BUCCANEERS. 



31 



HUCCH- 



iieen. 



of shelter, and of refreshment to the adventurers, 

 who might happen to be cruizing in the neighbour- 

 hood. The island was sufficiently strong to baffle 

 the assaults of a much greater army than that of the 

 Buccaneers ; yet they obtained possession of it almost 

 without an effort, through the treachery, or the 

 cowardice of the governor, who, on their first ap- 

 pearance, sent privately to Morgan, to concert mea- 

 sures how he might surrender, without sacrificing 

 his reputation as an officer, and the governor of such 

 an important place. It was agreed between them, 

 that Morgan should attack by night a fort at some 

 distance ; and that the governor, sallying out for its 

 defence, should be suddenly attacked in the rear, and 

 taken prisoner, after which the fort would immedi- 

 ately surrender. To render the deception more com- 

 plete, a smart firing was to be kept up on both sides, 

 but so. directed as to do no mischief to either army. 

 The farce was admirably conducted. The Spaniards, 

 without being really exposed to any danger, appear- 

 ed to have fought with great valour ; and the Buc- 

 caneers, to secure the possession of the island, demo- 

 lished its fortifications ; and loading their vessels 

 with a prodigious quantity of warlike stores, steered 

 their course towards the river Chagre, for the pur- 

 pose of invading the city of Panama. The entrance 

 of this river was defended by a fort, apparently im- 

 pregnable, built upon a steep rock, which projected 

 into the sea. The governor of this castle was a man 

 of extraordinary abilities and valour, and his garrison 

 was worthy of such a commander. The assaults of 

 the Buccaneers were repelled with such effect, that 

 they would probably have been obliged to raise the 

 siege, had not an accident of a very strange nature 

 disconcerted the Spaniards, and reduced them to the 

 necessity of surrendering at discretion. An arrow 

 had pierced the body of one of the Buccaneers, who, 

 with astonishing resolution, pulled it out, and wind- 

 ing a little cotton around it, shot it from his musket 

 back into the castle. The cotton, kindled by the 

 powder, alighted upon the thatch of some houses 

 within the fort, which immediately caught fire ; and 

 the flame communicated to a powder magazine, whose 

 tremendous explosion spread ruin and consternation 

 among the Spaniards. In addition to this misfor- 

 tune, their brave commander was killed, while per- 

 forming prodigies of valour ; and the besiegers, ta- 

 king advantage of this double calamity, made them- 

 selves masters of the place. Morgan sailed up 

 tne river in his boats, till he came to Cruces, 

 where ft ceases to be navigable. He was still five 

 leagues distant from Panama, on his march to- 

 wards which, he was met by a considerable body 

 of troops, whom he soon put to flight, and, with- 

 out farther resistance, entered the city, which was 

 now abandoned. Amazing quantities of treasure 

 were found concealed in wells and caves ; and the 

 parties, which were sent to scour the country, re- 

 turned with much valuable spoil from the neighbour- 

 ing forests. Not content with this, however, they 

 exercised the most dreadful tortures on the prisoners 

 who had fallen into their hands, in order to oblige 

 them to discover the places where their riches were 

 concealed ; and the Spaniards seemed now to be ex- 

 piating, by their sufferings, the massacres and cruel- 

 ties of which their ancestors had been guilty in the 

 conquest of those very regions> and in the acquisi- 



tion of those riches, which were now wrested from 

 them by the same means. 



Among the captives taken by the adventurers on* 

 this occasion, one lady attracted particular atten- 

 tion. She was a native of Spain, and the wife of an 

 opulent merchant, whose business had some time be- 

 fore called him to Peru. She was still in the bloom 

 of youth : her raven tresses waved over her ivory 

 brow, " like shadows o'er the winter snow ;" her 

 cheeks, naturally ruddy, were heightened by a tro- 

 pical sun into a warmer glow ; and her fine black 

 eyes, daz/ling with uncommon lustre, gave animation 

 to the nobl st countenance that ever the hand of na- 

 ture delineated, or poets' fancy conceived. The inte- 

 rest which her unhappy situation excited, was height- 

 ened into admiration by her elevated mien ; and her 

 whole deportment indicated a soul incapable of being 

 degraded from its native rank by any reverse of con- 

 dition, or any depth of misery. Even the heart of 

 Morgan, unused as it was to the tender emotions, 

 did homage to this dignified beauty. He felt for her 

 a kind of affection, for which he could not well ac- 

 count ; and the natural impetuosity of his temper 

 was checked by an involuntary respect, which her 

 dignity inspired. He assigned her a separate house, 

 with a retinue of servants, whom he directed to treat 

 with a regard adequate to her former rank. He 

 visited her frequently ; he was daily more charmed 

 with her beauty and her conversation ; he felt the 

 respect which she had at first inspired, growing into 

 a passion that could no longer be resisted. One of 

 her servants, to whom he disclosed his secret, was 

 employed to learn the opinion formed of him by the 

 lady, and to prepare her for compliance with his de- 

 sires. At length he ventured to throw out some 

 hints of his attachment, and to usurp some freedoms, 

 which her delicacy could not brook. " Morgan," 

 said she, with overawing composure, " your treat- 

 ment of me, since I became your captive, has given 

 me a high opinion of your benevolence ; do not, I 

 entreat you, compel me to change that opinion, by 

 attempting to take an ungenerous advantage of my 

 present misfortunes." He retired abashed ; but his 

 disappointment only gave new ardour to his passion. 

 Next day he renewed his visit ; avowed his design in 

 still more offensive terms ; and, chagrined by the la- 

 dy's determined rejection of his proposals, grasped 

 her with violence, and was proceeding to force her 

 to compliance with his brutal desires. For this emer- 

 gency the lady was prepared ; and displaying a dag. 

 ger, which she had concealed in her bosom, ' Infa- 

 mous man !" cried she, " urge me no farther. This 

 dagger shall be my protection from your insults. I 

 can bear to die, but shall never be dishonoured." 

 Morgan, perceiving her resolution unalterable, . de- 

 sisted from his attempts, and left her in despair. 

 His pride, mortified by her obstinacy, now convert- 

 ed his passion into deep-rooted hatred ; and with the 

 meanness inseparable from ignorance and vulgarity, 

 he revenged with brutal cruelty that inviolable vir- 

 tue, which a more generous heart would, in similar 

 circumstances, have been inclined to idolize. He 

 deprived her of her attendants ; confined her in an 

 unwholesome cellar ; and, to give some plausible apo- 

 logy for this unaccountable change in his conduct 

 towards a lady for whom all were interested, pretend- 

 ed that he detected her in a correspondence with hi* 

 3' 



MM* 



