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CAPTAIN WILLIAM KIDD AND OTHERS OF THE BUCCANEERS
by
JOHN S. C. ABBOTT
[Illustration]
New York
Dodd, Mead and Company
Publishers
Copyright 1874,
By
Dodd & Mead.
Copyright 1902,
By
Laura 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 authenticated. The writer has
drawn his facts from Esquemeling’s _Zee Roovers_, Amsterdam, 4to, 1684;
Oexemelin’s _Histoire des Aventuriers_, 12mo, Paris, 1688; Johnson’s
_History of the Pirates_, 2 vols., London, 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 pamphlets,
encyclopædias, 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 thinking 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._ PAGE
Renown of Captain Kidd.--Wild Legends.--Demands of
Spain.--Opposition of the Maritime Powers.--The Rise of the
Buccaneers.--The Pirates’ Code.--Remonstrance of Spain.--Reply
of France and England.--Confession of a Buccaneer.--Adventures
of Peter the Great. 9
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.--Circuitous Trip to Madagascar.--Perils and
Sufferings.--Madagascar the Pirates’ Home.--Murmurings of the
Crew.--Kidd reluctantly turns Pirate.--His Repulses, and his
Captures. 29
CHAPTER III.
_Piratic Adventures._
Audacity 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 Career and wretched End. 51
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 enters 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 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. 98
CHAPTER VI.
_The Adventures of Edward Teach, or Blackbeard._
Seizure of the Protestant Cæsar.--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 Demoniac
Character. 110
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
Blackbeard’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. 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.
_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.--Lolonois’s New Enterprise.--The “Furious
Calm.”--Days of Disaster.--Ravaging the Coast.--Capture
of San Pedro. 170
CHAPTER XI.
_The End of Lolonois’s 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. 186
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. 201
CHAPTER XIII.
_Anne Bonny, the Female Pirate._
Rackam the Pirate.--Anne Bonny his Wife.--Her 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. 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 Mansvelt.--Expedition 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. 225
CHAPTER XV.
_The Capture of Puerto Velo, and its Results._
The Torture.--Sickness and Misery.--Measures of the Governor of
Panama.--The Ambuscade.--Awful Defeat of the Spaniards.--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. 246
CHAPTER XVI.
_The 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.--Disaster and Failure.--Capture of the Spanish
Ships.--The Retreat Commenced.--Peril of the Pirates.--Singular
Correspondence.--Strength of the Spanish Armament.--The
Public Conference of the Pirates.--The Naval Battle.--The
Fire-Ship.--Wonderful Achievement of the Pirates. 273
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. 290
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 Unexpected
Victory.--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. 319
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. 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 Battles 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 Buccaneers.--The Pirates’ Code.--Remonstrance
of Spain.--Reply of France and England.--Confession
of a Buccaneer.--Adventures of Peter the Great.
There are but few persons, in the United States, who have not heard
the name of the renowned 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 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 blindfolded the awful plank, until she was
jostled into the sea, while her chests of golden ingots and diamonds
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, pursued, harassed, cut up, they never did return.
Therefore 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 northern coast, from
Passamaquoddy Bay to the Jerseys.
Half a century ago, when superstition exerted much more powerful sway
than now, the wildest stories were told, around the fireside, of the
complicity of the robber with the Archfiend himself, and of 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 stories. 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 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 excess 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
senseless 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 entirely closed up, and replaced by a ledge of solid granite.
Terrified, they crept to their homes, fearing 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 secrets of the past. Into this mysterious crystal she gazed,
and saw a 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 commerce 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 cargo of goods or coin were valuable. His
adventurous 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 turning 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 darkness, 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 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 distances 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 century 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 _bull_ as it was called, excited
great discontent throughout all Christendom. This was nearly two
hundred years ago. France, England, and the Netherlands, the three
remaining great maritime nations, combined 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 decide upon the validity of prizes. The captors were
responsible to nobody. They decided for themselves 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 adventurers. They sailed in
fleets. In armed bands they landed and ravaged the coasts, battering
down forts and capturing and plundering cities. They did not deem
themselves pirates, but took the name of buccaneers. 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 merchants
all welcomed them, not deeming it necessary to ask any questions for
conscience’ sake. Their numbers became so great and their depredations
so audacious, that no ship could sail in safety under any flag. The
buccaneers were not careful to obtain 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 articles 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 importance, 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 or pistol.
“Any one deserting, or leaving his quarters, during 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 quartermaster 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. Quarter 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 freebooters assumed the most gorgeous and extravagant dresses.
Their favorite ornament was a broad crimson sash, of bright scarlet,
passing round the waist, and fastened on the shoulder and hip with
colored ribbons. This was so arranged 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
feature 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 plundered 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 outrages. 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
liberty to proceed against them according to his own pleasure.”
Elizabeth, England’s termagant queen, with characteristic tartness
replied:
“The Spaniards have drawn these inconveniences 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 debarred 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 comrades. Not a few men of noble
birth became buccaneers. 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 wished, as every honest man should do, to have withal to satisfy
his creditors.”
The French called the buccaneers _nos braves_. The English papers were
filled with admiring accounts of their unparalleled exploits. A French
buccaneer; Francois l’Olonnais, at the head of six hundred and fifty
men, captured the towns of Maracaibo 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 harbor 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 defended. The island abounded with wild boars, and 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 gushing
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 joining 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 enter
into the wicked order of pirates or robbers of the sea. Into this
society I was received by common 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 companions, 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 disappearing, and they began to be in despair.
At length they espied, one afternoon, in the distant 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 perhaps soldiers, three or
four times outnumbering the buccaneers. The sagacious Peter immediately
surmised 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 merchantman, 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 starvation. 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 failure. 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 food in abundance,
wine in abundance, gold in abundance. We are now beggars. Let us take
that ship, and we are princes. We can revel in luxury. Our fortunes
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
suddenly than to starve. We can take the ship if we all do our duty. I
call upon every one now to take 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 captain 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 contemptuously:
“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 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 vigilance, no suspicion of danger on board the ship. The
boat came alongside the huge bulk of the galleon 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 captain 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 their
astounding victory. They were nearly all seamen, 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,
enlisting 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 likewise. 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 enterprise, Pierre had made his fortune for life.
In a few months, more than twenty piratic vessels were fitted out at
Tortuga.