‘No, no, Captain Archemboe,’ quoth our commander; ‘they tried, but having failed, we mean to have our revenge.’
‘What! and you have left the wild bulls and are for the sea again? It doth thee honour, man. Hunters are but gentlemen butchers after all. The sea, sir—the sea, with a tight ship, and tight lads for a crew, and reasonable good luck among the galleons—that, sir, is the field, and these be the chances for gentlemen! They tell me that Davis hath come in from the main after a very good cruise, so now I am bound shoreward to see my ancient friend, who, I warrant thee, will screw gold out of the Spaniards, though he squeeze them till it distil at each pore. I give you good day—I give you good day!’
And so, calling to an attendant negro, this formidable gentleman passed on. Captain Jem told us that his name was Crashaw, and that he had been a valiant buccaneer under Mansneldt, but was now retired from the sea, and very rich. He cultivated considerable plantations, and had shares in many privateers. Our object was, however, first to see a person of Captain Jem’s acquaintance, who was an old man, a money-lender and usurer, and a sort of agent for many of the buccaneers, as it was necessary that we should obtain certain stores upon credit before setting out upon our voyage, and this old man was in use to serve privateers in such matters. Accordingly, we presently came to a long, rambling sort of house, in which was a great open store, full of goods of all kinds, while vast masses of ship furniture and implements, such as stones, anchors, boats, and the like, lay under sheds around. There were many seafaring people viewing the property, and chaffering with the clerks and workmen who sold the goods. But Captain Jem passing through them into the store, amid the bows and congratulations of many there, we followed him through a small door and sundry passages into a distant room, within which we heard a rustling of paper, and presently, Captain Jem pushing open the door, we found ourselves in the company of an aged man, with long white hair, a thin face, and very bright grey eyes, who was seated at a desk, he wearing a dirty, greasy doublet, all ink-stains, and loose pantouffles, or breeches, much too big for him. Upon sight of Captain Jem, he got up hurriedly and shook him very cordially by the hand, saying, like the other, that he never thought to have seen him again, for that the Spaniards were reported to have made but short work of all the English and French hunters on the northern coast of Hispaniola. Upon this Captain Jem told him how we had captured a very fine Spanish vessel, and designed to put to sea again directly; but that in the meantime he must furnish us with sufficient stores and ammunition, and so become a partner in the enterprise. The old man at first shook his head.
‘Look ye,’ said he, ‘little is done now-a-days save by fleets. My good friend Captain Morgan, a very brave man, and wise in those things, ever recommends union. The Spaniards’ treasure-ships commonly sail in squadrons, and heavily armed; and their towns along the coast are very securely guarded, so that there is usually hard fighting before these be come at. However,’ quoth he, ‘I have great confidence in you, Ezra Hoskins—or Stout Jem, as I hear they call you—and provided your crew be such as I approve of, why I will stand the risk of loss in the venture, being well assured that you and your men will do their best for me and for themselves.’
At this, Captain Jem re-assured the old gentleman very warmly, and then it was settled that he should come aboard the ship that evening, to see what might be wanting, and how many guns we could stow. After this he ordered refreshments of spirits and tobacco, and while we were smoking, he called a young clerk, and writing a short letter, gave it him, with instructions that he was to carry it at once to the jailor of the town prison, who would thereupon bring Alonzo Peres before us. The old man, observing that we looked inquiringly at each other, told us that a vessel, in which he had no mean share, being cruising in the Gulf of Darien, had fallen in with and captured a Spanish Barco del Aviso, or packet-boat, which had, however, as usual, thrown her despatches overboard in a sealed leaden case. But the captain of this barco proving, when made a prisoner, a cowardly fellow who would reveal all he knew of the movements of the richly laden ships belonging to his countrymen, the English had kept this man a prisoner on board, while they dismissed his comrades in a piragua, intending to get all the information they could out of him.
‘Therefore,’ quoth our old gentleman, who I found was called Pratt—‘therefore, we will have him here, and examine him. The bark which took him has gone to the Pearl Islands on the Mosquito shore, and perhaps he can give some information which may guide you on your cruise.’
So presently the Spaniard was brought in pinioned, and led by two men. He was a very big man, but with scowling and mean features; and by his air and complexion, he seemed to have been lying weeping in the straw of his dungeon. On seeing us, he immediately began, in the Spanish language, to pray, in the name of all things holy, that we should dismiss him, and let him go back to the mainland to his daughter Paquitta, whom he loved very dearly, pitiably exclaiming that he was a poor man, who had been ruined; still that he wished the English no harm, and would pray for them for ever, if they would only let him go.
But Pratt cut him short in his lamentings, and proceeded to ask, in Spanish, which he spoke very fluently, a great number of questions, as to the trade between Carthagena and Old Spain, and as to when certain richly-laden ships—the names whereof Pratt had at hand in a great register—would sail out of that port. To all this the Spaniard replied very amply and humbly, and said, in particular, that a large ship, in which was embarked a considerable quantity of pieces of eight, and silver plate to a much greater amount, but he could not say exactly how much, would probably be ready for sea, and put out in about two mouths’ time. This ship carried, he informed us, a private venture, and would not have convoy. Moreover, she was old, and a very slow sailer, and that the merchant who freighted her was the more confident that she would escape, inasmuch as it was reported and believed in Carthagena, that all the buccaneers were upon the point of joining their strength in Jamaica, and landing about Porto Bello, with the intention of crossing the isthmus, and making a descent upon Panama and the shores of the South Sea. This account the traitor confirmed with abundance of oaths, calling upon us to believe him the more, inasmuch as, quoth he, ‘I have now no reason to tell you a lie; I stand in your power, and if you hear more certain news, which is likely, and it contradict what I have said, why I am in your hands to work your will on!’ And with that the pitiful-hearted creature began to sob and weep again. Truly, I had never seen so small a soul in so big, lusty, and goodly a body.
Having made his disclosures, Pratt told the Spaniard that he should no more go to prison, but live there in his house, and if all turned out to be true as he had stated, that he would have his liberty, and, it might be, a reward beside. So he being dismissed, we talked the thing over, and determined to propose to the crew a cruise on the Darien coast, and perhaps to look into the Gulf of Venezuela. We then took leave of Mr. Pratt with many courtesies, and returned towards the beach. On our way hither, we heard a great tumult and clamour, and, turning down a narrow lane into the street from whence it proceeded, saw, what was to me a new and strange sight. In an open space, which partially commanded the sea, and backed by a great tavern with verandahs and galleries, was assembled a crowd of people, men and women, white, brown, and black, drinking, smoking, dicing, and swearing. There were tables and huge benches scattered about, and sitting on these in every attitude, or lying on the ground, not being able either to sit or stand, were the people of this strange company. In the centre of the carousing place, was a great cask with the head knocked out, and from it a half-drunken seaman, with a face of leering shyness, was drawing forth wine in a broken bucket, and pouring it into the glasses, mugs, and pipkins, held out to him on all sides. Most of the men were white seamen, and they sprawled over the tables and benches, with tobacco pipes in their mouths, and waved their glasses, and sang loud catches and songs, in which the shrill screaming voices of the women rose above their hoarse bawling. Most of these women seemed of the sort which frequent the streets in Wapping, and rob the seamen; others were half-bloods, being mulattos; or mustafees—that is to say, three-parts Indian; or quadroons—that is to say, three-parts white. But they were all dressed in flaunting gauds, and the sparkle of jewellery flashed upon their brown skins, as they flung their arms about, and rattled dice, or swallowed liquor like the men. Every now and then a brawl would arise, and knives would straightway glitter in the air, and loud thick voices would shout out oaths and exclamations in English, and French, and Low Dutch. But the general feeling of the revellers being pacific, the combatants would be straightway torn asunder, and perhaps flung upon the ground, to the danger of their bones; after which, the orgies would proceed as before; the men would rush in staggering groups up to the cask, or would produce their dice again, or greasy packs of cards—a species of gambling we learned from the French—and set themselves to play, some with great gravity and in silence, others shouting and yelling as luck turned for or against them, and all of them tossing about handfuls of gold and silver, such as dollars and doubloons, as though the money had been dirt; until, perhaps, a party would break out into a loud roaring song, all curses of the Spaniards, which heating them to the highest pitch, they would start up, the women with them, hallooing and screaming like fiends, and capering and jumping, tossing over benches and tables upon the ground, and at last drawing forth, and brandishing their hangers, and firing their pistols in the air!
In the very midst of this riotous assemblage, a man, not very sober, but not very drunk, got upon the top of an empty cask, he being supported at the legs by the same Crashaw we had met, and bawled out in a thundering voice that he was going to sell certain commissions to cruise against and capture Spanish vessels, and that those gentlemen privateers who designed shortly to go to sea again, would do well to hearken, and if possible purchase, as the commissions would be sold very cheap, and their product would be spent in wine, to be drunk out at that present sitting by all the honourable company. At this announcement there was a general uproar of approbation, and Captain Jem, plucking my sleeve, said, that hero might be matter which concerned us, and, having whispered that the man on the cask was Captain Davis, of whom Crashaw had spoken, we made our way through the throng, who indeed received us very cordially, everywhere holding up full glasses of wine and brandy, and pressing us to drink. Meanwhile Davis recognised Captain Jem, and, jumping down from the cask, bade him welcome. Seats were immediately procured for us, by the summary process of flinging their former occupants on the ground, and we lit pipes and jingled glasses, like the rest; although I do not know a more disgusting thing than when a sober man comes into the company of many who are drunken, and has yet, in a certain degree, to conform to the humour of those about him. From Davis, Captain Jem at once procured such a commission as he thought we wanted. I did not see what mighty good the document could do us; but it seems to have been a fancy of our commander’s, and for the paper we agreed to pay a couple of doubloons, for which we gave an order upon Mr. Pratt, which was immediately sent into the tavern, and shortly re-appeared in the shape of an additional keg of wine, although that in the cask was not yet, by any means, consumed. But when the Buccaneers saw the fresh liquor, they flung their lighted tobacco-pipes into the old cask, and then, with drunken glee, drew forth great mugs and glassfuls, with which they besprinkled each other, and at last upset the cask, treading, trampling, and dancing in the spilt wine, until they had churned it into red mud.