The Monarchs of the Main; Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers. Volume 1 (of 3)Thornbury, Walter
History
The Monarchs of the Main; Or, Adventures of the Buccaneers. Volume 1 (of 3)
Thornbury, Walter
Buccaneers; Pirates; Spanish Main
For six months, till the long-boat was completed, the Buccaneers lived
on Spanish wheat, bananas, and on the fruits and green crops which they
had sown on landing. Their bread they baked in portable ovens saved from
the wreck.
Lolonnois now once more prepared to carry out his unabandoned project.
With part of his crew he resolved to row up the river of Nicaragua, to
capture some canoes, and return to fetch away those whom the new boat
would not hold. The men cast lots for the choice of sailing with him. He
took about one-half of the shipwrecked crew with him, part in the
long-boat and part in a skiff which had been saved when the larger
vessel drove on the bank. They arrived in a few days at Desaguadera,
near Nicaragua, but attacked on the beach by an overpowering number of
Spaniards and Indians, they were driven back to their boats, with the
loss of many men, and escaped with difficulty, beaten and desponding.
Lolonnois, now fairly at bay with fortune, still resolved neither to
return to Tortuga ragged and penniless, nor to rejoin his comerades till
he had obtained a sufficient number of canoes to embark his companions.
In order the better to obtain provisions he divided his men into two
bands. The one party proceeded to the Cape Gracias à Dios, where they
were well received; the other sailed to Boca del Toro, on the coast of
Carthagena, where adventurers frequently repaired for turtle and other
provisions, intending to embark in the first friendly vessel that should
arrive.
Nicaragua was still destined to remain unscathed. "God Almighty," says
Esquemeling, who writes with some bitterness, and probably much
hypocrisy, "the time of His divine justice being now come, had appointed
the Indians of Darien to be the instruments and executioners thereof."
Landing at a place called the La Pointe à Diegue to obtain fresh water,
Lolonnois and his men, weary of "wave, and wind, and oar," drew their
canoes to land, and threw up entrenchments, knowing that they were now
in the neighbourhood of the Bravo Indians, the most savage race known on
the mainland--as cruel as sharks, and as numerous and greedy of blood as
the vultures. He himself and a few others, passing the river, near the
Gulf of Darien, landed in order to sack a town and obtain provisions.
Here this modern Ulysses found a termination to his troubles and his
life, for, being taken prisoner by the Indians, he was killed, chopped
to pieces, and devoured. Many of his companions were also burnt alive,
and but a few escaped to Tortuga, by the detail of their horrors to
check for a few days the love of adventure in the minds of its restless
and impetuous adventurers.
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