New-York tribune., 1921-04-17
Somewhere Back in the
Matted Hill Country Is
the Mother-Lode of the
Thrifty Buccane GERS

ways showed himself to be very barbarous and
cruel Of these he commanded several
to be roasted alive wooden spits."
Pirates were generally a pretty bad lot.
agrees pirate history. For example, they
would spend two or three thousand peces-of-
eight in one night, not leaving themselves per-
adventure good shirt to wear on their backs
in the morning. Rock Brasiliano was only one
of those given to swashbuckling and his par
ticular pleasure was TO buy whole keg of
wine, which he placed in the middle of the
main thoroughfare. threatening to pistol" all
who refused to drink with him. On other occa-
sions he varied his diversion by procuring
barrels of ale or beer which he scooped out
with his cupped hands on all who passed.
Possibly the crueest Of them all was Fran
co.'s LOllinais, d Frenchman, who outftted
the first ship for his piratica career on
Tortuga. The enemies of this terrible Gaul re-
ceived no quarter, and he BECAME known as
a true terror of the seas, amassng great
wealth. Once the Spanish governor of Cuba
sent an expedition against LOllinais, who had
captured city on the southern coast Of the
island Several hundred buccaneers led by
the terrible Frenchman, met the Spanish
force and annihilated it.
L'Ollinais, with his fleet sacked and burned
several towns on the coasts of Central Amer
lea and Cuba and put most of the inhabitants
to the sword More prizes were taken at sea,
and at the end of two months there was so
much loot on hand that the fleet sailed to the
Isle de la Vachc Cow Island) south of
Hayti, to divide 4o6oooO pieces-of-eght, tons
of jewels, silks, linen and other commodities
of trade. The fleet then sailed for Tortuga
where the available supply of rum and
brandy was soon entirely inadequate for the
celebration of the most successful buccaneer
cruise in the history Of buccaneering.
There was no Volstead act in force on
Tortuga at the end Of this champion pirate
cruise. The price of liquor was dictated only
by the law of supply and demand, the former
overwhelmed by the latter. A gallon of choice
brandy soon jumped to the unheard-of price
of four pieces-of eight and rum was soon at
premium at the profiteering demand of from
two to three peces-o eight for four full
quarts. The celebration only waned when all
the liquor consumed at these unprece-
dented prices. The inebriated pirates gam
bled their shares away with reckless abandon
until the whole rested in the hands of few
These secretively watched their chances to
bury the loot in the valleys, coves and troves
of Tortuga for future reference. Who knows
how many of these treasure burying pirates
lost their lives subsequent cruises, breath
ing the secret of the trove to their most init
mate pirate pal at the last gasp or scrawling
the rough chart on bloody piece of paper as
death stiffened the fingers? Who knows how
many Of these treasure chests lie buried under
the jungle soil of Tortuga to-day?
Save for about two hundred iiterate ne
groes, living in tiny settlements here and there,
the island of Tortuga is deserted at present
Pirate history means nothing to these blacks.
1t meant nothing to the old ST. Louis fisherman
who went recently to Tortuga for fish and came
back with golden pieces-of- eight
Numerous other buccaneer leaders who made
their names dreaded on the waters of the Span-
ish Main and on the coast lines of the southern
part of the New World after the "plgrim
pirates" set the pace were known as Sawkins
Sharp and Coxon. Pratcal expeditions under
these less able leaders were prone to nutinies
If the crew of pirateer dsliked thescaptain
1t would mutlny, force him to walk the plank
and hold an election. These free lance mutt
neerS combed the from the southern tin of
South America far north into the Atlantic
enduring fearful hardships, fighting with ex-
traordlnafy bravery against ships usually far
larger and better manned than their own. It
comes from the diary of one Of these later day
pirates that forced visit to the island of Juan
Fernandez, off the coast of Chile. found this
island crowded with goats and birds and the
shore dotted with multitudes of seals and sea
lions. 1t was the isle of Juan Fernandez. which
later became known through the exile there
OF Alexander Selkirk and Defoe's subseouen,
story OF Robinson Crusoe. Under date of
January 8, 1879, the pirates diary reads
"We had terrible gusts of,wind from the
shore every hour. This day our pilot told us
that years ago certain ship was cast awav
upon this island, and only one man saved. who
lived alone on this island for five years before
any ship came this way to carry him off,"
AS Selkirk, popularity believed to have been
the original in Defoes Robinson Crusoe. l.
reported to have been marooned here early in
the eighteenth century, it would appear from,
the diary of 1879 that Selkirk was not the FIRST
unfortunate to suffer being cast away alone on
Juan Fernandez. -
No part of the West Indies escaped piratical
vlstations. The Carbbee Islands inhab;ted