lag which so defiantly floated from the mizzenmast. The
gradual progress and growth of the energetic sea-robbers, from the
looting of vessels riding peacefully at anchor in the harbors to the
management of large and seaworthy craft, permitted them to undertake
long and seemingly endless cruises, the most daring of which being
undertaken, no doubt, by that notorious chieftain, Captain Nathaniel
North, who cruised from Newfoundland to the West Indies, then across the
Southern Atlantic to the Cape of Good Hope, thence via Mozambique to the
Indian Ocean, and northward to the Red Sea, traversing the same track to
the Arabian Sea and East Indies--a voyage of 28,670 miles, the toy of
the monsoon, the victim of the typhoon, and the sport of the trade-winds
in the many latitudes. History has reserved a rather infamous niche for
such freebooters as Thomas Howard, Captain Misson, Captain Fly, and
Captain Kidd, whose voyages and exploits have given themes to the
historian, the narrator, and the novelist. It was during these long
cruises that the coast towns suffered through the depredations,
plundering, and pillage, and the inhabitants put in constant fear of
these sudden and vicious onslaughts.

[Illustration]

Not infrequently the pirates selected some desolate locality in which to
bury their treasures and store their stolen goods, generally building a
"village" inland, well hidden in the foliage of the forests or tropical
shrubbery, and perhaps inaccessible save through the devious paths
cunningly planned to secure immunity from attack. These natural defences
were supplemented with a series of forts as a further protection from
the incursions of the natives. The internecine wars so fiercely waged by
the inhabitants of the African East Coast frequently brought the
vanquished to these "villages" to secure protection--a safety usually
given in exchange for practical slavery in tilling the ground and
cultivating crops.

[Illustration]

From time almost immemorial the word _pirate_ has been synonymous with
all that is villainous, bloodthirsty, and cruel, and capture by a gang
of these assassins meant indescribable torture and suffering, and we
will devote a few moments to a consideration of these awful scenes; the
sudden attacks, the vain attempts at flight, the desperate
hand-to-hand struggles for life, mingled with the brutal yells,
interspersed with the piteous cries for mercy, followed by the horrible
silence which finally s