The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3Whymper, Frederick
History
The Sea: Its Stirring Story of Adventure, Peril, & Heroism. Volume 3
Whymper, Frederick
Adventure and adventurers; Arctic regions; Ocean; Voyages around the world
“Having vanquished the enemy, they mounted on horses they found in the
field, and continued their journey, Brasiliano having lost but two of his
companions in this bloody fight, and had two wounded. Prosecuting their
way, before they came to the port they spied a boat at anchor from
Campechy, well manned, protecting a few canoes that were lading wood;
hereupon they sent six of their men to watch them, who next morning, by a
wile, possessed themselves of the canoes. Having given notice to their
companions, they boarded them, and also took the little man-of-war, their
convoy. Being thus masters of the fleet, they wanted only provisions, of
which they found little aboard those vessels; but this defect was supplied
by the horses, which they killed and salted, which by good fortune the
wood-cutters had brought with them, with which they supported themselves
till they could get better.
“They took also another vessel going from New Spain to Maracaibo, laden
with divers sorts of merchandise and pieces of eight, designed to buy
cocoa-nuts for their lading home; all these they carried to Jamaica, where
they safely arrived, and, according to custom, wasted all in a few days in
taverns and disorderly houses. Some of these pirates will spend two or
three thousand pieces of eight in a night, not leaving themselves a good
shirt to wear in the morning. My own master,” says Esquemeling, “would buy
sometimes a pipe of wine, and placing it in the street, would force those
that passed by it to drink with him, threatening also to pistol them if
they would not. He would do the like with barrels of beer or ale, and very
often he would throw these liquors about the streets and wet people’s
clothes, without regarding whether he spoiled their apparel.
“Among themselves these pirates are very liberal; if any one has lost all,
which often happens in their manner of life, they freely give him of what
they have. In taverns and alehouses they have great credit; but at Jamaica
they ought not to run very deep in debt, seeing the inhabitants there
easily sell one another for debt. This happened to my patron, to be sold
for a debt of a tavern wherein he had spent the greater part of his money.
This man had, within three months before, three thousand pieces of eight
in ready cash, all which he wasted in that little time, and became as poor
as I have told you.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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