The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1883-04-20
Thu Pirates of Barataria.

In George w Cables paper, in the
Century. on ssPlotters and Pirates OF
Louisiana, occurs the following descrIp-
ton of the chiefs of the Pirates of Bara-
taria:
Much ink has been spilled from that
day to this to maintain that they sailed
under letters of marque But certainly
no commission could be worth the I'M
rolling when carried by men who had
removed themselves beyond all the re-
straints that even seem to distinguish
privateering from piracy. They were
often overstocked with vessels and
booty, but they seem never to have been
embarrassed with the care of prisoners.
There lived at this time, in New Or
leans, John and Pierre Lafitte. John,
the younger, but more conspicuous OF
the two, was a handsome man, fair, with
black hair and eyes, wearing his beard,
as the fashion was, shaven neatly back
from the front of his face. His manner
was generally courteous, though he was
irascible and in graver moments some
what harsh. He spoke fiuently English,
Spanish, Italian and French, using them
with much affability at the hotel where
he resided, and indicating, in the pecu-
liarities of his French, his nativity in the
city of Bordeaux.
The elder brother was a sea-faring
man and had served in the French navy.
He appears to have been every way less
snowy than the other; but beyond doubt
both men were above the occupation
with which they began life in louisiana
This was the trade of blacksmith, though
at their forge, on the corner of St. Philip
and Bourbon streets, probably none but
slave hands swung the sledge or shaped
the horseshoe.
1t was during the embargo, enforced
by the United States Government in
1908, that John LATTE began to be
merchant. His store was in Royal street,
where, behind show of legitimate trade,
he was busy running the embargo with
goods and Africans. He wore the dis
guise carelessly He was cool and in
trepid and had only the courts to evade,
and his unlawful adventures did not lift
his name from the published lists of
managers of society balls or break his
acquaintance with prominent legislators.
John and Pierre Lafitte became the
commercial agents of the ''privateers. :"
By and by they were their actual chiefs.
They won great prosperity for the band;
prizes were rich and frequent, and slave
cargoes profitable. John Lafitte did not
at this time go TO sea. He equipped
vessels, sent them on their cruises, sold
their prizes and slaves, and moved hith-
er and thither throughout the Delta,
administering affairs with boldness and
sagacity. The Mississippi coasts in
the parishes of St. James and ST. John
the Baptist were often astir with his
known presence, and his smaller vessels
sometimes pierced the interior as far as
Lac des Allemands. He knew the value
of popular admiration, and was often at
country balls, where he enjoyed the
fame of great riches and courage, and
seduced many of the simple Acadian
youth to sail in his cruises. His two
principal captains were Beluche and
Dominique You. Captain Dominique"
was small, graceful, fair, of pleasant,
even attractive face, and skillful sail
or There were also Gambi, hand
some Italian, who died only few years
ago at the old pirate village of Cheniere
Caminada; and Rigoult, a dark French
man, whose ancient house still stands on
Grande Isle, the island next to Grande
Terre on the west. And yet again John
ness and Johannot, unless-which APP
pears likely-these were only the real
names of Dominique and Beluche.