ave the French
buccaneers every encouragement. When France was at peace with Spain they
sent to Portugal ("which country was then at war with Spain") for
Portuguese commissions, with which the buccaneer captains could go
cruising. The English buccaneers often visited the French islands in
order to obtain similar commissions. When England was at war with Spain
the French came to Port Royal for commissions from the English Governor.
It was not a very moral state of affairs; but the Colonial governors
argued that the buccaneers were useful, that they brought in money, and
that they could be disowned at any time should Spain make peace with all
the interloping countries.

The buccaneers now began "to make themselves redoubtable to the
Spaniards, and to spread riches and abundance in our Colonies." They
raided Nueva Segovia, took a number of Spanish ships, and sacked
Maracaibo and western Gibraltar. Their captains on these raids were
Frenchmen and Portuguese. The spoils they took were enormous, for they
tortured every prisoner they captured until he revealed to them where he
had hidden his gold. They treated the Spaniards with every conceivable
barbarity, nor were the Spaniards more merciful when the chance offered.

The buccaneers, French and English, had a number of peculiar customs or
laws by which their strange society was held together. They seem to have
had some definite religious beliefs, for we read of a French captain who
shot a buccaneer "in the church" for irreverence at Mass. No buccaneer
was allowed to hunt or to cure meat upon a Sunday. No crew put to sea
upon a cruise without first going to church to ask a blessing on their
enterprise. No crew got drunk, on the return to port after a successful
trip, until thanks had been declared for the dew of heaven they had
gathered. After a cruise, the men were expected to fling all their loot
into a pile, from which the chiefs made their selection and division.
Each buccaneer was called upon to hold up his right hand, and to swear
that he had not concealed any portion of the spoil. If, after making
oath, a man were found to have secreted anything, he was bundled
overboard, or marooned when the ship next made the land. Each buccaneer
had a mate or comrade, with whom he shared all things, and to whom his
property devolved in the event of death.[9] In many cases the
partnership lasted during life. A love for his partner was usually the
only tender sentiment a buccaneer all