Pirate Princes and Yankee Jacks / Setting forth David Forsyth's Adventures in America's Battles on Sea and Desert with the Buccaneer Princes of Barbary, with an Account of a Search under the Sands of the Sahara Desert for the Treasure-filled Tomb of Ancient Kings

by Daniel Henderson

CHAPTER III BARBARY AND THE BUCCANEERS

"In lofty strains the bard shall tell

How Truxton fought, how Somers fell,

How gallant Preble's daring host

Triumphed along the Moorish coast,

Forced the proud infidel to treat,

And brought the Crescent to their feet!"

I was straining like a leashed hound to board a ship and fight for my brother's freedom, but no way was open to secure the release of the captives except by diplomacy. As a vent for my feelings in those first weeks of hot rage, I plunged into a study of the history of the Barbary pirates. Every outrage done by them was the occasion for an outburst of vain anger on my part. But was it, after all, vain? Later I had my wish and shared in a campaign to free three hundred American prisoners from captivity in Tripoli.

Meanwhile, we lost no time in sending to Alexander as comforting an answer as we could compose. He had asked that we send his mail to the care of the English consul who, he wrote, had obtained the consent of the Dey to send and receive letters for the American captives.

Dr. Eccleston assured Alexander that Mr. Samuel Smith, Maryland's representative in Congress, had taken an interest in the case and would urge Congress to procure his speedy release. It was easy to predict a swift release—but hard, we soon found, to obtain one. I have heard men joke about the law's delays, but the delays of diplomats are longer yet. Alexander's captivity was to endure for years!

Fortunately for me in my pursuit of knowledge concerning these buccaneers, I could talk to the rector who had years before traveled through Mohammedan countries. He poured out to me freely his recollections of the miserable nations that occupied the African coast of the Mediterranean.

In books concerning these pirates his library was not lacking. He was a great bookworm—some of his people whispered that he would trade the soul of one of his flock for a rare book. He made friends with skippers, it was said, mainly to have them bring him the latest books from abroad. By trading with sailors, schoolmasters and preachers, he had acquired many volumes, among which were many books on travel and exploration.

Wrecking and piracy had been followed by the inhabitants of the communities bordering on the Mediterranean since the time of Odysseus. The rector read to me from Thucydides how Minos of Greece used his fleet to "put down piracy as far as he was able, in order that his revenues might come in." From Homer he read the passage, "Do you wander for trade or at random like pirates over the sea?"

WRECKING AND PIRACY HAD BEEN FOLLOWED BY THE COMMUNITIES
BORDERING ON THE MEDITERRANEAN SINCE THE EARLIEST DAYS.

In the first half of the last century before Christ, I learned, Cicilia and Crete were the chief buccaneering nations on the Mediterranean. Rome had ruined all of her rivals, and therefore made no effort to guard the seas from corsairs. Refugees from all nations joined the pirate fleets of Cicilia and Crete. The small communities surrounding these pirate states were forced to become allies of the pirate rulers. In addition to seizing ships and goods, the buccaneers became slavers, attacking small towns and carrying away men, women and girls. The island of Delos became a clearing-house for this traffic, and in one day ten thousand slaves were sold. It was said that while the harbor of Delos was supposed to offer mariners protection from pirates, the crew of a ship that anchored alongside a merchant vessel might be the kind that made merry with the merchantman's crew on shore, and, after learning of her cargo and destination, might follow her out of the harbor to cut the throats of her crew on the high seas.

Along the southern coast of the Mediterranean, in that part which is now called Barbary or Northern Africa, where Morocco, Algeria, Tunis and Tripoli lie, the galleys of Phoenician traders roved in these early times, exploring the rivers.

Following these traders came Carthaginian warriors who founded colonies upon this coast. Among these communities was the famous city of Carthage, that in time brought forth the mighty leader Hannibal.

Then came the Romans, who conquered the Carthaginians and turned their cities to ruins. Thus the entire territory became Roman African colonies.

Over six centuries after the birth of Christ, the Saracens began to invade this region. Their wars continued until by the eighth century all Roman authority was swept away, and Mohammedan rule was established throughout the country.