SOME MORE ODD YARNS CHAPTER XXII THE "PRINCESS ROYAL" PACKET 329 TWO COLONIAL PRIVATEERS 333 CHAPTER XXIII THE AFFAIR OF THE "BONAPARTE" 341 CHAPTER XXIV THE "WINDSOR CASTLE" PACKET 354 THE "CATHERINE" 357 THE "FORTUNE" 360 THE "THREE SISTERS" 362 CONCLUSION 364 INDEX 367 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS THE "INVENTION," FRENCH PRIVATEER _Frontispiece_ From a drawing by Commander E.P. Statham, R.N. FACING PAGE WILLIAM DAMPIER, THE FAMOUS CIRCUMNAVIGATOR 36 From a photograph by Emery Walker after the painting by Thomas Murray in the National Portrait Gallery. CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH EAST INDIAMEN "CARNATIC" BY THE "MENTOR" PRIVATEER 114 By permission of the Library Committee of the Corporation of Liverpool. CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH ARMED SHIPS "MARQUIS D'ANTIN" AND "LOUIS ERASMÉ" BY THE "DUKE" AND "PRINCE FREDERICK" PRIVATEERS 150 From an engraving by Ravenet after a painting by Brooking. ACTION BETWEEN THE SPANISH 74-GUN SHIP "GLORIOSO" AND THE "KING GEORGE" AND "PRINCE FREDERICK" OF THE "ROYAL FAMILY" PRIVATEERS 182 From an engraving by Ravenet after a painting by Brooking. JEAN BART, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN 202 From an engraving by J. Chapman. RENÉ DUGUAY-TROUIN, A FAMOUS FRENCH PRIVATEER CAPTAIN 226 CAPTURE OF THE FRENCH PRIVATEER "JEUNE RICHARD" BY THE "WINDSOR CASTLE" PACKET 356 From an engraving by William Ward after the painting by S. Drummond, A.R.A. INTRODUCTORY CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY The privateersman, scouring the seas in his swift, rakish craft, plundering the merchant vessels of the enemy, and occasionally engaging in a desperate encounter with an opponent of his own class, or even with a well-equipped man-of-war, has always presented a romantic and fascinating personality. Many thrilling tales, half truth, half fiction, have been written about him; and if he has not infrequently been confounded with his first cousin the pirate, it must be admitted that for such confusion there is considerable justification. The privateer is a licensed, the pirate an unlicensed, plunderer; but plunder, not patriotism, being, as a rule, the motive of the former, it is not perhaps surprising that, failing legitimate prey, he has sometimes adopted, to a great extent, the tactics of the latter.