ntage of
favorable circumstances, which was not possessed by many of his
comrades. These prominent traits in his character became the foundation
of his success. He also proved himself a very good business man, and
having saved a considerable amount of money he joined with some other
buccaneers and bought a ship, of which he took command. This ship soon
made itself a scourge in the Spanish seas; no other buccaneering vessel
was so widely known and so greatly feared, and the English people in
these regions were as proud of the young Captain Morgan as if he had
been a regularly commissioned admiral, cruising against an acknowledged
enemy.

Returning from one of his voyages Morgan found an old buccaneer, named
Mansvelt, in Jamaica, who had gathered together a fleet of vessels with
which he was about to sail for the mainland. This expedition seemed a
promising one to Morgan, and he joined it, being elected vice-admiral of
the fleet of fifteen vessels. Since the successes of L'Olonnois and
others, attacks upon towns had become very popular with the buccaneers,
whose leaders were getting to be tired of the retail branch of their
business; that is, sailing about in one ship and capturing such
merchantmen as it might fall in with.

Mansvelt's expedition took with it not only six hundred fighting
pirates, but one writing pirate, for John Esquemeling accompanied it,
and so far as the fame and reputation of these adventurers was concerned
his pen was mightier than their swords, for had it not been for his
account of their deeds very little about them would have been known to
the world.

The fleet sailed directly for St. Catherine, an island near Costa Rica,
which was strongly fortified by the Spaniards and used by them as a
station for ammunition and supplies, and also as a prison. The pirates
landed upon the island and made a most furious assault upon the
fortifications, and although they were built of stone and well furnished
with cannon, the savage assailants met with their usual good fortune.
They swarmed over the walls and carried the place at the edge of the
cutlass and the mouth of the pistol. In this fierce fight Morgan
performed such feats of valor that even some of the Spaniards who had
been taken prisoners, were forced to praise his extraordinary courage
and ability as a leader.

The buccaneers proceeded to make very good use of their victory. They
captured some small adjoining islands and brought the cannon from th