Chapter I: Preface

There can scarcely anything be found in the literature of our language, more wild and wonderful, than the narrative contained in this volume. The extraordinary career of Captain Kidd, a New-York merchant, the demoniac feats of those fiends in human form, Bonnet, Barthelemy, and Lolonois; the romantic history of the innocent female pirate Mary Read, and of the termagant Anne Bonney; the amazing career of Sir Henry Morgan, and the fanaticism of Montbar, scarcely surpassed by that of Mohammed or Loyola, combine in creating a story, which the imagination of Dickens or Dumas could scarcely rival.

And yet these incidents seem to be well authenticated. The writer has drawn his facts from Esquemeling’s _Zee Roovers_, Amsterdam, 4to, 1684; Oexemelin’s _Histoire des Aventuriers_, 12mo, Paris, 1688; Johnson’s _History of the Pirates_, 2 vols., London, 1724; Thornbury’s _Monarchs of the Main_, 3 vols., London, 1855; _History of the Buccaneers of America_, 1 vol. 8vo, Boston, 1855; with many other pamphlets, encyclopædias, and secondary works.

In exploring this hitherto almost unknown field of research, the writer has been as much surprised at the awful scenes which have opened before him, as any of his readers can be. There are but few thinking men who will peruse this narrative, to whom the suggestion will not arise, “What a different world would this have been, and would it now be, were all its inhabitants conscientiously, prayerfully, with brotherly love striving to do right.” And this is the religion of Jesus. He has taught us to pray “Thy kingdom come on earth as in heaven.”

JOHN S. C. ABBOTT.
FAIR HAVEN CONN

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER I.

_Origin of the Buccaneers._ PAGE

Renown of Captain Kidd.--Wild Legends.--Demands of
Spain.--Opposition of the Maritime Powers.--The Rise of the
Buccaneers.--The Pirates’ Code.--Remonstrance of Spain.--Reply
of France and England.--Confession of a Buccaneer.--Adventures
of Peter the Great. 9

CHAPTER II.

_William Kidd becomes a Pirate._

Ravages of the Pirates.--The King’s Interview with Earl
Bellomont.--William Kidd, the New-York Merchant.--His
Commission.--Sailing of the Adventure.--Recruiting in
New York.--Circuitous Trip to Madagascar.--Perils and
Sufferings.--Madagascar the Pirates’ Home.--Murmurings of the
Crew.--Kidd reluctantly turns Pirate.--His Repulses, and his
Captures. 29

CHAPTER III.

_Piratic Adventures._

Audacity of Kidd.--Fate of the November.--Kidd kills William
Moore.--The Renowned Ballad.--Kidd’s Compunctions.--Kidd at
Madagascar.--Piratic Carousals.--The Artificial Hell.--Kidd’s
Return to the West Indies.--Exaggerated Reports of Avery.--His
wretched Career and wretched End. 51

CHAPTER IV.

_Arrest, Trial, and Condemnation of Kidd._

Appalling Tidings.--Trip to Curacoa.--Disposal of the Quedagh
Merchant.--Purchase of the Antonio.--Trembling Approach toward
New York.--Measures for the Arrest of Kidd.--He enters Delaware
Bay.--Touches at Oyster Bay and Block Island.--Communications
with the Government.--Sails for Boston.--His Arrest.--Long
Delays.--Public Rumors.--His Trial and Condemnation. 75

CHAPTER V.

_Kidd, and Stede Bonnet._

The Guilt of Kidd.--Rumors of Buried Treasure.--Mesmeric
Revelation.--Adventures of Bradish.--Strange Character of
Major Bonnet.--His Piracies.--Encounters.--Indications of
Insanity.--No Temptation to Turn Pirate.--Blackbeard.--Bonnet
Deposed. 98

CHAPTER VI.

_The Adventures of Edward Teach, or Blackbeard._

Seizure of the Protestant Cæsar.--The Piratic Squadron.--Villany
of the Buccaneers.--The Atrocities of Blackbeard.--Illustrative
Anecdotes.--Carousals on Shore.--Alleged Complicity with the
Governor.--Hiding-place near Ocracoke Inlet.--Arrangements
for his Capture.--Boats sent from two Men-of-War.--Bloody
Battle.--The Death of the Pirate.--His Desperate and Demoniac
Character. 110

CHAPTER VII.

_The Close of Stede Bonnet’s Career._

Bonnet’s Abandonment by Blackbeard.--Avails Himself of the
King’s Pardon.--Takes Commission as a Privateer.--Rescues
Blackbeard’s Pirates.--Piratic Career.--Enters Cape Fear River
for Repairs.--Captured by Colonel Rhet.--The Conflict.--Escapes
from Prison.--The Pursuit, and Trial and Sentence. 125

CHAPTER VIII.

_The Portuguese Barthelemy._

Commencement of his Career.--Bold Capture.--Brutality of
the Pirates.--Reverses and Captivity.--Barthelemy doomed to
Die.--His Escape.--Sufferings in the Forest.--Reaches Gulf
Triste.--Hardening Effect of his Misfortunes.--His new Piratic
Enterprise.--Wonderful Success.--The Tornado.--Impoverishment
and Ruin. 139

CHAPTER IX.

_Francis Lolonois._

Early Life of Lolonois.--His Desperate Character.--Joins the
Buccaneers.--His Fiend-like Cruelty.--The Desperadoes Rally
around Him.--Equips a Fleet.--Captures Rich Prizes.--Plans the
Sack of Maracaibo.--The Adventurous Voyage.--Description of
Venezuela.--Atrocities at Maracaibo and Gibraltar.--Doom of
the Victors. 151

CHAPTER X.

_The Plunder; the Carousal; and the New Enterprise._

Gibraltar in Ashes.--The Return to Maracaibo.--Division of
the Plunder.--Peculiar Scene.--Reception of the Pirates
at Tortuga.--Fiend-like Carousal.--The Pirates Reduced
to Beggary.--Lolonois’s New Enterprise.--The “Furious
Calm.”--Days of Disaster.--Ravaging the Coast.--Capture
of San Pedro. 170

CHAPTER XI.

_The End of Lolonois’s Career._

The Pirates’ Perfidy.--Capture of a Spanish Ship.--Misery
of the Pirates.--Desertion of Vauclin.--The Shipwreck.--Life
upon the Island.--Expedition to Nicaragua.--Its utter
Failure.--Ferocity of the Indians.--Exploring the River.--The
Retreat.--Coasting to Darien.--Capture and Death of
Lolonois.--Fate of the Remnants. 186

CHAPTER XII.

_The Female Pirate, Mary Read._

Testimony of Charles Johnson.--Marriage of Mary Read’s
Mother.--Singular Adventure.--Reasons for Disguising her
Daughter.--Early Training of Mary as a Boy.--She Enlists on
board a Man-of-War.--The Character she Developed.--Enters
the Army.--Skill and Bravery.--Falls in Love with a
Fleming.--Reveals her Sex.--The Marriage.--Happy Days.--Death
of her Husband.--Adversity.--Resumes Male Attire. 201

CHAPTER XIII.

_Anne Bonny, the Female Pirate._

Rackam the Pirate.--Anne Bonny his Wife.--Her Reasons for
Assuming a Boy’s Dress.--Infamous Character of Rackam.--Anne
falls in Love with Mary.--Curious Complications.--The
Duel.--Chivalry of Frank.--The Capture.--The Trial.--Testimony
of the Artist.--Death of Mary Read.--Rackam Dies on the
Scaffold. 214

CHAPTER XIV.

_Sir Henry Morgan._

His Origin.--Goes to the West Indies.--Joins the
Buccaneers.--Meets Mansvelt the Pirate.--Conquest of St.
Catharine.--Piratic Colony there.--Ravaging the Coast of
Costa Rica.--Sympathy of the Governor of Jamaica.--Death
of Mansvelt.--Expedition of Don John.--The Island Recaptured
by the Spaniards.--Plans of Morgan.--His Fleet.--The Sack of
Puerto Principe.--Horrible Atrocities.--Retreat of the
Pirates.--The Duel.--They Sail for Puerto Velo.--Conquest
of the City.--Heroism of the Governor. 225

CHAPTER XV.

_The Capture of Puerto Velo, and its Results._

The Torture.--Sickness and Misery.--Measures of the Governor of
Panama.--The Ambuscade.--Awful Defeat of the Spaniards.--Ferocity
of the Pirates.--Strange Correspondence.--Exchange of
Courtesies.--Return to Cuba, and Division of the Spoil.--Wild
Orgies at Jamaica.--Complicity of the British Government
with the Pirates.--The New Enterprise.--Arrival of the
Oxford.--Destruction of the Cerf Volant.--Rendezvous at
Samona. 246

CHAPTER XVI.

_The Expedition to Maracaibo._

The Delay at Ocoa.--Hunting Excursions.--The Repulse.--Cities
of Venezuela.--The Plan of Morgan.--Suggestions of Pierre
Picard.--Sailing of the Expedition.--They Touch at
Oruba.--Traverse Venezuela.--Enter Lake Maracaibo.--Capture of
the Fort.--The City Abandoned.--Atrocities of the Pirates. 260

CHAPTER XVII.

_Adventures on the Shores of Lake Maracaibo._

Preparations for the Defence of Gibraltar.--The Hidden
Ships.--The Hiding-place of the Governor and the
Women.--Disaster and Failure.--Capture of the Spanish
Ships.--The Retreat Commenced.--Peril of the Pirates.--Singular
Correspondence.--Strength of the Spanish Armament.--The
Public Conference of the Pirates.--The Naval Battle.--The
Fire-Ship.--Wonderful Achievement of the Pirates. 273

CHAPTER XVIII.

_A New Expedition Planned._

The Threat to Espinosa.--Adroit Stratagem.--Wonderful
Escape.--The Storm.--Revelry at Jamaica.--History of
Hispaniola.--Plan of a New Expedition.--The Foraging
Ships.--Morgan’s Administrative Energies.--Return of
the Foragers.--Rendezvous at Cape Tiburon.--Magnitude
and Armament of the Fleet.--Preparations to Sail. 290

CHAPTER XIX.

_Capture of St. Catherine and Chagres._

The Defences at St. Catherine.--Morgan’s Strategy.--The Midnight
Storm.--Deplorable Condition of the Pirates.--The Summons to
Surrender.--Disgraceful Conduct of the Spanish Commander.--The
Advance to Chagres.--Incidents of the Battle.--The Unexpected
Victory.--Measures of Morgan. 305

CHAPTER XX.

_The March from Chagres to Panama._

Preparations to Ascend the River.--Crowding of the Boats.--The
Bivouac at Bracos.--Sufferings from Hunger.--The Pathless
Route.--The Boats Abandoned.--Light Canoes Employed.--Abandoned
Ambuscades.--Painful Marches, Day by Day.--The Feast on
Leathern Bags.--Murmurs and Contentions.--The Indians
Encountered.--Struggling through the Forest.--The Conflagration
at Santa Cruz.--Battle and Skirmishes.--First Sight of
Panama.--Descent into the Plain.--Feasting. 319

CHAPTER XXI.

_The Capture of Panama._

First Sight of the City.--The Spanish Scouts Appear.--Morgan’s
Advance.--Character of the Country.--Fears of the
Spaniards.--Removal of Treasure.--Capture of the City.--The
Poisoned Wine.--Magnificent Scenery of the Bay.--Description of
Panama and its Surroundings.--Wealth of the City.--Scenes of
Crime and Cruelty. 335

CHAPTER XXII.

_The Return from Panama._

Return of the Explorers.--The Beautiful Captive.--Sympathy
in her behalf.--Embarrassments of Morgan.--Inflexible
Virtue of the Captive.--The Conspiracy.--Efficiency of
Morgan.--His Obduracy.--The Search of the Pirates.--The
Return March.--Morgan Cheats the Pirates.--Runs Away. 349

CHAPTER XXIII.

_Montbar the Fanatic._

Partial Solution of a Mystery.--Montbar’s Birth.--His Education
and Delusions.--Anecdote of the Dramatic Performance.--Montbar
Runs Away from Home.--Enters the Navy.--His Ferocious
Exploits.--Joins the Buccaneers.--Desperate Battles on
the Land and on the Sea.--His Final Disappearance. 360

CAPTAIN KIDD.