money and jewels were hidden. As several places were named, two parties
went out the same night upon this exciting search. The one party
returned on the morrow with much booty, the other did not wander in for
two days, having been misled by a prisoner, who, in the hopes of finding
means to escape through his knowledge of the country, had led them into
such dangerous and uninhabited places that they had had a thousand
difficulties in avoiding. Furious at finding themselves mocked by their
guide, they hung him on a tree without any parley. In returning they
came, however, suddenly upon some slaves who were seeking for food by
night, having been hiding in the woods all day. Torture was at once
resorted to, to find out where the masters lay, for slaves could not be
there alone. The braver of the two suffered the most horrible pain
without disclosing a syllable, and was eventually cut to pieces without
confessing; the weaker, and perhaps younger negro, endured his
sufferings at first with equal fortitude, although he was offered
liberty and reward if he would speak. But when the seamen drew their
sabres, still red with the blood of his companion, and began to hew and
gash his brother's limbs that still lay palpitating on the ground, his
courage fell, and he offered to lead them to his master. The Spaniard
was soon taken with 30,000 crowns' worth of plate.
For eight days the men practised unheard-of cruelties upon the wretched
townsmen, already starved and beggared, wretches whose only crime had
been their yielding to the natural impulse of self-preservation. They
hung them up by their beards and by the hair of their heads, by an arm
or a leg; they stretched their limbs tight with cords, and then beat
with rattans upon the rigid flesh; they placed burning matches between
their fingers; they twisted cords about their heads, tightening the
strain by the leverage of their pistol stocks, till the eyes sprang from
the sockets. The deathblow was never given from pity, but as the climax
and consummation of suffering, and when the executioners were weary of
their cruelty. In vain the tortured Spaniards screamed that the treasure
was all removed to Gibraltar, and that they were not the rich citizens
but very poor men, monks and servants of Jesus, God help them! Many died
before the rack could be loosened.
Captain Picard, exulting in the success of his expedition, was now very
urgent in pressing Morgan to advance on Gibraltar before succours could
arrive there from Merida, believing that it would surrender as it had
done to Lolonnois. Morgan having in his custody about 100 of the chief
families of Maracaibo, and all the accessible booty, embarked eight
days after his landing, and proceeded to Gibraltar, hoping to rival
Lolonnois in every virtue. His prisoners and plunder went with him, and
he determined to hazard a battle. Expecting an obstinate defence, every
Buccaneer made his will, consoling himself by the thought of revelry at
Jamaica if he was one of those lucky enough to escape. "Death," says
Oexmelin, "was never much mixed up in their thoughts, especially when
there was booty in view, for if there were only some hopes of plunder
they would fight like lions." Before the fleet started, two prisoners
had been sent to Gibraltar to warn the governor that Captain Morgan
would give him no quarter if he did not surrender.
Picard, who remembered the former dangerous spots, made his men land
about a quarter of a league from the town, and march through the woods
in hopes of taking the Spaniards in the rear, in case they should be
again entrenched. The enemy received them with quick discharges of
cannon, but the men cheered each other, saying, "We must make a
breakfast of these bitter things ere we sup on the sweetmeats of
Gibraltar." They landed early in the morning, and found no more
difficulty than at Maracaibo. The Spaniards, deceived by a stratagem,
had expected their approach by the road, and not by the woods. They had
no time to throw up entrenchments, and only a few barricades, planted
with cannon, protected their flight. They remembered Lolonnois; their
hearts became as water, and they fled as the Buccaneers took peaceable
possession of the town. The Spaniards took with them their riches, and
all their ammunition, to use at some more convenient period. Morgan,
rejoicing in the easy victory, posted his men at the strong points of
the town, while 100 men, under Picard, went out to pursue and bring in
prisoners. They found the guns spiked, and every house sacked by its
owner, much spoiled, much carried off, and the heavy and the worthless
alone left.
The only inhabitant remaining in the town was a poor half-witted
Spaniard, who had not clearly ascertained what he ought to do. He was
so well dressed that they at first took him, much to his delight, for a
man of rank, and asked him what had become of all the people of
Gibraltar. He replied, "they had been gone a day, but he did not know
where; he had not asked, but he dare say they would soon be back, and
for his part he, Pepe, did not care." When they inquired where the
sugar-mills were, he replied that he had never seen any in his life. The
church money, he knew, was hid in the sacristy of the great church.
Taking them there he showed them a large coffer, where he pretended to
have seen it hid. They opened it and found it empty. To all other
inquiries he now answered, "I know nothing, I know nothing." Some of the
Buccaneers, angry at the disappointment, and vexed at the subtlety of
the Spaniards, declared the fellow was more knave than fool, and dragged
him to torture. They gave him first the strapado, till he began to wish
the people were returned; they then hung him up for two hours with heavy
stones tied to his feet, till his arms were dislocated. At last he cried
out, "Do not plague me any more, but come with me and I will show you
my goods and my riches." He then led them to a miserable hovel,
containing only a few earthen pots and three pieces of eight, wrapped in
faded finery, buried under the hearth. He then said his name was Don
Sebastian Sanchez, brother of the governor of Maracaibo, that he was
worth more than 50,000 crowns, and that he would write for it and give
it up if they would cease to hang and plague him so. They then tortured
him again, thinking he was a grandee in disguise, till he offered, if he
was released, to show them a refinery. They had not got a musket-shot
from the hut before he fell on his knees and gave himself up as a
criminal. "Jesu Maria!" he cried, "what will you do with me, Englishmen?
I am a poor man who live on alms, and sleep in the hospital." They then
lit palm-leaves and scorched him, and would have burnt off all his
clothes had he not been released by one of the Buccaneers who now saw he
was an idiot. The poor fellow died in great torment in about
half-an-hour, and before he grew cold was dragged into the woods and
buried.
The following day Picard brought in an old peasant and his two
daughters; the old man, his crippled limbs having been tortured, offered
to serve as guide, and lead them to some houses in the suburbs. Half
blind and frightened, he mistook his way, and the Buccaneers, thinking
the error intentional, made a slave, who declared he had intentionally
misled them, hang him on a tree by the road side.
Slavery here brought its own retribution, for this same slave, burning
to avenge some ill treatment he had received, offered, on being made
free, to lead them to many of the Spanish places of refuge. Before
evening ten or twelve families, with all their wealth, were brought into
Gibraltar. It had now become difficult to track the fugitives, as
fathers refused even to trust their children; no one slept twice in the
same spot, for fear that some one who knew of the retreat would be
captured, and then, under torture, betray the spot, generally huts in
the darkest recesses of the woods, where their goods were stored from
the weather. These exiles were, however, obliged to steal at night to
their country houses to obtain food, and then they were intercepted.
From some of these merchants Morgan heard that a vessel of 100 tons, and
three barges laden with silver and merchandise belonging to Maracaibo,
now lay in the river; about six leagues distant, and 100 men were
despatched to secure the prize.
In scouring the woods again with a body of 200 human bloodhounds, Morgan
surprised a large body of Spaniards. Some of these he forced the negro
guide to kill before the eyes of the others, in order to implicate him
in the eyes of the survivors. After eight days' search the band returned
with 250 prisoners, and a long train of baggage mules, bound for Merida.
The prisoners were each separately examined as to where the treasure was
hid. Those who would not confess, and even those who had nothing to
confess, were tortured to death--burnt, maimed, or had their life slowly
crushed out of them.
Amongst the greatest sufferers in this purgatory on earth was an old
Portuguese of venerable appearance, perhaps either a miser or purposely
disguised. This man the blood-thirsty negro, now high in favour with the
Buccaneers, and trying to rival them in cruelty, declared was very rich.
The poor old man, tearing his thin grey hair, swore by the Virgin and
all the saints that he had but 100 pieces of eight in the whole world,
and these had been stolen from him a few days before, during the general
chaos, by a runaway slave. This he vowed on his knees with tears and
prayers, doubly vehement when coming from one already on the grave's
brink. The cruel slave still looked sneeringly on, and swore he was
known to be the richest merchant in all Gibraltar. The Buccaneers then
stretched the Portuguese with cords till both his arms broke at the
shoulder, and then bound him by the hands and feet to the four corners
of a room, placing upon his loins a stone, weighing five cwt., while
four men, laughing at his cries, kept the cords that tied him in
perpetual motion. This inhuman punishment they called "swimming on
land." As he still refused to speak, they held fire under him as he
swung groaning, burnt off his beard and moustaches, and then left him
hanging while they strapadoed another. The next man they threw into a
ditch, after having pierced him with many sword thrusts, for they seem
to have been as insatiable for variety of cruelty as they were for
cruelty itself. They left him for dead, but he crawled home, and
eventually recovered, although several sword blades had passed
completely through his body.
As for the old Portuguese, his sufferings were far from ended; putting
him on a mule they brought him into Gibraltar, and imprisoned him in the
church, binding him to a pillar apart from the rest, supplying him with
food barely sufficient to enable him to endure his tortures. Four or
five days having passed, he entreated that a certain fellow prisoner,
whom he named, might be brought to him. This request being complied
with, as the first step to obtaining a ransom while he still remained
alive, he offered them, through this agent, a sum of 500 pieces of
eight. But the Buccaneers laughed at so small a sum, and fell upon him
with clubs, crying "500,000, old hunx, and not 500, or you shall not
live." After several more days of continued suffering, during which he
incessantly protested that he was a poor man and kept a small tavern,
the miser confessed that he had a store of 2000 pieces of eight, buried
in an earthen jar, and all these, bruised and mutilated as he was and
much as he loved money, he gave for his liberty, and a few days more of
life.
Upon the other prisoners, without regard to age, sex, or rank, they
inflicted tortures too disgusting and shocking to mention. Fear, hatred,
and avarice generated crimes, till the prisoners grew as vile as their
persecutors.
A slave, who had been cruelly treated by his master, persuaded the
Buccaneers to torture him on the plea that he was very rich, although he
was in reality a man of no wealth. The other prisoners, roused from the
selfishness of self-preservation by a thrill of involuntary compassion,
told Morgan that the Spaniard was a poor man, and that the slave had
perjured himself to obtain revenge. Morgan released the Spaniard
directly, but he had been already tortured. The slave was given up to
his master to be punished by any sort of death he chose to inflict.
Handed over to the Buccaneers, he was chopped to pieces in his master's
presence, still exulting in his revenge. "This," says Oexmelin, with a
cold _naivete_, "satisfait l'Espagnol, quoyqu'il fust fort mal traite,
et en danger d'estre estropie" (this satisfied the Spaniard, though he
had been very badly treated, and almost lamed for life). Some of the
prisoners were crucified, others were burnt with matches tied between
their toes or fingers, many had their feet forced into the fires till
they dropped from the leg black and charred. All that the Indians had
suffered was now retaliated on the Spaniards. The Buccaneers themselves
considered the punishment a vengeance of Providence. The only mercy ever
shown to a Spaniard was to end his sufferings by death. The _coup de
grace_ was a kindness when it ended the misery of a groaning wretch,
bruised and burnt, lying in the hot sun, half mortified, or with his
body already paralyzed four or five days since. The masters being all
tortured, the slaves next received the strapado. These men, weaker in
their moral nature and with no motive for concealment but fear, told
everything. Many of the hiding-places were, however, not known to them.
One of them, during the fever of his wound, declared he knew where the
governor of the town was secreted, with many of the ladies of Gibraltar,
and a large portion of the treasure. Threats of death revealed the rest,
and he confessed that a ship and four boats, laden with Maracaibo
wealth, lay in a river of the lake. The Buccaneers were instantly on
their feet. Morgan, with 200 men and the slave guide, set out to capture
the governor; and 100 others, in two large _settees_ (boats), sallied
out to capture the treasure and the ships. The governor was not easily
caught, for it needed a battalion of balloons to surprise him. His first
retreat was a fort thrown up in the centre of a small island in the
river, two days' march distant. Hearing that Morgan was coming in
force, he retreated to the top of an adjoining mountain, into which
there was but one ascent, so straight, narrow, and perilous, that it
could only be mounted in single file.
The expedition altogether broke down, the rock proved inaccessible to
any but eagles; a "huge rain" wetted their baggage and ammunition; in
fording a river swollen by this "huge rain," many of their female
prisoners were lost, and, what they valued more, several mules laden
with plate were whirled down the torrents. Many of the women and
children sank under the fatigue, and some escaped. Involved in a marshy
country, up to their middles in water, the Buccaneers had to toil on for
miles. A few lost their lives, others their arms (the means of
preserving them). A body of fifty determined men, the Buccaneer
historian himself says, could have destroyed the whole body. But the
Spaniards were already so paralyzed by fear that they fled at the very
rustle of a leaf. Twelve days were spent in this dangerous and useless
expedition. Two days after them arrived their comrades, who had been
somewhat more successful. The Spaniards had unloaded the vessels, and
were beginning to burn them when they arrived, but many bales were left
in the haste of flight, and the boats, full of plunder, were brought
away in tow.
Morgan had now been lord in Gibraltar for five whole weeks, practising
all insolences that a conqueror ever inflicts on the conquered;
revenging on them the sufferings of the conquest, and trampling them
under foot for the very pleasure of destruction. Provisions now failing,
he resolved to depart; the provisions of Gibraltar, except the fruits,
coming entirely from Maracaibo, were delayed and intercepted. He first
sent some prisoners into the woods to collect a ransom from the
fugitives, under pain of again burning down their newly rebuilt city. He
demanded 5,000 pieces of eight. They promised to pay it in eight days,
and gave four of their richest citizens as hostages. The governor, safe
from all danger himself, had, however, forbidden them to pay any
ransom, and they prayed Morgan to have patience.
Setting sail with his hostages he arrived in three days at Maracaibo,
afraid that, during his long absence, the Spaniards had fortified
themselves, and he should have to fight his way through the passes.
Before his departure he released all his prisoners who had paid ransom,
but detained the slaves. He refused particularly to give up the
treacherous negro, because he knew they would burn him alive.
The only inmate of all the rich palaces and wide squares of Maracaibo,
was a poor sick man, who informed him (Morgan), to his astonishment,
that three Spanish men-of-war had arrived at the bar, and had repaired
and garrisoned the fort. Their commander was Don Alonso del Campo
d'Espinosa, the vice-admiral of the Indian fleet, who had been
despatched to those seas to protect the Spanish colonists, and put to
the sword every adventurer he could meet. This news did not alarm those
who every day "set their lives upon the hazard of a die," but it enraged
men who thought themselves secure of their plunder, and which they now
might have to throw off to lighten them in their retreat. Morgan
instantly despatched his swiftest vessel to reconnoitre the bar. The men
returned next day, assuring him that the story was too true, and they
were in very imminent danger. They had approached so near as to be in
peril of the shot, the biggest ship mounted forty guns, the next thirty,
and the smallest twenty, while Morgan's flag-ship had only fourteen.
They had seen the flag of Castile waving on the redoubt. There was no
means of escape by sea or land, and all were in despair at such enemies
so placed.
Morgan, undaunted and roused to new courage by the extremity, grew more
full of audacity than ever. He at once sent a flag of truce to the
_Magdalene_, the Spanish admiral's vessel, demanding 20,000 pieces of
eight, or he should set Maracaibo in flames. The admiral, amused and
astonished at such temerity, wrote back to say, that hearing that they
had committed hostilities in the dominions of his Catholic Majesty, his
sovereign lord and master, he had come to dispute their passage out of
the lake, from that castle, which they had taken out of the hands of a
parcel of cowards, and he intended to follow and pursue them everywhere,
as was his duty. The letter continued: "Notwithstanding if you be
contented to surrender with humility all you have taken, together with
the slaves and other prisoners, I will let you pass freely without
trouble or molestation, on condition that you retire home presently to
your own country. But if you make any resistance or opposition to what I
offer you, I assure you I will command boats to come from the Caraccas,
wherein I will put my troops, and, coming to Maracaibo, will put you
every man to the sword. This is my last and absolute resolution; be
prudent, therefore, and do not abuse my bounty with ingratitude. I have
with me very good soldiers, who desire nothing more ardently than to
revenge on you and your people all the cruelties and base infamous
actions you have committed upon the Spanish nation in America."
This vapouring letter Morgan read aloud to his men in the broad
market-place at Maracaibo, first in French and then in English, begging
their advice on the whole matter--asking them whether they would
surrender everything for liberty, or fight for both liberty and hard-won
treasure. They all answered unanimously, they did not care for the
Spanish brag, and they would rather fight to the last drop of their
blood than surrender booty got with such peril. One of the men, stepping
forward, cried, "You take care of the rest, I'll build a _brulot_, and
with twelve men will burn the biggest of the three Spaniards."
The scheme was adopted, but resolved once more to try negotiation, now
that he was prepared for the worst, Morgan wrote again to Don Alonso,
offering to leave Maracaibo uninjured, surrender all the prisoners, half
the slaves, and to give up the hostages. The Don, trusting in his
superior strength, and believing Morgan fairly intimidated or at least
entirely in his mercy, refused to listen to any terms but those he had
proposed, adding, that in two days he should come and force him to
yield. Morgan resolved upon this to fight his way out and surrender
nothing, his men, though discouraged, being still brave and desperate.
All things were put in order to fight. The Englishman of Morgan's crew
proceeded as fast as possible with his _brulot_, or fire-ship. He took
the small vessel captured in the Riviere des Espines, and filled it full
of palm-leaves dipped in tar, and a mixture of brimstone and gunpowder.
He put several pounds of powder under each of the ten sham guns, which
were formed of negro drums. The partitions of the cabins were then
broken down, so that the flame might spread unimpeded. The crew were
wooden posts, dressed up with swords, muskets, bandoliers, and hats or
montero caps. This fire-ship bore the English colours, so that it might
pass for Morgan's vessel; and in eight days, by all hands working upon
it, it was ready. During the preparation an extra guard was kept upon
the prisoners, for one escaping would have destroyed all their hopes of
safety. The male prisoners were kept in one boat, and the females,
slaves, plate, and jewels in another. In others, guarded by twelve men
each, came the merchandise. The _brulot_ was to go first and grapple
with the admiral's ship.
All things being now completed, Morgan, with a heart as gay as if he
fought for God and the right, made his men take the usual Buccaneer
oath, employed on all occasions of pressing danger, when mutual
confidence was peculiarly necessary. They vowed to fight till death, and
neither to give nor take quarter. He promised a reward to all who
distinguished themselves, exciting all the strongest feelings of their
nature--revenge, avarice, and self-preservation.
With these desperate resolves, full of hope, for they were accustomed to
consider his promises of victory as certain prophecies, they set sail on
the 30th day of April, 1669, to seek the Spaniards.
They found the Spanish fleet riding at anchor in the middle of the entry
of the lake, like gaolers of their spacious prison. It being late and
almost dark, Morgan gave orders to anchor within range of the enemy,
determined to resist if attacked, but to wait for light. They kept a
strict watch, and at daybreak lifted anchor and set sail, bearing down
straight upon the Spaniards, who, seeing them move, advanced to meet
them.
Poor fishing boats the Buccaneers' barks seemed beneath those proud
floating castles; "but the race is not always to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong." The _brulot_ sailed first, pushing on to the
admiral's vessel, which lay stately between its two companions, and was
suffered to approach within cannon shot. The Spaniards believing that it
was Morgan's vessel, and intended to board them, waited till it came
closer to crush it with a broadside. They little thought that they were
fighting with the elements. The fire-ship fell upon the Spaniard and
clung to its sides, like a wild cat on an elephant. Too late the
Spaniard attempted to push her off, but the flames had already leaped
from their lurking places; first the sails were swathed in fire, then
the tackling shrivelled up, and soon the solid timbers burst into a
blaze. The stern was first consumed, and the fore part sank hissing
into the sea. The wretched crew, flying from one element to the other,
perished, some by fire, some by water; the half-drowning clung to the
burning planks and withered in the glare; the burning sailors were
sucked down by the vortex of the sinking wreck. Don Alonso, seeing the
danger, called out to them in vain to cut down the masts, and, throwing
himself with difficulty into his sloop, escaped to land. The sailors,
refusing quarter, were allowed to perish by the Buccaneers' boats'
crews, who at first offered to save them. Perhaps the recollection of
their oath lessened their exertions.
The boats were pulling round the burning vessel in hopes of saving
plunder, and not of saving lives. The second vessel was boarded by the
Buccaneers and taken, in the confusion, almost without resistance. The
third ship, cutting its cables, drifted towards the fort, and there ran
ashore, the crew setting fire to her to prevent capture. The Buccaneers,
proud of their victory, determined to push it to extremities by landing
and attempting to storm the fort at the bar, without ladders, and
relying only on their hand grenades, but their artillery was too small
to make any practicable breach. The fort they found well supplied with
men, cannon, and ammunition. The garrison had not suffered personally by
the loss of a fleet manned by strangers, and they repulsed all attacks.
Unwilling to retire, Morgan spent the whole of the day till dusk in
firing muskets at any defenders who showed themselves above the walls,
and at dusk lit them up with a shower of fireballs, but the Spaniards
desperately resisted, and shot so furiously at them as to drive them
back to the ships, with the loss of thirty killed and as many
wounded--more loss than they had suffered in the capture of Maracaibo
and Gibraltar, while the fleet had been destroyed without the loss of a
single man. The garrison, expecting a fresh attack at daybreak, laboured
all night to strengthen their works, levelling the ground towards the
sea, and throwing up entrenchments from spots that commanded the
castle.
The next day Morgan, not intending to renew the attack, employed himself
in saving the Spanish sailors who were still floating on charred pieces
of the wreck; not rescuing them from mercy, but in order to make them
help in recovering part of the sunk treasure. They acknowledged that Don
Alonso had compelled them before the engagement, after they had
confessed to the chaplain, to come and take an oath to give the enemy no
quarter, which was the reason many had refused to be saved. The
admiral's vessel, the _Magdalene_, had carried thirty-eight guns and
twelve small brass pieces, and was manned by 350 sailors; the second,
the _St. Louis_, had thirty-four guns and 200 men; and the third, the
_Marquise_, twenty-two guns and 150 men. The _Marquise_ derived its name
from the Marquis de Coquin, who had fitted it out as a privateer. The
_Concepcion_ and _Nostra Signora de la Soledad_, two larger vessels, had
been sent back to Spain from Carthagena; a fourth, _Nostra Signora del
Carmen_ (for the Spaniards generally drew the names of their war vessels
from the lady of love and peace), had sunk near Campeachy.
The pilot of the smaller vessel being saved, and promised his life,
disclosed all Don Alonso's plans. He had been sent, upon the tidings of
the loss of Porto Bello, by direction of the supreme council of state,
with orders to root out the English pirates in those parts, and to
destroy as many as he could, for dismal lamentations had been made to
the court of Spain, to the Catholic king, to whom belonged the care and
preservation of the New World, of the damages and hostilities committed
by the English, and he had resolved to punish these proceedings and
avenge his subjects. The king of England being complained to, constantly
replied that he never gave any letters-patent to such men or such ships.
Sending home his more cumbrous ships, the Don had heard at St. Domingo
of the fleet sailing from Jamaica, and a prisoner, taken at Alta Grecia,
disclosed Morgan's plan on the Caraccas. On arriving there the wild fire
had already broken out at Maracaibo a second time, and hither he came to
extinguish it. A negro slave had indeed informed the admiral of the
fire-ship, but with short-sighted pride he derided the idea, saying that
the English had had neither wit, tools, nor time to build it.
The pilot who made these disclosures was rewarded by Morgan, and,
yielding to his promises, entered into his service. He informed him,
with the usual zeal of a deserter, that there was plate to the value of
40,000 pieces of eight in the sunken ship, for he had seen it brought on
board in boats. The divers eventually recovered 2000 pounds' worth of
it, some "in plate" and others in piastres, that had melted into large
lumps, together with many silver hilts of swords and other valuables.
Leaving a vessel to superintend this profitable fishery, Morgan hurried
back to Maracaibo, and, fitting up his largest prize for himself, gave
his own ship to a companion. He also sent to the governor, now somewhat
crest-fallen, to re-demand the ransom, threatening more violently than
before to burn down the city in eight days if it was not brought in. He
also demanded, in addition, 500 cows as victual for his fleet. These
were brought in in the short space of two days, with part of the money,
and eleven more days were spent in salting the meat and preparing for
sea. Then returning to the mouth of the lake, he sent to Don Alonso to
demand a free passage, offering to send all the prisoners on shore as
soon as he had once passed out, but otherwise to tie the prisoners to
the rigging, exposing them to the shot of the fort, and then to kill and
throw overboard those who were not struck. The prisoners also sent a
petition, praying the governor to spare their lives. But the Don, quite
undaunted, sternly answered to the hostages, who besought him on their
knees to save them from the sword and rope, "If you had been as loyal to
your king in hindering the entry of these pirates as I shall be in
hindering their going out, you had never caused these troubles, either
to yourselves or to our whole nation, which hath suffered so much
through your pusillanimity. I shall not grant your request, but shall
endeavour to maintain that respect which is due to my king, according to
my duty."
When the terrified messengers returned and told Morgan, he replied, "If
Alonso will not let me pass, I will find out a way without him,"
resolving to use either force or stratagem, and perhaps both.
Fearing that a storm might separate his fleet, or that some might not
succeed in escaping, Morgan divided the booty before he attempted to
pass the bar. Having all taken the usual oath, he found they had
collected 250,000 pieces of eight, including money and jewels, and in
addition a vast bulk of merchandise and many slaves. Eight days were
spent in this division, which took place within sight of the exasperated
garrison in the fort.
The following stratagem was then resorted to. Knowing that the Spaniards
were expecting a final and desperate attack on the day before their
departure, the Buccaneers made great show of preparing to land and
attack the fort. Part of each ship's crew embarked with their colours
in their canoes, which were instantly rowed to shore. Here the men,
concealed by the boughs on the banks, lay down flat in their boats, and
were rowed back again to their vessels by only two or three sailors.
This feigned landing they repeated several times in the day. The
Spaniards, certain of an escalade, at night brought down the great
eighteen pound ship guns of the fort to the side of the island looking
towards the land, and left the sea-shore almost defenceless. When night
came Morgan weighed anchor, and, by moonlight setting sail, at the
commencement of the ebb tide, dropped gently down the river, till the
vessels were almost alongside of the castle. Then spreading sails, quick
as magic, he drove past, firmly but warily. Every precaution was taken.
The crew were couched flat on the poop, and some placed below to plug
the shot-holes as they came. The Spaniards, astonished at their daring,
and enraged at their escape, ran with all speed and shifted their
battery, firing hastily, furiously, and with little certainty; but by
this time, a favourable wind springing up, the Buccaneers were almost
out of reach, few men were killed, and little damage done.
In this manner escaped Morgan from the clutches of Don Alonso, who had
thought himself sure of his prey. The baffled rage of the Spaniards and
the wild joy of the Buccaneers, their clamorous approval of Morgan's
skill, the exultation of their triumph, and the prisoners' dismay, may
be easily imagined. Generous in success, Morgan, once out of range of
the guns that thundered in pursuit, sent a canoe on shore with his
prisoners from Maracaibo, but those of Gibraltar he carried off, as they
had not yet paid their ransom. The joy of one and the grief of the
other, their parting and the tears, were painful to witness. As he set
sail, and the fort was still looming to the right, Morgan discharged a
farewell salute of eight guns, to which the chapfallen Spaniards had not
the heart to return even a single musket shot.
But out of Scylla into Charybdis was a Buccaneer's fate: one danger was
succeeded by another, hope by hope, despair by despair. The very day of
their escape the judgment of Heaven seemed to overtake the sea rovers,
as if to warn them that no stratagems could defeat God. The fleet was
surprised by such a tempest that they were compelled to anchor in five
or six fathom water. The storm increased, they were obliged to weigh
again, and at any risk keep off the land. Their only choice seemed to be
death by the Spaniard, the Indian, or the wave--all equally hostile and
deaf to mercy.
Oexmelin says he was on board the least seaworthy vessel of the whole
fleet, that, having lost anchors and mainsail, they had great difficulty
in keeping afloat, and were obliged to bale as well as work night and
day at the pumps, amid deafening thunder and mountainous seas that
threatened to drown them even while the vessel still floated. The ship,
but for the ropes that held it together, would have instantly sunk. The
lightning and the wave disputed for their prey, but the rude arbiter,
the wind, came in and snatched them from these destroyers. "Indeed,"
says Oexmelin, "though worn out with fatigue and toil, we could not make
up our minds to close our eyes on that blessed light which we might so
soon lose sight of for ever, for no hope of safety now remained. The
storm had lasted four days, and there was no probability of its
termination. On one side we saw rocks on which our vessel threatened
every instant to drive, on the other were Indians who would no more have
spared us than the Spaniards who were behind us; and by some evil
fortune the wind drove us ceaselessly towards the rocks and the Indians,
and away from the place whither we desired to go."
In the midst of these distresses, six armed vessels gave them chase
through the storm when they were near the bay of Venezuela. They turned
out to be vessels of the Count d'Estrees, the French admiral, who
generously rendered them aid, and the wind abating enabled them to reach
the shore. Morgan and some others made for Jamaica, and the French for
St. Domingo,--the Spaniards at the fort probably believing they had
perished in the gale.
The laggers of Morgan's fleet, who had never joined him, were less
fortunate than the admiral they deserted. 400 in number, they landed at
Savona, but could not find the buried letter. They determined to attack
the town of Comana, on the Caraccas, choosing Captain Hansel, who had
distinguished himself at Porto Bello, as their commander. This town was
distant sixty leagues from Trinidad. On landing they killed a few
Indians who awaited them on the beach, but the Spaniards, disputing
briskly the entry of the town, drove them back at last to their ships
with great loss and confusion. On returning to Jamaica they were jeered
at by Morgan's men, who used to say, "Let us see what sort of money you
brought from Comana, and if it be as good as that which we won at
Maracaibo."
Morgan, encouraged by success, soon determined on fresh enterprises. On
arriving at Jamaica, "he found many of his officers and soldiers already
reduced to their former indigency by their vices and debaucheries. Hence
they perpetually importuned him for new exploits, thereby to get
something to expend still in wine and strumpets, as they had already
done what they got before. Captain Morgan, willing to follow fortune's
call, stopped the mouths of many inhabitants of Jamaica who were
creditors to his men for large sums, with the hopes and promises of
greater achievements than ever in a new expedition. This done, he could
easily levy men for any enterprise, his name being so famous through all
these islands, as that alone would readily bring him in more men than he
could well employ."
Affecting a mystery, attractive in itself, and necessary where Spanish
spies might be present, Morgan appointed a rendezvous at Port Couillon,
on the south side of Hispaniola, and made known his intentions to the
English and French adventurers, whether in Tortuga or St. Domingo. He
wrote letters to all the planters and old Buccaneers in Hispaniola, and
desired their attendance at a common council. At many a hunting fire
this announcement was read, and many an _engage's_ heart beat high at
the news, for Morgan was now the champion and hero of the Buccaneers of
America. Great numbers flocked to the port in ships and canoes, others
traversed the woods and arrived there by land, through a thousand
dangers. Such crowds came that it soon became difficult to obtain a
place in the crews. Vessels and provisions were now all that was wanted.
Plunder was certain, and they had but to choose on what rich coast they
should land. The French adventurers, ever gay and ready, were first in
the field. Morgan himself, punctual and prompt, followed in the _Flying
Stag_, the St. Malo vessel we have before mentioned, carrying forty-two
guns. The vessel had been lately confiscated and sold by the governor of
Jamaica, the unfortunate captain escaping with his life, happy in being
free although penniless.
At the rendezvous on the 24th day of October, 1670, 1600 men were
present, and twenty-four vessels assembled at the muster, amid shouting,
gun firing, flag waving, and great joy and hope. Morgan's proposition
was to attack some rich place which was well defended--the more danger
the more booty, for it was only rich places that the Spaniards cared to
defend. Several previous expeditions had failed from want of provisions,
and the necessity of attacking small places to obtain food gave the
alarm to the Spaniards and frustrated their plans. They therefore
resolved to visit La Rancheria, a small place on the banks of the River
de la Hache, on the mainland, with four vessels and 400 men. This was a
place where corn and maize were brought by the farmers for the supply of
the neighbouring city of Carthagena, and they hoped to capture in the
port some pearl vessels from that place.
In the meanwhile, Morgan, not caring for lesser prey, employed his men
in careening, cleaning, rigging, and pitching their vessels ready for
sea, that all might be ready to weigh anchor the moment the expedition
of foragers returned. It augured terribly to the Spaniard that it was
necessary to sack a town or two before the Buccaneer fleet could even
set sail.
Part of the men were in the woods boar-hunting, and others salting the
flesh for the voyage. Each crew had a certain part of the woods allotted
it for its own district, so perfect was Morgan's discipline. Each party
prepared the salt pork for its own use, while the cauldrons of pitch
were smoking on the beach, and the clank of the shipwrights' hammers
could be heard all night by the hunters. The English, who were not so
expert in hunting as their Gallic brethren (so says a French writer),
generally took a French hunter with them, to whom they gave 150 or 200
piastres. Some of these men had trained packs of dogs that would kill
enough boars in a day to load twenty or thirty men.
The Rancheria expedition arrived in six days within sight of the river,
and was unfortunately becalmed for some time within a gunshot of land.
This gave the Spaniards time to prepare for their defence, and either to
bury their goods or throw up entrenchments, for these repeated visits of
the Buccaneers had rendered them quick on such occasions. A land-wind at
last springing up, gave a corn vessel from Carthagena, lying in the
river, an opportunity to sally out and attempt its escape, but being a
bad sailer it was soon captured, much to the Englishmen's delight, for
corn was the object of their visit. By a singular coincidence, it turned
out to be that very cocoa vessel which Lolonnois sold to the governor of
Tortuga, who, on its return from France, had sold it to Captain
Champaigne, a French adventurer, who in his turn sold it to the same
merchant captain who then commanded it. He told the Buccaneers that it
made the twelfth vessel taken from him by the brotherhood of the coast
in five years only, and yet that with all these losses he had contrived
to make a fortune of 500,000 crowns. "On peut juger par la," says
Oexmelin, with a shrug, "s'il y a des gens riches dans l'Amerique."
Landing at daybreak, in spite of the mowing fire from a battery, and
under protection of their own cannon, they drove the Spaniards back to
their strongly fortified village, which they at once attacked. Here the
enemy rallied and fought desperately, hand-to-hand, sword blow and push
of pike, from ten in the morning till night, when they fled, having
suffered great loss, into secret places in the woods. The Buccaneers,
who had suffered scarcely less loss, pushed on at once headlong to the
town, which they found deserted; and next day pursuing the Spaniards
took many prisoners, and proceeded to torture them, inflicting on fear
and innocence all the horrors of the Madrid inquisition. In fifteen days
they captured many prisoners and much booty, and with the usual threats
of destroying the town, they obtained 4000 hanegs, or bushels of maize,
sufficient for the whole of the fleet. They preferred this to money, and
in three days, the whole quantity being brought in by the people, eager
for their departure, they at once sailed.
Morgan, alarmed at their five weeks' absence, had begun to despair of
their return, thinking Rancheria must have been relieved from Carthagena
or Santa Maria. He also thought that they might have had good fortune,
and deserted him to return to Jamaica. His joy was great to see them
arrive laden with corn, and more in number than when they departed. A
council of war was actually holding to plan a new expedition, when
Captain Bradley and his six vessels hove in sight. The maize was divided
among the fleet, but the plunder was awarded to the captain who had
risked his life for the general good.
The captured ship arrived very opportunely, and it was instantly awarded
by general consent to Le Gascon, a French adventurer who had lately lost
his vessel. Morgan having divided the meat and corn, and personally
inspected every bark, set sail for Cape Tiburon, at the west end of
Hispaniola, a spot convenient for laying in stores of wood and water.
Here he was joined by several ships from New England, refitted at
Jamaica. Morgan now found himself suzerain of a fleet of thirty-seven
vessels, large and small, carrying sixteen, fourteen, twelve, ten, even
down to four pound guns. To man these there were 2200 sailors, well
armed and ready for flight and plunder. The fleet was divided into two
squadrons, under his vice-admiral and subordinate officers. To the
captains he gave letters-patent, guaranteeing them from all the effects
of Spanish hostility, from "the open and declared enemies of the King
his master," (Charles II.)
The charter-party which we give elsewhere was then signed, the
rewards were higher than usual, and many modifications introduced.
In the private council three places were proposed as rich and
accessible--Panama, Carthagena, and Vera Cruz. In these consultations
the only thing considered was whether a town was rich or poor, not
whether it was well or ill defended.
"The lot fell" on Panama, as the richest of the three, though the least
known to them, being further from the North Pacific than any Buccaneer
had yet gone. Panama was the galleon-port and the El Dorado of the
adventurer's yarns. Being so unknown a place they determined to first
recapture St. Catherine's, where in the prisons they might obtain many
guides, who had seen both the North and South Pacifics, for outlaws
made, they found, the best guides for outlaws; and they agreed before
sailing that, if they took a Spanish vessel, the first captain who
boarded it should have for his reward a tenth part of her cargo.
They had begun by sacking a town to victual their fleet, they now
proposed to storm a fort to obtain a guide--St. Catherine's batteries,
if resolutely manned, being able to beat off three such fleets.
The admiral, it was agreed, should have a share for every hundred men,
and every captain eight shares if the vessel they took was large. The
crews then one by one took the oath of fidelity. On the 18th December,
1670, the fleet set sail for St. Catherine's, whose prisoners would
rejoice at their arrival.
The one squadron carried the royal English and the other a white flag.
The admiral's division bore a red banner with a white cross, "le
pavillon du parlement," and at the bow-sprit one of three colours, blue,
white, and red. Those of the other divisions carried a white and red
flag. Morgan also appointed peculiar signals for all emergencies.
On their way to St. Catherine's they chased two Dutch vessels from
Cuba, which escaped by aid of contrary winds that baffled their
pursuers. In four days the fleet arrived at St. Catherine's, and Morgan
despatched two small vessels to guard the port.
This island was renowned for its vast flocks of migratory pigeons, and
is watered by four streams, two of which are dry in summer. The land,
though fertile, was not cultivated.
The next day, before sunrise, they anchored in the bay of Aguada Grande,
where the Spaniards had erected a four-gun battery. Morgan, at the head
of 100 men, landed and made his way through the woods, having no guides
but some old Buccaneers who had been there before with Mansvelt. On
arriving that night at the governor's house and the Platform Battery
they found the Spaniards had retreated by a bridge into the smaller and
almost impregnable island, which they had made strong enough to beat off
10,000 men. Being driven back at first by a tremendous fire, Morgan was
obliged to encamp that night in the woods or open country--no hardship
to hunters or sailors in fine weather. There still remained a whole
league of dense brush between them and their enemies, at once their
protection and destruction. A chilling torrent of rain began to beat
upon them, and instead of ceasing, as they had hoped, lasted till noon
of the next day. They pulled down two or three thatched huts, and made
small damp fires, that scorched a few but warmed none. They could not
shelter themselves, and, what was worse, could not keep their arms and
powder dry. But more than this, they suffered from hunger, having had no
food for a whole day. The men for the greater part being dressed with no
clothes but a seaman's shirt and trowsers, and without shoes or
stockings, suffered dreadfully after the burning of a tropic noon from
this freezing cold and rain. One hundred men, says Esquemeling, even
indifferently well armed, might have cut them all to pieces. At daybreak
they were roused from their shivering sleep by the Spanish drums beating
the _Diane_, or _reveille_. The rain had now ceased, and their courage
rose as high as ever. But they could not answer this challenge, for
their own drums were loose and soaked with wet, and they had now to
employ themselves in quickly drying their arms. Scarcely had they done
this, when it began to cloud over and rain with increased fury, as if
the "sky were melting into waters," which blinded them and prevented
them again from advancing to the attack. Many of them grew
faint-hearted, and talked of returning. The men were now feeble for want
of sleep, and faint with cold and hunger. The eager foragers found in a
field "an old horse, lean, and full of scabs and blotches, with galled
back and sides." This was instantly killed and flayed, and divided in
small pieces among as many as could get any, and eagerly eaten without
salt or bread by the few lucky epicures--"eaten," says the historian,
"more like ravenous wolves eat than men."
The rain still gushing down, and the men, worn out in mind and body,
growing angry, discontented, and clamorous, it became necessary for
Morgan to act with promptitude. About noon, to his great joy, the rain
ceased and the sun broke out. Taking advantage of this lull--for the
rain had barred even their retreat--Morgan ordered a canoe to be rigged
out in great haste, and dispatched four men with a white flag to the
Spanish governor, declaring that if they did not all surrender he would
put them to the sword without quarter. His audacity was luckily crowned
with success. Opposed armies are often men mutually afraid, trying to
frighten each other. The governor was intimidated. He demanded two hours
to confer with his officers. At the end of this time, on Morgan giving
hostages, two soldiers with white flags were sent to arrange terms. The
governor had decided in full conference that he could not defend the
island against such an armada, but he proposed a certain (Dalgetty-like)
stratagem of war to save his own head, and preserve the reputation of
his officers at home and abroad.
Morgan was to come at night and assault the fort of St. Jerome, which
stood near the bridge that joined the two islands, and at the same
moment his fleet was to attack the castle of Santa Teresa by sea, and
land troops near the battery of St. Matthew. These men were to
intercept and take prisoner the governor as he made his way to the St.
Jerome batteries. He would then at once lead them to the castle, as if
they were his own men. On both sides there was to be continual firing,
but only with powder, and no bullets. The forts thus taken, the island
would of course surrender.
This well-arranged performance took place with great _eclat_. Morgan, in
acceding to the terms, had insisted on their strict performance of every
item, and gave notice, for fear of ambush, that every straggling
Spaniard would be shot. Afraid of a stratagem, some Buccaneers loaded
their muskets with ball, and held themselves ready for any danger. With
much smoke and great consumption of powder, the unsuspecting Spaniards
were driven like sheep into the church, the island surrendered, and by
this bloodless artifice Spanish pride remained unhurt.
But a cruel massacre now commenced. The Buccaneers had eaten nothing for
nearly two days. They made war upon all the poultry and cattle--the
oldest cow was slain, the toughest rooster strangled. For several days
the island was lit up with huge fires, round which the men roasted their
meat, and revelled and caroused. When wood grew scarce they pulled down
cottages to light their fires, and having no wine very wisely made use
of water.
The day after the surrender they numbered their prisoners, and found
they had collected 450 souls--seventy of the garrison, forty-three
children, and thirty-one slaves. The men were all carefully disarmed,
and sent to the plantations to bring in provisions; the women were left
in the church to pray and weep. They next inspected all the ten
batteries, wondering in their strength and exulting in their victory.
The fort St. Jerome contained eight great guns and sixty muskets; the
St. Matthew three guns; the Santa Teresa twenty guns and 120 muskets.
The castle was very strong, and moated; impregnable on the sea side, and
on the land side ascended by a narrow mountain path, while the guns on
its summit commanded the port. The St. Augustine fort mounted three
guns; the Platform two; the St. Salvador and another also two; the Santa
Cruz three; and the St. Joseph six and twelve muskets. In the magazine
they found 30,000 pounds of powder, which they at once shipped, with all
the other ammunition. In the St. Jerome battery Morgan left a guard, but
in all the other forts the guns were spiked and the gun-carriages burnt.
The object of his visit was still to seek. Examining the prisoners, who
were now crowded in with merchants and grandees, he inquired for
banditti from Panama, and three slaves stepped forward who knew every
path and avenue to the city. These men he chose as guides, promising
them a full Buccaneer's share of the spoil if they brought him by a
secure way to the city, and, in addition, their liberty when they
reached Jamaica. These volunteers consisted of two Indians and a
mulatto. The former denied all knowledge of the place; the latter--a
"rogue, thief, and assassin, who had deserved breaking on the wheel
rather than mere garrison service"--readily accepted Morgan's
propositions, and promised to serve him faithfully. He had a great
ascendancy over the two Indians, and domineered over them as he pleased,
without their daring to disobey a half-blood already on the point of
preferment.
The next step to Panama was to capture Chagres and its castle, and
Morgan at once dispatched five vessels, well equipped, with 400 men on
board, to undertake this expedition, remaining himself at St.
Catherine's, lest the people of Panama should be alarmed. He was to
follow his van-guard in eight days, guided by the Indians, who knew
Chagres. This time he and his men prudently spent in pulling manioc
roots for cassava, and digging potatoes for the voyage.
The Chagres expedition was led by the same Captain Bradley who commanded
at Rancheria. He had been with Mansvelt formerly, and had rendered
himself famous by his exploits both among the Buccaneers and the
Spaniards. He arrived in three days at Chagres, opposite Fort St.
Lawrence, which was built on a mountain commanding the entrance of the
river. As soon as the Spaniards saw the red flag spreading from his
vessels, they displayed the royal colours of Spain, and saluted him with
a volley too hasty and angry to be very destructive. The Buccaneers,
according to their usual stratagem, landed at Narangui, a place a
quarter of a league distant from the castle, their guide leading them
through thick woods, through which they had to cut a path with their
sabres. It was early morning when they landed, and requiring half a day
to perform the short distance, they did not reach a hill commanding the
castle till two o'clock. The mire and dirt of the road combined, with
the darkness of the way, to lengthen their march. The guides served them
well, but brought them at one spot so near to the castle, and in so open
and bare a place, that they lost many men by the shot. In other parts
the wood was so thick that they could only tell that they were near the
castle by the discharge of the cannon. The hill they had now reached was
not within musket range, and they were thus deprived of the use of
their favourite weapon. Could they have dragged cannon so far they might
have taken the place without losing a man.
The castle of Chagres was built on a high mountain at the entry of a
river, and surrounded by strong wooden palisadoes banked with earth. The
top of the mountain was divided into two parts, between which ran a
ditch thirty feet deep; the tower had but one entrance by a drawbridge,
towards the land it had four bastions, and towards the sea two more. The
south wall was inaccessible crag, the north was moated by the broad
river. At the foot of the hill lay a strong fort with eight guns, which
commanded the river's mouth; a little lower down were two other
batteries, each of six guns, all pointing the same way. At another side
were two great store-houses, full of goods, brought from the inland, and
near these a flight of steps, cut in the rock, led to the castle of the
summit. On the west side was a small port not more than seven or eight
fathoms deep, with good anchorage for small vessels, and before the
hill a great rock rose from the waves, which almost covered it at low
water.
The place appeared such a perfect volcano of fire, and so threatening
and dangerous, that the Buccaneers, but for fear of Morgan's rage and
contempt, would have at once turned back. After many disputes and much
doubt and perplexity, they resolved to hazard the assault and risk their
lives. When they descended from their hill into the plain, they had to
throw themselves on their faces to escape the desolating shower of
balls; but their marksmen, quite uncovered and without defence, shot at
the Spanish gunners through the loops of the palisading, and killed all
who showed themselves. This skirmishing continued till the evening, when
the Buccaneers, who had lost many men, their commander having his leg
broken with a cannon shot, began to waver and to think of retiring,
having in vain tried to burn down the place with their fireballs, and
charged up to the very walls, which they tried in vain to climb, sword
in hand. When the Spaniards saw them drawing back through the dusk, in
some disorder, carrying their wounded men and gnashing their teeth in
rage at the dark lines of defence, they shouted out "Come on, you dogs
of heretics; come on, you English devils: you shan't get to Panama this
bout, for we'll serve your comerades as we have served you." The
Buccaneers, astonished at their cries, now for the first time learnt
that Morgan's expedition had been heard of at Panama.
Night had already begun, and the rain of bullets, shot, and Indian
arrows (more deadly almost than the bullets), harassing and well-aimed,
continued as grievous as by day. Taking advantage of the gloom, another
party advanced to the palisadoes; the light of their burning fuses
directed the aim of the Spaniards.
A singular accident of war gave the place, so briskly defended, into the
hands of the assailants. A party of the French musketeers were talking
together, devising a plan of advance, when a swift Indian arrow fell
among them and pierced one of the speakers in the shoulder (Esquemeling
says in the back and right through the body, another writer says in the
eye). A thought struck the wounded man, for the wound had spurred his
imagination: coolly drawing the point from his shoulder, he said to
those near him, "Attendez, mes freres, je m'en vais faire perir tous les
Espagnols--tous--avec cette sacre fleche" (wait a bit, my mates, I'll
kill all the Spaniards--all--with this d---- arrow); so saying he drew
from his pocket a handful of wild cotton, which the Buccaneers kept as
lint to staunch their wounds, and wound it round the dart; then putting
it in his loaded musket, from which he extracted the ball, he fired it
back at the castle roof. It alighted on some dry thatch, which in a
moment began to smoke, and in another second broke into a bright flame,
more visible for the darkness. The Buccaneers shouted and pushed on to
the attack, and the wounded men forgot their wounds. Some of the men,
seeing the result of the experiment, gathered up the Indian arrows that
lay thick around them, and fired them at the roofs. Many houses were
soon in flames. The Spaniards, busy with the defence, did not see the
fire until it had gained some head, and reaching a parcel of powder
blown it up and caused ruin and consternation within the fort. If they
left the walls the Buccaneers gained ground, if they left the fire the
flames spread more terribly than before; the want of sufficient water
increased the confusion, and while they tried to quench the
conflagration, the Buccaneers set fire to the palisadoes.
Oexmelin, who was present as a surgeon at this attack of Chagres, relates
an anecdote of courage which he himself witnessed, to show the
indomitable fury of the assailants. One of his own friends was pierced
in the eye by an Indian arrow, and came to him to beg him to pull it
out, the pain was so intense and unbearable. Although a surgeon, Oexmelin
had not the nerve to inflict such torture, however momentary, on a
friend, and turned away in pity, upon which the hardy seaman tore out
the arrow with a curse, and, binding up the wound, rushed forward to the
wall. The few Buccaneers who had retreated, seeing the flames, now
hurried back to the attack. The Spaniards could no longer see the enemy
at whom they fired, the night was so dark and starless, while the
Buccaneers shot down with the unerring aim of hunters the Spaniards,
whose bodies stood out dark and well-defined against the bright
background of flame. All this time, before the fire of the roofs could
be extinguished, the Buccaneers had swarmed through the fosse, and,
mounting upon each other's shoulders, burnt down part of the palisadoes,
as we have before described, in spite of the hand grenades that were
thrown from above, and which burst among them. The fire ran along the
wall, leaping like a winged thing, and devoured wherever it clung,
spreading with dreadful rapidity.
The fight continued all night, and when the calm daylight broke on the
worn soldiers, the Buccaneers saw with sparkling eyes that the gabions
had smouldered through, and that the earth had fallen down in large
heaps into the fosse. The breaches in many places were practicable. The
armour had fallen piece-meal from their giant adversary, and he now
stood before them bare, wounded, and defenceless. The Buccaneers,
creeping within musket shot of the walls, shot down the gunners in the
breaches to which the cannon had been dragged by the governor's orders
during the night. Divided into two bands, one party kept up a constant
fire on the guns, and the other watched the motions of the enemy. About
noon they advanced to a spot which the governor himself defended, belted
round with twenty-five brave Spaniards, armed with pikes, halberds,
swords, and muskets. They advanced under a dreadful hail of fire and
lead, the defenders casting down flaming pots full of combustible matter
and "_odious smells_," which destroyed many of the English. But we do
not know how smells could drive back men who would have marched through
hell if it had been the shortest way to Panama.
Nothing could equal the unflinching courage of the Spaniards--they
disputed every inch of ground--they yielded slowly like wounded lions
when the hunters narrow their circles. They showered stones and all
available missiles on their assailants, only wishing to kill a
Buccaneer, but feeling that resistance was hopeless; some, rather than
yield, threw themselves from the cliffs into the sea, and few survived
the fall. As the Buccaneers won their way to the castle the Spaniards
retreated to the _garde du corps_, where they entrenched themselves with
two cannon; to the last the governor refused quarter, and at last fell
shot through the brain. The few who remained surrendered when the guns
were taken and would have been turned against them.
Only fourteen men were found unhurt in the fort and about nine or ten
wounded, who had hid themselves among the dead. They told Morgan that
they were all that were left of a garrison of 314 soldiers. The
governor, seeing that he was lost, had despatched the survivors to
Panama to alarm the city, and remained behind to die. No officer was
left alive; they had been the first to set their men the example of a
glorious death. It appeared that a Buccaneer deserter, an Irishman,
whom Morgan had not even informed of his design, had come to the port,
and assured them of the attack on La Rancheria, and the contemplated
movement on Panama. The governor of that place had instantly sent to
Chagres a reinforcement of 164 men, with ammunition and provisions, and
had placed ambuscades along the river. He was at that very moment, they
said, awaiting them in the savannah with 3600 men: of these 2000 were
infantry, 400 cavalry, and 600 Indians. He had also employed 200
muleteers and hunters to collect a drove of 1000 wild cattle to drive
down upon the invaders.
"The taking of this castle," says Esquemeling, "cost the pirates
excessively dear, in comparison to what they were wont to lose, and
their toil and labour was greater than at the conquest of the Isle of
St. Catherine." On numbering their thinned ranks, many voices were
silent at the roll call. More than 100 men were found to be dead, and
more than seventy grievously wounded. There were sixty who could not
rise, and many in the ranks wore on their arms strips of the Spanish
colours, or had their heads bound round with bloody cloths. The
prisoners they compelled to drag their own dead to the edge of the
cliffs and cast them among the shattered bodies on the beach, and then
to bury them where the sea could not wash them out of their graves, or
the birds devour them. The castle chapel they turned into an hospital
for the wounded, and the female slaves were employed to tend them, for
the surgeons in the heat of battle had only had time to amputate a limb
or bind an artery.