A SHARP FIGHT
Mr. Playford and Nat were still talking when a sailor came up to him
with one of the negroes.
"What is it, Tomkins?" the lieutenant asked.
"Well, sir, this 'ere black seems to hear something; he keeps pointing
up into the wood and whispering something in his own lingo and looking
very excited, so I thought I had better bring him here to you."
"Quite right, Tomkins; no doubt he does hear something, their ears are a
good deal better than ours are. I will go up with you."
Accompanied by Nat, Mr. Playford went up on to the bank of earth that
had been thrown up against the palisade, and found that the negroes
there were all in a state of excitement, pointing in various directions
and shaking their pikes angrily.
"They are coming, there is no doubt of that," he said. "I should say, by
the motions of the blacks, that they are scattered through the wood.
Well, we are ready for them. You had better get your slow matches
alight, my lads; don't take the covers off the vents until the last
moment, the dew is heavy."
They were joined now by Lieutenant Boldero. "I think I can hear them,"
he said.
"Yes. I should not have noticed if it had not been for the blacks, but
there is certainly a confused noise in the air."
Listening attentively, they could hear a low rustling sound, with
sometimes a faint crack as of a breaking stick.
"As soon as we think that they have got to the edge of the trees we
will throw a fireball out in that direction, and then let them have it.
We must keep them from getting closer if we can; when they once get near
the foot of the palisade we shall not be able to depress our guns enough
to fire upon them."
In a short time there was no question that a large number of men were
making their way down through the wood. The blacks were now brought out
from the houses and ranged along at the foot of the bank, where they
were ordered to stay for the present, as were they to man the line they
would be exposed to the assailants' bullets, while powerless to do any
service until the latter began to attempt to scale the stockade.
"They must be gathering at the edge of the trees now," the lieutenant
said at last. "Now, Tomkins, light that fireball and heave it over."
The ball, which was formed of old junk, was about the size of a man's
head. The material had been smeared with tar mixed with sulphur, and
Tomkins held in his hand the lanyard attached to it. He applied a slow
match to it, and it broke into a blaze at once. Swinging it round his
head, he hurled it far in front of him. By its light as it fell a crowd
of figures could be seen gathered along the edge of the forest. A fierce
yell broke from them, and loud shouts were raised by the leaders
ordering them to charge, but before they could get into motion four guns
poured a storm of grape among them, followed directly afterwards by the
contents of four others. An appalling din of yells and shrieks was
heard, but without an instant's hesitation a score of figures in
European dress darted forward, followed by a mass of blacks, behind whom
came another thirty or forty Europeans or mulattoes driving the negroes
before them.
"Pick off the whites!" Lieutenant Boldero shouted to the marines, and a
dropping fire of musketry was at once opened.
The distance, however, from the edge of the trees to the palisades was
but some fifty yards; the light was dim and uncertain, and in a minute
from the first shot being fired the assailants were swarming along the
foot of the palisade. There was no hesitation, and it was evident that
the men who led the attack had made every preparation. A number of the
assailants carried ladders; these were placed against the wall, and the
whites and mulattoes swarmed up, closely followed by the negroes. So
sudden and unexpected was this assault that in several places they
obtained a footing inside the palisades, but with a wild yell the slaves
at once rushed up the bank and fell upon them. At the same moment the
boom of the schooner's guns told that they had made out parties of the
enemy advancing against the flanks of the works.
The arrival of the slaves soon changed the position. The assailants were
cut down, run through, or forced to leap down over the stockade that
they had just crossed. In spite of the shouts of the lieutenant, the
slaves, thirsting for vengeance, leapt down after them, and fell with
such fury upon the assailants that these, seized with a panic, fled. At
the edge of the trees, however, the efforts of the whites checked the
flight. Guns and pistols were discharged for the first time, and a
fierce fight presently raged.
"We must go down and lend them a hand," the lieutenant said. "Keep your
men here, Mr. Glover, to get the guns loaded again; I will take my
blue-jackets and the marines. Light a port fire or two, else, in spite
of their white head-gear, we shall be hurting our friends."
The sailors and marines soon scrambled down the ladders, and, led by
their officers, rushed forward with loud cheers. Their arrival at once
decided the fortune of the fray. Rushing through their black allies,
they fell with sword and cutlass, musket and bayonet, upon the
Europeans, whose pistols had given them a decided advantage over the
slaves, but who could not stand the charge of the marines and seamen.
These pursued them for some little distance, but when beyond the range
of the lights of the stockade Lieutenant Playford halted them. The
slaves, however, continued the pursuit for some time, and then they,
too, returned, having overtaken and killed many of their flying enemies.
"There is nothing more to be done till daylight," Mr. Playford said.
"Indeed, I do not think that we shall hear any more of these fellows,
who, to do them justice, fought well. Our guns must have done a good
deal of execution, though they would have done much more had they not
been so close; the bullets had hardly begun to scatter. However, we
shall see in the morning. It is lucky that we armed the slaves, or it
would have gone very hard with us. You see, we had half our men at the
guns, and the others were too thinly scattered along the line to be able
to defend it against so determined an attack. I expect they never
calculated on the slaves being armed, and thought that they had only
forty or fifty men to deal with. After the lesson that they have had I
don't think they will molest us again, unless there are any troops in
the neighbourhood that they can bring up."
The palisades were recrossed and sentries set; grog was served out to
the seamen and marines; the slaves were mad with delight, and danced and
sang songs of triumph for some time. As soon, however, as the lieutenant
motioned them to return to their huts they did so at once. Many of them
were wounded more or less severely, but they seemed to think nothing of
this, being too much pleased with the vengeance they had taken to care
aught for the pain. Nat prepared to return to the schooner with his men,
none of whom were, however, seriously hurt, as they had been held in
reserve. Altogether, three sailors and a marine had been killed and six
severely wounded.
"Are you going on board, Mr. Playford?"
"No; I shall stay ashore till morning. I do not think that there is the
remotest chance of the attack being renewed; however, it is clearly my
duty to stay here."
As soon as it was daylight Nat went on shore again, and with ten of his
own men, ten marines, and a hundred of the slaves, went over the ground
to collect the wounded, and learn the loss of the assailants. All the
wounded sailors had been carried into the fort when the fight ceased.
Six Spaniards and nine mulattoes lay dead either on the earthen rampart
or at the foot of the palisade. All of them were pierced in several
places by pikes, or mutilated with blows of axes. Round them lay some
twenty plantation negroes, and thirty others had fallen at the edge of
the wood, shattered by the discharges of the cannon or killed in the
hand-to-hand conflict; among them were twelve of the released slaves.
Not a single white or mulatto was found alive.
The party pursued their way for a quarter of a mile into the wood. Here
and there were scattered the bodies of the assailants who had been
overtaken by their pursuers. The latter had done their work thoroughly,
for not a single man was found to be breathing. When they came to a
point beyond which the slaves by signs apprised them that they had not
gone, they returned, collecting and carrying down the bodies of the dead
as they went. They found on their return that two trenches, four feet
deep and thirty feet long, had already been dug, at the edge of the
forest and as far from the camp as possible. In one of these the bodies
of the Spaniards and mulattoes were laid, and in the other that of the
negroes. The earth was then filled in.
"It has been an unpleasant job, but a necessary one," Lieutenant
Playford said, when he knew that the work was done, and the whole party
re-entered the fort. "In a climate like this the place would have been
uninhabitable in a couple of days if we had not buried them all."
In the afternoon two fresh graves were made, and the fallen sailors were
reverently laid to rest in one, the dead slaves in the other. Water was
brought up in buckets by the negroes from the edge of the creek, and all
signs of the conflict on the rampart and at the foot of the palisade
either washed away or covered with earth. Then matters resumed their
former aspect.
Early the next morning the look-out on the cliff ran down and reported
that a large brigantine was just entering the inlet. Mr. Playford
shouted the news to Nat.
"I will send off the marines to you," he said. "I will remain here with
the blue-jackets."
The Spanish flag was at once run up to the peak. In two or three minutes
the boat with the marines came alongside. They and the greater part of
the sailors at once lay down on the deck, while the few who remained on
foot took off their straw hats and white jumpers, tied handkerchiefs
round their heads, and gave themselves as unseamanlike an appearance as
possible. Ten minutes later the brigantine appeared round the point;
there was scarce a breath of wind, and she had two boats towing her. A
flag hung from her mast-head, and as Nat turned his glass upon it he
exclaimed to Boldero, who, having removed his coat and cap, was standing
by his side:
"It is the black flag; the fellow must be pretty sure of his welcome or
he would never venture to haul it up."
In the meantime the guns ashore had been slued round, and were now
pointed on a spot somewhat ahead of the schooner. She came slowly along
until within some four or five lengths of the latter, then there was a
sudden shout on board, followed by a tremendous hubbub. It was clear
that the line of palisades surrounding the huts had been noticed and
the guns seen.
The brigantine was crowded with men. She carried twelve guns in her
ports, and a long swivel eighteen-pounder in her bow. There was now no
longer any motive for concealment, the marines and seamen leapt to their
feet with a cheer, and a moment later the schooner's two foremost guns,
which would alone bear on the boats, spoke out, while almost at the same
moment two of those on the rampart sent a shower of grape into them.
Both boats sank immediately, those of the crews who were uninjured
swimming to the brigantine. Contradictory orders were shouted on board
the pirate. One by one her guns on the port side answered those on the
ramparts.
"Get ready, my lads!" Nat shouted, "she will be alongside directly."
The impetus of the schooner's way was indeed sufficient to take her
slowly but surely forward, and the pirate slightly changed his course so
as to bring her outside the schooner. Playford saw what his object was,
and the remaining guns poured their charges of grape across the deck of
the brigantine, committing terrible havoc. Before they could be loaded
again she was alongside the schooner, and so covered by her from the
fire of the guns on shore. As the vessels came abreast of each other at
a distance of two or three feet only, Nat and the young marine officer
leapt on to the pirate's deck followed by their men. The resistance of
the pirates was desperate. Although they had suffered much loss from the
fire of the guns, they were still numerically stronger than their
assailants, and, fighting as they did with the desperation of despair,
they not only held their ground, but pushed their assailants back
towards the bulwark.
[Illustration: THE GUNS ON THE RAMPART SEND A SHOWER OF GRAPE INTO THE
PIRATE.]
For three or four minutes the fight continued without any marked
advantage to either party; the pistols of the seamen and pirates and the
muskets of the marines were empty, and they were fighting hand to hand.
Then slowly the advantage turned against the pirates, but the issue was
still undecided when there was a loud cheer, and Mr. Playford with
fifteen sailors leapt on the deck of the pirate from the other side, the
approach of the boat having been unnoticed in the heat of the fray. The
pirates now broke; their captain had fallen, and, outnumbered and
hopeless, some threw down their arms, while others jumped overboard.
Those who surrendered were at once bound and battened down in the hold
of the schooner, some eight or ten only gained the opposite shore and
took to the woods. The victory had not been a bloodless one. Five of the
frigate's crew had been killed, and there were few among Nat's command
who were not more or less severely wounded.
"It was a sharp fight, Mr. Glover," Mr. Playford said.
"It was indeed, sir. At one time they fairly drove us back, but I think
that we should have beaten them even if you had not brought help to us."
"I am sure you would," the lieutenant said warmly. "I could see as I
boarded that although the men in front were fighting hard, those in the
rear were hanging back as if they had had enough of it. Still, you might
have lost more men than you did before you finished with them if we had
not turned up. You see, fighting with pirates is quite a different thing
from fighting with any other opponents. These fellows know well enough
that there is no mercy for them, and that they have nothing before them
but to fight until they die, or to be tried and hanged. The veriest
coward would fight till the last with such an alternative as that before
him. I would rather fight a hundred and fifty French or Spanish seamen
than a hundred pirates. She is a fine roomy craft that we have taken,
and I think we shall now be able to carry off all these blacks. No
doubt it will be a close pack for them, but for a short voyage that will
not matter. Now let us see to our wounded. After that is done we can get
off the hatches and have a look round below. Of course she may have come
in here for water, but it is likely that she has at least some booty in
her hold."
This proved to be the case. She was half full of goods of a more or less
valuable kind, and these, by the marks on the bales and boxes, had
evidently formed part of the cargoes of three ships. Two days later the
_Orpheus_ was seen returning along the coast, and Nat was at once sent
off by the lieutenant with his written report of what had taken place
since she had sailed. The gig reached the side of the frigate just as
the anchor was let go.
"I see your right arm is in a sling, Mr. Glover," the captain said as he
handed him the report, "so I suppose that you have had some fighting."
"Yes, sir, we have had some pretty sharp fighting."
"What is your wound?"
"Only a chop with a cutlass, sir."
"Oh, you came to hand-to-hand work, did you?"
Nat gave no answer, for the captain had opened the report and was now
running his eye down it.
"Very satisfactory," he said, as he handed it to the first lieutenant.
"An attacking force handsomely repulsed and a pirate captured. Very good
work indeed, very good. I see Mr. Boldero was wounded, Mr. Glover."
"Yes, sir, he was hit on the head with a pistol-shot. Fortunately the
ball glanced off the skull. He was stunned for a time, but is now nearly
himself again."
"Here is some work for you, Dr. Bemish," the captain said. "Mr. Playford
reports that ten of the cases are serious. I am going ashore in my gig
at once, and will take you with me. You had better send the cutter at
once, Mr. Hill, to bring off the wounded. You may as well return in your
own boat, Mr. Glover, Mr. Curtis can go in charge of the cutter. Mr.
Needham can go with me."
Nat at once returned to his boat. He was overtaken by the captain's gig
when half-way up the inlet. He rowed to the schooner, while the gig made
straight for the landing-place where the lieutenant was standing.
"I congratulate you, Mr. Playford," the captain said as he stepped
ashore. "You seem to have had a pretty busy time of it since we have
been away. I certainly did not think they would attempt to attack you
when you had those guns in position, and I did not reckon on the pirate.
She is a fine brigantine; the schooner looks quite small beside her."
"Yes, sir, she is over three hundred tons. Her broadside guns are all
twelve-pounders, and she carries an eighteen-pounder as a swivel. She
had a crew of seventy men, of whom only eight or ten got ashore, the
rest were all accounted for except twelve, who are in irons below. The
credit of capturing her, sir, really belongs to Mr. Glover, for although
I went off to his assistance he would have taken her without my aid,
though the pirates were still fighting strongly."
"Well, it has been a very successful business altogether, Mr. Playford.
The capture of the brigantine is specially fortunate, as I have failed
to come across any native craft as I had hoped to do, but with this
extra accommodation we shall be able to manage to carry off all the
slaves. I see by your account that Mr. Glover had the marines as well as
his own twenty men."
"Yes, sir, I sent Lieutenant Boldero and fourteen marines on board; he
had lost six either killed or seriously wounded in the attack here. I
own that I had hardly calculated upon the brigantine getting alongside
the schooner. I thought that when we had smashed up her boats, which I
made certain we should do, she would be so completely at our mercy that,
being becalmed, she would haul down her flag; but she had sufficient way
on her to take her alongside the schooner, and her captain put her there
so cleverly that I could not fire at her except through the schooner. I
saw at once that the whole position was changed, for if he had captured
the schooner he might have put all his men into the boats and made a
dash for shore; and as I had so few men fit for work it would have been
awkward, though with the aid of the blacks I have no doubt I should have
driven them off."
"Then I suppose your discharge of grape did not do him very much harm?"
"Not so much as it ought to have done, sir. You see the first two guns
we fired destroyed his boats. The other guns were all too weakly handled
to be trained on the pirate as he forged ahead, and as far as I could
see not one of them did any serious execution among his crew. Yesterday
I told off four negroes to each gun, and kept them at work all day
learning how to train them under the direction of the sailors. If I had
thought of that before we should have swept his decks with such effect
that when she got alongside the schooner Mr. Glover's party would have
had easy work of it."
"You could hardly think of everything, Mr. Playford, and you certainly
did right in sending the marines off to the schooner directly you had
news that this brigantine was entering the inlet. No doubt if you had
wished to sink her it would have been better to have kept them on shore
to help work the guns, but as she is a valuable prize, and we wanted her
badly to help carry away the slaves, you were quite right not to try to
damage her. You say she is half full of plunder?"
"Yes, sir, and there were nearly eight hundred pounds in money and
thirty-four watches and some jewellery found in the captain's cabin."
"She is a valuable capture, and I should think the admiral would buy her
into the service. She is just the sort of craft that we want. The
schooner would be too small to tackle one of these heavily-armed pirates
with their crowds of men. So your slaves fought well?"
"That they did, sir. If it had been daylight I doubt whether any of the
whites who led the attack would have escaped. Of course they had no
particular animosity against the negroes, but I believe that they would
have followed the whites and mulattoes half across the island."
"Well, do you think that the two craft will carry all the slaves?"
"Hardly, sir; the schooner can stow a hundred and fifty. Of course it
will be close work, but there will be room for that number to lie down,
and with the hatches both open they will be all right. By rearranging
the cargo a bit, two hundred could sleep in the hold of the brigantine.
That would still leave rather over one hundred and fifty."
"Well, we must give up part of the hold of the frigate to them," the
captain said, "there is no help for it. There are about that number of
women and children, are there not?"
"Yes, sir."
"They had better go off in the frigate, then. Of course, the prisoners
will be sent off too--I will pay a visit to the brigantine, and then go
off myself, and will send the boats in as soon as I get there. You may
as well be getting the men on board at once. As soon as they are all
off, you will, of course, set fire to all the sheds here, but you may as
well send off a boat-load of stores suitable for them to the frigate,
and will, of course, victual these two craft. I shall send you another
forty men to fill up the vacancies that have been caused, and to
furnish a crew for the brigantine, of which, of course, you will take
the command. You and the schooner will keep in close company. The
marines will return to the ship. Mr. Needham will be your second on the
brigantine."
"How about the guns, sir? They are all old pieces, and scarcely worth
carrying away."
"Yes, but I won't leave them here to be used for defending this place
again. You had better take them off their carriages, spike them, get
them into the boats, and heave them overboard, well out in deep water.
Do you think that you will be able to get everything done before dark,
Mr. Playford?"
"Yes, sir, it is only nine o'clock now, and if you will send a strong
working party, in addition to those who will be taking the slaves on
board, to help with the stores and guns, I have no doubt that I shall be
able to get the work done well before sunset."
"Very well. Mr. Hill will come on shore as soon as I return to the
frigate."
The work went on without ceasing all day, and the pinnace, which had
been recovered and repaired before the frigate sailed, and the launch,
went backwards and forwards to the frigate with the women, children, and
stores, while the boats of the brigantine and schooner carried the men
to those craft, as soon as the stores for the voyage, and the bales of
cotton and other goods that would be useful, had been taken off. When
the two large boats had finished their work they were employed in
carrying out the guns, which had, before the slaves embarked, been
brought down by them to the edge of the water. By three o'clock all was
finished, and the last boat-load of the sailors rowed out to the prizes,
after having set fire to all the huts. These were soon in a blaze, to
the delight of the negroes, who danced and shouted for joy. Half of
these were sent below at once, as they crowded the decks to such an
extent as to render it impossible for the sailors to work.
Those who remained were ranged in rows by the bulwarks from end to end
of the craft; then the anchors were got up, and the sails dropped and
sheeted home. The wind was very light, but was sufficient to give
steerage-way, and with the British ensign flying at the peak the two
vessels sailed out of the inlet and joined the frigate, which began to
make sail as soon as they were seen issuing from the narrow mouth. Glad
indeed were all on board the three vessels when, after a voyage unmarked
by any adventure, they entered Port Royal, for although the negroes,
feeling confident that they were in good hands, had been docile and
obedient, they were still terribly in the way.
Though all had been made to take a bath every morning, the odour in the
crowded prizes was almost overpoweringly strong. On arrival, the negroes
were landed and lodged in some large government storehouses near the
fort. Each was presented with ten yards of cloth on leaving for the
shore, and they were, before being housed, permitted to sort themselves,
so that families and friends might be together. Interpreters explained
to them that it would be impossible to send them back to their friends
in Africa, but that they would be apportioned out among the plantations
of the island. The wages they were to receive were explained to them,
and they were told that a government official would visit each
plantation in turn, and would listen to any complaints that might be
made as to their food and treatment, and at the end of three years all
who wished it could either change masters or take up a piece of land,
build a hut, and cultivate it on their own account.
The poor creatures were well satisfied with this. They were overjoyed at
being united to their relations and friends, and to know that they
would still be together; and were assured that they would be well cared
for, and in time be as much their own masters as if at their villages in
Africa. The schooner was sold; the brigantine was, as the captain had
expected, bought into the service; Mr. Playford was offered and accepted
the command of her. Mr. Normandy took his place as second lieutenant of
the _Orpheus_, and Mr. Marston received his promotion and the post of
third officer. As the _Cerf_--which was the name of the brigantine--was
to be considered as a tender of the frigate, those on board her were
still borne on her books. Curtis and Glover were appointed to her, with
a petty officer and forty men.
The pirates were tried and executed, with the exception of one, who was
a mere lad. He had, he asserted, been forced to join the pirates--being
spared by them when the rest of his comrades had been murdered, as they
had lost their cook's mate, and required someone to fill his place.
This, however, would not have saved his life had he not promised to lead
his new captors to the chief rendezvous of the pirates, which had so
long eluded the search that had been made for it. He acknowledged,
however, that he was not acquainted with its exact position. He had
sailed in and out four or five times, and had only a general idea of its
position, but asserted that he should certainly know the island if he
saw it. A fortnight after reaching Port Royal, the frigate and
brigantine sailed in company.
The indications given by the boy pointed to an island lying a short
distance off the northern coast of Venezuela.
There were originally, he said, four vessels working together, three
brigantines and a large schooner, one of which had arrived from France
only a short time before the _Cerf_ sailed on her last voyage. The
entrance to the pirates' stronghold was on the south side of the island,
and was, he said, so well concealed that vessels might sail past the
place a thousand times without noticing it. There were two batteries at
the water's edge, inside the entrance, each mounting twelve
eighteen-pounder guns that had been taken from prizes. The channel here
was not more than fifty yards across. A very heavy boom was at all times
swung across it just above the batteries, and this was opened only when
one of the craft entered or left.
There was, however, he said, a spot on the outer side of the island
where a landing could be effected, at a little ravine that ran down to
the shore. This was thickly wooded, and some large trees growing at its
mouth almost hid it from passing vessels. At other points the shore was
steep, but there was so much vegetation on every ledge where trees or
bushes could obtain a foothold, that from the sea it would seem that the
cliffs were not too steep to scale.
The prisoner had been placed on board the _Cerf_, which, as soon as she
was fairly at sea, was altered as far as possible in appearance by a
white band with ports painted along her sides; a false stem of an
entirely different shape from her own was fastened to her, her light
upper spars sent down and replaced by stumpy ones, and other changes
made that would help to alter her appearance.
Were she recognized by the pirates as she sailed past their island it
would at once be suspected that one of the men recently captured had
revealed the rendezvous, and that she was cruising near it to obtain an
exact idea of the best mode of attack before other craft came up to
assist her. They had no doubt that the pirates had already received news
of the surprise and capture of the brigantine. Some of the men who
escaped would doubtless have made for the nearest port, and hired a
negro craft to take them to their own island, which they would have
reached before the _Orpheus_ arrived at Port Royal with her prizes. The
pirates would therefore be on their guard, and would either have
deserted their head-quarters altogether or have added to their defences.
The sight of their late consort would confirm their fears that their
whereabouts had become known, and it was therefore of importance that
her identity should not be suspected.
Changed as she now was, she might be taken for a man-of-war brigantine.
Her height out of water had been increased by four feet by painted
canvas fastened to battens. She had ten ports painted on each side, and
looked a very different craft from the smart brigantine that had sailed
away from the island. It had at first been suggested by Mr. Playford
that she should be disguised so as to look like a trader, but Captain
Crosbie had decided against this.
"There are," he said, "three of these pirates, and even two of them
might together be more than a match for you. By all accounts they are
each of them as strong as you are in point of armament, and would carry
at least twice as many men as you have. Even if you beat them off it
could only be at a very great cost of life, and I certainly should not
like you to undertake such an enterprise unless you had at least double
the strength of men, which I could not spare you. By going in the guise
of a vessel of war they would not care to meddle with you. They would
know that there would be no chance of booty and a certainty of hard
fighting, and of getting their own craft badly knocked about, so that it
will be in all respects best to avoid a fight. They may in that case not
connect you with us at all, but take you to be some freshly-arrived
craft. You had best hoist the Stars and Stripes as you pass along the
coast."
When the changes were all effected the ships parted company. The
brigantine was to sail east until within a short distance of Grenada,
then to cruise westward along the coast of the mainland; thus going,
there would be less suspicion on the part of those who saw her that she
was coming from Jamaica. A rendezvous was appointed at the island of
Oruba, lying off the mouth of the Gulf of Venezuela.
Their prisoner was French, and he was very closely questioned by
Lieutenant Playford, who spoke that language well. He said that they
always sailed north to begin with, then sometimes they kept east, and
certainly he heard the names of Guadeloupe and St. Lucia. At other
times, after sailing north they steered north-west, and came to a great
island, which he had no doubt was San Domingo. It was not in this craft
that he sailed, he was only transferred to her with some of the others
for that cruise only. After they had once made either the western
islands or San Domingo, they cruised about in all directions.
"The great point is," Mr. Playford said to the midshipmen after a long
talk with the prisoner, "that at starting they generally hung about
these islands, Guadeloupe, St. Lucia, and so on, for some time, and it
was considered their best cruising ground, though also the most
dangerous one, as we have always some cruisers in those waters. That
would certainly place the island somewhere off the north coast of
Caracas. He declared that the first day out they generally passed the
western point of an island of considerable size with some high hills.
The only island that answers to that account is, as you see in the
chart, Margarita. Therefore I feel convinced that the pirate hold is in
one of these groups, off Caracas, either Chimana, Borrshcha, or these
two islets called Piritu Islands. Altogether, you see, there are over a
dozen of these islands scattered along near the mainland.
"It is quite out of the general course of trade, as nothing would go
into that bay except a craft bound for San Diego, or this place marked
Barcelona, lying a short distance up the river. They would take care
not to molest any of the little traders frequenting these ports, and
might lie in an inlet in one of these islands for years without their
being ever suspected, unless perhaps by some of the native fishermen,
who probably supply them with fish and fruit from the mainland. Anyhow,
I don't suppose a British cruiser is seen along that coast once a year."