Buccaneers and Pirates of Our Coasts | Page 8

canoe-shaped boat not
far from the island of Hispaniola. There were twenty-nine of them in all,
and they were not able to procure a vessel suitable for their purpose.
They had been a long time floating about in an aimless way, hoping to
see some Spanish merchant-vessel which they might attack and
possibly capture, but no such vessel appeared. Their provisions began
to give out, the men were hungry, discontented, and grumbling. In fact,
they were in almost as bad a condition as were the sailors of Columbus
just before they discovered signs of land, after their long and weary
voyage across the Atlantic.
When Peter and his men were almost on the point of despair, they
perceived, far away upon the still waters, a large ship. With a great
jump, hope sprang up in the breast of every man. They seized the oars
and pulled in the direction of the distant craft. But when they were near
enough, they saw that the vessel was not a merchantman, probably

piled with gold and treasure, but a man-of-war belonging to the Spanish
fleet. In fact, it was the vessel of the vice-admiral. This was an
astonishing and disheartening state of things. It was very much as if a
lion, hearing the approach of probable prey, had sprung from the
thicket where he had been concealed, and had beheld before him, not a
fine, fat deer, but an immense and scrawny elephant.
But the twenty-nine buccaneers in the crew were very hungry. They
had not come out upon those waters to attack men-of-war, but, more
than that, they had not come out to perish by hunger and thirst. There
could be no doubt that there was plenty to eat and to drink on that tall
Spanish vessel, and if they could not get food and water they could not
live more than a day or two longer.
Under the circumstances it was not long before Peter the Great made up
his mind that if his men would stand by him, he would endeavor to
capture that Spanish war-vessel; when he put the question to his crew
they all swore that they would follow him and obey his orders as long
as life was left in their bodies. To attack a vessel armed with cannon,
and manned by a crew very much larger than their little party, seemed
almost like throwing themselves upon certain death. But still, there was
a chance that in some way they might get the better of the Spaniards;
whereas, if they rowed away again into the solitudes of the ocean, they
would give up all chance of saving themselves from death by starvation.
Steadily, therefore, they pulled toward the Spanish vessel, and
slowly--for there was but little wind--she approached them.
The people in the man-of-war did not fail to perceive the little boat far
out on the ocean, and some of them sent to the captain and reported the
fact. The news, however, did not interest him, for he was engaged in
playing cards in his cabin, and it was not until an hour afterward that he
consented to come on deck and look out toward the boat which had
been sighted, and which was now much nearer.
Taking a good look at the boat, and perceiving that it was nothing more
than a canoe, the captain laughed at the advice of some of his officers,
who thought it would be well to fire a few cannon-shot and sink the
little craft. The captain thought it would be a useless proceeding. He

did not know anything about the people in the boat, and he did not very
much care, but he remarked that if they should come near enough, it
might be a good thing to put out some tackle and haul them and their
boat on deck, after which they might be examined and questioned
whenever it should suit his convenience. Then he went down to his
cards.
If Peter the Great and his men could have been sure that if they were to
row alongside the Spanish vessel they would have been quietly hauled
on deck and examined, they would have been delighted at the
opportunity. With cutlasses, pistols, and knives, they were more than
ready to demonstrate to the Spaniards what sort of fellows they were,
and the captain would have found hungry pirates uncomfortable
persons to question.
But it seemed to Peter and his crew a very difficult thing indeed to get
themselves on board the man-of-war, so they curbed their ardor and
enthusiasm, and waited until nightfall before approaching nearer. As
soon as it became dark enough they slowly and quietly paddled toward
the great ship, which was now almost becalmed. There were no lights
in the boat, and the people on the deck of