Crawford avalanche. (Grayling, Mich.) 1879-19??, 1897-12-02
AMATEUR PIRATES.
Sir Francis brakes First Attempt In the
Art of Piracy


Art OF Piracy
Frank r. Stockton will contribute to
the coming volume of st. Nicholas
series of articles on "The Buccaneers
of Our Coast" The series begins In
the November number. In his charac-
teristic vein, Mr.. Stockton says:
Spain was not at war with Eng
land; and when Drake sailed with four
small ships into the port OF the little
town of Nombre de Dios in the middle
of the night, the inhabitants OF the
town were as much astonished as the
people of Perth Amboy would be II
four armed vessels were to steam into
Raritan Bay and endeavor to take pos
session of the town. The peacefui
Spanish towns-people were not at war
with any civilized nation, and they
could not understand why bands of
men should invade their streets, en-
ter the market-place, fire their calivers,
or muskets, into the air, and then
sound trumpet loud enough to wake
up everybody in the place. Just out
side of the town the invaders had left
a number of their men; and when
these heard the trumpet in the market
place, they also fired their guns. All
the noise and huhbub so startled the
good people of the town that many OF
them jumped from their beds, and,
without stopping to dress, fed away to
the mountains. But all the citizens
were not such towards; and fourteen
or fifteen of them armed themselves
and went out to defeud their town
from the unknown invaders.
Beginners in any trade or profess
sion, whether it be the playing of the
piano, the painting of pictures, or the
pursuit of piracy, are often timid and
distrustful of themselves; so 1T hap
pened on this occasion with Francis
Drake and his men, who were merely
amateur pirates, and showed very
plainly that they did not yet under
stand their business.
when the fifteen Spanish citizens
came into the market-place and found
the little armed body of Englishmeh,
they Immediately fired upon them, not
knowing or caring who they were. This
brave resistance seems to have fright
ened Drake and his men almost as
much as their trumpets and guns had
frightened the citizens, and the Eng
lish Immediately retreated from the
town. When they reached the place
where they had left the rest of the
party, they found that these had al
ready run away, and taken to the
boats. Consequently Drake and his
men were obliged partly to undress
themselves and to wade out to the
little ships. The Englishmen secured
no booty whatever, and they only
killed one Spaniard, and he was man
who had been looking out of a window
to see what was the matter.
Whether or not brakes conscience
had anything to do with the bungling
manner in which he made this first
attempt at piracy, we cannot say; but
he soon gave his conscience a holiday,
and undertook some very successful
robbing enterprises. He received In
formation from some of the natives
that train of mules was coming
across the isthmus of Panama, loaded
with gold and silver bullion, and
guarded only by their drivers; for the
merchants who owned all this treasure
had no idea that there was any one in
that part of the world who would COM
NIT robbery upon them. But Drake
proved that they could hold up train
of mules as easily as some Of the
masked robbers in our western country
hold up a train of cars. All the gold
was taken; but the silver was too
heavy for the amateur pirates to
| carry.