chief of the Hadendowas, though the style and manner differed
somewhat in each.

The Sheik Kadra of the Hadendowa people to Mohammed Ahmed, the chosen of
Allah, homage and greeting, (began the latter). Know by this that on
the fourth day of this moon we gave battle to the Kaffirs who call
themselves Inglees, having with us the Chief Hussein with ten thousand
of the faithful. By the blessing of Allah we have broken them, and
chased them for a mile, though indeed these infidels are different from
the dogs of Egypt, and have slain very many of our men. Yet we hope to
smite them again ere the new moon be come, to which end I trust that
thou wilt send us a thousand Dervishes from Omdurman. In token of our
victory I send you by this messenger a flag which we have taken. By the
colour it might well seem to have belonged to those of the true faith,
but the Kaffirs gave their blood freely to save it, and so we think
that, though small, it is very dear to them.

CAPTAIN SHARKEY.

I

HOW THE GOVERNOR OF SAINT KITT'S CAME HOME.

When the great wars of the Spanish Succession had been brought to an end
by the Treaty of Utrecht, the vast number of privateers which had been
fitted out by the contending parties found their occupation gone. Some
took to the more peaceful but less lucrative ways of ordinary commerce,
others were absorbed into the fishing fleets, and a few of the more
reckless hoisted the Jolly Rodger at the mizzen, and the bloody flag at
the main, declaring a private war upon their own account against the
whole human race.

With mixed crews, recruited from every nation, they scoured the seas,
disappearing occasionally to careen in some lonely inlet, or putting in
for a debauch at some outlying port, where they dazzled the inhabitants
by their lavishness, and horrified them by their brutalities.

On the Coromandel Coast, at Madagascar, in the African waters, and above
all in the West Indian and American seas, the pirates were a constant
menace. With an insolent luxury they would regulate their depredations
by the comfort of the seasons, harrying New England in the summer, and
dropping south again to the tropical islands in the winter.

They were the more to be dreaded because they had none of that
discipline and restraint which made their predecessors, the Buccaneers,
both formidable and respectable. These Ishmaels of the sea rendered an
account to no man, and tr