Captain William Kidd and Others of the BuccaneersAbbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
History
Captain William Kidd and Others of the Buccaneers
Abbott, John S. C. (John Stevens Cabot)
Buccaneers; Kidd, William, -1701; Pirates
Esquemeling, who accompanied this expedition, and to whose pen we
are mainly indebted for an account of its events, says that the ship
which bore him lost both anchors and mainsail. It was with the utmost
difficulty they kept the ship afloat, working at the pumps for weary
hours. The thunder he represents as deafening, and the mountain
billows, rushing by, threatened every moment to ingulf them.
“Indeed,” he writes, “though worn out with fatigue and toil, we could
not make up our minds to close our eyes to that blessed light which
we might soon lose sight of forever. No hope of safety remained.
The storm had lasted four days, and there was no probability of
its termination. On the one side we saw rocks, on which our vessel
threatened every instant to drive. Before us were the Indians, from
whom we could hope for no mercy. Behind us were the Spaniards,
hungering for revenge.”
At length the storm ceased. The fleet put into a harbor, in the Bay of
Venezuela, to repair damages. There seems to be but little reformatory
power in punishment. These wretched men were not made better by the
chastisement which they had received. All unmindful of their prayers to
Virgin and saint, while some were at work on the ships, others formed
themselves into bands to ravage the country far and wide, plundering
all the Spanish and Indian villages within their reach, and inflicting
the most atrocious outrages upon the inhabitants. It is very clear
that there is no hope for this lost world, unless it may be found in
that _change in the heart_ of man which the religion of Jesus Christ
inculcates. “The mind is its own place.” The pirates after the storm
were the same men as before.
Morgan, having refitted his ships, and having added very considerably
to his amount of plunder again spread his sails for Kingston, the
capital of Jamaica. He reached that port in safety, and was very
cordially welcomed by the inhabitants and the British authorities
there. They seemed to regard him as one of the heroes of the age,
worthy of all honor. The sentiments of the English generally, at
that time, in reference to these exploits, may be inferred from the
following:
In a book published in London, in the year 1684, and which now lies
before me, a glowing account is given of these adventures. The book had
then attained to a second edition. The title-page says:
“A True Account of the most remarkable Assaults, committed of late
years upon the Coasts of the West Indies, by the Buccaneers of Jamaica
and Tortuga, wherein are contained more especially the unparalleled
Exploits of Sir Henry Morgan, our English Jamaican Hero, who sacked
Puerto Velo, burnt Panama, etc.”
At Jamaica new scenes of rioting and profligacy were enacted. The
money soon passed from the hands of the pirates to the sharpers in
liquor-shops, gambling-houses, and dancing-halls, who were eager to
grasp it. Morgan’s eulogistic biographer writes:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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