AN UNPUNISHED FIEND. 71 



greasy fellow, would fry well." The brutes then bound the unfortunate wretch to the 

 mast, and set fire to the ship. 



" The next who fell in their way was Captain Garren, in the Wright galley, who, because 

 he showed some inclination to defend himself, was cut and mangled in a barbarous manner. 

 There were also two Portuguese friars, whom they tied to the foremast, and several times 

 let them down before they were dead, merely to gratify their ferocious dispositions. Mean- 

 while, another Portuguese beholding this cruel scene expressed some sorrow in his coun- 

 tenance, upon which one of the wretches said he did not like his looks, and so giving him 

 a stroke across the body with his cutlass he fell upon the spot. Another of the miscreants 

 aiming a blow at a prisoner missed his aim, and struck Low upon the under jaw. The 

 surgeon was called, and stitched up the wound; but Low finding fault with the operation, 

 the surgeon gave him a blow which broke all the stitches, and left him to sew them himself. 

 After he had plundered this vessel some of them were for burning her, as they had done 

 the Frenchman; but instead of that, they cut her cables, rigging, and sails to pieces, and 

 set her adrift to the mercy of the waves." 



On another occasion he had taken a fine Portuguese vessel, but could not find the 

 treasure, and he accordingly tortured some of the men to make them inform him. 

 He was told that during the chase the captain had hung a sack containing eleven 

 thousand moidores out of the cabin window, and that when they were taken he had cut 

 the rope, and let it drop to the bottom of the sea. One can imagine Low's rage. He 

 ordered the unfortunate captain's lips to be cut off and broiled before his eyes. He 

 then murdered him and the whole crew in cold blood. The narrative of Low's career 

 is one continuous succession of such stories; nor can the writer discover that he met 

 with punishment in this world. 



CHAPTER VIII. 

 PAUL JONES AND DE SOTO. 



Paul Jones, the Privateer A Story of his Boyhood He joins the American Revolutionists Attempt to Burn the Town 

 and Shipping of Whitehaven Foiled His Appearance at St. Mary's-Capture of Lady Selkirk's Family Plate A 

 Letter from Jones - Iteturn of the Plate several years after A Press-gang Impressed Engagement with the Ranger 

 A Privateer Squadron The Fight off Scarborough Brave Captains Pearson and Piercy Victory for the Privateers 

 Jones dies in abject Poverty A Nineteenth Century Freebooter Benito de Soto-Mutiny on a Slave Ship The 

 Commander left ashore and the Mate Murdered Encounters the Morning Star A Ship without a Gun Terror 

 of the Passengers Order to spare no Lives A terrified Steward De Soto's commands only partially observed, 

 and the Ship saved At Cadiz Failure of the Pirate's Plans Captured, Tried, and Hanged at Gibraltar. 



A CELEBRATED character now appears on the scene; and the writer must avow that 

 Paul Jones has hardly been treated fairly in many works of fiction* and so-called 

 history. He was not a pirate in the true sense of the word, although very generally 

 regarded as such, but was a privateer, employed by colonies rebelling against the mother 

 country. 



John Paul for such was his real name was born on the estate of Lord Selkirk, near 



* The best known of which is "The Tilot," in which he is the prominent character. 



