not account for, announced the unobserved 
 arrival of the Spanish fleet at Panama. The whole Bucca- 
 neer squadron, expecting a battle soon, took the usual oath 
 that they would not wrong one another to the value of a 
 piece of eight, if God was pleased to give them the victory 
 over the Spaniard. 
 
 Tliey had scarcely discovered from a Spanish prisoner that 
 the fleet had actually arrived, and was careening and reman- 
 ning before they ventured out, when Captain Grogniet, 
 raising his flag seven times, gave notice to make quickly 
 ready. The Buccaneers doubled the point of the island 
 where they had anchored, and saw seven, great vessels 
 bearing down upon them, with a bloody flag to the stern 
 and a royal one at their masts. The Frenchmen, mad 
 with joy at the prospect of such prizes, and thinking them 
 already their own, threw their hats into the sea for joy. 
 It was now noon. The rest of the day was spent by both 
 fleets in trying to obtain the weather-gauge, and at sunset 
 they exchanged a broadside. In the night a floating Ian- 
 thorn deceived the Buccaneers, and in the morning they 
 found themselves all still to leeward, with the excej'jtion of 
 two vessels which had no guns. Although terribly mauled 
 by the Spanish shot, the English admiral and vice-admiral 
 resolved to die fighting rather than let one vessel be taken, 
 although both being good sailers they might have at once 
 saved themselves. The Spaniards refusing to board, bat- 
 tered them safely at a distance, and prevented Grogniet 
 from joining them, while Peter Henry's ship, having received 
 more than 120 cannon-shot, sheered ofi", and was taken by 
 two piraguas. 
 
 The long bark, sorely handled, was deserted by her crew, 
 who threw their guns overboard, and left the Spanish pri- 
 soners to shift for themselves. These wretches attempted to 
 rejoin their countrymen ; but the Spanish admiral, mistaking 
 them for enemies, sank them with his cannon. 
 
 Peter Henry's vessel reached tlie isle of St. John de Cueblo, 
 twenty-four leagues from Panama, with five feet of water in 
 
RAVEXAU DE LUSSAN. 303 
 
 the hold, and having repaired, rejoined his fleet in about a 
 fortnight. They found that Cajotain Davis had been hard 
 pHed, having received two shots in his rudder, and six of his 
 men were wounded, but only one killed. Captain Samms 
 had been no less jDut to it. His poop was half swept off, 
 and he had received several shots between wind and water. 
 He had had three men wounded, and his mate had had his 
 head carried off by a cannon-ball. The smaller vessels had 
 lost no men, but had a few wounded. The Spanish admiral, 
 they found, had carried 56 guns, the vice-admiral 40, the 
 2Mtache 28, and the conserve 18. The fire-ships had alsa 
 been mounted with cannon to conceal their real purpose. 
 On considering the disparity of force, and the little loss his 
 companions received, Kavenau seems to have no doubt that 
 if they could have intercepted the Spaniards before they 
 entered Panama, and could have got the weather gauge of 
 them, he should have returned through the straits with 
 wealth enough to have lived all his life at ease, and have 
 escaped three more years of danger and fatigue. 
 
 Not the least discouraged by this repulse, the freebooters 
 landed 300 men, from five canoes, to surprise the town ol 
 Puebla Nueva. Rowing two leagues up a very fine river, 
 they captured one sentinel, but another escaped and gave 
 the alarm. They found the place deserted, but took a ship 
 on their way back. 
 
 A quarrel broke out here between the French and English. 
 The latter, superior in numbers, would have taken Grogniet's 
 ship away, and given it to Townley, had not the Frenchmen 
 put on a determined front. Refusing to acknowledge this 
 assumption of dominion, 130 of them banded themselves 
 apart, and Grogniet's crew made them altogether 330 in 
 number. 
 
 " Besides national animosity, one of the chief reasons," says 
 Lussan, " that made us disagree, was their impiety against 
 our religion ; for they made no scruple when they got into 
 a church to cut down the arms of a crucifix with their sabres, 
 or to shoot them down with their fusils and pistols, bruising 
 and maiming the images of the saints with the same weapons, 
 in derision to the adoration we Frenchmen paid unto them. 
 And it was chiefly from these horrid disorders that the Span- 
 
304 KAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 iards equally hated us all, as we came to understand by divers 
 of their letters that fell into our hands." We have no doubt 
 at all that, but for these " horrible disorders," the Spaniards 
 would have considered the death of their children and the 
 loss of their money as real compliments. 
 
 Keturning to the isle of St. John, both nations, in separate 
 encampments, began to cut down acajou trees to hollow into 
 canoes, in place of those they had lost in the fight. 
 
 These trees were so large that one trunk would hold eighty 
 men. Afraid of the English, the Frenchmen placed a sen- 
 tinel in a high tree on the sea shore, to watch both the 
 camps, and also to give the signal if any Spanish vessel 
 approached. A Buccaneer ship putting into the harbour, 
 they discovered it to be commanded by Captain Willnett. 
 Forty of his crew left him and joined the English, but 
 eleven Frenchmen remained with Grogniet. This vessel had 
 just captured a corn ship near Sansonnat, and hearing of 
 other brothers being on the south coast, had set out in 
 search of them. The Frenchmen were now very short of 
 food, having little powder, and not daring to waste it upon. 
 deer and monkeys when Spaniards were at hand, for in fifteen 
 days the Englishmen had eaten or driven away all the turtle. 
 They were reduced to an allowance of two turtle for 330 
 men in forty-eight hours. Many of the men wandering into 
 the woods ate poisonous fruits ; others were bitten by ser- 
 pents, and died enduring terrible pains, ignorant of the 
 fruit which is an antidote to such wounds. Several were 
 devoured by crocodiles. 
 
 While in this strait, the English sent a quarter-master to 
 ask the French to join in an expedition against the town of 
 Leon, being too weak by themselves. The wounded vanity 
 of the French contended with their hunger. Thej'' knew 
 that the English had plenty of provisions, brought in Will- 
 nett's ship, and thirty men weary of fasting, left Grogniet 
 and joined Davis. But Kavenau's party having but one 
 ship asked for another, in order that they might keep toge- 
 ther, and this being refused, broke off the treaty. • 
 
 As soon as the Leon party had embarked, the French, 
 commanded by Captain Grogniet, also started with 120 men 
 in five canoes, leaving 200 in the island to build more 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAX. 305 
 
 canoes, and join tliem on the continent. Coming on the 
 mainland to a cattle station, and afterwards to a sugar plan- 
 tation, they took several prisoners whom they found ignorant 
 of the disjunction of the French and English. Sending back 
 a canoe with provisions to the island, they landed again 
 about forty leagues to leeward of Panama, and at cock-crow- 
 ing surprised a Spanish estantia, and took fifty prisoners, 
 including a young man and woman of rank, who promised 
 ransom. These they carried to the island Ignuana, and 
 received the money after a fortnight's delay. 
 
 On their return to St. John's they found that 100 men 
 had been to Puebla Nueva, and taken the place, altliougli 
 discovered by the sentinels, and had remained there two 
 days in spite of continual attacks. The commander of the 
 place had come with a trumpet to speak to them, and in- 
 quired why, being English, they fought under French colours. 
 But they, not satisfying his curiosity, fiercely told him to be 
 gone from whence he came. Eight of them, having strayed 
 from the main body, had been bravely set on by 150 Span- 
 iards, who killed two of them, but, with all the advantage 
 they had of numbers, could not hinder the other six from, 
 recovering the main guard, who fought and retreated with 
 extraordinary vigour. 
 
 Once more reunited, these restless Norsemen started to 
 the mainland in six canoes, 140 in number, to visit the sugar 
 plantation near St. Jago, where they had been before. Two 
 men were sent to the cattle station to obtain the ransom of 
 •the master, whom they kept prisoner, and others visited the 
 sugar works in search of some caldrons, which they needed; 
 and, fired at hearing the governor of St. Jago, with 800 
 men, had visited the place since their departure, they sent 
 to dare him to meet them. 
 
 Careening their ships, and taking in water and wood, they 
 would at once have sailed away, but were detained by 
 eighteen days' rain, during which time the sun did not once 
 appear. This part of the South Sea was proverbial for con- 
 tinual rains, and was called by the Spaniards " The Drop- 
 pings." " These rains," Ravenau says, " not only rotted 
 their sails, but produced dysentery among the men, and 
 bred worms, half a finger long and as thick as a quill, between 
 
 X 
 
306 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 their skin and their flesh." Soon after leaving the island 
 they were nearly cast away in a dreadful storm, and were 
 compelled to repair their shattered sails with shirts and 
 drawers, wherewith they were already very indifferently 
 provided. 
 
 At Eealegim, where there was a volcano burning, they 
 landed 100 men in four canoes, and obtained some prisoners 
 by surprising a hatto. They found the English had already 
 taken Leon and burnt Realegua. In spite of Spanish rein- 
 forcements from eight neighbouring towns, they stayed at 
 Leon three whole days, and challenged the Spaniards to meet 
 them in the Race savannah. But the Spaniards replied, they 
 were not yet all come together; "which means," says our 
 friend Ravenau, " that they were not yet six to one." While 
 here, one of their quarter-masters, a Catalonian by birth, fled 
 to the Spaniards, and compelled the French to abandon a 
 design on the town of Granada. At Realegua six men tried 
 to swim ashore to fill some water-casks, in spite of the 
 Spaniards on the beach, and one of them was drowned in 
 the attempt. They landed at the port, and found the 
 churches and houses and three entrenchments half burnt. 
 Surprising the sentinels of Leon, they discovered tliat, in 
 spite of a garrison of 2,000 men, the inhabitants, hearing 
 the Buccaneers had landed, were hiding their treasure. They 
 soon after put to flight a detachment of horse, and took the 
 captain prisoner. 
 
 A few days after this 150 men left the vessels to take a 
 small town of Puebla Vieja, near Realegua, which they 
 found still deserted. It had become the custom now among 
 the Spaniards, when the freebooters had frequently taken 
 the same place, for the prelate to excommunicate it, and 
 henceforward not even to bury their dead there. Dis- 
 covered by the sentinel, the Buccaneers found the enemy 
 entrenched in the church of Puebla, and about 150 horse 
 in the market-place. A few discharges drove the horsemen 
 away, and the defenders of the church fled through a door 
 in the vestry. Staying a day and a half in the caj^tured 
 town, the freebooters carried away all the provisions they 
 could find on horses and on their own backs, taking with 
 them a Spanish gentleman who promised ransom. The next 
 
EAVENAU DE LUSSAN". 307 
 
 day a Spanish officer brought a letter signed by the vicar- 
 general of the province, written by order of the general of 
 Costa Hica, declaring that France and Spain were at peace 
 and leagued to fight the infidel, and offering them a passage 
 to the North Sea in his Catliolic Majesty's galleons. To 
 this they returned a threatening answer, and, j^uttiug thirty 
 prisoners ashore, proceeded to careen their ships, the 
 Spaniards lighting fires along the coast as they departed. 
 
 An expedition, with fifty men in three canoes, against 
 the town of Esj)arso failed, but the hungry men killed and 
 ate the horses of the sentinels whom they took prisoners, 
 for they had now tasted hardly anything for four days. At 
 Caldaria they visited a bananery, and loaded their canoes 
 with the fruit, and at Point Borica stored their boats with 
 cocoa-nuts, which Eavenau takes care to describe as nuts 
 unknown in Europe. Laden ^vith gold, but nevertheless, 
 like JMidas, starving for want of food, they landed sixty men 
 in three canoes and took some prisoners at a hatto which 
 they surrounded; but finding they were very near Chiriquita, 
 and a garrison of 600 men, retreated to their ships, forcing 
 their way through 400 horse who reviled them, and chal- 
 lenged them to revisit the town, which they took care soon 
 after to do. 
 
 On the 5th of January, 1686, they started 230 men in 
 eight canoes to revisit this place, going ashore at night 
 without a guide, and marched till daylight without being 
 discovered. On the 7th they hid all day in a wood, and as 
 night approached again pushed forward ; the 8th they spent 
 also hid in a covert, and then found they had gone ashore 
 on the wrong side of the river. Fatigued as they were, 
 they waited till night, and then, returning to their canoes, 
 crossed the river. Surprising the watch, they found the 
 Spaniards J even on the former alarm, had removed all their 
 treasure. On the 9th, they reached Chiriquita two hours 
 before day, and found the inhabitants asleep. The towns- 
 men had been two days disputing with one another about 
 the watches, and the Buccaneers ridiculed them by telling 
 them they had come to spare them the trouble. The 
 soldiers they discovered playing in the court of guard, and 
 they found a small frigate ashore at the mouth of the river. 
 
 X 2 
 
308 KAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 About noon, five of the Buccaneers, straggling into the 
 suburbs to plunder a house and obtain prisoners, were set 
 upon by an ambuscade of 120 men. Finding no hope of 
 escape, rather than be taken alive, they resolved to sell 
 their lives dearly, and back to back fought the enemy for 
 an hour and a half, when only two remained capable of 
 resistance. The main body, who thought they had been 
 simply firing at a mark, came to their relief, upon which 
 the enemy at once fled. Ot this skirmish, at which Lussan 
 was present, he says — " This succour coming in so season- 
 ably, did infallibly save our lives ; for the enemy having 
 already killed us two men and disabled another, it was 
 impossible we should hold out against such a shower of bullets 
 as were poured in upon us from all sides ; and so I may 
 truly say I escaped a scouring, and that without receiving 
 as much as one wound, but by a visible hand of protection 
 from heaven. The Spaniards left thirty men dead upon 
 the spot ; and thus we defended ourselves as desperate men, 
 and, to say all in a word, like freebooters." 
 
 The Buccaneers having burnt all the houses in the town, 
 fearing a night attack, retreated into the great church, 
 exchanging a shot now and then with the enemy. This town 
 was built on the savannahs, and surrounded by hattoes, its 
 chief trade being in tallow and leather. The men rested here 
 till the 10th, rejoicing in plenty of provision after nearly 
 four days' fast. They then removed their prisoners to an 
 island in the river, where the Spaniards could only approach 
 them openly in a fleet of shallops. The enemy, driven out 
 of an ambuscade, sent to demand the j)risoners, saying they 
 would recover them or perish in the attempt ; but grew 
 pacified when Grogniet declared they should all be put to 
 death if a single bullet was fired. Driving off a guard of 
 100 men, they also plundered the stranded vessel, and dis- 
 covered by tlie letters that tlie admiral of the Peru fleet had 
 lately been lost with his 400 men, by his vessel being 
 struck by a thunderbolt. On the IGth, obtaining a ran- 
 som for their prisoners, they returned to the island of 
 St. John. 
 
 The Spaniards, from fear of the freebooters, having put a 
 stop to their navigation, no ships were to be caj^tured, and 
 
EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 309 
 
 haTing no sails, and their ship being useless without them, 
 the French began to cut down trees and build piraguas. 
 On the 27th they descried seven sail at sea, and put out 
 five canoes to reconnoitre, suspecting it was the vanguard of 
 the Peruvian fleet. Soon after discerning twelve piraguas 
 and three long barks coasting in the distance, they retreated 
 to their docks in the river, and ran their bark ashore to 
 render it useless to the Spaniards, placing an ambuscade of 
 150 men along the banks. The enemy, suspecting a trick, 
 disre2;arded the two canoes that were sent to draw them 
 into the snare, but commenced to furiously cannonade the 
 grounded ship, which contained nothing but a poor cat, and 
 then, perceiving her empty, bravely boarded and burnt her 
 for the sake of the iron- work, and soon afterwards sailed 
 away. They learned afterwards that the Chiriquita pri- 
 soners had reported that they had fortified the island, and 
 the fleet had been sent to land field-pieces and demolish 
 the works. This alarm of the Spaniards had been encouraged 
 by the Buccaneers having purposely asked at Chiriquita 
 for masons, and obliged the prisoners to give bricks as 
 part of the ransom. 
 
 On the 14th of March, they left the island of St. John, 
 in two barks, a half-galley of forty oars, ten large piraguas, 
 and ten smaller canoes, built of mapou wood. Taking a 
 review of their men, fourteen of whom had died in February, 
 they found they had lost thirty since the departure of the 
 English. To prepare for a lolig-planned attack on Granada, 
 a half-galley and four canoes were despatched to get pro- 
 visions at Puebla Nueva. Entering the river by moonlight, 
 the Buccaneers approached within pistol-shot of a small 
 frigate, a long bark, and a piragua, which they su2:)posed to 
 be their old English allies, but were received by a sj^lashing 
 volley of great and small shot that killed twenty men. The 
 ships were, in fact, a detachment of the Spanish fleet left to 
 guard some provision ships lading for Panama. Quickly 
 recovering from their surprise, the adventurers, though 
 without cannon, fought them stiffly for two hours, killing 
 every man that appeared in the shrouds, and bringing down 
 one by one the grenadiers from the main-top. Bat as soon 
 as the moon went down, the Buccaneers sheered off with 
 
310 KAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 four dead men and tliirty-three wounded, waiting for day- 
 light to have their revenge. In the meantime, the enemy- 
 had retired under cover of an entrenchment, to which the 
 country people, attracted during the night by the firing, 
 had crowded in arms : against these odds, the Buccaneers 
 were unwillingly compelled to retire, and soon rejoined 
 their canoes at St. Peter's. 
 
 Landing at a town ten leagues leeward of Chiriquita, they 
 obtained no provisions, and had, with the loss of two men, 
 to force their way through an ambuscade of 500 Spaniards. 
 Rejoining their barks they spent some days in hunting in 
 the Bay of Bocca del Toro, and obtaining nourishing food for 
 the wounded men. Their next enterprise was against the 
 town of Lesparso, which they found abandoned. While 
 lying in the bay they were joined by Captain Townley and 
 five canoes, who, with his 115 men, begged to be allowed to 
 join in the expedition against Granada. Bemembering the 
 old imperious dealing of the English, the French at first, to 
 frighten them, boarded their canoes, and ofiered to take 
 them away. " Then," says Lussan, "we let the ca])tain know 
 we were honester men than he (a curious dispute), and that 
 though we had the ujiper hand, yet we would not take the 
 advantage of revenging the injuries they had done us, and 
 that we would put him and all his men in possession of what 
 we had taken from them four or five hours before." The 
 men were then assembled in a bananery island, in the bay, 
 and an account taken of their supply of powder, for fear any 
 should expend it in hunting. Orders were also enacted that 
 any brother found guilty of cowardice, violence, drunkenness, 
 disobedience, theft, or straggling from the main body, should 
 lose his share of the bootv of Granada. 
 
 On the 25th the French and English departed in piraguas 
 and canoes, 345 men, and landed on a flat shore, following a 
 good guide, who led them for two days through a wood. 
 They were, however, seen by some fishermen, who alarmed 
 the town, which had already received intelligence of their 
 march from Lesparso. Great fatigue obliged them to rest 
 on the evening of the 9th at a sugar plantation belonging to 
 a knight of St. James, whom they were too tired to pursue. 
 
 On the 10th they saw two ships on the distant lake of 
 
EAVENAU DE LUSSAJN". 311 
 
 Nicaragua, carrying off all the v/ealth of the town to a 
 neighbouring island. From a prisoner they learnt that the 
 inhabitants were strongly entrenched in the market-place, 
 guarded by fourteen pieces of cannon and six patereroes, 
 and that six troops of horse were waiting to attack them in 
 the rear. 
 
 This information, wliich would have damped the courage 
 of any but Buccaneers, drove them only the faster to the 
 charge. At two in the afternoon the}^ entered the town, 
 over the dead bodies of a party that had awaited them in 
 ambuscade, and sent a party to reconnoitre the fort. The 
 skirmishers, after a few shots, returned, and reported that 
 there were three streets leading to the fort, so they all re- 
 solved to concentrate in one of these. 
 
 Lussan describes the scene, of which he was an eye-wit- 
 ness, too graphically to need curtailing. " After we had ex- 
 horted one another," he says, '• to fall on bravely, we ad- 
 vanced at a good round pace towards the said fortification. 
 As soon as the defendants saw us within a good cannon-shot 
 of them, they fired furiously upon us ; but observing that at 
 every discharge of their great guns, we saluted them down 
 to the ground, in order to let their shot fly over ns, they 
 bethought themselves of false priming them, to the end we 
 might raise our bodies, after the sham was over, and so to be 
 really surprised with their true firing. As. soon as we dis- 
 covered this stratagem, we ranged ourselves along the 
 houses, and having got upon a little ascent, which was 
 a garden plot, we fired upon them from thence so openly for 
 an hour and a-half that they were obliged to quit their 
 ground, which our hardy boys, who were got to the foot of 
 their walls, contributed yet more than the other by pouring 
 in hand-grenades incessantly upon them, so that at last they 
 betook themselves to the great church or tower, but they 
 wounded us some men. As soon as our people, who had got 
 upon the said eminence, perceived that the enemy fled, they 
 called to us to jump over the walls, which we had no sooner 
 done than they followed us, and thus it was that we made 
 ourselves masters of the town, from whence they fled, after 
 having lost a great many men. We had on our side but 
 four men killed and eight wounded, which in truth was very 
 
312 PvAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 cheap. When we got into the fort we found it to be a place 
 capable of containing 6,000 rigliting men ; it was encom- 
 passed with a wall the same as our prisoners gave us an. 
 account of It was pierced with many holes, to do execution 
 upon the assailants, and was well stored with arms. That 
 jjart of it which looked towards the street, through which 
 we attacked it, was defended by two pieces of cannon and 
 four patereroes, to say nothing of several other places made 
 to open in the wall through which they thrust instruments 
 made on purjiose to break the legs of those who should be 
 adventurous enough to come near it ; but these, by the help 
 of our grenadiers, we rendered useless to them. After we 
 had sung Te Dewni in the great church, and set four sentinels 
 in the tower, we fixed our court of guard in the strong- 
 built houses that are also enclosed within the place of arms, 
 and there gathered all the ammunition we could get, and 
 then we went to visit the houses, wherein we found nothing 
 but a few goods and some provision, which we carried into 
 our court of guard." 
 
 The next evening 150 men were despatched to a distant 
 sugar plantation, to capture some ladies of rank and treasure ; 
 but on the next day a monk came to treat about the ransom 
 they would require to spare the town. Unluckily the 
 Spaniards had captured a Buccaneer straggler, who told 
 them that his companions never meant to burn the place, 
 but intended to stop there some months, and return into the 
 North Sea, by the lake of Nicaragua. The freebooters^ 
 being refused the ransom, set fire to the houses in revenge. 
 Had the French indeed had but canoes to capture the two 
 ships in the island and secure the treasure, they w^ould un- 
 doubtedly have carried out this plan. To a handful of hun- 
 gry men, without food and without ships, even the gardens, 
 of Granada appeared hateful. 
 
 On leaving the town the Buccaneers took with them one 
 |)iece of cannon and four patereroes, drawn by oxen, having 
 to fight their way for twenty leagues to the shore over the 
 savannah, surrounded by 2,500 Spaniards thirsting for their 
 blood. In every place the enemy fled at the first discharge 
 of their pieces. From a prisoner they learnt that a million 
 and a-half pieces of eight, kept for ransom, was buried in. 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAX. 313 
 
 the wall of the fort, but the men felt no disposition to re- 
 turn. They were soon oblisjed to leave their cannon be- 
 hind, the oxen choked with the dust, worn out with the 
 heat, and dying of thirst ; but the patereroes were still 
 dragged on by the mules. At the little village of Massaya, 
 near the lake, they were received with open arms by the 
 Indians, who only entreated them not to burn their huts. 
 
 All the water in the village had been tainted by the 
 Spaniards, but the natives brought them as much as they 
 needed. While they lay here a Spanish monk came to them 
 to obtain the release of a priest who had been taken armed 
 and with pockets filled with poisoned bullets. They refused 
 to surrender him but in exchans^e for one of their own men. 
 The next day, passing from the forest into a plain, they 
 were attacked by 500 men, drawn up upon an ascent, and 
 commanded by their Spanish deserter. Each party displayed 
 bloody flags, but the vanguard beat them with wonderful 
 bravery, and took fifty horses. The enemy fled, leaving 
 their arms and the wounded, and turned out to be auxiliaries 
 from Leon. In three days more they reached the beach, 
 and, resting several days to salt provisions, sailed to Rea- 
 legua, where they collected provisions and 100 horses. They 
 then burnt down the borough of Ginandego, in spite of 200 
 soldiers and an entrenchment, because the inhabitants had 
 defied them to come. Even here they were, however, much 
 straitened for provision, the corregidor of Leon having 
 desired all men to burn the provisions wherever the 
 Buccaneers landed. 
 
 The same day at noon the sentinels rang the alarm-bell in 
 the steejDle, and gave notice that 800 men from Leon were 
 advancing across the savannah to fight them. The men, 
 bustling out of their houses, marched at once, 150 in num- 
 ber, under their red colours, and drove ofi* the enemy after a 
 few shots. 
 
 There now arose a dissension in the Flibustier councils. 
 148 Frenchmen and all the English, headed by Captain 
 Townley, determined to go up before Panama to see if the 
 navigation had yet been resumed. 148 Frenchmen, under 
 Captain Grogniet, resolved to go lower westward and winter 
 upon an island, waiting for some abatement of the rains and 
 
314 RAVEXAU DE LUSSAK 
 
 southerly winds. The barks, canoes, and provisions were 
 then divided, and the chirurgeons brought in the accounts 
 of the wounded and crippled. There were found to be 
 four men crippled and six hurt : to the latter were given 
 COO pieces of eight a man, and to the former 1,000, being 
 exactly all the money then in store. 
 
 Ravenau joined the Panama division, which, touching 
 again at their old quarters on the island of St. John, took off 
 a prisoner who had made his escape when they were last 
 there, and proceeded to land and capture the town of Yillia 
 with 160 men. Marching with great rapidity they reached 
 the town an hour after sunrise, and surprising the inhabit- 
 ants at mass, took 300 prisoners. They then attempted to 
 capture three barks lying in the river, but the Spanish 
 sailors sank one and destroyed the rigging of the other two. 
 Gathering together all the merchandise of the town left by 
 the fleet, the invaders found it to amount to a million and 
 a-half, valued at 15,000 pieces of eight in good silver. Much 
 treasure was, however, buried, the Spaniards submitting to 
 death rather than confess their hiding-j^laces. 
 
 The next day a party of fourscore men were sent to drive 
 the pack horses to the river side to load the booty in two 
 SjDanish canoes. They despaired of obtaining any ransom 
 for the town, as the alcalde major had sent to them to say 
 that the only ransom he should give was powder and ball, 
 whereof he had a great deal at their service ; that as to the 
 prison ei'S, he should entrust them to the hands of God, and 
 that his people were getting ready as fast as they could, to 
 have the honour of seeing them. Upon receiving this 
 daring answer, the Buccaneers, in a rage, fired the town 
 and marched to the river. As the Spanish ambuscades pre- 
 vented the boats coming up to meet them, the adventurers 
 put nine men on board the boats, the men marching by their 
 side to guard them from attack. On the other side, un- 
 known to them and hidden by the trees, marched 900 Span- 
 iards. When they had proceeded about a league, an impass- 
 able thicket compelled them to make a diversion of some :^00 
 paces, an accident which involved the loss of the whole 
 plunder of Villia. 
 
 Before they left the boats, the captain ordered the crews 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 315 
 
 to stop a little higher up, where the three Spanish barks 
 lay, and endeavour to bring them away. On arriving there 
 they were surprised by an ambuscade, and as they defended 
 themselves against the Spaniards, the current drove them on 
 beyond the three barks and far from the main body. Seeing 
 them now helpless, the enemy discharged sixty musket shots 
 at them, and killed four men and wounded one. The rest, 
 abandoning the canoes, swam to the other side of the river, 
 while a dozen Indians wading in brought the boat to the 
 Spaniards ; cutting off the head of a wounded man and 
 setting it on a pole by the shore. 
 
 The Buccaneers, who did not hear the firing, were asto- 
 nished on returning to the river to see no canoes, and while 
 waiting for them to come up, for they supposed they were 
 behind, the rowers, who had escaped, broke breathless 
 through the thicket, and told their story. Luckily in their 
 flight through the wood they had discovered the rudders and 
 sails of the three barks, in which the Buccaneers at once 
 embarked, and sent fifty-six men on shore to recover the 
 fittings, agreeing that each should fire three guns as a signal. 
 Soon after they had landed, the report of about 500 guns 
 ■was heard, but before they could reach the enemy the 
 Spaniards had fled. Going ashore the next day, they found 
 the two canoes dashed to pieces, and the bodies of the dead 
 much mutilated — the head of one set upon a pole, and the 
 body of another burnt in the fire. These objects so enraged 
 the Buccaneers, that they instantly cut off four of their 
 prisoners' heads, and set them on poles in the same place. 
 Their own dead they carried with them to bury by the sea- 
 side — the fitting burial-place for seamen. Three times they 
 had to land to break through ambuscades at the river's 
 mouth, in the last attack losing three men. With a Spaniard 
 who came on board, the}^ agreed for a ransom of 10,000 
 pieces of eight, but threatened to kill all the prisoners if the 
 money was not brought in within two days. Upon the 
 stubborn alcalde seizing the hostages who were sent ashore 
 to obtain money to release their wives, the Buccaneers cut 
 off the heads of two prisoners and sent them to the town, 
 declaring that if no ransom was j^aid, they would serve the 
 rest the same, and having put the women on an island. 
 
316 BAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 would come and capture the alcalde. The same evening 
 came in a promise to pay all the ransoms, and to bring 
 besides, every day while they stayed, ten oxen, twenty 
 sheep, and 200 lbs. of meal. For a Buccaneer's fire-arms 
 which the enemy pretended to have lost (for the Spaniards 
 were fond of French arms), they paid 400 pieces of eight. 
 They also bought one of the captured barks for 600 pieces 
 of eight and 100 lbs. of nails, of which the adventurers 
 stood in great need, but her tackle and anchors were not 
 surrendered. They obtained also a Flibustier passport that 
 the bark should not be retaken, although her cargo might 
 be confiscated. Having then obtained a parting present of 
 100 salted beeves, from this long-suffering place the French 
 set sail. Afraid to land on the continent, which was 
 guarded by 4,000 men, they abstained, till, nearly dying 
 with thirst, they made a descent with 200 sailors, driving 
 off the Spaniards, whom they found lying on the grass about 
 100 paces from the sea. 
 
 Lussan says they saw " we were a people who would 
 hazard all for a small matter." 
 
 Landing at midnight at a small island near Cape Pin, 
 they were discovered by the pearl divers, but still contrived 
 to capture a ship at daybreak. From their prisoners they 
 heard that the Spaniards had lately defeated a party of 
 thirty- six, French and English, from Peru, who were at- 
 tempting to pass into the North Sea by the river Bocca del 
 Chica. Two parties of English, forty each, on their way 
 into the South Sea, had also been massacred all but four, who 
 were prisoners at Panama. To balance these ill omens, 
 tidings of prizes reached the Buccaneers on every hand. A 
 Ijark was lying in the Bocca del Chica river, waiting for 
 800 lbs. of gold from the mines to bring to Panama. Two 
 ships laden with meal and money for the garrison of Lima 
 were also expected ; and from a prisoner (a spy, it after- 
 wards appeared), captured at the King's Islands, they learnt 
 that two merchant barks and a piragua with sixty Indians 
 lay in the river of Seppa, besides a frigate and scout galley 
 under the guns of Panama. 
 
 Much in want of vessels, and not suspecting the prisoner, 
 four canoes were sent at once to cut out the barks of 
 
P.AVENAU DE LUSSAN. 317 
 
 Piinama, the " Greek " soldier going with them readily as 
 a guide. They arrived two hours before daylight, and the 
 moon shining very bright they waited for a cloud to obscure 
 it, seeing, as they thought, the anticipated prize lying near 
 with her sails loose. By mere chance, the adventurers, to 
 waste no time, pursued a vessel just leaving the port, 
 thinking it was the scout galley, and took it without a 
 shot. Upon examination, the captain confessed their guide 
 was the commander of a Greek piragua, and had been pro- 
 mised a large reward by the governor of Panama to betray 
 them into his hands. The ship they saw was a mere sham 
 of boards and sails, built upon firm land, only a pistol shot 
 from the port. They supposed that the Buccaneers, eager 
 to take her, would row up, and so drive their canoes far on 
 shore, and hoped to overpower them before they got oflP. 
 The Greek captain being at once identified as a sj^y, was, 
 says Ringrose, *' sent to that world where he had designed 
 to send us." The fleet then proceeded to take the islands of 
 Ottoqua and Tavoga, losing two men in the Greek's second 
 ambuscade at Seppa, but capturing in their way a bark from 
 Nata laden with provisions, after a few discharges of mus- 
 ketry, the Spanish captain swimming to shore. From 
 Tavoga they sent a message to the governor of Panama, 
 to say that if he did not at once surrender his five English 
 and French captives, they would at once put to death fifty 
 Spanish prisoners. 
 
 They then anchored again at the King's Islands, and sent 
 a galley and four canoes up the Bocca Chica river to see if 
 the Indians were at peace with Spain or not, and to destroy 
 an ambuscade of 100 Spaniards, who, they heard, were lying 
 in wait on the banks for thirty freebooters, on their way 
 from the South to the North Pacific. Carried swiftly up 
 the river by the current, the guide, compelling them to row 
 faster just before daybreak, brought them, much to their 
 astonishment, at a bend of the river, opposite the camp fires 
 of the enemy. The guide being hailed, replied they were 
 from Panama ; and being asked the name of the commander, 
 hesitated about a fitting title, and received a volley in 
 return. TJie Buccaneers driving ofi" the enemy with two 
 patereroes, passed them quickly, and, anchoring out of 
 
318 EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 reach, waited for tlie ebb tide to return. Putting all 
 tlieir men under deck, the adventurers returned about an 
 hour before daylight, saluting them with four paterero shots 
 as they passed, and receiving no injury in return. The 
 next day, taking a small Indian vessel, the Buccaneers 
 landed lower down the river, intending to take the Spanish 
 entrenchment in the rear ; but seeing the enemy putting 
 out a piragua to attack their galley, they returned in great 
 liaste and landed opposite the Spanish court of guard, killing 
 a great many men and driving out the rest. They also shot 
 an Indian, who, mistaking them for Spaniards, followed 
 them and reviled them as they were re-embarking. The 
 prisoners told them that the neighbouring town of Terrible 
 was prepared for their coming. A letter to the camp- 
 master of Terrible was found in the entrenchment. It 
 concluded thus : " I have sent you 300 men to defeat these 
 enemies of God and goodness ; be sure to keep upon your 
 watch ; be afraid of being surprised, and your men will 
 infallibly be gainers in defeating of them." The prisoners 
 also put them on their guard as to many ambuscades and 
 secret dangers. Having burnt the guard-house, and carried 
 off the piragua with some pounds of gold dust, the Buc- 
 caneers departed, dismissing the Indians to propitiate the 
 nation who had received commission from the President of 
 Panama to arm canoes a2:ainst them. While descendinjj: the 
 river, having put some Spanish prisoners on deck to deceive 
 the Indians, some natives came and brought gold-dust to 
 them, taking them for friends. A few days after this, forty 
 Spanish prisoners put ashore at the King's Islands, met 
 accidentally with some canoes, and escaped to Panama. 
 
 The French were now again surprised as they had been 
 before, three of the enemy's vessels approaching under cover 
 of an island. By venturing a dangerous passage between 
 the island of Tavaguilla and a rock the Buccaneers at last 
 obtained the weather-gauge. The fight lasted till noon, and 
 the Spaniards were driven off in all attempts at boarding. 
 Throwing grenades into the biggest ship, one of them set 
 fire to some loose powder and burnt a great many men ; and 
 during this confusion, the adventurers boarded the enemy, 
 who rallied in the stern, and made a vigorous resistance, but 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAX. 319 
 
 at last begged for quarter. The second v/as also at tlie same 
 time carried and taken. The third, a kind of galley, pur- 
 sued by three Buccaneer -vessels, ran ashore and staved to 
 pieces, few of the crew escaping, not more than a dozen, 
 Eingrose thinks. In the frigate eighty men were killed and 
 wounded out of 120 on board. The second ship had only 
 eighteen unhurt out of eighty. All the officers were killed 
 and wounded, and the captain received no less than five 
 musket shots. He was the soldier that had received five 
 wounds resisting them at Puebla Nueva, and he had also 
 planned the ambuscade at Villia. 
 
 While busily employed in splicing the rigging and throw- 
 ing the dead overboard, two more sail were seen bearing 
 down from Panama. The English instantly put up Spanish 
 colours to allure them, and placed the French and English 
 beneath them. As the foe drew near, they received a volley, 
 and, firing hurriedly, at once fied to the frigate which tliey 
 supposed still theirs. The frigate replied by some grenades, 
 which sent one to the bottom, and the piragua boarded the 
 other, and, finding four packs of halters on board, put all the 
 crew to death in revenge. They had been directed to spare 
 none but the Buccaneer surgeons, and to send troops of 
 horse to cut off all that escaped in canoes. On the very next 
 day they took a shallop from Panama which the president 
 had sent to pull up an anchor that the adventurers had left 
 in the bay. Only one Buccaneer was killed in the fight, 
 but Captain Townley and twenty men were wounded, and 
 most of these died, for the Spaniards poisoned their bidlets. 
 They now sent a prisoner to the president, demanding his 
 five captives and medicines for the use of his own people. 
 The messenger was also told to complain heavily of the 
 massacre of the three parties at Darien. 
 
 To these remonstrances the officer sent the following 
 answer : " Gentlemen, I wonder that you, who should under- 
 stand how to make war, should require those men of me 
 that are in our custody. Your rashness hath something 
 contrary to the civility wherewith you ought to treat those 
 people that were in your power. If you do not use them 
 well, God will perhaps be on our side." To this they 
 returned a threat of beheading all their prisoners without 
 
320 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 mercy ; and having done this, sailed at once to the isles 
 of Pericos, fearing the Spanish fire-ships. The bishop of 
 Panama, who, they knew, had stirred up the president to 
 war, sent a letter, entreating them to show mercy, saying 
 the president had the king's orders to restore no prisoners, 
 and that the Englishmen, having turned ilomaii Catholics, 
 did not wish to leave Panama. 
 
 Upon this the Buccaneers sent the president twenty 
 Spaniards' heads in a canoe, threatening to kill all the rest, 
 if the prisoners were not restored by the next day. Very 
 early the next morning came the prisoners, four Englishmen 
 and one Frenchman, with medicines for the wounded, the 
 president leaving to their honour to give as many men as 
 they chose in exchange. They at once sent a dozen of the 
 most wounded on shore, accusing the president of being the 
 murderer of the twenty they had killed, and threatening 
 the death of the rest, unless 20,000 pieces of eight were 
 paid for their ransom. The Spaniards at first tried to make 
 it only 6,000; but when the Buccaneers hung out their 
 main flag, fired a gun, and prepared to enter the port, they 
 hung out a white flag at a bastion, and promised the money 
 shortly. The next day a knight of Malta came in a bark 
 with the money, and received the prisoners. "While staying 
 at Ottoqua to victual their ships, the Spaniards landed at 
 night and murdered their Indian guides. The day after the 
 Prench chased a provision vessel to the very guns of Panama, 
 when the garrison hoisted the Burgundian flag on the 
 bastion, and by mistake fired upon their own vessel, which 
 the Buccaneers took. Putting nineteen prisoners on shore, 
 they again attempted to surprise Villia, but failed, finding 
 all the people in arms, and a reinforcement of GOO men 
 newly come from Panama. They next took the town of 
 St. Lorenzo, and surprising it at twilight, burnt it. They 
 learned the Spaniards had orders to drive away the cattle 
 from the sea-shore, to lay ambuscades, and to obtain from 
 women intelligence of the Buccaneers' movements. A dread- 
 ful storm which overtook the fleet in the Bay of Bocca del 
 Toro induced Lussan, with a naive philanthropy, to tell his 
 readers : " If you would enter into it with safety, you must 
 keep the whip of your rudder to starboard, because it is 
 
EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 321 
 
 dangerous to keep to the east side." While here the same 
 writer gives us the following trait of Flibustier manners : — 
 " On the 2oth, being Christmas-day, after we had, according 
 to custom, said our prayers in the night, one of our quarter- 
 masters being gone ashore in order to take care about our 
 eating some victuals (for, our ships being careening, all our 
 provisions were then put out), one of our prisoners, who 
 served us as cook, stabbed him, with a knife in six several 
 places, wherewith crying out, he was presently relieved, and 
 the assassin punished with death." 
 
 On the 1st of January, 1687, leaving their ships in the 
 bay of Caldaira, the Buccaneers embarked 200 men in canoes 
 and crossed to the island of La Cagna. 
 
 Their treacherous guide, under the pretence of hiding 
 them in a covert, led them into a marsh, where the mud, in 
 the soundest places, rose above their middles ; five men, 
 sinking up to their chins, were dragged out with ropes tied 
 to the mangrove branches. The men, anxious for escape, 
 lifted uf) their guide to the top of a tree, to discover by the 
 moonlight where sound land commenced. But he, once at 
 liberty, skipped like a monkey from tree to tree, railing at 
 them and deriding their helplessness. They spent the whole 
 night in marching a hundred paces round this marsh, and 
 groped out at daybreak, bedaubed from head to toe, with 
 their fire-arms loaded with mud. " When we were in a 
 condition," says Lussan, " to reflect a little upon ourselves, 
 and that we saw 200 men in the same habit, all so curiously 
 equipped, there was not one of us who forgot not his toil to 
 laugh at the posture he found both himself and the rest in. 
 Inveighing against their guide, they returned to their 
 canoes, and proceeded two leagues up a river to an entrench- 
 ment, where they found the remains of two vessels the 
 Spaniards had some time before burnt, at the approach of 
 Betssharp, an English freebooter. Guided by the barking 
 of dogs, they surprised the borough of Santa Catalina, and, 
 mounting sixty men on horses, entered Nicoya and drove 
 out the enemy, carrying off the governors plate and mov- 
 ables. They found here some letters from the President of 
 Panama, describing the doings of '•' these new Turks," how 
 they had landed at places where the sea was so high that no 
 
 Y 
 
322 EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 sentinels had been placed, and passed through the woods 
 like wild beasts. The letters stated how much the Spaniards 
 had been astonished by the Buccaneer mode of attack — 
 " briskly falling on, singing, dancing, as if they had been 
 going to a feast f they were described also as '• those enemies 
 of God and His saints who profane His churches and destroy 
 His servants." In one battle, it says, being blocked up, 
 " they became as mad dogs. Whenever these irreligious 
 men set their feet on land they always win the victory." 
 
 Landing at Caldaira, the sentinels set fire to the savan- 
 nahs, through which they marched to Lesparso, and towards 
 Carthage, but retired, hearing of 400 men and an entrench- 
 ment. Hiding five men in the grass, they captured a Spanish 
 trooper, who had reviled them ; and putting him to the rack, 
 laughing at his grimaces of pain, heard that Grogniet was in 
 the neighbourhood ; and soon after they heard cannons fired 
 off, and were joined by him in three canoes. 
 
 He now told them his adventures at Napalla. Three 
 sailors, corrupted by the Sj)aniards, who had taken them 
 prisoners, persuaded him on his return to visit a gold mine, 
 fourteen leagues from the sea-shore. They luckily got there 
 before the ambuscade, and took some prisoners and a few 
 pounds of gold ; but 4501bs. weight had been removed an 
 hour before. At their return they found the traitors and 
 prisoners all escaped. He then landed at Puebla Vieja, and 
 attacked an ambuscade and entrenchment of 300 men. Half 
 of these fled, half were made prisoners, and their three 
 colours taken, the freebooters losing only three men. 
 Eighty-five of his men then determined to visit California, 
 and he and his sixty men to return to Panama. Grogniet 
 now consented to join in the French expedition, and, after 
 taking Queaquilla, to force a way to the North sea. They 
 landed and burnt Nicoya a third time ; and Lussan treats us 
 here with an amusing piece of Buccaneer superstition. He 
 says, " Though we were forced to chastise the Spaniards in 
 this manner, we showed ourselves very exact in the preserva- 
 tion of the churches, into which we carried the pictures and 
 images of the saints which we found in particular houses, 
 that they might not be exposed to the rage and burning of 
 the English, who were not much pleased with these sorts of 
 
EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 323 
 
 precautions, they being men that took more satisfaction and 
 pleasure to see one church burnt than all the houses of 
 America put together. But as it was our turn no^y to be 
 the stronger party, they durst do nothing that derogated 
 from that respect we bore to all those things." On their 
 return, the French had to force their way through burning 
 savannahs, but got safe to their ships, putting next day 
 forty prisoners on shore who were too chargeable to keep. 
 
 A new division now arose between the English and 
 French ; and the former insisting on the first prize taken, 
 the two parties again separated, Grogniet staying with the 
 former, making in all 142 men, Kavenau's party being 162, 
 in a frigate and long bark. Both vessels now tried to out- 
 sail each other, and reach Queaquilla first ; but the French, 
 soon finding the English beat them in speed, resolved to 
 accompany them ; for they had so little food as to be obliged 
 to eat only once in every forty-eight hours, and but for rain- 
 water would have died of thirst. Off Santa Helena they 
 gave chase to a ship, and found it to be a prize laden with, 
 wine and corn, lately taken by Captain David's men, for 
 they had been making descents along the coast, at Pisca had 
 beaten off 800 men from Lima, and had also taken a great 
 many ships, which they pillaged and let go. Having got to 
 the value of 5,000 pieces of eight a man, they sailed for Ma- 
 gellan ; and on the way many of the men lost all they had 
 by gaming. Those who had won joined Wilnett, and 
 returned to the North sea ; but the losers, sixty English 
 and twenty French, joined David, and determined to remain 
 and get more spoil in the South. Henry and Samms had 
 gone to the East Indies. The eight men of David's crew 
 who commanded the prize joined them against Queaquilla. 
 Furling their sails to prevent being seen, they anchored off' 
 the White Cape, and at ten in the morning embarked 260 
 men in their canoes. On the 15th they reached, at sunset, 
 the rocky island of Santa Clara, and on the 16th rested all 
 day, weak from long fasting, in the island of La Puna, 
 escaping any detection from the forty sentinels. The ITtli 
 they spent on the same island, and arranged the attack. 
 Captain Picard and fifty men led the forlorn hope ; another 
 captain and eighty grenadiers formed a reserve. Captain 
 
 Y 2 
 
24 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 Grogniet and the main body were to make themselves 
 masters of the town and jDort, and the English captain, 
 George Hewit, with fifty men, was to attack the smaller 
 fort ; while 1,000 pieces of eight were promised to the first 
 ensign who should plant the colours on the great fort. 
 They left their covert in the evening, and hoped to reach 
 the town by dawn, but only having three hours of favourable 
 tide, had to remain all day at the island, and at night, 
 rowing out, were overtaken, after all, by the light, when a 
 sentinel seeing them, set a cottage on fire, and alarmed his 
 companions. Marching across a wood to the fire, they killed 
 two of the Spaniards and captured a boy. Remaining in. 
 covert all day, they thought themselves undiscovered, 
 because the town had not answered the fire-signal ; and at 
 night they rowed up the river, the rapid current carrying 
 them four leagues in two hours. All the 19th they spent 
 under cover of an island in the river, and at night went up 
 with the current, not rowing, for fear of alarming the 
 sentinels. They attempted in vain to put in beyond the 
 town, on the side least guarded ; but the tide going out, 
 forced them to land two hours before day, within cannon- 
 shot of the town, where they could discern the lights 
 burning, for the Spaniards burnt lamps all night. They 
 landed in a marshy place, and had to cut a path through 
 the bushes with their sabres. They soon met with a 
 sentinel, and were discovered by one of the men left 
 to guard the canoes striking a light, against orders, 
 to light his pij^e. The sentinel, knowing that this was 
 punishable by death among his countrymen, suspected 
 enemies, and discharged a paterero, which the fort answered 
 by a discharge of all their cannon. The Buccaneers, over- 
 taken by a storm, entered a large house near to light the 
 matches of their grenades, and wait for day, the enemy firing in- 
 cessantly in defiance. On the 20th, at daybreak, they marched 
 out in order, with drums beating and colours flying, and 
 found 700 men waiting for them behind a wall four feet and 
 a half high, and a ditch. Killing many of the Buccaneers at 
 the onset, the enemy ventured to sally out, sword in liand, 
 and were at once put to flight. In spite of the bridge being 
 broken down, the pursuers crossed the ditch, and, getting 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 325 
 
 to the foot of tlie wall, tlirew in grenades, and drove 
 tlie enemy to their houses. Driven also from this, they 
 fled to a redoubt in the Place d'Arraes, and from thence, 
 after an hour's fighting, to a third fort, the largest of all. 
 Here they defended themselves a longtime, firing continu- 
 ally at their enemies, who could not see them for the smoke. 
 From these palisadoes they again sallied, and wounded 
 several Buccaneers, and took one prisoner. They at last 
 retreated with great loss. 
 
 The riibustiers, weary with eleven hours' fighting, and 
 finding their powder nearly spent, grew desperate ; but, 
 redoubling their efforts, with some loss made themselves 
 masters of the place, having nine men killed and a dozen 
 wounded. Parties were then sent out to pursue the fugitives, 
 and a garrison having been put in the great fort, the Roman 
 Catholic part of the band went to sing Te Deum in the 
 great church. 
 
 Basil Hall describes Guayaquil as having on the one side 
 a great marsh, and on the other a great river, while the 
 country, for nearly 100 miles, is a continued level swamp, 
 thickly covered with trees. The river is broad and deep, 
 but full of shoals and strange turnings ; the woods, growing 
 close to the water's edge, stand close, dark, and still, like 
 two vast black walls ; while along the banks the land-breeze 
 blows hot, and breathes death, decay, and putrefaction. 
 
 The town was walled, and the forts built on an eminence. 
 The houses were built of boards and reared on piles, on 
 account of the frequent inundations. The chief trade of the 
 place was cocoa. 
 
 The Buccaneers took 700 prisoners, including the governor 
 and his family. He himself was wounded, as were most of 
 his officers, who fought better than all the 5,000 men of the 
 place. The place was stored with merchandise, precious 
 stones, silver plate, and 70,000 pieces of eight. Upwards 
 of three millions more had been hidden while the fort was 
 taking. As soon as the canoes had come uj^, they were sent 
 in pursuit of the treasure, but it was too late. They 
 captured, however, 22,000 pieces of eight, and a vermilion 
 gilt eagle, weighing 66 lbs., that had served as the taber- 
 nacle for some church. It was of rare workmanship, and 
 
326 EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 the eyes were formed of two great "rocks of emeralds." 
 There were fourteen barks in the port, the galleys they had 
 fought at Puebla Nueva, and two royal ships unfinished 
 on the stocks. As a ransom for all these things, the 
 governor promised a million pieces of eight in gold, and 
 400 sacks of corn, requiring the vicar-general to be released 
 to go to Quito and procure it. 
 
 The women of the town, who were very pretty, had been 
 assured by their confessors that the Buccaneers were 
 monsters and cannibals, and had conceived a horror and 
 aversion to them. " They could not be dispossessed thereof," 
 says Lussan, " till they came to know us better ; but then 
 I can boldly say that they entertained quite different 
 sentiments of our persons, and have given us frequent 
 instances of so violent a passion as proceeded sometimes 
 even to a degree of folly." As a proof of the calumnies 
 circulated against the ruthless conquerors, Lussan tells us 
 the following : — " It is not from a chance story," he con- 
 tinues, " that I came to know the impressions wrought 
 on these women that we were men that would eat them ; for 
 the next day after the taking of the town, a young gentle- 
 woman that waited upon the governor of the place hap- 
 pened to fall into my hands. As I was carrying her away 
 to the place where the rest of the prisoners were kept, and 
 to that end made her walk before me, she turned back, and, 
 with tears in her eyes, told me, in her own language — 
 ' Sefior, pur I'amor di Dios ne mi como !' — that is, * Pray, sir, 
 for the love of God, do not eat me !' whereupon I asked her 
 who had told her that we were wont to eat people. She 
 answered, ' The fathers,' who had also assured them that we 
 had not human shape, but that we resembled monkeys." 
 
 On the 21st, part of the town was accidentally burnt down 
 by some of the men lighting a fire in a house, and leaving it 
 unextinguished when they returned at night to the court of 
 guard. Afraid that it would reach the place where they 
 had stored their powder and merchandise, the French 
 removed all the- plunder to their vessels, and carried the 
 prisoners to the fort ; but not till all this was done endea- 
 vouring to save the town, a third part of which was, by this 
 time, destroyed. Afraid the Spaniards might now refuse 
 
EAVENAU DE LUSSAX. 327 
 
 to pay the ransom, they charged them with the offence, 
 threatening to send some fifty prisoners' heads if they did 
 not pay them what they had lost by the fire. The enemy, 
 surprised at this, attributed the incendiarism to traitors, 
 and promised satisfaction. The stench of the 900 dead 
 carcases, still lying unburied up and down the town, now 
 producing a pestilence, the Buccaneers dismounted and 
 spiked the cannon, and carried off the 500 prisoners to their 
 ships, anchoring at Puna. Captain Grogniet died of his 
 wounds soon after his removal. The Spaniards obtaining 
 four days' further respite, and then still further delaying 
 the ransom, the adventurers made the prisoners throw dice 
 for their lives, and cutting off the heads of four, sent them 
 to Queaquilla, threatening further deaths. They were now 
 joined by Captain David and a prize he had lately taken. 
 He was planning a descent on Paita, to obtain refreshments 
 for some men wounded in a fight with a Spanish ship, the 
 Catalina, off" Lima. They fought for two days, David's 
 men, being drunk, constantly getting to leeward, and failing 
 twenty times in an attempt to board. The Spaniards, 
 gaining courage from these failures, hoisted the bloody flag ; 
 but the third day, David, getting sober, got his tackle and 
 rigging in good order, got properly to windward, and bore 
 down with determination. The enemy in terror ran ashore, 
 and went to pieces in two hours. Two men were saved by a 
 canoe, and said that their captain had had his thigh shot 
 off by a cannon ball. David's ship, wanting refitting, was 
 employed to cruise in the bay to prevent surprises from the 
 Spaniards. By a letter taken from a courier, they found 
 that the people of Queaquilla were only endeavouring to 
 obtain time. 
 
 The Buccaneers spent thirty days on the island of 
 La Puna, living on the luxurious food brought from Quea- 
 quilla, and employing the prisoners with lutes, theorbos, 
 harps, and guitars, to delight them by perpetual concerts 
 and serenades. Lussan says, " Some of our men grew very 
 familiar with our women prisoners, who, without offering 
 them any violence, were not sparing of their favours, and 
 made appear, as I have already remarked, that after they 
 came once to know us, they did not retain all the aversion 
 
328 KAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 for US tliat had been inculcated into tliem when we were 
 strangers unto them. All our people were so charmed with 
 this way of living that they forgot their past miseries, and 
 thought no more of danger from the Spaniards than if they 
 had been in the middle of Paris." 
 
 Ravenau also treats us with his own personal love adven- 
 ture, which we insert as a curious illustration of the vicis- 
 situdes of a South Sea adventurer's life. "Amongst the 
 rest," he says, " myself had one pretty adventure. Among 
 the other prisoners we had a young gentlewoman, lately 
 become a widow of the treasurer of the town, who was slain 
 when it was taken. Now this woman appeared so far 
 comforted for her loss, out of an hard-heartedness they have 
 in this country one for another, that she proposed to hide 
 me and herself in some corner of the island till our people 
 were gone, and that then she would bring me to Queaquilla 
 to marry her, that she would procure me her husband's 
 office, and vest me in his estate, which was very great. 
 When I had returned her thanks for such obliging offers, 
 I gave her to understand that I was afraid her interest had 
 not the mastery over the Spaniards' resentments ; and that 
 the wounds they had received from us were yet too fresh 
 and green for them easily to forget them. She went about 
 to cure me of my suspicion, by procuring secretly, from the 
 governor and chief officers, promises under their hands how 
 kindly I should be used by them. I confess I was not 
 a little perplexed herewith, and such pressing testimonies of 
 goodwill and friendship towards me brought me, after a 
 little consultation with myself, into such a quandary, that I 
 did not know which side to close with ; nay, I felt myself, 
 at length, much inclined to close with the offers made me^ 
 and I had two powerful reasons to induce me thereunto, 
 one of which was the miserable and languishing life we led 
 in those places, where we were in perpetual hazard of losing 
 it, which I should be freed from by an advantageous offer of" 
 a pretty woman and a considerable settlement : the other 
 proceeded from the despair I was in of ever being able to 
 return into my own country, for want of -ships fit for that 
 purpose. But when I began to reflect upon these things 
 with a little more leisure and consideration, and that 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 329 
 
 I resolved with myself how little trust was to be given to 
 the promises and faith of so perfidious, as well as vindictive, 
 a nation as the Spaniards, and more especially tov/ards men 
 in our circumstances, by whom they had been so ill-used, 
 this second reflection carried it against the first, and even all 
 the advantages offered me by this lady. But however the 
 matter was, I was resolved, in spite of the grief and teai's of 
 this pretty woman, to prefer the continuance of my troubles 
 (with a ray of hope of seeing France again), before the 
 perpetual suspicion I should have had of some treachery 
 designed against me. Thus T rejected her proposals, but so 
 as to assure her I should retain, even as long as I lived, a 
 lively remembrance of her affections and good inclinations 
 towards me." 
 
 After some negotiation with a priest, the people of Quea- 
 quilla brought in twenty-four sacks of meal, and 20,000 
 j^ieces of eight in gold. On their refusing more than 22,000 
 pieces of eight more for ransom, a council was held to decide 
 upon putting all the prisoners to death, but at last, Ravenau, 
 being in the majority, decided to sjoare them. They then 
 took fifty of the richest prisoners with them to the point of St. 
 Helena, and surrendered the rest on 22,000 more being paid. 
 
 While at La Puna, the Buccaneers sallied out to attack 
 two Spanish armadillas, but not having any piraguas to tow 
 them to the windward, could only cannonade at a distance.. 
 The French vessels were much shattered, but no man killed. 
 The next day they came to close fight, both sides using 
 small arms and great guns, but no Buccaneer was killed. 
 The Spaniards lost many men, and the blood ran out of their 
 scupper holes, but they still cried at parting, "A la mailana, 
 la partida" (To-morrow again) ! The next night the Buc- 
 caneers unrigged and sank one of their prizes, and fitted out 
 another, manning her with twenty Frenchmen, who wanted 
 to leave David. The same night four Spaniards seized one 
 of the prizes, and escaped to Queaquilla. Being now within, 
 half cannon-shot, the rival vessels pounded each other all 
 day ; the French had their tackle spoiled, and sails riven, 
 and the frigate received five cannon-shot in the foremast, 
 and three in the mainmast, but had not one man killed or 
 wounded. The next day the Spaniards hoisted Burgundian 
 
o 
 
 30 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 colours, and poured in volleys of musket- shot, but neither 
 party boarded. The ensuing day the Buccaneer musketry 
 "was so destructive, that the Spaniards closed their port-holes 
 and bore up to the wind. That day the French received 
 sixty shots in their sides, two-thirds between wind and 
 water, the rigging was torn, and Ravenau and another man 
 were wounded. At night the Spaniards failed in an attempt 
 to board. We spent this night at anchor, says Lussan, 
 to stop our cannons' mouths, which otherwise might have 
 sent us into the deep. To his astonishment, the next morn- 
 ing the armadillas had fled. During these successive days' 
 fighting, the governor and oflS.cers of Queaquilla, had been 
 brought on deck to witness the defeat of their countrymen. 
 They then set their prisoners ashore and divided the 
 plunder, the whole amounting to 500,000 pieces of eight, or 
 15,000,000 livres, and in shares to 400 pieces of eight a 
 man. The uncoined gold and the precious stones being of 
 uncertain value were sold by auction, that those who had 
 silver and had won in gambling might buy. All who ex- 
 pected an overland expedition were anxious for jewels, as 
 more portable and less heavy than silver. They sought now 
 in their descent for nothing but gold and jewels, quite 
 disregarding silver as a mean metal and heavy to carry. 
 They even left many things in Queaquilla, and neglected to 
 send a canoe for the 100 caons of coined silver (11,000 
 pieces of eight in all) which had been sent to the opposite 
 river side. Taking advantage of their indifference, Spanish 
 thieves mixed with the Buccaneers, and pillaged their own 
 countrymen. They landed at Point Mangla, and surprised 
 a watch of fifteen Spanish soldiers who had been placed to 
 guard a river abounding in emeralds. A few days after 
 they took a vessel from Panama going to Porto Bello to buy 
 negroes off the point of Harina. The French fleet was next 
 attacked by a Spanish galley and two piraguas. From a 
 prisoner they heard of 300 Frenchmen, who had defeated 
 600 Spaniards and killed their leader in the savannahs. 
 While careening in the bay of Mapalla they were joined by 
 these men, who proved to be part of Grogniet's men, who 
 had left their companions on the coast of Acapulco, refusing 
 to go further towards California. 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 331 
 
 The adventurers next landed in the Bay of Tecoantepequa, 
 and dispersing a body of 300 Spaniards, drawn up upon an 
 eminence, marched inland towards the town, sleeping all 
 night in the open air. Nothing but hunger and despair 
 could have induced this attack. The town was intersected 
 by a great and very rapid river, encompassed by eight 
 suburbs, and defended by 3,000 men. The Buccaneers 
 forded the river, the water up to their middles, and after an 
 hour's fighting forced the Spaniards from their entrench- 
 ment. In two hours these men, enraged with hunger, took 
 the place by hand-to-hand fighting, and eighty sailors then 
 dislodged the enemy from the abbey of St. Francis, whose 
 terraces commanded the town. Finding the river over- 
 flowing and no ransom coming, the Buccaneers departed 
 the next day, and landing at Yatulco, took the old governor 
 of Merida prisoner, and obtained some provisions. They 
 also landed at Muemeluna and victualled, the Spaniards 
 having strong entrenchments, but making little resistance. 
 They found upon the shore the musket and dead body of a 
 sailor of a frigate that had attempted to land a month 
 before. The Spaniards had not seen the body, or they 
 would have cut it in pieces or burnt it, as they were in the 
 habit of even digging up the Buccaneers buried on their 
 shores. At Sansonnat they landed in the face of 600 Span- 
 iards to fill their water-casks, being faint from thirst. One 
 of the men, more impatient than the rest, and goaded by 
 four days' drought, swam ashore and was drowned, without 
 any being able to help him. 
 
 They now held serious councils about the return by land. 
 The prisoners declared their best way was by Segovia, where 
 they would only meet 5,000 or 6,000 Spaniards, and that 
 the way w^as easy for the sick and wounded. The French 
 determined to land and obtain more certain information, 
 and this was one of the most daring of their adventures. 
 They landed seventy men, and marched two days without 
 meeting anybody, upon which eighteen, less weary than the 
 rest, tramped on and soon got into a high road. Capturing 
 three horsemen, they learnt that they were but a quarter of 
 a league distant from Chiloteca, a little town with about 400 
 white inhabitants, besides negroes, Indians, and mulattoes, 
 
332 EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 who were not aware of their approach. Afraid to waste time in 
 running back after their companions, they entered the town, 
 frightened the Spaniards, and took the Teniente and fifty- 
 other prisoners. Had there not been horses ready mounted, 
 on which they made their escape, the enemy would, every 
 man, have submitted to be bound, being overcome with a 
 panic fear, and behoving their enemy very numerous. They 
 leai'ned from the prisoners that the Panama galley lay 
 waiting for them at Caldaira, and the St. Lorenzo, with 
 thirty guns, at Realegua. They also said that 600 men 
 would be in the town by the next day. The Spaniards now 
 began to rally, and compelled the Buccaneers to entrench 
 themselves in the church. The prisoners, seeing them hurry 
 in, and thinking them hard pressed, ran to a j^ile of arms 
 and prepared to make a resistance ; but the Buccaneers, 
 retreating to the doors, fired at the crowd till only four men 
 and their wives were left alive. They then mounted horses 
 and retreated, carrying off four prisoners of each sex, and 
 firing at a herald who tried to parley. Joining their com- 
 panions, whom they found resting at a hatto, they made a 
 stand and drove back 600 Spaniards. 
 
 The statements of the prisoners increased their fears of 
 the overland route, but determining rather to die sword in 
 hand than to pine away with hunger, they at once resolved 
 upon their design. Running all the vessels ashore but 
 the galley and piraguas, which would take them from 
 the island to the mainland, leaving no other means of 
 escape to the timorous, they formed four companies of 
 seventy men, choosing ten men from each as a forlorn hope, 
 to be relieved every morning. Those who were lamed were 
 to have, as formerly, 1,000 pieces of eight, the horses were 
 to be kept for the crippled and wounded. The stragglers 
 who were wounded were to have no reward, whilst violence, 
 cowardice, and drunkenness were to be punished. While 
 maturing their plans, a Spanish vessel approached, and 
 anchoring, began to fire at the grounded vessels, and soon 
 put them out of a condition to sail. Afraid of losing their 
 piraguas, tlie Buccaneers sent their prisoners and baggage to 
 some flats behind the island. The next day, the French- 
 men, sheltering themselves behind the rocks that ran out to 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 333 
 
 the sea, kept the vessel at a distance ; but now, afraid of 
 total destruction, the Buccaneers sent 100 men to the con- 
 tinent at night to secure horses, and wait for them at a 
 certain port. On the next day the Spanish ship took fire, 
 and put out to sea to extinguish the flames. The next day 
 the Buccaneers escaped by a stratagem. Having spent the 
 whole night in hammering the vessel, as if careening, to 
 prevent all suspicion of their departure, they charged all 
 their guns, grenades, and four pieces of cannon, and tied to 
 them pieces of lighted matches of various lengths, in order 
 to keep up an alarm throughout the night. In the twilight 
 they departed as secretly as they could, the prisoners carry- 
 ing the surgeons' medicines, the carpenters' tools, and the 
 wounded men. 
 
 On the 1st of January, 1688, the Buccaneers arrived on 
 the continent. On the evening of the same day the men 
 joined them with sixty-eight horses and several prisoners, 
 all of whom dissuaded them in vain from attempting to 
 go by Segovia, where the Spaniards were fully alarmed. 
 The men, nothing deterred, packed up each his charge, and 
 thrust their silver and ammunition into bags. Those who 
 had too much to carry, gave it to those who had lost theirs 
 by gaming, promising them half in " case it should please 
 God to bring them safe to the North Sea." Ravenau de 
 Lussan tells us his charge was lighter but not less valuable 
 than the others, as he had converted 30,000 pieces of eight 
 into pearls and precious stones. " But as the best part of 
 this," he says, " was the product of luck I had at play, some 
 of those who had been losers, as well in playing against me 
 as others, becoming much discontented at their losses, plotted 
 together to the number of seventeen or eighteen, to murder 
 those who were richest amongst us. I was so happy as to 
 be timely advertised of it by some friends, which did not a 
 little disquiet my mind, for it was a very difficult task for a 
 man, during so long a journey, to be able to secure himself 
 from being surprised by those who were continually in the 
 same company, and with whom we must eat, drink, and 
 sleep, and who could cut off whom they pleased of us in the 
 conflicts they might have with the Spaniards, by shooting 
 us in the hurry," To frustrate this scheme, Ravenau there- 
 
334 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 fore divided his treasure among several men, and by tliis 
 maans removed a weight both from his mind and body. 
 
 On the 2nd of January, after having said prayers and sunk 
 their boats, the Buccaneers set out, resting at noon at a 
 hatto. On the 4th they lay on a mountain plateau, the 
 Spaniards visible on their flanks and rear. On the 5th the 
 barricades began, and on the 6th, at an estantia, they found 
 the following letter lying on a bed in the hall : " We are 
 very glad that you have made choice of our province for your 
 passage homewards, but are sorry you are not better laden 
 with silver ; however, if you have occasion for mules we will 
 send them to you. We hope to have the French General 
 Grogniet very quickly in our power, so we will leave you to 
 judge what will become of his soldiers." 
 
 On the 7th the vanguard drove off an ambuscade, and lay 
 that evening in a hatto. The Spaniards burnt all the pro- 
 visions in the way, and set fire to the savannahs to windward, 
 stifling the French horses with smoke, and scaring them 
 with the blaze. While their march was thus retarded and 
 they waited for the fire to burn out, the enemy threw up 
 intrenchments and erected barricades of trees. On the 8th 
 the French set fire to a house at a sugar plantation, and, 
 hiding till the Spaniards came to put it out, captured a 
 prisoner, who told them that 300 auxiliaries were on the 
 march to meet them. " These 300 men," says Lussan, 
 "were our continual sjuard, for thev srave us morninjr and 
 evening the diversion of their trumpets, but it was like the 
 music of the enchanted i^alace of Psyche, who heard it with- 
 out seeing the musicians, for ours marched on each of us, in 
 places so covered with pine trees that it was impossible to 
 perceive them." 
 
 During this march the Buccaneers never encamped but 
 upon high ground, or in the open savannah, for fear of being 
 hemmed in. 
 
 The advanced guard was now strengthened by forty men, 
 who discharged their muskets at the entrance and avenues 
 of woods, to dislodge the ambuscades, but they did not shoot 
 when the plain was oj^en and free from wood ; although the 
 Spaniards, who were lying on their bellies on each side of 
 them, opened their fire and killed two stragglers. On the 
 
P KAVENAU DE LU3SAN. 335 
 
 lOtli they repulsed an ambuscade and captured some horses. 
 On the 11th they dispersed another ambuscade, and entered 
 Segovia, but all the provisions had been burnt, and the 
 Spaniards fired upon them from among the pine trees that 
 grew on the hills around the town. Fortunately at this spot, 
 where the old guides grew uncertain of the way, they cap- 
 tui-ed a new prisoner, who led them twenty leagues to the 
 river they were in search of. 
 
 The road now grew wilder, and dangers thickened around 
 them. They had to creep with great danger to the tops of 
 great mountains, or to bury themselves in narrow and dark 
 valleys. The cold grew intense, and the fogs lasted for some 
 hours after daybreak. In the plains no chill was felt, but 
 the same heat that prevailed on the mountains after noon. 
 " But," says Lussan, " the hopes of getting once more into 
 our native country made us endure jDatiently all these toils, 
 and served as so many wings to carry us." 
 
 On the 12th, they ascended several mountains, and had 
 incredible trouble to clear the road of the Spanish barricades, 
 and all night long the enemy fired into their camp. On the 
 13th, an hour before sunrise, they ascended an eminence 
 which seemed advantageous for an encampment, and saw on 
 the edge of an eminence, separated from them by a narrow 
 valley, what they believed to be cattle feeding. 
 
 Rejoiced at the prospect of food^ forty men were sent to 
 reconnoitre. They returned with the dismal intelligence 
 that the supposed oxen were really troopers' horses ready 
 saddled, and that the mountain on which they stood was 
 encircled by three intrenchments, rising one above another, 
 commanding a stream that ran through the valley. They 
 had no other way but this to pass, and there was no possi- 
 bility of avoiding it. They added, that one of the Spaniards 
 had seen them, and shook his naked cutlass at them from a 
 distance. Every man's heart fell at this news, and their 
 pining appetite sickened at the loss of its expected meal. 
 There was no time for delay, for the Spaniards from the 
 adjacent provinces were gathering in their rear, and if any 
 time was lost they must be surrounded and overpowered by 
 numbers. Ravenau de Lussan, the Xenophon of this retreat, 
 did not attempt to conceal the extent of the danger. He. 
 
o 
 
 36 RAVEN AU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 ■confesses himself that they were hard put to it, and that 
 escape would have seemed impossible to any other men but 
 to those who had been hitherto successful in almost every 
 undertaking. He addressed his companions, and artfully 
 persuaded them to agree to his plans, by first elaborating the 
 extent of their difficulties. He said that 10,000 men could 
 not force their way through such intrenchments, guarded by 
 so many men as the Spaniards had, judging from the number 
 of their horses. Nor could they pass by the side of it, with 
 all their horses and baggage, seeing that the path could only 
 be entered in single file. Except the road, all was a thick, 
 pathless forest, full of quagmires, and encumbered by fallen 
 trees ; and even if these impediments were passed, the 
 Spaniards would have still to be fought with. The Buc- 
 caneers agreed to these as truisms, but cried out that it was 
 to no purpose to talk of difficulties so apparent without pro- 
 posing some method of surmounting them, and suggesting 
 some means for its execution. Upon this hint De Lussan 
 spoke. He proposed to cross those woods, precipices, moun- 
 tains, and rocks, how inaccessible soever they seemed, and 
 gaining the weather-gauge of the enemy, take them at once 
 in the rear suddenly and unexpectedly. The success of this 
 plan he would answer for at the peril of his life. The pri- 
 soners, horses, and baggage he resolved to leave guarded by 
 eighty men, to keep off the 300 Spaniards who hovered around 
 them at day and at night, encamped at a musket-shot dis- 
 tance. These eighty men could answer for four times as 
 many Spaniards. After some deliberation, De Lussan's 
 plan was agreed to, and the execution at once resolved upon. 
 Examining the mountain carefully with the keen eyes of 
 both hunters and sailors, they could see a road winding 
 along the side of the mountain, above the highest intrench- 
 nient. This they could only trace here and there by light 
 spots visible between the trees, but once across this they 
 were safe. Full of hope, and with every faculty roused, 
 some of the men were sent to a spot higher than the main 
 body, to cover another party, who had on previous occasions 
 proved themselves ingenious and expert, and who were sent 
 to pick out the safest and most direct spots by Avhicli they 
 could get in the rear of the enemy before day broke. As 
 
RAVENAU DE LUSSA25^. 337 
 
 soon as these scouts returned the men made ready for their 
 departure, leaving their baggage guarded by eighty men. 
 To prevent suspicion, the officer in command had orders to 
 make every sentinel he set or relieved in the night-time fire 
 his fusil and to beat his drum at the usual hour. He was 
 told that if God gave them the victory they would send a 
 party to bring him off", but that if an hour after all firing 
 ceased they saw no messenger, they were to provide for their 
 own safety. 
 
 The immediate narrative of this wonderful escape we give 
 in De Lussan's own words : — " Things being thus disposed," 
 he says, " we said our prayers as low as we could, that the 
 Spaniards might not hear us, from whom we were separated 
 but by the valley. At the same time we set forward, to the 
 number of 200 men, by moonlight, it being now an hour 
 within niglit ; and about one more after our departure 
 we heard the Spaniards also at their prayers, who, knowing 
 we were encamped very near them, fired about GOO muskets 
 in the air to frighten us. Besides, they also made a discharge 
 at all the responses of the litany which they sang. We still 
 pursued our march, and spent the whole night (in going 
 down and then getting up) to advance half a quarter of 
 a league, which was the distance between them and us, 
 through a country, as 1 have already said, so full of rocks, 
 mountains, woods, and frightful precipices, that our posteriors 
 and knees were of more use to us than our legs, it being 
 impossible for us to travel thither otherwise. On the 14th, 
 by break of day, as we got over the most dangerous parts of 
 this passage, and had already seized upon a considerable 
 ascent of the mountain, by clambering up in great silence, 
 and leaving the Spaniards' retrenchments to our left, we saw 
 their party that went the rounds, who, thanks to the fogs, 
 did not discover us. As soon as they were gone by, we went 
 directly to the place where we saw them, and found it to be 
 exactly the road we were minded to seize on. When we had 
 made a halt for about half an hour, to take breath, and that 
 we had a little daylight to facilitate our march, we followed 
 this road by the voice of the Spaniards, who were at their 
 morning prayers, and we were but just beginning our march, 
 v/hen unfortunately we met with two out-sentinels, on wl om 
 
 z 
 
338 EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 we were forced to fire, and this gave the Spaniards notice^ 
 who thoiiGfht of nothinoj less than to see us come down from 
 above them upon their intrenchments, since they expected 
 us no other way than from below ; so that those who had 
 the guard thereof, and were in number about 500 men, 
 finding themselves on the outside, when they thought they 
 had been within, and consequently open without any covert, 
 took the alarm so hot, that, falling all on them at the same 
 time, we made them quit the place in a moment, and make 
 their escape by the favour of the fog." 
 
 The sequel is soon told. The defenders of the two first 
 lines of wall drew up outside the lowermost, the Buccaneers 
 firing at them for an hour, under cover of the first intrench- 
 ment. But finding they gave no ground, and thinking the 
 fog interfered with the aim, the French rushed forward and 
 fell upon them with the butt ends of their muskets, till they 
 fled headlong down the narrow road. Here they got 
 entangled in their own impediments ; and the Buccaneers, 
 commanding the road from the redoubt, killed an enemy at 
 every shot. Weary at last of running and killing, the 
 French returned to the intrenchments, and drove ofi' the 
 500 Spaniards, who had now rallied, and were attacking the 
 garrison. The pursuit ceased only from the fatigue of the 
 conquerors and their weariness of slaughter. The Spaniards 
 neither gave nor took quarter, and were saved in spite 
 of themselves. De Lussan says, either from pride or a 
 natural fierceness of temper, the Spanish soldiers, before an 
 engagement, frequently took an oath to their commander 
 neither to give nor receive quarter. The Buccaneers, struck 
 with compassion at the quantity of blood running into the 
 rivulet, spared the survivors, and returned a second time 
 into the intrenchment, with only one man killed and two 
 wounded. The Spaniards lost their general, a brave old 
 Walloon oSicer, who had given them the plan of their 
 intrenchment. It was only at the solicitation of another 
 commander that the rounds had been set, and the sentinels 
 placed at the top of the mountain. The general had con- 
 sented, but said there was no danger if the French were only 
 men. It would take them eight days to climb up ; and if 
 they were devils, no intrenchment could keep them out. In 
 
EA\T]NAU DE LUSSAN. 339 
 
 his pocket were found letters from the governor of Costa 
 Rica, who had intended to send him 8,000 men ; but the 
 Walloon asked for only 1,500. He advised him to take care 
 of his soldiers, as no glory could be gained by such a victory. 
 The letter concluded thus : — " Take good measures, for those 
 devils have a cunning and subtlety that is not in use amongst 
 us. When you find them advance within the shot of your 
 arquebuses, let not your men fire but by twenties, to the end 
 your firing may not be in vain ; and when you find them 
 weakened, raise a shout to frighten them, and fall on with 
 your swords, while Don Rodrigo attacks them in the rear. I 
 hope God will favour our designs, since they are no other 
 than for his glory, and the destruction of these new sort of 
 Turks. Hearten up your men, though they may have 
 enough of that according to your example they shall be 
 rewarded in heaven ; and if they got the better, they will 
 have gold and silver enough wherewith these thieves are 
 laden." 
 
 Havins: suns: a Te Deimi of thankfulness to God, Eavenau 
 de Lussan mounted sixty men upon horseback, as he words 
 it, "to give notice to our other people of the success the 
 Almighty was pleased to give us." They found them about 
 to attack the 300 Spaniards, v/ho, seeing the night-march 
 the main body had made, and believing them defeated at the 
 intrenchments, had sent an ofiicer to parley mth the residue. 
 He told them that the 1,500 Spaniards were lying ready to 
 surround their troops, but promised them good terms if they 
 surrendered, saying that, by the intercessions of the almoner, 
 and for the honour of the holy sacrament and glorious 
 Virgin, they had spared all the prisoners they had hitherto 
 taken. The Buccaneers, somewhat intimidated at these 
 threats, took heart when they saw their companions coming, 
 and returned the following fierce answer : — " Though you 
 had force enough to destroy two-thirds of our number, we 
 should not fail to fight with the remaining part ; yea, though 
 there were but one man of us left, he should fight against 
 you all. When we put ashore, and left the South Sea, we all 
 resolved to pass through your country or die in the attempt ; 
 and though there were as many Spaniards as there are blades 
 of gTass in the savannah, we should not be afraid, but would 
 
 z 2 
 
340 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 go on, and go where we will, in spite of your teeth." The 
 officer, at Ravenaii's arrival, was just being dismissed ; and 
 seeing the new allies were booted and mounted on Spanish 
 horses, he shrugged up his shoulders, and rode back as fast 
 as he could to his comrades, who were not more than a 
 musket-shot off, upon a small eminence commanding the 
 camp, to tell them the news. As soon almost as he could 
 get to them, the Buccaneers advanced with pistols and cut- 
 lasses, and, without firing, fell on them and cut many to 
 pieces, before they could mount, but let the rest go, detain- 
 ing their horses. They then, with the loss of one killed and 
 two maimed, rejoined the main body at the intrenchments. 
 
 The enemy now lit a fire upon the top of a neighbouring 
 mountain, to collect the scattered troops, in order to defend 
 an intrenchment six leagues distant ; but the Buccaneers, 
 lying in wait, cut off their passage ; then hamstringing 900 
 horses, took 900 others to kill and salt when they arrived at 
 the river. On the 15th they passed the intrenchment 
 unfinished and undefended, and on the 16th day came very 
 joyfully to the long-desired river. Immediately they entered 
 into the woods that covered the banks, and fell to work in 
 good earnest to cut down trees and build " piperies," or 
 rafts. These were made of four or five trunks of the mahot 
 trees, a light, buoyant wood, which they first barked and 
 then bound together with parasite creepers, which were 
 tough and of great length. Two men, generally standing 
 upright, guided each of these frail barks, the decks sunk two 
 or three feet under water. They were built purposely 
 narrow, to be able to thread the rocky passes of the river, 
 even then in sight. These rafts were dragged to the river- 
 side, and then launched, the boatmen having furnished 
 themselves with long poles to push them off the rocks, 
 against which they were sure the current would drive them. 
 De Lussan, who never exaggerates a danger, cannot find 
 words to express the terrors of this stream. " It springs," 
 he says, "in the mountains of Segovia, and discharges itself 
 into the North Sea at Cajie Gracias a Dios, after having run 
 a long way, in a most rapid manner, across a vast number of 
 rocks of a prodigious bigness, and by the most frightful ])re- 
 cipices that can be thought of, besides a great many falls of 
 
EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 341 
 
 water, to the number of at least a hundred of all sorts, 
 which it is impossible for a man to look on without 
 tremblins:, and makinsf the head of the most fearless to turn 
 round, when he sees and hears the waters fall from such 
 a height into those tremendous whirlpools." 
 
 To this dangerous river and its merciless falls, these way- 
 worn men trusted themselves on frail rafts, and sunk up to 
 their middles in water. Sometimes they were hurried, in 
 spite of all their resistance, into boiling pools, where they 
 were buried with their rafts in the darkness beneath the 
 foam, at others drifted under rocks, and against fallen trees. 
 Some tied themselves to their barks. " As for those great 
 falls," says Lussan, " they had, to our good fortunes, at their 
 entrances and goings out, great basins of still water, which 
 gave us the opportunity to get upon the banks of the river, 
 and draw our piperies ashore to take off those things we 
 had laid on them, which were as wet as Ave were. These 
 we carried with us, leaping from rock to rock, till we came 
 to the end of the fall, from whence one of us afterwards 
 returned to put our pipery into the water, and let her swim 
 alonjx to him who waited for her below. But if he failed 
 to catch hold (by swimming) of those pieces of wood before 
 they got out of the basin below, the violence of the stream 
 would carry them away to rights, and the men were necessi- 
 tated to go and pick out trees to make another." 
 
 The rafts at first went all together for the sake of mutual 
 assistance; but at the end of three days, finding this dan- 
 gerous, Ravenau de Lussan advised their going in a line 
 apart, so that, if any were carried against the rocks, they 
 might get off before the next pipery arrived, which at first 
 occasioned many disasters. De Lussan, being himself cast 
 away, found much safety in this plan; for, uncording his 
 raft, he straddled upon one piece and his companion upon 
 another, and floated down, till, reaching a place less rapid, 
 they got on land and reconstructed the raft. By his advice, 
 those who went first put up flags at the end of long poles, 
 to give notice on which side to land, not to signal the falls, 
 for their roar could be clearly heard a league off. 
 
 Durinij all these dangers the men lived on the bananas 
 that they found growing by the river side, some of which 
 
342 RAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 the Indians had sown, and others floated down and self- 
 planted during the inundations. The horse-flesh they had 
 brought the water had spoiled, compelling them to throw it 
 away after two days ; and although game abounded on the 
 land, they could kill none, for their arms were continually 
 Avet and their ammunition all damaged. 
 
 It was at this crisis the conspirators we have before men- 
 tioned chose to carry out their cruel plot. Hiding behind 
 some rocks, they killed and plundered five Englishmen, who 
 were known to be rich. Lussan whose raft came last of all, 
 and followed the English float, found their bodies, and 
 thanked God he had given others his treasure to carry. 
 When the Buccaneers were all met together, lower down 
 the river, Lussan told them of the murder, of which they 
 had not heard, but the murderers were seen no more. On 
 the 20th of February the river grew wider, slovv^er, and 
 deeper, the falls ceased, but the stream was encumbered 
 with trees and bamboos, drifted together by the floods. 
 These snags frequently overturned the rafts, but the water 
 being, though deeper, much slower, none were drowned. 
 Some leagues farther, the stream became gentle and free 
 from all impediment, and they determined for the next sixty 
 leagues to the sea to build canoes. Dividing themselves 
 into parties of sixty men, they landed and cut down mapou 
 trees, and, working with wonderful diligence, built four 
 canoes by the 1st of March. Leaving 140 men still working, 
 120 embarked, eager for home, ease, and rest. The English, 
 too impatient to make canoes, had long since reached the 
 sea-shore in their piperies. They here met a Jamaica boat 
 lying at anchor, and attempted to persuade the captain to 
 return, and obtain leave for them to land, as thev had no 
 commission. The captain refused to go without receiving 
 ^0,000 in advance, which they could not afford, as many of 
 them had lost all by the upsetting of the piperies. The 
 sailors, therefore, resolved to remain with the friendly 
 Mosquito Indians, who dwelt about the mouth of this river, 
 and to whom they had often brought trinkets from Jamaica, 
 The English, unable to buy the boat, determined to send 
 word to the French, hoping to get to St. Domingo by their 
 aid. Two Mosquito Indians were despatched in a canoe 
 
EAVENAU DE LUSSAN. 343 
 
 forty leagues up the river, to bring down forty Frenchmen, 
 as the vessel was small and short of provision, and could not 
 hold more. But, in spite of all this, 120, instead of forty, 
 hurried down to get on board, waiting five days for the ship 
 that had gone to the Isle of Pearls. Great was the delight 
 of the French to pass Cape Gracias a Dios, and enter the 
 North Sea. 
 
 The Mulattoes that lived on this cape, Lussan says, were 
 descended from the crew of a negro vessel, lost on a shoal. 
 They slept in holes dug in the sand, to avoid the mosquitoes, 
 which stung them till they appeared like lepers. Lussan 
 speaks much of the fiery darts of this mischievous insect. 
 He says, " It is no small pain to be attacked with them, 
 for, besides that they caused us to lose our rest at night, it 
 was then that we were forced to go naked for want of shirts, 
 when the troublesomeness of these animals made us run 
 into despair and such a rage as set us beside ourselves." At 
 last the longed-for vessel arrived, and, regardless of lots that 
 had been drawn, fifty of the more vigilant, including Lussan, 
 crowded in, one on the top of the other, and instantly 
 weighed anchor, engaging the master for forty pieces of eight 
 a head to take them to St. Domingo, afraid of venturing to 
 Jamaica. At Cuba they landed, and surprising some hunt- 
 ers, compelled them to sell them food, uncertain whether 
 France and Spain were at war or peace. 
 
 On the 4th of April they rode at anchor at Petit Guaves, 
 hoping to hear news from France. Do Lussan relates a 
 curious instance here of the effect of habit and instinctive 
 imagination. " There were some of our people," he says, 
 " so infatuated with the long miseries we had suffered, that 
 they thought of nothing else but the Spaniards, insomuch 
 that, when from the deck they saw some horsemen riding 
 along the sea-side, they flew to arms to fire upon them, as 
 imagining they were enemies, though we assured them we 
 were now come among those of our own nation." De 
 Lussan, at once going on shore, demanded of Mons. Dumas, 
 the king's lieutenant, in the Governor Mons. de Cussy's 
 absence, indemnity and protection, by favour of an amnesty 
 granted by the French king to those who, in remote places, 
 had continued to make war on the Spaniards, not hearing 
 
344 RAVEN AU DE LUSSAN. 
 
 of the peace that had been concluded between the two- 
 nations. 
 
 De Lussan relates, with much unpretending pathos, the 
 feelings of himself and his Ulyssean friends upon once more 
 landing in a friendly country. " When we all were got 
 ashore," he says, " to a people that spoke French, we could 
 not forbear shedding tears for joy that, after we had run 
 so many hazards, dangers, and perils, it had pleased the 
 Almighty Maker of the earth and seas to grant a deliverance, 
 and bring us back to those of our own nation, that at length 
 ■we may return without any more ado to our own country; 
 whereunto I cannot but further add, that, for my own part, 
 I had so little hopes of ever getting back, that I could not, 
 for the space of fifteen days, take my return for any other 
 than an illusion, and it proceeded so far with me, that I 
 shunned sleep, for fear when I awaked I should find myself 
 again in those countries out of which I was now safely de- 
 livered." 
 
 From the preface to De Lussan's book, we learn that he 
 returned to Dieppe, with letters of introduction from De 
 Cussy, the governor of Tortuga and St. Domingo, to Mons. 
 de Lubert, Treasurer-General of Marine in France. Of the 
 end of this brave man we know nothing. He had many 
 requisites for a great general. 
 
THE LAST OF THE BLX'CAXEERS. 345 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 Sieur de Montauban — "Wonderful escape from an explosion — Life in 
 Africa — Laurence de Graff — His victories — Enters French service — 
 Treachery — Buccaneers join in French Expedition and take Cartha- 
 gena — Buccaneer sharpshooters — Treachery of French — Buccaneers 
 retui'n and retake the city — Captured in return by English and 
 Dutch fleets — 1698 — Buccaneers wrecked with French — Grammont 
 takes Santiago — Sacks Maracaibo, Gibraltar, and Torilla — Lands at 
 Cumana — Enters French service — Lost in his last cruise. 
 
 Of all the motley cliaracters of Buccaneer history, I\Ion- 
 tauban appears one of the most extraordinary. His friends 
 describe him to have been as prudent as he was brave, blunt,, 
 and sincere, relating his own adventures with a free and 
 generous air that convinced the hearer of their truth, and 
 at last consenting to write his story, not from ostentation, 
 but from the simple desire of giving a French minister of 
 state a narrative of his campaigns. He is interesting to 
 us as the latest known Buccaneer ; and in strict parlance he 
 can scarcely be classed as a Buccaneer at all, attacking the- 
 English as he did more than the Spanish, and not confining 
 his cruises to the Spanish main. 
 
 He begins his book with great naivete thus : — " Since I 
 have so often felt the malignant influence of those stars that 
 preside over the seas, and by an adverse fortune lost all 
 that wealth which with so much care and trouble I had 
 amassed together, I should take no manner of pleasure in 
 this place to call to mind the misfortunes that befel me before 
 the conclusion of the last campaign, had not a desire of serv- 
 ing still both the public and particular persons, as well as to 
 let his majesty know the affection and weddedness I have 
 always had for his service, made me take jDcn in hand to 
 give Mons. de Phelipeaux an account of such observations- 
 
346 THE LAST OP THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 as I have made ; wherein he may also find with what eager- 
 ness I have penetrated to the remotest colonies of our ene- 
 mies, in order to destroy them and ruin their trade. I 
 was not willing to swell up this relation with an account 
 of all the voyages I have made, and all the particular ad- 
 ventures that have befallen me on the coasts of New Spain, 
 Carthagena, Mexico, Florida, and Cape Verd, which last 
 place I had been at twenty years ago, having begun to 
 use the seas at the age of sixteen." He goes on to say that 
 he will not stop to relate how, in 1691, in a ship called the 
 Machine, he ravaged the coasts of New Guinea, and entering 
 the great Serelion, took a fort from the English and split 
 twenty-four pieces of cannon, but will confine liimself simply 
 to his last voyage : "Some information," he says, "having been 
 given thereof, by the noise made in France and elsewhere of 
 the burning my ship, and the terrible crack it made in the air." 
 
 In the year 1694, having ravaged the coast of Caracca, 
 he went towards St. Croix, to watch for some merchant 
 ships and a fleet expected from Barbadoes and Nevis, bound 
 for England. Sailing towards the Bermudas, expecting good 
 booty, he saw them coming towards him without any appre- 
 hension of danger. He at once attacked the convoy {The 
 Wolf), and took her and two merchant-ships laden with 
 sugar, the rest escaping during the fight. Beturning with 
 his prizes to France, he captured an English ship of sixteen 
 guns from Spain and bound for England, which surrendered 
 after a short fight. This last vessel he took to Bochelle and 
 sold it, the Admiralty declaring it good prize ; the last he 
 took to Bordeaux and sold to the merchants. Here, aban- 
 doning themselves to pleasure after a long abstinence, many 
 of his men deserted him, and he supplied their place with 
 youths from the town, who soon became as expert as vete- 
 rans. " I made it," he says, " my continual care and busi- 
 ness to teach my men to shoot, and my so frequent exercising 
 of them rendered them in a short time as capable of shooting 
 and handling their arms as the oldest sea free-booters, or the 
 best fowlers by land." 
 
 Be-victualling his ship, that carried only thirty-four guns, 
 he left Bordeaux in February, 1695, to cruise on the coast 
 of Guinea. From the Azores he passed the,Canary Islands, 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 347 
 
 and sailed for fourteen days in siglit of Teneriffe, in hopes 
 of meeting some Dutch vessels, that after all escaped him, 
 and at the Cape de Verd Islands he pursued two English 
 interlopers of thirty guns each, who left behind in the roads 
 their anchors and shallops. He then went in search of a 
 Dutch guard-ship, of thirty-four guns, along the neighbour- 
 ing coast. Decoying the foe by showing Dutch colours, he 
 waited till he got within cannon-shot, hoisting the French 
 flag, gave her a signal to strike, and then exchanged broad- 
 sides. They fought from early morning till four in the 
 afternoon, without Montauban being able to get the weather- 
 gauge, or approach near enough to use his chief arms — his 
 fusils. Taking advantage of a favourable v/ind, the Dutch- 
 man then anchored under the fort of the Cape of Three- 
 points, where two other Dutch men-of-war lay, one of four- 
 teen and the other of twenty-eight guns. Thinking the 
 three vessels had leagued to fight him, Montauban anchored 
 within a league of the shore, hoping to provoke them out 
 by continued insults, but the guard-ship, already much 
 mauled, would not move. This vessel, he found afterwards, 
 had driven away a French Jlute. At Cape St. John he took 
 with little difficulty an English ship of twenty guns, carry- 
 ing 350 negroes, and much wax and elephants' teeth. The 
 English captain had killed some of his blacks in a mutiny, 
 and others had escaped in the shallop, which they stole. At 
 Prince's Isle he took a small Brandenburg caper (a pirate), 
 mounted with eight pieces of cannon, and carrying sixty 
 men. He then put into port to careen, and sent his prize 
 to St. Domingo to be condemned and sold, putting the Sieur 
 de Nave and a crew on board, but the ship was taken by 
 some English men-of-war before Little Goara. To keep his 
 men employed during the careening, Montauban fitted up 
 the caper, and with ninety men cruised for six weeks with- 
 out success, and, then putting into the Isle of St. Thomas, 
 trucked the prize for provisions, and started for the coasts 
 of Angola, hearing that three English men-of-war and a fire- 
 ship were fitting out against him at Guinea. On his way he 
 chased a Dutch interloper, laden with 150 pounds of gold- 
 dust, but she ran ashore on the Isle of St. Omer and fell to 
 pieces. 
 
348 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 When approaching the coasts of Angola, and not far from 
 the port of Cabinda, he saw an English vessel of fifty-four 
 guns bearing down upon him. To decoy her Montauban 
 hung out Dutch colours, while the English fired guns, as 
 a signal of friendship. The Frenchman, pretending to wait, 
 sailed slow, as if heavy laden or encumbered for want of 
 sails and men. " We kept in this manner," writes the pri- 
 vateersman, " from break of day till ten in the forenoon. 
 He gave me a gun from time to time without ball, to assure 
 me of what he was, but finding at last I did not answer him 
 on my part in the same manner, he gave me one again with 
 ball, which made me presently put up French colours, and 
 answer him with another. Hereupon the English caj^tain, 
 without any more ado, gave me two broadsides, Avhicli I 
 received without returning him one again, though he had 
 iilled me seven men ; for I was in hopes, if I could have 
 got something nearer to him, to put him out of condition 
 ever to get away from me. I endeavoured to come within 
 a fusil shot of him, and was desirous to give him an oppor- 
 tunity to show his courage in boarding me, since I could not 
 so well do the same by him, as being to the leeward. At 
 last being come by degrees nearer, and finding him within 
 the reach of my fusils, which for that end I kept concealed 
 upon the deck from his sight, they were discharged upon him, 
 and my men continued to make so great a fire with them, 
 that the enemy on their part began quickly to flag. In the 
 mean time, as their ship's crew consisted of above 300 men, 
 and that they saw their cannon could not do their work for 
 them, they resolved to board us, which they did with a 
 great shout and terrible threatenings of giving no quarter, 
 if we did not surrender. Their grappling-irons failing to 
 catch the stern of my ship, made theirs run in such a 
 manner, that their stern ran upon my boltsprit and broke 
 it. Having observed my enemy thus encumbered, my men 
 plied them briskly with their small shot, and made so 
 terrible a fire upon them for an hour and a-half, that being 
 unable to resist any longer, and having lost a great many 
 men, they left the sport and ran down between decks, and I 
 saw them presently after make signals with their hats of 
 crying out for quarter. I caused my men therefore to give 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 34i> 
 
 over their firing, and commanded the English to embark in 
 their shallops and come on board of me, while I made some 
 of my crew at the same time leap into the enemy's ship and 
 seize her, and so prevent any surprise from them. I already 
 rejoiced within myself for the taking of such a considerable 
 prize, and so much the more in that I hoped that after 
 having taken this vessel, that was the guard-ship of Angola, 
 and the largest the English had in those seas, I should find 
 myself in a condition still to take better prizes, and attack 
 any man-of-war I should meet with. My ship's crew were 
 also as joyful as myself, and did the work they were engaged 
 in with a great deal of pleasure ; but the enemy's powder 
 suddenly taking fire, by the means of a match the captain 
 had left burning on purpose, as hoping he might escape with 
 his two shallops, blew both the ships into the air, and made 
 the 7nost horrible crack that was ever heard. It is impossible 
 to set forth this horrid sjoectacle to the life ; the spectators 
 themselves were the actors of this bloody scene, not krioioing 
 whether they saw it or not, and not being able to judge of that 
 which themselves felt. Wherefore leaving the reader to 
 imagine the horror which the blowing up of two ships above 
 200 fathoms into the air must work in us, where there was 
 formed as it were a mountain of water, fire, wreck of the 
 ships, cordages, cannon, men, and a most horrible clap made, 
 what with the cannon that went off in the air, and tlie 
 waves of the sea that were tossed up thither, to which we 
 may add the cracking of masts and boards, the rending of 
 the sails and ropes, the cries of men, and the breaking of 
 bones — I say, leaving these things to the imagination of the 
 reader, I shall only take notice of what befell myself, and by 
 what good fortune it was that I escaped. 
 
 " When the fire first began I was upon the fore-deck of 
 my own ship, where I gave the necessary orders, !^^ow I 
 was carried up on part of the said deck so high, that I fancy 
 it was the height alone prevented my being involved in the 
 wreck of the ships, where I must infallibly have perished, 
 and been cut into a thousand pieces. I fell back into the 
 sea {you may he sure giddy-headed enough), and continued 
 a long time under water, without being able to get up to 
 the surface of it. At last falling into a debate with the 
 
350 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 water, as a person who was afraid of being drowned, I got 
 upon the face of it, and laid hold of a broken piece of a 
 mast that I found near. I called to some of my men whom 
 I saw swimming round about me, and exhorted them to 
 take courage, hoping we might yet save our lives, if we 
 could light upon any one of our shallops. But what afflicted 
 me more than my very misfortune, was to see two half 
 bodies, who had still somewhat of life remaining in them, 
 from time to time mount up to the face of the water, and 
 leave the place where they remained all dyed with blood. 
 It was also much the same thing to see round about a vast 
 number of members and scattered parts of men's bodies, 
 and most of them spitted upon splinters of wood. At last 
 one of my men, having met with a whole shallop among all 
 the wreck, that swam up and down upon the water, came to 
 tell me that we must endeavour to stop some holes therein, 
 and to take out the canoe that lay on board her. 
 
 " We got, to the number of fifteen or sixteen of us who 
 had escaped, near unto this shallop, every man upon his piece 
 of wood, and took the pains to loosen our canoe, which at 
 length we effected. We went all on board her, and after 
 we had got in saved our chief gunner, who in the fight had 
 had his leg broke. We took up three or four oars, or pieces 
 of board, which served us to that purpose, and when we 
 had done that we sought out for somewhat to make a sail 
 and a little mast, and having fitted up all things as well as 
 we possibly could, committed ourselves to the Divine Provi- 
 dence, who alone could give us life and deliverance. As soon 
 as I had done working I found myself all over besmeared 
 with blood, that ran from a wound I had received on my 
 head at the time of my fall. We made some lint out of my 
 handkerchief, and a fillet to bind it withal out of my shirt, 
 after I had first washed the wound with urine. The same 
 thing was done to the rest that had been wounded, and our 
 shallop in the meanwhile sailed along without our knowing 
 where we were going, and, what was still more sad, without 
 victuals, and we had already spent three days without either 
 eating or drinking. One of our men, being greatly afflicted 
 with hunger and thirst at the same time, drank so much salt 
 water that he died of it." Most of the men vomited con- 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 351 
 
 tinually, Montauban's body swelled, and he was finally cured 
 of his dropsy by a quartan ague. All his hair and one side 
 of his face and body were burnt with powder, and he bled 
 as " bombardiers do at sea," at the nose, ears, and mouth. 
 
 But this was no time, he says manfully, for a consultation 
 of physicians, while they were dying of hunger ; so leaving 
 the English, they forced their way over the bar of Car- 
 thersna, an adverse wind preventing their landing at the 
 port of Cabinda. Here they found some oysters sticking to 
 the trees that grew round a pond, and opening them witli 
 their clasp knives, which they lent, Montauban says, 
 " charitably and readily to each other," they made a lusty 
 meal. 
 
 Having spent two days there, they divided into three 
 small companies, and went up the country, but could find no 
 houses, and see nothing but herds of bufialoes that fled from 
 them. On reaching Cape Corsa they found negroes assem- 
 bled to furnish ships with wood and water in exchange for 
 brandy, knives, and liatchets. 
 
 Montauban, who had often traded in these parts, knew 
 several of the natives, and tried to make them believe he 
 was the man he represented ; but disfigured as he was by 
 his late misfortune, they considered him an impostor. In 
 their own language he told them he was dying of famine, 
 but could get nothing but a few bananas to eat. 
 
 He then desired them to carry him and his men to Prince 
 Thomas, the son to the king of that country, upon whom he 
 had conferred many favours. But the Prince refused to 
 recognize him, till he showed him the scar of a wound in his 
 thigh which he had once seen when they bathed together. 
 On seeing this the Prince rose and embraced him ; com- 
 manded victuals to be given to his men ; expressed his sor- 
 row for their misfortunes ; and quartered them among his 
 negro lords. Montauban he kept at his own expense, and 
 made him eat at his own table. In a few days he took him 
 some leagues up the country in a canoe, to see the king his 
 father, who ruled over a village of 300 huts among the 
 marshes. The high priest was just dead, and during the 
 funeral ceremonies, lasting for seven days, Montauban was 
 regaled with elephant's flesh. The king he found surrounded 
 
352 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 by women, and guarded by negroes armed with lances and 
 fusils. Flags, trumpets, and drums preceded this monarch 
 of a realm of hunters, who was himself clothed in a robe of 
 white and blue striped cotton. The black prince shook the 
 French captain by the hand, being the first man whose hand 
 he had ever thus honoured. He asked many questions about 
 his brother of Prance, and when he heard that he sometimes 
 waged war with England and Holland singlehanded, apd 
 sometimes with Germany and Spain, the king expressed 
 himself pleased, and, calling for palm wine, said he would 
 drink the French king's health, and as he drank the drums i 
 and trumpets sounded, just as they do in Hamlet, and the >i 
 negro guard discharged their pieces. Prince Thomas then j 
 asked the name of the French king who was so powerful, 
 and being told it was Louis le Grand, declared he would give 
 that name to his son, who was about to be baptized, and 
 that Montauban should be godfather. He also expressed his 
 hope that at some future voyage Montauban would carry the 
 child to France, and present him to the brother monarch, 
 and have him brought up in that country. " Assure him," 
 said the same prince, " that I am his friend, and that if he 
 has occasion for my service, I will go myself into France, 
 witli all the lances and fusils belonging to the king my 
 father." The king said, if need were he would go himself 
 in person. At this generous promise the guard discharged 
 their muskets frantically, and the men and women shouted 
 their admiration. The drums and trumpets went to it 
 again, and the spearmen ran from one side to the other, 
 uttering horrible cries, sounding like pain, but expressive of > 
 joy. Then the glasses went round faster, and the ceremony 
 concluded by the negro king presenting Montauban with 
 two cakes of wax. The white men now rose in public 
 estimation. Whenever they stirred out, they were followed 
 by crowds of negroes bringing presents of fruits and buffalo 
 flesh, never having seen a white face before, and generally 
 supposing the devil to be of that colour. Sable philoso])hers 
 begged to be allowed to scrape their skin wdth knives, till 
 the king issued an edict forbidding any one, under pain, 
 scraping or rubbing the strangers. 
 
 The baptism passed off with great eclat. There being no 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 353 
 
 priest in the town who knew how to baptize, or remembered 
 the words of the service, a priest was procured from a 
 Portuguese ship lying at the Cape. The freebooter speaks 
 with much unction of his sponsorship. " I did it with so 
 much the more pleasure," quoth he, " in that I was helping 
 to make a Christian and sanctify a soul." 
 
 A few days after this ceremony, which afforded so much 
 satisfaction to Montauban's tender conscience, he determined 
 to embark on board an English ship lying at the Cape ; but 
 the black king would not have him trust himself into the 
 hands of his enemies, and soon after he set sail in a Portu- 
 guese vessel that arrived to barter iron, arms, and brandy, 
 /or ivory, wax, and negroes. Two of his men, who had 
 strayed up the country, he left behind. The Portuguese 
 captain turned out to be an old friend, and took him at once 
 to St. Thomas's, and here he stayed a month, the governor 
 of the island showing him a thousand civilities. He then 
 embarked on board an English vessel, with whose captain he 
 contracted an intimate friendship, in spite of the governor's 
 warnings. He gave up his own cabin to Montauban, to use 
 our adventurer's own words, " with all the pleasure and 
 diversion he could think of, for the solacing of my spirits 
 under the afflictions I had from time to time endured." 
 
 A tedious sail of three months brought them to Barba- 
 does. During this time, his provisions running short, the 
 English captain began to regret having taken up his French 
 passengers, and reduced their daily allowance by three- 
 fourths. On arriving at the port, Colonel Pussel blamed the 
 captain for having brought such visitors, and forbade him 
 under pain of death to land ; but some Jewish physicians 
 declaring that he must die if he did not, the governor con- 
 sented, keeping a strict watch upon the sick man, and telling 
 him to understand that he and his fellows were prisoners of 
 war. Montauban replied that he had only embarked on the 
 faith of the English captain, on whose friendship he relied. 
 He promised, if liberty were granted, them, he would be 
 ever mindful of the favour, and would either ipaj the colonel 
 a ransom, or restore at a future time any prisoners belonging 
 to the island. 
 
 " No," replied the governor, " I will have neither your 
 
 2 A 
 
354 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 ransom nor your prisoners, and you are too brave a man for 
 me to have no compassion upon your many misfortunes. I 
 desire, on the contrary, that you will accept of these forty 
 pistoles, which I present you with to supply your present 
 occasions." A vessel soon after arrived from Martinique, 
 and Montauban went on board with two of his men, all that 
 could be collected. The English governor, when he thanked 
 him at parting, prayed him to be kind to any English that 
 fell into his hands, and lamented the war regulations that 
 compelled him to severity. 
 
 On arriving at Port Royal, at Martinique, JMons. de 
 Blenac, the governor, who was then dying, made him stay at 
 his house, and relate every day his adventure with the Eng- 
 lish vessel. In the same breath, Montauban praises De 
 Blenac's wisdom, justice, integrity, and knowledge of all the 
 coasts and heights of land in America. In a few days the 
 freebooter embarked in the Virgin for Bordeaux, and we 
 lose sight of his stalwart figure and scarred face among the 
 bustling eager crowds that fill the streets of that busy sea- 
 port. We have a shrewd suspicion that Sieur de Montauban 
 did not die in a bed, but with his face to the foe and his 
 back on a bloody plank. There is something delightfully 
 sincere and naive in the sort of out-loud thinking with which 
 he concludes his simple "yarn." 
 
 " I do not know whether I have bid the sea adieu, so 
 much has my last misfortune terrified me, or whether I shall 
 go out aiiain to be revenged on the English, who have done 
 me so much mischief, or go and traverse the seas with a de- 
 sign to get me a little wealth, or rest (piiet and eat up what 
 my relations have left me. There is a strange inclination in 
 onen to undertake voyages, as there is to gaming ; whatever 
 misfortunes befall them, they do not believe they will be 
 always unhappy, and therefore will play on. Thus it is as 
 to the sea, whatever accidents befall us, we are in hopes to 
 find a favourable opportunity to make us amends for all our 
 losses. I believe, whoever reads this account will find it a 
 hard task to give me counsel thereupon, or to take the same 
 himself" 
 
 Laurence de Graff, our next hero, was a Dutchman by 
 birth, and served first in the service of Spain as a sailor and 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS, 355 
 
 a gunner. He soon became remarkable as a good sliot, and 
 renowned for his address and bravery, his bearing being 
 equally attractive and commanding. Going to America, he 
 carried these talents to the best market, and, being taken 
 prisoner by the corsairs, became a Buccaneer, and soon rose 
 to independent command. His name grew so terrible to the 
 SjDaniards, that the monks used to })ray God in their prayers 
 to deliver them from " Lorencillo," and the whole brother- 
 hood used his name as a war-cry to strike terror. Vessels 
 struck their flag when they heard that shout, and the horse- 
 men fled before it through the savannah. Knowing that 
 the Spaniards would not forgive him the injuries he had in- 
 flicted on them, De Graff never fought without strewing 
 powder on the deck, or having a gunner with a lighted match 
 ready- to blow up the powder magazine at the first signal. 
 On one occasion the people of Cartliagena, knowing that he 
 was sailing near the port in a single small vessel, despatched 
 two frigates to brinf? him bound to land. Lorencillo, be- 
 lieving himself lost, had already given orders to blow up the 
 vessel, when, making a last desperate effort, he captured both 
 of his enemies. These men were never so formidable as 
 when surrounded by an overwheming force. On another 
 occasion the admiral and vice-admiral of the galleon fleet 
 had orders to take him at all risks, which they should easily 
 have done, as each of their vessels carried sixty guns. Find- 
 ing it impossible to escape, Laurence animated his crew, and 
 told them that in victory lay their only hope of life. The 
 gunner was placed as usual ready beside the magazine, and 
 then running boldly between the two vessels, De Graff 
 poured in a vnlley of musketry and killed forty-eight Span- 
 iards. The action still continued, when a French shot 
 carried away the mainmast of the largest galleon, and her 
 consort, afraid to board, left Lorencillo the conqueror. The 
 report of this victory produced a great sensation both at 
 Paris and Madrid. The French sent the conqueror letters 
 of naturalization and a pardon for the death of Van Horn, 
 and the court of Spain issued orders to cut off the head of 
 their recreant admiral. 
 
 At another time Laurence was cruisincj near Carthacjena, 
 in company with the French captains, Michel Jonquo, Le 
 
 2 A 2 
 
356 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 Sa<:i;-e, and Breac. The Spaniards, thinking to catch him 
 alone, sent out two thirty-six gun ships and a small crafc of six 
 guns, which overtook liim in a bay to leeward of the city. 
 Surprised to see him well guarded, they endeavoured to 
 escape, but Laurence attacked them, and, after an eight-hours' 
 action, having killed 400 Spaniards, took the admiral's ship, 
 Jonque's capturing its companion. Laurence's prize, how- 
 ever, was soon after driven ashore, and the prisoners escaped. 
 
 Ca})tain Laurence is at this time described as a tall, fair 
 man, with light hair and mnstachios. He was fond of music, 
 and kept a band of violins and trumpets on board his shi)). 
 On one occasion, landing in Jamaica, the French levelled 
 the three intrenchments, spiked the cannon, burnt a town, 
 and retreated to their ships — carrying off 3,000 negroes, 
 and much indigo and merchandise. The island was saved 
 by the fact of the inhabitants of one corner having fortified 
 all their houses, and turned each into an inaccessible and 
 unscalable fort. In the attack of one of these alone, Captain 
 Le Sage and fifty men were killed. The English say that 
 there were 7,000 fugitive negroes in the mountains, anxious 
 to join the French, and to escape to St. Domingo, but the 
 French, taking them for enemies, fled at their approach. 
 
 Afraid of retaliation, Hispaniola now prepared for de- 
 fence. Le Sieur de Graff commanded at Cape Francois, and 
 was to lay ambuscades and throw up intrenchments, and 
 d'spute every inch with the Spaniards or the English. If 
 the enemy was too strong he was ordered to S})ike his 
 cannon, blow up his ]")owder, and fall back to Port de Paix. 
 In 1695, the Spaniards and English landed with 6,000 
 men. Contrary to all expectation, De Graff, perhaps too 
 old for service, wasted eight days in reconnoitring, and 
 abandoned post after post. His men lost all courage when 
 tiiey saw his irresolution. His lieutenant, le Chevalier de 
 Leon, also deserted his guns without a blow, De Graff merely 
 i-emarking that it was only twenty-eight cannon lost. A 
 succession" of disasters followed, and nothing but climate and 
 the quarrels of the allies saved the desolated colony. 
 
 In 1686, De Graff was made major in the French army, 
 and henceforward foui^ht with more or less fidelity for the 
 country that had ennobled him. Not long after this event, 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 357 
 
 the termination of all his glory, being a widower, he married 
 Anne Dieu le Veut, a French lady of indomitable spirit. 
 She was one of those French women brought over by the 
 governor, ]\L D'Ogeron, to marry to the hunters of Hispa- 
 niola. " They grew," says Charlevoix, " perfect Atalantas, 
 and joined in the chase, using the musket and sabre Avith 
 the best." From such Amazonian mould came some of the 
 Buccaneer chiefs. One day before her marriage, this 
 heroine, having received some insult from her husband, 
 drew out a pistol and forced him to unsay what he had 
 uttered. Full of admiration at her courage, and thinking 
 such an Amazon worthy of a hero's bed, he married her. 
 Both she and her children were taken prisoners by the 
 English, and not released for a long time after the ]ieace. 
 De Graff's first wife was Petroline de Guzman, a Spanish 
 ladv. 
 
 At the time De Graff's brevet arrived, he was on a reet 
 near Carthagena, having been wrecked v/hile pursuing a 
 bark in a vessel of forty-eight guns and 400 men. Yv ith 
 his canoe the wrecked men took the ship, and landing in 
 Darien, lost twenty-five adventurers in an Indian ambus 
 cade. His two prizes he sent to St. Domingo, but his crew 
 obliged him to continue privateering till the letters from 
 De Cussy recalled him. One of the chief reasons why this 
 honour had been bestowed on him was, that, by his great 
 credit with the adventurers, he might draw them to settle 
 on land. 
 
 About this time, the Spaniards surprised Petit Guaves, 
 and war commenced. Only the year before, the same nation 
 had seized Breac, the Flibustier captain, and hanged him, with 
 nine or ten of his men. Soon after this, a Spanish officer 
 whom De Graff, now commandant at the Isle a la Vache, 
 had delivered from some English corsairs, informed him 
 that a Spanish galleon full of treasure was lying wrecked at 
 the Seranillas Islands, but this prize he was obliged to 
 relinquish to the English. 
 
 De Graff now became remarka^ble for his firmness and 
 justice. He encouraged colonization, settled differences 
 between English and French Buccaneers, and prohibited all 
 privateering. His name was still so terrible, that on one 
 
o58 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 occasion 2,000 Si)aniards attacking Hispaniola retreated 
 when they heard that the old chief commanded the mihtia 
 of the island. 
 
 The Plibustiers were found bad colonists : the French 
 could manage to keep them at a fortified post when a 
 Spanish invasion was expected, but the instant the enemy- 
 retreated the sea grew dark with Buccaneer vessels, eager 
 for prizes. Indocile and desperate, they seduced all the 
 youth of Hispaniola from their plantations. At one time 
 the French governor seems to have resolved on their total 
 destruction, but their usefulness as light troops saved them. 
 The descents on Jamaica in search of slaves by the French 
 Buccaneers grew soon so numerous, that the English island 
 became known as " Little Guinea." 
 
 In 1602, a French adventurer, named Daviot, with 290 
 men, landed and pillaged the north of Jamaica. His vessel 
 being driven out to sea by a storm, his men were compelled 
 to remain fifteen days exposed to incessant attacks from 
 their enemies. While waiting for the vessel's return, the 
 dreadful earthquake happened that swallowed 11,000 souls, 
 and destroyed Port Royah The Flibustiers, alarmed at the 
 rocking of the earth, embarked 115 sailors and forty pri- 
 soners in canoes, but the sea was as convulsed as the land, and 
 they lost all but sixty men, and were driven again on shore. 
 Attacked when he again put out to sea by two English 
 vessels, Daviot beat them off with a loss of seventy-six men, 
 only two of his own being killed. Boarded by the English 
 a second time, his vessel blew up, and he surrendered with 
 twenty-one of his crew. Soon after this, three French 
 vessels, manned with Buccaneers, took an English guarda- 
 costa of forty guns, killing eighteen men. 
 
 In 1G94, De Graff commanded in a Buccaneer invasion of 
 Jamaica, sailing to that island with fourteen vessels and 
 550 men. He forced the English intrenchments in spite of 
 1,400 musketeers and twelve guns, slew 360 of the defenders, 
 and captured nine ships, losing himself only twenty-two 
 men. He then drove off 2 GO troojiers from Spanish Town, 
 after two hours' combat. The next day De Graff despatched * 
 troops to carry off cattle. 
 
 In 1G9G, a process was instituted against De Graff, whom 
 
 * 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 359 
 
 M. Du Casse suspected of intrigues with Spain. The evi- 
 dence, M. Charlevoix thinks, showed only his extreme fear 
 of falling into the hands of the enemy. It is certain that 
 the Spanish had offered to make him a vice-admiral, but he 
 would not trust their sincerity. The English despised him 
 for this supposed treachery, and when he proposed to the 
 governor of Jamaica to retreat to that island, if he could 
 give him employment, the governor replied, that he had 
 already betrayed three nations, and would not stick a( 
 betraying a fourth. 
 
 The Spaniards regarded him with fear till his death, and 
 never forgave him the injury he had done them. " During 
 the next war between France and Spain," says Charlevoix, 
 " the IVEarquis of Coelogon arriving at Havannah with a 
 French squadron that he commanded in the Mexican Gulfj 
 having De Graff on board, all the town ran to the shore at 
 the news, to see the famous Lorencillo that had so long 
 been the terror of the West Indies, but the marquis would 
 not let him land for fear of danger." 
 
 Deprived of his command, De Graff was appointed cap- 
 tain of a liofht frigate. This situation suited him better 
 than land service, for which he showed no genius, and he 
 was frequently employed on board the French squadrons, 
 no man knowins: better the naviijation of the North 
 Pacific. Of his death we know nothing, but it is supposed 
 he lived to a good age. 
 
 One of the most important enterprises ever attempted by 
 the French Buccaneers, in conjunction with the French 
 government, was the capture of Carthagena, in 1697. The 
 fleet of M. de Poincy consisted of eighteen vessels, besides 
 ten Flibustier craft, carrying 700 adventurers, in addition 
 to his own 4,658 men and two companies of negroes. The 
 Buccaneer captains were Montjoy, Godefroy, Blanc, Galet, 
 Pierre, Pays, Sales, Macary, and Colong. Their vessels 
 were named Le Poiitchar train, La Ville de Glamma, La 
 Serpente, La Gracieuse, La Pemhrock, Le Cerf Volant, La 
 Miitine, La £r{ga)iti7i, Le Jerse, and L' Anglais. The whole 
 force mustered 6,500 men. The adventurers at first refused 
 to embark till a fit share of the booty was promised to 
 them, being accustomed to be de2:)rived of their rights by 
 
360 THE LAST OP THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 the Frencli officers. Enraged at not being treated as 
 equals, and finding one of their men imprisoned at Petit 
 Guaves, they invested the fort, and were only appeased by 
 ready concessions. The first scheme of the expedition was 
 to seek the galleons ; but this was abandoned, though it 
 appeared afterwards that at that very time they were 
 lying at Porto Eello richer than they had been for fifty 
 years, and laden with 50,000,000 crowns. The second 
 plan was to attack Vera Cruz, and the last to sail to Car- 
 thagena. 
 
 'J'hat most graphic and vigorous of writers, Michael Scott, 
 describes Carthagena as situated on a group of sandy islands, 
 surronnded by shallow water. A little behind the town, on 
 a gentle acclivity, is the citadel of Fort S. Felipe, and on 
 the ship-like hill beyond it the convent of the Popa, projecting 
 like a poop-lantern in the high stern of a ship. 
 
 Arrived at that city, the French galliot bombarded the 
 whole night ; and as this was the first bomb ship ever seen 
 in the West Indies, the splintering of shells produced a 
 great terror in the citizens. Two days after, the fleet 
 anchored before Bocca Chica. This fort contained thirty- 
 three guns ; had four bastions, and was defended by a dry 
 fosse cut in the rocks. The ramparts were bomb proof and 
 the walls shot proof Under the fire of the *S'^. Louis, the 
 galliot, and two bomb vessels, the troops landed and ad- 
 vanced without opposition within a quarter of a league of 
 the fort. By the advice of the Buccaneers, accustomed to 
 such marches, 3,000 men crossed through a wood by a path 
 so difficult that only one man could pass at a time, and, unob- 
 served, took possession of the road leading from Carthagena 
 to the fort, fortifvinjx themselves on both sides, and cutting 
 oif the communication between the fort and the city, taking 
 some negroes prisoners, and losing a few men from the shots 
 of the enemy. 
 
 The next morning, at daybreak, the adventurers, finding 
 some boats on the beach, pursued and captured a Spanish 
 piragua containing several monks of high rank. One of 
 the priests in vain was sent with a flag of truce and a drum- 
 mer and trumpeter to summon the governor to surrender. 
 The negroes clearing the road, a battery of guns and mortars 
 
THE LAST OP THE BUCCANEEHS. 361 
 
 Opened upon the fort, and the Buccaneer sharp-shooters shot 
 down the enemy's gunners, driving back some half galleys 
 that attempted to bring reinforcements. The Buccaneers, 
 pursuing the boats, found shelter under the covered way, 
 and killed every man who showed himself on the batteries 
 of the fort. The governor, who saw the adventurers rush- 
 ing, as he thought, madly to destruction, began to lament 
 that he had employed such people. Warned that, if left 
 alone, " the brothers" would give a good account of the 
 place, he scornfully laughed and ordered up reinforcements. 
 Thinking the Flibustiers had only run under the covered 
 way for shelter, he pursued a few who really did turn tail 
 with his cane, and attempted in vain to drive them to the 
 assault. By this time the freebooters had won the draw- 
 bridge, and, displaying their colours on the edge of the 
 ditch, demanded means for the escalade. Thirty ladders 
 were placed, and the assault had already commenced, when 
 the Spaniards hung out the white flag, and shouting ^'Viva 
 el rey !"" flung their arms and hats into the ditch. The gate 
 being opened, 100 of the garrison were confined in the 
 chapel ; 200 others were found wounded. The governor, 
 handing the keys of the fortress to M. de Poincy, said : " I 
 deliver into your hands the keys of all the Spanish Indies." 
 About forty adventurers were killed, and as many wounded, 
 in this attack. 
 
 The next day the fleet entered the harbour, and the 
 Spaniards burned all their vessels to prevent capture. The 
 governor still refusing to surrender, saying he wanted 
 neither men, arms, nor courage, the adventurers embarked 
 to attack the convent of Nuestra Senora de la Popa, and to 
 occupy the heights. M. du Casse being wounded in the 
 thigh, the Flibustiers refused to march under the command 
 of M. Galifet, to whom they had a dislike ; and on his 
 striking one of them, the man took him by the cravat. 
 The mutineer was instantly tied to a tree and sentenced to 
 be shot, but pardoned at M. Galifet's intercession. M. de 
 Poincy, going on board Captain Pierre's ship, seized him 
 and ordered him to execution, and the revolt then ceased, 
 De Poincy threatening to decimate them on the next out- 
 break. 
 
362 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 The convent stood on a mountain shaped like the poop 
 of a ship, about a gunshot from Carthagena. It had been 
 abandoned by the monks, who had stripped it of every 
 valuable. 
 
 The army then marched by sunset to the fort Santa Cruz, 
 suffering much from thirst. The fort mounted sixty guns, 
 was surrounded by a wet ditch, and on the land side acces- 
 sible only through a morass, but it surrendered without 
 firing a shot. The adventurers then pushed on to within a 
 gunshot of Fort St. Lazarus, which commanded the suburbs 
 on the other side of the city. The French defiled round 
 the fort, while some of their grenadiers carried on a pretended 
 conference with the fort. The next day roads were cut 
 through a hill, and the army were placed within pistol shot 
 of the walls, concealed by an eminence that covered them 
 from the enemy's fire. The Spaniards, losing their com- 
 mander, abandoned the place in disorder, and their fort, St. 
 Lazarus, being within musket shot of Gezemanie (the sub- 
 urbs), they opened a fire of ten guns upon the captured 
 batteries, the Buccaneer musketry clearing the streets. 
 Thirty men were killed in trying to turn a chapel into a 
 redoubt, and the camp removed behind St. Lazarus, De 
 Poincy having been wounded in the breast. 
 
 The three next days several breaching batteries were com- 
 pleted, and the galliot and mortars bombarded the city all 
 night. In three days more, the breach was pronounced 
 practicable, and the storming commenced. M. du Casse, 
 although wounded, led the grenadiers, and M. Macharais 
 the adventurers, who set the army an example of daring. 
 Planks were laid over the broken drawbridge, and the troops 
 passed over, under a tremendous fire from the bastion of St, 
 Catherine, one man only being able to cross at a time. The 
 breach and batteries were lined with Spanish lancers, who 
 flung their spears, nine feet long, a distance of twelve 
 or fifteen yards. The French had 250 men killed and 
 wounded, and many officers fell. Vice-admiral the Count 
 de CiJetlogon was mortally hurt ; the commander-in-chief's 
 nephew, le Chevalier de Poincy, a young midshipman, had 
 his knee broken, and many were wounded in pursuing the 
 Spaniards to the city. 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 363 
 
 The French gave no quarter, putting to the sword 200 
 Spaniards who had thrown tliemselves into a church. The 
 governor, who had ordered his servants to carry him in 
 his easy chair to the breach to animate his men, fled into 
 Carthagena. The army now advanced to the bridge which 
 led from Gezemanie to the city, and repulsed two sorties of 
 the enemv. 
 
 The French threw up entrenchments and erected batteries 
 to breach the walls. Two days were spent in these prepara- 
 tions and in dressing the wounded. There were still great 
 difficulties to encounter. Armies of Indians were approacli- 
 ing. The Spanish garrison had six months' provision and 
 eighty guns mounted on their ramparts. The next day, 
 Carthagena, terrified at the fate of Gezemanie, surrendered. 
 The conditions were, that the churches should not be plun- 
 dered, that those who chose might leave the city unmolested, 
 and that the inhabitants should surrender half their money 
 on pain of losing all. The governor and troops were to 
 depart with the honours of war. The merchants were to 
 surrender their account books to the French commander. 
 The adventurers instantly occupied the bastions and gate, 
 and the other troops seized the ramparts. The governor 
 having marched out with 700 men, M. de Poincy proceeded 
 to the cathedral to hear the Te Deum, and then repaired 
 to his lodgings at the house where the royal treasure was 
 deposited. 
 
 At first the soldiers and sailors were forbidden to enter 
 any house on pain of death, and the admiral's carpenter 
 being caught plundering, and confessing his guilt, had his 
 head cut off on the spot. But a change soon took place. 
 The governor, assembling the heads of religious houses, 
 informed them that the treaty did not spare any convent 
 that had money. Many days were spent in receiving and 
 'weighing the crowns. De Poincy declared, that before his 
 arrival the m.onks had fled with 120 mules laden with gold, 
 and he had obtained barely nine million pieces. Other accounts 
 say he obtained forty million livres, i.e., twenty millions 
 without including merchandise. Every officer had 100,000 
 crowns, besides his general share of the spoil, before he 
 allowed his soldiers to enter a house. Charlevoix confesses, 
 
364 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 that the honour the French won by their bravery they lost 
 by their cruelty. The capitulation was broken, churches 
 were profaned, church plate stolen, images broken, virgins 
 violated on the very altars, the monks tortured, and the 
 sick in the hospitals left to starve, or resort to the horrors 
 of cannibalism. Notwithstanding the inhabitants brought 
 in their money, some to the amount of 400,000 dollars, a 
 general search was made throughout the town, and much 
 gold found. A few of tlie inhabitants hired guards of 
 adventurers, but, in general, these men also turned plun- 
 derers, the officers only attempting to keep up appearances. 
 
 Anxious to get the adventurers out of the way wliile he 
 collected the spoil, De Poincy spread a report that 10,000 
 Indians were approaching, and sent the Flibustiers to driv« 
 them back. After plundering the country for four league 
 they returned with fifty prisoners, a drove of cattle, and 
 4,000 crowns. During the siege, they had been employed 
 in skirmishing, cutting off sui^plies, and foraging, and were 
 accustomed to laugh at the sailors who dragged the guns, 
 and called them " white negroes." 
 
 Disease breaking out, and carrying off 800 men in six 
 weeks, De Poincy embarked his plunder, and prepared to 
 sail. Eighty-six guns he carried off, and destroyed St. 
 Lazarus and Bocca Chica. The Buccaneers, calling out 
 loudly for their share, received only 40,000 crowns. The men 
 instantly shouted — " Brothers, we do wrong to take any- 
 thing of this dos:, our share is left at Carthaijena." This 
 proposal was received with a ferocious gaiety, and they all 
 swore never to return to St. Domingo. They derided 
 M. du Casse's promises to get them justice from the French 
 king, and fired, at those vessels that would not follow them. 
 The people of Carthagena shuddered to see them return. 
 Shutting up all the men in the cathedral, they promised to 
 depart on receiving five millions as a ransom. In one day 
 a million crowns were brought, but, this being still inade- 
 quate, they broke open the very tombs, and goaded the 
 citizens to the torture, firing off guns, and pretending to 
 ])ut men to death in the neighbouring rooms. Two men, 
 guilty of cruelty, their leaders hanged. Each man received 
 about 1,000 crowns ; and having spent four days in collecting 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 3G5 
 
 and dividing the gold and silver, they appointed the Isle 
 a la Vache as a rendezvous to divide the slaves and mer- 
 chandise. 
 
 The retribution was at hand. They had not sailed thirty 
 leagues when they fell in with the combined English and 
 Dutch fleets. Le Christ, with 250 men, and more than a 
 million crowns, was taken by the Dutch ; Le Cerf Volant by 
 the English ; a third was driven on shore and burnt near 
 St. Domingo ; a fourth, running on land near Carthagena, 
 was taken, and her crew employed in rebuilding the fortifi- 
 cations they had destroyed. Of De Poincy's plunder, 
 120,000 livres were carried off by an English foray on 
 Petit Guaves. Admiral Neville, who failed to overtake the 
 French deep-laden and weakly manned fleet, died of a 
 broken heart at Virginia. 
 
 Du Casse was rewarded with the cross of St. Louis for his 
 services, and orders arrived from France to distribute 
 1,400,000 of De Poincy's spoil among the freebooters, very 
 little of which, however, reached them. A curse, says 
 Charlevoix, rested on the whole enterprise. 
 
 In 1698, a French fleet, under the command of Count 
 d'Estrees, on its way to attack the Dutch island of Curacoa, 
 was lost on the Aves Islands, a small cluster of rocks 
 surrounded by breakers. Attracted by the distress-guns 
 fired by the first ship that ran aground, its companions, 
 believing that it had been attacked by the enemy, hurried 
 pell-mell to its assistance, and, blinded by the fog, ran one 
 by one on destruction. Eighteen of them were lost. Of this 
 disaster, Damj)ier, who visited the island about a year after- 
 wards, gives a very interesting account. The Buccaneer 
 part of the crew (for the Buccaneers took an active part in 
 these wars), quite accustomed to such chances, scrambled to 
 shore, and proceeded to save all they could from the wreck; 
 but a few of them, breaking into the stores of a stranded 
 vessel, floated with her out to sea, drinking and cursing 
 on the poop, and holding up their flasks, shouting and 
 laughing to the drowning men around them. Every aoul of 
 theai perished. 
 
 Several Fli bustier vessels were lost at the same time, 
 about 800 Buccaneers having joined the expedition at 
 
366 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 Tortnga. About 300 of these perished with the wrecks. 
 Dampier describes the islands as strewn with shreds of sail, 
 broken spars, masts, and rigging. For some years, in conse- 
 quence, the Aves became the resort of Buccaneer captains, who 
 careened and refitted here, employing their crews in diving 
 for plate, and in attempts to recover guns and anchors. 
 
 To console themselves for this failure, M. de Poincy led 
 800 Buccaneers to attack Santiago, first touching at Tortuga 
 for reinforcements. They landed unseen, taking advantage 
 of a bright moonlight night. The vanguard wound their 
 way round the base of a mountain that barred their approach 
 to the town, and, instead of advancing, worked round till 
 they met their rearguard, whom they mistook for the enemy, 
 and furiously attacked. They discovered their mistake at 
 last by their mutual cries of " Tue, tue." But it was now 
 late ; all hopes of surprise were over ; the Spaniards, 
 alarmed, put themselves on their defence, and at daybreak 
 drove back the freebooters to their ships with an irresistible 
 force of 4,000 men. Another party, more successful, plun- 
 dered Port au Prince, St. Thomas's, and Truxillo on the 
 mainland. 
 
 Grammont, during this time, had been left behind on 
 the Aves Islands, to collect all that was valuable from 
 the wrecks, and to careen the surviving vessels. Having 
 completed this, and finding himself short of provisions, and 
 the season being favourable for an excursion to the Gulf of 
 Venezuela, Grammont decided upon a visit to Maracaibo. 
 Arriving at the fort of the bar, mounted with twelve guns 
 and garrisoned by seventy men, he commenced an attack. 
 Tlie French had opened a trench, had already pushed it 
 within cannon shot, and were preparing the ladders to scale, 
 when the governor surrendered on condition of obtaining 
 the honours of war. Passing on to the town, Grammont 
 found it abandoned. Gibraltar also made little resistance. 
 From the lake he carried off three vessels, and also took 
 a prize of value, cannonading it with his guns, and at the 
 same time boarding it with a swarm of canoes. Being 
 now master of the whole lake, he visited all the places 
 where his prisoners told him he was likely to find gold 
 hidden, defeating the Spaniards wherever he met them. 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 367 
 
 Then, collecting all his scattered pliinderers, Grammont 
 prepared to attack Torilla, making a detour of forty-five 
 leagues in order to take it by surprise. Arriving near the 
 town, the Buccaneers came to the banks of a rapid river, 
 with only one ford, which they had the good fortune to find, 
 crossing over under shelter of a hot fire that the rearguard 
 kept up upon tlie Spaniards, who lay intrenched upon the 
 opposite bank. The moment they had crossed, their enemies 
 fled, and Torilla was their own. The prize, however, proved 
 not worth tlie winning, for the town was abandoned, and 
 the treasure hid. The Buccaneer rule, indeed, was that no 
 place was worth sacking which was taken without a blow, 
 as the Spaniards always fought best when they had most to 
 fight for. The Buccaneers departed with little booty ; 
 their 700 men having taken three towns, and conquered a 
 province, with the loss of only seventy men, and these 
 chiefly by illness. 
 
 In 1680 Grammont made another expedition to the coast 
 of Cumana. Having collected twenty-five piraguas, he 
 ascertained from some prisoners that there were three 
 armed vessels anchored under the forts of Gonaire, and 
 these he determined to cut out. He embarked all his 180 
 men in a sino-le bark, and left orders for the others to sail 
 up to Gonaire at a given signal. He landed with a few 
 men at night, and surprised four watchmen, who, however, 
 had still time left to fire, and alarm the town, before they 
 could be overpowered. Gonaire leaped instantly from its 
 sleep. The bells rang backward ; the guns fired ; the 
 musketeers hurried to the market-place ; doors were barred ; 
 and the women and children fled in tears to the altars. 
 Grammont, doubling his speed, arrived at the east gate, his 
 drums beating, trumpets sounding, and colours flying. 
 Although it was defended by twelve guns, he took it with 
 the hot fierceness of a Cfesar, pushed on at once to a fort 
 about a hundred yards distant, and commenced a vigorous 
 attack. At the head of his crew he entered the embrasures, 
 killing twenty-six out of its thirty-eight defenders. Planting 
 his colours on the wall, the men shouted " Vive le Jioi/" 
 with such unanimity and fierceness that at the very sound 
 the whole garrison of the neighbouring fort at once surren- 
 
3G8 THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 
 
 dered, and forty-two men instantly laid down their arms. 
 These successes were obtained with only forty- seven men — 
 a mere handful being able to keep up in the rapid and head- 
 long charge. Grammont, rallying his men, then placed 
 garrisons in the forts, razed the embrasures, spiked the 
 cannon, and then proceeded to intrench himself in a strong 
 position. The next day he entered tlie town, making 
 several vigorous sorties on the enemy, who now began to 
 gather in round him on all sides. Being informed that 
 2,000 men were advancing to meet him from Caragua, 
 he gave orders for embarkation, the Buccaneers seldom 
 fighting when no booty was to be obtained. Remaining 
 last upon the shore to cover the retreat of his men, with- 
 standing for nearly twenty-four hours the onslaught of 300 
 Spaniards, he was at last dangerously wounded in the 
 throat, and one of his officers had his shoulder broken. 
 
 Gram.mont took with him the governor of Gonaire, and 
 150 other prisoners, the usual resource of the Buccaneers 
 when a tov/n either furnished no booty, or gave them no 
 time to collect it. This daring enterprise was achieved with 
 the loss of only eight men. On his way home to be cured 
 of a wound which his vexation and impatience had rendered 
 dangerous, he was wrecked near Petit Guaves, and his own 
 vessel and his prize both lost. 
 
 About the next adventure of this chivalrous corsair some 
 doubts are thrown, although it is related boastingly by 
 Charlevoix, who says : " He then took an English vessel o 
 thirty guns, which had defied the governor of Tortuga, and 
 bf iten off a Buccaneer bark. This ship, armed with fifty 
 gi ns, and navigated by a crew of 300 men, Grammont 
 is reported to have boarded, killing every Englishman- on. 
 b( ard but the captain, whom he reserved to carry in triumph 
 to shore." 
 
 Grammont was born in Paris of a good family. His 
 mother being left a widow, her daughter was courted by an 
 officer, who treated Grammont, then a student, as a rude boy. 
 They fought, and the lover received three mortal stabs. 
 Obtaining the dying man's pardon, the young duellist entered 
 ■'' i marines, eventually commanded a privateer frigate, and 
 k, near Martinique, a Dutch Jlute, containing 400,000 
 
THE LAST OF THE BUCCANEERS. 369 
 
 livres. Having spent all this in gaiety at St. Domingo, the 
 young captain turned Buccaneer. Charlevoix notices his 
 manners and address, which were as fascinating as those 
 of De Graff. The writer describes " Sa bonne grace, ses 
 manieres hounetes, et je ne scais quoi d'aimable qui gagnoit 
 les coeurs." 
 
 We have described already his surprise of Maracaibo, and 
 his expedition to Yera Cruz. His expedition to Carapeachy 
 was against the wish of the French governor of St, Domingo. 
 On their way home he quarrelled and separated from De 
 Graff. " With all the talent that can raise man to com- 
 mand, he had," says Charlevoix, " all the vices of a corsair. 
 He drank hard, and abandoned himself to debauchery, with 
 a total disregard of religion." 
 
 In 1686 Grammont, at the recommendation of M. de 
 Cussy, governor of St. Domingo, was made Lieutenant de 
 } Eoi, Cussy intending to make him Protector of the south 
 coast. But Grammont, elated at his new title, and anxious 
 to show that he deserved it, armed a ship, manned by 180 
 Buccaneers, to make a last cruise against the Spaniards, and 
 was heard of no more. 
 
 2 B 
 
370 FALL OF THE FLOATING EMPIRE. 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 FALL OF THE FLOATING EMPIRE. 
 
 Peace of Eyswick — Attempts to settle — Buccaneers turn pirates — Last 
 expedition to the Darien mines, 1702. 
 
 The English were the first to attempt to put down Buc- 
 caneering, bat the last to succeed in doing it. When the 
 freebooters had served their purpose, the English govern- 
 ment would have thrown them by, as a soldier would his 
 broken sword. In 1655, after Morgan returned from 
 Panama, Lord John Yaughan, the new governor of Jamaica, 
 had strict orders to enforce the treaty concluded with Spain 
 in the previous year, but to proclaim pardon, indemnity, and 
 grants of land to all Buccaneers who would turn planters. 
 By royal proclamation, all cruising against Spain was for- 
 bidden under severe penalties. To avoid this irksome im- 
 prisonment to a plot of sugar canes, many of the English 
 freebooters joined their brethren at Tortuga, or turned cow- 
 killers and logwood-cutters in the Bay of Campeachy. In 
 the next year the war broke out between England and 
 Holland, and many fitted out privateers. 
 
 The unwise restrictions of Prance, and home interference 
 with colonial administration, once more fostered "the jDeople 
 of the coast." Annoying prohibitions and vexatious mono- 
 polies drove the i^lanters to sea. 
 
 In 1G90 a royal proclamation granted pardon to all 
 English Buccaneers who should surrender themselves. The 
 French Flibustiers continued to flourish during the war 
 which followed the accession of "William III. to the throne 
 of England, 
 
 In 1G98 the knell of the brotherhood was finally rung by 
 the joy bells that announced the })eace of By s wick. The 
 English and Dutch made great complaints to the governor 
 
PALL OF THE FLOATING EMPIRE. 371 
 
 of St. Domingo of tlie French Flibustiers, and demanded 
 compensation, which was granted. A colony was established 
 at the Isle k la Vaclie in hopes of carrying on a trade with 
 New Spain : by orders of the French king the church plate 
 brought from Carthagena was returned, and Buccaneering 
 prohibited. 
 
 The government advised that force should be resorted to 
 to induce those Flibustiers to turn planters who were not 
 willing to avail themselves of the amnesty. Those who had 
 settled in Jamaica, seeing in 1702 a new war likely to break 
 out between England and France, and determined not to 
 take arms against their own country, passed over to the 
 mainland, and settled in Bocca Toro. As soon as the war 
 broke out, however, a great many French Buccaneers, per- 
 secuted at St. Domingo, joined the English under Benbow. 
 In 1704, M. Auger, a new governor, coming to St. Domingo, 
 and seeing the false step his predecessors had taken, recalled 
 the Flibustiers, and made peace with the Bocca Toro Indians. 
 M. d'Herville led 1,500 of them to the Havannah, and died 
 there. He held the Buccaneers of Hispaniola far beyond 
 those of Martinique, and, had he lived, would have united 
 them all under his flag. 
 
 In 1707 le Comte de Choiseul Beaupre, the new governor, 
 attempted to revive Buccaneering as the only hope of saving 
 French commerce in the Indies, the English privateers carry- 
 ing off every merchant ship that approached the shores of 
 St. Domingo. The French government approved of all his 
 plans, and gave him unlimited power to carry them out. 
 He issued an amnesty to all Flibustiers who had settled 
 among the Indians of Sambres and Bocca Toro. The greater 
 part of those who had joined the English returned ; and 
 those who had joined in the last expedition against Cartha- 
 gena received their pay. The Brothers were restored to all 
 their ancient privileges. The count intended to guard the 
 coast with frigates while his smaller vessels harassed Jamaica, 
 but in the midst of these immature projects he was killed, 
 in 1710, in a sea engagement. 
 
 The Buccaneers, gathered from every part, now turned 
 planters. Thus, says Charlevoix, ended the " ' Flibuste de 
 Saint Domingue,' which only required discipline and leaders 
 
 2 B 2 
 
372 FALL OF THE FLOATING EMPIRE. 
 
 of ambition to have conquered both North and SoutU 
 America. Undisciplined and tumultuous as it has been, 
 without order, plan, forethought, or subordination, it has 
 still been the astonishment of the whole world, and has done 
 deeds which posterity will not believe." 
 
 Attachment to old habits and difficulty in finding employ- 
 ment made many turn pirates. Proscribed now by all 
 nations, with no excuse for plunder, and with no safe place 
 of refuge, they sailed over the world, enemies to all they 
 met. Many frequented the Guinea coast, others cruised off 
 the coast of India; and New Providence Island, one of the 
 Bahama group, was now the only sanctuary. Here the 
 memorable Blackbeard, Martel, and his associates, were at 
 last hunted down, about 1717. 
 
 The last achievement related of the Flibustiers is in 1702, 
 when a party of Englishmen having a commission from the 
 governor of Jamaica, landed on the Isthmus of Darien, near 
 the Samballas isles, and were joined by some old Flilmstiers 
 who had settled there, and 300 friendly Indians. With these 
 allies they marched to the mines, drove out the Spaniards, 
 according to Dampier's plan, and took seventy negroes. 
 They kept these slaves at work twenty-one days, but obtained, 
 after all, only eighty pounds' weight of gold. 
 
 I 
 
THE PIRATES OF NEW PIlOVlDE^XE, ETC. 373 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE AND THE KINGS OF 
 
 MADAGASCAR. 
 
 Laws and dress — Government — Blackbeard — His enormities — Captain 
 Avery and the Great Mogul — Davis — Lowther — Low — Roberts — 
 Major Bonnet — Captain Gow — The Guinea coast. 
 
 The last refugee Buccaneers turned pirates, and settled in 
 the island of New Providence. 
 
 The African coast, and not the main, was now their 
 cruising ground, and Madagascar was their new Tortuga. 
 They no longer warred merely against the Spaniard — their 
 hands were raised against the world. Their cruelty was no 
 longer the cruelty of retaliation, but arose from a thirst of 
 blood, never to be slaked, and still unquenchable. There 
 was no longer honour among the bands, and they grew as 
 covv^ardly as they were ferocious. Flocks of trading vessels 
 were scuttled, but no town attacked. We waste time even 
 to detail their guilt, and only append the terrible catalogue 
 as Si, finis to our narrative. 
 
 The following articles, signed by Roberts's crew, may 
 furnish a fair example of the ordinary rules drawn up by 
 pirate captains : — : 
 
 " Every man has a vote in affairs of moment, and an 
 equal title to the fresh provisions or strong liquors at any 
 time seized, which he may use at pleasure, unless a scarcity 
 make it necessarj'- for the good of all to vote a retrenchment. 
 
 " Every man shall be called fairly in turn by list on board 
 the prizes, and, over and above their proper share, shall be 
 allowed a change of clothes. Any man who defrauds the 
 company to the value of a dollar in plate, jewels, or money, 
 shall be marooned. If the robbery is by a messmate, the 
 
374 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 thief shall have his ears and nose slit, and be set on shore at 
 the place the ship touches at. 
 
 "ISlo man shall play afc cards or dice for money. 
 
 " The lights and candles to be put out at eight o'clock at 
 night. If any of the crew, after that hour, still remain 
 inclined for drinking, they are to do it on the open deck 
 
 " Every man shall keep his piece, pistols, and cutlass 
 clean, and fit for service. 
 
 " No woman to be allowed on board. Any man who 
 seduces a woman, and brings her to sea disguised, shall 
 suffer death. 
 
 " Any one deserting the ship, or leaving his quarters 
 during an engagement, shall be either marooned or put to 
 death. 
 
 " Ko man shall strike another on board, but the disputants 
 shall settle their quarrel on shore with sword or pistol. 
 
 " No man shall talk of breaking up the company till we 
 get each £100. Every man losing a limb, or becoming a 
 cripple in the service, shall have 800 dollars, and for lesser 
 hurts proportional recompense. 
 
 ^'- The captain and quarter-master shall receive two shares 
 of every prize ; the master, boatswain, and gunner, on- 
 share and a half; and all other officers one and a quarter. 
 
 " The musicians to rest on Sundays, but on no other days 
 without special favour." 
 
 From another set of articles we find, that 
 
 " He that shall be found guilty of taking up any unlawi'ui 
 weapon on board a prize so as to strike a comrade, shall bo 
 tried by the captain and company, and receive due pun- 
 ishment. 
 
 " All men guilty of cowardice shall also be tried. 
 
 " If any gold, jewels, or silver, to the value of a piece of 
 eight, be found on board a prize, and the finder do not de- 
 liver it to the quarter-master within twenty-four hours, he 
 shall be put to his trial. 
 
 " Any one found guilty of defrauding another to the value 
 of a shilling, shall be tried. 
 
 " Quarter always to be given when called for. 
 
 " He that sees a sail first, to have the best pistols or small- 
 arms on board of her." 
 
EqTiestrian Performances. p. 375. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 375 
 
 One of the most cruel of their punishments was " sweat- 
 ing," an ingenuity probably invented by the London rakes 
 and "scourers" of Charles the Second's reign. They first 
 stuck up lighted candles circularly round the mizenmast, 
 between decks, and within this circle admitted the prisoners 
 one by one. Outside the candles stood the pirates armed 
 with penknives, tucks, forks, and compasses, and the musi- 
 cians playing a lively dance, they drove the prisoner round, 
 pricking him as he passed. This could seldom be borne 
 more than ten minutes, at the end of which time, the wretch, 
 maddened with fear and pain, generally fell senseless. 
 
 Their diversions were as strange as their cruelties. On 
 one occasion some pirates captured a ship laden with horses, 
 going from Rhode Island to St. Christopher's. The sailors 
 mounted these beasts, and rode them backwards and for- 
 wards, full gallop, along the decks, cursing and shouting till 
 the animals grew maddened. When two or three of these 
 rough riders were thrown, they leaped up and fell on the 
 crew with their sabres, declaring that they would kill 
 them for not bringing boots and spurs, without which no 
 man could ride. 
 
 In dress the pirates were fantastic and extravagant. 
 Their favourite ornament was a broad sash slung across the 
 breast and fastened on the shoulder and hip with coloured 
 ribbons. In this they slung three and four pairs of pistols, 
 for which, at the sales at the mast, they would often give 
 .£40 a pair. Gold-laced cocked hats were conspicuous 
 features of their costume. 
 
 For small offences, too insignificant for a jury, the quarter- 
 master was the arbitrator. If they disobeyed his command, 
 except in time of battle, when the caj)tain was supreme, were 
 quarrelsome or mutinous, misused prisoners, or plundered 
 when plundering should cease, or were negligent of their 
 arms, as the master he might cudgel or whip them. He 
 was, in fact, the manager of all duels, and the trustee of the 
 whole company, returning to the owners what he cjiose 
 (except gold and silver), and confiscating whatever he thought 
 advisable. The quarter-master was, in fact, their magistrate, 
 the captain their king. 
 
 The captain had always the great cabin to himself, and 
 
376 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 ■was often voted parcels of plate and china. Any sailor, 
 however, might use his punch-bowl, enter his room, swear 
 at him, and seize his food, without his daring to find fault, 
 or contest his rights. The captain was generally chosen 
 for being '* pistol proof," and in some cases had as privy 
 council a certain number of the elder sailors, who were called 
 "lords." 
 
 The captain's power was uncontrollable in time of chase or 
 battle : he might then strike, stab, or shoot anybody who 
 disobeyed his orders. The fate of the prisoner depended 
 much upon the captain, who was oftener inclined to mercy 
 than his crew. 
 
 Their flags were generally intended to strike terror. 
 Boberts s was a black silk flag, with a white skeleton upon 
 it, with an hourglass in one hand, and cross-bones in the 
 other, underneath a dart, and a heart dripping blood. The 
 pennon bore a man with a fl*aming sword in one hand, stand- 
 ing on two skulls, one inscribed A. B. H. (a Barbadian's 
 head), and the other, A. M. H. (a Martiniquian's head). 
 
 Edward Teach, alias Blackbeard, was born in Bristol, 
 and at a seaport town all daring youths turn sailors. He 
 soon became distinguished for daring and courage, but did 
 not obtain any command till 1716, when a Captain Benjamin 
 Hornigold gave him the command of a sloop, and became 
 his partner in piracy, till he surrendered. 
 
 In the spring of 1717, the pair sailed from their haunt in 
 New Providence towards the Spanish main, and taking by 
 the way a shallop from the Havannah, laden with flour, sup- 
 plied their own vessels. From a ship of Bermuda they 
 obtained wine, and from a craft of Madeira they got consi- 
 derable plunder. 
 
 Careening on the Virginian coast, they returned to the 
 West Indies, and capturing a large French Guinearaan, 
 bound for Martinique, Teach went aboard as captain, and 
 started for a cruise. Hornigold, returning to New Provi- 
 dence, surrendered to proclamation, and gave himself up to 
 Governor Bogers. 
 
 Blackbeard had in the mean time mounted his prize with 
 forty guns, and christened her the Queen Anne's Revenge. 
 Cruising oft' St. Vincent, he captured the Great Allan, and 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. ST 7 
 
 having plundered lier, and set the men on shore, fired the 
 ship, and let her drift to sea. 
 
 A few days after, Teach was attacked by the Scarborough 
 man-of-war, v/ho, finding him well manned, retired to Barba- 
 does, after a cannonade of some hours. On his way to the 
 mainland, Teach was joined by Major Bonnet, a gentleman 
 planter, turned pirate, who joined with him, commanding 
 a sloop of ten guns. Finding he knew nothing of naval 
 afiairs, Teach soon deposed him, and took him on board his 
 own ship, on pretext of relieving him from the fatigues and 
 cares of such a post, wishing him, as he said, to live easy and 
 do no duty. 
 
 While taking in water near the Bay of Honduras, they 
 surprised a sloop from Jamaica, which surrendered without 
 a blow, striking sail at the first terror of the black flag. 
 The men they took on board Teach's vessel, and manned it 
 for their own use. 
 
 At Honduras they found a ship and four sloops, some from 
 Jamaica, and some from Boston. The Americans deserted 
 one vessel, and escaped on shore, and the pirates burnt it in 
 revenge. The other vessel they also burnt, because some 
 pirate had been lately hanged at Boston. The three sloops 
 they allowed to depart. 
 
 Taking turtles at the Grand Caiman's islands, they sailed 
 to the Havannah, and from the Bahamas went to Carolina, 
 capturing a brigantine and two sloops. For six days they 
 lay oflf the bar of Charlestown, taking many vessels, and a 
 brigantine laden with negroes. The people of Carolina, who 
 had not long before been visited by the pirate Yane, were 
 dumb with terror. No vessel dared put out, and the trade 
 of the place stood still. To add to these misfortunes, a long 
 and expensive war with the natives, only just concluded, had 
 much impoverished the colony. 
 
 Teach detained all the ships and prisoners, and being in 
 want of medicines, sent a boat's crew of men ashore, with 
 one of the prisoners, to ask the governor to supply him 
 with the drugs. The pirates were insolent in their de- 
 mands; and, swearing horribly, vowed, if any violence was 
 oflfered to them, that their captain would murder all the pri- 
 soners, send their heads to the governor, and then fire the 
 
378 THE PIRATES OF NEW PEOVIDENCE 
 
 vessels and slip cables. These rude ambassadors swaggered 
 through the streets, insulting the inhabitants, who longed to 
 seize them, but dared not, for fear of endangering the town. 
 The governor did not deliberate long, for one of his brother 
 magistrates was in the murderers' hands, and at once sent 
 on board a chest, worth about £400, which the pirates 
 returned with in triumph. Blackbeard then released the 
 prisoners, having first taken about £1,500 out of the ships, 
 besides provisions. 
 
 From the bar of Charlestown the kingly villains sailed to 
 North Carolina, where Teach broke up the partnership, ob- 
 lecting to any division of money, j) referring all the risk and 
 all the profit. Running into an inlet to clean, he purposely 
 grounded his ship, and Hands, another captain, coming to 
 his assistance, ran ashore by his side. He then with forty 
 men took possession of the third vessel, and marooned seven- 
 teen other men upon a sandy island, about a league from 
 the main, where neither herb grew nor bird visited. Here 
 they would have perished, had not Major Bonnet taken them 
 off two days after. 
 
 Teach then surrendered himself, with twenty of his men, 
 to the Governor of North Carolina, and received certificates 
 and pardons from him, having soon crept into his favour. 
 Through the governor's permission, the Queen Annes Revenge, 
 though avowedly the property of English merchants, was 
 forfeited by an Admiralty Court, as a Spaniard, and declared 
 the property of Teach. Before settitig out again to sea, 
 Blackbeard married his fourteenth wife, twelve more being 
 still alive. The governor, who seems to have been half a 
 pirate, and wholly a rogue, performed the ceremony. 
 
 In June, 1718, he steered towards Bermudas, and meet- 
 ing several English vessels, plundered them of })rovisions. 
 He also captured two French vessels, one of which was 
 loaded with sugar and cocoa, and bound to Martinico. The 
 loaded vessel he brought home, and the governor, calling a 
 court, condemned it as a derelict, and divided the i)lunder 
 with Teach, receiving sixty hogsheads of sugar as his divi- 
 dend, and his secretary twenty. For fear the vessel might 
 still be claimed. Teach declared it was leaky, and burnt her 
 to the water's edge. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 379 
 
 He now spent three or four months in the river, lying at 
 anchor in the coves, or sailing from inlet to inlet, bartering 
 his plunder with any ship he met, giving presents to the 
 friendly, and ransacking those who resisted. His nights he 
 spent in revelries with the planters, to whom he made pre- 
 sents of rum and sugar, sometimes, when he grew moody, 
 laying them under contribution, and even bullying his con- 
 federate, the villanous governor. 
 
 The plundered sloops, finding no justice could be obtained 
 in Carolina, determined with great secrecy to send a deputa- 
 tion to the Governor of Virginia, and to solicit a man-of-war 
 to destroy the pirates. 
 
 The governor instantly complied with their request. The 
 next Sunday a proclamation was read in every church and 
 chapel in Virginia, and by the sheriffs at their country 
 houses. For Blackbeard's head £100 was offered, if brought 
 in within the year, for his lieutenant's <£20, for inferior offi- 
 cers £10, and for the common sailors <£10. The Pearl and 
 Lime, men-of-war, lying in St. James's river, manned a 
 couple of small sloops, supplied by the governor. They had 
 no guns mounted, but were well supplied with small arms 
 and ammunition. The command was given to Lieutenant 
 Eobert Maynard, of the Pearl, a man of courage and re- 
 solution. 
 
 On the 7th of November the Lieutenant sailed from Pic- 
 quetan, and on the evening of the 21st reached the mouth of 
 the Ollereco inlet, and sighted the pirates. Great secrecy 
 was observed : all boats and vessels met going up the river 
 were stopped, to prevent Black beard knowing of their ap- 
 proach. But the governor contrived to put him on his 
 guard, and sent back four of his men whom he found 
 lounging about the town. 
 
 Blackbeard, frequently alarmed by such reports, gave no 
 credit to the messenger till he saw the sloops. He instantly 
 cleared his decks, having only twenty-five of his forty men 
 on board. Having prepared for battle with all the coolness 
 of an old desperado, he spent the night in drinking with the 
 master of a trading sloop, who seemed to be in his pay. 
 
 Maynard, finding the place shoal and the channel intri- 
 cate, dropped anchor, knowing there was no reaching the 
 
380 THE PIRATES OP NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 pirate that night. The next morning early he weighed, 
 sent his boat ahead to sound, and, coming within gunshot of 
 Teach, received his fire. The lieutenant then, boldly hoist- 
 ing the king's colours, made at him with all speed of sail 
 and oar, part of his men keeping up a discharge of small 
 arms. Teach then cut cable and made a runningr ficrht, dis- 
 charging his big guns. In a little time the pirate ran 
 aground, and the royal vessel drawing more water anchored 
 within half a gunshot. The lieutenant then threw his bal- 
 last overboard, staved all his water, and then weighed and 
 stood in for the enemy. 
 
 Blackbeard, loudly cursing, hailed him : " D you 
 
 villains, who are you t From whence come you 1 " The 
 lieutenant replied, " You see by our colours we are no 
 pirates." Teach bade him send a boat on board that he 
 might know who he was. Maynard answered that he could 
 not spare his boat, but would soon board with his sloop. 
 Whereupon Blackbeard, drinking to him, cried, " Devil 
 seize my soul if I give you quarter or take any." Maynard 
 at once replied, " He should neither give nor take quarter." 
 
 B}'- this Blackbeard's sloop floated, and the royal boats 
 were fast approaching. 
 
 The sloops being scarcely a foot high in the waist, the 
 men were exposed as they toiled at the sweeps. Hitherto 
 few on either side had fallen. Suddenly Blackbeard poured 
 in a broadside of grape, and killed twenty men on board one 
 ship and nine on board the other ; his vessel then fell 
 broadside to the shore to keep its one side protected, and 
 the disabled sloop fell astern. The Virginia men still kept 
 to their oars, however exposed, because otherwise, there 
 being no wind, the pirate would certainly have escaped. 
 
 Maynard, finding his own sloop had way, and would soon 
 be on board, ordered his men all down below, for fear of 
 another broadside, which would have been his total destruc- 
 tion. He himself was the only man that kept the deck, 
 even the man at the helm lying down snug ; the men in the 
 hold were ordered to get their pistols and cutlasses ready for 
 close fighting, and to come up the companion at a moment's 
 signal. Two ladders were placed in the hatchway ready for 
 the word. As they boarded, Teach's men threw in grenades 
 
The Death of Blackbeard. p. 331. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 38l 
 
 made of case-bottles, filled with powder, shot, and sings, 
 and fired with a quick match. Blackbeard, seeing no one 
 on board, cried out, " They are all knocked on the head ex- 
 cept three or four, and therefore I will jump on board and 
 cut to pieces those that are still alive." 
 
 Under smoke of one of the fire- pots he leaped over the 
 sloop's bows, followed by fourteen men. For a moment he 
 was not heard, during the explosion, nor seen for the smoke. 
 Directly the air cleared Maynard gave the signal, and his 
 men, rising in an instant, attacked the pirates with a rush 
 and a cheer. 
 
 Blackbeard and the lieutenant fired the first pistols at each 
 other, and then engaged with sabres till the lieutenant's 
 broke. Stepping back to cock his pistol, Blackbeard was in 
 the act of cutting him down, when one of Mayuard's men 
 gave the pirate a terrible gash in the throat, and the lieu- 
 tenant escaped with a small cut over his fingers. 
 
 They were now hotly engaged, Blackbeard and his fourteen 
 men — the lieutenant and his twelve. The sea grew red 
 round the vessel. The ball from Maynard's first pistol shot 
 Blackbeard in the body, but he stood his ground, and fought 
 with fury till he received twenty cuts and five more shots. 
 Having already fired several pistols (for he wore many in 
 his sash), he fell dead as he was cocking another. Eight of 
 his fourteen companions having now fallen, the rest, much 
 wounded, leaped overboard and called for quarter, which 
 was granted till the gibbet could be got ready. 
 
 The other vessel, now coming up, attacked the rest of the 
 pirates, and compelled them to surrender. So ended a man 
 that in a good cause had proved a Leonidas. 
 
 With great guns the lieutenant might have destroyed him 
 with less loss but no large vessel would have got up the 
 river, so shallow that, small as it was, the sloop grounded a 
 hundred times. The very broadside, although destructive, 
 saved the lives of the survivors, for Blackbeard, expecting to 
 be boarded, had placed a daring fellow, a negro named Ctesar, 
 in the powder room, with orders to blow it up at a given 
 signal. It was with great difiiculty that two prisoners in 
 the hold dissuaded him from the deed when he heard of his 
 captain's death. 
 
382 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 The lieutenant, cutting off Blackbeard's head, hung it at 
 his boltsprit end, and sailed into Bath Town to get relief for 
 his wounded men. In rummaging the sloop, the connivance 
 of the governor was detected ; the secretary, falling sick 
 with fear, died in a few days, and the governor was com- 
 pelled to refund the hogsheads. 
 
 When the wounded men began to recover, the lieutenant 
 sailed back into James's river, with the black head still 
 hanging from the spar, and bringing fifteen prisoners, thir- 
 teen of whom were hanged. 
 
 Of the two survivors, one was an unlucky fellow captured 
 only the night before the engagement, who had received no 
 less than seventy wounds, but was cured of them all and re- 
 covered. The other was the master of the pirate sloop, who 
 had been shot by Blackbeard, and put on shore at Bath 
 Town. His wound he received in the following way : One 
 night, drinking in the cabin with the mate, a pilot, and 
 another sailor, Blackbeard, without any provocation, drew 
 out a small pair of pistols and cocked them under the table. 
 The sailor, perceiving this, said nothing, but got up and went 
 on deck. The pistols being ready, Blackbeard blew out the 
 candle, and, crossing his hands under the table, discharged 
 the pistols. The master fell shot through the knee, lamed 
 for life, the other bullet hit no one. Being asked the mean- 
 ing of this cruelty, Blackbeard answered, by swearing that 
 if he did not kill one of them now and then, they would 
 forget who he was. 
 
 This man was about to be executed, when a ship ar- 
 rived from England with a proclamation prolonging the 
 time of pardon to those who would surrender. He 
 pleaded this, was released, and ended his days as a beggar 
 in London. 
 
 It is a singular fact that many of Blackbeard's captors 
 themselves eventually turned pirates. 
 
 Teach derived his nickname from his long black beard, 
 which he twisted with ribbons into small tails, and turned 
 about his ears. This beard was more terrible to America 
 than a comet, say his historians. In time of action he 
 wore a sling over his shoulders, with three brace of pistols 
 hanging to it in holsters like bandoliers. He then stuck 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 383 
 
 lighted matches under his hat, and this, with his natural 
 fierce and wild eyes, gave him the aspect of a demon. 
 
 His frolics were truly satanic, and only madness can 
 furnish us with any excuse for such crimes. Pre-eminent in 
 wickedness, he was constantly resorting to artifices to main- 
 tain that pre-eminence. One day at sea, when flushed with 
 drink, " Come," said he, " let us make a hell of our own, 
 and try how long we can bear it." He then, with two or 
 three others, went down into the hold, and, closing up all 
 the hatches, lighted some pots of brimstone, and continued 
 till the men, nearly suffocated, cried for air and pushed up 
 the hatches. Blackbeard triumphed in having held out 
 longest. 
 
 The night before he was killed, as he was drinking, one 
 of his men asked him, if anything should happen to him, it 
 his wife knew where he had buried his money. He 
 answered that nobody but himself and the devil knew 
 where it was, and the longest liver should have all. 
 
 These blasphemies had filled the crew with superstitious 
 fears, and perhaps unnerved their arms in the last struggle. 
 The survivors declared that, once upon a cruise, a man was 
 found on board more than the crew, sometimes below and 
 sometimes above. No one knew whence he came or who 
 he was, but believed him to be the devil, as he disappeared 
 shortly before their great ship was cast away. 
 
 In Blackbeard's journal were found many entries illus- 
 trating the fear and misery of a pirate's life. For instance — 
 
 " 3rd June, all rum out ; our company somewhat sober ; 
 rogues a plotting ; great talk of separation ; so I looked 
 sharp for a prize. 5th June, took one with a great deal of 
 
 liquor on board, so kept the company hot, d hot j then 
 
 all things went well again." 
 
 Some sugar, cocoa, indigo, and cotton were found on 
 board the pirate sloops, and some in a tent on the shore. 
 This, with the sloop, sold for £2,500. The whole w^as 
 divided amongst the crews of the Lime and Pearl, the 
 -brave captors getting no more than their dividend, and that 
 very tardily paid, as such things usually are by English 
 governments. 
 • Captain England began life as mate of a Jamaica sloop, 
 
384 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 and being taken by a pirate named Winter, before Provi- 
 dence was turned into a freebooter fortress, became master 
 of a piratical vessel. He soon became remarkable for his 
 courage and generosity. 
 
 When Providence was taken by the English, England 
 sailed to the African coast, a hot place, but not too hot for 
 him, like the shores of the main. He here took several 
 ships, among others the Cadogan, bound from Bristol to 
 Sierra Leone — Skinner, master. Some of England's crew 
 had formerly served in this ship, and, having proved mu- 
 tinous, had been mulcted of their wages and sent on board 
 a man-of-war, from whence deserting to a West Indian sloop, 
 they were taken by pirates, and eventually joined England 
 and started for a cruise. 
 
 As soon as Skinner struck to the black flag, he was 
 ordered on board the pirate. The first person he saw was 
 his old boatswain, who addressed him with a sneer of sup- 
 pressed hatred. "Ah, Captain Skinner," said he, " is that 
 you % the very man I wished to see. I am much in your 
 debt, and will pay you now in your own coin." 
 
 The brave seaman trembled, for he knew his fate, and 
 shuddered as an ox does when he smells the blood of a 
 slaughter-house. The boatswain, instantly shouting to his 
 companions, bound the captain fast to the windlass. They 
 then, amidst roars of cruel laughter, pelted him with glass 
 bottles till he was cut and gashed in a dreadful manner. 
 After this, they whipped him round the deck till they were 
 weary, in spite of his prayers and entreaties. At last, 
 vowing that he should have an easy death, as he had been a 
 good master to his men, they shot him through the head. 
 England then plundered the vessel and gave it to the 
 mate and the crew of murderers, and they sailed with it till 
 they reached death's door, and the port whose name is 
 terrible. 
 
 Taking soon after a ship called the Pearl, England fitted 
 her up for his own use, and re-christened her the Royal 
 James. With her they took several vessels of various 
 nations at the Azores and Cape de Verd Islands. 
 
 In 1719, the rovers returned to Africa, and, beginning at 
 the river Gambia, sailed all down the torrid coast as far as 
 
 i 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 385 
 
 C!ape Corso. In this trip tliey captured ten ships. Three 
 of these vessels they let go, and four they burnt. Two they 
 fitted up as pirates, and calling them the Queen Anne's 
 Revenge and the Flying King, many of the prisoners joined 
 their bands. 
 
 These two ships sailed to the West Indies, and, careening, 
 started for Brazil, taking several Portuguese vessels, but 
 were finally driven off by a Portuguese man-of-war. The 
 Revenge escaped, but soon after went down at sea ; the 
 Flying King ran ashore ; twelve of the seventy men were 
 killed, and the rest taken prisoners. Thirty-two English, 
 three Dutch, and two Frenclimen of these were at once 
 hanged. 
 
 But to return to England. In going down the coast, he 
 captured two more vessels, and detained one, releasing the 
 other. Two other ships, seeing them coming, got safe 
 under the guns of Cape Corso castle. The pirates, turning 
 their last prize into a fire-ship, resolved to destroy both 
 the fugitives ; but the castle firing hotly upon them, they 
 retreated, and at Whydah road found Captain La Bouche, 
 another pirate, had forestalled their market. 
 
 Here England fitted up a Bristol galley for his own use, 
 calling it the Victory. Committing many insolences on 
 shore, the negroes rose upon them, and compelled them to 
 retire to their ship, when they had fired one village, and 
 killed many of the natives. 
 
 They now put it to the vote wliat voyage to take, and, 
 deciding for the East Indies, arrived at Madagascar (1720), 
 and, taking in water and provisions, sailed for the coast of 
 Malabar, in the Mogul's territory. They took several Indian 
 vessels, and one Dutch, which they exchanged for one of 
 their own, and then returned to Madagascar. England now 
 sent some men on shore, with tents, powder, and shot, to 
 kill hogs and procure venison, but they searched in vain for 
 Avery's men. 
 
 Cleaning their ships, they then set sail for Panama, falling 
 in with two English ships, and one Dutch, all Indiamen. 
 Fourteen of La Bouche's crew boarded the Enijlishmen in 
 canoes, declaring that they belonged to the Indian Queen, 
 twenty-eight guns, which had been lost on that coast, and 
 
 2 c 
 
386 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 tliafc their captain, with forty men, was building a new- 
 vessel. The two English captains, Mackra and Kirby, were 
 about to sink and destroy these castaways, when England's 
 two vessels, of thirty-four and thirty-eight guns, stood in to 
 the bay. In spite of all promises of aid, the Ostender and 
 Kirby deserted Mackra, a breeze admitting of their escape, 
 while the pirates' black and bloody flags were still flaunting 
 the air. Mackra, undaunted by their desertion, fought 
 desperately for three hours, beating off one of the pirates, 
 striking her between wind and water, and shooting away 
 their oars when they j)^t out their sweeps and tried to 
 board. Mackra, being wounded in the head and most of 
 his officers killed, ran ashore, and England, following, ran 
 also aground, and failed in boarding. The engagement then 
 commenced with fresh vigour, and had Kirby come up, the 
 pirates would have been driven off". England, obtaining 
 three boats full of fresh men, was now in the ascendant, and 
 soon after Kirby stood out to sea, leaving his companion in 
 the very jaws of death. Mackra, seeing death inevitable, 
 lowered the boats and escaped to land, under cover of the 
 smoke, and the pirate, soon after boarding, cut three of their 
 wounded men in pieces. The survivors fled to Kingstown, 
 a place twenty-five miles distant. 
 
 England oftered 10,000 dollars for Mackra'shead ; but the 
 king and chief people being in his interest, and a report 
 being spread of his death, he remained safe for ten days, 
 then, obtaining a safe-conduct from the pirates, Mackra had 
 an interview with their chief England and some men 
 who had once sailed with Mackra protected him from those 
 who would have cut him to pieces with all who would not 
 turn rovers. Finding that they talked of burning their 
 own ships, and refitting the English prize, Mackra prevailed 
 on them to give him the shattered ship, the Fancy, of Dutch 
 bijild and 300 tons burden, and also to return 129 bales of 
 the Company's cloth. 
 
 Fitting up jury-masts, Mackra sailed for Bombay, with 
 forty-five sailors, two passengers, and twelve soldiers, 
 arriving after much suftering, and a passage of forty-three 
 days, frequently becalmed between Arabia and Malabar. In 
 the enj^ai^jement he had thirteen men killed and tweutv-four 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 387 
 
 wounded, and killed nearly a hundred of the pirates. If 
 Kirby had proved stanch, he might have destroyed them, 
 both, and secured £100,000 of booty. Opposed to him 
 were 300 whites and 80 blacks. We are happy to record 
 that tliis brave fellow was well rewarded, and honoured with 
 fresh command. 
 
 Nothing but despair could have driven Mackra, he said in 
 his published account, to throw himself upon the pirates' 
 mercy, still wounded and bleeding as they were. He did 
 "not either seem to know how friendly the Guiana people 
 were to the English ; so much so, that there was a proverb, 
 " A Guiana man and an Englishman are all one." 
 
 When he first came on board, England took him aside, 
 and told him that his interest was declining among his 
 crew ; that they were provoked at his opposition to their 
 cruelty ; and that he should not be able to protect him. He 
 advised him, therefore, to win over Captain Taylor, a man 
 who had become a favourite amongst them by his superiority 
 in wickedness. Mackra tried to soften this wretch with a 
 bowl of punch ; and the pirates were in a tumult whether 
 to kill him or no, when a sailor, stuck round with pistols, 
 came stumping upon a wooden leg up the quarter-deck, and 
 asked for Captain Mackra, swearing and vapouring, and 
 twirling a tremendous pair of whiskers. The captain, 
 expecting he was his executioner, called out his name. To 
 his delight, the bravo seized him by the hand, and, shaking 
 
 it violently, swore he was d d glad to see him. " Show 
 
 me the man," cries he, " that dares ofier to hurt Captain 
 Mackra, for I'll stand by him : he's an honest fellow, and I 
 know him well." 
 
 This put an end to the dispute. Taylor consented to 
 give the ship, and fell asleep on the deck. Mackra put off 
 instantly, by England's advice, lest the monster should 
 awake and change his mind. 
 
 This clemency soon led to England's deposition ; and on 
 a rumour that Mackra was fitting out a force against them, 
 he was marooned with three more on the island of Mauritius, 
 and, making a boat of drift-wood, escaped to Madagascar. 
 
 The pirate, detaining some of Mackra's men, set sail for 
 the Indies. Seeing two ships which they supposed to be 
 
 2c 2 
 
388 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 English, tliey commanded one of their prisoners to show 
 them the Company's private signals, or they would cut him 
 in pound pieces. On approaching, they proved to be 
 Moorish ships, from Muscat, loaded with horses. They 
 rifled the ships, and put the ofiicers to the torture, and left 
 them without sails and with the masts cut through. 
 
 The next day they fell in with the Bombay fleet of eight 
 vessels and 1000 men, despatched to attack Angria, a Malabar 
 chief. Afraid to show their fear, the pirates attacked the 
 fleet and destroyed two laggers, torturing the crew and 
 sending them adrift. The commodore of the fleet would 
 not fight the pirates without orders, which so enraged the 
 governor of Bombay, that he appointed Mackra the com- 
 mander, and enjoined him to pursue and engage England, 
 wherever he met him. 
 
 Some time after this, the same fleet, aided by the viceroy 
 of Goa, landed 1000 men at Calabar, Angria's stronghold, 
 but were compelled to retreat. 
 
 The next day, between Goa and Carwar, the pirates drove 
 two grabs under the guns of India-diva castle, and would 
 have taken the island but for the delay. At Carwar they 
 took a ship, and sent in a prisoner to demand water and pro- 
 visions, for which they oflfered to surrender their prize. 
 Failing in this, they sailed for the Laccadeva islands, and, 
 landing at Melinda, violated the women, destroyed the 
 cocoa- trees, and burnt the churches. At Tellechery they 
 heard of Mackra's expedition, and cursed his ingratitude. 
 Some wished to hang the dogs who were left ; but the 
 majority agreed to keep them alive to show their contempt 
 and revenge. 
 
 At Calicut they attempted to take a large Moorish ship 
 in the roads, but were prevented by some guns mounted on 
 the shore. One of Mackra's men they obliged to tend the 
 braces on the booms amid all the fire. When he refused, 
 they threatened to shoot him, or loaded him with blows. 
 His old tormentor, Captain Taylor, being gouty, could not 
 hold a cudgel. Some interceded for him ; but Taylor 
 declared if he was let go he would disclose all their plans. 
 
 They next arrived at Cochin, and, sending on shore a 
 fishing-boat with a letter, ran into the road, saluting the 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR, 389 
 
 fort. At night boats came off with provisions and liquor. The 
 governor sent a boat full of arrack and sixty bales of sugar, 
 and received in return a present of a table clock and a gold 
 •watch for his daughter. The boatmen they paid some 
 £7,000, and threw them handfuls of ducatoons to scramble 
 for. The fiscal brought out cloths and piece goods for sale ; 
 but the fort opened fire when they chased a vessel under its 
 shelter. They were soon after chased by five tall shijis, sup- 
 posed to be Mackra's, but escaped. Their Christmas for 
 three days they spent in a carouse, using the greater part of 
 their fresh provisions ; so that in their voyage to the Mauri- 
 tius they were reduced to a bottle of water and two pounds 
 of beef a day for ten men. 
 
 Fitting up at Mauritius, they sailed again in two months, 
 leaving this inscription on one of the walls : " Left this place 
 the 5th of April, to go to Madagascar for limes." At the 
 island of Mascarius they fell upon a great prize, finding the 
 Viceroy of Goa in a Portuguese ship of seventy guns, lying 
 dismasted on the shore. Of diamonds alone she had a cargo 
 worth four millions of dollars. The viceroy, coming calmly 
 on board, taking them for English, was captured with all his 
 officers, and ransomed for 2,000 dollars. To the leeward of 
 the island they found an Ostend vessel, which they sent to 
 Madagascar to prepare masts for the prize, and followed soon 
 after with a cargo of 2,000 Mozambique negroes. When they 
 reached Madagascar, they found that the Dutch crew had 
 made the pirates drunk, and sailed back to Mozambique, and 
 from thence to Goa with the governor. 
 
 They now divided their plunder, most of them receiving 
 forty-two small diamonds as their share. The madman who 
 obtained one large one, broke it in a mortar, swearing he had 
 got now a better share than any of them, for he had forty- 
 three sparks. 
 
 Some of the pirates now gave up their wild life and 
 settled in matelotage at Madagascar, on the tontine principle 
 of the longest liver inheriting all. 
 
 The two prizes were then burnt ; and Taylor sailed for 
 Cochm, to sell his diamonds to the Dutch, and thence to tho 
 Ked and China seas, to avoid the English men-of war. 
 
 The pirates,about this timOjhad eleven sail and l,500men in 
 
390 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 the Indian seas, but soon separated for the coast of Brazil and 
 Guinea, or to settle and fortify themselves at Madagascar, 
 Mauritius, Johanna, and Mohilla. A pirate named Condin, 
 in a ship called the Dragon, took a vessel from Mocha with 
 thirteen lacs of rupees (130,000 half-crowns), and burning 
 the ship, settled at Madagascar. The commander of the 
 English fleet, still in pursuit of these pirates, attempted to 
 prevail on England to serve him as spy and pilot, but in 
 vain. 
 
 Taylor, resolving to sail to the Indies, but hearing of the 
 four men-of-war, started for the African main, and put into 
 Delagoa, destroying a small fort of six guns. This fort be- 
 longed to the Dutch East India Company, but its 150 men 
 had been deserted, and left to pine away and starve ; sixteen 
 turned pirates, but the rest, being Dutch, were left to die. 
 They stayed in this den of fever three months, and having 
 careened, paid the Dutch with bales of muslins and chintzes. 
 
 Some now left, and returned to settle in Madagascar. 
 The rest sailed for the West Indies, and escaping the fangs of 
 two English men-of-war, surrendered themselves to the 
 governor of Porto Bello. Eight of them afterwards passed to 
 Jamaica as shipwrecked sailors, and shipped for England. 
 Captain Taylor entered the Spanish service, and commanded 
 the man-of-war that afterwards attacked the English logwood 
 cutters in the bay of Honduras, and caused the Spanish war. 
 
 Captain Avery was a more remarkable man than England, 
 and his ambition of a wider kind. He was a native of Ply- 
 mouth, and served as mate of a merchant vessel in several 
 voyages. Before the peace of Ryswick, the French of Mar- 
 tinique carried on a smuggling trade with the natives of 
 Peru, in spite of the Spanish guardacostas. The Spaniards, 
 finding their vessels too weak for the French, hired two 
 Bristol vessels of thirty guns and 220 men, which were to 
 sail first to Corunna or the Groine, and from thence to the 
 main. 
 
 Of one of these ships, the DuJce, Gibson was commander, 
 and Avery first mate. Avery, planning with the boldest 
 and most turbulent of the crew, plotted to run away with 
 the vessels, and turn pirates on the Indian coasts. 
 
 The captain, a man much addicted to drink, had gone to 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 391 
 
 bed, when sixteen conspiratox's from the other vessel, the 
 Duchess, came on board and joined the company. Their 
 watchword was "Is your drunken boatswain on board?" 
 Securing the hatches, they slipped their cable and put to sea, 
 without any disorder, although surrounded by vessels. A 
 Dutch frigate of forty guns refused to interrupt their pro- 
 gress, although offered a reward. 
 
 The captain, awoke by the motion of the ship and the 
 noise of working the tackle, rang his bell, and Avery and 
 two others entered the cabin. The captain, frightened, and 
 thinking the ship had broken from her anchors, asked, 
 " What was the matter 1 " Avery replied, coolly, " Nothing." 
 The captain answered, '• Something has happened to the 
 ship; does she drive? What weather is it?" — "No, no," 
 said Avery, " we're at sea with a fair wind and good 
 weather." — " At sea ?" said the captain — " how can that 
 be ? " Upon which, Avery told him to get up and put on 
 his clothes, and he could tell him a secret, for he (Avery) 
 was captain, and that was his cabin, and that he was on his 
 way to Madagascar to make his fortune and that of all the 
 brave fellows who were with him. 
 
 Avery then bade the captain not to be afraid, for if he 
 was sober and minded his business, he might in time make 
 him one of his lieutenants. At his request, however, he sent 
 him on shore with six others. 
 
 On reaching Madagascar they found two sloops lying at 
 anchor, which the men had run away with from the West 
 Indies, and who, taking his vessel for a frigate, fled into the 
 the woods and posted themselves in a strong place with 
 sentinels. Discovering their mistake, after some cautious 
 parleying, they united together and sailed for the Arabian 
 coast. Near the river Indus they espied a sail, and gave 
 chase, believing they had caught a Dutch East Indian ship, 
 but found it to be one of the Great Mogul's vessels carrying 
 his daughter with pilgrims and offerings to Mecca. The 
 sloo23s boarded her on either side, and she at once struck her 
 colours. The Indian ship was loaded with treasure, the 
 slaves and attendants richly clad and covered with jewels, 
 and all having vessels of gold and silver, and large sums of 
 money to defray their expenses in the land journey. 
 
392 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 Taking all the treasure, tliey let the princess go, and the 
 ship put back for India. The Mogul, on learning it, threat- 
 ened to drive the English from India with fire and sword, 
 but the company contrived to pacify him by promising to 
 deliver up to him the pirate ship and her crew. 
 
 The rumours of this adventure occasioned a report at 
 Wapping that Jack Avery had married the Great Mogul's 
 daughter, founded an empire, and purchased a fleet. 
 
 Avery, having secured his prize, determined to return to 
 Madagascar, and build a fort and magazine, where he could 
 leave a garrison to overawe the natives when he was absent 
 on a cruise. A fresh scheme suggesting itself, he resolved to 
 plunder his friends the sloops, and return to New Providence. 
 He began by sending a boat on board each of his allieS) 
 desiring their captains to come and attend a general council. 
 At this meeting he represented to them, that if they were 
 separated in a storm they must be taken, and the treasure 
 would then be lost to the rest. He therefore proposed, as 
 his ship was so strong that it could hold its own against any 
 vessel they could meet with on those seas, to put the trea- 
 sure on board in his care, in a chest sealed with three seals, 
 and that a rendezvous should be appointed in case of separa- 
 tion. The two captains at once agreed to the proposal as 
 manifestly for the common good. 
 
 That day and the next the weather was fair, and they all 
 kept company. In the mean time Avery persuaded his men 
 to abscond with the plunder, and escape to some country 
 where they might spend the rest of their days in splendour 
 and luxury. Taking advantage of a dark night, they steered 
 a new course, and by morning had lost sight of the outwitted 
 sloops. 
 
 Avery now resolved to steer for America, change his 
 name, purchase a settlement, and die in peace and charity 
 with all the world — a calm, rich Christian. They first visited 
 New Providence, afraid that they might be detected in New 
 England as the deserters from the Groine expedition. Avery, 
 pretending that his vessel was a privateer that had missed 
 her mark and was sold by the owners, disposed of her to good 
 advantage, and bought a sloop. 
 
 In this vessel he touched at several parts of the American. 
 
I 
 
 AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 393 
 
 coast, giving his men. their dividends, and allowing those 
 who chose to leave the ship. The greater part of the 
 diamonds he had concealed at the first plunder of the vessel. 
 Some of his men settled at Boston ; but he, afraid of selling 
 his diamonds in New England, betook himself, with a few 
 companions, to Ireland, putting into one of the northern 
 ports, and avoiding St. George's Channel. The sailors now 
 dispersed. Some went to Dublin, and some to Cork, to 
 obtain pardons from King William. 
 
 Avery still afraid of being apprehended as a pirate if he 
 offered his diamonds for sale, passed over to England, and 
 sent for some Bristol friends to Bideford. They agreed, for 
 a commission, to put the stones into the hands of Bristol 
 merchants, who, being men of wealth and credit, would not 
 be suspected. The merchants, after some negotiation, visited 
 him at Bideford, and, after many protestations of honour and 
 integrity, received several packets of diamonds and some 
 vessels of gold to dispose of. They gave him some money 
 for his present necessities and departed. Changing his name, 
 Avery continued to live at Bideford, visited by those rela- 
 tions to whom he confided his secret. The merchants, after 
 many letters and much importunity, sent him small supplies 
 of money, scarce sufficient to pay his debts and buy him 
 bread. Weary of this life, he ventured over privately to 
 Bristol, and, to his dismay, when he desired them to come 
 to an account with him, they threatened to proclaim him 
 as a pirate, for men who had been robbed by him 
 could be found on the 'Change, in the docks, or in any 
 street. 
 
 Afraid of their threats (for he never showed much per- 
 sonal courage), or detected by some sailor, he fled to Ireland, 
 and from thence again solicited the merchants, but in vain, 
 for a supply. In a short time reduced to beggary, he re- 
 solved to throw himself upon their throats, and obtain money 
 or revenge, and, working his passage on board a trading- 
 vessel to Plymouth, travelled on foot to Bideford. In a few 
 days he fell sick and died, and was buried at the expense of 
 the parish. 
 
 To return to the deserted crews of the sloops. They^. 
 believing the separation au accident, sailed at once to the 
 
394 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 rendezvous, and tlien discovering the cheat, and having no 
 more fresh provisions, resolved to establish themselves on. 
 land. They therefore made tents of their sails, and unloaded 
 their vessels. On shore they were joined by the crew of a 
 privateer, which had been despatched by the government of 
 Bermuda to take the French factory of Goree, in the river 
 Gambia, and had turned pirates by the way; Captain Tew, 
 their captain, capturing a large Arabian vessel in the strait 
 of Babelmandel, in spite of its crew and 300 soldiers. By 
 this prize his men gained .£3,000 apiece, and but for the 
 cowardice and mutiny of the quartermaster and some others 
 would have captured five other ships. This leading to a 
 quarrel, the band left off pirating, and retired to Madagascar. 
 Captain Tew sailed to Bhode Island, and obtained a pardon. 
 
 The pirates lived at Madagascar like little princes, each 
 with his harem, and with large retinues of slaves, whom, they 
 employed in fishing, hunting, and planting rice. The EngUsh 
 sided with some of the negro princes in their wars, and 
 struck such terror in their adversaries by their fire-arms, 
 that whole armies fled at the sight of two or three of the 
 white faces. At first, these piratical chieftains waged war 
 on each other, but at last, alarmed by a revolt of the 
 negroes, united in strict union. 
 
 Before this they tied their slaves to trees, and shot them 
 to death for the smallest offence; and at last the negroes, 
 uniting in a general conspiracy, resolved to murder them all 
 in one night. As they lived apart, this would undoubtedly 
 have been done, had not one of their black concubines run 
 nearly twenty miles in three hours to discover the plot. 
 They instantly, upon this alarm, flocked together in arms, 
 and compelled the advancing negroes to retire. This escape 
 made them very cautious. They therefore fomented war 
 between the native tribes, but henceforward remained 
 neutral. All murderers and outlaws they took under their 
 protection, and turned into body-guards, whilst the van- 
 quished they defended. By this diplomacy, worthy of the 
 most civilized people, they soon grew so powerful and nume- 
 rous as to be compelled to branch out in colonies, parting 
 into tribes, each with their wives and children. 
 
 They had now all the power and all the fears of despotism. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAE. 395 
 
 Their houses were citadels, and every hut a fortress. They 
 generally chose a place overgrown with wood, and situated 
 near a spring or pool. Kound this spot they raised a ram- 
 part, encircled by a fosse. This wall was straight and steep, 
 could not be ascended without scaling ladders, and had but 
 one entrance. The hut was so hidden that it might not be 
 seen at a distance. The passage that led to it was intricate, 
 labyrinthine, and narrow, so that only one person could walk 
 it abreast, and the path wound round and round, with so 
 many cross-paths, that any one uninitiated might search for 
 hours and not find the cabin. All along the sides of the 
 path, huge thorns peculiar to the island were stuck in the 
 ground, with points uppermost, like chevaux-de-frise, suffi- 
 cient to impale the assailant who ventured by night. 
 
 These men were found in this state by Captain Woods 
 Kogers, when he visited Madagascar in the Delicia (40 guns), 
 wishing to buy slaves, to sell to the Dutch of New Holland. 
 The men he met had been twenty-five years on the island, 
 and had not seen a ship for seven years. The petty kings 
 of the bush were covered with untanned skins, and were 
 savage wretches, overgrown with beard and hair. They 
 bartered slaves for cloths, knives, saws, powder, and ball. 
 They went aboard the Delicia and examined her with care, 
 and, talking familiarly with the men, invited them on shore, 
 intending to surprise the ship by night when there was a 
 slender watch kept, having plenty of boats and arms. They 
 wanted the men to surprise the captain, and clap those 
 who resisted under hatches. At a given signal, the negroes 
 were to row on board, and then all would start as pirates 
 and roam round the world. The captain, observing the 
 intimacy, would not suffer his men to even speak with the 
 islanders, choosing an officer to negotiate with them for slaves. 
 
 These pirate kings were all foremast men, and could read 
 no more than their chief secretaries could write. The chief 
 prince of this Newgate paradise had been a Thames water- 
 man, who had committed a murder on the river. 
 
 As even a few years since an old sailor at Minehead was 
 known as the " King of Madagascar," we suppose divine 
 right and hereditary succession still continue in that Eden 
 of gaol-birds. 
 
396 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 During the time of war the pirates diminished in number 
 and turned privateersmen, but increased at the peace of 
 Utrecht, when the disbanded privateersmen again turned 
 thieves for want of excitement and some more honest em- 
 ployment. 
 
 About 1716, Captain Martel appeared as commander of a 
 pirate sloop of eight guns and eighty men, that, cruising off 
 Jamaica, captured a galley and another small vessel, from 
 the former of which he plundered £1,000. In their way to 
 Cuba they took two more sloops, which they rummaged and 
 let go, and off Cavena hoisted the black flag, and boarded a 
 galley of twenty guns, called the John and Martha. Part 
 of the men they put ashore, and part enrolled in the crew. 
 
 The cargo of logwood and sugar they seized, and, taking 
 down one of the ship's decks, mounted her with twenty-two 
 guns and 100 men, and proceeded to cruise off the Leeward 
 Islands, capturing a sloop, a brigantine, and a Newfoundland 
 vessel of twenty guns. 
 
 They soon after plundered a Jamaica vessel, and two shij)s 
 from Barbadoes, detaining all the best men ; and from a 
 Guinea galley they stole some gold dust, elephants' teeth, 
 and forty slaves. 
 
 In 1717, they put into Santa Cruz to clean and refit with 
 a small piratical fleet of five vessels, warping up a little 
 creek, very shallow_, but guarded by rocks and sands. They 
 then erected a battery of four guns on the island, and another 
 of two guns near the road, while a sloop with eight guns 
 protected the mouth of the channel. 
 
 In November, 1716, the commander-in-chief of all the 
 Leeward Islands sent a sloop to Barbadoes for the Scar- 
 borough, of thirty guns and 140 men, to inform her of the 
 pirate. The captain had just buried twenty men, and having 
 forty sick could scarcely put out to sea. However, putting 
 on a bold heart, he left his sick behind, and beat up for 
 recruits at all the islands he passed. At Antigua he took 
 in twenty soldiers, at Nevis ten, and the same number at 
 St. Christopher's. 
 
 Unable to find the pirate, he was on the point of putting 
 back, when a boat from Santa Cruz informed him of a creek 
 where he had seen a vessel enter. The Scarborough instantly 
 
AND THE KINGS OP MADAGASCAK. 397 
 
 sailed to the spot, and discovered the pirates, but the pilot 
 refused to enter. The pirates all this while fired red-hot 
 shot from the shore; but at length the ship anchored along- 
 side the reef and cannonaded the vessels and batteries. The 
 sloop in the channel soon sank, and the larger vessel was 
 much punished, but the Scarborough, fearing the reef, stood 
 off and on for a day or two and blockaded the creek. The 
 pirates, endeavouring to warp out and slip away, ran aground, 
 and, seeing the Scarborough again standing in, lired the ship 
 and ran ashore, leaving twenty negroes to perish. Nineteen 
 escaped in a sloop, and the captain and twenty other negroes 
 fled to the woods, where it is supposed they perished, as they 
 were never heard of again. 
 
 Captain Charles Vane, our next Viking, is known as 
 one of the men who helped to steal the silver which the 
 Spaniards had fished up from their sunk galleons in the gulf 
 of Florida. 
 
 AVhen Captain Rogers with his two men-of-war conquered 
 Providence, and pardoned all the pirates who submitted, 
 Vane slipped his cable, fired a prize in the harbour, hoisted 
 the black flag, and, firing a broadside at one of the men-of- 
 war, sailed boldly away. Capturing a Barbadoes vessel, he 
 manned it with twenty- five hands, and, unloading an inter- 
 loper of its pieces of eight, careened at a key, and spent some 
 time in a revel. 
 
 In the next cruise they captured some Spanish and New 
 England vessels, and one laden with logwood. The crew of 
 the latter they compelled to throw the lading overboard, 
 intending to turn her into a pirate vessel, but in a fit of 
 caprice, suddenly let the men go and the ship with them. 
 The prize captain, offended at Vane's arrogance, left him, 
 and surrendered himself and ninety negroes to the governor 
 of Charlestowu, receiving a free pardon. Vane saluted the 
 runaway with a broadside as he left, and lay wait for some 
 time for him, but without success. Soon after this two 
 armed sloops started in pursuit of Vane, and, failing in the 
 capture, attacked and took another pirate vessel that was 
 clearing at Cape Fear. 
 
 In an inlet to the northward Vane met Blackbeard, and 
 saluted him, according to piratical etiquette, with a discharge 
 
398 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 of his shotted guns. Off Long Island he attacked a vessel 
 that proved to be a French man-of-war, and gave chase ; 
 "Vane was for flight, but many of the men, in sjDite of the 
 enemy's weight of metal and being twice their force, were 
 for boarding. A pirate captain in all cases but that of 
 fighting was controlled by a majority, but in this case had 
 an absolute power ; Vane refused to fight, and escaped. 
 
 The next day Yane was branded by vote as a coward and 
 deposed, and Kackham, his officer, elected captain. Vane 
 and the minority were turned adrift in a sloop. Putting 
 into the bay of Honduras, Vane captured another sloop, and 
 fitted it up as a pirate vessel, and soon after captCired two 
 more. Vane was soon after shipwrecked on an island near 
 Honduras, and most of his men drowned ; he himself being 
 supported by the turtle fishermen. While in this miserable 
 state, a Jamaica vessel arrived, commanded by a Buccaneer, 
 an old acquaintance, to whom he applied to helj) him. The 
 man refused, declaring Vane would intrigue with his men, 
 murder him, and run ofi" as a pirate. On Vane expressing 
 scruples about stealing a fisherman's boat from the beach, 
 the Buccaneer declared, that if he found him still there on 
 his return, he would take him to Jamaica and hang him. 
 
 Soon after his friend's departure a vessel put in for water, 
 and not knowing Vane to be a pirate, took him on board as 
 a sailor. On leaving the bay, the Buccaneer met them, and 
 came on board to dine. Passing to the cabin, he spied Vane 
 working in the hold, and asked the captain if he knew that 
 that was Vane, the notorious pirate. The other then de- 
 clared he would not have him, and the Buccaneer, sending 
 his mate on board with a loaded pistol, seized Vane and took 
 him to Jamaica, where he was soon after hanged. 
 
 Backham, after a cruise among the Caribbee islands, spent 
 a Christmas on shore, and when the liquor was all gone put 
 to sea. Their first prize was an ominous one, a ship laden 
 with Newgate convicts bound for the plantations, which was 
 soon after retaken by an English ship of war. Two others 
 of his prizes were also recaptured, while careening at the 
 Bahama islands, by Governor Bogers of New Providence. 
 
 They then sailed to the back of Cuba, where Backham 
 had a settlement, and there spent their plunder in debauch- 
 
AUD THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 399 
 
 erj'-. As they were fitting out for sea, they were attacked 
 by a Spanish guardacosta that had just captured an English 
 interloper. Rackham being protected by an island, the 
 Spaniards warped into the channel at dusk, and %vaited for 
 day. The pirates, roused to despair, boarded the Spanish 
 prize with pistols and cutlasses in the dead of the night, 
 and, threatening the crew wdth death if they spoke, captured 
 her almost ■without a blow, and slipping the cable, stood out 
 to spa. When day broke, the Spaniards opened a tremen- 
 dous fire upon the deserted pirate vessel, but soon discovered 
 their mistake. 
 
 1720 was spent in small cruises about Jamaica, their crew 
 being still short ; they then swept off" some fishing boats 
 from Harbour Island, and landing in Hispaniola, carried off 
 some wild cattle and several French hunters. 
 
 He then captured several more vessels, and was joined by 
 the crew of a sloop in Dry Harbour Bay. But their end 
 w^as at hand. The governor of Jamaica despatched a sloop 
 in pursuit of them, who found the pirates carousing with 
 a boat's crew from Point Xegril, and they were soon over- 
 powered. 
 
 A fortnight after, sentence of death was passed upon nine 
 of them at a court of admiralty held at St. Jago de la Yega. 
 Five of them were executed at Gallows Point in Port Royal, 
 and the four others the day after at Kingston. Rackham 
 and two more were afterwards taken down and hano:ed in 
 chains, one at Plumb Point, one at Busk-key, and the other 
 at Gun-key. By the terrible Draconic laws of Jamaica, the 
 nine boatmen from Port Negril were also hanged by their 
 side. After such justice, can we wonder at the crimes to 
 which despair too often drove the pu-ates 1 
 
 Among these " unfortunate brave," as Prior generously 
 calls them, two female pirates are not to be forgotten. The 
 first of these, Mary Reed, was the daughter of a sailor, whose 
 w*ife, having after his death given birth to an illegitimate 
 child, palmed it ofi" as a boy, in order to excite the com- 
 passion of her husband's mother. Being reduced in circum- 
 stances she put the girl out as a foot-boy, but she soon after 
 ran to sea, and entered on board a man-of-war. Quitting 
 the sea service, Mary Reed wintered over in Flanders, and 
 
400 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 obtained a cadetship in a regiment of foot, beliaving herself 
 in many actions with a great deal of bravery, and finally 
 entering a regiment of horse. Here she fell in love with a 
 comrade, a young Fleming, whom she eventually married, 
 and set uj) an eating-house at Breda, called " The Three 
 Horse-shoes." Her husband dying, and the peace ruining 
 her trade, Mary went into Holland, and joined a regiment 
 quartered on a frontier town, but, finding preferment slow, 
 she shipped herself on board a vessel bound for the West 
 Indies. 
 
 The vessel was taken by English pirates, and the amazon, 
 being the only English sailor, was detained. A pardon soon 
 afterwards being issued, the crew surrendered themselves, 
 but Mary Reed sailed for New Providence, and joined a 
 privateer squadron fitting out there against the SjDaniards. 
 The crews, who were pardoned pirates, soon rose against 
 their commander, and resumed their old trade, and Mary 
 Reed among them. Abhorring the life of a pirate, she still 
 was the first to board, and was as resolute as the bravest. 
 By chance Anne Bonny, another disguised woman, being 
 with the crew, discovered her sex, and soon after she fell in 
 love with a sailor whom they took prisoner, and was eventu- 
 ally married to him. Her husband hated his new profession 
 as much as herself, and they were about to quit it when they 
 were both taken prisoners. 
 
 On one occasion Mary Reed, to prevent her husband 
 fighting a duel, challenged his opponent to meet her on a 
 sand island near which their ship lay, with sword and pistol, 
 and killed him on the spot. 
 
 "-• the trial she declared that her life had been alwavs 
 pu and that she had never intended to remain a pirate. 
 "W n they were taken, only she and Anne Bonny kept the 
 dec , calling to those in the hole; to come up and fight like 
 me. and when they refused firing at them, killing one and 
 wounding several. In prison she said the fear of hanging 
 had never driven her from piracy, for, but for the dread of 
 that, there would be so many pirates that the trade would 
 not be worth following. 
 
 Great compassion was evinced for her in the court, but 
 she was still found guilty, though being near her pregnancy. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 401 
 
 lier exeGution was respited. She might have been pardoned, 
 but a violent fever coming on soon after her trial she died in 
 prison. 
 
 Her companion, Anne Bonny, was the illegitimate daugh- 
 ter of a Cork attorney. Her father, disguising the child as 
 a boy, pretended it was a relative's son, and bred it up for a 
 clerk. Becoming ruined he emigrated to Carolina, and 
 turning merchant bought a plantation. Upon her mother's 
 death Anne Bonny succeeded to the housekeeping. She 
 was of a fierce and ungovernable temper, and was reported 
 to have stabbed an English servant with a case-knife. 
 Marrying a penniless sailor, her father turned her out of 
 doors, and she and her husband fled to New Providence, 
 where he turned pirate. Here she was seduced by Captain 
 Backham, and ran with him to sea, dressed as a sailor, and 
 accompanied him in many voyages. The day that Back- 
 ham was executed she was admitted to see him by special 
 favour, but she only taunted him and said that she was sorry 
 to see him there, but that if he had fought like a man he 
 would not have been hanged like a dog. 
 
 Becoming pregnant in prison she was reprieved, and, we 
 believe, finally pardoned. 
 
 Captain Howel Davis, our next sea-king, was a native of 
 Milford, who, being taken prisoner by England, was ap- 
 pointed captain of the vessel of which he had been chief 
 mate. At first, he declared he would rather be shot than 
 turn pirate, but eventually accepted sealed orders from 
 England, to be opeued at a certain latitude. On opening 
 them, he found they directed him to make the ship his own, 
 and go and trade at Brazil. The crew, refusing to f y 
 Davis, steered for Barbadoes, and put him in prison, bu e 
 was soon discharged. Starting for New Providence, le 
 pirates' nest, he found tl . island had just surrenderet to 
 Captain Woods Bogers. He here joined the ships fitt ig 
 out for the Spanish trade, and at Martinique joined in a 
 conspiracy, secured the masters, and started on a cruise 
 against all the world. At a council of war, held over a 
 bowl of punch, Davis was unanimously elected commander, 
 and the articles he drew up were signed by all the crew. 
 
 They then sailed to Coxon's-hole, at the east end of Cuba, 
 
 2 D 
 
402 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 to clean, that being a narrow creek, where one ship could 
 defend itself against a hundred, and, having no carpenter, 
 they found some difficulty in careening. On the north side 
 of Hispaniola, they fell in with a French ship of twelve 
 guns, which they took, and sent twelve men on board to 
 plunder, being now very short of provisions. They had 
 scarcely leaped on deck before another French vessel of 
 twenty-four guns and sixty men hove in sight. This vessel 
 Davis proposed to attack, quite contrary to the wish of his 
 crew, who were afraid of her size. When Davis approached, 
 the Frenchman bade him strike, but giving them a broadside, 
 he said he should keep them in play till his consort arrived, 
 when they should have but hard quarters. At this moment 
 came up all the prisoners, having been dressed in white 
 shirts, and forced on deck, and a dirty tarpaulin was hoisted 
 for a black flag. The French captain, intimidated, instantly 
 struck, and was at once, with ten of his hands, put in irons. 
 
 The guns, small arms, and j)owder in the small ship were 
 then removed, and the prize crew sent on board the larger 
 vessel. Part of the prisoners were put in the smaller and 
 now defenceless bark. -At the end of two days, finding the 
 French prize a dull sailer, Davis restored her to the captain, 
 minus her ammunition and cargo. The Frenchman, vexed 
 at being so outwitted, would have destroyed himself had not 
 his men prevented him. 
 
 Davis then visited the Cape de Yerd islands, and left some 
 of his men as settlers among the Portuguese. They also 
 plundered many vessels at the Isle of May, obtained many 
 fresh hands, and fitted one of their prizes with twenty-six 
 guns, and called her the King James. At St. Jago the 
 governor accused them of being pirates, and Davis resolved 
 to resent tlie afiront by surprising the fort by night. Going 
 on shore well armed, they found the guard negligent, and 
 took the place, losing only three men. The fugitives barri- 
 caded themselves in the governor's house, into which the 
 pirates threw grenades. By daybreak the whole country 
 was alarmed, and poured down upon them, but they, un- 
 willing to stand a siege, dismounted the fort guns and 
 fought their way to their ships. 
 
 Mustering their hands, and finding themselves still seventy 
 
AlfD THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 403 
 
 strong, they proposed to follow Davis's advice, and attack 
 Gambia castle, where a great deal of money was always 
 kept ; for they had now such an opinion of Davis's courage 
 and prudence that they would have followed him anywhere. 
 
 Having come within sight of the place, he ordered all his 
 men below but such as were absolutely necessary for the 
 working of the vessel, that the people on shore might take 
 her for a trader. He then ran close under the fort, an- 
 chored, and ordering out the boat, manned her with six 
 plain-dressed men, himself as the master, and the rest attired 
 as merchants. The men were instructed what to say. 
 
 At the landing-place they were received by a file of 
 musqueteers, and led to the governor, who received them 
 civilly. They said they were from Liverpool, bound to the 
 river of Senegal, to trade for gums and ivory, but being 
 chased to Gambia by two French men-of-war, were willing 
 to trade for slaves ; their cargo, they said, being all iron and 
 plate. The governor, promising them slaves, asked for a 
 hamper of European liquor, and invited them to stay and 
 dine. Davis himself refused to stay, but left his two com- 
 panions. 
 
 On leaving he observed there was a sentry at the entrance, 
 and a guard-house near, with the arms of the soldiers on 
 duty thrown in one corner. Going on board he assured 
 his men of success, desired them to keep sober, and when 
 the castle flag struck to send twenty hands immediately 
 ashore. He then seized a sloop that lay near, for fear the 
 crew should discern their preparations. 
 
 He put two pairs of loaded pistols in his pocket, and 
 made all his crew do the same, bidding them get into con- 
 versation with the guard, and when he fired a pistol through 
 the governor's window, leap up and secure the piled arms. 
 
 While dinner was getting ready, the governor began to 
 brew a bowl of punch, when. Davis, at a whisper of the 
 coxswain who had been reconnoitring the house, suddenly 
 drew out a pistol, and, clapping it to the governor's breast, 
 bade him surrender the fort and all his riches, or he was a 
 dead man. The governor, taken by surprise, promised to be 
 passive. They then shut the door, and loaded the arms in 
 the hall, while Davis fired his x^iece through the window. 
 
 2d 2 
 
404 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 The men, hearing this signal, cocked their pistols, got be- 
 tween the soldiers and the arms, and carried them off, lock- 
 ing up the men in the guard-room, and guarding it without. 
 Then striking the flag, the rest of the crew tumbled on 
 shore, and the fort was their own without the loss of a man. 
 Davis at once harangued the soldiers, and persuaded many 
 to join him, and those who resisted he sent on board the 
 sloop, which he first unrigged. The rest of the day they 
 spent in salutes — ship to castle and castle to ship, and the 
 next day plundered. Much money had been lately sent 
 away, so they found only £2,000 in bar gold, and many rich 
 effects. They then dismounted the guns, and demolished 
 the fortifications. 
 
 A French pirate of 14 guns, and sixty- four men, half 
 French, half negroes, soon joined Davis, and they sailed down 
 the coast together. They soon after met another pirate 
 ship, of 24 guns, and spent several days in carousing. They 
 then attacked in compan}'- the fort of Sierra Leone, and the 
 garrison, after a stiff cannonade, surrendered the place and 
 fied. Here they spent seven weeks careening ; and, cap- 
 turing a galley, La Bouce, the second captain, cut her half 
 deck, and mounted her with 24 guns. They now sailed 
 together, and appointed Davis commodore, but, like men of 
 a trade, soon quarrelled, and parted company. Off Cape 
 ApoUonia Davis took several vessels, and off Cape Points 
 Bay attacked a Dutch interloper, of 30 guns, and ninety 
 men. After many hours' fighting the Dutchman surren- 
 dered to the black flag, having killed nine of Davis's men at 
 one broadside. This vessel Davis called the Rover, fitted 
 with 32 guns and 27 swivels, and, sailing to Anamaboe, 
 captured several ships laden with ivory, gold dust, and 
 negroes, saluting tlie fg)rt, and then started for Prince's 
 Island, a Portuguese settlement near the same coast. 
 
 They here captured a Dutchman, a valuable prize, having 
 the governor of Accra and £150,000, besides merchandise, on 
 board, and recruited their force Avith thirty-five hands. The 
 King James springing a leak, they deserted her and left her 
 to sink. At the Isle of Princes Davis passed himself off for 
 an English man-of-war in search of pirates, and was received 
 with great honours by the governor, who approved of his 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 405 
 
 openly plundering a French vessel which he accused of 
 piracy. A few days after Davis and fourteen of his men. 
 attempted to carry off the chief men's wives from a small 
 village in which they lived, but failed in the attempt. But 
 Davis had determined to plunder the island by means of the 
 following stratagem. He resolved to present the governor 
 with a dozen negroes in return for his civilities, and after- 
 wards to invite him with the friars and chief men of the 
 island to an entertainment on board his ship. He would 
 then clap them in irons, and not release them under a ran- 
 som of £40,000. 
 
 This plot proved fatal to him. A Portuguese negro, 
 swimming ashore at night, disclosed the whole. The governor 
 dissembled and professed to fall into the snare. The next 
 day Davis went himself on shore to bring the governor on 
 board, and was invited to take some refreshment at the 
 government house. He fell at once into the traj:). A pre- 
 pared ambuscade rose and fired a volley, killing every pirate 
 but one, who, running to the boat, got safely to the ship. 
 Davis, though shot through the bowels, rose, made a faint 
 effort to run, drew out his pistols, fired at his pursuers, and 
 fell dead. 
 
 Upon Davis's death, Bartholomew Roberts was at once 
 chosen commander, in preference to many other of the loi'ds 
 or head-seamen. The sailors said, that any captain who 
 went beyond their laws should be deposed, but that they 
 must have a man of courage and a good seaman to defend 
 their commonwealth. One of the lords, whose father had 
 suffered in Monmouth's rebellion, swore Boberts was a Pa- 
 pist. In spite of all, Roberts, who had been only taken 
 prisoner six weeks before, was chosen commander. He told 
 them that, " since he had dij^ped his hands in muddy water, 
 and must needs be a pirate, he would rather be commander 
 than mere seaman." 
 
 Their first thought was to avenge Davis's death, for he 
 had been much beloved for his affability and good nature. 
 Thirty men were landed, and attacked the fort in spite of 
 the steep hill on which it was situated. The Portuguese 
 deserted the walls, and the pirates destroyed the guns. Still 
 unsatisfied, they would have burnt the town, had it not been 
 
406 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 j)rotected by a thick wood, which furnished a cover to the 
 enemy. They, however, mounted the French ship with 
 twelve guns, running into shoal water, battered down several 
 houses, and then sailed out of the harbour by the light of 
 two ships to which they set fire. Having taken two more 
 vessels and burnt one of them, they started by general con- 
 sent for Brazil. 
 
 Cruising here for nine weeks and taking no prize, the 
 pirates grew quite discouraged, and resolved to steer for the 
 West Indies, but soon after fell in with forty-two sail of 
 Portuguese ships laden for Lisbon, and lying off the bay of 
 los Todos Santos, waiting for two men-of-war of seventy guns 
 each for their convoy. Stealing amongst them, Roberts hid 
 his men till he had closed upon the deepest of them, threat- 
 ening to give no quarter if the master was not instantly sent 
 on board. The Portuguese, alarmed at the sudden flourish 
 of cutlasses, instantly came. Eoberts told him they were 
 gentlemen of fortune, and should put him to death if he did 
 not tell them which was the richest vessel of the fleet. The 
 trembler pointed out a ship of forty guns and 150 men, more 
 force than Roberts could command ; but Roberts, replying 
 " They are only Portuguese," bore down at once upon it. 
 Finding the enemy was aware of their being pirates, Roberts 
 poured in a broadside, grappled, and boarded. The dispute 
 was short and warm. Two of the pirates fell, and many of 
 the Portuguese. By this time it was pretty well seen that 
 a fox had got into the poultry-yard. Signals of top-gallant 
 sheets were flying, and guns fired to bring up the convoy 
 that still rode at anchor. Roberts, finding his prize sail 
 heavy, waited for the first man-of-war, which, basely de- 
 clininc: the duel, linofered for its consort till Roberts was out 
 of sight. The prize proved exceedingly rich, being laden 
 with sugar, skins, tobacco, and 4,000 moidores, besides many 
 gold chains and much jewellery. A diamond cross, which 
 formed part of this spoil, they afterwards gave to the governor 
 of Caiana. Elated with this spoil, they fixed on the Devil's 
 Islands, in the Surinam river, as a place for a revel, and, 
 arriving there, found the governor ready to barter. 
 
 Much in want of provision, Roberts threw himself, with 
 forty men, into a prize sloop, in hopes of capturing a brig- 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASC-;VR. 407 
 
 antine laden with provision from Eliode Island, wiiicli v/as 
 then in sight, and was kept at sea by contrary winds for 
 eight days. Their food ran short, and failing in securing the 
 prize, they despatched their only boat to bring up the 
 ship. 
 
 Landing at Dominica, Roberts took on board thirteen 
 Englishmen, the crews of two New England vessels that had 
 been seized by a French guarda costa. At this island they 
 were nearly captured by a Martinique sloop, but contrived 
 to escape to the Guadanillas. Sailing for Newfoundland 
 they entered the harbour with their black colours flying, 
 their drums beating, and trumpets sounding. The crews of 
 twenty-two vessels fled on shore at their approach, and they 
 proceeded to burn and sink all the shipping and destroy the 
 fisheries and the houses of the planters. Mounting a Bristol 
 galley that he found in the harbour with sixteen guns, 
 Roberts destroyed nine sail of French ships, and carried off 
 for his own use a vessel of twenty- six guns. From many 
 other prizes they pressed men and got plunder. The pas- 
 sengers on board the Samuel, a rich London vessel, he tor- 
 tured, threatening them with death if they did not disclose 
 their money. His men tore up the hatches, and, entering 
 the hold with axes and swords, cut and ripped open the 
 "bales and boxes. Everything portable they seized, the rest 
 they threw overboard, amidst curses and discharges of guns 
 and pistols. They carried off" <£9,000 worth of goods, the 
 sails, guns, and powder. They told the captain "They 
 
 should accept of no act of grace. The king might be d 
 
 with his act of grace for them : they weren't going to 
 Hope Point to be hung up sun-drying like Kidd's and 
 Rraddish's company were ; and if they Avere overpowered 
 they would set fire to the powder, and go all merrily to hell 
 together.''' 
 
 While debating whether to sink or burn the prize, they 
 espied a sail, and left the Samuel tumultuously to give chase. 
 It proved to be a Bristol vessel, and hating Bristol men 
 because the Martinique sloops were commanded by one, he 
 used them with barbarous cruelty. 
 
 Their provisions growing scarce, Roberts put into St. 
 Christopher's, and, being refused succours, fired on the town 
 
408 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 and burnt two sliips in the road. They then visited 
 St. Bartholomew, where they were well received. Sailing 
 for Guinea, weary of even debauchery, they captured a rich 
 laden vessel from Martinique, and changed ships. By some 
 extraordinary ignorance of navigation, Roberts in trying ta 
 reach the Cape Verde Islands, got to leeward of his port, and, 
 obliofed to so back ao^ain with the trade wind, returned to 
 the West Indies, steering for Surinam, 700 leagues distant, 
 with one hogshead of water for 124 souls. 
 
 Great suffering followed their pleasures in the islands of 
 the Sirens ; each man obtained only one mouthful of water 
 in twenty-four hours. Many drank their urine or the brine 
 and died fevered and mad ; others wasted with fluxes. 
 The rest had but an inch or two of bread in the day, and 
 grew so feeble they could hardly reef and climb. They 
 were all but dying, when they were suddenly brought into 
 soundings, and at night anchored in seven fathoms water. 
 
 Thirsty in the sight of lakes and streams, and maddened 
 with hunger, Ptoberts tore up the floor of the cabin, and, 
 patching together a canoe with rope yarn, paddled to shore 
 and procured water. After some days, the boat returned 
 with the unpleasant intelligence that the lieutenant had 
 absconded with the vessel. 
 
 This Lieutenant Kennedy's sail into Execution Dock we 
 will give before we return to Roberts. Upon leaving 
 Caiana Roberts's treacherous crew determined to abandon 
 j)iracy. Their Portuguese prize they gave to the master of 
 the prize sloop, a good-natured man, whose quiet philo- 
 sophy under misfortune had astonished and pleased them. 
 Off Barbadoes Kennedy took a Quaker's vessel from 
 Virginia, the captain of which allowed no arms on board, 
 and his equanimity so attracted the pirates that eight 
 of them returned with him to Virginia. These men 
 rewarded the sailors and gave .£250 worth of gold dust and 
 tobacco to the peaceful captain. At Maryland the treacher- 
 ous Quaker surrendered his friends, who were all hanged on 
 the evidence of some Portusjuese Jews whom thev had 
 brought from Brazil. 
 
 Oil* Jamaica Kennedy captured a flour vessel from Boston, 
 in which himself and many others embarked. This 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 40 D 
 
 Kennedy had been a pickpocket and a housebreaker, could 
 neither read nor write, and had been only elected captain for 
 his cruelty and courage. 
 
 His crew, at first afraid of his treachery, would have 
 thrown him overboard, but relented, on his taking solemn 
 oaths of fidelity. Of all these men only one knew anything 
 of navigation, and he was so ignorant that, trying to reach 
 Ireland, he ran them ashore on Scotland. Landing they 
 passed at first for shipwrecked sailors ; seven of them 
 reached London in safety, the rest were seized at Edinburgh 
 and hanged, having attracted attention by rioting and di'unken,' 
 squandering. Two others were murdered on the road. 
 
 Kennedy turned robber, and some years after was arrested 
 as a pirate by the mate of a ship he had plundered, turned 
 king's evidence, but was hanged in 172L 
 
 We must now return to Roberts, whom we left swearins: 
 and vapouring on the coast of Newfoundland. He began 
 by drawing up a code of laws and establishing stricter 
 discipline, and then steered for the West Indies, capturing 
 several vessels by the way, and was soon after pursued by a. 
 Bristol galley of twenty-guns and eighty men, and a sloop 
 of ten guns and forty men, despatched by the Governor of 
 Barbadoes. Boberts, taking them for traders, attempted to 
 board, but was driven off by a broadside, the king's men 
 huzzaing as they fired. Boberts, crowding all sail, took 
 to flight and escaj^ed, after a galling pursuit, by dint of 
 throwing overboard his guns and heavy goods. He was 
 henceforward particularly severe to Barbadian vessels, so 
 deeply established were the principles of justice and com- 
 pensation in the mind of this great man. 
 
 In the morning, they saw laud, but at a great distance, 
 and dispatching a boat, it returned late at night with a load 
 of water : they had reached Surinam. The worst blas- 
 phemer heard the Avords, and fell upon his knees to thank a 
 God whom he had so often denied. They swore that 
 the same Brovidence which had given them drink would 
 bring them meat. 
 
 Taking provisions from several vessels, Boberts touched 
 at Tobago, and then sailed to Martinique to revenge himself 
 on the governor. Adopting the custom of the Dutch 
 
410 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 interlopers, he hoisted a jack and sailed in as if to trade. 
 He was soon surrounded by a swarm of sloops and smacks ; 
 then sending all the crews on shore on board one vessel, minus 
 their money, he fired twenty others. His new flag bore hence- 
 forward a representation of himself trampling on the skulls of 
 a Barbadian and Martinique man. At Dominica he took 
 several vessels, and several others at Guadaloupe, and then 
 put into a key off Hispaniola to clean and refit. 
 • While here, the captains of two piratical sloops visited 
 him, having heard of his fame and achievements, to beg from 
 him powder and arms. After several nights' revel, Roberts 
 dismissed them, hoping " the Lord would prosper their 
 handy works." Three of their men, who had long excited 
 suspicion by their reserve and sobriety, deserted, but being 
 recaptured were put upon their trial. The jury sat in the 
 steerage, before a bowl of rum punch ; the judge on the 
 bench smoked a pipe. Sentence was already passed, when 
 one of the jury, with a volley of oaths, swore Glashby (one 
 of the prisoners) should not die. " He was as good a man 
 as the best of them, and had never turned his back to 
 a man in his life. Glashby was an honest fellow in spite of 
 his misfortune, and he loved him. He hoped he would live 
 
 and repent of what he had done ; but d if he must die, 
 
 he would die along with him," and as he spoke he handled a 
 pair of loaded pistols, and presented them at two of the 
 judges, who, thinking the argument good, at once acquitted 
 Glashby. The rest, allowed to choose their executioners, 
 were tied to the mast and shot. 
 
 Amply stocked with provisions, they now sailed for Guinea 
 to buy gold dust, and on their passage burnt and sank many 
 vessels. Roberts, finding his crew mutinous and unman- 
 ageable, assumed a rude bearing, ofiering to fight on shore 
 any one who was offended, with sword or pistol, for he 
 neither feared nor valued any. On their way to Africa 
 they were deserted by a prize, a brigantine, which they had 
 manned. Roberts being insulted by a drunken sailor, killed 
 him on the spot. His messmate returning from shore declared 
 the captain deserved the same fate. Roberts hearing this 
 stabbed him with his sword, but in spite of the wound the 
 seaman threw him over a 2fun and srave him a beatin<?. A 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 411 
 
 general tumult ensued, which was appeased by the quarter- 
 master, and the majority agreeing that the captain must be 
 supported at all risks, the sailor received two lashes from 
 every man on board as soon as he recovered from his wound. 
 This man then conspired with the captain of the brigantine 
 and his seventy hands, and agreed to desert Roberts, as 
 they soon after did, on the first opportunity. 
 
 Near the river of Senegal the pirates were chased by two 
 French cruisers of ten and sixteen guns, who mistook him 
 for one of those interlopers for whom they were on the look- 
 out. The pair surrendered, however, with little resistance, 
 on the first shot of the Jolly Roger, and with these prizes 
 they put into Sierra Leone, About thirty retired Bucca- 
 neers and pirates lived here, one of whom, who went by the 
 name of Crackers, kept two cannon at his door to salute all 
 pirate ships that arrived. 
 
 They found that the Swallow and Weymouth men-of-war, 
 fifty guns, had just been there, and would not return till 
 Christmas ; so, after six weeks' debauch, they put out again 
 to sea, plundering along the coast. They exchanged one of 
 their vessels for a French frigate-built ship, pressing the 
 sailors, and allowing some soldiers on board to sail with them 
 for a quarter share. 
 
 They found an English chaplain on board, and wanted him 
 to go with them to make punch and say prayers, but as he 
 refused they let him go, detaining nothing of the property 
 of the church but three prayer-books and a corkscrew. This 
 ship they altered by pulling down the bulkheads and making 
 her flush. They then christened her the Royal Fortune, and 
 mounted her with- forty guns. 
 
 They next proceeded to Calabar, where a shoal protected 
 the harbour. Enraged at the negroes refusing to trade, 
 they landed forty men under protection of the ships' fire, 
 drove back a party of 2,000 natives, and then burnt their 
 town. Still unable to obtain provisions, they returned to 
 Cape Apollonia. Here they took a vessel called the King 
 Solomon, boarding her from the long-boat, in spite of a vol- 
 ley from the ship, the pirates shouting defiance. The captain 
 would have resisted, but the boatswain made the men lay 
 down their arms and cry for quarter. They then cut her 
 
412 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 cable, and rifled her of everything. They next cut the 
 mast of a Dutch vessel, and strung the sausages they found 
 on board round their necks, killing the fowls, and inviting 
 the captain to drink from his own butt, singing obscene 
 French and Spanish songs from his Dutch prayer-book. 
 
 Going too near the land, they alarmed the coast, and 
 the English and Dutch factories spread signals of danger. 
 
 Entering Whydah with St. George's ensign and a black 
 flag flying, eleven ships instantly surrendered without a blow ; 
 most of the crews being, in fact, ashore. Each captain ran- 
 somed his cargo for eight pounds of gold-dust, upon which 
 they gave him acquittals, signed with sham names, as- 
 " Whiflingpin " and " Tugmutton." One vessel full of slaves 
 refusing to give any ransom, he set fire to it, and burnt 
 eighty negroes who were chained in the hold ; a few leaped 
 overboard to avoid the flames, and were torn to pieces by 
 the sharks that swarmed in the road. 
 
 Discovering from an intercepted letter that the Swallow was- 
 after him, Roberts put back to the island of Anna Bona, but 
 the wind failing, steered for Cape Lopez. The cruiser had 
 lost 100 men from sickness in a three weeks' stay at Prince's 
 Island, and, unable to return to Sierra Leone, turned to 
 Cape Corso, unknown to Roberts, who was ignorant of the 
 causes that had led to their return. Receiving many calls for 
 help, and finding the trade of the whole coast disturbed, the 
 Swallow sailed for Whydah. The crew were impatient to 
 attack the pirates, learning that they had an arms' chest full 
 of gold, secured by three keys. Recruiting thirty volun- 
 teers, English and French, the Sivalloio reached the river 
 Gaboon, and soon discovered the pirates, one of whom gave 
 them chase, believing her a Portuguese sugar vessel, and the 
 sugar for their punch now ran short. 
 
 The pirates were cursing the wind and the sails that kept 
 them from so rich a prey, when the Ranger suddenly brought 
 to and hauled up her lower ports, while the first broadside 
 brought down their black flag. Hoisting it again, they 
 flourished their cutlasses on the poop, but tried to escape. 
 Some prepared to board, but, after two hours' firing, their 
 maintoj") came down with a run, and they struck, having had 
 ten men killed and twenty wounded. The SwaUoio did not 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 413 
 
 lose one. The Ranger carried tliirty-two guns, and was 
 manned by sixteen Frenchmen, seventy-seven English, and 
 ten negroes. Their black colours were thrown overboard. 
 As the Swallow was sending a boat to board, an explosion 
 was heard, and a smoke poured out of the great cabin. It 
 ajDpeared that half a dozen of the most desperate had fired 
 some powder, but it was too little to do anything but burn 
 them terribly. 
 
 The commander, a Welshman, had had his leg shot off, 
 and had refused to allow himself to be carried below. The 
 rest were gay and brisk, dressed in white shirts and silk 
 waistcoats, and wearing watches. 
 
 An officer said to a man whom he saw with a silver whistle 
 at his belt — " I presume you are boatswain of this ship." 
 " Then you presume wrong," said the pirate, " for I am 
 boatswain of the Royal Fortune — Captain Roberts, comman- 
 der." " Then Mr. Boatswain, you'll be hanged," said the 
 officer, " That is as your honour pleases," said the man, 
 turning away. 
 
 The officer asking about the explosion, he swore " they 
 are all mad and bewitched, for I have lost a good hat by it." 
 He had been blown out of the cabin gallery into the sea. 
 " But what signifies a hat, friend 1 " said the officer. " Not 
 much," he answered. 
 
 As the sailors stripped off his shoes and stockings, the 
 officer asked him if all Roberts's crew were as likely men as 
 himself? He answered, "There are 120 of them as clever 
 fellow as ever trod shoe leather ; would I were with them." 
 " No doubt on't," said the officer. " It's naked truth," said 
 the man laughing, as he looked down at his bare feet. 
 
 The officer then aitproached another man, black and 
 scorched, who sat sullenly alone in a corner. He asked him 
 iow it happened. " Why," said he, " John Morris fired a 
 pistol into the powder, and if he had not done it I would." 
 The officer said he was a surgeon, and offered to dress his 
 wounds, which he bore without a groan. He swore it should 
 not be done, and he would tear off the dressing, so he was 
 then overpowered and bandaged. At night he grew deli- 
 rious and raved about "brave Roberts," who would soon 
 release him. The men then lashed him down to the fore- 
 
414 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 castle, as he resisted with such violence to his burnt sore 
 flesh that he died next dav of mortification. The other 
 pirates they fettered, and sent the shattered ship, scarcely- 
 worth preserving, into port. 
 
 The next day Eoberts appeared in sight, with a prize, and 
 his men ran to tell him of the cruizer as he was dining in the 
 cabin with the prisoner captain. Roberts declared the vessel 
 was his own returning, or nothing but a Portuguese or 
 French slave ship, and laughed at the cowards who leared 
 danger^ offering to strike the most apprehensive. As soon. 
 as he discovered his mistake he slipped his cable, got 
 under sail, and ordered his men to arms, declaring it was 
 " a bite." 
 
 He appeared on deck dressed in crimson damask, with a 
 red feather in his cocked hat, a gold chain and diamond cross 
 round his neck, a sword in his hand, and two pairs of pistols 
 hanging pirate-fashion from a silk sling over his shoulders. 
 His orders were given in a loud voice and with unhesitating 
 boldness. Informed by a deserter that the Swalloiu sailed 
 best upon a wind, he resolved to go before it, if disabled to 
 run ashore and escape among the negroes, or if, as many of 
 his men were drunk, everything else failed, to board and 
 blow up both vessels. 
 
 Exchanging a broadside he made all sail he could crowd, 
 but steering ill was taken aback and overtaken. At this 
 critical moment a grapeshot struck him on the throat, and 
 he sat calmly down on the tackle of a gun and died. The 
 man at the helm running to his assistance, and not seeing a 
 wound thought his heart had failed him, and bade him 
 stand up and fight it out like a man, and remember the 
 Jolly Roger. Discovering his mistake the rough sailor 
 burst into tears, and prayed the next shot might strike him. 
 The pirates then threw their captain overboard, with all his 
 arms and ornaments, as he had often requested in his life. 
 
 When Roberts fell the men deserted their quarters and 
 fell into a torpor, till their mainmast being shot away com- 
 pelled them to surrender. Some of the crew lit matches 
 and tried to blow up the magazine, but the rest prevented 
 them. The black flag, crushed under the fallen mast, they 
 had no time to destroy. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAK. 415 
 
 The Royal Fortune was found to have forty gnus and 157 
 men, forty-five of them being negroes. Only three were 
 killed in the action, and the Swalloio did not lose a man. 
 She had upwards of £2,000 of gold dust in her. From the 
 other vessel the same quantity was embezzled by an English 
 captain, who sailed away before the Sioallow arrived. 
 
 The prisoners v/ere mutinous under restraint, and cursed 
 and upbraided each other for the folly that had brought 
 them into that trap. For fear of an outbreak they were 
 manacled and shackled in the gun-room, which was strongly 
 barricaded, and officers with pistol and cutlass placed to 
 guard it night and day. 
 
 The pirates laughed at the short commons, and swore 
 they should be too Ught to hang. Those who read and 
 prayed were sneered at by the others. " Give me hell," said 
 one blasphemer ; " it is a merrier place than heaven, and at 
 my entrance Fll give Roberts a salute of thirteen guns." 
 The whole of the prisoners made a formal complaint against 
 '' the wretch with a prayer-book," as a common disturber. 
 
 A few of the more violent conspired, having loosened 
 their shackles, to rise, kill the officers, and run away with 
 the ship. A mulatto boy who attended them, conveyed 
 messages from one to the other, but the very evening of the 
 outbreak two prisoners heard the whispers, and warned the 
 officers. They were then treated rougher, and heavier chains 
 put on. 
 
 The negroes and surgeon on board the other ship also 
 contrived a conspiracy, the surgeon knowing a little of the 
 Ashantee language. They were betrayed by a traitor, all 
 re-chained, and brought to Cape Corso castle to be tried. 
 Here they grew chapfallen, forgot to jest, and begged for 
 good books. Some joined in prayers, and others sang 
 psalms. Brawny, sunburnt, scarred men were seen spelling 
 out hymns, and, through the blood-red haze of a thousand 
 crimes, trying with moistened eyes to look back to calm 
 Sunday evenings when fond mothers had first taught them 
 the words of long since forgotten prayers. 
 
 ^Vheu the ropes were fitting only one appeared dejected, 
 and he had been ill with a flux. A surgeon of the place 
 was charitable enough to offer himself as chaplain, and re- 
 
416 THE PIEATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 presented to them the urgent need of repentance and the 
 tender forgiveness of a Saviour. They hardly listened to 
 him, but some begged caps of the soldiers, for the sun was 
 burning on their bare heads. Others asked for a single 
 draught of water. When they were pressed to speak of 
 religion, they burst into curses, and imprecated vengeance 
 on their judge and jury, saying they were hanged as poor 
 rogues, but many worse escaped because they were rich. 
 
 He then implored them to be in charity with all the 
 world, and asked their names and ages. They said, " What 
 'is that to you? we suffer the law, and shall give no account 
 but to God." One cursed a woman in the crowd for coming 
 to see him hanged, and another laughed at their tying his 
 Lands behind him, " for he had seen many a good fellow 
 hung, but never that done before." A third said, the sooner 
 the better, so he might get out of pain. 
 
 Nine others showed much penitence. One obtained a 
 short reprieve, and devoted it to prayer, singing the thirty- 
 first Psalm at the foot of the gallows. Another (the de- 
 serter) exhorted the seamen to a good life, and sang a psalm. 
 The next instant a gun was fired, and he swung from the 
 fore-yard-arm. Bunce, the youngest of them all, made a 
 pathetic speech, and begged forgiveness of God and all man- 
 kind. Seeing the gallows standing on a rock above the sea, 
 .Jie took a last look at the element which he had so often 
 braved, and saying, he stood " as a beacon on a rock to warn 
 mariners of danger," was turned off by the hangman. 
 
 Captain W^orly, the next adventurer, embarked in an 
 open boat, with eight other men, from New York in 1718, 
 captured a shallop up the Delaware river, and soon took 
 many other vessels, pursuing an English cruiser from Sandy 
 Hook. He had now twenty-five men and six guns, and his 
 crew had taken an oath to receiv^e no quarter. While 
 careening in an inlet in North Carolina he was attacked by 
 two government sloops. These cruisers boarded him on 
 either side, and the pirates fought so desperately that only 
 the captain and another man were taken prisoners, and being 
 much wounded were hanged the next day for fear they should 
 ^die, and the law not have its due. 
 
 Captain George Lowther was originally second mate on 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 417 
 
 board a vessel carrying soldiers to a fort of the Royal African 
 Company's on the river Gambia, the very one that had been 
 destroyed by Davis. Captain Massey, who commanded these 
 men, offended at the arrogance of the nierchauts, plotted 
 with Lovvther, who had been ill-treated by l)is captain, to 
 run away with the vessel. They then started as pirates — 
 their vessel, the Delivery, having fifty men and sixteen guns. 
 The worthy partners soon quarrelled, Massey knowing 
 nothing of the sea and Lowther nothing of the land. 
 Massey wished to land with thirty men and attack the 
 French in Hispaniola, but Lowther refused his consent ; and ■ 
 when Lowther resolved to scuttle a ship, Massey interposed 
 in its behalf Massey, soon after this, being put on board 
 a prize with ten malcontents, gave himself up at Jamaica, 
 and was sent to cruise in search of his old partner. Massey 
 wrote to the African Company, and prayed to be forgiven, 
 or at least shot as a soldier, and not hung as a pirate. He 
 then came to London, gave himself up, and was soon after 
 hanged. 
 
 Off Hispaniola Lowther captured two vessels — one of 
 them a Spaniard, the crew of which, in consideration of their 
 being also pirates, and having just boarded an English ship, 
 were drifted off in their own launch, but the English sailors 
 were enrolled in their own crew. They then put into a key, 
 cleaned, and spent some time in revelry. JStarting again 
 about Christmas, at the Grand Caimanes they met with a 
 small pirate vessel, commanded by a captain named Low, 
 who now became Lowther's lieutenant. The old ship they 
 sank, and soon after attacked a Boston vessel, the Greyhound, 
 which, though only 200 tons, refused to bring to in answer 
 to Lowther's gun, and held out for an hour before she 
 struck her ensign, seeing resistance hopeless. The pirates 
 whipped, beat, and cut these men cruelly, and at last set fire 
 to their vessel, and left them to burn and perish. They 
 soon after burnt and sank several New England sloops ; a 
 vessel of Jamaica they generously sent back to her master, 
 and two other vessels they fitted up for their own use, 
 mounting one with eight carriage and ten swivel guns. 
 
 With this little fleet, Admiral Lowther, in the Hajipy 
 Delivery, went to the gulf of Matique to careen, carrying 
 
 2 E 
 
4:18 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 ashore all tlieir sails and stores, and putting them in tents 
 on the beach. While the ships, however, were on the keel, 
 and the men busy heaving, scrubbing, and tallowing, they 
 were attacked by a large body of the natives. Burning the 
 Happy Delivert/, their largest ship, and leaving all their 
 stores behind, they then turned one sloop adrift, and all 
 embarked in the other, the Ranger. This disaster, and the 
 shortness of provisions, soon produced mutiny and mutual 
 recrimination. 
 
 In May, 1721, they went to the AVest Indies, capturing a 
 brigantine, which they plundered and sank, and then started 
 for New England. Low and Lowther, always quarrelling, 
 at lasG parted. Low taking forty-four hands in the brigantine, 
 and leaving the same number in the sloop to Lowther. The 
 latter for some time captured nothing but fishing vessels, 
 and a New England ship with a cargo of sugar from Barba- 
 does. Off the coast of South Carolina, being pursued by an 
 English vessel that he had imprudently attacked, he was 
 driven on shore in his attempts to escape. The English 
 captain, in attempting to board, was shot, and his mate 
 declined the combat. The pirate sloop soon put again to 
 sea, but much shattered, and wHth many of the crew killed 
 and wounded. The winter Low spent in repairing, in an 
 inlet of North Carolina, where his men pitched tents, and 
 lived on the wild cattle they shot in the woods ; while 
 in very cold nights they slept on board the ship. 
 
 After a cruise round Newfoundland, the pirates sailed for 
 the West Indies, and put into a creek in the island of Blanco, 
 not far from Tortuga, to careen. Here they were attacked 
 by the Eagle sloop, of Barbadoes, belonging to the South 
 Sea Company. She fired a gun first, to make Lowther show 
 his colours, and then boarded. Lowther and twelve of his 
 crew made their escape out of a cabin window, after their 
 vessel had struck. The master of the Eagle, with twenty- 
 five men, spent five da3^s in search of the fugitives, and, cap- 
 turing eight only of them, returned to Cumana. 
 
 The Spanish governor, applauding the Eagle, condemned 
 the sloop, and sent a small vessel with twenty-five hands to 
 Bcour the patches of lignum vitoi trees that covered the low 
 level island, and took four pirates ; but Lowther and three 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 419 
 
 men and a boy still escaped. It is supposed lie then de- 
 stroyed himself, as he was found soon after by some sailors 
 dead, beside a bush, with a burst pistol by his side. Of his 
 companions, nine were hanged at St. Christopher's, two par- 
 doned, and five acquitted ; four the Spaniards condemned to 
 slavery for life, three to the galleys, and the others to 
 the Castle of Arraria. 
 
 Captain Spriggs was another of this same gang, having 
 been quarter-master to Lowther. In 1723 Spriggs, with 
 eighteen men, sailed by night from the coast of Guinea, in 
 the Delight (a man-of-war), taken by Low j for they had 
 quarrelled as to the punishment of a pirate who had mur- 
 dered another. Low was for mercy, and Spriggs for the 
 yard-arm. 
 
 They then chose Spriggs captain, hoisted the black flag, 
 and fired all their guns to honour his inauguration. In their 
 voyage to the West Indies they plundered a Portuguese 
 bark, tortured the crew, set them adrift in a boat with a 
 small quantity of provisions, and then burnt the vessel. The 
 crew of a Barbadoes sloop they cut and beat f6r refusing to 
 serve with them, and turned them off like the Portuguese. 
 They next rummaged a logwood ship from Jamaica, cut the 
 cable, broke the windows, destroyed the cabins, and when 
 the mate refused to go with them, every man in the vessel 
 gave him ten lashes, which they called " writing his dis- 
 charge" in red letters flaring on his back. George the 
 Second's birthday they spent in roaring out healths, shouting, 
 and drinking, expecting that there would be an amnesty at 
 his accession, and vowing, if they were excepted, to murder 
 every Englishman they met. They next gave chase to a 
 vessel (supposed to be a Spaniard), till the crew made a 
 lamentable cry for quarter, and they discovered it was 
 the logwood vessel they had turned off three days before, 
 not wortli a penny. Enraged at this, fifteen of them flew at 
 the captain, and cut him down, though his mate, who had 
 joined the pirates, interceded for his life. It being midnight, 
 and nearly all, as usual at such an hour, drunk, it was 
 unanimously agreed to make a bonfire of the Jamaica ship. 
 They then called the bleeding captain down into the cabin to 
 supper, and made him, with a sword and pistol at his breast, 
 
 2 E 2 
 
420 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 eat a dish of candles, treating all the crew in the same way. 
 Twenty days afterwards they landed the captain and a 
 passenger on a desert island in the Bay of Honduras, giving 
 them powder, ball, and one musket. Here they supported 
 life for fifteen days, till two marooned sailors coming in a 
 canoe, paddled them to another island, where they got food 
 and water. Espying a sloop at sea, they made a great 
 smoke, and were taken off, after nineteen days' more suffering. 
 Spriggs, while laying wait to take his revenge on the Eagle, 
 was pursued by a French man-of-war, from Martinique, and 
 then went to Newfoundland to obtain more men and attack 
 Captain Harris who had lately taken another pirate vessel. 
 Of their future fate we hear nothing. Let us hope they 
 sailed on till they reached Gallows Point, and there anchored. 
 
 J OHN Gow was one of the crew of an Amsterdam galley, 
 who, in 1724, in a voyage to Barbary, plotted to murder the 
 captain and seize the vessel. BTaving first cut his throat, 
 they tried to throw him overboard ; but as he grappled with 
 them, Gow and the second mate and gunner shot him 
 through the body. They then murdered the chief mate and 
 the clerk, who was asleep in his hammock ; the latter, hand- 
 ing the key of his chest, begged for time to say his prayers ; 
 but a sailor shot him as he knelt, with a pistol that burst as 
 he fired. 
 
 The murders being over, one of the red-handed men came 
 on deck, and, striking a gun with his cutlass, cried, " You are 
 welcome, Captain Gow, to your new command." Gow then 
 swore that if any whispered together, or refused to obey 
 orders, they should go the same way as those that had just 
 gone. They plundered a French fruit vessel and some 
 others, but were soon after stranded on the Orkney coast, 
 where they had intended to clean, were apprehended by a 
 gentleman named Fea, and brought up to London. 
 
 Gow obstinately refusing to plead, his thumbs were tied 
 with whi])Cord till they broke. As he still remained silent, 
 he was ordered, by the Draconic law of those days, to bei 
 pressed to death. AVhen the preparations were completed, 
 Gow's courage failed liim ; he sullenly pleaded not guilty, 
 and was soon after, with nine of his crew at the same time, 
 X ecuted. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 421 
 
 Captain. Weaver, of the Good Fortune, brigantlne, which 
 had taken some sixty sail off the banks of Newfoundland, 
 on his return from thence came to Bristol, and passed 
 himself off ns a sailor who had escaped from pirates, walking 
 openly about the town. Here he was met by a captain 
 whom he had once plundered, and who invited him to share 
 a bottle in a neighbouring tavern, telling him he had been a 
 great sufferer by the loss of his ship, but that for four hogs- 
 heads of sugar he would never mention the affair again. 
 Unable to obtain this compensation, he arrested Weaver, 
 who was soon after hanged. 
 
 Captain Edward Low, our last commodore, was originally 
 a London thief, the head of a gang of Westminster boys, and 
 a gambler among the footmen in the lobby of the House of 
 Commons. One of his brothers was the first thief who stole 
 wigs by dressing as a porter, and carrying a boy on his head 
 in a covered basket. He ended his days at Tyburn. 
 
 Low was originally a logwood cutter at Honduras, but, 
 quarrelling with his captain, and attempting his life, put off 
 to sea with twelve companions, and taking a sloop, hoisted a 
 black flag, and declared war against the world. Of his 
 adventures with Lowther, we have already made mention. 
 In May, 1722, while off Ehode Island, the governor ordered 
 a drum to beat up for volunteers, and fitted out two sloops 
 with 140 men to pursue him ; but Low contrived to 
 escape, and soon after running into Port Rosemary, seized 
 thirteen vessels at one stroke, arming a schooner of ten 
 guns for his own use, putting eighty men on board, and 
 calling her the Fancy. He was soon after beaten off by two 
 armed sloops from Boston, Low, waiting too long for his 
 consort, abrigantine, to come up, in steering for the Leeward 
 Islands, they were overtaken by a dreadful storm, the same 
 which drowned 400 people at Jamaica, and nearly destroyed 
 the town of Port Royal. The pirates esca])ed by dint 
 of throwing over all their yjlunder and six of their guns, 
 and put into one of the Caribbees to refit, buying provisions 
 of the natives. In this storm it was that forty sail of ships 
 were cast away in Port Royal harbour. 
 
 Once refitted. Low sailed into St. Michael's road, and took 
 several sail, threatening with present death all who dared to 
 
422 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 resist. Being without water, he sent to the governor 
 demanding some, and declaring that if none were sent he 
 would burn all his prizes. On the governor's compliance he 
 released six, and fitted up the seventh for himself. Another 
 one they burnt. The crews they compelled to joined them, 
 all but one French cook, who was so fat that they said he 
 would fry well. They then bound him to the mast, and 
 allowed him to burn with the ship. The crew of another 
 galley they cruelly cut and mangled, and two Portuguese 
 friars they tied up to the yard-arm, pulling them up and 
 down till they were dead. A Portuguese passenger looking 
 sorrowfully on at these brutalities, one of the pirates cried 
 out that he did not like his looks, and cut open his belly 
 with his cutlass, so that he fell down dead. Another of the 
 men, cutting at a j^risoner, slashed Low across the upper 
 lip, so as to lay the teeth bare. The surgeon was called to 
 stitch up the wound, but the medical man being drunk, 
 Low cursed him for his bungling. He replied by striking 
 Low a blow in the mouth that broke the stitches, telling 
 him to sew up his chops himself. 
 
 Off Madeira, they seized a fishing-boat, and obtained 
 water by a threat of hanging the fishermen. While careen - 
 ing at the Cape Yerd I^slands, after making many prizes. 
 Low sent a sloop to St. Michael's in search of two vessels, 
 but his crew were seized and condemned to slavery for life. 
 
 In careening his other ship, it was lost, and Low had now 
 to fall back on his old schooner, the Fancy, which he sailed 
 in with a hundred men. Proceeding to the West Indies, 
 they captured, after some resistance, a rich Portuguese vessel 
 called the Nostra Signora de Victoria, bound home from 
 Bahia. Several of tiie crew they tortured till they con- 
 fessed that during the chase their captain had hung a bag of 
 11,0C0 moidores out of the cabin window, and when the ship 
 was taken dro])pcd it into the sea. The pirates, in a fury at 
 this, cut off his lips, broiled them before his face, and then 
 murdered him and thirty-two of his crew. In the next 
 month they seized four vessels, burning all those from New 
 England. 
 
 In the Bay of Honduras Low boarded a Spanish sloop of 
 six guns and seventy men, that had that morning captured 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 423 
 
 five English vessels. Finding out this from the prisoners 
 in the hold, these butchers proceeded to destroy the whole 
 crew, plunging among them with pole-axes, swords, and 
 pistols. Some leaped into tlie hold and others into the sea. 
 Twelve escaped to shore : the rest were knocked on the 
 head in the water. While the pirates were carousing on 
 land, one wounded wretch, fainting with his wounds, came 
 to them and begged in God's name for quarter, upon which 
 a brutal sailor replied, he would give him good quarters, and, 
 forcing him down on his knees, ran the muzzle of his gun 
 down his throat, and shot him. They then burnt the vessel, 
 and forced the English prisoners to return to New York, 
 and not to Jamaica. 
 
 Hating all men of New England, Low cut off the ears of 
 a gentleman of that nation, and tied burning matches be- 
 tween the fingers of some other prisoners. The crew of a 
 whaler he whipped naked about the deck, and made the 
 master eat his own ears with pepper and salt. 
 
 On one occasion, the captain of a Virginian vessel refusing 
 to pledge him in a bowl of punch, he cocked a pistol and 
 compelled him to drain the whole quart. Off South Caro- 
 lina, his consort was taken by a cruiser, but Low basely 
 deserting him, escaped, and off Newfoundland took eighteen 
 ships, and in July, 1723, he fitted up a prize called the 
 Merry Christmas, with thirty-four guns, and assumed the 
 title of admiral, hoisting a black flag, with the figure of 
 death in red. At St. Michael he cut out of the road a 
 London vessel of fourteen guns, which the men refused to 
 defend. The ears of the captain Low cut off, for daring 
 to attempt resistance, and giving him a boat to escape in, 
 burnt his ship. 
 
 He then visited the Canaries, Cape de Verd Islands, and 
 lastly the coast of Guinea. At Sierra Leone he captured 
 the Delight, of twelve guns, which he supplied with sixteen 
 guns, and sixty men, appointing Spriggs, his quarter-master, 
 as captain, who two days after deserted him, and sailed for 
 the West Indies. 
 
 Of the end of this detestable monster we know nothing, 
 but if there is any truth in old adages, he could not have 
 well perished by a mere storm. 
 
424 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 The best account of a pirate's life extant is to be found 
 in Captain Roberts's Narrative of the Loss of his Vessel in 
 1721, preserved in Astley's amusing Collection of Voyages, 
 four dusty quartos, that contain a mine of " auld warld " 
 information. 
 
 This Captain Roberts, it appears, contracted with some 
 London merchants to go to Virginia, to fit out a sloop, 
 named the Dol2)hin, with a cargo " to slave with " on the 
 coast of Guinea, and then to return to trade at Barbadoes. 
 Arriving at that island, in 1722, he was discharged, and 
 upon that bought the Margaret sloop,* and started again for 
 the African coast. At Curisal he turned up to procure a 
 supply of wood and water, and the next morning after his 
 arrival, it being calm, as day broke he looked out and espied 
 three sail of ships off the bay, and making one of them plain 
 with his glass, observed that she was full built and loaded, and 
 supposed that she and her companions wanted water, as they 
 first broiight to, then edged away without making any signals. 
 
 As soon as the day broke clear and they made his ship, 
 one of them stood right in towards her, and as the sun rose 
 and the wind freshened, tacked more to the eastward. As 
 she drew nigher, Roberts found her by his glass to be a 
 schooner full of hands, all in white shirts ; and when he saw 
 a whole tier of great guns grinning through the port-holes, 
 he began to suspect mischief But it was now too late to 
 escape, as it held calm within the bay, and the three ships 
 came crowding in as fast as the wind, flaunting out an Eng- 
 lish ensign, jack, and pendant. Roberts then hoisted his 
 ensign. The first of the three that arrived had eight guns, 
 six patereroes, seventy men, and stretching ahead hailed 
 him. Roberts said he was of London, and came from Bar- 
 badoes. They answered, with a curse, that they knew that, 
 and made him send a boat on board. 
 
 The pirate captain, John Lopez, a Portuguese, who passed 
 himself off as John Russel, an Englishman, from the north 
 country, asked them where their captain was. They 
 pointed him out Roberts, walking the deck. He instantly 
 called out, " You dog, you son of a gun, you speckled shirt 
 dog!" for Roberts had just turned out, wore a speckled 
 Holland shirt, and was slipshod, without stockings. Roberts, 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 42 J 
 
 afraid if he showed contempt by continued silence tliey would 
 put a ball through him, thought it best to answer, and 
 cried " Holloa 1 " upon which Ivussel said, " You dog you, 
 why did you not come aboard with the boat ] I'll drub you 
 within an inch of your life, and that inch too." 
 
 Roberts meekly replied that only the boat being com- 
 manded aboard, he did not think he had been wanted, but 
 if they would please to send the boat, he would wait upon 
 him. " Ay, you dog you," said the Portuguese, " I'll teach 
 you better manners." Upon this eight of the pirates 
 boarded, and took possession of the ship, and as soon as 
 Koberts came alongside, the pirate began again to threaten 
 to drub him for daring to affront him ; and when he 
 declared he meant no offence, cried out, " D — n you, you 
 dog, don't stand there to chatter, come aboard," and stood 
 with a cutlass ready drawn to receive him. While still 
 hesitating, the gunner, who wore a gold-laced hat, looked 
 over the side, and said, " Come up, master, you shan't be 
 abused." When he got up, the pirate raised his sabre as if 
 to cut him down, asking what a dog deserved for not 
 coming aboard when the boat was lirst sent. Roberts 
 replied, if he had done amiss, it was through ignorance, 
 as he did not know what they were. "Curse you," said 
 the pirate, "who do you think we are*?" Roberts now 
 trembled for fear, for having once been captured by pirates 
 at Newfoundland, he knew — one wrong word and the knife 
 was at his throat. After a short pause, he said, " I believed 
 you were gentlemen of fortune belonging to the sea." At 
 this the Portuguese, a little pacified, said, " You lie, we are 
 pirates." 
 
 After vapouring for some time, the pirate asked, in a 
 sneering tone, why Roberts had not put on his clothes to 
 visit gentleman. Roberts re2:)lied, that he did not know of 
 the visit when he dressed, and, besides, came in snch a 
 fright on account of their threats, that he had ver}'^ little 
 thought or stomach to change clothes, still, if it would please 
 them to grant him the liberty, he would go and put on 
 better clothes, hoping it was not yet too late. " D — n you," 
 said the pirate, "yes, it is too late ; what clothes you took 
 you shall keep, but your sloop and what is in her is ours." 
 
426 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 Koberts said, he perceived it was, but hoped, as he lay at 
 their mercy, they would be so generous as to take only what 
 they had occasion for, and leave him the rest. 
 
 The Portuguese said, " that was a company business, and 
 he could say notliing about that yet." He then bade him 
 give an account of his cargo and money, and of everything 
 aboard his sloop, for if upon rummaging they found the 
 least article concealed, they would burn the vessel and him. 
 in her. The pirates standing by also begged him to make 
 a full discovery of all money, arms, and ammunition, which 
 were the chief things they sought after, for it was their way 
 to punish liars and concealers very severely. Roberts then 
 drew up an account from memory, and asked to see his 
 ship's papers that he might complete it. Russel said, " No, 
 he would take care of the papers, and if anything was found 
 missing in the inventory he must look out for squalls." 
 During this time the pirates were rummaging the sloop, but 
 found nothing but a ring and a pair of silver buckles not 
 inserted in the list. 
 
 During the capture a Portuguese priest and six black 
 fishermen taken on board at the Isle of Sal, who had been 
 sent on shore, escaped to the hills. Pussel, seeing them, 
 told Roberts that he had captured the fishing sloop to which 
 the fugitives belonged, but one of his gang had run away 
 with it, carrying ofi' .£800 in cash, in addition. Russel then 
 slipped cable, and made Roberts pilot them to Paraghisi, in 
 company with their other vessel, the Rose Pink, of thirty- 
 six guns, commanded by Edmund Loe, their commodore. 
 At Paraghisi they landed thirty-five men and cai)tured the 
 fugitive priest, five negroes, and the old governor's son. 
 Russel on his return was received with great ceremony by 
 his commander, the gunner acting: as master of the ceremo- 
 nies and presenting Roberts. 
 
 Captain Loe welcomed him aboard with the usual com- 
 pliments, " It's not my desire, captain," lie said, "to meet 
 with any of my countrymen (but rather foreigners), except- 
 incf some few whom I want to chastise for their rogfuishness : 
 but, however, since fortune has ordered it so that you have 
 fallen into our hands, I would have you be of good cheer 
 and not cast down." 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 427 
 
 Hoberts replied, " I am very sorry, sir, that I chanced to 
 fall in your way, but I feel I am still in the hands of gentle- 
 men of honour and generosity, in whose power it is still to 
 make my capture no misfortune." 
 
 Loe said, " It does not lie singly in my breast, for all 
 business of this nature is determined by a majority of votes 
 in the whole company, and though neither I nor, I belie ve^ 
 any of the rest desire to meet with any of our nation, yet 
 when we do it cannot well be avoided to take as our own 
 what Providence sends us ; and, as we are gentlemen who 
 depend entirely on fortune, we durst not be so ungrateful to 
 her as to despise any of her favours, however mean, for fear 
 that she might withdraw her hand and leave us to perish for 
 lack of those very things we had slighted." 
 
 After this philosophical utterance, the great man, who sat 
 astride on a great gun, and not, like other potentates, in a 
 chair of state, without moving from his place begged 
 Koberts, with much condescension, to make himself at home, 
 requesting to know what he would drink. The broken- 
 spirited man, still trembling for his life, replied, " He did 
 not care then much for drinking, but out of a sense of the 
 honour they did him in asking he would drink anything 
 he chose." Loe told him " Not to be cast down, it was the 
 
 fortune of war : d , sir, care killed the cat, and fretting 
 
 thinned the blood and was d bad for the health. To 
 
 please the company he should be brisk and cheerful, and he 
 would soon have better fortune." 
 
 He then rang the bell and bade one of the valets de cahane 
 bring in a bowl of punch. This was brought and mixed in 
 a rich silver bowl holding two gallons. He then called for 
 some wine, and two bottles of claret beinsr brought, Roberts 
 sipped at the claret while Loe drained the bowl with his 
 usual philosoi:>hy and contentment. As he grew warm with 
 
 the fragrant draught, he told Koberts that .he was a d d 
 
 good fellow, and he would do him all the favours he could, 
 but wished he had had the good fortune to be have been 
 captured ten days earlier, when they had taken two Portu- 
 guese outward bound Brazilmen, laden with c^oth, woollens, 
 hats, silk, and iron, for he believed he could have prevailed 
 on his company to have loaded Koberts's ship. " But now, 
 
"428 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 unfortunately," he added, as he put down the empty bowl, 
 " they had no goods at all, having flung all the Brazil stuffs 
 into David Jones's locker (the sea). He did not know, how- 
 ever, but he might meet Roberts again (such things did 
 come round), and then if it lay in his way he would 
 make Roberts a return for his loss, for he might depend 
 on his readiness to serve him as far as his power or interest 
 could reach." To this outburst of sympathy Roberts replied 
 by bowing and sipping his unrelished glass of claret. 
 
 While they were talking word was brought that Quarter- 
 master-General Russel had arrived with the prisoners, and 
 the commodore, ordering the empty bowl to be removed, 
 bade them come in. Russel, the chief ofticers, and the 
 prisoners then crowded into the cabin, and to the question 
 of " How goes the game ?" Russel gave an account of his 
 expedition. On landing they had at once seized two blacks, 
 who had been sent by the governor as heralds, and used 
 them as guides. Though the road was uneven and rocky, 
 they reached the town, twelve miles distant, that night, 
 surprising the governor and priest. Russel told them, that 
 hearing they had great stores of dollars hoarded up, he had 
 come to share it with them, as it was one rule of his trade 
 to keep money moving and circulation brisk. The priest 
 said they had none, and the island was barren and uncul- 
 tivated. Russel said he had only two senses, seeing and 
 feeling, which would convince him the information was 
 false. The priest then lit a number of consecrated wax- 
 candles, and allowed them to search. They found, however, 
 nothing but twenty dollars, which he did not think worth 
 taking. The men then lay down to sleep, keeping their 
 arms loaded and their pistols slung, and setting a watch. 
 The next morning he carried the prisoners to the boats. 
 
 Upon this tame conclusion, Loe, who had been sitting 
 patient and quiet as a judge, started up and said, inter- 
 rupting Russel, " Zounds ! what satisfaction is this to me 
 or the company 1 We did not want these black fools, 
 
 d n them ! No, we wanted their money, and if they 
 
 had none, they might have stayed ashore or gone to the 
 devil." 
 
 Russel, nettled at this rebuke, replied fiercely, " I have 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. _ 429 
 
 as much interest in getting the money as any of the com- 
 pany, and did as much to find it : I don't believe there was 
 more than we saw, and that wouldn't have been sixpence a 
 head, a trifle not worth having our name called in question 
 for. For my part, I am for something that is worth taking, 
 and if I can't light on such, I never will give the world 
 occasion to say that I am a poor sneaking rogue and mean- 
 spirited fellow. No, I will rob for something of value, or 
 not at all, especially among these people, where, if our com- 
 pany breaks, we may look for a place of refuge ; and I 
 boldly affirm that it is a fool's act to draw on us their 
 odium by such peddling thefts, that would be by all men 
 accounted a narrow-souled, beggarly action, and would be 
 cursed to all futurity by this fraternity, who might suffer 
 for its effects." 
 
 Captain Loe, abashed by the murmur of approval that 
 followed this speech, said, " it was all very true, and (;arried 
 a deal of reason with it, that he was satisfied with Russel's 
 judgment and courage in the affair ; but come," says he, 
 " let us do nothing rashly " — and filling a bumper, drank to 
 Russel, Avishing Roberts better success in his next voyage. 
 
 Russel then went on shore again, and, finding the priest 
 had escaped to the mountains, told the governor, an old 
 negro, that he should burn the town to ashes if he was not 
 brought in in three hours' time. The governor said the 
 thing was impossible, that he lay at their mercy, and hoped 
 he would not destroy the innocent for the guilty. Russel 
 declared the doom should not be deferred, but promised the 
 priest should not be killed if he surrendered himself. While 
 parties of blacks were on the hunt, Russel ordered an ox to 
 be roasted for his men, and a pipe of wine to be broached ; 
 and on the priest being captured, treated all the natives at 
 their Christian minister's expense, leaving him to extract it 
 from them again in tithes. 
 
 The priest and governor, when they heard they were to 
 be taken on board, to assure Loe of their poverty, prayed 
 not to be detained as slaves. Russel told them he was a 
 Catholic, and no harm should be done them. They were 
 soon afterwards released. Loe then ordered a hammock for 
 Roberts, till his own and ship's fate were decreed by the 
 
430 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 company, telling him generously, in language rather meta- 
 phorical than strictly accurate, that everything in the ship 
 was at his command, and begging him not to vary his usual 
 course of hours, drinking or comj)any. Next morning about 
 eight, as Roberts was pacing unemployed and melancholy on 
 the deck, three pirates came up to him, and said that they 
 had once sailed with him on board the Susannah, in 1718. 
 They expressed sorrow for his ill luck, and promised to do 
 something for him. They said they had fifty pieces of white 
 linens, and eight of silk, and that when the company had 
 agreed to restore him his ship, they would make interest to 
 load it. Then looking about as if wishing to tell him a 
 secret, and seeing the deck clear, which it seldom was in 
 pirate vessels, with much concern they informed him that if 
 he did not take abundance of care, he would be forced to 
 stay with them, for their mate had found that he knew the 
 coast of Brazil, whither they were bound after they had 
 scoured that of Guinea, and they would take him as pilot. 
 Then enjoining him to secrecy (for their lives depended 
 upon it), they said they had been in close consultation as to 
 his fate, and had almost agreed to take him as a forced 
 prisoner. They had praised him as kind to his men, and 
 a good paymaster, and, knowing the pirate law that no 
 married man could be forced to join their sliips, swore at 
 a hazard that he was married, and had four children. His 
 mate had turned informer, but he was as yet ignorant of 
 their articles, which they never showed till they were 
 signed. His only chance of escape was to keep up their 
 story. Russel, one of the council, had been in favour of 
 breaking through the law in this special case, and keeping 
 Ivo})erts at all events till they couM catch another guide, 
 but Loe was opposed to it, telling them it would be an ill 
 precedent and of bad consequence, for that if once they took 
 the liberty of breaking their articles and oath, nothing 
 would be sure. I'hey added that most of the company 
 being of Loe's opinion, Russel was vexed and determined if 
 possible to break the articles. 
 
 Soon after they were gone, Loe came on deck, and bidding 
 him good morrow, with many compliments, ordered the flag, 
 the signal for consultation, to be hoisted. This they called 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 431 
 
 *' the green trumpeter," and was a green silk . flag, with 
 the figure of a trumpeter in yellow, and hoisted on the 
 niizen peak. Upon this all came on board to breakfast, 
 crowding both cabin and steerage. 
 
 After breakfast Loe asked Roberts, as if casually, if he 
 was married and had children. The latter answered he had 
 five and perhaps six, for one was on the stocks when he 
 came away. He then asked him if he had left them well 
 provided for. Roberts replied, he had left his wife in such 
 indifferent circumstances, having met with recent misfor- 
 tunes, that the greater part of his substance was in that 
 ship and cargo, ai:d it that failed they would want even for 
 bread. 
 
 Loe then turned to Russel and said, " It won't do, 
 Russel." 
 
 " What won't do 1 " replied the quarter-master. 
 
 " You know what I mean," said Loe ; " it must not and it 
 shall not be, by " 
 
 " It must and shall be, by " replied Russel ; " ' Self- 
 preservation is the first law of nature,' and ' Necessity knows 
 no law,' says the adage." 
 
 " Well," says Loe, " it shall never be by my consent." 
 
 The rest of the company then declared it was a pity, and 
 ought to be seriously weighed and put to the vote. Loe 
 said, indeed it oucfht, and that there was no time like the 
 present to determine the matter. The rest all cried, " Ay, 
 it is best to end it now." Loe then ordered all hands upon 
 deck, and bade Roberts stay in the cabin. 
 
 In about two hours (awful hours for Roberts, to sit listen- 
 ing for shouts or cries), Loe came down, and asked him how 
 he did. Russel said, with a frown, " Master, your sloop is 
 very leaky." 
 
 Roberts replied it was, wishing to depreciate its value. 
 
 " Leaky," said Russel, " I don't know what you could do 
 with her if we gave her you, for all your hands now belong 
 to us." Russel then continued to taunt him for his want of 
 cargo and provision, as if to give a keener edge to his 
 misery. 
 
 At last, " Come, come," said Loe, " let us toss the bowl 
 about, and call a fresh CQurse." 
 
432 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 They then proceeded to carouse and talk of their past 
 transactions at Newfoundland, the Western Islands, the 
 Canaries, &c., and at dinner tore their food one from the 
 other, thinking such ferocity looked martial. 
 
 Next morning one of the three men contrived to speak to 
 Roberts, and a])ologized for his caution, as they had an 
 article making it death to hold any secret correspondence 
 with a prisoner. He then informed him that his own mate 
 was his great enemy, and seemed likely to turn rogue and 
 enter with them, leaving him only a boy and a child to 
 manage the sloop. Both he and his companions heartily 
 wished to join him, but found it would be death even to 
 mention it, as they had an article that any of the company 
 advising or merely sj)eaking of separation should be shot to 
 death by the quarter-master's order, without even court- 
 martial. Kussel had been Roberts' friend till the mate had 
 told him of his captain's knowledge of Brazil, and had even 
 planned a gathering for him nearly equal in value to what 
 they had taken ; for it was a custom in pirate vessels to keep 
 a spare stock of linen, silk, gold lace, and clothes, to give to 
 any prisoner whom they took a liking to or had known 
 before. Loe was his friend, the sailor assured him, but that 
 he could do little against Russel, who had really more power 
 and sway than anyone else. 
 
 Some time after this man left him. Captain Loe turned 
 out, and, passing the usual compliments, sent for some rum, 
 and discoursed on many indifferent subjects. Upon all of 
 these Roberts was obliged to appear interested, dreading 
 this sea-despot's displeasure. Perhaps a button-holder, like 
 this Trunnion, never had so attentive an auditor, or so hearty 
 an applauder of anecdotes, good or bad. 
 
 About ten o'clock Russel, the evil genius, came on board, 
 and accosted Roberts in an agreeable manner, trying to con- 
 ciliate him itito consenting to his proposal. He said, he had 
 been considering Roberts's scheme, and did not see how he 
 could carry it through. He believed Roberts was a man of 
 understanding, but in this case was directed by sheer 
 desperation rather than reason. For his part he did not 
 think it would stand with the credit or rei:)utation of the 
 company to put it into his power to throw himself wilfully 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 433 
 
 away, as he seemed determined to do. Wishing him indeed 
 well, he had been thinking all night upon a scheme which, 
 without exposing him to danger, would turn out more to 
 his advantage than anything he could expect by getting the 
 sloop. (Here Roberts's eye brightened.) He had resolved 
 to sink or burn the sloop, and detain Roberts as a prisoner, 
 ali the com})any promising to give him the first prize they 
 took, or to allow him to join their crew. This would be the 
 making of him, and enable him to soon leave off sea, and 
 live ashore if he were so inclined. 
 
 Roberts thanked him, but said he thought he should 
 gather no advantage from such a plan, for he could not 
 dispose of a ship or cargo without a lawful power to sell, 
 and if the owners heard of it, he should be either obliged to 
 make restitution, or be thrown into prison, and run the 
 hazard of his own life. 
 
 Russel replied that his objections w^ere frivolous, and 
 could easily be evaded. To avoid detection, they would 
 make him a bill of sale, and give him powers in writing that 
 would answer any inquiry. As for the owners, they would 
 take care from the ship's writings, which they always firs^ 
 seized, to let him know who were the owners of the cargo, 
 and where they lived. These writings should be made in a 
 false name, which Roberts could assume till all were sold. 
 
 Roberts said there was abundant address in his contrivance, 
 and much plausibility in the w^iole. But were he even sure 
 that all would turn out well, he had a still stronger motive 
 than any he had yet mentioned, and that was his dread of 
 the continual sting and accusation of his conscience. He 
 then, with more courage than he had hitherto shown, began 
 to expiate on the duty of restitution, and tried to awaken 
 his hearers to some sense of the sin of piracy. 
 
 Many said, with a laugh, he would do well to preach a 
 sermon, and would make a good chaplain. Others shouted 
 that they Avanted no preaching there. " Pirates had no God 
 but money, no Saviour but their muskets." A few approved 
 of what he said, and declared that if a little goodness, or at 
 least, rude humanity, was in practice among them, their 
 reputation would be a little better both with God and man. 
 
 A short silence followed, which Captain Russel broke by 
 
 2 F 
 
434 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 employing some Jesuitical sophistry, to persuade Roberts 
 that it would be no sin for him merely to accept what they 
 had stolen, since he had no hand in the theft, and was their 
 constrained prisoner. " Suppose," he said, " we should still 
 resolve to sink or burn your sloop, unless you will accept of 
 her. Now, where, I pray, is the owner's property when the 
 ship is sunk or burnt 1 I think the impossibility of his ever 
 having her again cuts it off to all intents and pur})oses, and 
 our power was the same, notwithstanding our giving her to 
 you, if we had thought lit to make use of it." 
 
 Tioe and the rest here burst out laughing, declared it was 
 as good as a X)lay to hear the two argue, and that Roberts 
 was a match for Russel, though few could generally stand up 
 to him in a fight with mere words. 
 
 Roberts, not allowing this praise to overbalance his pru- 
 dence, would not drive Russel further, seeing him vexed at 
 their ai)plau3e. He merely said, that he knew he was abso- 
 lutely in their power to dispose of as they pleased, but that 
 having hitherto been treated so generously by them, he could 
 not doubt of their future goodness to him. That if they 
 would please to give him his sloop again, it was all he 
 requested at their hands, and that, he doubted not, by his 
 honest endeavours, he should be able to retrieve his present 
 loss. 
 
 Upon this. Captain Loe said, " Gentleman, the master, I 
 must needs say, has spoke nothing but what I think is very- 
 reasonable, and I think he ought lo have his sloop. What 
 do you say, gentlemen ?" The majority cried out with one 
 
 voice, " Ay, ay, by G let the poor man have his sloop 
 
 again, and go, in God's name, and seek a living in her for 
 his family." 
 
 In the evening Russel insisted on treating Roberts on 
 board his own schooner before his departure. All passed off 
 well till after supper, when a bowl of punch and half a dozen 
 of claret were put on the table. The captain first took a 
 bumper, wishinsj success to the undertaking, and this toast 
 passed round, Roberts not daring to refuse to drink. The 
 next health was, " Prosperity to our trade." The third, 
 " Health to the king of France." Russel then proposed 
 " The king of England's health," and all drank it, some 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAK. 435 
 
 repeating liis words, others saying, " Tlie aforesaid health." 
 JuvSt before it came to Roberts, Russel poured two bottles of 
 claret into the punch, and his prisoner, disliking this mixture, 
 begged to pledge the health in a bumper of claret. 
 
 At this heresy, E-ussel, who had laid his trap, flew into a 
 
 passion, '' D " he said, " you shall drink in your turn a 
 
 full bumper of that sort of liquor the company does." — 
 " Well, then, gentlemen," said Koberts, '•' rather than have 
 words, I will drink, though it is in a manner poison to me." 
 — '' Curse you," said Russel ; " if it be in a manner or out of 
 a manner, or really rank poison, you shall drink as much and 
 as often as any one here, unless you fall down dead, dead." 
 
 Then Roberts, dreading a quarrel with his old enemy, 
 took the glass, which held about three quarters of a pint, and 
 filling a bumper, said, '' The aforesaid health." — " What 
 health is that?" said Russel. "Why," answered Roberts, 
 " the health you have all drank — the king of England's 
 health."— " Who is king of En aland ?" said Russel. "In 
 my opinion," said Roberts, '• he that wears the crown is cer- 
 tainly king of England." — " Well," argued his opponent, 
 " and who is that?" Upon his saying King George, he 
 swore at him, and said the English had no king. Roberts 
 replied, laughing, " He wondered he should begin and drink 
 a health to a person who was not in being." At this quip 
 Russel drew a pistol from his sash, and would have shot his 
 unoffending enemy dead, had not the gunner snatched it out 
 of his hand. At this, Russel, who was a Roman Catholic 
 and a Jacobite, grew still more maddened, and fired another 
 at Roberts, saying, " The Pretender is the only lawful king." 
 The master striking down the barrel, the pistol went off 
 without doing mischief. 
 
 High words then arose between Russel and the gunner, 
 and the latter, addressing the company, said, " Well, gentle- 
 men, if you have a mind to maintain these laws, made, 
 established, and sworn to by us all, as I think we are obli- 
 gated by the strongest ties of reason and self-interest to do, 
 I assure you my opinion is, that we ought to secure John 
 Russel, so as to prevent his breaking our constitution." 
 
 When Russel attempted, still in a passion, to defend his 
 conduct, the gunner declared, " That no man's life should be 
 
 2 F 2 
 
43G THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 taken away in cold blood till the company, under whose care 
 he was, had so decreed it." Then accusing him of hating 
 Koberts, merely because he had been prevented from break- 
 ing the articles by detaining him, he left the spot. 
 . Bussel's arms were next taken away, and Roberts, being 
 guarded during the night, was sent to the commodore in the 
 morninsr, there beinsf a law among them to receive no boats 
 aboard after nine o'clock at night. 
 
 About four in the afternoon Russel came to Loe, with 
 Spriggs, the commander of the other ship, and told him that 
 Hoberts's mate was willing to join them as a volunteer. 
 Loe said, in that case Roberts would have no one but a child 
 to help him ; and he thought, in reason, they could not give 
 him less than the mate and two boys. 
 
 Russel said he could not help that, " the mate was a brisk, 
 lusty young fellow, and had been upon the account before. 
 He had declared he would not go in the sloop unless forced ; 
 that when he first came to Barbadoes his resolve had been 
 to ship himself on board the first pirate he met with." Loe 
 replied, " That to give the master a vessel without men was 
 only putting him to a lingering death, and they had better 
 knock him on the head at once." 
 
 Russel replied, " As for that, they might do as they pleased ; 
 he spoke for the good of the company and according to arti- 
 cles, and he should like to see or hear the man who dared to 
 gainsay it. He was quarter-master, and by the authority of 
 that ofiice should at once enter the mate, and had a pistol 
 and a brace of bullets for any who opposed him." Loe said 
 he would not argue against law and custom, but he thought 
 if they kept the mate they should substitute another man. 
 
 Russel said, with an oath, grinding his teeth, " No, the 
 sloop's men were enrolled already in his books, and he 
 should rub no names out." Then turning to Roberts, he 
 added, " The company, master, has decreed you your sloop, 
 and you shall have her , you shall have your two boys, that's 
 all : but you shall have neither provisions nor anything else 
 more than she has now. And, as I hear some of the com- 
 pany design to make a gathering for you, that also I forbid, 
 by the authority of my office, because we are not certain 
 but we may have occasion ourselves for those very things 
 
AXD THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 437 
 
 before we get more. And I swear by all that's good and 
 bad, if I know anything that's carried or left on board the 
 slooj) against ray order, or without my knowledge, I will set 
 her on fire that very instant, and you with her." 
 
 After a little more dispute and feeble and intimidated re- 
 sistance to this violence, Russel's stern resolution and heart- 
 less villany carried the day, and about dusk they parted, each 
 to his own ship, several professing kindness to Roberts, but 
 none giving him anything. When Russel was ready, he sent 
 Roberts into his boat, and bringing him to his ov/n ship, 
 ordered supper for him, and bottles, and pipes and tobacco, 
 being set on the table, he invited Roberts and his officers 
 into his cabin. 
 
 His revenge was now accomplished and the wretch, now 
 resolved to make Roberts taste the tortures of death, by an- 
 ticipation, addressing him with a sneer worthy of the 
 aj)plause of hell. 
 
 " Captain Roberts," he said, " you are very welcome, and 
 I pra}^ you eat and drink heartily, for you have as tedious a 
 voyage to go through as Elijah in his forty days' journey to 
 Horeb, and, as far as I know, without a miracle, it must be 
 only by the strength of what-tyou now eat, for you shall have 
 neither eatables nor drinkables with you in the sloop." 
 Roberts replied, " I hope not so," but Russel answered he 
 would find it certainly true. 
 
 Roberts then said, that rather than be put on board the 
 sloop in that manner, when there was no possibility of es- 
 caping but by a miracle, he should be glad to be sent ashore 
 on some island off the coast of Guinea, or even to tarry on 
 board till an opportunity occurred to land where he pleased, 
 for he would yield to anything else they should think fit to 
 do with him, except entering into their service. 
 
 Russel answered with an oath, the usual prelude of a 
 pirate's harangue, that it had been once in his ]iower to have 
 been his own friend, but as he chose to slight their proftered 
 favours, and had made that choice, he must now take it, as 
 all apologies were too late ; and he thought he had. proved 
 himself a better friend than Roberts could have expected, 
 since he had caused him to have more differences with his 
 company than he had ever had before. 
 
438 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 Eoberts pleaded the innocence of his intentions, and in- 
 treated Russel and all the gentlemen present to consider him 
 an object rather of pity than vengeance. But his tormentor, 
 more inexorable than a headsman, said : " All yonr whining 
 arguments, you dog, are now too late. You not only re- 
 fused our commiseration when it was offered, but ungrate- 
 fully despised it. Your lot is cast, and you have nothing to 
 do l3ut to go through your chance with a good face. Fill 
 your belly w4th victuals and good drink, and strengthen 
 yourself for three days or so, or have some brandy and die 
 drunk, and be happy. This is your last meal in this world, 
 so fail not to make the most of it. Yet, perhaps, such a 
 conscientious man as you pretend to be may have a miracle 
 worked for you, but for my own part I don't believe God 
 himself, if there is one, could help you. I pity the boys, 
 and have a great mind, Roberts, to keep them on board, and 
 let the miracle be worked on you alone." 
 
 The master and governor said they heard the boys were 
 willing to take their chance with the master, let it be what 
 it would. " Nay, then," said Russel, " it is fit the young 
 devils should, and I suppose the master has made them as 
 religious and conscientious as himself However, master," 
 he cried, " eat and drink heartily ; this is yonr last supper, 
 as the priests call it, and don't try to change your allotted 
 fate, or it may provoke us to treat you worse." 
 
 " Gentlemen," said Roberts, with a resignation that would 
 have touched any other man, " I have done ; you can do no 
 more than God is pleased to permit you, and I own for that 
 reason I ought to take it patiently. God forgive you." 
 " Well, well," said Russel, " if it is done by God's ])ermissiou, 
 you need not fear He will permit any harm to befall one of 
 his peculiar elect." 
 
 About ten at night, in order that darkness might add to 
 his dismay, some of Russel's partisans brought the sloop's 
 boat. In answer to an inquiry as to whether they had 
 cleared the vessel as he had ordered, they rejjlied with an 
 oath, "Ay, ay, she has nothing on board except ballast and 
 water." " Zounds," said Russel, staraj)ing on the deck, 
 " did I not bid you stave all the casks that had water in 
 them 1 " " So we have," was the reply ; " the water we 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 439 
 
 mean is salt water leaked in, and now above the ballast, for 
 we have not pumped her, we don't know when." He asked 
 if they had brought away the sails. They said they had, all 
 but the mainsail that was bent, for the other old mainsail 
 was so rotten it was only fit to cut up for parcelling, and was 
 so torn it could not be brought to, and was past mending. 
 
 " Zounds," said Paissel, " we must have it, for I want it to 
 make us a mainsail. The same miraculous Power that 
 brings the rogue provisions will bring him sails." 
 
 " What a devil, is he a conjuror 1 " said one. 
 
 " No, no ! " replied Russel, " but he expects miracles to be 
 wrought for him, or he would never have chosen what 
 he has." 
 
 " Nay, nay, if he be such a one, he will do well enough." 
 
 " But 1 doubt," cried another, " if he be such a mighty 
 conjuror, for if he was, how the devil was it that he did not 
 conjure himself clear of us? " 
 
 " Pish ! " cried a third, " may be his conjuring books were 
 all shut up." 
 
 " Ay," said a fourth, " now we have all his conjuration 
 books overboard, I doubt he'll be hard put to it." 
 
 The gunner alone seemed to retain any trace of humanity, 
 he bade Russel take care he had not this to answer for some 
 day when he would be sorry for it. " Howsumdever," he 
 said, "you've got the company's assent, I can't tell how, 
 and, therefore, I shall say no more, only that I, and I 
 believe most of the gentlemen came here to get money, but 
 not to kill, except in fight, much less in cold^blood, or for 
 private revenge. And I tell you, Jack Russel, if ever such 
 cases as these be any more practised, my endeavours will be 
 to leave this company as soon as convenient." 
 
 Russel made no answer, but ordered his men to fetch the 
 mainsail from the sloop. He then gave Roberts an old 
 w^orm-eaten musket, a damp cartridge, and two half pounds 
 of tobacco "as a parting present." His victim was then 
 conducted with great ceremony over the side into his own 
 boat, and put on board with his two boys. 
 
 As their boat was putting away, Roberts thought he 
 heard his mate's voice, so he called to him and said, "Arthur! 
 what, are you going to leave me"?" A voice replied, for it 
 
440 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 was pitcli dark, "Ay." "What!" said Eoberts, "do you 
 do it voluntarily, or are you forced ?" He answered faintly, 
 "I am forced, I think!" Roberts answered "Yery well." 
 The mate then called out and asked Roberts, if he ever had 
 an opportunity, to write and give his brother an account ot 
 him. Roberts asked where he lived, and the mate replied 
 at Carlingford, in Ireland. Now this mate the captain had 
 picked up at Barbadoes, a naked shipwrecked man, who had 
 served in a New England sloop. He had bought him clothes 
 and instruments, and treated him with sympathy and kind- 
 ness. He was a rigid Presbyterian, a great arguer on 
 theological points, and a loud inveigher against the Church 
 of England. Although he had never before been heard to 
 utter an oath, as soon as Russel persuaded him to join the 
 pirate crew, he became constantly drunk, and outdid them 
 all in blasphemy and wickedness, but he had told his new 
 companions so much of Roberts's kindness, that but for 
 Russel they would not have allowed him to join them. 
 
 Next morning Roberts proceeded to ruinmage the sloop, 
 and sweeping out the bread lockers, he found about his hat 
 crown full of biscuit crumbs, some broken jiipes, and a few 
 screws of tobacco. They had left his forestaif, but took his 
 bedding, although they generally lay upon deck, or against 
 a gun carriage. In the hold, the more merciful had left ten 
 gallons of rum in one hogshead, and thirty pcmnds of rice in 
 another, with three pints of water and a little flour, toge- 
 ther with some needles and twine, sufficient to repair his 
 rotten sails. A day or two afterwards they caught a shark, 
 which they boiled for several dinners, using the shark's 
 liver, melted, for oil. He soon after reached Curisal, 
 obtained a negro crew, was wrecked, built a boat, and was 
 eventually taken home by an English ship. 
 
 Scarcely less interesting than this narrative of Roberts is 
 that of Captain William Snelgrave, Avho was engaged in the 
 slave trade on the Guinea coast in 1738. Having escaped 
 one of the dreaded Salee rovers, he was taken at Sierra Leone 
 by Captain Cocklyn of the Rising Sun, a pirate commanding 
 three vessels and a gang of eighty men. He had been 
 marooned by a man named Moody, but had gradually 
 collected men, and captured, in a short time, ten English 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 441 
 
 vessels. Moody's crew, soon after Cocklyn's departure, 
 disliking their captain's cruelty, put him and twelve more in 
 an open boat, whicli they had taken from the Spaniards off 
 the Canary Islands, and chose a Frenchman named Le Bouce 
 as their commander, who instantly put back and joined 
 Cocklyn, wliom they liked because he was fierce and brutal, 
 being resolved to have no more gentlemanlike captains like 
 Moody. 
 
 The next day Davis, the pirate, arrived with 150 well 
 disciplined men, the black flag flying at his mast-head. 
 
 The evening Snelgrave entered the river he observed 
 a suspicious snjoke on land, but his mate said it was only 
 travellers roasting oysters, and it appeared afterwards that 
 he was a traitor. On standing in for the river's mouth, the 
 pirate vessels appeared in sight. Towards dusk he heard a 
 boat approaching, so he ordered twenty men to get ready 
 their firearms and cutlasses. Lanterns being brought and 
 the boat hailed, the pirates fired a volley at the ship, being 
 then within pistol shot distance, a daring act for twelve 
 men, who were attacking a ship of sixteen guns and forty- 
 five men. 
 
 When they began to near, the captain called out to fire 
 from the steerage port- holes. This not being done, he went 
 below, and found his people staring at each other, and 
 declaring they could not find the arm-chest. The pirates 
 instantly boarded, fired down the steerage, shooting a sailor 
 in the loins, and throwing hand grenades amongst them. 
 On their calling for "mercy," the quarter-master, who 
 always headed the pirate boarders, came down from the 
 quarterdeck and inquired for the captain, asking how he 
 dared to fire. On Snelgrave saying it was his duty to 
 defend his ship, the quarter-master presented a pistol at his 
 breast, but he parried it, and the bullet passed under his 
 arm. The wretch then struck him on the head with the 
 butt end, bringing him on his knees. On his getting up 
 and running to the quarterdeck, the pirate boatswain made 
 a blow at his head with his broadsword, swearing no 
 quarter should be offered to any captain who dared to 
 defend his vessel. The blow missed him, but the blade cut 
 an inch deep in the quarterdeck rail, and there broke. The 
 
442 THE PIRATES OF NEAV PROVIDENCE 
 
 pirate's pistols being all unloaded, he then struck at him 
 with the butt end of one of them till the crew cried out for 
 his life, and said they had never sailed with a better man. 
 One of the crew, however, had his chin cut off; another fell 
 for dead on the deck. The quarter-master who came up, 
 told him he should be cut to pieces if his men did not 
 recover the pirate's boat that had run adrift. On recovering 
 this, he took him by the hand, and declared his life was safe 
 if none of liis crew complained of him. The pirate then 
 fired several volleys for joy at their recovery, but forgetting 
 to hail their companions, were fired on by the otlier ships. 
 When Snelgrave questioned the quarter-master why he did 
 not use his speaking trumpet, he asked him angrily whether 
 he was afraid of going to the devil by a great shot, " for 
 that he hoped to be sent to hell by a cannon ball some time 
 or other." 
 
 The pirates now prepared for dinner by cramming geese, 
 turkeys, fowls, and ducks, all impicked, into the furnace, 
 with some Westphalia hams, and a large sow in pig, which 
 they only bowelled, leaving the hair on. Soon after this, a 
 sailor came to Snelgrave to ask him what o'clock it was, 
 and on the captain's presenting him with his watch, laid it 
 on the deck, and kicked it about, saying it would make a 
 good football. One of the pirates then caught it up, and said 
 it should go into the common chest, and be sold at the mast. 
 
 Snelgrave was soon after carried on board the pirate ship. 
 The commander told him he was sorry for the bad usage he 
 had met with, but it was the fortune of war, and that if he 
 did not answer truly every question he would be cut into 
 even ounces, but that if he told the truth, they would make 
 it the best voyage he had ever taken. One of them asked 
 if his ship sailed well on wind, and on his saying, " Very 
 well," Cocklyn threw up his hat, saying she would make a 
 brave ])irate man-of-war. A tall fellow, with four pistols in 
 his belt, and a broadsword in his hand, then came up and 
 claimed him as an old schoolfellow, and told him secretly 
 that he was a forced man, having been mate in a Bristol 
 vessel lately captured, and was obliged to go armed. He 
 told him also that at night, when the pirates drauk hard, 
 was the time of most danger for prisoners. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAT?. 443 
 
 A bowl of punch was tlien ordered, and tlie men, going 
 into the great cabin, sat on the floor cross-legged, for want 
 of seats, diinking the Pretender's health by the name of 
 " King James the Third." At midnight they gave Snel- 
 grave a hammock, and his old s.'hoolfellow kept guard over 
 him with a drawn sword, but he could not sleep for the 
 songs and cursing. About two o'clock the pirate boatswain 
 came on board, and hearing Snelgrave was asleep, declared 
 he would slice liis liver for daring to fire at the boat, and 
 refusing to give up his watch. Griffin threatened to cleave 
 him if he came nearer, and struck at him with his sword. 
 In the morning, when all were sober, the sentinel complained 
 of the boatswain for infringing the pirate law, '' that no ill 
 usage be offered to prisoners when quarter has once been 
 given," The crew ])roposed the offender should be whijDped, 
 but Snelgrave prudently begged him off. Soon after, his 
 own first mate came to tell him that, being badly off and 
 having a scolding wife, he had joined the pirates. He found 
 out afterwards that he had hid the arm-chest, and dissuaded 
 the men from resistance. 
 
 The pirate then began to rummage the vessel, and not 
 caring for anything but money, threw overboard, before 
 night, about £4,000 worth of Indian bales. They broke up 
 his escritoires, and destroyed his chests of books, swearing 
 there was "jaw work enough for a whole nation." Against 
 all religious books they exercised a strict censorship, for fear 
 of any of the crew being roused to qualms of conscience, or 
 taking a dislike to the profession. The wine too began to 
 be passed freely round, and the pirates grew merciful, and 
 good-humouredly made up a bundle of clothes for the pri- 
 soners. At this moment one of Davis's crew, a pert young 
 fellow of eighteen, broke open a chest for plunder, and on 
 the quarter-master complaining, re})lied " that they were all 
 equal, and he thought he was in the right." The quarter- 
 master then struck at him with his sword, and pursued him 
 into Davis's cabin, where he thrust at him, and ran him 
 through the hand, wounding the captain as well. Davis 
 vowed revenge, saying that if his man had offended, no 
 one had a right to punish him, and especially in his presence. 
 He then instantly went on board his own ship, and bore 
 
444 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 down upon Cocklyn, who finally consented to make the 
 quarter-master beg ])aTclon for his fault. 
 
 Snelgrave was sitting in the cabin with the carpenter and 
 three or four other pirates, when the boatswain came down 
 very drunk, and beginning to abuse him was turned out of 
 the place. Soon after a pufF of wind put out the candle, 
 and the boatswain returning, declared Snelgrave had put it 
 out, with the design of going into the powder-roorn and 
 blowing up the ship ; and in spite of the carpenter declaring 
 it was done by accident, he drew a pistol and swore he 
 would blow out the dog's brains. In rising to blow in the 
 candle Snelgrave and the carpenter had, unknown to the 
 boatswain, changed places. The pistol flashing in the pan, 
 the carpenter saw by the light that he must have been shot 
 if it had gone off, and in a rage ran in the dark to the 
 boatswain, wrenched the pistol from his hand, and beat him 
 till he was nearly dead. The noise alarmed the ship, and 
 the disturber was carried off to bed. 
 
 The next morning Davis's crew came on board to divide 
 the wines and liquors. They hoisted on deck a great many 
 half hogshea^ds of claret and French brandy, knocked out 
 their heads and dipped out cans and bowls full, throwing 
 them at each other, and washing the decks with what was 
 left. The bottles they took no trouble to mark, but " nicked" 
 them, as they called it, by striking off their necks with a cut- 
 lass, spilling the contents of about one in every three. The 
 eatables were wasted in the same way. Three drunken 
 pirates coming into the cabin, and tumbling over Snelgrave's 
 bundles of clothes, threw three of the four overboard. A 
 fourth pirate, more sober tlian the rest, opened the remaining 
 bundle, and taking out a black suit and a wig, put them on 
 and strutted on deck, throwing them over in an hour, when 
 the crew had drenched him with claret. When Snelgrave 
 mildly expostulated with him on this robbery, he struck 
 him on the shoulder with the flat of his sword, whisper- 
 ing at the same time a caution never to dispute the will 
 of a pirate for fear he might get his skull split for his 
 impudence. 
 
 When night came on, Snelgrave had nothing left of four 
 bundles of clothes but a hat and wig, and these were soon 
 
& 
 
 AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 445 
 
 after put on by a drunken man, who staggered into tlie cabin, 
 saying be was "one of the most respectable merchants on 
 the African coast." As he was leaving the room, a sailor 
 came in and beat him severely for taking what he had no 
 right to, and thinking he was one of the crew. The inter- 
 poser then comforted Snelgrave, and promised to recover 
 what he had lost, while others of the crew brought him 
 food. 
 
 Next day Davis, ordering all the crews on the quarter- 
 deck, made a speech in Snelgrave's behalf, persuading them 
 to give him a ship and several thousand pounds' worth of 
 miscelhmeous plunder. One of the men proposed they 
 should take him with them down the Guinea coast, and 
 if they took a Portuguese vessel, to give him a cargo of 
 slaves. Down the coast he might sell his goods for gold-dust, 
 and then, sailing for St. Thomas's, sell his ship and the 
 slaves to the Danes, and return to London a rich man. Snel- 
 grave demurring to this, they grew angry, thinking their 
 gift would have been legal, but Davis kindly said, " I know 
 this man and can easily guess his thoughts, he thinks he 
 would lose his reputation. Now, I am for allowing every- 
 body to go to the devil in their own way, so beg you to give 
 him the remains of his own cargo, and let him do as he 
 thinks fit." 
 
 This they granted, but of his own adventure not more 
 than £50 worth was now left. The sailors had taken rolls 
 of fine Holland and opened them to lie down in on the deck. 
 Then when the others came and flung buckets of claret over 
 them, they flung the stained parcels overboard. In loading, 
 the pirates always drop])ed the bales over, if they were not 
 passed as quickly as they expected, The Irish beef they 
 threw away, Cocklyn saying Snelgrave had horsebeans enough 
 to last his crew six months. 
 
 Soon after this the brutal quarter-master fell sick of a fever, 
 and sent to Snelgrave to beg his forgiveness for having 
 attempted to shoot him. He said he had been a wicked 
 wretch, and th;it his conscience tormented him, for he feared 
 he should roll in hell fire. When Snelgrave preached repent- 
 ance he declared his heart was hardened, but he would try, 
 and he ordered Snelgrave to take any necessaries he wanted 
 
446 THE PIRATES OF NEW PR0VI1~>ENCE 
 
 from his chest, but died that night in terrible agonies and 
 cursing God. This so affected many of the new recruits that 
 they begged Snelgrave to get them off, and promised not to 
 be guilty of murder or other cruelty. In the cabiu the 
 pirates found some jjroclaraations, and being unable to read, 
 asked the prisoner to do it for them. He then read his 
 majesty's proclamation for a pardon to all pirates that should 
 surrender themselves at any of the British plantations by the 
 1st of July, 1719. The next was the declaration of war 
 against Spain. When they heard the latter, some said they 
 wished they had known it before they left the West Indies, 
 as they might have turned privateersmen, and have enriched 
 themselves. Snelgrave told them it was not yet too late, 
 there being still three months left of the term prescribed. 
 But when they heard the rewards offered for the apprehen- 
 sion of pirates, a Buccaneer, who had been guilty of murder, 
 treated the proclamation with contempt, and tore it in j)ieces. 
 Amongst other men that consulted Snelgrave was a sailor 
 named Curtis, who, being sick, walked about the deck wrapped 
 in a silk gown, He had sailed with Snelgrave's father. 
 Among other spoil, the three pirate captains had found a 
 box with three second-hand embroidered coats, which they 
 seized and put on. The longest falling to Cocklyn's share, 
 who was a short man, it reached to his ankles, but Le Bouce 
 and Davis refused to change with him, saying that, as he was 
 going on shore where the negro ladies knew nothing of white 
 men's fashions, it did not matter, and moreover, as his coat 
 was scarlet embroidered with silver, he would be the bravest 
 of them all. 
 
 These clothes being taken contrary to law, and without 
 the quarter-master's leave, the crew were offended, declaring 
 that if they suffered such things, the captains would assume 
 a new power, and soon take whatever they liked. The 
 next morning when their captains returned, the coats were 
 taken from them, and put into the common chest ; and it 
 having been reported that Snelgrave had advised the 
 costutne, many of the men turned against him, one of them 
 threatening to cut him to pieces. A sailor who stood near 
 told Snelgrave not to be frightened at the man's threat, for 
 Le always spoke in that way, and advised him to call him 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 447 
 
 " captain " when he came on board, for the fellow had once 
 been commander of a pirate sloop, did not like the i30st of 
 quarter- master, and loved to be called by his old title. On 
 entering the ship, Snelgrave said softly to him, " Captain 
 Williams, pray hear me on the point you are so offended 
 about." Upon this Williams gave him a playful blow on 
 the shoulder with the flat of his sword, and said, " I have 
 not the heart to hurt thee." He then explained the affair, 
 drank a glass of wine with him, and they were friends ever 
 after. The pirates next captured a French ship that they 
 had at first taken for a forty -gun ship in pursuit of them. 
 The men drunk and newly levied, might at this time have 
 easily been cut off, and the hundred sail of ships they after- 
 wards destroyed saved. When some of the men cried out that 
 they had never seen a gun fired in anger, Cocklvn caned them, 
 telling them they should soon learn to smell gunpowder. 
 The French captain they hung at the yard-arm for not 
 striking at their first shot. When they had pulled him 
 up and down several times till he was almost dead, Le 
 Bouce interfered for his countryman, protesting he would 
 sail no longer with such barbarous villains. They then 
 gave him the French ship, first destroying her cargo, cutting 
 her masts by the board, and running her on shore, as old 
 and useless. 
 
 Snelgrave's ship being now fitted up by the pirates, he 
 "was invited to its christening. The officers stood round the 
 great cabin, holding bumpers of punch in their hands ; and 
 on Captain Cocklyn saying, " God bless the Wyndham 
 galley," they drank the liquor, broke their glasses, and the 
 guns thundered a broadside. 
 
 The new ship being galley-built with only two flush decks, 
 the powder-room scuttle was in the chief cabin, and at that 
 time stood open. One of the guns blowing at the touch- 
 hole, set tire to some cartouch-boxes that held small-arm 
 cartridges, the shot of which flew about, filling the room 
 with smoke. When it was over, Davis remarked on the 
 great danger they had been in, the scuttle having been all 
 the time open, and 20,000 ib. weight of powder lying under. 
 Cocklyn rejjlied with a curse, " 1 wish it had taken fire, for 
 it would have been a noble blast to have gone to hell with." 
 
 k 
 
448 THE PIRATES OF NEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 The next dsij the pirate captains invited Snelgrave to 
 dinner, and during supper a trumpeter and other musicians, 
 who had been taken from various prizes, played and sang. 
 About the middle of sup])er there was a sudden cry of fire, 
 and a sailor-boy, running in, with a pale face, said the main 
 hatchway was on fire. The crew were then nearly drunk, 
 and many of them leaped into the boats, leaving the officers 
 and the fifty prisoners. On Snelgrave remarking to Davis 
 the danger they were in, being left without a boat, Davis 
 fired a great gun at the fugitives, and brought them back. 
 The gunner then put wet blankets on the bulk- head of the 
 powder-room, and so saved it from destruction. This im- 
 mense store of powder had been collected from various 
 prizes, as being an article in great request with the negroes. 
 Snelgrave took one of the quarterdeck gratings and lowered 
 it over the shi})'s side with a rope, in case he should be 
 obliged to leave the ship, and all this time the drunken 
 sailors were standing on the quarterdeck, to the horror of 
 the prisoners, shouting, " Hurrah for a quick passage to 
 hell !" 
 
 About ten o'clock the master, a brisk and courageous 
 man, who, with fifteen more, had spared no pains to conquer 
 the flames, came up miserably burnt, and calling for a 
 surgeon, declared the danger was now all over. The fire had 
 arisen from the carelessness of a negro who had been sent 
 to pump out some rum, held his candle so near the bung- 
 hole of the hogshead that a spark caught the sjiirit. This 
 soon fired another a tub, and both their heads flew off with 
 the report of a cannon ; but though there were twenty casks 
 of rum, and as many of pitch and tar in the store, all the 
 rest escaped. 
 
 Before morning, the gunner's mate having spoken in 
 favour oF Snelgrave's conduct during the fire, the crew sent 
 for him to attend the sale of his effects on board the 
 Wyndham galley. Some promised to be kind to him, and 
 the captain olfered to buy his watch. As they were talking, 
 a mate, half-drunk, proposed that Snelgrave should be kept 
 as a pilot till they left the coast, but Davis caned him off 
 the quarter-d(^ck. 
 
 Two days after this the pirates took a small vessel belong- 
 
AND THE KING3 OF MADAGASCAR. 449 
 
 ing to the African Company. Snelgrave's first mate thet. 
 told them that he had been once very badly served by this 
 company, and begged that they would burn the vessel in 
 revenge. This was about to be ordered, when Stubbs, a 
 quick-witted sailor, stood up, and said, " Pray, gentlemen, 
 hold, and I will prove to you that the burning of this ship 
 will only advance the company's interests. The vessel has 
 been out two years ; is old, crazy, and worm-eaten ; her 
 stores are worth little, and her cargo consists only of red 
 wood and pepper, the loss of which will not harm the com- 
 pany, who v/ill save the men's wages, which will be three 
 times the value of the cargo." This coilvinced the crew, 
 who at once spared the vessel, and returned her to the 
 captain. 
 
 A few days afterwards, Snelgrave's things were sold at the 
 mast, many of the men returning him their purchases, his 
 old school-fellow, in particular, begging hard on his behalf. 
 When the fiercer men observed the great heap of things he 
 had collected, they swore the dog was insatiable, and said, it 
 would be a good deed to throw them overboard. Hearing 
 this, Snelgrave loaded his canoe, and, by the advice of his 
 friends, returned to shore. Soon after he left, his watch was 
 put up for sale, and run up to £100 in order to vex Davis, 
 who, however, bought it at that enormous price. One ot 
 the sailors, enraged at this, tried the case on a touch-stone, 
 and, seeing it looked copperish from the alloy in the gold, 
 swore it was bad metal. They then declared Snelgrave was 
 a greater rogue than any of them, since he had cheated them 
 all. Russel laughed at this, and then vowed to whip him 
 when he came next. Upon the advice of his friends, Snel- 
 grave hid in the woods till the pirates left the river, and 
 soon after returned with several other ruined men to 
 England. 
 
 Of the Madagascar Pirates there is some scaifty record 
 in " Hamilton's Account of the East Indies," published in 
 1726. He mentions the fact that the pirates had totally 
 destroyed the English slave trade in that island, in spite ot 
 several squadrons of men-of-war sent against them. To use 
 the author's own rather ambiguous words, " A single ship, 
 commanded by one Millar, did more than all the chargeable 
 
 2 G 
 
450 THE PIRATES OF ItEW PROVIDENCE 
 
 fleets could do, for, with a cargo of strong ale and brandy, 
 which he carried to sell them in 1704, he killed about 500 of 
 them by carousing, though they took his ship and cargo as a 
 present from him, and his men entered, most of them, into 
 the society of the pirates." Commodore Littleton lent them 
 blocks and tackle-falls to careen, and, for some secret 
 reasons, released some of their number. 
 
 The author concludes in the following manner : " Mada- 
 gascar is environed with islands and dangerous shoals both 
 of rocks and sand. St. Mary's, on the east side, is the place 
 which the pirates first chose for their asylum, having a good 
 harbour to defend them from the weather, though in going 
 in there are some difficulties. But hearing the squadrons of 
 English ships were come in quest of them, they removed to 
 the main island for more security, and there they have made 
 themselves free denizens by marriage." And the author is 
 of opinion it will be no easy matter to dispossess them. In 
 1722 Mr. Matthews went in search of them, but found they 
 had deserted St. Mary's Island, leaving behind them some 
 marks of their robberies, for in some places he found pepper 
 strewed a foot thick on the ground. The commodore went, 
 with his squadron, over into the main island, but the pirates 
 had carried their ships into rivers or creeks, out of danger of 
 the men-of-war, and to burn them with their boats would 
 have been impracticable, since they could have easily dis- 
 tressed the crews from the woods. The commodore had 
 some discourse with several of them, but they stood on their 
 guard, ready to defend themselves in case any violence had 
 been offered them. 
 
 The 11th and 12th of William III., and the 8th George I., 
 are both statutes against piracy, and are indications of 
 the years in which their ravages were peculiarly felt. By 
 the first, any natural-born subject committing an act of 
 hostility against any of his Majesty's subjects, under colour 
 of a commission from any foreign power, could be tried 
 for piracy. And further, any commander betraying his 
 trust, and running away with the ship, or yielding it up 
 voluntarily to a pirate, or any one confining his captain to 
 prevent him fighting, was adjudged a pirate, felon, and 
 robber, and was sentenced to death. 
 
AND THE KINGS OF MADAGASCAR. 451 
 
 The later acts make it a piracy even to trade witli known 
 pirates. 
 
 Commanders or seamen wounded, or their widows slain 
 in piratical engagements, were entitled to a bounty not ex- 
 ceeding one-fiftieth part of the value of the cargo, and 
 wounded men received the pension of Greenwich Hospital, 
 If the commander behaved cowardly, he was to forfeit all 
 his wages, and suffer six months' imprisonment. 
 
 Such are a few of the facts connected with the almost un- 
 recorded and uncertain history of the pirates of New Provi- 
 dence and Madagascar, the most loathsome wretches that 
 perhaps, since Cain, have ever washed their hands in human 
 blood. Ferocious yet often cowardly, they were subtle and 
 cruel, with none of the frequent generosity of outlaws, and 
 little of the enterprise of the military adventurers. Long 
 ago have their bones crumbled from the dark gibbets on the 
 lonely sand islands of the Pacific, and they remain without 
 monument or record, except in prison chronicles and for- 
 gotten voyages. We have reviewed their history simply as 
 the natural sequel of our annals, and as an illustration of 
 the character of the English seaman in its most brutal and 
 Satanic aspect. 
 
CHIEP AUTHORITIES. 
 
 BUCCAlSrEER WEITERS. 
 
 John (Joseph 1) Esquemeling's * Bucaniers of America ; 
 or, an Account of the most Remarkable Assaults committed 
 on the Coasts of the West Indies by the Bucaniers of Ja- 
 maica and Tortuga ; with the Exploits of Sir Henry Morgan. 
 Translated into English from the Dutch, with a Portrait ot 
 Sir H. Morgan, a Map and Plates, with a Table. 4to. 
 London. 1684. 
 
 De Americanische Zee Boovers. 4to. Amsterdam. 
 
 1678. 
 
 Hisp. 12mo. Col. Ag. 1682. 
 
 Enor. 12mo. London. 1684. 
 
 ' 4to° Col. Ag. 1684. 
 
 12mo. 4 vols. Maps and Plates. Trevoux. (Aug- 
 
 mentee de I'Histoire des Pirates Anglais depuis leur 
 Etablissement dans I'lsle de Providence jusqu'au Present.) 
 1775. 
 
 (ExMELiN, Alexandre Olivier — Histoire des Avan- 
 turiers qui se sont signales dans les Indes Occidentales 
 depuis Vingt Ans. Traduite de I'Anglais par le Sr. de 
 
 * Rich, in his *' Bibliotheca Americana Nova," 1835, confounds 
 Esquemeling, the Dutchman, with (Exmelin, the Frenchman. The 
 English translation of 1684 speaks of Esquemeling's work as written 
 by a Frenchman and Dutchman together, the name being French and 
 the language Dutch. Rich describes it as first printed in Dutch, 1678 ; 
 then translated into Spanish ; then from Spanish into English, and 
 from English into French ; the author's name being changed in the 
 latter translation. 
 
454 CHIEF AUTHORITIES. 
 
 Frontignieres ; avec un Traite de la Cliambre de Comptes 
 etablie dans les Indes par les Espagnols, traduit de I'Espag- 
 nol ; le tout enriche des Cartes et des Figures, avec des 
 Tables. 2 vols. 12mo. Paris. 1688. 
 8vo. Paris. 1688. 2 torn. 
 
 JESUIT HISTOEIANS. 
 
 Pierre Franqois Xavier Charlevoix — Histoire de I'lsle 
 Espagnole, ou de St. Domingue, ecrite sur des Memoires 
 Maniiscrits du P. Jean Baptiste le Tertre, Jesuite Mission- 
 aire a St. Domingue, et sur les Pieces Originales qui se con- 
 servent au Depot de la Marine ; avec des Cartes, des Plans, 
 et des Tables. 2 vols. 4to. Paris. 1730-31. 
 
 Piratas de la America y Luz a la Defensa de las Costas de 
 Indias Occidentales. Traducida del Flamenco en Espaiiol, 
 por el Doctor Buena Maison, Medico Practice en la Amplis- 
 sima y Magnifica Ciudad de Amsterdam Dala a Luz esta 
 Tercera Edicion, D.M.G.R. Madrid. 4to. 1763. 12mo. 
 1682. 4to. 1684. 
 
 Jean Baptiste du Tertre, mission aire apostolique 
 dans les Antilles — Histoires des Antilles Habitees par 
 les Fran9ois ; avec des Figures. 4 vols. 4to. Paris. 
 1667-71. 
 
 Jean Baptiste Labat, Dominicain Parisien, professeur 
 des Philosophies a Nanci, etc. — Nouveau Yoyage aux Isles 
 de rAmerique. 8 vols. 12mo. Paris. 1742. 
 
 Captain William Dampier's Voyage Pound the "World. 
 Illustrated with Maps and Plates. 4 vols, in 3. 8vo. Lon- 
 don. 1703-9. 
 
 Captain Cowley's Yoyage Round the Globe. 8vo. Lon- 
 don. 1679. 
 
 Lionel Wafer's Yoyage and Description of the Isthmus 
 of America. 8vo. London. 1699. 8vo. London. 1704. 
 
 Captain James Burney's Chronological History of the 
 Discoveries in the South Sea or Pacific Ocean. 3 vols. 4 to. 
 1803-13-17. 
 
 Captain T. Southey's Chronological History of the West 
 Indies. 3 vols. 8vo. London. 1817. 
 
LIST OF BUCCANEER CHIEFS, 
 
 from the commencement of their empire to its 
 
 downfall. 
 
 Captain Betsharp. 
 
 Louis Scott. 
 Pierre le Grand. 
 Pierre Franqois. 
 Roc the Brazilian. 
 Barthelemy Portugues. 
 Lolonnois the Cruel. 
 Alexandre Bras de Fer. 
 Montbars the Extermi- 
 nator. 
 Moses Yan Vin. 
 Pierre le Picard. 
 Tributor. 
 
 Captain Champagne. 
 Le Basque. 
 Sir Henry Morgan. 
 Captain Swan. 
 Captain Sharpe. 
 Captain Bradley. 
 Captain Coxen. 
 
 Dampier. 
 
 Captain Grogniet. 
 Captain Yankey. 
 Laurent de Graff. 
 
 SlEUR DE GrAMMONT. 
 
 Sieur de Mont au ban. 
 
 De Lisle. 
 
 Anne le Roux. 
 
 Yauclin. 
 
 Ovinet. 
 
 Eli as Ward. 
 
 Willis. 
 
 D'Ogeron. 
 
 Captain Davis. 
 
 Yan Horn. 
 
 Captain Michael. 
 
 Captain Rose. 
 
 Captain Daviot. 
 
 PRINTKD BY COX AND WYMAN, GREAT QUEEN STREET, LONDON. 
 
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