This man had been with L'Olonnois two years before when that bloody4 pirate had sacked the towns of Maracaibo and Gibraltar; he had made himself perfectly5 familiar with the fortifications and defences of these towns, and he told Morgan that it would [Pg 154] be easy to take them. To be sure they had been thoroughly6 sacked before, and therefore did not offer the tempting7 inducements of perfectly fresh towns, such as Port-au-Prince, but still in two years the inhabitants must have gathered together some possessions desirable to pirates, and therefore, although Morgan could not go to these towns with the expectation of reaping a full harvest, he might at least gather up an aftermath which would pay him for his trouble.
So away sailed this horde8 of ravenous9 scoundrels for the lake of Maracaibo, at the outer end of which lay the town of Maracaibo, and at the other extremity10 the town of Gibraltar. When they had sailed near enough to the fortifications they anchored out of sight of the watch-tower and, landing in the night, marched on one of the forts. Here the career of Morgan came very near closing forever. The Spaniards had discovered the approach of the pirates, and this fort had been converted into a great trap in which the citizens hoped to capture and destroy the pirate leader and his men. Everybody had left the fort, the gates were open, and a slow-match, communicating with the magazine, had been lighted just before the last Spaniard had left.
But the oldest and most sagacious of rats would be no more difficult to entrap11 than was the wily [Pg 155] pirate Morgan. When he entered the open gates of the fort and found everything in perfect order, he suspected a trick, and looking about him he soon saw the smouldering match. Instantly he made a dash at it, seized it and extinguished the fire. Had he been delayed in this discovery a quarter of an hour longer, he and his men would have been blown to pieces along with the fort.
Now the pirates pressed on toward the town, but they met with no resistance. The Spaniards, having failed to blow up their dreaded13 enemies, had retreated into the surrounding country and had left the town. The triumphant14 pirates spread themselves everywhere. They searched the abandoned town for people and valuables, and every man who cared to do so took one of the empty houses for his private residence. They made the church the common meeting-place where they might all gather together when it was necessary, and when they had spent the night in eating and drinking all the good things they could find, they set out the next day to hunt for the fugitive15 citizens.
For three weeks Morgan and his men held a devil's carnival16 in Maracaibo. To tell of the abominable17 tortures and cruelties which they inflicted18 upon the poor people, whom they dragged from their hiding-places in the surrounding country, would make our flesh creep and our blood run cold. [Pg 156] When they could do no more evil they sailed away up the lake for Gibraltar.
It is not necessary to tell the story of the taking of this town. When Morgan arrived there he found it also entirely19 deserted20. The awful dread12 of the human beasts who were coming upon them had forced the inhabitants to fly. In the whole town only one man was left, and he was an idiot who had not sense enough to run away. This poor fellow was tortured to tell where his treasures were hid, and when he consented to take them to the place where he had concealed21 his possessions, they found a few broken earthen dishes, and a little bit of money, about as much as a poor imbecile might be supposed to possess. Thereupon the disappointed fiends cruelly killed him.
For five weeks the country surrounding Gibraltar was the scene of a series of diabolical22 horrors. The pirates undertook the most hazardous23 and difficult expeditions in order to find the people who had hidden themselves on islands and in the mountains, and although they obtained a great deal of booty, they met with a good many misfortunes. Some of them were drowned in swollen24 streams, and others lost much of their pillage2 by rains and storms.
At last, after having closed his vile25 proceedings26 in the ordinary pirate fashion, by threatening to burn the town if he were not paid a ransom27, Morgan [Pg 157] thought it time for him to depart, for if the Spaniards should collect a sufficient force at Maracaibo to keep him from getting out of the lake, he would indeed be caught in a trap. The ransom was partly paid and partly promised, and Morgan and his men departed, carrying with them some hostages for the rest of the ransom due.
When Morgan and his fleet arrived at Maracaibo, they found the town still deserted, but they also discovered that they were caught in the trap which they had feared, out of which they saw no way of escaping. News had been sent the Spanish forces; of the capture and sacking of Maracaibo, and three large men-of-war now lay in the channel below the town which led from the lake into the sea. And more than this, the castle which defended the entrance to the lake, and which the pirates had found empty when they arrived, was now well manned and supplied with a great many cannon28, so that for once in their lives these wicked buccaneers were almost discouraged. Their little ships could not stand against the men-of-war; and in any case they could not pass the castle, which was now prepared to blow them to pieces if they should come near enough.
But in the midst of these disheartening circumstances, the pirate leader showed what an arrogant29, blustering30 dare-devil he was, for, instead of admitting [Pg 158] his discomfiture31 and trying to make terms with the Spaniards, he sent a letter to the admiral of the ships, in which he stated that if he did not allow him a free passage out to sea he would burn every house in Maracaibo. To this insolent32 threat, the Spanish admiral replied in a long letter, in which he told Morgan that if he attempted to leave the lake he would fire upon his ships, and, if necessary, follow them out to sea, until not a stick of one of them should be left. But in the great magnanimity of his soul he declared that he would allow Morgan to sail away freely, provided he would deliver all the booty he had captured, together with the prisoners and slaves, and promise to go home and abandon buccaneering forever. In case he declined these terms, the admiral declared he would come up the channel in boats filled with his soldiers and put every pirate to the sword.
When Morgan received this letter, he called his men together in the public square of the town, and asked them what they would do, and when these fellows heard that they were asked to give up all their booty, they unanimously voted that they would perish rather than do such an unmanly thing as that. So it was agreed that they would fight themselves out of the lake of Maracaibo, or stay there, dead or alive, as the case might be.
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1
isle
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| n.小岛，岛 | |
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2
pillage
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| v.抢劫；掠夺；n.抢劫，掠夺；掠夺物 | |
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3
pillaged
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| v.抢劫，掠夺( pillage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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4
bloody
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| adj.非常的的；流血的；残忍的；adv.很；vt.血染 | |
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5
perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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6
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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7
tempting
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| a.诱人的, 吸引人的 | |
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8
horde
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| n.群众，一大群 | |
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9
ravenous
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| adj.极饿的，贪婪的 | |
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10
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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11
entrap
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| v.以网或陷阱捕捉，使陷入圈套 | |
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12
dread
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| vt.担忧，忧虑；惧怕，不敢；n.担忧，畏惧 | |
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13
dreaded
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| adj.令人畏惧的；害怕的v.害怕，恐惧，担心( dread的过去式和过去分词) | |
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14
triumphant
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| adj.胜利的，成功的；狂欢的，喜悦的 | |
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15
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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16
carnival
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| n.嘉年华会，狂欢，狂欢节，巡回表演 | |
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17
abominable
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| adj.可厌的，令人憎恶的 | |
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18
inflicted
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| 把…强加给，使承受，遭受( inflict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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19
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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21
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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22
diabolical
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| adj.恶魔似的，凶暴的 | |
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23
hazardous
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| adj.(有)危险的，冒险的；碰运气的 | |
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24
swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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25
vile
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| adj.卑鄙的，可耻的，邪恶的；坏透的 | |
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26
proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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27
ransom
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| n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救 | |
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28
cannon
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| n.大炮，火炮；飞机上的机关炮 | |
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29
arrogant
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| adj.傲慢的，自大的 | |
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30
blustering
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| adj.狂风大作的，狂暴的v.外强中干的威吓( bluster的现在分词 )；咆哮；（风）呼啸；狂吹 | |
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31
discomfiture
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| n.崩溃；大败；挫败；困惑 | |
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32
insolent
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| adj.傲慢的，无理的 | |
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