A bark laden with goods for the use of the refugees who had fled to a neighboring group of islands had been captured on the evening that Morgan took possession of Panamá. Orders had been given that all sea-going vessels should take their departure, but the captain had lingered for the turn of the tide, not deeming it possible that so sudden a disaster could befall the city. The vessel was at once despatched with a company of twenty-five men to search for the treasures which, as the buccaneers learned from their captives, had been conveyed beyond their grasp. The men landed the next day at one of the smallest islands, and having managed to smuggle on board a few jars of wine, were soon half stupefied with liquor. Toward evening a Spanish ship, which lay off the opposite side of the islet, put ashore to obtain water, and the crew were captured by some of the party who had yet sense enough left to point a musket. A prize was now within their reach of greater value than all the booty that the adventurers were destined to obtain from their raid. A galleon of four hundred tons, ill manned, poorly armed, and carrying no canvas but the upper sails of the mainmast, so deeply laden with ingots of gold and silver, with the plate and treasures of the wealthiest merchants of Panamá, and with the golden vessels and decorations of church and monastery that no other ballast was needed,[XXVIII‑21] lay almost within cannon-shot. The captain of the bark did not venture to make the attack at nightfall with his feeble and drunken band, feeling satisfied, moreover, that he would have an opportunity of capturing the vessel at daybreak; but alarmed at the non-arrival of the boat, the commander of the galleon ordered the anchor slipped long before midnight, and the ship, favored with a strong breeze, was out of sight when the sun appeared above the horizon.
The detachment returned from Chagre with news that all was going well; so Morgan determined to prolong his stay at Panamá, and wrest from the Spaniards a portion at least of their concealed riches. Parties were sent forth to scour the country and bring in prisoners. The captives were placed in the convent of Mercedes, San José, and there subjected to such ingenuity of torture as might satisfy even Great Britain that her people were not behind the age in brutal barbarities. One instance only need be related. A servant, dressed in his master's garments, from one of which depended a small silver key, was captured by the buccaneers. Ordered to reveal the hiding-place of the cabinet to which the key belonged, he replied that he knew it not, and merely had the key in his possession because he had ventured to don his master's attire. No other answer coming, he was stretched on the rack and his arms disjointed. A cord was then twisted round his forehead until, to use the words of Exquemelin, "his eyes protruding from their sockets appeared as big as eggs."[XXVIII‑22] His ears and nose were then cut off, and the wounds seared with burning straw. When beyond power of speech, and insensible to further suffering, a negro was ordered to end his life by running him through the body.[XXVIII‑23]
A CAPTIVE GENTLEWOMAN.
Women who had the ill-fortune to fall into the hands of the freebooters could only escape torture and starvation at the cost of their chastity or by payment of a heavy ransom. Among the prisoners taken at the islands of Taboguilla and Taboga was a young and beautiful gentlewoman, the wife of a wealthy merchant of Panamá. Like many of her countrywomen she had learned to regard the buccaneers not as rational beings, but as monsters in human shape. The lady was brought into Morgan's presence and at first treated with respect, lodged in a separate apartment, waited on by female slaves, and supplied with food from his own table. Surprised at this usage, and mistaking the frequent and blasphemous oaths of her captors for pious ejaculations, she blessed her fate that the pirates of England were such fine specimens of Christian gentlemen. But Morgan had his little game to play. His amorous proposals were met by a firm refusal, but in such mild language as to avoid rousing his anger. For a while he sought to gain her consent by persuasion, and was lavish with his gifts of rare jewels. All failing she was threatened with torture. "My life is in your hands," she said, "but sooner shall my soul be separated from my body than I submit to your embrace." Exasperated, Morgan ordered his attendants removed, and then attempted violence. She tore herself from his arms, and warning him not to approach her again, cried out: "Imagine not that, after robbing me of my liberty, you can as easily deprive me of my honor." As he still persisted in following her, she drew a dagger and said: "See that I know how to die if I cannot kill thee." She then sprang at him and attempted to drive the blade into his heart. The commander recoiled several paces, but finally succeeded in gaining possession of the weapon. He then retired from her presence, and ordered her to be stripped of most of her apparel, cast half naked into a dark and fetid cell, and fed only with the coarsest food, in quantities so small as barely to sustain life.
Morgan had made several prizes of sea-going vessels, one of which was well adapted to a piratical cruise. A plot was concocted by some of the men to embark on an expedition to the islands of the Pacific, thence after obtaining sufficient booty to sail for Europe by way of the East Indies. Cannon, muskets, ammunition, and provisions had been secretly obtained in sufficient quantity not only to equip the vessel but to fortify and garrison one of the islands as a base of operations. Warned of the design by a repentant conspirator, Morgan ordered all the ships in the harbor to be burned, and at once made preparations to return to Chagre. Beasts of burden were collected to convey the plunder to the point where the canoes had been left on the river; some of the wealthier Spaniards were despatched under guard to obtain the amount of their ransom; and a strong detachment was sent to reconnoitre the line of march by which the buccaneers were to return.
On the 24th of February, after holding possession for four weeks of Panamá, or rather of the site where Panamá had stood, the marauders took their departure with six hundred prisoners, men, women, and children, and a hundred and seventy-five pack-animals laden with plunder. When fairly out on the plain the forces were put in order of march, and the captives placed between the van and rear guard. Many of them, fresh from the rack, well nigh perishing of hunger, and scarcely able to drag themselves along, were goaded and beaten, and with foul oaths made to quicken their pace until they dropped fainting or dead. The women, among whom were mothers with infants at the breast, cast themselves on their knees and pleaded in vain for leave to return and build for themselves huts of straw amidst the pile of ashes which had once been their native city. Dragged along between two of the buccaneers was the gentlewoman who had been subjected to Morgan's suit, and whose ransom was fixed at thirty thousand pesos. Learning that it was his intention to carry her to Jamaica, she begged for a brief respite, affirming "that she had given orders to two of the priests, on whom she had relied, to go to a certain place and obtain the sum required; that they had promised faithfully to do so, but having procured the money had employed it to release some of their friends." Morgan was conquered at last. He inquired into the truth of her assertion, and found it confirmed by a letter delivered to the lady by a slave, and afterward by the confession of the priests; whereupon he ordered her and her parents, who were among the prisoners, to be set at liberty.
Midway on their march across the Isthmus the freebooters were mustered and all made to swear that they had concealed none of the spoils, but had delivered all into the common stock. After this ceremony the commander ordered each one searched, himself first submitting. Clothes and baggage were carefully examined, and even the muskets were taken to pieces, to see that no precious stones were concealed between the barrel and stock. This proceeding excited much indignation, and threats were made against Morgan's life, but the search-officers were told to conclude their work as quietly as possible without divulging the names of the offenders, and an outbreak was avoided. A day or two afterward the expedition arrived at the castle at San Lorenzo, where it was found that most of those who had been wounded in the assault on that fortress had perished of their injuries, and that the garrison was almost destitute of provisions, being reduced to a small allowance of maize. A vessel having on board the prisoners taken at the isle of Santa Catarina was then despatched to Portobello to demand a ransom for the castle at Chagre, but returned with the answer that none would be paid.
DIVISION OF SPOILS.
A division of the spoils was next in order; and there were none who expected to receive for their share less than two or three thousand pesos, for the entire value of the booty was set down, according to the highest estimate, at little short of four and a half millions.[XXVIII‑24] Loud were the complaints and fierce the threats, therefore, when Morgan declared that, after paying the extra allowances to the captains and officers of the fleet, the compensation to the wounded, and the rewards to those who had distinguished themselves in action, each man's share amounted but to two hundred pesos. He was accused, and no doubt with justice, of setting apart the most valuable of the jewelry and precious stones for his own portion, and of estimating the rest at far less than their real worth, for the purpose of buying them in as cheaply as possible. He knew that most of his men cared for money only to squander it among the taverns of Port Royal, and turning his opportunity to good use he managed to store away for himself and a few of his accomplices the lion's share.
Morgan now began to fear for his personal safety and for the security of his stolen treasures, and determined to make no longer stay at Chagre. Assuredly he was the best prize his fellow-pirates could find at this juncture. He silenced the remonstrances of his followers, however, as best he could, and set them at work demolishing the castle of San Lorenzo. The neighboring edifices were burned; the surrounding country was laid waste; the guns of the dismantled fortress were placed on board the fleet, and all were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to embark. The commander then stole on board his ship by night and put to sea, accompanied by only three or four of the English vessels, the captains of which were in his confidence. The remainder of the band awoke next morning in time to see the topmost sails of the vanishing squadron disappear below the horizon, and at once determined to give chase; but they soon found that nearly all the ammunition and provisions had been secretly carried off by the fugitives. Seven or eight hundred of the buccaneers, including all the Frenchmen who had joined the expedition, now found themselves in a strait. They were compelled to separate into small parties, and after obtaining the means of subsistence by pillaging the shores of Castilla del Oro, returned almost empty-handed to Port Royal.