CHAPTER XXVIII.

MORGAN'S RAIDS ON THE ISTHMUS.

1664-1671.

MORGAN'S EARLY CAREER—HE RESOLVES TO ATTACK PORTOBELLO—THE CASTLE OF TRIANA BLOWN INTO THE AIR—CAPTURE OF THE CITY—ATROCITIES COMMITTED BY THE BUCCANEERS—THE PRESIDENT OF PANAMÁ MARCHES AGAINST THEM—HE IS DRIVEN BACK—MORGAN SENDS HIM A SPECIMEN OF HIS WEAPONS—RANSOM OF THE CITY AND RETURN TO JAMAICA—THE BUCCANEERS PREPARE ANOTHER ARMAMENT, AND RESOLVE TO ATTACK PANAMÁ—CAPTURE OF FORT SAN LORENZO—MARCH ACROSS THE ISTHMUS—MORGAN ARRIVES IN SIGHT OF PANAMÁ—COWARDICE OF THE GOVERNOR—BATTLE WITH THE SPANIARDS—BURNING OF THE CITY—TORTURE OF PRISONERS—BRAVERY OF A CAPTIVE GENTLEWOMAN—THE BUCCANEERS RECROSS THE ISTHMUS—DIVISION OF THE BOOTY.

None of the "brethren of the coast," as English buccaneer, French filibuster, and Dutch sea-rover were pleased to style each other, are better known to fame than Henry Morgan, the Welshman, whose deeds have been heralded in all the principal languages of Europe. Born of respectable parents in easy circumstances, he left home still a lad, and shipped for Barbadoes in the service of a master who, on reaching port, sold him as a slave. On regaining his liberty he proceeded to Jamaica, and finding no other employment joined a piratical expedition which was then on the point of starting for a cruise in the Spanish West Indies. After storing up his share in the proceeds of three or four profitable raids, he was enabled to purchase a vessel in partnership with a few of his more thrifty comrades, and being elected captain made a successful cruise off the coast of Campeche. On his return he was appointed vice-admiral of a fleet, which, under the command of Mansvelt, was preparing for an attack on the island of Santa Catarina.

On the death of Mansvelt in 1664, Morgan, whose gallantry had won the respect of the buccaneers, was appointed his successor, and soon found himself in command of a dozen vessels and seven hundred men. A council was summoned, and it was first proposed to attempt the capture of the city of Habana; but not daring to undertake such an enterprise with so slender a force, the freebooters determined to plunder Puerto Principe, an island town of Cuba grown rich by traffic in hides, and one never yet sacked by the sea-robbers. Warned by a Spanish prisoner who escaped from the fleet as it neared the shore, the inhabitants had time to conceal most of their valuables, and the spoils of this expedition amounted to but fifty thousand pesos, a sum insufficient to pay the debts of the marauders on their return to Jamaica. It was at once determined to undertake some new adventure, and though a difference of opinion between the French and English members of his command caused the former to withdraw from Morgan's service, he soon afterward set sail for the mainland with a fleet of nine ships, and a force of four hundred and sixty fighting men, revealing his design to no one, but promising his followers booty in abundance.

[Sidenote: ATTACK ON PORTO BELLO.]

On the last day of June 1668 the buccaneers arrived off the shore of Castilla del Oro. On sighting land their chief disclosed his intention of attacking by night Portobello, a town often visited by the wealthiest merchants of Panamá, whose ingots of gold were there exchanged for slaves or for the merchandise of Spain, and the point to which it will be remembered were forwarded, at certain periods of the year, the gold and silver of the Peruvian and Mexican mines. The place was then accounted one of the strongest of the Spanish fortresses in the western world; it was garrisoned by three hundred troops, contained four hundred citizens capable of bearing arms, and was guarded by strongly fortified castles, commanding the approaches by land and sea. Many hesitated to attack such a stronghold with a mere handful of men, but their commander spoke words of cheer,[XXVIII‑1] and stimulated by the promise of vast spoils all at last gave their consent.

In the dusk of a summer evening the fleet anchored at Porto Ponto, thirty miles west of the town. Leaving a few men to guard their ships the buccaneers ascended a small river in boats or canoes, and landing about midnight marched at once to the attack. All the avenues of approach were well known to Morgan, and among his band was an Englishman, once a prisoner among the Spaniards, who now acted as guide. A castle named Triana, situated in the eastern suburb, was selected as the first point of assault. A sentinel posted at some distance from the fortress was seized and bound by a small party sent in advance, before he had time to fire his musket. Brought into Morgan's presence he was closely questioned, and frequently menaced with death if his answers should prove untrue.

Creeping along under the shroud of night and the cover of a dense thicket, the silence broken now and then by the watchword of a drowsy sentinel, the freebooters surrounded the castle unperceived, and Morgan, coming close under the walls, bid his captive summon the garrison to capitulate, threatening sure death in case of resistance. They replied with a random volley of musketry and cannon shot. Applying scaling-ladders to the walls, the buccaneers swarmed over the parapets, and after a stout resistance the Spaniards surrendered. Morgan fulfilled his threat. Securing all his prisoners in a large chamber, near the powder-magazine, he fired it by means of match and train when at a safe distance, and the citizens of Portobello, now roused by the sound of the firing, beheld the castle and all its inmates blown high into the air. The invaders fell at once on the panic-stricken inhabitants, rushing through the streets with hideous outcries, and cutting down whomever they met. Many had already fled to the neighboring forests, first casting their money and jewelry into wells and cisterns, or hiding them underground. The governor of the town rallied a small party and retired with them into the strongest of the remaining forts, whence a brisk fire was opened on the assailants. Approaching within two hundred yards the buccaneers aimed at the mouths of the cannon, picking off the Spanish gunners as they reloaded their pieces; but their ranks were repeatedly ploughed by well-directed discharges of artillery. After suffering heavy loss to little purpose, they came close up to the castle and attempted to burn down the gates. The Spaniards received them with sharp volleys of musketry, and dropping hand-grenades and missiles of every description on the heads of the besiegers, they drove them back beyond the range of the guns.

Morgan now began to despair, but rallied after remaining for a while in hesitation as to his next movement. To quote the words of Exquemelin, "many faint and calm meditations came into his mind; neither could he determine which way to turn himself in that strait." A part of his forces had been detailed to attack one of the minor fortresses, and looking in that direction he saw that his men had already planted the English colors on the battlements, and were hastening to his support. Taking heart from this success the commander at once resolved to renew the attack, and being a man ready of resource soon hit on a new expedient. He caused a number of priests and nuns to be seized and dragged from their cloisters, and ordering scaling-ladders to be made, wide enough for several to mount abreast, bid his prisoners fix them against the castle walls, thinking thus to shield his men from the weapons of the Spaniards.

[Sidenote: A VALIANT SPANIARD.]

Driven forward at the point of sword and pike the captives came close up to the guns of the fort, and falling on their knees besought the governor by all the saints to surrender, and save his own life and their own; but orders were given to spare none who came near the walls. Priest and nun were crushed beneath falling rocks or shot down without mercy, and numbers were killed before the ladders could be adjusted. When at length the task was accomplished, the buccaneers swarmed up to the assault; and though many were hurled down by the defenders, others held their footing on the parapet, and after plying the garrison with hand-grenades and pots of powder containing lighted fuses, leaped down with sword and pistol in their midst. The Spaniards then threw down their arms and craved for mercy; that is, all but the governor, who, single-handed, maintained for a while a hopeless struggle, killing several of his assailants, and running through the body some of his own recreant soldiers. In vain the buccaneers offered him quarter, unwilling to put to the sword so gallant an officer; in vain his wife and daughter knelt and entreated him with tears to yield. His reply was: "By no means; I had rather die as a valiant soldier than be hanged as a coward."[XXVIII‑2] After several attempts to overpower or capture him, he was at length despatched.

There still remained several castles in the hands of the Spaniards, one of which was strongly fortified and commanded the entrance to the harbor. It was deemed necessary to capture it without delay in order to allow the fleet to be brought round to Portobello, for the losses of the freebooters had been so severe that time must be allowed for the recovery of the wounded. Turning against it the cannon of the captured fort, Morgan compelled his captives to work the guns, and advancing under cover of the fire took it by escalade after a sharp struggle, in which all the Spanish officers were slain.

[Sidenote: RUTHLESS INVADERS.]

Soon after nightfall the invaders held entire possession of the city. They placed their own wounded in comfortable quarters under care of female slaves, and the wounded Spaniards in a separate apartment, without food, water, or attendance; and after posting their guards fell at once, as was their custom after victory, to feasting, drunkenness, and foul debauch. Matron and virgin, threatened at the point of the sword, were forced to yield to the embrace of these cut-throats, whose hands were yet stained with the blood of their husbands and brothers. Neither age nor condition was spared. The religious recluse torn from the shelter of the convent, and girls of tender age dragged from their mothers' arms, fell victims alike to the conquerors' lust. At length, stupefied with wine, and worn out with twenty-four hours of continuous toil, the marauders sank to rest. Fifty resolute men could then have delivered the town; but all night long no sound was heard save the moans of the wounded and the cries of heart-broken women.

At daylight the buccaneers plundered the place of all the valuables they could find, sacking the houses of the citizens, and stripping the churches of their gold and silver ornaments and their services of massive plate. Those who were believed to be the wealthiest of the prisoners were questioned as to the whereabouts of their concealed treasures; and failing to disclose them, were stretched on the rack, until many died under the torture.

For fifteen days Morgan remained at Portobello, though aware that the president of Panamá was preparing an expedition against him. His retreat was open to the ships, and the threatened attack gave him no uneasiness; but many of his men had died of wounds, of the effects of drunken excess, and of an atmosphere poisoned by half-buried corpses. Moreover provisions began to run short. They were compelled to live almost entirely on the flesh of horses and mules. Many of the captive and most of the wounded Spaniards had perished from privation, having been allowed no sustenance but a morsel of mule meat and a little muddy unfiltered water. Preparations were therefore made for departure. Placing the booty on board the fleet, Morgan demanded of his prisoners a ransom of 100,000 pesos, threatening otherwise to burn the town and blow up the castles. Two of the citizens, despatched to Panamá by his orders to raise the amount, gave information of the true condition of affairs. The president had a force of fifteen hundred men at his disposal, and at once marched to relieve his countrymen, and, as he hoped, cut off the retreat of the adventurers.

Forewarned of his approach Morgan posted a hundred picked men in a narrow defile through which lay the route of the Spaniards. At the first encounter the main body of the Spanish forces was routed; many fled at once to Panamá, bearing with them the news of their defeat; and for a time the expedition was crippled. While awaiting reënforcements the president resolved to try the effect of threats, though aware that he was in no position to enforce them. Sending a messenger to Morgan, he bid him depart at once from Portobello or expect no quarter for himself or his companions. The commander of the buccaneers answered by doubling the amount of the required contribution[XXVIII‑3] and stating that he would hold the place until the ransom was paid, or if it were not paid, would burn down the houses, demolish the forts, and put every captive to death.

As further effort appeared to be useless, the president left the inhabitants of the town to work out their own salvation; but surprised that a place defended by strongly fortified castles should fall a prey to so slender a force, he despatched a messenger to request of the conquerors a specimen of their weapons. Morgan received him courteously, and with grim humor handed him a musket and a few bullets, bidding him tell his master "that he was much pleased to show him a slender pattern of the arms wherewith he had taken Portobello, and begged him to keep them a twelvemonth, after which he promised to come to Panamá and take them away." The president soon returned the weapon, together with a present of an emerald ring and a message "that he did not want for arms of that sort, but regretted that men of such courage were not employed on some just war under a great prince."

[Sidenote: THE TOWN RANSOMED.]

Meanwhile the freebooters had agreed to deliver up the town on receiving a ransom of a hundred thousand pesos. The amount was collected and paid over. The best guns of the stronghold were then put on board the vessels; the rest were spiked, and the buccaneers sailed for Cuba, where they portioned out the spoils, which consisted of coin, bullion, and jewels, to the value of two hundred and sixty thousand pesos, counting the jewels at less than half their real value, besides large stores of silk, linen, cloth, and other merchandise. Proceeding thence to Jamaica, they squandered in riot and gross dissipation the wealth that others had accumulated by years of patient toil and self-denial. A few days of swinish debauchery among the wine-shops and brothels of Port Royal left the majority of the gang without means or credit, and clamorous for some new expedition. It was nothing unusual for some of them to spend or gamble away in a single night their entire share in the proceeds of a successful raid, and to render themselves liable to be sold next morning as slaves to satisfy an unpaid tavern score. Some would drag out into the streets a cask of wine, others a barrel of strong ale, and presenting their pistols at the passers-by, compel them, whether men or women, to drink in their company, running up and down the streets, when crazed with liquor, and beating or bespattering whomsoever they met.

* * * * *

The standard of humanity among the buccaneers was such as might be expected among men who have been cut off from honorable intercourse with their kind. Many of them had been kidnapped in early youth, and shipped from England to the British West Indies, and there sold as slaves, and subjected to such treatment as often reduced those of weakly constitution to idiocy. They had been starved and racked and mutilated. They had been beaten till the blood ran in streams from their backs, and then rubbed with salt, pepper, and lemon juice. It is not strange that the temper of men who had passed through such ordeals should be permanently warped; that their hand should be against every man, and that they should afterward inflict on the prisoners who fell into their power tortures as cruel as they themselves had suffered at the hands of their masters.

The fame of Morgan's exploits induced numbers of both French and English to join the standard of the freebooter. To the veterans who had served under him during former raids was added a swarm of recruits, eager to share in the plunder if not in the glory of his expeditions. He was soon in command of his squadron of fifteen vessels and a force of nine hundred and sixty combatants, and appointing as a rendezvous the islet of Saona gave orders to sail along the southern coast of Española. Heavy gales were encountered during the voyage, and a portion of his ships being driven from their course he found his diminished forces inadequate for any great enterprise. Under the advice of a French captain, who had served under L'Olonnois and Michel Le Basque at the capture of Maracaibo and Gibraltar in 1666, he determined to plunder those towns and their surrounding neighborhood. The proceeds of this foray amounted, according to some authorities, to two hundred and fifty thousand pesos.[XXVIII‑4] After defeating a strong Spanish squadron stationed at the entrance of Lake Maracaibo to bar the escape of his fleet, Morgan returned to Jamaica, where he found most of his missing vessels.

Learning that a treaty was being negotiated between Spain and Great Britain, which would soon put an end to further raids, the buccaneers were eager that some new expedition should be at once organized on a larger scale, and with more ambitious intent than any before undertaken. Morgan readily agreed to take command, and sending despatches to the veteran freebooters quartered in Santo Domingo and Tortuga to acquaint them with his purpose, appointed as a rendezvous Port Corillon in the island of Vache, where by the end of October 1670 his followers had assembled in force.

The first care was to obtain a supply of provisions, and for this purpose hunting parties were sent forth daily to scour the woods, while a squadron of four vessels with four hundred men under the command of Captain Bradley[XXVIII‑5] was despatched to the mainland, to obtain supplies of wheat or maize. Entering the mouth of the Rio Hacha, about fifty leagues to the north-west of the lake of Maracaibo, Bradley captured a vessel laden principally with cereals, received four thousand bushels of maize as ransom from a village on the bank of the river, and with other booty and a number of prisoners returned after an absence of five weeks.[XXVIII‑6]

Morgan next sailed for Cape Tiburon, where reënforcements from Jamaica joined the expedition, and he now found at his disposal a fleet of thirty-seven ships and a force of two thousand fighting men.[XXVIII‑7]

[Sidenote: PIRACY PAPERS.]

His largest vessel carried twenty-four heavy guns and six small brass cannon;[XXVIII‑8] many of the others were armed with sixteen to twenty, and none with less than four pieces of ordnance. Morgan assumed the title of admiral; the royal banner of England was hoisted from the main-mast of his flag-ship; and commissions[XXVIII‑9] were given to the officers, authorizing the capture of Spanish vessels either at sea or in harbor, and all manner of hostilities against the Spanish nation, as against the declared enemies of the king of Great Britain.

Articles of agreement were signed stipulating that those who were maimed or had distinguished themselves in action should receive compensation or reward from the first proceeds of the raid, and that the remainder should be distributed according to the rank or office of the members of the expedition.[XXVIII‑10]

The three most tempting prizes on the Spanish mainland were Panamá, Vera Cruz, and Cartagena. A council was summoned on board the admiral's ship, and it was decided that Morgan, fulfilling the promise he had made at Portobello, should show Don Juan Perez de Guzman, president of Panamá, the use the buccaneers made of their weapons.

It happened that the isthmus of Darien was little known to any of these sea-rovers, and before venturing on the mainland it was determined to capture the isle of Santa Catarina, which was then used as the penal settlement of the Spanish West Indies, and contained among its garrison men serving out their sentence under ban from Panamá. Among these outlaws some would no doubt be found who were well acquainted with the approaches to that city.

Setting sail from Cape Tiburon on the 16th of December, the fleet anchored off Santa Catarina the fifth day, and on the same afternoon the freebooters landed without opposition. The garrison and inhabitants had retired to a small adjacent islet defended by ten castles which, with a resolute defence, would have been impregnable; but the governor, when summoned to capitulate, consented on condition that he should be allowed to depart unmolested after making a show of resistance. A sham fight was maintained by night for several hours, and no powder was spared.[XXVIII‑11] The buccaneers fired with blank cartridge, and the Spaniards were ordered to train their guns so that the shot whistled harmless overhead. The place was then surrendered, the prisoners were mustered and disarmed, and the freebooters, having fasted for twenty-four hours, waged war in earnest on the cattle, poultry, and game which they found in the neighborhood. Three outlaws from Panamá, two of them Indians and one a mulatto, all well acquainted with the most favorable routes, were delivered up as guides. The Indians, aware that their own countrymen would suffer from the raid in common with the Spaniards, feigned ignorance, but were betrayed by the mulatto and put to the torture. One of them died on the rack, and the survivor then confessed that he knew the roads, and consented to serve his captors.

[Sidenote: CASTLE OF SAN LORENZO.]

Before landing the main body of the buccaneers on the Isthmus, Morgan determined to capture the castle of San Lorenzo, which guarded the mouth of the Chagre River. For this purpose he despatched a squadron of five vessels with four hundred men[XXVIII‑12] under Captain Bradley, remaining himself at Santa Catarina with the rest of his forces, in order to mask his main design. The castle was built on a high rock, steep enough to render it inaccessible on the southern side, and was protected on the north by the river, which widens at that point. Four bastions mounted with artillery guarded the approaches by land, and two faced seaward. At the foot of the rock were three batteries which commanded the mouth of the Chagre. At the outlet of the river is a sunken reef and a sand-bar, over which the breakers roll for almost the entire width. Only in the calmest weather can one detect a narrow passage close under the precipice, whose height is still crowned by the ruins of the castle of San Lorenzo. The fortress was surrounded with palisades, filled in with earth, and its single entrance could be approached only by a drawbridge which spanned a crevasse in the rock thirty feet in depth. The garrison consisted of three hundred and fourteen well armed and veteran troops, and a party of expert Indian bowmen under as gallant an officer as ever drew sword.

[Sidenote: A GALLANT DEFENCE.]

Bradley saw that the stronghold could be assailed only from the land side, and anchored his vessels in a small bay at a short distance from the outlet of the river. The freebooters went ashore soon after midnight, and after cutting their way through woods tangled with undergrowth, and scaling precipitous rocks, debouched about two in the afternoon on an open space within gunshot of the fort and advanced to the attack. The garrison at once opened on them a hot fire, crying out: "Come on, ye cursed English dogs, and let your companions that are behind you come on; you shall not get to Panamá this bout." The assailants suffered severely and were driven back to the shelter of the woods; but returning at nightfall came close up to the edge of the crevasse and attempted to burn down the palisades which bordered the opposite verge. Guided by the light of the fireballs the Spaniards plied them incessantly with musketry and artillery and the Indians discharged their arrows with hardly less effect. Men fell fast, and Bradley had both his legs taken off by a round shot. The buccaneers were sorely distressed and well nigh despaired of success, when a lucky stroke turned the scale in their favor. One of their party, being pierced with an arrow, plucked it forth and winding it round with cotton, shot it back from his musket toward the fortress, where it lighted on a house[XXVIII‑13] thatched with palm leaves. The cotton, ignited by the flash of the powder, set fire to the roof. The flames were unnoticed until beyond control, and spreading rapidly soon exploded a package of gunpowder. The besieged now bent all their efforts to stay the conflagration and the freebooters crowded into the crevasse, and mounting on each other's shoulders burnt down the stakes of the palisades.

By daybreak the castle was almost a ruin, and the earth which supported the palisades had fallen into the crevasse, filling it in places to a level with the surface. A murderous fire was poured on the defenders till noon, when the assailants advanced to storm the breach. Many of the Spaniards hurled themselves down the steep side of the rock, preferring death to surrender. The governor, at the head of a handful of men, still maintained a hopeless struggle, but a musket-ball through the head soon laid him low, and all resistance was at an end. Only thirty of the garrison were found alive; among them not a single officer, and scarcely a dozen unwounded men. The prisoners gave information that news of the intended raid had reached Panamá by way of Cartagena several weeks previously; that a deserter from the expedition, when at the Rio Hacha, had also revealed Morgan's design; that messengers had been despatched by the governor of the fortress to the president, with news of the invaders' approach; that ambuscades were already posted at several points on the banks of the Chagre, and that the president with the main body of his forces awaited their approach on the plains surrounding Panamá.

The Spaniards were ordered to throw down their dead to the foot of the castle rock, and there to bury them. A neighboring church served as a hospital for the wounded, and a prison-house for the captured women, who were subjected as usual to foul outrage and defilement, daughters being violated in presence of their mothers, and wives before their husbands—pantomimes of hell performed within the walls of a sanctuary.

[Sidenote: UP THE CHAGRE.]

On receiving news of the capture of San Lorenzo, the commander of the buccaneers gave orders that all the houses on the isle of Santa Catarina should be burned to the ground, and that the fortifications on the adjacent islet should be destroyed, with the exception of one of the strongest castles, which he reserved for future occupation. Casting the guns of the fortress into the sea, and placing his prisoners on board the fleet, he set sail for the mainland, and arrived off the mouth of the Chagre in January 1671. Overjoyed at seeing the English colors flying from the fort, the freebooters, through careless navigation, lost four of their ships on the sunken rock at the entrance of the river, but prizes were made of several large flat-bottomed boats, and of a number of canoes built specially for the navigation of the stream. Five hundred men were left as a garrison for the castle, and one hundred and fifty as a guard for the fleet; the captives were ordered to repair the breaches in the fortress; and the main body of the adventurers, at least twelve hundred strong,[XXVIII‑14] started on their expedition against Panamá. Morgan gave orders that no provisions should be taken but a slender stock of maize, barely sufficient for a single day's rations. He told his men that, their means of conveyance being limited, they must not encumber themselves with unnecessary baggage, for they would soon replenish their supplies from the magazines of the Spaniards, who lay in ambush along the route. Moreover, the detachment left behind at San Lorenzo numbered with the prisoners over 1,000 persons, and the entire supply was hardly enough for their subsistence until his return.

The journey was begun in boats and canoes, and notwithstanding a rapid current and a want of skill in managing the overloaded vessels, about six leagues were made the first day. So little did the freebooters know of the impediments they were soon to encounter in their ascent of the stream, that they took with them five large scows laden with artillery and ammunition. A few of the party went ashore at night to search for food, as their scanty allowance of maize was soon devoured, but nothing eatable was discovered and most of the buccaneers lay down to rest supperless with nothing but a pipe of tobacco to appease their hunger.

On the second evening they arrived at a spot where the river-bed was shoal from drought, and choked with fallen trees. The guides assured them that a few miles beyond they would find no difficulty in continuing their route, either by land or water, and next morning, leaving a strong guard over their vessels, they attempted to make their way through the forests that skirt the banks of the Chagre. The trees were matted with vines, and the spaces between them filled with a dense wall of tropical undergrowth, in places impenetrable to sight. Most of the men were ordered to return to the river, and leaving there the scows with the artillery they managed to drag their canoes over the shallow places, a portion of them embarking wherever the water was of sufficient depth. The remainder cut a passage through the woods with extreme difficulty, and on the following afternoon all assembled on the bank of the stream, where they passed the night without food, benumbed with cold, and unable to sleep.

[Sidenote: HUNGER AND HARDSHIPS.]

Worn out with toil and gaunt with hunger, their clothing torn to rags, the buccaneers resumed their journey on the morning of the fourth day, some of them already staggering from weakness and halting now and then to gnaw the roots and leaves, or to soak in water and chew strips cut from the empty leathern sacks which had contained their dole of maize. About noon one of the guides called out that he had discovered signs of an ambuscade—a cry welcome to the freebooters, who advanced at once to the attack, hoping at length to obtain a supply of provisions. Forewarned by their scouts, who had given timely notice of the enemy's approach, the Spaniards had retired to a safe distance, and none were found to offer resistance, nor any scrap of food save a few crumbs scattered round the spot where the fugitives had made a recent meal. All their bright visions of wealth now faded before the grim spectre of famine, and their one thought was to obtain the means of relieving the gnawing at their vitals. Ill had it fared with any captive who might then have fallen into the hands of these famished desperadoes, for he would surely have been carved and eaten. In some neighboring huts were found a few bundles of dry hides, such as were used by the natives for making bags for the storage of corn. These were beaten between rocks, soaked in the river, cut into small pieces, rubbed by hand, and after the hair had been scraped off, were cooked and gulped down morsel by morsel with draughts of water. About sundown a spot was reached where were traces of another ambuscade, but no fragments of victuals, for orders had been given to destroy or remove everything edible beyond reach of the invaders, in the hope that they would be forced by starvation to retrace their steps. Fortunate was he that night who had reserved some scraps of hide on which to make his evening repast.

At noon on the fifth day of the journey they arrived at the village of Barbacoas, near which, after a long search, they discovered in a grotto recently hewn out of the rock, two sacks of meal, a quantity of plantains, and two jars of wine. This scanty supply was portioned out among those who were in the last extremity, many of them so weak that they had to be carried on board the canoes. Most of the buccaneers again lay down supperless to rest, some jesting at their sorry plight, but the majority threatening to desert, and uttering curses loud and deep against the man who with promise of rich spoils had lured them into a wilderness where they seemed fated soon to leave their carcasses a prey to the vultures.

Nevertheless all continued their course next morning, and about midday came in sight of a plantation which they approached with slow step and staggering gait, halting every few paces to rest through extreme weakness. At first no relief was found, and many of the freebooters were about to carry out their threat of returning to Chagre, when one of them discovered a barn filled with maize which the Spaniards had neglected to remove, thinking that the invaders could not make their way so far across the Isthmus. The stronger of the party at once beat in the doors with the but-end of their muskets, and after devouring their fill of the raw grain made way for their comrades, and carried a portion down to those who lay in the canoes so enfeebled with their long fast that they were unable to crawl further. When all had satisfied their hunger, enough remained to give each man a good allowance. Toward nightfall they came in sight of a body of Indians posted on the opposite side of the river. Morgan at once ordered a party to give chase, hoping to capture some; but being more fleet of foot and in better condition, they easily made their escape, after discharging a flight of arrows, which laid low two or three of their pursuers, the natives crying out as they brandished their weapons: "Ha, perros, á la savana, á la savana."

[Sidenote: AT CRUCES.]

At sunrise on the seventh day the freebooters crossed the river and continued their route on the other side, arriving in a few hours in sight of the village of Cruces, about eight leagues from Panamá, and the head of navigation on the Chagre. Smoke was soon observed rising from the chimneys, and the buccaneers ran forward, exclaiming: "They are making good fires to roast and boil what we are to eat." One more disappointment was in store for them: the place was found to be deserted and the houses in flames. The only provisions discovered were a single leathern sack of bread and some jars of wine. A number of dogs and cats left straying around the neighborhood were instantly killed and devoured. The wine, acting on stomachs weak with fasting and disordered by unwholesome diet, caused a violent sickness, and for a while they believed themselves poisoned.

At daybreak next morning two hundred of the best armed and strongest were sent forward to search for ambuscades and to reconnoitre the road, Morgan himself following a few hours later with the rest of his forces. After a few hours' march the advanced guard arrived at a spot then called Quebrada Obscura, a ravine enclosed between walls of rock, and so narrow that three men could with difficulty walk abreast. A flight of arrows, discharged by an unseen foe, fell upon them as from the clouds. For a moment the most stout-hearted hesitated. They were not the men to shrink from peril, but they saw that a handful of resolute troops could hold the pass against an army. Before them lay a forest from which artillery and musketry could sweep the pass. Overhead were sheer precipices from which rocks hurled on their heads might easily have destroyed the entire force. The buccaneers observed some Indians gliding among the trees in their front, and pushing forward after a brief delay to a point where the pass widened, fired a volley into the woods at random. The Indian chieftain, recognized by his parti-colored plumes, fell wounded, and, when the freebooters offered him quarter, raised himself on his elbow and made a pass at one of them with his javelin. He was instantly shot through the head, and his followers took to flight. In this skirmish no prisoners were taken, and the loss of Morgan's advanced guard was about ten killed and as many wounded.[XXVIII‑15]

The main body of the buccaneers soon arrived, and after a brief halt the march was resumed, for toward dusk a heavy storm of wind and rain set in, and continued far into the night. It was the custom of the Spaniards to burn the houses that lay on the line of route, and the men passed the night without shelter, sitting huddled on the ground. A few shepherds' huts afforded scant protection for the wounded, and storage room for the arms and ammunition. The robbers were on foot at the first gleam of dawn, and after discharging their fire-locks at once fell into the ranks. Toward noon on this, the ninth day of the journey, they ascended a lofty hill which yet bears the name of El Cerro de los Buccaneros, and from its summit looked down for the first time on the Pacific. The storm had broken, and a few white sailing boats were seen gliding among a group of islands that lay a few leagues to the south of Panamá; but a far more interesting sight to these toil-worn and famished marauders was a neighboring valley, where droves of oxen and bands of horses were quietly grazing. No enemy appeared, and some of the cattle were at once shot down. Hacking them piecemeal they cast the flesh into hastily kindled fires, and snatching it from the flames while still half raw, tore it with their fingers and devoured it with the greed of starving wolves, the blood streaming down their beards and dripping from their garments. Before the meal was over, Morgan ordered a false alarm to be sounded, fearing that the Spaniards might take them by surprise. It soon became evident that this was no needless precaution, for an hour or two later a strong detachment of Spanish cavalry appeared almost within musket shot. Finding the enemy prepared to receive them they quickly withdrew, and the sound of drum and trumpet soon gave notice to the retreating squadrons that the buccaneers were in sight of Panamá.

[Sidenote: BEFORE PANAMÁ.]

Two or three piers of a shattered bridge, a fragment of wall, a single tower, and a few remnants of public buildings, half buried under a dense growth of creepers, still mark the spot where, in 1671, stood a city with fine streets and beautiful edifices, among which were stately churches richly adorned with altar-pieces and rare paintings, with golden censers and goblets, and tall candelabra of native silver. There were the abodes of the merchant princes of the New World, some of them the descendants of men who had fought under Cortés when he added the empire of the Montezumas to the realms of the Spanish crown. There were vast warehouses stored with flour, wine, oil, spices, and the merchandise of Spain; there were villas of cedar surrounded with beautiful gardens, where fair women enjoyed the cool evening breeze as they gazed seaward on the untroubled waters of the Pacific.

But what was Don Juan Perez de Guzman doing while Morgan was on his way up the Chagre, after capturing the high-mounted castle of San Lorenzo? Masses were being said daily for the success of the Spanish arms. The images of our lady of pure and immaculate conception were being carried in general procession, attended by all the religious fraternity of the cathedral. Always the most holy sacrament was left uncovered and exposed to public view. Oaths were being taken with much pious fervor in the presence of the sacred effigies, and all the president's relics and jewelry, including a diamond ring worth forty thousand pesos, were laid on the altars of the holy virgin and of the saints who held in their special keeping the welfare of Panamá. Surely if the favor of celestial powers can be bought with prayers and money they have here received their price, and should deliver this city, especially when the pirates neglect to glorify God with their spoils.[XXVIII‑16] Sleek friars, with downcast look, gathering up these votive offerings, and taking in charge the gold and silver ornaments of the churches, invoked the blessing of God on the royal banners of Spain, and hurried off beyond reach of the coming fray with the treasures thus lavished upon them through the instrumentality of Satan. The forces of the Spaniards, consisting of 400 horse and 2,400 foot, with a few pieces of cannon, were then drawn up in the plain without the city. Yet another mode of warfare, unique in New World adventure, presents itself, as 2,000 wild oxen, under the guidance of Indians, were placed on the flanks of the army ready to break through the enemy's ranks.

The buccaneers pitched their camp near the brow of a hill in full view of the plain. There were yet two hours of daylight, and the Spanish artillery at once opened on them with round shot, but at too long range to take effect. Morgan posted his sentries without the least misgiving, and his men, after making their supper on the remnants of the noonday meal, threw themselves upon the ground to obtain what rest they could.

As soon as the first gleam of dawn heralded the approach of the last day the doomed city was destined to witness after an existence of one hundred and fifty years,[XXVIII‑17] the morning gun from the president's camp gave the signal for both armies to fall into the ranks, and a few minutes later the freebooters were on the march toward the city. Warned by their scouts that ambuscades were posted along the line of the main road, they cut their way with some difficulty through a neighboring wood, and debouched on the summit of a small eminence that still bears the name of El Cerro de Avance. The Spanish battalions, ill armed with carbines, fowling-pieces, and arquebuses, but dressed in parti-colored silk uniforms, the horsemen prancing on mettlesome steeds as though attending a bull-fight, lay before them almost within musket shot. Morgan drew up the main body of his forces in three columns, and sending in front a strong detachment of his best marksmen, descended into the plain to give battle. The enemy's artillery, posted in a part of the field where it commanded the main avenues of approach to the city, was far out of range, but the horse, under Francisco de Haro, at once moved forward with loud shouts of Viva el rey! to hold the enemy in check. The ground was swampy, yielding to the foot, and unfavorable for the action of cavalry; moreover Morgan's veterans were not of the stuff to be daunted by a battle-cry and the onslaught of a few squads of troopers. Forming in close order with front rank kneeling, and reserving their fire until the Spaniards came up almost to the points of their muskets, they poured in a volley which told with murderous effect. Don Francisco led his men repeatedly to the charge, but no impression could be made, and the shattered lines at length wheeled off to a safe distance, leaving their gallant chieftain dead on the field.

Meanwhile the captain-general, after being confessed by the priest and repeating his Ave Marías and prayers to the saints, had come forth from his tent to see how the battle was progressing. The Spanish foot were then ordered to assail the enemy in front, while bands of oxen were driven in on their flank to break through their battalions. The buccaneers had the wind and sun in their favor, and could concentrate on a given point as many men as their opponents could bring against them; for in rear of the latter lay a large morass which prevented them from wheeling their main body. The infantry were received with a hot fire and handled so roughly that they began to retreat. Morgan's left wing then attacked them in flank and their retreat was soon turned into a rout. The wild cattle, maddened by the uproar, the smell of blood, and by the red flag shaken in their faces—many of their drivers being shot down by a party of musketeers detailed for the purpose—were driven back on the flying columns. The president made a feeble effort to rally his men, until the staff which he carried in his hand, the only weapon apparently which he bore that day, was grazed with a shot, when, yielding to the entreaties of his chaplain, he retired from the fight, giving thanks to the blessed virgin, "who had brought him off safe from amidst so many thousand bullets."[XXVIII‑18]

[Sidenote: PANAMÁ TAKEN.]

In two hours the battle was won. Six hundred of the Spaniards lay dead on the plains; the cavalry were almost annihilated, and the infantry threw away their arms and scattered into small parties, many of them hiding among the bushes by the sea-shore where they were afterward discovered and butchered. A party of Franciscan friars, who had remained with the army to offer the last consolations of religion to the dying, were captured and shot without mercy. Orders were at first given that no quarter should be granted, as the buccaneers were too much crippled to encumber themselves with prisoners. An exception was made, however, in the case of a wounded Spanish officer, who was brought into the commander's presence and gave information that the city contained only a garrison of one hundred men, but that the streets were protected by barricades and by twenty-eight pieces of cannon, and that the president would probably reoccupy the place if he could reorganize his forces. Morgan at once assembled his troops, and telling them they must lose no time in seizing the prize, put his columns in motion by way of the Portobello road, which lay beyond reach of the enemy's fire, and within an hour made his entrance into Panamá without opposition.[XXVIII‑19] Warning was given to the men to keep out of range of the cannon that were posted in the plaza mayor, but most of them ran to and fro without heed, in search of plunder or in pursuit of fugitives, and the Spaniards, pointing their pieces at several thickly clustered groups of the enemy, poured in a volley from guns loaded to the muzzle with musket balls and scraps of iron. This was the last shot fired in defence of Panamá; for the cannoniers were cut in pieces before they had time to reload, and the freebooters rushed through the streets hewing down all who offered resistance.

Except large stores of silk and cloth little booty was discovered in the fallen city, for the greater part of the inhabitants had fled to the neighboring islands, taking with them their wives and children and all their portable property. Morgan's first precaution was to forbid his men to taste wine, under the pretence that it had all been poisoned. He feared that after their long fast they would as usual celebrate their victory with feasting and drunkenness, and thus afford the Spaniards a chance to rally and overpower them when stupefied with liquor.

[Sidenote: BURNING OF THE CITY.]

The buccaneers had barely time to post their guards, and take up their quarters in the deserted dwellings when flames were seen breaking forth from some of the largest houses. The president having received information that Morgan had among his party a young Englishman whom he intended to crown king of Tierra Firme, had given orders for the metropolitan city to be burned if it should fall into the hands of the pirates.[XXVIII‑20] The fire spread rapidly, although the freebooters did their utmost to check its progress. Several houses were torn down, and others blown up with gunpowder, but all efforts were in vain. A fresh breeze had set in from the Pacific, and the buildings, almost entirely of wood, many of them well stored with costly furniture and adorned with pictures and tapestry, fell an easy prey to the flames. Within an hour an entire street was consumed, and by midnight a single convent, one or two public buildings, and the cabins of a distant quarter, wretchedly built, and occupied only by muleteers, were all that remained of the seven thousand houses of cedar, the two hundred warehouses, the monasteries and churches of a city which but a few days before was peopled by thirty thousand inhabitants, and famed as the abode of one of the wealthiest communities in the western world.

Morgan sent a detachment of one hundred and fifty men to Chagre to carry news of his victory and bring back word as to the welfare of the garrison, and ordered the remainder of his command to camp in the plains, thus keeping them in hand and ready for action in case the president should rally his forces and renew the fight. Troops of Spaniards and Indians were seen flitting to and fro along the edge of the forest which skirted the savanna, but it was evident that they had no confidence in their captain-general, for as he himself naively remarked in his intercepted despatch: "Although he afterward attempted several times to form an army, yet he could not do any good of it, because no man would be persuaded to follow him." The buccaneers soon returned, therefore, to take up their quarters in the few buildings that had escaped the conflagration. As no spoils of value had yet been found except a few gold and silver utensils hidden in wells and cisterns, or buried beneath the ruins, parties were sent to scour the neighboring woods and hills in quest of fugitives who might be subjected to torture.

[Sidenote: COVETED TREASURE.]

A bark laden with goods for the use of the refugees who had fled to a neighboring group of islands had been captured on the evening that Morgan took possession of Panamá. Orders had been given that all sea-going vessels should take their departure, but the captain had lingered for the turn of the tide, not deeming it possible that so sudden a disaster could befall the city. The vessel was at once despatched with a company of twenty-five men to search for the treasures which, as the buccaneers learned from their captives, had been conveyed beyond their grasp. The men landed the next day at one of the smallest islands, and having managed to smuggle on board a few jars of wine, were soon half stupefied with liquor. Toward evening a Spanish ship, which lay off the opposite side of the islet, put ashore to obtain water, and the crew were captured by some of the party who had yet sense enough left to point a musket. A prize was now within their reach of greater value than all the booty that the adventurers were destined to obtain from their raid. A galleon of four hundred tons, ill manned, poorly armed, and carrying no canvas but the upper sails of the mainmast, so deeply laden with ingots of gold and silver, with the plate and treasures of the wealthiest merchants of Panamá, and with the golden vessels and decorations of church and monastery that no other ballast was needed,[XXVIII‑21] lay almost within cannon-shot. The captain of the bark did not venture to make the attack at nightfall with his feeble and drunken band, feeling satisfied, moreover, that he would have an opportunity of capturing the vessel at daybreak; but alarmed at the non-arrival of the boat, the commander of the galleon ordered the anchor slipped long before midnight, and the ship, favored with a strong breeze, was out of sight when the sun appeared above the horizon.

The detachment returned from Chagre with news that all was going well; so Morgan determined to prolong his stay at Panamá, and wrest from the Spaniards a portion at least of their concealed riches. Parties were sent forth to scour the country and bring in prisoners. The captives were placed in the convent of Mercedes, San José, and there subjected to such ingenuity of torture as might satisfy even Great Britain that her people were not behind the age in brutal barbarities. One instance only need be related. A servant, dressed in his master's garments, from one of which depended a small silver key, was captured by the buccaneers. Ordered to reveal the hiding-place of the cabinet to which the key belonged, he replied that he knew it not, and merely had the key in his possession because he had ventured to don his master's attire. No other answer coming, he was stretched on the rack and his arms disjointed. A cord was then twisted round his forehead until, to use the words of Exquemelin, "his eyes protruding from their sockets appeared as big as eggs."[XXVIII‑22] His ears and nose were then cut off, and the wounds seared with burning straw. When beyond power of speech, and insensible to further suffering, a negro was ordered to end his life by running him through the body.[XXVIII‑23]

[Sidenote: A CAPTIVE GENTLEWOMAN.]

Women who had the ill-fortune to fall into the hands of the freebooters could only escape torture and starvation at the cost of their chastity or by payment of a heavy ransom. Among the prisoners taken at the islands of Taboguilla and Taboga was a young and beautiful gentlewoman, the wife of a wealthy merchant of Panamá. Like many of her countrywomen she had learned to regard the buccaneers not as rational beings, but as monsters in human shape. The lady was brought into Morgan's presence and at first treated with respect, lodged in a separate apartment, waited on by female slaves, and supplied with food from his own table. Surprised at this usage, and mistaking the frequent and blasphemous oaths of her captors for pious ejaculations, she blessed her fate that the pirates of England were such fine specimens of Christian gentlemen. But Morgan had his little game to play. His amorous proposals were met by a firm refusal, but in such mild language as to avoid rousing his anger. For a while he sought to gain her consent by persuasion, and was lavish with his gifts of rare jewels. All failing she was threatened with torture. "My life is in your hands," she said, "but sooner shall my soul be separated from my body than I submit to your embrace." Exasperated, Morgan ordered his attendants removed, and then attempted violence. She tore herself from his arms, and warning him not to approach her again, cried out: "Imagine not that, after robbing me of my liberty, you can as easily deprive me of my honor." As he still persisted in following her, she drew a dagger and said: "See that I know how to die if I cannot kill thee." She then sprang at him and attempted to drive the blade into his heart. The commander recoiled several paces, but finally succeeded in gaining possession of the weapon. He then retired from her presence, and ordered her to be stripped of most of her apparel, cast half naked into a dark and fetid cell, and fed only with the coarsest food, in quantities so small as barely to sustain life.

Morgan had made several prizes of sea-going vessels, one of which was well adapted to a piratical cruise. A plot was concocted by some of the men to embark on an expedition to the islands of the Pacific, thence after obtaining sufficient booty to sail for Europe by way of the East Indies. Cannon, muskets, ammunition, and provisions had been secretly obtained in sufficient quantity not only to equip the vessel but to fortify and garrison one of the islands as a base of operations. Warned of the design by a repentant conspirator, Morgan ordered all the ships in the harbor to be burned, and at once made preparations to return to Chagre. Beasts of burden were collected to convey the plunder to the point where the canoes had been left on the river; some of the wealthier Spaniards were despatched under guard to obtain the amount of their ransom; and a strong detachment was sent to reconnoitre the line of march by which the buccaneers were to return.

On the 24th of February, after holding possession for four weeks of Panamá, or rather of the site where Panamá had stood, the marauders took their departure with six hundred prisoners, men, women, and children, and a hundred and seventy-five pack-animals laden with plunder. When fairly out on the plain the forces were put in order of march, and the captives placed between the van and rear guard. Many of them, fresh from the rack, well nigh perishing of hunger, and scarcely able to drag themselves along, were goaded and beaten, and with foul oaths made to quicken their pace until they dropped fainting or dead. The women, among whom were mothers with infants at the breast, cast themselves on their knees and pleaded in vain for leave to return and build for themselves huts of straw amidst the pile of ashes which had once been their native city. Dragged along between two of the buccaneers was the gentlewoman who had been subjected to Morgan's suit, and whose ransom was fixed at thirty thousand pesos. Learning that it was his intention to carry her to Jamaica, she begged for a brief respite, affirming "that she had given orders to two of the priests, on whom she had relied, to go to a certain place and obtain the sum required; that they had promised faithfully to do so, but having procured the money had employed it to release some of their friends." Morgan was conquered at last. He inquired into the truth of her assertion, and found it confirmed by a letter delivered to the lady by a slave, and afterward by the confession of the priests; whereupon he ordered her and her parents, who were among the prisoners, to be set at liberty.

Midway on their march across the Isthmus the freebooters were mustered and all made to swear that they had concealed none of the spoils, but had delivered all into the common stock. After this ceremony the commander ordered each one searched, himself first submitting. Clothes and baggage were carefully examined, and even the muskets were taken to pieces, to see that no precious stones were concealed between the barrel and stock. This proceeding excited much indignation, and threats were made against Morgan's life, but the search-officers were told to conclude their work as quietly as possible without divulging the names of the offenders, and an outbreak was avoided. A day or two afterward the expedition arrived at the castle at San Lorenzo, where it was found that most of those who had been wounded in the assault on that fortress had perished of their injuries, and that the garrison was almost destitute of provisions, being reduced to a small allowance of maize. A vessel having on board the prisoners taken at the isle of Santa Catarina was then despatched to Portobello to demand a ransom for the castle at Chagre, but returned with the answer that none would be paid.

[Sidenote: DIVISION OF SPOILS.]

A division of the spoils was next in order; and there were none who expected to receive for their share less than two or three thousand pesos, for the entire value of the booty was set down, according to the highest estimate, at little short of four and a half millions.[XXVIII‑24] Loud were the complaints and fierce the threats, therefore, when Morgan declared that, after paying the extra allowances to the captains and officers of the fleet, the compensation to the wounded, and the rewards to those who had distinguished themselves in action, each man's share amounted but to two hundred pesos. He was accused, and no doubt with justice, of setting apart the most valuable of the jewelry and precious stones for his own portion, and of estimating the rest at far less than their real worth, for the purpose of buying them in as cheaply as possible. He knew that most of his men cared for money only to squander it among the taverns of Port Royal, and turning his opportunity to good use he managed to store away for himself and a few of his accomplices the lion's share.

Morgan now began to fear for his personal safety and for the security of his stolen treasures, and determined to make no longer stay at Chagre. Assuredly he was the best prize his fellow-pirates could find at this juncture. He silenced the remonstrances of his followers, however, as best he could, and set them at work demolishing the castle of San Lorenzo. The neighboring edifices were burned; the surrounding country was laid waste; the guns of the dismantled fortress were placed on board the fleet, and all were ordered to hold themselves in readiness to embark. The commander then stole on board his ship by night and put to sea, accompanied by only three or four of the English vessels, the captains of which were in his confidence. The remainder of the band awoke next morning in time to see the topmost sails of the vanishing squadron disappear below the horizon, and at once determined to give chase; but they soon found that nearly all the ammunition and provisions had been secretly carried off by the fugitives. Seven or eight hundred of the buccaneers, including all the Frenchmen who had joined the expedition, now found themselves in a strait. They were compelled to separate into small parties, and after obtaining the means of subsistence by pillaging the shores of Castilla del Oro, returned almost empty-handed to Port Royal.

[Sidenote: AN ENGLISH KNIGHT.]

Morgan landed in Jamaica without mishap, and soon began to levy forces for an expedition to the isle of Santa Catarina, intending to make it a common rendezvous for the brethren of the seas; but the hideous atrocities committed during these piratical raids had at length roused the English ministers to a sense of shame, and awakened compunction even in the breast of the English monarch. A new governor was despatched to Jamaica, with orders that the treaty lately ratified between Spain and Great Britain should be strictly enforced. A general pardon and indemnity was proclaimed for past offences, and the ex-admiral of the buccaneers soon afterward repaired to England, where, by a judicious use of his wealth, he obtained from Charles II. the honor of knighthood, as before mentioned. The gibbet would have been a more fitting distinction.

Sir Henry Morgan, appointed commissioner of the court of admiralty and afterward deputy governor of Jamaica, held office until the accession of James II. when the court of Spain procured his arrest. He was sent a prisoner to his native country, and was cast into prison, where we will leave him. He was a ruffian, whose hell-born depravity of heart was relieved by no gleam of a better nature, and for whom one may search in vain for a parallel, even among those so-called heroes who dragged the banner of the cross through the blood of myriads of innocent victims, as they bore westward the glad tidings of Christ's redemption.