arm, arm, arm,' doth resound the fields and the suburbs with a great noise. We may guess at the distress and perplexity of the people this night, which was somewhat alleviated when the falseness of the alarm was perceived.

"Thus fell London, that ancient city! that populous city! that rich city! that joyous city! one corner indeed is left, but more than as many houses as were within the walls, are burned into ashes."

READING LXVIII.

THE BUCCANEERS.

1663.

All

AFTER the failure of the mines in Hispaniola, which were never very rich, and the conquest of the two extensive empires of Mexico and Peru, where the precious metals were found in the greatest profusion (plenty), that valuable island was entirely neglected by the Spaniards. The greater part of its once flourishing cities were deserted by their inhabitants, and the few planters that remained sunk into the most enervating (weakening) indolence. It possessed, however, a very considerable portion of the necessaries, and not a few of the luxuries, of life. the European animals had multiplied exceedingly, but especially the horned cattle, which had become, in a manner, wild, and wandered about in large droves, without any regular owner. Allured by these conveniences, many French and English adventurers, since known by the name of Buccaneers, or Freebooters, had taken possession of the small island of Tortuga, as early as the year 1632, and found little difficulty, under such favourable circumstances, of establishing themselves on the northern coast of Hispaniola. The dress of these adventurers consisted of a shirt dipped in the blood of the animals they had slain; a pair of trowsers, dirtier than the shirt ; a leathern girdle, from which hung a short sabre, and some Dutch knives; a hat without any rim, except a flap before, in order to enable them to pull it off; shoes made of raw hides, but no stockings. They at first subsisted

chiefly by the hunting of wild cattle. Part of the beef they ate fresh and part they dried, like the savages, with smoke, in places called buccans by the natives, whence the name of Buccaneers. The hides of the beasts they

killed, they sold to the masters of such vessels as came upon the coast, who furnished them, in return, with clothes, liquors, fire-arms, powder and shot. But the wild cattle at length becoming scarce, the Buccaneers were under the necessity of turning their industry to other objects. Such as were more sober-minded than the rest, applied themselves to the cultivation of the ground, which abundantly requited their toil; while those of a bold and restless disposition associated themselves with pirates (sea robbers) and outlaws of all nations, and formed the most terrible band of ravagers that ever infested (haunted) the ocean. To these ravagers, however, rendered famous by their courage and their crimes, France and England were indebted, in some measure, for the prosperity of their settlements in the West Indies.

Nothing could appear less formidable than the first armaments of the piratical Buccaneers, who took the name of Brothers of the Coast. Having formed themselves, like the hunters of wild cattle, into small societies, they made their excursions in open boats, which generally contained between twenty and thirty men, exposed to all the intemperature of the climate, to the burning heat of the day, and the chilling damps of the night. The natural inconveniences, connected with this mode of life, were augmented by those arising from their licentious disposition.

A love of freedom, which, duly regulated, cannot be too much cherished, rendered the Buccaneers averse to all those restraints which civilized men usually impose on each other for their common happiness; and as the authority which they had conferred (given to) upon their captain was chiefly confined to the command in battle, they lived in the greatest disorder. Like savages, having no apprehension of want, nor taking any care to guard against famine by prudent economy, they were frequently exposed to the extremities of hunger and thirst. But deriving, even from their distresses, a courage superior to every danger, the sight of a sail transported them to a degree of frenzy (madness). They seldom deliberated on

M

the mode of attack, their custom being to board the ships as soon as possible. The smallness of their own vessels, and their dexterity in managing them, preserved them from the fire of the enemy. They presented to the broadside of a ship only their slender prows, filled with expert marksmen, who fired at the enemy's port-holes with such exactness, as to confound the most experienced gunners. And when they could fix their grappling tackle (ropes for fastening one vessel to another), the largest trading vessels were generally obliged to strike (yield).

Although the Buccaneers, when under the pressure of necessity, attacked the ships of every nation, those belonging to the subjects of Spain were more especially marked out as the objects of their piracy. They thought the cruelties which the Spaniards had exercised on the natives of the new world, were a sufficient apology for any violence that could be committed against them. Accommodating their conscience to this belief, which, perhaps, unknown to themselves, was rather dictated by the richness of the Spanish vessels than by any real sense of religion or equity (justice), they never embarked in an expedition without publicly praying to heaven for its success; nor did they ever return loaded with booty (spoil) without solemnly returning thanks to God for their good fortune.

This booty was originally carried to the island of Tortuga, the common rendezvous (place of meeting) of the Buccaneers, and then their only place of safety. But afterwards, the French went to some of the ports of Hispaniola, where they had established themselves in defiance of the Spaniards; and the English to those of Jamaica, where they could dispose of their prizes to more advantage, and expend their money more agreeably, either in business or pleasure.

Before the distribution (sharing) of the spoil, each adventurer held up his hand, and protested (affirmed) he had secreted (concealed) nothing of what he had taken; and if any one was convicted of perjury (swearing falsely), a case which seldom occurred, he was punished in a manner that seems to deserve the imitation of better men. He was expelled from the community (society) and left, as soon as an opportunity offered, upon some desert island,

as a wretch unworthy to live in society, even with the destroyers of their species (kind).

After providing for the sick, the wounded, the maimed, and settling their several shares, the Buccaneers indulged themselves in all kinds of licentiousness. Their debauches (excesses) were limited only by the want which their prodigality (extravagance) occasioned. If they were asked what satisfaction they could find in dissipating (wasting) so rapidly what they had earned (gained) with so much difficulty and danger, they made this ingenious reply:"Exposed as we are to a variety of perils, our life is very different from that of other men. Why should we who are alive to-day, and may, most likely, be dead to-morrow, think of hoarding (saving)? Studious only of enjoying the present time, we never think of that which is to come." This has ever been the language of men in such circumstances: the desire of passing life in indulgence and dissipation, not solicitude (care) for the preservation of existence, seems to increase in proportion to the danger of losing it.

The ships that sailed from Europe to America seldom tempted the avidity of the first Buccaneers, as the merchandize they carried could not readily have been sold in the West Indies in those early times. But they eagerly watched the Spanish vessels on their return to Europe, knowing them to be partly laden with treasure. They usually followed the galleons and flota, employed in transporting the produce of the mines of Mexico and Peru, as far as the channel of Bahama; and if, by any accident, a ship was separated from the fleet, they instantly beset her, and she rarely escaped them. They even ventured to attack several ships at once, for the Spaniards, who considered them as demons, and trembled at their approach, commonly surrendered, if they came to close quarters.

A remarkable instance of this timidity on one side, and of temerity on the other, occurs in the history of Peter Legrand, a native of Dieppe, who, with a small vessel, carrying no more than twenty-eight men and four guns, had the boldness to attack the vice-admiral of the galleons. Resolved to conquer or die, and having exacted an oath to the same purpose from his crew, he ordered the carpenter to bore a hole in the side of his own vessel,

that all hope of escape might be cut off. This was no sooner done than he boarded the Spanish ship, with a sword in one hand, and a pistol in the other: and, bearing down all resistance, entered the great cabin, attended by the most desperate of his associates. He there found the admiral surrounded by his officers, when presenting a pistol to his breast, he ordered him to surrender. Meanwhile the rest of the Buccaneers took possession of the gun-room, and seized the arms. Struck with terror and amazement, the Spaniards called for quarter. Parallel (similar) examples are numerous in the history of the Buccaneers.

READING LXIX.

BUCCANEERS.-ADVENTURES OF MORGAN.

1668.

THE Spaniards, almost reduced to despair, on finding themselves continually harassed by those ravagers, diminished the number of their ships; and the colonies relinquished their connexions with each other. These humiliating precautions, however, served but to increase the boldness of the Buccaneers. They had hitherto invaded the Spanish settlements only to procure provisions; but no sooner did they find their captures decrease, than they determined to procure by land that wealth which the sea denied them. They accordingly formed themselves into larger bodies, and plundered many of the richest and strongest towns in the new world. In a word, the Buccaneers, the most extraordinary set of men that ever appeared upon the face of the globe, but whose duration was transitory (passing quickly away), subjected to their arms, without a regular system of government, without laws, without any permanent (lasting) subordination, and even without revenue, cities and castles which have baffled the utmost efforts of national force; and if conquest, not plunder, had been their object, they would, in all probability, have made themselves absolute masters of South America.

Of all the Buccaneers, French or English, no one was so uniformly successful, or executed so many great and