“Very true,” replied his father. “Many of the most remarkable deeds and adventures of the buccaneers and many of the most noted leaders have been practically forgotten. Fiction has kept alive such men as Morgan, while others, who were far more worthy of being perpetuated, are unknown to the world at large. As I said before, Sharp and his men outdid every other buccaneer and yet not one person in a thousand ever heard of them or the ‘most dangerous voyage.’” “But it seems to me they were really pirates,” said Fred. “They knew the war was over and it was a low, mean trick to tell the Indians to kill the prisoners after the Spaniards had treated them so well.” “Of course they were pirates,” agreed his uncle. “As I told you in the beginning, the buccaneers were pirates—even though pirates were not always buccaneers—and the buccaneers freely admitted the fact. Indeed, Esquemeling, Ringrose and the other chroniclers always wrote of themselves and their fellows as pirates. And as far as letting the Indians butcher the captives was concerned, you must remember that Ringrose’s party were the ones who received the favors from the Dons and he was merely a pilot or navigator and had no say in regard to the orders given by the captains. Moreover, the ‘reasons he could not dive into’ were perhaps sufficient to warrant the leaders’ orders. But to return to the doings of the buccaneers after their defeat at Puebla Nueva. Sawkins was liked and respected by all the men; he was brave, courteous, fair and, for a buccaneer, very honorable, and when he was killed and Bartholomew Sharp was given command of the expedition many men refused to continue with the latter. They had joined the venture under Sawkins, they did not care to be under any one else and they disliked Sharp. Moreover, the new commander announced that it was his intention to fit the Blessed Trinity as a buccaneer ship, to cruise along the west coast of South America, ravishing the Spanish towns, and to return to the Caribbean by sailing through the Straits of Magellan and completely circumnavigating South America. Even the hardy and daredevil buccaneers were amazed at this. It was a venture fraught with the greatest hazard, a voyage such as no buccaneer had ever undertaken, and there were those who openly expressed the opinion that Sharp must have gone mad to think of it.