THE PIRATE PORTUGUEZ. 



ESCAPE OF I'OHTUGUEZ. 



CHAPTER II. 



THE PIRATES AND BUCANIERS (continued). 



The Pirate Portuguez Another Successful Boat Attack Re-taken -A Gibbet or Life-Escape Saved by Two Wine-jars 

 Helped by the Pirates Rich again And suddenly Poor A Dutch Pirate From Sailor to Captain A grand Capture 

 And a brutal Commander No Surrender to the Spaniards Victory and Horse-flesh The Rover's Prodigality A 

 Stratagem Worse than ever The Spaniards reduce their Commerce Lewis Scot John Davis Outrages at 

 Nicaragua Piratical Gains Lolonois the Bad and Brave His First Wounds And his Early Successes- -Six 

 Hundred and Sixty Pirates The Capture of Maracaibo and Gibraltar Division of the Gains His Brutalities-- 

 And Deserved Death. 



BOLD attempts were the order of the day. A certain pirate named Portuguez was cruising" 

 off the Cape Coriente in Cuba, where he met a ship from Maracaibo and Carthagena bound 

 to the Havannah provided with twenty "" great " guns of the period, and seventy passengers 

 and crew. This ship he attacked, and was at first beaten off. The assault was renewed 

 on the part of the pirates, and after a long and dangerous fight the rovers became the 

 victors. The Portuguese lost only ten men and had four wounded. But the Spaniards had 

 a much larger force in those waters. 



Being very near the cape before-named, they unexpectedly met with three vessels coming 

 from New Spain, and bound for the Havannah ; by these, not being able to escape, they 

 were easily re-taken, both ship and pirates, and all made prisoners, and stripped of all 

 the riches they had taken just before. The cargo consisted of 120,000 weight of cocoa- 

 nuts,* the chief ingredient of chocolate, and 70,000 pieces of eight. Two days after this 

 misfortune there arose a great storm, which separated the ships from one another. The 

 great vessel, where the pirates were, arrived at Campechy, where a number of merchants 

 resided. The" Portuguese pirate was well known there for the outrages he had committed. 



* This is the chronicler's statement. He meant the cacao-nui. 



