orange groves, and carried away many
sacks of limes and green figs "with many other fruits agreeable to the
palate." Fruit, sugar, and excellent olive oil were the goods which Hilo
yielded. They tried to force the Spaniards to bring them beef, but as
the beef did not come, they wrecked the oil and sugar works, and set
them blazing, and so marched down to their ships, skirmishing with the
Spanish horse as they fell back. Among the spoil was the carcass of a
mule (which made "a very good meal"), and a box of chocolate "so that
now we had each morning a dish of that pleasant liquor," such as the
grand English ladies drank.

The next town attacked was La Serena, a town five miles from the present
Coquimbo. They took the town, and found a little silver, but the
citizens had had time to hide their gold. The pirates made a great feast
of strawberries "as big as walnuts," in the "orchards of fruit" at this
place, so that one of their company wrote that "'tis very delightful
Living here." They could not get a ransom for the town, so they set it
on fire. The Spaniards, in revenge, sent out an Indian, on an inflated
horse hide, to the pirates' ship the _Trinity_. This Indian thrust some
oakum and brimstone between the rudder and the sternpost, and "fired it
with a match." The sternpost caught fire and sent up a prodigious black
smoke, which warned the pirates that their ship was ablaze. They did not
discover the trick for a few minutes, but by good fortune they found it
out in time to save the vessel. They landed their prisoners shortly
after the fire had been quenched "because we feared lest by the example
of this stratagem they should plot our destruction in earnest." Old Don
Peralta, who had lately been "very frantic," "through too much hardship
and melancholy," was there set on shore, after his long captivity. Don
Juan, the captain of the "Money-Ship," was landed with him. Perhaps the
two fought together, on the point of honour, as soon as they had
returned to swords and civilisation.

From Coquimbo the pirates sailed for Juan Fernandez. On the way thither
they buried William Cammock, one of their men, who had drunk too hard at
La Serena "which produced in him a calenture or malignant fever, and a
hiccough." "In the evening when the pale Magellan Clouds were showing we
buried him in the sea, according to the usual custom of mariners, giving
him three French vollies for his funeral."

On Christmas Day they were beating up to