Buccaneers

“ Imagine a lone ship—and a half-burned, far from seaworthy galleon at that—going pirating in the Pacific where every town, every man, every ship was an enemy; where there was not a friendly harbor in which to lie; where Spanish warships were numerous; where there was no buccaneers’ lair in which to refit or provision and secure men, and where the buccaneers were completely cut off, separated by thousands of miles, from their own countrymen. ”

“ The buccaneers would flock by thousands to the call of Mansvelt, Pierre le Grand, Michael le Basque, Alexandre, John Davis, Lolonais, De Graaf, or Morgan, and, regardless of how perilous the undertaking in hand, would follow them through untold horrors and sufferings, through hunger and thirst, through blood and fire; laughing at death, jeering at privations, and faithful to the last. ”

“ The buccaneers of the olden days were certainly men of the greatest bravery. They did not hesitate to attack well-armed vessels manned by crews much larger than their own, and in later periods they faced cannon and conquered cities. Their crimes were many and vile; but when they committed cruelties they did so in order to compel their prisoners to disclose their hidden treasures, and when they attacked a Spanish vessel, and murdered all on board, they had in their hearts the remembrance that the Spanish naval forces gave no quarter to buccaneers. ”

“ Drive them forward, men!"
The buccaneers sprang at the terrified women and priests, some with weapons out, others with leers and outstretched arms. First one and then another gave way. The only leadership among the sisters and priests lay upon the sand there. What could they do? They picked up the ladders and, urged forward by threats and shouts of the buccaneers under cover of a furious discharge from Hornigold's musketeers, they ran to the walls imploring the Spaniards not to fire upon them. ”

“ When the English attacked Jamaica and wrested it from Spain the buccaneers took a most important part and in many another sea battle, and land attack as well, the British navy and army were mighty glad of the buccaneers’ help. Whatever their sins and their misdeeds may have been, we cannot overlook the fact that they had a most important place in the scheme of things, that they helped make history and that they are entitled to a big niche in the hall of fame of pioneers, colonizers and fighters of America. And there is no need to fear that they will ever be forgotten. ”

“ At first, of course, all the buccaneers were equal. There were none who knew more of buccaneering than the others, all pooled their resources and the captains were elected by vote or won their place through owning a ship or having captured one. But gradually certain men won fame and prestige for their cruelty, their daring or their success, and rapidly rose to recognized leadership and became famous as buccaneer chiefs. ”

“ Are we to get ashore and hunt bullocks? Or is there some convenient town to sack, or some castle to ransom? Or can you guarantee that we shall find a Spaniard on the sea, and get our next dinner from him before we are absolutely starving?"
Captain Wick leaned up against the bulwarks and laughed. "This is like the old hard, wicked times once more, when buccaneers sailed cheerfully against an armada in a canoe—and sometimes took it. It gives me a thrill to be desperate again. ”

“ Her high and ornately gilded poop was in the way, and with axes and hatchets the buccaneers hacked and chopped away the galleries and moldings, knocked off a tier or two of cabins and, hastily boarding it up, mounted guns with their grim muzzles protruding from what once had been the stained glass windows. Ports were cut in bulwarks and topsides, the decks were stripped of all unnecessary gear, the rigging was overhauled, and the ship with the holy name was ready for her most unholy work. ”

“ Great mobs turned out into the streets, and jostled at the soldiers' heels. Here were a brace of these hated buccaneers, and they lusted to have their will on them. The smug citizen men would have smashed them to a pulp with their boot heels if they could have snatched them into reach, and the horrid women would have torn them like vultures with their nails. ”

“ Sounding their trumpets, [98] beating their drums, throwing hats in air; leaping and shouting with joy, the buccaneers, knowing the end of their awful march was over, pitched their camp for the night in preparation of an assault on the morrow.
“But the buccaneers were not to rest in peace. Fifty horsemen appeared, taunting and insulting the English just out of gunshot, and soon the big cannon of the forts began to thunder and roar and the shot fell all about the buccaneers’ camp. ”

“ The orgie of the buccaneers, when one came to measure it up afterwards in the cool blood of the historian, was in reality short, for these disgusting creatures consider lavishness the highest gentility, and waste double what they use. But once the liquor casks were drained, they were ready enough to start out for the next venture.
The sun poured down upon their working with intolerable heat; the beach reeked with the lees of their spilt rum; and the fellows themselves, though they stuck manfully enough to their labours, carried swinging heads and crabbed tempers. ”

“ At first the buccaneers were compelled to make their raids in small boats,—bateaux and pirogues, or dugout canoes,—for they had no ships of their own. But this handicap did not deter them in the least. The fact that a contemplated prize was a great galleon bristling with guns and swarming with armed men did not discourage them, but rather made them the more keen to take her. ”

“ Indeed, even Ringrose and his fellows, hardened to slaughter [143] and bloodshed as they were, were amazed at the butchery they had wrought, and, in their journals, Ringrose and Dampier state that ‘blood ran down the decks in whole streams and not one place upon the ships was found that was free of blood.’ And yet this victory, this awful carnage, had been carried out by sixty-eight buccaneers in frail canoes and small boats, truly a most marvelous feat of daring and bravery, and, more remarkable yet, the buccaneers’ losses amounted to but eighteen killed and twenty-two wounded! ”

“ Here then terminates the History of the Buccaneers of America. Their distinctive mark, which they undeviatingly [p. 324] preserved nearly two centuries, was, their waging constant war against the Spaniards, and against them only. Many peculiarities have been attributed to the Buccaneers in other respects, some of which can apply only to their situation as hunters of cattle, and some existed rather in the writer's fancy than in reality. Mariners are generally credited for being more eccentric in their caprices than other men ”

“ Such were the conditions of life that gave rise to that peculiar class of outlaws and semi-outlaws known as the buccaneers—those pirates, hunters, and freebooters, whose very name has become a synonym of all that is lawless, desperate, godless. ”

“ We hear much of the bold, wild ways of these adventurers; we have been taught by history and tradition to consider them devoid of redeeming qualities, and few of us realize that the buccaneers were far from being true pirates, that they were not alike, that many were corsairs through force of circumstances rather than by choice, that they had their own laws and code of honor, and that they were a most important factor in shaping the [vii] destiny of the New World. To them, incredible as it may seem, we owe an immense debt of gratitude. ”

“ The buccaneers were now greatly reduced in numbers. They had lost twenty-eight killed and eighteen desperately wounded, as well as about a dozen who had fallen into the Spaniards’ hands, and of the original one hundred and forty men who had set sail on the wild adventure in the Trinity a bare seventy now remained who were in condition to work or fight. But lack of men did not trouble Sharp in the least. ”

“ As a result, the ports prospered and became rich through their dealings with the buccaneers; merchants and traders did a lively business, shipyards and outfitting shops sprang into existence; drinking places, gambling houses and every form of vice catered to the corsairs and thrived amazingly, and every one prospered. The buccaneers thus had safe refuges where they could spend their loot, refit their ships and organize their expeditions, and they were careful not to molest or injure the inhabitants or their property. ”

“ A low growl ran through the ranks of the buccaneers at this question. Yet the rapscallions among the crew back of him instantly took up the cry.
"Quarter! Quarter! We surrender! We strike! For heaven's sake——"
"Silence!" roared Morgan—an order which was enforced by the officers and veterans by fierce blows with pistol butts, hilts of swords, and even naked fists. "I would hear the answer of the Spanish captain."
"We give no quarter to pirates and murderers," the other shouted. ”

“ CHAPTER III MORGAN AND HIS ROAD TO FAME
“Ugh!” exclaimed Jack, as his father ceased speaking. “Wasn’t he the most awful creature! Gosh, I always thought the buccaneers were brave men and heroes.”
“There is no question of their bravery,” replied Mr. Bickford, “and L’Ollonois was an exceptionally cruel villain. But as a rule the buccaneers were no more cruel or bloodthirsty than the Spaniards or even their more respectable countrymen. You must remember that human standards have changed a great deal since the days of the buccaneers. In their time human life was held very cheaply. ”

“ The French sent out a governor and there at the very threshold of the Dons’ richest possession the handful of buccaneers lived and plied their trade. But although they were composed of half a dozen different races, one and all hated the Spaniards and soon, not content with buccaneering, they became ambitious and with reckless bravery set out in small canoes with the intention of capturing Spanish ships. It seems incredible that these rough, untrained hunters could seize a heavily armed ship swarming with sailors and soldiers, but nevertheless they did. ”

“ Picking off the Dons whenever they showed their heads above the bulwarks, cutting [142] sheets and braces with their shots, the buccaneers forced their tiny craft under the warships’ sterns, jammed the rudders, and, sinking their own craft to make sure the men must do or die, they swarmed up ropes, chains and quarter galleries onto the Spaniards’ decks.
“Ringrose and his party attacked the Admiral’s ship, and leaping over the bulwarks cut down the Admiral, swept like demons among the Spanish crew, cutting, slashing, shooting and converting the decks to a bloody shambles. ”

“ Gallantly they charged in this new direction, and like furies the buccaneers fought on in their wake. There was no quarter either asked or expected, and if a man was wounded he must struggle on as best he could, or be content to be left by his friends and get despatch from the ravaged householders who followed at the heels of the fight. ”

“ The pillage, the burning, and the cruelty on shore exceeded that which had hitherto been known on the sea. There is generally a great deal more in a town than there is in a ship, and the buccaneers proved themselves to be among the most outrageous, exacting, and cruel conquerors ever known in the world. They were governed by no laws of warfare; whatever they chose to do they did. They respected nobody, not even themselves, and acted like wild beasts, without the disposition which is generally shown by a wild beast, to lie down and go to sleep when he has had enough. ”

“ As it chanced the powder room was aft, and those in the forward portion of the ship could neither use great guns or small arms, and when other pieces were drawn up on the poop, and men stood beside them with smoking lintstocks all ready to fire, the Spaniards had no stomach for a rush, but incontinently surrendered. The prestige of the buccaneers was so great amongst these people, that it saved even the semblance of a skirmish. ”

“ Soon afterwards it was again exposed, and the buccaneers, believing it to be still aboard the admiral, flattered themselves with having the weather-gage. But when the morning broke they found, to their disgust, that this light had been a stratagem, and that they were to leeward. ”

“ No doubt they were defeated repeatedly and nothing said of the matter, and if the Spaniards’ story were told it might read very differently. Now that I have told you of Morgan, of the ruthless buccaneers, such as Portugues, L’Ollonois and their kind, let me tell you of the most remarkable expedition ever undertaken by the buccaneers; a trip without a parallel in history [130] and which, for sheer daredevil bravery, indomitable courage, splendid seamanship and wonderful adventures is worthy of a place in the history of the greatest navigators and discoverers of the world. ”

“ Many of the buccaneers were exceedingly interesting characters, and the pity is that, aside from Esquemelling and one or two others, they had no chroniclers, no biographers to leave us a true account of their lives, to give us a real insight into their natures, their ideals, and their aims, and to thrill us with their adventures. A few have become famous, have lived on in history and legend ”

“ Killing the wounded and stripping the dead of their arms and equipment, the buccaneers continued on the journey mounted on the horses of the dead Dons, the total loss of Brasiliano’s forces being but two killed and two wounded. Quite encouraged by their success, the buccaneers approached a little port and saw a boat lying at anchor in the harbor and protecting a fleet of canoes that were loading logwood. With little trouble the buccaneers captured the canoes and with wild shouts and yells bore down upon the little gunboat. ”