ratia_ defines the crime, answering to robbery on
land, with the distinction that it is committed upon the high seas or
navigable waters generally. The law of nations has defined it as the
taking of property from others by open violence, with intent to steal,
and without lawful authority, on the sea. And with the stringency
arising from the ever-growing depredations, and the community of
interests of the civilized world, the crime was made punishable by
death, and jurisdiction was recognized in that country into whose ports
the pirate may be carried.

Piracy flourished in its reckless dare-deviltry and wanton lawlessness
about one hundred and fifty years ago, its most productive operations
being confined to the Spanish Main, over whose vast paths the newly
discovered wealth and hidden treasures of the New World were carried.
The unprotected state of commerce permitted these piratical invasions
with immunity and thus allowed this nefarious trade to flourish and
develop unchecked and uncontrolled. By reason of this the lawless
element of the community was encouraged and allured by the visions of
fabulous riches with the attendant excitement incident to its capture.
Pirates, as a class, were principally outlaws, social outcasts, or
'longshoremen of a desperate and brutal character, who deemed it the
more enjoyable the more hazardous their undertaking, and who considered
it safer to maraud on the high seas than upon the land, in constant fear
of the minions of the law. But not all pirates were of this character.
Some, not inherently vicious nor absolutely depraved, had adopted this
lawless calling by reason of some stigma which deprived them of their
social position; others, by reason of their indolence; and others from
sheer necessity, who found in their dire distress the justification for
the dangerous step.

Whenever a band of these men had determined upon their new enterprise,
they immediately seized some available ship in the shore waters, which
was frequently accomplished by two or three approaching in a rowboat, in
the guise of purchasers of merchandise. As a rule, a vessel, when in
shore waters, is inadequately protected by guards, and thus the pirates,
finding the deck in their control, would overcome the watch and, with
drawn pistols and threats of death, proceed to make them helpless
prisoners. With practical control of the vessel thus assured, some of
the number would stand sentry at the hatchways while a signa