“Gosh, that was a good joke on the buccaneers,” laughed Jack. “Now do tell us more about Ringrose, Dad. He must have been a fine fellow. Just as soon as you get through I’m going to borrow that log of his and read it from beginning to end.”
“Me, too,” cried Fred with enthusiasm. “And I’m going to read Esquemeling.”
“You’ll find both Esquemeling’s and Ringrose’s log most interesting,” said Mr. Bickford, “and you’ll be amused at the map. See here—this is the chart by which Ringrose steered the Trinity. See how the Amazon and the Rio de la Plata are pictured as one huge estuary of the sea, making part of Brazil and all of Uruguay and Paraguay into a great island. Very little was known of South America in those days, although, as you will notice, the West Indies and Central America were accurately shown.”
“Golly, I don’t see how they ever did get [[175]]around,” declared Fred, as the two boys studied the ancient chart. “Hadn’t any one else ever sailed around the Horn before?”
“Yes,” replied his uncle. “Vasco da Gama had done so, and Drake and Magellan had gone through the Straits, but no buccaneer had ever attempted it and none had sailed from the Pacific around into the Atlantic. But the success of Sharp’s voyage and Ringrose’s experiences led the way for many a later buccaneer raid into the South Sea, as they called the Pacific. Buccaneering was no longer a safe profession in the Caribbean, for any buccaneers caught were tried and hanged as pirates, but the South Seas were out of England’s jurisdiction and offered a fine field. It is unnecessary to go into details of all the buccaneering, or perhaps I might say pirating, cruises that were made to the Pacific, but it is well to learn a little of the more noteworthy ones, especially as our old friends Dampier, Wafer and Ringrose took prominent parts in them.
“The first buccaneers to sail for the ‘South Sea’ after Sharp’s exploits became known, set forth from Chesapeake Bay in August, 1683. Their ship was the Revenge, of eighteen guns and seventy men, in charge of Captain John Davis, who [[176]]had won considerable fame as a pirate by sacking St. Augustine, Florida. With Davis went Cook, who had accompanied Sharp, as well as Wafer, the surgeon, who had received such unappreciated honors at the hands of the Darien Indians. Off the coast of Sierra Leone they seized a Danish ship of thirty-six guns and, finding her a much better vessel than their own, at once transferred their belongings to the prize and scuttled the Revenge. Then, renaming their new ship the Bachelors’ Delight, the corsairs headed for Cape Horn and reached Juan Fernandez without mishap. Here they fell in with another buccaneer ship, the Nicholas, and together the two cruised northward to the Gulf of Nicoya, taking many prizes and attacking, with considerable success, the smaller towns on the South America coast. In the Gulf of Nicoya Cook died and Davis was left as sole commander-in-chief. Those on the Nicholas, however, were bent on pirating through the East Indies and shortly after Cook’s death parted from the Bachelors’ Delight and set off on their own account, leaving a grewsome trail through the South Seas and along the African coast on their way to England. Davis and his company confined their activities to the American [[177]]coast until they met the Cygnet at the Island of La Plata. The latter, which had been fitted out as a trader in London, had soon abandoned peaceable pursuits and had become a full-fledged pirate with our old friend Ringrose as navigator or pilot and Dampier, the naturalist-author, as quarter-master, with an old buccaneer named Swan in command. The two ships at once agreed to keep together and we may be sure there were wildly hilarious times when Dampier, Ringrose, Wafer and the others once more met, here in this out-of-the-world spot in the Pacific. Remembering the rich pickings they had had under Sharp, the veterans urged attacks on Paita, Guayaquil, Panama and other towns as they had done in the Trinity. But the Dons had grown wise; corsairs were no longer rare or unexpected upon the Pacific, and a warm reception met the buccaneers at every town they visited. They took many prizes nevertheless, and we may be quite sure that no more cargoes of ‘tin’ were cast into the sea.
“For several weeks they blockaded Panama, and while off this port they were reënforced by Captains Grogniet and L’Escayer, French buccaneers, who with two hundred Frenchmen and one hundred and eighty English had crossed the [[178]]Isthmus. Shortly after, Captain Townley with one hundred and eighty buccaneers arrived by the same route, and a little later two hundred and sixty more French appeared. With a total force of nine hundred and sixty men, which Davis divided among ten captured ships, the buccaneers felt they were strong enough to withstand anything and impatiently awaited the arrival of the plate fleet from Lima.
“But when, on May 28, 1685, the long-expected treasure fleet hove in sight the buccaneers’ hearts fell. For the Dons had been warned and instead of helpless galleons carrying the vast fortune in gold and bullion, the pirates saw, to their consternation, that the plate was convoyed by six great Spanish warships, six smaller sloops of war and two fire ships. The buccaneers had no mind to commit suicide and after firing a few defiant-shots at long range they very wisely pulled up anchors and sailed away, leaving the triumphant Dons to discharge their precious cargo in peace.
“Arriving at the Island of Quibo, the buccaneers met still another party of pirates and almost at once dissensions arose between the French and British corsairs. As a result, Davis and his men sailed north, plundered Leon and Rio Lexa in [[179]]Nicaragua, and, learning that a plate ship was due from Manila, they cruised along the coasts of Mexico and Central America awaiting its arrival. But they were not content to wait patiently and must needs raid the coastal towns, with the result that over sixty of Swan’s men were cut off and completely wiped out by a Spanish ambuscade. This was the most severe blow the pirates had ever received on the South Sea, and among the killed were several officers and the pilot, Basil Ringrose.
“Disappointed at missing the galleon and furious at the loss of his men, Swan accused Davis of negligence and a severe quarrel arose among the buccaneers. This ended in Swan setting sail for the Philippines, where his men mutinied and the unfortunate captain and thirty-six others were marooned, the Cygnet sailing on without them. Among the mutineers was Dampier, still, no doubt, keeping his journal in his ‘joyente of bamboo,’ and very interestingly he wrote of the Celebes, Timor, New Holland and Australia. At the Nicobar Islands Dampier had had enough of pirating, and with a few companions, deserted the Cygnet and by hook or crook managed to reach England in safety, where he devoted the rest of [[180]]his life to publishing his journals and his ‘special draughts’ for the edification of his less adventurous countrymen.