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CHAPTER I.
7. William Dampier
CAPTAIN WILLIAM DAMPIER, was so intimately associated
with the BUCCANEERS OF AMERICA, that some account of this extraordinary
brotherhood is an almost indispensable introduction to the history of his
adventures and discoveries.
THE BUCCANEERS owed their origin, it is well known, to
the grasping and selfish spirit in which Spain administered the affairs of her
West Indian colonies. Early in the sixteenth century, both English and French
ships, on trading voyages, had found their way to those settlements; though it
was not till after the enterprises of Drake, Raleigh, and Cumberland, that
their visits became frequent. The jealousy of the Spaniards had been alarmed by
their first appearance; and the systematic interference of that people with the
vessels of every nation that approached their possessions, soon gave rise to
the proverb that there was “No peace beyond the Line”.
Though the name,
“Link'd to one virtue and a thousand crimes”
by which the freebooters were best known and most
dreaded, is of much later date than the era of Drake and his daring follower Oxenham, yet is there no violation of truth in ascribing to
them the character which it signified, of indiscriminate plunderers by sea and
land, in peace and in war.
To the rise of
this association, whereto they paved the way, many causes contributed. The
diminished population and decaying trade of Old Spain could no longer supply
her vast colonies with those commodities which the West Indies and South
America still continue to receive from the workshops and looms of Britain,
France, and the Netherlands; nor could the severity of her laws prevent the settlers
on many parts of the coast from supplying themselves with luxuries brought at a
cheap rate from those countries. Thus, in defiance of prohibitions, the
contraband trade increased and became a thriving nursery for maritime
freebooters; self-defence leading them to
retaliation, wrong to reprisal, and spoliation to actual piracy.
Another branch of the fraternity sprung up at the same
time in a different quarter. No portion of the New World suffered more from the
injustice of the Spaniards than the fine islands of Cuba and Hayti. About the beginning of the sixteenth century, their
plantations and mines were forsaken for the more fertile settlements and richer
ores of Mexico; and the desolated tracts, whence the native inhabitants had
been expelled, were soon overrun by immense herds of cattle, which, originally
introduced by the Europeans, had multiplied so rapidly, that it was become a profitable
employment to kill them for the sake of their hides and tallow. While the Matadores or
hunters pursued this avocation, a more peaceful description of settlers began
to station themselves around them; and to both these classes the stolen visits
of French and English traders became every year more welcome. Necessitated at
times to seek provisions on uninhabited shores, these smugglers occasionally
exchanged the life of the trafficker for that of the huntsman, and ranged everywhere
at will, though still regarded by the Spanish government as avowed interlopers.
The first of
these adventurers were natives of France. From the habits incident to their
precarious calling arose the formidable name of Buccaneer, by which the associates, whether as pirates on the sea
or as forayers in the wilderness, came afterwards to be distinguished. This
term was adopted from the language of the Caribs, in
which the word boucan signifies flesh slowly dried and smoked on wooden hurdles or barbecues; and the
instrument on which it was prepared bore also the same appellation. To this title, by which the desperadoes were
known in England, the French preferred the epithet of Flibustier, which is said to be a
corruption of our word freebooter. The Dutch, by a happier ambiguity,
denominated the natives of their country employed in this lawless life Zee Roovers; the expression denoting either robbers or
cruisers. Brethren of the Coast was
another general denomination for the fraternity; but all distinctions were
finally lost in that of BUCCANEERS OF AMERICA. The same feeling which induced
men of respectable family to lay aside their real names on entering this
society, led them to repudiate a designation too soon stained with every
species of crime and excess; and Dampier and others speak of themselves as “privateers”, while they anxiously describe
their assaults as falling under the head of legitimate warfare.
These bold and dissolute men carried on their
deppedati0ns, as smugglers, robbers, or pirates, in time of peace, and during
war under commissions from their respective governments, for a long series of
years before they attempted to form any regular settlement. Throughout this period
they acted as pioneers, clearing away for the industrious and peaceful settlers
of France and England, both of which nations secretly encouraged while they
affected to discountenance the marauders. From the era of Columbus’
discoveries, each had cast a longing eye upon the West Indies, and by the
assistance of the Buccaneers they at last succeeded in establishing colonies
there. At the beginning of the 17th century, a prop on which to rest their levers
was all that was required; and agreeably to a treaty of joint occupation and
partition, colonists from both countries landed on the same day, in 1625, at
opposite points of the island of St Christopher’s, and took possession of it.
The rights of the Caribs, whom the first conquerors
had not been able either to enslave or wholly to extirpate, do not appear to
have obtained a moment’s consideration from the statesmen of either kingdom.
Though the Spaniards had no settlement there, they could not quietly permit the
subjects of two ambitious nations to obtain a permanent footing in a territory
whence they might quickly extend their conquests; and in 1629, accordingly,
after a residence of more than four years, the intruders were expelled by force
of arms. But they waited only the departure of the enemy to return to their old
possessions; though some of them, deprived of a home, rendered desperate by
poverty, and inflamed with hatred of their persecutors, had in the mean while
joined the freebooters, whose reckless bravery they are said to have tempered
by their knowledge and the habits of social life.
It was thus
that step by step the narrow policy of the Spaniards called into existence
those predatory hordes, who, from so small a beginning, came at last to infest
their commerce by sea and land, and even to destroy their richest settlements.
As a convenient mart for their trade, which had been
greatly increased by the possession of St Christopher’s, the hunters of Cuba
and Hayti seized on the island of Tortuga, surprising
the small garrison which defended it. Here, having built magazines for their
hides, tallow, and boucan or dried flesh, they established their head-quarters, and opened a place of
retreat, to which, in the course of a few years, adventurers flocked from almost
every country of Europe. French and English settlements were rapidly formed,
almost at random, on different islands, and the new colonists were at once the
natural allies and the best customers of the Buccaneers, whom they supplied
with powder, shot, hatchets, rum, tobacco, and all things necessary to their
wild manner of life. As these plantations rose into consequence, they were severally
claimed by the mother-countries; and the settlers were not unfrequently expelled to make way for new proprietors who had obtained by favour or purchase, from the authorities at home, the lands
which had been cleared by the industry of the original adventurers. Many of
these, fired with indignation at the injustice of the government, which had
left them unprotected in the first instance and pillaged them in the last,
retired to other deserts, or joined the ranks of the outlaws.
The settlement of Tortuga, situated at the very
threshold of Hayti, was on every account obnoxious to
the Spaniards. In the year 1638 they seized an opportunity of destroying it
while most of the men were absent in the chase., an occupation followed by them
for months and even years together on the western shores, without once visiting
the scene of comparative civilisation which they had
created in the smaller island. Of the more peaceful of the settlers, who had
already formed plantations and begun with success to cultivate tobacco, many
were massacred; those who fled to the woods and afterwards surrendered
themselves were hanged; while only a few escaped to their brethren in the Haytian forests. Tortuga was soon abandoned by the
assailants, who, having taken so much pains to destroy the nest, flattered
themselves that the hornets would not again congregate. But the Buccaneers
returning almost immediately, soon became more formidable than ever, and their
numbers, already exceeding three hundred, were speedily recruited by the young
and the dissolute from different parts of Europe.
From this time attacks upon the Spaniards became more
frequent, and as the diminished herds of cattle rendered the chase a more
precarious source of livelihood, their maritime enterprises were undertaken on
a more extensive scale.
The Brethren of the Coast had now been long known as a
distinct association, and their laws, manners, and customs, were everywhere
become the subject of curious inquiry. Though, from that love of the marvellous which is natural to mankind, their peculiarities
have been greatly exaggerated, many of their habits were sufficiently
remarkable to deserve notice. Like the conventional usages of other
communities, the “Statutes of the Buccaneers” originated in the necessities of
their condition. Property, so far as regarded the means of sustenance, whether
obtained in the chase or by pillage, was held in common. As they had no
domestic ties, neither wife nor child, brother nor sister, being known among
them, the want of family relations was supplied by the alliance of two
comrades, of whom one attended to household duties while the other was engaged
in the chase. It has been said that the survivor, whether seaman or hunter, succeeded
to the estate of his deceased companion; but though this probably often
happened, it was certainly not a fixed law, for they are known to have
frequently bequeathed property to their relatives in France or England. Their
chief, if not their only virtue, was courage, which, quickened by despair, was
carried to an extravagant excess, perhaps never paralleled before or since that
time, except among the ancient Vikings. Hardihood, or the power of extreme
endurance, may also be reckoned among their better qualities; but their long
seasons of entire privation were always followed by scenes of the most brutal
indulgence. Their great principle, which was indeed necessary to their very
existence, was fidelity to one another; and it was scrupulously observed.
As their associations were voluntary, their engagements
never extended beyond the immediate enterprise for which they combined. Such
alliances were indeed frequently renewed, and the bravest, most able, active,
and fortunate of their number, was chosen to be commander; but it would seem
that every one who bore arms had a right to assist in
their councils. The same power which elected could displace the leader; and
such depositions accordingly were often made, either from caprice or
expediency. Personal quarrels they sometimes settled by duel; but offences
against the fraternity were visited by different punishments; in extreme cases
by death, by abandonment on a desert island, or by expulsion from the society.
There seems to have been no obstacle to their quitting the brotherhood when
inclination dictated such a step. In sharing their booty, they appear, as soon
as their trade was reduced to a system, to have followed nearly the same laws
as those which regulate the division of spoil in privateers; but the owners’
shares were included in those of the crew, who were themselves the proprietors.
When a party had agreed upon a cruise, the time and
place of embarkation were fixed, upon which every man went on board with a
specified quantity of powder and shot. Their next care was to procure
provisions, which consisted chiefly of pork. The Spaniards were wont to raise
large herds of swine, and from their yards an abundant supply was obtained with
no trouble save that of robbery, often indeed followed by murder. Turtle
slightly salted was another article of their stores; while for beeves and wild
hogs they trusted to their fire-arms. Bread they seldom tasted; at sea never;
but in later periods they sometimes procured supplies of cassava, maize, and
potatoes. Of this food they commonly ate twice a-day and without limitation,
for at meals there was no distinction between the commander and the meanest
seaman. When the vessel was fully victualled, a
council was held to determine the destination of the enterprise and the plan of
operations; and, at the same time, articles were generally subscribed which
regulated the division of the spoils. The commander, the surgeon, and the
carpenter, were in the first place paid from the common stock. Wounds were next
considered; the value of the right arm, the most useful member of the body,
being reckoned equal to six slaves, or six hundred pieces of eight. It is
worthy of notice that an eye and a finger were estimated at the same price,
which was one slave, or a hundred pieces of eight. The remainder was shared
equally, save that the captain, in addition to the sum payable to him by his
specific agreement, was entitled to claim five shares, and his mate two. Boys
received half a share. One of their first maxims was, “No prey, no pay”. An
oath was sometimes taken to prevent concealment of booty, or desertion before
the termination of the adventure.
In their cruises they often put into remote harbours to careen or refit their ships; to obtain fruits
and fish; to lie in wait for Spanish traders; or to plunder the inhabitants,
whether native or European. The former they sometimes carried away, selling the
men as slaves, while the women were compelled to labour for such of the freebooters as followed the chase.
The dress of these ruffians assorted well with their
brutal and ferocious character. It has been described as a uniform and
conventional costume; but there is little doubt that the same necessity which
leads the savage to clothe himself with skins prescribed to the Buccaneer his
loathsome and terrific garb. It consisted of a frock or shirt dyed in the blood
of cattle; of trousers prepared in the same manner; of buskins without
stockings; the covering of the head was a cap with a small front; and the waist
was bound by a leathern girdle, into which were stuck knives, sabres, and pistols. The bloody garments, though attributed
to design, were probably among the hunters the effect of chance and
slovenliness.
Among a small body of Frenchmen, who, by the injustice
of the colonial government and other causes, had been driven to an outlaw’s
life, there were cherished honourable sentiments, and
even a certain sense of religion. We hear, for example, of one commander who
shot a seaman for indecent behaviour daring the
celebration of mass ; but it is nowhere recorded that the chalices or images of
a church were spared by these good catholics more
than by English heretics. One rare instance is mentioned, where a Buccaneer
carried his notions of honour so far as to punish a
breach of faith towards a Spaniard, and to repress with the most prompt
severity symptoms of treachery even against the common foe. Under a humane
leader, in short, the remorseless nature of these desperate men was
occasionally softened; but, altogether, more degraded and humiliating examples
of humanity could not any where be found. In them was
united the ferocity of the savage with the cunning which always marks an
imperfect civilisation. Yet they have not been
without some admirers. They are said to have been open and unsuspecting in
their private intercourse, liberal in their dealings, and even animated by a
strictly honourable spirit. The French fondly name
them “nos braves”; the English boast of their “unparalleled
exploits”; and writers of fiction have graced their character with many
brilliant traits of generosity and delicacy of feeling. Though to sober
judgments there will appear little to warrant such pictures, it will be readily
admitted that there is a wild interest in the recital of their adventures,
independently of the romantic notions associated with men placed in
circumstances so different from those of civilized communities. Nor is it easy
to withhold admiration from their fortitude and unconquerable perseverance,
though exerted too often in the most infamous causes. All forms of privation
and endurance with which the vicissitudes of maritime life make us acquainted
sink into insignificance when compared with the hardships voluntarily sustained
by them from a mere love of license or of Spanish gold.
The Buccaneers had not long recovered Tortuga when, by
means of certain foreigners, it was betrayed into the hands of the French
governor-general of the West Indies, who took possession of it for his sovereign,
and expelled the English. From this time our countrymen began to frequent those
islands which were considered to belong to their own nation; and these they enriched
by the lavish expenditure of their fortuitous wealth. In 1655 they lent
powerful aid to the armament employed in the conquest of Jamaica; which
henceforth was their chief place of resort, and where they dissipated their
plunder with the usual profligacy.
Within a few
years after the capture of Jamaica the French freebooters on the shores of Hayti were found to have greatly increased in numbers, and
it was by them chiefly that the most remarkable exploits were performed at sea.
At first, indeed, they had no vessels but Indian canoes, yet in a short time
they possessed themselves of very considerable squadrons. Among the earliest of
their successes, and one which led the way to many others, was the capture of a
richly laden galleon, commanded by the vice-admiral of the treasure-fleet. This
was achieved by Pierre le Grand, a native of Dieppe, who, though his force
consisted of only a single boat and twenty-eight resolute followers, by one
bold stroke gained fame and fortune. For several weeks they had been at sea in
the hope of attaining this object, exposed to the burning heat of a tropical
sun ; and they were almost exhausted by suffering and disappointment when their
prize was descried separated from her consorts. The boat in which the adventurers
were concealed had been seen from the galleon all day, and several of the crew
even warned the captain of their suspicion that the skiff was manned by
pirates. The Spaniard haughtily and carelessly replied, “And what then? shall I
be afraid of so pitiful a thing? no, though she were as good a ship as my own!”.
He probably thought no more of the circumstance till, in the same evening, when
he was at cards with his friends, the Buccaneers rushed into his cabin.
They had kept aloof till nigh began to fall, when they
made for the vessel with all the force of oars. The alternative was an
ignominious and cruel death or victory and riches : and they were aware that they
must either make good their attempt or perish. To render their courage
desperate, Pierre commanded the surgeon to bore holes in the boat, that no
other footing might be left to his people than the decks of the galleon. His
orders were quickly obeyed ; and the men, armed with swords and pistols,
silently climbed the sides of the ship. One party rushed into the great cabin,
and pointed their weapons at the officers ; another seized the gun-room,
cutting down all who stood in their way ; and, in short, the Spaniards were so
completely surprised that little opposition was offered. The prize was carried
into France ; and the captor, by a rare instance of good sense, abandoned the
calling of a Buccaneer, in which, if fortunes were quickly acquired, they were
as rapidly lost or squandered. He appears on this occasion to have exercised no
unnecessary cruelty, and all the seamen with whose services he could dispense
in the voyage to Europe were sent on shore.
This successful
enterprise induced half the hunters and planters of Tortuga to rush to the sea.
In their small canoes they lay in wait for the barks in which the Spaniards
conveyed to Havannah and ports adjacent hides,
tobacco, and the produce of the boucan. These cargoes they sold, together with their boats,
which supplied them with the means of purchasing and equipping larger vessels. Campeachy and even the shores of New Spain were now within
the range of their expeditions, which became daily more formidable ; and hence
the subjects of Philip found it necessary to arm cruisers for the protection of
the coast-trade, the galleons, and Flota. The Indian fleet and the treasure-ships were at all
times the chief objects of the pirates, who found no species of goods so
convenient as pieces of eight, though their allies in the islands used every
exertion to relieve them of the embarrassment of more bulky cargoes. In truth,
the merchants of Jamaica and Tortuga might at this time have been termed not unaptly the brokers of the Buccaneers.
Among other brilliant acts, a Frenchman named Pierre
François, with one boat and a handful of men, took the vice-admiral of the
Pearl Fleet ; and no sooner was he possessed of this prize than he raised his
thoughts to the capture of the convoy ship of war. In this bold project he was
disappointed, and the galleon retaken ; but he received honourable terms for himself and his company.
About this time another celebrated adventurer, Bartolomeo Portuguez, cruising
from Jamaica in a boat carrying four small pieces and manned by thirty men,
captured a large ship carrying twenty great guns with a crew exceeding eighty
in number. This prize was also recovered in a few days by three Spanish vessels
; and the pirate, after being carried into the harbour of Campeachy, was for greater security kept on board
till a gibbet should be erected. But on the night previous to the day fixed for
his execution, he effected his liberation, by killing the sentinel, leaping
into the water, and swimming ashore. After suffering incredible hardship, he
came to a bay about forty leagues from the city, and finding there certain
freebooters, he induced them to join in an attempt to surprise the vessel from
which he had just escaped. The undertaking was successful, though, in passing
the Isle of Pines, the bark struck on a rock and was totally wrecked, Portuguez with difficulty saving himself in a canoe.
The Spanish coasters, taught by experience, now
ventured cautiously to sea; the number of Buccaneers at the same time
increased; and they were accordingly compelled to undertake expeditions by
land, sacking villages, towns, and even cities. The first pirate of this
description was Lewis Scot, who stormed and plundered Campeachy,
and obtained a large sum for its ransom. In this new career he was followed
with success by Mansvelt, and by John Davis, a
renowned chieftain born in Jamaica. It was in these attempts that the former
conceived the design of creating an independent establishment, which, while it
acknowledged the authority of no European state, should furnish a place of safe
retreat to the adventurers of all nations. The result of this scheme will be
seen hereafter.
In the annals of the Sea-rovers no characters are
found more terrible than those of L'Olonnois and Montbars, natives of France, and distinguished even among
that ruthless fraternity by their pre-eminence in crime. The former, whose real
name appears to have been Nau, derived his nom de guerre of L'Olonnois from Sables-d'Olonne, his birthplace. Little is known
of his family ; but it appears, that when a youth he was either kidnapped or
left home under a form of engagement, then not uncommon in several countries of
Europe, by which the adventurer agreed to serve a certain number of years in
the colonies. This practice, which was termed indenting, continued until a very recent period, and was liable to
great abuses. Escaping from servitude L'Olonnois joined the Buccaneers. His address and courage soon rendered him so
conspicuous, that in a few years he was the owner of two canoes, and commanded
twenty-two men. With this small force he captured a Spanish frigate on the
coast of Cuba, and the atrocities which are ascribed to him are almost
incredible. It is said that he frequently threw overboard the crews of the
ships which he took. He is reported to have struck off with his own arm the
heads of ninety prisoners, refreshing himself by sucking the blood of the
victims as it trickled down his cutlass. It is even related that, in transports
of frantic cruelty, he has been known to pluck out the tongues of his captives,
and to devour the hearts of those who fell by his hand. By such acts of detestable
inhumanity this monster not only gratified his savage nature, but increased his
evil powers, for he considered the terror inspired by his name among the best means
of promoting his success.
The fruits of
rapine enabled him to extend the range of his depredations, and he at last
joined his forces with those of another notorious brother of the order, Michael
de Basco. With eight ships and 660 men they stormed
and plundered the towns of Gibraltar and Maracaibo ; the former was almost
consumed before a sufficient ransom could be collected ; and the latter was
pillaged after terms were agreed upon. This expedition, in which many French
hunters joined, was the most lucrative that had yet been undertaken, for
besides the plunder and ransom of the towns, many ships were captured. The
booty to be divided among the band, at the island to which they retired for
this purpose, amounted to more than 400,000 pieces of eight in money, plate,
merchandise, household furniture, and clothes. The name of L'Olonnois,
already so formidable, now became a word of deeper horror.
After the division of the plunder, the next step in a
buccaneering voyage was to repair to some friendly island, Tortuga or Jamaica,
where they might dispose of their more bulky spoils, and find an opportunity
for the indulgence of the gross licen-tiousness in which
they squandered their gains. These were speedily dissipated in gaming, to which
they were strongly addicted, in the most brutal debaucheries, or in those
freaks of profligate extravagance which usually characterize uneducated seamen.
“Some of them”, says their comrade and historian Esquemeling,
“will spend two or three thousand pieces of eight in one night, not leaving
themselves, peradventure, a good shirt to wear on their backs in the morning”.
He tells of one who placed a pipe of wine in the streets of Jamaica, and,
pointing his pistols at their breast, forced all who passed to drink with him.
“At other times he would do the same with barrels of ale and beer; and very
often with both his hands he would throw these liquors about the streets, and
wet the clothes of such as walked by, without regarding whether he spoiled
their apparel or not, were they men or women”.
Of Roche Braziliano, who,
with a milder disposition than many of his associate possessed great courage
and capacity in command, the same author remarks, “howbeit in his domestic and
private affairs he had no good behaviour nor
government over himself ; for in these he would oftentimes show himself either
brutish or foolish. Many times, being in drink, he would run up and down the
streets, beating or wounding whom he met, no person daring to oppose him or
make any resistance”. Such was the Buccaneer in his moments of relaxation and
enjoyment, and such were the delights which, in a few weeks, left the
companions of L'Olonnois penniless and eager for a
new expedition, in which he, at least, found a death worthy of his enormous
crimes.
The reputation which he had gained by his last
enterprise brought many new adventurers to swell his armament. Cruising along
the coast of Cuba, he made frequent and sudden descents on Indian villages or
Spanish settlements; but at length he experienced a reverse, and when he
proposed to sail towards Guatemala many of his principal followers left him in
order to prosecute schemes of their own. After a train of disasters, he fell
into the hands of certain Indians of the Darien, a fierce and cruel tribe, who
were not unacquainted with the atrocities of the pirates. By them, while he was
yet alive, he was torn limb from limb; and his body having been consumed by
fire, the ashes were scattered to the winds with “the intent”, says his
historian, “that no trace nor memory might remain of such an infamous inhuman
creature”. His merited fate was shared by many of his companions.
The character of Montbars is
scarcely less degrading to humanity ; for he appears to have been one of those
unhappy beings with whom cruelty is a passion and an appetite. Born in
Languedoc of a good family, he is said, from reading in his youth of the
horrible atrocities practised by the Spaniards upon
the Mexicans and Caribs, to have imbibed a hatred of
the whole nation, which possessed him like a phrensy,
and urged him to the commission of worse cruelties than those which he reprobated.
For example, it is related, that while at college, playing in a dramatic piece
the part of a Frenchman who quarrels with a Spaniard, he assaulted the youth
who personated the latter with such fury that he had well
nigh strangled him. His excited imagination, says Raynal,
was perpetually haunted by the shades of numerous persons butchered in the
colonies, who called upon him to avenge them upon their murderers. While on his
passage to league himself with the Brethren of the Coast, the bark in which he sailed
captured a Spanish vessel. No sooner had the crew surrendered, than Montbars, with his sabre drawn, rushed twice along the
decks, hewing down all who came within his reach; and while his comrades were
dividing the booty acquired by his prowess, he gloated over the mangled limbs
of the detested people against whom he had sworn everlasting hatred. From this
and similar actions he acquired the name of the Exterminator.
At this era the
Buccaneers, besides being very numerous and powerful, had been so successful in
their depredations upon the strongest places, as well on the main as in the
islands, that several settlements were compelled to purchase their forbearance
by contributions similar in principle to the blackmail formerly levied by banditti in Scotland. This, however,
while it increased their gains, only partially changed the scene of their
spoliations and hence, their attacks were carried farther into the interior and
extended to a greater distance along the coasts of the continent.
It was about this time that Mansvelt formed the design, before alluded to, of establishing among them an independent
commonwealth, a project which was reluctantly abandoned by those of the
fraternity who were endowed with more foresight or greater ambition than their
associates. The proposed seat of this anomalous government, which might easily
have been extended on all sides, was the island of Santa Katalina,
now known by the name of Old Providence; and for this place accordingly Mansvelt sailed in 1664, stormed the fort which the
Spaniards had erected, and garrisoned it with his own men. But the Governor of
Jamaica, who had watched all these proceedings, considering the marauders more
profitable as customers than desirable as independent allies, discountenanced
the project of a settlement so far beyond his control. He therefore strictly
prohibited recruiting in furtherance of the design, and Mansvelt died suddenly before it could be otherwise effected.
He was succeeded by the most renowned of the English
Buccaneers, Captain, afterwards Sir Henry Morgan. This new leader, though not
less brave and daring than his predecessor, was of a more sordid temper; and
his selfishness and cunning were unredeemed by any spark of that reckless
generosity which was not unfrequently found in the
character of the freebooters. He was a native of Wales, and the son of a respectable
yeoman. Early inclination led him to the sea; and embarking for Barbadoes, he soon found himself, by a fate at that time
not uncommon in the case of unprotected adventurers, sold to a hard taskmaster
for a term of years. Having effected his escape or emancipation, he joined the
association of pirates, and in a short time acquired such a sum of money as
enabled him, in concert with a few comrades, to equip a bark, of which he was
chosen the commander. He made a fortunate cruise in the Bay of Campeachy ; after which he joined Mansvelt in the assault on Santa Katalina, and on the death of
that leader succeeded, as has just been noticed, to the chief authority. But
notwithstanding his efforts to retain the island, as the Governor of Jamaica
still discountenanced the scheme and the merchants of Virginia declined sending
supplies, it once more fell into the hands of the Spaniards, by whom the
adventurers were compelled to seek a new retreat. The Cayos, or islets near the
southern coast of Cuba, had for some time been their usual place of resort. At
these Keys, as they were corruptly termed by our countrymen, they mustered from
all quarters as often as a joint expedition was contemplated ; and here they
watered, refitted, held their councils, or waited in security until their
fleets were victualled, whether by spoil or by
purchase.
To this station, the rendezvous appointed by Morgan,
about twelve sail, ships and boats, now repaired, having on board more than
seven hundred fighting-men, French and English. A difference of opinion arose
on the disposal of this force ; some wished to attack Havannah,
while others, deeming that enterprise too formidable for their numbers, declared
for Puerto del Principe, which, accordingly, after a desperate assault, was
taken and plundered. The adventurers, as soon as they became masters of the
city, shut up the inhabitants in the churches, that the work of pillage might
be pursued without interruption. Many of these unfortunate persons died of
hunger; others were put to the torture to compel them to discover concealed
treasures, which probably had no existence except in the rapacious desires and
extravagant fancies of the fierce Buccaneers. The wealth obtained by these
means was, however, considerable. Five hundred bullocks formed part of the
ransom, which the insolent freebooters compelled the Spaniards to kill and salt
for them. A quarrel which occurred at this time crippled the strength of Morgan.
An Englishman having seized on some marrow-bones which one of his French
companions had prepared for his own repast, a duel ensued, in which the latter
was unfairly or treacherously stabbed. His countrymen embraced his cause, and
although the captain caused the murderer to be executed at Jamaica, yet when the
pillage of Puerto del Principe was divided, his foreign allies, indignant at
the late crime, and dissatisfied with their share of the booty, withdrew from
the adventure.
The enterprises of Morgan, who was at once ambitious
and greedy, display capacity, coolness, and daring; and his next attempt
combined all these qualities in a remarkable degree. With nine vessels, and four
hundred and sixty men, he resolved to assault Porto Bello, though he did not
venture at first to disclose so bold a design. When it was at length necessary
to reveal it, he replied to those who objected that their forces were
inadequate to the attack, “That though their numbers were small, their hearts were
great ; and the fewer they were the more union and better shares they should
have in the spoil”. His arguments prevailed ; and this strongly-fortified city
was carried by a handful of resolute assailants, who refrained from no cruelty
necessary to the accomplishment of their object. The first fort or castle was
blown up ; fire being deliberately set to the magazine, after many miserable
prisoners, whose mangled limbs soon darkened the air, had been huddled into one
room. Resistance was nevertheless maintained by the Spaniards ; and the
besiegers were the more exasperated, because it was into those strengths which
still held out that the wealthy inhabitants had retired with their treasure.
One strong redoubt it was necessary to carry without delay ; and scaling-ladders
having been constructed, Morgan compelled his captives to fix them to the
walls. Many of those employed in this office were monks and nuns, dragged from
their sanctuaries, it being imagined that their countrymen would spare them ;
while, under the protection thus secured, his men, he hoped, would be able to
advance without being exposed to the fire of the castle. In these trying
circumstances, regarding neither the claims of birth nor of sacred character,
the Spanish governor consulted only his official duty ; and while the unhappy
individuals implored his mercy, he continued to pour vollies of shot upon all who approached the walls, declaring, in reply to their
entreaties, that he would never surrender alive.tMany of the friars and nuns were killed before the scaling-ladders could be fixed;
but that being accomplished, the Buccaneers, carrying fireballs and pots filled
with gunpowder, boldly mounted the walls, hurled their combustibles into the
place, and speedily effected an entrance. Quarter was asked by the inhabitants
and garrison, except the governor, who fell fighting, in presence of his wife
and daughter, choosing rather, as he expressed it, to die like a brave soldier
than to be hanged like a coward. The next act in this horrible drama quickly
followed, pillage, cruelty, and license. And such was the course of riot and
debauchery to which they abandoned themselves, that fifty resolute men might
have regained the town ; but the panic-struck Spaniards were unable to form any
rational plan of action, or even to muster a force. During fifteen days of
brutal revelry, interrupted only to torture individuals for the concealment of
treasures which they did not possess, many of the pirates died from the effects
of their excesses, and at length Morgan deemed it expedient to withdraw them.
Tidings of these proceedings had by this time reached the chief magistrate of
Panama ; who, though far distant from the miserable inhabitants of Porto Bello,
was shortly expected to come to their aid. The leader of the freebooters,
therefore, carried off some of the guns, spiked the rest, and having fully supplied
his ships with every necessary store, insolently demanded an exorbitant ransom
for his prisoners, as well as for the preservation of the poor remains of the
plundered city. These terms he sent also to the Governor of Panama, who had
attempted to approach the place, but being intercepted by the adventurers in a
narrow pass, was compelled to retreat. The inhabitants collected among
themselves a hundred thousand pieces of
eight, which Morgan having graciously accepted, retired to his ships, and prepared
to depart from the coast.
The
astonishment of the Governor of Panama that so small a body of men should carry
the town and forts, and hold them so long, induced him, it is said, to send a
message to the Buccaneer leader, requesting a specimen of the arms which he
used. The latter received the envoy with civility, gave him a pistol and a few
bullets, which he desired his master to accept as a slender pattern of the
weapons wherewith he had taken the fortified city, and to keep them for a
twelvemonth, when he would come to Panama and receive them again. The governor
returned the loan accompanied with a gold ring, requesting that the Englishman
would spare himself the trouble of so long a journey, and certifying him that
he should not fare so well as at Porto Bello.
When the spoils were divided at the Keys of Cuba, it
was found that the booty amounted to 250,000 pieces of eight, besides goods of
all kinds, including silks, linen, cloth, and many things which would meet a
ready market in Jamaica. And for that island accordingly the pirates next
sailed, to fit themselves for a fresh expedition by the prodigal expenditure of
these fruits of their many toils and crimes.
This brilliant exploit, in which a few men, with no
other arms than pistols and sabres, had taken a
strong city, greatly increased the reputation of Morgan; and his invitation to
the Brethren of the Coast to meet him at the Isla de la Vaca, or Cow Island, to
prepare for another cruise, was so eagerly accepted that he found himself at
the head of a considerable force. A large French vessel, which refused to join
the expedition, he resolved to obtain by fraud; and having asked the commander
and several of his ablest officers to dine with him, under some frivolous
pretext he made them prisoners. But from this act of treachery he did not reap
much advantage. While the men whom he had placed on board were engaged in a
carouse, the ship suddenly blew up, and the prisoners, with three hundred and
fifty of his own followers perished together; a calamity which was attributed
to the revengeful spirit of the Frenchmen who were confined in the hold. The
sordid character of the Buccaneer was never more strongly displayed than by an
expedient which he adopted in consequence of this mischance. When eight days
had elapsed, he caused the dead bodies to be fished up, and having stripped
them of clothes, linen, and such valuables as were found on them, he ordered
them to be again cast into the sea to feed the sharks.
Of the fleet of fifteen ships, which he now possessed,
he was indebted for some to the selfish kindness of the Governor of Jamaica,
who is supposed to have encouraged such adventures. His crews amounted to
nearly 1000 fighting-men ; several of his vessels were armed, and his own
carried fourteen guns. With this force, which, however, discontent diminished
by one-half before the voyage was completed, he shaped his course for Gibraltar
and Maracaibo. These devoted cities, formerly visited by L'Olonnois,
were now once more taken and plundered. At the former place the cruelties of
the English buccaneer exceeded, if such were possible, the enormities of the
French pirate; but it would be painful and revolting to dwell upon the dismal
record of his atrocities.
So much time
had been consumed at Gibraltar, that when he was about to leave it he found
himself entangled in a snare, to escape from which required all his talent and
presence of mind. Coolness and readiness were, however, the familiar qualities
of men whose lives were such a succession of perils and escapes that their
natural element was danger; and they never were more admirably displayed than
on this occasion.
The interval spent by his people in pillage and
debauchery had been improved by the Spaniards in repairing the fort which
protected the passage of the Lake of Maracaibo, and in stationing three men of
war at the entrance, from whose vigilance it was conceived impossible the
pirates could escape. Of these vessels, one carried twenty-four, another
thirty, and the third forty guns.t In this embarrassing situation, Morgan, with
that spontaneous audacity which was often the chief instrument of his success,
sent an envoy to the Spanish admiral, demanding a ransom as the only condition
on which the city could be preserved. To this insolent message the other
answered, that though the Buccaneers had taken the castle from a garrison of
cowards, it was now in a good state of defence; and
that not only would he dispute their egress from the lagoon, but would pursue
them whithersoever they sailed. If, however, they chose to give up the
prisoners and the treasure which they had taken, he would permit them to pass
forth unmolested. This reply, according to their custom, was submitted to a
full council of the freebooters, and at this assembly it was that one of their
number suggested the stratagem by which they destroyed the men-of-war. One of
their barks, prepared as a fire-ship, was artfully disguised under the
appearance of being ready for action. On the decks were placed rows of logs,
dressed in clothes, hats, and Montero caps, and armed with swords and muskets.
The plate, jewels, female captives, and whatever was of most value, were then
removed to their large boats, each of which carried twelve armed men. An oath
was exacted from every individual that he would resist to the last, and refuse
all quarter, while ample rewards were promised for valour and firmness. On the 30th April 1669 the fleet sailed, the fire-ship taking the
lead, followed by the boats ; and about dusk they approached the Spaniards,
moored in the middle of the lagoon. The Buccaneers also anchored, resolving
here to await the result of their stratagem. No attack was made by them that
night; they lay quiet till dawn, when they weighed, and steered directly
towards the enemy, who advanced to meet them. The fire-ship, still keeping
ahead, soon came up, and grappled with the largest of their vessels. The
deception was now discovered, but too late, for the Spaniard had caught fire in
tackling and timbers, and the forepart of her hull soon went down. The second
ran under the guns of the castle, but was sunk by her own company, that she
might not fall into the hands of the pirates; and the third was captured. The
crew of the burning ship endeavoured to escape to the
shore, but perished in the sea, refusing to accept quarter. The victors, who
instantly gave chase, landed with the resolution of attempting the castle ; but
as their arms were insufficient for the assault of a place so well fortified,
they desisted from the enterprise, and returned to their ships, with a loss of
thirty men killed and an equal number wounded.
Though the Spanish vessels were destroyed the
freebooters had still to pass the fortress, in completing the defences of which the garrison had laboured all night. Morgan again had recourse to stratagem. All day long he affected to
send boats filled with men to a point of the shore which was concealed by trees
from view of the rampart ; but they immediately returned, lying flat in the
bottom, so that the rowers only were visible, and mounted the ship at the side
which was hidden from the enemy. This manoeuvre seduced them into the belief that an attack was meditated upon the castle from
the land; and their conjecture became the more probable, when the freebooter,
who had hoisted his flag in the captured vessel, again sent to demand a ransom
for Maracaibo as the condition of his departure. To meet the threatened
assault, therefore, the guns of the fort were removed from the former position,
which commanded the lagoon, and pointed along shore. No sooner was this
arrangement completed than the Buccaneer raised his anchors by moonlight, and,
assisted by the ebb-tide and a favourable wind, swept
past the castle; the mortified Spaniards in vain endeavouring to bring their pieces to bear upon him. When beyond danger he gave them a
parting salute from his great guns, so lately their own, and bore away for
Jamaica. His exultation in his good fortune was enhanced by the tidings which
he received of the ill-success of those who forsook him in the early part of the
cruise. “The accounts being cast up”, says Esquemeling,
“they found to the value of 250,000 pieces of eight in money and jewels,
besides the huge quantity of merchandise and slaves, all which purchase was
divided unto every ship or boat, according to their share”.
These riches were speedily squandered by the dissolute
crews in the taverns of Port Royal; and they then concerted another expedition,
which should surpass all former achievements of the Sea-rovers. Nor was there
time for delay in its execution, for a pending treaty between Great Britain and
Spain threatened to put an end to what their admiring countrymen called the “unparalleled
exploits of the Buccaneers”. Letters were therefore despatched by the commander to every freebooter of note, the south side of Tortuga being
named as the rendez-vous; and early in October 1670
he found himself surrounded by adventurers, English, French, and Dutch, who,
from land and sea, the plantation and the wilderness, flocked to his standard.
The first object, that of victualling the ships, was
accomplished by the pillage of hog-yards and maize-plantations, as well as by
copious supplies of boucan procured in the way of trade. Thus fully provisioned, the squadron, consisting
of thirty-seven vessels, with more than 2000 fighting-men, sailed for Cape Tiburon,
on the western coast of Hayti. At a general council,
three places of attack were deliberated upon : Vera Cruz, Carthagena,
and Panama. The last, though the most difficult, was chosen, recommended as it
was by the extravagant rumours circulated in Europe
and the West Indies of its amazing wealth, and of the great riches of Peru.
Morgan had never abandoned the design originated by Mansvelt, of establishing a Buccaneer settlement on Old
Providence; and this island was accordingly captured on the voyage after a show
of resistance which could scarcely be called serious. From this point the
leader of the pirates detached 400 men to attack the castle of Chagre, the possession of which he deemed necessary to the
success of his intended operations against Panama ; and it was eventually
carried chiefly owing to the destruction of part of the defences by the fortuitous explosion of a magazine. While the besieged were occupied in
checking the progress of the conflagration caused by this accident, the
assailants laboured to increase their confusion by
setting fire to the palisadoes in several places. At
last they effected an entrance in defiance of liquid combustibles which the
enemy poured down among them, and thereby considerably thinned their numbers.
But the resistance was still continued; and throughout the night the pirates
directed an incessant fire towards the breaches, which the garrison resolutely
defended.
About noon, the next day, they carried a passage which
was maintained by the governor in person at the head of twenty-five men, who
fought with desperate valour. Nothing could now
withstand their impetuosity; they forced their way through the most formidable
obstacles, and many of the unfortunate Spaniards who survived, choosing rather
to die than to submit to these infuriated ruffians, threw themselves into the
sea. The commandant retired into the corps
du garde, before which he planted two pieces of
cannon, and bravely maintained the hopeless and unequal conflict till he fell
by a musket- shot, which pierced his brain. Of a garrison of 314 men only
thirty remained alive, and of these twenty were wounded : not a single officer
escaped.
From the survivors
the pirates learned that the Governor of Panama was apprized of their design against that place ; that ambuscades were laid all along the
course of the Chagre; and that a force of 3600 men
awaited their arrival. But these tidings did not deter Morgan ; on the contrary
he instantly proceeded to Chagre, carrying with him
all the provisions that could be obtained in Santa Katalina,
to which island he intended to return after the capture of Panama.
The standard of
England floating over the walls of the castle was a sight of joy to the main
body of his followers ; and he himself was admitted within the fort with all
the honours due to a triumphant general. Before his
arrival, the wounded, the widows of the soldiers killed in the siege, and the
other women of the place, had been shut up in the church, where they were
subjected to the most cruel treatment. Though wholly indifferent to their sufferings,
he lost no time in releasing the prisoners, and setting them to work in
repairing the defences and forming new palisadoes. At the same time he seized all the craft in the
river, many of which carried from two to four small pieces.
When these arrangements were concluded, Morgan,
leaving 500 men in the castle of Chagre and 150 in
the ships, on the 18th January 1671, commenced his march towards Panama, at the
head of 1 200 resolute warriors. His artillery was conveyed in five large
boats, and part of his forces were transported in thirty-two canoes. In his
eager anxiety to advance he fell into a great error; for, relying on the usual
resource of plunder, he carried with him so small a store of provisions that
even on the first day the supply failed. On the second the adventurers were
compelled for a time to quit their canoes ; the lowness of the river rendering
this mode of travelling tedious and nearly impracticable. Hence their progress,
by land and water alternately, was attended with great suffering, the extremity
of famine entering into the number of their hardships ; and their best hopes
were now placed in encountering one of the threatened ambuscades, where they
might at least find a temporary supply of food. Such indeed was the degree of
hunger which they sustained, that they made a delicious meal on the leathern
bags found at a deserted station. Nor was this sorry substitute for meat
divided without quarrels; and some, it is said, openly regretted that no
Spaniards were met with to satisfy their ravening appetites.
Throughout the whole track to Panama, care had been
taken to leave not the smallest quantity of provisions ; and there is no doubt
that any soldiers other than the Buccaneers, whose powers of endurance were
become almost superhuman, must have perished long before a distant view was
obtained of the city. At night-fall, when they reached their halting-place, “happy
was he that had reserved since noon any small piece of leather whereof to make
his supper, drinking after it a good draught of water for his greatest comfort”.
The manner in which they prepared this tough meal is not unworthy of notice.
The skins were first sliced, then alternately dipped in water and beaten
between two stones; lastly, the hair was scraped off, and the morsel having
been broiled, and cut into small bits, was chewed, with frequent mouthfuls of
water to moisten the repast.
On the fifth day, at another deserted ambuscade, a
little maize was found, together with some wheat, wine, and plantains. Scanty
as this supply was, it proved very seasonable to those who were drooping from
want, among whom it was thriftily dealt out. Next day a barn full of similar
grain was discovered, and beating down the doors the famished adventurers
rushed in and devoured it without any preparation. No hardships could turn them
aside from their object, though symptoms of discontent began to appear in their
ranks. As they approached a village called Cruz, they perceived from a distance
a great smoke, and joyfully promised themselves rest and refreshments; but on
reaching the place they found it altogether deserted, and that every house was
either burnt down or in flames, so determined were the colonists to oppose
their march. The dogs and cats, the only living creatures which remained, were
greedily devoured. Morgan had some difficulty in preserving discipline among
his followers, and in preventing them, when straggling in search of food, from
falling into the hands of the Spaniards or Indians. In this way, however, he
lost but one man.
He was now within
twenty-four miles of Panama; and the nearer he approached, the more vigilant
was he against an attack from the threatened ambuscades of the enemy, who, he
conjectured, might have retired in order to draw together their forces. On the
eighth day, his people were surprised by a shower of arrows suddenly poured
upon them from some unseen quarter ; but advancing into the woods, they
encountered a party of Indians, many of whom were slain, after a brave
resistance. Eight of his men were killed in this skirmish, and ten wounded. On
this occasion, they endeavoured to make some
prisoners for the purpose of procuring intelligence ; but the natives escaped
by speed of foot.
The hours which succeeded were marked by an extremity
of suffering which none but Buccaneers or Indians could have sustained. At
length, on the morning of the ninth day, from the peak of a high mountain, the
South Sea was descried by them with ships and boats sailing on its majestic
bosom ; while herds of cattle, horses, and asses, feeding in the valley beneath
them, formed a sight not less welcome to their eyes. They instantly rushed
down, and, cutting up the animals, devoured their flesh half-raw, “more
resembling cannibals than Europeans at this banquet, the blood many times
running down from their beards unto the middle of their bodies”. This savage
meal being ended the journey was resumed, Morgan still fruitlessly endeavouring to gain information; for during his whole
march he had not obtained speech either of Spaniard or of native.
In the same evening one of the steeples of Panama was
beheld at a distance ; and, forgetting at this sight all the toils and
privations which they had endured, they surrendered themselves to the most
joyful raptures ; they tossed their caps into the air, they leaped, they
shouted, they beat their drums and sounded their trumpets, as if their victory
were already consummated. Encamping near the city, they resolved to make the
assault early next morning. The same night, a party of fifty horsemen,
apparently sent out to reconnoitre, advanced within
musket-shot of the invaders, and having scornfully challenged them to come on,
retired, with the exception of six or eight, who remained to watch their
motions. Upon this the great guns of the town began to play on the camp, but
they were too distant or ill directed to do any harm ; and the adventurers,
having placed sentinels around their entrenchments, made another voracious
meal, threw themselves upon the grass, and slept soundly till the dawn.
They were astir betimes, and their ranks being
mustered and arrayed, with drums and trumpets sounding they marched towards the
city. Quitting the frequented route, which the Spaniards were prepared to
defend, on the advice of an Indian guide they struck through a wood, by a
tangled and difficult path, where, however, no immediate obstruction was to be
apprehended; and before the enemy could counteract this unexpected movement
they had advanced some way. The Governor of Panama, who led the forces, had
under his command 400 cavalry and four regiments of infantry; and his Indian
auxiliaries conducted a numerous herd of wild bulls, which they intended to
drive among the ranks of the freebooters, and thereby to throw them into disorder.
This device was viewed with indifference by the hunters of Cuba and Hayti ; though they regarded with some apprehension the
formidable line of troops drawn up to oppose them. But as it was too late to
retreat, they divided themselves into three detachments; and placing two
hundred dexterous marksmen in the van, they began to quit their position, which
was on the top of a little eminence, whence the opposing army, the city, and
the champaign country around, were distinctly seen.
As they moved downward, the Spanish cavalry, shouting Viva el Rey, immediately advanced to meet them ; but the nature of
the ground, which was soft and marshy, greatly obstructed the manreuvres of these horsemen. The foremost ranks of the
Buccaneers knelt down and received them with a volley of musketry ; upon which
the conflict became close and bloody. Throwing themselves between the horse and
foot, they succeeded in separating them from each other ; and the wild cattle,
frightened by the tumult and the noise of the guns, galloped off, or were shot
before they could effect any mischief.
At length,
after a contest of two hours, the cavalry began to give way; many were slain,
and the rest speedily took to flight, a movement which was no sooner observed
by the foot-soldiers, than they threw down their arms, and joined in the rout.
Some of them sought refuge in the adjoining thickets ; and though the victors
did not continue the pursuit, they killed without mercy all who fell into their
hands. Nor were even the religious orders spared, for several priests and
friars taken prisoners were pistolled by the orders
of Morgan. From a Spanish officer who was made captive the pirates received
accurate intelligence as to the amount of the enemy’s force and plan of defence ; but although they were thus enabled to approach
the town from the safest point, the advance was attended with no small
difficulty.
After the success which crowned their first effort,
the freebooters rested a little space ; and during this pause they pledged
themselves, by solemn oaths One to another, that they would never yield while a
single man remained alive. Then, carrying their prisoners along with them, they
moved towards the great guns planted in the streets. In this renewed assault
they suffered severely before they could come to close quarters, in which they
ever maintained a decided superiority ; but, notwithstanding, they resolutely
advanced under an incessant fire, and after a desperate conflict of three hours
carried the town at all points.
In the storm
they neither gave nor accepted quarter, and the carnage on both sides was very
great. Six hundred Spaniards were slain ; and the number of their assailants
who perished was not much less. The city was no sooner gained than Morgan,
dreading the vindictive spirit of the inhabitants, prudently prohibited his
followers from tasting wine ; and, with the view of enforcing this order, he
assured them he had received private intelligence that all the liquor was
poisoned. Though this device failed to secure rigid abstinence, it restrained
them at least till indulgence became less perilous.
Scarcely was possession taken and guards placed, than
fires broke out simultaneously in different quarters. These were attributed by
the Spaniards to the pirates, and by them to the inhabitants; though both
assisted in endeavouring to extinguish the con-flagration, which raged with great fury. The buildings
being constructed of cedar, were consumed in a very short time; but the people
had previously removed or concealed the most valuable part of their goods and
furniture.
The city of Panama contained about 7000 houses, of
which many were large and magnificent. It possessed also eight monasteries,
with two fine churches, all richly furnished; and the concealment of the plate
belonging to these sacred edifices drew upon the ecclesiastics the peculiar vengeance
of the conquerors. The conflagration
which they could not arrest they seemed at last to take a savage delight in
spreading ; and hence a slave-factory belonging to some Genoese was burnt to
the ground, together with several warehouses full of meal. Many of the miserable
Africans, whom these Italians had brought for sale to Peru, perished in the
flames, which raged or smouldered nearly four weeks.
Dreading that
they might be surprised and overpowered by the Spaniards, who were still ten
times more numerous, they remained for some time in their encampment without
the town. Their force had also been weakened by the absence of 150 men, who
were despatched to Chagre with news of the victory. Yet by this handful of men were the frightened
inhabitants held in subjection, while the infuriated pirates raged like maniacs
through the burning houses, or prowled among the ruins in search of gold and
precious stones. In a short time they discovered the greater part of the
property which had been concealed in deep wells and cisterns; whereupon the
most active of their body were sent to the woods and heights to bring back the
miserable people, who had fled from the city with their effects. In two days
the party returned with about two hundred unhappy fugitives, among whom were
many females, who experienced a fate as merciless as their wildest fears had
led them to anticipate.
While
plundering the land Morgan did not neglect the sea. Many of the principal
inhabitants had fled by water; and a boat being immediately despatched in pursuit of them, soon brought in three prizes. A galleon, in which were
embarked all the plate and jewels belonging to the Spanish monarch, and the
wealth of the only nunnery in the town, escaped through the negligence of the
pirates, who indulged in their usual revelling till
the ship was beyond their reach. The fruitless chase was continued four days,
when, however, they returned to Panama with another prize, in which, besides a
great quantity of valuable merchandise, were found 20,000 pieces of eight in
ready money. In the meantime the
companies left at Chagre continued their depredations
on the opposite coast of the isthmus, where they captured a large vessel, the
crew of which, ignorant of late events, had sought protection under the guns of
the castle.
While the rovers were thus employed on the ocean,
parties from Panama continued to infest the neighbouring territory, foraying for booty or searching for prisoners, on whom they
exercised the most atrocious cruelties, sparing neither age, sex, nor
condition. Religious persons were the objects of their most refined barbarity,
as they were believed to have counselled the other
inhabitants, both in their first resistance and in the subsequent concealment
of their property. During the perpetration of these outrages, Morgan became enamoured of one of his prisoners, a Spanish lady of great
charms, and the wife of one of the principal merchants. She rejected his infamous
addresses with a firm and heroic spirit; on which account the ruffian commander
treated her with a severity that disgusted even those of his own gang who had
not thrown aside every feeling of manhood. In order to palliate his brutal conduct,
he accused his beautiful captive of treachery, in corresponding with her
countrymen, and of endeavouring to effect her escape.
Meanwhile a
party of his followers, without consulting him, resolved to seize one of the
vessels in the port, in which they were to cruise upon the South Sea till they
should be satiated with spoil, when they designed to establish themselves on
some island, or to return to Europe by the East Indies. But he could spare
neither equipments nor men for this project ; and
having received private information of it, he immediately ordered the mainmast
of the ship to be cut down and burnt, together with every other bark in the harbour. The arms, ammunition, and stores, which had been
secretly collected for this bold enterprise, were forthwith applied to other
purposes.
When at length, after a sojourn of four weeks, the
work of pillage was completed, Morgan prepared to take his departure from
Panama. Beasts of burden, for the conveyance of his plunder, were brought from
every quarter; all the cannon were spiked, and scouts were sent out to learn
what measures had been taken to obstruct his return to Chagre.
It was found that the Spaniards were so utterly disheartened, that they had not
made any preparation either to annoy or cut off his retreat ; and on the 24th
February the Buccaneers left the ruins of Panama with 175 mules laden with
riches, and carrying with them more than 600 prisoners, including women,
children, and slaves. The misery of the wretched captives, thus dragged in the
train of the lawless pirates, surpasses description. It was their belief that
they would be carried to Jamaica, England, or to some wild and distant country,
to be sold for slaves; and with a cruel cunning the fierce seaman heightened
these fears, that he might the more readily extort the ransom which he demanded
for their freedom. It was in vain that the women, throwing themselves at his
feet, supplicated permission to remain amidst the ruins of their former homes,
or to seek shelter in the woods with their husbands and children. His only
answer was,” that he came not thither to listen to lamentations and cries, but
to get money, which unless he obtained, he would assuredly transport them all
unto such places, whither they cared not to go”. Three days were granted to
them for considering the conditions of the ransom; and some were so fortunate
as to be able to redeem themselves, while others were rescued by contributions
made by their neighbours. With the remaining captives
the pirates pursued their march onward, making new prisoners and gathering
fresh spoils on their route.
The conduct of Morgan at this period may serve to
refute many extravagant notions entertained as to the high honour of the freebooters in their transactions with one another. Having halted at a
convenient place, in the midst of the wilderness, about half-way to Chagre, he assembled his followers, and exacted their
consent to a proposal, not only that all plunder should be surrendered to the common
stock, but also that each man should be searched. He himself was the first to
submit to this degrading scrutiny, though it was suspected that his motive for
enforcing the ordeal was a desire to conceal his fraudulent dealing with his
associates. The French who accompanied the expedition were indignant at treatment
so much at variance with the usages of the Gentlemen Rover ; but they were the
weaker party, and resistance would have been vain.
The remainder of the journey was performed by water.
When they arrived at Chagre, the commander, not knowing
how to dispose of his unredeemed prisoners, despatched them by sea to Porto Bello, making them bear to the governor of that city a
demand for money, in name of ransom for the castle of Chagre.
To this message the other replied, that he might make of the fortress what he
pleased, for not a ducat should be given to procure its safety or surrender.
As there was no immediate hope of farther plunder in
this quarter, nothing remained but to divide the spoils already acquired. The
shares fell so far short of the expectations of the crews, that they broke out into
loud murmurs, and even accused their chief of secreting the richest of the
jewels for his own use. Two hundred pieces of eight assigned by him to each man
was considered a very trifling proportion of the plunder of so wealthy a city,
and a miserable recompense for the toils and dangers undergone in assaulting
it. The discontent at last assumed so serious an aspect, that Morgan, who well
knew the temper of his fraternity, deemed it advisable to depart in secret. He
immediately caused the walls of Chagre to be
destroyed, conveyed the guns on board his own ship, and, followed by one or two
vessels which were commanded by persons in his confidence, sailed for Jamaica,
leaving his enraged associates destitute of every necessary. Those who
accompanied him were Englishmen, who, as the French firmly believed, connived
at his frauds and shared in his gains. They would instantly have pursued him to
sea, and the Spaniards might have seen the Buccaneers divided and fighting one
against another, had the force of the deserted party not been so small as to
render an encounter with the other altogether hopeless. Here the former
separated to seek their fortunes in different quarters, none of them much
enriched by the misery and devastation they had inflicted on Panama.
On his arrival at Jamaica, laden with plunder and
elated by his recent success, Morgan endeavoured once
more to levy forces for the establishment of the independent state which he was
still desirous to found at Santa Katalina, and of
which, as he was already generalissimo of the Buccaneers, he himself might hope
to be the prince. But circumstances were still unfavourable to this project. Lord John Vaughan, the newly-appointed governor of Jamaica,
had received orders for the strict enforcement of the treaty concluded with
Spain in the previous year. He was directed also to proclaim pardon and to
offer a grant of lands to such of the pirates as might choose to cultivate them
in quiet; while depredations on the settlements of that nation were at the same
time forbidden under severe penalties. But no edict, however rigorous, could at
once tame down the adventurous seaman into a peaceful planter, or confine to
thirty-five acres of ground him who had for years freely roamed over sea and
land, reaping his harvest with the sword wherever men of greater industry had
sown it. Rather than sink into the tranquil life of the agriculturist many of
the English freebooters chose to join the Flibustiers at Tortuga, or to become logwood-cutters in the Bay of Campeachy.
In the course of the next year a war broke out between Great Britain and
Holland, which enabled some of them to resume their former calling ; and both
classes of rovers cruised for a short time against the Dutch, with as much zeal
as they were wont to pursue their old enemies the Spaniards.
Before quitting this part of the subject, it may not
be improper to notice the termination of Morgan’s career. In the period which
elapsed between the plunder of Panama and the year 1680, by address and
interest, or, more probably, by means of his ill-gotten wealth, he obtained
from Charles II the honour of knighthood, and was
afterwards appointed Deputy-governor of Jamaica. Though it was believed that he
still secretly shared in the plunder acquired by the pirates, he treated many
of his old comrades with great severity. Under his administration several were
hanged, and others were delivered up to the authorities at Carthagena,
as was reported, for the price of blood, a suspicion which his selfish
character renders not improbable. But the strictness with which he exercised
justice on his old friends and countrymen could not induce the Spaniards to
place confidence in him; they suspected him of secretly favouring the Buccaneers, whose numbers had again increased ; and after the accession of
James II they succeeded in having him removed from his office and committed to
prison in England, where he lay several years.
The same unwise restrictions and troublesome
interference which encouraged the system of buccaneering in its commencement,
now fostered it once more. France took an active part in this mistaken policy.
The regulations adopted by its government for the management of the West India
trade, and the partial and oppressive administration of colonial affairs, more
than any other circumstance tended to recruit the ranks of the freebooters ;
for men disturbed in their peaceful industry by vexatious prohibitions and
monopolies readily placed themselves beyond the law, which they regarded more
as an annoyance than a protection.
In 1683 the adventurers, led by three noted chiefs, Van
Horn, Granmont, and Laurent de Graaf,
took by stratagem the city of Vera Cruz in the Gulf of Mexico. This was considered
the most brilliant exploit that had yet been achieved by the Flibustiers. Their fleet consisted of twelve ships, having
on board more than 1000 men, among whom were many English, though none of them
held a high command.
They had received information that two Spanish vessels
of great tonnage were expected at Vera Cruz from the Caraccas.
In consequence of these tidings a number of the most daring embarked in two of
their largest ships; on coming in sight of the city they hoisted Spanish colours, and, with all their canvass set, steered directly
for the port, as if chased by the other vessels of their own fleet, which in
the mean while appeared at a distance crowding all sail after them. The
inhabitants, believing that the foremost ships were those the arrival of which
they had expected, allowed them to anchor within the harbour ; and in the middle of the night the freebooters having surprised the fort, in
a short time made themselves masters of the town. The people were shut up in
the churches, at the doors of which barrels of gunpowder were placed, with
sentinels beside them, holding lighted matches ready to produce an explosion on
the slightest symptom of revolt. The city was thus pillaged without molestation
from the inhabitants; and the famished prisoners were afterwards glad to
purchase their freedom on any terms which their conquerors chose to dictate.
Ten millions of livres were demanded, but when the
half of that sum had been paid, the sudden appearance of a body of troops, and
of a fleet of seventeen sail, caused the invaders to make a precipitate
retreat. Carrying with them 1500 slaves, and laden with booty, they boldly
sailed through the hostile squadron, which did not venture to fire a single
gun. They might even have attacked the Spaniards, had they not been more
anxious to preserve their plunder than desirous of a barren victory over ships
carrying no cargoes.
Fortunately for the freedom and repose of the Spanish
colonists, no Buccaneer corps could long act in harmony. Their lawless
confederations were dissolved as rapidly as they were formed; and those between
the French and English seldom endured to the conclusion of an expedition. On
the present occasion they, speedily separated in anger; the former, on pretext
of a quarrel which they had artfully fomented, withholding the due share of
pillage from their allies. The more recent cruises of these robbers indeed were
seldom distinguished by the honour and fidelity which
are said to have marked their first exploits. The Flibustier sought but a shallow excuse to plunder the Buccaneer, who, on the other side,
lost no opportunity of retaliation.
The tardy though now earnest efforts of France and
Britain to crush the Brethren of the Coast; the increasing military and
maritime strength of the Spanish colonists; and the magnificent ideas entertained
of the wealth of Peru, were powerful motives in urging the Sea Rovers, whether
French or English, to abandon for a wider region a field which was too narrow
for their augmented numbers. Their estimate of the riches of the western shores
was founded on the circumstance that in the course of a few years a new city of
Panama had arisen, which in splendour and wealth
eclipsed the desolated town. The Peruvian coast and the South Sea presented a
scene which neither France nor England could reach; and as to any opposition at
the hands of the indolent and effeminate inhabitants, the expedition of Morgan
had taught them how little it was to be dreaded. In the new design of crossing
the continent, and searching for untried regions of victory and spoliation,
they were urged rather by rapacity, and by the desire of escaping from the
selfish severity of the chief officers in the West India islands, than by any
enlightened or comprehensive plan of operations. The ideas of conquest
entertained by them were limited to the plunder of a city or a ship, to plate,
silks, and pieces of eight ; nor were their enjoyments and pleasures of a more
liberal or elevated nature.
We here close
this outline of the history and proceedings of the Buccaneers. All that is
interesting in their subsequent career, from the plundering of Vera Cruz till
their decay and suppression, is closely interwoven with the personal adventures
of Dampier, which we are now about to trace. In the narrative of this
remarkable navigator, instead of monotonous details of fraud, violence, and
cruelty, on which it has been painful to linger, the reader is gratified with
researches in natural science, and with pictures of life and manners which have
never yet, among the multitude of succeeding voyagers, fallen under the notice
of a more acute observer, or of a delineator more faithful, and occasionally
more glowing and poetical.
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