“‘Morgan was a man of very great skill—a man made to command men. Had his talents been expended in a good cause, he might have been a blessing to the world, instead of a firebrand and a curse.
“‘The skill with which he could manœuvre his troops was well seen before he left Puerto Velo. For even while the awful plague was still raging, he found out that the Governor of Panama was coming on to attack him and cut off his retreat. He hurriedly brought his ships into the harbour and placed all the collected plunder on board.
“‘Quickly indeed did he repair the ports and remount the guns. Then, with a well-armed but small and well-chosen force, he sallied forth to give battle to the governor.
“‘They hid miles from the town, in a dense, impenetrable jungle, through which the narrow road went winding, every man making a loophole where he could command the advancing foe, certain that his bullet would find a billet in some bosom.
“‘The Spaniards numbered about five hundred, and expecting no such ambuscade, were soon in the very centre of this terrible hornet’s nest.
“‘The signal was given by Morgan himself. No more fatal volley was ever fired. Not a pirate fired at the same man, and one hundred Spaniards bit the dust.
“‘The confusion and terror were fearful to witness, for I myself was there, though I fired but in blank.
“‘Again and again the pirates, invisible themselves, poured in their volleys. Alas! how my heart bled for my poor countrymen. Had I seen Morgan then, I should certainly have slain him. The victory was complete. The Spaniards were almost annihilated. The wounded were murdered and robbed, and then we returned to the pestilential city.
“‘But Puerto Velo was at last left to its fate: it was destroyed by fire, sword, and pestilence, and by torture, out and out. Fiends from the lower regions could not have behaved with greater cruelty.
“‘And the reward of the pirates for all the crimes they had committed was but little. They found this out when they came to divide the spoil. This they did in a solitary harbour off the coast of Cuba.