When on his return voyage to England, sailing down the Atlantic coast of
Costa Rica, Thomas Gage's ship was intercepted by two corsairs under the
Dutch flag, one of them being a man-of-war. The struggle of the Netherlands
for freedom against Spain had not then come to a close. The Dutch commander
was a character, of whose strange experiences Gage gives an interesting
account. Much to the surprise of the traveler the captain who had caught
them was a mulatto named Diaguillo, who was born and brought up at Habana
(Cuba), where his mother was still living. Having been maltreated by the
Governor of Campeche in whose service he had been, this mulatto in a fit of
utter desperation threw himself into a boat and ventured into the sea,
where he met with some Dutch ships on watch for a prize. He swam to and
went aboard one of these vessels, hoping to find better treatment than
among his country-men. He offered himself to the Dutch and promised to
serve them loyally against those of his nation who had maltreated him.
Afterwards he proved himself so loyal and reliable to the Dutch, that he
won much fame among them. He was married to a girl of their nation and
later made captain of a vessel under that brave and noble Dutchman, whom
the Spaniards dreaded much and whom they named Pie de Palo, or Wooden-leg.
"That famous mulatto," said Gage, "was he who boarded our frigate with his
soldiers. I lost four thousand pesos wealth in pearls and jewelry and about
three thousand in ready money. I had still other things with me, viz., a
bed, some books, pictures painted on copper, and clothes, and I asked that
Mulatto captain to let me keep them. He donated me them liberally, out of
consideration for my vocation, and said I must take patience, for he was
not allowed to dispose in other way of my pearls and my money; moreover, he
used the proverb: If fortune to-day is on my side, to-morrow it will be on
yours, and what I have won to-day, that I may lose to-morrow.... He also
ordered to give me back some single and double pistoles, out of generosity
and respect to my garb...."
"After having searched their prize," continued the traveler, "Captain and
soldiers thought of refreshing themselves on the provisions we had on
board; the generous captain had a luxurious dinner and invited me to be his
guest, and knowing that I was going to Habana, he drank the health of his
mother and asked me to go to see her and give her his kindest regards,
saying that for her sake he had treated me as kindly as was in his power.
He told us, moreover, when still at table, that for my sake he would give
us back our ship, so that we could get back to land, and that I might find
some other and safer way to continue my voyage to Spain.... Everything
taken away from the ship save my belongings, which captain Diaguillo
ordered to let me out of a generosity not often to be found with a corsair,
he bade us fare-well thanking us for the good luck we had procured him."
Thomas Gage reached Habana in safety and called upon the mother of the
Corsair, but does not say how he found her.