Early Life of Lolonois.—His Desperate Character.—Joins the Buccaneers.—His Fiend-like Cruelty.—The Desperadoes Rally around Him.—Equips a Fleet.—Captures Rich Prizes.—Plans the Sack of Maracaibo.—The Adventurous Voyage.—Description of Venezuela.—Atrocities at Maracaibo and Gibraltar.—Doom of the Victors.

One of the most demoniac of those pirates who were ravaging sea and land, calling themselves buccaneers, and assuming that they were conducting a sort of legitimate warfare on their own private account, was a bold wretch by the name of Francis Lolonois. He was a Frenchman. When quite a young man, he, with other adventurers, went to the West Indies, paying for his passage, in accordance with a custom of the times, by being sold as a servant for a certain term.

Having obtained his freedom, he went to the Island of St. Domingo. Here he lived a vagabond life, sometimes hunting, and again engaged as a common sailor in the commerce of the islands. He soon acquired the reputation of being a reckless desperate fellow, and attracted the attention of the piratic governor of the piratic rendezvous, at the Island of Tortugas. He was intrusted with the command of a small vessel, to prey upon Spanish commerce. His success was extraordinary. He became rich. So terrible were his cruelties, that his fame extended through both of the Indies. Death was the doom of his captives; often death by torture.

He had all his wealth, gold, jewels, and goods in a great ship, armed with heavy guns. It was wrecked on the coast of Campeachy. The crew barely escaped with their lives. The angry waves dashed to pieces and swallowed up the ill-gotten gains of the pirate. The enraged Spaniards, overjoyed at the wreck, pursued those who had escaped to the dry land, and shot most of them down, mercilessly. Lolonois, disguised as a common sailor, was severely wounded. He smeared himself with blood, and feigned death. Being left on the field unburied, when the Spaniards left, he crept into the woods. It was universally believed that he was dead. The removal of such a wretch from the world was a matter of almost national rejoicing. Bonfires blazed. Cannon were fired. The undevout drank, and swore in their carousal. The devout repaired to the churches, and thanked God that the world was delivered from so cruel a pirate.

Lolonois, slowly recovering from his wounds, disguised in a Spanish habit, entered Campeachy. He made friends with a few slaves, stole a small boat, and, as his piratic biographer has it, “came to Tortugas, the common place of refuge of all sorts of wickedness, and the seminary, as it were, of all manner of pirates and thieves.”

His reputation as a successful pirate was such, that he speedily obtained command of another vessel, manned by a crew of twenty-one desperadoes. On the south side of the Island of Cuba, there was a flourishing little village called Cayos. The inhabitants carried on an active trade in tobacco, sugar and hides. Their harbor had not sufficient depth of water for large vessels. The traffic was in boats. Lolonois decided to sack the place.

It was not far across the island to Havana. Some fishermen informed the inhabitants of the approach of the pirate. In terror they sent to Havana for aid. The governor instantly dispatched a war-ship, of ten guns and seventy-five men, for their relief. The governor, astonished that Lolonois had again come to life, issued written orders, as follows:

“You are not to return until you have utterly destroyed all those pirates. Every one is to be immediately hung, excepting Lolonois, their captain. If possible, you are to bring him alive to Havana.”

The ship arrived at Cayos before the pirates had made their attack. They cast anchor just outside the harbor. The pirates, through their confederates, had been informed of their approach. They captured two fishing boats. In the darkness of the ensuing night, they ran these boats, one on each side of the ship, and with sword and pistol leaped on board. The attack was so sudden, so entirely unprovided for, that the few of the crew who were on deck were speedily struck down or driven below.

Lolonois was in command of the ship, with all his prisoners beneath the hatches. One by one they were brought up, and their heads cut off. Not one was spared. The dismembered bodies were cast into the sea. The bloody decks were washed. The pirate, proud of his achievement, and admired by his men, strode to and fro, the proprietor of a strong, well-armed ship, amply provided with everything he could need to aid him in his career of rapine and blood. He wrote a letter to the governor, and sent it to him by one of his captive fishermen. It was as follows:

“I shall never, hereafter, give quarter to any Spaniard. I have great hopes that I shall yet have the pleasure of exercising upon your own person, the punishment I have now inflicted upon those you have sent against me. It is thus that I requite the kindness, which you designed for me and my companions.”

The governor was greatly troubled and perplexed by these tidings. In his anger he took a solemn oath that he would never hereafter grant quarter to any buccaneer who should fall into his hands. But the citizens of Havana implored him not to persist in the execution of this oath. They sent a delegation to him to say:

“If this threat is followed out, the pirates will certainly do the same. They have a hundred times more opportunity of revenge than the governor can have. We must get our living by fishery. Hereafter, if this threat is executed, we shall always be at the peril of our lives.”

Lolonois cruised for some time among the islands, without success. He then directed his course south toward Maracaibo, an important port in the extreme north of the South American continent. After a run of six or eight hundred miles, he reached the entrance of the vast bay which leads up to the city. Here he captured an outward-bound ship, richly laden with plate and silver from the mines. What he did with the crew we know not. They vanished. They were probably all thrown into the sea. With ship and cargo he returned to Tortugas, where he was received with public rejoicing. Though now rich enough to live at his ease, his ambition was roused to attain still greater renown. Publicly he proclaimed to all the pirates on the island, that he was about to fit out a fleet sufficient to carry five hundred men. With these he would sail to the Spanish dominions in South America, and sack all the cities, towns, and villages along the coast. He would then capture Maracaibo itself.

All the desperadoes were eager to engage in the service of so brave and successful a leader. His fleet was soon equipped, and his gang engaged. There was a celebrated buccaneer at Tortugas, by the name of Michael Basco. He had become very rich, and filled an important governmental office. The proclamation of Lolonois fired anew his piratic zeal. He had in former years ravaged all those regions by sea and by land. He proposed to Lolonois to become a partner in his enterprise, if he could be placed in command over the land forces. The articles of agreement were soon signed. Eight vessels sailed. The crews amounted to six hundred and seventy-five men. First they directed their course to St. Domingo, and cast anchor in a little harbor called Bayala. Here they laid in stores for their voyage, and added to their crews quite a number of vagabond Frenchmen.

On the last day of July they again spread their sails. Whether they implored the Divine blessing upon their enterprise we know not. It is not improbable. One of these pirates ran his sword through one of the crew for behaving irreverently in church.

“How can we expect,” he said indignantly, “the blessing of the Virgin, if we behave in an unseemly way in her presence?”

Lolonois was admiral of the fleet. He occupied the largest ship, which mounted ten guns. They ran along the northern shore of St. Domingo, and just as they were doubling its most eastern cape, they came in sight of a large, heavily laden Spanish merchantman, bound from Spain to her colonies. But a few leagues beyond them, on the south-east side of St. Domingo, was the Island of Savona. Lolonois ordered the fleet to make a harbor there, and wait for him. He then sailed to capture the Spanish galleon.

Unexpected resistance was encountered. The Spaniards knew that they had no mercy to expect from Lolonois. They fought with desperation, preferring to die in the fierce battle, rather than be massacred by the pirates. The conflict lasted three hours. The ship was captured, and the survivors put to the sword.

Lolonois was delighted on finding the prize much richer than he had anticipated. The ship was one of the strongest and best built of Spanish vessels, and mounted sixteen guns. There were fifty men on board, some doubtless passengers. But they were no match for the reckless pirates, who were veterans in such warfare. The ship, in addition to a very rich cargo, had forty thousand dollars in coin, and ten thousand more in jewels.

Lolonois sent the ship back to Tortugas to be unloaded, and then immediately to rejoin him at Savona, to accompany the expedition. In the mean time another large ship was captured, which was bound to Hispaniola with military supplies and a sum of money to pay the garrison. The ship mounted eight guns. Being entirely surrounded by the hostile fleet, the captain surrendered without resistance.

The passengers and crew were disposed of after the pirates’ usual fashion. This important capture contained seven thousand pounds of powder, a large number of muskets and other small arms, and twelve thousand dollars in specie. The governor of Tortugas, a Frenchman, ordered the cargo to be removed as quickly as possible from the ship, and placing on board fresh provisions and a reËnforcement of pirates, to make good the loss of those who had fallen in battle or by sickness, sent it back to Savona.

Lolonois made this his flagship, as the largest and best of the fleet. The city of Maracaibo was situated on an island, in the lake of the same name, and at the head of the Bay of Venezuela. The island was about sixty miles long by thirty-six broad. The passage to the city was by a narrow channel which was guarded by a fort. The city contained a mixed population of about four thousand, and carried on a thriving trade in hides and tobacco. The dwellings were delightfully situated, on an eminence running along the western shore of the lake, and commanding a charming view of land and water scenery. There was a large stone church in the place, four capacious monasteries, and a hospital. A deputy governor, subject to the governor at Caraccas, administered alike both civil and military affairs.

The inhabitants of the province were rich in cattle. Immense herds grazed over the luxuriant pastures, extending nearly one hundred miles around. The cattle were kept mainly for their hides, which ever commanded a ready market. Oranges, lemons, bananas, and other tropical fruits were also very abundant. The harbor was spacious and secure, with the very best of timber at hand. There were many fierce Indians in the morasses and thickets around. They were comparatively powerless, though occasionally committing wolfish depredations.

About one hundred and twenty miles beyond Maracaibo, farther up the lake, there was another quite important colonial Spanish town, called Gibraltar. It had a population of about fifteen hundred. These were nearly all engaged in trade, purchasing the products of the country and sending them to other markets. On the plantations around, large quantities of sugar were made. Also immense stores of cacao, from which our word cocoa is derived, were gathered. This was the flat oblong seed of the chocolate-tree, which was one of the most important articles of commerce. They also raised a very superior kind of tobacco, which was in great demand in Europe, called priests’ tobacco.

Still farther south, over a high ridge of mountains, there was another settlement called Merida. The summits of these mountains reached the region of intense cold, and were covered with perpetual snow. There were a few narrow passes through this craggy barrier, which could be traversed only by the sure-footed mule.

As soon as Lolonois entered the Gulf of Venezuela, he crept cautiously along its shores, and cast anchor behind a wooded promontory, where he was concealed from all observation. In the early dawn of the next morning he again unfurled his sails, and, with a fair wind, swept rapidly toward the Lake of Maracaibo. Secretly all the men were landed. They marched to attack, on the land side, the fort, about four or five leagues from the city, which guarded the entrance to the harbor. The defences here consisted only of stout wicker baskets, about seven feet high, filled with earth and stones. Within the fort there were sixteen heavy guns.

Notwithstanding all their precautions to attack the fort by surprise, eagle eyes had detected their approach, and had given the alarm. The commandant sent out a party of men to place themselves in ambuscade, on the only route by which the pirates could approach the fort. They were to wait until the pirates had passed that point, then, at a given signal, when the governor attacked them in front, from behind his rampart, they were to fall fiercely upon the rear of the foe.

Lolonois was a demon, with a demon’s ability. He discovered the stratagem; crept around the ambuscade; attacked the detachment in its rear, and cut nearly every man to pieces. He then marched upon the fort. The Spaniards were not cowards. For three hours the battle raged, with equal desperation on either side. The reverberation of the artillery explosions alarmed the whole city. The tidings ran through the streets, exaggerated of course:

“The pirates, two thousand strong, are marching upon us.”

Their atrocities were well known. The whole community fled, seizing such articles of value as they could—some in boats, some on land. Men, fainting women, and crying babes, they pressed along, in a tumultuous mass, to seek refuge in Gibraltar.

The fort was taken. Nearly all its defenders lay silent in death. The ships, having nothing more to fear, spread their sails and entered the harbor. The pirates demolished the fort, burst all the cannon they could, and spiked the rest. Lolonois practised his accustomed caution. All the adjacent thickets were swept with grape-shot. Under the protection of his guns, the boats, crowded with armed men, approached the shore. One-half landed. The others remained in the boats with guns in their hands, sabres at their sides, and pistols in their belts, to act as reserves.

To their assault there was no response. Not a human being was to be seen. The town was utterly abandoned. They found provisions in great abundance, with large quantities of wine and other intoxicating liquors. These fiend-like men then commenced a scene of feasting, which continued for several days. Their hideous orgies cannot be described. Probably they experienced something of what they called joy, in these revels. But they were only such joys as demons have. Milton describes Satan, exulting over some of his plots, as “grinning horribly a ghastly smile.”

At length, satiated with their unrestrained excesses, they turned their attention to the collection of plunder. It will be remembered that it was a hundred and twenty miles to Gibraltar. There were aged men, feeble women, the sick, and newly born babes in the place. It was evident that many of these could not have escaped far, and that they must be concealed in the woods around. Neither could it be doubted that much treasure, which could not be transported to a distance, had been buried.

Gangs of armed men, amounting in all to over two hundred, were sent to explore the woods. They went out every morning, for several days, and returned at night. The first night they brought in twenty thousand dollars in coin, eight mule-loads of goods, and twenty prisoners, men, women, and children. Lolonois put several of these to the rack, to compel them to reveal where other people were concealed, and where other treasures were buried. The fiend tortured little children, before the eyes of their parents, to extort confession.

Terrible was the condition of the Spaniards in the woods. They were suffering from every kind of exposure. They were devoured by insects. They were starving. They were watching over sick and dying friends. And they were every moment in danger of being captured, and exposed to the most horrible torments, to extort the confession of hidden treasures, when they had no treasure to hide.

The next night another party of prisoners was brought in, with other plunder. Lolonois summoned the captives before him. Drawing his sharp sabre, he, without apparently the slightest emotion, hewed one of them to pieces before the eyes of all the rest. He did this slowly and deliberately, so as to prolong life as much as possible. Then, turning to the rest, he said, with a pirate’s oath:

“If you do not reveal to me where you have concealed the rest of your goods, I will serve every one of you in the same manner.”

For fifteen days the pirates remained at Maracaibo. They perpetrated cruelties upon their captives so terrible, that we are compelled to spread a veil over them. They then prepared to move on to Gibraltar.

The governor of this province, which was called Venezuela, or Little Venice, from its many marshes, resided at Merida. He was a veteran soldier, who had gained renown in the wars in Flanders. He was, moreover, somewhat of a braggadocio. The panic-stricken inhabitants of Gibraltar, sent imploring appeals to him for aid. He returned the boastful reply:

“Give yourselves no uneasiness. I will soon be with you, at the head of four hundred experienced soldiers. The pirates shall be utterly exterminated.”

He reached Gibraltar with his little army. Rallying the inhabitants, he soon had at his command a force of eight hundred well-armed men. He raised two batteries to command the approaches to the town. Upon one he mounted twenty guns; upon the other eight. He also barricaded the main entrance to the town. To deceive the pirates, he opened a road which led circuitously away into impassable swamps.

As Lolonois approached the town he saw the royal banner of Spain floating over its defences, indicating that he could not take possession of the place without a battle. He called his officers around him, and thus addressed them:

“The difficulties of our enterprise have become very great. The Spaniards have had much time to prepare for their defence. They have an ample supply of ammunition, and have assembled a large number of men. Still, let us be of good courage. We must either defend ourselves like valiant soldiers, or lose our lives with all the riches we have gained. I am your captain. Do as I do. We have fought with fewer men than we have now. We have conquered foes more numerous than can possibly oppose us here. The more they are, the greater our glory, and the greater our riches. But know ye this, that the first man who gives any indication of fear, I will pistol with my own hand.”

They landed from their ships, a little after midnight. In all, they numbered three hundred and eighty. Each man had a musket with thirty bullets, cartridges, a cutlass, and two or three loaded pistols in his belt. As they commenced their march, which they knew must lead to the death of some of them, they shook hands with each other in pledge of mutual support.

“Come, my brothers,” said Lolonois, “follow me, and be of good courage.”

Upon reaching the barricade, where they encountered a heavy fire, they turned aside into the new road which had been opened to insnare them. This battle in the woods, amid swamps and thickets, and intertwining vines and torturing thorns, can not be described. The combatants were sometimes up to their waists in mire. The entanglements of a tropical forest were such that they often could not see or approach each other. Much of the firing was at random. The air was heavy with moisture. The large guns of the batteries hurled balls and grape-shot, crashing through the branches. The sulphurous smoke settled down upon the morass in stifling folds.

The pirates cut down branches of the trees and threw them into the marsh, and thus gradually struggled through, until they reached the firm ground beyond. Here the Spaniards were again ready to receive them, with opposing batteries. Many of the pirates had perished in the swamp. Their situation now seemed desperate. Lolonois was equal to the occasion. He feigned a panic. The pirates fled tumultuously, crying out, “Save himself who can.” Their flight was toward the ships.

The Spaniards, deceived by the feigned discomfiture, rushed from behind their intrenchments in eager pursuit, shouting joyfully, “They fly; they fly!” Lolonois and his men, having drawn them some distance from their batteries, turned upon them with the reckless ferocity of tigers. Their bloody work was soon accomplished. A few of the Spaniards escaped in terror to the woods. All the rest were cut down. Gibraltar was at the mercy of the pirates.

Five hundred Spaniards lay dead upon the ground. Many of those who escaped to the woods were wounded, and of these not a few died, for they were destitute of all aid in dressing their wounds. Fearing that so many dead bodies might create contagion, the pirates piled them all in two large boats, and sunk them in the lake. Still many putrefying corpses were left scattered through the woods. The pirates admit that they lost eighty in the conflict. The number was probably greater. Though most of the inhabitants escaped from the town, the victors held about one hundred and fifty prisoners, men, women, and children. They prized these captives because, by torturing them, they hoped to find where money was concealed.

The town was plundered effectually. Every nook and corner they searched. The miserable captives were shut up in the church. Gangs of men were sent out to ravage the plantations around. As provisions became scarce, the prisoners were left without any supply of bread or water. The hearts of the pirates were no more moved by their piteous moans than were the stone blocks with which the church was built. During the four weeks the pirates held Gibraltar, nearly all these captives died of actual starvation.

Their gangs ranged the woods for great distances, bringing in plunder and prisoners. Many women were brought in. Every conceivable measure was resorted to, to get money. The whole region was wantonly turned into a blackened, smouldering desert. Lolonois wished to pursue his mad career over the mountains to Merida. But a pestilential and contagious disease sprang up among his men. God’s hand seemed to smite them. All were sick. Skeleton forms staggered through the streets. These men were not ignorant of the crimes they were committing. There were no loving hands to attend them in the languor of sickness, in the agonies of death. In misery, many of these wretches were burned with fever. Moaning and blaspheming they died, and their guilty souls passed to the tribunal of that God who cannot look upon sin but with abhorrence. They had seized their ill-gotten gold, and it had indeed turned to ashes in their grasp.