Kitabı oku: «History of the Buccaneers of America», sayfa 12
They had chocolate, but no sugar; and all the kettles they possessed, constantly kept boiling, were not sufficient to dress victuals for so many men. Whilst the ships lay at Taboga, a detachment was sent to a sugar-work on the mainland, from which they returned with sugar and three coppers.
More Buccaneers arrive. On the 11th of April, they went from Tabogo to the Pearl Islands, and were there joined by the Flibustiers and Buccaneers of whose coming they had been last apprised, consisting of 264 men, commanded by Frenchmen named Rose, Le Picard, and Des-marais. Le Picard was a veteran who had served under Lolonois and Morgan. In this party came Raveneau de Lussan, whose Journal is said to be the only one kept by any of the French who were in this expedition.
Lussan's Narrative is written with much misplaced gaiety, which comes early into notice, and shews him to have been, even whilst young and unpractised in the occupation of a Buccaneer, of a disposition delighting in cruelty. In the account of his journey overland from the West Indies, he relates instances which he witnessed of the great dexterity of the monkeys which inhabited the forests, and among others the following: 'Je ne puis me souvenir sans rire de l'action que je vis faire a un de ces animaux, auquel apres avoir tiré plusieurs coups de fusil qui lui emportoient une partie du ventre, en sorte que toutes ses tripes sortoient; je le vis se tenir d'une de ses pates, ou mains si l'on veut, a une branche d'arbre, tandis que de l'autre il ramassoit ses intestins qu'il se refouroit dans ce qui lui restoit de ventre53.'
Ambrose Cowley and Raveneau de Lussan are well matched for comparison, alike not only in their dispositions, but in their conceptions, which made them imagine the recital of such actions would be read with delight.
The Buccaneers in the Bay of Panama were now nearly a thousand strong, and they held a consultation whether or not they should attack the city. They had just before learnt from an intercepted packet that the Lima Fleet was at sea, richly charged with treasure; and that it was composed of all the naval force the Spaniards in Peru had been able to collect: it was therefore agreed not to attempt the city at the present, but to wait patiently the arrival of the Spanish fleet, and give it battle. Chepo. The only enterprise they undertook on the main-land in the mean time, was against the town of Chepo, where they found neither opposition nor plunder.
The small Island Chepillo near the mouth of the river which leads to Chepo, Dampier reckoned the most pleasant of all the Islands in the Bay of Panama. 'It is low on the North side, and rises by a small ascent towards the South side. The soil is yellow, a kind of clay. The low land is planted with all sorts of delicate fruits.' The Islands in the Bay being occupied by the Buccaneers, caused great scarcity of provision and distress at Panama, much of the consumption in that city having usually been supplied from the Islands, which on that account and for their pleasantness were called the Gardens of Panama.
In this situation things remained till near the end of May, the Buccaneers in daily expectation of seeing the fleet from Lima, of which it is now time to speak.
CHAPTER XV
Edward Davis Commander. Meeting of the Spanish and Buccaneer Fleets in the Bay of Panama. They separate without fighting. The Buccaneers sail to the Island Quibo. The English and French separate. Expedition against the City of Leon. That City and Ria Lexa burnt. Farther dispersion of the Buccaneers
1685. May. Bay of Panama. The Viceroy of Peru judged the Fleet he had collected, to be strong enough to encounter the Buccaneers, and did not fear to trust the treasure to its protection; but he gave directions to the Commander of the Fleet to endeavour to avoid a meeting with them until after the treasure should be safely landed. In pursuance of this plan, the Spanish Admiral, as he drew near the Bay of Panama, kept more Westward than the usual course, and fell in with the coast of Veragua to the West of the Punta Mala. Afterwards, he entered the Bay with his fleet keeping close to the West shore; and to place the treasure out of danger as soon as possible, he landed it at Lavelia, thinking it most probable his fleet would be descried by the enemy before he could reach Panama, which must have happened if the weather had not been thick, or if the Buccaneers had kept a sharper look-out by stationing tenders across the entrance of the Bay. The Lima Fleet arrives at Panama. In consequence of this being neglected, the Spanish fleet arrived and anchored before the city of Panama without having been perceived by them, and immediately on their arrival, the crews of the ships were reinforced with a number of European seamen who had purposely been sent over land from Porto Bello. Thus strengthened, and the treasure being placed out of danger, the Spanish Admiral took up his anchors, and stood from the road before Panama towards the middle of the Bay, in quest of the Buccaneers.
28th. May the 28th, the morning was rainy: the Buccaneer fleet was lying at anchor near the Island Pacheca, the Northernmost of the Pearl Islands. At eleven o'clock in the forenoon, the weather cleared up, when the Spanish fleet appeared in sight about three leagues distant from them to the WNW. The wind was light from the Southward, and they were standing sharp trimmed towards the Buccaneers.
Meeting of the two Fleets. Lussan dates this their meeting with the Spanish Fleet, to be on June the 7th. Ten days alteration of the style had taken place in France three years before, and no alteration of style had yet been adopted in England.
Force of the Buccaneer. The Buccaneer fleet was composed of ten sail of vessels, of different sizes, manned with 960 men, almost all Europeans; but, excepting the Batchelor's Delight and the Cygnet, none of their vessels had cannon. Edward Davis was regarded as the Admiral. His ship mounted 36 guns, and had a crew of 156 men, most of them English; but as he was furnished with a French commission, and France was still at war with Spain, he carried aloft a white flag, in which was painted a hand and sword. Swan's ship had 16 guns, with a crew of 140 men, all English, and carried a Saint George's flag at her main-topmast head. The rest of their fleet was well provided with small-arms, and the crews were dexterous in the use of them. Grogniet's ship was the most powerful, except in cannon, her crew consisting of 308 men.
Force of the Spanish Fleet. The Spanish fleet numbered fourteen sail, six of which were provided with cannon; six others with musketry only, and two were fitted up as fire-ships. The buccaneer accounts say the Spanish Admiral had 48 guns mounted, and 450 men; the Vice-Admiral 40 guns, and men in proportion; the Rear-Admiral 36 guns, one of the other ships 24, one 18, and one 8 guns; and that the number of men in their fleet was above 2500; but more than one half of them Indians or slaves.
When the two fleets first had sight of each other, Grogniet's ship lay at anchor a mile to leeward of his confederates, on which account he weighed anchor, and stood close upon a wind to the Eastward, intending to turn up to the other ships; but in endeavouring to tack, he missed stays twice, which kept him at a distance all the fore part of the day. From the superiority of the Spaniards in cannon, and of the buccaneer crews in musketry, it was evident that distant fighting was most to the advantage of the Spaniards; and that the Buccaneers had to rest their hopes of success on close fighting and boarding. Davis was fully of this opinion, and at three o'clock in the afternoon, the enemy's fleet being directly to leeward and not far distant, he got his vessels under sail and bore right down upon them, making a signal at the same time to Grogniet to board the Spanish Vice-Admiral, who was some distance separate from the other ships of his fleet.
Here may be contemplated the Buccaneers at the highest pitch of elevation to which they at any time attained. If they obtained the victory, it would give them the sole dominion of the South Sea; and Davis, the buccaneer Commander, aimed at no less; but he was ill seconded, and was not possessed of authority to enforce obedience to his commands.
The order given to Grogniet was not put in execution, and when Davis had arrived with his ship within cannon-shot of the Spaniards, Swan shortened sail and lowered his ensign, to signify he was of opinion that it would be best to postpone fighting till the next day. Davis wanting the support of two of the most able ships of his fleet, was obliged to forego his intention, and no act of hostility passed during the afternoon and evening except the exchange of some shot between his own ship and that of the Spanish Vice-Admiral.
When it was dark, the Spanish fleet anchored, and at the same time, the Spanish Admiral took in his light, and ordered a light to be shewn from one of his small vessels, which he sent to leeward. The Buccaneers were deceived by this artifice, believing the light they saw to be that of the Spanish Admiral, and they continued under sail, thinking themselves secure of the weather-gage. 29th. At daylight the next morning the Spaniards were seen well collected, whilst the buccaneer vessels were much dispersed. Grogniet and Townley were to windward of the Spaniards; but all the rest, contrary to what they had expected, were to leeward. At sunrise, the Spanish fleet got under sail and bore down towards the leeward buccaneer ships. The Buccaneers thought it not prudent to fight under such disadvantages, and did not wait to receive them. They were near the small Island Pacheca, on the South side of which are some Islands yet smaller. Among these Islands, Dampier says, is a narrow channel in one part not forty feet wide. Townley, being pressed by the Spaniards and in danger of being intercepted, pushed for this passage without any previous examination of the depth of water, and got safe through. Davis and Swan, whose ships were the fastest sailing in either fleet, had the credit of affording protection to their flying companions, by waiting to repulse the most advanced of the Spaniards. Dampier, who was in Davis's ship, says, she was pressed upon by the whole Spanish force. 'The Spanish Admiral and the rest of his squadron began to play at us and we at them as fast as we could: yet they kept at distant cannonading. They might have laid us aboard if they would, but they came not within small-arms shot, intending to maul us in pieces with their great guns.' After a circuitous chace and running fight, which lasted till the evening, the Buccaneers, Harris's ship excepted, which had been forced to make off in a different direction, anchored by the Island Pacheca, nearly in the same spot whence they had set out in the morning.
30th. On the 30th, at daylight, the Spanish fleet was seen at anchor three leagues to leeward. The breeze was faint, and both fleets lay quiet till ten o'clock in the forenoon. The wind then freshened a little from the South, and the Spaniards took up their anchors; but instead of making towards the Buccaneers, they sailed away in a disgraceful manner for Panama. Whether they sustained any loss in this skirmishing does not appear. The Buccaneer's had only one man killed outright. In Davis's ship, six men were wounded, and half of her rudder was shot away.
The two Fleets separate. It might seem to those little acquainted with the management of ships that it could make no material difference whether the Spaniards bore down to engage the Buccaneers, or the Buccaneers bore down to engage the Spaniards; for that in either case when the fleets were closed, the Buccaneers might have tried the event of boarding. But the difference here was, that if the Buccaneers had the weather-gage, it enabled them to close with the enemy in the most speedy manner, which was of much consequence where the disparity in the number of cannon was so great. When the Spaniards had the weather-gage, they would press the approach only near enough to give effect to their cannon, and not near enough for musketry to do them mischief. With this view, they could choose their distance when to stop and bring their broadsides to bear, and leave to the Buccaneers the trouble of making nearer approach, against the wind and a heavy cannonade. Dampier, who has related the transactions of the 28th and 29th very briefly, speaks of the weather-gage here as a decisive advantage. He says, "In the morning (of the 29th) therefore, when we found the enemy had got the weather-gage of us, and were coming upon us with full sail, we ran for it."
On this occasion there is no room for commendation on the valour of either party. The Buccaneers, however, knew, by the Spanish fleet coming to them from Panama, that the treasure must have been landed, and therefore they could have had little motive for enterprise. The meeting was faintly sought by both sides, and no battle was fought, except a little cannonading during the retreat of the Buccaneers, which on their side was almost wholly confined to the ship of their Commander. Both Dampier and Lussan acknowledge that Edward Davis brought the whole of the buccaneer fleet off safe from the Spaniards by his courage and good management.
June. On June the 1st, the Buccaneers sailed out of the Bay of Panama for the Island Quibo. They had to beat up against SW winds, and had much wet weather. In the middle of June, they anchored on the East side of Quibo, where they were joined by Harris.
Keys of Quibo. The Island Quibo. Quibo and the smaller Islands near it, Dampier calls collectively, the Keys of Quibo. They are all woody. Good fresh water was found on the great Island, which would naturally be the case with the wet weather; and here were deer, guanoes, and large black monkeys, whose flesh was esteemed by the Buccaneers to be sweet and wholesome food.
Rock near the Anchorage. A shoal which runs out from the SE point of Quibo half a mile into the sea, has been already noticed: a league to the North of this shoal, and a mile distant from the shore, is a rock which appears above water only at the last quarter ebb. Except the shoal, and this rock, there is no other danger; and ships may anchor within a quarter of a mile of the shore, in from six to twelve fathoms clear sand and ooze54.
They stopped at Quibo to make themselves canoes, the trees there being well suited for the purpose, and some so large that a single trunk hollowed and wrought into shape, would carry forty or fifty men. Whilst this work was performing, a strong party was sent to the main-land against Pueblo Nuevo, which town was now entered without opposition; but no plunder was obtained.
Serpents. The Serpent Berry. Lussan relates that two of the Buccaneers were killed by serpents at Quibo. He says, 'here are serpents whose bite is so venemous that speedy death inevitably ensues, unless the patient can have immediate recourse to a certain fruit, which must be chewed and applied to the part bitten. The tree which bears this fruit grows here, and in other parts of America. It resembles the almond-tree in France in height and in its leaves. The fruit is like the sea chestnut (Chataines de Mer) but is of a grey colour, rather bitter in taste, and contains in its middle a whitish almond. The whole is to be chewed together before it is applied. It is called (Graine à Serpent) the Serpent Berry.'
July. Disagreements among the Buccaneers. The dissatisfaction caused by their being foiled in the Bay of Panama, broke out in reproaches, and produced great disagreements among the Buccaneers. Many blamed Grogniet for not coming into battle the first day. On the other hand, Lussan blames the behaviour of the English, who, he says, being the greater number, lorded it over the French; that Townley, liking Grogniet's ship better than his own, would have insisted on a change, if the French had not shewn a determination to resist such an imposition. Another cause of complaint against the English was, the indecent and irreverent manner in which they shewed their hatred to the Roman Catholic religion. Lussan says, 'When they entered the Spanish churches, it was their diversion to hack and mutilate every thing with their cutlasses, and to fire their muskets and pistols at the images of the Saints.' The French separate from the English. In consequence of these disagreements, 330 of the French joined together under Grogniet, and separated from the English.
Knight, a Buccaneer Commander, joins Davis. Before either of the parties had left Quibo, William Knight, a Buccaneer already mentioned, arrived there in a ship manned with 40 Englishmen and 11 Frenchmen. This small crew of Buccaneers had crossed the Isthmus about nine months before; they had been cruising both on the coast of New Spain and on the coast of Peru; and the sum of their successes amounted to their being provided with a good vessel and a good stock of provisions. They had latterly been to the Southward, where they learnt that the Lima fleet had sailed against the Buccaneers before Panama, which was the first notice they received of other Buccaneers than themselves being in the South Sea. On the intelligence, they immediately sailed for the Bay of Panama, that they might be present and share in the capture of the Spaniards, which they believed would inevitably be the result of a meeting. On arriving in the Bay of Panama, they learnt what really had happened: nevertheless, they proceeded to Quibo in search of their friends. The Frenchmen in Knight's ship left her to join their countrymen: Knight and the rest of the crew, put themselves under the command of Davis.
The ship commanded by Harris, was found to be in a decayed state and untenantable. Another vessel was given to him and his crew; but the whole company were so much crowded for want of ship room, that a number remained constantly in canoes. One of the canoes which they built at Quibo measured 36 feet in length, and between 5 and 6 feet in width.
Davis and the English party, having determined to attack the city of Leon in the province of Nicaragua, sent an invitation to the French Buccaneers to rejoin them. The French had only one ship, which was far from sufficient to contain their whole number, and they demanded, as a condition of their uniting again with the English, that another vessel should be given to themselves. The English could ill spare a ship, and would not agree to the proposition; the separation therefore was final. Jean Rose, a Frenchman, with fourteen of his countrymen, in a new canoe they had built for themselves, left Grogniet to try their fortunes under Davis.
In this, and in other separations which subsequently took place among the Buccaneers, it has been thought the most clear and convenient arrangement of narrative, to follow the fortunes of the buccaneer Commander Edward Davis and his adherents, without interruption, to the conclusion of their adventures in the South Sea; and afterwards, to resume the proceedings of the other adventurers.
Proceedings of Edward Davis. August. Expedition against the City of Leon. On the 20th of July, Davis with eight vessels and 640 men, departed from the Island Quibo for Ria Lexa, sailing through the channel between Quibo and the main-land, and along the coast of the latter, which was low and overgrown with thick woods, and appeared thin of inhabitants. August the 9th, at eight in the morning, the ships being then so far out in the offing that they could not be descried from the shore, Davis with 520 men went away in 31 canoes for the harbour of Ria Lexa. They set out with fair weather; but at two in the afternoon, a tornado came from the land, with thunder, lightning, and rain, and with such violent gusts of wind that the canoes were all obliged to put right before it, to avoid being overwhelmed by the billows. Dampier remarks generally of the hot latitudes, as Lussan does of the Pacific Ocean, that the sea there is soon raised by the wind, and when the wind abates is soon down again. Up Wind Up Sea, Down Wind Down Sea, is proverbial between the tropics among seamen. The fierceness of the tornado continued about half an hour, after which the wind gradually abated, and the canoes again made towards the land. At seven in the evening it was calm, and the sea quite smooth. During the night, the Buccaneers, having the direction of a Spanish pilot, entered a narrow creek which led towards Leon; but the pilot could not undertake to proceed up till daylight, lest he should mistake, there being several creeks communicating with each other.
Leon. The city of Leon bordered on the Lake of Nicaragua, and was reckoned twenty miles within the sea coast. They went only a part of this distance by the river, when Davis, leaving sixty men to guard the canoes, landed with the rest and marched towards the city, two miles short of which they passed through an Indian town. Leon had a cathedral and three other churches. It was not fortified, and the Spaniards, though they drew up their force in the Great Square or Parade, did not think themselves strong enough to defend the place. About three in the afternoon, the Buccaneers entered, and the Spaniards retired.
All the Buccaneers who landed did not arrive at Leon that same day. According to their ability for the march, Davis had disposed his men into divisions. The foremost was composed of all the most active, who marched without delay for the town, the other divisions following as speedily as they were able. The rear division being of course composed of the worst travellers, some of them could not keep pace even with their own division. They all came in afterwards except two, one of whom was killed, and the other taken prisoner. The man killed was a stout grey-headed old man of the name of Swan, aged about 84 years, who had served under Cromwell, and had ever since made privateering or buccaneering his occupation. This veteran would not be dissuaded from going on the enterprise against Leon; but his strength failed in the march; and after being left in the road, he was found by the Spaniards, who endeavoured to make him their prisoner; but he refused to surrender, and fired his musket amongst them, having in reserve a pistol still charged; on which he was shot dead.
The houses in Leon were large, built of stone, but not high, with gardens about them. 'Some have recommended Leon as the most pleasant place in all America; and for health and pleasure it does surpass most places. The country round is of a sandy soil, which soon drinks up the rains to which these parts are much subject55.'
Leon burnt by the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers being masters of the city, the Governor sent a flag of truce to treat for its ransom. They demanded 300,000 dollars, and as much provision as would subsist 1000 men four months: also that the Buccaneer taken prisoner should be exchanged. These demands it is probable the Spaniards never intended to comply with; however they prolonged the negociation, till the Buccaneers suspected it was for the purpose of collecting force. Therefore, on the 14th, they set fire to the city, and returned to the coast. The town of Ria Lexa underwent a similar fate, contrary to the intention of the Buccaneer Commander.
Ria Lexa. Town of Ria Lexa burnt. Ria Lexa is unwholesomely situated in a plain among creeks and swamps, 'and is never free from a noisome smell.' The soil is a strong yellow clay; in the neighbourhood of the town were many sugar-works and beef-farms; pitch, tar, and cordage were made here; with all which commodities the inhabitants carried on a good trade. The Buccaneers supplied themselves with as much as they wanted of these articles, besides which, they received at Ria Lexa 150 head of cattle from a Spanish gentleman, who had been released upon his parole, and promise of making such payment for his ransom; their own man who had been made prisoner was redeemed in exchange for a Spanish lady, and they found in the town 500 packs of flour; which circumstances might have put the Buccaneers in good temper and have induced them to spare the town; 'but,' says Dampier, 'some of our destructive crew, I know not by whose order, set fire to the houses, and we marched away and left them burning.'
Farther Separation of the Buccaneers. After the Leon expedition, no object of enterprise occurred to them of sufficient magnitude to induce or to enable them to keep together in such large force. Dispersed in small bodies, they expected a better chance of procuring both subsistence and plunder. By general consent therefore, the confederacy which had been preserved of the English Buccaneers was relinquished, and they formed into new parties according to their several inclinations. Swan proposed to cruise along the coast of New Spain, and NW-ward, as far as to the entrance of the Gulf of California, and thence to take his departure for the East Indies. Townley and his followers agreed to try their fortunes with Swan as long as he remained on the coast of New Spain; after which they proposed to return to the Isthmus. In the course of settling these arrangements, William Dampier, being desirous of going to the East Indies, took leave of his commander, Edward Davis, and embarked with Swan. Of these, an account will be given hereafter.
