History of the Buccaneers of America

On this occasion there is no room for commendation on the valour of either party. The Buccaneers, however, knew, by the Spanish fleet coming to them from Panama, that the treasure must have been landed, and therefore they could have had little motive for enterprise. The meeting was faintly sought by both sides, and no battle was fought, except a little cannonading during the retreat of the Buccaneers, which on their side was almost wholly confined to the ship of their Commander. Both Dampier and Lussan acknowledge that Edward Davis brought the whole of the buccaneer fleet off safe from the Spaniards by his courage and good management.

June. On June the 1st, the Buccaneers sailed out of the Bay of Panama for the Island Quibo. They had to beat up against SW winds, and had much wet weather. In the middle of June, they anchored on the East side of Quibo, where they were joined by Harris.

Keys of Quibo. The Island Quibo. Quibo and the smaller Islands near it, Dampier calls collectively, the Keys of Quibo. They are all woody. Good fresh water was found on the great Island, which would naturally be the case with the wet weather; and here were deer, guanoes, and large black monkeys, whose flesh was esteemed by the Buccaneers to be sweet and wholesome food.

Rock near the Anchorage. A shoal which runs out from the SE point of Quibo half a mile into the sea, has been already noticed: a league to the North of this shoal, and a mile distant from the shore, is a rock which appears above water only at the last quarter ebb. Except the shoal, and this rock, there is no other danger; and ships may anchor within a quarter of a mile of the shore, in from six to twelve fathoms clear sand and ooze[54 - Dampier, Vol. I, Chap. 8.].

They stopped at Quibo to make themselves canoes, the trees there being well suited for the purpose, and some so large that a single trunk hollowed and wrought into shape, would carry forty or fifty men. Whilst this work was performing, a strong party was sent to the main-land against Pueblo Nuevo, which town was now entered without opposition; but no plunder was obtained.

Serpents. The Serpent Berry. Lussan relates that two of the Buccaneers were killed by serpents at Quibo. He says, 'here are serpents whose bite is so venemous that speedy death inevitably ensues, unless the patient can have immediate recourse to a certain fruit, which must be chewed and applied to the part bitten. The tree which bears this fruit grows here, and in other parts of America. It resembles the almond-tree in France in height and in its leaves. The fruit is like the sea chestnut (Chataines de Mer) but is of a grey colour, rather bitter in taste, and contains in its middle a whitish almond. The whole is to be chewed together before it is applied. It is called (Graine à Serpent) the Serpent Berry.'

July. Disagreements among the Buccaneers. The dissatisfaction caused by their being foiled in the Bay of Panama, broke out in reproaches, and produced great disagreements among the Buccaneers. Many blamed Grogniet for not coming into battle the first day. On the other hand, Lussan blames the behaviour of the English, who, he says, being the greater number, lorded it over the French; that Townley, liking Grogniet's ship better than his own, would have insisted on a change, if the French had not shewn a determination to resist such an imposition. Another cause of complaint against the English was, the indecent and irreverent manner in which they shewed their hatred to the Roman Catholic religion. Lussan says, 'When they entered the Spanish churches, it was their diversion to hack and mutilate every thing with their cutlasses, and to fire their muskets and pistols at the images of the Saints.' The French separate from the English. In consequence of these disagreements, 330 of the French joined together under Grogniet, and separated from the English.

Knight, a Buccaneer Commander, joins Davis. Before either of the parties had left Quibo, William Knight, a Buccaneer already mentioned, arrived there in a ship manned with 40 Englishmen and 11 Frenchmen. This small crew of Buccaneers had crossed the Isthmus about nine months before; they had been cruising both on the coast of New Spain and on the coast of Peru; and the sum of their successes amounted to their being provided with a good vessel and a good stock of provisions. They had latterly been to the Southward, where they learnt that the Lima fleet had sailed against the Buccaneers before Panama, which was the first notice they received of other Buccaneers than themselves being in the South Sea. On the intelligence, they immediately sailed for the Bay of Panama, that they might be present and share in the capture of the Spaniards, which they believed would inevitably be the result of a meeting. On arriving in the Bay of Panama, they learnt what really had happened: nevertheless, they proceeded to Quibo in search of their friends. The Frenchmen in Knight's ship left her to join their countrymen: Knight and the rest of the crew, put themselves under the command of Davis.

The ship commanded by Harris, was found to be in a decayed state and untenantable. Another vessel was given to him and his crew; but the whole company were so much crowded for want of ship room, that a number remained constantly in canoes. One of the canoes which they built at Quibo measured 36 feet in length, and between 5 and 6 feet in width.

Davis and the English party, having determined to attack the city of Leon in the province of Nicaragua, sent an invitation to the French Buccaneers to rejoin them. The French had only one ship, which was far from sufficient to contain their whole number, and they demanded, as a condition of their uniting again with the English, that another vessel should be given to themselves. The English could ill spare a ship, and would not agree to the proposition; the separation therefore was final. Jean Rose, a Frenchman, with fourteen of his countrymen, in a new canoe they had built for themselves, left Grogniet to try their fortunes under Davis.

In this, and in other separations which subsequently took place among the Buccaneers, it has been thought the most clear and convenient arrangement of narrative, to follow the fortunes of the buccaneer Commander Edward Davis and his adherents, without interruption, to the conclusion of their adventures in the South Sea; and afterwards, to resume the proceedings of the other adventurers.

Proceedings of Edward Davis. August. Expedition against the City of Leon. On the 20th of July, Davis with eight vessels and 640 men, departed from the Island Quibo for Ria Lexa, sailing through the channel between Quibo and the main-land, and along the coast of the latter, which was low and overgrown with thick woods, and appeared thin of inhabitants. August the 9th, at eight in the morning, the ships being then so far out in the offing that they could not be descried from the shore, Davis with 520 men went away in 31 canoes for the harbour of Ria Lexa. They set out with fair weather; but at two in the afternoon, a tornado came from the land, with thunder, lightning, and rain, and with such violent gusts of wind that the canoes were all obliged to put right before it, to avoid being overwhelmed by the billows. Dampier remarks generally of the hot latitudes, as Lussan does of the Pacific Ocean, that the sea there is soon raised by the wind, and when the wind abates is soon down again. Up Wind Up Sea, Down Wind Down Sea, is proverbial between the tropics among seamen. The fierceness of the tornado continued about half an hour, after which the wind gradually abated, and the canoes again made towards the land. At seven in the evening it was calm, and the sea quite smooth. During the night, the Buccaneers, having the direction of a Spanish pilot, entered a narrow creek which led towards Leon; but the pilot could not undertake to proceed up till daylight, lest he should mistake, there being several creeks communicating with each other.

Leon. The city of Leon bordered on the Lake of Nicaragua, and was reckoned twenty miles within the sea coast. They went only a part of this distance by the river, when Davis, leaving sixty men to guard the canoes, landed with the rest and marched towards the city, two miles short of which they passed through an Indian town. Leon had a cathedral and three other churches. It was not fortified, and the Spaniards, though they drew up their force in the Great Square or Parade, did not think themselves strong enough to defend the place. About three in the afternoon, the Buccaneers entered, and the Spaniards retired.

All the Buccaneers who landed did not arrive at Leon that same day. According to their ability for the march, Davis had disposed his men into divisions. The foremost was composed of all the most active, who marched without delay for the town, the other divisions following as speedily as they were able. The rear division being of course composed of the worst travellers, some of them could not keep pace even with their own division. They all came in afterwards except two, one of whom was killed, and the other taken prisoner. The man killed was a stout grey-headed old man of the name of Swan, aged about 84 years, who had served under Cromwell, and had ever since made privateering or buccaneering his occupation. This veteran would not be dissuaded from going on the enterprise against Leon; but his strength failed in the march; and after being left in the road, he was found by the Spaniards, who endeavoured to make him their prisoner; but he refused to surrender, and fired his musket amongst them, having in reserve a pistol still charged; on which he was shot dead.

The houses in Leon were large, built of stone, but not high, with gardens about them. 'Some have recommended Leon as the most pleasant place in all America; and for health and pleasure it does surpass most places. The country round is of a sandy soil, which soon drinks up the rains to which these parts are much subject[55 - Dampier.].'

Leon burnt by the Buccaneers. The Buccaneers being masters of the city, the Governor sent a flag of truce to treat for its ransom. They demanded 300,000 dollars, and as much provision as would subsist 1000 men four months: also that the Buccaneer taken prisoner should be exchanged. These demands it is probable the Spaniards never intended to comply with; however they prolonged the negociation, till the Buccaneers suspected it was for the purpose of collecting force. Therefore, on the 14th, they set fire to the city, and returned to the coast. The town of Ria Lexa underwent a similar fate, contrary to the intention of the Buccaneer Commander.

Ria Lexa. Town of Ria Lexa burnt. Ria Lexa is unwholesomely situated in a plain among creeks and swamps, 'and is never free from a noisome smell.' The soil is a strong yellow clay; in the neighbourhood of the town were many sugar-works and beef-farms; pitch, tar, and cordage were made here; with all which commodities the inhabitants carried on a good trade. The Buccaneers supplied themselves with as much as they wanted of these articles, besides which, they received at Ria Lexa 150 head of cattle from a Spanish gentleman, who had been released upon his parole, and promise of making such payment for his ransom; their own man who had been made prisoner was redeemed in exchange for a Spanish lady, and they found in the town 500 packs of flour; which circumstances might have put the Buccaneers in good temper and have induced them to spare the town; 'but,' says Dampier, 'some of our destructive crew, I know not by whose order, set fire to the houses, and we marched away and left them burning.'

Farther Separation of the Buccaneers. After the Leon expedition, no object of enterprise occurred to them of sufficient magnitude to induce or to enable them to keep together in such large force. Dispersed in small bodies, they expected a better chance of procuring both subsistence and plunder. By general consent therefore, the confederacy which had been preserved of the English Buccaneers was relinquished, and they formed into new parties according to their several inclinations. Swan proposed to cruise along the coast of New Spain, and NW-ward, as far as to the entrance of the Gulf of California, and thence to take his departure for the East Indies. Townley and his followers agreed to try their fortunes with Swan as long as he remained on the coast of New Spain; after which they proposed to return to the Isthmus. In the course of settling these arrangements, William Dampier, being desirous of going to the East Indies, took leave of his commander, Edward Davis, and embarked with Swan. Of these, an account will be given hereafter.

CHAPTER XVI

Buccaneers under Edward Davis. At Amapalla Bay; Cocos Island; The Galapagos Islands; Coast of Peru. Peruvian Wine. Knightquits the South Sea. Bezoar Stones. Marine productions on Mountains. Vermejo. Davis joins the French Buccaneers at Guayaquil. Long Sea Engagement

1685. August. With Davis there remained the vessels of Knight and Harris, with a tender, making in all four sail. August the 27th, they sailed from the harbour of Ria Lexa, and as they departed Swan saluted them with fifteen guns, to which Davis returned eleven.

Proceedings of the Buccaneers under Edw. Davis. Amapalla Bay. A sickness had broken out among Davis's people, which was attributed to the unwholesomeness of the air, or the bad water, at Ria Lexa. After leaving the place, the disorder increased, on which account Davis sailed to the Bay of Amapalla, where on his arrival he built huts on one of the Islands in the Bay for the accommodation of his sick men, and landed them. Above 130 of the Buccaneers were ill with a spotted fever, and several died.

Lionel Wafer was surgeon with Davis, and has given a brief account of his proceedings. Wafer, with some others, went on shore to the main land on the South side of Amapalla Bay, to seek for provisions. They walked to a beef farm which was about three miles from their landing. A hot River. In the way they crossed a hot river in an open savannah, or plain, which they forded with some difficulty on account of its heat. This river issued from under a hill which was not a volcano, though along the coast there were several. 'I had the curiosity,' says Wafer, 'to wade up the stream as far as I had daylight to guide me. The water was clear and shallow, but the steams were like those of a boiling pot, and my hair was wet with them. The river reeked without the hill a great way. Some of our men who had the itch, bathed themselves here, and growing well soon after, their cure was imputed to the sulphureousness or other virtue of this water.' Here were many wolves, who approached so near and so boldly to some who had straggled from the rest of their party, as to give them great alarm, and they did not dare to fire, lest the noise of their guns should bring more wolves about them.

Cocos Island. Davis remained some weeks at Amapalla Bay, and departed thence for the Peruvian coast, with the crews of his ships recovered. In their way Southward they made Cocos Island, and anchored in the harbour at the NE part, where they supplied themselves with excellent fresh water and cocoa-nuts. Wafer has given the description following: 'The middle of Cocos Island is a steep hill, surrounded with a plain declining to the sea. This plain is thick set with cocoa-nut trees: but what contributes greatly to the pleasure of the place is, that a great many springs of clear and sweet water rising to the top of the hill, are there gathered as in a deep large bason or pond, and the water having no channel, it overflows the verge of its bason in several places, and runs trickling down in pleasant streams. In some places of its overflowing, the rocky side of the hill being more than perpendicular, and hanging over the plain beneath, the water pours down in a cataract, so as to leave a dry space under the spout, and form a kind of arch of water. The freshness which the falling water gives the air in this hot climate makes this a delightful place. Effect of Excess in drinking the Milk of the Cocoa-nut. We did not spare the cocoa-nuts. One day, some of our men being minded to make themselves merry, went ashore and cut down a great many cocoa-nut trees; from which they gathered the fruit, and drew about twenty gallons of the milk. They then sat down and drank healths to the King and Queen, and drank an excessive quantity; yet it did not end in drunkenness: but this liquor so chilled and benumbed their nerves that they could neither go nor stand. Nor could they return on board without the help of those who had not been partakers of the frolick, nor did they recover under four or five days' time[56 - Voyage and Description, &c. by Lionel Wafer, p. 191, and seq. London, 1699.].'

Here Peter Harris broke off consortship, and departed for the East Indies. The tender sailed at the same time, probably following the same route.

At the Galapagos Islands. Davis and Knight continued to associate, and sailed together from Cocos Island to the Galapagos. At one of these Islands they found fresh water; the buccaneer Journals do not specify which Island, nor any thing that can be depended upon as certain of its situation. Wafer only says, 'From Cocos we came to one of the Galapagos Islands. At this Island there was but one watering-place, and there we careened our ship.' Dampier was not with them at this time; but in describing the Galapagos Isles, he makes the following mention of Davis's careening place. 'Part of what I say of these Islands I had from Captain Davis, who was there afterwards, and careened his ship at neither of the Islands that we were at in 1684, but went to other Islands more to the Westward, which he found to be good habitable Islands, having a deep fat soil capable of producing any thing that grows in those climates: they are well watered, and have plenty of good timber. Captain Harris came hither likewise, and found some Islands that had plenty of mammee-trees, and pretty large rivers. They have good anchoring in many places, so that take the Galapagos Islands by and large, they are extraordinary good places for ships in distress to seek relief at[57 - Dampier. Manuscript Journal.].'

Wafer has not given the date of this visit, which was the second made by Davis to the Galapagos; but as he stopped several weeks in the Gulf of Amapalla for the recovery of his sick, and afterwards made some stay at Cocos Island, it must have been late in the year, if not after the end, when he arrived at the Galapagos, and it is probable, during, or immediately after, a rainy season.

The account published by Wafer, excepting what relates to the Isthmus of Darien, consists of short notices set down from recollection, and occupying in the whole not above fifty duodecimo pages. He mentions a tree at the Island of the Galapagos where they careened, like a pear-tree, 'low and not shrubby, very sweet in smell, and full of very sweet gum.'

Davis and Knight took on board their ships 500 packs or sacks of flour from the stores which had formerly been deposited at the Galapagos. The birds had devoured some, in consequence of the bags having been left exposed.

1686. On the Coast of Peru. From the Galapagos, they sailed to the coast of Peru, and cruised in company till near the end of 1686. They captured many vessels, which they released after plundering; and attacked several towns along the coast. They had sharp engagements with the Spaniards at Guasco, and at Pisco, the particulars of which are not related; but they plundered both the towns. Peruvian Wine like Madeira. They landed also at La Nasca, a small port on the coast of Peru in latitude about 15° S, at which place they furnished themselves with a stock of wine. Wafer says, 'This is a rich strong wine, in taste much like Madeira. It is brought down out of the country to be shipped for Lima and Panama. Sometimes it is kept here many years stopped up in jars, of about eight gallons each: the jars were under no shelter, but exposed to the scorching sun, being placed along the bay and between the rocks, every merchant having his own wine marked.' It could not well have been placed more conveniently for the Buccaneers.

They landed at Coquimbo, which Wafer describes 'a large town with nine churches.' What they did there is not said. Wafer mentions a small river that emptied itself in a bay, three miles from the town, in which, up the country, the Spaniards get gold. 'The sands of the river by the sea, and round the whole Bay, are all bespangled with particles of gold; insomuch that in travelling along the sandy bays, our people were covered with a fine gold-dust, but too fine for any profit, for it would be an endless work to pick it up.'

Statistical accounts of the Viceroyalty of Peru, which during a succession of years were printed annually at the end of the Lima Almanack, notice the towns of Santa Maria de la Perilla, Guasca, Santiago de Miraflores, Cañete, Pisco, Huara, and Guayaquil, being sacked and in part destroyed by pirates, in the years 1685, 1686, and 1687.

At Juan Fernandez. Davis and Knight having made much booty (Lussan says so much that the share of each man amounted to 5000 pieces of eight), they went to the Island Juan Fernandez to refit, intending to sail thence for the West Indies: but before they had recruited and prepared the ships for the voyage round the South of America, Fortune made a new distribution of their plunder. Many lost all their money at play, and they could not endure, after so much peril, to quit the South Sea empty handed, but resolved to revisit the coast of Peru. Knight quits the South Sea. The more fortunate party embarked with Knight for the West Indies.

Davis returns to the Coast of Peru. The luckless residue, consisting of sixty Englishmen, and twenty Frenchmen, with Edward Davis at their head, remained with the Batchelor's Delight to begin their work afresh. They sailed from Juan Fernandez for the American coast, which they made as far South as the Island Mocha. By traffic with the inhabitants, they procured among other provisions, a number of the Llama or Peruvian sheep. Bezoar Stones. Wafer relates, that out of the stomach of one of these sheep he took thirteen Bezoar stones of several forms, 'some resembling coral, some round, and all green when first taken out; but by long keeping they turned of an ash colour.'

Marine Productions found on Mountains. In latitude 26° S, wanting fresh water, they made search for the River Copiapo. They landed and ascended the hills in hopes of discovering it. According to Wafer's computation they went eight miles within the coast, ascending mountain beyond mountain till they were a full mile in perpendicular height above the level of the sea. They found the ground there covered with sand and sea-shells, 'which,' says Wafer, 'I the more wondered at, because there were no shell-fish, nor could I ever find any shells, on any part of the sea-coast hereabouts, though I have looked for them in many places.' They did not discover the river they were in search of; but shortly afterwards, they landed at Arica, which they plundered; and at the River Ylo, where they took in fresh water. At Arica was a house full of Jesuits' bark. Vermejo. Wafer relates, 'We also put ashore at Vermejo, in 10° S latitude. I was one of those who landed to see for water. We marched about four miles up a sandy bay, which we found covered with the bodies of men, women, and children. These bodies to appearance, seemed as if they had not been above a week dead; but if touched, they proved dry and light as a sponge or piece of cork. We were told by an old Spanish Indian whom we met, that in his father's time, the soil there, which now yielded nothing, was well cultivated and fruitful: that the city of Wormia had been so numerously inhabited with Indians, that they could have handed a fish from hand to hand until it had come to the Inca's hand. But that when the Spaniards came and laid siege to their city, the Indians, rather than yield to their mercy, dug holes in the sand and buried themselves alive. The men as they now lie, have by them their broken bows; and the women their spinning-wheels and distaffs with cotton yarn upon them. Of these dead bodies I brought on board a boy of about ten years of age with an intent to bring him to England; but was frustrated of my purpose by the sailors, who had a foolish conceit that the compass would not traverse right whilst there was a dead body on board, so they threw him overboard to my great vexation[58 - Wafer's Voyages, p. 208.].'

April. Near this part of the coast of Peru, in April 1687, Davis had a severe action with a Spanish frigate, named the Katalina, in which the drunkenness of his crew gave opportunity to the Spanish Commander, who had made a stout defence, to run his ship ashore upon the coast. They fell in with many other Spanish vessels, which, after plundering, they dismissed.

Shortly after the engagement with the Spanish frigate Katalina, Davis made a descent at Payta, to seek refreshments for his wounded men, and surprised there a courier with dispatches from the Spanish Commander at Guayaquil to the Viceroy at Lima, by which he learnt that a large body of English and French Buccaneers had attacked, and were then in possession of, the town of Guayaquil. May. The Governor had been taken prisoner by the Buccaneers, and the Deputy or next in authority, made pressing instances for speedy succour, in his letter to the Viceroy, which, according to Lussan, contained the following passage: 'The time has expired some days which was appointed for the ransom of our prisoners. I amuse the enemy with the hopes of some thousands of pieces of eight, and they have sent me the heads of four of our prisoners: but if they send me fifty, I should esteem it less prejudicial than our suffering these ruffians to live. If your Excellency will hasten the armament to our assistance, here will be a fair opportunity to rid ourselves of them.'

Davis joins other Buccaneers at Guayaquil. Upon this news, and the farther intelligence that Spanish ships of war had been dispatched from Callao to the relief of Guayaquil, Davis sailed for that place, and, on May the 14th, arrived in the Bay of Guayaquil, where he found many of his old confederates; for these were the French Buccaneers who had separated from him under Grogniet, and the English who had gone with Townley. Those two leaders had been overtaken by the perils of their vocation, and were no more. But whilst in their mortal career, and after their separation from Davis, though they had at one time been adverse almost to hostility against each other, they had met, been reconciled, and had associated together. Townley died first, of a wound he received in battle, and was succeeded in the command of the English by a Buccaneer named George Hout or Hutt. At the attack of Guayaquil, Grogniet was mortally wounded; and Le Picard was chosen by the French to succeed him in the command. Guayaquil was taken on the 20th of April; the plunder and a number of prisoners had been conveyed by the Buccaneers to their ships, which were at anchor by the Island Puna, when their unwearied good fortune brought Davis to join them.

The taking of Guayaquil by the Buccaneers under Grogniet and Hutt will be more circumstantially noticed in the sequel, with other proceedings of the same crews. When Davis joined them, they were waiting with hopes, nearly worn out, of obtaining a large ransom which had been promised them for the town of Guayaquil, and for their prisoners.

Near the Island Puna. The information Davis had received made him deem it prudent, instead of going to anchor at Puna, to remain with his ship on the look-out in the offing; he therefore sent a prize-vessel into the road to acquaint the Buccaneers there of his being near at hand, and that the Spaniards were to be expected shortly.

The captors of Guayaquil continued many days after this to wait for ransom. They had some hundreds of prisoners, for whose sakes the Spaniards sent daily to the Buccaneers large supplies of provisions, of which the prisoners could expect to receive only the surplus after the Buccaneers should be satisfied. At length, the Spaniards sent 42,000 pieces of eight, the most part in gold, and eighty packages of flour. The sum was far short of the first agreement, and the Buccaneers at Puna, to make suitable return, released only a part of the prisoners, reserving for a subsequent settlement those of the most consideration.

26th. Meeting between Spanish Ships of War and the Buccaneers. On the 26th, they quitted the road of Puna, and joined Davis. In the evening of the same day, two large Spanish ships came in sight. Davis's ship mounted 36 guns; and her crew, which had been much diminished by different engagements, was immediately reinforced with 80 men from Le Picard's party. Besides Davis's ship, the Buccaneers had only a small ship and a barca-longa fit to come into action. Their prize vessels which could do no service, were sent for security into shallow water.

A Sea Engagement of seven days. On the morning of the 27th, the Buccaneers and Spaniards were both without the Island Sta Clara. The Spaniards were the farthest out at sea, and had the sea-breeze first, with which they bore down till about noon, when being just within the reach of cannon-shot, they hauled upon a wind, and began a distant cannonade, which was continued till evening: the two parties then drew off to about a league asunder, and anchored for the night. On the morning of the 28th, they took up their anchors, and the day was spent in distant firing, and in endeavours to gain or to keep the wind of each other. The same kind of manœuvring and distant firing was put in practice on each succeeding day, till the evening of the 2d of June, which completed the seventh day of this obstinate engagement. The Spanish Commander, being then satisfied that he had fought long enough, and hopeless of prevailing on the enemy to yield, withdrew in the night. June. The Spaniards retire. On the morning of the 3d, the Buccaneers were surprised, and not displeased, at finding no enemy in sight.

During all this fighting, the Buccaneers indulged their vanity by keeping the Governor of Guayaquil, and other prisoners of distinction, upon deck, to witness the superiority of their management over that of the Spaniards. It was not indeed a post of much danger, for in the whole seven days battle, not one Buccaneer was killed, and only two or three were wounded.

It may be some apology for the Spanish Commander, that in consequence of Davis's junction with the captors of Guayaquil, he found a much greater force to contend with than he had been taught to expect. Fortune had been peculiarly unfavourable to the Spaniards on this occasion. Three ships of force had been equipped and sent in company against the Buccaneers at Guayaquil. One of them, the Katalina, by accident was separated from the others, and fell in with Davis, by whom she was driven on the coast, where she stranded. The Spanish armament thus weakened one-third, on arriving in the Bay of Guayaquil, found the buccaneer force there increased, by this same Davis, in a proportion greater than their own had been diminished. At the Island De la Plata. Davis and Le Picard left the choice of distance to the Spaniards in this meeting, not considering it their business to come to serious battle unless forced. They had reason to be satisfied with having defended themselves and their plunder; and after the enemy disappeared, finding the coast clear, they sailed to the Island De la Plata, where they stopped to repair damages, and to hold council.

They all now inclined homewards. The booty they had made, if it fell short of the expectations of some, was sufficient to make them eager to be where they could use or expend it; but they were not alike provided with the means of returning to the North Sea. Davis had a stout ship, and he proposed to go the Southern passage by the Strait of Magalhanes, or round Cape Horne. No other of the vessels in the possession of the Buccaneers was strong enough for such a voyage. All the French therefore, and many of the English Buccaneers, bent their thoughts on returning overland, an undertaking that would inevitably be attended with much difficulty, encumbered as they were with their plunder, and the Darien Indians having become hostile to them.

Almost all the Frenchmen in Davis's ship, left her to join their countrymen, and many of the English from their party embarked with Davis. All thoughts of farther negociation with the Spaniards for the ransom of prisoners, were relinquished. Le Picard had given notice on quitting the Bay of Guayaquil, that payment would be expected for the release of the remaining prisoners, and that the Buccaneers would wait for it at Cape Santa Elena; but they had passed that Cape, and it was apprehended that if they returned thither, instead of receiving ransom, they might find the Spanish ships of war, come to renew the attack on them under other Commanders. On the 10th, they landed their prisoners on the Continent.

Division of Plunder. The next day they shared the plunder taken at Guayaquil. The jewels and ornaments could not well be divided, nor could their value be estimated to general satisfaction: neither could they agree upon a standard proportion between the value of gold and silver. Every man was desirous to receive for his share such parts of the spoil as were most portable, and this was more especially of importance to those who intended to march overland. The value of gold was so much enhanced that an ounce of gold was received in lieu of eighty dollars, and a Spanish pistole went for fifteen dollars; but these instances probably took place in settling their gaming accounts. In the division of the plunder these difficulties were obviated by a very ingenious and unobjectionable mode of distribution. The silver was first divided: the other articles were then put up to auction, and bid for in pieces of eight; and when all were so disposed of, a second division was made of the silver produced by the sale.

Davis and his company were not present at the taking of Guayaquil, but the services they had rendered, had saved both the plunder and the plunderers, and gave them a fair claim to share. Neither Wafer nor Lussan speak to this point, from which it may be inferred that every thing relating to the division was settled among them amicably, and that Davis and his men had no reason to be dissatisfied. Lussan gives a loose statement of the sum total and of the single shares. 'Notwithstanding that these things were sold so dearly, we shared for the taking of Guayaquil only 400 pieces of eight to each man, which would make in the whole about fifteen hundred thousand livres.' The number of Buccaneers with Grogniet and Hutt immediately previous to the attack of Guayaquil, was 304. Davis's crew at the time he separated from Knight, consisted of eighty men. He had afterwards lost men in several encounters, and it is probable the whole number present at the sharing of the plunder of Guayaquil was short of three hundred and fifty. Allowing the extra shares to officers to have been 150, making the whole number of shares 500, the amount of the plunder will fall short of Lussan's estimate.

They separate to return home by different Routes. On the 12th, the two parties finally took leave of each other and separated, bound by different routes for the Atlantic.