the fourth canoa, in which Ringrose was, and
the fifth (to leeward of her) commanded by Sawkins. As she ran between
the boats she fired two thundering broadsides, one from each battery,
which wounded five buccaneers. "But he paid dear for his passage";
because the buccaneers gave her a volley which killed half her sail
trimmers, so that she was long in wearing round to repeat her fire. At
this moment the two periaguas came into action, and got to windward with
the rest of the pirates' fleet.

While Ringrose's company were ramming the bullets down their gun
muzzles, the Spanish admiral (in the second ship) engaged, "scarce
giving us time to charge." She was a fleet ship, and had a good way on
her, and her design was to pass between two canoas, and give to each a
roaring hot broadside. As she ran down, so near that the buccaneers
could look right into her, one of the pirates fired his musket at her
helmsman, and shot him through the heart as he steered. The ship at once
"broached-to," and lay with her sails flat aback, stopped dead. The five
canoas, and one of the periaguas, got under her stern, and so plied her
with shot that her decks were like shambles, running with blood and
brains, five minutes after she came to the wind. Meanwhile Richard
Sawkins ran his canoa--which was a mere sieve of cedar wood, owing to
the broadside--alongside the second periagua, and took her steering oar.
He ordered his men to give way heartily, for the third Spanish ship,
under old Don Peralta, was now bearing down to relieve the admiral.
Before she got near enough to blow the canoas out of water, Captain
Sawkins ran her on board, and so swept her decks with shot that she went
no farther. But "between him and Captain Sawkins, the dispute, or fight,
was very hot, lying board on board together, and both giving and
receiving death unto each other as fast as they could charge." Indeed,
the fight, at this juncture, was extremely fierce. The two Spanish ships
in action were surrounded with smoke and fire, the men "giving and
receiving death" most gallantly. The third ship, with her sail trimmers
dead, was to leeward, trying to get upon the other tack.

After a time her sailors got her round, and reached to windward, to help
the admiral, who was now being sorely battered. Ringrose, and Captain
Springer, a famous pirate, "stood off to meet him," in two canoas, as
"he made up directly towards the Admiral." Don Jacinto, they noticed, as
they shoved