“Owing to their occupation, the buccaneers became expert shots, good woodsmen, hardy, reckless and daring, and they hated the Dons like poison. But they could not stand against the Spanish troops and so, taking to their canoes, they fled to the island of Tortuga, off the northern coast of what is now Haiti. Here there were a few Spanish settlers, but they were so outnumbered by the buccaneers that they made no objection to their new neighbors. The Dons, however, had no intention of letting the buccaneers alone and sent expeditions to drive them off. Then the buccaneers started a merry game of puss in the corner. When the Dons arrived at Tortuga the buccaneers slipped over to the mainland, and when the Spaniards sought them there they sneaked back to the island. By this time they had been joined by many English, a few Portuguese and a number of Dutch, and feeling their numbers were sufficient to make a stand, they proceeded to fortify Tortuga. They selected a high rocky hill on the summit of which was a deep depression and with infinite labor converted this into a fort, mounted cannon and stored a supply of wood and ammunition. Then they destroyed the only approach—a narrow defile—and the fort could only be reached by means of ladders lowered from the parapets. “For a long time the Dons left them alone, realizing the impossibility of taking the fort, and the little settlement prospered and grew. The French sent out a governor and there at the very threshold of the Dons’ richest possession the handful of buccaneers lived and plied their trade. But although they were composed of half a dozen different races, one and all hated the Spaniards and soon, not content with buccaneering, they became ambitious and with reckless bravery set out in small canoes with the intention of capturing Spanish ships. It seems incredible that these rough, untrained hunters could seize a heavily armed ship swarming with sailors and soldiers, but nevertheless they did. Lying in wait in the track of ships they would pull to the first Spanish galleon that appeared and, while their expert marksmen would pick off the Spanish gunners and the helmsman, they would dash alongside, so close that the cannon could not bear upon them. Jamming the ship’s rudder with their boat, they would swarm up and over the bulwarks, pistols and swords in hand and knives in teeth and, yelling like demons, would rush the crew, cutting, slashing, shooting and stabbing. Seldom did they fail, and thus having secured ships and guns, to say nothing of treasure, they would sail back to their lair, flushed with victory. Then, having good ships and plenty of heavy guns, they transformed their prizes into privateers and set sail in search of more Spanish ships to conquer.