y guns and a
crew of 300 men).

In 1686 de Grammont was granted a commission of "Lieutenant du Roi," in
order to keep him from harassing the Spaniards, and yet not to lose his
valuable services to his country.

In order to have one last fling at the old free buccaneering life before
settling down to the more sedate and respectable calling of an officer in
the French King's navy, de Grammont sailed off with a party of 180
desperadoes, but was never heard of again.

GRAND, PIERRE LE.

A native of Dieppe in Normandy.

Le Grand was the man who, having made one great and successful exploit,
had the good sense to retire. He was the first pirate to take up his
quarters at Tortuga Island, and was known amongst the English as "Peter
the Great." His name will go down to posterity for his "bold and insolent"
action when in a small open boat with a handful of men he seized a great
Spanish galleon.

Pierre had been out on the "grand account" for a long while, meeting with
no success. When almost starving and in despair, a great Spanish fleet
hove in sight, and one ship, bigger than the rest, was observed sailing at
some little distance behind the other vessels. The mad idea entered the
head of the now desperate pirate to take this ship. The pirates all took
an oath to their captain to fight without fear and never to surrender. It
was dusk, and in these tropical latitudes night follows day very quickly.
Before the attack, orders were given to the surgeon to bore a hole in the
bottom of the boat so that it would quickly sink, thus taking away any
hope of escape should the enterprise fail. This was done, and the boat was
paddled quietly alongside the great warship, when the crew, armed only
with a pistol and a sword a-piece, clambered up the sides and jumped
aboard. Quickly and silently the sleeping helmsman was killed, while
Pierre and a party of his men ran down into the great cabin, where they
surprised the Spanish admiral playing cards with his officers. The
admiral, suddenly confronted by a band of bearded desperadoes in his cabin
with a pistol aimed at his head, ejaculated "Jesus bless us! are these
devils or what are they?" While this was going on others of the pirates
had hurried to the gun-room, seized the arms, killing every Spaniard who
withstood them. Pierre knew, as scarcely any other successful pirate or
gambler ever did, the right moment to stop. He at once put ashore all the
prisoners he did not want for workin