OHN. Buccaneer.

Born in New England, and considered by some of his fellow buccaneers "to
have forced kindred upon Captain Sharp"--the leader of the fleet--"out of
old acquaintance, only to advance himself." Thus he was made Vice-Admiral
to Captain Sharp, in place of Captain Cook, whose crew had mutinied and
refused to sail any longer under his command. Cox began his captaincy by
getting lost, but after a fortnight rejoined the fleet off the Island of
Plate, on the coast of Peru, "to the great joy of us all." This island
received its name from the fact that Sir Francis Drake had here made a
division of his spoils, distributing to each man of his company sixteen
bowlfuls of doubloons and pieces of eight. The buccaneers rechristened it
Drake's Island.

Cox took part in the attack on the town of Hilo in October, 1679, sacked
the town and burnt down the large sugar factory outside. He led a mutiny
against his relative and benefactor, Captain Sharp, on New Year's Day,
1681, being the "main promoter of their design" to turn him out. Sharp
afterwards described his old friend as a "true-hearted dissembling
New-England Man," who he had promoted captain "merely for old
acquaintance-sake."

COXON, CAPTAIN JOHN. Buccaneer.

One of the most famous of the "Brethren of the Coast."

In the spring of 1677, in company of other English buccaneers, he
surprised and plundered the town of Santa Marta on the Spanish Main,
carrying away the Governor and the Bishop to Jamaica.

In 1679 Coxon, with Sharp and others, was fitting out an expedition in
Jamaica to make a raid in the Gulf of Honduras, which proved very
successful, as they brought back 500 chests of indigo, besides cocoa,
cochineal, tortoiseshell, money, and plate.

Coxon was soon out again upon a much bolder design, for in December, 1679,
he met Sharp, Essex, Allinson, Row, and other buccaneer chiefs at Point
Morant, and in January set sail for Porto Bello. Landing some twenty
leagues from the town, they marched for four days, arriving in sight of
the town on February 17th, "many of them being weak, being three days
without any food, and their feet cut with the rocks for want of shoes."
They quickly took and plundered the town, hurrying off with their spoils
before the arrival of strong Spanish reinforcements. The share of each man
in this enterprise came to one hundred pieces of eight. A warrant was
issued by Lord Carlisle, the Governor of Jamaica, for the apprehension of
C