The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1856-05-17
From the National Intelligencer
EtymO!OglCal...F

4
! The National Intelligencer has recently re-
published from Blackwoods Magazine an ac-
/ count of Central America, Gen. Walker, and
the flibusters, as they are termed, who sus-
tain the Rivas-W Walker administration of Nj
caragua. The write-.in Blackwood asserts
that the term "Filibustern is corruption Of
the word Fire tbootcr." This ;5 not the ori.
gin Of the word and, as the fiibuSter may
yet fill a larger space in the worlds history,
it may be amusing, if not instructive, to
trace his rise and progress
The ii.ibuater is not a h"rHs h0H'0; he is
nearly cotcmporary with the discovery Of
Amcri-a, and is certainly century older
than the MayhOwer and the colony Of Ply
mouth. Ills pctigree exhibits, as carly as
} l32t, all the great maritime nations of ll-
rope as his ancestors. Engiishmen, Dutch,
Portuguese, and Freedmen all claim pa,erni-
! ty Of the !iIibuster. The Engishmau is the
acknowledged Cadinus Of the race, and .Jo-
/ nothan now inherits the family supremacy
/ Selnitur4ae patrent, cts; n0l. passijus gq1l;S.
I He i ilibuSter, but not tie freebooter Of
his English ancestor
1t SO happens that as the dominions OF
Spain in America gave rise to this race OF
adventurers, so they continue to foster it
In the Spanish West Indies they had their
origin, and there they now exist. From the
/ Spaniard alone, therefore, could this term Of
OpprObrIum be derived.
Accordingly the dictionary Of the Spanish
Academy contains the word .Hibote, which is
the origin OF this term. Fllbote is there de-
scrbcd =, 4 small clipper boat OF not more
than one hundred tons, with latcen sails,
tie true forc-anJaft rig, such as now Skins
the Mediterranean. The ftJotero, or sailor
of that sea- transferred to the West Indies,
became the modern .Ei,b"s.eTO.
The French spelling OF this word is .fibuS-
/ tier. Our orthography is tiibuster The
dictionary Of the French academy says OF
this term: "C'est une sorte de Pirates qui
conroent les mcrs d Amerique, ct aui eto-
lent de tones nations"
But the Spanish fibote is an original
Dutch nava! term, adopted by the Spaniard
1t means t1y-boat, frie-bot,) a clipper, such
as a smucglcr and adTenturer would require
for his pursuits. Filibusters, therefore, are
simply hy-boatmen.
The early appcIation Of "buccaneer' to
these sea robbers seems to have been entire
" displaced by filibuster. The former is de-
rived from the Carb Indian word b0ucan.
meaning ''hesh dried and cured without
salt 1t corresponds to the Spanish ''tasa.
iO." The Carib Indians taught this art to the
carly coioNpStS, or seal overs. from ''DOu-
can" the French made the word boucaner
and boucanicr We have made of it bucca.
neer Ia the Acadcmy's Dictionary bouca
ner means to hunt wild cattle for their hides
and flesh. We may therefore state these
two primary meanings thus:
+ Buccaueyr, cattle hunter or gcsh Jrier
Fiibuster, a fly -boatmaH.
The history Of the buccaneers and flibus-
ters in America, by James Blrney, f. r.
:, furnishes the Lives and exploits of som.
extraordinary men. Great virtues were Of.
ten allied to atrociOus vice. The Wclshman
Henry Morgan, and Dampier, may be placed
at the head of these adventurers, whom the
exclusive Pviiyy ard eotI,rl.greiai policy OF
spain brought into action. Panama was
sacked by Morgan.
The following incident in the lif. Of the
English buccancor SIwkius may have It's
analogue in the present question of Mos
quilia: The Governor Of Panama sent 4
message 10 him to ask why it was that he
had come there whilst Spain and England
we're at peace. lie replied that me had
come to assist his friend, the Indian King OF
DaTicn, who was the rightful Lord Of pana-
ma and all the country thereaboutS.' Such
is the political circle of history.
Savannah, April 81, 1876.