tle."

Everybody agreed to the sailor's proposal, but after all they were not
fully satisfied nor fully relieved of their fears, and on the next day
they tried again to come to some agreement with Don Alonso. Morgan sent
him two messengers bearing the following propositions:

First, that he would quit Maracaibo without doing any damage to the
town, or taking any ransoms.

Second, that he would set at liberty half of his slaves and all the
other prisoners without ransom.

Third, that he would send home freely those four chief inhabitants of
Gibraltar whom he held as hostages for the ransoms which had been
promised.

Don Alonso rejected these propositions instantly, considering it
dishonorable to grant them. In return he sent back a message to the
effect that if the pirates did not surrender themselves voluntarily into
his hands within two days under the conditions of his letter, he would
immediately come and force them to do it.

Deeply angered by this message, Captain Morgan put everything in order
for fighting, resolving to get out of the lake by main force without
surrendering anything. In the first place he commanded that all the
slaves and the prisoners should be tied and guarded very closely. After
this his men gathered all the pitch, tar and brimstone they could find
in the town, and with them stocked the fire ship, which we have spoken
of before. They mixed the powder, the brimstone and the tar with great
quantities of palm leaves, and arranged everything so that it would burn
quickly and furiously. They set their counterfeit cannon in proper
position at the portholes, and under each fastened heaps of powder so
that they would explode with great force and noise. In some of the
portholes they fastened little native drums, and upon the decks they
placed logs of wood dressed as men, wearing hats and coats and carrying
swords and muskets.

When the fire ship was fully fitted out in this manner, they prepared to
enter the passageway into the lake. The prisoners were all put into the
great boat, and in another they placed all the plate, jewels and other
rich things which they had acquired. In the same ship were placed the
women and the wounded and suffering. The heavy goods and bulky
merchandise were distributed among other vessels, each of which was
manned by twelve well-armed sailors.

The fire ship was ordered to go ahead of the rest of the vessels, and at
the earliest moment to grapple with the largest of