Daring Deeds of Famous Pirates: True stories of the stirring adventures, bravery and resource of pirates, filibusters & buccaneersChatterton, E. Keble (Edward Keble)
History
Daring Deeds of Famous Pirates: True stories of the stirring adventures, bravery and resource of pirates, filibusters & buccaneers
Chatterton, E. Keble (Edward Keble)
Pirates
The swaggering pirate then raised his glass of grog and insolently drank
to the officer, saying, “I’ll give no quarter, nor take any from you.”
Maynard replied that he expected no quarter from him, nor, for his part,
did he intend to give any. But whilst this exchange of courtesies went
on, the tide had risen and the pirate’s ship floated off. As fast as they
could the sloops were being rowed towards Teach’s ship, but as the ships
drew near, Teach fired a broadside and so killed or wounded twenty of the
naval men. A little later Black Beard’s ship drifted in to the shore and
one of the sloops fell astern. But Maynard, finding that his own sloop
was carrying way on and that he would fetch alongside Teach’s ship,
ordered all his own men below, while he and the helmsman were the only
two who remained on deck. The latter he managed to conceal so that only
the officer was visible. But he ordered his crew to take their pistols,
cutlasses and swords and to be ready for any duty immediately, and in
order to make it possible for the men to regain the deck in the minimum
time, he caused two ladders to be placed in the hatchway.
The sloop now came alongside the pirate, whereupon the latter had
case-boxes, such as were discharged from cannon, thrown on board, having
first been filled with powder, small shot, slugs and pieces of lead and
iron. A quick match was placed in the mouth of these and then they were
dropped on to the sloop’s deck. These would, of course, be exceedingly
destructive, but inasmuch as the naval crew were below at the time, they
did but little harm. And when Black Beard saw that by now there were
only a few hands on deck he believed that these three or four were the
sole survivors. He exulted greatly and cried, “Let us jump on board and
cut to pieces those that are alive.” Now one of these case-boxes was
causing a great cloud of smoke, so that Black Beard was able, together
with fourteen of his men, to leap on the sloop’s deck without being
immediately perceived. But as soon as the smoke began to clear, Maynard
ordered his men up from below, who were on deck in a flash.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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