These were the buccaneers and filibusters of that period, the most
lawless class of men in an age of universal lawlessness, the refuse
from the seaports of northern Europe, as cruel miscreants as ever
blackened the pages of history.

The buccaneers derived their name from the Carib word "boucan," a
kind of gridiron on which, like the natives, they cooked their meat,
hence, bou-canier. The word filibuster comes from the Spanish
"fee-lee-bote," English "fly-boat," a small, swift sailing-vessel
with a large mainsail, which enabled the buccaneers to pursue
merchantmen in the open sea and escape among the shoals and shallows
of the archipelago when pursued in their turn by men-of-war.

They recognized no authority, no law but force. They obeyed a leader
only when on their plundering expeditions. The spoils were equally
divided, the captain's share being double that of the men. The maimed
in battle received a compensation proportionate to the injury
received. The captains were naturally distinguished by the qualities
of character that alone could command obedience from crews who feared
neither God nor man.

One of the most dreaded among them was a Frenchman, a native of Sables
d'Olonne, hence called l'Olonais. He had been a prisoner of the
Spaniards, and the treatment he received at their hands had filled his
soul with such deadly hatred, that when he regained his liberty he
swore a solemn oath to live henceforth for revenge alone. And he did.
He never spared sex or age, and took a hellish pleasure in torturing
his victims. He made several descents on the coast of this island,
burned Maracaibo, Puerto Cabello, Veragua, and other places, and was