The Naval History of the United States | Page 8

heretics, the enemies of God and of
the king! Let your comrades who are behind come also. We will serve
them as we have served you. You shall not get to Panama this time."
As night fell, the pirates withdrew into the thickets to escape the fire of
their enemies, and to discuss their discomfiture. As one group of
buccaneers lay in the jungle, a chance arrow, shot by an Indian in the
fort, struck one of them in the arm. Springing to his feet with a cry of
rage and pain, the wounded man cried out as he tore the arrow from the
bleeding wound,--
"Look here, my comrades. I will make this accursed arrow the means of
the destruction of all the Spaniards."
So saying, he wrapped a quantity of cotton about the head of the arrow,
charged his gun with powder, and, thrusting the arrow into the muzzle,
fired. His comrades eagerly watched the flight of the missile, which
was easily traced by the flaming cotton. Hurtling through the air, the
fiery missile fell upon a thatched roof within the castle, and the dry
straw and leaves were instantly in a blaze. With cries of savage joy, the
buccaneers ran about picking up the arrows that lay scattered over the
battle-field. Soon the air was full of the fire-brands, and the woodwork
within the castle enclosure was a mass of flame. One arrow fell within
the magazine; and a burst of smoke and flame, and the dull roar of an
explosion, followed. The Spaniards worked valiantly to extinguish the

flames, and to beat back their assailants; but the fire raged beyond their
control, and the bright light made them easy targets for their foes.
There could be but one issue to such a conflict. By morning the fort
was in the hands of the buccaneers, and of the garrison of three hundred
and fourteen only fourteen were unhurt. Over the ruins of the fort the
English flag was hoisted, the shattered walls were repaired, and the
place made a rendezvous for Morgan's forces.
On the scene of the battle Morgan drilled his forces, and prepared for
the march and battles that were to come. After some days' preparation,
the expedition set out. The road lay through tangled tropical forests,
under a burning sun. Little food was taken, as the invaders expected to
live on the country; but the inhabitants fled before the advancing
column, destroying every thing eatable. Soon starvation stared the
desperadoes in the face. They fed upon berries, roots, and leaves. As
the days passed, and no food was to be found, they sliced up and
devoured coarse leather bags. For a time, it seemed that they would
never escape alive from the jungle; but at last, weak, weary, and
emaciated, they came out upon a grassy plain before the city of Panama.
Here, a few days later, a great battle was fought. The Spaniards
outnumbered the invaders, and were better provided with munitions of
war; yet the pirates, fighting with the bravery of desperate men, were
victorious, and the city fell into their hands. Then followed days of
murder, plunder, and debauchery. Morgan saw his followers, maddened
by liquor, scoff at the idea of discipline and obedience. Fearing that
while his men were helplessly drunk the Spaniards would rally and cut
them to pieces, he set fire to the city, that the stores of rum might be
destroyed. After sacking the town, the vandals packed their plunder on
the backs of mules, and retraced their steps to the seaboard. Their booty
amounted to over two millions of dollars. Over the division of this
enormous sum great dissensions arose, and Morgan saw the mutinous
spirit spreading rapidly among his men. With a few accomplices,
therefore, he loaded a ship with the plunder, and secretly set sail;
leaving over half of his band, without food or shelter, in a hostile
country. Many of the abandoned buccaneers starved, some were shot or
hanged by the enraged Spaniards; but the leader of the rapacious gang
reached Jamaica with a huge fortune, and was appointed governor of

the island, and made a baronet by the reigning king of England, Charles
the Second.
Such were some of the exploits of some of the more notorious of the
buccaneers. It may be readily imagined, that, with hordes of
desperadoes such as these infesting the waters of the West Indies, there
was little opportunity for the American Colonies to build up any
maritime interests in that direction. And as the merchantmen became
scarce on the Spanish Main, such of the buccaneers as did not turn
landward in search of booty put out to sea, and ravaged the ocean
pathways between the Colonies and England. It was against these
pirates, that the earliest naval operations