ettles over the slippery decks, and the gruesome
spectacle of the dreadful vandalism as the murderers proceed to strip
their victims.

[Illustration]

Generally, after a successful attack, the captain of the unfortunate
vessel would be placed in chains and questioned as to the cargo and
treasures of his ship. A cutlass held menacingly over him indicated the
danger of untruth, and frequently a savage gash brought a stubborn and
silent captain to submission. Inquisitorial tortures, unrelieved by any
mock civility, were continued to extract further confessions from the
pain-racked prisoners. Devices born only of a devilish instinct and
fiendish delight suggested all forms of suffering, and so the captain
was frequently tied to the ship's pump and surrounded with burning
combustibles; or, fastened to the deck, surrounded with gunpowder, which
they ignited; or his limbs were severed from his body and his flesh
prodded with the points of the cutlass, the fiendish pirates forming a
circle around him for this inhuman "sport."

[Illustration]

Despite these awful tortures, confessions were often suppressed, in the
hope that the pirates would allow the vessel to proceed on its way (as
was sometimes the case), and thus a part of the treasures be saved. But
all hope of succor or consideration at the hands of these murderers was
idle. Unsatisfied with the mere acquisition of booty, these human
devils, devoid of the last spark of compassion, would mete out to each
member of the crew and the passengers the most unheard-of tortures which
human depravity could invent, for the amusement of the captors. Some
were tied to a windlass and pelted into insensibility, or perhaps more
charitable death. Others were lashed with ropes and cast, almost dead,
into the sea; or, spiked hand and foot to the deck, were exposed
mercilessly to the hot rays of the sun until the features were distorted
into unrecognizability; some were placed before a gun and thus
decapitated, while others were tied back to back and thrown into the
waters. In fact, so low were these villainous wretches in their
degradation that only the most cruel and cunningly devised torture
could satiate their bloodthirsty cravings--human hyenas, who found rest
only in the pains and shrieks of other mortals. By far the most favorite
pastime was to make the victim "walk the plank" or hang him to the
yardarm--a suggestion of the retribution suffered by the pirates when
captured. No wor