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DEATH OF A PIRATE. 



In the calm of a fine moonlight night, as I was admiring the beauty 

 of the clear heavens, and the broad glare of light that glanced from the 

 trembling surface of the waters around, the officer on watch came up and 

 entered into conversation with me. He had been a turtler in other years, 

 and a great hunter to boot, and although of humble birth and pretensions, 

 energy and talent, aided by education, had raised him to a higher station. 

 Such a man could not fail to be an agreeable companion, and we talked 

 on various subjects, principally, you may be sure, birds and other natural 

 productions. He told me he once had a disagreeable adventure, when 

 looking out for game, in a certain cove on the shores of the Gulf of 

 Mexico ; and, on my expressing a desire to hear it, he willingly related 

 to me the following particulars, which I give you, not perhaps precisely 

 in his own words, but as nearly so as I can remember. 



" Towards evening, one quiet summer day, I chanced to be paddling 

 along a sandy shore, which I thought well fitted for my repose, being co- 

 vered with tall grass, and as the sun was not many degrees above the 

 horizon, I felt anxious to pitch my musq[uito bar or net, and spend the 

 night in this wilderness. The bellowing notes of thousands of bull-frogs 

 in a neighbouring swamp might lull me to rest, and I looked upon the 

 flocks of blackbirds that were assembling as sure companions in this se- 

 cluded retreat. 



I proceeded up a little stream, to insure the safety of my canoe from 

 any sudden storm, when, as I gladly advanced, a beautiful yawl came un- 

 expectedly in view. Surprised at such a sight in a part of the country 

 then scarcely known, I felt a sudden check in the circulation of my blood. 

 My paddle dropped from my hands, and fearfully indeed, as I picked it 

 up, did I look towards the unknown boat. On reaching it, I saw its sides 

 marked with stains of blood, and looking with anxiety over the gunwale, 

 I perceived to my horror, two human bodies covered with gore. Pirates 

 or hostile Indians I was persuaded had perpetrated the foul deed, and 

 my alarm naturally increased ; my heart fluttered, stopped, and heaved 

 with unusual tremors, and I looked towards the setting sun in consterna- 

 tion and despair. How long my reveries lasted I cannot tell ; I can only 

 recollect that I was roused from them by the distant groans of one appa- 



