The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Pirates Own Book, by Charles Ellms

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Title: The Pirates Own Book

Author: Charles Ellms

Release Date: April 29, 2004 [eBook #12216]

Language: English

Character set encoding: US-ASCII

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THE PIRATES OWN BOOK

Authentic Narratives of the Most Celebrated Sea Robbers.

by

Charles Ellms

1837

[Illustration: _A Piratical Scene--"Walking the Death Plank._"]

[Illustration]

PREFACE.

In the mind of the mariner, there is a superstitious horror connected
with the name of Pirate; and there are few subjects that interest and
excite the curiosity of mankind generally, more than the desperate
exploits, foul doings, and diabolical career of these monsters in human
form. A piratical crew is generally formed of the desperadoes and
runagates of every clime and nation. The pirate, from the perilous
nature of his occupation, when not cruising on the ocean, the great
highway of nations, selects the most lonely isles of the sea for his
retreat, or secretes himself near the shores of rivers, bays and lagoons
of thickly wooded and uninhabited countries, so that if pursued he can
escape to the woods and mountain glens of the interior. The islands of
the Indian Ocean, and the east and west coasts of Africa, as well as
the West Indies, have been their haunts for centuries; and vessels
navigating the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, are often captured by them,
the passengers and crew murdered, the money and most valuable part of
the cargo plundered, the vessel destroyed, thus obliterating all trace
of their unhappy fate, and leaving friends and relatives to mourn their
loss from the inclemencies of the elements, when they were butchered in
cold blood by their fellow men, who by practically adopting the maxim
that "dead men tell no tales," enable themselves to pursue their
diabolical career with impunity. The pirate is truly fond of women and
wine, and when not engaged in robbing, keeps maddened with intoxicating
liquors, and passe