Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1888-08-16

plratical vessels jnst res i put I
sea, lie at once commsa a eaiee
which has left an evil = cf bioo
and and FIRE or the isthns Of Pana
ma. He soon fell in - his ne,
comrades manner Of lsFi1R and q
exactly. that, having ps nsd t..p
o. four voyages with Pct And sue
cess. he agreed with some his com
rades, who had got By t. s.ame yoy
ages little money. to lo9 <6cks aAs
bay Ship. The gsssal ng boueh
they unanimously chose ! p captain
and commander.
On the coasts of Canpssehy Nor
gan and his comrades took many YES
sells, and then fell in with Mansvelt
al ancient buccaneer, who was theI
busy IN equipping feet with the de
sign to land on the continent, aut
"plllage whatever be could" Nor
gans handsome string of prizes iIn
pressed the "old hand" with an ides
o; Lis genius, and made him at once
7lce-admiral in the expedition. With
fifteen ships, great and small, and
five hundred meu-Walloons and
FEench-they sailed from Jamaica
and took and sacked the island of St
Catherine near Costa Rica. The buc.
cancers were exceedingly anxious to
preserve st. Catherine as a piratical
stronghold but not proving strong
enough to hold their own there, they
proposed to attack Havana itself
Finding their force insufficient TO, this
daring adventure, they fell upon Pu.
erto el Principe, and took it but be-
ing disguised at the small amount OF
the plunder, quarrelled among them
selves. The ancient Ieud between the
English and the French broke out
anew, and the freebooters parted CON-
psny, Morgan determining to try his
fortunes al the head OF his own coun.
trymen. Collecting nine ships and
four hundred and sixty men, he put
to sea, telling no man of his destina-
ton. On approaching Costa Rica he
declared MS intention of attacking
Puerto Velo. This enterprise could
not, he thought fail, seeing he had
kaFr,i'- = s'-,1tvs, q 'yrassie~y ~e,:l45
not have notice of hE Ssming. -
Many murmsred against him alleging
that they had not sufficient force TO
assault so strong and great a cl,y,
whereupon Morgan made a memora.
bic and characteristic speech If our
number is small our hearts are great. .
And the fewer persons we are the
the more union and better shares We
shall have IN the spoil!
Puerto Velo-not far from Nombre
dl Dios. the scene Of one OF brakes
exPlo!ts-was considered the strong
est place held by the Spaniards in the
West Indies, excepting only Havana
and Cartegena. II was defended by
two castles and garrison OF three
hundred soldiers. 1t was 3 sort Of
Atlantic port for Panama. and was
rich in plate and slaves. One after
the other the castles we're taken after
a desperate defence, and many OF the
"chieftest citizens were made prison.
ers. But the town still held out.
Morgan now ordered ten or twelve
ladders to be made of such breadth
that three or four men at once might
ascend by them. When these Were
ready he commanded all the religl-
Gus men and women whom he had
taken prisoners to tx them against
the walls" The unfortunate monks
and nuns, driven on by the buccaneers
found no mercy from their own peo-
pie who fred on them remorselessiy.
Ultimately, the buccaneers took the
town, the governor, who conducted
himself valiantly throughout, dying
sword in hand. AS was usual in
these cases, the place was sacked, the
prisoners put to the rack to make
them reveal their real or supposed
hidden treasures, and ransom O: a
hundred thousand pieces of eight was
demanded on pain OF the town BEN g
burnt
The governor of Panama, incensed
at the outrage on Puetro Velo, sent a
detachment to demolish the buccan-
esrs, but the latter made short work
OF the Spanish troops, whereat the
governor. in a sort of anti-elimax,
threatened the marauders with high
pains and penalties unless they should
presently depart from Puerto Velo
Morgan replied that, unless "tht
contribution money were paid down
be would certainly burn the whol,
city, and then leave it demolishln.
beforehand the castles and killing tn