tunate 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 L218,500, 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 buccaneers 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 spiked; 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 buccaneers 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 buccaneers, 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 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 imputation 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 buccaneers, 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 Chagre, 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 buccaneers, 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 or be 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 Jongué, three Frenchmen distinguished by their exploits, and Lawrence de Graff, a Dutchman, who had signalized himself still more than they. Twelve hundred buccaneers 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, whether they had fled for shelter. At the door of each church were placed barrels of gunpowder to blow up the building; and a buccaneer, 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 buccaneers had carried off whatever was most valuable, they made a proposal to the citizens who were kept prisoners in the churches to ransom their lives and liberties by a contribution of L437,500. This unfortunate people, who had neither eaten nor drunken for 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 buccaneers, 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, Villa, Nicy, Tecoauteca, Mucumulena, Chilotea, 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 buccaneers 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 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; endowed with a sound judgment, and a person of approved valour; qualities which soon made him be considered as the chief of the French buccaneers. 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 buccaneers, 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 buccaneers 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 buccaneers were induced to join a squadron of seven ships which sailed from Europe under the command of one Pontis, 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 buccaneers. But every obstacle yielded to their valour and good fortune; the city was taken, and booty gained to the amount of L1,750,000. Their rapacious commander, however, deprived them of the advantages resulting from their success. He scrupled not, as soon as they set sail, to offer L3250 for the share of those who had been the chief instruments in procuring him so considerable a spoil.

The buccaneers, exasperated at this treatment, resolved immediately to board the vessel called the Sceptre, where Pointis himself was, and were with great difficulty prevented from assassinating him. They then set sail for Carthagena, where they amply repaid themselves for the losses they had sustained through the avarice of their late commander.

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 buccaneers. The separation of the English and French, when 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. Without 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.