THE SACK OF PANAMA
The burning of the city--Buccaneer excesses--An abortive
mutiny--Home--Morgan's defection
"On the tenth day, betimes in the morning," while the black and white
monkeys were at their dawn song, or early screaming, the pirates fell in
for the march, with their red flags flying and the drums and trumpets
making a battle music. They set out gallantly towards the city by the
road they had followed from Venta Cruz. Before they came under fire, one
of the guides advised Morgan to attack from another point. The
Spaniards, he said, had placed their heavy guns in position along the
probable line of their advance. Every clump of trees near the trackway
would be filled with Spanish sharpshooters, while they might expect
earth-works or trenches nearer to the city. He advised Morgan to make a
circuit, so as to approach the city through the forest--over the ground
on which new Panama was built, a year or two later. Morgan, therefore,
turned rather to the west of the highway, through some tropical
woodland, where the going was very irksome. As they left the woodland,
after a march of several hours, they again entered the savannah, at a
distance of about a mile and a half from the town. The ground here was
in sweeping folds, so that they had a little hill to climb before the
town lay open to them, at the edge of the sea, to the eastward of the
salt lagoon. When they topped this rise they saw before them "the
forces of the people of Panama, extended in battle array," between them
and the quarry.
The Spanish strength on this occasion, according to the narrative, was
as follows:--400 horse, of the finest horsemen in the world; twenty-four
companies of foot, each company mustering a full 100 men; and "sixty
Indians and some negroes." These last were "to drive two thousand wild
bulls and cause them to run over the English camp, and thus, by breaking
their files, put them into a total disorder and confusion." Morgan gives
the numbers as 2100 foot and 600 horse, with "two Droves of Cattel of
1500 apiece," one for each flank or for the angles of the rear. The
Spanish Governor, who had been "lately blooded 3 times for an
Erysipelas," had not done as well as he could have wished in the
preparation of an army of defence. He says that he had brought together
1400 coloured men, armed with "Carbins, Harquebusses, and Fowling
Pieces," the muskets having been lost at Chagres. He gives the number of
cavalry as 200, "mounted on the same tired Horses which had brought them
thither." He admits that there were "50 cow-keepers" and an
advance-guard of 300 foot. He had also five field-guns "covered with
leather." To these forces may be added the townsfolk capable of bearing
arms. These were not very numerous, for most of the inhabitants, as we
have seen, "thought only of getting rich and cared little for the public
good." They were now, however, in a cold sweat of fear at the sight of
the ragged battalion trooping down from the hilltop. They had dug
trenches for themselves within the city and had raised batteries to
sweep the important streets. They had also mounted cannon on the little
stone fort, or watchman's lodge, at the town end of the bridge across
the creek.
The sight of so many troops drawn out in order "surprised" the pirates
"with great fear." The droves of "wild bulls" pasturing on the savannah
grass were new to their experience; the cavalry they had met before in
Cuba and did not fear, nor did they reckon themselves much worse than
the Spanish foot; but they saw that the Spaniards outnumbered them by
more than two to one, and they recognised the advantage they had in
having a defensible city to fall back upon. The buccaneers were worn
with the long march, and in poor case for fighting. They halted at this
point, while Morgan formed them into a tertia, or division of three
battalions or troops, of which he commanded the right wing. The sight of
so many Spaniards halted below them set them grumbling in the ranks.
"Yea few or none there were but wished themselves at home, or at least
free from the obligation of that Engagement." There was, however,
nothing else for it. A "wavering condition of Mind" could not help them.
They had no alternative but "to fight resolutely, or die." They might
not look to get quarter "from an Enemy against whom they had committed
so many Cruelties."
Morgan formed his men in order, and sent out skirmishers to annoy the
Spanish troops, and to draw them from their position. A few shots were
exchanged; but the Spaniards were not to be tempted, nor was the ground
over which the skirmishers advanced at all suitable for moving troops.
Morgan, therefore, edged his men away to the left, to a little hill
beyond a dry gut or water-course--a position which the Spaniards could
not attack from more than one side owing to the nature of the ground,
which was boggy. Before they could form upon the lower slopes of the
hill the Spanish horse rode softly forward, shouting: "Viva el Rey!"
("Long live the King"), with a great display of courage. "But the field
being full of quaggs, and very soft under foot, they could not ply to
and fro, and wheel about, as they desired." When they had come to a
little beyond musket-shot "one Francisco Detarro," the colonel of the
cavalry, called out to his troopers to charge home upon the English van.
The horses at once broke into a gallop, and charged in "so furiously"
that Morgan had to strengthen his ranks to receive them, "we having no
Pikes" with which to gall the horses. As the men galloped forward, the
line of buccaneers made ready to fire. Each musketeer put one knee to
the ground, and touched off his piece, blasting the Spanish regiment
almost out of action at the one discharge. The charge had been pressed
so nearly home that the powder corns burnt the leading horses. Those who
survived the shock of the volley swung off to the right to re-form,
while the foot came on in their tracks "to try their Fortunes." They
were received with such a terrible fire that they never came to
handystrokes. They disputed the point for some hours, gradually falling
into disorder as their losses became more and more heavy. The cavalry
re-formed, and charged a second and a third time, with the result that
after two hours' fighting "the Spanish Horse was ruined, and almost all
killed." During the engagement of the foot, the Indians and negroes
tried their stratagem of the bulls. They drove the herds round the
flanking parties to the rear, and endeavoured to force them through the
English lines. "But the greatest part of that wild cattle ran away,
being frighted with the noise of the Battle. And some few, that broke
through the English Companies, did no other harm than to tear the
Colours in pieces; whereas the Buccaneers shooting them dead, left not
one to Trouble them thereabouts."
[Illustration: THE BATTLE OF PANAMA]
Seeing the Spanish foot in some disorder, with many of their officers
killed and few of the men firing, Morgan plied them with shot and sent
his left wing forward as they fell back. The horse made one last gallant
attempt to break the English line, but the attempt caused their
complete destruction. At the same moment Morgan stormed down upon the
foot with all his strength. The Spaniards fired "the Shot they had in
their Muskets," and flung their weapons down, not caring to come to
handystrokes. They ran "everyone which way he could run"--an utter rout
of broken soldiers. The pirates were too fatigued to follow, but they
picked them off as they ran till they were out of musket-shot.
The buccaneers apparently then cleared away the stragglers, by
pistolling them wherever they could find them. In this employment they
beat through the shrubs by the sea, where many poor citizens had hidden
themselves after the final routing of the troops. Some monks who were
brought in to Captain Morgan were treated in the same manner, "for he,
being deaf to their Cries, commanded them to be instantly pistolled,"
which order was obeyed there and then. A captain or colonel of troops
was soon afterwards taken, and held to ransom after a strict
examination. He told Morgan that he might look to have great trouble in
winning the city, for the streets were all dug about with trenches and
mounted with heavy brass guns. He added that the main entrance to the
place was strongly fortified, and protected by a half company of fifty
men with eight brass demi-cannon.
Morgan now bade his men rest themselves and take food before pushing on
to the town. He held a review of his army before he marched, and found
that he had lost heavily--perhaps 200 men--while the Spaniards had lost
about three times that number. "The Pirates," we read, "were nothing
discouraged, seeing their number so much diminished but rather filled
with greater pride than before." The comparative heaviness of the
Spanish loss must have been very comforting. After they had rested and
eaten they set out towards the town, "plighting their Oaths to one
another in general, they would fight till never a man were left alive."
A few prisoners, who seemed rich enough to be held to ransom, were
marched with them under a guard of musketeers.
Long before they trod the streets of Panama, they were under fire from
the batteries, "some of which were charged with small pieces of iron,
and others with musket-bullets."
They lost men at every step; but their ranks kept steady, and street by
street the town was won. The main agony of the fight took place between
two and three o'clock, in the heat of the day, when the last Spanish
gunners were cut to pieces at their guns. After the last gun was taken,
a few Spaniards fired from street corners or from upper windows, but
these were promptly pistolled or knocked on the head. The town was in
the hands of the pirates by the time the bells chimed three that
afternoon.
As Morgan rested with his captains in the Plaza, after the heat of the
battle, word was brought to him that the city was on fire in several
places. Many have supposed that the town was fired by his orders, or by
some careless and drunken musketeer of his. It was not the buccaneer
custom to fire cities before they had sacked them, nor is it in the
least likely that Morgan would have burnt so glorious a town before he
had offered it to ransom. The Spaniards have always charged Morgan with
the crime, but it seems more probable that the Spanish Governor was the
guilty one. It is yet more probable that the fire was accidental. Most
of the Spanish houses were of wood, and at that season of the year the
timber would have been of extreme dryness, so that a lighted wad or
match end might have caused the conflagration. At the time when the fire
was first noticed, the pirates were raging through the town in search of
plunder. They may well have flung away their lighted matches to gather
up the spoils they found, and thus set fire to the place unwittingly.
Hearing that the town was burning, Morgan caused his trumpeters to sound
the assembly in the Plaza. When the pirates mustered, Morgan at once
told off men to quench the fire "by blowing up houses by gunpowder, and
pulling down others to stop its progress." He ordered strong guards to
patrol the streets and to stand sentry without the city. Lastly, he
forbade any member of the army "to dare to drink or taste any wine,"
giving out that it had all been poisoned beforehand by the Spaniards. He
feared that his men would get drunk unless he frightened them by some
such tale. With a drunken army rolling in the streets he could hardly
hope to hold the town against an enemy so lightly beaten as the
Spaniards. He also sent some sailors down to the beach to seize "a great
boat which had stuck in the mud of the port."
For all that the pirates could do, the fire spread rapidly, for the dry
cedar beams burned furiously. The warehouses full of merchandise, such
as silks, velvets, and fine linen, were not burned, but all the grand
houses of the merchants, where the life had been so stately, were
utterly gutted--all the Spanish pictures and coloured tapestries going
up in a blaze. The splendid house of the Genoese, where so many black
men had been bought and sold, was burned to the ground. The chief
streets were ruined before midnight, and the fire was not wholly
extinguished a month later when the pirates marched away. It continued
to burn and smoulder long after they had gone.
Having checked the riot among his army, Morgan sent a company of 150 men
back to the garrison at the mouth of the Chagres with news of his
success. Two other companies, of the same strength, he sent into the
woods, "being all very stout soldiers and well-armed," giving them
orders to bring in prisoners to hold to ransom. A third company was
sent to sea under a Captain Searles to capture a Spanish galleon which
had left the port, laden with gold and silver and the jewels of the
churches, a day or two before. The rest of his men camped out of doors,
in the green fields without the city, ready for any attack the Spaniards
might make upon them. Search parties rummaged all day among the burning
ruins, "especially in wells and cisterns," which yielded up many jewels
and fine gold plates. The warehouses were sacked, and many pirates made
themselves coats of silk and velvet to replace the rags they came in. It
is probable that they committed many excesses in the heat of the first
taking of the town, but one who was there has testified to the
comparative gentleness of their comportment when "the heat of the blood"
had cooled. "As to their women," he writes, "I know [not] or ever heard
of anything offered beyond their wills; something I know was cruelly
executed by Captain Collier [commander of one of the ships and one of
the chief officers of the army] in killing a Frier in the field after
quarter given; but for the Admiral he was noble enough to the vanquished
enemy." In fact, the
"Want of rest and victual
Had made them chaste--they ravished very little"
--which matter must be laid to their credit.
A day or two was passed by the pirates in rummaging among the ruins,
eating and drinking, and watching the Spaniards as they moved in the
savannahs. Troops of Spaniards prowled there under arms, looking at
their burning houses and the grey smoke ever going upward. They did not
attack the pirates; they did not even fire at them from a distance. They
were broken men without a leader, only thankful to be allowed to watch
their blazing city. A number of them submitted to the armed men sent out
to bring in prisoners. A number lingered in the near-by forests in
great misery, living on grass and alligator eggs, the latter tasting
"like half-rotten musk"--a poor diet after "pheasants" and Peruvian
wine.
Morgan soon received word from Chagres castle that all was very well
with the garrison. Captain Norman, who had remained in charge, under
oath to keep the "bloody flag," or red pirates' banner, flying, "had
sent forth to sea two boats, to exercise piracy." These had hoisted
Spanish colours, and set to sea, meeting with a fine Spanish merchantman
that very same day. They chased this ship into the Chagres River, where
"the poor Spaniards" were caught in a snare under the guns of the fort.
Her cargo "consisted in victuals and provisions, that were all eatable
things," unlike the victuals given usually to sailors. Such a prize came
very opportunely, for the castle stores were running out, while the
ship's crew proved useful in the bitter work of earth carrying then
going on daily on the ramparts for the repairing of the palisado.
Hearing that the Chagres garrison was in such good case, and so well
able to exercise piracy without further help, Admiral Morgan resolved to
make a longer stay in the ruins of old Panama. He arranged "to send
forth daily parties of two hundred men" to roam the countryside, beating
the thickets for prisoners, and the prisoners for gold. These parties
ranged the country very thoroughly, gathering "in a short time, a huge
quantity of riches, and no less number of prisoners." These poor
creatures were shut up under a guard, to be brought out one by one for
examination. If they would not confess where they had hidden their gold,
nor where the gold of their neighbours lay, the pirates used them as
they had used their prisoners at Porto Bello. "Woolding," burning with
palm leaves, and racking out the arm-joints, seem to have been the most
popular tortures. Many who had no gold were brutally ill treated, and
then thrust through with a lance.
Among these diversions Admiral Morgan fell in love with a beautiful
Spanish lady, who appears to have been something of a paragon. The story
is not worth repeating, nor does it read quite sincerely, but it is very
probably true. John Exquemeling, who had no great love for Morgan,
declares that he was an eye-witness of the love-making, "and could never
have judged such constancy of mind and virtuous chastity to be found in
the world." The fiery Welshman did not win the lady, but we gather from
the evidence that he could have had the satisfaction of Matthew Arnold's
American, who consoled himself, in similar circumstances, with saying:
"Well, I guess I lowered her moral tone some."
During the first week of their stay in Panama, the ship they had sent to
sea returned with a booty of three small coast boats. Captain Searles
had sailed her over Panama Bay to the beautiful island of Taboga, in
order to fill fresh water and rob the inhabitants. Here they took "the
boatswain and most of the crew"[17] of the _Trinity_, a Spanish galleon,
"on board which were the Friers and Nuns, with all the old gentlemen and
Matrons of the Town, to the number of 1500 souls, besides an immense
Treasure in Silver and Gold." This galleon had seven small guns and ten
or twelve muskets for her whole defence. She was without provisions, and
desperately short of water, and she had "no more sails than the
uppermost sails of the mainmast." Her captain was "an old and stout
Spaniard, a native of Andalusia, in Spain, named Don Francisco de
Peralta." She was "very richly laden with all the King's Plate and great
quantity of riches of gold, pearl, jewels, and other most precious
goods, of all the best and richest merchants of Panama. On board of this
galleon were also the religious women, belonging to the nunnery of the
said city, who had embarked with them all the ornaments of their
church, consisting in great quantity of gold, plate, and other things of
great value." This most royal prize was even then slowly dipping past
Taboga, with her sea-sick holy folk praying heartily for the return of
the water casks. She could have made no possible defence against the
pirates had they gone at once in pursuit of her. But this the pirates
did not do. In the village at Taboga there was a wealthy merchant's
summer-house, with a cellar full of "several sorts of rich wines." A
bird in the hand is worth two in the bush, or as a bibulous wit once
said to the present writer: "A bottle now is worth a bath of it
to-morrow." Captain Searles and his men chose to drink a quiet bowl in
the cabin rather than go sail the blue seas after the golden galleon.
They made a rare brew of punch, of which they drank "logwood-cutters'
measure," or a gallon and a half a man. After this they knocked out
their tobacco pipes, and slept very pleasantly till the morning. They
woke "repenting of their negligence" and "totally wearied of the vices
and debaucheries aforesaid." With eyes red with drink they blinked at
the empty punch-bowls. Then with savage "morning-tempers" they damned
each other for a lot of lunkheads, and put to sea (in one of the Taboga
prizes) "to pursue the said galleon" with all speed. However, by this
time Don Peralta, a most gallant and resourceful captain, had brought
the golden _Trinity_ to a place of safety. Had she been taken, she would
have yielded a spoil hardly smaller than that taken by Cavendish in the
_Madre de Dios_ or that which Anson won in the Manila galleon. Several
waggon loads of golden chalices and candlesticks, with ropes of pearls,
bags of emeralds and bezoars, and bar upon bar of silver in the crude,
were thus bartered away for a sup of punch and a drunken chorus in the
cabin. Poor Captain Searles never prospered after. He went logwood
cutting a year or two later, and as a logwood cutter he arrived at the
Rio Summasenta, where he careened his ship at a sandy key, since known
as Searles Key. He was killed a few days afterwards, "in the western
lagune" there, "by one of his Company as they were cutting Logwood
together." That was the end of Captain Searles.
[Footnote 17: They had come ashore to get water.]
Morgan was very angry when he heard of the escape of the galleon. He at
once remanned the four prizes, and sent them out, with orders to scour
the seas till they found her. They cruised for more than a week,
examining every creek and inlet, beating up many a sluggish river, under
many leafy branches, but finding no trace of the _Trinity_. They gave up
the chase at last, and rested at Taboga, where, perhaps, some "rich
wines" were still in bin. They found a Payta ship at anchor at Taboga,
"laden with cloth, soap, sugar and biscuit, with twenty thousand pieces
of eight in ready money." She was "a reasonable good ship," but the
cargo, saving the money, was not much to their taste. They took the best
of it, and loaded it aboard her longboat, making the Taboga negroes act
as stevedores. They then set the negroes aboard the prize, and carried
her home to Panama, "some thing better satisfied of their voyage, yet
withal much discontented they could not meet with the galleon." It was
at Taboga, it seems, that the lady who so inflamed Sir Henry was made
prisoner.
At the end of three weeks of "woolding" and rummaging, Admiral Morgan
began to prepare for the journey home. He sent his men to look for mules
and horses on which to carry the plunder to the hidden canoas in the
river. He learned at this juncture that a number of the pirates intended
to leave him "by taking a ship that was in the port," and going to "rob
upon the South Sea." They had made all things ready, it seems, having
hidden "great quantity of provisions," powder, bullets, and water
casks, with which to store their ship. They had even packed the good
brass guns of the city, "where with they designed not only to equip the
said vessel but also to fortify themselves and raise batteries in some
island or other, which might serve them for a place of refuge." The
scheme was fascinating, and a very golden life they would have had of
it, those lucky mutineers, had not some spoil-sport come sneaking
privily to Morgan with a tale of what was toward. They might have seized
Cocos Island or Juan Fernandez, or "some other island," such as one of
the Enchanted, or Gallapagos, Islands, where the goddesses were thought
to dwell. That would have been a happier life than cutting logwood, up
to the knees in mud, in some drowned savannah of Campeachy.
However, just as the wine-bowl spoiled the project of the galleon, so
did the treachery of a lickspittle, surely one of the meanest of created
things, put an end to the mutiny. Morgan was not there to colonise
Pacific Oceans, but to sack Panama. He had no intention of losing half
his army for an imperial idea. He promptly discouraged the scheme by
burning all the boats in the roads. The ship or chata, which would have
been the flagship of the mutineers, was dismasted, and the masts and
rigging were added to the general bonfire. All the brass cannon they had
taken were nailed and spiked. Wooden bars were driven down their muzzles
as firmly as possible, and the wood was then watered to make it swell.
There was then no more talk of going a-cruising to found republics.
Morgan thought it wise to leave Panama as soon as possible, before a
second heresy arose among his merry men. He had heard that the Governor
of Panama was busily laying ambuscades "in the way by which he ought to
pass at his return." He, therefore, picked out a strong company of men,
including many of the mutineers, and sent them out into the woods to
find out the truth of the matter. They found that the report was false,
for a few Spanish prisoners, whom they captured, were able to tell them
how the scheme had failed. The Governor, it was true, had planned to
make "some opposition by the way," but none of the men remaining with
him would consent to "undertake any such enterprize." With this news the
troops marched back to Panama. While they were away, the poor prisoners
made every effort to raise money for their ransoms, but many were unable
to raise enough to satisfy their captors. Morgan had no wish to wait
till they could gather more, for by this time, no doubt, he had
satisfied himself that he had bled the country of all the gold it
contained. Nor did he care to wait till the Spaniards had plucked up
heart, and planted some musketeers along the banks of the Chagres. He
had horses and mules enough to carry the enormous heaps of plunder to
the river. It was plainly foolish to stay longer, for at any time a
force might attack him (by sea) from Lima or (by land) from Porto Bello.
He, therefore, gave the word for the army to prepare to march. He passed
his last evening in Panama (as we suppose) with the female paragon from
Taboga. The army had one last debauch over the punch-bowls round the
camp fires, and then fell in to muster, thinking rapturously of the inns
and brothels which waited for their custom at Port Royal.
[Illustration: SIR HENRY MORGAN]
"On the 24th of February, of the year 1671, Captain Morgan departed from
the city of Panama, or rather from the place where the said city of
Panama did stand; of the spoils whereof he carried with him one hundred
and seventy-five beasts of carriage, laden with silver, gold and other
precious things, besides six hundred prisoners more or less, between
men, women, children and slaves." Thus they marched out of the ruined
capital, over the green savannah, towards the river, where a halt was
called to order the army for the march to Venta Cruz. A troop of picked
marksmen was sent ahead to act as a scouting party; the rest of the
company marched in hollow square, with the prisoners in the hollow. In
this array they set forward towards Venta Cruz to the sound of drums and
trumpets, amid "lamentations, cries, shrieks and doleful sighs" from the
wretched women and children. Most of these poor creatures were fainting
with thirst and hunger, for it had been Morgan's policy to starve them,
in order "to excite them more earnestly to seek for money wherewith to
ransom themselves." "Many of the women," says the narrative, "begged of
Captain Morgan upon their knees, with infinite sighs and tears, he would
permit them to return to Panama, there to live in company of their dear
husbands and children, in little huts of straw which they would erect,
seeing they had no houses until the rebuilding of the city. But his
answer was: he came not thither to hear lamentations and cries, but
rather to seek money. Therefore they ought to seek out for that in the
first place, wherever it were to be had, and bring it to him, otherwise
he would assuredly transport them all to such places whither they cared
not to go." With this answer they had to remain content, as they lay in
camp, under strict guard, on the banks of the Rio Grande.
Early the next morning, "when the march began," "those lamentable cries
and shrieks were renewed, in so much as it would have caused compassion
in the hardest heart to hear them. But Captain Morgan, a man little
given to mercy, was not moved therewith in the least." They marched in
the same order as before, but on this day, we read, the Spaniards "were
punched and thrust in their backs and sides, with the blunt end of [the
pirates'] arms, to make them march the faster." The "beautiful and
virtuous lady" "was led prisoner by herself, between two Pirates," both
of whom, no doubt, wished the other dear charmer away. She, poor lady,
was crying out that she had asked two monks to fetch her ransom from a
certain hiding-place. They had taken the money, she cried, according to
her instruction, but they had used it to ransom certain "of their own
and particular friends." This evil deed "was discovered by a slave, who
brought a letter to the said lady." In time, her words were reported to
Captain Morgan, who held a court of inquiry there and then, to probe
into the truth of the matter. The monks made no denial of the fact,
"though under some frivolous excuses, of having diverted the money but
for a day or two, within which time they expected more sums to repay
it." The reply angered Morgan into releasing the poor woman, "detaining
the said religious men as prisoners in her place," and "using them
according to the deserts of their incompassionate intrigues." Probably
they were forced to run the gauntlet between two rows of pirates armed
with withes of bejuco.
A day's hard marching brought them to the ruins of Venta Cruz, on the
banks of the river, where the canoas lay waiting for them under a merry
boat guard. The army rested at Venta Cruz for three days, while maize
and rice were collected for the victualling of the boats. Many prisoners
succeeded in raising their ransoms during this three days' halt. Those
who failed, were carried down the river to San Lorenzo. On the 5th of
March the plunder was safely shipped, the army went aboard the canoas,
the prisoners (including some from Venta Cruz) were thrust into the
bottoms of the boats, and the homeward voyage began. The two monks who
had embezzled the lady's money escaped translation at this time, being
ransomed by their friends before the sailing of the fleet. The canoas
dropped down the river swiftly, with songs and cheers from the pirates,
till they came to some opening in the woods, half way across the
isthmus, where the banks were free enough from brush to allow them to
camp. Here they mustered in order, as though for a review, each man in
his place with his sword and firelock. Here Captain Morgan caused each
man to raise his right hand, and to swear solemnly that he had concealed
nothing privately, "even not so much as the value of sixpence." Captain
Morgan, a Welshman by birth, "having had some experience that those lewd
fellows would not much stickle to swear falsely in points of interest,
commanded every one to be searched very strictly, both in their clothes
and satchels and everywhere it might be presumed they had reserved
anything. Yea, to the intent this order might not be ill-taken by his
companions, he permitted himself to be searched, even to the very soles
of his shoes." One man out of each company was chosen to act as searcher
to his fellows, and a very strict search was made. "The French Pirates
were not well satisfied with this new custom of searching," but there
were not very many of them, and "they were forced to submit to it." When
the search was over, they re-embarked, and soon afterwards the current
caught them, and spun them down swiftly to the lion-like rock at the
river's mouth. They came safely to moorings below San Lorenzo on the 9th
of March. They found that most of the wounded they had left there had
died of fever, but the rest of the garrison was in good case, having
"exercised piracy" with profit all the time the army had been
plundering. There was "joy, and a full punch-bowl," in the castle rooms
that night.
Morgan now sent his Santa Katalina prisoners to Porto Bello in "a great
boat," demanding a ransom for Chagres castle, "threatening otherwise" to
blast it to pieces. "Those of Porto Bello," who needed all their money
to repair their own walls, replied that "They would not give one
farthing towards the ransom of the said castle, and that the English
might do with it as they pleased"--a sufficiently bold answer, which
sealed the fate of San Lorenzo. When the answer came, the men were again
mustered, and "the dividend was made of all the spoil they had purchased
in that voyage." Each man received his due share, "or rather what part
thereof Captain Morgan was pleased to give." There was general
dissatisfaction with "his proceedings in this particular," and many
shaggy ruffians "feared not to tell him openly" that he had "reserved
the best jewels to himself." They "judged it impossible" that the share
per man should be but a paltry 200 pieces of eight, or £50, after "so
many valuable booties and robberies." Why, they said, it is less than we
won at Porto Bello. Many swore fiercely that, if they had known how
small the booty was to prove, they would have seen Henry Morgan in gaol
before they 'listed. Why they did not tear him piecemeal, and heave him
into the sea, must remain a mystery. They contented themselves with
damning him to his face for a rogue and a thief, at the same time
praying that a red-hot hell might be his everlasting portion. "But
Captain Morgan," says the narrative, "was deaf to all these, and many
other complaints of this kind, having designed in his mind to cheat them
of as much as he could."
Deaf though he was, and callous, he had a fine regard for his own skin.
The oaths and curses which were shouted after him as he walked in the
castle made him "to fear the consequence thereof." He "thought it unsafe
to remain any longer time at Chagre," so he planned a master stroke to
defeat his enemies. The castle guns were dismounted, and hoisted aboard
his flagship. The castle walls were then blasted into pieces, the lower
batteries thrown down, and the houses burnt. When these things had been
done "he went secretly on board his own ship, without giving any notice
of his departure to his companions, nor calling any council, as he used
to do. Thus he set sail, and put out to sea, not bidding anybody adieu,
being only followed by three or four vessels of the fleet." The captains
of these ships, it was believed, had shared with him in the concealed
plunder.
There was great fury among the buccaneers when Morgan's escape was
known. The French pirates were for putting to sea in pursuit, to blow
his ships out of the water, but Morgan had been sufficiently astute to
escape in the provision ships. The pirates left behind had not food
enough to stock their ships, and could not put to sea till more had been
gathered. While they cursed and raged at Chagres, Morgan sailed slowly
to Port Royal, where he furled his sails, and dropped anchor, after a
highly profitable cruise. The Governor received his percentage of the
profits, and Morgan at once began to levy recruits for the settling of
Santa Katalina.
As for his men, they stayed for some days in considerable misery at San
Lorenzo. They then set sail in companies, some for one place, some for
another, hoping to find food enough to bring them home. Some went to the
eastward, raiding the coast for food, and snapping up small coasting
vessels. Some went to the bay of Campeachy to cut logwood and to drink
rum punch. Others went along the Costa Rican coast to find turtle to
salt for victuals, and to careen their barnacled and wormy ships. One
strong company went to Cuba, where they sacked the Town of the Keys, and
won a good booty. Most of them came home, in time, but to those who
returned that home-coming was bitter.
Shortly after Morgan's return to Jamaica, a new Governor arrived from
England with orders to suppress the gangs of privateers. He had
instructions to proclaim a general pardon for all those buccaneers who
cared to take advantage of the proclamation within a given time. Those
who wished to leave "their naughty way of life" were to be encouraged by
grants of land (thirty-five acres apiece), so that they might not starve
when they forsook piracy. But this generous offer was merely a lure or
bait to bring the buccaneers to port, in order that the Governor might
mulct them "the tenths and fifteenths of their booty as the dues of the
Crown for granting them commissions." The news of the intended taxation
spread abroad among the pirates. They heard, too, that in future they
would find no rest in Port Royal; for this new Governor was earnest and
diligent in his governorship. They, therefore, kept away from Port
Royal, and made Tortuga their rendezvous, gradually allying themselves
with the French buccaneers, who had their stronghold there. Some of
them, who returned to Port Royal, were brought before the magistrate,
and hanged as pirates. Their old captain, Henry Morgan, left his former
way of life, and soon afterwards become Governor of Jamaica. He was so
very zealous in "discouraging" the buccaneers that the profession
gradually lost its standing. The best of its members took to logwood
cutting or to planting; the worst kept the seas, like water-Ishmaelites,
plundering the ships of all nations save their own. They haunted
Tortuga, the keys of Cuba, the creeks and inlets of the coast, and the
bays at the western end of Jamaica. They were able to do a great deal of
mischief; for there were many of them, and the English Colonial
governors could not spare many men-of-war to police the seas. Often the
pirates combined and made descents upon the coast as in the past. Henry
Morgan's defection did but drive them from their own pleasant haunt,
Port Royal. The "free-trade" of buccaneering throve as it had always
thriven. But about the time of Morgan's consulship we read of British
men-of-war helping to discourage the trade, and thenceforward the
buccaneers were without the support of the Colonial Government. Those
who sailed the seas after Morgan's time were public enemies, sailing
under the shadow of the gallows.
_Authorities._--W. Nelson: "Five Years at Panama." P. Mimande:
"Souvenirs d'un Echappé de Panama." A. Reclus: "Panama et Darien."
A. Radford: "Jottings on Panama." J. de Acosta: "Voyages." S. de
Champlain: "Narrative." Cieça de Leon: "Travels." Exquemeling:
"Bucaniers of America." Don Perez de la Guzman: "Account of the Sack
of Panama."
I am also indebted to friends long resident in the present city of
Panama.