THE ARCH-PIRATES MORGAN AND MANSVELT.
“O’er the glad waters of the dark blue sea,
Our thoughts as boundless, and our souls as free,
Far as the breeze can bear the billows foam,
Survey our empire, and behold our home!
These are our realms, no limits to their sway,
Our flag the sceptre all who meet obey;
Ours the wild life, in tumult still to range,
From toil to rest, and joy in every change.”
BYRON, _The Corsair_.
“‘After Morgan had concluded the story of his wild adventures,--
“‘“Well, Bassanto,” he said, “you’ll join us, of course? Mind, we are
not pirates, but cruisers under the British flag, and we have private
orders to do our traditional enemy the Spaniard all the harm we can, and
try to cripple his commerce.
“‘“And this,” he added, “is good for us, you know. All that our country
desires is the name and tonnage of the vessel destroyed. With the gold
and silver
[Illustration: After we had left there was a terrible explosion.]
found on board they do not interfere. We divide the spoil among
ourselves, and according to our rank.
“‘“I have made so much money already, that, assisted by some of my
comrades, I have bought a fine ship, and armed her. The boys have chosen
me to be captain of her, and she lies round here in the bay. So get
ready to join us. It will be a grand thing for you, lad, and in a few
years you will be able to go back and lead a quiet and peaceful life in
England. What say you?”
“‘I thought for a few minutes, then held out my hand.
“‘“I will go,” I said, and we shook hands.
“‘I was to be a sailor now in earnest.
“‘But little did I know that I was to be a pirate as well.
“‘The _Rover_ was not only a very large ship, but she had a large crew.
Both crew and ship were armed in a most formidable way.
“‘She was well found in the matter of provisions, though I should have
liked if less rum had been in the hold. This fiery and maddening poison
the men drank, forenoon, noon, and night.
“‘The discipline was in some ways lax, in others terribly severe.
“All sorts of coarse songs might be sung fore and aft or down below. The
men might speak roughly to each other, and even fight with cudgels or
fists; but one day shortly after I joined, a sailor gave an officer an
insolent answer. To my astonishment the latter at once drew his sword
and ran him through the body. Then wiping his sword on the dead man’s
clothing, calmly ordered the poor fellow’s corpse to be tossed
overboard.
“‘In five minutes more his body was being torn to pieces by the sharks.
“‘Horrified beyond measure, I at once betook myself to the private cabin
of Captain Morgan to report the matter. I found him drinking rum which
had simply been heated in a pannikin, and molasses added to it.
“‘He made me sit down, and offered me some; but I was sick at heart, and
could touch nothing.
“‘When I told him what the officer had done, he merely laughed.
“‘“Too tender-hearted, Bassanto,” he said, with a hiccup or two. “Soon
get over all that. Discipline, you know, discipline mus’ be
maintained--any cost. ’F a man insults you, shoot ’m down. ’Xpect you to
do the same.”
“‘I did not like to wound Morgan’s feelings, nor to quarrel with him, so
I sat talking for some little time on different subjects, then quietly
retired. Yet to my sorrow I could see that his character was entirely
changed, the result of rum-drinking and bad company, and that the once
gentle and religious boy had been transformed into a bloodthirsty and
cruel desperado.
“‘Our ship’s head was turned westward from Jamaica, which might have
been called our headquarters.
“‘We passed betwixt the most south-westerly point of Cuba, Yucatan, and
our cruising-ground was the shores of Campeachy, in the beautiful Gulf
of Mexico. The weather was fiercely hot, and a wild band our cut-throat
crew did look; for they kept watch naked to the waist or nearly so, with
bare feet and cotton pugarees bound round their heads. Their faces and
chests were burned as brown as the back of a fiddle.
“‘One day when the captain was ill, I succeeded in getting him to give
up rum to a great extent, and he also put strict limits to that served
out to the men.
“‘There was much growling and even threatened mutiny for a time; but
after this the men cooled down, and the _Rover_ was a far happier ship.
“‘Then came our first battle.
“‘We sighted a Spanish man-o’-war bearing down on us one morning; for we
had already captured several of their merchantmen, robbed them of
everything that was valuable, and after putting those of the crew and
passengers whose lives we had spared into boats and turning them adrift,
set fire to the vessels.
“‘But all hands were now at once called to arms, and it was lucky for
Morgan that they were sober.
“‘The leviathan thought she would have an easy victory, because we had
hoisted all sail, and were flying before the wind. The man-o’-war was
coming up slowly, and we could hear the men’s wild cheers as they
thought they should speedily overhaul us.
“‘The fact is, that we were running away in order to make better
preparations.
“‘Morgan was making hand-grenades, and the men were loading the guns
ready to run out, and sharpening their cutlasses till they were like
razors.
“‘Then an extra supply of rum was served out.
“‘“Double the allowance,” cried Morgan, “if we sink and burn the
Spaniard. If we don’t, we shall all hang to our own yard-arms, like
herrings drying in the sun.”
“‘A wild, defiant shout shook the ship from stem to stern. Sails were
clewed, only enough being left shaken out to manage her, and we waited
for the man-o’-war to come along.
“‘We gave her a telling and terrible broadside as soon as she was near
enough. As her decks were crowded, and it was unexpected, it caused
fearful carnage. Away we went now before the wind again, but shortly
tacked and crossed her stern.
“‘That was the most fearful volley of all, and so crippled the
man-o’-war that her return volley or broadside did us little harm.
“‘We raked her again, and this time destroyed her rudder.
“‘We got near enough now to try the hand-grenades.
“‘These were simply large bottles filled with gunpowder and bullets,
with a lighted fuse, the whole rolled round with cloth.
“‘They were terribly effective.
“‘Now Morgan could have sunk that ship without boarding; but he was a
man of impatience and spirit, and besides, his crew longed to get their
brown hands on the throats of the foe.
“‘So we hauled alongside.
“‘I never wish to see so awful a fight again, nor to hear such shrieks
and cries of pain or for mercy on the one hand, or such maledictions on
the other.
“‘Soon the Spaniards threw away their arms, and were hounded forward, a
mere mob, to await their doom at the forecastle-head.
“‘Then the ship was plundered, and the captain and officers were hanged.
“‘“It is the death you intended for us, Señor Capitan,” said Morgan
brutally; “and you shall be the first to have the hempen handkerchief
around your neck. If you find it too tight, tell us after you reach the
yard-arm.”
“‘I closed my eyes. I felt sick, and bitterly repented having joined the
pirate ship.
“‘Next the boats were lowered. The captain himself was the last to
leave, for he had lit a time-fuse attached to the magazine.
“‘In a very short time after we had left there was a terrible explosion.
The air was darkened with broken masts and spars, and with the bodies of
men. Then all was over; a blackened spar or two floating on top of the
blue, blue sea was all that was left to tell of this fearsome battle and
tragedy.
* * * * *
“‘The _Rover’s_ head was turned once more eastwards to Jamaica. Morgan
treated his men well, and gave them all a large share of the booty. I
took mine as did the others. I considered I had more right to it than
any one there. Was I not a Spaniard myself, and did this gold not belong
to my countrymen?
“‘At Jamaica Morgan lay up for a time, under the very guns of a British
fort. From his country he received praise and honours for what he had
done; and concerning the cruelties he had been guilty of, not only to
men, but to women, girls, and even to helpless children, never a
question was asked.
“‘MORGAN MEETS MANSVELT.
“‘Morgan was fond of dash and show, and armed to the teeth, one day he
was swaggering along the streets of Jamaica, the observed of all
observers, when he was met by a gentleman who was quite as much of a
hero as, if not more so than, Morgan himself.
“‘It was “Hail, fellow, well met.”
“‘But Mansvelt quickly explained that he was no longer to confine his
attentions to Spanish ships at sea, but that he meant to attack cities
by land, and that indeed he had a fleet of sixteen ships armed and
manned, and almost ready for the sea. He had heard of the daring and
fame of Morgan, and now begged him to accept the post of vice-admiral of
the fleet.
“‘Morgan was overjoyed at heart, but did not show it. He preferred to
act the stoic.
“‘“What is your intended cruising-ground,” he asked, “should I see my
way to accept the post you would honour me with?”
“‘“The wealthy Isthmus of Panama, captain, and the province of Costa
Rica.”
“‘“The cowardly Spaniards,” he added, with a scornful smile, “have a
well-garrisoned island--namely, St. Catherine--to protect their coast.
The smart way we shall handle their fort will be highly amusing. Pray
honour me by accepting.”
“‘“Well,” said Morgan, “I want to see a bit of shore fighting, so shall
accept. The booty will be plentiful, I suppose?”
“‘“You will have more wealth than ever you could have dreamt of in all
your life.”
“‘So hands were shaken, and the bargain made.
“‘I myself would have remained behind when the fleet sailed, but I hoped
that secretly I might be of service to some of my poor countrymen.
“‘The capture of the Spanish fort was what a soldier would have called
“a pretty bit of fighting.” I myself did not land. I was in
Vice-Admiral Morgan’s ship, preferring to be near him as friend and
counsellor to being captain of a ship of my own. The island was now
garrisoned by pirates, and by negroes who were ordered to till it most
carefully, and keep the crops for the crews of the Mansvelt fleet when
it should return.
“‘During this our first cruise, although many villages along the coast
were destroyed, and many demoniacal cruelties enacted, little real harm
was done to the country. Then the Governor of Panama organized an
expedition to retake the island and fort, which it did one beautiful
Sabbath morning, killing many of the pirates, and chasing the rest to
the woods.
“‘Morgan was at this time in Jamaica. Mansvelt himself had gone with one
ship to that hornet’s nest of pirates, Tortuga, and there, being seized
with sudden illness, _died_.
“‘And now Morgan assumed entire command of the fleet, and a brave one it
was--over a dozen huge ships marvellously well armed, and with crews in
the aggregate numbering a thousand men.
“‘A thousand desperados! A thousand fiends incarnate, as the sequel will
show.
“‘There was nothing that these pirates would not have dared and done.
Some even proposed attacking and sacking the wealthy city of Habana; but
wiser counsels prevailed, and the scheme was abandoned. But the inland
town of Puerto Principe was marked down for attack.
“‘This town lies on the south side of Cuba, and was even then in a
flourishing condition; but never expecting to be attacked, was not in
much of a condition for defence.
“‘We sailed, and after a speedy passage anchored one evening off the
coast.
“‘Had the admiral--Morgan--had the slightest inkling of what I was now
about to do, and did do despite the fact of our long friendship, I
should have been hanged without a trial.
“‘There was on board a Spanish prisoner; him I determined to liberate,
and send to the far-off town to warn the poor inhabitants of the danger
that was hovering over them.
“‘Luckily for me, the man lay in an out-of-the-way corner of the second
deck, the night was very dark, and the men were carousing.
“‘I cut his cords. He divested himself of most of his clothing, and
dropped silently out of a porthole into the sea.
“‘The danger, he afterwards told me, was extreme; for he could see the
sharks in dozens about him, with eyes like fire, and fins and skins of
phosphorescent light. Every moment he expected to be dragged under, and
when he at last found himself on the beach he swooned. On recovering, he
prayed long and earnestly, then set out on his mission.
“‘Little pathways through the forest guided him safely at last to the
city.
“‘The consternation caused by his tidings was dreadful; but while the
women and children were hiding the treasures, the governor himself had
collected every man able to carry arms.
“‘They cut down trees and formed ambuscades.
“‘But when next day Morgan, with his army of nearly a thousand fiends
incarnate, came up, they avoided these, and came upon the doomed city by
a more circuitous route.
“‘The battle lasted for nearly four hours, and was both desperate and
bloody.
“‘Then came the capture and the sack.’”
My friend Captain Reeves paused just here.
“I have not the heart,” he said, “to read to you an account of the
torture of men, women, and children--it is harrowing in the
extreme--nor of the foul and awful crimes the pirates committed before
hurrying southwards with their booty for fear of being cut off.”
“‘But,’ says my ancestor, Bassanto, ‘the pirates quarrelled among
themselves now, reducing Morgan’s fleet to only nine ships, with about
five hundred men.
“‘Yet so daring was the fellow that he determined, even with this
handful, to attack, sack, and plunder the wealthy town of Puerto Velo.
“‘Although the governor and his troops fought most heroically, the
pirates, literally with halters round their necks, fought with even
greater ferocity. At last the huge fort was taken, and every soldier put
to the sword, and the city itself was captured. Many of the inhabitants
fled to the woods, but enough were driven into the castle--nuns,
mothers, maidens--to enable these awful fiends to hold such a wild
carousal that even to think of makes one’s blood run cold.’
“And now, my friend,” said Captain Reeves, “let us close the narrative
for a time, and return home. You shall dine with me to-morrow night, for
young Miguel himself is coming, and we will have merriment and music
enough to drive the memory of these terrible crimes from our minds.”
“Besides,” he added, “the strange story takes a new turn, and this it is
I want your advice concerning.”
We soon after said good-bye, and Dash and I went back to the manse.