The Prince George's enquirer and southern Maryland advertiser. (Upper Marlborough, Md.) 1882-1925, 1903-01-09
AIDED THE BUCCANEERS.

governors of such places as Martinique
and Jamaica were interested in en-,
courag ging the cultivation of sugar and
coffee, their greatest concern lay in
promoting the buccaneering industry.
A Frenchman who was great stickler
for morals, regardless of any question
of advantage, stated on his return
home from one of the French West
Indies that the officials in question
"encourage these adventures because
it is always possible for them to dis
avow and repudiate their misdeeds,
while on the other hand their successes
90 to swell the list of victories for the
French crown, and as such are quite
useful
These men increased in numbers
from date about fifty years before
the destruction of the Spanish armada,
until, by 1866, they literally swarmed
in the West Indian ports. Before the
loss of the armada, Spain had plenty
of ships. and although the taking of a
Spanish treasure ship en- route from
Porto Bello (spelled also Puerto Velo
and Porto Cabello) to Spain was we'll
worth the trouble, it was to be accom-
plished only by the hardest fighting,
in which the buccaneers stood ten
chances to one of being whipped.
After the destruction of the Spanish
armada all this was changed. Spain s
entire navy went down in that fight,
and consequently all the vessels sta
toned in the colonial waters, and which
were used in Transporting and convoy
ing the products of the Peruvian gold
mines, the Mexican silver lodes, and
the Bolivian emerald workings, were
called home 20 defend the coasts of the
mother country from the inroads of
the English, who, flushed with victory
were preparing for all manner of enter
prists against Spain.
This left the South American and
West Indian coasts without ships or
other defense than the forts along
shore. When this happened the buc-
cancers realized that their occupation
had vanished when it came to a matter
of raiding the Spanish treasure ships,
yet for all that they hailed the change
with delight for the reason that it gave
them carte blanche to raid and plunder
the defenseless cities and towns of the
Spanish Main, settlements where un-
told wealth lay boarded awaiting their
coming.
The richest of all the towns and
cities of the Spanish Main were La
Guaira; place called Gibraltar
(named after the old city and rock of
that name in Spain), which, today, is
nothing more than miserable village
of huts; Maracaibo, and Merida IN
Vent zuela, and Puerto Bello and Pan
anna on either side of the isthmus.
Here, since the days of Cortes and
Pizarro, the merchandise coming from
Spain and destined for the colonies of
Ecuador, Peru, and Chile on the south,
and Mexico on the north, and the gold,
silver, emeralds, and other products
from the colonies intended for ship
ment to Spain was handled, the entire
six cities forming a cluster of distrit-
uting and collecting points for the
products of some of the richest coun-
tries on earth. These towns were full
of merchants, Maracaibo being settle
ment of Christianizod Jews, and all of
them were fabulously rich.
BOLDEST OF ALI. PIRATES
The pirates were not long in getting
under way. Francis L'Oilonnois, the
most intrepid of the buccaneers, gath
cred a fleet and set sail for Puerto Ca
bello, then mere pirates resort, from
which point he fitted out and pro-
ceeded toward Maracaibo. This was
in 1854. L'Ollonnois was a remark
able character. He came of a good
family in France, and as young man
went to Tortuga as the "engage," or
indentured slave, or apprentice. of
buccaneer. Such things were common
in those days, and after serving his
term he took command of a ship and
began operations on his own account
against the Spaniards.
A short time before he started on
the Ventz1clan expedition the COVER
nor of Cuba sent man of-war against
him, with instructions to show L'Ol-
lonnois and his crew no quarter. The
latter was lying off Haiti. and ascer-
tanning the location Of the Spanish
ship, armed himself with a meat
cleaver, and telling his men that he
would give them lesson in bravery,
left with one companion for the hostile
vessel. Climbing on hoard, he sur