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GREAT PIRATE STORIES
EDITED BY
JOSEPH LEWIS FRENCH
Editor of "Great Sea Stories," "Masterpieces of Mystery,"
"Great Ghost Stories," etc.
TWO VOLUMES
IN ONE
TUDOR PUBLISHING CO.
NEW YORK
First Printing, November, 1922
Second Printing, January, 1923
Third Printing, November, 1923
Fourth Printing, November, 1929
_Printed in the United States of America_
Copyright, 1922, by Brentano's
Transcriber's Note:
Minor typographical errors have been corrected without note.
Archaic, dialect and quoted spellings (including inconsistent proper
nouns), in addition to irregular hyphenation, remain as printed. The
oe ligature is shown as [oe], whilst [)a] and [)i] indicate a breve
over the relevant vowel.
Go tell your King, he is King of the Land;
But I am the King of the Sea!
BARBAROSSA TO CHARLES V.
FOREWORD
Piracy embodies the romance of the sea at its highest expression. It is
a sad but inevitable commentary on our civilization, that, so far as the
sea is concerned, it has developed from its infancy down to a century or
so ago, under one phase or another of piracy. If men were savages on
land they were doubly so at sea, and all the years of maritime
adventure--years that added to the map of the world till there was
little left to discover--could not wholly eradicate the piratical germ.
It went out gradually with the settlement and ordering of the far-flung
British colonies. Great Britain, foremost of sea powers, must be
credited with doing more both directly and indirectly for the abolition
of crime and disorder on the high seas than any other force. But the
conquest was not complete till the advent of steam which chased the
sea-rover into the farthest corners of his domain. It is said that he
survives even today in certain spots in the Chinese waters,--but he is
certainly an innocuous relic. A pirate of any sort would be as great a
curiosity today if he could be caught and exhibited as a fabulous
monster.
The fact remains and will always persist that in the lore of the sea he
is far and away the most picturesque figure,--and the more genuine and
gross his career, the higher degree of interest does he inspire.
There may be a certain human perversity in this, for the pirate was
unquestionably a bad man--at his best, or worst--considering his
surroundings and conditions,--undoubtedly the worst man that ever lived.
There is little to soften the dark yet glowing picture of his exploits.
But again, it must be remembered, that not only does the note of
distance subdue, and even lend a certain enchantment to the scene, but
the effect of contrast between our peaceful times and his own
contributes much to deepen our interest in him. Perhaps it is this
latter, added to that deathless spark in the human breast that glows at
the tale of adventure, which makes him the kind of hero of romance that
he is today.
He is undeniably a redoubtable historical figure. It is a curious fact
that the commerce of the seas was cradled in the lap of buccaneering.
The constant danger of the deeps in this form only made hardier mariners
out of the merchant-adventurers, actually stimulating and strengthening
maritime enterprise.
Buccaneering--which is only a politer term for piracy--thus became the
high romance of the seas during the great centuries of maritime
adventure. It went hand in hand with discovery,--they were in fact
almost inseparable. Most of the mighty mariners from the days of Leif
the Discoverer, through those of the redoubtable Sir Francis Drake down
to our own Paul Jones, answer to the roll-call.
It was a bold hardy world--this of ours--up to the advent of our
giant-servant, Steam,--every foot of which was won by fierce conquest of
one sort or another. Out of this past the pirate emerges as a romantic,
even at times heroic, figure. This final niche, despite his crimes,
cannot altogether be denied him. A hero he is and will remain so long as
tales of the sea are told. So, have at him, in these pages!
JOSEPH LEWIS FRENCH.
CONTENTS
PAGE
The Piccaroon 1
From _Tom Cringle's Log_. By MICHAEL SCOTT.
The Capture of Panama, 1671 23
From _The Buccaneers of America_. By JOHN ESQUEMELING.
The Malay Proas 52
From _Afloat and Ashore_. By JAMES FENIMORE COOPER.
The Wonderful Fight of the _Exchange_ of Bristol with the
Pirates of Algiers 61
From _Purchas, His Pilgrims_. By SAMUEL PURCHAS.
The Daughter of the Great Mogul 89
From _The King of the Pirates_. By DANIEL DEFOE.
Barbarossa--King of the Corsairs 97
From _Sea Wolves of the Mediterranean_. By E. HAMILTON
CURREY, R.N.
Morgan at Puerto Bello 115
From _The Buccaneers of America_. By JOHN ESQUEMELING.
The Ways of the Buccaneers 126
From _Buccaneer Customs on the Spanish Main_. By JOHN
MASEFIELD after JOHN ESQUEMELING.
A True Account of Three Notorious Pirates 132
From _The Buccaneers of America_. By HOWARD PYLE, ED.
Narrative of the Capture of the Ship _Derby_, 1735 196
By CAPTAIN ANSELM.
Francis Lolonois, the Slave Who Became a Pirate King 209
From _The Buccaneers of America_. By JOHN ESQUEMELING.
The Fight between the _Dorrill_ and the _Moca_ 232
From _The Indian Antiquary_, Vol. 49.
Jaddi the Malay Pirate 240
From _The Indian Antiquary_, Vol. 49.
The Terrible Ladrones 247
From _The Ladrone Pirates_. By RICHARD GLASSPOOLE.
The Female Captive 276
From an Old Pamphlet, published in 1825. By LUCRETIA
PARKER.
The Passing of Mogul Mackenzie, the Last of the North Atlantic
Pirates 298
From _Blackwood's Magazine_. By ARTHUR HUNT CHUTE.
The Last of the Sea-Rovers: The Riff Coast Pirates 312
From the _Nautical Magazine_. By W. B. LORD.
GREAT PIRATE STORIES
THE PICCAROON[1]
MICHAEL SCOTT
"Ours the wild life in tumult still to range."--_The Corsair._
We returned to Carthagena, to be at hand should any opportunity occur
for Jamaica, and were lounging about one forenoon on the fortifications,
looking with sickening hearts out to seaward, when a voice struck up the
following negro ditty close to us:--
"Fader was a Corramantee,
Moder was a Mingo,
Black picaniny buccra wantee,
So dem sell a me, Peter, by jingo.
Jiggery, jiggery, jiggery."
"Well sung, Massa Bungo!" exclaimed Mr. Splinter; "where do you hail
from, my hearty?"
"Hillo! Bungo, indeed! free and easy dat, anyhow. Who you yousef, eh?"
"Why, Peter," continued the lieutenant, "don't you know me?"
"Cannot say dat I do," rejoined the negro, very gravely, without lifting
his head, as he sat mending his jacket in one of the embrasures near the
water-gate of the arsenal--"Hab not de honour of your acquaintance,
sir."
He then resumed his scream, for song it could not be called:--
"Mammy Sally's daughter
Lose him shoe in an old canoe
Dat lay half full of water,
And den she knew not what to do.
Jiggery, jig----"
"Confound your jiggery, jiggery, sir! But I know you well enough, my
man; and you can scarcely have forgotten Lieutenant Splinter of the
Torch, one would think?"
However, it was clear that the poor fellow really had not known us; for
the name so startled him, that, in his hurry to unlace his legs from
under him, as he sat tailor-fashion, he fairly capsized out of his
perch, and toppled down on his nose--a feature, fortunately, so
flattened by the hand of nature, that I question if it could have been
rendered more obtuse had he fallen out of the maintop on a timber-head,
or a marine officer's.
"Eh!--no--yes, him sure enough; and who is de picaniny hofficer--Oh! I
see, Massa Tom Cringle? Garamighty, gentlemen, where have you drop from?
Where is de old Torch? Many a time hab I, Peter Mangrove, pilot to Him
Britannic Majesty squadron, taken de old brig in and through amongst de
keys at Port Royal!"
"Ay, and how often did you scour her copper against the coral reefs,
Peter?"
His Majesty's pilot gave a knowing look, and laid his hand on his
breast--"No more of dat if you love me, massa."
"Well, well, it don't signify now, my boy; she will never give you that
trouble again--foundered--all hands lost, Peter, but the two you see
before you."
"Werry sorry, Massa Plinter, werry sorry--What! de black cook's-mate and
all?--But misfortune can't be help. Stop till I put up my needle, and I
will take a turn wid you." Here he drew himself up with a great deal of
absurd gravity. "Proper dat British hofficer in distress should assist
one anoder--we shall consult togeder.--How can I serve you?"
"Why, Peter, if you could help us to a passage to Port Royal, it would
be serving us most essentially. When we used to be lying there a week
seldom passed without one of the squadron arriving from this; but here
have we been for more than a month without a single pennant belonging to
the station having looked in: our money is running short, and if we are
to hold on in Carthagena for another six weeks, we shall not have a shot
left in the locker--not a copper to tinkle on a tombstone."
The negro looked steadfastly at us, then carefully around. There was no
one near.
"You see, Massa Plinter, I am desirable to serve you, for one little
reason of my own; but, beside dat, it is good for me at present to make
some friend wid de hofficer of de squadron, being as how dat I am absent
widout leave."
"Oh, I perceive--a large R against your name in the master-attendant's
books, eh?"
"You have hit it, sir, werry close; besides, I long mosh to return to my
poor wife, Nancy Cator, dat I leave, wagabone dat I is, just about to be
confine."
I could not resist putting in my oar.
"I saw Nancy just before we sailed, Peter--fine child that; not quite so
black as you, though."
"Oh, massa," said Snowball, grinning, and showing his white teeth, "you
know I am soch a terrible black fellow--But you are a leetle out at
present, massa--I meant, about to be confine in de work-house for
stealing de admiral's Muscovy ducks;" and he laughed loud and
long.--"However, if you will promise dat you will stand my friends, I
will put you in de way of getting a shove across to de east end of
Jamaica; and I will go wid you too, for company."
"Thank you," rejoined Mr. Splinter; "but how do you mean to manage this?
There is no Kingston trader here at present, and you don't mean to make
a start of it in an open boat, do you?"
"No, sir, I don't; but in de first place--as you are a gentleman, will
you try and get me off when we get to Jamaica? Secondly, will you
promise dat you will not seek to know more of de vessel you may go in,
nor of her crew, than dey are willing to tell you, provided you are
landed safe?"
"Why, Peter, I scarcely think you would deceive us, for you know I saved
your bacon in that awkward affair, when through drunkenness you plumped
the Torch ashore, so----"
"Forget dat, sir--forget dat! Never shall poor black pilot forget how
you saved him from being seized up, when de gratings, boatswain's mates,
and all, were ready at de gangway--never shall poor black rascal forget
dat."
"Indeed, I do not think you would wittingly betray us into trouble,
Peter; and as I guess you mean one of the forced traders, we will
venture in her, rather than kick about here any longer, and pay a
moderate sum for our passage."
"Den wait here five minute"--and so saying, he slipped down through the
embrasure into a canoe that lay beneath, and in a trice we saw him jump
on board of a long low nondescript kind of craft that lay moored within
pistol-shot of the walls.
She was a large shallow vessel, coppered to the bends, of great breadth
of beam, with bright sides, like an American, so painted as to give her
a clumsy mercantile sheen externally, but there were many things that
belied this to a nautical eye: her copper, for instance, was bright as
burnished gold on her very sharp bows and beautiful run; and we could
see, from the bastion where we stood, that her decks were flush and
level. She had no cannon mounted that were visible; but we distinguished
grooves on her well-scrubbed decks, as from the recent traversing of
carronade slides, while the bolts and rings in her high and solid
bulwarks shone clear and bright in the ardent noontide. There was a
tarpaulin stretched over a quantity of rubbish, old sails, old junk, and
hencoops, rather ostentatiously piled up forward, which we conjectured
might conceal a long gun.
She was a very taught-rigged hermaphrodite, or brig forward and schooner
aft. Her foremast and bowsprit were immensely strong and heavy, and her
mainmast was so long and tapering, that the wonder was how the few
shrouds and stays about it could support it; it was the handsomest stick
we had ever seen. Her upper spars were on the same scale, tapering away
through topmast, topgallant-mast, royal and skysail-masts, until they
fined away into slender wands. The sails, that were loose to dry, were
old, and patched, and evidently displayed to cloak the character of the
vessel by an ostentatious show of their unserviceable condition; but her
rigging was beautifully fitted, every rope lying in the chafe of another
being carefully served with hide. There were several large
bushy-whiskered fellows lounging about the deck, with their hair
gathered into dirty net-bags, like the fishermen of Barcelona; many had
red silk sashes round their waists, through which were stuck their long
knives, in shark-skin sheaths. Their numbers were not so great as to
excite suspicion: but a certain daring, reckless manner, would at once
have distinguished them, independently of anything else, from the quiet,
hard-worked, red-shirted, merchant seaman.
"That chap is not much to be trusted," said the lieutenant; "his bunting
would make a few jackets for Joseph, I take it." But we had little time
to be critical, before our friend Peter came paddling back with another
blackamoor in the stern, of as ungainly an exterior as could well be
imagined. He was a very large man, whose weight every now and then, as
they breasted the short sea, cocked up the snout of the canoe with Peter
Mangrove in it, as if he had been a cork, leaving him to flourish his
paddle in the air, like the weather-wheel of a steam-boat in a sea-way.
The new-comer was strong and broad-shouldered, with long muscular arms,
and a chest like Hercules; but his legs and thighs were, for his bulk,
remarkably puny and misshapen. A thick fell of black wool, in close
tufts, as if his face had been stuck full of cloves, covered his chin
and upper-lip; and his hair, if hair it could be called, was twisted
into a hundred short plaits, that bristled out, and gave his head, when
he took his hat off, the appearance of a porcupine. There was a large
saber-cut across his nose and down his cheek, and he wore two immense
gold earrings. His dress consisted of short cotton drawers, that did
not reach within two inches of his knee, leaving his thin cucumber
shanks (on which the small bullet-like calf appeared to have been stuck
before, through mistake, in place of abaft) naked to the shoe; a check
shirt, and an enormously large Panama hat, made of a sort of cane, split
small, and worn shovel-fashion. Notwithstanding, he made his bow by no
means ungracefully, and offered his services in choice Spanish, but
spoke English as soon as he heard who we were.
"Pray, sir, are you the master of that vessel?" said the lieutenant.
"No, sir, I am the mate, and I learn you are desirous of a passage to
Jamaica." This was spoken with a broad Scotch accent.
"Yes, we are," said I, in very great astonishment, "but we will not sail
with the devil; and who ever saw a negro Scotchman before, the spirit of
Nicol Jarvie conjured into a blackamoor's skin!"
The fellow laughed. "I am black, as you see; so were my father and
mother before me." And he looked at me, as much as to say, I have read
the book you quote from. "But I was born in the good town of
Port-Glasgow notwithstanding, and many a voyage I have made as cabin-boy
and cook in the good ship the Peggy Bogle, with worthy old Jock Hunter;
but that matters not. I was told you wanted to go to Jamaica; I dare-say
our captain will take you for a moderate passage-money. But here he
comes to speak for himself.--Captain Vanderbosh, here are two
shipwrecked British officers, who wish to be put on shore on the east
end of Jamaica; will you take them, and what will you charge for their
passage?"
The man he spoke to was nearly as tall as himself; he was a sunburnt,
angular, raw-boned, iron-visaged veteran, with a nose in shape and color
like the bowl of his own pipe, but not at all, according to the received
idea, like a Dutchman. His dress was quizzical enough--white-trousers, a
long-flapped embroidered waistcoat that might have belonged to a Spanish
grandee, with an old-fashioned French-cut coat, showing the frayed marks
where the lace had been stripped off, voluminous in the skirts, but very
tight in the sleeves, which were so short as to leave his large bony
paws, and six inches of his arm above the wrist, exposed; altogether, it
fitted him like a purser's shirt on a hand-spike.
"Vy, for von hondred thaler I will land dem safe in Mancheoneal Bay; but
how shall ve manage, Villiamson? De cabin vas point yesterday."
The Scotch negro nodded. "Never mind; I dare-say the smell of the paint
won't signify to the gentlemen."
The bargain was ratified; we agreed to pay the stipulated sum, and that
same evening, having dropped down with the last of the sea-breeze, we
set sail from Bocca Chica, and began working up under the lee of the
headland of Punto Canoa. When off the San Domingo Gate, we burned a
blue-light, which was immediately answered by another in-shore of us. In
the glare we could perceive two boats, full of men. Any one who has ever
played at snapdragon, can imagine the unearthly appearance of objects
when seen by this species of firework. In the present instance it was
held aloft on a boat-hook, and cast a strong spectral light on the band
of lawless ruffians, who were so crowded together that they entirely
filled the boats, no part of which could be seen. It seemed as if two
clusters of fiends, suddenly vomited forth from hell, were floating on
the surface of the midnight sea, in the midst of brimstone flames. In a
few moments our crew was strengthened by about forty as ugly Christians
as I ever set eyes on. They were of all ages, countries, complexions,
and tongues, and looked as if they had been kidnapped by a pressgang as
they had knocked off from the Tower of Babel. From the moment they came
on board, Captain Vanderbosh was shorn of all his glory, and sank into
the petty officer while, to our amazement, the Scottish negro took the
command, evincing great coolness, energy, and skill. He ordered the
schooner to be wore as soon as we had shipped the men, and laid her head
off the land, then set all hands to shift the old suit of sails, and to
bend new ones.
"Why did you not shift your canvas before we started?" said I to the
Dutch captain, or mate, or whatever he might be.
"Vy vont you be content to take a quiet passage and hax no question?"
was the uncivil rejoinder, which I felt inclined to resent, until I
remembered that we were in the hands of the Philistines, where a quarrel
would have been worse than useless. I was gulping down the insult as
well as I could, when the black captain came aft, and, with the air of
an equal, invited us into the cabin to take a glass of grog. We had
scarcely sat down before we heard a noise like the swaying up of guns,
or some other heavy articles, from the hold.
I caught Mr. Splinter's eye--he nodded, but said nothing. In half an
hour afterwards, when we went on deck, we saw by the light of the moon
twelve eighteen-pound carronades mounted, six of a side, with their
accompaniments of rammers and sponges, water-buckets, boxes of round,
grape, and canister, and tubs of wadding, while the coamings of the
hatchways were thickly studded with round-shot. The tarpaulin and lumber
forward had disappeared, and there lay long Tom, ready levelled,
grinning on his pivot.
The ropes were all coiled away, and laid down in regular man-of-war
fashion; while an ugly gruff beast of a Spanish mulatto, apparently the
officer of the watch, walked the weatherside of the quarterdeck in the
true pendulum style. Look-outs were placed aft, and at the gangways and
bows, who every now and then passed the word to keep a bright look-out,
while the rest of the watch were stretched silent, but evidently broad
awake, under the lee of the boat. We noticed that each man had his
cutlass buckled round his waist--that the boarding-pikes had been cut
loose from the main boom, round which they had been stopped, and that
about thirty muskets were ranged along a fixed rack that ran athwart
ships near the main hatchway.
By the time we had reconnoitred thus far the night became overcast, and
a thick bank of clouds began to rise to windward; some heavy drops of
rain fell, and the thunder grumbled at a distance. The black veil crept
gradually on, until it shrouded the whole firmament, and left us in as
dark a night as ever poor devils were out in. By-and-by a narrow streak
of bright moonlight appeared under the lower-edge of the bank, defining
the dark outlines of the tumbling multitudinous billows on the horizon
as distinctly as if they had been pasteboard waves in a theater.
"Is that a sail to windward in the clear, think you?" said Mr. Splinter
to me in a whisper. At this moment it lightened vividly. "I am sure it
is," continued he--"I could see her white canvas glance just now."
I looked steadily, and at last caught the small dark speck against the
bright background, rising and falling on the swell of the sea like a
feather.
As we stood on, she was seen more distinctly, but, to all appearance,
nobody was aware of her proximity. We were mistaken in this, however,
for the captain suddenly jumped on a gun, and gave his orders with a
fiery energy that startled us.
"Leroux!" A small French boy was at his side in a moment. "Forward, and
call all hands to shorten sail; but, _doucement_, you land-crab!--Man
the fore clew-garnets.--Hands by the top-gallant clew-lines--jib
down-haul--rise tacks and sheets--peak and throat haulyards--let
go--clew up--settle away the main-gaff there!"
In almost as short a space as I have taken to write it, every inch of
canvas was close furled--every light, except the one in the binnacle,
and that was cautiously masked, carefully extinguished--a hundred and
twenty men at quarters, and the ship under bare poles. The head-yards
were then squared, and we bore up before the wind. The stratagem proved
successful; the strange sail could be seen through the night-glasses
cracking on close to the wind, evidently under the impression that we
had tacked.
"Dere she goes, chasing de Gobel," said the Dutchman.
She now burned a blue-light, by which we saw she was a heavy
cutter--without doubt our old fellow-cruiser the Spark. The Dutchman had
come to the same conclusion.
"My eye, captain, no use to dodge from her; it is only dat footy little
King's cutter on de Jamaica station."
"It is her, true enough," answered Williamson; "and she is from Santa
Martha with a freight of specie, I know. I will try a brush with her,
by----"
Splinter struck in before he could finish his irreverent exclamation.
"If your conjecture be true, I know the craft--a heavy vessel of her
class, and you may depend on hard knocks, and small profit if you do
take her; while if she takes you----"
"I'll be hanged if she does"--and he grinned at the conceit--then
setting his teeth hard, "or rather, I will blow the schooner up with my
own hand before I strike; better that than have one's bones bleached in
chains on a key at Port Royal. But you see you cannot control us,
gentlemen; so get down into the cable-tier, and take Peter Mangrove with
you. I would not willingly see those come to harm who have trusted me."
However, there was no shot flying as yet, we therefore stayed on deck.
All sail was once more made; the carronades were cast loose on both
sides, and double-shotted, the long-gun slewed round, the tack of the
fore-and-aft foresail hauled up, and we kept by the wind, and stood
after the cutter, whose white canvas we could still see through the
gloom like a snow-wreath.
As soon as she saw us, she tacked and stood towards us, and came bowling
along gallantly, with the water roaring and flashing at her bows. As the
vessels neared each other they both shortened sail, and finding that we
could not weather her, we steered close under her lee.
As we crossed on opposite tacks, her commander hailed, "Ho, the
brigantine, ahoy!"
"Hillo!" sung out Blackie, as he backed his main-top-sail.
"What schooner is that?"
"The Spanish schooner Caridad."
"Whence, and whither bound?"
"Carthagena to Porto Rico."
"Heave-to, and send your boat on board."
"We have none that will swim, sir."
"Very well, bring-to, and I will send mine."
"Call away the boarders," said our captain, in a low stern tone; "let
them crouch out of sight behind the boat."
The cutter wore, and hove-to under our lee quarter, within pistol-shot;
we heard the rattle of the ropes running through the davit-blocks, and
the splash of the jolly-boat touching the water, then the measured
stroke of the oars, as they glanced like silver in the sparkling sea,
and a voice calling out, "Give way, my lads."
The character of the vessel we were on board of was now evident; and the
bitter reflection that we were chained to the stake on board of a
pirate, on the eve of a fierce contest with one of our own cruisers, was
aggravated by the consideration, that the cutter had fallen into a snare
by which a whole boat's crew would be sacrificed before a shot was
fired.
I watched my opportunity as she pulled up alongside, and called out,
leaning well over the nettings, "Get back to your ship!--treachery! get
back to your ship!"
The little French serpent was at my side with the speed of thought, his
long clear knife glancing in one hand, while the fingers of the other
were laid on his lips. He could not have said more plainly, "Hold your
tongue, or I'll cut your throat;" but Sneezer now startled him by
rushing between us, and giving a short angry growl.
The officer in the boat had heard me imperfectly; he rose up--"I won't
go back, my good man, until I see what you are made of;" and as he spoke
he sprang on board, but the instant he got over the bulwarks, he was
caught by two strong hands, gagged, and thrown bodily down the
main-hatchway.
"Heave," cried a voice, "and with a will!" and four cold 32-pound shot
were hove at once into the boat alongside, which, crashing through her
bottom, swamped her in a moment, precipitating the miserable crew into
the boiling sea. Their shrieks still ring in my ears as they clung to
the oars and some loose planks of the boat.
"Bring up the officer, and take out the gag," said Williamson.
Poor Walcolm, who had been an old messmate of mine, was now dragged to
the gangway half-naked, his face bleeding, and heavily ironed, when the
blackamoor, clapping a pistol to his head, bid him, as he feared
instant death, hail "that the boat had swamped under the counter, and to
send another." The poor fellow, who appeared stunned and confused, did
so, but without seeming to know what he said.
"Good God," said Mr. Splinter, "don't you mean to pick up the boat's
crew?"
The blood curdled to my heart, as the black savage answered in a voice
of thunder, "Let them drown and be d----d! Fill, and stand on!"
But the clouds by this time broke away, and the mild moon shone clear
and bright once more upon this scene of most atrocious villainy. By her
light the cutter's people could see that there was no one struggling in
the water now, and that the people must either have been saved, or were
past all earthly aid; but the infamous deception was not entirely at an
end.
The captain of the cutter, seeing we were making sail, did the same, and
after having shot ahead of us, hailed once more.
"Mr. Walcolm, why don't you run to leeward, and heave-to, sir?"
"Answer him instantly, and hail again for another boat," said the sable
fiend, and cocked his pistol.
The click went to my heart. The young midship-man turned his pale mild
countenance, laced with his blood, upwards towards the moon and stars,
as one who had looked his last look on earth; the large tears were
flowing down his cheeks, and mingling with the crimson streaks, and a
flood of silver light fell on the fine features of the poor boy, as he
said firmly, "Never." The miscreant fired, and he fell dead.
"Up with the helm, and wear across her stern." The order was obeyed.
"Fire!" The whole broadside was poured in, and we could hear the shot
rattle and tear along the cutter's deck, and the shrieks and groans of
the wounded, while the white splinters glanced away in all directions.
We now ranged alongside, and close action commenced, and never do I
expect to see such an infernal scene again. Up to this moment there had
been neither confusion nor noise on board the pirate--all had been
coolness and order; but when the yards locked the crew broke loose from
all control--they ceased to be men--they were demons, for they threw
their own dead and wounded, as they were mown down like grass by the
cutter's grape, indiscriminately down the hatchways to get clear of
them. They had stripped themselves almost naked; and although they
fought with the most desperate courage, yelling and cursing, each in his
own tongue, most hideously, yet their very numbers, pent up in a small
vessel, were against them. At length, amidst the fire and smoke and
hellish uproar, we could see that the deck had become a very shambles;
and unless they soon carried the cutter by boarding, it was clear that
the coolness and discipline of my own glorious service must prevail,
even against such fearful odds; the superior size of the vessel,
greater number of guns, and heavier metal. The pirates seemed aware of
this themselves, for they now made a desperate attempt forward to carry
their antagonist by boarding, led on by the black captain. Just at this
moment the cutter's main-boom fell across the schooner's deck, close to
where we were sheltering ourselves from the shot the best way we could;
and while the rush forward was being made, by a sudden impulse Splinter
and I, followed by Peter and the dog (who with wonderful sagacity,
seeing the uselessness of resistance, had cowered quietly by my side
during the whole row), scrambled along it as the cutter's people were
repelling the attack on her bow, and all four of us, in our haste,
jumped down on the poor Irishman at the wheel.
"Murder, fire, rape, and robbery!--it is capsized, stove in, sunk,
burned, and destroyed I am! Captain, captain, we are carried aft
here--Och, hubbaboo for Patrick Donnally!"
There was no time to be lost; if any of the crew came aft we were dead
men, so we tumbled down through the cabin skylight, men and beast, the
hatch having been knocked off by a shot, and stowed ourselves away in
the side berths. The noise on deck soon ceased--the cannon were again
plied--gradually the fire slackened, and we could hear that the pirate
had scraped clear and escaped. Some time after this the lieutenant
commanding the cutter came down. Poor Mr. Douglas! both Mr. Splinter
and I knew him well. He sat down and covered his face with his hands,
while the blood oozed down between his fingers. He had received a
cutlass wound on the head in the attack. His right arm was bound up with
his neckcloth, and he was very pale.
"Steward, bring me a light.--Ask the doctor how many are killed and
wounded; and--do you hear?--tell him to come to me when he is done
forward, but not a moment sooner. To have been so mauled and duped by a
buccaneer; and my poor boat's crew----"
Splinter groaned. He started--but at this moment the man returned again.
"Thirteen killed, your honor, and fifteen wounded; scarcely one of us
untouched." The poor fellow's own skull was bound round with a bloody
cloth.
"God help me! Gold help me! but they have died the death of men. Who
knows what death the poor fellows in the boat have died!"--Here he was
cut short by a tremendous scuffle on the ladder, down which an old
quartermaster was trundled neck and crop into the cabin. "How now,
Jones?"
"Please your honor," said the man, as soon as he had gathered himself
up, and had time to turn his quid and smooth down his hair; but again
the uproar was renewed, and Donnally was lugged in, scrambling and
struggling between two seamen--"this here Irish chap, your honor, has
lost his wits, if so be he ever had any, your honor. He has gone mad
through fright."
"Fright be d----d!" roared Donnally; "no man ever frightened me; but as
his honor was skewering them bloody thieves forward, I was boarded and
carried aft by the devil, your honor--pooped by Beelzebub, by ----," and
he rapped his fist on the table until everything on it danced again.
"There were four of them, yeer honor--a black one and two blue ones--and
a pie-bald one, with four legs and a bushy tail--each with two horns on
his head, for all the world like those on Father M'Cleary's red cow--no,
she was humbled--it is Father Clannachan's, I mane--no, not his neither,
for his was the parish bull; fait, I don't know what I mane, except that
they had all horns on their heads, and vomited fire, and had each of
them a tail at his stern, twisting and twining like a conger eel, with a
blue light at the end on't."
"And dat's a lie, if ever dere was one," exclaimed Peter Mangrove,
jumping from the berth. "Look at me, you Irish tief, and tell me if I
have a blue light or a conger eel at my stern!"
This was too much for poor Donnally. He yelled out, "You'll believe your
own eyes now, yeer honor, when you see one o' dem bodily before you! Let
me go--let me go!" and, rushing up the ladder, he would, in all
probability, have ended his earthly career in the salt sea, had his
bullet-head not encountered the broadest part of the purser, who was in
the act of descending, with such violence, that he shot him out of the
companion several feet above the deck, as if he had been discharged from
a culverin; but the recoil sent poor Donnally, stunned and senseless, to
the bottom of the ladder. There was no standing all this; we laughed
outright, and made ourselves known to Mr. Douglas, who received us
cordially, and in a week we were landed at Port Royal.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] From _Tom Cringle's Log_.
THE CAPTURE OF PANAMA, 1671[2]
JOHN ESQUEMELING
Captain Morgan set forth from the castle of Chagre, towards Panama,
August 18, 1670. He had with him twelve hundred men, five boats laden
with artillery, and thirty-two canoes. The first day they sailed only
six leagues, and came to a place called De los Bracos. Here a party of
his men went ashore, only to sleep and stretch their limbs, being almost
crippled with lying too much crowded in the boats. Having rested awhile,
they went abroad to seek victuals in the neighboring plantations; but
they could find none, the Spaniards being fled, and carrying with them
all they had. This day, being the first of their journey, they had such
scarcity of victuals, as the greatest part were forced to pass with only
a pipe of tobacco, without any other refreshment.
Next day, about evening, they came to a place called Cruz de Juan
Gallego. Here they were compelled to leave their boats and canoes, the
river being very dry for want of rain, and many trees having fallen into
it.
The guides told them, that, about two leagues farther, the country
would be very good to continue the journey by land. Hereupon they left
one hundred and sixty men on board the boats, to defend them, that they
might serve for a refuge in necessity.
Next morning, being the third day, they all went ashore, except those
who were to keep the boats. To these Captain Morgan gave order, under
great penalties, that no man, on any pretext whatever, should dare to
leave the boats, and go ashore; fearing lest they should be surprised by
an ambuscade of Spaniards in the neighboring woods, which appeared so
thick as to seem almost impenetrable. This morning beginning their
march, the ways proved so bad, that Captain Morgan thought it more
convenient to transport some of the men in canoes (though with great
labor) to a place farther up the river, called Cedro Bueno. Thus they
reembarked, and the canoes returned for the rest; so that about night
they got altogether at the said place. The pirates much desired to meet
some Spaniards or Indians, hoping to fill their bellies with their
provisions, being reduced to extremity and hunger.
The fourth day the greatest part of the pirates marched by land, being
led by one of the guides; the rest went by water farther up, being
conducted by another guide, who always went before them, to discover, on
both sides of the river, the ambuscades. These had also spies, who were
very dextrous to give notice of all accidents, or of the arrival of the
pirates, six hours, at least, before they came. This day, about noon,
they came near a post called Torna Cavallos: here the guide of the
canoes cried out, that he perceived an ambuscade. His voice caused
infinite joy to all the pirates, hoping to find some provisions to
satiate their extreme hunger. Being come to the place, they found nobody
in it, the Spaniards being fled, and leaving nothing behind but a few
leathern bags, all empty, and a few crumbs of bread scattered on the
ground where they had eaten. Being angry at this, they pulled down a few
little huts which the Spaniards had made, and fell to eating the
leathern bags, to allay the ferment of their stomachs, which was now so
sharp as to gnaw their very bowels. Thus they made a huge banquet upon
these bags of leather, divers quarrels arising concerning the greatest
shares. By the bigness of the place, they conjectured about five hundred
Spaniards had been there, whom, finding no victuals, they were now
infinitely desirous to meet, intending to devour some of them rather
than perish.
Having feasted themselves with those pieces of leather, they marched on,
till they came about night to another post, called Torna Munni. Here
they found another ambuscade, but as barren as the former. They searched
the neighboring woods, but could not find anything to eat, the Spaniards
having been so provident, as not to leave anywhere the least crumb of
sustenance, whereby the pirates were now brought to this extremity.
Here again he was happy that he had reserved since noon any bit of
leather to make his supper of, drinking after it a good draught of water
for his comfort. Some, who never were out of their mothers' kitchens,
may ask, how these pirates could eat and digest those pieces of leather,
so hard and dry? Whom I answer, that, could they once experiment what
hunger, or rather famine, is, they would find the way as the pirates
did. For these first sliced it in pieces, then they beat it between two
stones, and rubbed it, often dipping it in water, to make it supple and
tender. Lastly, they scraped off the hair, and broiled it. Being thus
cooked, they cut it into small morsels, and ate it, helping it down with
frequent gulps of water, which, by good fortune, they had at hand.
The fifth day, about noon, they came to a place called Barbacoa. Here
they found traces of another ambuscade, but the place totally as
unprovided as the former. At a small distance were several plantations,
which they searched very narrowly, but could not find any person,
animal, or other thing, to relieve their extreme hunger. Finally, having
ranged about, and searched a long time, they found a grot, which seemed
to be but lately hewn out of a rock, where were two sacks of meal,
wheat, and like things, with two great jars of wine, and certain fruits
called platanoes. Captain Morgan, knowing some of his men were now
almost dead with hunger, and fearing the same of the rest, caused what
was found to be distributed among them who were in greatest necessity.
Having refreshed themselves with these victuals, they marched anew with
greater courage then ever. Such as were weak were put into the canoes,
and those commanded to land that were in them before. Thus they
prosecuted their journey till late at night; when coming to a
plantation, they took up their rest, but without eating anything; for
the Spaniards, as before, had swept away all manner of provisions.
The sixth day they continued their march, part by land and part by
water. Howbeit, they were constrained to rest very frequently, both for
the ruggedness of the way, and their extreme weakness, which they
endeavored to relieve by eating leaves of trees and green herbs, or
grass; such was their miserable condition. This day at noon they arrived
at a plantation, where was a barn full of maize. Immediately they beat
down the doors and ate it dry, as much as they could devour; then they
distributed a great quantity, giving every man a good allowance. Thus
provided, and prosecuting their journey for about an hour, they came to
another ambuscade. This they no sooner discovered, but they threw away
their maize, with the sudden hopes of finding all things in abundance.
But they were much deceived, meeting neither Indians nor victuals, nor
anything else: but they saw, on the other side of the river, about a
hundred Indians, who, all fleeing, escaped. Some few pirates leaped
into the river to cross it, and try to take any of the Indians, but in
vain: for, being much more nimble than the pirates, they not only
baffled them, but killed two or three with their arrows; hooting at
them, and crying, "Ha, perros! a la savana, a la savana."--"Ha, ye dogs!
go to the plain, go to the plain."
This day they could advance no farther, being necessitated to pass the
river, to continue their march on the other side. Hereupon they reposed
for that night, though their sleep was not profound; for great
murmurings were made at Captain Morgan, and his conduct; some being
desirous to return home, while others would rather die there than go
back a step from their undertaking: others, who had greater courage,
laughed and joked at their discourses. Meanwhile, they had a guide who
much comforted them, saying, "It would not now be long before they met
with people from whom they should reap some considerable advantage."
The seventh day, in the morning, they made clean their arms, and every
one discharged his pistol, or musket, without bullet, to try their
firelocks. This done, they crossed the river, leaving the post where
they had rested, called Santa Cruz, and at noon they arrived at a
village called Cruz. Being yet far from the place, they perceived much
smoke from the chimneys: the sight hereof gave them great joy, and hopes
of finding people and plenty of good cheer. Thus they went on as fast as
they could, encouraging one another, saying, "There is smoke comes out
of every house: they are making good fires, to roast and boil what we
are to eat;" and the like.
At length they arrived there, all sweating and panting, but found no
person in the town, nor anything eatable to refresh themselves, except
good fires, which they wanted not; for the Spaniards, before their
departure, had every one set fire to his own house, except the king's
storehouses and stables.
They had not left behind them any beast, alive or dead, which much
troubled their pursuers, not finding anything but a few cats and dogs,
which they immediately killed and devoured. At last, in the king's
stables, they found, by good fortune, fifteen or sixteen jars of Peru
wine, and a leathern sack full of bread. No sooner had they drank of
this wine, when they fell sick, almost every man: this made them think
the wine was poisoned, which caused a new consternation in the whole
camp, judging themselves now to be irrecoverably lost. But the true
reason was, their want of sustenance, and the manifold sorts of trash
they had eaten. Their sickness was so great, as caused them to remain
there till the next morning, without being able to prosecute their
journey in the afternoon. This village is seated in 9 deg. 2 min. north
latitude, distant from the river Chagre twenty-six Spanish leagues, and
eight from Panama. This is the last place to which boats or canoes can
come; for which reason they built here storehouses for all sorts of
merchandise, which to and from Panama are transported on the backs of
mules.
Here Captain Morgan was forced to leave his canoes, and land all his
men, though never so weak; but lest the canoes should be surprised, or
take up too many men for their defense, he sent them all back to the
place where the boats were, except one, which he hid, that it might
serve to carry intelligence. Many of the Spaniards and Indians of this
village having fled to the near plantations, Captain Morgan ordered that
none should go out of the village, except companies of one hundred
together, fearing lest the enemy should take an advantage upon his men.
Notwithstanding, one party contravened these orders, being tempted with
the desire of victuals: but they were soon glad to fly into the town
again, being assaulted with great fury by some Spaniards and Indians,
who carried one of them away prisoner. Thus the vigilancy and care of
Captain Morgan was not sufficient to prevent every accident.
The eighth day in the morning Captain Morgan sent two hundred men before
the body of his army, to discover the way to Panama, and any ambuscades
therein: the path being so narrow, that only ten or twelve persons could
march abreast, and often not so many. After ten hours' march they came
to a place called Quebrada Obscura: here, all on a sudden, three or four
thousand arrows were shot at them, they not perceiving whence they
came, or who shot them: though they presumed it was from a high rocky
mountain, from one side to the other, whereon was a grot, capable of but
one horse or other beast laded. This multitude of arrows much alarmed
the pirates, especially because they could not discover whence they were
discharged. At last, seeing no more arrows, they marched a little
farther, and entered a wood: here they perceived some Indians to fly as
fast as they could, to take the advantage of another post, thence to
observe their march; yet there remained one troop of Indians on the
place, resolved to fight and defend themselves, which they did with
great courage till their captain fell down wounded; who, though he
despaired of life, yet his valor being greater than his strength, would
ask no quarter, but, endeavoring to raise himself, with undaunted mind
laid hold of his azagayo, or javelin, and struck at one of the pirates;
but before he could second the blow, he was shot to death. This was also
the fate of many of his companions, who, like good soldiers, lost their
lives with their captain, for the defense of their country.
The pirates endeavored to take some of the Indians prisoners, but they
being swifter than the pirates, every one escaped, leaving eight pirates
dead, and ten wounded: yea, had the Indians been more dextrous in
military affairs, they might have defended the passage, and not let one
man pass. A little while after they came to a large champaign, open,
and full of fine meadows; hence they could perceive at a distance before
them some Indians, on the top of a mountain, near the way by which they
were to pass: they sent fifty men, the nimblest they had, to try to
catch any of them, and force them to discover their companions: but all
in vain; for they escaped by their nimbleness, and presently showed
themselves in another place, hallooing to the English and crying, "A la
savana, a la savana, perros Ingleses!" that is, "To the plain, to the
plain, ye English dogs!" Meanwhile the ten pirates that were wounded
were dressed, and plastered up.
Here was a wood, and on each side a mountain. The Indians possessed
themselves of one, and the pirates of the other. Captain Morgan was
persuaded the Spaniards had placed an ambuscade there, it lying so
conveniently; hereupon, he sent two hundred men to search it. The
Spaniards and Indians perceiving the pirates descended the mountain, did
so too, as if they designed to attack them; but being got into the wood,
out of sight of the pirates, they were seen no more, leaving the passage
open.