LAST YEARS 261 



their rascality they rove a yard rope and 

 hung us up separately, taking the precau- 

 tion to secure us one by one as they finished 

 their proceedings. Monday at 6 A. M. they 

 came on board again, cut our cable, and 

 run us in between two reefs, two leagues 

 to the westward of Neu vitas, taking with 

 them my small cable, anchor, kedge, 

 hawser, and all the spare rigging aboard." 

 Up to this time, either from economy, 

 fear, or indifference, American merchants 

 had neglected to provide their vessels with 

 arms, and robbery on the high seas had 

 become both lucrative and safe. Captain 

 Lamson, however, had been hanged once, 

 and had no intention of trusting his head 

 in the noose a second time. When he next 

 sailed from New Orleans, some thirty days 

 after his capture by the pirates, he went 

 armed. His armament was not heavy, 

 consisting of one 24-pound carronade, 

 one brass 3-pounder, four muskets and 

 seven pistols. The voyage to Port au Prince 

 was uneventful, but on his return trip at 



