BUCANEER, one who dries and smokes flesh or fish after the manner of the Indians. The name was particularly given to the first French settlers on the island of St Domingo or Hayti, whose sole employment consisted in Hunting bulls or wild boars, in order to sell their hides and flesh. The name has also been applied to those famous piratical adventurers, chiefly English and French, who joined together to commit depredations on the Spaniards of America. Of both these we shall give an account.

I. The Bucaneers of St Domingo. — The Spaniards had not long been in possession of the West Indies and of the continent of America, when other nations, especially the English and French, began to seek establishments there. But though the Spaniards were unable to people such extensive countries themselves, they were resolved that no others should do it for them, and therefore waged a cruel war on all those of any other nation who attempted to settle in any of the Antilles or Caribbee Islands. The French, however, were at last lucky enough to acquire some footing in the island of St Christophers; but by the time they began to subside into a regular form of government, the Spaniards found means to dislodge them. Upon this the wretched fugitives, considering at how great a distance they were from their mother country, and how near to the island of Hispaniola or St Domingo, the northern parts of which were then uninhabited, and full of swine and black cattle, immediately resolved to take possession of that country, in conjunction with several other adventurers of their own and the English nation; especially as the Dutch, who now began to appear in these seas, promised to supply them plentifully with all kinds of necessaries they might require, in exchange for the hides and tallow they should procure by hunting.

These new settlers obtained the name of bucaneers, from their custom of bucanning their beef and pork in order to keep it for sale or for their own consumption. But some of them soon grew tired of this new way of life, and took to planting; whilst many more chose to turn pirates, trusting to find among those who remained on shore a quick sale for all the plunder they could make at sea. This new body of adventurers were called freebooters, from their making free prey or booty of whatever came in their way.

The colony now began to thrive at a great rate, by the cheap and easy manner in which the freebooters acquired the greatest riches, and the profusion with which they distributed them amongst their old companions, the bucaneers and planters, for the merest trifles. This brought numbers of settlers from France in quality of indentured servants, though they toiled rather like slaves than servants during the three years for which they generally bound themselves. One of these men presuming to represent to his master, who always fixed upon a Sunday for sending him with skins to the port, that God had forbidden such a practice when he had declared that “six days shalt thou labour, and on the seventh day shalt thou rest,” the brutish bucaneer replied, “And I say to thee, six days shalt thou kill bulls, and strip them of their skins, and on the seventh day shalt thou carry their hides to the sea shores; and this command was followed by blows. Thus the colony consisted of four classes; bucaneers, freebooters, planters, and indentured servants who generally remained with the bucaneers or planters. And these four orders composed what they now began to call the body of adventurers, who lived together in perfect harmony, under a kind of democracy; every freeman having a despotic authority over his own family, and every captain being sovereign in his ship, though liable to be discarded at the discretion of the crew. .

The planters had settled chiefly in the little island of Tortuga, on the northern coast of Hispaniola; but soon afterwards some of them having gone to the great island to hunt with the bucaneers, the rest were surprised by the Spaniards; and all, even those who had surrendered at discretion in hopes of mercy, were put to the sword or hanged. The next care of the Spaniards was to rid tie great island of the bucaneers; and for this purpose they assembled a body of five hundred lance-men, who, [7:5:621]their seldom going fewer than fifty in a company, obtained from their enemies the name of the Fifties. But before detailing the particulars of this attack we shall endeavour to give some account of the manners and customs of the people whom it was proposed to extirpate.

The bucaneers lived in little huts built on some spots of cleared ground, just large enough to dry their skins on, and contain their bucanning houses. These spots they called boucans, and the huts they dwelt in ajoupas i a word which they borrowed from the Spaniards, and the Spaniards from the natives. Though these ajoupas lay r open on all sides, they were very agreeable to the hardy inhabitants, in a climate where wind and air are so very desirable things. As the bucaneers had neither wives nor children, they associated by pairs, and mutually rendered each other all the services a master could reasonably expect from a servant, living together in so perfect a community, that the survivor always succeeded his deceased partner. This kind of union or fellowship they called Śemateloter (insailoring), and each other matelot (sailor), whence is derived the custom of giving, at least in some parts of the French Antilles, the name matelotage (sailorage) to any kind of society formed by private persons for their mutual advantage. They behaved to each other with the greatest justice and openness of heart; it was considered as a crime to keep any thing under lock and key; but, on the other hand, the least pilfering was unpardonable, and punished with expulsion from the community. And, indeed, there could be no great temptation to steal, seeing it was reckoned a point of honour never to refuse a neighbour what he wanted; and where there was so little property, it was impossible there should be many disputes. If any such happened, the common friends of the parties at variance interposed, and soon put an end to the difference.

As to laws, the bucaneers acknowledged none but an odd jumble of conventions made between themselves, which, however, they regarded as the sovereign rule. They silenced all objections by coolly answering, that it was not the custom of the coast; and grounded their right of acting in this manner on their baptism under the tropic, which freed them, in their opinion, from all obligations antecedent to that marine ceremony. The governor of Tortuga, when that island was again settled, though appointed by the French court, had very little authority over them; and they contented themselves with rendering him from time to time some slight homage. They had in a manner entirely shaken off the yoke of religion, and thought they did a great deal in not wholly forgetting the God of their fathers. We are surprised to meet with nations among whom it is a difficult matter to discover any trace of a religious worship; and yet it is certain, that had the bucaneers of St Domingo been perpetuated on the same footing on which they subsisted at the time we are speaking of, the third or fourth generation of them would have possessed as little religion as the Caffres and Hottentots of Africa, or the Cannibals of the South Sea Islands.

They even laid aside their surnames, and assumed nicknames or martial names, most of which afterwards continued in their families. Many, however, on their marrying, which seldom happened till they turned planters, took care to have their real surnames inserted in the French contract; and this practice gave occasion to a proverb, which long remained current in the French Antilles, that a man is not to be known till he takes a wife.

Their dress consisted of a filthy greasy shirt, dyed with the blood of the animals they killed; a pair of trousers still more nasty; a thong of leather by way of belt, to which they hung a case containing some Dutch knives, and a kind of short sabre called manchette; a hat without any brim, except a little flap in the front; and shoes of hogskin, all of a piece. Their guns were four feet and a half in the barrel, and of a calibre sufficient to admit balls of an ounce. Every man had his contract servants, more or fewer according to his abilities; besides a pack of twenty or thirty dogs, among which there was always a couple of beagles. Their chief employment at first was ox-hunting; and if at any time they chased a wild hog, it was rather for pastime, or to make provision for a feast, than for any other advantage. But in process of time some of them betook themselves entirely to the hunting of hogs, whose flesh they bucanned in the following manner: first, they cut the flesh into long pieces, an inch and a half thick, and sprinkled them with salt, which they rubbed off after twenty-four hours; then they dried these pieces in stoves, over a fire made of the skin and bones of the beast, till they grew as hard as a board, and assumed a deep brown colour. Pork prepared in this manner might be kept in casks a twelvemonth and longer; and when steeped a little while in lukewarm water, it became plump and rosy, yielding, either broiled, boiled, or otherwise dressed, a grateful smell, sufficient to tempt the most languid appetite and please the most delicate palate.

In hunting, they set out at day-break, preceded by the beagles, and followed by their servants with the rest of the dogs; and as they made it a point never to baulk their beagles, they were often led by them over the most frightful precipices, and through places which any other mortal would have deemed absolutely impassable. As soon as the beagles had roused the game, the rest of the dogs struck up and surrounded the beast, stopping it, and keeping a constant barking till the bucaneer could get near enough to shoot it, in doing which he commonly aimed at the pit of the breast; and when the beast fell he hamstrung it, to prevent its rising again. But it has sometimes happened that the creature, not wounded enough to tumble to the ground, has run furiously at his pursuer, and ripped him open. In general, however, the bucaneer seldom missed his aim; and when he did, he was nimble enough to get up the tree behind which he usually had the precaution to place himself; whilst some of them have been seen to overtake the beast in chase, and hamstring it without any further ceremony.

As soon as the prey was half skinned, the master cut out a large bone, and sucked the marrow for breakfast; leaving the rest to his servants, one of whom always remained behind to finish the skinning, and bring the skin, with a choice piece of meat for the huntsman’s dinner. They then continued the chase till they had killed as many beasts as there were heads in the company. The master was the last to return to the boucan, loaded like the rest with a skin and a piece of meat. Here the bucaneers found their tables ready; for every one had his separate table, which was the first thing, any way fit for the purpose, that came in their way, a stone, the trunk of a tree, and the like. No table-cloth, no napkin, no bread or wine, graced their board; not even potatoes, or bananas, unless they found them ready to their hand. When this did not happen, the fat and lean of the game, taken alternately, served to supply the place. A little pimento, and the juice of an orange, formed their only sauce; contentment, peace of mind, a good appetite, and abundance of mirth, made every thing agreeable. Thus they lived and spent their time, till they had completed the number of hides for which they had agreed with the merchants; which done, they carried them to Tortuga, or some port of the great island.

As the bucaneers used much exercise, and fed only on flesh, they generally enjoyed a good state of health. 1hey were indeed subject to fevers; but these were either such [7:5:622]as lasted only a day, and left no sensible impression the day following, or slight slow fevers, which did not hinder them from action, and were of course so little regarded, that it was usual with the patient, when asked how he did, to answer, “Very well; nothing ails me but the fever.” It was impossible, however, that they should not suffer considerably by such fatigues, under a climate to the heat of which few of them had been early enough inured. Hence the most considerate among them, after they had got money enough for that purpose, turned planters ;—the rest soon spent the fruits of their labour in taverns and tippling-houses; and many had so habituated themselves to this kind of life, as to become incapable of any other. Nay, there have been instances of young men, who having early embarked through necessity in this painful and dangerous profession, persisted in it afterwards, merely through a principle of libertinism, rather than return to France and take possession of the most plentiful fortunes.

Such were the bucaneers of St Domingo, and such was their situation when the Spaniards undertook to extirpate them. And at first the assailants met with great success; for as the bucaneers hunted separately, every one attended by his servants, they were easily surprised. Hence the Spaniards killed numbers, and took many more, whom they condemned to a most cruel slavery. But whenever the bucaneers had time to put themselves into a state of defence, they fought like lions, to avoid falling into the hands of a nation from whom they were sure to receive no quarter; and by this means they often escaped; nay, there are many instances of single men fighting their way through numbers. These dangers, however, and the success of the Spaniards in discovering their boucans, where they used to surprise and cut the throats of the bucaneers and their servants in their sleep, engaged them to cohabit in greater numbers, and even to act offensively, in hopes that by so doing they might at last induce the Spaniards to let them live in peace. But the fury with which they behaved whenever they met any Spaniards served only to make their enemies more intent on their destruction; and assistance coming to both parties, the whole island was turned into a slaughter-house, and so much blood spilt on both sides, that many places, on account of the carnage of which they had been the scenes, were described as the hill of the massacre, the plain of the massacre, the valley of the massacre, and so forth.

At length the Spaniards grew tired of this mode of proceeding, and had recourse to their old method of surprise, which, against enemies of more courage than vigilance, was likely to succeed better. This placed the bucaneers under a necessity of never hunting except in large parties, and fixing their boucans in the little islands on the coast, where they retired every evening; an expedient which succeeded very well, and the boucans, by being more fixed, soon acquired the air and consistency of little towns. When the bucaneers had once established themselves, as here related, each boucan sent out scouts every morning to the highest part of the island, in order to reconnoitre the coast, and see if any Spanish parties were abroad. If no enemy appeared, they appointed a place and hour of rendezvous in the evening, and were never absent if not killed or made prisoners. When, therefore, any one of the company was missing, it was not lawful for the rest to hunt again till they had got intelligence of him if taken, or avenged his death if killed. Things continued in this situation for a long time, till the Spaniards made a general hunt over the whole island, and, by destroying the game, forced the bucaneers to betake themselves to another course of life. Some of them turned planters, and thus increased the French settlements on the coast, or formed others; whilst the rest, not relishing so confined and regular a life, entered among the freebooters, who thereby became a very powerful body. France, which had hitherto disclaimed for her subjects these ruffians, whose successes were only temporary, acknowledged them, however, as soon as they formed themselves into settlements, and took proper measures for their government and defence.

II. Bucaneers, the Pirates. — Before the English had effected any settlement in Jamaica, and the French in St Domingo, some pirates of both nations, who were afterwards so much distinguished by the name of Bucaneers, had driven the Spaniards out of the small island of Tortuga; and, fortifying themselves there, had with an amazing intrepidity made excursions against the common enemy. They formed themselves into small companies consisting of fifty, a hundred, or a hundred and fifty men each. A boat, of greater or smaller size, was their only armament. Here they were exposed night and day to all the inclemencies of the weather, having scarce room enough to lie down. A love of absolute independence rendered them averse from those mutual restraints which the members of society impose upon themselves for the common good; and as the authority they had conferred on their captain was confined to his giving orders in battle, they lived in the greatest confusion. Like the savages, having no apprehension of want, nor any care to preserve the necessaries of life, they were constantly exposed to the severest extremities of hunger and thirst; but deriving from their very distresses a courage superior to every danger, the sight of a ship transported them to a degree bordering on frenzy. They never deliberated on the attack, hut it was their custom to board the ship as soon as possible. The smallness of their vessels, and the skill they showed in the management of them, screened them from the fire of the larger class of ships; and they presented only the fore part of their little vessels filled with fusileers, who fired at the port-holes with so much exactness that it entirely confounded the most experienced gunners. As soon as they threw out the grappling, the largest vessels seldom escaped them.

In cases of extreme necessity they attacked the people of every nation, but fell upon the Spaniards at all times. They thought that the cruelties which the latter had exercised on the inhabitants of the new world justified the implacable aversion they had sworn against them. But this was heightened by the mortification they felt in seeing themselves debarred from the privileges of hunting and fishing, which they considered as natural rights. Their principles of justice and religion in no degree interfered with their predatory habits; for whenever they embarked on any expedition, they used to pray to heaven for the success of it; and they never came back from plundering, without returning thanks to God for their victory.

The ships which sailed from Europe to America seldom tempted their avidity, since the merchandise which these contained could not have been easily sold, nor indeed very profitable to those barbarians. They always waited for them on their return, when they were certain they were laden with gold, silver, jewels, and all the valuable productions of the new world. If they met with a single ship they never failed to attack her. As to the fleets, they followed them till they sailed out of the Gulf of Bahama; an as soon as any one of the vessels was separated by accident from the rest, it was taken. The Spaniards, who trembled at the approach of the bucaneers, whom they called devils, immediately surrendered. Quarter was granted if the cargo proved to be a rich one; if not, all the prisoners were thrown into the sea.

The bucaneers, when they had got a considerable boo at first held their rendezvous at the island of Tortuga, in [7:5:623], order to divide the spoil; but afterwards the French went to St Domingo, and the English to Jamaica. Each person, holding up his hand, solemnly protested that he had secreted nothing of what he had taken. If any one among them was convicted of perjury, a case which seldom happened, he was left, as soon as an opportunity offered, upon some desert island, as a traitor unworthy to live in society. Such of their number as had been maimed in any of their expeditions were first provided for. If they had lost a hand, an arm, a leg, or a foot, they received twenty-six pounds; whilst an eye, a finger, or a toe, lost in fight, was valued only at half this sum. The wounded were allowed half a crown per day for two months, to enable them to have their wounds taken care of; and if they had not money enough to answer these several demands, the whole company were obliged to engage in some fresh expedition, and to continue it till they had acquired a sufficient stock to enable them to satisfy these honourable contracts. The remainder of the booty was then divided into as many shares as there were bucaneers. The commander could only lay claim to a single share; but they complimented him with two or three, in proportion as he had acquitted himself to their satisfaction. Favour never had any influence in the division of the booty, for every share was determined by lot. The most rigid justice was extended even to the dead. Their share was given to the man who was known to be their companion when alive, and therefore accounted their heir. If the person who had been killed had no intimate, his portion was sent to his relations when they were known; and if there were no friends or relations, it was distributed in charity to the poor, and to the churches, which consented to offer up prayers for the person in whose name these benefactions were given.

When these duties had been complied with, they then indulged themselves in all kinds of profusion. Unbounded licentiousness in gaming, wine, women, and every kind of debauehery, was earned to the utmost pitch of excess, and was stopt only by the want which such profusion brought on. Those who had been enriched with several millions were in an instant totally ruined, and rendered destitute of clothes and provisions. They returned to sea; and the new supplies which they acquired were soon lavished in the same manner as before.

The Spanish colonies, flattering themselves with the hope of seeing an end to their miseries, and reduced almost to despair at finding themselves a perpetual prey to these ruffians, grew weary of navigation. They gave up all the power, conveniencies, and fortune, which their connections procured them, and formed themselves into so many distinct and separate associations. They were sensible of the great inconvenience arising from such a conduct, and avowed it; but the dread of falling into the hands of rapacious and savage men had greater influence over them than the dictates of honour, interest, and policy. This gave rise to that spirit of inactivity which continues to the present time, notwithstanding the agitating events of which that quarter of the world has since been the theatre.

The despondeney thus produced served only to increase the boldness of the bucaneers. As yet they had only appeared in the Spanish settlements in order to carry off provisions when in want of them. But they no sooner found their captures begin to diminish, than they determined to recover by land what they had lost at sea. The richest and most populous countries of the continent were plundered and laid waste. The culture of lands was as much neglected as navigation; and the Spaniards dared no more appear in their public roads, than sail in the latitudes which belonged to them.

Among the bucaneers who signalized themselves in this new species of freebooting, Montbar, a gentleman of Languedoe, particularly distinguished himself. Having by chance, in his infancy, met with a circumstantial account of the cruelties practised in the conquest of the New World, he conceived an aversion, which he carried to a degree of frenzy, against that nation which had committed such enormities. The enthusiasm which this spirit of humanity worked him up to merged in a feroeity still more cruel than that of the religious fanaticism to which so many victims had been sacrificed. The manes of these unhappy sufferers seemed to rouse him, and call for vengeance. He had heard some account of the bucaneers, who were said to be the most inveterate enemies to the Spanish name; and he therefore embarked, with some others, on board a ship in order to join them.

In the passage they met with a Spanish vessel, attacked, and, as was usual in those times, immediately boarded it. Montbar, with a sabre in his hand, fell upon the enemy, broke through them, and, hurrying twice from one end of the ship to the other, levelled every thing that opposed him. When he had compelled the enemy to surrender, leaving to his companions the happiness of dividing so rich a booty, he contented himself with the savage pleasure of contemplating the dead bodies of the Spaniards, against whom he had sworn a constant and deadly hatred.

Fresh opportunities soon occurred which enabled him to exercise this spirit of revenge without extinguishing it. The ship which conveyed him arrived on the coast of St Domingo, where the bucaneers on land immediately applied to barter provisions for brandy. As the articles they offered were of little value, they alleged in excuse that their enemies had overrun the country, laid waste their settlements, and earned off all their property. “Why,” replied Montbar, “do you tamely suffer such insults ?” “Neither do we,” answered they; “the Spaniards have experienced what kind of men we are, and have therefore taken advantage of the time when we were engaged in hunting; but we are going to join some of our companions who have been still worse treated than we, and then we shall have warm work.” “If you approve of it,” answered Montbar, “I will head you, not as your commander, but as the foremost to expose myself to danger.” The bucaneers perceiving from his appearance that he was the very man they wanted, cheerfully accepted his offer; and the same day they overtook the enemy, when Montbar attacked them with an impetuosity that astonished the bravest, and scarce one Spaniard escaped the effects of his fury. The remaining part of his life was equally distinguished as this day. The Spaniards suffered so much from him, both by sea and land, that he acquired the name of the Exterminator.

His savage disposition, as well as that of the other bucaneers who attended him, having obliged the Spaniards to confine themselves within their settlements, the freebooters resolved to attack them there. This new method of carrying on the war required superior forecs; and their associations in consequence became more numerous. The first considerable one was that formed by UOlonois, who derived his name from the sands of Olones, the place of his birth. From the abject state of a bondsman, he had gradually raised himself to the command of two canoes, with twenty-two men; and with these he was so successful as to take a Spanish frigate on the coast of Cuba. He then repaired to Port-au-Prince, in which were four ships, fitted out purposely to sail in pursuit of him; but he took them, and threw all the crews into the sea except one man, whom he saved in order to send him with a letter to the governor of the Havannah, acquainting him with what he had done, and assuring him that he would treat in the same manner all the Spaniards who should fall into his hands, not excepting the governor himself if he were fortunate[7:5:624] enough to take him. After this expedition he ran his canoes and prize ships aground, and sailed with his frigate only to the island of Tortuga.

At Tortuga he met with Michael de Basco, who had distinguished himself by taking, even under the cannon of Porto Bello, a Spanish ship, estimated at L.218,500, and by other actions equally brave and daring. These two gave out that they were going to embark together on an expedition equally glorious and profitable; and in consequence they soon collected together four hundred and forty men. This body of men, the most numerous which the bucaneers had yet been able to muster, sailed to the Bay of Venezuela, which runs up into the country for the space of about fifty leagues. The fort which was built at the entrance for its defence was taken; the cannon were nailed up; and the whole garrison, consisting of two hundred and fifty men, were put to death. They then re-embarked and came to Maracaybo, built on the western coast of the lake of the same name, at the distance of ten leagues from its mouth. This city, which had become flourishing and rich by its trade in skins, tobacco, and cocoa, was deserted; and the inhabitants had retired with their effects to the other side of the bay. If the bucaneers had not lost a fortnight in riot and debauchery, they would have found at Gibraltar, near the extremity of the lake, every thing which the inhabitants had secreted, to secure it from being plundered. On the contrary they met with fortifications lately erected, which they had the bootless satisfaction of making themselves masters of at the expense of a great deal of blood; for the inhabitants had already removed to a distance the most valuable part of their property. Exasperated at this disappointment, they set fire to Gibraltar; and Maracaybo would have shared the same fate had it not been ransomed. Besides the sum which they received for its ransom, they also carried off all the crosses, pictures, and bells of the churches; intending, as they said, to build a chapel in the island of Tortuga, and to consecrate this part of their spoils to sacred purposes. Such was the religion of these barbarous people, who could make no other offering to heaven than that which arose from their robberies and plunder.

But while they were idly dissipating the spoils which they had made on the coast of Venezuela, Morgan, the most renowned of the English bucaneers, sailed from Jamaica to attack Porto Bello. His plan of operations was so well contrived that he surprised and took the city without opposition. The conquest of Panama was an object of much greater importance. To secure this Morgan thought it necessary to sail in the latitudes of Costa-Rica, in order to procure some guides in the island of St Catharines, where the Spaniards confined their malefactors. This place was so strongly fortified that it might to have held out for ten years against a considerable army. But notwithstanding this, the governor, on the first appearance of the pirates, sent privately to concert measures how he might surrender himself without incurring the iïŋputation of cowardice; and the result of this consultation was, that Morgan in the night-time was to attack a fort at some distance, while the governor was to sally out of the citadel to defend a post of so much consequence, and that the assailants should then attack him in the rear, and take him prisoner, which would occasion an immediate surrender of the place. It was agreed that a smart firing should be kept up on both sides, without doing mischief to either. This farce was admirably carried on. The Spaniards, without being exposed to any danger, appeared to have done their duty; and the bucaneers, after having totally demolished the fortifications, and put on board their vessels a prodigious quantity of warlike ammunition, which they found at St Catharines, steered their course towards the river Chagrc, the only channel whereby they could arrive at the place which was the object of their wishes.

At the entrance of this considerable river a fort had been built upon a steep rock, which the waves of the sea constantly beat against. This bulwark, naturally difficult of access, was defended by an officer whose extraordinary abilities were equal to his courage, and by a garrison which was in all respects worthy of such a commander. Here the bucaneers, for the first time, met with a resistance which could only be equalled by their perseverance; and it was a doubtful point whether they should succeed orbe obliged to raise the siege, when a lucky accident happened which proved favourable to their glory and their fortune. The commander was killed, and the fort accidentally took fire; upon which the besiegers, taking advantage of this double calamity, made themselves masters of the place.

Morgan left his vessels at anchor, with a sufficient number of men to guard them, and sailed up the river in his sloops for thirty-three miles, till he came to Cruces, where it ceases to be navigable; and he then proceeded by land to Panama, which was only five leagues distant. Upon a large and extensive plain which stretched out before the city, he met with a considerable body of troops, whom he put to flight with the greatest ease, and entered the city, which was now abandoned. Here were found prodigious treasures concealed in the wells and caves; some valuable commodities were also taken in the boats which were left aground at low water; and in the neighbouring forests were likewise found several rich deposits. Having burnt the city, they set sail with a great number of prisoners, who were ransomed a few days afterwards, and arrived at the mouth of the Chagre with a prodigious booty.

In 1603 an expedition of the greatest consequence was formed by Van Horn, a native of Ostend, but who had served all his life among the French. His own intrepidity prevented his tolerating the least signs of cowardice amongst those who associated with him. In the heat of an engagement he went about his ship, observed his men in succession, and immediately killed those who shrunk at the sudden report of a pistol, gun, or cannon. This extraordinary discipline rendered him the terror of the coward and the idol of the brave. In other respects he readily shared with the men of spirit and bravery the immense riches which were acquired in the course of his marauding expeditions. When he went upon such expeditions, he generally sailed in his frigate, which was his own property. But his designs requiring greater numbers to carry them into execution, he called to his assistance Grammont, Godfrey, and Jonqué, three Frenchmen distinguished by their exploits, and Lawrence de Graff, a Dutchman, who had signalized himself still more than they. Twelve hundred bucaneers joined themselves to these commanders, and sailed in six vessels for Vera Cruz.

The darkness of the night favoured their landing, which was effected about three leagues from the place, where they arrived without being discovered. The governor, the fort, the barracks, and the posts of the greatest consequence, every thing, in short, which could occasion any resistance, were taken by the break of day. All the citizens, men, women, and children, were shut up in the churches, whither they had fled for shelter. At the door of each church were placed barrels of gunpowder to blow up the building; and a bucaneer, with a lighted match, was to set fire to it upon the least appearance of an insurrection.

While the city was kept in this state of terror, it was easily pillaged; and after the bucaneers had carried off whatever was most valuable, they made a proposal to the citιzθ 1 1 s who were kept prisoners in the churches to ransom thĵĵ r lives and liberties by a contribution of L.437,500. Tn ιs unfortunate people, who had neither eaten nor drunken tor [7:5:625]three days, cheerfully accepted the terms which were offered them. Half of the money was paid the same day, and the other part was expected from the interior of the country, when there appeared on an eminence a considerable body of troops advancing, and near the port a fleet of seventeen ships from Europe. At the sight of this armament, the bucaneers, without any marks of surprise, retired quietly, with fifteen hundred slaves they had seized, as a trifling indemnification for the rest of the money they expected, the settling of which they referred to a more favourable opportunity. Their retreat was equally daring. They boldly sailed through the midst of the Spanish fleet, which let them pass without firing a single gun, and, in fact, seemed afraid of being attacked and beaten. The Spaniards would not probably have escaped so easily, if the vessels of the pirates had not been laden with silver, or if the Spanish fleet had been freighted with any other effects but such merchandise as was little valued by these daring freebooters.

A year had scarcely elapsed since their return from Mexico when, on a sudden, they were all seized with a passion for going to plunder Peru. It is probable that the hopes of finding greater treasures upon a sea little frequented, than on one long exposed to piracies of this kind, was the cause of this expedition; but it is somewhat remarkable, that both the English and French, and the associations of these two nations, had projected this plan at the same time, without any communication, intercourse, or design of acting in concert with each other. About four thousand men were employed in this expedition. Some of them proceeded by Terra Firma, others by the Straits of Magelhaens, to the place which formed the object of their wishes; and if the intrepidity of these barbarians had been directed, under the influence of a skilful commander, to a single end, it is certain that they would have deprived the Spaniards of this important colony. But their natural character presented an invincible obstacle to so rare a union; for they always formed themselves into several distinct bodies, sometimes even so few in number as ten or twelve, who acted together, or separated, as whim or caprice dictated. Grognier, Lecuyer, Picard, and Le Sage, were the most distinguished officers among the French; David Samms, Peter Wilner, and Towley, among the English.

Such of these adventurers as had got into the South Sea by the Straits of Darien seized upon the first vessel which they found upon the coast; and their associates, who had sailed in their own vessels, were not much better provided. Weak, however, as they were, they several times beat the squadrons which were fitted out against them. But these victories were prejudicial to them, by interrupting their navigation; and when there were no more ships to be taken, they were continually obliged to make descents upon the coasts to get provisions, or to go by land in order to plunder those cities where the booty had been secured. They successively attacked Seppa, Puebla-Nuevo, Leon, Realejo, Puebla-Viejo, Chiriquita, Lesparso, Granada, Vil-lia, Nicoy, Tecoanteca, Muemeluna, Chiloteca, New Segovia, and Guayaquil, the most considerable of all these places.

Many of these places were taken by surprise, and most of them deserted by their inhabitants, who fled at the sight of the enemy. As soon as the bucaneers took a town, it was directly set on fire, unless a sum proportioned to its value was paid to save it. The prisoners taken in battle were massacred without mercy if they were not ransomed by the governor or some of the inhabitants; while gold, pearls, or precious stones, were the only things accepted of for the payment of their ransom. Silver being too common, and too weighty for its current value, would have been troublesome to them. The chances of fortune, which seldom leave guilt unpunished, or adversity without a compensation for its suffering, atoned for the crimes committed in the conquest of the New World; and the Indians were amply avenged on the Spaniards.

While such piracies were being committed on the Southern Ocean, the Northern was threatened with the same by Grammont. He was a native of Paris, by birth a gentleman, and had distinguished himself in a military capacity in Europe; but his passion for wine, gaming, and women, had obliged him to join the pirates. Nevertheless he was affable, polite, generous, and eloquent; endued with a sound judgment, and a person of approved valour; qualities which soon made him be considered as the chief of the French bucaneers. As soon as it was known that he had taken up arms, he was immediately joined by a number of brave men. The governor of St Domingo, who had at length prevailed upon his master to approve of the project, equally wise and just, of fixing the pirates in some place, and inducing them to become cultivators, was desirous of preventing the concerted expedition, and forbade it in the king’s name. But Grammont, who had a greater share of sense than his associates, was not on that account inclined to comply, and sternly replied, “How can Louis disapprove of a design he is unacquainted with, and which has been planned only a few days ago This answer highly pleased all the bucaneers, who directly embarked in 1685 to attack Campeachy.

They landed without opposition. But at some distance from the coast they were attacked by eight hundred Spaniards, who were beaten and pursued to the town, which both parties entered pell-mell together. The cannon they found there were immediately levelled against the citadel; but as these had very little effect, they were contriving some stratagem to enable them to become masters of the place, when intelligence was brought that it had been abandoned. There remained in it only a gunner, an Englishman, and an officer of signal courage, who chose rather to expose himself to the greatest extremities than basely to fly from the place with the rest. The commander of the bucaneers received him with marks of distinction, generously released him, gave him up all his effects, and, besides, complimented him with some valuable presents; such influence have courage and fidelity even on the minds of those who systematically violate all the rights of society.

The conquerors of Campeachy spent two months in searching the environs of the city to the extent of twelve or fifteen leagues, and in carrying off every thing which the inhabitants in their flight thought they had preserved. When all the treasure they had collected from every quarter was deposited in the ships, a proposal was made to the governor of the province, who still kept the field with nine hundred men, to ransom his capital city. His refusal determined them to burn it, and demolish the citadel. The French, on the festival of St Louis, were celebrating the anniversary of their king; and in the transports of their patriotism, intoxication, and national love of their prince, they burnt to the value of a million of logwood; a part, and a very considerable one too, of the spoil which they had made. After this singular and extravagant instance of folly, of which Frenchmen only would boast, they returned to St Domingo.

In 1697 twelve hundred bucaneers were induced to join a squadron of seven ships which sailed from Europe under the command of one Pointis, to attack the famous city of Carthagena. This was the most difficult enterprise which could be attempted in the New World. The situation of the port, the strength of the place, and the badness of the climate, were so many obstacles which would have seemed insurmountable to any but such men as the bucaneers. But every obstacle yielded to their valour and [7:5:626]good fortune; the city was taken, and booty gained to the amount of L.1,750,000. Their rapacious commander, however, deprived them of the advantages resulting from their success. He scrupled not, as soon as they set sail, to offer L.5250 for the share of those who had been the chief instruments in procuring him so considerable a spoil.

The bucaneers, exasperated at this treatment, resolved immediately to board the vessel called the Sceptre, where Pointis himself was, and which at that time was too far distant from the rest of the ships to expect to be assisted by them. And this avaricious commander was upon the point of being massacred, when one of the malcontents cried out, “Brethren, why should we attack this rascal? He has carried off nothing that belongs to us. He has left our share at Carthagena, and there we must go to recover it.” This proposal was received with general applause. A savage joy at once succeeded the gloomy melancholy which had seized them; and without further deliberation all their ships sailed towards Carthagena.

As soon as they had entered the city without meeting with any resistance, they shut up all the men in the great church, and exacted payment of L.218,750, the amount of their share of booty which they had been defrauded of, promising to retreat immediately upon compliance with their demand, but threatening the most dreadful vengeance in case of refusal. Upon this the most venerable priest in the city mounted the pulpit, and made use of the influence which his character, his authority, and his eloquence gave to him, to persuade his hearers to yield up without reserve all the gold, silver, and jewels in their possession. But the collection made after the sermon not furnishing the sum required, the city was ordered to be plundered.

At length, after amassing all they could, these adventurers set sail, when unfortunately they met with a fleet of Dutch and English ships, then in alliance with Spain. Several of the pirates were either taken or sunk, with the cargoes they had on board; and the rest escaped to St Domingo.

Such was the last memorable event in the history of the bucaneers. The separation of the English and French, wdιen the war on account of the Prince of Orange divided the two nations; the success of the means employed to promote the cultivation of land among their colonies, by the assistance of these enterprising men; the prudence evinced in selecting the most distinguished among them, and intrusting them with civil and military employments; and the protection afforded to the Spanish settlements, which till then had been a general object of plunder; all these circumstances, and various others, besides the impossibility of supplying the place of these remarkable men, who were continually dropping off, concurred to put an end to a society as extraordinary as any that ever existed. ∖∖ ithout any regular system, without laws, without subordination, and even without any fixed revenue, they became the astonishment of the age in which they lived, as they will be also of posterity.