“And before I tell you of Morgan and his deeds let me point out one or two other matters which will help you to understand much that would otherwise puzzle you boys and which is little known. In several places—as in the Isle of Pines off Cuba—the Spaniards were friendly with the buccaneers and gladly aided them, while the corsairs made it a point always to pacify and maintain friendly relations with the Indians. This was a most important matter for them. All along the South and Central American coasts were Indian tribes, and the buccaneers depended very largely upon the red men for provisions, canoes and guides. The Indians hated the Dons and willingly joined the buccaneers against them, and even the most savage tribesmen usually welcomed the freebooters and helped them in every way. Moreover, they knew the country and were most valuable as guides and pilots, and there are innumerable records of the buccaneers showing the greatest forbearance towards the savages. Even when they were attacked by Indians with whom they had not established relations they refrained from retaliating, but either propitiated the natives or moved bag and baggage from the locality, and the most severe punishment was meted out to the buccaneers by their leaders if they molested the Indians or interfered with them in any way. As a result, many of their greatest triumphs were made possible by their Indian allies. “But to return to Morgan. He was, by birth, a Welshman, the son of a well-to-do farmer, but his imagination being fired by tales of adventure in the West Indies he ran away from home and reached Bristol with the intention of shipping on a vessel bound to Barbados. But young Morgan knew little of what was to befall him. According to a common custom of those days the master of the ship sold him as a bond servant, or in other words a slave, as soon as the ship reached Barbados, and the embryo buccaneer found himself far worse off than as a farmer’s boy in Wales. Nevertheless, he served his time, secured his liberty and made his way to Jamaica, which was then the headquarters of the English buccaneers.