Nevertheless the Fortuna vanished one night when they were still four hundred miles from the African coast.
As Barthelemy predicted the ship ran on a sandbank in the first storm which overtook her, and her crew all perished.
But the leader did not give up his plan; though his strength was diminished, his courage was unchanged.
One morning at dawn he saw a mountain peak on the horizon—it was Cape Corso. "We have reached our destination," said Barthelemy to the exulting pirates, and began to cruise up and down before the harbor.
At that time the French government had a monopoly of the india-rubber trade and, as the most venomous antidote of monopoly is smuggling, the coasts of Cayenne were constantly watched by French men-of-war.
Two of them instantly noticed the suspicious craft and, believing it to be a smuggler, gave chase. Barthelemy lured them too far from the shore for the battle to be seen, then, after a short conflict, conquered both, sank one and, keeping the other, manned it with part of his crew under the command of Skyrme, and called it the Fox-Hound.
From the French prisoners he learned that the two most formidable English war-ships, the Weymouth and Hirondelle had left the coast and would not return for several months, so they sailed boldly into the harbor.
The Onslow, the finest vessel of the Anglo-African Company was lying at anchor in the port.
Her captain and officers were on shore, where the governor was giving a ball in their honor. From the windows of his residence they could see the pirates assail their ship and, ere they could hasten back to it, the crew had surrendered.