comrades, whom he exhorted to arm themselves with courage calculated to
subdue every obstacle, that they might return to Jamaica with an increase
of glory, and riches sufficient to supply all their wants for the rest of
their lives. At length, on January 18th, he commenced his march toward
Panama, with a chosen body of freebooters, who were thirteen hundred
strong.
The greatest part of their journey was performed by water, following the
course of the river. Five vessels were laden with the artillery; and the
troops were placed in a very narrow compass on board thirty-two boats. One
reason why they had brought only a small quantity of provisions was because
they hoped to meet with a supply on their route; but on the very day of
their arrival at Rio de los Bravos the expectations of the pirates were
frustrated. At the place where they landed they literally found nothing:
the terror which they everywhere inspired had preceded them; the Spaniards
had betaken themselves to flight, and had carried with them all their
cattle and even the very last article of their movables. They had cut the
grain and pulse without waiting for their maturity, the roots of which were
even torn out of the ground: the houses and stables were empty.
The first day of their voyage was spent in abstinence, tobacco affording
them the only gratification that was not refused them. The second day was
not more prosperous. In addition to the various impediments by which their
passage was obstructed, want of rain had rendered the waters of the river
very shallow, and a great number of trees had fallen into it, presenting
almost insurmountable obstacles. On their arrival at the Cruz de Juan
Gallego, they had no other alternative left but to abandon their boats and
pursue their route by land; otherwise, they must have resigned themselves
to the confusion necessarily consequent on retracing their steps.
Animated, however, by their chieftains, they determined to try the
adventure. On the third day their way led them to a forest, where there was
no beaten path, and the soil of which was marshy. But it was indispensably
necessary that they should leave this wretched passage, in order that they
might reach--with incredible difficulties, indeed--the town of Cedro Bueno.
For all these excessive fatigues they found no indemnification whatever;
there were no provisions, not even a single head of game.
These luckless adventurers at length saw themselves surrounded by all the
horrors of famine. Many of them were reduced to devour the leaves of trees;
the majority were altogether destitute of sustenance. In this state of
severe privations, and with very light clothing, they passed the nights
lying on the shore, benumbed with cold, incapable of enjoying, even in the
smallest degree, the solace of sleep, and expecting with anxiety the return
of day. Their courage was supported only with the hope of meeting
some bodies of Spaniards, or some groups of fugitive inhabitants, and
consequently of finding provisions, with an abundance of which the latter
never failed to supply themselves when they abandoned their dwellings.
Further, the pirates were obliged to continue their route at a small
distance only from the river, as they had contrived to drag their canoes
along with them, and, whenever the water was of sufficient depth, part
of the men embarked on board them, while the remainder prosecuted their
journey by land. They were preceded a few hundred paces by an advanced
guard of thirty men under the direction of a guide who was intimately
acquainted with the country; and the strictest silence was observed, in
order that they might discover the ambuscades of the Spaniards, and, if it
were possible, make some of them prisoners.
On the fourth day the freebooters reached Torna Cavellos, a kind of
fortified place which also had been evacuated, the Spaniards having carried
away with them everything that was portable and consumed the rest by fire.
Their design was to leave the pirates neither movables nor utensils; in
fact, this was the only resource left them by which they could reduce those
formidable guests to such a state of privation as to compel them to retire.
The only things which had not been burned or carried off were some large
sacks of hides, which were to these freebooters objects of avidity, and
which had almost occasioned a bloody dispute. Previously to devouring them,
it was necessary to cut them into pieces with all possible equity. Thus
divided, the leather was cut into small bits, these were scraped and
violently beaten between two stones. It was then soaked in water, in order
to become soft, after which it was roasted; nor, thus prepared, could it
have been swallowed if they had not taken most copious draughts of water.
After this repast the freebooters resumed their route, and arrived at
Torna-Munni, where also they found an abandoned fortress. On the fifth day
they reached Barbacoas; but still no place presented to their view either
man, animal, or any kind of provisions whatever. Here likewise the
Spaniards had taken the precaution of carrying away or destroying
everything that could serve for food. Fortunately, however, they discovered
in the hollow of a rock two sacks of flour, some fruit, and two large
vessels filled with wine. This discovery would have transported with joy a
less numerous troop; but, to so many famished men it presented only very
feeble resource. Morgan, who did not suffer less from hunger than the rest,
generously appropriated none of it to his own use, but caused this scanty
supply to be distributed among those who were just ready to faint. Many,
indeed, were almost dying. These were conveyed on board the boats, the
charge of which was committed to them; while those who had hitherto had the
care of the vessels, were reunited to the body that was travelling by land.
Their march was very slow, both on account of the extreme weakness of these
men, even after the very moderate refreshment they had just taken, as well
as from the roughness and difficulties of the way; and during the fifth day
the pirates had no other sustenance but the leaves of trees and the grass
of the meadows.
On the following day the freebooters made still less progress; want of food
had totally exhausted them, and they were frequently obliged to rest. At
length they reached a plantation, where they found a vast quantity of maize
in a granary that had just been abandoned. What a discovery was this to men
whose appetites were sharpened by such long protractions! A great many of
them devoured the grains in a raw state; the rest covered their shares
with the leaves of the banana-tree, and thus cooked or roasted the maize.
Reinvigorated by this food, they pursued their route; and, on the same day,
they discovered a troop of Indians on the other side of the river, but
those savages betook themselves to flight, so that it was impossible to
reach them. The cruel freebooters fired on them and killed some of them;
the rest escaped, exclaiming: "Come, you English dogs, come into the
meadow; we will there wait for you."
To this challenge the pirates were little tempted to answer. Their supply
of maize was exhausted; and they were further obliged to lie down in the
open air without eating anything. Hitherto, in the midst of privations the
most severely painful, as well as of the most difficult labors, they had
evinced an inexhaustible patience, but at length violent murmurs arose.
Morgan and his rash enterprise became the object of their execrations: a
great number of the freebooters were desirous of returning; but the rest,
although discontented, declared that they would rather perish than not
terminate an expedition so far advanced and which had cost them so much
trouble.
On the following day they crossed the river and directed their march toward
a place which they took for a town or, at all events, for a village, where,
to their great satisfaction, they thought they perceived at a distance the
smoke issuing from several chimneys. "There, at last," said they, "we shall
surely find both men and provisions." Their expectations were completely
frustrated; not a single individual appeared throughout the place. They
found no other articles of sustenance but a leather sack full of bread,
together with a few cats and dogs, which were instantly killed and
devoured. The place where they had now arrived was the town of Cruces, at
which were usually landed those commodities which were conveyed up the
river Chagres, in order to be carried by land to Panama, which was eight
French leagues distant. Here were some fine warehouses built of stone, and
likewise some stables belonging to the King of Spain, which, at the moment
of the pirates' arrival, were the only buildings that remained untouched,
all the inhabitants having betaken themselves to flight after they had set
their houses on fire.
Every corner of these royal buildings was ransacked by the freebooters, who
at length discovered seventeen large vessels full of Peruvian wine, which
were immediately emptied. Scarcely, however, had they drunk this liquor,
which was to recruit their exhausted strength, than they all fell ill.
At first they thought the wine was poisoned; they were overwhelmed with
consternation, and were fully persuaded that their last hour was come.
Their terrors were unfounded; as their sudden indisposition was easily
accounted for by the nature of the unwholesome food they had so recently
taken, by the extreme diminution of their strength, and the avidity with
which they had swallowed the wine; in fact, they found themselves much
better on the following day.
As Morgan had been reduced to the necessity of removing, at this place, to
a distance from all his ships, he was obliged to land all his men, not even
excepting those who were most exhausted by weakness. The shallops alone,
with sixty men, were sent to the spot where his vessels and largest ships
had been left. A single shallop only was reserved to carry news, if
occasion offered, to the flotilla. Morgan prohibited every man from
going alone to any distance; and even required that they should not make
excursions in troops amounting to less than a hundred men. Famine, however,
compelled the freebooters to infringe this prohibition. Six of them went
out to some distance in quest of food; the event justified the foresight of
their chieftain. They were attacked by a large body of Spaniards, and could
not without very great difficulty regain the village: they had also the
mortification to see one of their comrades taken prisoner.
Morgan now determined to prosecute his march. After reviewing his
companions-in-arms he found that they amounted to eleven hundred men. As he
foresaw that they were apprehensive lest their lost comrade should betray
the secret of their enterprise and the state of their forces, Morgan made
them believe that he had not been taken; that he had only lost his way in
the woods, but had now returned to the main body.
The freebooters were on the eighth day of their painful journey, and
nothing but the hope of speedily terminating their labors could support
them much longer, for they had now ascertained that they were on the way to
Panama. An advanced guard of two hundred men was therefore formed, which
was to watch the movements of the enemy. They marched onward for a whole
day without perceiving any living object whatever, when suddenly a shower
of three or four thousand arrows was discharged upon them from the top of
a rock. For some minutes they were struck with astonishment; no enemy
presented himself to their view. They beheld around them, at their feet,
above their heads, nothing but steep rocks, trees, and abysses; and,
without striking a single blow, they reckoned twenty of their comrades
killed or wounded. This unexpected attack not being continued, they pursued
their march across a forest, where, in a hollow way, they fell upon a
large body of Indians who opposed their progress with much valor. In this
engagement the freebooters were victorious, though they lost eight killed
and ten wounded.
They made every possible effort to catch some of the fugitives, but these
fled away with the velocity of stags across the rocks, with all the
turnings and windings of which they were intimately acquainted. Not a
single man fell into their hands; the Indian chieftain was wounded;
and, notwithstanding he lay on the ground, he continued to fight
most obstinately until he received a mortal blow. He wore a crown of
party-colored feathers. His death made a great impression on the Indians
and was the principal cause of their defeat. The ground on which they had
attacked the pirates was so favorable that one hundred men would have been
fully sufficient to have destroyed the whole troop of freebooters. The
latter availed themselves of the inconceivable negligence of the Spaniards
in not taking more effectual measures for the defence of such an important
pass. They exerted all possible diligence to make their way out of this
labyrinth of rocks, where a second attack of a similar kind would have been
attended with consequences of the most fatal tendency to them, and to get
into an open and level country.
On the ninth day they found themselves in a plain or spacious meadow,
entirely divested of trees, so that nothing could shelter them against the
ardor of the solar rays. It rained, however, most copiously at the
moment of their arrival; and this circumstance added yet more to their
difficulties. In a short time they were wetted to their skins. In case of a
sudden attack their arms and ammunition would have afforded them but little
assistance; while the Spaniards would be able most effectively to use their
spears, which could not be damaged by the rain.
No human means could remedy this inconvenience. The pirates had only to
abandon themselves to their fate. Morgan most ardently desired that
some prisoner might fall into his hands, from whose confessions, either
voluntary or involuntary, he might obtain some information by which to
direct his march. With this intention, fifty men were detached in different
directions, with a promised reward of three hundred piasters, out of the
society's stock, to the man who should bring in either a Spaniard or an
Indian, exclusive of the share of booty to which he should be entitled.
About noon they ascended a steep hill, from whose summit they began to
discover the Pacific. At this sight, which announced the speedy termination
of their miseries, they were transported with joy. From the top of this
eminence they also perceived six ships departing from Panama, and sailing
toward the islands of Taroga and Tarogiela, which were situated in the
vicinity of that city. Panama itself for the present escaped their
observation; but how was their satisfaction increased on beholding, in a
valley, a vast number of bulls, cows, horses, and particularly of asses,
which were under the care of some Spaniards, who betook themselves to
flight the moment they saw the formidable pirates approaching? To the
latter no _rencontre_ could be more desirable. They were ready to faint
with famine and fatigue; the sustenance which they immediately devoured
would contribute to give them that strength which every moment would become
so necessary to them, and it is altogether inconceivable how the Spaniards
could abandon such a prey to their famished enemies. This want of foresight
can only be accounted for by the panic with which the Spaniards were
seized.
The spot which had just been deserted was occupied for some hours by the
freebooters; they stood in great need of rest, and were in much greater
want of provisions. They rushed therefore on the animals that had been left
behind, of which they killed a great number, and devoured their half-raw
flesh with such avidity that the blood streamed in torrents from their lips
over the whole of their bodies. What could not be consumed on the spot they
carried away with them, for Morgan, apprehensive of an attack by the flower
of the Spaniards' troops, allowed them only a small space of time for
repose. They resumed their march, but the uncertainty in which they had so
long been involved was not yet at an end.
Notwithstanding all that chieftain's experience, his spies could not
succeed in taking a single prisoner--a circumstance, which seems almost
incredible in a populous country--and after nine days' march Morgan was
deprived of every hint that was so essentially necessary to him. Further,
the freebooters were utterly ignorant how near they were to Panama, when,
from the summit of a hill, they discovered the towers of that city. They
could not refrain from shouting for joy. The air reëchoed with the sound of
trumpets and cymbals; they threw up their caps in the air, vociferating,
"Victory! victory!" In this place they halted and pitched their camp, with
the firm determination of attacking Panama on the following day.
At this time the Spaniards were in the utmost confusion. The first
defensive step which they deemed it advisable to take was to despatch
fifty horsemen for the purpose of reconnoitring the enemy. The detachment
approached the camp within musket-shot and offered some insults to the
freebooters, but speedily returned toward the city, exclaiming, "_Perros,
nos veromos!_" ("You dogs, we will see you again!") Shortly after a second
detachment of two hundred men appeared, who occupied every pass, in order
that, after the victory--which they considered as infallible--not one
single pirate might escape. The freebooters, however, beheld with the
utmost concern the measures which were adopted in order to block them up,
and, previously to every other consideration, turned their attention toward
their abundant supply of provision. As they were prohibited from kindling
any fire, they devoured the meat they had brought with them _entirely in
a raw state_. They could not conceive how the Spaniards could carry their
neglect or their fancied security to such a length as not to disturb that
repose of which they stood so greatly in need; nor how they could allow
them the necessary leisure for recruiting their exhausted strength and thus
become the more fit for battle. They availed themselves of this oversight
and were perfectly at ease; after they had glutted themselves with animal
food they lay down upon the grass and slept quietly. Throughout the night
the Spaniards made their artillery roar without intermission, in order to
display their vigilance.
On the ensuing day, which was the tenth of their march, January 27, 1671,
the pirates advanced at a very early hour, with their military music, and
took the road leading to Panama. By the advice, however, of one of their
guides, they quitted the main road and went out of the way across a thick
wood through which there was no footpath. For this the Spaniards were
unprepared, having confined themselves to the erection of batteries and
construction of redoubts on the highway. They soon perceived the inutility
of this measure and were obliged to relinquish their guns in order to
oppose their enemies on the contrary side; but not being able to take their
cannons away from their batteries, they were, consequently, incapacitated
from making use of one part of their defensive means.
After two hours' march the freebooters discovered the hostile army, which
was a very fine one, well equipped, and was advancing in battle array. The
soldiers were clad in party-colored silk stuffs, and the horsemen were
seated upon their mettlesome steeds as if they were going to a bull-fight.
The President in person took the command of this body of troops, which
was of considerable importance, both for the country and likewise for the
forces supported there by Spain. He marched against the pirates with four
regiments of the line consisting of infantry, besides twenty-four
hundred foot-soldiers of another description, four hundred horsemen, and
twenty-four hundred wild bulls under the conduct of several hundred Indians
and negroes.
This army, which extended over the whole plain, was discovered by the
pirates from the summit of a small eminence, and presented to them a most
imposing appearance, insomuch that they were struck with a kind of terror.
They now began to feel some anxiety as to the event of an engagement with
forces so greatly superior to them in point of numbers, but they were soon
convinced that they must actually conquer or die, and encouraged each other
to fight till the very last drop of their blood was shed; a determination
this, which, on the part of these intrepid men, was by no means a vain
resolution.
They divided themselves into three bodies, placed two hundred of their best
marksmen in the front, and marched boldly against the Spaniards, who
were drawn up in order of battle on a very spacious plain. The Governor
immediately ordered the cavalry to charge the enemy, and the wild bulls to
be at the same time let loose upon them. But the ground was unfavorable for
this purpose; the horsemen encountered nothing but marshes, behind which
were posted the two hundred marksmen, who kept up such a continual and
well-directed fire that horses and men fell in heaps beneath their shots
before it was possible to effect a retreat. Fifty horsemen only escaped
this formidable discharge of musketry.
The bulls, on whose services they had calculated so highly, it became
impracticable to drive among the pirates. Hence such a confusion arose as
to completely reverse the whole plan of the battle. The freebooters, in
consequence, attacked the Spanish infantry with so much the greater vigor.
They successively knelt on the ground, fired, and rose up again. While
those who were on one knee directed their fire against the hostile army,
which began to waver; the pirates, who continued standing, rapidly charged
their fire-arms. Every man, on this occasion, evinced a dexterity and
presence of mind which decided the fate of the battle. Almost every shot
was fatal. The Spaniards, nevertheless, continued to defend themselves with
much valor, which proved of little service against an exasperated enemy
whose courage, inflamed by despair, derived additional strength from their
successes. At length the Spaniards had recourse to their last expedient:
the wild cattle were let loose upon the rear of the freebooters.
The buccaneers were in their element: by their shouts they intimidated the
bulls, at the same time waving party-colored flags before them; fired on
the animals and laid them all upon the ground, without exception. The
engagement lasted two hours; and notwithstanding the Spaniards were so
greatly superior, both in numbers and in arms, it terminated entirely
in favor of the freebooters. The Spaniards lost the chief part of their
cavalry, on which they had built their expectations of victory; the
remainder returned to the charge repeatedly, but their efforts only tended
to render their defeat the more complete. A very few horsemen only escaped,
together with some few of the infantry who threw down their arms to
facilitate the rapidity of their flight. Six hundred Spaniards lay dead on
the field of battle; besides these, they sustained a very considerable loss
in such as were wounded and taken prisoner.
Among the latter were some Franciscans who had exposed themselves to the
greatest dangers in order that they might animate the combatants and afford
the last consolations of religion to the dying. They were conducted into
Morgan's presence, who instantly pronounced sentence of death upon them.
In vain did these hapless priests implore that pity which they might have
expected from a less ferocious enemy. They were all killed by pistol-shots.
Many Spaniards who were apprehensive lest they should be overtaken in their
flight had concealed themselves in the flags and rushes along the banks
of the river. They were mostly discovered and hacked to pieces by the
merciless pirates.