was
elected commander in his stead.

After this the pirates entered the Gulf of Amapalla. On an island
within it the priest of a village was made prisoner, with two native
boys, while endeavouring to escape. With these as hostages, Captain
Davis and a number of his men proceeded to the town, where he told the
people that his people were Spaniards, and had been sent to clear the
sea of pirates, his intention being to repair his ships.

This statement being credited, he and his men were well received. He
accompanied the inhabitants to church, where all public business was
transacted. The intention of Davis was to ensnare the principal
inhabitants, and to make them pay a ransom. His object was frustrated,
in consequence of one of the pirates violently pushing a man before him,
when the Indians, suspecting treachery, took to flight. Upon this Davis
and his people fired, and one of the unfortunate Indians was killed.
Notwithstanding this, through fear, they assisted in storing the ships
with animals taken from a farm belonging to a nunnery. In return, Davis
presented one of his prizes, laden with flour, to the inhabitants. The
crews having had a dispute about the division of the spoil, the two
vessels here separated; Eaton sailing on the 2nd of September, and
Davis, accompanied by Dampier, on the following day, the padre and the
young Indians having been previously landed. Davis now found it
difficult to decide what course to pursue. The Spaniards were
everywhere on the alert, in consequence of a party of buccaneers having
crossed the isthmus, and now being engaged in cruising in boats along
the coast.

The _Bachelor's Delight_ now put into La Plata, where Drake had
destroyed the _Cacafuego_. While she lay here, the _Cygnet_, of London,
a regular trader, under Captain Swan, came in. He had endeavoured to
open up a peaceful traffic with the Spaniards, but his party had been
attacked and several of his men killed.

Swan was therefore, in his own defence, compelled to turn pirate. While
the two ships lay here, they were joined by the band of buccaneers who
had crossed the isthmus under the command of Peter Harris, the nephew of
a well-known leader of that name.

During the time that the ships were refitting, a small bark which had
been captured was sent out on a cruise, and succeeded in taking a vessel
of four hundred tons, laden with timber. From her crew the rovers
obtained intelligence that the Viceroy wa