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Captain William Kjdd 
 
 and Others of the 
 
 Buccaneers 
 
 By 
 JOHN S. C. ABBOTT 
 
 New York 
 
 Dodd, Mead and Company 
 
 Publishers 
 
.A 131- 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 " CONGRESS, 
 
 Two Comes Recsived 
 
 OCT. g® "?@@? 
 
 CLASS co XXc No. 
 
 3/ A. 4 x- 
 
 COPY B. 
 
 Copyright, 1874, 
 
 BY 
 
 DODD & MEAD. 
 Copyright 1902, 
 
 BY 
 
 •I|A^JR£* ABBOTT BUCK. 
 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THERE can scarcely anything be found in the 
 literature of our language, more wild and wonderful, 
 than the narrative contained in this volume. The 
 extraordinary career of Captain Kidd, a New-York 
 merchant, the demoniac feats of those fiends in 
 human form, Bonnet, Barthelemy, and Lolonois; 
 the romantic history of the innocent female pirate 
 Mary Read, and of the termagant Anne Bonney ; 
 the amazing career of Sir Henry Morgan, and the 
 fanaticism of Montbar, scarcely surpassed by that 
 of Mohammed or Loyola, combine in creating a 
 story, which the imagination of Dickens or Dumas 
 could scarcely rival. 
 
 And yet these incidents seem to be well authen- 
 ticated. The writer has drawn his facts from 
 Esquemeling's Zee Roovers, Amsterdam, 4to, 1684; 
 Oexemelin's Histoire des Aventuriers, i2mo, Paris. 
 
Iv PREFACE. 
 
 1688 ; Johnson's History of the Pirates, 2 vols., Lon- 
 don, 1724 ; Thornbury's Monarchs of the Main, 3 vols., 
 London, 1855 ; History of the Buccaneers of America, 
 1 vol. 8vo, Boston, 1855 ; with many other pam- 
 phlets, encyclopaedias, and secondary works. 
 
 In exploring this hitherto almost unknown field 
 of research, the writer has been as much surprised 
 at the awful scenes which have opened before him, as 
 any of his readers can be. There are but few think- 
 ing men who will peruse this narrative, to whom the 
 suggestion will not arise, " What a different world 
 would this have been, and would it now be, were 
 all its inhabitants conscientiously, prayerfully, with 
 brotherly love striving to do right." And this is 
 the religion of Jesus. He has taught us to pray 
 " Thy kingdom come on earth as in heaven." 
 
 John S. C. Abbott. 
 
 Fair Haven Conn 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Origin of the Buccaneers. 
 
 PAGB 
 
 .Renown of Captain Kidd. — Wild Legends. — Demands sf Spain. 
 — Opposition of the Maritime Powers. — The Ris; of the 
 Buccaneers. — The Pirates' Code. — Remonstrance of Spain. 
 — Reply of France and England. — Confession of a Bucca- 
 neer. — Adventures of Peter the Great. .... 9 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 William Kidd becomes a Pirate. 
 
 Ravages of the Pirates. — The King's Interview with Earl Bello- 
 mont. — William Kidd, the New York Merchant. — His Com- 
 mission. — Sailing of the Adventure. — Recruiting in New 
 York. — Circuitous Trip to Madagascar. — Perils and Suffer- 
 ings. — Madagascar the Pirates' Home. — Murmurings of the 
 Crew. — Kidd reluctantly turns Pirate. — Plis Repulses, and 
 his Captures. ......... 29 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Piratic Adventures. 
 
 \udacity of Kidd. — Fate of the November. — Kidd kills William 
 Moore. — The Renowned Ballad. — Kidd's Compunctions. — 
 Kidd at Madagascar. — Piratic Carousals. — The Artificial 
 Hell. — Kidd's Return to the West Indies. — Exaggerated 
 Reports of Avery. — His wretched Careei and wretched 
 Knd • • 51 
 
VI CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 Arrest, Trial, and Condemnation of Kidd. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Appalling Tidings. — Trip to Curacoa. — Disposal of the Qu;dagh 
 Merchant. — Purchase of the Antonic. — Trembling Apu coach 
 toward New York. — Measures for the Arrest of Kidd. — He 
 enters Delaware Bay. — Touches at Oyster Bay and Bloc* 
 Island. — Communications with the Government — Sails for 
 Boston. — His Arrest. — Long Delays. — Public Rumors. — His 
 Trial and Condemnation 75, 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Kidd, and Stede Bonnet. 
 
 The Guilt of Kidd. — Rumors of Buried Treasure. — Mesmeric 
 Revelation. — Adventures of Bradish. — Strange Character of 
 Major Bonnet. — His Piracies. — Encounters. — Indications 
 of Insanity. — No Temptation to Turn Pirate. — Blackbeard. 
 — Bonnet Deposed 9& 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 The Adventures of Edward Teach, or Blackbeard. 
 
 Seizure of the Protestant Caesar. — The Piratic Squadron. — Vil- 
 lany of the Buccaneers. — The Atrocities of Blackbeard.' — 
 Illustrative Anecdotes. — Carousals on Shore. — Alleged Com 
 plicity with the Governor. — Hiding-place near Ocracoke 
 Inlet. — Arrangements for his Capture. — Boats sent from two 
 Men-of-War.— Bloody Battle.~The Death of the Pirate.— 
 His Desperate and Demoniac Character. . . . I] 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Close of Stede Bonnefs Career. 
 
 Bonnet's Abandonment by Blackbeard. — Avails Himself of the 
 King's Pardon. — Takes Commission as a Privateer. — Res- 
 cues Blackbeard's Pirates.— Piratic Career.-— Enters Cape 
 
CONTENTS. Vll 
 
 Fear River for Repairs. — Captured by Colcnel Rhet. — The 
 Conflict. — Escapes from Prison. — The Pursuit, and Trial 
 and Sentence 125 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 The Portuguese Barthelemy. 
 Commencement of his Career. — Bold Capture. — Brutality of the 
 Pirates. — Reverses and Captivity. — Barthelemy doomed to 
 Die. — His Escape. — Sufferings in the Forest. — Reaches Gulf 
 Triste. — Hardening Effect of his Misfortunes. — His new 
 Piratic Enterprise. — Wonderful Success. — The Tornado. — 
 Impoverishment and Ruin 139 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 Francis Lolonois. 
 Early Life of Lolonois. — His Desperate Character. — Joins the 
 Buccaneers. — His Fiend-like Cruelty. — The Desperadoes 
 Rally around Him. — Equips a Fleet. — Captures Rich Prizes. 
 — Plans the Sack of Maracaibo. — The Adventurous Voyage. 
 — Description of Venezuela. — Atrocities at Maracaibo and 
 Gibraltar. — Doom of the Victors. 151 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 77ie Plunder ; the Carousal ; and the New Enterprise. 
 Gibraltar in Ashes. — The Return to Maracaibo. — Division of the 
 Plunder. — Peculiar Scene. — Reception of the Pirates at Tor- 
 tuga. — Fiend-like Carousal. — The Pirates Reduced to Beg- 
 gary. — Lolonois's New Enterprise. — The " Furious Calm." 
 — Days of Disaster. — Ravaging the Coast. — Capture of San 
 Pedro .... 170 
 
 ' CHAPTER XI 
 
 The End of Zolonot's's Career. 
 
 The Pirates' Perfidy. — Capture of a Spanish Ship. — Misery of the 
 Pirates. — Desertion of Viuclin. — The Shipwreck — Life upon 
 
I CONTENTS. 
 
 PA<M 
 
 the Island. — Expedition to Nicaragua. — Its utter Failure.— 
 Ferocity of the Indians. — Exploring the River. — The Re- 
 treat. — Coasting to Darien. — Capture and Death of Lolonois, 
 —Fate of the Remnants 1 86 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Female Pirate, Mary Read. 
 
 Testimony of Charles Johnson. — Marriage of Mary Read's 
 Mother. — Singular Adventure. — Reasons for Disguising her 
 Daughter. — Early Training of Mary as a Boy. — She Enlists 
 on board a Man-of-War. — The Character she Developed. — 
 Enters the Army. — Skill and Bravery. — Falls in Love with 
 a Fleming. — Reveals her Sex. — The Marriage. — Happy 
 Days. — Death of her Husband. — Adversity. — Resumes Male 
 Attire . 2CI 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Anne Bonny, the Female Pirate. 
 
 Rackam the Pirate. — Anne Bonny his Wife. — Her Reasoiw tor 
 Assuming a Boy's Dress. — Infamous Character of Rackam. 
 — Anne falls in Love with Mary. — Curious Complications. — 
 The Duel. — Chivalry of Frank. — The Capture. — The Trial. 
 — Testimony of the Artist. — Death of Mary Read. — Rackam 
 Dies on the Scaffold. . ... . . 214 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Sir Henry Morgan. 
 
 His Origin. — Goes to the West Indies. — Joins the Buccaneers. — 
 Meets Mansvelt the Pirate. — Conquest of St. Catharine. — 
 Piratic Colony there. — Ravaging the Coast of Costa Rica. 
 — Sympathy of the Governor of Jamaica. — Death of Mans- 
 velt. — Expedition of Don John. — The Island Recaptured by 
 the Spaniards. — Plans of Morgan. — His Fleet. — The Sack 
 of Puerto Principe. — Horrible Atrocities. — Fvetreat of the 
 
CONTENTS. VA 
 
 PAG* 
 
 Pirates.— The Duel.— They Sail for Puerto Velo.— Conquest 
 of the City.— Heroism of the Governor. . . .225 
 
 CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Capture of Puerto Velo, and its Results. 
 
 The Torture. — Sickness and Misery. — Measures of the Governoi 
 of Panama. — The Ambuscade. — Awful Defeat of the Spa- 
 niards. — Ferocity of the Pirates. — Strange Correspondence. 
 — Exchange of Courtesies. — Return to Cuba, and Division 
 of the Spoil. — Wild Orgies at Jamaica. — Complicity of the 
 British Government with the Pirates. — The New Enterprise. 
 — Arrival of the Oxford. — Destruction of the Cerf Volant. — 
 Rendezvous at Samona 24* 
 
 CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 Ihe Expedition to Maracaibo. 
 
 The Delay at Ocoa. — Hunting Excursions. — The Repulse. — 
 Cities of Venezuela. — The Plan of Morgan. — Suggestions of 
 Pierre Picard. — Sailing of the Expedition. — They Touch 
 at Oruba. — Traverse Venezuela. — Enter Lake Maracaibo. — 
 Capture of the Fort. — The City Abandoned. — Atrocities of 
 the Pirates 260 
 
 CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Adventures on the Shores of Lake Maracaibo. 
 
 Preparations for the Defence of Gibraltar. — The Hidden Ships. — 
 The Hiding-place of the Governor and the Women. — Dis- 
 aster and Failure. — Capture of the Spanish Ships. — The Re- 
 treat Commenced. — Peril of the Pirates. — Singular Cor- 
 respondence. — Strength of the Spanish Armament. — The 
 Public Conference of the Pirates. — The Naval Battle. — The 
 Fire-Ship. — Wonderful Achievement of the Pirates. . . 373 
 
X CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XVIII. 
 A New Expedition Planned. 
 
 TAGE 
 
 The Threat to Espinosa. — Adroit Stratagem. — Wonderful Es- 
 cape. — The Storm. — Revelry at Jamaica. — History of His- 
 paniola. — Plan of a New Expedition. — The Foraging Ships- 
 —Morgan's Administrative Energies. — Return of the For- 
 agers. — Rendezvous at Cape Tiburon. — Magnitude and Ar- 
 mament of the Fleet. — Preparations to Sail. . . . 290 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Capture of St. Catherine and Chagres. 
 
 The Defences at St. Catherine.— Morgan's Strategy.— The Mid- 
 night Storm. — Deplorable Condition of the Pirates. — The 
 Summons to Surrender. — Disgraceful Conduct of the Spanish 
 Commander. — The Advance to Chagres. — Incidents of the 
 Battle. — The Unexpected Victoiy. — Measures of Morgan. . 305 
 
 CHAPTER XX. 
 
 The March from Chagres to Panama. 
 
 Preparations to Ascend the River. — Crowding of the Boats. — The 
 Bivouac at Bracos. — Sufferings from Hunger. — The Pathless 
 Route. — The Boats Abandoned. — Light Canoes Employed. 
 —Abandoned Ambuscades. — Painful Marches, Day by Day. 
 — The Feast on Leathern Bags. — Murmurs and Contentions. 
 — The Indians Encountered. — Struggling through the 
 Forest. — The Conflagration at Santa Cruz. — Battle and 
 Skirmishes. — First Sight of Panama. — Descent into the 
 Plain.— Feasting 3'S 
 
 CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Capture of Panama. 
 
 Fint Sight of the City. — The Spanish Scouts Appear —Morgan's 
 Advance. — Character of the Country. — Fears of the Spa- 
 
CONTENTS. 3d 
 
 FAGS 
 
 alarda.—Removal of Treasure. — Capture of the City.— The 
 Poisoned Wine. — Magnificent Scenery of the Bay. — Descnp 
 don of Panama and its Surroundings. — Wealth of the City. 
 — Scenes of Crime and Cruelty. ..... 335 
 
 CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Return from Panama. 
 
 Return of the Explorers. — The Beautiful Captive. — Sympathy 
 in her behalf. — Embarrassments of Morgan. — Inflexible 
 Virtue of the Captive. — The Conspiracy. — Efficiency of 
 Morgan. — His Obduracy. — The Search of the Pirates. — 
 The Return March. — Morgan Cheats the Pirates. — Runs 
 Away 349 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Montbar the Fanatic. 
 
 Partial Solution of a Mystery. — Montbar's Birth. — His Education 
 and Delusions. — Anecdote of the Dramatic Performance. — 
 Montbar Runs Away from Home. — Enters the Navy. — His 
 Ferocious Exploits. — Joins the Buccaneers. — Desperate Bat- 
 tles on the Land and on the Sea. — His Final Disappearance. 360 
 
Captain Kidd. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 Origin of the Buccaneers. 
 
 Renown of Captain Kidd. — Wild Legends. — Demands of Spain.— 
 Opposition of the Maritime Powers. — The Rise of the Bac 
 caneers. — The Pirates' Code. — Remonstrance of Spain. — Reply 
 of France and England. — Confession of a Buccaneer. — Adven 
 tares of Peter the Great. 
 
 There are but few persons, in the United 
 States, who have not heard the name of the re- 
 nowned pirate, Captain Kidd. There are also but 
 few to be found who have any intelligent conception 
 of his wild and guilty career. The banks of the 
 Hudson, the islands scattered through the Sound 
 which skirts the southern New-England coast, and 
 the wild rivers and craggy harbors which fringe the 
 rugged shores of Maine, are all rich with legends of 
 
IO CAPTAIN KIDD 
 
 the exploits and hiding-places of this notorious 
 buccaneer. 
 
 Thousands of fanatical people have employed 
 themselves in digging among the rocks and sands, 
 in search of treasure of gold and jewels supposed 
 to have been buried, in iron-bound chests by this 
 chief of outlaws. It was well known that he had 
 plundered many a rich Spanish galleon, laden with 
 golden coin, bound to or from the colonies. Many 
 a Spanish lady had been compelled to walk blind- 
 folded the awful plank, until she was jostled into 
 the sea, while her chests of golden ingots and dia- 
 monds fell into the hands of brutal assassins. 
 
 It was not always easy for the pirates to dispose 
 of these treasures. They were sometimes pursued 
 by men-of-war. Doubtless, as a measure of safety, 
 they did at times bury their spoil, intending at a 
 convenient hour to return and reclaim it. And it 
 can hardly be questioned that, in some cases, pur- 
 sued, harassed, cut up, they never did return. There- 
 fore it may be that there is treasure still hidden in 
 some secluded spot, which may remain, through all 
 coming ages unless by some accident discovered. 
 This belief has, in bygone days, nerved many a 
 treasure-seeker to months of toil, all along our ncrth- 
 ern coast, from Passamaquoddy Bay to the Jerseys. 
 
 Half a century ago, when superstition exerted 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. II 
 
 much more powerful sway than now, the wildest 
 stories were told, around the fireside, of the com- 
 plicity of the robber with the Archfiend himself, and 
 cf the agency of the Prince of the Power of the Air 
 in protecting his subjects. Hundreds of parties, 
 equipped with hazel rods, whose dip should guide 
 them to the treasure, and with spades to dig, have 
 gone to the most lonely spots at dead of night, in 
 search of these riches. It was believed that not a 
 word must be spoken, and particularly that Satan 
 was so jealous, that if the Divine name were uttered, 
 some terrible doom would befall them. 
 
 The writer remembers hearing, sixty years ago 
 at the kitchen fireside, many of these wondrous sto- 
 ries. One or two may be given in illustration of 
 them all. A fortune-teller had told some men where 
 Captain Kidd had buried a chest. They were to go 
 to the spot, in the darkness of a moonless midnight. 
 Not one word was to be spoken. A lantern, dimly 
 burning, was to guide their steps. One carrying a 
 hazel rod was to lead the party of four. When they 
 reached the precise spot the hazel rod would bend 
 directly down to indicate it. By digging they 
 would find, five feet beneath the surface, an oaken 
 chest, bound with iron, filled with doubloons. 
 
 They obeyed all the directions implicitly. The 
 spot was found. In silence and with energy they 
 
12 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 plied their spades. At the depth of five feet they 
 struck the chest. There it was, beyond all question, 
 in its massive strength of oak and iron. The size of 
 the chest and the difficulty with which it could be 
 moved, proved that they had come upon an amount 
 of treasure which would enrich them all beyond the 
 dreams of romance. One thoughtlessly, in the ex- 
 cess of his excitement, exclaimed, " Thank God ! " 
 In an instant there was a flash of lightning which 
 blinded them all ; a peal of thunder which stunned 
 them all. Those in the pit were violently thrust 
 out, and every one was thrown helpless and sense 
 less upon the ground. 
 
 After a time they recovered one by one. The 
 darkness was like that of Egypt, which could be felt. 
 The rain was falling in torrents. Their pit was en- 
 tirely closed up, and replaced by a ledge of solid 
 granite. Terrified, they crept to their homes, fear- 
 ing ever again to seek the treasure which the pirate, 
 as an emissary of Satan, had seized with bloody 
 hands, and with bloody hands had buried. 
 
 Again, there was a young woman who had a 
 sacred stone into which she looked and saw whatever 
 she wished to have revealed. She could read the 
 fortunes of others. She could foresee all future 
 events. She could reveal any seciets of the past. 
 Into this mysterious crystal she gazed, and saw a 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. 13 
 
 small vessel, under an immense cloud of canvas, 
 flying before a huge man-of-war. But the smaller 
 vessel was the fleetest. The larger vessel was firing 
 upon it with heavy cannon, and the balls were 
 bounding over the waves. She looked upon the 
 deck of the little schooner, and it was crowded 
 with the fiercest-looking armed men. Among them 
 stood a man, in rich uniform, with drawn sword, 
 and pistols in his belt, who was evidently their leader. 
 She at once recognized him as Captain Kidd. 
 
 It was in the evening twilight. The pirate ran 
 in at the mouth of the Kennebec River. The man- 
 of-war could not venture to follow amid the rocks 
 and shoals. The commander, however, felt that the 
 pirate was caught in a trap and that he could not 
 escape. He decided to lay off and on until morning, 
 carefully watching the mouth of the river. Then he 
 would send his war-boats thoroughly manned, and 
 the pirates would soon swing at his yard-arms, and 
 their treasures would be transferred to his chests 
 and his ship's hold. 
 
 Captain Kidd had a large amount of treasure on 
 board his vessel, which he had plundered mainly 
 from the rich argosies which carried on the com- 
 merce between Spain and her colonies. At the 
 same time he was not at all particular in his inquiries 
 as to what nationality the ship belonged to, if the 
 
14 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 cargo of goods or coin were valuable. His adven- 
 turous sail ran along the shores of both the Indies, 
 and all richly freighted ships he encountered were 
 doomed. 
 
 The swift-sailing schooner which had run into 
 the mouth of the Kennebec was heavily laden 
 with gold and silver coin, rich silks, and others of 
 the most precious fabrics of the two Indies. To 
 save these from capture, so the story goes, and to 
 lighten his vessel, so as to be able to creep away 
 over the shallow waters out of reach of the man-of- 
 war, he threw the heaviest and least valuable articles 
 overboard. Then landing a portion of the crew in 
 the night, he searched out a secluded spot, where he 
 dug a deep hole, and placed in it an immense iron- 
 bound hogshead. Here he carefully packed away 
 his gold and silver coin in strong canvas bags. His 
 silks and satins were wrapped in canvas envelopes, 
 and then protected with tarred cloth, impervious to 
 both air and moisture. Thus the cask soon held 
 treasure amounting to countless thousands. This 
 was carefully covered up and concealed, Captain 
 Kidd taking notes which would enable him to find 
 the place without difficulty! 
 
 Then in the darkness he again spread his sails, 
 and stealing out of one of the unfrequented mouths 
 of the river, crept along the shore unseen, and turn- 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. 1 5 
 
 ing his course south, was soon again engaged in his 
 piratic cruise among the islands of the West Indies. 
 He never returned to regain his treasure. 
 
 The next morning the man-of-war sent up three 
 boats well manned and armed to capture the pirate. 
 But not the slightest vestige of his vessel could be 
 found. It was believed that Satan had aided them 
 to escape. Some of the sailors declared that in the 
 night they had seen the schooner under full sail in 
 the clouds, passing over their heads, and that they 
 had heard shouts of merriment from the demoniac 
 crew. 
 
 The girl, looking into her enchanted stone, saw all 
 this. She informed those inquiring of her, of the 
 precise spot where the treasure was buried. To 
 obtain it they must go at dead of night, and work 
 in perfect silence. The utterance of a single word 
 would bring disaster upon all their efforts. 
 
 They went, and worked with a will, in the dark- 
 ness, by dim torchlight. Not a word was spoken. 
 They reached the cask, spaded away the earth 
 around it, and were just ready to open it and rifle 
 it of its contents, when to their astonishment a little 
 negro boy was seen sitting upon the head of the 
 cask, entirely naked. One of them in his surprise 
 thoughtlessly exclaimed, " Who are you ? " 
 
 The spell was broken. Instantly one of the 
 
46 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 blackest of thunder-clouds enveloped them, with a 
 tornado which wrecked the skies. Carousing fiends 
 were seen with bat-like wings through the gloom. 
 Shrieks of derisive laughter were heard. Every 
 man was seized, and whirled through the air to dis- 
 tances several miles apart. Awaking from stupor, 
 terror-inspired, they with difficulty found their way 
 to their homes. Upon subsequently revisiting the 
 spot they found no traces of their labor. 
 
 Such was the general character of the legends 
 which were floating about very freely half a cen- 
 tury ago. Captain Kidd was the hero of all these 
 marvellous tales. It is not easy to account for 
 the fact that his name should have attained such 
 -an ascendency over that of all other buccaneers. 
 Though there was nothing so very remarkable in 
 his achievements, there was something strange in 
 the highest degree, in his partnership with men in 
 England occupying the most exalted position in rank 
 and power. 
 
 After the discovery of the New World, Pope 
 Alexander VI. issued a proclamation dividing all the 
 ■newly discovered lands, in both the East and West 
 Indies, between the crowns of Portugal and Spain, 
 to the exclusion of all other powers. This buU aa 
 it was called, excited great discontent throughout 
 all Christendom. This was nearly two hundred 
 
THE BUCCANEERb. IJ 
 
 years ago. France, England, and the Netherlands 
 the three remaining great maritime nations, com- 
 bined against Spain and Portugal. These courts 
 would give any man a commission to take a ship, 
 fill it with armed men, and prey upon the commerce 
 of Spain and Portugal. There was no court to de 
 cide upon the validity of prizes. The captors were 
 responsible to nobody. They decided for them- 
 selves whether the prize they had taken was their 
 legitimate booty. The whole spoil was divided 
 among them according to their own agreement. 
 
 Very soon all seas swarmed with these adven- 
 turers. They sailed in fleets. In armed bands they 
 landed and ravaged the coasts, battering dowa forts 
 and capturing and plundering cities. They did i.ot 
 deem themselves pirates, but took the name of buc- 
 caneers. Though often guilty of great enormities, 
 they assumed the air of legitimate privateersmen. 
 With heads high uplifted they swaggered through 
 the streets of England, France, and the Netherlands, 
 with lavish hand scattering their ill-gotten gold. 
 They were welcomed at every port they entered, 
 for they proved very profitable customers. They 
 sold their booty very cheap. They purchased very 
 freely, regardless of price. In drunken frolics they 
 had been known to scatter doubloons in the streets 
 to see men and boys scramble for them. The mer- 
 
18 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 chants all welcomed them, not deeming it necessary 
 to ask any questions for conscience' sake. Theii 
 numbers became so great and their depredations sc 
 audacious, that no ship could sail in safety under 
 any flag. The buccaneers were not careful to ob- 
 tain any commission. Assuming that they were 
 warring against the enemies of their country, even 
 when there was no war existing between the two 
 nations, they ravaged the seas at their pleasure. 
 
 Generally their bands were well organized and 
 under very salutary discipline. The following arti- 
 cles of agreement, signed by the whole crew, were 
 found on board one of these ships : 
 
 " Every man is entitled to a vote in affairs of im- 
 portance, and to an equal share of all provisions and 
 strong liquors which may be seized. Any man who 
 defrauds the company in plate, jewels, or money, 
 shall be landed on a desert island. If he rob a 
 messmate, his ears and nose shall be slit, and 
 then he shall be landed on a desert island. No 
 man shall play at cards or dice for money. The 
 lights are to be put out at eight o'clock at night. 
 No woman is to be allowed on board. Any man 
 who brings a woman to sea disguised shall be put 
 to death. No man shall strike another on board, 
 but quarrels shall be settled on shore with sword 01 
 pistol. 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. 19 
 
 ' Any one deserting, or leaving his quarters, dur- 
 ing an engagement, shall be either landed on a 
 desert island or put to death. Every man losing a 
 limb or becoming crippled in the service shall have 
 eight hundred dollars. The captain and quarter- 
 master shall receive two shares of every prize ; 
 the master, boatswain, and gunner, one share and a 
 half, and all other officers one and a quarter. Quar- 
 ter always to be given when called for. He that 
 sees a sail first is to have the best pistols and small 
 arms on board of her." 
 
 Thus it will be seen that these buccaneers were 
 regularly organized bands, by no means ashamed of 
 their calling. They were morally scarcely inferior to 
 the robber knights and barons of the feudal ages, 
 from whom the haughtiest nobles of Europe are 
 proud to claim their lineage. They were not petty 
 thieves and vulgar murderers. They unfurled their 
 banners and waged open warfare on the sea and on 
 the land, glorying in their chivalric exploits, and 
 ostentatiously displaying, in all harbors, the trophies 
 of their wild adventures. 
 
 These freeDooters assumed the most gorgeous 
 and extravagant dresses. Their favorite ornament 
 was a broad crimsom sash, of bright scarlet, passing 
 round the waist, and fastened on the shoulder and 
 hip with colored ribbons. This was so arranged 
 
20 CAPTAIN K1DD. 
 
 that it formed a belt into which they could thrust 
 three or four richly mounted pistols. These pistols 
 were often sold at auction, on shipboard, for two 
 hundred dollars each. Cocked hats, with a showy 
 embroidery of gold lace, formed a conspicuous fea 
 ture of their costume. 
 
 The captain, in time of battle, was invested with 
 dictatorial power. He could stab or shoot any one 
 who disobeyed his orders. His voice was generally 
 decisive as to the treatment of prisoners. The large 
 cabin was appropriated to his exclusive use. Often 
 the freebooters combined, in several armed vessels, 
 to attack some richly freighted fleet under convoy. 
 Occasionally they landed, and captured and plun- 
 dered very considerable cities. 
 
 These buccaneers were generally, as we have 
 said, Englishmen, Frenchmen, or Germans. Still, 
 adventurers from all nationalities crowded their 
 decks. The Spanish Court remonstrated with the 
 several Governments of Europe against these out- 
 rages. France replied : 
 
 " The people complained against act entirely on 
 their own authority and responsibility, not by any 
 commission from us. The King of Spain is at lib- 
 erty to proceed against them according to his own 
 pleasure." 
 
 Elizabeth, England's termagant queen, with char- 
 teristic tartness replied : 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. 21 
 
 " The Spaniards have drawn these inconve- 
 niences on themselves, by their severe and unjust 
 dealings in their American commerce. The Queen 
 of England cannot understand why her subjects, or 
 those of any other European prince should be de- 
 barred from traffic in the West Indies. As she does 
 not acknowledge the Spaniards to have any title to 
 any portion of the New World by the donation of the 
 Bishop of Rome, so she knows no right they have 
 to any places other than those of which they are in 
 actual possession. Their having touched only here 
 and there upon a coast, and given names to a few 
 rivers or capes, are such insignificant things as can 
 in no ways entitle them to a property in those parts, 
 any further than where they have actually settled 
 and continue to inhabit." 
 
 Some curious anecdotes are told illustrative of the 
 great respect some of these adventurers entertained 
 for religion and morality. In many cases all bolts, 
 locks, and fastenings of any kind were prohibited, 
 as implying a doubt of the honor of their com- 
 rades. Not a few men of noble birth became buc- 
 caneers. A captain of one of these bands shot one 
 of his crew for behaving irreverently in church. 
 Sir Raveneau de Sussan, being deeply involved in 
 debt, joined the freebooters because, he said, "he 
 
22 CAPTAIN KI DD. 
 
 wished, as every honest man should do, to have 
 withal to satisfy his creditors." 
 
 The French called the buccaneers nos btaves. 
 The English papers were filled with admiring ac- 
 counts of their unparalleled exploits. A French 
 buccaneer ; Francois l'Olonnais, at the head of six 
 hundred and fifty men, captured the towns of Ma 
 racaibo and Gibraltar, in the Gulf of Venezuela, 
 and extorted half a million dollars for the ransom of 
 those places. A French priest extolled the deed as 
 one of chivalric heroism. 
 
 The pirates seized the Island of Tortuga, built a 
 town there, and erected a strong fort on an eminence 
 which commanded a view of the encircling sea to the 
 horizon. This island is situated a few leagues north 
 of the magnificent Island of San Domingo, then 
 called Hispaniola. It is long and narrow, running 
 east and west, and is about sixty miles in circuit 
 It is mainly a mountainous island of rock, but at that 
 time was densely covered with a gigantic forest 
 The western part of the island was uninhabited 
 It was very rugged and barren, and had no harboi 
 or even cove into which a vessel or boat could run. 
 On the southeastern shore there was one good 
 harbor, so landlocked that it could be easily de- 
 fended. The island abounded with wild boars, and 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. 23 
 
 at some seasons, the very air seemed darkened with 
 the flocks of pigeons which frequented its groves. 
 
 The buccaneers seized this island, and sent to the 
 French governor of St. Christopher's to furnish them 
 with aid to fortify it. The governor sent them a 
 ship full of men, with all needful supplies. With 
 this assistance they built a fort on a high rock, which 
 perfectly commanded the harbor. There was no 
 access to the fort but by climbing a narrow passage, 
 along which but two persons could pass at a time. 
 With great difficulty two guns were raised and 
 mounted. There was a plentiful supply of fresh 
 water on the summit, from an abundant spring gush- 
 ing from the rock. 
 
 One of these buccaneers, John Esquemeling, has 
 given quite a minute account of the achievements 
 of himself and comrades. His narrative, which is 
 deemed authentic, was written in Dutch, but was 
 translated and published in London in the year 
 1684. He had sailed from Havre -de -Grace, in 
 France, for the New World, in the year 1666, to seek 
 his fortune. He gives the following reason for join- 
 ing the buccaneers : 
 
 *' I found myself in Tortuga like unto Adam 
 when he was first created by the hand of his Maker ; 
 that is, naked and destitute of all human necessaries. 
 Not knowing how to get a living, I determined to 
 
24 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 enter into the wicked order of pirates or robbers of 
 the sea. Into this society I was received by com- 
 mon consent both of the superior and vulgar sort. 
 I continued among them six years, until the year 
 1672. Having assisted them in all their designs and 
 attempts, and served them in many notable exploits, 
 of which I here give the reader a full account, I 
 returned to my own native country." 
 
 We will give one incident illustrative of the 
 mode in which these buccaneers operated. 
 
 There was at Tortuga a man born in Dieppe, 
 Normandy. From his gigantic stature and his bold 
 carriage he was familiarly called Peter the Great. 
 He took a large boat, and with twenty-eight com- 
 panions, desperate men, thoroughly armed, set out 
 from the harbor in search of booty. For a long 
 time they sailed over those tropical seas, keeping a 
 vigilant watch from the mast-head, but no vessel 
 appeared in sight. Their food was rapidly disap- 
 pearing, and they began to be in despair. 
 
 At length they espied, one afternoon, in the dis- 
 tant horizon, a sail. As they approached it, they 
 found, somewhat to their alarm, that it was a huge 
 Spanish galleon laden to the gunwales with treasure. 
 It probably contained passengers and crew, and per- 
 haps soldiers, three or four times outnumbering the 
 buccaneers. The sagacious Peter immediately sur- 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. 2$ 
 
 mised that the galleon was one of a merchant fleet 
 which had recently sailed from Spain under a strong 
 convoy, and being heavily laden, had, in some storm, 
 got separated from the squadron. It was one of the 
 most desperate of enterprises to attack such a ship 
 with their little boat. The ship, though a merchant- 
 mar., had, without any doubt, some heavy guns, and 
 the crew was well armed. 
 
 But they were desperate men ; their provisions 
 were exhausted ; they were in danger of actual star- 
 vation. The captain assembled them all around 
 him, and addressed them in a very glowing and 
 inspiring speech. We cannot quote his identical 
 words. But we have a record of the motives he 
 urged to rouse his men to a frenzy of courage. 
 
 " Our cruise," said he, " has been thus far a fail- 
 ure. We have no money. We have no food. We 
 must soon perish by the most miserable of all deaths, 
 lingering starvation. In that ship there is lood in 
 abundance, wine in abundance, golc 1 in abundance. 
 We are now beggars. Let us take that ship, and 
 we are princes. We can revel in luxury. Our for- 
 tunes are made for our lives. We can sail to any 
 land we please, and there live in independence. 
 Even if some of us must die, it is better to die sud- 
 denly than to starve. We can take the ship if we 
 all do our duty. I call upon every one now to take 
 
26 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 a solemn oath either to capture the ship or to die in 
 the attempt." 
 
 To this appeal the piratic crew responded with 
 cheers, and the oath was promptly taken. The cap- 
 tain of the Spanish ship had been informed that 
 there was a boat in sight, and that it probably was 
 manned by pirates. He came upon deck, examined 
 it carefully with his glass, and then, turning upon his 
 heel, said contemptously : 
 
 " We need not care for such a pitiful concern as 
 that. It is a mere cockle-shell. If you wish, you 
 may rig the crane out, and we will hoist the whole 
 thing, crew and all, on board. We need fear no ship 
 which is not bigger and stronger than our own." 
 
 The pirates had the advantage of the wind. 
 They kept away until dark. Peter, or Pierre as they 
 called him, informed them of his desperate plan. 
 He would, in the gloom of night, put on all sail, 
 and run his boat directly alongside of the galleon. 
 Grappling-irons were immediately to be thrown over 
 the gunwale of the ship, with ropes attached, by 
 which the boat's crew were instantly to leap on 
 board. The carpenter was to have tools ready and 
 bore a large hole in the bottom of the boat, so as to 
 sink it at once. He was then to leap on board. 
 
 Every man was to have three or four loaded 
 pistols in his belt, and a sabre in his hand. Escape 
 
THE BUCCANEERS. 2J 
 
 was impossible. If they failed to capture the ship, 
 and were captured themselves, their inevitable doom 
 was death by hanging. The programme was carried 
 out in full. The night was dark. There was no vigi- 
 lance, no suspicion of danger on board the ship. 
 The boat came alongside the huge bulk of the gal- 
 leon so noiselessly that it was not perceived. 
 
 The pirates rushed pell-mell on board. With 
 their sharp sabres they cut down the terrified crew 
 on the right hand and on the left. Pierre, leading a 
 party, plunged into the cabin. The captair. with 
 several of his officers was playing cards. He sprang 
 from his seat exclaiming : 
 
 " Lord Jesus; are these devils?" 
 
 Pierre, presenting a pistol at his breast, demanded 
 the surrender of the ship. Had the captain or any 
 of his officers raised a hand in self-defence, death 
 would have been their immediate fate. They were 
 all disarmed and bound. Another party, sweeping 
 the decks with sword and pistol, drove all whom they 
 did not kill into the hold, and shut the hatches upon 
 them. They then seized the gun-room, where all 
 the arms and ammunition were stored. 
 
 In almost less time than it has taken to describe 
 the scene, this majestic ship with its vast treasures 
 was captured. Not a single pirate was killed or 
 wounded. With three cheers the pirates proclaimed 
 
*8 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 their astounding victory. They were nearly all sea- 
 men, and familiar with those waters. They turned 
 the ship to sail to Europe. Coming in sight of an 
 island, they landed the captain and all the ship's 
 company in a cove, and giving them a small supply 
 of provisions, left them to shift for themselves. 
 Several of the crew remained on board the ship, en- 
 listing in the service of the pirates. This being done, 
 they set sail for France, where they sold their ship, 
 divided their immense booty, scattered, and were 
 heard of no more. 
 
 The inhabitants of Tortuga soon received tidings 
 of this brilliant achievement. It seemed to inspire 
 them all with the intense desire to go and do like- 
 wise. All Tortuga was in an uproar. Every one 
 applauded a deed which they deemed so glorious as 
 well as so profitable. They saw that by a single en- 
 terprise, Pierre had made his fortune for life. In a 
 few months, more than twenty piratic vessels were 
 fitted out at Tortuga. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 William Kidd becomes a Pirate. 
 
 Ravages of the Pirates. — The King's Interview with Earl Bellomont, 
 — William Kidd, the New York Merchant. — His Commission. — 
 Sailing of the Adventure. — Recruiting in New York. — Circu- 
 itous Trip to Madagascar. — Perils and Sufferings. — Madagascar 
 the Pirates' Home. — Murmurings of the Crew. — Kidd reluctantly 
 turns Pirate. — His Repulses, and his Captures. 
 
 In the year 1695, the King of England, William 
 III., summoned before him the Earl of Bellomont, 
 who had been governor of Barbadoes, and whom he 
 had recently appointed governor of New York, and 
 said to him : 
 
 " The buccaneers have so increased in the East 
 and West Indies, and all along the American coast, 
 that they defiantly sail under their own flag. They 
 penetrate the rivers ; land in numbers sufficient to 
 capture cities, robbing palaces and cathedrals, and 
 extorting enormous ransom. Their suppression is 
 vital to commerce. They have possessed themselves 
 of magnificent retreats, in Madagascar and other 
 islands of the Indian Ocean. They have established 
 their seraglios, and are living in fabulous splendo/ 
 
30 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 and luxury. Piratic expeditions are fitted out from 
 the colonies of New England and Virginia ; and even 
 the Quakers of Pennsylvania afford a market for 
 their robberies. These successful freebooters are 
 making their homes in the Carolinas, in Rhode 
 Island, and along the south shore of Long Island, 
 where they and their children take positions among 
 the most respectable in the community. 
 
 " The buccaneers are so audacious that they 
 seek no concealment. Their ships are laden with 
 the spoil of all nations. The richest prizes which 
 can now be taken on the high seas are the heavily 
 laden ships of the buccaneers. I have resolved, 
 with the aid of others, to fit out a private expedition 
 against them. We have formed a company for that 
 purpose. By attacking the pirates we shall accom- 
 plish a double object. We shall in the first place 
 check their devastating operations, and we shall also 
 fill our purses with the proceeds of the abundant 
 spoil with which their ships are laden." 
 
 This second consideration was doubtless the 
 leading one in the movement. The king was in 
 great need of money. His nobles were impover- 
 ished by extravagance. They were ready to re- 
 sort to any measures to replenish their exhausted 
 treasuries. This royal company was therefore or- 
 ganized, not as a national movement, sustained by 
 
WILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A PIRATE. 3 1 
 
 national law, but as a piratic expedition against 
 the pirates. The reclaimed treasure was not to be 
 restored to its owners, nor to be placed in the treas- 
 ury of the kingdom, but to be divided among the 
 captors, as their legitimate spoil. And still the 
 king was to give the commission in his kingly name. 
 
 The king informed the Earl of Bellomont that 
 he was about to invest him with the government of 
 New York, and wished him to suggest the name of 
 some suitable person, who was familiar with the 
 North American coast and the West Indian seas, 
 to whom he could intrust the command of the frig- 
 ate they were then fitting out. It so chanced that 
 an illustrious Englishman, Mr. Robert Livingston, 
 the first of that name who had emigrated to the 
 New World, was then in London. The earl con- 
 sulted with him. He was informed that just the 
 man he needed had accompanied him from New 
 York to London, leaving his family behind. He was 
 a merchant, by the name of William Kidd, a man of 
 tried courage and integrity. 
 
 In the last war with the French, Captain Kidd 
 had commanded a privateersman, and had gained 
 signal honor in many engagements. He had sailed 
 over all the seas frequented by the buccaneers, and 
 was familiar with their haunts. The commission 
 which the king gave to Captain Kidd is a curious 
 
J2 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 document. It is here given abridged of its exces- 
 sive verbiage : 
 
 " William the Third, by the grace of God King 
 of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland, to our 
 true and well-beloved Captain William Kidd, com- 
 mander of the ship Adventure. Whereas divers 
 wicked persons commit many and great piracies, 
 -robberies, and depredations on the seas, upon the 
 coasts of America and other parts, to the hindrance 
 of trade and the danger of our subjects, we have 
 thought fit to give to the said William Kidd full 
 authority to seize all such pirates as you may find 
 on the seas, whether our subjects or the subjects of 
 other nations, with their ships, and all merchandise 
 or money which shall be found on board, if they 
 willingly yield themselves. But if they will not 
 yield without fighting, then you are. by force, to 
 compel them to yield. We do also require you to 
 bring, or cause to be brought, such pirates, free- 
 booters, or sea rovers, as you shall seize, to a legal 
 trial, to the end they may be proceeded against ac- 
 cording to the law in such cases. 
 
 " We enjoin you to keep an exact journal of your 
 proceedings, giving the names of the ships you may 
 Capture, the names of their officers and crew, and 
 the value of their cargoes, and stores. And we 
 com*' and you, at your peril, that you do not molest 
 
WILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A PIRATE. 33 
 
 ■our friends or allies under any pretence of authority 
 hereby granted. Given the 26th of January, 1695." 
 
 Captain Kidd at the same time received another 
 document, which was called a commission of re- 
 prisals. This authorized him, as a privateersman, to 
 take any French merchant ships he might chance to 
 meet ; for there was then war between France and 
 England. 
 
 A ship was purchased, for thirty thousand dol- 
 lars, called the Adventure. Of this sum, Captain 
 Kidd and Mr. Livingston furnished three thousand 
 each. The remainder was contributed by the Earls 
 BeUomont and Romney, Lord Chancellor Somers, 
 the Lord High Admiral, the Duke of Shrewsbury, 
 and Sir Henry Harrison. The king, rather inglori- 
 ously, paid nothing. He purchased his share in the 
 enterprise by the royal patronage. 
 
 It seems that Captain Kidd was a man of high 
 reputation at that time. It was a large amount of 
 property to be intrusted to his hands ; for the ves- 
 sel and its outfit must have cost at least fifty thou- 
 sand dollars. Mr. Livingston became Kidd's secu- 
 rity that he would faithfully discharge his duties and 
 account for all his captures. It is said that Kidd was 
 not pleased with this arrangement, as he was very 
 unwilling that Mr. Livingston should be his bonds- 
 man. He probably, even then, felt that it might 
 
34 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 prove an obstacle in his future course. The opera- 
 tions of the human mind are often inexplicable. 
 He might wish to steal the ship and turn pirate 
 on his own account. And he could not honorably 
 do this while his friend was his bondsman. Such 
 pressure was put upon him that he was constrained 
 to yield. 
 
 Armed with the royal commission, and in com- 
 mand of the Adventure, Captain Kidd sailed from 
 Plymouth, England, in May, 1696. The frigate had 
 an armament of thirty guns, and a crew of eighty 
 men. He was ordered to render his accounts to the 
 Earl of Bellomont in New York. He sailed up the 
 Narrows, into New York harbor, in July. His wife 
 and children were in his home there. In crossing 
 the Atlantic, Captain Kidd came across a French 
 merchantman, which he captured. The prize was 
 valued at but seventeen hundred dollars. This was 
 considered a legitimate act of war. 
 
 Captain Kidd knew full well that the enemy he 
 was to encounter would fight with the utmost des- 
 re?ation, and that he might meet a fleet of piratic 
 ships, or a single ship, more powerful in men and 
 armament than his own. He therefore sent out re- 
 cruiting officers through the streets of New York, to 
 enlist volunteers. The terms he offered were that 
 every man should have an equal share of every prize 
 
WILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A PIRATE. 35 
 
 that was taken, after reserving for aimself and the 
 owners forty shares. With these offers he soon in- 
 creased his crew to one hundred and fifty-five men. 
 
 Sailing from the harbor of New York, he made 
 first for Madeira, to lay in a stock of wine. Then 
 he directed his course to the Cape de Verd Islands, 
 for a supply of salt and provisions. Having obtained 
 these, he spread his canvas for a long voyage around 
 the Cape of Good Hope, to the Island of Madagas- 
 car, on the eastern coast of Africa. This island had 
 become renowned as one of the most important ren- 
 dezvouses of the pirates. 
 
 Madagascar is larger than Great Britain. The 
 pirates, by aid of their firearms, their desperate 
 courage, and their superior intelligence, had gained 
 possession of a considerable portion of the island. 
 The natives were an inefficient race, copper-colored, 
 with long, black hair. The pirates had treated them 
 with such enormous cruelty, that the savages fled 
 before them as if they had been demons. 
 
 In this retreat, so far distant from the abodes of 
 civilization, the buccaneers had reared forts, and built 
 mansions which they had converted into harems. 
 From their voyages they returned here enriched 
 with the plundered commerce of the world, to revel 
 in all sensual indulgence. They made slaves of 
 their prisoners ; married, in their rude way any 
 
36 CAPTAIN KIDL 
 
 number they pleased of the most beautiful of the 
 native females; " so that every on-- " writes one of 
 their number, " had as great a seraglio as the Grand 
 Seignior at Constantinople. At length they began 
 to separate from each other, each living with his 
 own wives, slaves, and dependants, like independent 
 princes. As power and plenty naturally beget con- 
 tention, they sometimes quarrelled, and attacked 
 each other at the head of their several armies. In 
 these civil wars many of them were killed." 
 
 These reckless men used their power like tyrants. 
 They grew wanton in cruelty. Nothing was more 
 common than, upon the slightest displeasure, to 
 cause one of their dependants to be tied to a tree 
 and shot through the heart. The natives combined 
 for their extermination. The plan would have suc- 
 ceeded but for betrayal by a woman. They trem- 
 bled in view of their narrow escape, and combined 
 for mutual defence. 
 
 These ruffians assumed all the airs of the ancient 
 baronial nobility. Their dwellings were citadels. 
 They generally chose for their residence some dense 
 forest, near running water. The house was sur- 
 rounded by a rampart and a ditch. The rampart 
 was so high that it could not be climbed without 
 scaling-ladders. The dwelling was so concealed, in 
 the dense tropical forest, that it could not be teen 
 
WILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A PIRATE. 37 
 
 antil you were very near it. The only approach 
 was so narrow that two could not pass it abreast. 
 It was contrived in so intricate a manner that, to all 
 not perfectly familiar with it, it was a perfect laby- 
 rinth, with cross paths where one might wander for 
 hours, lost in the maze. 
 
 All along these narrow paths, large and very 
 sharp thorns, which grew in that country, were plant- 
 ed in the ground, so as to pierce the feet of the un- 
 shod natives. If any should attempt to approach 
 the house by night, they would certainly be pierced 
 and torn by those cruel thorns. 
 
 It was a long voyage to Madagascar. Before he 
 reached the island nine months had elapsed since 
 leaving Plymouth. Captain Kidd had expended all 
 his money, and his provisions were nearly exhausted. 
 Not a single prize had they captured by the way 
 This ill luck caused a general feeling of murmuring 
 and contention on board. The most amiable are in 
 danger of losing their amiability in hours of disas- 
 ter. Rude seamen, but one remove from pirates, in 
 such seasons of disappointment and chagrin become 
 almost demons in moroseness. 
 
 One morning the whole ship's crew were thrown 
 into a state of the most joyous excitement by the 
 sight of three ships in the distant horizon. They 
 had no doubt that it was some buccaneer, with two 
 
58 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 prizes, heavily laden with the treasures of the Orient 
 Suddenly all became very good-natured. Eagerly 
 they prepared for action. They had no fear that 
 the pirate, with his prizes, could escape their swift- 
 sailing frigate. The supposed pirate was apparently 
 conscious that escape was impossible ; for he bore 
 down boldly upon them. 
 
 Terrible was the disappointment. Captain Kidd, 
 gazing upon the approaching vessels through his 
 glass, exclaimed, with an oath, "They are three 
 English war-ships." 
 
 Captain Warren was in command of the men-of- 
 war. Meeting thus in mid-ocean,' the two captains 
 interchanged civilities, visited each other, and kept 
 company for two or three days. It was in the 
 month of February, 1666, that Captain Kidd, coast 
 ing along the shores of Madagascar, approached the 
 harbor upon the island frequented by the pirates. 
 Here he expected to find treasure in abundance. 
 He had very decidedly exceeded his orders in leav- 
 ing the waters of America for the distant shores 
 of Africa and Asia. Triumphant success, which he 
 was sanguine of achieving, might cause the diso 
 bedience of instructions not only to be forgiven but 
 applauded. Failure would be to him disgrace and 
 irretrievable ruin. 
 
 Again Captain Kidd and his crew were doomed 
 
WILLIAM K1DD BECOMES A PIRATE. 39 
 
 to disappointment. It so happened that they ar- 
 rived at the island at a time when every vessel was 
 out on a piratic cruise. There was not a single ves- 
 sel there All were growing desperate. Captain 
 Kidd had but very little money left, and nearly all 
 his provisions were consumed. As hastily as possi- 
 Dle he replenished his water-casks, and taking in a 
 few more stores, weighed anchor, and voyaged thir- 
 teen hundred miles farther east to Malabar, as the 
 whole western coast of Hindostan was then called, 
 from Cape Comorin to Bombay. 
 
 He came within sight of these shores in June, 
 four months after his arrival at Madagascar. For 
 some time he cruised up and down this coast una- 
 vailingly. Not a single sail was to be seen on the 
 boundless expanse of ocean. There was universal 
 discontent and murmurings on board the Adventure. 
 The situation of the ship's company was indeed de- 
 plorable. One-half of the globe was between them 
 and their homes. Their provisions were nearly all 
 gone, and they had no means with which to puichase 
 more. It was clear that unless Providence should 
 interpose in their favor, they must either steal or 
 starve. 
 
 And Providence did, for a time, singularly inter- 
 pose. As they were one day sailing by a small 
 sland, called Joanna, they saw the wreck of a ship 
 
40 CAPTAIN K.PD 
 
 on shore Captain Kidd took a boat and wastvv-iid^ 
 to the land, where he found that it was a French 
 vessel. The crew had escaped, having saved quite a 
 quantity of gold. The ship and cargo were a total 
 loss. The Frenchman, so the narrative goes, loaned 
 this gold to Captain Kidd. Perhaps he did. It is 
 more probable that it was a forced loan. Captain 
 Kidd had, as we have mentioned, a double commis- 
 sion, one against the pirates, and the other a regular 
 commission as a privateersman against the French. 
 Had he captured the ship before the wreck it would 
 have been his lawful prize. It is hardly probable 
 that he had any scruples of conscience in seizing the 
 doubloons when transferred to the shore. 
 
 With this gold he sailed to one of the ports on 
 the Malabar coast, where he purchased food sufficient 
 for a few weeks only. There was, at that time, in 
 Asia, one of the most powerful nations on the globe, 
 called the Mongols. The emperor, who was almost 
 divinely worshipped, was titled the Great Mogul. 
 His gorgeous palaces were reared in the city of 
 Samarcand, in the province of Bokhara. This mag- 
 nificent city, thirty miles in circumference, glittered 
 with palaces and mosques of gorgeous architecture, 
 constructed of white marble. The empire was 
 founded by the world-renowned Gengis Khan, and 
 extended by the equally celebrated Tamerlane. The 
 
wILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A PIRATE. 41 
 
 sails of Mongol commerce whitened all the East-In- 
 dian seas. Piracy then so abounded that this com- 
 merce was generally carried on in fleets under 
 convoy. Upon this cruise of disappointment and 
 anxiety, Captain Kidd passed several of the ships of 
 the Great Mogul. He looked upon them with a 
 wistful eye. They were merchantmen. With his 
 force he could easily capture them. There could 
 be no doubt that they contained treasure of great 
 value. 
 
 There was loud murmuring among the crew. 
 They could not understand those scruples of con- 
 science which would allow them to plunder a few 
 shipwrecked Frenchmen, and yet would turn aside 
 from the rich argosies of the East. 
 
 But Captain Kidd, a respectable New-York mer- 
 chant, held in high esteem by the community, and 
 who had been sent on this expedition expressly to 
 capture and punish the pirates, was not then pre- 
 pared to raise himself the black flag, and thus join 
 the robbers of the seas. 
 
 The struggle, in his mind, was probably very se- 
 vere. He was daily growing more desperate. Star- 
 vation stared him in the face. His crew was growing 
 mucinous. He had reason to fear that they would 
 rise, throw him overboard or land him upon some 
 island, and then, raising the black flag of the pirate, 
 
42 CAPTAIN KIED. 
 
 scour the seas on their own account, and join the 
 riotous band defiantly established at Madagascar. 
 
 He had no doubt that the powerful company, 
 who had sent him on this cruise, would overlook any 
 irregularities in plundering wrong vessels, and would 
 make no troublesome inquiries into his mode of 
 operations, if he would only bring them home an 
 abundance of gold. On the other hand, should he 
 fail, he would be dismissed from their service in dis- 
 grace, an utterly ruined man. 
 
 He had learned that the Great Mogul was 
 about to send from the Red Sea, through the Straits 
 of Babelmandel, a richly freighted fleet of merchant- 
 men, under convoy, bound to China. The Straits 
 are but about fifteen miles wide. Consequently 
 there could be no difficulty in intercepting the fleet 
 
 Captain Kidd had probably, in his silent thoughts, 
 decided to turn freebooter. Though as yet he had 
 divulged his secret to no one, and had committed 
 no overt act, he had passed the Rubicor, and was in 
 heart a pirate. The change was at once percepti- 
 ble. He ran his ship in toward the shore, and 
 coasted along until he came in sight of a village cf 
 the natives, where herds were seen in the fields, and 
 harvests were waving, and the boughs of the groves 
 were laden with the golden fruit of the tropics. 
 Doubtless he would have been glad to purchase 
 
WILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A URATE. 43 
 
 these stores. But he had no money. He had 
 reached that point in his career at which he must 
 either steal or starve. 
 
 He sent several armed boats to the land, and 
 robbed the unresisting natives without stint. He 
 was not a man to pursue half measures. Having 
 well revictualled his ship, he turned her bows to- 
 ward the entrance to the Red Sea. Summoning 
 his crew before him, he informed them of the 
 change in his plans. 
 
 " We have been unsuccessful hitherto, my boys,' 
 he said; "but take courage. Fortune is now about 
 to smile upon us. The fleet of the Great Mogul, 
 freighted with the richest treasures, is soon to come 
 out of the Red Sea. From the capture of those 
 heavily laden ships we will all grow rich." 
 
 This speech was greeted with shouts of applause 
 by the desperate men whom he had picked up in 
 the streets of London and New York. He sent out 
 a swift-sailing boat well manned to enter the Red 
 Sea, and run along its eastern coast on a voyage of 
 discovery. The boat returned after an absence of a 
 few days, with the rather alarming intelligence that 
 they had counted a squadron of fifteen large ships 
 just ready to sail. While some of them bore the 
 flag of the Great Mogul, at the mast-head of others 
 floated the banners of England and of Holland. 
 
44 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 England was in alliance with Holland, and on 
 the most friendly terms with the Great Mogul. In 
 the commission given to Captain Kidd by the king 
 it was written : 
 
 "We command you at your peril, that you do 
 not molest our friends or allies, under any pretence 
 of authority hereby granted." 
 
 Captain Kidd must have pondered the question 
 deeply and anxiously before he could have made 
 up his mind to become an utter outlaw, by attack- 
 ing a fleet composed of ships belonging not only to 
 England's friend, and to England's ally, but also 
 containing England's ships. Neither did he yet 
 know how strong the convoy by which the fleet was 
 guarded. 
 
 He, however, while weighing these thoughts in 
 his anxious mind, sailed to and fro before the mouth 
 of the Strait, keeping a vigilant watch at the mast- 
 head. After the lapse of four days the squadron 
 hove in sight, far away on the northern horizon. As 
 the vessels approached, Captain Kidd carefully scru- 
 tinized them through his glass. His experienced 
 .eye soon perceived that the fleet was convoyed by 
 two men-of-war, the one English, the other Dutch. 
 This added to his embarrassment, and greatly 
 increased his peril in case he should attempt an 
 assault. 
 
WILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A PIRATE. 45 
 
 The fleet was much scattered ; for, strong in its 
 guard, no danger was apprehended. Kidd's vessel 
 was concealed from the general view behind a head- 
 land. His ship was a swift sailer, and he had an 
 immense amount of canvas, which he could almost 
 instantaneously spread to the breeze. There was a 
 large, bulk}' Mongol ship, laden to the gunwales, 
 slowly ploughing its way through the waves, ap- 
 proaching the point where the pirate lay concealed. 
 The guard ships were at the distance of several 
 miles. 
 
 Captain Kidd darted out upon the galleon like 
 an eagle upon its prey. He probably hoped to 
 capture it, plunder it, and make his escape before 
 the war-vessels could come to its rescue. He open- 
 ed fire upon the ship. But the convoy, instantly 
 taking the alarm, pressed all sail, and bore rap- 
 idly down upon him, opening a vigorous fire from 
 their heavy guns. Kidd could not think of contend- 
 ing with them. His chance was gone. He sheered 
 off, and soon his cloud of swelling canvas disap 
 peared beyond the southern horizon. The armed 
 frigates could not pursue him. They were com- 
 pelled to remain behind to protect the slowly sail- 
 ing fleet. 
 
 Captain Kidd, imbittered by constant failure, 
 was now a disappointed, chagrined, exasperated, 
 
CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 desperate man. He was ready for any enterprise, 
 however atrocious, which would bring him money. 
 He ran back to the coast of Malabar. Cruising 
 along, he soon came in sight of a native vessel. Kidd 
 captured it without a struggle. It was called the 
 Maiden, belonged to some merchants of Aden, but 
 was commanded by an Englishman by the name 
 of Parker. The mate, Antonio, was a Portuguese, 
 familiar with the language of the country. 
 
 There was nothing of value on board. Kidd, 
 having resolutely embarked on a piratic cruise, 
 impressed the captain, Parker, as pilot in those un- 
 known waters. The mate he retained as an inter- 
 preter. Vexed in finding no gold, and believing 
 that the crew had concealed it, he treated them 
 with the utmost cruelty to extort a confession of 
 where they had hid the coin. They were hoisted 
 up by the arms and beaten with terrible severity. 
 But all was in vain. No amount of torture could 
 bring to light gold which did not exist. 
 
 The pirate, having robbed the poor men of a bale 
 of pepper and a bale of coffee, with a few pieces of 
 Arabian gold, contemptuously turned them adrift, 
 bleeding and almost helpless in their exhaustion. 
 After continuing his cruise for some time without any 
 success, Kidd ran into a small port, on the Malabar 
 coast, called Cara »var. There were several English 
 
WILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A PIRATE. 47 
 
 merchants residing in that place. The tidings had 
 already reached them of the capture of the Aden 
 vessel, the impressment of the English captain and 
 the Portuguese mate, and the cruel treatment of the 
 crew. 
 
 As soon as Captain Kidd entered the port, it 
 was suspected that he was the pirate. Two Eng- 
 lish gentlemen, Mr. Harvey and Mr. Mason, came 
 on board, and charged him with the crime, asking 
 him what he had done with his two captives, Cap- 
 tain Parker and the Portuguese mate. Kidd as- 
 sumed an air of injured innocence, denied that he 
 had any knowledge of the event, showed them his 
 commission from the King of England as the head of 
 a company of the most illustrious nobles to pursue 
 and punish the pirates. Triumphantly he submit- 
 ted the question if it were reasonable to suppose 
 that a man who enjoyed the confidence of the king 
 and his nobles, and was intrusted by them to lead 
 an enterprise so essential to the national honor, 
 should himself turn pirate. 
 
 The gentlemen were silenced, but not convinced. 
 All this time Parker and Antonio the Portuguese 
 were concealed in a private place in the hold. 
 There he kept them carefully guarded eight days, 
 until he again set sail. Just after he had left the 
 port, a Portuguese man-of-war entered. The Eng- 
 
48 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 lish merchants communicated to the commands 
 their suspicions. He immediately put to sea in 
 search of the Adventure, resolved, should he over- 
 take her, carefully to examine the hold, hoping to 
 find the captives on board, or at least some evidence 
 of their having been there. 
 
 The two ships met. Kidd was by no means dis- 
 posed to have his vessel searched. A fierce battle 
 ensued which lasted for six hours. Neither vessel 
 was disposed to come to close quarters until the 
 other was disabled. Kidd at length, finding the 
 Portuguese ship too strong for him, spread all his 
 sails and escaped. With his vast amount of canvas 
 he could run away from almost any foe. Ten of his 
 men were wounded in this conflict, but none killed. 
 
 Again these desperate men found it necessary to 
 run into the land for provisions. They entered a 
 small port called Porco. Here they filled their 
 water-casks, and " bought," Kidd says, a sufficient 
 number of hogs of the natives to victual the com- 
 pany. As it is known that Kidd had no money, it 
 is probable that the swine were obtained by that 
 kind of moral suasion which is found in the muzzle 
 of a pistol and the edge of a sabre. 
 
 This suspicion is confirmed by the fact that the 
 natives, in their exasperation, killed one of his men 
 The retaliation was characteristic of the crew and 
 
WILLIAM KIDD BECOMES A PIRATE. 49 
 
 the times. Captain Kidd brought his guns to bear 
 upon the village. With broadside after broadside 
 he laid their huts in ruins. The torch was applied, 
 and in an hour the peaceful village was converted 
 into mouldering ashes. 
 
 One of the natives was caught. They bound 
 him to a tree, and then a whole boat's company 
 one after another, discharged each a bullet into his 
 heart. Having achieved this exploit, which they 
 probably thought chivalric, but which others may 
 deem fiendish, Captain Kidd again spread his sails 
 for a piratic cruise. 
 
 The first vessel he came across was a large Mon- 
 gol ship richly freighted. Kidd gave chase, unfurl- 
 ing the French flag. The captain was a Dutchman, 
 by the name of Mitchel. Seeing that he was pur- 
 sued under French colors, he immediately ran up 
 the banner of France. Captain Kidd at once spread 
 to the breeze the flag of England. He was very 
 exultant. He could lay aside the odious character 
 of a pirate, and seize the ship in the less disgrace- 
 ful capacity of a privateersman. He exclaimed with 
 an oath, " I have caught you. You are a free prize 
 to England." 
 
 A cannon-ball was thrown across the bows of 
 the ship, and she was ordered to heave to. The 
 ship was hailed in the French language, and some 
 3 
 
50 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 one replied in the same tongue. They were then 
 ordered to send their boat on board. The boat came 
 bearing the captain of the ship, who was a Dutch- 
 man, by the name of Mitchel, and a French gentle- 
 man by the name of Le Roy. 
 
 Kidd received them in his cabin, and upon in- 
 quiry ascertained that the ship and cargo belonged 
 to Mongol merchants ; that they had intrusted the 
 command to a Dutch captain, as was not unfre- 
 quently the case in those days, and that the French 
 gentleman was merely a passenger accidently on 
 board, passing from one port to another. 
 
 These tidings, to use a sailor's phrase, " struck 
 him all aback." Holland, as we have mentioned, was 
 England's ally. The Great Mogul was England's 
 friend. Kidd must release the ship, or confess him- 
 self a pirate and an outlaw, and run the imminent 
 risk of being hanged should he ever return to Eng- 
 land. For a moment he seemed lost in thought, 
 bewildered. Then his wicked mind, now rapidly 
 descending into the abyss of sin and shame, rested 
 ;n a decisive resolve. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 Piratic Adventures. 
 
 A«dacity of Kidd.— Fate of the November.— Kidd kills Willian 
 Moore. — The Renowned Ballad. — Kidd's Compunctions. — Kidd 
 at Madagascar. — Piratic Carousals. — The Artificial Hell. — Kidd'a 
 Return to the West Indies. — Exaggerated Reports of Avery. — 
 His wretched Career, and wretched End. 
 
 Captain Kidd, with a piratic frown upon his 
 brow, and piratic oaths upon his lips, turned to Mr. 
 Le Roy and said : 
 
 " Do you pretend that this is not a French ship, 
 and that you are but a passenger on board ? " 
 
 " It is so," Mr. Le Roy politely replied. " I am 
 a s-tranger in these parts, and have merely taken 
 passage on board this native ship, under Captain 
 Mitchel, on my way to Bombay." 
 
 " It is a lie," said the pirate, as he drew frons 
 his belt a pistol and cocked it. " This is a French 
 ship, and you are its captain ; and it is my lawful 
 prize If you deny this, you shall instantly die." 
 
 The features of Kidd, and his words blended 
 with oaths, convinced Mr. Le Roy that he was in 
 
52 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 the hands of a desperate man, who would shrink 
 from no crime. He was silent. Kidd then added : 
 
 " I seize this ship as my legitimate prize. It 
 belongs to a French subject, and is sailing under 
 the French flag. I have a commission from his 
 majesty the King of England to seize all such ships 
 in his name." 
 
 It seems strange that Kidd, after the many law- 
 less acts of which he had already been guilty, should 
 have deemed it of any consequence to have recourse 
 to so wretched a quibble. But the incident shows 
 that the New-York merchant, formerly of good rep- 
 utation, still recoiled from the thought of plunging 
 headlong into a piratic career. By observing these 
 forms he could, in this case, should he ever have occa- 
 sion to do so, claim the protection of the royal com- 
 mission authorizing him to capture French ships. 
 
 Kidd took his prize, which he called the Novem- 
 ber, because it was captured in that month, into 
 one of the East-Indian ports, and sold ship and 
 cargo for what they would fetch. What the amount 
 was, or how he divided it, is not known. Again he 
 resumed his cruise. It was evident that he had 
 become anxious to renounce the career of pirate, 
 upon which he had barely entered, and resume that 
 of privateersman. They soon came across a Dutch 
 ship, unmistakably such, in build and flag and rig- 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 53 
 
 ging. The crew clamored for its captuie ■, Kidd res- 
 olutely opposed it. A mutiny arose. A minority 
 of the ship's company adhered to the captain. The 
 majority declared that they would arm the boats 
 and go and seize her. 
 
 The captain, with drawn sabre in his hand, and 
 pistols in his belt, and surrounded by those still 
 faithful to him, stood upon her quarter-deck and 
 said to the mutineers, firmly : 
 
 " You may take the boats and go. But those 
 who thus leave this ship will never ascend its sides 
 again." 
 
 One of the men, a gunner by the name of Wil- 
 liam Moore, was particularly violent and abusive. 
 With threatening gestures he approached the cap- 
 tain, assailing him in the most vituperative terms, 
 saying: 
 
 " You are ruining us all. You are keeping us in ^ 
 beggary and starvation. But for your whims we 
 might all be prosperous and rich." 
 
 The captain was by no means a meek man. In 
 his ungovernable passion he seized an iron-bound 
 bucket, which chanced to be lying at his side, and 
 gave the mutineer such a blow as fractured his skull 
 and struck him senseless to the deck. Of the wound 
 the gunner died the next day Not many will feel 
 disposed to censure Captain Kidd very severely for 
 
54 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 this act. It was not a premeditated murder. It 
 was perhaps a necessary deed, in quelling a mutiny, 
 in which the mutineers were demanding that the 
 black flag of the pirate should be raised, and which 
 demand the captain was resisting. And yet it is 
 probable that this blow sent Kidd to the gallows. 
 Upon his subsequent trial, but little evidence of 
 piracy could be adduced, and the death of Moore 
 was the prominent charge brought against him. 
 
 Kidd ever averred that it was a virtuous act, and 
 that it did not trouble his conscience. It was done 
 to prevent piracy and mutiny. He also averred that 
 he had no intention to kill the man. Had he so 
 intended he would have used pistol or sabre. In 
 the ballad which, half a century ago, was sung in 
 hundreds of farm-houses in New England, the lull- 
 aby of infancy, the event is alluded to in the follow- 
 ing words : 
 
 " I murdered William Moore, as I sailed, as I sailed, 
 I murdered William Moore as I sailed ; 
 I murdered William Moore, and left him in his gore, 
 Not many leagues from shore, as I sailed." 
 
 We will give a few more verses to show the 
 general character of this ballad of twenty-five stan- 
 zas, once so popular, now forgotten : 
 
 " My name was William Kidd, when I sailed, when I 
 My name was William Kidd when I sailed, 
 My name was William Kidd, God's laws I did forbid. 
 And so wickedly I did when I sailed. 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. ${ 
 
 " Thus being o'ertaken at last, I must die, I must die. 
 Thus being o'ertaken at last, I must die ; 
 Thus being o'ertaken at last, and into prison cast, 
 4.nd sentence being pass'd, I must die. 
 
 " To Newgate now I'm cast, and must die, and must die, 
 
 To Newgate now I'm cast, and must die. 
 
 To Newgate now I'm cast, with sad and heavy heart, 
 
 To receive my just desert, I must die. 
 
 " To Execution Dock I must go, I must go, 
 To Execution Dock I must go ; 
 To Execution Dock will many thousands flock, 
 But I must bear my shock, and must die. 
 
 " Come all ye young and old, see me die, see me die. 
 Come all ye young and old, see me die ; 
 Come all ye young and old, you're welcome to my gold, 
 For by it I've lost my soul, and must die." 
 
 The Dutchman had no consciousness of the peril 
 to which he had been exposed. The two ships kept 
 company for several days, and then separated. Is it 
 possible that all this time Kidd was hesitating 
 whether to raise the black flag and seize the prize ? 
 It looks like it ; for a few days after the Dutch ship 
 had disappeared, quite a fleet of Malabar boats were 
 met with, laden with provisions and other articles 
 which Kidd needed. Unscrupulously he plundered 
 them all. Probably he had no fears that tidings of 
 the outrage would ever reach England. And even 
 if a rumor of the deed were ever to reach those dis- 
 tant shores, be had no apprehension that England 
 
56 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 would trouble herself to punish him for a little harsh 
 treatment of semi-savages on the coast of Malabar. 
 
 A few days after this robbery a Portuguese ship 
 hove in sight. Kidd's moral nature was every houf 
 growing weaker. He could no longer resist the 
 temptation to seize the prize. He robbed the ves- 
 sel of articles to the estimated value of two thou- 
 sand dollars, and let her go, inflicting no injury upon 
 the ship's company. 
 
 For three weeks they continued to cruise over a 
 sailless sea, when one morning, about the middle of 
 December, an immense mass of canvas was seen 
 rising over the distant horizon. It proved to be a 
 native ship of four hundred tons burden. The ship 
 was called the Quedagh Merchant, was very richly 
 laden, and was commanded by an Englishman, Cap- 
 tain Wright. The wealthy merchants of the East 
 were fully aware of the superior nautical skill of the 
 English seaman, and were eager to intrust their 
 important ventures to European commanders. 
 
 Kidd unfurled the French flag, chased the ship, 
 and soon overlook it. A cannon-ball whistling over 
 the heads of the crew was the very significant hint 
 with which the ship was commanded to heave to 
 Kidd ordered the captain to lower his boat and 
 come on board the Adventure. The captain obeyed 
 and informed the pirate that all the crew were East 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 57 
 
 Indians, excepting two Dutchmen and one French- 
 man, and that the ship belonged exclusively to 
 East-Indian merchants. 
 
 Kidd took piratic possession of the ship. He 
 had not the shadow of a claim to it on the ground of 
 his commission as a privateersman. He landed the 
 officers and the crew, in boatload after boatload, 
 upon the shore, and left them to shift for themselves. 
 One or two of the merchants who owned the ship 
 and cargo were on board. They offered the pirate 
 twenty thousand rupees, which was equivalent to 
 about fifteen thousand dollars, to ransom the prop- 
 erty. Kidd declined the offer. 
 
 His own ship, after such long voyaging, was 
 leaky and much in want of repairs. The Quedagh 
 Merchant was far superior to the Adventure. He 
 therefore transferred all his stores to his prize. 
 The torch was applied to the Adventure, and the 
 ill-fated ship soon disappeared in a cloud of smoke 
 and flame. Kidd, now a confirmed pirate, directed 
 his course toward the great rendezvous of the pi- 
 rates at Madagascar. Here the prize was valued at 
 sixty-four thousand pounds, or about three hundred 
 and twenty thousand dollars. 
 
 Still this strange man assumed that he was act- 
 ing under the royal commission, in behalf of the Lon- 
 don company ; and these treasures were the legiti- 
 
58 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 mate plunder of a piratic ship. He therefore re- 
 served forty shares for himself and the company. 
 There were about one hundred and fifty men com- 
 posing this piratic crew. Each man received about 
 two thousand dollars. Kidd's portion amounted to 
 nearly eighty thousand dollars. 
 
 In the pirates' harbor at Madagascar, Kidd found 
 a large ship, the Resolution, belonging to the East 
 India Company, which the captain, a man by the 
 name of Culliford, with the crew, had seized and 
 turned into a pirate. It was clearly Kidd's duty, 
 under his commission, at once to attack and capture 
 this piratic ship. When Captain Culliford saw him 
 entering the harbor with his powerful and well- 
 armed ship, he was terrified. The pirates had heard 
 of Captain Kidd's commission, and had not yet 
 learned that he had turned pirate himself. Captain 
 Culliford, with the gallows in vision before him, 
 and trembling in every nerve, for there was no pos- 
 sibility of escape, sent some officers, in a boat, on 
 board the Quedagh Merchant, to ascertain Captain 
 Kidd's intention. 
 
 It was testified at the subsequent trial of Kidd, 
 that he stood upon his deck and received with 
 open arms the piratic officers as they came up over 
 the ship's side , that he invited them to his cabin, 
 where the.y had a great carouse in drinking and 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 59 
 
 smoking ; and that in the frenzy of drink he offered 
 for a toast : 
 
 " May damnation seize my soul if I harm a hair 
 of the head of any one on board the Culliford." 
 
 It was declared that he received large presents 
 of bales of silk from the piratic captain, and sold him 
 some heavy ordnance, with suitable ammunition, for 
 two thousand dollars ; and that he was on the most 
 friendly terms with Culliford, exchanging frequent 
 visits with him. 
 
 On the other hand, Kidd emphatically denied all 
 these charges. He said, " I never stepped foot on 
 board Captain Culliford's ship. When I entered 
 the harbor and ascertained the character of the craft, 
 I ordered my men to prepare for action. But the 
 mutinous crew, who had already compelled me to 
 resort to measures against which my soul revolted, 
 peremptorily refused, saying that they would rather 
 fire two shots into my vessel than one into that of 
 Captain Culliford. The mutiny became so menacing 
 that my life was in danger. The turbulent crew rifled 
 my chest, stole my journal, took possession of the 
 ammunition. I was compelled to barricade myself 
 in the cabin. The mutineers held the ship, and be- 
 ing beyond all control, acted according to their own 
 good pleasure. I was in no degree responsible foi 
 their conduct. 
 
60 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 The captain's statement was not credited by the 
 court. At the same time it was quite evident that 
 he had lost the control of his crew. His testimony 
 was, however, in some degree borne out by the fact 
 that ninety-five of his men in a body deserted him, 
 and joined the piratic crew of Captain Culliford. 
 This would seem to prove conclusively that Captain 
 Kidd was not sufficiently piratical in his measures 
 to satisfy the demands of the mutineers. 
 
 For several weeks these guilty and wretched men 
 remained in the " own place " of the pirates, indulg- 
 ing in every species of bacchanal wassail and sen- 
 sual vice, amidst their palaces and in their harems. 
 Their revelry could not have been exceeded by 
 any scenes ever witnessed in Sodom or Gomorrah. 
 There were between five and six hundred upon the 
 island. They were continually coming and going. 
 Some of them were so rich that they remained at 
 home cultivating quite large plantations by slave 
 labor. They amused themselves by hunting, and in 
 the wide meadows and forests found abundant game. 
 The arrival of a ship in the harbor was the signal for 
 an universal carouse. They endeavored to magnify 
 the charms of their women by dressing them gor- 
 geously in silks and satins, with glittering jewelry. 
 
 Often a pipe of wine would be placed upon the 
 shore, the head taken out, and the community would 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 6s 
 
 drink of it as they pleased, as freely as if it were 
 water. Drunken pirates reeled through the streets. 
 Oaths filled the air. Knives gleamed, and pistols 
 were discharged, and there were wounds and death. 
 In the midst of all their revelry and wantonness and 
 brawls, it is evident from the record we have of those 
 days, that a more unhappy, wretched set of beings 
 could scarcely be found this side of the world of 
 woe. There was not a joy to be found there. There 
 were no peaceful homes ; no loving husbands and 
 wives; no happy children climbing the parental 
 knee and enfolded in parental arms; and in death 
 nothing but a "fearful looking for of judgment 
 and fiery indignation." 
 
 These wretched pirates were hateful and hating. 
 Satiated with vice, they knew not where to turn 
 for a single joy. Their shouts of laughter fell dis- 
 cordantly upon the ear like the revelry of demons. 
 Satan never allows his votaries any happiness either 
 in this world or in that which is to come. Wisdom's 
 ways only are ways of pleasantness, and her paths 
 alone are those of peace. 
 
 How far Captain Kidd entered into these god- 
 less carousals is not known. But it is not probable 
 that he was then able to throw off all restraint, and 
 become hail-fellow with these vulgar, degraded, 
 profane wretches, whom in heart he must have 
 
62 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 despised. Neither is it probable that one accustomed 
 to the society in which an honored New-York mer 
 chant would move, could so soon have formed a taste 
 for the drunken revelry of the lowest and vilest 
 creatures on earth. 
 
 It is evident that these men had occasionally 
 reproaches of conscience, and some faint sense of 
 their terrible responsibility at God's bar. Four of 
 them decided one day to make a little artificial hell 
 for themselves, that they might see who could stand 
 its pains the longest. 
 
 A cloudless tropical sun blistered the deck with 
 its blazing rays. The cabin was heated like an oven. 
 In addition to this, they built a fire in the stove, till 
 the iron plates were red hot. They then with blas- 
 pheming oaths entered this furnace, and sprinkled 
 brimstone upon the fire till the room was filled with 
 its suffocating fumes. One of these wretches, ap- 
 parently as fiend-like as a man could be, bore the 
 pains of this little artificial hell for five minutes. 
 None of the others could endure them so long. 
 The victor came out very exultant. One would have 
 thought that the idea would have occurred to their 
 minds that there was some considerable difference 
 between five minutes and eternity. 
 
 We do not learn that any of these men were 
 made better by the brief endurance of their self- 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 63 
 
 inflicted tortures. The mind is appalled by the 
 thought that these same men, when transferred to 
 the spirit land, may be as persistent in their hostility 
 to all God's laws as they were here. 
 
 Captain Kidd found himself abandoned by nearly 
 all his crew. He remained in port only long enough 
 to recruit sufficient men to navigate his ship, and 
 then, spreading the sails of his stolen vessel, the 
 Quedagh Merchant, he set out for the West Indies, 
 with his ill-gotten treasure of eighty thousand dol- 
 lars. The news of Kidd's piratic acts had been re- 
 ported to the home government by the East India 
 Company. Orders had accordingly been issued to 
 all the governors of the American colonies to arrest 
 him wherever he should appear. 
 
 The voyage from Madagascar to the West Indies 
 was long and tempestuous. Not a single sail ap- 
 peared in sight. Day after day the ocean was spread 
 out in all its solitary grandeur before these guilty, 
 discontented men. At length, in a very destitute 
 condition, the ship reached Anguilla, or Snake Island, 
 so called from its tortuous figure. This is the most 
 northerly of the Caribbee Islands, and there was a 
 small English colony here. 
 
 As Kidd dropped anchor in the little harbor he 
 was greeted by the intelligence that he had been 
 officially, in England, proclaimed a pirate ; that his 
 
64 CAPTAIN KIDU. 
 
 conduct had been discussed in Parliament ; that t 
 committee had been appointed to inquire into the 
 character of the company which had commissioned 
 him, and into the nature of the commission he had 
 received ; that a British man-of-war, the Queens- 
 borough, had been dispatched in pursuit of him, and 
 that a royal proclamation had been issued, offering 
 pardon to all who had been guilty of piracy, eastward 
 of the Cape of Good Hope, before the last day of 
 April, 1699, excepting William Kidd, and another 
 notorious buccaneer by the name of Avery. 
 
 This Avery had obtained great renown, and the 
 most extravagant stories were reported and univer- 
 sally believed in reference to his achievements. It 
 was said that this pirate had attained almost impe- 
 rial wealth, dignity, and power ; that he had become 
 the proud founder of a new monarchy in the East, 
 whose sceptre he swayed in undisputed absolutism. 
 His exploits were celebrated in a play called, " The 
 Successful Pirate," which was performed to admiring 
 audiences in all the theatres. 
 
 According to these representations, Avery had 
 captured a ship, belonging to the Great Mogul, and 
 laden with the richest treasures. On board the im- 
 perial ship there was a beautiful princess, the daugh- 
 ter of the Great Mogul. Avery had married her, 
 The father, reigning over boundless realms, had 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 65 
 
 recognized the union, and had assigned to Avery vast 
 territories in the East, where millions were subject 
 to his control. He occupied one of the most mag- 
 nificent of Oriental palaces, had several children, and 
 was surrounded with splendors of royalty quite un- 
 known in the Western world. He had a squadron of 
 ships manned by the most desperate fellows of all 
 nations. In his own name he issued commissions to 
 the captains of his ships and the commanders of his 
 forts, and they all recognized his princely authority. 
 
 His piracies were still continued on a scale com- 
 mensurate with his power. Many schemes were of- 
 fered to the royal council of England for fitting out 
 a squadron to disperse his fleets and to take him 
 captive. Others affirmed that he was altogether too 
 powerful to be assailed in that way. They urged the 
 expediency of sending an embassage to his court, 
 and inviting him and his companions to come to 
 England with all their treasures, assuring him of a 
 hospitable reception and of the oblivion of all the 
 past. They feared that unless these peaceful meas- 
 ures were adopted, his ever-increasing greatness 
 would enable him to annihilate all commerce with 
 the East. 
 
 These rumors were so far from having any foun- 
 dation in truth, that at the same time that such 
 wondrous tales were told, the wretch was a fugitive, 
 
66 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 wandering in disguise through England, trembling 
 in view of the scaffold, and with scarcely a shilling in 
 his pocket. His career was sufficiently extraordinary 
 to merit a brief notice here. 
 
 Avery was born in one of the western seaports 
 of England, and from a boy was bred to the hard- 
 ships and the degradation of a rude sailor's life. He 
 was educated only in profanity, intemperance, and 
 vice. As he grew up to stout boyhood he became 
 a bold smuggler, even running contraband goods on 
 shore on the far-away coasts of Peru. The Span- 
 iards were poorly provided with war-ships to guard 
 from what they deemed illicit traffic their immense 
 regions in the New World. 
 
 They therefore hired at Bristol a stout English 
 ship, called the Duke. It was manned chiefly by 
 English seamen. Captain Gibson was commander. 
 Avery was first mate. The captain was a gambler, 
 fond of his cups, and he often lingered many days 
 in foreign ports, spending his time in haunts of dis- 
 sipation. 
 
 Avery was a fellow of more cunning than courage. 
 He despised the captain, and formec a conspiracy 
 with the most desperate men on board, to get rid of 
 the captain and any sailors who might adhere to him, 
 run away with the ship, and crossing over to the 
 distant waters of the East Indies, reap a harvest of 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 67 
 
 wealth from the commerce which whitened those 
 seas. 
 
 The ship was one day at anchor in a South 
 American port. The plan had been, that night, 
 when the captain was on shore, to weigh anchor, 
 leaving the captain behind, and to set out on their 
 cruise. But it so happened that the captain, that 
 night, having drank deeply, did not go on shore as 
 usual, but, at an early hour, went to bed. All the 
 crew, excepting the conspirators, were either on 
 shore or had retired to their berths. 
 
 At ten o'clock at night the long-boat of the 
 Duke came to the ship's side, bringing sixteen 
 stout desperadoes, whom Avery had enlisted from 
 the vagabonds of all nations who thronged the port. 
 They were received on board ; the hatches were 
 closed ; and then, everything being secure, the 
 anchor was leisurely weighed, and the ship put to 
 sea. 
 
 The motion of the ship and the noise of the run- 
 ning tackles awoke the drunken captain, and he rang 
 his bell. Avery, with two sailors, entered the cabin. 
 The captain was sitting up in his berth, rubbing his 
 eyes, and evidently much alarmed. 
 
 "What is the matter?'' he exclaimed in hurried 
 accents. " Something is the matter with the ship 
 Does she drive ? What weather is it ? " 
 
68 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 " Nothing is the matter," said Avery coolly ; 
 K only we are at sea, with a fair wind and good wea- 
 ther." 
 
 " At sea ! " said Gibson. " How can that be? " 
 
 " Don't be in a fright," Avery replied. " Put on 
 your clothes, and I will tell you a little secret, /am 
 now captain of this ship. This is my cabin, and you 
 must walk out of it. I am bound to Madagascar, 
 with the design of making my own fortune and that 
 of all the brave fellows joined with me." 
 
 The captain was now completely sobered. In 
 anticipation of immediate death his terror was pitia- 
 ble. Avery endeavored to console him with the not 
 very consolable words : 
 
 " You have nothing to fear, captain, if you will 
 join us, keep sober, and do your duty. If you behave 
 well, I may, perhaps, some time, make you one of my 
 lieutenants. Or, if you prefer, here is a boat along 
 side, and we will put you ashore." 
 
 The terror-stricken man begged to be landed. 
 The rest of the crew were brought up, and all who 
 wished to go on shore with the captain were per- 
 mitted to do so. But five or six availed themselves 
 of the privilege. All the rest joined the piratic crew. 
 The captain and his few adherents were placed in 
 the boat and turned adrift, to make their way to the 
 land as best they could. The carousing pirates 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 69 
 
 directed their course to Madagascar. Here they 
 found two piratic vessels, with whose crews they en- 
 tered into close alliance. The three vessels, under 
 Avery as admiral, set out on a cruise. 
 
 Upon the Arabian coast, near the mouth of the 
 Indus, the man at the mast-head cried out, "A sail." 
 They ran down upon her, and fired a cannon-ball 
 across hei bows. But the vessel, instead of yielding 
 at once, hoisted the Mogul's colors, and cleared her 
 decks for battle. Avery kept at a distance, cannon- 
 ading her with his heavy guns, and not approaching 
 within reach of the shot of his foe. He thus lost 
 greatly reputation with his men, who regarded him 
 as a coward. The crews of the two accompanying 
 sloops, with their decks swarming with pirates, ran 
 one upon the bow and the other upon the quarter, 
 and clambering over the bulwarks of the heavily 
 laden merchantman, took her by storm. 
 
 It is true, as the story had it, that the vessel 
 belonged to the emperor, or Great Mogul, himself. 
 His daughter was on board, as well as several of the 
 most distinguished personages of his court. They 
 were bo md on a pilgrimage to Mecca, with the rich- 
 est treasures to present at the shrine of Mohammed. 
 They had costly silks, precious jewels, vessels of 
 gold and silver, and large sums of mone)'. Tb-n 
 booty obtained from this prize was immense. 
 
70 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 Having plundered the ship of everything they 
 wanted, the pirates let her go. The Mogul, when 
 he heard the tidings, was greatly enraged. He 
 threatened to send an army, with fire and sword, 
 utterly to exterminate the English in all their East- 
 Indian colonies. The East India Company, in Eng- 
 land, was greatly alarmed. They immediately 
 dispatched an embassage to the Great Mogul to 
 pacify him. They promised, in the name of the 
 British Government, to pursue the pirates with the 
 utmost vigor, and, if captured, to deliver them over 
 into his hands. 
 
 In the mean time the successful buccaneers were 
 making their way back to their rendezvous at Mad- 
 agascar. There they intended to store their booty, 
 erect a fortification for its defence, garrison it with 
 men of desperate valor, and then to set out again 
 on another cruise. As they were sailing along, with 
 this design, each of the vessels having a portion of 
 the plunder, the villanous Avery sent for the chief 
 officers of each of the vessels to come on board the 
 Duke. He then said to them : 
 
 " We have immense treasure, sufficient to enrich 
 us all for life, if we can only get it to some secure 
 place on shore. But we are in great danger of 
 being separated by bad weather. In that case, 
 should either of the sloops meet any ship of force, 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 7 1 
 
 it would be captured. But the Duke, in build and 
 armament, is superior to any ship to be encountered 
 in these waters. My ship is so well manned that 
 she can defy any foe ; and moreover, she is such a 
 swift sailer, that she can easily escape any other 
 ship, if she does not wish to fight. 
 
 " I therefore propose, for our mutual safety, that 
 we put all the treasure on board the Duke. We 
 can seal up each chest with three seals, of which 
 each vessel shall keep one. The chests shall not be 
 opened until we open them together at the rendez- 
 vous." 
 
 This proposal seemed so reasonable that they all 
 agreed to it. All the treasure was transferred to 
 the Duke. Avery then said to the villains who sur- 
 rounded him : 
 
 " We have now the whole treasure at our own 
 control. Let us, at night, give the rest a slip, and 
 sail for unknown parts in North America. We can 
 go ashore, divide our wealth, and with ample riches 
 settle wherever we please." 
 
 We have heard that there is honor among 
 thieves. Among these thieves there was none. 
 Not a dissentient voice was heard. All agreed to 
 the plan. In the darkness of the ensuing night the 
 ship changed her course, and in the morning the 
 crews of the two sloops searched the horizon in vain 
 
72 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 for any sight of her. They knew by the fairness of 
 the weather, and the course they were pursuing, 
 that the flight had been intentional. The reader 
 must be left to surmise the scenes of confusion and 
 profanity which must have been witnessed on board 
 these piratic crafts. 
 
 The first land the Duke made in America was 
 the Island of Providence. Here Avery sold the 
 ship, pretending that it had been fitted out as a 
 privateer, but having been unsuccessful, the owners 
 had ordered her to be disposed of, as soon as any 
 purchasers could be found. With a portion of the 
 proceeds a small sloop was bought, and the buc- 
 caneers sailed for Boston, New England. Avery, 
 thief as he was, had concealed the greater part of 
 the diamonds, of whose great value the crew were 
 ignorant. 
 
 At Boston they landed. Many of the men re- 
 ceived their shares, and scattered throughout New 
 England. Avery was afraid to offer his diamonds 
 for sale there, where diamonds were so unusual a com- 
 modity, lest suspicion should be excited. He per- 
 suaded a few of his companions to accompany him 
 to Ireland. They landed at one of the northern 
 ports and there separated. Avery went to Dublin. 
 He was still afraid to offer his diamonds for sale, lest 
 inquiry should lead to the discovery of his mannei 
 
PIRATIC ADVENTURES. 73 
 
 of acquiring them. He thus found himself in pov- 
 erty with all his wealth. 
 
 After remaining some time in Ireland under a 
 feigned name, and ever trembling at his shadow 
 he crossed over to Bristol. Here he fell in with 
 some sharpers, who, getting a hint of the treasures 
 he had to dispose of, took him under their especial 
 care. They wormed most of his secrets out of him, 
 and then recommended that he should dispose of 
 his jewels to an established firm of wealth and credit, 
 who, being accustomed to great transactions, would 
 make no inquiries as to the way he obtained his 
 treasure. 
 
 Avery, not knowing what to do, assented to this 
 proposal. The sharpers brought some men whom 
 they introduced to Avery as gentlemen of the highest 
 standing in the jewelry business. Avery exhibited 
 to them his diamonds and pearls, and many vessels 
 of massive gold. They took them to sell on com- 
 mission. This was the last he saw of his stolen 
 wealth. To his remonstrances he received only the 
 reply : 
 
 " If you speak a word out loud, we will have you 
 hung for piracy." 
 
 Utterly beggared, and terrified by these menaces, 
 he again, in disguise, and under a feigned name, 
 crossed over to Ireland. Here his destitution and 
 4 
 
74 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 distress became so great, for he was absolutely con- 
 strained to beg for his bread, that he resolved to go 
 back to Bristol, and demand payment for his treas- 
 ure at whatever hazard. He worked his passage in 
 a small coasting vessel to Plymouth, and walked to 
 Biddeford. Here, overcome with fatigue and suffer- 
 ing, both mental and bodily, he was seized with a 
 fever, died, and, not one penny being found in his 
 pockets, was buried at the expense of the parish as 
 a vagabond pauper. 
 
 Such was the end of the pirate Avery, of whom 
 such extravagant stories had been told. It was 
 while he was in this extreme of poverty in England, 
 and when it was supposed that he was rioting in 
 successful piracy in the East, that the Government 
 coupled his name with that of Captain Kidd, de- 
 nouncing them as outlaws, and declaring that 
 their sins were too great to be forgiven, and that 
 if arrested, the gallows was their inevitable doom. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 Arrest Trial, and Condemnation of Kidd. 
 
 Appalling Tidings. — Trip to Curacoa. — Disposal of the Quedagh 
 Merchant. — Purchase of the Antonio. — Trembling Approach 
 toward New York. — Measures for the Arrest of Kidd. — He en- 
 ters Delaware Bay. — Touches at Oyster Bay and Block Island. — 
 Communications with the Government. — Sails for Boston. — His 
 Arrest. — Long Delays. — Public Rumors. — His Trial and Con 
 demnation. 
 
 Captain KlDD was greatly disturbed in learning 
 at Anguilla that he had been denounced as a pirate, 
 proscribed as an outlaw, and that he with the no- 
 torious Avery was expressly excluded from the par- 
 don offered by the king to other buccaneers. He 
 had thus far flattered himself with the hope that he 
 could make it appear that all the prizes he had cap- 
 tured belonged to the French, and were legitimately 
 taken under his commission as a privateersman. He 
 also had placed much confidence in the support of 
 the distinguished men composing the company by 
 which he had been commissioned. The large wealth 
 which he had expected to bring back to them, he 
 thought, would unite their powerful influence in his 
 support. 
 
76 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 But instead of this, it now appeared that the 
 company was disposed to make him their " scape- 
 goat." They had been so severely condemned, as 
 irresponsible for the conduct of their agent, that in 
 self-defence they became the loudest of his assailants, 
 denouncing him in the severest terms, and clamoring 
 most loudly that all seas should be explored to catch 
 and hang the miscreant. It was these political 
 complications, united with the renown of the com- 
 pany of king and nobles, which gave the name of 
 Captain Kidd prominence far above anything which 
 his achievements would warrant. It was known 
 that he had been scouring the East-Indian seas with 
 one of the most powerful of English ships, and it 
 was surmised that he had accumulated wealth suffi- 
 cient to found an empire. What became of this 
 boundless wealth ? This was the question which 
 agitated England and America, and which set the 
 money-diggers at work in so many different places, 
 
 Captain Kidd and his crew, at Anguilla, were 
 greatly alarmed. They kept a careful watch of the 
 horizon from the mast-head, fearing every hour that 
 they should see the flag of an English man-of-war 
 approaching to convey them to trial and the scaf- 
 fold. About a thousand miles south of Anguilla, 
 there was, on the coast of Venezuela, the little island 
 of Curacoa. It was but about forty miles long, and 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. T] 
 
 fourteen broad, and, belonging to the Dutch, was 
 quite outside of the usual course of the British ships. 
 
 To this place Kidd repaired to lay in supplies, of 
 which he was greatly in need. Though he had 
 heard of his.proscription, he was not fully aware of 
 the strength of hostility which was arrayed against 
 him. He still clung to the hope that no evidence 
 could be brought to prove that he had acted in any 
 other capacity than that of a privateersman. 
 
 But the very ship in which he sailed was evidence 
 against him. The Quedagh Merchant, the property 
 of the Great Mogul, was undeniably an East-Indian 
 ship belonging to a friendly power, whom Kidd was 
 expressly prohibited from assailing. He could not 
 safely approach any English port in this ship. He 
 accordingly purchased at Curacoa the small sloop 
 Antonio, from Philadelphia. In this he placed his 
 most portable treasures of doubloons, gold-dust, 
 jewels, and vessels of silver and of gold, and with a 
 crew of forty men set sail for New York. He kept 
 the Quedagh Merchant in company with him as far 
 as the southern coast of San Domingo. There he 
 left the bulky ship, with a crew of twenty-two pirates, 
 under command of a man by the name of Bolton. 
 The ship had a very valuable cargo of one hundred 
 and fifty bales of the finest silks, eighty tons of sugar, 
 ten tons of junk iron fifteen large anchors, and fortv 
 
78 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 tons of saltpetre. The ship was also well provided 
 with ammunition, had thirty guns mounted, and 
 twenty more in the hold. 
 
 This was the division of the piratic plunder. 
 The share which fell to Bolton and twenty-two of 
 the men was the ship and this portion of the cargo. 
 These wretches are heard of no more. It is to be 
 hoped that the next storm which rose engulfed them 
 all. It is more probable that for months they con- 
 tinued to range the seas, perpetrating crimes over 
 which demons should blush, until, in drunken brawls 
 and bloody fights, they one by one sank into the 
 grave, and passed to the judgment-seat of Christ. 
 Unreliable rumor says that Bolton transferred his 
 cargo and crew to a more swiftly sailing ship, and then 
 applied the torch to the Quedagh Merchant. Many 
 other rumors were in circulation, but none worthy 
 of credence. 
 
 Earl Bellomont was then in authority at New 
 York. Kidd was hoping for his protection. But the 
 earl felt that very active measures were requisite to 
 exculpate himself, the king, and the ministry from 
 all responsibility for the robberies of Kidd. He 
 therefore, so soon as he heard of Kidd's arrival upon 
 the coast, ordered out an armed sloop in pursuit of 
 him. 
 
 It is evident that Kidd was then one of the most 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 79 
 
 wretched of men. His reputation was ruined ; his 
 prospects in life were all blighted ; his companions 
 were bloodthirsty pirates, whom he could not but 
 despise, and he was in imminent danger of an igno- 
 minious death upon the scaffold. 
 
 Tremblingly he approached New York. As his 
 vessel needed some repairs, he ran into Delaware 
 Bay, and tarried for a short time at Lewiston. This 
 was early in June, 1699. It was from this place that 
 Bellomont heard of his arrival. Here one of the 
 pirates, a man by the name of Gillam, left, being in 
 possession of a heavy chest, laden with the fruits 
 of his robberies. 
 
 Kidd soon departed from the harbor, and thus 
 escaped the sloop sent in pursuit of him. Instead 
 of sailing directly to New York, in his perplexity he 
 followed along the southern coast of Long Island, 
 until he reached its eastern extremity, and then, 
 turning into the Sound, crept cautiously along to 
 Oyster Bay. From this place he wrote a letter to 
 Bellomont, and also another very loving letter to his 
 wife and children. In his letter to the earl he wrote : 
 
 " The reason why I have not gone directly to 
 New York, is that the clamorous and false stories 
 that have been repeated of me, have made me fear- 
 ful of visiting or coming into any harbor, till I could 
 hear from your lordship " 
 
80 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 In response to these letters, a lawyer by the name 
 of Emot came from New York, and visited Kidd on 
 board the Antonio. He brought the captain tidings 
 respecting his family, and also the important intelli- 
 gence that the Earl of Bellomont was then absent in 
 Boston. Kidd employed Emot to repair immediate- 
 ly to Boston, to secure from the earl the promise 
 of safety if Kidd should visit him there. 
 
 " Inform the earl," said Kidd, " that unquestion- 
 able piracies have been committed by men nomi- 
 nally under my command. But this has never been 
 by my connivance or consent. When these deeds 
 have been performed, the men have been in a state 
 of mutiny, utterly beyond my control. Disregarding 
 my imperative commands, they locked me up in the 
 cabin, and committed crimes over which I had no 
 control, and for which I am in no sense responsible." 
 
 To this the earl replied, " Say to Captain Kidd 
 that I give him the promise of my protection if his 
 statement can be proved to be true." 
 
 Kidd was still in a state of pitiable agitation. 
 It might not be easy to prove his declarations. 
 There was no evidence which he could possibly 
 bring forward but that of the pirates themselves 
 And it was not at all probable that they would be 
 willing greatly to exaggerate their own guilt by ex- 
 onerating him. He, however, ventured as far as 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 8 1 
 
 Block Island. From that place he wrote to Bello- 
 mont again, protesting his innocence, and dwelling 
 much upon the devotion with which he had conse- 
 crated himself to the interests of the owners of the 
 Adventure. He also sent to Lady Bellomont a pres- 
 ent of jewels, to the value of three hundred dollars. 
 The earl's lady, for a time, retained these presents 
 from the proscribed pirate and outlaw. When sub- 
 sequently reproached with this, they were surren- 
 dered to the general inventory of Kidd's effects. 
 The earl apologized for retaining them by saying 
 that he feared, if they were rejected, the giver would 
 be so offended that the earl would not be able to get 
 the developments he wished to obtain. 
 
 While at Block Island, Mrs. Kidd and the chil- 
 dren joined Captain Kidd, under the care of Mr. 
 Clark. They were all received on board the Antonio, 
 and Kidd, with a pale cheek and a trembling heart, 
 set sail for Boston. As Mr. Clark wished to return 
 to New York, Kidd turned from his course and 
 landed him at Gardiner's Island. Captain Kidd did 
 not venture ashore at this place. But, for some un- 
 explained reason, he deposited with Mr. Gardiner, 
 the proprietor of the island, for safe keeping, a very 
 considerable portion of his treasures. He then sailed 
 for Boston, and entered the harbor on the first of 
 July, 1699. 
 
 4" 
 
82 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 For nearly a week he remained in his vessel ot 
 traversed the streets unmolested. On the sixth of 
 July, an officer approached him, placed his hand 
 upon Kidd's shoulder, and said, " You are my pris- 
 oner." The pirate endeavored to draw his sword. 
 It might have been an instinctive motion. It 
 might have been that he deliberately preferred to 
 be cut down upon the spot rather than undergo a 
 trial. Others interposed. He was seized and dis- 
 armed, while his sword remained in its scabbard. 
 
 It is evident that there were very many chances 
 that the trial might terminate in Kidd's favor. 
 It is a maxim of law that every man is to be con- 
 sidered innocent until proved to be guilty. Kidd's 
 piracies were perpetrated on the other side of the 
 globe. None of his victims could possibly appear 
 against him. There were none to be brought upon 
 the witness's stand but his own sailors, who would 
 be slow to admit that they had been engaged in a 
 piratic cruise, which would condemn them to the 
 gallows. It would seem, therefore, that there were 
 insuperable difficulties in the way of his condem- 
 nation. 
 
 Mrs. Kidd, in coming from New York to Block 
 Island with her children to join her husband, had 
 brought with her a servant-girl, about three hun- 
 dred dollars in money, and several valuable pieces 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 83 
 
 at plate. These were all seized, together with all 
 the effects on board the Antonio, and the treasure 
 deposited at Gardiner's Island, which was brought 
 to Boston by a vessel sent to the island for that 
 purpose. 
 
 The whole amount proved much less than had 
 been expected. There were eleven hundred and 
 eleven ounces of gold, two thousand three hundred 
 and fifty-three ounces of silver, fifty-seven bags of 
 sugar, forty-one bales of goods, and seventeen pieces 
 of canvas. Mrs. Kidd petitioned the governor and 
 council to have her property restored to her, which 
 was done. 
 
 The small amount of property found led to the 
 suspicion, that as Kidd slowly passed over the 
 waters of Long Island Sound, he must have buried, 
 at Thimble Island and other places along the coast, 
 a large amount of gold and jewels. And it is indeed 
 difficult to account for what became of the vast 
 treasures of that kind which it is supposed he found 
 in the Quedagh Merchant. These rumors were in- 
 tensified by the statement that while Kidd was at 
 Block Island, three sloops came from New York and 
 departed with a portion of his treasure. Kidd ad- 
 mitted this, but said that the goods belonged to hia 
 men and were shipped by them. 
 
 Immediately upon Kidd's arrival the earl sent 
 
84 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 for him, and held quite a long interview, though he 
 was careful to do so in the presence of witnesses. 
 A narrative was very carefully drawn up of his 
 alleged proceedings. Mrs Kidd took up her resi- 
 dence in a boarding-house kept by Mr. Duncan 
 Campbell. The earl kept a close watch upon Kidd, 
 fully intending, as he said, eventually to arrest him. 
 But he thought it expedient to dally with him for a 
 while, in order to discover the extent of his adven- 
 tures, and the disposition he had made of the prop- 
 erty acquired. Kidd sent to the boarding-house 
 some gold-dust and ingots, which he said were 
 intended as a present for the earl's lady. They 
 were valued at about four thousand dollars. When 
 searching the house they were found between two 
 feather beds. 
 
 As Kidd did not seem disposed to unbosom 
 himself very freely, and as the earl feared that some 
 stormy night he might escape, he decided to hold 
 him secure in prison. This led to his arrest, which 
 we have already alluded to, on the sixth day after 
 his arrival. The arrest took place in the streets of 
 Boston, near the door of the earl's residence. At 
 the same time some commissioners took possession 
 of his sloop. They seized and examined all his 
 papers, and placed a guard over the property. Quite 
 a number of his men were also arrested, twelve in 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 8j 
 
 all, under charge of piracy and robbery on the high 
 seas. It is supposed that the others escaped. 
 
 On the seventeenth of July, Captain Nicholas 
 Evertse arrived in Boston, with the statement to 
 which we have referred, that Bolton, who was left in 
 charge of the Quedagh Merchant, had transferred her 
 cargo to another vessel, conveyed the goods to Cura- 
 coa, and set the Merchant on fire. He testified that 
 he saw the flames of the burning ship as he was 
 skirting the coast of San Domingo. 
 
 Kidd and his confederate pirates were held in 
 close custody in Boston for several months. In the 
 mean time intelligence of their capture was sent to 
 London. The home government dispatched a ship 
 of war to take them to England for trial. The ex- 
 citement throughout Great Britain and in this coun- 
 try was intense, in consequence of the rumor which 
 had so extensively prevailed of Kidd's partnership 
 with the king and several of the ministry. Many 
 months had already elapsed since his arrest, and yet 
 he had not been brought to trial. The ship sent to 
 transport him to London encountered a severe 
 storm and put back. This caused an additional 
 delay, and increased the excitement. It was said 
 that the ministry, out of regard to their own reputa- 
 tion, were determined not to bring him to justice. 
 Thus, throughout all England, he ceased to be 
 
86 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 regarded as an ordinary pirate, and was raised to the 
 dignity of one entitled to a state trial. 
 
 Immediately upon Kidd's arrival, the House of 
 Commons addressed a petition to the king, praying 
 to have his trial postponed until the next Parlia- 
 ment. The question of his guilt or innocence had 
 become so involved in political issues, that there 
 was a strong party ready to make the greatest exer- 
 tions to secure his condemnation. They urged the 
 postponement on the ground that this length of 
 time was requisite to obtain, from the Indies, docu- 
 ments and affidavits in reference to his transactions. 
 Kidd and his companions were consequently con- 
 fined in Newgate prison for a whole year. 
 
 At that very time the House of Commons had 
 impeached the Earl of Oxford and Lord Somers, for 
 their connection with Kidd, and for the extraordi- 
 nary commission which they had been instrumental 
 in placing in his hands. It was said that commission 
 and grants had been conferred upon him, which were 
 highly prejudicial to the interests of trade and dis- 
 honorable to the king. In accordance with this 
 commission, Kidd could capture any ship, and, with- 
 out referring the question to any court of inquiry, 
 could, of his own pleasure, declare the ship to be a 
 pirate. He could then confiscate ship and cargo to 
 his own use, and dispose of the crew in any way 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 87 
 
 which to him might seem best. This was the 
 course which, under the commission, he did pursue. 
 
 These were certainly very extraordinary powers. 
 It was contended that they were contrary to the 
 law of England and to the Bill of Rights. To these 
 arguments it was replied, by the friends of the im- 
 peached nobles, that pirates were the enemies of 
 the human race ; that as such any person had a 
 right to destroy them, and seize the property they 
 had so iniquitously acquired, and to which they had 
 no legitimate title. It was also declared, though 
 perhaps the royal commission would hardly sustain 
 the statement, that Kidd was authorized to seize 
 only that property for which no other owner could 
 be found. Certainly there was no provision made 
 for searching out such ownership. It was, however, 
 urged, and very truthfully, that the commission con- 
 tained the all-important clause : 
 
 " We do also require you to bring, or cause to 
 be brought, such pirates, freebooters, or sea-rovers, 
 as you shall seize, to legal trial, to the end they 
 may be proceeded against according to the law in 
 such cases." 
 
 The fact that Kidd entirely ignored these in- 
 structions, constituting himself the court to try and 
 condemn, could not justly be brought as a charge 
 against the ministers who commissioned him. 
 
88 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 Upon these questions popular feeling ran high, 
 Parties took sides. Agitating rumors filled the air. 
 It was confidently affirmed that the lords then on 
 trial, with the connivance of the ministry, that they 
 might escape the investigation which the trial of Kidd 
 would involve, had set the Great Seal of England 
 to the pardon of the pirate. This roused the anti- 
 ministerial party to the highest state of exasperation. 
 They resolved at all events to hang Kidd, hoping 
 thus to prove that the ministers were alike guilty 
 with him. And on the other hand, the ministers 
 themselves had come to the conclusion that any at- 
 tempt to shield Kidd would redound to their own 
 ruin. It had become essential to their own reputa- 
 tion that they should manifest more zeal than any 
 others to bring Kidd to the scaffold. 
 
 Thus the wretched pirate had no chance of a fair 
 trial. Undoubtedly he was guilty. But it is very 
 doubtful whether he were proved to be guilty when 
 called before the court. The bill of impeachment 
 against the lords was not carried. Though their 
 participation with Kidd in the profits of an expedi- 
 tion which was authorized only by their own official 
 acts was deemed very censurable, when the vote 
 was taken there were but twenty-three in favor of 
 the impeachment, while there were fifty-six opposed 
 «■« the bill. 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 89 
 
 The Earl of Bellomont, harassed by the proce- 
 dure in the House of Commons, and knowing that 
 measures were about to be instituted against him 
 for his recall from the provincial government, and 
 perhaps for his still more severe punishment, was 
 taken sick and died in New-York, in March, 1700. 
 Thus he escaped from the further troubles of this 
 ever-troubled world. 
 
 At the close of the year 1700, the papers which 
 had been sent for arrived from the East Indies. A 
 petition came from several of the East-Indian mer- 
 chants, subjects of the King of Persia, giving a mi- 
 nute recital of the capture of the Quedagh Merchant, 
 and praying that the property of which they had 
 thus been robbed, and much of which had been con- 
 veyed to the North American colonies, might be re- 
 stored to them. A very distinguished East Indian, 
 by the name of Cogi Baba, came to London in behalf 
 of the petitioners. He was summoned to appear 
 before the House of Commons. At the same time 
 Kidd himself was brought from his prison before the 
 bar. 
 
 After an examination, a motion was made to the 
 house to declare the grant made to the Earl of Bello- 
 mont and others of the company, of all the treasure 
 taken by Kidd, to be null and void. But this motion 
 was negatived. A vote was then taken requesting 
 
gO CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 the king to institute immediate proceedings against 
 Captain Kidd for piracy and murder. He was ac- 
 cordingly brought to trial, under this indictment, at 
 the Old Bailey, in the year 1701. 
 
 Several .of Kidd's confederates were tried with 
 him. Some of them pleaded the king's pardoi., 
 saying that they had surrendered themselves within 
 the time limited in the royal proclamation. The 
 governor of New Jersey, Colonel Bass, then in court, 
 testified to the truth of this assertion, the surrender 
 having been made to him. 
 
 To this it was replied, " There were four com- 
 missioners named in the proclamation, Thomas 
 Warren, Israel Hayes, Peter Delanoye, and Chris- 
 topher Pollard. These commissioners were sent to 
 America to receive the submission of such pirates 
 as should surrender. No other persons were entitled. 
 to receive their surrender. They therefore have not 
 complied with the conditions of the proclamation." 
 
 They were condemned and hanged. One of the 
 crew, Darby Mullens, made the following strong de- 
 fence. 
 
 " I served under the king's commission. I could 
 not therefore disobey my commander, without 
 exposing myself to the most severe punishment. 
 Whenever a ship goes out upon any expedition, 
 under the kind's commission, the men are never 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 91 
 
 allowed to call their officers to account. Implicit 
 obedience is required of them. Any other course 
 would destroy all discipline. If anything unlawful 
 is done, the officers are to answer for it, for the men, 
 in obeying orders, only do what is imperiously their 
 duty." 
 
 The court replied, " When a man is acting under 
 a commission, he is justified only in doing that which 
 is lawful, not in that which is unlawful." 
 
 The prisoner responded, " I stand in need of 
 nothing to justify me in what is lawful. But the 
 case of a seaman is very hard, if he is exposed to 
 being scourged or shot if he refuse to obey his com- 
 mander, and of being hung if he obey him. If the 
 seaman were allowed to dispute the orders of his 
 captain, there could be no such thing as command 
 kept up at sea." 
 
 The court replied, " The crew, of which you were 
 one, took a share of the plunder ; they mutinied 
 several times ; they undertook to control the cap- 
 tain ; they paid no regard to the commission ; they 
 acted in all things according to the customs of 
 pirates. You are guilty, and must be hanged." He 
 was hanged. 
 
 Kidd was tried for piracy, and for the murder of 
 William Moore. He was not allowed counsel, but 
 was left to make his own defence. On the whole, he 
 
92 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 appeared remarkably well while passing through this 
 dreadful ordeal. In opening his defence, he said: 
 
 " I was a merchant in New York, in good repute 
 and in good circumstances, when I was solicited to 
 engage, under the royal commission, in the laud- 
 able employment of suppressing piracy. I had no 
 need of embarking myself in piratic adventures. 
 The men were generally desperate characters, and 
 they rose in mutiny against me. I lost all control 
 over them. They did as they pleased. They threat- 
 ened to shoot me in my cabin. Ninety-five deserted 
 at one time, and destroyed my boat. I was thus dis- 
 abled from bringing the ship home. Consequently 
 I could not bring the prizes before any court to 
 have them regularly condemned. They were all 
 taken by virtue of the commission, under the Broad 
 Seal, and they had French papers." 
 
 When the jury was impanelled, and he was in- 
 vited to find cause, if he wished to do so, for the ex- 
 clusion of any of them, he replied : 
 
 " I shall challenge none. I know nothing to the 
 contrary but that they are all honest men." 
 
 Kidd was greatly agitated during the trial, and 
 frequently interrupted the court with his exclama- 
 tions and explanations. He was first tried for the 
 murder of William Moore. This indictment gave a 
 very particular account of the event, stating that 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 93 
 
 the gunner died of a mortal bruise received at the 
 hands of the captain ; that from the thirtieth day 
 of October to the one-and-thirtieth day, he did 
 languish and languishing did live, but that on the 
 one-and-thirtieth day he did die; and that William 
 Kidd, feloniously, voluntarily, and of malice afore- 
 thought, did kill and murder him/' 
 
 To this Kidd replied, and probably with entire 
 tiuth, as we have before said, that he had no inten- 
 tion of killing the man ; that he struck him down to 
 quell a mutiny, and to prevent the crew from en- 
 gaging in an atrocious act of piracy ; that his con- 
 science never had condemned him for the deed, and 
 that he then felt that for it he merited approbation 
 rather than censure. 
 
 He told a very plain, simple story, which, if true, 
 and its truth could not be disproved, would exon- 
 erate him in this affair from blame. The intelligent 
 reader of this narrative will perceive that there were 
 many corroborative circumstances to substantiate 
 the accuracy of his account. 
 
 " I will inform the court," he said, " of the facts 
 precisely as they occurred in this case. We were 
 within about three miles of the Dutch ship, when I 
 perceived that many of my men were in a state of 
 mutiny, clamoring for her capture. Moore, address- 
 ing the mutineers, said that he could propose a plan 
 
94 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 by which the ship could be captured, and yet all 
 who were engaged in the enterprise might be per- 
 fectly safe. 
 
 " 'And how is that to be done,' I inquired ? 
 
 "He replied, ' We will hail the ship, and have the 
 captain and officers invited on board to visit our 
 officers. While they are in the cabin with our cap- 
 tain, we will man the boats and plunder the ship. 
 The captain will shut his eyes and close his ears, 
 and then he and the officers can testify that the 
 ship was not captured. 
 
 " To this I said, ' This would be Judas-like treach- 
 ery, to rob the ship under the guise of friendship. 1 
 dare not do such a thing.' 
 
 " ' We must do it,' Moore replied. ' We are 
 already beggars. We have no other resource. You 
 have brought us to utter ruin.' 
 
 " ' Shall we be guilty of the crime,' I said, ' of cap- 
 turing this ship because we are poor ? ' 
 
 " Upon this Moore and the mutineers were so 
 violent that I seized a slush-bucket, which chanced 
 to be at hand. With it I struck him in my passion, 
 not intending to kill him. If I had premeditated 
 his death, I should not have made use of so rude 
 and chance-directed a weapon. I am heartily sorry 
 that I killed him. And if the deed cannot be justi- 
 fied as a preventive of mutiny, it certainly should 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION. 95 
 
 not be adjudged anything more than manslaugh- 
 ter." 
 
 There was much force in these arguments. It 
 is at least doubtful whether an intelligent jury of 
 the present day would under such testimony have 
 brought in a verdict of guilty of murder in the first 
 degree. One who has carefully examined all the 
 proceedings of the court on this occasion, writes : 
 
 " Yet, it being determined to hang him at all 
 odds, the lawyers were given hints, the witnesses 
 were browbeaten, and the jury were instructed, 
 after tedious iteration, to bring him in guilty." 
 
 This was done. He was pronounced to be the 
 murderer of John Moore, and was, for that crime, 
 doomed to die. 
 
 The next day he was tried on the indictment foi 
 piracy. Two of his crew, who, by their confession, 
 were sharers in his piratic adventures, turned state's 
 evidence. One of these was a deck hand, by the 
 name of Palmer. The other was a surgeon, Bra- 
 dingham by name. Kidd closely cross-examined 
 them, but their stories perfectly agreed, being 
 straightforward and consistent. 
 
 Kidd's only defence was that he had acted only 
 as a privateersman, under his Majesty's commission. 
 He declared that he had never captured a ship 
 which he had not evidence was a French ship, be« 
 
96 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 longing to French owners, and sailing under French 
 papers. It scarcely admits of a doubt that this 
 statement was utterly false. Kidd assumed of both 
 of the witnesses against him that they were misera- 
 ble vagabonds, whose testimony was unworthy of 
 the slightest credence. In reference to the testi- 
 mony of Bradingham, he exclaimed : 
 
 " This man contradicts himself in a hundred 
 places. He tells a thousand lies. He knows no 
 more of these things than you do. This fellow used 
 to sleep five or six months together in the hold." 
 
 At another time, when the testimony was going 
 strongly against him, he cried out bitterly: 
 
 " It is hard that the life of one of the king's sub- 
 jects should be taken away upon the perjured oaths 
 of such villains as these. Because I would not yield 
 to their wishes, and turn pirate, they now endeavor 
 to prove that I was one." 
 
 When the solicitor general asked if Kidd had 
 any further questions to put to the witnesses, he 
 ^despairingly replied : 
 
 " No ! no. Bradingham is saving his life by 
 "taking away mine. I will not trouble the court any 
 -more, for it is a folly. So long as these men swear 
 as they do, no oaths of mine will be of any avail." 
 
 The verdict of guilty was rendered. The judge 
 pronounced the awful doom: 
 
ARREST, TRIAL, AND CONDEMNATION $J 
 
 " William Kidd, the sentence that the law hath 
 appointed to pass upon you for your offences, and 
 which this court doth therefore award, is, that you, 
 the said William Kidd, shall go from hence to the 
 place from whence you came, and from thence to 
 the place of execution, where you shall be hanged by 
 the neck until you are dead. And may the God of 
 infinite mercy be meiciful to your soul." 
 
 Kidd replied, " My lord, it is a very hard sen- 
 tence. For my part, I am the most innocent person 
 of them all. I have been sworn against by perjured 
 persons. ' 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 Kidd, and Stede Bonnet. 
 
 The Guilt of Kidd. — Rumors of Buried Treasure. — Mesmeric Reve- 
 lation. — Adventures of Bradish. — Strange Character of Majos 
 Bonnet. — His Piracies. — Encounters. — Indications of Insanity,. 
 — No Temptation to Turn Pirate. — Blackbeard. — Bonnet De- 
 posed. 
 
 Mr. Charles Elliot, in his History of New Eng- 
 land, writes : " It seems to have been felt necessary by 
 those who were charged, in England, with complici- 
 ty with Captain Kidd, that a vigorous prosecution 
 should be urged, and that an example should be 
 made of him, to satisfy a clamorous public opinion. 
 He was brought to trial, and was convicted and sen- 
 tenced for the murder of William Moore, one of 
 his own sailors, whom he had struck in an alterca- 
 tion. 
 
 " This appears to have been the only blood laid 
 against him ; and the charge of piracy could hardly 
 have been proved. As was the custom of that day, 
 Kidd was not allowed counsel. He plead his com- 
 missions for what he had done, but was roughly 
 treated by the court ; and Livingston, who was one 
 
KIDD, AND STEDE BONNET. 99 
 
 of his partners and sureties, had got possession of 
 his papers, and refused to give them up to him. 
 
 " Kidd probably had no idea of being charged 
 with piracy, nor did he consider himself a pirate; 
 and if there had been no charge made against his 
 partners, he would not have died on the gallows. 
 He was hanged at Execution Dock, May 12, 1701 ; 
 and all England was agog with the doings of the 
 pirate Kidd. It was a mere accident that Kidd 
 was hanged as a pirate instead of being feasted as a 
 victor." 
 
 These scenes occurred one hundred and seventy- 
 five years ago. And yet, for some inexplicable rea- 
 son, while hundreds of other events of vastly greater 
 moment have passed into oblivion, the name of 
 Captain Kidd, from that hour to this, has been almost 
 a household word in both England and America. 
 
 Many believed that the Quedagh Merchant, in- 
 stead of being burned at sea, was brought into the 
 Hudson River at night, and sunk near the Highlands, 
 with most of her treasure on board. Several circum- 
 stances seemed to corroborate this assertion. At the 
 base of the Dunderberg, there could be seen sunk, 
 deep in the bed of the river, and almost buried in 
 its sands, the wreck of some large ship. A pamphlet 
 was published, entitled : 
 
 " An Account of Some of the Traditions and 
 
 L.ofC, 
 
IOC CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 Experiments Respecting Captain Kidd's Piratical 
 Vessel." 
 
 The traditions here referred to asserted that 
 Kidd's vessel, the Quedagh Merchant, laden with 
 the treasures of the East, was chased up the North 
 River by an English man-of-war. Kidd, finding 
 escape impossible, collected as much money as he 
 could carry, and set fire to the ship, having left by 
 far the larger part of the gold and silver on board. 
 With a portion of the crew he ascended the river 
 much farther, in boats, and then crossed the country,, 
 through the wilderness, to Boston. 
 
 These traditions are embellished with many ro- 
 mantic stories. It is said that as he and his piratic 
 comrades were journeying along, they came to a log 
 house in the woods. The man of the household was 
 absent at his work. The woman, thinking that they 
 were savages, in terror fled at their approach. In 
 her fright she left one of her children behind. The 
 bloodthirsty pirate, Kidd, in pure wantoness thrust 
 his sword through the child. 
 
 An old Indian, who had wandered far away to 
 Michigan, declared that he was on the river- bank 
 when the pirates set fire to the ship and took to 
 their boats. Very graphically he described the 
 midnight scene as, buried in the glooms of the for- 
 est, he witnessed it in the brilliant illumination of 
 
KIDD, AND STEDE BONNET. IOI 
 
 the blazing vessel, tie was induced to come all the 
 way from Michigan to the Hudson to point out the 
 spot of the sunken vessel. And deep in the water 
 the charred timbers were to be seen. Another 
 pamphlet was published, entitled : 
 
 " A Wonderful Mesmeric Revelation, giving an 
 Account of the Discovery and Description of a 
 Sunken Vessel, near Caldwell's Landing, supposed 
 to be that of the Pirate Kidd ; including an Account 
 of his Character and Death, at a distance of nearly 
 three hundred miles from the place." 
 
 This strange mesmeric revelation came from a 
 Mrs. Chester, the wife of Charles Chester, of Lynn, 
 Massachusetts. She declared that she had never 
 heard anything about the sunken vessel ; that never 
 had she been upon the Hudson River; that she had 
 never read or heard of the career of Kidd ; and that 
 she had never even been spoken to upon the subject, 
 until, when placed in the magnetic state, the extra- 
 ordinary revelation had been made to her. 
 
 While in this mesmeric condition, she saw, with 
 clearest vision, the sunken vessel. Her eyes, with 
 supernatural powers, pierced water, timbers, sand, 
 and chests. There she saw bars of massive gold, 
 heaps of silver coin, and precious jewels including 
 many large and brilliant diamonds. The jewels had 
 beer, enclosed in shot-bags of stout canvas. The 
 
102 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 bags had decayed, and the jewels were clustered in 
 brilliant heaps. She also saw " gold watches, like 
 ducks' eggs in a pond of water," and the wonderfully 
 preserved remains of a very beautiful woman, with a 
 necklace of large and lustrous diamonds around her 
 neck. 
 
 A man was seen just leaving the spot, who was 
 preternaturally revealed to Mrs. Chester as Captain 
 Kidd. He was a large, stout man, not very tall, 
 with broad chest and shoulders, thick neck, aquiline 
 nose, piercing eyes, and a head indicative of great 
 power and all destructive qualities. 
 
 A very able writer in the Merchant's Magazine, 
 of 1846, writes sarcastically of this mesmeric an- 
 nouncement : 
 
 " This most singular revelation, as it is corrobo 
 rated by the traditions, presents us with another tri 
 umph of animal magnetism, and must serve not onl) 
 to advance that science, but to demonstrate how 
 much safer it is to rely upon tradition, than upon 
 record evidence made in courts of justice held con- 
 temporaneously with the events, or official docu- 
 ments preserved in the public archives. 
 
 " In the present case, mesmerism has taken a 
 progressive step; for it has not only disclosed what 
 is now to be found in the waters of Cocks-rack, but 
 also who was there one hundred and forty-five years 
 
KIDD, AND STEDE BONNET. 103 
 
 ago. In this new application of the science we may 
 hope not only to see the earth disembowelled, but 
 the very forms and features of the ancient time 
 brought up to our present view. 
 
 " What is more remarkable, if the traditions ex- 
 isted, as is pretended, is, that no individual or com- 
 pany should have undertaken, when the witnesses 
 were living, to raise the vessel, especially as so many 
 persons were found, near the time of the transactions 
 of Kidd, credulous enough to ruin themselves in vain 
 explorations after his money. But that perhaps was 
 not an age of enterprise like the present, nor of 
 humbug." 
 
 There is usually some ground for a tradition. 
 Its basis is generally truth. 
 
 As we have mentioned, in the days of Captain 
 Kidd the seas were swarming with pirates. It would 
 require volumes to relate their adventures. Many 
 of these lawless men performed deeds far more ex- 
 traordinary and infamous than any perpetrated by 
 Kidd. There was, however, at that time, a pirate 
 by the name of Bradish, whose actions, in the popu- 
 lar mind, were blended with those of Kidd. 
 
 He was boatswain of a ship, of the same name 
 with that in which Kidd sailed from New York, the 
 Adventure. The ship was bound to Borneo, the 
 largest island in the world, if Australia is recognized 
 
104 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 as a continent, and sailed from England in March s . 
 1697. On the voyage the vessel stopped at the 
 Island of Polonais for water. Bradish, a desperate 
 man, had formed a conspiracy with several of the 
 sailors to watch their opportunity, seize the ship, 
 and set out on a piratic cruise. 
 
 At Polonais, the captain and several of his of- 
 ficers went on shore in one of the boats. Bradish 
 assumed the command, silently raised the anchor, 
 spread the sail, and ran out to sea. The wide world 
 was before them to go where they pleased. The 
 commerce of the seas spread its wealth for their 
 plunder. There was the sum of about forty 
 thousand dollars in gold on board. This money 
 Bradish divided equally with his piratic crew. He 
 then cleared his decks for action, placed a lookout 
 at the mast-head, and commenced his cruise in search 
 of additional treasure. 
 
 They directed their course toward the Americai 
 coast. What vessels they captured on the way is 
 not known. Upon reaching Long Island, Bradish 
 went ashore and deposited with some confederate 
 there a large amount of money and jewels. If pur- 
 sued by a man-of-war, he could easily run his vessel 
 ashore, and the crew could disperse through the 
 woods. Much of his treasure would still be safe. 
 
 He ran along to Block Island. Here they pur. 
 
KIDD, AND STEDE BONNET. 105 
 
 chased two small vessels, and, dividing into two par- 
 tions, separated, each party taking its share of the 
 remaining treasure. It is said that there was enough 
 to load both of the small vessels. Many of the men 
 landed on the Rhode Island and Connecticut shore. 
 They behaved very civilly ; called at the farm-houses, 
 and bought horses and food, for which they paid 
 abundantly. The rumor of the landing and disper- 
 sion of the pirates spread. A proclamation was 
 issued for their arrest. The captain and about 
 eighteen of the men were apprehended, sent to Eng- 
 land, tried, and executed. What became of the 
 large ship, the Adventure, is not known. 
 
 By many it was supposed that she ran into the 
 North River, and was scuttled and abandoned when 
 near the Highlands. 
 
 We now bid adieu to Captain Kidd, leaving it 
 with our readers to form their own opinion, from the 
 facts here given, of the degree of praise or blame to 
 be attached to his character. 
 
 About the same time when William Kidd was 
 passing through his strange adventures, there was 
 another buccaneer appearing upon the stage, whose 
 character and career were still more astonishing. 
 There was a gentleman in Barbadoes, of wealth, 
 position, and education, by the name of Stede 
 Bonnet. He had a large fortune, and was highly 
 5* 
 
106 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 esteemed for his intellectual culture and his honora- 
 ble character. He seemed to be exposed to no temp- 
 tation whatever to enter upon the guilty and perilous 
 life of a pirate. His melancholy fate excited pity 
 rather than condemnation, as it was generally be- 
 lieved that he was the victim of some strange men- 
 tal hallucination, which, in some degree at least, 
 exonerated him from moral responsibility. 
 
 Some domestic griefs rendered him unhappy in 
 his home. He fitted out, entirely at his own ex- 
 pense, a sloop armed with ten guns, and manned by 
 seventy sailors, desperate men, ready for any deeds 
 of violence and crime. The sloop he named the 
 Revenge. It was his avowed intention to prey upon 
 the Spanish commerce, which none of the English 
 courts would then punish as piracy. 
 
 But he immediately entered upon the career of a 
 pirate, capturing and plundering every vessel he 
 came across, without any regard to the flag under 
 which she sailed. His first cruise was off the Capes 
 of Virginia. The first vessel he encountered was 
 the Anne, from Glasgow. A few cannon-balls thrown 
 across her bows brought her to. His boats, filled 
 with demoniac men armed to the teeth, boarded 
 the ill-fated prize, and plundered her of everything 
 the pirates desired, money, clothes provisions, and 
 ammunition. The ship was then allowed to ga on 
 her way. 
 
KIDD, AND STEDE BONNET. IQJ 
 
 A day or two passed, and another sail was dis- 
 cerned in the distant horizon. She was soon over- 
 taken by the swift-sailing sloop, which spread a won- 
 derful cloud of canvas. It proved to be the Turbet, 
 from his own island, Barbadoes. Instead of treating 
 her kindly on that account, he plundered her mer- 
 cilessly, put the crew in boats, to find their way to the 
 shore as they best could, and set the vessel on fire. 
 
 Scarcely had the smoke and flame of the burn- 
 ing vessel vanished from their view, when another 
 sail was descried. She proved to be the Endeavor, 
 from Bristol. She was robbed of everything valu- 
 able. Another vessel soon underwent the same 
 fate. It was the Young, from Leith. 
 
 Stede Bonnet was no sailor. He had no 
 acquaintance with navigation. He, however, em- 
 ployed skilled seaman to manage the ship in obe- 
 dience to his commands as owner of the whole con- 
 cern. After this short and very successful cruise 
 on the Virginia coast, he ordered the sloop to be 
 taken to the shores of New England. As they were 
 passing the eastern end of Long Island, they met a 
 vessel bound from one of the New England colonies 
 to the West Indies. It was promptly plundered. 
 
 Stede Bonnet stood in for Gardiner s Island, 
 where he landed with a portion of his crew. He 
 behaved in a very gentlemanly way, addressing all 
 
408 CAPTAIN KIDD. 
 
 whom he met courteously, making many purchases 
 and paying liberally for all he took. He then di. 
 rected his course to South Carolina, and ran up and 
 down before the harbor of Charleston. Two vessels, 
 entering the harbor, he seized almost at the same 
 time. One was a sloop from Barbadoes, laden with 
 rum, sugar, and negroes. The other was a brigantine 
 from New England, The hold of the Revenge was 
 already packed full of plunder ; and they had no 
 room for the negroes. Taking, therefore, such few 
 articles as they needed, they landed the crew and 
 the negroes on an island, and wantonly ran the 
 Barbadoes sloop ashore and set her on fire. The 
 New England brigantine they plundered of all the 
 money on board and such other articles of value as 
 they needed, and let her go. 
 
 While on this cruise they met, in rogues' compa- 
 nionship, another piratic ship, commanded by a des- 
 perado, an Englishman, by the name of Edward 
 Teach. From the mass of hair which covered his 
 face he was known by the name of Blackbeard. His 
 beard came up to his eyes, was intensely black, and 
 so long that he was accustomed to braid it and twist 
 it with ribbons into cues, or tails, which he would 
 hang 1 over his ears. It is said that in aspect he was 
 a revolting monster. This villain had captured a 
 large and very strongly built East-Indian ship, upon 
 
KIDD, AND STEDE BONNET. IO® 
 
 which he had mounted forty heavy guns. With 
 this powerful armament he swept the seas, bidding 
 defiance to all assailants. Upon one occasion he 
 encountered a British man-of-war of thirty guns. 
 After sustaining an action of some hours, the man-of- 
 war fled before him, and took shelter in the harbor of 
 Barbadoes, under protection of the guns of the fort. 
 
 As Teach continued his triumphant cruise, he 
 came across Bonnet's piratic sloop. Finding that 
 Bonnet understood nothing of maritime affairs, he, 
 without difficulty, got up a conspiracy among his 
 men, deposed him, and placed one of his own crew, 
 a man by the name of Richards, in command of the 
 Revenge. Thus he had two vessels with which to 
 prosecute his lawless career. He took the deposed 
 captain on board his own ship, saying to him with a 
 sarcastic smile : 
 
 " I perceive, my dear sir, that you are not used 
 to the cares and fatigues of commanding a vessel, 
 and I will relieve you from them. It will be much 
 pleasanter for you to live at your ease in my cabin. 
 There you will have no duty to perform, and can 
 follow your own inclinations." 
 
 The career of this most ferocious of pirates waa 
 so strange that we must leave Stede Bonnet for a 
 time, and devote a chapter to that fiend in human 
 form, called Blackbeard. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 The Adventures of Edivard Teach, or Blackbeard. 
 
 Seizure of the Protestant Csesar. — The Piratic Squadron. — Villany 
 of the Buccaneers. — The Atrocities of Blackbeard. — Illustrative 
 Anecdotes. — Carousals on Shore. — Alleged Complicity with the 
 Governor. — Hiding-place near Ocracoke Inlet. — Arrangements 
 for his Capture. — Boats sent from two Men-of-war. — Bloody 
 Battle. — The Death of the Pirate. — His Desperate and De- 
 moniac Character. 
 
 Blackbeard having, as it were, captured the 
 Revenge, raised the black flag of piracy upon both 
 of his vessels. Soon he captured a third vessel, 
 which he manned and armed and added to his pira- 
 tic squadron. Entering the Bay of Honduras, he 
 took a ship, from Boston, called the Protestant 
 Caesar, and four sloops. Captain Wyar, of the Prot- 
 estant Caesar, as the pirates' balls whistled over his 
 decks, abandoned his ship, and taking to his boats, 
 with all his crew, escaped to the shore. One of the 
 sloops also belonged to Boston. After plundering 
 the ship and sloop of all they wanted, they set both 
 on fire, in revenge, because they belonged to Boston, 
 where some men had been hung for piracy. The 
 other three sloops they plundered and then let go. 
 
EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. Ill 
 
 They then continued their cruise, for some time, 
 among the West India Islands, capturing vessel 
 after vessel. Thence sailing to the South Caroli- 
 nian coast, they ran up and down before the harbor 
 of Charleston for a week. Here they took a ship, 
 bound out for London, with several passengers, 
 Captain Robert Clark commander. They also cap- 
 tured three vessels entering the port, one of which 
 had fourteen negroes on board. 
 
 Such a strong piratic force appearing before that 
 important harbor, struck the whole province with 
 terror. They were quite unable to resist such an 
 armament. There were eight vessels in the harbor 
 ready for sea. They dared not venture out, and 
 even feared that the pirates would come into the 
 harbor and take them. The trade of the place was 
 thus, for a season, utterly destroyed. It added 
 much to the weight of this calamity that the prov- 
 ince had just passed through an expensive and ex- 
 haustive war with the Indians. 
 
 Teach was in great want of medicines. He 
 therefore detained all the vessels he had taken, 
 with their crews and passengers, and sent Captain 
 Richards, in the Revenge, to Charleston, with the 
 following message to the governor : 
 
 " I want a chest of medicines. Send me such a 
 chest, by the bearer. If you do not comply with 
 
112 EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. 
 
 this my demand immediately, without offering any 
 violence to the persons of my ambassadors, I will 
 cut off the heads of all the prisoners in my hands, 
 and send them to you, and will burn all the ships." 
 
 Mr. Marks, one of the prisoners, was sent with 
 Richards and the other pirates to present this de» 
 mand. While Mr. Marks was making this applica- 
 tion to the governor and council, Richards and his 
 piratic gang were insolently riding through the 
 streets, with sabres in their hands and pistols in 
 their belts. The citizens were in a state of the 
 highest indignation ; and yet they dared not speak 
 a word or even look with a frown. The villains 
 returned to their ships with impunity, bearing a 
 chest of medicines valued at two thousand dollars. 
 The lives of so many husbands, sons, and brothers 
 were at stake that the community was eager to con- 
 ciliate the pirates. 
 
 Blackbeard, having received the chest, liberated 
 the vessels and the prisoners. He had taken from 
 the vessels gold and silver coin to the amount of 
 seven thousand dollars, besides provisions and other 
 articles of much value. They then sailed to the 
 coast of North Carolina. Blackbeard's ship they 
 called the Man-of-War. One sloop, as we have men- 
 tioned, was commanded by Richards. Blackbeard 
 placed upon another, as commander, a fellow by the 
 
EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. I 13 
 
 name of Hands. He had also another vessel, which 
 served as a tender. Thus this piratic squadron was 
 now composed of four vessels. 
 
 The amount of plunder, in money and goods, 
 vvas very great. Blackbeard formed a plan to secure 
 nearly the whole for himself, and for a few others 
 of his favorites in the gang. He therefore, under 
 pretence of running his ship into Ocracoke Inlet 
 for repairs, grounded her. He summoned Hands' 
 sloop to his aid and ran her on shore. 
 
 He then went on board the tender sloop, where 
 he had assembled his confederates, forty in number, 
 and had stored all the coin and many of the most 
 valuable goods. Seventeen of the crew, whom he 
 wished to get rid of, he landed on a small, sandy 
 island three miles from the mainland. Here they 
 were exposed to perish, without food or water, or 
 any opportunity to escape. There was neither bird, 
 beast, nor herbs on the island. 
 
 The king, as we have mentioned, had issued a 
 proclamation of pardon for all the pirates who would 
 surrender themselves. This consummate villain, with 
 about twenty of his comrades, sailed to the residence 
 of the governor, and surrendered themselves to his 
 majesty's proclamation, and received a full pardon for 
 all their past offences, while they still retained their 
 ill-gotten wealth. This was done with no intention 
 
114 EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. 
 
 of abandoning their mode of life, but only to obtain 
 a respite, and prepare for future operations. 
 
 Bonnet was left behind, with the Revenge. He 
 again, with a portion of the men, assumed the com- 
 mand of the ship, of which he had been robbed. 
 But we must leave him for a time until we have 
 followed out the career of Blackbeard. 
 
 Charles Eden was then governor of North Caro- 
 lina. He was either a very corrupt man or a very 
 simple one. The governor gave Blackbeard full 
 possession of the ship he had captured, and which 
 he had named the Queen Anne's Revenge. A court 
 of admiralty was held, and though Teach had never 
 received any commission as a privateersman, and it 
 was a time of peace, and the Queen Anne belonged 
 to English merchants, she was condemned as a prize 
 taken from the Spaniards, and adjudged to belong 
 to Teach. 
 
 Blackbeard remained for a few weeks at the cap 
 ital of the province ; paid his addresses to a beauti 
 ful young girl of sixteen, and was married to her by 
 the governor, who had probably received very rich 
 presents from the pirate. His biographer says that 
 this was the fourteenth wife of Teach, twelve of 
 whom were still living. Soon he again went to sea, 
 beneath the pirate's black flag. He directed his 
 course toward the West Indies, capturing two or 
 
EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. 115 
 
 three English ships by the way, which he plundered 
 but left the ships and crew unharmed. He then cap- 
 tured two French ships. The cargoes of both he 
 stored in one. The crews of both he placed in the 
 other, and turned them adrift. With his rich prize 
 he returned to North Carolina, and shared the booty 
 with the governor. 
 
 Blackbeard and four of his crew went ashore, and 
 took a solemn oath that they found the French ship 
 at sea abandoned, and without a soul on board. It 
 is curious to witness the expedients to which men 
 will resort to appease the qualms of conscience. After 
 removing all the ship's company from their prize the 
 captain and a boat's crew boarded her, and truly 
 found her " without a soul on board." Thus they 
 satisfied themselves that they did not take a false 
 oath. In accordance with this testimony the court 
 adjudged the French vessel to be a lawful prize. The 
 governor had sixty hogsheads of sugar for his share. 
 Mr. Knight, his secretary, collector of the port, had 
 twenty. All the remainder of the booty the pirates 
 divided among themselves. 
 
 The French vessel was still on the pirate's hands. 
 He greatly feared that some vessel might come into 
 the river acquainted with her, and that his villany 
 might be discovered. He set her on fire and burn- 
 ing her to the water's edge, her bottom sunk 
 
Il6 EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKEEARD. 
 
 Blackbeard remained for some time cruising along 
 the shores of Pamlico Sound. He was rich, and 
 prodigal of his wealth. Sometimes, in mere wanton- 
 ness, he would plunder a vessel. Again he would 
 purchase articles, paying for them three or four 
 times their worth. 
 
 He often went ashore with his armed followers, 
 and spent the night and sometimes days in boister- 
 ous revelry. The planters did not dare to make any 
 remonstrances. He was a brutal wretch, and often, 
 when frenzied with drink, the wives and daughters 
 of the planters were exposed to the most terrible 
 indignities. At times he was very courteous, pre- 
 senting his entertainers with rum, sugar, and other 
 valuable articles. He frequently assumed a very 
 lordly air, levying heavy contributions, and even 
 bullying the governor, simply to show him what he 
 dared to do. 
 
 The traders and planters consulted together to 
 decide what course to pursue in this terrible emer- 
 gence. It was plain that the governor was either in 
 complicity with the pirate or was overawed by him. 
 It was in vain, therefore, to hope for redress through 
 his interposition. They, therefore, as secretly as 
 possible, sent to the governor of Virginia, solicit- 
 ing an armed force from the men-of-war then lying 
 
KDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEAKD. II7 
 
 before Jamestown, to take and destroy this formi- 
 dable pirate. 
 
 There were two men-of-war in the James River, 
 the Pearl and the Lime. The governor consulted 
 with the two commanders. It was agreed between 
 them that the governor should hire two small 
 sloops, of light draft, which could run easily into the 
 coves and among the shoals of Pamlico Sound. 
 The men-of-war were to place on board these sloops 
 a strong picked crew of thoroughly armed men. 
 They were to take small arms alone, as mounted 
 cannon would require such depths of water as to 
 embarrass their operations. These sloops, rapidly 
 propelled by both sails and oars, could follow the 
 pirate in all his coverts ; could overtake him should 
 he attempt to escape by flight, and, by simulta- 
 neously boarding the piratic craft, could overpowei 
 and cut down the crew. 
 
 The expedition was speedily fitted out. At the 
 same time the Virginia governor issued a proclama- 
 tion, offering a reward of five hundred dollars for the 
 capture, dead or alive, of Captain Teach, commonly 
 called Blackbeard ; two hundred dollars for every 
 Other commander of a pirate ship ; for all inferior of- 
 ficers seventy-five dollars ; for every pirate on board 
 such ship forty dollars. This proclamation, a copy 
 of which now lies before me, was dated at Williams- 
 
Il8 EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. 
 
 burg, November 24th, 171 8, and was signed by the 
 governor, A. Spottswood. 
 
 On the 2 1st of November the two sloops entered 
 the mouth of Ocracoke Inlet, and caught sight of the 
 pirate. The governor of North Carolina, and his 
 secretary, Mr. Knight, hearing of these preparations, 
 and fearing that the capture of the pirate would 
 bring their misdeeds to light, sent him warning of 
 his danger. Knight wrote to him : 
 
 " I have sent you four of your men. They are 
 all I can meet with about town. Be upon your 
 guard." 
 
 Blackbeard, one of the most reckless and detei- 
 mined of desperadoes, put his vessel in posture for 
 defence. He had with him then a crew of but 
 twenty-five men. Seeing the approach of the sloops, 
 and anticipating a battle with the morning's dawn, 
 he spent the night in drunken carousals. Lieutenant 
 Maynard, in command of the expedition, found the 
 water too shoal and the channel too intricate foi him 
 to reach the ship that night. Under cover of the 
 darkness he sent out a boat to mark the way. 
 
 The morning was cloudless and calm. There 
 was scarcely a breath of wind; and not a ripple was 
 to be seen on the mirrored surface of the Sound. 
 There was no escape for the pirate. The gentle 
 breath which swept the waters was fair. The sloops' 
 
EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. 1 19 
 
 spread their sails, and with lusty arms at the oars 
 bore down upon the pirate. As they approached, 
 Blackbeard stood upon his deck, and with revolting 
 oaths, which we shall omit, interlarding his speech, 
 shouted out : 
 
 " You villains, who are you, and what do you 
 want?" 
 
 " Our colors show," Lieutenant Maynard replied, 
 " that we are no pirates." 
 
 " Send your boat on board," exclaimed Black- 
 beard, "that I may learn who you are." 
 
 " I have no boat to spare," Maynard responded ; 
 " but as soon as I can reach you with my sloops, I 
 will come on board myself." 
 
 Blackbeard took a tumbler of raw brandy. As he 
 poured the burning fluid down his throat he exclaimed 
 in tones of rage and in that fearful profanity with 
 which his every utterance was mingled, that if they 
 fell into his hands they should receive no quarter. 
 
 " I expect no quarter," Maynard responded 
 1 neither do I ask for any." 
 
 The gunwale of Maynard's sloop, which took the 
 lead, was scarcely a foot high. The men on the deck 
 were entirely exposed. Blackbeard poured in upon 
 them a broadside of grape-shot. The carnage was 
 awful. Twenty men, by that one discharge, were 
 either killed or wounded Maynard, apprehensive 
 
I20 EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. 
 
 of another discharge, ordered all the survivors im- 
 mediately into the hold, he alone remaining on deck, 
 at the helm. The men were directed to have their 
 swords and pistols ready for a rush in boarding, the 
 moment the command should be given. 
 
 As the sloop approached the pirate they threw 
 in upon her deck a new sort of hand-grenades. They 
 consisted of common junk bottles, filled with powder, 
 balls, and slugs, and were exploded by a fuse passing 
 through the mouth. They would have done great 
 execution had not the men been concealed in the 
 hold. 
 
 The moment the bows of the sloop touched the 
 pirate's ship, as the smoke cleared away a little, 
 Blackbeard, seeing but few on deck, shouted to his 
 men : 
 
 " The villains are all knocked in the head, ex- 
 cepting three or four. Let us jump on board and 
 cut them down." 
 
 The order was instantly obeyed. Fourteen 
 pirates, with flashing sabres, leaped over the bows 
 of Maynard's sloop, upon his deck, There were but 
 twelve men unwounded in the hold. At a given 
 signal they rushed up, and a battle of utter despera- 
 tion ensued. 
 
 Blackbeard sprang toward Lieutenant Maynard. 
 who was at the helm. Their pistols were discharged 
 
EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD. 121 
 
 simultaneously. The pirate received a slight, but 
 not a disabling wound. They rushed upon each 
 other with their swords. In the fierce conflict the 
 blade of Maynard's sword broke in his hand. He 
 stepped back to cock a pistol. Blackbeard was just 
 in the act of cutting him down, when one of May- 
 nard's men struck him from behind, inflicting a ter- 
 rible gash upon his neck. At the same moment the 
 desperado, who seemed to be almost insensible to 
 wounds, received a shot in his body from the lieu- 
 tenant's pistol. 
 
 The other sloop, called the Ranger, now came 
 up and boarded the pirate. Blackbeard fought like 
 a tiger. At length a pistol-shot pierced some vital 
 part and he fell dead, after having received twenty- 
 five wounds. Eight more of the pirates who had 
 boarded Maynard's sloop were weltering in their 
 blood. The rest, many of them severely wounded, 
 leaped overboard. The drowning wretches cried 
 for quarter. It was granted. They were reserved 
 only that they might be hanged. 
 
 Blackbeard's head was cut from his body, and 
 hung at the end of the bowsprit of Maynard s sloop. 
 With this revolting trophy he sailed into Newbern 
 to obtain relief for his wounded men. In examining 
 the papers found on board the pirate's vessel, the cor- 
 respondence was discovered between Governor Eden 
 
122 EDWARD TEACH. OR BLACKBEARD. 
 
 and his secretary with the pirate. There were also 
 several merchants in New York who were in friend- 
 ly communication with him. These papers would 
 doubtless have been destroyed had it not been for the 
 desperate resolve which the pirate had formed. 
 
 Blackbeard had but little hope of escaping. He 
 therefore posted one of the most demoniac of the 
 pirates, with a match, in the powder-room. Assuring 
 him that if they were taken they would assuredly 
 be hanged, and that it was far better to die by their 
 own action, in an instant, than to perish upon the 
 scaffold, he instructed him that should the ship be 
 boarded and captured, he was to apply the match 
 and blow them all up together. It chanced that 
 there were two prisoners in the ship's hold. They 
 seized the pirate, and prevented him from executing 
 his design. 
 
 It was this same Blackbeard, to whom we have 
 already alluded, who one day, when flushed with 
 drink, said to his boon companions : 
 
 " Come, let us make a hell of our own, and see 
 who can stand it longest." 
 
 One night, when drinking, in his cabin, with two 
 or three companions, he secretly drew out a small 
 pair of pistols, blew out the candle, and, crossing his 
 hands, discharged them at random into the rridst of 
 the company One of the bullets struck an cfficei 
 
EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD 1 23 
 
 on the knee, and crippled him for life. The other 
 bullet fortunately harmed no one. Being asked 
 why he did this, he replied : 
 
 " If I did not now and then kill some of you, you 
 would forget who I am." 
 
 The following entries were found in his log- 
 book, written with his own hand, under different 
 dates : 
 
 " Rum all out ; our company somewhat sober. 
 
 " Confusion among us ; rogues a-plotting. 
 
 " Great talk of separation. 
 
 " Took a vessel with a great deal of liquor on 
 board ; so kept the company hot. " 
 
 It is evident that these godless wretches passed 
 joyless and miserable lives. Experience verifies the 
 declaration of the Bible that "the way of the trans- 
 gressor is hard." 
 
 The ship and stores captured by Lieutenant 
 Maynard were in value estimated at but twelve 
 thousand five hundred dollars. Though this wretch- 
 ed pirate had squandered his plunder with great 
 prodigality, it was generally supposed that he had 
 valuable treasure secreted. In the carousal of the 
 night before his capture, one of the men asked i£ 
 in case anything should happen to him in the en- 
 gagement, his wife knew where he had buried his 
 money. He replied, " The devil and I alone knew 
 
124 EDWARD TEACH, OR BLACKBEARD, 
 
 where it is. The one of us two who lives the longest 
 will have the whole." 
 
 There were sixteen pirates, all of whom were 
 wounded, who were taken prisoners. They were con« 
 veyed to Virginia and hanged, excepting two who 
 were pardoned. Governor Eden was so terrified by 
 the discovery which had been made of his complicity 
 with Blackbeard, and so apprehensive that he would 
 be called to account for his conduct, that he fell sick 
 with the fright, and in a few days died. His sixty 
 hogsheads of sugar, and the twenty which had been 
 given to Knight, were seized by Lieutenant May- 
 nard, and confiscated. Thus all these guilty ones 
 were ruined. It is often and truly said, that Satan 
 helps his dupes into difficulty, but never helps them 
 out. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 The Close of Stede Bonnet's Career. 
 
 Bonnet's Abandonment by Blackbeard. — Avails Himself of the King's 
 Pardon. — Takes Commission as a Privateer. — Rescues Black- 
 beard's Pirates. — Piratic Career. — Enters Cape Fear River for 
 Repairs. — Captured by Colonel Rhet. — The Conflict. — Escapes 
 from Prison. — The Pursuit, and Trial and Sentence. 
 
 IT will be remembered that Stede Bonnet was 
 deposed by Blackbeard. When Blackbeard aban- 
 doned most of his crew, at Ocracoke Inlet, and 
 landed others on a desert island, that he might rob 
 them of their share of the spoil, Bonnet was left be- 
 hind with the rest. His own sloop, the Revenge, 
 was ashore. He got her off, assumed the command, 
 manned her with pirates, and sailed to Bathtown, 
 where he surrendered himself, taking advantage of 
 the king's proclamation, and received a certificate of 
 pardon. 
 
 Just then war broke out between England, France, 
 and Holland, as allies, on the one hand, and Spain 
 upon the other. Bonnet sailed from Bathtown for 
 the Island of St. Thomas, to get a commission to go 
 privateering against the Spaniards. When he was 
 
126 STEDE BONNET. 
 
 on his way to the inlet he accidentally learned frorr 
 two of the pirates that Blackbeard and his gang 
 were gone ; and that, carrying away all the money 
 and effects of value, they had left several men to 
 perish on a desert island. Bonnet sailed for their 
 relief. They were nearly starved, and had been a 
 day and two nights without any food. Bonnet found 
 the island, and rescued them, adding them to his 
 crew. 
 
 Then, instead of going to St.Thomas for his com- 
 mission, he directed his course to the coast of Vir- 
 ginia. Meeting a vessel loaded with provisions, he 
 took from it twelve barrels of pork and four hun- 
 dred weight of bread. Assuming that he was an 
 honest man, and not a pirate, he gave in return 
 eight casks of rice and an old cable. No bargain 
 was made. He took what he wanted, and gave 
 what he pleased. Two days after this, Bonnet pur- 
 sued and captured a sloop of sixty tons. It was an 
 act of unmitigated piracy. He took from his prize 
 two hogsheads of rum and two of molasses. The 
 crew were turned adrift. Eight men were sent to 
 take charge of the prize. In the night they ran 
 away, to go pirating on their own account 
 
 Bonnet threw off all restraint. Assuming the 
 name of Captain Thomas, he ranged the seas, plun- 
 dering every vessel he encountered. A few miles 
 
CLOSE OF BONNET'S CAREER. 127 
 
 off from Cape Henry he captured two ships from 
 Virginia, bound to Glasgow. They were compara- 
 tively valueless prizes, containing only tobacco. 
 1 he next day he captured a small sloop. With the 
 strange inconsistency which marked his character, he 
 took from the sloop twenty barrels of pork, which 
 he replaced by two barrels of rice and a hogshead 
 of molasses. From this sloop two men voluntarily 
 joined his company. 
 
 The next ship they captured was bound to Glas- 
 gow from Virginia. They found nothing on board 
 they wanted but some combs, pins, and needles. 
 For these Bonnet paid a barrel of pork and two bar- 
 rels of bread. Directing his course toward Philadel- 
 phia, he captured a schooner bound to Boston. It 
 proved a barren prize. 
 
 Soon after this he took three vessels, two bound 
 from Philadelphia to Bristol, England, and one to 
 Barbadoes. In these Bonnet found nearly a thou- 
 sand dollars in coin. He robbed them and let 
 them go. The two last days in July he captured 
 two quite rich prizes. They were well supplied 
 with provisions, and had between two and three 
 thousand dollars in money on board. He turned the 
 crews adrift in their boats and kept both the vessels 
 and cargo. His own sloop of war, which he had re- 
 named the Royal James, had become leaky, and 
 
128 STEDE BONNET. 
 
 needed repairs. He ran into Cape Fear River to 
 find some secluded cove, where, far from observa- 
 tion, he could careen his vessel. One hundred and 
 fifty years ago this stream presented a vast solitude, 
 fringed by the dense and boundless forest. 
 
 As Bonnet was entering the river he captured a 
 small vessel, which he ripped to pieces to mend his 
 own. In one of the coves of the broad stream he 
 was detained two months in making repairs. In the 
 mean time a new governor had come to South Caro- 
 lina. Tidings reached Charleston that a piratic ves- 
 sel, with two prizes, was concealed up the river. 
 The whole community was alarmed, fearing another 
 visit. The governor and council met to deliberate. 
 
 Colonel William Rhet appeared before them and 
 generously offered to fit out two vessels, at his own 
 expense, and attack the pirates. His proposal was 
 accepted, and a commission granted him accordingly. 
 In a few days two sloops were equipped. One, 
 called the Henry, had eight guns and seventy men 
 and was commanded by Captain John Masters. 
 The other, the Sea Nymph, of eight guns and sixty 
 men, Captain Fayser Hall commanded. Both were 
 under the direction of Colonel Rhet. 
 
 On the 14th of September the two vessels 
 sailed. When they reached Sullivan's Island, a 
 small ship from Antigua came in. The captain 
 
CLOSE Of BONNET'S CAREER. 129 
 
 brought the intelligence that just off the bar he was 
 taken and plundered by a piratic vessel of twelve 
 guns and ninety men, commanded by Charles Vane; 
 that two other vessels had also been captured, one 
 from the coast of Guinea, with between ninety and 
 a hundred negro slaves on board. A pirate, by the 
 name of Yeats, with twenty-five men, had been 
 placed in command of the slaver. Vane had also 
 captured two ships bound from Charleston to 
 London. 
 
 Colonel Rhet, upon hearing these tidings, resolved 
 to pursue Vane. It was rumored that the pirates 
 had sailed south. Colonel Rhet, with his two 
 sloops, crossed the bar, on the 15th of Septem 
 ber, and directed his course along the southern 
 coast, searching every bay and inlet. Not finding 
 Vane, he turned north, and entered Cape Fear Rivet 
 in pursuit of his first design. In ascending the rivei 
 both sloops ran aground, which caused considerable 
 delay. Thus the watchful pirates learned that there 
 were two sloops aground in the river. Bonnet sent 
 down three boats, crowded with pirates, to attack 
 them. The crews soon found their mistake, and 
 rowing hastily back to Bonnet, gave him the 
 unwelcome news that two well-armed sloops were 
 ascending the river with the evident design to at- 
 tack him. 
 
 6* 
 
I30 STEDE BONNET. 
 
 Bonnet made immediate preparations for a bat 
 tJe. He had several prisoners with him. He wrote 
 a letter to the governor, intrusting it to one of these 
 prisoners, Captain Mannering. It was as follows : 
 
 " If the sloops now ascending the river are sent 
 out against me by the governor, I shall get clear 
 off. And I will burn and destroy all ships or vessels 
 going in or coming out of South Carolina." 
 
 What effect this letter had upon the governor 
 we know not. But the next morning the tide 
 floated Colonel Rhet's sloops, and he advanced to 
 the attack. The masts of the three piratical vessels 
 were soon plainly seen over a forest-crowned point 
 of land. The sloops pressed forward to attack on 
 each quarter of the pirate, intending to board him. 
 Bonnet, perceiving this, edged in as near the shore 
 as possible. The water was shoal, and the tide being 
 out, soon both sloops ran upon sandbanks. One 
 was very near the Royal James, and could open fire 
 upon her. The other was at more than gunshot dis- 
 tance. The pirates' ship also grounded, and, fortu 
 nately for them, careened over with her deck slop- 
 ing from her foe. Thus the sides of the vessel 
 afforded a rampart, which protected the pirates 
 from shot, and over which they could take deliberate 
 aim at their antagonists. 
 
 To add to this calamity, the Henry, in which 
 
CLOSE OF BONNETS CAREER. I3I 
 
 Colonel Rhet was, and which had grounded within 
 pistol-shot of the pirate, leaned with her deck 
 inclined toward the pirate. Thus every man was 
 exposed. This gave the pirates an immense advan- 
 tage, which they were not slow to improve. Neither 
 of them could use their cannon. For five hours the 
 antagonists kept up a brisk fire with their small arms. 
 The pirates spread to the breeze their blood-red flag, 
 and assailed their foes with oaths, taunts, and insults. 
 
 " Why don't you come on board ? " they shouted, 
 " We are all waiting for you. Come as quick as 
 you can. We will give you the warmest reception 
 you ever had." 
 
 Rhet's men replied, " Be patient. We are busy 
 just now. Very soon we will pay you a visit which 
 you will never forget." 
 
 The rising tide first floated Colonel Rhet's sloop. 
 Hastily repairing his rigging, which had been much 
 shattered by the fire, he bore down upon the pirate, 
 intending to give a finishing stroke by boarding him. 
 The other sloop would, in a few moments, be afloat 
 to join in the assault. Bonnet saw his case to be 
 hopeless, and sent a boat to Colonel Rhet bearing the 
 white flag of truce. After some time spent in capitu. 
 tulating, Bonnet was compelled to surrender uncon- 
 ditionally. 
 
 In the severe battle which had taken place, teo 
 
132 STEDE BONNET. 
 
 men had been killed and fourteen wounded on 
 board Rhet's sloop, the Henry. Six of the wounded 
 died of their wounds. A few shot had struck the 
 other sloop, the Sea Nymph, killing two men, and 
 wounding four. The pirates, protected by the posi- 
 tion of their vessel, lost seven killed, and five wound- 
 ed. Two of the latter soon died of their wounds. 
 
 Colonel Rhet weighed anchor on the 13th of Sep- 
 tember, and on the 3d of October entered Charleston 
 with thirty-four pirates as prisoners, and their ves- 
 sels. The capture excited great rejoicing through- 
 out the whole province. As there was no public 
 prison on the shore, the pirates were all kept, for two 
 days, under a careful guard, in the hold of one of the 
 vessels. The watch-house was in the mean time en- 
 larged and strengthened, and they were transferred 
 to that building, over which a guard of the provin- 
 cial militia was placed. 
 
 Major Bonnet was committed into the custody 
 of the marshal, and imprisoned in a strong room in 
 his house. Two of these miserable men, David Ha- 
 riot, the sailing-master, and Ignatius Pell, the boat- 
 swain, offered to turn state's evidence. They were 
 also taken to the house of the marshal, that they 
 might be separated from the rest of the crew. They 
 were carefully locked up, and two sentinels, every 
 night, patrolled the house with loaded miskets. 
 
CLOSE OF BONNET'S CAREER. 1 33 
 
 Three weeks passed before suitable prepara- 
 tions could be made for the trial. On the night 
 of the 24th of October, Bonnet and his sailing- 
 master made their escape. The boatswain refused 
 to go with them, as he was assured of pardon in 
 consideration of the evidence he bore against his 
 comrades. The flight of the prisoners made a great 
 noise throughout the province. The people were 
 open in their indignant declaration that the gov- 
 ernor, and others of the magistracy, had connived 
 at their escape. 
 
 The whole community was panic-stricken. It 
 was feared that Bonnet would get up another com- 
 pany of pirates, and take a terrible revenge for the 
 hanging of his comrades. The government was 
 alarmed both by the reproaches and the peril. A 
 proclamation was issued offering a reward of three 
 thousand five hundred dollars for the capture of the 
 fugitive pirate. Several armed boats were sent to 
 skirt the shore, north and south, in pursuit of him. 
 
 Bonnet had, in some way, got on board a small 
 sail-boat in the harbor, and put to sea. But a storm 
 arose, and he had no provisions. He was therefore 
 compelled to put back to Sullivan's Island. In some 
 way the governor got an intimation of this. He 
 promptly communicated the intelligence to Colonel 
 Rhet, and gave him a commission to pursue Bonnet 
 
134 STEDE BONNET. 
 
 That night the energetic colonel set out in his sioop, 
 with a number of men for Sullivan's Island. The 
 two pirates had left their boat at the shore and 
 wandered into the woods, where they had concealed 
 themselves. Colonel Rhet tracked them to their 
 covert. They were discovered in a thicket, with a 
 negro and an Indian. As they endeavored to escape 
 they were fired upon. A bullet pierced Hariot's 
 heart, and he fell dead. Both the negro and the 
 Indian were struck down severely wounded. The 
 wretched Bonnet, seeing escape hopeless, and utterly 
 disheartened, surrendered. He was carried back to 
 Charleston in irons. 
 
 On the twenty-eighth of October, 171 8, a court 
 of vice - admiralty was held, and continued, by 
 several adjournments, until the twelfth of Novem- 
 ber. Nicholas Trot, chief justice of the province 
 of South Carolina, presided, with other assistant 
 judges. Before this tribunal, Bonnet, and thirty- 
 four of his crew, were arraigned. The indictment 
 enumerated the various acts of piracy which they 
 had committed. All but two pleaded not guilty. 
 
 There was but little defence attempted. The 
 Crew pleaded that they had been taken off a desert 
 island, and shipped to go to St. Thomas. Being at 
 sea, without provisions, and in a starving condition, 
 they were compelled, to save their lives, to take 
 
CLOSE OF BONNET'S CAREER. 1 35 
 
 some food from other vessels. Major Bonnet took 
 the same ground — that they had helped themselves 
 to food which did not belong to them, but as the 
 only way by which they could save their lives. 
 
 But their piratic acts were clearly proved, and 
 that they had shared among themselves their ill- 
 gotten booty. The speech of the lord chief-jus- 
 tice, in pronouncing sentence upon Bonnet, was so 
 admirable in tone, that it deserves, with slight ab- 
 breviation, insertion here : 
 
 "You, Stede Bonnet, stand convicted of piracy. 
 It is fully proved that you piratically took and rifled 
 no less than thirteen vessels since you sailed from 
 North Carolina, having accepted the king's act of 
 grace, and pretended to leave that wicked course of 
 life. 
 
 " You know that the crimes you have committed 
 are contrary to the law of nature, as well as to the 
 law of God, by which you are commanded that you 
 shall not steal. And the apostle Paul expressly af- 
 firms that ' thieves shall not inherit the kingdom of 
 God.' 
 
 " To theft you have added the greater sin of 
 murder. How many you have killed, in your pira- 
 cies, I know not. But this we know, that you killed 
 no less than eighteen persons of those sent, by lawful 
 authority, to put a stop to your rapines. 
 
I36 STEDE BONNET. 
 
 " However you may fancy that that was killing 
 men fairly in open fight, yet this know, that the 
 power of the sword not being committed into youff 
 hands, you were not empowered to use any force, or 
 fight any one. Therefore those persons that fell in 
 the action, in doing their duty to their king and 
 country, were murdered. And their blood now cries 
 out for vengeance against you. For it is the voice of 
 nature, confirmed by the law of God, that ' whoso 
 ever sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood 
 be shed.' 
 
 " And consider that death is not the only pun- 
 ishment due to murderers ; for they are threatened 
 to have ' their part in that lake which burneth with 
 fire and brimstone, which is the second death.' 
 
 " As your own conscience must convince you of 
 the many and great evils you have committed, by 
 which you have highly offended God, so I suppose I 
 need not tell you that the only way of obtaining 
 pardon and the remission of your sins from God, is 
 by a true and unfeigned repentance, and faith in 
 Christ, by whose death and passion you can alone 
 hope for salvation. 
 
 "You, being a gentleman, and having had the 
 advantage of a liberal education, I believe it will be 
 needless for me to explain to you the nature of re« 
 pentance and faith in Christ. They are so full> 
 
CLOSE OF BONNET'S CAREER. 1 37 
 
 mentioned in the Scriptures that you can not but 
 know them. But, considering the course of your 
 life, I have reason to fear that the principles of reli- 
 gion which had been instilled into you by your ed- 
 ucation, have been corrupted, if not entirely defaced 
 by the infidelity of this wicked age ; and that the 
 time you allowed for study was rather applied to the 
 polite literature than to a serious search after the 
 law and will of God. 
 
 " In the Scriptures is found the great mystery of 
 fallen man's redemption. They would have taught 
 you that sin is the debasing of human nature, and 
 that religion and walking by the laws of God are 
 altogether preferable to the ways of sin and Satan. 
 I hope that the present afflictions, which God has 
 laid upon you, have now convinced you of this. 
 
 "And consider how he invites all sinners to 
 come to Him, and He will give them rest; for He 
 has assured us that ' He came to seek and to save 
 that which was lost ; ' and that ' whosoever cometh 
 to Him, He will in nowise cast out.' So that now, 
 even at the eleventh hour, if you will sincerely turn 
 to Him, He will receive you. 
 
 1 But do not mistake the nature of repentance to 
 be only bare sorrow for the evil and punishment 
 which sin has brought upon you. Your sorrow must 
 arise from the consideration of your having offended 
 
I38 STEDE BONNET. 
 
 a gracious and merciful God. But I need not give 
 you any particular directions as to the nature of re- 
 pentance. I speak to one whose offences have pro- 
 ceeded, not so much from his not knowing, as from 
 his slighting and neglecting his duty. 
 
 " I only heartily wish that what, in compassion to 
 your soul, I have now said, may have that effect 
 upon you that you may become a true penitent. 
 Having now discharged my duty to you as a Chris- 
 tian, by giving you the best council I can with re- 
 spect to the salvation of your soul, I must now do 
 my office as a judge. The sentence which this court 
 awards to you is : 
 
 " That you, Stede Bonnet, shall go from hence to 
 the place whence you came, and from thence to the 
 place of execution ; where you shall be hanged by 
 the neck until you are dead. And may God have 
 mercy upon you." 
 
 On Saturday, November 8th, 171 8, twenty-two of 
 the pirates were hung upon the same gallows, at 
 White Point, near the provincial city of Charleston. 
 A few days after, Stede Bonnet, the gentleman of 
 wealth, position, and culture, swung from the same 
 gallows. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Portuguese Barthelenty. 
 
 Commencement of his Career. — Bold Capture. — Brutality of the Pi 
 rates. — Reverses and Captivity. — Barthelemy doomed to Die.—- 
 His Escape. — Sufferings in the Forest. — Reaches Gulf Triste. — 
 Hardening Effect of his Misfortunes. — His new Piratic Enter- 
 prize. — Wonderful Success. — The Tornado. — Impoverishment 
 and Ruin. 
 
 One of the most bold and renowned of the buc- 
 caneers was a Portuguese, by the name of Bar- 
 thelemy. He was a man of some property, and fol- 
 lowed the great tide of emigration to the West In- 
 dies. At Kingston, Jamaica, he heard of the great 
 fortunes which were made by buccaneers preying 
 upon Spanish commerce. Engaging in several ex- 
 peditions, he became quite rich. Finally he fitted 
 out a small vessel, at his own expense, which he 
 armed with four three-pounders, and a crew of thirty 
 desperate men, armed with muskets, pistols, and 
 sabres. This sloop was fitted out in a British port, 
 to rob the ships of Spain, just as openly as if it 
 were bound upon a fishing excursion. 
 
 He commenced his cruise upon the southern 
 
/40 THE PORTUGUESE BARTHELEM7. 
 
 coast of Cuba. But a few days passed ere he caught 
 sight of a large ship, richly laden and well armed, 
 bound from the Spanish colonies in Venezuela to 
 Havana. It had, as he afterward found, a crew of 
 seventy men, with about the same number of pas- 
 sengers and marines, and carried twenty guns. 
 
 When Barthelemy's crew saw the size of the ship 
 and the indications of her strong armament, they 
 hesitated to venture upon an attack. All were as- 
 sembled around the mast to discuss the question. 
 The general voice was discouraging. Barthelemy's 
 speech was short and decisive. He was a man of 
 few words and prompt action. 
 
 " We came out," said he, " for prizes. Here is a 
 gplendid one. The opportunity must not be lost. 
 Nothing great can be accomplished without risk." 
 
 They gave chase. The ship quietly awaited 
 their approach ; " as much astonished at the attack." 
 writes Thornbury, " as a swallow would be if it were 
 pursued by a gnat." The pirates made a desperate 
 endeavor to board the ship. We are not informed 
 of the particulars of the fight. The result only is 
 kncwn. After several repulses, and a long and 
 bloody conflict, the pirates raised shouts of victory 
 on the blood-stained deck of their prize. Ten of 
 them were killed ; four wounded. All on board the 
 ship but forty were killed. Many of these were 
 
hlS CAPTIVITY. 141 
 
 severely maimed with bullet wounds and sword- 
 cuts. 
 
 The pirates, having searched the pockets of the 
 dead for their loose doubloons, threw the bodies 
 overboard. Those helplessly wounded suffered the 
 same fate. The survivors, after being stripped of 
 everything valuable, were placed in a boat and cut 
 adrift, to fare as they might. The prize proved to 
 be worth between eighty and a hundred thousand 
 dollars. Barthelemy found himself in command of 
 a truly splendid ship, well armed, and well stored 
 with ammunition and provisions. He had also his 
 little sloop as a tender. Though he had a crew of 
 but twenty men, he could at any time double or 
 treble his number in the thronged ports of Kingston 
 or Tortuga. As he was sailing around the western 
 end of the Island of Cuba, he came unexpectedly 
 upon three large ships bound to Havana. The pi- 
 rate ship was heavily laden and ploughed the waves 
 slowly. The Spanish ships gave chase ; captured 
 the buccaneers ; stripped them ; drove them with 
 sabre-strokes under the hatches, and left them there 
 to meditate upon the reverses of fortune and theii 
 own approaching ignominious death by hanging. 
 
 The notoriety of Barthelemy, as one of the most 
 terrible of human monsters, had spread far and wide. 
 He concealed his name, and his captors were not 
 
142 THE PORTUGUESE BARTHELEMY. 
 
 aware what a prize they had taken. The ship, con* 
 taining the crew of pirates, was separated from the 
 rest by a storm. She took refuge at C&mpeachy, on 
 the western coast of the immense peninsula of Yu- 
 catan. Crowds flocked on board to see the pirates 
 in irons. Among them came one who, in former 
 years, had well known Barthelemy. Lifting up his 
 hands in astonishment, he proclaimed in presence 
 of the multitude : 
 
 " This is Barthelemy the Portuguese. He is tht 
 most wicked rascal in the world. He has done more 
 harm to Spanish commerce than all the other pi- 
 rates put together.'' 
 
 The glad news spread through the town. There 
 were joyful assemblages in the streets. All hearts 
 were glowing with the desire to take vengeance on 
 the man who had put so many Spaniards to death. 
 The people appealed to the governor to demand the 
 pirate in the name of the king. He was arrested, 
 more heavily ironed, and placed on board anothei 
 vessel. A gibbet was erected upon which to hang 
 him. The governor did not deem any trial neces- 
 sary. From his cabin window Barthelemy could see 
 the workmen building the gallows, upon which he 
 was to be hung in chains, there to swing, in sun- 
 shine and storm, till the action of the elements 
 should dissolve both skin and bones. 
 
HIS ESCAPE. 143 
 
 The wretch had a strange power of winning 
 friends. The captain by whom he was captured 
 wished to save him. Some one secretly conveyed 
 to him a file. He soon freed himself from his irons. 
 There were in his cabin two large earthern jars, 
 empty and very buoyant. Carefully he closed the 
 orifices; bound them loosely together by a strong 
 cord ; lowered them cautiously into the water, 
 when midnight darkness covered the sea. A sen- 
 try was placed at the door of the cabin. He had 
 fallen asleep. Fearful that he might awake and 
 give the alarm, the pirate stealthily approached him 
 with a huge knife in his hand. By a well-directed 
 blow the glittering blade pierced his heart, and the 
 sentinel died without a struggle or a groan. 
 
 The pirate noiselessly dropped himself down 
 into the water. Grasping, with one hand, the strong 
 cord attached to the two jars, with the other he 
 slowly paddled himself to the shore. The cur- 
 rent floated him to the very spot where the gibbet 
 was erected. There it stood, in its awful gloom, 
 with the hangman's chain dangling from its timbers. 
 Even the iron-hearted Barthelemy shuddered, as at 
 midnight's dismal hour, he contemplated the doom 
 from which he was endeavoring to escape. 
 
 He took to the woods. But few of our readers 
 can imagine the entanglements of the tropical forest 
 
444 THE PORTUGUESE BARTHELEMY. 
 
 through which he struggled. Conscious that blood. 
 hounds might be put upon his track, he sought a 
 running stream, and waded along for a great dis- 
 tance in the darkness. He was torn cruelly by over- 
 hanging thorns, and bruised as he stumbled over 
 rocks and stones. As the morning dawned he hid 
 himself in a pile of brush, half covered with water. 
 
 The windings of the stream were such that he 
 had advanced but a short distance from the town. 
 The tidings of his escape roused the whole popula- 
 tion. It was known that he could not have forced 
 his way far through the entanglement of briers 
 and thorns and interlacing vines, in the few hours 
 between midnight and the dawn. The whole forest 
 seemed alive with his pursuers. A thousand slaves 
 were shouting in their barbarian eagerness. Packs 
 of blood-hounds were rushing to and fro, smelling at 
 every track, and making the forest resound with 
 their deep-mouthed bayings. The alarm-bells of the 
 city were rolling forth their loud and solemn peals. 
 Bands of Spanish cavaliers, with indignation in their 
 hearts and oaths upon their lips, passed within sight 
 of the hiding wretch ; and he heard their vows of 
 vengeance. Thus passed the wretched day. " The 
 way of the transgressor is indeed hard." 
 
 Barthelemy, bleeding, exhausted, starving and 
 tormented with the bite of insects, endured these 
 
HIS ESCAPE. 145 
 
 long hours of mental and bodily torture, until night 
 again darkened the scene. With the darkness he 
 resumed his terrified flight, he scarcely knew where. 
 His general plan was to reach some distant seaport 
 in disguise, where he hoped to effect his escape as a 
 sailor. Every hour he trembled in danger of being 
 caught, and his only food was roots and berries, and 
 the raw shell-fish he scraped from the rocks. 
 
 He forded streams where he was in imminent 
 danger of being snapped up by the jaws of croco- 
 diles. He waded through swamps, and narrowly 
 escaped being suffocated in the mire. His shoes 
 were torn from his feet, his clothes from his limbs. 
 For fourteen days and nights he endured these tor- 
 tures. His only guide was the roar of the ocean. 
 He was travelling in a southwesterly direction. It 
 was his constant endeavor to keep the ocean within 
 hearing distance on his right. 
 
 There is manifestly no tendency in misery to 
 make men better. The pirate, with all his woes, 
 grew more obdurate and more cruel. " In these 
 fourteen days," writes one of his biographers, " he 
 must have literally tasted death and anticipated the 
 horrors of hell." But this almost demoniac wretch- 
 edness led him to no prayers of penitence, and to no 
 promises of amendment. They served only to whet 
 his appetite for revenge. 
 7 
 
I46 THE PORTUGUESE BARTHELEMY. 
 
 At length he reached a large ocean bay, about 
 one hundred and twenty miles from Campeachy, ap- 
 propriately called Gulf Triste. Here, to his immense 
 relief, he found a large ship of buccaneers riding at 
 anchor. He signalled the ship, and a boat was sent 
 to take him on board. With feigned glee the wretch 
 told the story of his adventures. Not a word of 
 penitence was uttered. There was not the slightest 
 recognition that the punishment he had received 
 was merited. On the contrary, he said to the 
 pirates : 
 
 " I know of a ship at Campeachy, which is richly 
 laden, and but feebly armed. It can be captured 
 with all ease. Furnish me with a boat and thirty 
 good men, and in a few days I will bring the ship 
 and all its cargo to you." 
 
 His request was granted. The boat was equip- 
 ped, and he sailed along the coast, assuming that he 
 was a smuggler, with contraband goods. In eight 
 days he reached Campeachy. As the boat entered 
 the harbor, the piratic character of the craft was so 
 concealed that no suspicions were excited. At mid- 
 night the pirates cautiously approached the doomed 
 vessel. As the crew supposed themselves safe in 
 the harbor, there was but one sentry pacing the 
 deck. He hailed the boat. Barthelemy, who spoke 
 Spanish perfectly, stood upon the bows, and replied 
 
WONDERFUL SUCCESS. 14? 
 
 " We are a part of the crew. We have a boat- 
 load of goods from the land for the vessel, upon 
 which no duty has been paid." 
 
 At that moment the bows of the boat touched 
 the ship. Barthelemy and his crew leaped on 
 board, drawn cutlass in hand. One plunge of a sabre 
 pierced the heart of the sentinel, and he fell dead. 
 A few others who chanced to be on deck were 
 driven below, and the hatches were closed upon 
 them. Scarcely five minutes elapsed ere the thirty 
 pirates, all veteran sailors, were in perfect command 
 of the ship, and all the officers and crew were firm- 
 ly barricaded, as prisoners, beneath the deck. No 
 noise had been made. No alarm was given to other 
 ships in the harbor. They raised the anchors, 
 spread the sails, and put out to sea. 
 
 Thus suddenly the wheel of fortune turned. 
 The trembling fugitive, in danger of the gallows, in 
 rags and starvation, wandering through the wilder- 
 ness, but a few days before, now found himself 
 treading the deck of one of the finest of Spanish 
 ships, well provisioned, well armed, and with a rich 
 cargo stored in her hold. He was the captain and 
 mostly the owner of the majestic craft. His dicta- 
 torial power was recognized by thirty desperate men, 
 ready implicitly to obey his will. The commerce 
 
148 THE PORTUGUESE BARTHELEMY. 
 
 of all seas was apparently within the reach of his 
 piratical grasp. 
 
 The imprisoned crew were disposed of as these 
 pirates usually got rid of those who were a trouble 
 to them. They were either crowded into a boat 
 and cut adrift, or landed upon the nearest shore, or 
 thrown into the sea. Familiarity with misery and 
 death rendered the pirates as insensible to human 
 suffering as the fisherman becomes to the struggles 
 of the fish in the bottom of his boat. 
 
 Barthelemy, instead of returning with his prize 
 to his comrades in Gulf Triste, spread his sails for 
 Jamaica. He was greatly elated, and boasted loudly 
 of the still greater enterprises which he was about to 
 undertake. With his suddenly found wealth he 
 would create a fleet ; he would have crews of five 
 hundred men at his command ; his blood-red flag 
 should sweep all seas ; he would collect an army 
 and ravage provinces ; he would seize some large 
 island, of which he would be the monarch, with his 
 fleets and his armies. Thus the Portuguese pirate 
 dreamed. He did not take God into the account. 
 God had decided otherwise. 
 
 It was a beautiful morning, as Barthelemy paced 
 the deck, lost in these ambitious imaginings. The 
 sky was cloudless. A fresh breeze swelled the sails, 
 and delightfully tempered the heat of a tropical sur 
 
IMPOVERISHMENT AND RUIN 149 
 
 A few leagues south of the Island of Cuba is the 
 majestic Isle of Pines. Large as it is, its promi- 
 nence is lost in the overpowering grandeur of its sis- 
 ter island. The ship was running along its southern 
 coast. 
 
 A small cloud was seen in the southwestern hori- 
 zon. Rapidly it increased in size and blackness. It 
 was a tropical tornado. Already its roar could be 
 heard as it ploughed and lashed the seas. The terrible 
 gale struck the ship and whirled it along as though 
 it had been a bubble. God was there, in his sore 
 displeasure. What could man do ? Nothing. The 
 pirates threw themselves upon their knees, and 
 called upon the Virgin and all the saints to come 
 and help them. But neither Virgin nor saint came. 
 
 The ship struck the rocks — was dashed to pieces; 
 the silver, the gold, the cargo, everything disap- 
 peared before those terrific blasts. Many were 
 drowned. Barthelemy and a few of the crew were 
 swept ashore by the mountain billows. Their 
 clothes were torn from their backs. Their bodies 
 were sorely bruised, and some of their bones broken, 
 by being dashed against the rocks. Exhausted, 
 panting, maimed, and half dead, Barthelemy found 
 himself utterly beggared upon a lonely isle. This 
 was the work of one short half-hour. This was the 
 disposal God made of the pirates' stolen spoil. 
 
150 THE PORTUGUESE BARTHELEMY. 
 
 A wretched, starving straggler, Barthelemy 
 found his way to Jamaica. Here he enlisted as a 
 common sailor on board a pirate ship, and we hear 
 of him no more. Without doubt, he came to a mis- 
 erable end ; and his body was probably thrown into 
 the sea as food for sharks. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 Francis Lolonois. 
 
 E*rly Dife of Lolonois. — His Desperate Character. — Joins the Buc- 
 caneers. — His Fiend-like Cruelty. — The Desperadoes Rail; 
 around Him. — Equips a Fleet. — Captures Rich Prizes. — Plans 
 the Sack of Maracaibo. — The Adventurous Voyage. — Description 
 of Venezuela. — Atrocities at Maracaibo and Gibraltar. — Doom of 
 the Victors. 
 
 ONE of the most demoniac of those pirates who 
 were ravaging sea and land, calling themselves buc- 
 caneers, and assuming that they were conducting 
 a sort of legitimate warfare on their own private 
 account, was a bold wretch by the name of Francis 
 Lolonois. He was a Frenchman. When quite a 
 young man, he, with other adventurers, went to the 
 West Indies, paying for his passage, in accordance 
 with a custom of the times, by being sold as a ser- 
 vant for a certain term. 
 
 Having obtained his freedom, he went to the 
 Island of St. Domingo. Here he lived a vagabond 
 life, sometimes hunting, and again engaged as a 
 common sailor in the commerce of the islands. He 
 soon acquired the reputation of being a reckless. 
 
152 FRANCIS LOLONOIS, 
 
 desperate fellow, and attracted the attention of the 
 piratic governor of the piratic rendezvous, at the 
 Island of Tortugas. He was intrusted with the 
 command of a small vessel, to prey upon Spanish 
 commerce. His success was extraordinary. He be- 
 came rich. So terrible were his cruelties, that his 
 fame extended through both of the Indies. Death 
 was the doom of his captives ; often death by tor- 
 ture. 
 
 He had all his wealth, gold, jewels, and goods in 
 a great ship, armed with heavy guns. It was wreck- 
 ed on the coast of Campeachy. The crew barely 
 escaped with their lives. The angry waves dashed 
 to pieces and swallowed up the ill-gotten gains of 
 the pirate. The enraged Spaniards, overjoyed at 
 the wreck, pursued those who had escaped to the 
 dry land, and shot most of them down, mercilessly. 
 Lolonois, disguised as a common sailor, was severely 
 wounded. He smeared himself with blood, and 
 feigned death. Being left on the field unburied, 
 when the Spaniards left, he crept into the woods. 
 It was universally believed that he was dead. The 
 removal of such a wretch from the world was a mat- 
 ter of almost national rejoicing. Bonfires blazed. 
 Cannon were fired. The undevout drank, and swore 
 in their carousal. The devout repaired to the 
 
sack or Maracaibu. 153 
 
 churches, and thanked God that the world was de- 
 livered from so cruel a pirate. 
 
 Lolonois, slowly recovering from his wounds, 
 disguised in a Spanish habit, entered Campeachy. 
 He made friends with a few slaves, stole a small 
 boat, and, as his piratic biographer has it, " came to 
 Tortugas, the common place of refuge of all sorts of 
 wickedness, and the seminary, as it were, of all man- 
 ner of pirates and thieves." 
 
 His reputation as a successful pirate was such, 
 that he speedily obtained command of another ves- 
 sel, manned by a crew of twenty-one desperadoes. 
 On the south side of the Island of Cuba, there was 
 a flourishing little village called Cayos. The inhab- 
 itants carried on an active trade in tobacco, sugar 
 and hides. Their harbor had not sufficient depth 
 of water for large vessels. The traffic was in boats. 
 Lolonois decided to sack the place. 
 
 It was not far across the island to Havana. 
 Some fishermen informed the inhabitants of the 
 approach of the pirate. In terror they sent to 
 Havana for aid. The governor instantly dispatched 
 a war-ship, of ten guns and seventy-five men, for 
 their relief. The governor, astonished that Lolo- 
 nois had again come to life, issued written orders, as 
 follows : 
 
 " You are not to return until you have utterly 
 
I iJ4 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 destroyed all those pirates. Every one is to be im- 
 mediately hung, excepting Lolonois, their captain, 
 If possible, you are to bring him alive to Havana." 
 
 The ship arrived at Cayos before the pirates had 
 made their attack. They cast anchor just outside 
 the harbor. The pirates, through their confederates, 
 had been informed of their approach. They captured 
 two fishing boats. In the darkness of the ensuing 
 night, they ran these boats, one on each side of the 
 ship, and with sword and pistol leaped on board. 
 The attack was so sudden, so entirely unprovided 
 for, that the few of the crew who were on deck were 
 speedily struck down or driven below. 
 
 Lolonois was in command of the ship, with all 
 his prisoners beneath the hatches. One by one they 
 were brought up, and their heads cut off. Not one 
 was spared. The dismembered bodies were cast 
 into the sea. The bloody'decks were washed. The 
 pirate, proud of his achievement, and admired by 
 his men, strode to and fro, the proprietor of a strong, 
 well-armed ship, amply provided with everything he 
 could need to aid him in his career of rapine and 
 blood. He wrote a letter to the governor, and sent 
 it to him by one of his captive fishermen. It was as 
 follows : 
 
 " I shall never, hereafter, give quarter to any 
 Spaniard. I have great hopes that I shall yet nave 
 
SACK OF MARACAIBO. 155 
 
 the pleasure of exercising upon your own person, the 
 punishment I have now inflicted upon those you 
 have sent against me. It is thus that I requite the 
 kindness, which you designed for me and my com- 
 panions." 
 
 The governor was greatly troubled and per- 
 plexed by these tidings. In his anger he took a 
 solemn oath that he would never hereafter grant 
 quarter to any buccaneer who should fall into his 
 hands. But the citizens of Havana implored him 
 not to persist in the execution of this oath. They 
 sent a delegation to him to say : 
 
 " If this threat is followed out, the pirates will 
 certainly do the same. They have a hundred times 
 more opportunity of revenge than the governor can 
 have. We must get our living by fishery. Here- 
 after, if this threat is executed, we shall always be at 
 the peril of our lives." 
 
 Lolonois cruised for some time among the 
 islands, without success. He then directed his 
 course south toward Maracaibo, an important port 
 in the extreme north of the South American conti- 
 nent. After a run of six or eight hundred miles, he 
 reached the entrance of the vast bay which leads up 
 to the city. Here he captured an outward-bound 
 ship, richly laden with plate and silver from the 
 mines. 
 
I56 FRANCIS LOLLNOIb. 
 
 What he did with the crew we know not. They 
 vanished. They were probably all thrown into the 
 sea. With ship and cargo he returned to TortugaSj 
 where he was received with public rejoicing. Though 
 now rich enough to live at his ease, his ambition was 
 roused to attain still greater renown. Publicly he 
 proclaimed to all the pirates on the island, that he 
 was about to fit out a fleet sufficient to carry five 
 hundred men. With these he would sail to the 
 Spanish dominions in South America, and sack all 
 the cities, towns, and villages along the coast. He 
 would then capture Maracaibo itself. 
 
 All the desperadoes were eager to engage in the 
 service of so brave and successful a leader. His fleet 
 was soon equipped, and his gang engaged. There 
 was a celebrated buccaneer at Tortugas, by the 
 name of Michael Basco. He had become very rich, 
 and filled an important governmental office. The 
 proclamation of Lolonois fired anew his piratic zeal. 
 He had in former years ravaged all those regions by 
 sea and by land. He proposed to Lolonois to be- 
 come a partner in his enterprise, if he could be placed 
 in command over the land forces. The articles of 
 agreement were soon signed. Eight vessels sailed. 
 The crews amounted to six hundred and seventy. 
 five men. First they directed their course to St. 
 Domingo, and cast anchor in a little harbor called 
 
SACK OF MARACAIUO. 157 
 
 Bayala. Here they laid in stores for their voyage, 
 and added to their crews quite a number of vaga- 
 bond Frenchmen. 
 
 On the last day of July they again spread their 
 sails. Whether they implored the Divine blessing 
 upon their enterprise we know not. It is not impro- 
 bable. One of these pirates ran his sword through 
 one of the crew for behaving irreverently in church. 
 
 " How can we expect," he said indignantly, "the 
 blessing of the Virgin, if we behave in an unseemly 
 way in her presence ? " 
 
 Lolonois was admiral of the fleet. He occupied 
 the largest ship, which mounted ten guns. They 
 ran along the northern shore of St. Domingo, and 
 just as they were doubling its most eastern cape, 
 they came in sight of a large, heavily laden Spanish 
 merchantman, bound from Spain to her colonies. 
 But a few leagues beyond them, on the southeast 
 side of St. Domingo, was the Island of Savona. Lo- 
 lonois ordered the fleet to make a harbor there, 
 and wait for him. He then sailed to capture the 
 Spanish galleon. 
 
 Unexpected resistance was encountered. The 
 Spaniards knew that they had no mercy to expect 
 from Lolonois. They fought with desperation, pre- 
 ferring to die in the fierce battle, rather than be 
 massacred by the pirates. The conflict lasted three 
 
I$8 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 hours. The ship was captured, and the survivors 
 put to the sword. 
 
 Lolonois was delighted on finding the prize much 
 richer than he had anticipated. The ship was one 
 of the strongest and best built of Spanish vessels, 
 and mounted sixteen guns. There were fifty men 
 on board, some doubtless passengers. But they 
 were no match for the reckless pirates, who were 
 veterans in such warfare. The ship, in addition to 
 a very rich cargo, had forty thousand dollars in coin, 
 and ten thousand more in jewels. 
 
 Lolonois sent the ship back to Tortugas to be 
 unloaded, and then immediately to rejoin him at 
 Savona, to accompany the expedition. In the mean 
 time another large ship was captured, which was 
 bound to Hispaniola with military supplies and a 
 sum of money to pay the garrison. The ship 
 mounted eight guns. Being entirely surrounded 
 by the hostile fleet, the captain surrendered without 
 resistance. 
 
 The passengers and crew were disposed of after 
 the pirates' usual fashion. This important capture 
 contained seven thousand pounds of powder, a large 
 number of muskets and other small arms, and twelve 
 thousand dollars in specie. The governor of Tor- 
 tugas, a Frenchman, ordered the cargo to be re- 
 moved as quickly as possible from the ship, and 
 
SACK OF MARACAIBO. I$9 
 
 placing on board fresh provisions and a reinforce- 
 ment of pirates, to make good the loss of those who 
 had fallen in battle or by sickness, sent it back to 
 Savona. 
 
 Lolonois made this his flagship, as the largest 
 and best of the fleet. The city of Maracaibo was 
 situated on an island, in the lake of the same name, 
 and at the head of the Bay of Venezuela. The island 
 was about sixty miles long by thirty-six broad. The 
 passage to the city was by a narrow channel which 
 was guarded by a fort. The city contained a mixed 
 population of about four thousand, and carried on a 
 thriving trade in hides and tobacco. The dwellings 
 were delightfully situated, on an eminence running 
 along the western shore of the lake, and command- 
 ing a charming view of land and water scenery. 
 There was a large stone church in the place, four 
 capacious monasteries, and a hospital. A deputy 
 governor, subject to the governor at Caraccas, admin-* 
 istered alike both civil and military affairs. 
 
 The inhabitants of the province were rich in 
 cattle. Immense herds grazed over the luxuriant 
 pastures, extending nearly one hundred miles around. 
 The cattle were kept mainly for their hides, which 
 ever commanded a ready market. Oranges, lemons, 
 bananas, and other tropical fruits were also very 
 abundant. The harbor was spacious and secure, 
 
l6o FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 with the very best of timber at hand. There were 
 many fierce Indians in the morasses and thicKets 
 around. They were comparatively powerless, the ugh 
 occasionally committing wolfish depredations. 
 
 About one hundred and twenty miles beyond 
 Maracaibo, farther up the lake, there was another 
 quite important colonial Spanish town, called Gibral- 
 tar. It had a population of about fifteen hundred. 
 These were nearly all engaged in trade, purchasing 
 the products of the country and sending them to 
 other markets. On the plantations around, large 
 quantities of sugar were made. Also immense 
 stores of cacao, from which our word cocoa is de- 
 rived, were gathered. This was the flat oblong seed 
 of the chocolate-tree, which was one of the most 
 important articles of commerce. They also raised a 
 very superior kind of tobacco, which was in great 
 demand in Europe, called priests' tobacco. 
 
 Still farther south, over a high ridge of moun- 
 tains, there was another settlement called Merida. 
 The summits of these mountains reached the region 
 4>f intense cold, and were covered with perpetual 
 snow. There were a few narrow passes through this 
 craggy barrier, which could be traversed only by the 
 sure-footed mule. 
 
 As soon as Lolonois entered the Gulf of Vene- 
 zuela, he crept cautiously along its shores, and cast 
 
SACK OF MARACAIBO. 101 
 
 anchor behind a wooded promontory, where he was 
 concealed from all observation. In the early dawn 
 of the next morning he again unfurled his sails, and, 
 with a fair wind, swept rapidly toward the Lake 
 of Maracaibo. Secretly all the men were landed. 
 They marched to attack, on the land side, the fort, 
 about four or five leagues from the city, which guard- 
 ed the entrance to the harbor. The defences here 
 consisted only of stout wicker baskets, about seven 
 feet high, filled with earth and stones. Within the 
 fort there were sixteen heavy guns. 
 
 Notwithstanding all their precautions to attack 
 the fort by surprise, eagle eyes had detected their 
 approach, and had given the alarm. The command- 
 ant sent out a party of men to place themselves in 
 ambuscade, on the only route by which the pirates 
 could approach the fort. They were to wait until 
 the pirates had passed that point, then, at a given 
 signal, when the governor attacked them in front, 
 from behind his rampart, they were to fall fiercely 
 upon the rear of the foe. 
 
 Lolonois was a demon, with a demon's ability. 
 He discovered the stratagem ; crept around the 
 ambuscade ; attacked the detachment in its rear, 
 and cut nearly every man to pieces. He then 
 marched upon the fort. The Spaniards were not 
 cowards. For three hours the battle raged, with 
 
tt>2 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 equal desperation on either side. The reverberation 
 of the artillery explosions alarmed the whole city. 
 The tidings ran through the streets, exaggerated of 
 course : 
 
 " The pirates, two thousand strong, are marching 
 upon us." 
 
 Their atrocities were well known. The whole 
 community fled, seizing such articles of value as they 
 could — some in boats, some on land. Men, faint- 
 ing women, and crying babes, they pressed along, in 
 a tumultuous mass, to seek refuge in Gibraltar. 
 
 The fort was taken. Nearly all its defenders lay 
 silent in death. The ship%, having nothing more to 
 fear, spread their sails and entered the harbor. The 
 pirates demolished the fort, burst all the cannon 
 they could, and spiked the rest. Lolonois practised 
 his accustomed caution. All the adjacent thickets 
 were -wept with grape-shot. Under the protection 
 of hi? guns, the boats, crowded with armed men, ap- 
 proached the shore. One-half landed. The others 
 remained in the boats with guns in their hands, sa- 
 bres at their sides, and pistols in their belts, to act as 
 reserves. 
 
 To their assault there was no response. Not a 
 human being was to be seen. The town was utterly 
 abandoned. They found provisions in great abund- 
 ance, with large quantities of wine and other intoxi- 
 
SACK OF iMARACAIBO. 163 
 
 eating liquors. These fiend-like men then commenced 
 a scene of feasting, which continued for several days. 
 Their hideous orgies cannot be described. Pro- 
 bably they experienced something of what they 
 called joy, in these revels. But they were only such 
 joys as demons have. Milton describes Satan, 
 exulting over some of his plots, as " grinning horri- 
 bly a ghastly smile." 
 
 At length, satiated with their unrestrained ex- 
 cesses, they turned their attention to the collec- 
 tion of plunder. It will be remembered that it was 
 a hundred and twenty miles to Gibraltar. There 
 were aged men, feeble women, the sick, and newly 
 born babes in the place. It was evident that many 
 of these could not have escaped far, and that they 
 must be concealed in the woods around. Neithei 
 could it be doubted that much treasure, which could 
 not be transported to a distance, had been buried. 
 
 Gangs of armed men, amounting in all to over 
 two hundred, were sent to explore the woods. They 
 went out every morning, for several days, and re- 
 turned at night. The first night they brought in 
 twenty thousand dollars in coin, eight mule-loads of 
 goods, and twenty prisoners, men, women, and chil- 
 dren. Lolonois put several of these to the rack, to 
 compel them to reveal where other people were 
 concealed, and wheie other treasures were buried 
 
164 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 The fiend tortured little children, before the eyes 
 of their parents, to extort confession. 
 
 Terrible was the condition of the Spaniards in 
 the woods. They were suffering from every kind of 
 exposure. They were devoured by insects. They 
 were starving. They were watching over sick and 
 dying friends. And they were every moment in 
 danger of being captured, and exposed to the most 
 horrible torments, to extort the confession of hidden 
 treasures, when they had no treasure to hide. 
 
 The next night another party of prisoners was 
 brought in, with other plunder. Lolonois summon- 
 ed the captives before him. Drawing his sharp 
 sabre, he, without apparently the slightest emotion, 
 hewed one of them to pieces before the eyes of all 
 the rest. He did this slowly and deliberately, so as 
 to prolong life as much as possible. Then, turning 
 to the rest, he said, with a pirate's oath : 
 
 " If you do not reveal to me where you have con- 
 cealed the rest of your goods, I will serve every 
 one of you in the same manner." 
 
 For fifteen days the pirates remained at Mara- 
 caibc. They perpetrated cruelties upon their cap- 
 tives so terrible, that we are compelled to spread a 
 veil over them. They then prepared to move on 
 to Gibraltar. 
 
 The governor of this orovince, which was called 
 
CAPTURE OF GIBRALTAR. 165 
 
 Venezuela, or Little Venice, from its many marshes, 
 resided at Merida. He was a veteran soldier, who 
 had gained renown in the wars in Flanders. He 
 was, moreover, somewhat of a braggadocio. The 
 panic-stricken inhabitants of Gibraltar, sent implor- 
 ing appeals to him for aid. He returned the boast- 
 ful reply : 
 
 " Give yourselves no uneasiness. I will soon 
 be with you, at the head of four hundred experi- 
 enced soldiers. The pirates shall be utterly extermi- 
 nated." 
 
 He reached Gibraltar with his little army. Ral- 
 lying the inhabitants, he soon had at his com- 
 mand a force of eight hundred well-armed men 
 He raised two batteries to command the ap- 
 proaches to the tow r n. Upon one he mounted 
 twenty guns ; upon the other eight. He also barri- 
 caded the main entrance to the town. To deceive 
 the pirates, he opened a road which led circuitously 
 away into impassable swamps. 
 
 As Lolonois approached the town he saw the 
 royal banner of Spain floating over its defences, in- 
 dicating that he could not take possession of the 
 place without a battle. He called his officers around 
 him, and thus addressed them : 
 
 " The difficulties of our enterprise have become 
 very great. The Spaniards have had much time to 
 
1 66 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 prepare for their defence. They have an ampk 
 supply of ammunition, and have assembled a large 
 number of men. Still, let us be of good cour- 
 age. We must either defend ourselves like valiant 
 soldiers, or lose our lives with all the riches we have 
 gained. I am your captain. Do as I do. We have 
 fought with fewer men than we have now. We have 
 conquered foes more numerous than can possibly 
 oppose us here. The more they are, the greater 
 our glory, and the greater our riches. But know ye 
 this, that the first man who gives any indication of 
 fear, I will pistol with my own hand." 
 
 They landed from their ships, a little after mid- 
 night. In all, they numbered three hundred and 
 eighty. Each man had a musket with thirty bullets, 
 cartridges, a cutlass, and two or three loaded pistols 
 in his belt. As they commenced their march, which 
 they knew must lead to the death of some of them, 
 they shook hands with each other in pledge of 
 mutual support. 
 
 " Come, my brothers," said Lolonois, " follow me, 
 and be of good courage." 
 
 Upon reaching the barricade, where they encoun- 
 tered a heavy fire, they turned aside into the new 
 road which had been opened to insnare them. This 
 battle in the woods, amid swamps and thickets, and 
 intertwining vines and torturing thorns, can not be 
 
CAPTURE OF GIBRALTAR. l6/ 
 
 described. The combatants were sometimes up to 
 their waists in mire. The entanglements of a trop- 
 ical forest were such that they often could not see or 
 approach each other. Much of the firing was at 
 random. The air was heavy with moisture. The 
 large guns of the batteries hurled balls and grape- 
 shot, crashing through the branches. The sulphur- 
 ous smoke settled down upon the morass in stifling 
 folds. 
 
 The pirates cut down branches of the trees and 
 threw them into the marsh, and thus gradually strug- 
 gled through, until they reached the firm ground 
 beyond. Here the Spaniards were again ready to 
 receive them, with opposing batteries. Many of the 
 pirates had perished in the swamp. Their situation 
 now seemed desperate. Lolonois was equal to the 
 occasion. He feigned a panic. The pirates fled 
 tumultuously, crying out, " Save himself who can." 
 Their flight was toward the ships. 
 
 The Spaniards, deceived by the feigned discom- 
 fiture, rushed from behind their intrenchments in 
 eager pursuit, shouting joyfully, " They fly ; they 
 fly!" Lolonois and his men, having drawn them 
 some distance from their batteries, turned upon 
 them with the reckless ferocity of tigers. Their 
 bloody work was soon accomplished. A few of the 
 Spaniards escaped in terror to the woods. All the 
 
1 68 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 rest were cut down. Gibraltar was at the mercy of 
 the pirates. 
 
 Five hundred Spaniards lay dead upon the 
 ground. Many of those who escaped to the woods 
 were wounded, and of these not a few died, for they 
 were destitute of all aid in dressing their wounds. 
 Fearing that so many dead bodies might create con- 
 tagion, the pirates piled them all in two large boats, 
 and sunk them in the lake. Still many putrefying 
 corpses were left scattered through the woods. 
 The pirates admit that they lost eighty in the con- 
 flict. The number was probably greater. Though 
 most of the inhabitants escaped from the town, the 
 victors held about one hundred and fifty prisoners, 
 men, women, and children. They prized these cap- 
 tives because, by torturing them, tlvey hoped to find 
 where money was concealed. 
 
 The town was plundered effectually. Every nook 
 and corner they searched. The miserable captives 
 were shut up in the church. Gangs of men were 
 sent out to ravage the plantations around. As pro- 
 visions became scarce, the prisoners were left with- 
 out any supply of bread or water. The hearts of 
 the pirates were no more moved by their piteous 
 moans than were the stone blocks with which the 
 church was built. During the four weeks the phates 
 
CAPTURE OF GIBRALTAR. 169 
 
 held Gibraltar, nearly all these captives died of 
 actual starvation. 
 
 Their gangs ranged the woods for great distances, 
 bringing in plunder and prisoners. Many women 
 were brought in. Every conceivable measure was 
 resorted to, to get money. The whole region was 
 wantonly turned into a blackened, smouldering 
 desert. Lolonois wished to pursue his mad career 
 over the mountains to Merida. But a pestilential 
 and contagious disease sprang up among his men. 
 God's hand seemed to smite them. All were sick. 
 Skeleton forms staggered through the streets. 
 These men were not ignorant of the crimes they 
 were committing. There were no loving hands to 
 attend them in the languor of sickness, in the ago- 
 nies of death. In misery, many of these wretches 
 were burned with fever. Moaning and blaspheming 
 they died, and their guilty souls passed to the tribu- 
 nal of that God who cannot look upon sin but with 
 abhorrence. They had seized their ill-gotten gold, 
 and it had indeed turned to ashes in their grasp, 
 8 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 The Plunder ; The Carousal; and the New Enterprise^ 
 
 Gibraltar in Ashes. — The Return to Maracaibo. — Division of the 
 Plunder. — Peculiar Scene. — Reception of the Pirates at Tortuga 
 — Fiend-like Carousal. — The Pirates Reduced to Beggary. — Lo- 
 lonois's New Enterprise. — The " Furious Calm." — Days of Disas- 
 ter. — Ravaging the Coast. — Capture of San Pedro 
 
 DISEASE was now cutting down the pirates faster 
 than the bullets or sabres of the Spaniards had done. 
 The victors, with an abundance of gold and booty, 
 were starving. The provisions in the place were all 
 consumed, and no fresh supplies had been brought in 
 The woe-stricken wretches were quarrelling among 
 themselves about the division of the spoil. 
 
 Lolonois sent several parties of men into the re- 
 gion around, to search out fugitives from Gibraltar, 
 and say to them that if, within two days, they 
 wouH send in to him fifty-eight thousand dollars, 
 he would not burn the city ; otherwise he would lay 
 every building in ashes. He set at liberty several 
 of his prisoners also, to convey to their friends the 
 same information. Disappointed in the money he 
 
PLUNDER AND CAROUSAL. IJi 
 
 had found, he still believed that large sums had been 
 secreted by the fugitives. 
 
 The two days passed, and the money did not 
 come- Lolonois set fire to the four corners of the 
 town, and in six hours reduced it to ashes. By beat 
 of drum he assembled his sick and starving men, and 
 embarked, with all the riches which were movable. 
 He took several captives with him, male and female 
 Sailing down the bay, they soon reached Maracaibo 
 Quite a number of the inhabitants, who had re- 
 turned tremblingly to their desolated homes, he 
 captured. Beggared as the poor creatures already 
 were, the merciless pirate said to them : 
 
 " If you will supply me with five hundred cows, 
 and bring me thirty thousand dollars in coin, I will 
 spare your city. If you do not yield to this demand, 
 I will treat your city as I have served Gibraltar. 
 Not one building shall be left standing." 
 
 The cows were driven in. The money was paid. 
 The people, still trembling, and not daring to mani- 
 fest their joy, saw these Goths and Vandals of mod- 
 ern times, spread their sails, and slowly disappear in 
 the distant horizon. But who can imagine the con- 
 dition in which the town was left ? The people 
 were utterly despoiled. The homes were desolated. 
 Widows and orphans wept and wailed, with life-long 
 penury before them. Not a few of the people, with 
 
A 72 FRANCIS LOLONAIS. 
 
 ruined constitutions, tottered through the streets, 
 slowly recovering from the crushings and the lacera- 
 tions of the rack. When we read of such crimes 
 perpetrated by man upon his brother, one almost 
 shrinks from owning himself a man. And the weary 
 heart finds little comfort in the thought that the 
 Spaniards deserved it all. These woes came upon 
 them as a righteous retribution. With equal cruelty 
 they had treated the native Cubans, the Mexicans, 
 and the Peruvians. 
 
 The fleet sailed for Gonaves on the Island of 
 Hispaniola. There the spoil was to be divided. 
 Each one took a solemn oath, on the Bible, that he 
 had concealed nothing, but that he had thrown 
 everything into the public stock. 
 
 The gathering of the pirates for this distribution 
 on the shores of a lovely bay of the Island of St. Do- 
 mingo, must have presented a very singular specta- 
 cle. In the centre of a small verdant lawn, spread 
 upon the grass, were bales of richest silk ; cloths of 
 great variety of texture ; baskets of gold and silver 
 coin, pistols, sabres, and muskets of the best con- 
 struction, and costly jewels, and golden cups, vases, 
 and ornaments, of which the churches had been 
 despoiled. Around stood wild groups of heavily 
 armed, half-naked pirates, in ferocity of aspect re- 
 sembling fiends rather than men. Some counte- 
 
PLUNDER AND CAROUSAL. I73 
 
 nances were disfigured with sabre gashes ; while 
 some hobbled upon crutches. Native Indians had 
 gathered around, their long, black hair streaming in 
 the wind, and their almost naked bodies shining 
 like coin fresh from the mint. Several Spanish cap- 
 tives were there, men and women, looking sadly on 
 at the distribution of the wealth of which their 
 own homes had been plundered. There were also 
 a large number of negro slaves present, with their 
 black limbs and woolly, hatless heads, whom the pi- 
 rates had brought with them to perform their heavy 
 or menial tasks. 
 
 After an exact calculation of the whole spoil in 
 coin, jewels, and goods, the sum total was esti- 
 mated at only about five hundred thousand dol- 
 lars. The property was really worth much more.. 
 But a very low estimate was placed upon most of the 
 goods. Silver in bullion was valued at eight dollars 
 a pound. The pirates were so ignorant of the real 
 value of jewels, that they were prized at nothing like 
 their real worth. Many of the stores and fabrics 
 were also greatly undervalued. 
 
 Still, even at this low estimate, the average was 
 over a thousand dollars for each pirate. Having 
 finished this important business, they set sail for 
 Tortuga, where most of them were, in a few days, 
 to squander all the fruits of their robberies and mur- 
 
174 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 ders, in the most riotous dissipation. After a four- 
 weeks' voyage they reached the great rendezvous of 
 the buccaneers. The island was crowded with gam- 
 blers and abandoned women, and every conceivable 
 haunt of dissipation. 
 
 For three weeks Tortuga presented a spectacle 
 of frenzied and maddened carousal, which could 
 not have been surpassed. Men, insane with drink, 
 rushed through the streets, slashing with their sa- 
 bres in all directions. Casks of rum and wine were 
 placed in the streets, standing on end, with the heads 
 knocked out, and every passer-by was compelled to 
 drink. The women, more loathsome in their wick- 
 edness than the men, reeled through the thorough- 
 fares, in the richest silks and satins, and bedecked 
 with glittering jewelry of which a duchess might be 
 proud. There were oaths and brawls and bloody 
 duels. In the delirium of these demoniac orgies 
 gold watches were fried for a costly breakfast, and 
 were served up with boiled pearls and jewels. 
 
 Two French vessels chanced just then to enter 
 the port, laden with wine and brandy. This was 
 throv/ing fresh fuel upon the fiery conflagration of 
 violence, sin, and shame then raging in this miniature 
 city of all the fiends. In the course of three weeks 
 nearly all of these thieves had squandered every- 
 thing. The riches they had gained by murder and 
 
HIS NEW ENTERPRISE. 175 
 
 the endurance and the infliction of untold miseries, 
 had all passed into the hands of the gamblers, the 
 liquor dealers, and the abandoned women. John 
 Esquemeling, who witnessed these scenes, of which 
 he wrote an account, says that the governor of the 
 island bought of these buccaneers a shipload of 
 cocoa, for not one-twentieth part its real value. He 
 sent it to Europe, and realized over five hundred 
 thousand dollars from the profits. Lolonois, though 
 fiercely brave, and with unusual native strength of 
 mind, was a low, degraded, brutal man. He in- 
 dulged in these bacchanal orgies with the meanest 
 of his crew. No one was guilty of greater ex- 
 cesses. No one sank to greater depths in the mire of 
 loathsome wickedness. Not one short month had 
 passed ere he was reeling through the streets a 
 filthy and ragged beggar. He was also deeply in- 
 volved in debt. 
 
 He could conceive of but one mode of extrica- 
 tion. That was to set out upon another piratic ex- 
 pedition. The ravages of the pirates had been so 
 great that the commerce of those seas was almost 
 annihilated. Merchant ships abandoned the ocean, 
 unless attended by a very strong convoy. This it 
 was which led the buccaneers to go in fleets, so as to 
 land in sufficient strength to desolate the coasts and 
 to sack towns and cities. 
 
IJti FRANCIS LOLONOIS 
 
 Lolonois's success had given him high reputation 
 as a pirate. There were many on the island ready 
 to furnish him with the means for another adventure. 
 There were hundreds of penniless, starving wretches 
 staggering through the streets, eager to enlist under 
 his banner for any service whatever. Inscrutable is 
 the mystery of God's government. He has allowed 
 miniature hells to exist on earth, and to be crowded 
 with demons in human form. No philosophy, no 
 theology can explain this. The heart, in its anguish, 
 often cries out, " O Lord, how long ! how long ! " 
 Faith tremblingly and sadly exclaims, " What we 
 know not now we shall know hereafter." 
 
 This demoniac man had sense enough to aban- 
 don his cups, until his brain was sufficiently clear to 
 organize, even to its details, the plan for a new ex- 
 pedition. The enterprise was communicated to a 
 few men of capital and unscrupulous shrewdness. 
 Money was promptly raised. Six vessels were pur- 
 chased. There were generally vessels enough in the 
 harbor, from the prizes that were brought in, and 
 from the large number of piratic ships. 
 
 Lolonois placarded a proclamation upon the 
 walls, calling for volunteers. More than seven hun- 
 dred eager applicants thronged his door.s. Three 
 hundred of these he took, with himself, on board his 
 largest ship. The rest were placed in five other 
 
HIS NEW ENTERPRISE. 177 
 
 ships. None but the leading officers were informed 
 
 of the destination of the fleet. 
 
 They first sailed to a port called Bayaha, on the 
 Island of San Domingo, then, as we have mentioned, 
 called Hispaniola ; or Little Spain. Here they filled 
 their water-casks and supplied themselves with pro- 
 visions. Thence they sailed to Matamana, a soli- 
 tary but commodious harbor on the south side of 
 Cuba. This region was famous for its rich turtles 
 Native Cuban fishermen, in large boats, pursued 
 these animals, alike valuable for their flesh and their 
 shells. The pirates were fond of turtle soup. Lo- 
 lonois needed a large number of boats, that he 
 might simultaneously land the crews, from his ships, 
 upon any doomed city. 
 
 These poor men were mercilessly robbed of their 
 boats, into many of which forty sailors could be 
 crowded. The poor fishermen, having no other 
 means of subsistence, were overwhelmed with grief 
 and dismay. Lolonois was as heedless of their 
 sorrows as he was of the manifest trouble of the 
 tortoise when deprived of its young. Again they 
 spread their sails, and had advanced about three 
 hundred miles along the southern coast of Cuba, 
 when they were overtaken by what the Spaniards 
 call a " furious calm." 
 
 For four weeks there was not a breath of air 
 8* 
 
178 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 Day after day the tropical sun rose, pouring down 
 upon their blistered decks his scorching rays. The 
 cabins became as furnaces. There was relief no- 
 where. The pirates swore, prayed, called upon the 
 Virgin and the saints. All was in vain. Twenty 
 eight days of this terrible imprisonment passed 
 slowly away. In the mean time a strong, but imper- 
 ceptible and resistless current swept them along into 
 the Gulf of Honduras, which deeply penetrates the 
 eastern coast of Central America. Upon leaving 
 Cuba, the crews had been informed of the enterprise 
 before them. They were to coast along the province 
 of Nicaragua and plunder all its settlements, great 
 and small. 
 
 This important Spanish province extended en- 
 tirely across the Isthmus of Panama, then called 
 Darien, from the Caribbean Sea to the Pacific Ocean. 
 It was bounded on the north by Honduras, and on 
 the south by Costa Rica. By the current, the pirates 
 had been swept nearly five hundred miles west of 
 the point which they wished to make. To return, 
 they must coast, for that distance, along the bleak, 
 almost uninhabited northern shore of Honduras. 
 
 The Gulf stream, pouring into the Bay of Hon- 
 duras, pressed stror.gly against them. The calm was 
 followed by fresh winds. But these winds wer^ 
 
HIS NEW ENTERPRISE. 1/9 
 
 strong and contrary. It was impossible to beat 
 against both wind and current. 
 
 Anothei dreary month thus passed away, as 
 the>- struggled against adversity. Their provisions 
 were consumed. Their water -casks were empty. 
 Famine compelled them to seek the land. Enter- 
 ing the mouth of a large river, which they called 
 Xagua, and which afforded a harbor for their fleet, 
 they cast anchor. The region was quite densely in- 
 habited by Indians, inoffensive and friendly. They 
 had for some years conducted trade with the Span- 
 iards, which was profitable to both parties. The 
 Indians received, in exchange for cocoa, articles 
 from Europe, to them of priceless value. 
 
 There were many picturesque Indian villages, 
 scattered along the banks of the river, beneath 
 cocoa groves, and surrounded by orange plantations 
 and fields of Indian corn. The natives had also 
 learned the value of swine and poultry, and were well 
 supplied with both. When they saw the fleet ap- 
 proaching they were not alarmed, but rejoiced, as 
 they were eager both to sell and to buy. They 
 sprang into their canoes, loading them with vege- 
 tables, fruit, and fowls, and with smiling faces pad- 
 dled out to the ships. 
 
 How shall I describe the scenes which ensued ? 
 Burke ; I think, says, " to speak of atrocious crime in 
 
180 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 mild language is treason to virtue.'' These incar- 
 nate fiends shot down the poor Indians, men and 
 women, in mere wantonness — for the fun of it, 
 Boats filled with these armed demons then went 
 ashore. They shot the men, as they could. They 
 took many women captives. They stripped the In- 
 dians of everything, swine, poultry, fruit, corn, and 
 then burned their villages. 
 
 The renowned French historian, Michelet, 
 though an unbeliever in the Christian religion, says 
 that when writing the account of the atrocities per- 
 petrated by the ancient nobility of France upon 
 the peasantry, he found himself praying to God that 
 there might be some future punishment, where 
 these tyrants, clothed in purple and sumptuously 
 feeding, might receive the due award for their crimes. 
 
 The amount of food obtained, furnished but a 
 few days' supply for seven hundred hungry mouths. 
 Lolonois decided to remain there at anchor until 
 the weather should prove more favorable. In the 
 mean time he sent his armed boats up the river and 
 along the shores in both directions for indiscriminate 
 plunder. The whole region was devastated. The 
 terrified Indians fled in all directions, taking with 
 them what they could. Notwithstanding the ut- 
 most diligence of the plunderers, they could each 
 day bring in barely enough for the day's supply. 
 
HIS NEW ENTERPRISE. l8l 
 
 When the pirates had got everything here upon 
 •which they could lay their hands, they weighed an- 
 chor and worked their way slowly along the coast 
 several leagues, until they reached a harbor called 
 Port Cavallo. This was a trading-post of the Span- 
 iards. They had here two capacious store-houses, 
 to hold the goods which they received from the 
 natives, and the articles brought from Spain to give 
 to them in return. Ships occasionally arrived with 
 fresh supplies, and to transport the purchases to 
 Spain. 
 
 There was at that time in the harbor a large 
 Spanish ship, which mounted twenty-four guns and 
 r.ixteen mortars. But this one ship could make no 
 effectual resistance against the fleet of the pirates. 
 It was immediately seized. Its cargo had been 
 mostly unloaded and carried back into the country, 
 to be exchanged, in barter, with the Indians. They 
 stripped the store-houses, and plundered and de- 
 stroyed all the adjacent dwellings. They captured 
 many prisoners, and put them to dreadful torture to 
 compel them to confess, often when they had nothing 
 which they could disclose. 
 
 Lolonois hacked them to pieces with his sabre ; 
 tore out their tongues ; dislocated their joints with 
 the rack. He committed upon them, writes Es- 
 quemeling, " the most insolent and inhuman cruel 
 
1 82 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 ties that ever heathens invented, putting them to 
 the crudest tortures they could imagine or devise. 
 Oftentimes it happened that some of these misera- 
 ble prisoners, being forced thereunto by the rack, 
 would promise to discover the places where the fu- 
 gitive Spaniards lay hidden ; which, being not able 
 ifterward to perform, they were put to more enor- 
 mous and cruel deaths than they who were killed 
 before." 
 
 About twenty miles from Port Cavallo there 
 was, not far from the coast, a small but thriving 
 town called San Pedro. Lolonois took three hun- 
 dred men and commenced his march to sack the 
 place. He left his lieutenant, Moses Vauclin, in 
 command of the men who were left behind with the 
 ships. A few boats, well armed, were sent along the 
 coast to render such asssistance as might be needful. 
 Before starting he told his troops that he would 
 always march at their head, sharing all their dan- 
 gers ; but that he would cut down the first one who 
 manifested any disposition to retreat or gave the 
 least sign of fear. 
 
 There were no broad roads to traverse, but only 
 intricate mule-paths, which could with difficulty be 
 followed through the dense growth of a tropical 
 forest. Two Spanish captives were taken as guides 
 The inhabitants of San Pedro, informed of their 
 
HIS NEW ENTERPRISE. 1 83 
 
 approach, sent out a party of men to intrench them • 
 selves in ambush on the way. The narrow road led 
 through gigantic forests with almost impenetrable 
 thickets of brambles and thorns and interlacing vines 
 on either side. 
 
 When the pirates had advanced about nine 
 miles, the Spaniards in ambush opened fire upon 
 them. Taking deliberate aim, at the first discharge 
 many of the pirates were killed, and more wounded. 
 The battle which ensued was desperate on both 
 sides. Lolonois, assuming that his guides had led 
 him into the ambush, instantly cut them both down. 
 
 The fury of the pirates was irresistible, and the 
 Spaniards were put to flight. They left behind many 
 dead and wounded. The pirates put to death all of 
 the wounded, excepting one or two whom they re 
 served as guides. These they threatented with in 
 stant death if they did not guide them safely to the 
 city. There was but one available path leading there 
 Intimidated by the awful threats of Lolonois, when 
 he asked them if there were other ambuscades 
 farther on, the) said that there were. He then 
 asked them if there were not some other path to 
 the city, by which they could avoid the ambuscades. 
 The guides replied that they did not know of any. 
 
 Lolonois was in a great rage. He drew his 
 sabre and cut one of the captives to pieces before 
 
£84 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 the rest. He cut out his heart, seized it, and began 
 to gnaw it, like a ravenous wolf. Then turning to 
 the other captives, he said : 
 
 " I swear unto you, by the death of God, that I 
 will serve you all the same way if you do not lead 
 me to the city by another route. 
 
 Terror-stricken, the poor creatures endeavored to 
 lead through the thickets. But they could not force 
 their way. Lolonois was compelled to return to the 
 former path. But he swore the most terrible oaths 
 that the Spaniards should pay dearly for causing him 
 so much trouble. The same evening they encoun- 
 tered another ambuscade. Lolonois fell upon his 
 foes with the same fury with which the tiger leaps 
 upon its prey, apparently regardless of his own life, 
 if he can but destroy his victim. In less than an 
 hour the Spaniards were routed, and scarcely one 
 escaped. 
 
 The pirates, though victorious, were faint with 
 fatigue, hunger, and thirst. They threw themselves 
 down in the woods that night, and, probably with 
 consciences utterly seared, slept that sound sleep 
 which toil and danger often bring. 
 
 The next morning, at break of day, the pirates 
 resumed their march. Ere long, they came upon 
 a third ambuscade. This was much stronger and 
 better planned than either of the others. The 
 
HIS NEW ENTERPRISE. 1 85 
 
 pirates had provided themselves with a large number 
 of fire-balls, which they showered down with much 
 effect upon their foes. Lolonois seemed inspired 
 with the fury of a madman. He foamed at the 
 mouth and gnashed his teeth as he shouted : 
 
 "No quarter; no quarter! The more we kill 
 here, the less we shall meet in the town." 
 
 But few of the Spaniards escaped to San Pedro. 
 Nearly all were killed ; for the wounded were im- 
 mediately dispatched. The pirates had now arrived 
 within sight of the town. There was but one nar- 
 row approach, and that the Spaniards had thor- 
 oughly barricaded. The thorny shrubs which grew 
 densely around were utter impenetrable. Nothing 
 remained for the pirates but to make an instantane- 
 ous attempt to storm the works. Several times they 
 were driven back, but only to renew the conflict 
 with increasing fury. This 1 onflict, of fiend-like 
 ferocity, continued four hours. The white flag of 
 surrender was then unfurled from the town. 
 
 After a brief parley, the citizens agreed to yield 
 up the town, without further resistance, if they were 
 allowed two hours to retire with such articles as they 
 could take away with them. Lolonois, who in this 
 last battle had lost forty men, agreed to the terms. 
 The Spaniards, with their wives and chiidren, fled, 
 with such few articles as they could carry in their 
 irms or on the backs of mules. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 The End of Lolonoiss Career. 
 
 The Pirates' Perfidy. — Capture of a Spanish Ship. — Misery of the 
 Pirates. — Desertion of Vauclin. — The Shipwreck. — Life upon 
 the Island. — Expedition to Nicaragua. — Its utter Failure. — 
 Ferocity of the Indians. — Exploring the River. — The Retreat. — 
 Coasting to Darien. — Capture and Death of Lolonois. — Fate of 
 the Remnants. 
 
 LOLONOIS waited patiently the two hours which 
 he had agreed to grant the inhabitants to vacate the 
 place. He then entered the town, and, in perfidious 
 disregard of the spirit of his engagement, dispatched 
 armed bands to pursue the fugitives, and not only 
 rob them of everything in their possession, but also 
 to bring them all back as prisoners. 
 
 This was done. But the thieves were much dis- 
 appointed in the amount of plunder they found, 
 San Pedro was by no means a wealthy place. The 
 inhabitants gained a comfortable but frugal living, 
 mainly by raising indigo. 
 
 The pirates, in their great disappointment, sup- 
 posed, as usual, that much treasure had been con- 
 cealed. They therefore put their captives to the 
 
END OF LOLONOIS'S CAREER. 1 87 
 
 torture, to force them to point out the places of con- 
 cealment. Though many died under the terrible 
 infliction, no discoveries were made. The pirates, in 
 revenge, laid the town in ashes. In this fruitless 
 expedition they lost about one hundred men in killed 
 and wounded, endured great suffering, and inflicted 
 inconceivable misery upon their brother man. 
 
 About one hundred and fifty miles southwest of 
 San Pedro was the rich old Spanish town of Guate- 
 mala, capital of the capacious province of that name. 
 Lolonois, in his frenzied state of mind, was deter- 
 mined to send back to the ship for reinforcements, 
 and then to march upon Guatemala. But his piratic 
 crew refused to accede to so insane a proposal. 
 
 For eighteen days these marauders lingered 
 around San Pedro, before they applied the torch. 
 They then, leaving only ruins and misery beh : nd 
 them, returned to the fleet. Those left there had 
 employed their time in robbing the Indians, burning 
 their huts, and inflicting all manner of evil upon 
 their families. Some of these captives on the coast 
 informed them that about sixty miles west, at the 
 mouth of the great river of Gautemala, called Mon- 
 tagua, there was a large Spanish ship, whicl had 
 recently arrived from Spain. 
 
 As soon as Lolonois arrived, several boats rilled 
 with pirates, thoroughly armed, were sent to capture 
 
188 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 the ship. The Indians had informed the inmates 
 of the ship of the presence of the pirates. Antici- 
 pating a visit, they had made such preparations as 
 they could to repel them. The ship mounted forty 
 two guns, was well supplied with small arms, and had 
 a select crew of one hundred and thirty fighting 
 men. 
 
 The pirates, after opening fire upon the ship for 
 some time, from one of their vessels with twenty- 
 two heavy guns, sent four boats, each carrying about 
 forty men, to clamber over the bulwarks of the ship, 
 cutlass in hand, at four points. In this assault they 
 were much aided by a dense fog, which, blending 
 with the smoke of the powder, had settled down so 
 heavily as to conceal the approach of the boats. 
 
 The crew were sailors. The pirates were veteran 
 soldiers. The conflict was like that between well- 
 trained regulars and raw militia. Very soon the 
 pirates were masters of the ship, and the deck was 
 covered with the dead and the dying. But again 
 these wretched plunderers were disappointed. The 
 vessel had been almost entirely unladen. Its remain- 
 ing cargo consisted of twenty thousand reams of 
 paper and one hundred tons of iron bars. Neither 
 of these were of any use to the pirates. The ship, 
 however, with its great guns, its small arms, and 
 : ts abundance of ammunition, was deemed a great 
 
END OF HIS CAREER. 1 89 
 
 acquisition. But God so ordered it that even this 
 capture proved a calamity rather than an aid to the 
 enterprises of Lolonois. 
 
 The desperate leader of this piratic gang called 
 a general council, and insisted upon the march across 
 the country to Guatemala. It was a stormy session. 
 The general discontent was expressed in curses and 
 oaths, and bitter recriminations. ' Nearly one-fourth 
 of their number had perished. They had endured 
 almost intolerable sufferings. As yet they had ac- 
 complished nothing in the way of enriching them- 
 selves. And now they were urged to embark on a 
 desperate enterprise, where they certainly would be 
 exposed to the greatest hardships, and where alJ 
 would probably perish. 
 
 These men had embarked from Tortuga, with 
 the expectation that dollars and doubloons would 
 be gathered by shovelfuls. They were now poor, 
 hungry, mutinous, angry with each other, and 
 the prospect before them was discouraging in the 
 extreme. All thoughts of ravaging Nicaragua, in 
 their present state of despondency and with the 
 great diminution of their numbers, were relinquished. 
 
 Moses Vauclin had charge of the splendid ship 
 recently captured. His ship was a swift sailer. 
 With one or two officers conspiring with him, and 
 his crew of nearly one hundred and fifty men gained 
 
19O i-KAiNCib LOLONOIS. 
 
 over, they decided to run away and cruise on theif 
 own account. In the night they silently raised theif 
 anchors, took advantage of a fresh breeze, and, before 
 the morning's dawn, disappeared beyond the horizon. 
 When Lolonois awoke and found that he was thus 
 deserted, the madman paced his deck in a frenzy 
 of impotent rage. 
 
 The fugitives could not endure the idea of return- 
 ing penniless to Tortuga, where they would thus 
 become the laughing-stock of the whole community. 
 The wind favored them. They ran along the coast 
 of Honduras and Nicaragua to the south, until they 
 reached the province of Costa Rica. In their des- 
 peration, being resolved to accomplish something, 
 they landed and attacked and sacked the poor little 
 town of Veruguas, killing many of the inhabitants. 
 The furniture in the huts of these poor people was 
 of no value to them. They gained only the pitiful 
 sum of about forty dollars' worth of gold, which the 
 slaves had washed out from the mud of the rivers. 
 
 This region was low and unhealthy. The Span- 
 ish grandees, who owned the mines and cultivated 
 them by the compulsory labor of slaves, had their 
 residences in the more healthy region of Nata, at 
 the distance of several leagues. The Spaniards be- 
 gan to gather in large numbers to repel the in- 
 vaders. The pirates, alarmed, fled to their ship, and 
 
END OF HIS CAREER. I9I 
 
 returned to Tortuga. Here they disbanded, and we 
 learn no more of the fate of this portion of Lolonois's 
 army. Each one, doubtless, found his way, through 
 crime and misery, to death and to the judgment-seat 
 of Christ. 
 
 Lolonois was left at Port Cavallo, with but about 
 two hundred men. He was almost destitute of food ; 
 most of his ammunition was consumed ; many were 
 sick from the insalubrity of the climate, and all were 
 dissatisfied, clamorous, and angry. 
 
 Lolonois remained for some time in the Bay of 
 Honduras. Esquemeling writes : " His ship was too 
 great to get out at the time of the reflux of those 
 seas, which the smaller vessels could more easily 
 do." 
 
 Every day he sent his boats ashore for food. 
 The fruit of the region was soon all consumed, 
 and they fed on the flesh of parrots and monkeys. 
 Slowly working their way along the coast by the 
 night breeze, they found the days generally calm. 
 Casting anchor in the morning, they sought provi- 
 sions in fishing and hunting. At length they rounded 
 the extreme eastern point of Honduras, at Cape 
 Gracios a Dios. Just beyond, a group of islands 
 called the Pearl Islands, hove in sight. 
 
 The indomitable Lolonois was still determined to 
 ravage a portion of the rich province of Nicaragua. 
 
»92 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 It was his plan to anchor his vessels at the mouth 
 of the river St. John., by which the great inland 
 sea called Lake Nicaragua empties its waters 
 into the ocean, and then to ascend the majestic 
 stream in his armed boats. While sailing among the 
 islands in an almost unknown sea, he ran his ship 
 upon a sandbank All his efforts to float the ship 
 again were in vain. With infinite labor he took out 
 the heavy guns and the iron ; but the ship had sunk 
 too deep in the sand to be moved. 
 
 Finding his ship thus hopelessly wrecked, he 
 decided to break her to pieces, and with her planks 
 and nails to construct a large and strong boat with 
 which he could ascend the river. The crew all 
 landed upon an island, built themselves huts in the 
 Indian fashion, and, with a reckless disregard of mis- 
 fortune, commenced building their boat. Expecting 
 that it might be necessary to spend some time there, 
 they dug gardens and planted peas and other vege- 
 tables. 
 
 The island upon which they were was large, and 
 was inhabitated by a very fierce tribe of Indians. 
 But their clubs and lances armed with crocodiles' 
 teeth were but impotent weapons, when met by the 
 muskets, the pistols, and the sabres of the pirates. 
 The Indians had doubtless heard of the atrocities 
 committed by these rovers over seas and land, for 
 
END OF HIS CAREER. 193 
 
 they fled precipitally at their approach, and taking 
 to their canoes, actually abandoned the island. 
 
 The vegetables which the pirates sowed grew 
 rapidly. It was six months before their large boat, 
 or rather small vessel, was completed. In the mean 
 time they raised quite large crops of beans, wheat, 
 potatoes, and bananas. It is strange that this expe- 
 rience did not teach them that they could much 
 more easily and happily gain a living by honest than 
 by dishonest means. But still they clung to the 
 misery of piracy, with its crime, its cruelty, and its 
 wild revelry. 
 
 When the vessel was finished, Lolonois took one- 
 half of his company, or about one hundred men, in 
 this vessel and a ship which remained to him, and 
 sailed for the mouth of St. John's River. The other 
 half were left behind. As nothing was said about 
 the other smaller vessels of the fleet, it is probable 
 that they all had been lost in the various casualties 
 of their voyage, or had escaped with Vauclin. It 
 was known that the Indians on the river had very 
 large boats, formed by hollowing out the trunk of a 
 gigantic tree. These boats, ingeniously made, and 
 the result of almost incredible labor, would accom- 
 modate forty or fifty warriors. It was Lolonois's inten- 
 tion to rob the Indians of some of their boats, send 
 them back to the island for the pirates v/ho wert 
 
194 
 
 FRANCIS LOLCJNOIS. 
 
 left behind, and then, with his whole party, to ascend 
 the river in an invincible fleet. 
 
 Lolonois set sail, and in a short time reached the 
 mouth of the St. John's River. But the Indians, who 
 had fled from the island, had spread the news, all 
 along the coast, of the arrival of the terrible pirates, 
 Spaniards and Indians were thus influenced to 
 combine to meet them wherever they might land. 
 Their progress in building their vessel had been 
 carefully watched by spies, who effectually concealed 
 themselves from sight. 
 
 As Lolonois and his party entered the river they 
 expected to take the inhabitants by surprise, and 
 had not the slightest idea of being surprised them- 
 selves. But their vessel had been watched as it ap- 
 proached. There was a pleasant sheltered cove sur- 
 rounded by the luxuriant and magnificent growth of 
 the tropics. It could not be doubted that this spot 
 would be selected for their landing-place. Nature 
 had decked it with the charms of Eden. Here a 
 well-armed band of Spaniards and Indians posted 
 themselves in ambuscade. Palm-trees and cocoanut- 
 trees rose gracefully around them. Golden oranges 
 and lemons hung profusely from orchards which God 
 had planted and cultivated. Birds of every variety 
 of brilliant plumage flitted from bough to bough. 
 All the sights and sounds of nature seemed to say 
 
END OF HIS CAREER. I95 
 
 that God had made this for a happy world ; that hig 
 children might live here in fraternal love, surrounded 
 by abundance. 
 
 The pirates cast anchor in the lovely cove, where 
 the glittering sand could be seen fathoms deep, be- 
 neath the water of crystal clearness. They had sev- 
 eral small boats. All were impatient to reach the 
 land. Scarcely had their boats touched the beach, 
 and the men were clustered together in landing, 
 when the Eden-like scene of peace and loveliness, 
 was changed into an earth-like scene of noise and 
 tumult and smoke and groans and blood. 
 
 There was a sudden discharge of musketry from 
 the surrounding thickets within half gun-shot. The 
 Spaniards had armed the Indians and taught them to 
 take unerring aim. Both Spaniards and savages 
 united in the most hideous yells to appal the pirates 
 with an idea of their superior numbers. Rapidly the 
 unseen foe continued the discharge of the murder- 
 ous bullets. Scarcely a minute elapsed ere many 
 were dead, weltering in their blood. Others were 
 severely wounded. And still the pitiless storm 
 of leaden hail swept through the group, crashing 
 bones and tearing nerves, and still the yells of the 
 invisible assailants resounded through the forest. 
 There was not a breath of air. The sulphurous 
 smoke settled down, half concealing the awful spec 
 tacle of blood and death. 
 
igo FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 Even the demoniac pirates were so panic-stricken 
 that they dared not by a charge rush into the very 
 jaws of destruction. Every instant their comrades 
 were dropping. There was no time for thought. 
 Those not yet struck leaped into the boats and 
 pushed from the shore, leaving the dying and the 
 dead in the water and upon the sand. Still the 
 pelting storm pursued them till they were beyond 
 gun-shot reach. 
 
 Lolonois, the greatest villain of them all, escaped 
 unharmed. Did God preserve him that he might 
 drain to the dregs the cup of mental and bodily 
 misery which he had so often presented to the lips 
 of others? In view of what he had yet to endure, 
 he might indeed have deemed it one of the richest 
 of mercies had a bullet pierced heart or brain, and 
 laid him instantly with the dead. 
 
 The wretch had sufficient intelligence to perceive 
 that he was ruined. There was no longer any hope 
 of ravaging Nicaragua. His provisions were exhaust- 
 ed. He had no doubt that the whole coast was 
 armed against them. As by lightning-bolts he had 
 lost nearly one-half of his crews. Desponding, starv- 
 ing, he divided his company into two bands, to 
 sail where they could, to save themselves from per 
 ishing by hunger. 
 
 Lolonois, with thirty or forty men ran along the 
 
END OF HIS CAREER. 1 97 
 
 coast toward South America, till they reached the 
 region of Carthagena. They were few and feeble, 
 and feared to land. The atrocities committed by 
 the pirates were everywhere known. Upon every 
 league of the coast either the Spaniards or the In- 
 dians were watching for their approach, ready to 
 give the general alarm, and to summon all who could 
 be rallied to repel them. 
 
 Their water-casks were empty. They must ob- 
 tain fresh water or perish of thirst. Having passed 
 the Gulf of Darien, he ventured to land, taking his 
 whole force with him. It so chanced, or Providence 
 so ordered it, that he landed on the territory of one 
 of the fiercest tribes of Indians known in all that 
 region. They were called Bravos. The Spaniards 
 had never been able to subdue them. These fierce 
 and cunning savages surrounded the pirates and 
 shot down or captured the whole band. Still not a 
 bullet struck Lolonois. He was reserved for another 
 doom. Most of the captured pirates were burned 
 alive. But the savages thought that too merciful a 
 death for the leader of the band. 
 
 They bound him to a tree. Hour after hour, 
 according to their custom, they tortured him, being 
 careful to prolong his sufferings by not piercing 
 any vital point. Every device of savage ingenuity 
 was resorted to, which might extort agony from his 
 
I98 FRANCIS LOLONOlb. 
 
 quivering nerves. There was no one to pity. Even 
 humanity says he merited it all. At last the savages, 
 howling in frenzied merriment around him, and 
 raising new shouts whenever they could force from 
 him new shrieks of agony, weary with the demoniac 
 pastime, hewed off one of his arms and threw it into 
 the fire. They then hewed off the other and com- 
 mitted it to the flames. The same was done with his 
 legs. Then his head was cut off, and with his mem- 
 berless body was consumed to ashes. Such was the 
 earthly life, and such the earthly death of Francis 
 Lolonois. We say the earthly life. There is ano- 
 ther life. There is a second death. Lolonois still 
 lives in the spirit-land. What is his character there ? 
 The pirates who remained upon the island, weary 
 of waiting for the boats, were quite in despair. But 
 one morning their eyes were cheered by the sight 
 of a very large ship passing near by. Their signals 
 were seen and the ship hove to. It proved to be a 
 pirate bound for the sack of Carthagena. The cap- 
 tain was delighted to add a hundred desperate fel- 
 lows to his gang. The pirates, who had now been 
 ten months upon the island, and were in a state of 
 great despondency, destitution, and suffering, were 
 as glad as such wicked men could be in this escape 
 from their miseries, and this new opportunity to 
 renew their ravages. 
 
END OF HIS CAREER. I99 
 
 There were several Carthagenas in the various 
 provinces of the New World. The one they were 
 to attack was in Honduras, on the river Segoria, 
 which empties into Cape Gracios a Dios. Their plan 
 was to cast anchor in the mouth of the river, and 
 ascend the stream in boats. The piratic captain 
 was greatly elated, for he had now at his command 
 between five and six hundred men. 
 
 They reached the mouth of the river in safety. 
 A few men were left in charge of the ship. Over 
 five hundred were crowded into the boats. There 
 was no space for storing provisions ; neither was it 
 thought necessary. It was supposed that an ample 
 supply of food would be found in the villages on the 
 river banks. But the Indians transmitted intelli- 
 gence with almost the rapidity of telegraphic dis- 
 patches. From village to village the tidings ran. 
 
 The Indians, conscious of their inability to con- 
 tend with the well-armed pirates, fled. They took 
 with them all the food they could. The rest they 
 destroyed. The invaders found themselves reduced 
 almost to starvation. They ate roots and herbs, 
 and even the leaves of the trees. A blazing trop- 
 ical sun poured its rays down upon their crowded 
 open boats, blistering their skin with the intense 
 heat. Sickness came, with languor, pain wretch- 
 
200 FRANCIS LOLONOIS. 
 
 edness. Their own crimes were chastising them 
 with scorpion lashes. 
 
 There was but misery in those boats, with uni- 
 versal discontent and oaths and fightings. In their 
 despair they landed, five hundred maddened, starv- 
 ing men, hating themselves and hating each other. 
 They hoped that at a little distance back from the 
 river they might find some villages which had not 
 been abandoned. In this they were disappointed 
 The natives watched them closely, and fled before 
 them. 
 
 They commenced a retreat back to the ship 
 Many died. Many fell by the wayside and were cap- 
 tured by the savages. The Indians pursued them, 
 watching every opportunity to strike a blow. They 
 were too weak to resist. They could scarcely wield a 
 paddle or lift a musket. Their starvation and misery 
 was so great that they resolved to kill and devour 
 the first Indian they could meet. But this kind of 
 game kept beyond the reach of their balls. They 
 ate their shoes, their leather belts, even the sheaths 
 of their swords. 
 
 At length a skeleton band reached the ship. 
 There was but little food there. Still they spread 
 their sails, and disappeared. We hear of them ao 
 more. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 The Female Pirate, Mary Read. 
 
 Testimony of Charles Johnson. — Marriage of Mary Read's Mother.— 
 Singular Adventure. — Reasons for Disguising her Daughter.—- 
 Early Training of Mary as a Boy. — She Enlists on board a Man- 
 of-war. — The Character she Developed. — Enters the Army. — 
 Skill and Bravery. — Falls in Love with a Fleming. — Reveals 
 her Sex. — The Marriage. — Happy Days. — Death of her Husband. 
 — Adversity. — Resumes Male Attire. 
 
 In writing the account of Captain Kidd and 
 other conspicuous pirates of his day, we have had 
 occasion to refer to many ancient documents. In 
 their examination we have come across numerous 
 incidents, extraordinary in their character. Among 
 these are the well-accredited careers of two female 
 pirates, Mary Read and Ann Bonny. Their lives 
 illustrate the common remark that fact is often 
 stranger than fiction. We are mainly indebted, for 
 the wild and wondrous story of their adventures, 
 to the narrative of Captain Charles Johnson. The 
 second edition of his valuable history of the pirates 
 now lies before me. It was published in London, in 
 the year 1724. In the preface to this work the writer 
 says: 
 
202 THE FEMALE PIRATES. 
 
 " As to the lives of our two female pirates, we 
 must confess they may appear a little extravagant, 
 yet they are nevertheless true. But as they were 
 publicly tried for their piracies, there are living 
 witnesses enough to justify what we have laid down 
 concerning them. It is certain that we have pro- 
 duced some particulars which were not publicly 
 known. The reason is we were more inquisitive into 
 the circumstances of their past lives than other peo- 
 ple who had no other design than that of gratifying 
 their own private curiosity. If there are some inci- 
 dents and turns in their stories, which may give 
 them a little the air of a novel, they are not invented 
 or contrived for that purpose. It is a kind of read- 
 ing this author is but little acquainted with. But as 
 he himself was exceedingly diverted with them, 
 when they were related to him, he thought they 
 might have the same effect on the reader." 
 
 A young girl in one of the seaports in England, 
 about one hundred and seventy-five years ago, mar- 
 ried a sailor. Not many months after their marriage 
 the sailor left home for a distant voyage, and never 
 returned. She never knew whether he deserted her, 
 or whether he died far away. When he sailed she 
 was expecting soon to become a mother. She re- 
 sided with her husband's relatives. In due time the 
 child \va c born, and proved to be a b:>v- 
 
MARY READ. 203 
 
 The mother was a young, light, trifling girl, of 
 fair reputation, and not very careful habits, who ere 
 long found that she was about to become a mother 
 again. As the months advanced, in order to con- 
 ceal her shame, she took leave of her husband's rela- 
 tives, informing them that she was going to visit her 
 own friends at some distance in the country. Her 
 little boy, who accompanied her, was then not a year 
 old. 
 
 Soon after her departure her son died ; and she, 
 ere long, gave birth to another child, who proved to 
 be a girl. The mother remained away four years. 
 In the mean time she had very little communication 
 with her former relatives ; and they had no knowl- 
 edge of the death of her son, or of the birth of her 
 daughter. Her husband's mother was still living. 
 She was in comfortable circumstances, though aged 
 and infirm, with impaired vision. The mother of the 
 little girl thought that if she could pass her child 
 upon the aged mother of her husband, as his son, 
 whom she had seen and loved, the child would be 
 liberally provided for. But the changing of a girl 
 into a boy seemed to be an insuperable difficulty. 
 She, however, dressed the child up as a boy, and pre- 
 sented it to hei mother-in-law as her husband's son 
 No one suspected the deception. The good old 
 woman embraced it cordially, and was anxious to 
 
204 THE FEMALE PIRATES. 
 
 adopt it as her own, promising amply to provide 
 for it. 
 
 But the cunning mother declared that it would 
 break her heart to part with the child that she could 
 not be separated from it. It was, however, agreed 
 that the child should reside with the mother, while 
 the supposed grandmother should allow a crown a 
 week for its maintainance. The child was thus 
 brought up as a boy. The mother watched over her 
 with the utmost vigilance, instructing her to guard 
 the secret of her sex with the greatest possible 
 care. 
 
 At length the grandmother died : the little prop- 
 erty vanished, and the mother and child were in a 
 situation of much destitution. The child was now 
 thirteen years of age, bright, well formed, and good 
 looking, with a thoroughly boyish character. There 
 was a French lady, in the neighborhood, who took 
 the^ child into her service, as page and footboy. 
 The feminine nature was soon entirely swallowed 
 up in manly yearnings and desires. 
 
 She was bold and strong, and developed a roving 
 disposition and a love for wild adventures. We are 
 not informed of her masculine name. Her feminine 
 name was Mary. For convenience' sake we will call 
 her Frank, during the period of her disguise. Frank 
 enlisted on board a man-of-war, and served in the 
 
MARY READ. 2©5 
 
 capacity of a sailor, energetically and successfully, 
 for several months. No one was more nimble in 
 running up the shrouds, or in taking in reefs when 
 the majestic fabric was tossed like a bubble upon the 
 gigantic waves. 
 
 Soon weary of this employment, Frank, appa- 
 rently a graceful, well-built boy of nineteen, enlisted 
 in the army. Shouldering a musket, and very rap- 
 idly becoming a proficient in military drill, she fell 
 into the line and accompanied a regiment of foot to 
 Flanders. She was in several severe battles. It is 
 said that in time of action, no one of the regiment 
 conducted with more reckless bravery. She seemed 
 to lose all consciousness of danger, and, if we may so 
 express it, in a state of frenzy which rendered her 
 calm by its very intensity, was as regardless of shells, 
 cannon-balls, and bullets, as though they had been 
 snowflakes. 
 
 She would certainly have been promoted could 
 merit have secured that honor. But in mercenary 
 England, at that time, no commission could be ob- 
 tained but such as was purchased with gold. Ever 
 consumed by restless desires, Frank, ere long, suc- 
 ceeded in exchanging the infantry service for a sit- 
 uation in a regiment of horse. Here Frank's lithe 
 and graceful figure showed to great advantage. 
 There was not in the company a bolder rider, a 
 
200 THE FEMALE PIRATEb. 
 
 more dexterous manager of "he war-horse than 
 she. 
 
 Even the steed she strode seemed conscious that 
 he bore a more than ordinarily precious burden. 
 There was something in the gentle tones of her 
 voice, and in her caressings, which the proud horse 
 seemed to recognize, ever welcoming her approach 
 with his neighings. The officers greatly admired 
 Frank, and felt a strange kind of interest in the un- 
 boastful yet chivalric heroism he displayed in several 
 bloody engagements. 
 
 The old Latin maxim hath it, " Amor omnia 
 vincit," Love conquers all things. It so happened 
 that there was in the ranks a comrade, ever riding 
 by the side of Frank, who was a very handsome young 
 Fleming, about twenty-three years of age. He way 
 a gentle, lovable fellow, and equally brave as his 
 gentle, lovable comrade, for whom he formed a very 
 strong friendship. He slept in the same tent, and 
 by the side of Frank. They were ever together 
 helping each other. 
 
 The girl nature of Frank could not resist all this. 
 She fell desperately in love with the fair-faced, 
 flaxen-haired Flemish boy. Whenever the young 
 Fleming was ordered out upon any party, Frank 
 insisted upon accompanying him ; and the more des- 
 perate the adventure, the more resolute were he* 
 
MARY READ. 207 
 
 importunities to share the peril with him. It was 
 observed that frequently Frank would rush into the 
 greatest danger, simply that she might be near her 
 friend, even when she could render him no assist- 
 ance. 
 
 This extraordinary devotion of Frank to her 
 comrade the Fleming, attracted the attention of 
 the whole company. As no one suspected, in the* 
 slightest degree, her disguise, it was supposed that 
 there must be a vein of insanity in the nature of the 
 quiet, retiring, handsome soldier boy. 
 
 One morning, in her tent, she made known to her 
 fellow soldier that she was a woman. The Flem- 
 ing was speechless with astonishment. Here, then, 
 was the secret of the wild devotion that had led her 
 to expose her life recklessly wherever his own had 
 been in peril. 
 
 The strangeness of the situation added to its 
 romance. From being a warm friend he became a 
 devoted lover. As his memory went back to the 
 many scenes of danger they had together faced, and 
 the cool bravery she had shown, he could not but 
 see that here was a helpmeet worth having. Mary 
 was instinctively proud. Though for years she 
 had led the rough life of the camp with all its 
 hardships, she was no whit less a true woman. She 
 was more than ready to be wooed and won as a wife. 
 
208 THE FEMALE PIRATES. 
 
 But no lady in the parlor of home could be more 
 modest and reserved in receiving the addresses of 
 a lover, than was Mary in her intercourse with 
 the lover who shared her tent. Her good sense 
 taught her that if she would secure and maintain 
 his love, she must, by indubitable proof, win his 
 highest confidence and respect. 
 
 Strange as this story may appear to the reader 
 there seems to be no reason to doubt its accuracy. 
 The young Fleming urged her to become his wife. 
 To this proposal she did not long hesitate to accede. 
 They plighted their mutual faith. The campaign 
 soon ended. The regiment went into winter quar- 
 ters. The two lovers united their purses, and pur- 
 chased a woman's wardrobe as the bridal outfit for 
 Frank. She assumed her new garb, and announced 
 her sex to her amazed fellow-soldiers. 
 
 These strange tidings created great excitement 
 in the camp. They were publicly married. A great 
 crowd attended the espousals. Many of the officers 
 assisted in the ceremony, and the bride received 
 many presents. There was a general contribution 
 among all her comrades to raise a sum to assist her 
 in commencing housekeeping. Frank had been a 
 universal favorite, and had secured the esteem of all. 
 
 Being thus comfortably established, they both 
 had a desire to quit the service. The circumstances 
 
MARY READ. 209 
 
 were so romantic and peculiar that they found no 
 difficulty in obtaining their discharge. They then 
 established themselves in Flanders, in a restaurant 
 or eating house. Their little inn, kept with British 
 neatness, was near the Castle of Breda, and was 
 known far and wide by the name of its sign, " The 
 Three Hor^e Shoes." They had a large run of cus- 
 tom, and were particularly patronized by the officers 
 of the army. 
 
 They weii very happy. But prosperity, in this 
 world, does r ot long shine upon any one. Peace 
 came. The army was dispersed. There were no 
 longer any guests at "The Three Horse-Shoes;" 
 and Mary's husband was taken sick, and died. She 
 was left childless and without any means of support. 
 She had been trained to the pursuits of manhood. 
 She was a young widow, but little more than twenty 
 years of age. As a woman, she knew not in what 
 direction to turn to obtain a living. Only for a few 
 months had she assumed the character of a woman, 
 and worn the garb of a woman. All the rest of her 
 years she had worn the dress and followed the pur- 
 suits of a man. As a man, there were many oppor 
 tunities opening before her, and all congenial ones, 
 for obtaining a support. 
 
 Again she assumed her masculine attire, sold out 
 all her effects, and with gold enough in her purse to 
 
2IO THE FEMALE PIRATES, 
 
 meet her immediate wants, set out for Holland, 
 where, a perfect stranger, she entered again upon 
 her masculine career, without any fear of detection. 
 Quartered upon one of the frontier towns of Hol- 
 land there was an English regiment of foot. It 
 was a time of peace, and the soldiers were living in 
 indolence, with nothing to do. It was easy, under 
 these circumstances, to join the regiment, and to 
 purchase a release, at any time when one might 
 wish to do so. 
 
 Again Frank enlisted. After a few months, 
 weary of the monotonous life, she obtained a dis- 
 charge, and shipped herself, as a common sailor, on 
 board a vessel bound for the West Indies. It was a 
 Dutch vessel. Frank was the only English person 
 on board. On the voyage, an English pirate hove 
 in sight and ran down upon the merchant-ship. 
 The pirate was so well armed, and such a throng of 
 desperate men crowded its decks, that resistance 
 would have been but folly. The ship was captured 
 without a struggle. 
 
 The pirate, after plundering the ship of all its 
 treasures, impressed the English Frank as an addi- 
 tion to its own crew ; and then turned the despoiled 
 ship adrift, inflicting no personal injury upon the 
 officers or sailors. As we have before mentioned, 
 these buccaneers did not regard themselves, at that 
 
MARY READ. 211 
 
 time, neither were they regarded by others, as ordi- 
 nary pirates would now be judged. They were act- 
 ing in a certain sense under the royal commission. 
 They were authorized to plunder all Spanish ships. 
 And if they occasionally made a mistake, and did 
 not read the flag aright, it was an irregularity not 
 entirely unpardonable. 
 
 This piratic ship continued its cruise of plunder- 
 ing for several months. Frank had been impressed 
 on board, and could not escape had she wished to 
 do. Probably her moral sense was not sufficiently 
 instructed to lead her to make any remonstrances, 
 which would, of course, have been entirely unavail- 
 ing, or to feel any special qualms of ccnscience. 
 Accustomed as she ever had been to the masculine 
 dress, and to all the habits of the sailor and the sol 
 dier, she did not feel the least embarrassment in hei 
 new situation. No one moved about the decks 01 
 clambered the shrouds with more free motion than 
 Frank. 
 
 Just about this time the royal proclamation, to 
 which we have referred, came out, offering pardon 
 to all pirates who would surrender themselves, ex- 
 cepting Kidd and Avery. The crew of this ship of 
 buccaneers decided to take advantage of this procla- 
 mation. 
 
 The West-Indian group, called the Bahamas, con- 
 
212 THE FEMALE FIRATES. 
 
 sists of several hundred islands of various magni- 
 tudes. One of these, San Salvador, was the first 
 land, in the New World, which was discovered by 
 Columbus. The most important of the group, from 
 its excellent harbor, and its situation in reference to 
 Florida, is New Providence. The island was origin- 
 ally settled by the English in 1629. It was captured 
 by the Spaniards, and the English were expelled, in 
 the year 1641. The merciless Spaniards murdered 
 the governor, and committed many other great out- 
 rages. Again, in the year 1666, the thunders of Brit- 
 ish broadsides echoed along its shores, and the ban- 
 ners of England were again unfurled over its moun- 
 tains and fertile vales. Forty-seven years passed 
 away, over this war-cursed globe, when, in 1703, a 
 united fleet of French and Spanish ships expelled 
 the English, and, neglecting to take military posses- 
 sion of the island, it became a rendezvous for pirates, 
 where scenes of revelry, sensuality, and crime were 
 perpetrated which no pen can describe. 
 
 Thus for eighty years Heaven looked down upon 
 Its enormities. It was then again formally ceded to 
 the English, and has since remained in their posses- 
 sion. At the time of which we are writing, England 
 held the island, and a British governor was in com- 
 mand there. The buccaneers, with their purses well 
 filled with gold, the result of their cruises as free- 
 
MARY READ. 21 3 
 
 hooters, ran into the harbor of New Providence. 
 They made their surrender to the governor, and re- 
 ceived the royal pardon. 
 
 Frank had been but a short time among them. 
 Her purse was not a heavy one. It is not known 
 that she added anything to it during her short and 
 compulsory cruise on board the buccaneer. Her 
 money was soon expended. The British governor 
 at New Providence was at that very time fitting 
 out several armed vessels to cruise against the 
 Spaniards, as privateersmen. He was eager to en- 
 list any of the bold buccaneers who could be lured 
 to enter that service. Nothing could be more con- 
 genial to the wishes of these desperate men. Frank, 
 being out of employment, enlisted as privateersmanj 
 on board of one of these Government ships. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 Anne Bonny, the Female Pirate. 
 
 Rackam the Pirate. — Anne Bonny his Wife. — Reasons for Assuming 
 a Boy's Dress. — Infamous Character of Rackam. — Anne falls in 
 Love with Mary. — Curious Complications. — The Duel. — Chivalry 
 of Frank. — The Capture. — The Trial. — Testimony of the Artist. 
 — Death of Mary Read. — Rackam Dies on the Scaffold. 
 
 THERE was upon the island of New Providence, 
 at that time, a very consummate villain by the name 
 of Rackam. He had been captain of a pirate ship, 
 and shared his cabin with his wife, a very depraved 
 woman, who was disguised in boy's clothes. She 
 apparently discharged the duties of a cabin-Doy. 
 This Captain Rackam had taken advantage of the 
 king's proclamation, had surrendered himself as a 
 pirate, and had received a pardon. 
 
 Eagerly he enlisted, with his wife in man's garb, 
 as a messmate, in one of the governor's privateers. 
 No one on board the ship was aware of the sex of 
 his companion. She was truly his wife, and her real 
 name was Anne Bonny. She had been a rude, un- 
 governable girl, and her parents were so displeased 
 that she should have married such a worthless 
 
ANNE BONNY. 215 
 
 wretch as Rackam was known to be, that they would 
 no longer recognize her. Having nothing to live 
 upon, she assumed a sailor's dress, and they both 
 shipped for New Providence. He doubtless intended 
 there to resume the career of a pirate. 
 
 Rackam and Anne Bonny enlisted on board the 
 same ship. Here then there were two women in 
 male attire, neither of whom had any suspicion of 
 the real sex of the other. No one could associate 
 with such companions as those of Mary Read, or 
 encounter the influences to which she was constantly 
 exposed, without becoming in some degree cor- 
 rupted. 
 
 The privateersman had been out but a few days 
 when Rackam, who had many of his old confede- 
 rates on board, formed a conspiracy, rose upon the 
 officers, set them adrift, seized the ship, and turned 
 to his old trade. Mary Read, in the character of 
 Frank, was, as we have mentioned, a very hand- 
 some young fellow. The captain's cabin-boy, Anne 
 Bonney, fell desperately in love with Frank, and 
 revealed to him, as she supposed, her sex. She ap- 
 proached Frank with all the seductions and allure- 
 ments with which Potiphar's wife solicited Joseph. 
 Thus importuned, Frank confided to her that she 
 was also a woman in disguise. This led to increased 
 intimacy between the two young sailor women. 
 
2l6 THE FEMALE PIRATES. 
 
 Captain Rackam became intensely jealous of his 
 wife, in consequence of her familiarity with Frank. 
 He threatened Anne that he would certainly cut 
 Frank's throat. Anne, well aware of the desperate 
 character of the pirate, felt constrained, that she might 
 save Mar> 's life, to let the captain into the secret also. 
 He did not divulge it, knowing that she might be 
 exposed to very cruel treatment from the unprinci- 
 pled wretches who thronged his decks. 
 
 But again the all-devouring passion took posses- 
 sion of the bosom of Frank. Many vessels were 
 captured. After being plundered they were gen- 
 erally turned adrift again, with their crews. If the 
 pirates, however, found on board these ships any one 
 who could be of use to them, he was detained on 
 board their ship. It so chanced that one day they 
 took a ship where there was a young English artist. 
 Rackam, thinking that the artist might be of service 
 to him, in sketching scenes and drawing charts, de- 
 tained him as a captive. He was a genteel young 
 fellow, handsome, of fascinating manners, very skil- 
 ful with his pencil, and possessed of very attractive 
 conversational powers. Frank and the young artist 
 were instinctively drawn toward each other. 
 
 And when Frank told her companion that she 
 loathed the life of a pirate, that she was one of the 
 crew by compulsion, and that she should embrace 
 
ANNE BONNY. 217 
 
 the first possible opportunity to escape, a new bond 
 of union was formed between them. They became 
 messmates, and were always together. He never 
 had a doubt that the masculine pronoun, he, belong- 
 ed to his bronzed but smooth-cheeked and soft- 
 voiced companion. 
 
 Even on board a pirate ship there are many 
 opportunities for seclusion. In the dark and tem- 
 pestuous night, when the wine-heated officers were 
 carousing in the cabin, and the crew were rioting in 
 the forecastle, Frank and the artist, wrapped in 
 those thick sailor-jackets which defy both wind and 
 rain, would seek some retired position upon the 
 deck, beneath the stormy sky, and beguile the 
 weary hours in relating to each other the story of 
 the past, and in planning measures for escape. 
 Frank was the younger of the two, and in these 
 hours of midnight communings, loved to recline 
 with her head in the lap of her unsuspecting com- 
 rade. 
 
 The inevitable result ensued. The whole pas- 
 sionate nature of the woman, still almost in her 
 girlhood, became aglow with love of the young 
 artist. In one of these midnight communings she 
 revealed to her astonished friend her sex. His 
 friendship was speedily converted into impassioned 
 love. He had ever, under her assumed character, 
 
2lS THE FEMALE PIRATES. 
 
 had occasion to respect her. He could not recall a 
 single action of immodesty or impropriety. Alone 
 in the darkness of the night, upon the solitary deck 
 with the stars alone looking down upon them, they 
 went through the ceremony of what they both 
 deemed a secret marriage. 
 
 Mary Read ever averred that she regarded those 
 nuptials as sacred as if the rite had been performed 
 in the church, by the robed priest, and in the pres- 
 ence of any number of witnesses. She was never 
 accused of being unfaithful to her marriage vows, ot 
 of ever having been even indiscreet in her conduct. 
 
 Still the months passed away. The ship contin- 
 ued its piratic cruise. Frank, though secretly the 
 wife of the artist, had excited no suspicion of her 
 disguise. In her sailor's garb she still performed 
 every duty imposed upon others of the crew. There 
 were several bloody actions fought. In these en- 
 gagements both she and Anne Bonny were called 
 upon, like the rest, to work at the guns. 
 
 It was one of the laws of the ship, that if any 
 quarrel arose between any two of the crew, there 
 should be no contention on board the ship, but that 
 when they next approached an island, they should, 
 with their friends, land in a boat, and settle the 
 quarrel in a duel on the shore. The artist was so 
 grossly insulted by one of the pirates, that he eithei 
 
ANNE BONNY 219 
 
 challenged him, or accepted a challenge from him to 
 fight a duel. Frank would not have had her hus- 
 band, on any account, refuse the hostile meeting. 
 Fublic sentiment was such among the pirates, that 
 had he done this, there would have been no end to 
 the insults and abuse he would have received as a 
 reward. 
 
 Frank was in a state of great agitation and anx- 
 iety for the fate of her lover. She was an admirable 
 swordsman, and no one of the piratic crew was a 
 truer shot with the pistol. Her love was so passion- 
 ate that she felt that she could not live without that 
 husband, whose union with her was so enhanced by 
 the attractions which secrecy and romance give. 
 She was far more ready to peril her own life than to 
 have his endangered. 
 
 She therefore deliberately provoked such a quar- 
 rel with the pirate who was soon to have a hostile 
 meeting with her husband, as to compel him to an 
 immediate and angry challenge. Adroitly she suc- 
 ceeded in having the time appointed for their meet- 
 ing two hours before the duel was to be fought with 
 her husband. In her intensely excited frame of 
 mind she resolved to make sure work of it. 
 
 They were to meet at but a few paces distance, 
 discharge their pistols at each other, and then, with 
 drawn swords, advance and fight until one or the 
 
220 THE FEMALE PIRATES. 
 
 other was effectually disabled or killed The pis- 
 tols were discharged. Neither of them was seriously 
 wounded. They then crossed swords. There was 
 a fierce clashing of the weapons for a few minutes 
 and then the agile Frank passed her sword through 
 the body of her adversary, and he fell before her a 
 bloody corpse. 
 
 Such rencontres were too common with that 
 ship's crew, and Frank had been too conversant all 
 her days with such scenes of blood to have it pro- 
 duce any serious impression upon her mmd. With 
 much composure she wiped her crimsoned sword and 
 returned to the ship, exulting in the thought that 
 she had saved her husband's life. The attachment 
 between Frank and her lover before this seems to 
 have been very strong. But this event bound them 
 more firmly together than ever before. 
 
 Almost invariably, even in this world, retribution 
 follows crime. After many successful captures, and 
 much rioting and revelry with this godless crew, the 
 hour of vengeance came. One day a swift-sailing 
 English frigate, of powerful armament, caught sight 
 of the pirate and gave chase. The vessel was over- 
 taken and captured, and all her crew, in irons, were 
 carried to England for trial. There was no disposi- 
 tion to deal tenderly with these wretches, whose 
 crimes could scarcely be numbered. The trial was 
 
ANNE BONNY. 221 
 
 expeditious and the execution prompt. The young 
 artist easily proved that he was a prisoner on board 
 the ship, and had never taken any part in their 
 piratic exploits. He was promptly released. Frank 
 was one of the pirates. Her assertion that she was 
 reluctantly so, was of no avail. She had been of 
 their recognized number ; she had been identified 
 with them in all the employments of a sailor; she 
 had taken an active part in their battles. 
 
 One of the witnesses, who had been taken a pris- 
 oner by Rackam, and detained for some time on 
 board the pirates' craft, gave the following testimony 
 against Frank, or rather against Mary Read ; for 
 during the trial her sex had been divulged, and the 
 embarrassing fact had been discovered that, ere long, 
 she was to become a mother. The testimony was as 
 follows : 
 
 " I was taken prisoner by Rackam, and was 
 detained for some time on board the pirate ship. 
 One day I accidentally fell into discourse with the 
 prisoner at the bar. She was dressed like the ordi- 
 nary seamen, and I did not suppose her to be any- 
 thing different. Taking her for a young man, I asked 
 her what pleasure she could find in such enterprises, 
 where her life was continually in danger by fire or 
 •word ; and not only so, but she must be sure of 
 
222 THE FEMALE PIRATES 
 
 dying an ignominous death if she should be taken 
 alive ? 
 
 " She replied, that as to hanging, she deemed it 
 no great hardship ; for were it not for that, every 
 cowardly fellow would turn pirate, and so infest the 
 seas that men of courage must starve, She said 
 that were it put to the choice of the pirates, they 
 would not have the punishment less than death ; for 
 it was only the fear of death which kept many das- 
 tardly rogues honest. Many of those, she said, who 
 are now cheating the widows and orphans, and op- 
 pressing their poor neighbors who have no money 
 to obtain justice, would then rob at sea. Thus 
 the ocean would be crowded with rogues like the 
 land. No merchant would venture out. Trade in a 
 little time would not be worth following. It is the 
 fear of hanging alone which restrains thousands from 
 piracy." 
 
 When we consider the impossibility of making 
 an exact report of conversation, and when we con- 
 sider the situation of Frank among the pirates, and 
 that her life would instantly have been forfeited if 
 they had suspected her of unfaithfulness, we can 
 imagine that essentially these remarks might have 
 been made, without indicating any special moral de- 
 linquency. Frank did not deny having made them. 
 
 Several of the crew, however, brought forward 
 
ANNE BONNY. 223 
 
 much more damaging testimony. When, to the 
 astonishment of all, the sex both of Mary Read and 
 Anne Bonny was made known to the court, the 
 pirates seemed very desirous that their fate should 
 \,2 inseparably connected with their own. The tes- 
 timony against Anne Bonhy was very strong. She 
 had accompanied her infamous husband in most of 
 his adventures, and had rendered herself very con- 
 spicuous by her courage and her energetic action. 
 
 When the frigate took the pirate there was a 
 short conflict. But the great guns of the frigate 
 swept the pirate's deck with such a storm of grape- 
 shot, that every one rushed into the hold, excepting 
 Mary Read and Anne Bonny. Mary Read, it was 
 said, called upon those under the deck to come up 
 and fight like men. As they refused, in her rage 
 she fired her pistol down among them, killing one 
 and wounding others. This latter charge, which 
 went far to condemn her, she utterly denied. Such 
 bravado was not at all in accordance with her gen- 
 eral character. But it was just the conduct to be 
 expected of Anne Bonny. She was a desperado, as 
 robust in person as she was masculine in character. 
 Rumor said that before she entered upon her piratic 
 career she stabbed a servant-maid with a carving- 
 knife, and so severely beat a young fellow whom 
 she disliked that he narrowly escaped with his life. 
 
224 ANNE BONNY 
 
 They were both pronounced guilty of piracy, and 
 condemned to be hung. As it was not deemed 
 right that Mary Read's child should forfeit its life in 
 consequence of its mother's sins, Mary was allowed 
 a reprieve, until after the birth of her child. Being 
 remanded to her gloomy and solitary cell in New- 
 gate prison, she awaited, with anguish, her approach- 
 ing maternity, to be immediately followed by an 
 ignominious death upon the scaffold. The horror of 
 her situation threw her into a fever, of which she 
 fortunately died. Thus she escaped the scaffold ; 
 and she and her unborn babe slept in the grave to- 
 gether. 
 
 Rackam was hanged just before the time ap- 
 pointed for the execution of his wife. The morn- 
 ing on which he was led to the scaffold, he was first 
 conducted to the cell of Anne Bonny. Her charac- 
 teristic speech to him was : 
 
 " I am sorry to see you here ; but if you had 
 fought like a man, you need not have been hanged 
 Jike a dog." 
 
 In an hour from that time he was struggling in 
 ■death's agonies. Anne was reprieved from time to 
 time, and finally escaped execution. What at last 
 became of her no one knows. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 Sir Henry Morpan 
 
 *Iis Origin. — Goes to the West Indies. — Joins the Buccaneers. — 
 Meets Mansvelt the Pirate. — Conquest of St. Catharine. — Pi- 
 ratic Colony there. — Ravaging the Coast of Costa Rica. — Sym- 
 pathy of the Governor of Jamaica. — Death of Mansvelt. — Expedi- 
 tion of Don John. — The Island Recaptured by the Spaniards. — 
 Plans of Morgan. — His Fleet. — The Sack of Puerto Principe. — 
 Horrible Atrocities. — Retreat of the Pirates. — The Duel. — They 
 Sail for Puerto Velo. — Conquest of the City. — Heroism of the 
 Governor. 
 
 THOUGH the name of Sir Henry Morgan has not 
 attained equal notoriety with that of Captain Wil- 
 liam Kidd, his achievements were far more wonderful 
 and infamous. He was born of a good and wealthy 
 family in Wales. Early developing a roaming dis- 
 position, he left his home for the seacoast, and 
 there took passage for Barbadoes. In those days 
 any man could obtain a passage to the colonies by 
 agreeing to pay the fare in service on the other side, 
 Labor was in great demand. Upon the arrival of 
 the ship the planters would hasten on board and 
 pay the passage money, which the emigrant was to 
 repay by certain stipulated months of labor. 
 
226 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 In this way Henry Morgan reached Baibadoc3» 
 Here his labor was sold to pay his passage, and he 
 faithfully served out his term. He had come from a 
 virtuous home, but rapidly the reckless boy yielded 
 to the influences which surrounded him, until he 
 became the worst of the bad. From Barbadoes he 
 wandered over to Jamaica, seeking his fortune. 
 Though there was then peace between England and 
 Spain, the British Government was encouraging pri- 
 vate piratical excursions against the commerce of 
 Spain. As we have had frequent occasion to men- 
 tion, these buccaneers had nothing to fear from the 
 Fnglish courts so long as they confined themselves 
 to robbing the Spanish ships. 
 
 At Jamaica, Morgan found two vessels openly 
 fitting out for these buccaneering expeditions. He 
 shipped on board one of them, and made two or 
 three very successful voyages. Some men seem 
 born to command. Such do not long remain 
 in a subordinate position. Morgan was a man of 
 the imperial mould. As he now had considerable 
 money at his disposal, he proposed, to some of his 
 comrades, that they should join stocks, purchase a 
 vesstel, and cruise on their own account. This was 
 promptly done, and Morgan was unanimously 
 chosen commander. 
 
 Morgan was already a desperado. With a nume* 
 
MEETS THE PIRATE MANSVELT. 22; 
 
 rous crew and a well-armed vessel he set out to 
 cruise along that portion of the Mexican coast called 
 Campeachy. After an absence of a few months, he 
 returned triumphantly to Jamaica, his ship laden 
 with the spoil of many captures. This pirate took 
 refuge beneath the flag of England and under the 
 guns of her fort. At that time the British Govern- 
 ment was the most atrocious pirate earth had ever 
 known ; for while at peace with Spain, the Govern- 
 ment encouraged all private piratical expeditions 
 against her commerce. 
 
 In the streets of Jamaica, Morgan met a noto- 
 rious pirate by the name of Mansvelt. The renown 
 of this sea-robber had spread far and wide. He was 
 then equipping a very considerable fleet, intending 
 to man it with a sufficiency of troops to enable him 
 to land upon the territory of the Spaniards and 
 to plunder their cities. Mansvelt, seeing Morgan 
 return with so many prizes, formed a high opinion 
 of his skill and courage, and appointed him vice- 
 admiral of his squadron. 
 
 A fleet of fifteen ships was soon ready for sea, 
 with a crew of five hundred pirates. About a thou- 
 sand miles southwest of Jamaica, in Central America, 
 was the Spanish province of Costa Rica, reaching 
 across the narrow Isthmus of Panama from sea to 
 sea A few leagues from the shore, and but about 
 
*28 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 one hundred miles north of the river Chagres, was 
 the Island of St. Catharine, where the Spaniards had 
 a small garrison. The pirates landed, captured the 
 island, took the Spanish soldiers prisoners, and gar- 
 risoned the fort with a hundred of their own men, 
 They left a numerous band of slaves, taken from the 
 Spaniards, to cultivate the soil for their new masters. 
 A Frenchman, by the name of Le Sieur Simon, was 
 placed in command. He was directed to put the 
 island in the best posture for defence, and to set all 
 the slaves at work to raise provisions on the fertile 
 plantations. He was thus expected to revictual 
 the fleet upon its return. It was evidently the in- 
 tention of Mansvelt to establish there a colony of 
 buccaneers, with fleet and army, of which colony he 
 was to be the king. He had no fears of being inter- 
 rupted in his operations by the British Government. 
 Mansvelt again spread his sails, and, accompa- 
 nied by his energetic vice-admiral Morgan, cruised 
 along the eastern coast of Costa Rica. At various 
 points he sent boats, armed with pirates, ashore to 
 rob the villages. The Spanish governor of the ad- 
 jacent province of Panama, on the south, hearing 
 of these depredations, gathered all the forces at 
 his disposal, and rousing the whole country, advanced 
 to expel the pirates. Mansvelt retreated, and re- 
 turned with his fleet to St. Catharine. Here he 
 
CONQUEST OF ST. CATHARINE. 229 
 
 found that his agent had been very efficient, and 
 that an ample supply of provisions was ready for his 
 ships. 
 
 This most infamous of pirates returned to the 
 Island of Jamaica, held an interview with the gov- 
 ernor, informed him frankly of his plans, and soli- 
 cited the loan of a portion of his garrison to enable 
 him to hold the island against any attempt of the 
 Spaniards to regain it. The governor received 
 the pirate courteously, expressed the fear that 
 the King of England might not exactly approve 
 of such undisguised hostility, when there was peace 
 between the two countries, and stating also that his 
 garrison was then so feeble that he could not with 
 safety diminish its strength. 
 
 Mansvelt then repaired, with one of his ships, to 
 the celebrated rendezvous of the buccaneers at Tor- 
 tuga. While endeavoring to raise recruits among 
 the desperadoes assembled there, he was taken sick, 
 and passed away, to answer for his guilty life at the 
 tribunal of God. 
 
 In the mean time, on the 14th of July, 1665, Don 
 John, the governor of Panama, commenced organiz- 
 ing an expedition to regain the island. He sent a 
 ship, under Captain Joseph Ximines, thoroughly 
 equipped, and manned by three hundred and eighty- 
 two soldiers. The ship touched at Carthagena, with 
 
2$Q SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 a letter to the commandant of the Spanish settlement 
 there. He promptly added to the expedition three 
 small armed vessels, with one hundred and twenty- 
 six men. On the 2d of August this little fleet 
 came in sight of the western end of the Island of 
 St. Catharine. The wind was contrary. It was not 
 until the 12th they entered the harbor and cast 
 anchor before the pirates' strong fort. 
 
 There was an interchange of a few shots between 
 the stone castle and the fleet, which effected but lit- 
 tle injury on either side. Ximines sent one of his 
 officers on shore bearing a flag of truce, with the fol- 
 lowing summons : 
 
 " In the name of the King of Spain, I demand 
 the surrender of this island. It was taken in the 
 midst of peace between England and Spain. If the 
 surrender is refused, and I am forced to take the 
 works by storm, I shall certainly put all the garrison 
 to the sword." 
 
 The piratic commander returned the answer. 
 " This island once belonged to the King of England. 
 It rightly belongs to him now. We will sooner die 
 than surrender." 
 
 During the night of Friday, the 13th, three slaves 
 swam off to the ships, and informed the command 
 ant that there were but seventy-two soldiers in the 
 fort and that they were in great consternation in 
 
ST. CATHARINE RECAPTURED. 23I 
 
 view of the force brought against them. Saturday 
 was devoted to preparations for landing in the boats 
 and storming the works. 
 
 The morning of the Sabbath dawned beautifully 
 over the Eden-like luxuriance of the tropical isle. 
 
 The vessels brought their broadsides to bear upon 
 the fort, and, under cover of their fire, three strong 
 parties were landed in the boats. Captain Leyva led 
 sixty men to attack the principal gate. Captain 
 Galeno, at the head of ninety men, took a circuitous 
 route through the forest to attack the castle in the 
 rear. The commander-in-chief, Ximines, with a still 
 stronger force, assailed one of the sides. The con- 
 flict was short, but not very bloody. Six of the 
 pirates were killed, and a pretty large number 
 wounded. The Spaniards lost but one man killed 
 and four wounded. 
 
 The pirates endeavored to escape into the woods, 
 but were cut off and all captured. There were found, 
 in the fort, eight hundred pounds of powder, two hun- 
 dred and fifty pounds of bullets, and also a large sup- 
 ply of provisions and other material of war. Two 
 Spaniards were taken who had enlisted with the 
 buccaneers, to rob the commerce of Spain. They 
 were immediately led out and shot. 
 
 The fort proved to be very strong, and an excel- 
 lent piece of workmanship. It was built of stone, 
 
232 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 quadrangular in form, with walls eighty-eight feet 
 high. While these scenes were transpiring, Cap- 
 tain Morgan, unconscious of them, was at Jamaica. 
 Hearing of the death of Mansvelt, he, without oppo- 
 sition, assumed the admiralship. He was straining 
 every nerve to retain possession of St. Catharine, 
 and so to strengthen the works as to make the 
 island a safe and convenient store-house for the vast 
 plunder of the buccaneers. 
 
 As the governor of Jamaica declined adding to 
 the piratic force, in St. Catharine, at the expense of 
 his own garrison, Morgan wrote to leading merchants 
 in Virginia and New England, urging them, by the 
 promise of the most liberal pay, to send him pro- 
 visions, ammunition, and other necessary articles. 
 When the tidings reached him that the Spaniards 
 had regained the island, he lost no time in unavail- 
 ing regrets, but immediately turned, with demoniac 
 energy, to other enterprises. 
 
 With great vigor he commenced organizing a 
 new fleet. His agents proudly strode through every 
 English port, openly purchasing vessels and ammuni- 
 tion, and mounting the guns. All the vessels were 
 ordered to rendezvous, within a given time, at a soli- 
 tary harbor on the south side of the Island of Cuba. 
 
 This magnificent island is eight hundred miles in 
 length, and from twenty-five to one hundred and 
 
A NEW ENTERPRISE. 233 
 
 thirty in breadth. The principal towns of Cuba, at 
 that time, were Havana on the north and San- 
 tiago on the south. Havana was fortified by three 
 strong forts. There were many other small and 
 flourishing settlements scattered along the extended 
 coast. There were ten thousand families in Havana, 
 and its commerce was immense. 
 
 Captain Morgan had, in the course of two 
 months, assembled in his retired harbor a fleet of 
 twelve vessels, large and small, with over eight hun- 
 dred fighting men. He called a council of his officers 
 to decide as to the enterprise upon which they should 
 embark. Several urged a midnight attack upon 
 Havana. They said that there was immense wealth 
 in the city, that it might be attacked by surprise, as 
 no one suspected danger ; and that the city could 
 be plundered before the inhabitants would have 
 any time to organize for defence. 
 
 Others affirmed that they were not strong enough 
 for so great an achievement ; that they needed at 
 least fifteen hundred men to attempt the capture 
 of a city of fifty thousand inhabitants. After much 
 discussion it was decided to attack a flourishing 
 inland town of Cuba, called Puerto Principe. It 
 was situated a few leagues from the southern shore, 
 and was utterly unprepared for such an attack as the 
 pirates could bring against it. One of the pirates 
 
234 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 was familiar with the place and with all of its ap- 
 proaches. He said that the town had never been 
 sacked, and consequently was very rich. 
 
 The whole fleet speedily set sail, and ran along 
 the southern shore of Cuba toward the doomed 
 town. The nearest available landing-place, for 
 Principe, was at a bay called St. Mary's. Here, in 
 the night, a Spanish prisoner, on board one of the 
 ships, secretly let himself down into the dark water, 
 and, at the imminent danger of being devoured by 
 sharks, swam ashore. He hastened through the 
 mule-paths of the forest to Principe, with the tid- 
 ings of the terrible dangei impending over the town. 
 
 The inhabitants were thrown into an awful state 
 of consternation. They knew full well that they had 
 as much to dread from the pirates as from so many 
 fiends from the bottomless pit. Men, women, and 
 children were running in all directions to convey away 
 and hide their treasures. 
 
 All these Spanish towns had a governor appointed 
 over them by the king. The governor summoned 
 all the able-bodied men he could, and armed the 
 slaves, and placed his little force in ambush along 
 the route which he supposed that the pirates must 
 of necessity traverse. He had also the immense 
 trees of the dense tropical forest felled across the 
 path, and other obstructions thrown in the way, to 
 
SACK OF PUERTO PRINCIPE. 235 
 
 retard their march. But Morgan, as he approached 
 these impediments, cut a new road with great diffi- 
 culty through the woods, and thus escaped falling 
 ?nto the ambuscades. 
 
 Morgan had left but a small guard to keep the 
 fleet. Nearly eight hundred men were on the march 
 with him. The pirates advanced in three divisions, 
 with beating of drums, flying banners, and an osten- 
 tatious display of military array. The town was in 
 the centre of a smooth plain. The governor had 
 retreated from his ambush, and, as the pirates ap- 
 proached, stood before the town at the head of a 
 troop of horsemen. Morgan formed his men in a 
 semicircle, and marched down upon them. 
 
 3oth parties fought with desperation. The 
 greatly outnumbering pirates soon shot down the 
 governor, and so many of his soldiers, that the re- 
 mainder attempted to escape to the woods. They 
 were hotly pursued, and most of them were killed. 
 The battle, with the skirmishing, lasted nearly four 
 hours. 
 
 The pirates, having encountered but little loss, 
 entered the town. Still, as they marched through 
 the narrow streets which were ever found in these 
 old Spanish towns, many of the inhabitants contin- 
 ued a brave resistance. They fired upon the pirates 
 from the windows of their stone houses, and hurled 
 
236 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 down heavy articles of furniture upon their heads 
 from the roofs. Morgan had it loudly proclaimed 
 that if they continued this resistance he would lay 
 the whole town in ashes, and put every man, woman, 
 and child to the sword. 
 
 The Spaniards, hoping that by submission they 
 might save their own lives and their houses from 
 conflagration, threw down their arms and raised the 
 white flag. There were several large stone churches 
 in the place. The demoniac pirates drove the 
 whole population, men, women, and children, into 
 these churches, and imprisoned them there. They 
 then commenced their system of plunder and wan- 
 ton destruction. Every house and by-place, and the 
 region all around, were searched. The night was 
 rendered hideous by their drunken orgies. There 
 was scarcely a conceivable crime of which these 
 wretches were not guilty. They were fiends of the 
 foulest dye, with no pity. Their outrages cannot 
 be described. Even the imagination of most read- 
 ers cannot conceive of the crimes they perpetrated. 
 
 They either forgot the captives they had 
 crowded into the churches or intentionally left them 
 to starve. No provision whatever was made for 
 their wants, and they were not furnished with any 
 food. The piteous moans of women and children 
 
HORRIBLE ATROCITIES. 237 
 
 touched not their hearts. Large numbers perished 
 in the lingering agonies of starvation. 
 
 Disappointed in the amount of treasure they 
 found, they began to put their prisoners to the tor- 
 ture, men, young girls, and even little children, to ex- 
 tort from them the confession of where riches were 
 secreted. While perpetrating atrocities which can- 
 not be named, a man was captured who had letters 
 from the governor of Santiago to some of the lead- 
 ing inhabitants. In these documents the governor 
 wrote : 
 
 " Do not be in too much haste to ransom your 
 town or persons from the pirates. Put them off as 
 long as you can, with excuses and delays. In a 
 short time I will certainly come to your aid." 
 
 This alarmed Morgan. He feared that the gov- 
 ernor of Santiago might rally a sufficient force perhaps 
 to seize his ships, perhaps to cut off his retreat. He 
 ordered his men immediately to march, as rapidly as 
 possible, to their fleet, with all the plunder they had 
 gathered. He also made renewed efforts, by all the 
 energies of torture, to wrest from the wretched in- 
 habitants the treasure which he supposed they had 
 hidden. Those who had nothing to reveal, had 
 their nerves lacerated and their bones crushed to 
 force a confession of that which did not exist. He 
 compelled his captives to drive all the cattle to the 
 
238 SIR HENRY MORGAK. 
 
 bay, kill them and salt them, and convey the bi.rreia 
 to his ships. 
 
 A quarrel arose between two of the pirates. One 
 challenged the other to a duel. The party conse- 
 quently went ashore in the boats. As they drew 
 near the appointed spot, one of the two, treacher- 
 ously approaching the other from behind, ran him 
 through the back with his sword, and he fell dead. 
 Morgan, who had just committed crimes which 
 should cause the foul fiend himself to blush, said that 
 :t was not just and Jwnorable to kill a comrade thus 
 treacherously. He therefore, with the assent of the 
 whole demoniac gang, put the offender in irons and 
 hung him. 
 
 The fleet speedily set sail for a distant island, 
 where they were to divide their ill-gotten plunder 
 Here they were greatly disappointed in the amount 
 which they had taken. It was all estimated at but 
 fifty thousand dollars. This was a small sum to be 
 divided among so many greedy claimants. This 
 being known, it excited a general commotion. 
 Many of the pirates owed debts in Jamaica, which 
 they were anxious honorably to pay. 
 
 Some of the gang were so dissatisfied that they 
 left, with a part of the vessels, to cruise on their 
 own account. Morgan soon inspired those who re- 
 mained with his own indomitable energy. In a few 
 
A BOLD UNDERTAKING. 2& 
 
 days he gathered a fleet of nine sail, manned by 
 four hundred and seventy-five pirates. Morgan 
 told them that he had formed a plan which would 
 enrich them all. It was, however, necessary to keep 
 it a profound secret. If any one should turn traitor 
 and reveal it, the plan might be frustrated. They 
 must therefore, for the present, trust in him and im- 
 plicitly follow his directions. He had already in- 
 spired them with such confidence in his sagacity, 
 zeal, and courage, that, without a murmur, they 
 yielded to these demands. 
 
 The whole fleet set sail for the continent, and, in 
 a few days, arrived off the coast of Costa Rica. 
 Then Morgan assembled the captains of all the ves- 
 sels in his cabin, and informed them of his plan, 
 which they were to communicate to their several 
 crews. 
 
 " I intend," said Morgan, " to attack and plun- 
 der the city of Puerto Velo. I am resolved to sack 
 the whole city. Not a single corner shall escape my 
 vigilance. Large as the city is, the enterprise can- 
 not fail to succeed. We shall strike the people 
 entirely by surprise ; for I have kept my plan an 
 entire secret, and they cannot possibly know of our 
 coming." 
 
 Some of the captains were alarmed in view of so 
 bold an undertaking. They said : 
 
240 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 " Puerto Velo is the largest Spanish city in the 
 New World excepting Havana and Carthagena. It 
 contains a population of between two and three 
 thousand, and has a garrison of three hundred sol- 
 diers. It has two forts, which are deemed impreg- 
 nable. These forts guard the entry to the harbor, so 
 that no ship or boat can pass without permission. 
 We have not a sufficient number of men to assault 
 so strong a place." 
 
 Morgan replied: " If we are few in numbers, we 
 are bold in heart. The fewer we are the greater 
 will be each man's share of the plunder." 
 
 This last consideration had great weight with the 
 pirates. The number engaged in the sack of Puerto 
 Principe was so great, that each one murmured at 
 the meagre share he received. Morgan was very 
 familiar with all this region, and was thoroughly 
 acquainted with the avenues to the city. In the 
 dusk of the evening he ran his little fleet into a soli- 
 tary harbor, called Naos, about thirty miles from 
 Puerto Velo. There was a river, flowing into the 
 harbor from the west, threading a dense, tangled, 
 almost uninhabited wilderness. Leaving their ships 
 at anchor, under guard of a few men, the pirates, 
 " armed to the teeth," in crowded boats and cances, 
 ascended the river until, at midnight, they reached a 
 point but a few miles distant from the city. They 
 
ATTACKS PUERTO VELO. 24I 
 
 then landed and rapidly marched through a solitary 
 Indian trail, overshadowed by the gloom of a dense 
 tropical forest, until they came within sight of the 
 lights gleaming from the battlements of the forts. 
 
 On the main avenue to the city, not far from the 
 gate, they came upon a solitary sentry, pacing his 
 beat. Four men crept cautiously forward in the 
 darkness, seized him, gagged him, and brought him 
 a prisoner to Morgan. The pirate questioned his 
 captive minutely, respecting the troops in the city, 
 and the means for defence. The trembling man was 
 threatened with death by the most horrible tortures, 
 should it be found that he had in the slightest de- 
 gree deceived them. Having gained this import- 
 ant information, they advanced upon the city. 
 
 The march of a mile brought them to the main 
 fort, or Castle, as it was called. The morning had 
 not yet dawned. In the darkness they surrounded 
 it so completely that no one could either go in or 
 out. Morgan then sent the sentinel, whom he had 
 captured, into the fort, with a demand for its imme- 
 diate surrender. 
 
 " If you yield at once," said the message of the 
 pirate, " your lives shall be spared. But if there be 
 the least resistance, or any delay, I will cut to pieces 
 every individual within the fort. Not one shall 
 escape 
 
242 SIR HENRY MURGAN. 
 
 The commandant of the castle heeded not the 
 threat, but opened fire upon his foes. The report 
 of his guns roused the city. The governor, as speed- 
 ily as possible, rallied all his forces and made such 
 preparation as he could for defence. The slumber- 
 ing garrison, attacked so utterly by surprise, were 
 speedily overpowered. The pirates, breaking down 
 the gates, rushed in, and soon gained possession of 
 the works. The castle was but feebly prepared to 
 repel an asault from the land side. 
 
 Morgan wished to strike a blow which should 
 appal the whole city. The magazine was abund- 
 antly stored with powder. There was a room by its 
 side, into which Morgan drove all his prisoners. 
 Barring them in, he laid a slow match, applied the 
 torch, and with his gang retired. There were a few 
 moments of appalling silence. Then came a roar as 
 of ten thousand thunders. The very earth shook 
 beneath the terrific convulsion. There seemed to 
 be a volcanic eruption of forked flame, rocks, earth, 
 guns, and mangled limbs, and the castle disappear- 
 ed. Every one of its inmates perished beneath its 
 ruins. 
 
 The consternation in the city was terrible. 
 There were runnings to and fro, cries of anguish 
 from mothers and maidens, while some were seeking 
 to conceal their treasures by throwing them into the 
 
DESPERATE RESISTANCE. 243 
 
 wells or hastily burying them in the cellars and the 
 fields. In the frenzy of the hour the governor found 
 his attempts to rally the citizens utterly in vain. 
 With a few soldiers he threw himself into the second 
 and only remaining castle. The little band here 
 assembled, knowing that no mercy could be expected 
 from the pirates, resolved to make as many of them 
 bite the dust as possible, before they themselves 
 should fall. They therefore opened an incessant and 
 we'l-directed fire upon their assailants. 
 
 Near by there was a cloister, where there were 
 priests and nuns. The Spaniards regarded these 
 religious orders with superstitious reverence. Mor- 
 gan seized them all as prisoners. He ordered his 
 caipenters immediately to make a number of scaling- 
 ladders, so broad that four men could ascend them 
 abreast. He then compelled the ecclesiastics and 
 the nuns to carry the ladders and place them upon 
 the walls of the fort. The armed soldiers followed 
 closely behind, shielded by their bodies. 
 
 The governor believed that the life of every 
 Spaniard would be sacrificed should they be taken. 
 And he thought it better for both priests and nuns 
 that they should die outright than that they should 
 be left in the hands of the pirates. He therefore 
 opened a vigorous fire upon the approaching assail- 
 ants, notwithstanding the rampart of living bodies 
 
244 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 they had so infamously placed before them. The 
 unhappy inhabitants of the cloister cried out pite- 
 ously to the governor, imploring him to surrender 
 the castle and thus spare their lives. 
 
 But the governor steeled his heart against their 
 appeal. He fought with desperation. Many of the 
 priests and nuns were shot down. But the pirates, 
 in overpowering numbers, rushed on. They reached 
 the top of the wall. They threw down fire-balls 
 and hand-grenades upon the despairing defenders. 
 When many had perished they leaped down, sword 
 in hand, amidst smoke and flame, and mercilessly 
 slaughtered all the survivors. 
 
 The heroic governor fought to the last. His 
 wife and children, weeping bitterly and upon their 
 knees, entreated him to yield, hoping that thus his 
 life might be spared. 
 
 " No ! " he exclaimed, " never. I had rather 
 die like a soldier than be hanged like a coward." 
 
 Covered with wounds, he was at length cut 
 down, and his gory, mangled body was left uncared 
 for. The castle was taken. The soldiers were de- 
 stroyed. The city was at the mercy of the captors. 
 All the surviving inhabitants of the town, who had 
 not escaped into the woods, were driven into the 
 castle. Then the pirates commenced a scene of 
 carousal which pandemonium could not outrival 
 
RAPINE AND PLUNDER. 245 
 
 The nuns and all the mothers and maidens were at 
 •their mercy. A veil must be cast over their horrid 
 deeds. When satiated with drunkenness, and every 
 conceivable excess, they commenced plundering the 
 <;ity 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 The Capture of Puerto Velo, and its Results* 
 
 The Torture. — Sickness and Misery. — Measures of the Governor 'A 
 Panama. — The Ambuscade. — Awful Defeat of the Spaniards. — 
 Ferocity of the Pirates. — Strange Correspondence. — Exchange oi 
 Courtesies. — Return to Cuba, and Division of the Spoil. — Wild 
 Orgies at Jamaica. — Complicity of the British Government with 
 the Pirates. — The New Enterprise. — Arrival of the Oxford. — De- 
 struction of the Cerf Volant. — Rendezvous at Samona. 
 
 THE wretched citizens of the captured city of 
 Puerto Velo were exposed to every species of tor- 
 ture to force from them the discovery of where their 
 riches were concealed. Many of them had no 
 knowledge they could give of any hidden treasure. 
 Day after day the most horrid scenes of cruelty 
 were enacted. Multitudes of men and women died 
 under the torture. For fifteen days the pirates 
 remained amidst the ruins they had created. 
 
 But in this world blows are seldom given without 
 others being received in return. Sickness came, 
 with languor, pain, and groans of agony. The death- 
 bed is cheerless enough even when surrounded with 
 all the attentions of sympath) and love and tendei 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PUERTO VELO. 247 
 
 care. To these wretched men, in their homelessness 
 and their terrible guilt, death must indeed have 
 come as the king of terrors. A painful, pestilential 
 disease seized them. Surrounded by the oaths and 
 the clamor of demoniac men they passed to the seat 
 r.f final judgment. 
 
 In consequence of the unhealthiness of the cli- 
 rn?te at Puerto Velo, many of the merchants, who 
 riad their warehouses at that port, resided in the 
 far more attractive city of Panama, but a few leagues 
 distant, on the Pacific coast. The governor of the 
 province also resided at Panama. Morgan sent two 
 prisoners to the city to say to the residents there 
 that unless one hundred thousand dollars were sent 
 to him he would lay Puerto Velo in ashes. 
 
 But the governor had already heard of the arrival 
 of the pirates. He had collected an armed force, 
 and was on the march to cut off their retreat. In 
 the m^an time the vessels were brought up into the 
 harboi and were laden with the plunder. The ram- 
 parts were repaired, the guns remounted, and all 
 things put in readiness to repel an attack. Every 
 day many were put to the torture. Some died 
 under the terrible infliction. Many were maimed 
 for life. 
 
 Hearing that the governor was on the march to 
 Attack them, Morgan placed himself at the head of s 
 
248 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 hundred ot his most determined men, and marched 
 forward to meet the foe. Every man was armed, in 
 pirate fashion, with a musket, several pistols in his 
 belt, and a keen-edged sabre. At a few leagues 
 from the city they came to a narrow defile, along 
 whose circuitous path but two could march abreast. 
 The tangled thicket was on each side, with gigantic 
 trees, and huge rocks buried in the luxuriant verdure 
 of the tropics. Here a whole army might lie in im- 
 penetrable concealment. 
 
 And here Morgan, with great skill, placed his 
 troops. Every man took a position where he could 
 have perfect command of some portion of the track. 
 With his hatchet he cut a loop-hole through the 
 dense growth of shrubs and interlacing vines. Thus, 
 while quite invisible, he could take deliberate aim. 
 They were to wait in perfect silence until the wind- 
 ing defile was filled with unsuspecting troops. Then, 
 at a signal from Morgan, every man was to fire. 
 And every man was to take such aim as to be sure 
 that his bullet would strike down his victim. 
 
 The Spaniards, four or five hundred in num- 
 ber, soon appeared in rapid march. Anticipating a, 
 bloody struggle with the pirates behind their ram- 
 parts, they had no thought that they would leave 
 such vantage-ground to march forth to the encoun 
 ter. Their only fear was that the pirates might 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PUERTO VELO. 249 
 
 rush to their ships and thus escape. Hurrying 
 heedlessly along, they had filled the labyrinthine 
 trail, when the deadly signal was given. One hun- 
 dred muskets were instantaneously exploded. One 
 hundred bullets were sent on their fatal mission. 
 One hundred Spaniards were either struck down in 
 instantaneous death or wounded. 
 
 There was no time for thought ; no time to rally. 
 The case was clear. The defeat was entire and 
 remediless. Rapidly the pirates reloaded and kept 
 up a continuous fire. The Spaniards discharged 
 their muskets at random, hitting no one. Pell-mell, 
 in awful confusion, they turned, and struggling 
 against their own numbers, rushed, as best they 
 could, from the defile. The narrow path was strewed 
 with the dying and the dead. With a shattered 
 and bleeding remnant the governor returned to 
 Panama for reinforcements. 
 
 Morgan and his men, wishing that their deeds 
 should strike terror all around, emerged from their 
 covert, dispatched the wounded with pistol-shots or 
 sabre-thrusts, searched the pockets of the dead, and, 
 leaving their bodies unburied, returned in triumph 
 *o their comrades. 
 
 In triumph ! But what a triumph ! They had 
 now been fifteen days in Puerto Velo. Famine and 
 disease were assailing them with more cruel attacks 
 
250 SIP HENRY MORGAN 
 
 than sabre or pistol can inflict. Recklessly they had 
 wasted their provisions. They could not eat their 
 gold 01 their silver, or the spoil which they had stored 
 away in the rolds of their ships. They had already 
 consumed the mules and the horses. Their blood, 
 inflamed by debaucheries and almost boiling beneath 
 a meridian sun, produced the most loathsome and 
 painful disorders. The slightest wound would fester 
 and cause death. No wonder they were reckless. 
 Better far to die than to live in such misery. This 
 was the triumph to which the pirate Morgan returned. 
 
 The Spanish prisoners suffered still more than 
 their captors. Crowded together in apartments 
 whose awful impurity tainted the air; deprived of 
 every comfort ; witnessing intense sufferings which 
 they could not alleviate, but which they were com- 
 pelled to share ; despondent, starving, dying, there 
 was for them no relief but such as death gives. 
 
 The Spanish governor, who had shown such utter 
 want of military ability in marching into the ambus- 
 cade, was as self-conceited and boastful as he was 
 incompetent. Notwithstanding his ignominious re- 
 pulse, he sent to Morgan the following message : 
 
 " If you do not immediately withdraw, with youi 
 ships, from Porto Velo, I will march upon you with 
 a resistless force. You shall receive no quarter 
 Every man shall be put to death." 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PUERTO VELO. 25 I 
 
 Morgan sent back the reply, " If you do not im- 
 mediately send me one hundred and eighty thousand 
 dollars in gold, I will lay every building in Puerto 
 Velo in ashes ; I will blow up the forts ; and I will 
 put every captive I have to the sword, man, woman, 
 and child." 
 
 The pride of the governor would not allow him 
 to purchase the retreat of the pirates. He sent to 
 Carthagena imploring that some ships might be sent 
 from there to block up the pirates in the river. But 
 they had no sufficient force to make the attempt. 
 The citizens were very anxious to have the money 
 sent. But the governor kept them in suspense 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 officers had 
 stabbed themselves in very despair, at seeing a sup- 
 posed impregnable fortress taken by a handful of 
 people, when it should have held out against twice 
 that number." * 
 
 The governor was astonished at their exploits. 
 Four hundred men had captured a city which he 
 said any general in Europe would have found it 
 
 * The Monarchs of the Main, by George W. Thornbury, Esq. , 
 w»L ii. p. 35- 
 
252 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 necessary to blockade in due form. It is indicative 
 oi the almost inconceivable state of public opinion 
 in those times, that the governor of Panama, Don 
 Juan Perez de Guzman, who had acquired consider- 
 able renown for his bravery in the wars in Flan- 
 ders, should have sent a courteous message to Mor- 
 gan, expressive of his astonishmeut and admiration 
 in view of his heroic achievement, and begging Mor 
 gan to send him a pattern of the arms with which 
 he had gained so wonderful a victory. The scornful 
 pirate sent a common musket and a handful of bul- 
 lets to the governor, with the following sarcastic 
 message : 
 
 "I beg your excellency to accept these as a small 
 pattern of the arms with which I have taken Puerto 
 Velo. Your excellency need not trouble yourself 
 to return them. In the course of a twelvemonth I 
 will visit Panama in person, and will fetch them away 
 myself." 
 
 The governor replied : " I return the weapons 
 ypu sent me, and thank you for the loan of them. 
 It is a pity that a man of so much courage is not in 
 the service of a great and good prince. I hope that 
 Captain Morgan will not trouble himself to come 
 and see me at Panama. Should he do so, he surely 
 will not fare so well as he has at Puerto Velo." 
 
 It is verv difficult to credit the statement made 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PUERTO VELO. 253 
 
 by Thornbury that ' the envoy, having delivered 
 this message, so chivalrous in its tone, 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." * 
 
 Puerto Velo was left to its fate. The pirates 
 left scarcely anything behind but the tiles and the 
 paving-stones. Many of the best guns Morgan car- 
 ried off. Of the rest, all which he could not burst 
 he spiked. He then set sail. Behind him were 
 smouldering ruins, pestilence, poverty, misery, and 
 death. 
 
 Eight days' sail brought the fleet to Cuba. Upon 
 that vast and sparsely inhabited island there were 
 many solitary harbors and coves where the silence 
 of the wilderness reigned. Into one of these lonely 
 spots Morgan ran his fleet. Here he divided the 
 spoil. It was indeed a beggarly pittance which they 
 had obtained as the fruit of so much toil, suffering, 
 and crime. In coin or bullion they counted but two 
 hundred and sixty thousand dollars. There was a 
 large amount of silks and other merchandise, which, 
 was not deemed of much value. 
 
 The division was amicably made, and they spread 
 their sails to return to Jamaica, there to squander. 
 
 • Monarchs of the Main, vol. i. p. 38. 
 
254 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 in a few days of insane excess, all that they had 
 gained through weary months of danger, toil, suffer- 
 ing, and crime. The entrance of a richly laden 
 piratic fleet into the harbor of Kingston was an 
 occasion of public rejoicing. The gamblers, the 
 courtezans, the rumsellers were all overjoyed 
 Even the children expected to see the strange vis- 
 itors scatter their doubloons through the streets to 
 be scrambled for. 
 
 We are told that every door was open to 
 them, and that, for a whole week, all loudly praised 
 their generosity and their courage. At the end of a 
 month they had squandered all, and every door was 
 shut in their faces. Morgan was a drunkard as well 
 as a robber. He spent his gains as infamously and 
 as speedily as did the rest. Shrewder men than 
 he emptied his purse at the gambling-table. The 
 Delilahs of Jamaica speedily transferred his jewels 
 to their necks. But one short month had passed 
 away when Morgan and all his crew, utterly impov- 
 erished, were eager for another expedition. 
 
 Undismayed by the past, this bold adventuier 
 planned an enterprise of such magnitude that he 
 boasted that, at its close, both he and his men might 
 be able to retire, if they wished, with a sufficiency 
 for the rest of their days. 
 
 A rendezvous was appointed at De la Vaca or 
 
THE CAI'T'JKE OF PUERTO VELO. 255 
 
 Cow Island, on the south side of the Island of His- 
 paniola. This would be easily accessible by the 
 pirates, both French and English, ever swaggering 
 through the streets of Tortuga. Again the despera- 
 does rushed to his banner. They came in boats and 
 in small vessels and by land. Men enough were 
 found to furnish the adventurer with funds. 
 
 A large English ship, which mounted thirty-six 
 guns, entered the harbor of Kingston, Jamaica, from 
 New England. This ship, the Oxford, carried a 
 crew of three hundred men. It was on a buccaneer- 
 ing cruise against Spanish commerce. Oexemelin 
 says that the ship actually belonged to the King ot 
 England, Charles II. He had fitted it out at his 
 own expense, and the captain was employed in his 
 service. What authority he had for this astonishing 
 assertion we know not. But it is certain that the 
 governor at Jamaica felt at liberty to send this ship 
 to join Morgan's expedition. And when we subse- 
 quently find Charles II. conferring the honor of knight- 
 hood on this desperate marauder, and appointing 
 him governor of Jamaica, the report receives much 
 confirmation. 
 
 The harbor at Isle de la Vaca was a fine one. A 
 large French ship, the Cerf Volant, on a trading 
 excursion, entered the port. The ship was well 
 armed, mounting twenty-four iron guns and twelve 
 
J$0 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 guns of brass. The captain and crew, disappointed 
 in the results of trade, were disposed to try their 
 luck as buccaneers. Morgan, anxious to secure so 
 powerful a ship, urged them tc join his expedition. 
 But the French officers would not accede to hi; 
 terms. 
 
 The Frenchman was about to weigh anchor and 
 return to Tortuga. Several of his crew, who were 
 English sailors, had deserted him, and had been 
 received on board Morgan's ship 1 ?. Through them 
 Morgan learned that the captain oi the Cerf Volant, 
 being out of provisions, had stopped an English 
 vessel, taken from her sundry articles of food, foi 
 which he had paid, not in coin, for he had none 
 on hand, but in bills of exchange cashable at 
 Jamaica. 
 
 Morgan, who was seeking for some pretext undei 
 which he might seize the French ship, decided to 
 consider this an act of piracy. He invited the oi 
 fleers of the Volant to dine with him, on board the 
 splendid ship which the governor of Jamaica had 
 Bent him. Unsuspicious of treachery; the . aptain 
 and his officers all came. While in the cabin, drink 
 ing their wine, Morgan rose and denounced them 
 •as pirates who had robbed an English vessel, and 
 declared them to be his prisoners. At the same 
 moment a band of armed men came in and put them 
 
THE CAPTURE OF 1'UEKTO VELO. 257 
 
 in irons. They could make no resistance. He then 
 took possession of the ship. 
 
 Soon after this he called a council of his officers 
 to decide upon their first expedition. They met in 
 the cabin of the Volant. Several of the French who 
 had refused to join Morgan were prisoners in the 
 hold. After much deliberation they decided first to 
 repair to the Island of Savona, a few leagues south- 
 east of San Domingo. A flotilla of merchant-ships, 
 under convoy, was daily looked for from Spain. It 
 was to be expected that, during this long voyage, 
 some vessels would get separated from the rest. 
 These stragglers they hoped to cut off 
 
 Having settled this question, the desperadoes 
 commenced drinking and carousing. A scene of 
 uproar ensued with the intermingling of drunken 
 songs and unintelligible blasphemies. While the 
 officers were thus carousing in the cabin, the sailors, 
 four hundred in number, were engaged in equally 
 wild orgies in their quarters of the ship. As the 
 toasts were drained, broadsides were discharged, by 
 men reeling in drunkenness around their smoking 
 guns. Some were cursing, some fighting, some sleep 
 ing in deathly stupor. 
 
 The magazine, amply stored with powder, was 
 near the bows of the boat. Powder was carelessly 
 scattered over the decks. Suddenly there was 3 
 
258 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 terrific explosion. The whole ship seemed lifted 
 into the air, as by some volcanic power. Dense 
 volumes of sulphurous smoke, pierced with forked 
 flame, enveloped the scene, shutting it out from the 
 view of all around. Then there were seen, ejected 
 hundreds of feet into the air, massive timbers, and 
 ponderous cannon, and the mangled bodies of three 
 hundred and fifty men. But thirty of the crew es- 
 caped. 
 
 The officers' cabin, far in the stern of the boat, 
 escaped the force of the explosion. Though the 
 revellers there were terrified, stunned, almost smoth- 
 ered with smoke, and many of them severely wound- 
 ed, they escaped with their lives. 
 
 Such was the end of the Cerf Volant. This only 
 did Morgan gain by his treachery. " Morgan," says 
 Esquemeling, " had captured the ship. And God 
 only could take it from him. And God did so." 
 
 For eight days the bodies of the dead were seen 
 floating upon the waters of the bay. Morgan sent 
 out boats to collect these bodies, not for burial, but 
 for plunder. The pockets were searched. The 
 clothing, when good, was stripped off. The heavy 
 gold rings, which nearly all the sailors wore, were 
 taken, and then the bodies were abandoned to the 
 sharks and the carrion birds. 
 
 Morgan, upon a review of his forces, found thai 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PUERTO VELO. 259 
 
 he had fifteen vessels, large and small, and eight hun- 
 dred and sixty men. With these he set sail for 
 Savona. Head winds impeded their progress. 
 Three weeks had elapsed ere they reached the 
 sastern extremity of Hispaniola. Eight hundred 
 hungry men consume a vast amount of food each 
 day. Their provisions ran short. They chanced to 
 meet an English ship which had a superfluity for 
 sale. Thus recruited, they pressed on, in a long 
 straggling line, until eight of the ships reached a 
 harbor called Ocoa, on the southern coast of the 
 great island. Here he cast anchor to wait the 
 arrival of the rest of the fleet. 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 The Expedition to Maracaibo. 
 
 The Delay at Ocoa. — Hunting Excursions. — The Repulse. — Cities cf 
 Venezuela. — The Plan of Morgan. — Suggestions of Pierre Pi- 
 card. — Sailing of the Expedition. — They Touch at Oruba. — 
 Traverse Venezuela. — Enter Lake Maracaibo. — Capture of the 
 Fort. — The City Abandoned.— Atrocities of the Pirates. 
 
 At Ocoa, on the Island of Hispaniola, the pirates 
 iemained several days waiting for the arrival of the 
 other vessels, which were unaccountably lagging be- 
 hind. Every morning Morgan sent a party of eight 
 men, from each ship, upon the island as hunters, in 
 search of game. He also sent a body of armed men 
 to protect them from any attack by the Spaniards. 
 Though there were many Spaniards upon the island,. 
 they did not feel strong enough to assail so great a 
 force as the pirates could muster. They, however r 
 sent to the city of San Domingo for three or four 
 hundred men, to kill or drive away all the cattle and 
 game around the Bay of Ocoa. They hoped thus 
 to starve out the buccaneers, and compel them to 
 depart. 
 
 Goaded by hunger, a band of fifty of Morgan s 
 
THE EXPEDITION TO MARACAIBO. 26l 
 
 men ventured far into the woods. The Spaniards, 
 who were watching them, drew them into an ambus- 
 cade. The pirates were outnumbered and surround- 
 ed. With cries of " Kill, kill," the Spaniards opened 
 a sudden and deadly fire. But these desperadoes, 
 accustomed to every kind of danger, could not be 
 thrown into a panic. Instantly they formed them- 
 selves into a hollow square, and keeping a rolling 
 fire from the four sides, slowly retreated to their 
 ships. Many fell by the way, dead or wounded. 
 Many of the Spaniards were also slain. 
 
 The next day, Morgan, rendered furious by the 
 discomfiture, landed himself, at the head of two hun- 
 dred men, to take dire revenge upon his foes. But 
 no foe was to be met. Finding his search useless, 
 he gave vent to his rage in burning all the dwell- 
 ings he encountered, from which the Spaniards 
 had fled. 
 
 Still the seven missing ships did not appear. 
 After waiting a few days more, he decided to delay 
 no longer. Spreading his sails, he steered his course 
 for the Island of Savona. But none of the missing 
 vessels were there. While waiting, he sent several 
 boats, with crews amounting to one hundred and 
 fifty well-armed men, to plunder several of the small 
 towns upon the San Domingo coast. But in the 
 capital city and all along the shore scouts were on the 
 
262 SIR HENRY MORGAN 
 
 watch. Sentinels were placed upon every headland. 
 The moment the boats appeared in sight, signals 
 weie given. At every point where a landing was 
 attempted such energetic resistance was presented, 
 that the pirates were compelled to retreat. 
 
 They returned to Morgan with this discouraging 
 report. He was in a towering rage, and with sneers 
 and curses denounced them as cowardly poltroons. 
 As no longer delay could be safely indulged in, and 
 as the missing vessels did not arrive, he made 
 another review of his fleet and army, and found that 
 he had eight vessels of various sizes and about five 
 hundred men. 
 
 Upon the coast of Venezuela there was a large 
 and opulent city, called Caraccas. It was the capital 
 of the province of Venezuela, and had been founded 
 nearly one hundred years before, in 1567, by the 
 Spanish Government. It was a well-built and beauti- 
 ful city, delightfully situated, in the enjoyment of a 
 salubrious climate, and enriched by extensive com- 
 merce. Near by were Valencia, Barcelona, and Cu- 
 mana, all important commercial ports. The latter 
 place was the oldest city on the continent of South 
 America. It was established in 1523. The plunder 
 of these four cities would indeed enrich the maraud- 
 ers. And Morgan, in command of fifteen vessels, 
 and with an army of fifteen hundred men did not 
 
THE EXPEDITION TO MARACAIBO. 263 
 
 doubt that he could effect their capture, one by one. 
 if he could strike them entirely by surprise. But it 
 was folly to attempt it with eight vessels and five 
 hundred men 
 
 There was a Frenchman in command of one of 
 Morgan's ships, by the name of Pierre Picard. This 
 man, several years before, had been the pilot of Lo- 
 lonois's fleet, in his capture and destruction of Mara- 
 caibo and Gibraltar, of which expedition we have 
 already given an account. During the intervening 
 years those places had, in a very considerable degree, 
 tecovered from their disasters. Again they pre- 
 sented riches sufficient to entice the buccaneers. 
 
 Picard was a remarkable man, of great resources. 
 He was a bold soldier and a skilful sailor. Fami- 
 liar with all these waters, fearless and unscrupulous, 
 with French plausibility of address, and speaking 
 the English language with volubility and correctness, 
 he gained great influence over Morgan. 
 
 A council of the officers was called. He proposed 
 an attack upon Maracaibo and Gibraltar. A chart 
 was presented exhibiting the course to be run, the 
 channels to be threaded, the forces to be encoun 
 tered, and the means of overcoming them. 
 
 His proposition was received with general ac- 
 claim, and the fleet weighed anchor. After several 
 days' sail to the south, they reached an island called 
 
264 S1K HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Oruba. It was inhabited only by natives. They 
 had a large stock of sheep, lambs, goats, and kids. 
 Here the pirates cast anchor, to take in water and 
 provisions. For once these marauders seemed to 
 come to the conclusion that honesty was more 
 politic than thievery, and that it was easier to 
 buy a goat with a skein of thread, than to steal 
 it, and thus rouse the hostility of the whole na- 
 tive population. They remained here twenty-four 
 hours, acting as nearly like honest men as such a 
 gang of thieves, drunkards, and desperadoes could 
 do. They filled their water-casks, and laid in quite 
 a store of provisions, which they bought, though 
 without money and almost without price. 
 
 They were now within a day's sail of Maracaibo. 
 They were anxious that the natives should not know 
 their destination, lest in some way they might give 
 the alarm. Therefore the anchors were raised and 
 the sails spread in the night. When the morning 
 dawned the islanders looked in vain for the fleet. 
 
 During the day the ships came in sight of the 
 cluster of islands which are found at the entrance 
 of the Lake of Maracaibo. A fair breeze from the 
 north had swept them rapidly through the Gulf of 
 Venezuela. Just within the narrows which connected 
 the gulf with the lake, there was a mountainous island 
 sailed Vigilia. Upon one of its eminences there was 
 
THE EXPEDITION TO MARACAIBO. 265 
 
 a watch-tower erected, where sentinels were sta- 
 tioned, ever on the lookout to give warning of the 
 approach of any suspicious craft. 
 
 Just as the fleet reached this point the wind died 
 away into a perfect calm. Though Morgan made 
 every endeavor to cast anchor out of sight of the 
 watch-tower, the vigilant eyes of the sentinels de- 
 tected him. The alarm was instantly sent up to the 
 city. Twelve hours passed away before there was a 
 breath of wind to ripple the crystal surface of the 
 lake. It was then four o'clock in the morning. All 
 this time had been granted the Spaniards to prepare 
 for their defence. 
 
 At a little distance beyond Vigilia there was a 
 narrow channel to be threaded, which was defended 
 by a fort. Not deeming it safe to expose his vessels 
 to the heavy guns of the Spaniards, and knowing 
 that the works would be weak on the land side, he 
 manned his boats, and marching through the woods 
 struck his foes in the rear. The garrison had made 
 arrangements for the most desperate resistance. 
 They had burned all the huts around the walls of 
 the fort, and had removed everything which could 
 afford the assailants any shelter. 
 
 The defenders of the works numbered probably 
 not more than thirty or forty men. Nearly five 
 hundred reckless desperadoes emerged from the 
 
266 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 woods for the assault. They were all veterans, and 
 all sharpshooters. Not a hand could be exposed 
 but a bullet would strike it. Such a storm of balls 
 were thrown with unerring aim in at every embra- 
 sure, that the guns could not be worked. 
 
 When the pirates, in their large numbers, first 
 appeared emerging from the forest, the fort opened 
 a fire so intense and continuous that it resembled 
 the crater of a small volcano in most rapid eruption. 
 But the pirates, who could return ten bullets for 
 every one received, and who were careful that every 
 bullet should accomplish its mission, soon caused 
 the fire to slacken. Still the fight continued for 
 many hours, till night came, with no apparent advan 
 tage on either side. 
 
 With the darkness the conflict ceased. Morgan 
 sent a party cautiously forward to reconnoitre. No 
 light was to be seen. No sound was to be heard. 
 Solitude and silence reigned. The fort was deserted. 
 With shouts the pirates rushed forward to take pos- 
 session of the works. The loud voice of Morgan 
 arrested them. He was as cautious as he was brave. 
 A party of engineers was dispatched, led by Morgan 
 himself, to search lest there might be lighted fuses 
 leading to the magazine. Morgan was the fiist to 
 enter. Mis quick eye discerned the gleam of a fuse 
 slowly creeping' toward the magazine, where three 
 
THE EXPEDITION To MARACAIBO. 26/ 
 
 thousand pounds of gunpowder were stored. It 
 was instantly trampled out. 
 
 But for this caution, five hundred pirates would 
 nave swarmed all over the fort. There would have 
 been an earthquake roar, a volcanic upheaval, and 
 not one of those five hundred desperadoes would 
 have survived to tell the story of the retribution 
 which had so suddenly befallen them. 
 
 The fort was a small but strong redoubt, or out- 
 work, built of stone, circular in form, with a massive 
 wall thirty feet high. It was only accessible by an 
 iron ladder which could be let down from a guard- 
 room. It mounted fourteen cannons, of eight, twelve, 
 and fourteen pound calibre. There was also found 
 a quantity of fire-pots, hand-grenades, pikes, and 
 muskets. 
 
 The pirates had no time to lose. It was need- 
 ful to press forward as rapidly as possible, for every 
 hour the inhabitants of the city might be adding to 
 their defences. They blew up a portion of the wall; 
 spiked the cannon, and threw them over the ram- 
 parts ; burned the gun-carriages, and destroyed all 
 the material of war which they could not carry away 
 with them. 
 
 The way was now open for the passage of the 
 fleet up the lake to the very entrance of the harbor. 
 With the earliest dawn the fleet spread its sails, leav 
 
268 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 ing behind the smouldering ruins of the fort. The 
 breeze was light, the shoals many, the channel intri- 
 cate. It was not until the next day that they came 
 within sight of the city. There was still another 
 fort to be passed at the very mouth of the port. 
 Morgan stood upon his quarter-deck, spy-glass in 
 hand, fte could see the Spanish cavaliers at work 
 on the ramparts, and had reason to expect a very 
 desperate resistance. Again he decided not to ex- 
 pose his ships to the cannonade which the heavy 
 guns of the fort could bring to bear upon them. 
 
 Casting anchor out of gun-shot, he disembarked 
 his forces in the boats. They were ordered not to 
 meddle with the fort, but to march in two divisions 
 through the woods, and attack the town at points 
 which the artillery of the fort could not protect. 
 The guns of the fleet were brought to bear upon all 
 the adjacent thickets, that no foe might find there a 
 lurking-place. 
 
 The landing was effected without opposition. 
 The march, through the narrow mule-paths, was 
 undisputed. The town was reached. But there 
 was no foe there ; nc inhabitant there. All had 
 fled. Warned by the awful fate which had hi 
 fallen Maracaibo, but a few years before, when 
 sacked by the pirates und«r Lolonois, the citizens, 
 men, women, and children, had fled utterly panic. 
 
THE EXPEDITION TO M.NRACAIBO. 26q 
 
 stncken. It is easy for a man of any ordinary cour- 
 age to brave death in the performance of duty. 
 But who can endure demoniac torture ? Who can 
 bear the idea of seeing his wife, his daughter, his 
 child exposed to every indignity, every cruelty 
 which demons in human form can devise. 
 
 Maracaibo was emptied of its population. All 
 had sought refuge in the forest, with speed to which 
 terror lent wings. The aged, the sick had fled. Even 
 the dying were carried away. And it is stated with- 
 out denial that the ship, the Oxford, which took the 
 lead in this enterprise, belonged to Charles II., King 
 of England. This royal buccaneer had equipped it, 
 had manned it, and was to share in the spoil. And 
 he rewarded the demoniac leader of this demoniac 
 gang with the honors of a baronetcy ; and appointed 
 him governor over one of the most important colo- 
 nies of Great Britain. Such scenes were enacted 
 only two hundred years ago. Surely the world has 
 made some progress. 
 
 The fugitives had taken with them everything 
 they could carry. There were no carriage roads in 
 those parts. But there were many narrow mule- 
 paths, leading in various directions. On pack-mules 
 and horses much treasure had been removed. Two 
 days had elapsed since the alarm had resounded 
 through the streets, ' The pirates are coming.'' 
 
27O SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 The houses were empty. The doors were left 
 wide open. The chambers were stripped of every- 
 thing valuable. Nearly all the gold and silver and 
 jewels had of course disappeared. There were 
 some houses of much elegance in the place, sump- 
 tuously furnished. The pirates rushed through the 
 streets, searching for the richest palaces for their 
 barracks. The churches they wantonly defiled and 
 converted into prison-houses. Not a vessel or a 
 boat was left in the port. All had been used, by 
 the terrified fugitives, to escape far away upon the 
 wide lake beyond. 
 
 Morgan, chagrined at the loss of so much antici- 
 pated treasure, instantly dispatched one hundred 
 fleet-footed men to pursue the encumbered and 
 heavily laden refugees, along all the trails. Scarcely 
 any provisions could be found in the town. The 
 fugitives had taken the wise precaution to destroy 
 what they could not carry away. The little fort 
 which guarded the harbor was merely a half-moon 
 rampart facing the water, and mounting but four 
 cannon. These works the Spaniards had of course 
 abandoned. 
 
 The men who had been dispatched in pursuit of 
 the Spaniards returned the next evening. They 
 brought with them thirty prisoners, and fifty mules 
 laden with valuables. The prisoners were feeble 
 
THE EXPEDITION TO MARACAIBO. 2/1 
 
 men and women of the poorest class. The owners 
 of the richly laden mules, seeing the approach of the 
 pirates, had abandoned all, and outstripped the pur- 
 suers in their flight. The unhappy captives were 
 put to the torture, but nothing could be wrested 
 from them. 
 
 This Morgan, subsequently Sir Henry Morgan, 
 governor of Jamaica, suspended his prisoners by the 
 beard ; hung them up horizontally by cords bound 
 around their toes and thumbs; placed burning 
 matches between their fingers ; scourged them ; 
 twisted cords around their heads till their eyes burst 
 from their sockets, and perpetrated other enormities 
 too horrible to be mentioned. 
 
 " Thus," writes Esquemeling, " all sort of inhu- 
 man cruelties were executed upon these innocent 
 people. Those who would not confess, or who had 
 nothing to declare, died under the hands of those 
 tyrannical men. These tortures and racks continued 
 for the space of three whole weeks : in which time 
 they ceased not to send out daily parties of men 
 to seek for more people to torment and rob : they 
 never returned home without booty and new riches." 
 
 In one of these excursions they captured two 
 negro slaves, who were faint for loss of food. They 
 were both put to the torture, to compel them to 
 reveal where their master was concealed. One, the 
 
2/2 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 elder of the two, endured the horrible torment with- 
 out a word, and almost without a groan, till death 
 came to his release. The other captive, a young 
 man, just emerging from boyhood, bore up bravely 
 until the agony became utterly unendurable. He 
 then offered to lead them to his master. The 
 wealthy Spaniard was soon taken, and with him the 
 exultant pirates seized thirty thousand dollars in 
 silver. 
 
 In such days of disaster and woe, families, flying 
 into the wilderness, would cling together. Morgan 
 had gradually captured one hundred of the most 
 prominent families. He had also acquired an unex- 
 pectedly large amount of plunder, in silver, gold, 
 bullion, and rich merchandise. 
 
 Captain Picard was very exultant in view of the 
 success of the enterprise which he had suggested 
 and guided. He now urged that they should ad- 
 vance upon the city of Gibraltar. It will be remem- 
 bered that this place was at the head of the lake, 
 about one hundred miles south from Maracaibo. 
 Morgan embarked his prisoners and all of his plun- 
 der on board his fleet and spiead his sails for this 
 new enterp-ise. 
 
 I 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 Adventures on the Shores of Lake Maracaibo. 
 
 Reparations for the Defence of Gibraltar. — The Hidden Ships.— 
 The Hiding-place of the Governor and the Women. — Disasters 
 and Failure. — Capture of the Spanish Ships. — The Retreat Com- 
 menced. — Peril of the Pirates. — Singular Correspondence. — 
 Strength of the Spanish Armament. — The Public Conference oi 
 the Pirates.— The Naval Battle.— The Fire-Ship.— Wonderful 
 Achievement of the Pirates. 
 
 BEFORE Morgan weighed anchor for his expedi- 
 tion to Gibraltar, he sent two Spanish prisoners to 
 the city to say that if they made a peaceable surren- 
 der of the place, without attempting to conceal or 
 carry off their valuables, their lives should be spared. 
 But if any resistance were offered, the city should be 
 laid in ashes and every individual put to the sword. 
 
 But ample time had been given to the citizens of 
 Gibraltar to prepare for a vigorous defence. The 
 garrison from Maracaibo had also fled to her forts. 
 The troops were landed a mile and a half from the 
 town, and marched throu^i the woods to attack the 
 foe in the rear The Spaniards had anticipated this 
 movement and were prepared to meet it. Still they 
 
274 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 were baffled by the strategy of Morgan. Instead of 
 advancing by the regular route, he emplo) ed a large 
 party of sappers and miners to cut a new path 
 through the woods. Thus he approached the city 
 without exposing his men to storm ramparts brist- 
 ling with artillery and musketry. 
 
 The Spaniards had no time to throw up new in- 
 trenchments. It was evident, even to the most un- 
 intelligent soldier, that all was lost. Their hearts 
 sank within them, and soldiers and citizens fled with 
 the utmost precipitation. So general was the flight 
 that the pirates, when they entered the streets of 
 Gibraltar, found but one single man there, and he 
 was a semi-idiot. Even that weak creature they tor- 
 tured. The poor wretch cried out : 
 
 " Do not torture me any more, and I will show 
 you my riches." 
 
 The pirates thought, or pretended to think, that 
 he was some rich person assuming the disguise of 
 poverty and semi-insanity. He led them to a mis- 
 erable hovel containing only a few earthern pots. 
 He dug up, from under the hearth, three dollars 
 which he had buried there. Still they affirmed that 
 he was a grandee in disguise, and commenced tortur- 
 ing him anew. In his agony he cried out : 
 
 " In the name of Jesus ; in the name of the Vir- 
 gin Mary, what will you do with me, Englishmen ? I 
 
ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MARACAIBO. 2/J 
 
 &.m a poor man. I live on alms. I sleep in the hos- 
 pital." 
 
 He died under their hands. They dragged him 
 aside and covered him with a few shovelfuls of 
 earth. Some of the slaves, who had been inhumanly 
 treated by their masters, now took revenge, and re- 
 vealed their hiding-places to the pirates. A poor 
 lame peasant, with his two daughters, was brought 
 in. Appalled by the terrors of the rack, he prom- 
 ised to lead them through the woods to a retreat 
 where several of the Spaniards were concealed. But 
 the Spaniards, vigilantly on the watch, fled. The 
 pirates, in the rage of their disappointment, hung 
 the poor peasant. What became of his daughters 
 we are not informed. 
 
 But I cannot torture my readers with a narrative 
 of these horrors. They were dreadful beyond all 
 powers of description. It seems inexplicable that 
 God could have permitted such awful deeds. 
 
 Parties, thoroughly armed, were sent out to 
 explore the region for many miles around. One of 
 the slaves promised to conduct Captain Morgan to a 
 river flowing into the lake, where there was a ship and 
 four large boats richly laden with merchandise, taken 
 both from Gibraltar and from Maracaibo. He also 
 promised to lead a party to the place where the 
 governor of Gibraltar was concealed, with most of the 
 
2j6 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 females of the city. The capture of the governor, foi 
 whom a great ransom could be expected to save 
 him from death by torture, and the capture of the 
 females, were deemed matters of the greatest moment 
 by these demoniac pirates. 
 
 Morgan himself took a party of two hundred 
 men, with the slave as a guide, and set out on an 
 expedition to capture the governor and the women. 
 At the same time he dispatched another party of 
 one hundred men in two large boats, to seize the 
 ships. They were to coast along the shores of the 
 solitary lake until they reached the mouth of the 
 river where the vessels of the refugees were con- 
 cealed. 
 
 The governor was on the alert. His scouts 
 watched all the approaches to his retreat. It re- 
 quired a very painful and laborious march of two 
 days for the pirates to reach the spot where the fugi- 
 tives were intrenched. The governor, with much 
 sagacity, had selected a large island in a river. The 
 region was difficult of approach, leading through the 
 roughest paths of tangled thickets and bogs. God 
 seemed to frown upon the pirates. The rain fell in 
 floods upon them. They were drenched to the skin. 
 Many mountain torrents they were compelled to 
 ford, wading up to the waist through the foaming 
 water. They sank to the hips in the softened 
 
ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MARACAIBO. 2JJ 
 
 marshes. Their shoes were torn from their feet. 
 Their clothes were rent and their skin pierced by the 
 thorns. 
 
 When they reached the river they found the cur- 
 rent rapid and the channel deep. There were no 
 boats with which to cross. These desperate men 
 were provided for every emergence. They soon 
 constructed canoes and crossed the stream. But in 
 the hurried passage many of the canoes were 
 swamped and the men lost. Upon reaching the 
 island they found that the governor had taken 
 refuge on a densely wooded and craggy mountain. 
 The path which led to the summit, winding through 
 the thickets and the immense rocks, was so narrow 
 that it could only be mounted in single file. 
 
 In fording the rivers and wading through the 
 bogs, and breasting the rain and the gale, all of the 
 ammunition of the pirates had been injured, and 
 much of it utterly spoiled. The whole party was in 
 such a condition, that Esquemeling writes: 
 
 " If the Spaniards, in that juncture of time, had 
 had but a troop of fifty men, well armed with pikes 
 oi spears, they might have entirely destroyed the 
 pirates, without ^any possible resistance on their 
 side." 
 
 The governor was not aware of this. Prudently 
 he remained upon the defensive. He had several of 
 
278 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 the soldiers of the garrison with him, and an ampk 
 supply of ammunition. His men were admirabl} 
 posted behind rocks and trees, so that had the pirates 
 persisted in their endeavor to ascend the mountain, 
 every man must have perished. And it is doubtful 
 whether they could have inflicted even a wound 
 upon their unseen assailants. 
 
 Morgan perceived that the case was hopeless. 
 Discouraged and maddened he commenced a retreat. 
 Twelve days passed from the time they commenced 
 their enterprise before Morgan, with his diminished 
 and shattered party, returned to Gibraltar. They 
 had, however, captured on the way quite a number 
 of fugitives whom they had found scattered through 
 the woods, and also a considerable amount of money. 
 They took a sort of fiendish pleasure, on their re- 
 turn, in seeing the aged women and the children 
 swept away by the foaming mountain torrents, which 
 they forded. They returned to Gibraltar exaspe- 
 rated, and prepared to inflict severer torture upon all 
 their captives. 
 
 The party sent to take the vessels were a little 
 more successful. The Spaniards had unloaded the 
 vessels and conveyed to unknown distances much of 
 their cargoes. Hearing of the approach of the 
 pirates, they fled precipitately, leaving behind them 
 all which they had not removed. 01 vhich they could 
 
ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MARACAIBO. 279 
 
 not immediately destroy. Still there were many 
 bales of goods left in the vessels and on the shore. 
 These the pirates seized and carried back to their 
 ships. 
 
 When the pirates had been five weeks in Gi- 
 braltar, plundering, torturing, carousing, the failure 
 of provisions rendered it necessary for them to de- 
 part. But first they sent some of their prisoners 
 back into the woods to find their hidden compan- 
 ions, and to say to them that unless they sent Mor- 
 gan, as a ransom for the city, five thousand dollars, 
 in gold or silver, he would lay every building of the 
 city in ashes. Those ruined men went forth on this 
 sad mission. After searching every nook and corner 
 for a long time, they came back to state that they 
 could not find anybody. The terrified Spaniards 
 had fled far beyond the reach of a day's explora- 
 tion. 
 
 They said, however, that if Morgan would have a 
 little patience and give them eight days, they would 
 endeavor to raise the money. The pirate replied : 
 
 " I am going to Maracaibo. I shall take with me 
 eight of your most prominent citizens, whom I hold 
 as captives. I shall regard them as hostages for the 
 payment of the ransom. If within eight days the 
 money is paid, they will be set at liberty. If the 
 money is not paid, they must suffer the penalty " 
 
280 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 And what was that penalty ? Death ; and prob- 
 ably death by torture. Morgan began to feel a little 
 solicitude about his retreat. In five weeks the 
 Spaniards must have had time to assemble troops 
 from various parts of the province, to repair the for- 
 tifications of Maracaibo, and to throw very serious 
 obstacles in the way of his passing through the 
 straits which connected Lake Maracaibo with the 
 Gulf of Venezuela. 
 
 Influenced by this consideration, they moved 
 with haste. Weighing their anchors and spreading 
 their sails, with their fleet laden with plunder, they 
 now directed their course toward Maracaibo. Baf- 
 fled by light or contrary winds, four days passed 
 before they reached the city. Here they found the 
 same silence and desolation which they had left 
 behind them. There was but one person in the 
 place — a poor old man, sick and almost bed-ridden. 
 
 He gave them the alarming intelligence that 
 three Spanish men-of-war were cruising off the 
 head of the lake, watching their return. They had 
 also repaired the fort which Morgan had partially 
 destroyed, had mounted the guns anew, garrisoned 
 the works with experienced artillerymen, and placed 
 all things in posture for a vigorous defence. Over 
 the redoubt the flag of Castile was proudly waving. 
 
 Morgan sent one of his swiftest boats down the 
 
ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MARACAIBO. 28l 
 
 lake to reconnoitre the state of affairs. The boat 
 came back the next day, confirming the statements. 
 The ships were large and evidently well manned, as 
 well as powerfully armed. The largest mounted forty- 
 nine guns; the next, thirty-eight guns of different 
 calibre • and the smallest, sixteen guns of large 
 calibre, and eight of less. Morgan could not hope 
 to contend successfully against forces so much supe- 
 rior to his own. The commander of this fleet was 
 Don Alonzo Espinosa. He was vice-admiral of the 
 West-Indian fleet. His little squadron had been 
 sent to those seas to protect Spanish commerce, 
 and to put to the sword every pirate he could take. 
 The pirates were thrown into a state of great con- 
 sternation. Their largest ship carried but fourteen 
 guns. There seemed no possible escape for them by 
 sea or by land. 
 
 Whatever might have been Morgan's secret feel- 
 ing, he assumed an air of the utmost confidence. 
 With audacity most extraordinary, considering the 
 circumstances, he sent a Spanish prisoner to Ad- 
 miral Espir.osa, with the message that unless he 
 immediately forwarded to him twenty-eight thou- 
 sand dollars, in silver or gold, he would apply the 
 torch to Maracaibo, and every building should be 
 consumed. 
 
 The reply of the admiral was dated ' On board 
 
282 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 the royal ship Magdalen, lying at anchor at the entry 
 of Lake Maracaibo, this 24th day of April, 1669." 
 In it Espinosa wrote: 
 
 " My intention is to dispute your passage out of 
 :he lake, and to pursue you wherever you may go. 
 But if you will surrender all that you have taken, 
 with all your prisoners, I will let you pass without 
 molestation. But if you make any resistance, I will 
 send my boats up to Maracaibo, and you shall be 
 utterly destroyed. Every man shall be put to the 
 sword. This is my fixed determination. I have good 
 soldiers, who desire nothing more earnestly than to 
 revenge on you, and your people, the outrages and 
 cruelties you have committed on the Spanish na- 
 tion." 
 
 Morgan, upon the reception of this letter, sum- 
 moned all his men to meet in the market-place 
 of Maracaibo. He submitted the question to them 
 whether they would avail themselves of this offer, 
 and thus escape with their lives, or run the risk of a 
 battle with the Spanish squadron. The vote was 
 unanimous that they would rather shed the last drop 
 of blood they had, than give up the treasure they 
 had obtained at the expense of so much danger and 
 suffering. One of the pirates stepped forward, and 
 said : 
 
 " Captain Morgan, I will undertake, with twelve 
 
ON TIIK SHORES OF LAKE MARACAIBO. 283 
 
 men, to destroy the largest of those ships. I will 
 convert the large vessel we captured up the river 
 into a fire-ship. We will fill her full of the most 
 combustible matter. Then we will place images of 
 men around, and sham guns, made of logs of wood, 
 at the port-holes, and unfurl the English flag. The 
 crew of the admiral's ship, not doubting that we are 
 bearing down to give them battle, will not think of 
 attempting to escape. We will run directly upon 
 the Magdalen, throw our grappling-irons aboard, and, 
 when both ships are instantly wrapped in flames, 
 will, in the confusion, take to our boats, and reach 
 some vessel near by." 
 
 The proposition was accepted with general 
 acclaim. Still Morgan decided to make one more 
 effort to escape without the peril and inevitable loss 
 of a battle. Even should it utterly fail, he would 
 gain time to prepare for the attack by the fire-ship. 
 He therefore sent two of his prisoners to Espinosa, 
 with this announcement : 
 
 " If the vice-admiral will pledge his honor that I 
 may retire without being attacked, I will abandc a 
 Maracaibo, without burning the town or exactirg 
 any ransom. I will also set at liberty all the Spanish 
 prisoners I have taken. The hostages I hold from 
 Gibraltar shall be sent home, without exacting the 
 ransom which was promised." The admiral replied 
 
284 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 • I will listen to no terms of accommodation diffef 
 ent from those which I have proposed. If the pris- 
 oners and the booty are not voluntarily surrendered 
 to me within two days, I will advance to your de- 
 struction." 
 
 In the mean time all hands were at work con- 
 structing the fire-ship. All the pitch, tar, and brim- 
 stone i<i the city were collected. Dried palm-leaves 
 were gathered, in vast numbers, and smeared over 
 with t ar. Packages, containing several pounds of 
 powdf r, were scattered through the loose mass. 
 New J ort-holes were cut to let the air in to fan the 
 flames. Many images of men were stationed along 
 the decks, with caps on their heads and armed with 
 muskets and pikes. The ship was so disguised that 
 no one would doubt that it was a war-ship. From 
 such the admiral of the Spanish fleet would surely 
 make no effort to escape. 
 
 All things being ready, Morgan exacted an oath 
 from every man that he would fight to the last drop 
 of his blood ; that he would neither give nor take 
 quarter. The Spanish fleet had passed through the 
 strait to the entrance of the lake, and was riding 
 at anchor just above the fort, which it will be remem- 
 bered they had occupied, strengthened, and strongly 
 garrisoned. Thus the pirates, before they could 
 escape into the Gulf of Venezuela, must not only 
 
ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MARACAIBO. 285 
 
 destroy the fleet, but also sail by the fort exposed to 
 the terrible cannonade of its heavy ordnance. 
 
 On the evening of April 30th, 1669, Morgan 
 spread his sails, and ran down the lake until he 
 came in sight of the foe. Darkness was then com- 
 ing on and he cast anchor. The morning of the 
 first of May dawned cloudless, over those vast soli- 
 tudes of land and water, where a few adventurers 
 from a distance of nearly ten thousand miles had 
 met to crimson the waves with their blood, and to 
 cause forest and lake and mountain to resound with 
 the thunders of their demoniac fightings. 
 
 With the first gleam of light in the east, Morgan's 
 fleet weighed its anchors and spread its sails. A 
 fresh breeze from the south swelled their canvas. 
 The fire-ship, with its wooden men and wooden 
 guns, and which was prepared in an instant to flame 
 into a volcano, bore down upon the Magdalen. 
 Promptly the crew cleared the decks for action. 
 Little did they dream of the foe whose resistless 
 fury they were to encounter. 
 
 The fire-ship ran with a crash against the Span- 
 ish frigate. The boat of escape was ready with the 
 men at the oars. The torch was applied at several 
 places to make certainty doubly certain. The boat 
 pushed off with rapid strokes, and scarcely one sin- 
 gle moment elapsed before both ships were envel- 
 
.iSO SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 oped in densest smoke and flashing, consuming 
 
 flame. 
 
 In an instant it was seen by all that the gieat 
 achievement was accomplished ; that the majestic 
 man-of-war, in all its pride and strength, was doomed 
 to immediate destruction. No escape was possible. 
 No resistance could be of the slightest avail. Not 
 a boat could be launched. There was no time for 
 thought even. Many of the sailors were instantly 
 burned to a crisp as the forked flames encircled 
 among them, wrapping them in its cruel embrace. 
 All, who could, plunged into the sea. Many were 
 drowned. A few strong swimmers reached the 
 other vessels and were saved. Among these was 
 the Admiral Espinosa. 
 
 The pirates gazed upon the awful spectacle with 
 shouts of exultation. They had sworn to give no 
 quarter. The drowning wretches presented but at- 
 tractive targets for their sharpshooters. Boats put 
 off from several of their nearer vessels to knock 
 them in the head. 
 
 The second Spanish ship in size, which was 
 called the St. Louis, mounted, as we have said, 
 thirty-eight guns in all. The crew consisted of two 
 hundred sailors. Seeing the utter destruction of the 
 flagship, and that they were exposed to be attacked 
 by the whole force of ihe pirates, they ran back 
 
ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MARACAIBO. 287 
 
 beneath the guns of the fort. To prevent the ship 
 from falling into the hands of the pirates they ran 
 her ashore, scuttled her, and took refuge behind the 
 intrenchments. 
 
 The third ship was called the Marquesas. It car- 
 ried, as we have mentioned, twenty-four guns, large 
 and small, and a crew of one hundred and fifty men. 
 This vessel was so surrounded by the pirates thai 
 she could not escape. Her capture was effected 
 with scarcely any conflict. Infamous as was the 
 cause in which these pirates were engaged, it is 
 difficult to withhold our admiration from the skill 
 and the courage with which the great achievement 
 was accomplished. 
 
 In less than one hour these Spanish war-ships, 
 armed with the best Spanish ordnance, and manned 
 by over six hundred combatants, were utterly de- 
 stroyed or taken by the pirates, now but about three 
 hundred in number, and whose largest ship mounted 
 but fourteen guns. It is one of the most extraordi- 
 nary feats in naval warfare. One of the historians 
 of the time says : " The fire-ship fell upon the 
 Spaniard, and clung to its sides like a wildcat on 
 an elephant." 
 
 But still the pirates were by no means out of 
 their difficulties. Their ships were all in Lake Ma- 
 racaibo. A narrow and serpentine strait was to be 
 
288 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 threaded before they could enter the Gulf of Vene* 
 zuela, by which alone they could gain access to the 
 ocean. Here again the genius of Morgan came to 
 the rescue. In the first place he collected all the 
 prisoners he could, men, women, and children, and 
 had them firmly secured. His plan was to compel 
 the admiral to let him pass the fort unmolested, by 
 threatening otherwise to put them all to death. 
 
 Among his captives there was a pilot of one of 
 the Spanish ships. Upon being closely questioned, 
 he made the following statement : 
 
 " We were sent by orders from the Supreme Coun- 
 cil of Spain, with instructions to exterminate the 
 English pirates. The Spanish court has made many 
 complaints to the King of England of the hostilities 
 committed here by the English. The king has ever 
 replied that he had never given any commissions 
 for such hostilities ; that these were individual acts 
 which the Government could not control, and for 
 which they were not responsible. 
 
 " Hereupon the King of Spain resolved to protect 
 his subjects and punish the perpetrators of these 
 outrages. He fitted a fleet of six ships. Three of 
 these, after an extended cruise, hearing of the attack 
 upon Maracaibo, arrived here. The vice-admiral 
 took possession of the fort, remounted its guns, add- 
 
ON THE SHORES OF LAKE MARACAIBO. 289 
 
 ing several of large calibre, and added a hundred 
 men to its original garrison whom he recalled." 
 
 Morgan returned to Maracaibo to plan for hia 
 escape. The Marquesas, which he had captured, was 
 larger than any vessel of his own, and more heavily 
 armed. He refitted this, making it his flagship. 
 The one he had before occupied was intiusted to one 
 of his captains. 
 13 
 
CHAPTER XVIII. 
 
 A New Expedition Planned. 
 
 The Threat to Espinosa. — Adroit Stratagem. — Wonderful Escape 
 — The Storm. — Revelry at Jamaica. — History of Hispaniola.— 
 Plan of a New Expedition. — The Foraging Ships. — Morgan's 
 Administrative Energies. — Return of the Foragers. — Rendezvous 
 at Cape Tiburon. — Magnitude and Armament of the Fleet. — 
 Preparations to Sail. 
 
 MORGAN, in the self-assurance of triumph, sent 
 word to the governor of Maracaibo, that unless he 
 sent him, within eight days, five hundred beef cattle, 
 the city of Maracaibo should be reduced to smoul- 
 dering ruins. They were sent in within two days. 
 All hands were employed in butchering, salting, 
 and storing away the meat in preparation for 
 sea. 
 
 Returning with his fleet to the mouth of the 
 lake, Morgan sent word to Admiral Espinosa that he 
 had, on board his ships, between two and three hun- 
 dred prisoners, including one hundred and fifty sail- 
 ors of the Spanish fleet, who were captured in the 
 Marquesas. He demanded a free passage, promising, 
 If that were granted him, he would send all his pris- 
 
A NEW EXPEDITION PLANNED. 29I 
 
 oners unharmed ashore, as soon as his fleet was safe 
 on the other side of the fort. 
 
 If this free passage were not granted him, he 
 declared that he would force his way through ; and 
 that he would bind all his prisoners to the rigging, 
 that they might be the most exposed to the shot 
 from the fort ; and that having passed by, everyone 
 who survived the cannonade should be killed and 
 thrown overboard. The prisoners, well instructed 
 in the cruelty and the inflexible will of this demo- 
 niac pirate, sent the most pathetic appeals to the 
 admiral to save them from this dreadful fate. He, 
 influenced by the pride of the soldier rather than by 
 human sympathies, unfeelingly replied : 
 
 " If you had been as loyal to the king in hinder- 
 ing the entrance of these pirates as I shall be in hin- 
 dering their going out, you would never have caused 
 these troubles either to yourselves or to our whole 
 nation, which hath suffered so much through your 
 pusillanimity. I shall not grant your request ; but 
 shall endeavor, according to my duty, to maintain 
 that respect which is due to my king." 
 
 When Morgan heard of this reply he said : " Very 
 well ; if the admiral will not give me permission to 
 pass, I will find a way of passing without his permis- 
 sion." 
 
 Before attempting to run through the str»«<;, all 
 
29 2 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 the pirates landed for a division of the booty. In 
 making an inventory of their effects it was found that 
 they had, in gold, silver, and jewels, two hundred and 
 fifty thousand dollars. They had a still larger jum 
 than this in the vast amount of merchandise which 
 they had gathered from all the ships and store- 
 houses of the two cities. They had also a large 
 number of slaves, who brought cash prices in all the 
 ports of the West Indies. 
 
 The escape was effected by the following inge- 
 nious stratagem. Morgan filled his boats with men, 
 and rowed beneath the boughs which hung densely 
 over the banks of the river, until he arrived at a con- 
 cealed spot, where he pretended to land them. He 
 took care, however, so to conduct the movement that 
 the Spaniards in the fort should catch glimpses of 
 it. The landing, however, was merely feigned. The 
 men concealed themselves in the bottom of the 
 boats, and were rowed back to the ships. Not one 
 was left on the shore. In this way, by repeated 
 excursions with the boats, apparently several hun- 
 dred men were disembarked. 
 
 The admiral, well aware of the ferocious courage 
 of the pirates, and not doubting that they would 
 make a desperate assault upon the fort on the land 
 side, immediately, and in the greatest haste, re- 
 moved their eighteen-pounders to command the 
 
A NEW EXPEDITION PLANNED. 2Q3 
 
 Approaches by the land. In this way the sea-coast 
 was left almost defenceless. 
 
 The ensuing night the moon rose full-orbed over 
 the silent waters of the lake. A fresh breeze sprang 
 up from the south. Providence seemed to be favor- 
 ing these desperate men. The tide was also in 
 their favor. And there was always a gentle current 
 flowing through the narrow strait from the lake into 
 the gulf. 
 
 Thus, with their path illumined by the moon's 
 brilliant rays, and aided by wind, tide, and current, 
 the pirates spread their sails, and, almost as by magic, 
 glided by the fort. Every precaution was taken to 
 protect the crews. No attempt was made to return 
 the fire of the Spaniards. Most of the crews were 
 placed in the holds of the ships. Only enough were 
 left on deck for the purpose of navigation. The 
 Spaniards, astonished, bewildered, and with but few 
 guns at their command, fired hastily, furiously, and 
 with very inaccurate aim at the ships so rapidly pass- 
 ing beyond their grasp. But little damage was 
 done, and but few men were killed. 
 
 We are not informed whether Morgan carried 
 out his threat of exposing his prisoners to the can- 
 nonade by binding them to the rigging. What be- 
 came of the one hundred and fifty Spanish sailors, is 
 not known. They were probably all put to death. 
 
294 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 The prisoners from Maracaibo he sent ashore. Those 
 from Gibraltar he carried away with him, and proba- 
 bly relieved himself of the incumbrance by throwing 
 them all into the sea. As Morgan again set sail, his 
 crews raised three cheers of triumph, and discharged 
 eight heavy guns, loaded with balls, against the fort, 
 as his parting salute. 
 
 But the very next day, heaven's frown seemed 
 to succeed heaven's smile. One of the most terrible 
 of tropical tornadoes assailed the fleet. All were in 
 despair. The sailors threw themselves upon their 
 knees, and called upon the Virgin and all the saints 
 to help them. The gleaming lightning seemed to be 
 the symbol of God's wrath, and the pealing thunder 
 sounded like His angry voice. 
 
 Esquemeling, who accompanied this expedition, 
 and to whose pen we are mainly indebted for an ac- 
 count of its events, says that the ship which bore 
 him lost both anchors and mainsail. It was with 
 the utmost difficulty they kept the ship afloat, work- 
 ing at the pumps for weary hours. The thunder he 
 represents as deafening, and the mountain billows, 
 rushing by, threatened every moment to ingulf 
 them. 
 
 " Indeed," he writes, " though worn out with 
 fatigue and toil, we could not make up our minds to 
 close our eyes to that blessed light which we might 
 
A NEW EXPEDITION PLANNED. 295 
 
 soon lose sight of forever. No hope of safety re- 
 mained. The storm had lasted four days, and 
 there was no probability of its termination. On the 
 one side we saw rocks, on which our vessel threat- 
 ened every instant to drive. Before us were the In- 
 dians, from whom we could hope for no mercy. 
 Behind us were the Spaniards, hungering for re- 
 venge." 
 
 At length the storm ceased. The fleet put into 
 a harbor, in the Bay of Venezuela, to repair dam- 
 ages. There seems to be but little reformatory 
 power in punishment. These wretched men were 
 not made better by the chastisement which they 
 had received. All unmindful of their prayers to 
 Virgin and saint, while some were at work on the 
 ships, others formed themselves into bands to ravage 
 the country far and wide, plundering all the Spanish 
 and Indian villages within their reach, and inflicting 
 the most atrocious outrages upon the inhabitants. 
 It is very clear that there is no hope for this lost 
 world, unless it may be found in that change in the 
 heart of man which the religion of Jesus Christ in- 
 culcates. " The mind is its own place." The pirates 
 after the storm were the same men as before. 
 
 Morgan, having refitted his ships, and having 
 added very considerably to his amount of plunder 
 again spread his sails for Kingston, the capita] of 
 
296 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Jamaica. He reached that port \n safety, and was 
 very cordially welcomed by the inhabitants and 
 the British authorities there. They seemed to re- 
 gard him as one of the heroes of the age, worthy 
 of all honor. The sentiments of the English gen- 
 erally, at that time, in reference to these exploits, 
 may be inferred from the following : 
 
 In a book published in London, in the year 1684, 
 and which now lies before me, a glowing account is 
 given of these adventures. The book had then at- 
 tained to a second edition. The title-page says : 
 
 " A True Account of the most remarkable As- 
 saults, committed of late years upon the Coasts of 
 the West Indies, by the Buccaneers of Jamaica and 
 Tortuga, wherein are contained more especially the 
 unparalleled Exploits of Sir Henry Morgan, our Eng- 
 lish Jamaican Hero, who sacked Puerto Velo, burnt 
 Panama, etc." 
 
 At Jamaica new scenes of rioting and profligacy 
 were enacted. The money soon passed from the 
 hands of the pirates to the sharpers in liquor-shops, 
 gambling-houses, and dancing-halls, who were eager 
 to grasp it. Morgan's eulogistic biographer writes : 
 
 " Morgan, encouraged by success, soon deter, 
 mined 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 
 
A NEW EXPEDITION PLANNED. 29; 
 
 debaucheries. Hence they perpetually importuned 
 him for new exploits, thereby to get something to 
 expend in wine and strumpets, as they had already 
 done with 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 
 achievements than ever, in a new expedition. This 
 done, he could easily levy men for any enterprise. 
 His name was so famous through all those islands, 
 that it alone would bring him in more men than he 
 could well employ." 
 
 Morgan scattered his proclamations far and wide 
 through all the English and French ports on the 
 various islands. He wrote particularly to the gov- 
 ernor of Tortuga, soliciting his cooperation. The 
 south side of this island was appointed as a rendez- 
 vous, where Morgan, sailing from Jamaica, would 
 meet the pirates of Tortuga who wished to join the 
 expedition. Another and general rendezvous was 
 designated, for adventurers from all the islands, at 
 Port Couillon, on the south side of Hispaniola. And 
 here let me give a few explanatory words in refer- 
 ence to this latter island. 
 
 Columbus discovered this magnificent island on 
 the 5th of December, 1495 It was called by the 
 
 n* 
 
298 SIP HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 natives Hayti. lis population was estimated at 
 one million. It was four hundred miles long, with 
 a breadth of from forty to one hundred and fifty 
 miles, covering an area of nearly thirty thousand 
 square miles. Columbus called it Hispaniola, or 
 Little Spain. He established a colony on the 
 northern coast, which he called Isabella. His 
 brother, Diego, was intrusted with its command. 
 This was the first colony planted by the Europeans 
 in the New World. 
 
 In the year 1665, the French obtained possession 
 of a large portion of the island, and gave it the 
 name St. Domingo. This was about one hundred 
 and seventy years after its discovery, and about 
 five years before Morgan selected a bay on its 
 southern coast as a rendezvous for his piratic fleet. 
 It is in consequence of these changes that Hayti, 
 Hispaniola, and St. Domingo frequently occupy so 
 confused a relation in the public mind. 
 
 Punctuality is an essential element of success 
 alike in good and bad enterprises. With singul ir 
 promptness, Morgan sailed into the harbor of Cou 
 illon, in a large ship which he called the Flying 
 Stag. It was crowded with pirates, or buccaneers 
 as they would perhaps prefer to have been called, 
 whom he had taken from Tortuga. It was the 24th 
 day of October, 1670. He found twenty-four ves- 
 
A NEW EXPEDITION PLANNED. 299 
 
 seis already there, and sixteen hundred men. Almost 
 every hour there were new arrivals of both ships and 
 sailors. Morgan had selected for his flagship a large 
 vessel, which mounted twenty-two guns. His arrival 
 was greeted with shoutings, cannon-firing, flag-wav- 
 ing, and the most boisterous drunken revelry. 
 
 With energy and administrative ability charac- 
 teristic of this very able and yet infamous man, he 
 dispatched four vessels to the mainland, to cruise 
 along the coast and plunder Spaniards and Indians 
 of provisions, of corn, poultry, swine, and beeves, 
 to victual his ships. They were also to sack such 
 small towns as they were able to capture. All this 
 was merely in preparation for the great enterprise 
 before them. 
 
 While the four vessels were absent on this for- 
 aging expedition, Morgan kept his men busy careen- 
 ing, rigging, and calking their vessels, so as to be 
 ready, immediately upon the return of the foragers, 
 to put to sea. The magnitude of the enterprise 
 in which this arch -pirate was engaged may be 
 inferred from the fact that wide regions were to be 
 devastated, and several towns sacked, merely to 
 gather provisions for his army. 
 
 Hunters were sent into the woods of St. Do- 
 mingo in search of game. All cattle and swine 
 were considered fair booty, no matter to whom they 
 
300 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 might belong. Each hunting party had a certain 
 region allotted to it. Portions of the crews were 
 engaged in salting down provisions for the voyage. 
 There were many swine roving through the woods. 
 Frequently a hunting party would bring in as many 
 as twenty or thirty men could carry. The most 
 admirable discipline marked all these arrangements, 
 over which Morgan presided. 
 
 The expedition sent to the continent reached 
 its destination in six days. Fortunately for the 
 Spaniards, just as the ships arrived within sight of 
 land, they were becalmed. This gave the Spaniards 
 time to conceal their treasures and to throw up 
 intrenchments. The little fleet was at anchor just 
 off the mouth of the river De la Hacha. There was 
 in the river a large ship from Carthagena, laden 
 with corn. The vessel, with all its cargo, fell into 
 the hands of the pirates. 
 
 The next morning, just at break of day, a gentle 
 breeze sprang up, and the ships ran in toward the 
 shore. A landing of the men was effected, notwith- 
 standing a valiant resistance by a small part} of 
 Spaniards. The pirates drove their foes from 
 behind intrenchments which they had suddenly 
 reared, and pursued them toward a strongly forti- 
 fied town in the vicinity, called Rancheria, Here 
 the Spaniards rallied again, and a desperate battle 
 
A NEW EXPEDITION PLANNED. 3OI 
 
 ensued. Many fell on both sides, for the Spaniards 
 were by no means cowards. But the pirates were 
 the victors, though at a heavy loss. They drove their 
 foes into the woods, and took possession of the town. 
 Several of the Spaniards were captured. As usual, 
 they were exposed to the most diabolical tortures to 
 compel the confession of where they had concealed 
 their goods. The pirates remained here fifteen 
 days. During this time, they were actively em- 
 ployed in taking captives and collecting booty. 
 Just before their departure, they sent a number of 
 prisoners to the fugitives dispersed through the 
 woods, with the message that unless they sent, 
 within a certain number of days, four thousand 
 bushels of corn, they would destroy the town. The 
 corn was sent in. The pirates sailed, greatly en- 
 riched with booty, and with all their ships heavily 
 freighted with provisions. 
 
 They had been gone five weeks. Morgan began 
 to despair of their return. The pirates had no con- 
 fidence in each other. Morgan knew full well that 
 if they had been triumphantly successful, amassing 
 large quantities of gold and silver, they would pre- 
 fer to go to some port where they could squandei 
 all their gains in every species of sensual indul- 
 gence. He also knew that there were large towns, 
 'ike Carthagena and Santa Maria, in the region the 
 
$02 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 ships were sent to plunder. There was no little 
 danger that they might have been cut off by these 
 combined garrisons, 
 
 Great, therefore, was his joy when, from the 
 lookout, the returning ships were discerned in the 
 distance. The provisions were divided among the 
 fleet. The other booty, of precious metals, jewels, 
 and goods, was awarded to the plunderers. 
 
 Morgan personally inspected every vessel. He 
 then set sail for Cape Tiburon, at the west end of 
 Hispaniola. This was a convenient spot to lay in 
 wood and water. Here he was joined by several 
 ships, which had been refitted at Jamaica to join 
 the expedition. Morgan now found himself in com- 
 mand of a fleet of thirty-seven vessels, manned by 
 two thousand two hundred sailors. The admiral's 
 ship mounted twenty-eight guns, large and small 
 Many of the others carried twenty, eighteen, and 
 sixteen guns. The smallest vessel had four. He 
 had an abundant supply of ammunition, of fire-balls 
 hand-grenades, and pots which, upon being broken, 
 diffused an intolerable suffocating odor. 
 
 The fleet was divided into two squadrons. The 
 second squadron was placed under a vice-admiral. 
 To every captain he gave a commission to practise 
 cvety species of hostility against the Spanish nation 
 " You are to seize," he said, " their ships, wherever 
 
A NEW EXPEDITION PLANNED. 30* 
 
 you can, whether at sea or in harbor, just as if the} 
 were the open and declared enemies of the King of 
 England, Charles II., my master.' 
 
 He assembled all the captains in his cabin to 
 sign certain articles of agreement. It was stipulated 
 that Morgan should have one hundredth part of all 
 their booty. Every captain should draw the shares 
 of eight men. The surgeons were to have two hun- 
 dred dollars each, besides their regular share. The 
 loss of both legs entitled one to an addition of fifteen 
 hundred dollars ; both arms, eighteen hundred dol- 
 lars ; one hand or one foot, six hundred dollars ; an 
 eye, one hundred dollars. Whoever should first 
 pull down a Spanish flag, and raise the English in 
 its stead, was to receive fifty dollars. 
 
 For a little time, it was debated whether they 
 should attack Carthagena, Vera Cruz, or Panama. 
 The lot fell upon Panama. It was the richest of 
 the three. Though this city was situated on the 
 western or Pacific shores of the Isthmus, and though 
 it would be necessary to leave their fleet in some 
 harbor, and march for several days over an unknown 
 country, still there would be no difficulty in finding 
 guides, the Spaniards would be but poorly prepared 
 for so unexpected an attack, and the amount of 
 booty, particularly in gold and silver, would be im- 
 mense. Morgan proudly unfurled from his squadron 
 
304 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 the royal English flag. Upon the other squadron 
 he spread to the breeze the blood-red banner of 
 the pirate ; and, strange to say, upon that piratic 
 banner he placed a white cross, the emblem of the 
 religion of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, who 
 came to this lost world proclaiming " Glory to God 
 in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward 
 men/' 
 
CHAPTER XIX. 
 Capture of St. Catherine and Chagres. 
 
 The Defences at St. Catherine. — Morgan's Strategy. — The Midnight 
 Storm. — Deplorable Condition of the Pirates. — The Summons 
 to Surrender. — Disgraceful Conduct of the Spanish Commander. 
 — The Advance to Chagres. — Incidents of the Battle. — The Un- 
 expected Victory. — Measures of Morgan. 
 
 On the 16th day of December, 1670, the piratic 
 fleet weighed anchor from Cape Tiburon. They 
 first directed their course to the recapture of the 
 Island of St. Catherine upon the coast of Costa Rica. 
 This island had become a penal colony, the Botany 
 Bay, of Spain. The malefactors from all the Span- 
 ish dominions in the West Indies were transported 
 here. 
 
 Four days' sail brought the fleet within sight of 
 the island. The settlement was near the mouth of 
 one of the rivers. Morgan sent forward one of his 
 best sailing vessels to reconnoitre the defences 
 The river emptied into a large bay or harbor called 
 the Grande Aguada. Upon the shores of this har- 
 bor the town was beautifully situated, surrounded 
 by massive ami well-garrisoned forts. Several of 
 
306 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Morgan's desperadoes had been there before. With 
 his whole fleet he entered the harbor in the night- 
 time. 
 
 Guided by instinctive military ability, with his 
 usual promptness he landed one thousand men. 
 Instead of marching directly upon the batteries, a 
 corps of able engineers, with their axes, cut a new 
 path through the tangled forest to the residence of 
 the governor. Here they found a small rampart 
 which was abandoned. The Spaniards, not being 
 able to cope with so large a force as Morgan led, 
 had retired to a stronger position. The pirates pur- 
 sued. Soon they came upon a massive fort so forti- 
 fied with encircling batteries as to seem impregna- 
 ble. As soon as the pirates arrived within gun-shot 
 the Spaniards opened upon them so deadly a fire 
 from their heavy guns, that they were compelled to 
 retire beyond reach of the balls, and take a position 
 upon the grass of the open fields. 
 
 Night came. The pirates were weary and hun- 
 gry. No food had been brought from the ships. 
 It was supposed that food would be found in abun- 
 dance. But the Spaniards had destroyed all which 
 they could not remove ; and it took a very large 
 quantity to satisfy the appetites of a thousand hun- 
 gry men. Faint from hunger, they threw themselves 
 unsheltered upon the grass to sleep. 
 
CAPTURE OF CHAGRES. S°7 
 
 At midnight a tropical tempest arose. The 
 glare of the lightning and the crashing peals of 
 thunder were terrific. The windows of heaven 
 seemed to be opened, and the flood fell in sheets. 
 The sailors had left the ships with no clothing but 
 their trousers and a shirt. In one moment they 
 were drenched. And yet, hour after hour, in black- 
 est darkness, the deluge descended, smothering 
 them with its volume and flooding the fields. Not- 
 withstanding all their efforts, nearly all of their pow- 
 der was injured, and much was utterly destroyed. 
 
 In the morning, for an hour the rain ceased. They 
 lad just begun to flatter themselves that a pleasant 
 day was opening upon them, when the clouds again 
 gathered blackness, and the tempest assailed them 
 with redoubled fury. It did seem as though they 
 were exposed to the frown and the chastising blows 
 of an indignant God. They found in the fields a 
 poor old sick horse, " which was," writes Esqueme- 
 ling, who was present, " both lean and full of scabs 
 and blotches, with galled back and sides. This hor- 
 rid animal they instantly killed and skinned, and di- 
 vided into small pieces among themselves as far as 
 it would reach ; for many could not obtain one mor- 
 sel. This they roasted and devoured without either 
 salt or bread more like unto ravenous wolves than 
 onsr. " 
 
J08 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 They were at that time, Esquemeling says, in so 
 deplorable a condition that had the Spaniards fallen 
 upon them with one hundred men they might have 
 cut them all to pieces. The rain fell in such blind- 
 ing torrents that the pirates could not even retreat. 
 At noon there was another lull. Morgan, assuming 
 an air of great boldness and confidence, sent a flag 
 of truce to the governor, with the following sum- 
 mons to surrender: 
 
 " I solemnly swear unto you, that unless you im- 
 mediately deliver your works, yourself, and all your 
 men into my hands, I will put every one to the 
 sword." 
 
 The governor was appalled. A piratic fleet of 
 thirty-seven vessels of war, manned by over twc 
 thousand of the most fiend-like desperadoes earth 
 could furnish, presented a force greater than the 
 governor thought he could withstand. He sent 
 back a request that two hours' time might be 
 allowed him to deliberate with his officers, when he 
 would return a decisive answer. At the appointed 
 time he sent to Morgan the following humiliating 
 proposal : 
 
 " The governor is willing to surrender the island, 
 as he has not sufficient force to repel the English 
 fleet. But for the saving of his reputation and that 
 of his officers, he begs that Captain Morgan would 
 
CAPTURE OF CHAGRES. 309 
 
 attack him by night, with all his marine and land 
 forces. The governor will feign an attempt to es- 
 cape from one fort to another, when Captain Mor- 
 gan's troops can intercept and capture him. There 
 shall be a continued firing on both sides, but with- 
 out bullets." 
 
 To these terms, so degrading to the governor, 
 Morgan rejoicingly acceded. Thus, from apparently 
 hopeless defeat, his sagacity won a signal and blood- 
 less victory. The sham fight took place according to 
 the programme. That night there was a great and 
 ridiculous roar of all the big guns in the fort and on 
 the ships. Powder was burned freely. The white flag 
 was raised by the governor, the surrender made, and 
 the island, with all it contained, passed into the 
 hands of the pirates. 
 
 The buccaneers were half starved. Several days 
 were spent in feasting. The island was well stocked 
 with beef cattle, swine, and poultry. Recklessly they 
 were destroyed. The houses were torn down to 
 build their fires. Two thousand men, by day and 
 by night, indulged in the wildest orgies of revelry. 
 Many of the people of the settlement fled into the 
 woods. But the pirates counted four hundred and 
 fifty captives. The women, who were subject to 
 every indignity, were imprisoned in a church. 
 
 Morgan, upon inspecting the works, was aston- 
 
5IO SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 ished at their strength and at his own victory. The 
 main fort, or castle as it was called, was very strong, 
 built cf stone, and surrounded by a wide ditch 
 twenty feet deep. Heavy guns commanded the 
 port, There were other supporting batteries which 
 mounted nearly sixty guns. An immense amount 
 of ammunition, including thirty thousand pounds 
 of powder, were found in the fort. These were all 
 transferred on board the ships. The guns were 
 spiked, the gun-carriages burned, and the pirates, 
 with shouts of victory, again spread their sails. 
 
 Among the prisoners there were three despera- 
 does, notorious robbers, who professed to be familiar 
 with the route to Panama, and with all the region 
 around. Eagerly they joined in the expedition with 
 the promise of sharing in the spoil. Esquemeling, 
 speaking of the proposition made to these wretches 
 by Morgan, says : 
 
 " These propositions pleased the banditti very 
 well. They readily accepted his proffers, promising 
 to serve him very faithfully ; especially one of these 
 three, who was the greatest rogue, thief, and assassin 
 among them, and who deserved, for his crimes, to 
 be broken alive upon the wheel. This wicked fellow 
 had a great ascendency over the other two, and 
 could domineer over them as he pleased they not 
 daring to refuse obedience to his orders." 
 
CAPTURE OF CHAGRES. 311 
 
 The Isthmus of Panama was then celebrated for 
 its gold and silver mines. It was the seat of a very 
 extensive commerce, and was perhaps more strongly 
 fortified and more populous than any other of the 
 Spanish colonies. This narrow tongue of land, 
 which separates the Atlantic and Pacific oceans, is 
 about three hundred miles in length, and from thirty 
 to forty in breadth. 
 
 Chagres, on the Atlantic coast, was a very 
 strongly fortified settlement at the mouth of the 
 Chagres River. On the other side of the isthmus, on 
 the Pacific shore, was Panama, a far more important 
 place, abounding in wealth. Morgan's plan was to 
 capture Chagres ; leave his fleet in the harbor 
 there ; ascend the river in his boats as far as the 
 stream was navigable, and then to march to the 
 doomed city. With his two thousand well-armed 
 desperadoes he doubted not his ability to crush any 
 force which might be brought against him. 
 
 Morgan sent, in advance, four ships and a large 
 boat to capture Chagres. The expedition was in- 
 trusted to the vice-admiral Bradley, the same one 
 who had so successfully led the foraging party to 
 Rancheria He was a notorious buccaneer, renown- 
 ed for his exploits. Three days' sail brought his 
 squadron to Chagres Upon an eminence, com- 
 manding the entrance to the river, there was a 
 
312 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 strong fort, called Castle Lawrence. As Bradley ap- 
 proached the harbor, he unfurled at his mast-head 
 the blood-red flag of the pirate. The garrison im- 
 mediately displayed the royal banner of Spain, and 
 foolishly saluted them with a volley of shot which 
 did not reach their ships. 
 
 The buccaneers, according to their usual strata- 
 gem, instead of bringing their wooden walls up to 
 be battered by the guns of the fort, cast anchor 
 about a mile from the castle, and landing, cut a path 
 with hatchet and sabre through the tangled forest, 
 to attack the works upon their weakest side. Early 
 in the morning the landing was effected. By the 
 middle of the afternoon they had reached a hill, 
 from whose summit they could throw their shot into 
 the fort, could they but have drawn their cannon to 
 that spot. 
 
 But the marshy ground would not admit of this, 
 The garrison had brought their guns to bear upon 
 the eminence, and opened a fire before which many 
 of the pirates fell. Bradley was greatly dishearten- 
 ed. The fort proved to be of very unexpected 
 strength. It was surrounded by two high parallel 
 walls of timber, filled in with earth. Well-con- 
 structed bastions were at each corner. The works 
 were enclosed by a ditch, thirty feet deep. There 
 was but one entrance, and that was by a drawbridge 
 
CAPTURE OF CHAGRES. 313 
 
 across this ditch. The north side of the castle was 
 washed by the broad and rapid river. On the south 
 there was a precipitous inaccessible crag. Strong 
 batteries guarded the approaches to both the other 
 sides. 
 
 Even the most desperate of the pirates recoiled 
 from the idea of attempting to carry works so formi- 
 dable by assault. But Bradley could not endure the 
 thought of the scorn and rage he would encounter 
 from Morgan should he retreat without making the 
 attempt. After much perplexity and disputing it 
 was resolved to hazard the assault. They hoped 
 with hatchet and sabre to cut down the timber, and 
 then to clamber over the crumbling earth. The 
 interior of the works was all of wood. There were 
 barracks and huts, which, beneath the blaze of a 
 tropical sun, had become dry as powder. 
 
 Cautiously the buccaneers descended the hill, 
 throwing themselves upon their faces as the explo- 
 sions of the massive guns showered the balls around 
 them. Their sharpshooters threw bullets through 
 the loops of the walls, and through the embrasures, 
 to strike down the artillery-men at the guns. This 
 skirmishing was continued until night, but nothing 
 was accomplished. Many of the pirates were killed, 
 and Bradley himself had one of his legs broken by a 
 cannon-ball. The reckless men charged up to the 
 14 
 
314 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 very walls, threw over fire-balls, and hacked at the 
 timbers. 
 
 The pirates, as darkness approached, began to 
 retreat. The Spaniards shouted to them from the 
 walls : 
 
 " Come on, you English devils ; you heretics ; 
 the enemies of God and of the king. Let your com- 
 rades, who are behind, come also. We will serve 
 them as we have served you. You shall not get to 
 Panama this time." 
 
 This shout alarmed them. It revealed the fact 
 that, in some way, the Spaniards had been warned 
 of the expected attack upon Panama, and would pre- 
 pare for resistance. As a group of the pirates were 
 conferring together, in the dusk, an arrow from the 
 castle struck one of them in the shoulder. He 
 coolly drew the point from the bleeding wound, and 
 addressing his companions, said : 
 
 " Look here, my comrades, I will make this ac- 
 cursed arrow the means of the destruction of all the 
 Spaniards." 
 
 He then drew from his pocket a quantity of wild 
 cotton, which the buccaneers carried with them 
 as lint to staunch their wounds. This he wound 
 around the head of the arrow. Charging his musket 
 with powder only, he inserted the arrow and fired it 
 back into the castle. It lighted upon a roof of 
 
CAPTURE OF CHAGKES. 3*5 
 
 thatch. The powder set fire to the cotton, and the 
 cotton to the dry leaves. They roof was instantly 
 in a flame. 
 
 The Indians had aided the garrison, and their 
 arrows lay thick around. Instantly the air was 
 filled with a shower of these flaming meteors. They 
 fell upon the thatched roofs, and tongues of fire 
 flashed in all directions. One chanced to fall upon 
 a large quantity of powder, and a fearful explosion 
 followed. A terrible conflagration blazed forth. A 
 scene of shrieks, confusion, and horror ensued which 
 is indescribable. The inmates of the fort found 
 themselves in the crater of a volcano in its most 
 violent state of eruption. It was in vain to attempt 
 to extinguish the flames. No one could live in such 
 a furnace. 
 
 The night was dark, moonless and starless. The 
 bodies of the Spaniards were clearly defined against 
 the glowing background of flame. The pirates, 
 with unerring aim, shot them down. Every bullet 
 struck its target. The Spaniards, in the horrible 
 tumult, could make but little resistance. They still, 
 however, taking refuge as they could in different 
 parts of the fort, fought with impotent desperation. 
 Oexemelin relates an incident illustrative of the in- 
 domitable fury of the assailants. 
 
 One of the pirates was pierced in the eve by an 
 
3l6 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Indian arrow. In terrible agony he came to Oexeme* 
 lin to draw it out. Its barbed point had sunk deep 
 in the socket of the eye, and could only be with- 
 drawn by cruelly tearing it out. Oexemelin hesi- 
 tated ; he had not sufficient nerve to inflict such tor- 
 ture. The pirate seized it with both hands, tore it* 
 out with its mangled and bloody adhesions, bound a 
 handkerchief over the wound, and with a curse 
 rushed forward again to the assault. 
 
 The fire raged through the whole night. All 
 the wood-work was consumed. The walls of earth 
 crumbled down. The pirates, mounting upon each 
 other's shoulders, climbed the ramparts and threw 
 down hand-grenades and fire-balls, and pots of suf- 
 focating odors upon the helpless garrison. " The 
 armor had fallen piecemeal from their giant adver- 
 sary, and he now stood before them bare, wounded, 
 and defenceless." 
 
 Still, in one corner of the fort, the heroic gov- 
 ernor rallied the few survivors, twenty-five only in 
 number, resolved to fight to the bitter end. They 
 were slightly protected from a charge by a deep 
 ditch, which ran directly before them. This, how- 
 ever, afforded them no shelter from the bullets of 
 their foes. A dreadful storm of fire-balls and lead 
 fell upon them. They had no hope of victory — no 
 hope of escape even. Their only desire was to kill 
 
CAPTURE OF CHAGKES. 3 1? 
 
 as many of the pirates as they could before they 
 should die themselves. At last a shot pierced the 
 brain of the governor. The feeble remnant was 
 easily overpowered. 
 
 The garrison had consisted of three hundred and 
 fourteen men. All of these, excepting fourteen, 
 were either killed or helplessly wounded. Not a 
 single officer was left alive. The governor had pre- 
 viously dispatched a courier to Panama to alarm the 
 city. In this sanguinary conflict the pirates had lost 
 very heavily. One hundred were killed and seventy 
 grievously wounded. A large pit was dug and the 
 one hundred dead bodies of the pirates were thrown 
 in and covered up from sight and smell. The pris- 
 oners were compelled to drag the bodies of the dead 
 Spaniards to the cliff, and cast them into the sea. 
 A large amount of ammunition and provisions were 
 found in the fort. 
 
 Morgan, informed of the fall of Chagres, devas- 
 tated the Island of St. Catherine as much as possi- 
 ble, so as to render it quite indefensible. It was 
 his intention to return and recover the place, so as to 
 make it a rendezvous for his fleet in future opera- 
 tions. On the cruise to Chagres a violent storm 
 arose. His fleet was scattered, so that they were 
 detained many days at sea. But as ship after ship 
 entered the bay, and the crews beheld the English 
 
318 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 flag floating from the blackened walls of Chagres 
 Castle, the bay resounded with their cheers, and 
 with salutes from their cannon. So eager was the 
 admiral and some of the others in their heedless 
 joy, that, without waiting for a pilot, his own and 
 three other vessels were driven upon sunken rocks, 
 where they broke to pieces. The crew and cargoes 
 were saved. 
 
 Morgan immediately set to work with great 
 energy, employing all his force of engineers, carpen- 
 ters, and laborers in repairing the castle. Here he 
 stationed a garrison of picked men, storing the maga- 
 zines with provisions and ammunition, as a refuge 
 from any possible disaster at Panama. The fortunes 
 of war are proverbially inconstant. The pirate Mor- 
 gan was a very able general. His plans were gen- 
 erally well formed to meet adversity as well as pros- 
 perity. 
 
CHAPTER XX. 
 The March from Chagres to Panama. 
 
 Preparations to Ascend the River. — Crowding of the Boats. — The 
 Bivouac at Bracos. — Sufferings from Hunger. — The Pathless 
 Route. — The Boats Abandoned. — Light Canoes Employed. — 
 Abandoned Ambuscades. — Painful Marches, Day by Day. — The 
 Feast on Leathern Bags. — Murmurs and Contentions. — The 
 Indians Encountered. — Struggling through the Forest. — The 
 Conflagration at Santa Cruz. — Battle and Skirmishes. — First Sight 
 of Panama. — Descent into the Plain. — Feasting. 
 
 FROM the prisoners Morgan learned that three 
 weeks before their arrival the garrison at Chagres 
 was informed, by a message from Carthagena, that 
 the English were equipping a fleet at Hispaniola foi 
 the capture of Panama. The governor immediately 
 sent one hundred and sixty-four soldiers to strength- 
 en the garrison at Chagres, which had previously- 
 numbered but one hundred and fifty. Morgan was- 
 also informed that the governor of Panama hact 
 placed several ambuscades along the Chagres River, 
 and that a force of three thousand six hundred men* 
 was awaiting his arrival at Chagres. 
 
 These were tidings sufficient to appal any ordi- 
 nary mind. But the pirates were accustomed to 
 
320 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 triumph over vastly superior numbers. There were 
 several large Spanish boats at Chagres, adapted to 
 river navigation. All these Morgan seized. They 
 generally mounted two great iron guns and four 
 smaller ones of brass. These vessels, with those he 
 took from his ships, made a flotilla of thirty-two 
 gunboats. They were manned by twelve hundred 
 sailors. Five hundred were left behind to garrison 
 the castle. One hundred and fifty had charge of the 
 ships. 
 
 On the 1 8th of August, 1670, Morgan put his 
 fleet in motion to ascend the Chagres River on 
 his advance to Panama. His boats were greatly 
 crowded, and so heavily laden with men, ammunition, 
 and arms, that he could take but a small supply of 
 provisions. He expected to provide himself abun- 
 dantly from the supplies he should find in the Span- 
 ish ambuscades. 
 
 The first day the little fleet ascended the river 
 jbut eighteen miles, to a place called Bracos. The 
 *men on board his boats were greatly cramped in 
 itheir limbs, having but little room to move, and 
 4ione in which to lie down. They therefore found it 
 (necessary to land for the night, that they might 
 enjoy a few hours of sleep. They also hoped to rob 
 some of the neighboring plantations. Nearly all 
 their food had disappeared in this one day's sail. 
 
MARCH FROM CHAGRE3 TO PANAMA. 321 
 
 The cheer of camp-fires seems to be essential to 
 all bivouacs. The gloom of the dense tropical forest 
 was soon illumined by the flames around which 
 twelve hundred men were congregated. Most of 
 them went supperless to their mossy beds, consoled 
 only by their pipes of tobacco. In the morning they 
 ranged the country in vain for food. The planters 
 had fled, taking with them or destroying everything 
 that could be eaten. 
 
 Again they repaired to their boats. Kongry, 
 disappointed, and murmuring, they ascended the 
 river about twenty miles farther until they reached 
 a place called Juan Gallego. Here they were com- 
 pelled to leave their boats, as the river was so 
 shallow from want of rain ; it was also much im- 
 peded by decayed and fallen trees. Thus ended 
 the second day. 
 
 There was no road for an army through the 
 rough, miry, tangled maze. They were told by the 
 guides that, at the distance of two leagues, they 
 would find the country more favorable. With sabre 
 and hatchet these half-famished men hewed a nar- 
 iow path for themselves. They fed upon berries, 
 roots, and leaves. One hundred and sixty men 
 were left to guard the boats, and to feed themselves 
 as best they could by hunting or plundering, of 
 obtaining supplies from the fleet. 
 
322 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Morgan had advanced but a mile or two when 
 the gigantic growth and interlacing vines seemed to 
 render the forest impenetrable. The river also 
 deepened a little, so that some of his boats would 
 float. There was imminent danger every moment 
 that he would fall into some ambuscade. He sent 
 back for some light canoes to be brought up. This 
 was accomplished with great labor. He then em- 
 barked his men, taking a part at a time, and thus,, 
 ascending the river a few miles farther, reached a 
 place called Cedro Bueno. To accomplish this, the 
 canoes made several passages. The pirates were 
 very eager to encounter the Spaniards, as their only 
 means of obtaining any food. But the Spaniards 
 wisely left them to the hardships of their march and 
 to the pangs of starvation. 
 
 The morning of the fourth day dawned upon 
 these wretched marauders. Most of them struggled 
 along the banks of the river, led by one of their 
 guides. Others toiled against the stream, in the ca- 
 noes, being often compelled to alight in the water, 
 to cross sandbars or surmount rapids. To guard 
 against ambuscades the guides were kept a quarter 
 of a mile in advance The Spaniards had sent for- 
 ward their Indian scouts, and kept themselves in- 
 formed of every movement of the foe. About noon 
 
MARCH FROM CHAGRES TO PANAMA. 323 
 
 of this day they reached a place which from its ex- 
 treme ruggedness was called Torna Cavallos. 
 
 Here the guides came rushing back to the main 
 body with the announcement that they had discov- 
 ered an ambuscade. The half-starved men were 
 delighted. They knew that the Spaniards, on all 
 their expeditions, provided themselves luxuriously 
 with food. Examining their muskets, their priming, 
 and their sabres, that they might be prepared for a 
 resistless charge, they pressed eagerly yet cautiously 
 forward. They soon came in sight of an intrench- 
 ment, which was shaped like a half-moon. Their 
 practised eyes told them that it would protect a gar- 
 rison of about four hundred men. Twelve hundred 
 men, impelled by rage and hunger, with hideous 
 yells rushed upon it. Bitter was their disappoint- 
 ment when they found no foe there. They had 
 captured but an abandoned and crumbling rampart. 
 There were some coarsely tanned, hairy leather 
 bags scattered around. Their hunger was so great 
 that these were cut up, cooked, and eaten. We have 
 a minute account of the cookery of these unsavory 
 morsels. 
 
 First they took the leather and sliced it in 
 pieces. Then they beat the pieces between two 
 stones rubbing them and dipping them in the water, 
 to render them supple and tender. Lastly they 
 
324 SIR HENRY MORGAIM. 
 
 scraped off the hair, and roasted or broiled the pieces 
 upon the fire. Being thus cooked, they cut it into 
 very fine pieces, which " they helped down with 
 frequent gulps of water, which by good fortune they 
 had nigh at hand." 
 
 " I can assure the reader," writes Oexemelin, 
 ' that a man can live on such food, though he can 
 hardly get very fat." 
 
 Esquemeling adds, " Some who were never out 
 of their mothers' kitchens may ask how these 
 pirates could eat, swallow, and digest those pieces 
 of leather so hard and dry? Unto whom I would 
 answer that could they once experience what hun- 
 ger, or rather famine is, they would certainly find 
 the manner, as the pirates did, by their own experi- 
 ence." 
 
 On the morning of the fifth day the weary 
 march was resumed. Having had but little food, 
 save the leather bags, they were in a deplorable 
 condition. The pirates were not amiable men. 
 They staggered along, in their weakness, over the 
 rough ways, murmuring, quarrelling, and cursing each 
 other. As night approached they came to a place 
 called Barbacoa. Here they found another aban- 
 doned ambuscade. Not a particle of food was to be 
 obtained. Loud and bitter were their oaths against 
 the Spaniards. Dreadful would have been the fate 
 
MARCH FROM CHAGRES TO PANAMA. 325 
 
 of any of them who might have fallen into.theif 
 hands. Esquemeling says that they were so con- 
 sumed by hunger, that if they had caught any of the 
 Spaniards they would certainly have roasted and 
 eaten them. 
 
 Parties were sent out to explore the woods in 
 search of habitations. But none could be found. 
 The inhabitants, in all directions, had fled, carrying 
 with them their provisions. The day was spent 
 here. It was a day of dreadful suffering. Life was 
 preserved by devouring berries, roots, and leaves. 
 Several plantations were discovered, but there was 
 generally not an individual, an animal, or a kernel 
 of corn left behind. In one place they found con- 
 cealed two sacks of wheat, two jars of wine, and a 
 few plantains. These Morgan divided among those 
 who were nearest to perishing of hunger. 
 
 The sixth day they continued their march, still 
 along the banks of the Chagres River. Such as 
 could not walk were paddled along in light canoes. 
 At night they came to a plantation, which, as usual, 
 was entirely abandoned. Their supper consisted 
 mainly of leaves and grass. 
 
 The next day, at noon, they discovered a barn, 
 full of Indian corn in the husk. They fell upon it 
 and devoured it dry, with the rapacity of a herd of 
 swine. Having satiated their hunger, each man 
 
326 SIR HENRY MORGAN, 
 
 loaded himself with as much as he could cany 
 With renovated spirits, they pressed on their way. 
 After journeying along for a couple of hours, they 
 came upon a band of about two hundred Indians, 
 who fled with the utmost precipitation. They were 
 far more fleet of foot than the exhausted pirates, 
 and not one of them was shot or captured. In their 
 flight, the Indians threw back a shower of arrows, 
 which wounded several of the pirates, and killed 
 three of them. They shouted out in Spanish: 
 " Ha! ye dogs, go to the plain, go to the plain." 
 
 They now reached such a bend in the river that 
 it was necessary to cross it. They therefore bivou- 
 acked for the night. This place was called Santa 
 Cruz. 
 
 Loud murmurings filled the camp. Morgan was 
 denounced in unmeasured terms. They were in- 
 deed involved in gloom. To go back was certain 
 starvation. And destruction seemed equally to 
 threaten them in a farther advance. There were 
 some, however, who still kept up their courage, and 
 shouted, " Onward ! onward ! " 
 
 The morning of the seventh day they crossed 
 the river. As it was supposed that they must soon 
 meet the Spaniards, every man was required care- 
 fully to examine his musket and pistols, to be ready 
 for any engagement. The guides told them that 
 
MARCH FROM CHAGRES TO PANAMA. 327 
 
 they were approaching the important town of Cruz, 
 where they would find provisions and other stores 
 in abundance. This was called the halfway house 
 between Chagres and Panama, though it was sixty- 
 eight miles from the former place and but twenty- 
 four from the latter. To this point the Chagres 
 merchandise was taken in boats, when the river was 
 full, and, being landed, was conveyed to Panama on 
 the backs of mules. To give the reader some idea 
 of the style of Esquemeling's narrative, written two 
 hundred years ago,* I will quote his graphic descrip- 
 tion of what ensued : 
 
 "While yet at a considerable distance from Cruz, 
 they perceived much smoke to arise out of the chim- 
 neys. The sight thereof afforded them great joy, 
 and hopes of finding people in the town ; and after- 
 wards what they most desired was plenty of good 
 cheer. Thus they went on, with as much haste 
 as they could, making several arguments to one 
 another upon those external signs, though all like 
 castles built in the air. For said they, ' There is 
 smoke cometh out of every house. Therefore they 
 are making good fires for to roast and boil what we 
 are to eat,' with other things to this purpose. 
 
 " At length they arrived there, in great haste, 
 
 • His account was written in Dutch, but translated into Enjj 
 Ush and published in London. 
 
328 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 all sweating and panting; but found no person m 
 the town, nor any thing that was eatable, where- 
 with to refresh themselves, unless it were good fires 
 to warm themselves, which they wanted not. For 
 the Spaniards, before their departure, had every cne 
 set fire to his own house, excepting only the store- 
 houses and stables belonging to the king. 
 
 " They had not left behind them any beast what- 
 ever, either alive or dead. This occasioned much 
 confusion in their minds ; they not finding the least 
 thing to take hold of, unless it were some few cats 
 and dogs, which they immediately killed and de- 
 voured with great appetite. At last, in the king's 
 stables, they found, by good fortune, fifteen or six- 
 teen jars of Peru wine, and a leather sack full of 
 bread. But no sooner had they begun to drink of 
 the said wine, when they fell sick, almost every 
 man. 
 
 " This sudden disaster made them think that 
 the wine was poisoned, which caused a new con- 
 sternation in the whole camp, as judging themselves 
 now to be irrecoverably lost. But the true reason 
 was their huge want of sustenance in that whole 
 voyage, and the manifold sorts of trash which the> 
 had eaten upon that occasion. Their sickness was 
 so great that day as caused them to remain there 
 till the next morning, without being able to pro?* 
 
MARCH FROM CHAGRES TO PANAMA. 329 
 
 cute their journey, as they used to do, in the after- 
 noon. 
 
 " Here Captain Morgan was constrained to leave 
 his canoes and land all his men, though never so 
 weak in their bodies. But lest the canoes should be 
 surprised, or take too many men for their defence, 
 he resolved to send them all back to the place 
 where the boats were, excepting one, which he 
 caused to be hidden, to the intent it might serve to 
 carry intelligence, according to the exigency of 
 affairs. Many of the Spaniards and Indians, be- 
 longing to this village, were fled unto the planta- 
 tions thereabouts. Hereupon Captain Morgan gave 
 express orders that none should dare to go out of 
 the village except in whole companies of one hun- 
 dred together. 
 
 " The occasion hereof was his fear lest the ene- 
 mies should take an advantage upon his men by any 
 sudden assault. Notwithstanding, one party of 
 English soldiers stickled not to contravene these 
 commands, being thereunto tempted with the de- 
 sire of finding victuals. But these were soon glad 
 to fly into the town again, being assaulted with 
 great fury by some Spaniards and Indians, who 
 snatched up one of the pirates and carried him away 
 prisoner. Thus the vigilancy and care of Captain 
 
330 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 Morgan was not sufficient to prevent every accident 
 which might happen." 
 
 On the morning of the 8th, Morgan reviewed his 
 troops. He found that he had still eleven hundred 
 resolute men at his command. He selected a band 
 of two hundred of his best marksmen as an advance 
 guard. They were to watch vigilantly for ambus- 
 cades. The path they were to traverse was very 
 narrow. At many places but two could pass abreast. 
 Cautiously they proceeded for ten hours, encounter, 
 ing no sign of an enemy. 
 
 At length they reached a dark wooded gorge, 
 which the sunlight could scarcely penetrate. Appa- 
 rently no one could enter the dense thickets around, 
 of bushes, thorns, and intertwining vines, but by 
 hewing his way with the hatchet. A high mountain 
 rose before them. But nature had tunnelled it, so 
 that there was a narrow path through. This re- 
 markable place was called Quebrada Obscura. 
 
 Suddenly, from the impenetrable forest which 
 enveloped the mountain, a shower of arrows fell 
 upon them, like hailstones from the clouds. They 
 probably exaggerated the number in estimating 
 them at between three and four thousand. They 
 came rushing, as by some supernatural impulse, 
 through the leaves. No hand was seen. No sound 
 was heard. No movement was perceptible. There 
 
MARCH FROM CHAGRES TO PANAMA. 33 1 
 
 was but that one flight of arrows and no more. 
 Those who, with sinewy arms, had thrown them, in 
 some mysterious way escaped — as it were, vanished. 
 
 This singular and inexplicable assault threw the 
 aimy into great confusion. For a moment, these 
 reckless men were staggered. It seems strange that 
 but eight of the pirates were killed and ten wounded 
 by this shower of arrows. After a few moments' 
 delay, the pirates moved cautiously forward, thread- 
 ing the narrow tunnel, through which but two could 
 walk abreast, until they came out upon a very rough 
 plain on the other side, encumbered with huge rocks 
 and a growth of gigantic trees. To this vantage- 
 ground the Indians had retreated, and here they 
 seemed disposed to make a stand. 
 
 Quite a fierce battle ensued. The Indians could 
 be seen, in large numbers, dodging from rock to 
 rock, and from tree to tree. They fought with great 
 bravery. Their chief was a very handsome young 
 fellow, gorgeously dressed, and with a very brilliant 
 coronet of variegated feathers. He seemed to have 
 no fear. At length, in his zeal, he plunged head- 
 long upon the pirates, utterly regardless of numbers, 
 and endeavored to thrust his javelin through one a 
 little in the advance. The blow was parried, and he 
 was instantly shot down. 
 
 As he was seen to fall, there was a loud cry from 
 
332 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 his followers and, without discharging another shaft, 
 they all fled. The pirates impetuously pursued. 
 The fugitives could not be overtaken. A few of the 
 boldest concealed themselves behind trees and thick- 
 ets, whence they could make good their retreat, and 
 worried the pirates with a random fire, which sorely 
 wounded a few, without accomplishing any impor- 
 tant results. 
 
 The buccaneers entered soon upon a broad, tree- 
 less prairie. Here they halted to tend the wounded. 
 At some distance before them there was another 
 rocky and wooded eminence. The Indians, who 
 seemed to be swarming there, were evidently pre- 
 paring for another battle. A party of fifty men was 
 sent, by a circuitous route, to attack them in the 
 rear. Their watchful eyes detected the movement. 
 With nimble feet, they fled, shouting to their assail- 
 ants, "To the plain, to the plain, you English dogs." 
 
 The pirates rightly interpreted these words to 
 mean that on the plain before Panama a large body 
 of Spaniards was assembled, and that there the 
 great struggle was to take place. Many Spaniards 
 were with the Indians. At this point, which was 
 but a few miles from Panama, they disappeared. 
 The next night there came one of those flooding 
 rains with which tropical lands were so often del- 
 uged. The pirates in vain sought shelter from the 
 
MARCH FROM CHAGRES TC PANAMA. 333 
 
 drenching storm. There was the blackness of dark- 
 ness, with thunderings and lightnings, and the howl- 
 ings of the tornado. There were many plantations 
 on the route where houses and huts had been 
 reared. But the Indians had applied the torch. 
 Every building was in ashes. The cattle were 
 driven away. All provisions were removed or con- 
 sumed. These wretched men, on their fiend-like 
 mission, were still starving. 
 
 The next morning, which was the ninth of their 
 journey, the rain ceased. Heavy clouds floated 
 through the sky, darkening the sun, and thus 
 enabling them to march sheltered from its scorch- 
 ing rays. A well-mounted troop of twenty Spa- 
 niards appeared at some distance in the advance, 
 watching all the movements of the invaders. During 
 the day they came to quite a high mountain, which 
 it was necessary to cross. From its summit they 
 first caught sight of the Pacific Ocean, and of the 
 Bay of Panama, upon whose shores the city of the 
 same name was situated. In the bay there was a 
 large Spanish ship riding at anchor. Six boats 
 were under sail, directing their course toward the 
 islands of Tavoga and Tavogilla, which were about 
 eighteen miles distant. 
 
 At this sight the pirates raised shouts of joy 
 Never doubting their own prowess, they considered 
 
334 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 their toils as ended, and the city, with all its treas- 
 ures, as already in their possession. At the foot of 
 the mountain there was a large grassy plain, over 
 which thousands of cattle were grazing, cows, horses, 
 bulls, mules, and donkeys. With a rush, the piratic 
 gangs descended the mountain, and, with the vora- 
 city of famished wolves, fell upon the cattle. 
 
 " One shot a horse. Another felled a cow. But 
 the greater part slaughtered the mules, which were 
 most numerous. Some kindled fires ; others col- 
 lected 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 off lumps of flesh, carbonaded 
 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 middie 
 of their bodies.' " * 
 
 * Monarchs of the Main, voL ii. p. 114. 
 
CHAPTER XXI. 
 
 The Capture of Panama. 
 
 First Sight of the City. — The Spanish Scouts Appear. — Morgan's 
 Advance. — Character of the Country. — Fears of the Spaniards. — 
 Removal of Treasure. — Capture of the City. — The Poisoned 
 Wine. — Magnificent Scenery of the Bay. — Description of Panama 
 and its Surroundings. — Wealth of the City. — Scenes of Crime 
 and Cruelty. 
 
 MORGAN was an extrordinary man. Fear never 
 appalled him. He was never discouraged by disas- 
 ters. Passion was never allowed to throw him off 
 his guard. He shared, in full, all the hardships of 
 his demoniac crew. Though hungry and weary him- 
 self, and sympathizing with his starving men in their 
 sufferings, he did not in the least degree remit his 
 watchfulness or lose his self-control. 
 
 Perceiving the danger that his men, in their 
 famished condition, indulging in such reckless glut- 
 tony might induce sickness which would incapa- 
 citate them for battle, he ordered a false alarm to be 
 sounded. Instantly every man seized his musket 
 and ran to his appointed place in the ranks. Mor- 
 gan had taken the precaution, before descending 
 
33C SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 the mountain, to order every musket to be dis» 
 charged and loaded afresh, from fear that the 
 powder might have become damp. 
 
 There were several miles yet to be traversed 
 over plains and tnrough forests, before the pirates 
 could enter the streets of the city, which they had 
 discerned in the distance. Cautiously they con- 
 tinued their march until the approach of evenuig> 
 when they ascended an eminence which commanded 
 a perfect view of the city, with its steeples, houses, 
 and streets all aglow with the rays of the setting 
 sun. Here the shouts of exultation were renewed. 
 The pirates, strengthened by their feast, danced for 
 joy, beating their drums, sounding their trumpets, 
 firing off their muskets, and exulting as in the hour 
 of perfect victory. Here they encamped for the 
 night, waiting impatiently for the morning, which 
 would usher in the decisive battle. 
 
 In the evening two hundred mounted Spaniards 
 rode out from the city, dashed along until they 
 came within hailing distance of the pirates, and 
 shouted out to them words which could not be un- 
 derstood. Morgan established double sentinels, and 
 all his men slept upon their arms. 
 
 At daybreak on the tenth day the Spaniards, 
 from their walls, sounded with bugle-peal and drum- 
 beat a challenge to their foes. The pirates were 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PANAMA. 337 
 
 equally eager for the fight. Rapidly they advanced 
 into the plain. The Spaniards, on horseback and 
 on foot, crowded out to meet them. In glittering 
 battalions they were drawn up upon the plain, out- 
 numbering the pirates three to one. There were 
 two squadrons of cavalry, four regiments of foot, 
 and, most singular to relate, " a huge number of wild 
 bulls, roaring and tossing their horns, driven by 
 a great number of Indians and a few mounted 
 matadores." 
 
 It is recorded that the pirates were surprised and 
 alarmed in view of the force thus to be encountered. 
 Many of them wished they were at home. No 
 quarter was to be expected. There was no hope 
 for them but in fighting with the utmost desperation 
 All were conscious of this. They therefore bound 
 themselves, by the most solemn oaths, to conquer or 
 to spend the last drop of their blood. 
 
 Morgan formed his men into three battalions, 
 after selecting a band of two hundred sharp- 
 shooters to skirmish in the advance. Many of the 
 Spaniards were armed in glittering coats of mail. 
 Their silken banners, richly embroidered, presented 
 a beautiful appearance as they fluttered in the rays 
 of the morning sun. The Spaniards sent forward a 
 squadron of horse. As they came galloping over 
 the plain, Morgan's skirmishers fell upon one knee. 
 *5 
 
338 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 in the tall grass, and opened upon them a very 
 destructive fire. Several riders dropped from their 
 horses. Several horses, struck by the bullets, and 
 appalled by the sudden explosion of two hundred 
 guns, became uncontrollable, and rushed wildly over 
 the plain in all directions. 
 
 " The bulls," writes Thombury, " proved as fatal 
 to those who employed them as the elephants 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 companies, and trampled 
 the red colors under foot ; but these were soon shot 
 by the old hunters. A few fled to the savanna, 
 and the rest tore back and carried havoc through 
 the Spanish ranks." 
 
 The plain was rough with ravines and quagmires, 
 so that the cavalry could not operate to advantage. 
 The desperate pirates were all reckless in their 
 courage, and nearly all unerring in their aim. The 
 Spaniards were also men of war and blood, who had 
 been guilty of the greatest atrocities as they had 
 cut down and robbed the native tribes. They 
 fought with ferocity equal to that of the pirates. 
 In this battle it was, in reality, fiend against fiend 
 The Spaniards were as bad as the pirates. 
 
 For two hours the battle raged with intensest 
 fury. There was neither tree, stump, nor rock to* 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PANAMA. 339 
 
 •protect either party from the bullets which with 
 deadly velocity swept the plain. Or. the one side 
 there were eleven hundred pirates. Esquemeling 
 estimated the force of the Spaniards at four hundred 
 cavalry and two thousand four hundred infantry. 
 There were also one or two hundred Indians and 
 negroes to drive the wild bulls through the English 
 camp, hoping thus to break their lines and throw 
 them into confusion. The Spaniards had also dug 
 trenches and raised batteries to arrest the advance 
 of their foes. 
 
 Morgan, as usual, ordered his men to approach 
 the city by a circuitous route, so as to avoid the 
 batteries. In preparation for this movement he 
 ordered a review of the troops. He concealed from 
 his troops the number of pirates who had fallen, but 
 announced, probably with some exaggeration, that 
 six hundred of the Spaniards lay dead upon the 
 field. 
 
 It would seem that the Spaniards had not been 
 very sanguine as to the result of the battle ; for they 
 had shipped to the Island of Tavoga much of their 
 portable wealth and all of their women. In the 
 battle thus far, the Spaniards had been so decidedly 
 beaten that they had abandoned the field, and 
 horse and foot had taken a new stand behind the 
 ramparts. Many prisoners had been taken, includ- 
 
34© SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 ing quite a number of Catholic priests. Morgan, noi 
 wishing to be encumbered with prisoners, ordered 
 them all to be pistolled. The pirates had lost 
 heavily, but their loss exasperated instead of dis- 
 heartening them. 
 
 Esquemeling writes: "The pirates were nothing 
 discouraged, seeing their numbers so much dimin- 
 ished, but rather filled with greater pride than 
 before, perceiving what huge advantage they had 
 obtained against their enemies. Thus, having 
 rested themselves some while, they prepared to 
 march courageously towards the city, plighting their 
 oaths to one another that they would fight till never 
 a man were left alive. With this courage they recom- 
 menced their march either to conquer or to be con- 
 quered. 
 
 " They found much difficulty in their approach 
 unto the city. For within the town the Spaniards 
 had placed many great guns at several quarters 
 thereof, some of which were charged with small 
 pieces of iron and others with musket bullets. 
 With all these they saluted the pirates at their 
 drawing nigh unto the place, and gave them full 
 and frequent broadsides, firing at them incessantly. 
 From whence it happened that they lost, at every 
 step they advanced, great numbers of men. 
 
 " But neither these manifest dangers of their 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PANAMA. 34I 
 
 lives, nor the sight of so many of their own drop- 
 ping down continually at their sides, could detei 
 them from advancing farther and gaining ground 
 every moment upon the enemy. Thus, although the 
 Spaniards never ceased to fire, and act the best they 
 could for their defence, yet, notwithstanding, they 
 were forced to deliver the city after the space of 
 three hours' combat. And the pirates, having now 
 possessed themselves thereof, both killed and de- 
 stroyed as many as attempted to make the least 
 opposition against them. 
 
 " The inhabitants had caused the best of their 
 goods to be transported unto more remote and 
 occult places. Howbeit, they found within the 
 city, as yet, several warehouses well stocked with 
 all sorts of merchandise, as well silks and cloths as 
 linen and other things of considerable value. As 
 soon as the first fury of their entrance into the city 
 was over, Captain Morgan assembled all his men, at 
 a certain place which he assigned, and there com- 
 manded them, under very great penalties, that none 
 of them should dare to drink or taste any wine 
 
 " The reason he gave for this injunction was 
 because he had received private intelligence that it 
 had been all poisoned by the Spaniards. Howbeit it 
 was the opinion of many that he gave those prudent 
 orders to prevent the debauchery of his people, whicn 
 
342 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 he foresaw would be very great at the beginning; 
 after so much hunger sustained by the way ; fear- 
 ing withal lest the Spaniards, seeing them in wine r 
 should rally their forces, and use them as inhumanly 
 as they had used the inhabitants before." 
 
 Morgan was now master of Panama. The city, 
 with nearly all of its wealth, had fallen into his 
 hands. And still the vanquished Spaniards could 
 rally a force greatly outnumbering his own. The 
 Bay of Panama is one of peculiar beauty. At that 
 time its shores were fringed with luxuriant groves of 
 oranges, figs, and limes. The feathery tops of the 
 cocoanut trees towered over all the rest, rivalled 
 only by the lofty tamarinds. Through the rich foli- 
 age there peeped, in much picturesque beauty, nu- 
 merous cane-built huts. Indian children, entirely 
 unclothed, were running about upon the beach, 
 while birch canoes, light as bubbles, were skimming 
 the placid waves. 
 
 The islands of Tavoga and Tavogilla appeared 
 in the distance as masses of foliage. The mines of 
 Mexico and Peru had emptied their floods of wealth 
 into that port. M iny of the mansions were archi- 
 tecturally magnificent. They were adorned with the 
 richest paintings and with the most costly furniture. 
 The Spanish grandees had hung upon their walls 
 the masterpieces of Titian, Murillo, and Velasquez. 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PANAMA. 343 
 
 The streets of the city were broad, an unusual cir. 
 cumstance in Spanish cities, and were lined with the 
 most beautiful and ever-flowering of tropical trees. 
 
 Within the walls of the city there was a cathe- 
 dral of imposing magnitude and towering splendor. 
 There were also eight monasteries, massive buildings, 
 occupied by the religious orders, and abundantly 
 supplied with works of art. The broad avenues 
 were lined with two thousand mansions of the 
 wealthy ; and five thousand smaller houses and shops 
 crowded the more busy streets. The most imposing 
 block in the city was what was called the Genoese 
 Warehouses. These belonged to a company who 
 had enriched themselves by the slave trade. An 
 immense number of horses and mules were used in 
 transporting goods across the isthmus, from one 
 ocean to the other. These were kept in long rows 
 of stables admirably arranged. The products of the 
 mines of gold and silver were melted down into solid 
 bars called plate or bullion, and in that form were 
 sent to the Old World. The city was surrounded 
 with rich plantations and highly artistic gardens. 
 
 " Panama was the city to which all the treasures 
 of Peru 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 
 
344 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 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 im- 
 ported from the coast of Guinea to toil and die in 
 the Peruvian mines. 
 
 " So wealthy was this golden city that more thai; 
 two thousand 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 
 Spanish West Indies. The governor of Panama 
 was the suzerain of Porto Bello, Nata, Cruz, and Ve- 
 ragua. The bishop of Panama was primate of the 
 Terra Firma and the suffragan to the archbishop of 
 Peru. The district of Panama was the most healthy 
 of all the Spanish colonies, rich in mines, and so well 
 wooded that its ship-timber covered with vessels 
 both the northern and the southern seas. Its land 
 yielded full crops, and its broad savannas pastured 
 innumerable herds of wild cattle." * 
 
 Such was the city and province which had fallen 
 into the hands of this gang of pirates. They found 
 the booty, notwithstanding all the Spaniards had 
 removed, rich beyond their most sanguine expecta 
 tions. The stores were still crowded with goods of 
 great value. Wine, spices, olive oil, silks and cloths 
 
 * Monarchs of the Main, vol. ii. p. 159, 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PANAMA. 345 
 
 of every variety of fabric were found in great abund- 
 ance. The magazines were amply supplied with 
 corn and other provisions. 
 
 Morgan himself was surprised at the grandeur of 
 his capture. He was also alarmed in view of his 
 own peril. The force which could still be arrayed 
 against him was far greater than he had anticipated. 
 He was in imminent danger of being cut off from 
 his return to the ships. There were several Span- 
 ish vessels aground in the port. Morgan seized 
 them. With the high tide they were floated. He 
 manned them with the most desperate of his gang 
 and sent them to the islands, and to pursue the ves- 
 sels which had escaped with treasure along the coast. 
 
 There was one royal Spanish mercantile vessel, 
 in particular, of four hundred tons, which had es- 
 caped, laden with church plate and jewels, and the 
 richest merchandise. It had put to sea in the 
 greatest haste, with but seven guns and but about a 
 dozen muskets. It was poorly supplied with food 
 and water, and had only the uppermost sails of the 
 mainmast to spread. All the females of the nun- 
 nery were on board this ship, with the most valuable 
 ornaments of the church. 
 
 Morgan was anxious to make an immediate pur- 
 suit of this vessel. Had he done so the vessel would 
 easily have been captured. But for a time he lost 
 T 5 * 
 
346 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 the control of his demoniac crew. Inflamed with 
 wine — for Morgan's prohibition had no effect — and 
 rushing into the most pitiless debauchery, they 
 spent many hours in scenes which neither Sodom 
 nor Gomorrah could ever have outrivalled. Thus 
 the ship escaped. It is said that it contained gold 
 and silver of greater value than all the treasures 
 found in Panama. 
 
 Morgan probably foresaw that unless he could 
 destroy these liquors, with which the city was filled, 
 his men would become entirely disorganized, and 
 the Spaniards, falling upon the drunken rabble, 
 would easily cut them to pieces. He could not de- 
 stroy liquors before the eyes of the pirates, for they 
 would not permit it. 
 
 He set fire to the city in various quarters, care- 
 fully spreading the report that the conflagration was 
 kindled by the Spaniards themselves. The fire 
 spread with such rapidity that, in a few hours, 
 nearly all of the business portion was laid in ashes. 
 Most of the humbler buildings were of wood, with 
 thatched roofs. They burned like tinder. Two hun- 
 dred stores, with all their contents, were destroyed. 
 The Genoese Warehouses were burned. There were 
 many poor slaves imprisoned in them. They were 
 cor.sumed by the all-devouring flames. 
 
 This energetic commander, as pitiless as any 
 
THE CAPTURE OF PANAMA. 347 
 
 beast which ever howled in the jungle, had accom- 
 plished his purpose. His troops were driven out of 
 the flaming streets into the fields, and there they 
 were compelled to encamp. These wretched men, 
 satiated with gluttony, drunkenness, and debauchery, 
 began now to awake, with new eagerness, to their 
 old passion for plunder. 
 
 Four vessels were dispatched to visit the islands 
 and to cruise along the coast in both directions. 
 One hundred and sixty men were sent back to 
 Chagres to convey supplies to the troops in garrison 
 there, and to inform them of the great victory. 
 Daily companies of two hundred men, one party re- 
 lieving another, were sent out to explore the region 
 around. They returned every night with a group 
 of pale and trembling prisoners, and with mules 
 laden with treasure. These unhappy captives were 
 tortured to compel them to reveal where treasure, 
 of which they knew nothing, was concealed. The 
 father, the mother, the maiden daughter, and the 
 child were alike stretched on the bed of torture, 
 Neither innocence, beauty, nor virtue afforded the 
 female captive any protection. 
 
 A pauper Spaniard, not much more than half- 
 witted, wandered, during the confusion, into a rich 
 man's house, stripped off his rags, and clothed him. 
 self in costly linen with breeches of bright red taf« 
 
348 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 feta and a coat of silk velvet. As he was foolishly 
 strutting about admiring his finery, the pirates broke 
 in, and seized him as their prize. They believed, or 
 assumed tc believe, that he was the master of the 
 house, and demanded that he should inform them 
 where he had concealed his treasure. 
 
 In vain he pointed to his rags and proterted, by 
 all the saints, that he had lived upon charity. There 
 was nothing he could reveal. These cruel men 
 stretched him on the rack. They dislocated his 
 joints. They twisted a cord around his forehead, 
 " till his eyes appeared as big as eggs, and were 
 ready to fall out." They hung him up by the 
 thumbs and scourged him. They cut off his nose 
 and ears and singed his face with blazing straw. 
 Then with the thrusts of their lances they put him 
 to death. 
 
 " After this execrable manner," writes Esqueme- 
 ling, " did many others of these miserable prisoners 
 finish their days ; the common sport and recreation 
 of these pirates being these, and other tragedies 
 not inferior to these." 
 
CHAPTER XXII. 
 
 The Return from Panama 
 
 Return of the Explorers. — The Beautiful Captive. — Sympathy in hei 
 behalf. — Embarrassments of Morgan. — Inflexible Virtue of the 
 Captive. — The Conspiracy. — Efficiency of Morgan. — His Obdu- 
 racy. — The Search of the Pirates. — The Return March. — Morgan 
 Cheats the Pirates. — Runs Away. 
 
 The vessels which Morgan sent out to the islands, 
 and to cruise along the shore, all returned within 
 about eight days. They came laden with merchan- 
 dise and with captives. The fate of the female cap- 
 tives was dreadful. In this treatment none of the 
 men were worse than Morgan himself. In one of the 
 shiploads of captives there was a Spanish lady of 
 exquisite beauty. She was quite young, and the 
 wife of a wealthy merchant, then absent in Peru. 
 She is described by both Esquemeling and Oexeme- 
 lin as a lady endowed with such loveliness as is 
 rarely seen upon earth. Esquemeling writes : 
 
 " Her years were few, and her beauty so great as, 
 peradventure, I may doubt whether, in all Christen- 
 dom any could be found to surpass her perfections, 
 either of comeliness or honesty." 
 
350 SIR liEJMKV MORGAN. 
 
 Oexemelin gives a more detailed acount of hef 
 chnrms. He says that her hair was in glossy, silken 
 ringlets of jet black. Though a brunette, her com- 
 plexion was of dazzling purity. Her large, lustrous 
 black eyes beamed with a peculiar expression of ten- 
 derness, which won the admiration of all who be- 
 held her. The roughest pirates were subdued and 
 softened by her presence. To them she presented 
 almost the image of the Virgin Mary, and they re- 
 garded her charms as angelic. 
 
 The moment Morgan cast his eyes upon her he 
 was overawed and captivated by her beauty, and 
 was inspired with the most intense desire to win her 
 love. Others had been his slaves, subject to his bru- 
 tal will. But this lady, with her beauty, her grace, 
 her accomplishments, her virtue, so far vanquished 
 him, that he could not approach her but as a suppli- 
 ant for her favor. 
 
 Love, the essence of the deity, is, under some cir- 
 cumstances, in its legitimate bearing, the most puri- 
 fying of influences. Under other circumstances it is 
 the most debasing and brutalizing of passions. It 
 was observed that the demeanor of Morgan became 
 quite changed. He became more social more gen- 
 tle, and was particularly attentive to his diess, cloth- 
 ing himself in his richest attire. He ordered his 
 beautiful captive to be separated from the other 
 
THE RETURN FROM PANAMA. 35 1 
 
 prisoners, appointed a negress to wait upon her, sent 
 her delicate viands from his own table, and treated 
 her, in all respects, with the greatest consideration 
 The negress was instructed to do everything in her 
 power to convince the captive lady that her captor 
 was not a beast and a heretic, as she had been 
 taught to believe, but a gentleman, and a Christian, 
 a man of polished manners and cultivated mind. 
 Esquemeling writes : 
 
 " This lady had formerly heard strange reports 
 concerning the pirates, before their arrival at Pana- 
 ma, as if they were not men, but heretics, who did 
 neither invoke the blessed Trinity, nor believe in 
 Jesus Christ. But now she began to have better 
 thoughts of them than ever before, having experi- 
 enced the manifold civilities of Captain Morgan ; 
 especially as she heard him many times swear by 
 the name of God and of Jesus Christ, in whom she 
 had been persuaded that they did not believe. 
 
 " Neither did she now think them to be so bad, 
 or to have the shapes of beasts, as she had often 
 heard. For as to the names of robbers or thieves, 
 which was commonly given them, she wondered not 
 much at it, seeing, as she said, that among all nations 
 there were to be found some wicked men who natu- 
 rally coveted to possess the goods of others." 
 
 Morgan visited the lady with smiles and bows 
 
352 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 and costly presents. He flooded her chamber with 
 robes, jewels, and perfumes. She was not deceived. 
 And when he ventured to propose that she should 
 abandon her husband, and become virtually his wife, 
 and accompany him to the home of splendor with 
 which he would provide her, she repelled him with 
 indignation and loathing. Replying to him with all 
 the eloquence of impassioned innocence, she said : 
 
 " Sir, my life is in your hands. But sooner shall 
 my soul be separated from my body than I will sur- 
 render myself to your demands." 
 
 This repulse stirred up the rage of the infamous 
 pirate. He stripped her of her rich attire, left hei 
 only the coarsest garments, and threw her into a 
 dark and loathsome dungeon. She was supplied 
 with only enough food to support life. By these 
 brutalities he hoped to break her spirit, and to com- 
 pel her to acquiesce in his wishes. 
 
 Even demons can appreciate true nobility of 
 character. The beauty and virtues of this lady had 
 won, in some degree, the sympathy of the vilest of 
 these wretches. Morgan could not conceal his treat- 
 ment from them. They began to murmur, to de- 
 nounce him, to curse him as a brute. 
 
 " I myself," says Esquemeling, " was an eye-wit- 
 ness of the lady's sufferings, and could never have 
 believed that such constancy and virtue could have 
 
THE RETURN FROM PANAMA. 353 
 
 been found in the world, had I not been assured 
 thereof by my own eyes and ears." 
 
 Morgan became alarmed by the threatening 
 aspect assumed by his men. Various causes had 
 been for some time undermining his authority. He 
 knew full well that there was not one of these des- 
 peradoes who would hesitate, for one moment, to 
 thrust a poniard into his heart, or to pierce his brain 
 with a bullet. These pirates were all consummate 
 villains. There was no sense of honor among them. 
 There was no crime from which they would shrink 
 did they deem it for their interest to commit it. 
 Even their sympathy for the beautiful captive lady 
 resolved itself mainly into jealousy of the captain. 
 Had they seized her unprotected in the halls of a 
 nunnery, she would have experienced no mercy 
 whatever at their hands. 
 
 The pirates, flushed with their great victory, and 
 the vast amount of wealth, of every kind, at their 
 disposal, had formed a conspiracy, in which more 
 than a hundred were implicated. Their plan was to 
 get rid of Morgan, then to seize one of the islands 
 in the neighborhood as their rendezvous, and to 
 make it their stronghold. With the vessels they 
 already had, and the ships they would soon capture, 
 they would have an invincible fleet. Then they 
 would sweep the Pacific Ocean, and ravage all the 
 
354 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 coasts of Chili and Peru. After they had acquired 
 sufficient plunder to make them all millionnaires, they 
 would return to Europe, by the way of the East In- 
 dies, picking up ships by the way, and would thon 
 disperse to seek new homes and iiot in luxury for 
 the remainder of their days. 
 
 In preparation for this movement they had se- 
 creted several of the large guns of the town and an 
 ample store of ammunition. But Morgan was equal 
 to this emergency. One of the conspirators betrayed 
 the rest. The first intimation the conspirators had 
 that their design was discovered was in seeing every 
 vessel and boat in the harbor in flames. Every piece 
 of artillery in the place was spiked. Thus they were 
 entirely frustrated in their plan. Orders were then 
 given to pack the mules with treasure, and to make 
 immediate preparation to return to Chagres. 
 
 The plunder of Panama had not yet been divided. 
 Though every pirate had taken the most solemn 
 oath that all the booty should be thrown into com- 
 mon stock, and that he would not secrete anything, 
 nc one had any confidence in the oath of another. 
 Morgan ordered every man to be searched, from the 
 crown of his head to the soles of his shoes. Though 
 Morgan himself submitted to be first searched, they 
 were all exasperated by this. Every man was com- 
 
THE RETURN FROM PANAMA. 355 
 
 pelled to discharge his musket to prove that no 
 jewels were hidden in its barrel. 
 
 The French portion of the pirates weie espe- 
 cially enraged against Morgan. Many oaths were 
 uttered that they would put him to death before 
 they reached Jamaica. In a few days all the treas- 
 ure was packed in convenient bales, and placed upon 
 the backs of the mules. The church plate was 
 beaten into shapeless lumps for more convenient 
 stowage. The treasure which could not be removed 
 they wantonly destroyed. One hundred and fifty 
 men were sent to Chagres to bring the boats as far 
 up the river as the stream was navigable. He in- 
 formed the prisoners that he should take all, as slaves, 
 to Jamaica, who did not, through their friends, obtain 
 an ample ransom. 
 
 For the ransom of his beautiful captive, from 
 whom he now rather desired to be relieved, he de- 
 manded thirty thousand dollars. Two of the ecclesi- 
 astics were permitted to go to her friends to obtain 
 this money. It was immediately furnished them. 
 They returned with it, and treacherously, instead of 
 ransoming her, employed the money for the ransom 
 of their own particular friends. 
 
 This treachery was known throughout the army. 
 Even the pirates denounced it. The murmurs in 
 the camp were so loud, that Morgan was com- 
 
356 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 pelled to heed them, and he gave the lady hef 
 liberty. 
 
 On the morning of the 24th of February. 1671, 
 these robbers set out on their return to Chr.gres. 
 Many of the captive women implored Captain Mor- 
 gan, upon their knees, with loud lamentations, tG 
 permit them to remain with their husbands and 
 their children. Unfeelingly he replied : 
 
 " I did not come here to listen to the cries of 
 women, but to obtain money. Bring me money, and 
 you shall be released. If you do not, you ;,ha]l sure- 
 ly go to Jamaica." 
 
 " When the march began," writes Esquemeling, 
 ' those lamentable cries and shrieks were renewed, in- 
 somuch that it would have caused compassion in the 
 hardest heart to hear them. But Cap! lin Morgan, 
 as a man little given to mercy, was not moved there- 
 with in the least." 
 
 The line of march was as before. First there 
 were scouts a quarter of a mile in advance of the 
 troops. Then followed the advance guard in great 
 strength. The prisoners came next, with the heav- 
 ily laden mules. The remainder of the pirates 
 formed the rear guard, They goaded forward the 
 fainting, tottering, despairing captives with push of 
 javelin and prick of sabre. 
 
 When they reached the blackened ruins of the 
 
THE RETURN FROM PANAMA- 357 
 
 town of Cruz, which was at the head of boat naviga. 
 tion, the mules were unloaded, and their burdens 
 were placed in the canoes. There was a necessary 
 delay here of several days, and quite a number of 
 the prisoners, who had written agonizing letters to 
 their friends, received their money and paid their 
 ransom. Morgan still had with him many woe- 
 stricken Spaniards, and one hundred and fifty negro 
 slaves. These last he deemed cash articles, for they 
 would bring the money in any of the ports of the 
 West Indies. 
 
 From Cruz the pirates advanced in two parties, 
 one in the boats, and another on the land. Chagres 
 was reached without any event occurring of special 
 importance. Immediately after his arrival, Morgan, 
 with his characteristic energy, sent some of his pris- 
 oners to the important town of Puerto Velo, fre- 
 quently called Puerto Bello, with the announcement 
 that if the citizens did not forthwith send him a large 
 ransom, he would utterly demolish the castle and 
 lay all the works there in ruins. As Chagres was 
 the all-important port of entry for the whole province, 
 he thought that this threat would bring the money. 
 They, however, paid no heed to it. 
 
 The booty was now divided. The pirates were 
 bitterly disappointed in finding that the whole esti- 
 mated value amounted to but about two million 
 
358 SIR HENRY MORGAN. 
 
 dollars. Probably ten times that sum, which they 
 could not remo\?e, had been destroyed in their rapa- 
 city. Every man had expected at least ten thousand 
 dollars When they found that but one thousand 
 was their share they were greatly enraged. This 
 I ittance was scarcely sufficient for the carouse of a 
 single week. 
 
 Loud and threatening murmurs rose from nearly 
 all lips. They accused Morgan of cheating them. 
 The consummate knave with great adroitness had 
 done so. Many of his men had conspired against 
 him. With far greater ability he was now conspir 
 ing against them. He had taken a few into his con- 
 fidence to share the spoil which they were to steaj 
 from the rest. The common sailors had no idea of 
 the value of diamonds and other precious stones. 
 His partisans bought them up at not one hundreth 
 part of their real value. Massive bars of gold were 
 easily concealed. 
 
 Morgan endeavored to engross the attention of 
 his men in plundering, burning, and destroying 
 Chagres. While apparently his whole force, in 
 the delirium of intoxication, were engaged in this 
 work, Morgan and his accomplices repaired on 
 board the ships, quietly in the night weighed anchor, 
 and taking advantage of a fair wind, before the morn- 
 ing were out of sight with all their treasure. Then 
 
THE RETURN FROM PANAMA. 359 
 
 dupes, consisting of nearly one-half of the piratic 
 crew, were left on the shore amid the ruins, without 
 food, without a boat, without shelter, in utter desti- 
 tution. What ultimately became of them is not 
 known. Probably some starved ; some were shot by 
 the Spaniards ; some were :aught and hung. " Ven- 
 geance is mine ; I will repay, saith the Lord." 
 
 We have no more details respecting the final 
 career of this very able, sagacious, and infamous man. 
 We simply know that he reached Jamaica in posses- 
 sion of an immense fortune. There he was honored 
 as one of the great men of his age. Charles [I.. King 
 of England, whose accomplice he is said to have 
 been in his piracies, rewarded him for his achieve- 
 ments, appointed him governor of the island, and 
 conferred upon him the honors of a baronetcy. We 
 know not when he died. But we do know that, how- 
 ever Sir Henry Morgan may have escaped the pen- 
 alty of his sins in this world, he has long ago appeared 
 before the tribunal of that God " who will render to 
 every man according to his c'eeds." 
 
CHAPTER XXIII. 
 
 Montbar the Fanatic. 
 
 Partial Solution of a Mystery. — Montbar's Birth. — His Education and 
 Delusions. — Anecdote of the Dramatic Performance. — Montbai 
 Runs Away from Home. — Enters the Navy. — His Ferocious Ex- 
 ploits. — Joins the Buccaneers. — Desperate Battles on the Land 
 and on the Sea. — His Final Disappearance. 
 
 In reading the narrative of the cruelties practised 
 by the pirates upon the Spaniards, the mind is often 
 oppressed with the thought that a God of infinite 
 love and power should have allowed such scenes to 
 have been enacted. There is nothing conceivable, 
 in intense and protracted torture, which was not 
 inflicted upon men, women, and children. There is 
 no satisfactory explanation of this great mystery of 
 earth. Still there are considerations which may 
 perhaps point in the direction of a solution. 
 
 The pirates seem to have been permitted to 
 revenge upon the Spaniards the awful sufferings 
 which they had inflicted upon the Indians. The 
 Spanish armies of Cortez and Pizarro ravaged the 
 homes of the innocent native inhabitants of those 
 countries with ferocity and cruelty which Satan and 
 
MONTBAR THE FANATIC. 361 
 
 his legions could not possibly have surpassed. The 
 Spaniards had thrown the Indian into the flames 
 of the most awful misery. And then God allowed 
 the pirate to throw the Spaniard into the same 
 flames. 
 
 There was a celebrated pirate by the name of 
 Montbar, who seemed to have been inspired with 
 fanatical frenzy approaching maniacal fury against 
 the whole Spanish nation. He was the child of one 
 of the most opulent and respected families in Lan- 
 guedoc, in France. He had received all the advan- 
 tages of education which wealth could aiford. In 
 the process of this education he had read the account 
 of the atrocities practised by the Spaniards in their 
 conquest of the islands and the continents of the 
 New World. 
 
 The blood of this ardent young man seemed to 
 boil in his veins, while pondering these fiend-like 
 crimes. As a child he brooded over these tortures 
 until he became almost insane. Soon he devoted 
 himself to all martial exercises, that he might avenge 
 the wrongs of the Indians. This generous but 
 crusl determination grew rapidly into monomania. 
 The animal forces of a mind of unusual energy were 
 all concentrated in this direction. Revenge for the 
 wrongs practised upon the Cubans, the Peruvians, 
 the Mexicans occupied his thoughts by day and 
 16 
 
362 MONTBAR THE FANATIC. 
 
 his dreams by night. This became the all-absorb, 
 ing passion of his soul. 
 
 Even when a child, practising with his cross-bow, 
 he said, " I wish to shoot well, only that I may 
 know how to kill the Spaniards." George W. 
 Thornbury, in his sketch of this singular man, allud- 
 ing to the Spanish enormities in the New World, 
 writes : 
 
 " Fanaticism, avarice, and ambition had ruled like 
 a trinity of devils, over the beautiful regions deso- 
 lated and plague-smitten by the Spaniards. Whole 
 nations had become extinct. The name of Christ 
 was polluted into the mere cipher 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 unconsciously to 
 the task. He thought and dreamed of nothing but 
 the murdered Indians, He inquired eagerly from 
 travellers for news from America, and testified pro- 
 digious and ungovernable joy when he heard that 
 the Spaniards had been defeated by the Caribs and 
 the Bravos. 
 
 " He indeed kre»v by heart every deed of atro 
 
THE DRAMATIC PERFORMANCE:. 363 
 
 city that history recorded of his enemies, and would 
 dilate upon 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 capable of even greater cruelty, 
 if once led away by a fanatic spirit of retaliation. 
 
 " ' A Spaniard,' the story ran, ' was once upon 
 a time appointed governor of an Indian province, 
 which was inhabited by a fierce and warlike race of 
 savages. He proved a cruel governor, unforgiving 
 in his resentments, and insatiable 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 tor- 
 ments under their hands.' " 
 
 The peculiarities of this young man were sin- 
 gularly exhibited on one occasion, which showed 
 that his mental operations were so deranged that he 
 could not calmly reflect upon anything connected 
 with the Spanish nation. At one of the college 
 exhibitions, a comedy was to be enacted by the 
 students, in which Montbar was to take a part 
 During the performance there was a dialogue to 
 take place between a Spaniard and a Frenchman. 
 
364 MONTBAR THE FANATIC. 
 
 Montbar represented the Frenchman, and one of hh 
 companions the Spaniard. 
 
 The Spaniard appeared first upon the stage, and 
 began to utter a tirade of extravagancies against 
 France, denouncing and ridiculing the French in 
 unmeasured terms. Montbar listened, with ever- 
 increasing excitement, until he lost all self-control. 
 The mimic scene in his mind became a reality. In 
 a perfect fury he broke upon the stage ; assailed 
 the representative Spaniard like a maniac ; called 
 him a liar and a murderer; knocked him down, and 
 would inevitably have killed him, had he not been 
 dragged away by the terrified bystanders. 
 
 The boy developed a very active and powerful 
 mind, and his wealthy father was very proud of him. 
 His eccentricities did not alarm him, as he thought 
 that contact with the world would soon remove 
 them all. He wished his son to study some pro- 
 fession. But Montbar insisted upon entering the 
 army " I wish to learn to fight," said he, " that I 
 may kill the Spaniards." 
 
 As his friends opposed his entering the army, he 
 ran away from home, and found his way to Havre 
 Here he had an uncle who was in command of one of 
 the king's ships. France was then at war with Spain. 
 The ship was just entering upon a cruise against the 
 Spaniards The uncle, pleased with the enthusiasm 
 
FEROCIOUS EXPLOITS. 365 
 
 of the boy, and with the intensity of his desire to 
 join the expedition, wrote to the father, and obtain- 
 ed his reluctant consent. In a few days the ship 
 sailed. 
 
 The young fanatic kept a constant watch for the 
 foe, evincing the most intense eagerness for an en- 
 gagement. The moment any sail appeared, he 
 armed himself, and seemed overjoyed with the 
 thought that he might soon wreak vengeance on the 
 Spaniards. At length, a Spanish ship appeared. 
 Soon they met and exchanged broadsides. Mont- 
 bar was quite intoxicated with joy. He was per- 
 fectly reckless. Not a thought of danger entered his 
 mind. When the order was given to board, Mont- 
 bar, sabre in hand, led the party, and was the first 
 to leap on board the Spanish ship. He seemed to 
 bear a charmed life, and to be endowed with her- 
 culean strength. He sought no assistance from his 
 comrades, but plunged into the thickest of the 
 enemy, hewing on his right hand and his left, with 
 marvellous strength. Twice he rushed from end to 
 end of the vessel, mowing down all who opposed 
 him. He would give no quarter. 
 
 The Spaniards were overpowered. Their slaugh- 
 ter was awful. Montbar, dreaming that he was 
 God's appointed minister of vengeance, was in an 
 ecstasy of exultation, as he cut down some, ran his 
 
366 MONTBAR THE FANATIC. 
 
 sabre through the heart of others, and drove others 
 into the sea. His spirit inspired the rest. Nearly 
 every Spaniard was killed. His uncle succeeded in 
 saving one or two. 
 
 The prize was found to be of immense value. 
 The hold was crammed with riches. There was 
 one casket of diamonds of almost priceless worth. 
 While the captain and the crew were examining 
 these treasures, and rejoicing over them, Montbar 
 regarded them with entire indifference. He was 
 counting the dead. Blood, not plunder, was what 
 his soul craved. 
 
 As there was now war between France and Spain, 
 the French buccaneers, even when acting without 
 any formal commission, were regarded by the Gov- 
 ernment as engaged in legitimate warfare. The buc- 
 caneers of England, robbing Spanish commerce and 
 Spanish colonies, were encouraged and aided by the 
 French navy. The conflict we have described took 
 place near the shores of St. Domingo. Montbar's 
 uncle learned, from his prisoners, that the ship he 
 had captured had been separated by a storm from 
 two others, and that they were bounc 1 to Port Mar- 
 got on the island. 
 
 He immediately sailed to the vicinity of that 
 port, where he kept watch. The vessel he had cap- 
 tured was used as a decoy. He placed French sol- 
 
JOINS THE BUCCANEERS. 367 
 
 aiers on board, unfurled the flag of Spain, and stood 
 off and on, waiting the arrival of the two vessels. 
 While thus on the watch, some buccaneers, from the 
 shore, came on board in canoes, with provisions to 
 sell. They had been wrecked upon the coast ; and 
 while a part of their number had been at a distance 
 from the camp hunting, the Spaniards had fallen 
 upon them, put them to flight, and plundered their 
 stores. 
 
 " Why do you suffer this ? " exclaimed Montbar, 
 indignantly. 
 
 " We do not mean to suffer it," they replied. 
 " We know what the Spaniards are, and what our 
 power is. We are collecting our forces, and will 
 soon take signal vengeance upon them." 
 
 " Let me go with you," said Montbar. " I do 
 not ask to be your leader, but I will go at your head. 
 I will be the first to expose myself, and will show 
 you how I can fight these accursed Spaniards." 
 
 Gladly they accepted his offer. His ardor and 
 energy inspired them with great confidence in him. 
 His uncle very reluctantly allowed him to go, curs- 
 ing him as a foolish, hair-brained madcap, ever eager 
 to push his head into danger. Yet the uncle was 
 very proud of him. As young Montbar descended 
 the side of the ship into a canoe, the captain said 
 
j08 MONTBAR THE FANATIC. 
 
 exuitingly to one at his side, " There goes is brave 
 a lad as ever trod a plank." 
 
 The buccaneers returned to their camp, and im- 
 mediately, in a strong war-party, set out in search 
 of the Spaniards. They threaded intricate paths 
 through the woods, until they opened upon a small 
 treeless prairie, which they called a savanna. Just 
 before entering this field, which was surrounded by 
 hills and woods, they saw, in the distance, a mount- 
 ed party of Spaniards who were evidently on the 
 march to attack them. 
 
 Montbar was transported with rage at the sight 
 of the Spaniards. He was ready, single-handed, to 
 rush upon them at once — he alone, against several 
 hundred, regardless whether the others followed him 
 or not. But an old, experienced buccaneer, who led 
 the party, held him back. 
 
 " Stop," said he ; " there is plenty of time. If 
 you do as I tell you, not one of those fellows shall 
 escape." 
 
 These words, " Not one of those fellows shall 
 escape," arrested the impetuous young man. The 
 buccaneers halted, pretending not to have seen the 
 Spaniards. They allowed one or two of their num- 
 ber to exhibit themselves, as if belonging to a hunt- 
 ing party. They then pitched their tent of linen, 
 apparently entirely unconscious that they were neat 
 
DESPERATE BATTLES. 369 
 
 any foe. Drawing out their brandy-flasks, they 
 feigned a great revel, singing songs, shouting, and 
 passing the flasks from one to another, as if in the 
 wildest of drunken bouts. This was done by a small 
 portion of the company, while most of the buccaneers 
 were hidden in ambush. 
 
 The Spaniards, having secreted themselves, 
 watched all these movements. They supposed that 
 the buccaneers, stupefied with drink, would ere long 
 fall helplessly asleep. The Spaniards would then 
 creep cautiously upon them, and kill them all. But 
 the cunning old buccaneer had taken good care that 
 the brandy-flasks should all be empty. Not a single 
 drop of intoxicating drink had the feigned revellers 
 taken. 
 
 As soon as darkness veiled the scene the bucca- 
 neers all assembled in ambuscade, anticipating a mid- 
 night attack. Every musket was in order, and their 
 brains were cool and uninflamed with drink. The 
 Spaniards delayed their attack until daylight. As 
 the hours lingered away, Montbar was restless, and 
 chafed like a caged lion, saying that they would never 
 come, and imploring permission to march out and 
 attack them. 
 
 At daybreak the buccaneers discerned a dark 
 line moving noiselessly over the ridge, and descend- 
 ing into the plain They knew full well what this 
 16* 
 
370 MONTBAR THE FANATIC. 
 
 meant. Every movement was watrhed by tht 
 ambushed buccaneers. Cautiously the Spaniards 
 advanced. They crossed the prairie, and entered 
 the forest, intending to encircle the tent, which they 
 supposed held the sleeping buccaneers. 
 
 Suddenly the woods seemed to burst into vol- 
 canic flame. The report of the musketry was fol- 
 lowed with shout and yell, and the storm of lead 
 swept through the ranks of the Spaniards, striking 
 down scores, either in death or grievously wound- 
 ed. The buccaneers rushed instantaneously upon 
 their bewildered, staggered, bleeding foe. Montbar 
 seemed animated by demonaical frenzy. He rushed 
 upon the Spaniards in utter recklessness, regard- 
 less of their numbers, or of the support he should 
 receive from his comrades. His heavy sabre flashed 
 in all directions, as if wielded by tireless sinews of 
 steel. 
 
 Soon he was quite in advance of his companions, 
 and was alone in the very thickest of the Spanish 
 squadron. He would inevitably have been cut 
 down, had not the other buccaneers, astonished at 
 his audacity, rushed to his rescue. Montbar's sword 
 was dripping with blood. He was in a frenzy of 
 joy. Every blow he struck cut down a Spaniard. 
 He exulted in the carnage, and ever after declared 
 that this was the happiest day of his life. One 
 
DESPERATE BATTLES. 37 1 
 
 wounded Spaniard clung to his knee begging for 
 mercy. Montbar brought down his sabre upon his 
 head, splitting it from crown to chin, fiercely ex- 
 claiming, " I wish that you were the last of this 
 accursed race." An eye-witness of the battle de- 
 scribes the carnage as horrible. Nearly every Span- 
 iard was destroyed. The victors, all absorbed in 
 their bloody work, stumbled over the dying and the 
 dead, deaf to every cry for mercy. 
 
 The buccaneers were astonished and delight- 
 ed by the prowess which Montbar had displayed. 
 They entreated him to remain and become their 
 captain. But a signal gun, fired by his uncle, called 
 him back to the ship. Montbar was placed as 
 captain on board the large ship which his uncle had 
 captured. Many of the pirates eagerly engaged to 
 serve under him. 
 
 After a sail of eight days these two vessels en- 
 countered four Spanish war-ships, each one larger 
 than either of those commanded by Montbar or his 
 uncle. One of the most desperate of naval battles 
 ensued. The elder Montbar was attacked by two 
 of the ships. For three hours they struggled, grap- 
 pled together, receiving and giving the most terrible 
 broadsides. At last the three sank together in one 
 watery grave. The uncle, it is said, rejoicing to drag 
 the two other ships with him, went down laughing. 
 
372 MONTBAR THE FANATIC. 
 
 Montbar, with his crashing shot, succeeded at 
 length in sinking one of the ships assailing him, 
 and then he boarded the other. The terror-stricken 
 crew threw themselves into the water. The floating 
 bodies presented targets for the buccaneers. No 
 quarter was shown. Montbar rushed up and down 
 the decks killing all he could reach. His courage 
 and accomplishments were so marvellous, that his 
 comrades regarded him with superstitious reverence, 
 as endowed with more than mortal powers. He 
 himself ever averred that he was God's appointed 
 messenger, to avenge the wrongs the Spaniards had 
 inflicted upon the Indians. It is not known that a 
 single individual escaped from these four Spanish 
 ships. 
 
 Montbar had now two vessels at his command. 
 He engaged many other buccaneers in his service, 
 and soon had an army of nearly eight hundred men 
 ready to follow him to the death. He swept the 
 seas, and, often landing, ravaged the coasts. We 
 have no detailed account of his subsequent career 
 One of his biographers writes: 
 
 " And this completes all that history has preserved 
 of one of the strangest combinations of fanatic and 
 soldier that has ever appeared since the days of Lo- 
 yola. In another age, and under other circumstances, 
 he might have been a second Mohammed. Equally 
 
HIS DISAPPEARANCE. 373 
 
 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 un- 
 matched 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 
 unpitied. 
 
 " Oexemelin, who saw Montbar at Honduras, 
 describes him as active, vivacious, and full of fire, 
 like all the Gascons. He was of tall stature, erect 
 and firm, his air grand, noble, martial. His complex- 
 ion was sunburnt, and the color 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." 
 
 THE END. 
 

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