and it would require more than ordinary force to accomplish
it. He therefore set himself to work to enlist a large number of men and
to equip a fleet of vessels, of which he was to be chief commander or
admiral. There were a great many unemployed pirates in Tortuga at that
time, and many a brawny rascal volunteered to sail under the flag of the
daring butcher of the seas.

But in order to equip a fleet, money was necessary as well as men,
and therefore L'Olonnois thought himself very lucky when he succeeded
in interesting the principal piratical capitalist of Tortuga in his
undertaking. This was an old and seasoned buccaneer by the name of
Michael de Basco, who had made money enough by his piratical exploits
to retire from business and live on his income. He held the position
of Mayor of the island and was an important man among his
fellow-miscreants. When de Basco heard of the great expedition which
L'Olonnois was about to undertake, his whole soul was fired and he could
not rest tamely in his comfortable quarters when such great things were
to be done, and he offered to assist L'Olonnois with funds and join in
the expedition if he were made commander of the land forces. This offer
was accepted gladly, for de Basco had a great reputation as a fighter in
Europe as well as in America.

When everything had been made ready, L'Olonnois set sail for Maracaibo
with a fleet of eight ships. On the way they captured two Spanish
vessels, both of which were rich prizes, and at last they arrived
before the town which they intended to capture.

Maracaibo was a prosperous place of three or four thousand inhabitants;
they were rich people living in fine houses, and many of them had
plantations which extended out into the country. In every way the town
possessed great attractions to piratical marauders, but there were
difficulties in the way; being such an important place, of course it had
important defences. On an island in the harbor there was a strong fort,
or castle, and on another island a little further from the town there
was a tall tower, on the top of which a sentinel was posted night and
day to give notice of any approaching enemy. Between these two islands
was the only channel by which the town could be approached from the sea.
But in preparing these defences the authorities had thought only of
defending themselves against ordinary naval forces and had not
anticipated the extraordinary naval methods of the buccaneers who u