t that they should be set safe ashore on free
land. On these articles they yielded with all they had taken, which was
worth, in pearls alone, above 100,000 pieces of eight, besides the
vessel, provisions, goods, &c. All of which would have made this a
greater prize than he could desire, which he had certainly carried off,
if his main-mast had not been lost, as we said before.

Another bold attempt like this, no less remarkable, I shall also give
you. A certain pirate of Portugal, thence called Bartholomew Portugues,
was cruising in a boat of thirty men and four small guns from Jamaica,
upon the Cape de Corriente in Cuba, where he met a great ship from
Maracaibo and Carthagena, bound for the Havannah, well provided with
twenty great guns and seventy men, passengers and mariners; this ship he
presently assaulted, which they on board as resolutely defended. The
pirate escaping the first encounter, resolved to attack her more
vigorously than before, seeing he had yet suffered no great damage: this
he performed with so much resolution, that at last, after a long and
dangerous fight, he became master of it. The Portuguese lost only ten
men, and had four wounded; so that he had still remaining twenty
fighting men, whereas the Spaniards had double the number. Having
possessed themselves of the ship, the wind being contrary to return to
Jamaica, they resolved to steer to Cape St. Anthony (which lies west of
Cuba), there to repair and take in fresh water, of which they were then
in great want.

Being very near the cape abovesaid, they unexpectedly met with three
great ships coming from New Spain, and bound for the Havannah; by these
not being able to escape, they were easily retaken, both ship and
pirates, and all made prisoners, and stripped of all the riches they had
taken but just before. The cargo consisted in 120,000 weight of
cocoa-nuts, the chief ingredient of chocolate, and 70,000 pieces of
eight. Two days after this misfortune, there arose a great storm, which
separated the ships from one another. The great vessel, where the
pirates were, arrived at Campechy, where many considerable merchants
came and saluted the captain; these presently knew the Portuguese
pirate, being infamous for the many insolencies, robberies and murders
he had committed on their coasts, which they kept fresh in their memory.

The next day after their arrival, the magistrates of the city sent to
demand the prisoners from on board the ship, in ord