de of shot which had been fired into her when she ranged
alongside having passed through her deck and out through her bottom,
thus occasioning so fatal a leak that the only wonder was that she had
floated so long.

The excitement and confusion attending this incident had not subsided
when the surviving Spanish officers and crew made their reappearance on
deck. The former were very profuse in their compliments and thanks for
what they termed our invaluable assistance; having tendered which they
manifested a disposition to resume their former status on board. But I
was quite determined not to allow this. The ship had passed completely
out of their possession into that of the pirates, and had been
recaptured by us. She was therefore our lawful prize, and I was
resolved to retain possession of her, as I had informed Don Felix I
would. I pointed this out to the Spanish officers, and requested them
to surrender their swords, which, very sensibly, they did. Don Felix,
however, who had hidden himself away below somewhere, and who did not
reappear until some time after the others, stormed and blustered and
reviled us, calling us everything but gentlemen, and demanding to know
whether we considered we were making him a proper return for his
kindness in having rescued us. This, of course, was all very well; but
he had refused our offer of assistance, as I pointed out to him, and had
had his ship taken from him, not by us, but by the pirates. He was, of
course, obliged to deliver up his sword; but he would not listen to
reason, retiring to his cabin and sulking there until our arrival in
Port Royal harbour, for which, on gaining possession of the ship, I had
at once shaped a course. Previous to this, however, I had secured his
despatch-box and had put it in a place of safety, otherwise I have no
doubt he would have promptly dropped it overboard out of the stern
windows.

I was anxious to treat my prisoners with the same generosity and
consideration which they had accorded to me; and I hastened to set their
minds at rest upon this point. But whilst the officers were perfectly
willing to give their own parole, they reluctantly admitted that they
felt it quite impossible to guarantee the good behaviour of their men; I
was therefore compelled, in self-defence, to confine the latter below.
All this took up a great deal of time; it was consequently not until
after the men had had their dinner that I was able to set the watches