In the wake of the buccaneers

by A. Hyatt Verrill

Seldom, however, was it necessary to inflict any [[235]]of these punishments, for it was extremely rare for a buccaneer to violate his oath or break his promises. It was largely this remarkable loyalty, this honor among themselves, their wonderful organization, their supreme confidence in their leaders, that enabled the buccaneers successfully to engage trained troops outnumbering them ten to one, to storm and take supposedly impregnable fortresses, and to sack towns in the heart of the enemy’s country. To be sure, the prominent members of the brotherhood were born leaders, able executives, men of almost superhuman bravery and physical strength; in almost any legitimate undertaking they would have succeeded as well as in their chosen profession of piracy, and their personal courage and magnetism caused their followers to look upon them almost as demigods. 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. To be sure, they were men to whom fighting and pillage were as the very breath of life, and in those days, when a man’s life was valued at [[236]]only one thousand pieces of eight (approximately one thousand dollars), the bait was large enough to warrant any one taking long chances. Not infrequently a successful foray would result in so vast an amount of loot that when the prizes were divided even the common sailors would receive as much as five thousand pieces of eight as their share for a few weeks’ work. The purchasing power of such a sum was then equivalent to about a quarter of a million at the present time. We can readily imagine what risks men of the rough, buccaneer type would take to-day, what hardships they would undergo, and what atrocities they would be willing to commit with a reward of quarter of a million dollars dangling before their eyes, and with virtually no risk of punishment for their actions.

ROCK BRASILIANO

BARTOLOMEW PORTUGUESE.

Moreover, the great buccaneer leaders rose almost without exception from the rank and file, by sheer force of character as well as through savagery and cruelty, and very often they were chosen by popular vote of the men. Roche or Rock Brasiliano, a German by birth, who was given his nickname because he had lived long in Brazil, was thus elected captain by men who with him deserted their ship after a disagreement with their commander. Within a few days, this fellow who hitherto had been an inconspicuous sailor succeeded in taking [[237]]a great Spanish galleon and a vast amount of loot. This at once gave him prestige as a leader, and followers flocked to his standard. But Brasiliano was a degenerate and brutal rascal, who, in the words of Esquemelling (who served under him) “had no good behavior or government over himself in his domestic or private affairs and would oftentimes show himself brutal or foolish, running up and down the streets in drink, beating and wounding whom he met.” A most unpleasant personage to have about, even in a buccaneer town! His cruelty was such as even to bring protests from his fellow pirates, his favorite pastime being to roast prisoners alive on revolving spits over slow fires. But he was undeniably brave, and on one occasion, when shipwrecked on the coast of Yucatan and marching overland with less than thirty survivors from his ill-fated ship, Brasiliano and his men attacked and routed over one hundred Spanish cavalrymen. Taking possession of the Dons’ horses, they continued on their way, and made themselves masters of the Spanish fleet riding to anchor off the coast of Campeche. Brasiliano was a resourceful scoundrel, and when later he was cast into a dungeon after being captured during an espionage tour of the city of Campeche, which he planned to take, he won his freedom by sending the Spanish [[238]]governor a letter purporting to come from the commandant of a buccaneer flotilla and threatening dire vengeance if the prisoner were not instantly released.

John Davis, a native Jamaican, also was elected captain and later admiral of the buccaneers because of his signal bravery as a common mariner. His most noteworthy venture was the sacking of San Juan, Nicaragua, and the taking of over fifty thousand dollars’ worth of loot. Later he attacked and sacked St. Augustine, Florida, without the loss of a man. Moreover, Davis, according to his historians, was a gentlemanly rascal and very “kind and considerate even when in his cups,” a decided contrast to Brasiliano in this respect.

Probably the most atrociously cruel of the buccaneers who made Tortuga their home was Francis L’Ollonais (usually spelled Lolonais), who, born in France, was sold as a slave in the West Indies, and, escaping, reached the French settlement at Tortuga. Like Brasiliano and others, Lolonais was for some time an ordinary seaman, but his daring and ability attracted the attention of Governor de la Place, who provided the promising young pirate with a ship and grub-staked him in the gay game of buccaneering. For a time Lolonais was extremely lucky and took ship after ship and sacked town [[239]]after town successfully, meanwhile piling up a comfortable fortune for himself and his sponsor, Monsieur de la Place. But the inhumanities he practised were so unspeakable that even his own men became disgusted with him. Moreover, his fortunes turned, and after he had lost his ship on the coast of Yucatan his men were routed and he himself was seriously wounded. Eventually, however, by marching overland, he reached Campeche, entered the city in disguise, secured the services of a few slaves, and in a small boat returned to Tortuga. Here he equipped an expedition and sailed for Maracaibo, which he took and held for over two months, finally departing, after having committed every form of atrocity and abomination, with booty valued at more than half a million dollars.

Thus having recouped his fortunes and again established himself in the favor of his fellows and the governor, this “most execrable scoundrel,” as Esquemelling calls him, set sail to ravish the coasts of Cuba and Central America. For a time he succeeded beyond all expectations, taking countless ships and towns, his blood-lust and cruelty ever increasing with his victories. He had, in fact, become a veritable monster in human form, no doubt actually insane, until his men openly expostulated. The culmination came when, in Honduras, marching [[240]]on Puerto Caballos, Lolonais took a number of Spanish prisoners, whom he questioned regarding the routes to the city. Being dissatisfied with the replies, he flew into a passion and, seizing one of the prisoners, he slashed open the fellow’s breast with his cutlass, tore out his still living heart, and began to bite and gnaw at it with his teeth, like a ravenous beast. Shortly after this cannibalistic exhibition of his fury he was again shipwrecked, losing all the booty he had won and many of his men. Nothing daunted, Lolonais prepared to build a long-boat in which to continue his depredations. At the mouth of the San Juan River in Nicaragua he was attacked by Spaniards and Indians, and most of his surviving men were killed. Defeated for the first time, he decided to go southward and attack Cartagena, depending, as was the custom of the buccaneers, upon securing canoes and provisions from the Kuna Indians of Darien. But so utterly despicable had he been that even the savage Kunas had turned against him. To quote Esquemelling once more:

Hither L’Ollonais came (being rather brought by his evil conscience that cried for punishment of his crimes) thinking to act in this country his former cruelties. But the Indians within a few days after his arrival took him prisoner and tore him to pieces alive, throwing his body limb by limb into the [[241]]fire and his ashes into the air, to the intent no trace or memory might remain of such an infamous inhuman creature. Thus ended the life and history and miserable death of that infernal wretch L’Ollonais who, full of horrid, execrable and enormous deeds, and also debtor to so much innocent blood, died by cruel and butcherly hands, such as his own were in the course of his life.