"With the constant additions to their force, the buccaneers began to spread out. They were not satisfied with capturing ships and killing their crews, but began to go upon the land, and a good many native and Spanish settlements in the West Indies and on the shore of South or Central America suffered. Wherever the pirates suspected Spanish treasure might be stored, they were sure to make their appearance, sooner or later. Town after town was captured and destroyed, and everything of value carried away."
"But what has all this to do with Panama?" asked Vasco, who, though interested in Morgan's history, was anxious to learn about the destruction of the city.
"I'm coming to that very soon," replied Harlan. "After a time Morgan and his men began to wonder if they could not capture Panama, which was then the chief city of all this region, and was famous everywhere for its vast wealth. And, as so often happens, the stories about its wonders far exceeded the reality.
"The inhabitants did not dream that the buccaneers would ever dare to attack Panama, fortified as it was, and defended by Spanish soldiers. But they didn't know much about the spirit which was in Morgan and his men, and they didn't realize to what the greed for gold would lead.
"To make a long story short, Morgan decided to attack Panama. By this time he had twelve hundred followers. Landing about forty miles from the city, with only a small supply of provisions, they took up their long march through forests and over the mountains and across the streams. They could not move very fast, and the men were nearly starved. I remember reading in some book, that at nightfall often the happiest man in the company was the one who had saved from his breakfast a small piece of rawhide on which to make his supper."
Vasco, who could make good use of anything eatable at any time, and who even now was wondering if Juan had dinner nearly ready, could not restrain an exclamation at this statement. "How could they live on that sort of stuff?" he asked.
"I don't know, myself," replied Harlan, "but we are told that the skins were first sliced, then dipped in water, and afterward beaten between stones. The morsel would then be broiled, cut into bits, and deliberately chewed, with plenty of cold water to wash it down.
"In addition to the danger of starvation, the pirates were in constant fear of ambuscades. The Spaniards, who knew of their approach, sent out parties of soldiers to meet them and hinder their march, though the defenders of Panama knew very well that they would lose a pitched battle. Consequently they confined themselves to attacks from the cover of the dense forests, and in this way many a buccaneer was killed."
"Weren't the Englishmen able to find anything to eat while on the way?" asked Enrique.
"Very little indeed," replied Harlan, "until the ninth day, when they came to the outskirts of this city. What they saw there was very pleasing to these hungry men. On the broad, level land the other side of that bridge we just crossed were great herds of cattle."