THE ISTHMUS OF PAtfAMA. 19 



and plunder, to avenge upon the Spaniard whatever 

 wrong or cruelty he had inflicted upon their country- 

 men. These desperadoes soon became extremely 

 formidable, and the entire power of Spain, fiercely 

 and lavishly exerted, proved utterly insufficient to 

 seriously check, much less to put them down. One 

 man, a Frenchman by the name of Montbar, was so 

 excited by a recital of the cruelties practiced by the 

 Spanish authorities, that he sold all he possessed, 

 fitted out a vessel, sailed to the American coast, and 

 became ultimately so terrible by his retaliatory ex- 

 cesses, as to acquire amongst the u Brethren" the dis- 

 tinguishing title of "The Exterminator." A strange 

 mixture of generous daring ajid remorseless cruelty 

 appears to have characterised the doings of these 

 men ; and their religion, in a certain sense, was oc- 

 casionally as conspicuous as their ruffianism. A 

 French captain, of the English name of Daniel, shot 

 one of his crew for disrespectful behaviour during 

 the celebration of mass ; Captain Richard Sawkins 

 threw all the dice in his ship overboard when he 

 found he could not otherwise prevent his sailors 

 from gambling on the Sunday ; and the first thing 

 Captain John Watling did, on assuming command, 

 was to order his freebooters to keep holy the Sabbath 

 day. These gentlemen did not, it must be remem- 

 bered, wait to be themselves attacked, nor did they 

 confine themselves to retaliation upon the Spanish 

 authorities and forces for injuries inflicted upon 

 others. They pounced upon every Spanish ship or 

 settlement they were able to master, and commenced 



