The boys' book of buccaneers

by A. Hyatt Verrill

“No,” his father assured him. “As a rule they treated their prisoners with consideration. Some of the more bloodthirsty tortured and butchered them out of hand, but in most cases the prisoners were either held for ransom or were set ashore or turned loose in boats. It was, in a way, to the buccaneers’ advantage to give quarter, for they knew that in case any of their number fell into the Spaniards’ hands they would be treated according to the way they had treated Spanish captives—or perhaps worse—for the Dons were past masters in the art of devising most atrocious tortures.

“And before I tell you of Morgan and his deeds let me point out one or two other matters which will help you to understand much that would otherwise puzzle you boys and which is little known. In several places—as in the Isle of Pines off Cuba—the Spaniards were friendly with the [[45]]buccaneers and gladly aided them, while the corsairs made it a point always to pacify and maintain friendly relations with the Indians. This was a most important matter for them. All along the South and Central American coasts were Indian tribes, and the buccaneers depended very largely upon the red men for provisions, canoes and guides. The Indians hated the Dons and willingly joined the buccaneers against them, and even the most savage tribesmen usually welcomed the freebooters and helped them in every way. Moreover, they knew the country and were most valuable as guides and pilots, and there are innumerable records of the buccaneers showing the greatest forbearance towards the savages. Even when they were attacked by Indians with whom they had not established relations they refrained from retaliating, but either propitiated the natives or moved bag and baggage from the locality, and the most severe punishment was meted out to the buccaneers by their leaders if they molested the Indians or interfered with them in any way. As a result, many of their greatest triumphs were made possible by their Indian allies.

“But to return to Morgan. He was, by birth, a Welshman, the son of a well-to-do farmer, but his [[46]]imagination being fired by tales of adventure in the West Indies he ran away from home and reached Bristol with the intention of shipping on a vessel bound to Barbados. But young Morgan knew little of what was to befall him. According to a common custom of those days the master of the ship sold him as a bond servant, or in other words a slave, as soon as the ship reached Barbados, and the embryo buccaneer found himself far worse off than as a farmer’s boy in Wales. Nevertheless, he served his time, secured his liberty and made his way to Jamaica, which was then the headquarters of the English buccaneers.

“And now let me digress a bit and explain how a British colony happened to be a notorious lair of the buccaneers. You remember that I told you about Tortuga and how the British and French freebooters had disputes and dissensions and that the English corsairs transferred their headquarters to Port Royal, Jamaica. At that time, you must remember, Spain and England were at war, and the British authorities gladly gave commissions as privateers to the buccaneer leaders. Thus they were looked upon, not as pirates, but as auxiliaries of the British navy, and even after [[47]]peace was declared and they continued to prey upon the Spaniards, the authorities winked at them. They brought vast sums to the island ports, spent it recklessly and freely, and disposed of the merchandise they had taken for a mere song. 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. Indeed, Jamaica’s prosperity was largely built upon the trade with the corsairs, and not until infamous Port Royal was utterly destroyed by an earthquake on June 7, 1692, and the ‘wickedest city in the world’ slid bodily into the sea, with all its riches and over three thousand of its inhabitants, did it cease to be a clearing house, a gigantic ‘fence’ and a haven for the buccaneers. Then the few survivors, frightened, feeling that the wrath of God and His vengeance for their wickedness [[48]]had been visited upon them, moved across the bay and founded the present city of Kingston and paved the way for a respectable and honest development of the island.”

“Gosh, I should think some one would go down there and get back all that treasure!” exclaimed Fred.

“It’s rather strange that no one has attempted it,” said Mr. Bickford. “The water is not deep—in calm weather the outlines of the ruins may still be traced under the sea—and the native colored folk tell weird tales of ghostly pirate ships tacking back and forth at dead of night, striving to find the lost port; of the bells of the pirates’ church tolling through storms from beneath the waves, and of spectral figures walking the beach and gazing seaward as though awaiting ships that never come.”

“Did the buccaneers have a church?” cried Jack in surprise.

“I don’t wonder you ask,” replied his father. “Yes, that was one of the odd things about them. Altogether the buccaneers were most paradoxical rascals. With all their villainies many of them were deeply religious at times and there are instances—as I shall tell you later—of crews actually [[49]]mutinying because their captains made them work on Sunday and did not hold services aboard their ships. They seemed to feel that their notoriously wicked stronghold at Port Royal was not complete without a church and so they built one. They fitted it with bells taken from some raided church of the Dons, they provided altar pieces, vestments, candelabra and holy vessels of gold and silver, chalices set with priceless jewels, even paintings and tapestries torn and looted from the desecrated churches and cathedrals of the Spanish towns, and attended services in a house of God made a mockery and a blasphemy by its fittings won by blood and fire and the murder of innocent men, women and children.

“And it was to this den of iniquity, this world-famed lair of the buccaneers, that young Morgan came after gaining his liberty in Barbados. Perhaps he had no idea of turning corsair and intended to get honest employment or even to make his way back to his father’s farm in Wales. But whatever his purpose may have been he found no ready means of earning a livelihood and enlisted as a seaman on a buccaneer ship. He was an apt pupil and was thrifty, and after the first two or three voyages he had saved enough money from [[50]]his share of plunder to purchase a ship, or rather a controlling interest in one. He now was a full-fledged buccaneer captain and in his own vessel set sail for Yucatan, where he took several prizes and returned triumphantly to Jamaica. Here he met an old corsair named Mansvelt, who was busy organizing an expedition to pillage the towns along the Main, and Mansvelt, seeing in Morgan a most promising young villain, offered him the post of Vice Admiral of his fleet. With fifteen ships and five hundred men, Mansvelt and Morgan sailed away from Port Royal and swept down on the island of Old Providence—then known as St. Catherine—off the Costa Rican coast, and which at the time was strongly garrisoned by the Spaniards. After a short battle the island surrendered, and the buccaneers, after plundering the place, destroying the forts and burning the houses, sailed off with their holds crowded with prisoners. These they put safely ashore near Porto Bello and then cruised along the coasts of Panama and Costa Rica. The Dons, however, were everywhere on the lookout and every town swarmed with troops. Realizing that an attempt to take the places would be well nigh useless the buccaneers returned to St. Catherine, where they had left [[51]]one hundred of their men, to find that the buccaneer in charge—Le Sieur Simon—had repaired the forts and defenses until the place was well nigh impregnable. Mansvelt’s idea was to retain the island as a basis for piratical raids against the mainland, but he realized that he could not expect to hold it with his handful of men, so he set out for Jamaica to enlist the aid of the governor. His Excellency, however, frowned on the proposal. Not that he was unwilling to aid his buccaneer friends, but he realized that any such overt act must reach the ears of His Majesty the King and, moreover, he could ill spare the necessary men and guns from the garrison at Jamaica. Not despairing of carrying out his project, Mansvelt made for Tortuga with the idea of getting help from the French, but before he arrived he died. Meanwhile the buccaneers at St. Catherine realized their reënforcements were not forthcoming and decided to abandon the place, but before this could be done they were attacked by a superior force of Spaniards and surrendered. Evidently, too, the wily Governor of Jamaica had been thinking over the matter and surreptitiously dispatched a party of men and a number of women in a British ship to St. Catherine. Never suspecting that [[52]]the isle had fallen into the Dons’ hands they sailed boldly in and were made prisoners and were transported to Porto Bello and Panama, where the men were forced to labor like slaves at constructing fortifications.

“Morgan now, by Mansvelt’s death, was in command of the fleet, and with the idea of carrying out his former chief’s intentions he wrote letters to various prominent merchants in New England and Virginia, asking for funds and supplies to enable him to retain possession of St. Catherine. Before replies were received, however, he had word of the recapture of the island by the Spaniards and, abandoning this project, set out for Cuba. His original idea was to attack Havana, but deeming his force of twelve ships and seven hundred men too small for this he decided upon Puerto Príncipe—now known as Camagüey—as the town to ravage. This town, which had originally been upon the northern coast of Cuba, had been moved inland to escape the raids of the buccaneers, but this fact did not deter Morgan in the least. Landing upon the coast, Morgan and his men started overland, but unknown to them a Spanish prisoner on one of the ships had managed to escape and, swimming ashore, had made his [[53]]way to the town and had warned the inhabitants. As a result, the people were up in arms, the roads were barricaded, and the buccaneers were forced to approach through the jungle.