It was very seldom that an armed vessel2 set out from an European port for the express purpose of sea-robbery in American waters. At first nearly all the noted3 buccaneers were traders. But the circumstances which surrounded them in the new world made of them pirates whose evil deeds have never been surpassed in any part of the globe.
These unusual circumstances and amazing temptations do not furnish an excuse for the exceptionally wicked careers of the early American pirates; but we are bound to remember these causes or we could not understand the records of the settlement of the [Pg 8] West Indies. The buccaneers were fierce and reckless fellows who pursued their daring occupation because it was profitable, because they had learned to like it, and because it enabled them to wreak4 a certain amount of vengeance5 upon the common enemy. But we must not assume that they inaugurated the piratical conquests and warfare6 which existed so long upon our eastern seacoasts.
Before the buccaneers began their careers, there had been great masters of piracy7 who had opened their schools in the Caribbean Sea; and in order that the condition of affairs in this country during parts of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries may be clearly understood, we will consider some of the very earliest noted pirates of the West Indies.
When we begin a judicial8 inquiry9 into the condition of our fellow-beings, we should try to be as courteous10 as we can, but we must be just; consequently a man's fame and position must not turn us aside, when we are acting11 as historical investigators12.
Therefore, we shall be bold and speak the truth, and although we shall take off our hats and bow very respectfully, we must still assert that Christopher Columbus was the first who practised piracy in American waters.
When he sailed with his three little ships to discover unknown lands, he was an accredited13 explorer for the court of Spain, and was bravely sailing forth14 [Pg 9] with an honest purpose, and with the same regard for law and justice as is possessed15 by any explorer of the present day. But when he discovered some unknown lands, rich in treasure and outside of all legal restrictions16, the views and ideas of the great discoverer gradually changed. Being now beyond the boundaries of civilization, he also placed himself beyond the boundaries of civilized17 law. Robbery, murder, and the destruction of property, by the commanders of naval18 expeditions, who have no warrant or commission for their conduct, is the same as piracy, and when Columbus ceased to be a legalized explorer, and when, against the expressed wishes, and even the prohibitions19, of the royal personages who had sent him out on this expedition, he began to devastate20 the countries he had discovered, and to enslave and exterminate21 their peaceable natives, then he became a master in piracy, from whom the buccaneers afterward22 learned many a valuable lesson.
It is not necessary for us to enter very deeply into the consideration of the policy of Columbus toward the people of the islands of the West Indies. His second voyage was nothing more than an expedition for the sake of plunder23. He had discovered gold and other riches in the West Indies and he had found that the people who inhabited the islands were simple-hearted, inoffensive creatures, who did not know how to fight and who did not want to fight. [Pg 10] Therefore, it was so easy to sail his ships into the harbors of defenceless islands, to subjugate24 the natives, and to take away the products of their mines and soil, that he commenced a veritable course of piracy.
The acquisition of gold and all sorts of plunder seemed to be the sole object of this Spanish expedition; natives were enslaved, and subjected to the greatest hardships, so that they died in great numbers. At one time three hundred of them were sent as slaves to Spain. A pack of bloodhounds, which Columbus had brought with him for the purpose, was used to hunt down the poor Indians when they endeavored to escape from the hands of the oppressors, and in every way the island of Hayti, the principal scene of the actions of Columbus, was treated as if its inhabitants had committed a dreadful crime by being in possession of the wealth which the Spaniards desired for themselves.
Queen Isabella was greatly opposed to these cruel and unjust proceedings26. She sent back to their native land the slaves which Columbus had shipped to Spain, and she gave positive orders that no more of the inhabitants were to be enslaved, and that they were all to be treated with moderation and kindness. But the Atlantic is a wide ocean, and Columbus, far away from his royal patron, paid little attention to her wishes and commands; without going further [Pg 11] into the history of this period, we will simply mention the fact that it was on account of his alleged27 atrocities28 that Columbus was superseded29 in his command, and sent back in chains to Spain.
There was another noted personage of the sixteenth century who played the part of pirate in the new world, and thereby30 set a most shining example to the buccaneers of those regions. This was no other than Sir Francis Drake, one of England's greatest naval commanders.
It is probable that Drake, when he started out in life, was a man of very law-abiding and orderly disposition31, for he was appointed by Queen Elizabeth a naval chaplain, and, it is said, though there is some doubt about this, that he was subsequently vicar of a parish. But by nature he was a sailor, and nothing else, and after having made several voyages in which he showed himself a good fighter, as well as a good commander, he undertook, in 1572, an expedition against the Spanish settlements in the West Indies, for which he had no legal warrant whatever.
Spain was not at war with England, and when Drake sailed with four small ships into the port of the little town of Nombre de Dios in the middle of the night, the inhabitants of the town were as much astonished as the people of Perth Amboy would be if four armed vessels32 were to steam into Raritan Bay, and endeavor to take possession of the [Pg 12] town. The peaceful Spanish townspeople were not at war with any civilized nation, and they could not understand why bands of armed men should invade their streets, enter the market-place, fire their calivers, or muskets33, into the air, and then sound a trumpet34 loud enough to wake up everybody in the place. Just outside of the town the invaders35 had left a portion of their men, and when these heard the trumpet in the market-place, they also fired their guns; all this noise and hubbub36 so frightened the good people of the town, that many of them jumped from their beds, and without stopping to dress, fled away to the mountains. But all the citizens were not such cowards, and fourteen or fifteen of them armed themselves and went out to defend their town from the unknown invaders.
Beginners in any trade or profession, whether it be the playing of the piano, the painting of pictures, or the pursuit of piracy, are often timid and distrustful of themselves; so it happened on this occasion with Francis Drake and his men, who were merely amateur pirates, and showed very plainly that they did not yet understand their business.
When the fifteen Spanish citizens came into the market-place and found there the little body of armed Englishmen, they immediately fired upon them, not knowing or caring who they were. This brave resistance seems to have frightened Drake [Pg 13] and his men almost as much as their trumpets37 and guns had frightened the citizens, and the English immediately retreated from the town. When they reached the place where they had left the rest of their party, they found that these had already run away, and taken to the boats. Consequently Drake and his brave men were obliged to take off some of their clothes and to wade38 out to the little ships. The Englishmen secured no booty whatever, and killed only one Spaniard, who was a man who had been looking out of a window to see what was the matter.
Whether or not Drake's conscience had anything to do with the bungling39 manner in which he made this first attempt at piracy, we cannot say, but he soon gave his conscience a holiday, and undertook some very successful robbing enterprises. He received information from some natives, that a train of mules40 was coming across the Isthmus41 of Panama loaded with gold and silver bullion42, and guarded only by their drivers; for the merchants who owned all this treasure had no idea that there was any one in that part of the world who would commit a robbery upon them. But Drake and his men soon proved that they could hold up a train of mules as easily as some of the masked robbers in our western country hold up a train of cars. All the gold was taken, but the silver was too heavy for the amateur pirates to carry.
[Pg 14]
Two days after that, Drake and his men came to a place called "The House of Crosses," where they killed five or six peaceable merchants, but were greatly disappointed to find no gold, although the house was full of rich merchandise of various kinds. As his men had no means of carrying away heavy goods, he burned up the house and all its contents and went to his ships, and sailed away with the treasure he had already obtained.
Whatever this gallant43 ex-chaplain now thought of himself, he was considered by the Spaniards as an out-and-out pirate, and in this opinion they were quite correct. During his great voyage around the world, which he began in 1577, he came down upon the Spanish-American settlements like a storm from the sea. He attacked towns, carried off treasure, captured merchant-vessels,—and in fact showed himself to be a thoroughbred and accomplished44 pirate of the first class.
It was in consequence of the rich plunder with which his ships were now loaded, that he made his voyage around the world. He was afraid to go back the way he came, for fear of capture, and so, having passed the Straits of Magellan, and having failed to find a way out of the Pacific in the neighborhood of California, he doubled the Cape25 of Good Hope, and sailed along the western coast of Africa to European waters.
[Pg 15]
This grand piratical expedition excited great indignation in Spain, which country was still at peace with England, and even in England there were influential45 people who counselled the Queen that it would be wise and prudent46 to disavow Drake's actions, and compel him to restore to Spain the booty he had taken from his subjects. But Queen Elizabeth was not the woman to do that sort of thing. She liked brave men and brave deeds, and she was proud of Drake. Therefore, instead of punishing him, she honored him, and went to take dinner with him on board his ship, which lay at Deptford.
So Columbus does not stand alone as a grand master of piracy. The famous Sir Francis Drake, who became vice-admiral of the fleet which defeated the Spanish Armada, was a worthy47 companion of the great Genoese.
These notable instances have been mentioned because it would be unjust to take up the history of those resolute48 traders who sailed from England, France, and Holland, to the distant waters of the western world for the purpose of legitimate49 enterprise and commerce, and who afterwards became thorough-going pirates, without trying to make it clear that they had shining examples for their notable careers.
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1
remarkable
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| adj.显著的，异常的，非凡的，值得注意的 | |
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vessel
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| n.船舶；容器，器皿；管，导管，血管 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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wreak
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| v.发泄；报复 | |
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vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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warfare
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| n.战争(状态)；斗争；冲突 | |
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piracy
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| n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害 | |
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judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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inquiry
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| n.打听，询问，调查，查问 | |
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courteous
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| adj.彬彬有礼的，客气的 | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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investigators
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| n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 ) | |
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accredited
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| adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于 | |
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forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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possessed
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| adj.疯狂的；拥有的，占有的 | |
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restrictions
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| 约束( restriction的名词复数 )； 管制； 制约因素； 带限制性的条件（或规则） | |
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civilized
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| a.有教养的，文雅的 | |
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naval
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| adj.海军的，军舰的，船的 | |
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prohibitions
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| 禁令，禁律( prohibition的名词复数 )； 禁酒； 禁例 | |
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devastate
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| v.使荒芜，破坏，压倒 | |
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exterminate
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| v.扑灭，消灭，根绝 | |
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afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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plunder
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| vt.劫掠财物，掠夺；n.劫掠物，赃物；劫掠 | |
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subjugate
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| v.征服；抑制 | |
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cape
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| n.海角，岬；披肩，短披风 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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atrocities
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| n.邪恶，暴行( atrocity的名词复数 )；滔天大罪 | |
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superseded
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| [医]被代替的，废弃的 | |
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thereby
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| adv.因此，从而 | |
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disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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vessels
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| n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人 | |
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muskets
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| n.火枪，（尤指）滑膛枪( musket的名词复数 ) | |
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trumpet
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| n.喇叭，喇叭声；v.吹喇叭，吹嘘 | |
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invaders
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| 入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 ) | |
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hubbub
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| n.嘈杂；骚乱 | |
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trumpets
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| 喇叭( trumpet的名词复数 )； 小号； 喇叭形物； （尤指）绽开的水仙花 | |
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wade
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| v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉 | |
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bungling
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| adj.笨拙的，粗劣的v.搞糟，完不成( bungle的现在分词 )；笨手笨脚地做；失败；完不成 | |
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mules
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| 骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者 | |
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isthmus
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| n.地峡 | |
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bullion
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| n.金条，银条 | |
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gallant
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| adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的 | |
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accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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influential
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| adj.有影响的，有权势的 | |
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prudent
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| adj.谨慎的，有远见的，精打细算的 | |
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47
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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resolute
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| adj.坚决的，果敢的 | |
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legitimate
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| adj.合法的，合理的，合乎逻辑的；v.使合法 | |
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