[Illustration: MORGAN’S ATTACK ON GIBRALTAR.]
THE SEA
_Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism._
BY
F. WHYMPER,
AUTHOR OF “TRAVELS IN ALASKA,” ETC.
_ILLUSTRATED._
* * *
CASSELL, PETTER, GALPIN & CO.:
_LONDON, PARIS & NEW YORK_.
[ALL RIGHTS RESERVED]
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
THE PIRATES AND BUCANIERS. PAGE
Who was the First Pirate?—The Society of Bucaniers—Home of the 1
Freebooters—Rise of the Band—Impecunious Spanish Governors and
their Roguery—Great Capture of Spanish Treasure—An Unjust
Seizure, but no Redress—Esquemeling’s Narrative—Voyage from
Havre—“Baptism” of the French Mariners—Other Ceremonies—At
Tortuga—Occupied and Reoccupied by French and Spanish—The French
West India Company—Esquemeling twice Sold as a Slave—He Joins the
Society of Pirates—Wild Boars and Savage Mastiffs—How the Wild
Dogs came to the Islands—Cruelty of the Planters—A Terrible Case
of Retribution—The Murderer of a Hundred Slaves—The First
Tortugan Pirate—Pierre le Grand—A Desperate Attack—Rich Prize
Taken—Rapid Spread of Piracy—How the Rovers Armed their
Ships—Regulations of their Voyages—“No Prey, no Pay”—The
richly-laden Vessels of New Spain—The Pearl Fisheries—An
Enterprising Pirate—Success and Failure—His Final Surrender
CHAPTER II.
THE PIRATES AND BUCANIERS (_continued_).
The Pirate Portuguez—Another Successful Boat Attack—Re-taken—A 13
Gibbet or Life—Escape—Saved by Two Wine-jars—Helped by the
Pirates—Rich again—And suddenly Poor—A Dutch Pirate—From Sailor
to Captain—A Grand Capture—And a brutal Commander—No Surrender to
the Spaniards—Victory and Horse-flesh—The Rover’s Prodigality—A
Stratagem—Worse than Ever—The Spaniards reduce their
Commerce—Lewis Scot—John Davis—Outrages at Nicaragua—Piratical
Gains—Lolonois the Bad and Brave—His First Wounds—And his Early
Successes—Six Hundred and Sixty Pirates—The Capture of Maracaibo
and Gibraltar—Division of the Gains—His Brutalities—And Deserved
Death
CHAPTER III.
THE PIRATES AND BUCANIERS (_continued_).
The Second Lolonois—Captain Henry Morgan—His first Successes—A 29
Pirate Fleet of Seven Hundred Men—Attack on a Cuban Town—Morgan’s
Form—Not to be Beaten—Puerto Bello—Morgan’s Strategy—The Castle
taken—Extravagant Demands—The Governor of Panama Derided—Return
to Jamaica—Their Dissipation—A Fresh Start—Maracaibo re-taken—A
Chance for Guy Fawkes—Gibraltar again—Cruel Tortures inflicted on
Prisoners—Horrible Brutalities—Arrival of a Spanish
Fleet—Morgan’s Insolence—Letter from the Spanish Admiral—“To the
Death!”
CHAPTER IV.
THE PIRATES AND BUCANIERS (_continued_).
Attack resolved—The Fire-ship—Morgan passes the Castle—Off for 40
St. Catherine’s—Given up by a Stratagem—St. Catherine’s an Easy
Prey—Power of Fire—Thirty in Three Hundred Saved—The March on
Panama—A Pirate Band of Twelve Hundred—Sufferings on the Way—A
Pipe for Supper—Leather and Cold Water—Panama at Last—The First
Encounter—Resolute Fighting—Wild Bulls in Warfare—Victory for the
Pirates—Ruthless Destruction of Property—Cruelty to
Prisoners—Searching for Treasure—Dissatisfaction at the
Dividend—The Last of Morgan
CHAPTER V.
THE PIRATES AND BUCANIERS (_continued_).
The Exploits of Captain Sawkins—Three Ships Attacked by 51
Canoes—Valiant Peralta—Explosion on Board—Miserable Sight on Two
Ships’ Decks—Capture of an Empty Ship—Dissatisfaction among the
Pirates—Desertion of Many—Message from the Governor of Panama—The
Pirate Captain’s Bravado—His Death—Fear inspired on all the
Southern Coasts—Preparations for Punishing and Hindering the
Bucaniers—Captain Kidd—His First Commission as Privateer—Turns
Pirate—The Mocha Fleet—Almost a Mutiny on Board—Kills his
Gunner—Capture of Rich Prizes—A Rich Ransom Derided—Grand
Dividend—Kidd Deserted by some of his Men—Proclamation of
Pardon—Kidd Excepted—Rushes on his Doom—Arrested in New
York—Trial at the Old Bailey—Pleadings—Execution with Six
Companions
CHAPTER VI.
THE PIRATES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Difference between the Pirates of the Seventeenth and Eighteenth 59
Centuries—Avery’s brief Career—A Captain all at Sea—Capture of
his Ship—Madagascar a Rendezvous for Pirates—A Rich Prize—The
Great Mogul’s Ship Taken—Immense Spoils—The Great Mogul’s
Rage—Avery’s Treachery—His Companions abandon their Evil Ways—The
Water-rat beaten by Land-rats—Avery dies in abject Poverty—A
Pirate Settlement on Madagascar—Roberts the Daring—Sails among a
Portuguese Fleet, and selects the best Vessel for his Prey—His
Brutal Destruction of Property—His End—Misson and
Caraccioli—Communistic Pirates—Their Captures—High Morality and
Robbery Combined—Their Fates
CHAPTER VII.
THE PIRATES OF THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY (_concluded_).
Mary Read, the Female Pirate—As Male Servant, Soldier, and 67
Sailor—Her Bravery and Modesty—The Pirate Vane—No Honour among
Thieves—Delivered to Justice—The brief Career of Captain
Worley—The Biter Bit—A more than usually brutal Pirate—Captain
Low’s Life of Villainy—His Wonderful Successes—An unfortunate
Black Burned to Death—Torture of a Portuguese Captain—Of Two
Portuguese Friars—The Results of Sympathy—Low’s Cupidity defeated
by a Portuguese—Eleven Thousand Moidores dropped out of a Cabin
Window—An Unpunished Fiend
CHAPTER VIII.
PAUL JONES AND DE SOTO.
Paul Jones, the Privateer—A Story of his Boyhood—He Joins the 71
American Revolutionists—Attempt to Burn the Town and Shipping of
Whitehaven—Foiled—His Appearance at St. Mary’s—Capture of Lady
Selkirk’s Family Plate—A Letter from Jones—Return of the Plate
several Years after—A Press-gang Impressed—Engagement with the
_Ranger_—A Privateer Squadron—The Fight off Scarborough—Brave
Captains Pearson and Piercy—Victory for the Privateers—Jones Dies
in abject Poverty—A Nineteenth Century Freebooter—Benito de
Soto—Mutiny on a Slave Ship—The Commander left Ashore and the
Mate Murdered—Encounters the _Morning Star_—A Ship without a
Gun—Terror of the Passengers—Order to spare no Lives—A Terrified
Steward—De Soto’s Commands only partially observed, and the Ship
Saved—At Cadiz—Failure of the Pirate’s Plans—Captured, Tried, and
Hanged at Gibraltar
CHAPTER IX.
OUR ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.
Our Latest Arctic Expedition—Scene at Portsmouth—Departure of the 84
_Alert_ and _Discovery_—Few Expeditions really ever pointed to
the Pole—What we know of the Regions—Admitted and Unadmitted
Records—Dutch Yarns—A Claimant at the Pole—Life with the
Esquimaux—A Solitary Journey—Northmen Colony—The Adventurer
kindly treated—Their King—Sun-worshippers—Believers in an Arctic
Hell—The Mastodon not Extinct—Domesticated Walruses—The whole
story a nonsensical _Canard_
CHAPTER X.
CRUISE OF THE _PANDORA_.
The Arctic Expedition of 1875-6—Its Advocates—The _Alert_ and 91
_Discovery_—Cruise of the _Pandora_—Curious Icebergs—The First
Bump with the Ice—Seal Meat as a Luxury—Ashore on a Floe—Coaling
at Ivigtut—The Kryolite Trade—Beauty of the Greenland Coast in
Summer—Festivities at Disco—The Belles of Greenland—A Novel
Ball-room—The dreaded Melville Bay—Scene of Ruin at
Northumberland House—Devastation of the Bears—An Arctic
Graveyard—Beset by the Ice—An Interesting Discovery—Furthest
Point Attained—Return Voyage—A Dreadful Night—The Phantom
Cliff—Home again
CHAPTER XI.
THE _ALERT_ AND _DISCOVERY_.
Nares’ Expedition—Wonderful Passage through Baffin’s Bay—Winter 99
Quarters of the _Discovery_—Capital Game-bag—Continued Voyage of
the _Alert_—Highest Latitude ever attained by a Ship—“The Sea of
Ancient Ice”—Winter Quarters, Employments, and Amusements—The
Royal Arctic Theatre—Guy Fawkes’ Day on the Ice—Christmas
Festivities—Unparalleled Cold—Spring Sledging—Attempt to Reach
the _Discovery_—Illness and Death of Petersen—The Ravages of
Scurvy—Tribute to Captain Hall’s Memory—Markham and Parr’s
Northern Journey—Highest Latitude ever reached—Sufferings of the
Men—Brave Deeds—The Voyage Home
CHAPTER XII.
THE FIRST ARCTIC VOYAGES.
Early History of Arctic Discovery—The Hardy Norseman—Accidental 115
Discovery of Iceland—Colony Formed—A Fisherman Drifted to
Greenland—Eric the Red Head—Rapid Colonisation—Early Intercourse
with America—Voyages of the _Zeni_—Cabot’s Attempt at a
North-West Passage—Maritime Enterprise of this Epoch—Voyage of
the _Dominus Vobiscum_—Of the _Trinitie_ and _Minion_—Starvation
and Cannibalism—A High-handed Proceeding—Company of the Merchant
Adventurers—Attempts at the North-East—Fate of
Willoughby—Chancelor, and our First Intercourse with Russia
CHAPTER XIII.
EARLY ARCTIC EXPEDITIONS.
Attempts at the North-West Passage—Sir Humphrey Gilbert’s 123
Advocacy—The One thing left undone—Frobisher’s Expeditions—Arctic
“Diggins”—A Veritable Gold Excitement—Large Fleet
Despatched—Disaster and Disappointment—Voyages of John
Davis—Intercourse with the Natives—His Reports concerning Whales,
&c.—The Merchants Aroused—Opening of the Whaling
Trade—Maldonado’s Claim to the Discovery of the North-West
Passage
CHAPTER XIV.
THE VOYAGES OF BARENTS.
North-Eastern Voyages of the Dutch—Barents reaches Nova 129
Zembla—Adventures with the Polar Bears—Large Trading Expedition
organised—Failure of the Venture—Reward Offered for the Discovery
of a North-East Passage—Third Voyage—Dangers of the Ice—Forced to
Winter on Nova Zembla—Erection of a House—Intense
Cold—Philosophical Dutchmen—Attacks from Bears—Returning
Spring—The Vessel Abandoned—Preparations for a Start—The Company
Enfeebled and Down-hearted—Voyage of 1,700 miles in Two Small
Boats—Death of Barents and Adrianson—Perils of Arctic
Navigation—Enclosed in the Ice—Death of a Sailor—Meeting with
Russians—Arrival in Lapland—Home once more—Discovery of the
Barents Relics by Carlsen—Voyages of Adams, Weymouth, Hall, and
Knight
CHAPTER XV.
VOYAGES OF HUDSON AND HIS SUCCESSORS.
Henry Hudson’s Voyages—Projected Passage over the Pole—Second 144
Expedition—A Mermaid Sighted—Third Voyage in the Dutch
Service—Discovery of the Hudson River—Last Voyage—Discovery of
Hudson’s Bay—Story of an Arctic Tragedy—Abacuk Pricket’s
Narrative—Their Winter Stay—Rise of a Mutiny—Hudson and Nine
Companions Set Adrift and Left to Die—Retribution—Four of the
Mutineers Killed—Sufferings from Starvation—Death of a
Ringleader—Arrival in Ireland—Suspicious Circumstances—Baffin’s
Voyages—Danish Expeditions to Greenland—Jens Munk and his
Unfortunate Companions—Sixty-one Persons Starved to Death—Voyage
of Three Survivors across the Atlantic—An unkingly King—Death of
Munk—Moxon’s Dutch Beer-house Story—Wood and Flawes—Wreck of
Wood’s Vessel—Knight’s Fatal Expedition—Slow Starvation and Death
of the whole Company—The Middleton and Dobbs’ Agitation—£20,000
offered for the Discovery of the North-West Passage
CHAPTER XVI.
EXPEDITIONS IN THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY.
Paucity of Arctic Expeditions in the Eighteenth Century—Phipps’ 154
Voyage—Walls of Ice—Ferocious Sea-horses—A Beautiful
Glacier—Cook’s Voyage—A Fresh Attempt—Extension of the Government
Rewards—Cape Prince of Wales—Among the Tchuktchis—Icy
Cape—Baffled by the Ice—Russian Voyages—The two Unconquerable
Capes—Peter the Great—Behring’s Voyages—Discovery of the
Straits—The Third Voyage—Scurvy and Shipwreck—Death of the
Commander—New Siberia—The Ivory Islands
CHAPTER XVII.
THE EXPEDITIONS OF ROSS AND PARRY.
Remarkable Change in the Greenland Ice-Fields—Immense Icebergs 162
found out of their Latitudes—Ross the First’s
Expedition—Festivities among the Danes—Interviews with
Esquimaux—Crimson Snow—A Mythical Discovery—The Croker
Mountains—Buchan’s Expedition—Bursting of Icebergs—Effects of
Concussion—The Creation of an Iceberg—Spitzbergen in
Summer—Animated Nature—Millions of Birds—Refuge in an
Ice-pack—Parry and his Exploits—His Noble Character—First Arctic
Voyage—Sails over the Croker Mountains
CHAPTER XVIII.
PARRY’S EXPEDITIONS (_continued_).
Five Thousand Pounds Earned by Parry’s Expedition—Winter 170
Quarters—Theatre—An Arctic Newspaper—Effects of Intense Cold—The
Observatory Burned Down—Return to England—Parry’s Second
Expedition—“Young” Ice—Winter at Lyon’s Inlet—A Snow Village in
Winter and Spring—Break-up of the Ice—The Vessels in a Terrible
Position—Third Winter Quarters—Parry’s Fourth Winter—The _Fury_
Abandoned—The Old _Griper_ and her Noble Crew
CHAPTER XIX.
PARRY’S BOAT AND SLEDGE EXPEDITION.
Parry’s Attempt at the Pole—Hecla Cove—Boat and Sledge 178
Expedition—Mode of Travelling—Their Camps—Laborious
Efforts—Broken Ice—Midnight Dinners and Afternoon
Breakfasts—Labours of Sisyphus—Drifting Ice—Highest Latitude
Reached—Return Trip to the Ship—Parry’s Subsequent
Career—Wrangell’s Ice Journeys
CHAPTER XX.
THE MAGNETIC POLE—A LAND JOURNEY TO THE POLAR SEA.
Sir John Ross and the _Victory_—First Steam Vessel Employed in 186
the Arctic—Discovery of the Magnetic Pole—The British Flag Waving
over it—Franklin and Richardson’s Journeys to the Polar Sea—The
Coppermine River—Sea voyage in Birch-bark Canoes—Return
Journey—Terrible Sufferings—Starvation and Utter
Exhaustion—Deaths by the Way—A Brave Feat—Relieved at
Length—Journey to the Mouth of the Mackenzie—Fracas with the
Esquimaux—Peace Restored
CHAPTER XXI.
VOYAGE OF THE _TERROR_.
Back’s effort to reach Repulse Bay—Nine Months in the Ice—The 196
_Terror_ Nipped and Crushed—A General Disruption—Extreme
Peril—Increase of Pressure—Providential Delivery—Another Nip—Bow
of the Ship Split—Preparations for Emergencies—The Crew—An early
Break-up—Frozen Again—A Tremendous Rush of Ice—The Day of Release
CHAPTER XXII.
FRANKLIN’S LAST VOYAGE.
Sir John Franklin and his Career—His Last Expedition—Takes the 201
Command as his Birthright—The last seen of his Ships—Alarm at
their Long Absence—The Search—A few Faint Traces Discovered by
Parry—A Fleet beset in the Ice—Efforts made to Communicate with
Franklin—Rockets and Balloons—M’Clure’s Expedition—Discovery of
the North-West Passage—Strange Arrival of Lieutenant Pim over the
Ice—The _Investigator_ Abandoned—Crew Saved—Reward of £10,000 to
M’Clure and his Ship’s Company
CHAPTER XXIII.
THE FRANKLIN SEARCH.
The Franklin Expedition—The First Relics—Dr. Rae’s 215
Discoveries—The Government Tired of the Search—Noble Lady
Franklin—The Voyage of the _Fox_—Beset in the Ice for Eight
Months—Enormous Icebergs—Seal and Bear Hunts—Unearthly Noises
under the Floes—Guy Fawkes in the Arctic—The Fiftieth Seal Shot—A
Funeral—A Merry Christmas—New Year’s Celebration—Winter
Gales—Their Miraculous Escape—Experience of a Whaler—Breakfast
and Ship Lost together
CHAPTER XXIV.
THE LAST TRACES.
M’Clintock’s Summer Explorations—The Second Winter—Sledging 223
Parties—Snow Huts—Near the Magnetic Pole—Meeting with
Esquimaux—Franklin Relics Obtained—Objection of Esquimaux to
Speak of the Dead—Hobson’s Discovery of the Franklin Records—Fate
of the _Erebus_ and _Terror_—Large Quantity of Relics Purchased
from the Natives—The Skeleton on the Beach—Fate of Crozier’s
Party—“As they Fell they Died”—The Record at Point Victory—Boat
with Human Remains Discovered—The Wrecks never Seen—Return of the
_Fox_
CHAPTER XXV.
KANE’S MEMORABLE EXPEDITION.
Dr. Kane’s Expedition—His short but eventful Career—Departure of 232
the _Advance_—Dangers of the Voyage—Grinding Ice—Among the
Bergs—A Close Shave—Nippings—The Brig towed from the
Ice-beach—Smith’s Sound—Rensselaer Harbour—Winter Quarters—Return
of an Exploring Party—Fearful Sufferings—To the
Rescue—Saved—Curious Effects of Intense Cold
CHAPTER XXVI.
KANE’S EXPEDITION (_continued_).
Arrival of Esquimaux at the Brig—A Treaty Concluded—Hospitality 238
on Board—Arctic Appetites—Sledge Journeys—A Break-down—Morton’s
Trip—The Open Sea—The Brig hopelessly Beset—A Council
Called—Eight Men stand by the _Advance_—Departure of the
Rest—Their Return—Terrible Sufferings—A Characteristic Entry—Raw
Meat for Food—Fruitless Journeys for Fresh Meat—A Scurvied
Crew—Starving Esquimaux—Attempted Desertion—A Deserter brought
back from the Esquimaux Settlements
CHAPTER XXVII.
KANE’S EXPEDITION (_concluded_).
A Sad Entry—Farewell to the Brig—Departure for the South—Death of 247
Ohlsen—Difficult Travelling—The Open Water—The Esquimaux of
Etah—A Terrible Gale—Among the broken Floes—A Greenland Oasis—The
Ice Cliff—Eggs by the Hundred—An Anxious Moment—A Savage
Feast—The First Sign of Civilisation—Return to the
Settlements—Home once more
CHAPTER XXVIII.
HAYES’ EXPEDITION—SWEDISH EXPEDITIONS.
Voyage of the _United States_—High Latitude attained—In Winter 255
Quarters—Hardships of the Voyage—The dreary Arctic Landscape—Open
Water once more—1,300 Miles of Ice traversed—Swedish
Expeditions—Perilous Position of the _Sofia_
CHAPTER XXIX.
THE SECOND GERMAN EXPEDITION.
The First German Expedition—Preparations for a Second—Building of 258
the _Germania_—The _Hansa_—The Emperor William’s Interest in the
Voyage—The Scientific Corps—Departure from Bremerhaven—Neptune at
the Arctic Circle—The Vessels Separated among the Ice—Sport with
Polar Bears—Wedged in by the Grinding Ice—Preparations to Winter
on the Floe—The _Hansa_ lifted Seventeen Feet out of the Water—A
Doomed Vessel—Wreck of the _Hansa_
CHAPTER XXX.
ON AN ICE-RAFT.
A Floating Ice-Raft—The Settlement—Christmas in a New 263
Position—Terrible Storms—Commotion under the Ice—The Floe breaks
up—House Ruined—Water on the Floe—A Spectre Iceberg—Fresh Dangers
and Deliverances—Drifted 1,100 Miles—Resolution to Leave the
Ice—Open Water—Ice again—Tedious Progress—Reach Illuidlek
Island—Welcome at the Greenland Settlements—Home in
Germany—Voyage of the _Germania_—Discovery of Coal—A New
Inlet—Home to Bremen
CHAPTER XXXI.
HALL’S EXPEDITION—THE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN EXPEDITION—NORDENSKJÖLD.
Captain Hall’s Expedition—High Latitude Attained—Open Water 268
Seen—Death of Hall—The _Polaris_ Beset—An Abandoned Party—Six
Months on a Floating Ice-floe—Rescue—Loss of the
Steamer—Investigation at Washington—The Austro-Hungarian
Expedition—The _Tegethoff_ hopelessly Beset in the Ice—Two Long
Weary Years—Perils from the Ice Pressure—Ramparts raised round
the Ship—The Polar Night—Loss of a Coal-hut—Attempts to Escape—A
Grand Discovery—Franz Josef Land—Sledging Parties—Gigantic
Glaciers—The Steamer Abandoned—Boat and Sledge Journey to the Bay
of Downs—Prof. Nordenskjöld’s Voyage—The North-East Passage an
accomplished Fact
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE ANTARCTIC REGIONS.
Has the South Pole been Neglected?—The Antarctic even more 276
Inhospitable than the Arctic—The Antarctic Summer—Search for the
_Terra Australis_—Early Explorers—Captain Cook’s
Discoveries—Watering at Icebergs—The Southern Thule—Smith’s
Report—Weddell’s Voyage—Dead Whale Mistaken for an
Island—D’Urville’s Adélie Land—Wilkes Land—Voyages of James
Ross—High Land Discovered—Deep Beds of Guano—Antarctic
Volcanoes—Mounts Erebus and Terror—Victoria Land
CHAPTER XXXIII.
DECISIVE VOYAGES IN HISTORY.—DIAZ—COLUMBUS.
An Important Epoch in the History of Discovery—King John II. of 281
Portugal and his Enterprises—Diaz the Bold—Ventures out to
Sea—Rounds the Cape—Ignorant of the Fact—The Cape of Storms—King
John re-christens it—Columbus and the Narrative of his Son—His
Visit to Portugal—Marriage—An un-royal Trick—Sends his Brother to
England—His Misfortune—Columbus in Spain—A prejudiced and
ignorant Report—The One Sensible Ecclesiastic—Again Repulsed—A
Friend at Court—Queen Isabella Won to the Cause—Departure of the
Expedition—Out in the Broad Atlantic—Murmurs of the Crews—Signs
of Land—Disappointment—Latent Mutiny—Land at Last—Discovery of
St. Salvador—Cuba—Natives Smoking the Weed—Utopia in
Hispaniola—Columbus Wrecked—Gold Obtained—First Spanish
Settlement—Homeward Voyage—Storms and Vows—Arrival in
Europe—Triumphant Reception at Barcelona
CHAPTER XXXIV.
DECISIVE VOYAGES IN HISTORY.—COLUMBUS—VASCO DA GAMA.
Columbus and his Enemies—Unsuitable Settlers—Outrageous Conduct 294
of the Colonists—The Second Expedition of Columbus—Discovery of
Jamaica—Dangerous Illness of Columbus—Return to Spain—The
Excitement over—Difficulty of Starting a New Expedition—Third
Voyage—Columbus reaches the Mainland of America—Insurrection in
Hispaniola—Machinations at Home—Columbus brought to Spain in
Chains—Indignation in Spain—His Fourth Voyage—Ferdinand’s
Ingratitude—Death of the Great Navigator—Estimate of his
Character—Vasco da Gama—First Voyage—The Cape reached—First Sight
of India—At Calicut—Friendship of the King of Cananore—Great
Profits of the Expedition—Second Voyage—Vengeance on the Ruler of
Calicut—His Brutality—Subsequent History of Da Gama
CHAPTER XXXV.
THE COMPANIONS AND FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS.
The Era of Spanish Discovery—Reasons for its Rapid 300
Development—Ojeda’s First Voyage—Fighting the Caribs—Indians and
Cannon—Pinzon’s Discovery of Brazil—A Rough Reception—Bastides
the Humane—A New Calamity—Ships leaking like Sieves—Economical
Generosity of King Ferdinand—Ojeda’s Second Voyage—The disputed
Strong-Box—Ojeda Entrapped—Swimming in Irons—Condemned
Abroad—Acquitted at Home—A Triumphant Client, but a Ruined Man—A
Third Voyage—Worthy La Cosa—Rival Commanders—A Foolish Challenge
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE COMPANIONS AND FOLLOWERS OF COLUMBUS (_concluded_).
Nicuesa and the Duns of San Domingo—Indian Contempt for a Royal 308
Manifesto—La Cosa’s Advice Disregarded—Ojeda’s Impetuosity—A
Desperate Fight—Seventy Spaniards Killed—La Cosa’s Untimely
End—Ojeda found Exhausted in the Woods—A Rival’s Noble
Conduct—Avenged on the Indians—A New Settlement—Ojeda’s Charm
fails—A Desperate Remedy—In Search of Provisions—Wrecked on
Cuba—A Toilsome March—Kindly Natives—Ojeda’s Vow Redeemed—Dies in
Abject Poverty—The Bachelor Enciso and Balboa—Smuggled on Board
in a Tub—Leon and his Search for the Fountain of Youth—Discovery
of Florida—Magellan—Snubbed at Home—Warmly Seconded by the
Spanish Emperor—His Resolute Character—Discovery of the
Straits—His Death—The First Voyage round the World—Captain Cook’s
Discoveries—His Tragical Death—Vancouver’s Island
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.
PAGE
Morgan’s Attack on Gibraltar _Frontispiece_
Pirate Vessels (17th century) 4
Pierre Le Grand taking the Spanish Vessel 8
Pierre François attacking the Vice-Admiral 9
Escape of Portuguez 13
Brasiliano’s Escape _To face page_ 15
Map of Central America and the West India Islands 17
The Struggle with the Pirates at Gibraltar 21
Lolonois’ Fight with the Spaniards 25
On the Coast of Costa Rica 32
Blowing up of the French Pirate Ship 36
Morgan’s Attack on Maracaibo 40
Captain Henry Morgan 41
Captain Morgan’s Escape from Maracaibo 44
Burning of Panama 48
View of Panama 52
Avery chasing the Great Mogul’s Ship 61
Death of “Captain” Roberts 65
The Female Pirates 68
Paul Jones and Lady Selkirk 73
Paul Jones 77
De Soto chasing the _Morning Star_ 80
Cadiz 81
Captain Nares conducting H.R.H. The Prince of Wales
over the _Alert_ at Portsmouth
Departure of the _Alert_ and _Discovery_ from _To face page_ 85
Portsmouth
Sir George Nares 85
Cape Desolation 88
Map of the North Polar Regions 89
The Arctic Yacht _Pandora_
The Arctic Store Ship _Valorous_
Disco 93
Entrance to the Music Hall, Disco 96
Explorers Crossing Hummocks _To face page_ 97
The Monument to Bellot 97
Winter Quarters of the _Discovery_ 101
Winter Quarters of the _Alert_ 104
An _Alert_ Sledge Party _en route_ to the _Discovery_ 108
Sunshine in the Polar Regions 109
A Sledge Party starting for Cape Joseph Henry 112
Arrival of Lieutenant Parr on board the _Alert_ 113
Sebastian Cabot 120
Frobisher passing Greenwich 124
An Arctic Scene: Floating Ice 125
Martin Frobisher 128
An Iceberg breaking up _To face page_ 129
Nova Zembla, showing the route taken by Barents and 131
his Followers
Mock Suns, seen on 4th June, 1596, by Barents and his 132
Followers
Transporting Wood on Sledges for Building the House 133
Attacked by Bears 136
Repairing the Boat 137
Unloading, Dragging, and Carrying Boats and Goods 140
View on the Hudson 144
The Remnants of Knight’s Expedition 145
In Smith’s Sound 149
Mock Suns 152
Encounter with Sea-horses 156
Tchuktchi Indians Building a Hut 157
Sir John Ross 161
Fiskernæs, South Greenland 164
The _Dorothea_ and the _Trent_ in the Ice 165
Magdalena Bay, Spitzbergen _To face page_ 166
The North Cape 169
Esquimaux of West Greenland 172
An Esquimaux Snow Village 173
Captain Lyon and his Crew offering Prayers for their 177
Preservation
The Edge of the Pack 180
Dr. (afterwards Sir) John Richardson 185
Fort Enterprise 188
Richardson’s Adventure with White Wolves 189
Perrault Dividing his Little Store 192
Esquimaux Kaiyacks and Boat 196
The _Terror_ Nipped in the Ice 197
Back Addressing the Seamen 201
Sir John Franklin 205
The _Erebus_ and the _Terror_ among Icebergs _To face page_ 207
Cutting Ice Docks 208
Ice Mountains 209
Captain Robert Le Mesurier M’Clure 213
The Sledge Party of the _Resolute_, under Lieut.
Bedford Pim, Finding the _Investigator_
Back’s Great Fish River 217
Esquimaux Catching Seals 220
A Natural Arch in the Arctic Regions 221
Captain (afterwards Sir Leopold) M’Clintock 224
An Esquimaux Sledge and Team of Dogs _To face page_ 225
Cape York, Melville Bay 228
Relics brought back by the Franklin Search Expedition 229
Whale Sound, Greenland 233
Dr. Kane 236
Morton Discovers the Open Sea 241
Esquimaux Snow Houses 244
Kalutunah 245
Cape Alexander, Greenland 249
The Home of the Eider Duck 252
Godhavn, a Danish Settlement in Disco Island,
Greenland
The Schooner, _United States_, at Port Foulke 256
The House of the _Hansa_ on the Ice _To face page_ 260
A Young Bear chained to an Anchor 261
The Sun at Midnight in the Arctic Regions 264
The Funeral of Captain Hall 269
Start of Lieutenant Payer’s Sledge Expedition 272
Fall of the Sledge into a Crevasse 273
View of Cape Horn 277
Lisbon in the 16th Century 281
Bartholomew Diaz on his Voyage to the Cape 284
Christopher Columbus 285
Caravels of Columbus 288
Columbus’s First Sight of Land 289
Discovery of the Isle of Spain 292
Reception of Columbus by Ferdinand and Isabella _To face page_ 293
Ancient Gold-washing at St. Domingo 293
Columbus under Arrest 297
View of Calicut in the 15th Century 300
Vasco da Gama 301
Ojeda’s Attempted Escape 305
The Death of La Cosa 309
Arrival of Ojeda and his Followers at the Indian 312
Village
Ferdinand de Magellan 317
[Illustration]
THE SEA.
CHAPTER I.
THE PIRATES AND BUCANIERS.
Who was the First Pirate?—The Society of Bucaniers—Home of the
Freebooters—Rise of the Band—Impecunious Spanish Governors and
their Roguery—Great Capture of Spanish Treasure—An Unjust Seizure,
but no Redress—Esquemeling’s Narrative—Voyage from Havre—“Baptism”
of the French Mariners—Other Ceremonies—At Tortuga—Occupied and
re-occupied by French and Spanish—The French West India
Company—Esquemeling twice sold as a Slave—He joins the Society of
Pirates—Wild Boars and Savage Mastiffs—How the Wild Dogs came to
the Islands—Cruelty of the Planters—A Terrible Case of
Retribution—The Murderer of a Hundred Slaves—The First Tortugan
Pirate—Pierre le Grand—A Desperate Attack—Rich Prize taken—Rapid
Spread of Piracy—How the Rovers armed their Ships—Regulations of
their Voyages—“No Prey, no Pay”—The richly-laden Vessels of New
Spain—The Pearl Fisheries—An Enterprising Pirate—Success and
Failure—His Final Surrender.
Who was the first pirate is a question easier to ask than to answer. We
may be sure, however, that not long after navigation had become a
recognised art the opportunities for robbery on the sea produced a breed
of “water-rats,” who infested the ocean, and were the terror of the honest
shipowner. That “hardy Norseman,” of whom we sing so pleasantly, was in
very truth nothing better; while some of the great names among the
mariners of the middle ages are, practically, those of pirates, whose
occupation bore the stamp of semi-legality from royal sanction, directly
given or implied.
But the society of pirates, of which the following chapters will furnish
some account, was, _sui generis_, the greatest on record, and was
formidable even to the great Powers of Europe. “It preserved itself
distinct from all the more regular and civilised classes of mankind, in
defiance of the laws and constitutions by which other nations and
societies were governed. In their history we find a perpetual mixture of
justice and cruelty, fair retaliation and brutal revenge, of rebellion and
subordination, of wise laws and desperate passions, such as no other
confederacy ever exhibited, and which kept them together as a body, until
the loss of their bravest and best leaders, who could not be replaced,
obliged them to return to the more peaceable arts of life, and again to
mix with nations governed by law and discipline.”(1) The origin of the
term _bucaneer_, or _bucanier_, is not to be very easily traced; it has an
allusion to those who dried the flesh of wild cattle and fish after the
manner of the Indians, and was first applied to the French settlers of St.
Domingo, who had at first no other employment than that of hunting bulls
or wild boars, in order to sell their hides or flesh. Many of them
subsequently became pirates, and the term was permanently applied to them.
The West Indies, for good reason, were long the especial home of the
freebooters. They abounded—as indeed they still abound—in little
uninhabited islands and “keys,” _i.e._, low sandy islands, appearing a
little distance above the surface of the water, with only a few bushes or
grass upon them. These islands have any quantity of harbours, convenient
for cleansing and provisioning vessels. Water and sea fowl, turtle and
turtle eggs, shell and other fish, were abundant. The pirates would,
provided they had plenty of strong liquor, want for nothing as regards
indulgence; and in these secluded nooks they often held high revel, whilst
many of them became the hiding-places for their ill-gotten treasures. From
them they could dart out on the richly-laden ships of Spain, France, or
England; while men-of-war found it difficult to pursue them among the
archipelago of islands, sand-banks, and shallows.
The rise of these rovers, or at least the great increase of them in the
West Indies, was very much due to the impecunious Spanish governors—hungry
courtiers, who would stick at no peculation or dishonesty that could
enrich them. They granted commissions—practically letters of marque—to
great numbers of vessels of war, on pretence of preventing interlopers
from interfering with their trade, with orders to seize all ships and
vessels whatsoever within five leagues of their coasts. If the Spanish
captains exceeded their privileges, the victims had an opportunity of
redress in the Spanish courts, but generally found, to their sorrow, that
delays and costs swallowed up anything they might recover. The frequent
losses sustained by English merchants during the latter half of the
seventeenth century led to serious reprisals in after years; a prominent
example occurred in 1716.
About two years previously, the Spanish galleons, or plate fleet, had been
cast away in the Gulf of Florida, and several vessels from the Havannah
(Cuba) had been at work with diving apparatus to fish up the lost
treasure. The Spaniards had recovered some millions of dollars, and had
carried it to the Havannah; but they had some 350,000 pieces on the spot,
and were daily taking out more. In the meantime, two ships and three
sloops, fitted out from Jamaica, Barbadoes, &c., under Captain Henry
Jennings, sailed to the gulf, and found the Spaniards then upon the wreck,
the silver before mentioned being deposited on shore in a storehouse,
under a guard. The rovers surprised the place, landing 300 men, and seized
the treasure, which they carried off to Jamaica. On their way they fell in
with a richly-laden Spanish ship, bound for the Havannah, having on board
bales of cochineal, casks of indigo, 60,000 pieces of silver, and other
valuable cargo, “which,” says the chronicler, “their hand being in, they
took,” and having rifled the vessel, let her go. They went away to Jamaica
with their booty, and were followed in view of the port by the Spaniards,
who, having seen them thither, went back to the Governor of the Havannah
with their complaints. He immediately sent a vessel to the Governor of
Jamaica, making representations as regards this robbery, and claiming the
goods. As it was in a time of peace, and contrary to all justice and right
that this piracy had been committed, the Governor of Jamaica could do
nothing else but order their punishment. They, however, escaped to sea
again, but not until they had disposed of their cargo to good advantage;
and being thus made desperate, they turned pirates, robbing not the
Spaniards only, but the vessels of any nation they met. They were joined
by other desperadoes, notably by a gang of logwood cutters from the Bays
of Campechy and Honduras. The Spaniards had attacked them and carried off
the logwood, but had humanely given them three sloops to carry them home.
But the men thought they could do better in piracy, and joined the
before-mentioned rovers.
And now to one of the historians, Joseph Esquemeling, whose record is
incorporated in the work on which these pages are founded, and who was
afterwards in company with such noted pirates as Lolonois, Pierre le
Grand, Roche Brasiliano, and others. He says:—
“Not to detain the reader any longer with these particulars, I shall
proceed to give an account of our voyage from Havre de Grâce in France,
from whence we set sail, in a ship called _St. John_, May the 2nd, 1666.
Our vessel was equipped with twenty-eight guns, twenty marines, and two
hundred and twenty passengers, including those whom the Company sent as
free passengers. Soon after we came to an anchor under the Cape of
Barfleur, there to join seven other ships of the same West India Company
which were to come from Dieppe, under convoy of a man-of-war, mounted with
thirty-seven guns and two hundred and fifty men. Of these ships two were
bound for Senegal, five for the Caribbee Islands, and ours for Tortuga.
Here gathered to us about twenty sail of other ships, bound for
Newfoundland, with some Dutch vessels going for Nantz, Rochelle, and St.
Martin’s, so that in all we made thirty sail. Here we put ourselves in a
posture of defence, having notice that four English frigates, of sixty
guns each, waited for us near Alderney. Our admiral, the Chevalier
Sourdis, having given necessary orders, we sailed thence with a favourable
gale, and some mists arising, totally impeded the English frigates from
discovering our fleet. We steered our course as near as we could to the
coast of France, for fear of the enemy. As we sailed along, we met a
vessel of Ostend, who complained to our admiral that a French privateer
had robbed him that very morning, whereupon we endeavoured to pursue the
said pirate; but our labour was in vain, not being able to overtake him.
[Illustration: PIRATE VESSELS (17TH CENTURY).]
“Our fleet, as we sailed, caused no small fears and alarms to the
inhabitants of the coasts of France, these judging us to be English, and
that we sought some convenient place for landing. To allay their fright we
hung out our colours, but they would not trust us. After this we came to
an anchor in the Bay of Conquet, in Brittany, near Ushant, there to take
in water. Having stored ourselves with fresh provisions here, we
prosecuted our voyage, designing to pass by the Pas of Fontenau, and not
expose ourselves to the Sorlingues, fearing the English that were cruising
thereabouts. The river Pas is of a current very strong and rapid, which,
rolling over many rocks, disgorges itself into the sea on the coast of
France, in 48 deg. 10 min. latitude, so that this passage is very
dangerous, all the rocks as yet not being thoroughly known.”
Esquemeling mentions the ceremony which, at this passage and some other
places, was used by mariners, and by them called “baptism.” The master’s
mate clothed himself with a ridiculous sort of garment which reached to
his feet, and put on his head a comically constructed cap, made very
burlesque; in his right hand he had a naked wooden sword, and in his left
a pot full of ink. His face was horribly blacked with soot, and his neck
adorned with a collar of many little pieces of wood. Thus apparelled he
ordered every one to be called who had never passed through that dangerous
place before, and then, causing them to kneel down, he made the sign of
the cross on their forehead with ink, and gave every one a stroke on the
shoulder with his wooden sword. Meanwhile, the standers-by threw a bucket
of water over each man’s head, and so ended the ceremony. But that done,
each of the baptised was obliged to give a bottle of brandy, placing it
near the mainmast, without speaking a word. If the vessel never passed
that way before, the captain was compelled to distribute some wine amongst
the mariners and passengers; other gifts, which the newly baptised
frequently offered, were divided among the old seamen, and of them they
made a banquet among themselves.
“The Hollanders likewise, not only at this passage, but also at the rocks
called Berlingues, nigh the coast of Portugal, in 39 deg. 40 min. (being a
passage very dangerous, especially by night, when in the dark the rocks
are not distinguishable, the land being very high), they use some such
ceremony; but their manner of baptising is very different to that of the
French, for he that is to be baptised is fastened and hoisted up thrice at
the mainyard’s end, as if he were a criminal. If he be hoisted the fourth
time, in the name of the Prince of Orange or of the captain of the vessel,
his honour is more than ordinary. Thus every one is dipped several times
in the main ocean, but he that is dipped first has the honour of being
saluted with a gun. Such as are not willing to fall must pay twelve pence
for ransom; if he be an officer, two shillings; and if a passenger, at
their own pleasure. If the ship never passed that way before, the captain
is to give a small rundlet of wine, which, if he denies, the mariners may
cut off the stern of the vessel. All the profit accruing by this ceremony
is kept by the master’s mate, who, after reaching their port, usually laid
it out in wine, which was drunk amongst the ancient seamen. Some say that
this ceremony was instituted by the Emperor Charles V., though it is not
amongst his laws.” After recording some similar ceremonies, we find
Esquemeling at Tortuga, their desired port, where they landed the goods
belonging to the West India Company.
Our chronicler, after describing the abundant fruits and fine trees, the
flocks of wild pigeons and abundance of turtle—from which the island
derives its name, being supposed to resemble one in the general outline of
its coasts—speaks of the multitudes of large crabs, both of land and sea.
“These,” naïvely says the narrator, “are good to feed servants and slaves,
whose palates they please, but are very hurtful to the sight; besides,
being eaten too often they cause great giddiness in the head, with much
weakness of the brain, so that very frequently they are deprived of sight
for a quarter of an hour.”
The French, having settled on the Isle of St. Christopher, planted there
some large trees, of which they built long boats, and in which they
proceeded to discover neighbouring islands. They first reached Hispaniola,
where they landed, and found large quantities of cattle, horses, and wild
boars, but did not stop there, as there was already a considerable colony
of Spaniards. They proceeded to the neighbouring island of Tortuga, which
they seized without difficulty, there being not more than ten or twelve
Spaniards in possession. The French were afterwards obliged to abandon it.
In 1664 it was occupied by the West India Company of France, who sent
thither Monsieur Ogeron as governor. The company expected considerable
trade, and even went so far as to give a large amount of trust both to the
pirates and to traders. This, as might be expected, did not answer, and
they had to resort to force of arms in order to collect some of their
payments. To make a long story short, the Company eventually recalled
their factors, and sold the servants as slaves. On this occasion
Esquemeling was also sold, being a servant of the said Company, and
received very hard usage from his first master, the lieutenant-general of
the island. Fortunately for himself, he fell sick, and his master, fearing
to lose him altogether, sold him cheaply to a surgeon, who treated him
humanely, and he soon recovered his health. After having served him one
year, he was offered his liberty on a promise to pay a ransom when he was
in a position to do so. “Being,” says the chronicler, “now at liberty,
though like Adam when he was just created—that is, naked and destitute of
all human necessaries—not knowing how to get my living, I determined to
enter into the order of pirates or robbers at sea. Into this society I was
received with common consent, both of the superior and vulgar sort, where
I continued till 1672. Having assisted them in all their designs and
attempts, and served them in many notable exploits, I returned to my own
native country.”
After some very graphic descriptions of the alligators and other animals,
he gives some interesting particulars respecting the numerous wild
mastiffs and boars of the island, the former of which were introduced by
the bucaniers. He says:—
“The Governor of Tortuga, Monsieur Ogeron, finding that the wild dogs
killed so many of the wild boars that the hunters of that island had much
ado to find any, fearing lest that common sustenance of the island should
fail, sent for a great quantity of poison from France to destroy the wild
mastiffs. This was done anno 1668, by commanding horses to be killed and
empoisoned, and laid open at certain places where the wild dogs used to
resort. This being continued for six months, there were killed an
incredible number; and yet all this could not exterminate and destroy the
race, or scarce diminish them, their number appearing almost as large as
before. These wild dogs are easily tamed among men, even as tame as
ordinary house-dogs. The hunters of those parts, whenever they find a wild
bitch with whelps, commonly take away the puppies and bring them home,
which, being grown up, they hunt much better than other dogs.
“But here the curious reader may perhaps inquire how so many wild dogs
came here. The occasion was, the Spaniards having possessed these isles,
found them peopled with Indians—a barbarous people, sensual and brutish,
hating all labour, and only inclined to killing and making war against
their neighbours: not out of ambition, but only because they agreed not
with themselves in some common terms of language; and perceiving the
dominion of the Spaniards laid great restrictions upon their lazy and
brutish customs, they conceived an irreconcilable hatred against them, but
especially because they saw them take possession of their kingdoms and
dominions. Hereupon they made against them all the resistance they could,
opposing everywhere their designs to the utmost; and the Spaniards,
finding themselves cruelly hated by the Indians, and nowhere secure from
their treacheries, resolved to extirpate and ruin them, since they could
neither tame them by civility nor conquer them with the sword. But the
Indians—it being their custom to make the woods their chief places of
defence—at present made these their refuge whenever they fled from the
Spaniards. Hereupon, those first conquerors of the new world made use of
dogs to range and search the intricatest thickets of woods and forests for
those their implacable and unconquerable enemies; thus they forced them to
leave their old refuge, and submit to the sword, seeing no milder usage
would do it; hereupon they killed some of them, and, quartering their
bodies, placed them in the highways, that others might take warning from
such a punishment. But this severity proved of ill consequence, for
instead of frighting them and reducing them to civility, they conceived
such horror of the Spaniards that they resolved to detest and fly their
sight for ever; hence the greatest part died in caves and subterraneous
places of the woods and mountains, in which places I myself have often
seen great numbers of human bones. The Spaniards, finding no more Indians
to appear about the woods, turned away a great number of dogs they had in
their houses, and they, finding no masters to keep them, betook themselves
to the woods and fields to hunt for food to preserve their lives; thus by
degrees they became unacquainted with houses, and grew wild. This is the
truest account I can give of the multitudes of wild dogs in these parts.
“But besides these wild mastiffs, here are also great numbers of wild
horses everywhere all over the island; they are but low of stature,
short-bodied, with great heads, long necks, and big or thick legs: in a
word, they have nothing handsome in their shape. They run up and down
commonly in troops of 200 or 300 together, one going always before to lead
the multitude. When they meet any person travelling through the woods or
fields, they stand still, suffering him to approach until he can almost
touch them, and then, suddenly starting, they betake themselves to flight,
running away as fast as they can. The hunters catch them only for their
skins, though sometimes they preserve their flesh likewise, which they
harden with smoke, using it for provisions when they go to sea.
“Here would be also wild bulls and cows in great number, if by continual
hunting they were not much diminished; yet considerable profit is made to
this day by such as make it their business to kill them. The wild bulls
are of a vast bigness of body, and yet they hurt not any one except they
be exasperated. Their bodies are from eleven to thirteen feet long.”
The cruelty of many of the planters to their slaves, some of whom were
kidnapped Europeans, was revolting. A terrible case is that of one of them
who had behaved so brutally to a servant that the latter ran away; after
having taken refuge in the woods for some days, he was captured, and
brought back to the wicked Pharaoh. No sooner had he got him than he
commanded him to be tied to a tree, where he gave him so many lashes on
his back that his body ran with an entire stream of blood. Then, to make
the smart of his wounds the greater, he anointed him with lemon-juice
mixed with salt and pepper. In this miserable posture he left him tied to
the tree for four-and-twenty hours, after which he began his punishment
again, lashing him again so cruelly that the miserable wretch gave up the
ghost, with these dying words:—“I beseech the Almighty God, creator of
heaven and earth, that He permit the wicked spirit to make thee feel as
many torments before thy death as thou hast caused me to feel before
mine!” The sequel is worthy the attention of those who believe in earthly
retribution. “Scarce three or four days were past after this horrible fact
when the Almighty Judge, who had heard the cries of that tormented wretch,
suffered the evil one suddenly to possess this barbarous and inhuman
homicide, so that those cruel bonds which had punished to death his
innocent servant were the tormentors of his own body; for he beat himself
and tore his own flesh after a miserable manner till he lost the very
shape of a man, not ceasing to howl and cry without any rest by day or
night. Thus he continued raving mad till he died. Many other examples of
this kind I could rehearse. The planters of the Caribbee Islands are
rather worse and more cruel to their servants than the former. In the Isle
of St. Christopher a planter was known to have killed above a hundred of
his slaves with blows and stripes.” And, if Esquemeling is to be believed,
the English planters of the period were little better.
[Illustration: PIERRE LE GRAND TAKING THE SPANISH VESSEL.]
The first pirate of Tortuga was Pierre le Grand, or Peter the Great. He
was born at Dieppe, in Normandy. The action which rendered him famous was
his taking the vice-admiral’s ship of the Spanish fleet, near the Cape of
Tiburon, on the west side of Hispaniola; this he performed with only one
boat and twenty-eight men. Until that time the Spaniards had passed and
re-passed with all security through the channel of Bahama; so that Pierre
le Grand, setting out to sea by the Caycos, took this grand ship with all
the ease imaginable. The Spaniards found aboard were set ashore, and the
vessel was sent to France. “The manner how this undaunted spirit attempted
and took this large ship,” says the narrator, “I shall give you out of the
journal of the author in his own words, ‘The boat,’ says he, ‘wherein
Pierre le Grand was with his companions had been at sea a long time
without finding any prize worth his taking, and their provisions beginning
to fail, they were in danger of starving. Being almost reduced to despair,
they spied a great ship of the Spanish flota separated from the rest; this
vessel they resolved to take, or die in the attempt. Hereupon they sailed
towards her to view her strength. And though they judged the vessel to be
superior to theirs, yet their covetousness and the extremity they were
reduced to made them venture. Being come so near that they could not
possibly escape, they made an oath to their captain, Pierre le Grand, to
stand by him to the last. ’Tis true, the pirates did believe they should
find the ship unprovided to fight, and therefore the sooner master her. It
was in the dusk of the evening they began to attack; but before they
engaged they ordered the surgeon of the boat to bore a hole in the sides
of it, that their own vessel sinking under them, they might be compelled
to attack more vigorously, and endeavour more hastily to board the ship.
This was done accordingly; and without any other arms than a pistol in one
hand and a sword in the other, they immediately climbed up the sides of
the ship, and ran altogether into the great cabin, where they found the
captain, with several of his companions, playing at cards. Here they set a
pistol to his breast, commanding him to deliver up the ship. The
Spaniards, surprised to see the pirates on board their ship, cried,
“Jesus, bless us! Are these devils, or what are they?” Meanwhile some of
them took possession of the gun-room, and seized the arms, killing as many
as made any opposition; whereupon the Spaniards presently surrendered.
That very day the captain of the ship had been told by some of the seamen
that the boat which was in view cruising was a boat of pirates, whom the
captain slightly answered, “What, then, must I be afraid of such a pitiful
thing as that is? No! though she were a ship as big and as strong as mine
is.” As soon as Pierre le Grand had taken this rich prize, he detained in
his service as many of the common seamen as he had need of, setting the
rest ashore, and then set sail for France, where he continued without ever
returning to America again.’”
The planters and hunters of Tortuga had no sooner heard of the rich prize
those pirates had taken than they resolved to follow their example. Many
of them left their employments, and endeavoured to get some small boats
wherein to exercise piracy; but not being able to purchase or build them
in Tortuga, they set out in their canoes, and sought them elsewhere. With
these they cruised at first upon Cape de Alvarez, where the Spaniards used
to trade from one city to another in small vessels, in which they carried
hides, tobacco, and other commodities to the Havannah, and to which the
Spaniards from Europe frequently resorted.
Here it was that those pirates at first took a great many boats laden with
the before-mentioned commodities; these they used to carry to Tortuga, and
sell the whole purchase to the vessels that waited for their return or
accidentally happened to be there. With the gains of these prizes they
provided themselves with necessaries wherewith to undertake other voyages,
some of which were made to Campechy, and others toward Hispaniola, in both
which the Spaniards then drove a good trade. Upon those coasts they found
great numbers of trading vessels, and often ships of great burden. Two of
the biggest of these vessels, and two great ships which the Spaniards had
laden with plate in the port of Campechy to go to the Caraccas, they took
in less than a month’s time, and carried to Tortuga, when the people of
the whole island, encouraged by their success—especially seeing in two
years the riches of the country so much increased—they augmented the
number of freebooters so fast, that in a little time there were in that
small island and port above twenty pirate-ships. The Spaniards, not able
to bear their robberies any longer, equipped two large men-of-war, both
for the defence of their own coasts and to cruise upon the enemy’s. We
shall see the result.
Before the pirates went to sea they gave notice to all concerned of the
day on which they were to embark, obliging each man to bring as many
pounds of powder and ball as they thought necessary. Being all come
aboard, they consulted as to where to get provisions, especially flesh,
seeing they scarcely used anything else: this was ordinarily pork and
tortoise, which they salted a little; sometimes they robbed the hog-yards,
where the Spaniards often had a thousand head of swine together. They
approached these places in the night, and having beset the keeper’s lodge,
would force him to rise and give them as many head as they desired,
threatening to kill him if he refused or made any noise; and these menaces
were oftentimes executed on the miserable swine-keepers or any other
person that endeavoured to hinder their robberies.
Having got flesh sufficient for their voyage, they returned to the ship.
Here every one was allowed, twice a day, as much as he could eat, without
weight or measure; nor did the steward of the vessel give any more flesh,
nor anything else, to the captain than to the meanest mariner. “The ship
being well victualled, they would deliberate whether they should go to
seek their desperate fortunes, and likewise agree upon certain articles,
which were put in writing, which every one was bound to observe; and all
of them, or the chiefest part, set their hands to it. Here they set down
distinctly what sums of money each particular person ought to have for
that voyage, the fund of all the payments being what was netted by the
whole expedition, for otherwise it was the same law among these people as
other pirates—‘No prey, no pay.’ First, therefore, they calculated how
much the captain was to have for his ship; next the salary of the
carpenter or shipwright who careened, mended, and rigged the vessel; this
commonly amounted to one hundred or one hundred and fifty pieces of
eight,(2) according to the agreement. Afterwards, for provisions and
victualling, they drew out of the same common stock about two hundred
pieces of eight; also a salary for the surgeon and his medicine chest,
which usually is rated at two hundred or two hundred and fifty pieces of
eight. Lastly, they agreed what rate each one ought to have that was
either wounded or maimed in his body, or should suffer the loss of any
limb: as, for the loss of a right arm, six hundred pieces of eight, or six
slaves; for the left arm, five hundred pieces of eight, or five slaves;
for a right leg, five hundred pieces of eight, or five slaves; for the
left leg, four hundred pieces of eight, or four slaves; for an eye, one
hundred pieces of eight, or one slave; for a finger, the same as for an
eye: all which sums were taken out of the common stock of what was
gathered by their piracy, and a very exact and equal dividend was made of
the remainder. They had also regard to qualities and places; thus, the
captain or chief was allotted five or six portions to what the ordinary
seamen had, the master’s mate only two, and other officers proportionately
to their employ; after which they drew equal parts, from the highest to
the lowest mariner, the boys not being omitted, who drew a half share,
because when they take a better vessel than their own it was the boys’
duty to fire the former vessel, and then retire to the prize.”
They observed among themselves very good order; for in the prizes which
they took it was severely prohibited to any one to take anything for
themselves; hence all they got was equally divided. They took a solemn
oath to each other not to conceal the least thing they might find among
the prizes; and if any one was found false to his oath he was immediately
turned out of the society. They were very kind and charitable to each
other, so that if any one wanted what another had, he was immediately
supplied. As soon as these pirates had taken a prize, they immediately set
ashore the prisoners, detaining only some few for their own help and
service, whom also they released after two or three years. They refreshed
themselves at one island or another, but especially at those on the south
of Cuba; here they careened their vessels, while some went hunting, and
others cruised in canoes for prizes. They often took the poor turtle
fishermen, and made them work during their pleasure.
[Illustration: PIERRE FRANÇOIS ATTACKING THE _VICE-ADMIRAL_.]
The inhabitants of New Spain and Campechy were wont to lade their best
merchandise in ships of great bulk; the vessels from Campechy sailed in
the winter to Caraccas, the Trinity Isles, and that of Margarita, and
returned back again in the summer. The pirates, knowing these seasons (and
thoroughly alive to the situation), always cruised between the places
above-mentioned; but in case they lighted on no considerable booty,
commonly undertook some more hazardous enterprise; “one remarkable
instance of which,” says our chronicler, “I shall here give you. A certain
pirate, called Pierre François, or Peter Francis, waiting a long time at
sea with his boat and twenty-six men for the ships that were to return
from Maracaibo to Campechy, and not being able to find any prey, at last
he resolved to direct his course to Rancheiras, near the River de la
Plata, in 12½° north latitude. Here lies a rich bank of pearl, to the
fishery whereof they yearly sent from Carthagena twelve vessels, with a
man-of-war for their defence. Every vessel has at least two negroes, who
are very dexterous in diving to the depth of six fathoms, where they find
good store of pearls. On this fleet, called the Pearl Fleet, Pierre
François resolved to venture rather than go home empty. They then rode at
anchor at the mouth of the River de la Hacha, the man-of-war scarce half a
league distant from the small ships, and the wind very calm. Having spied
them in this posture, he presently pulled down his sails and rowed along
the coast, feigning to be a Spanish vessel coming from Maracaibo; but no
sooner was he come to the pearl-bank, when suddenly he assaulted the
_Vice-Admiral_, of eighty guns and sixty men, commanding them to
surrender. The Spaniards made a good defence for some time, but at last
were forced to submit. Having thus taken the _Vice-Admiral_, he resolved
to attempt the man-of-war, with which addition he hoped to master the rest
of the fleet. To this end he presently sunk his own boat, putting forth
the Spanish colours, and weighed anchor with a little wind which then
began to stir, having with threats and promises compelled most of the
Spaniards to assist him; but so soon as the man-of-war perceived one of
his fleet to sail, he did so too, fearing lest the mariners designed to
run away with the riches they had on board. The pirates on this
immediately gave over the enterprise, thinking themselves unable to
encounter force to force; hereupon they endeavoured to get out of the
river and gain the open seas by making as much sail as they could; which
the man-of-war perceiving, he presently gave them chase, but the pirates
having laid on too much sail, and a gust of wind presently rising, their
mainmast was brought by the board, which disabled them from escaping.
“This unhappy event much encouraged those in the man-of-war, they gaining
upon the pirates every moment, and at last overtook them; but they,
finding they had twenty-two sound men, the rest being either killed or
wounded, resolved to defend themselves as long as possible. This they
performed very courageously for some time, till they were forced by the
man-of-war, on condition that they should not be used as slaves to carry
stones, or be employed in other labours for three or four years, as they
served their negroes, but that they should be set safe on shore on free
land. On these articles they yielded, with all they had taken, which was
worth in pearls alone above 100,000 pieces of eight, besides the vessel,
provisions, goods, &c., all of which would have made this a greater prize
than he could desire: which he had certainly carried off if his mainmast
had not been lost, as we said before.”
[Illustration: ESCAPE OF PORTUGUEZ.]