“It seems funny to think of buccaneers being interested in science or geography or such things,” said Jack, as his father searched through a volume for the chapter he desired. “How did it happen, Dad?”
“One of the members of the expedition was a man named Dampier,” replied his father. “He was the son of an English farmer and at seventeen was apprenticed as a boy aboard a merchant ship sailing to the West Indies. Deserting the ship, he tried his fortunes as a logwood cutter, but finding this held little chance for either riches or excitement, he joined the buccaneers. But Dampier was at heart a naturalist and an author. He was fond of study, was a keen observer and wherever he went he invariably wrote notes [[131]]recording all he had seen and made excellent maps and sketches. One would hardly expect the career of a buccaneer to favor literary work and yet Dampier managed to write an excellent book while on a buccaneer ship. Often he would be obliged to drop pen and paper in the middle of a chapter in order to help his comrades battle with a Spanish ship or take a town, but he kept it up with fanatical persistence, carried his manuscript and his writing materials with him wherever he went and left most valuable records. What a queer picture he must have presented as he sat on a gun carriage busily jotting down notes on natural history or making sketches of the rugged wooded shores of some buccaneers’ lair, which he always speaks of as ‘a particular draught of my own composure,’ while, beside his ink horn, was his loaded pistol and his trusty cutlass ready for any emergency. His copy he kept in a joint of bamboo, which, he says, ‘I stopt at both ends, closing it with Wax so as to keep out any water. In this way I preserved my Journal and other writings from being wet, tho’ I was often forced to swim.’
“And along with the author-naturalist, Dampier, was many another odd character. There was Foster, who spent his hours between battles [[132]]composing sentimental poetry and who wrote ‘Soneyettes of Love’ aboard a buccaneer ship; Richard Jobson, a divinity student and chemist, who carried along with his sword and pistols a well-thumbed Greek Testament which he translated aloud for the edification of his piratical mates, and, lastly, Ringrose, the pilot and navigator, whose carefully kept log has given us the true history of this ‘most dangerous voyage and bold assaults of Captain Bartholomew Sharp.’ ” [[133]]
CHAPTER VIII
A PERILOUS UNDERTAKING
“Among the buccaneers who ravished the Caribbean and the Spanish Main, but who had not joined Morgan in his endeavors, were Captain Bartholomew Sharp, Peter Harris, Richard Sawkins, Captain Cook, Alleston, Row and Macket. As a whole, they were far superior men to Morgan and his kind, although no less daring, and in March, 1680, these various buccaneer leaders chanced to meet at a favorite lair of the corsairs, Bocas del Toro, on the Atlantic coast of what is now Panama. Deploring the lack of rich cities to sack and the difficulty of taking the Spanish galleons, now guarded by armed convoys, and cursing the fate that had decreed peace between Spain and England, the disgruntled buccaneer captains sought for new fields for their activities.
“Morgan’s raid on Panama had proved that there were rich pickings on the Pacific, but the relentless persecution of the buccaneers by the British [[134]]authorities in the Caribbean made life uncomfortable for them, and after a deal of discussion it was agreed that the Pacific coasts held the best promise of fortunes to be won. But to talk of raiding the Dons’ towns and seizing their ships on the Pacific was one thing and to do it was quite a different matter. To sail around the Horn was a long and tedious voyage beset with greatest dangers and to cross by the Gold Road or the Chagres, while possible, was not only perilous, but would be but repeating Morgan’s raid. Then, into their presence, came one Bournano, a French buccaneer, who reported that while peace had been established between the savage Indians of Darien and the Spaniards, yet the Indians were still friendly to the buccaneers and hated the Dons. Indeed, Bournano stated further that the Indians had promised to lead him and his men to a rich town called Tocamora and that he had agreed to return to raid the place as soon as he could secure more ships and men.
“This exactly suited the assembled buccaneers; it was unanimously agreed to join fortunes with the Frenchman, and, supplying their ships with sea turtles and maize, the captains set sail for Darien. The fleet consisted of nine vessels with [[135]]four hundred and seventy-seven men and without adventure they arrived at the San Blas Islands. Here the Indians welcomed them, for the San Blas tribe had, from time immemorial, been allies of the corsairs, but when they learned of the buccaneers’ purpose they frowned upon it. Tocamora, they said, was in a mountainous country; the way was long and rough, it was in an uninhabited district where food was scarce, and the place was not as rich as had been reported. Instead, the Indians suggested that the buccaneers should cross the Isthmus, take the outlying city of El Real de Santa Maria, which was the depot for all the gold from the incredibly rich mines of Darien, and then proceed to attack the new city of Panama. It was a wild, harebrained, daring and almost hopeless scheme, but it appealed to the buccaneers and, aside from Captain Row and Bournano, all agreed to follow the Indians’ advice.
“On April 5, 1680, the buccaneers landed on the mainland three hundred and thirty-one strong, and, leaving a few men and Captains Alleston and Macket to guard the ships, the dauntless buccaneers started on their terrible march, carrying for provisions but three cakes of cassava each and all heavily armed. [[136]]