On the Spanish Main; Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of DarienMasefield, John
History
On the Spanish Main; Or, Some English forays on the Isthmus of Darien
Masefield, John
Buccaneers; Spanish Main
After her came the _Toro_, followed by a ship of four guns, and
by five smaller vessels manned with musketeers, "and the Vessels
barricadoed round with Bull-hides Breast high." The _Toro_ ranged up on
the quarter of Dampier's ship, "designing to board" her. The pirates
dragged their cannon aft, and fired at her repeatedly, "in hopes to have
lamed either Mast or Yard." As they failed to carry away her spars, they
waited till "she was shearing aboard," when they rammed the helm hard
up, "gave her a good Volley," and wore ship. As soon as she was round on
the other tack, she stood to the westward, passing down the Spanish line
under a heavy fire. The _Toro_ held to her course, after the second
pirate ship, with the six ships of the fleet following in her wake. The
second pirate ship was much galled by the fleet's fire, and ran great
risk of being taken. Dampier's ship held to the westward, till she was
about a mile to windward of the other ships. She then tacked, and ran
down to assist her consort, "who was hard put to it." As she ran down,
she opened fire on the _Toro_, "who fell off, and shook her ears,"
edging in to the shore, to escape, with her fleet after her. They made
no fight of it, but tacked and hauled to the wind "and stood away for
Alvarado." The pirates were very glad to see the last of them; "and we,
glad of the Deliverance, went away to the Eastward." On the way, they
visited all the sandy bays of the coast to look for "munjack," "a sort
of Pitch or Bitumen which we find in Lumps." When corrected with oil or
tallow this natural pitch served very well for the paying of the seams
"both of Ships and Canoas."
After this adventure, Dampier returned to the lumber camp, and passed
about a year there, cutting wood. Then, for some reason, he determined
to leave the Indies, and to visit England; and though he had planned to
return to Campeachy, after he had been home, he never did so. It seems
that he was afraid of living in that undefended place, among those
drunken mates of his. They were at all times at the mercy of a Spanish
man-of-war, and Dampier "always feared" that a Spanish prison would be
his lot if he stayed there. It was the lot of his imprudent mates, "the
old Standards," a few months after he had sailed for the Thames.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account