s his time in debauchery, singing old songs with
chorusses like

"Drain, drain the bowl, each fearless soul,
Let the world wag as it will:
Let the heavens growl, let the devil howl,
Drain, drain the deep bowl and fill."

Thus his hours of relaxation are passed in wild and extravagant frolics
amongst the lofty forests of palms and spicy groves of the Torrid Zone,
and amidst the aromatic and beautiful flowering vegetable productions of
that region. He has fruits delicious to taste, and as companions, the
unsophisticated daughters of Africa and the Indies. It would be supposed
that his wild career would be one of delight.

But the apprehension and foreboding of the mind, when under the
influence of remorse, are powerful, and every man, whether civilized or
savage, has interwoven in his constitution a moral sense, which
secretly condemns him when he has committed an atrocious action, even
when he is placed in situations which raise him above the fear of human
punishment, for

"Conscience, the torturer of the soul, unseen.
Does fiercely brandish a sharp scourge within;
Severe decrees may keep our tongues in awe,
But to our minds what edicts can give law?
Even you yourself to your own breast shall tell
Your crimes, and your own conscience be your hell."

With the name of pirate is also associated ideas of rich plunder,
caskets of buried jewels, chests of gold ingots, bags of outlandish
coins, secreted in lonely, out of the way places, or buried about the
wild shores of rivers, and unexplored sea coasts, near rocks and trees
bearing mysterious marks, indicating where the treasure was hid. And as
it is his invariable practice to secrete and bury his booty, and from
the perilous life he leads, being often killed or captured, he can never
re-visit the spot again; immense sums remain buried in those places, and
are irrecoverably lost. Search is often made by persons who labor in
anticipation of throwing up with their spade and pickaxe, gold bars,
diamond crosses sparkling amongst the dirt, bags of golden doubloons,
and chests, wedged close with moidores, ducats and pearls; but although
great treasures lie hid in this way, it seldom happens that any is so
recovered.

[Illustration]

INTRODUCTION.

By the universal law of nations, robbery or forcible depredation upon
the "high seas," _animo furandi_, is piracy. The meaning of the phrase
"high seas," embraces not only the waters of