, with a good supply of sugar which they took
from some of the mills along the coast. Now and then they seized a flock
of goats, and then for days the feasting was continuous, while the
surplus flesh was salted and stored away for future use.

On the 24th of August they discovered a vessel some distance from them,
and because of the darkness, ran very close to it before they were
discovered. When they were within hail, they called in Spanish to the
ship and commanded it to lower its sails. "Not we," replied the
Spaniards; "we will soon make you lower your own." The pirates
immediately fired upon them, and they responded at a lively rate from
their own guns. For half an hour or more the fight was very brisk, and
undoubtedly would have lasted much longer had not the buccaneers been
fortunate enough to kill the man at the helm, after which no one of the
Spaniards dared to take his place, and the ship drifted aimlessly. About
the same time another lucky shot tore off the mainsail, and seeing their
helpless condition, the Spaniards begged for quarter and gave up their
ship. Afterwards they declared that they fought the pirates only out of
bravado, for they had agreed on a wager before they left shore to do so
in case they met with Captain Sharp. Although the fight was short, the
pirates themselves had suffered considerable damage to their ship, and
several of their men were sadly wounded.

The captain of the captured vessel gave the buccaneers a great deal of
information as to what had happened after they left Panama, and also as
to the preparations which were being made to defend the towns against
the adventurers, and to capture the vessel if possible whenever it
appeared.

At Tumbes they heard that this was the first settlement made by the
Spanish after Panama, and that at the time of the settlement a priest
went ashore with a cross in his hand, while ten thousand Indians
gathered on the hillsides and stood watching him. As he landed, two
lions came out of the woods toward him, but when he laid the cross
gently over their backs, they fell down and worshiped him; moreover, two
tigers following did the same thing. The Indians seeing these wonderful
things recognized the power of the Christian religion and at once
embraced it.

By the end of October they were near the Fort of Hilo on the coast of
Peru, far south of the equator. Here at night they anchored about two
miles from the village, while they sent four canoes with