412 



INCIDENTS OF TRAVEL. 



erman's hut filled up the corners. It was no hard- 

 ship to he obhged to pass the afternoon among these 

 fishermen, for their hardy, independent occupation 

 gave manUness to their character, and freedom to 

 their speech and manners. 



The island v^as famed among the fishermen as 

 the rendezvous of Lafitte the pirate, and the patron 

 told us that our host had been his prisoner two 

 years. This man was about fifty-five, tall and thin, 

 and his face w^as so darkened by the sun that it was 

 hard to say whether he was white or of mixed 

 blood. We remarked that he was not fond of talk- 

 ing of his captivity ; he said he did not know how 

 long he was a prisoner nor where he was taken ; and 

 as the business of piracy was rather complicated in 

 these parts, we conceived a suspicion that he had 

 not been a prisoner entirely against his will. His 

 fellow-fishermen had no narrow feelings on the 

 subject, and perhaps gave a preference to piracy as 

 a larger business, and one that brought more ounces, 

 than catching turtles. They seemed, however, to 

 have an idea that los Ingleses entertained differ- 

 ent views, and the prisoner, el pobre, as our patron 

 called him, said those things were all over, and it 

 was best not to disturb them. He could not, how- 

 ever, help dropping a few words in behalf of La- 

 fitte, or Monsieur Lafitta ; he did not know wheth- 

 er it was true what people said of him, but he nev- 

 er hurt the poor fishermen, and, led on by degrees 

 he told us that Lafitte died in his arms, and that his 



