BUCCANEERS, a name applied to various bands of English and French freebooters in America, whose exploits form a remarkable part of the history of the 17th century: The French called them ufilibustiers*; the Span iards Manons of the and among them selves they were known as abrethren of the coast.* The origin of these associations of buccaneers seems to have been the arrogant pretensions of the Spaniards to the dominion of the whole of America. The English and French settlers combining against them mutual defense, acquired from their precarious life in the vicinity of the Spanish settlements, adventurous and lawless habits, and became ulti mately, in some of the islands of the Caribbean Sea, little better than pirates. The earliest association of this kind began about 1525, but they afterward assumed greater magnitude. After the assassination of Henry IV in France in 1610, several Frenchmen sought a residence on the island of .Saint Christopher, one of the Antilles. Driven thence in 1630, some of them fled to the western coast of San Domingo, others to the small island of Tortugas, in the vicinity. Several Englishmen, led by a similar disposition, associated themselves with the lat ter. The fugitives at San Domingo employed themselves especially in the chase of wild cattle, of which there were large herds on the island. They sold the hides to the mariners who landed on the coast, and as they cured the flesh by smoking it before the fire, like the American savages, they were called buccaneers, from the Caribee boucan, a place for smoke-drying meat. These hunters lived in the rudest state of nature, enjoying in common all that they had taken in the chase or acquired by robbery. The Spaniards, who could not conquer them, deter mined to extirpate all the cattle on the island, and thus obliged the buccaneers either to culti vate the land as husbandmen, or to join the other freebooters on the island of Tortugas. These bold adventurers attacked, in small num bers and with small means, but with an intrepid ity which bade defiance to danger, not only single merchant vessels, but several of them together, and sometimes armed ships. Their common mode of attack was by boarding. They directed their efforts especially against the Spanish ships which sailed for Europe laden with the treasures of America. By the repeated losses which they suffered, the Spanish were at last so discouraged that they seldom offered a serious resistance. It happened once that a ship of the buccaneers fell in with two Spanish galleons, each of which had 60 cannon, and 1,500 men on board. To escape was impossible, and the pirates could not think of surrender. Their captain, Laurent, made a short speech to them, sent one of his men to the powder room with orders to set fire to it upon the first sign which he should give him, and then placed his men in order of battle on each side. ((We must sail between the enemy's ships,* cried he to his crew, 'and fire upon them to the right and left.* This manoeuvre was executed with extraordi nary rapidity. The fire of the pirate killed so many people on board both ships that the Spaniards were struck with a panic, and let him escape. The Spanish commander was after
ward put to death on account of the disgrace which he had brought upon his nation. Their frequent losses greatly reduced the trade of the Spaniards with America. The buccaneers now began to land on the coast, and to plunder the cities. Their manner of dividing the booty was remarkable. Every one who had a share in the expedition swore that he had reserved nothing of the plunder. A false oath was of extremely rare occurrence, and was punished by banishment to an uninhabited island. The wounded first received their share, which was greater according to the severity of their wounds. The remainder was divided into equal parts, and distributed by lot. The leader re ceived more than the others only when he had particularly distinguished himself. Those who had perished in the expedition were not for gotten. Their part was given to their relations or friends, and in default of them, to the poor and to the Church. Religion was strangely blended with their vices, and they began their enterprises with a prayer. The wealth acquired was spent in gambling and debauchery, for it was the principle of these adventurers to enjoy the present and not care for the future. The climate and their mode of life gradually dimin ished their number, and the vigorous measures of the British and French governments at last put an end to their outrages, which had, per haps, been purposely tolerated. From this band of pirates arose the French settlements on the western half of San Domingo. The more famous of the buccaneers were Sir Henry Mor gan, who was allowed a more or less free hand so long as he confined his activities to Spanish ships and towns, and Captain Kidd. In the 18th century these pirates came to be known as emarooners,* from their practice of maroon ing or placing their victims ashore on desert islands or inaccessible coasts. The most notori ous of these were Avery, Blacicbeard and Rob erts. Much fable surrounds the narrative of the buccaneers; but trustworthy accounts have reached us, notably that of Esquemeling, a Dutchman who served under Morgan. In the first quarter of the 18th century Capt. Charles Johnson edited numerous histories of pirates and highwaymen. Consult his History of the Pyrates of New Providence' (1724), and 'History of Highwaymen and Pirates' (1734-42). Consult also (History of the Buc caneers of 1816; reprinted 1891); Archenholz, (The of the Pi rates, Freebooters, or Buccaneers of America> (London 1807) ; Burney, of the Buc caneers' ; Haring, The Buccaneers in the West Indies in the Seventeenth Century' (London 1910) ; Johnston, Privateersmen and Adventurers of the Sea' (Boston 1911) ; Pyle, editor, The Buccaneers and Marooners of America> (London 1891, contains the narrative of Esquemeling) ; Raynal, (History of the Two Indies ; Stockton, 'Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts) (New York 1898) ; Teramond, 'rages d'histoire; la guerre sur mer, corsaires, pirates, boucaniers, filibustiers, negriers, etc) (Vincennes 1912).