The Pirates' Who's Who Part 16

Born about 1540.

The life of the famous Admiral is too well known to require more than a bare notice in these pages. Although the Spaniards called him "the Pirate," he was more strictly a buccaneer in his early voyages, when he sailed with the sole object of spoiling the Spaniards. His first command was the _Judith_, in John Hawkins's unfortunate expedition in 1567. Drake made several voyages from Plymouth to the West Indies and the Spanish Main.

In 1572 he burnt Porto Bello, and a year later sacked Vera Cruz. He served with the English Army in Ireland under Lord Ess.e.x in 1574 and 1575. In 1578 he sailed through the Straits of Magellan, plundered Valparaiso, and also captured a great treasure s.h.i.+p from Acapulco. Sailing from America, he crossed the Pacific Ocean, pa.s.sed through the Indian Archipelago, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at Deptford in England in 1581.

At the conclusion of this voyage he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth, being the first Englishman to sail round the world. Drake's voyages after this were sailed under commission and letters of marque, and so lose any stigma of being buccaneering adventures.

Drake died at Porto Bello in the year 1596.

DROMYOWE, PETER. A Breton pirate.

One of the crew of Captain du Laerquerac, who in 1537 took several English s.h.i.+ps in the Bristol Channel.

DRUMMOND, _alias_ TEACH, THATCH, or BLACKBEARD.

DUNBAR, NICHOLAS. Pirate.

One of the crew of the brigantine _Charles_ (Captain Quelch). Tried for piracy at Boston in 1704.

DUNKIN, GEORGE.

Of Glasgow.

One of Major Stede Bonnet's crew. Hanged at Charleston, South Carolina, in November, 1718. Buried in the marsh below low-water mark.

DUNN, WILLIAM.

One of Captain Pound's crew.

DUNTON, CAPTAIN.

A citizen of London, taken prisoner by the Sallee pirates in 1636. Being a good navigator and seaman, and the Moorish pirates being as yet inexperienced in the management of sailing s.h.i.+ps, Dunton was put into a Sallee s.h.i.+p as pilot and master, with a crew of twenty-one Moors and five Flemish renegadoes. He was ordered to go to the English coast to capture Christian prisoners. When off Hurst Castle, near the Needles in the Isle of Wight, his s.h.i.+p was seized and the crew carried to Winchester to stand their trial for piracy. Dunton was acquitted, but he never saw his little son of 10 years old, as he was still a slave in Algiers.

EASTON, CAPTAIN.

Joined the Barbary pirates in the sixteenth century, succeeding so well as to become, according to John Smith, the Virginian, a "Marquesse in Savoy,"

whatever that may have been.

EASTON, CAPTAIN PETER.

One of the most notorious of the English pirates during the reign of James I.

In the year 1611 he had forty vessels under his command. The next year he was on the Newfoundland coast, where he plundered the s.h.i.+pping and fis.h.i.+ng settlements, stealing provisions and munitions, as well as inducing one hundred men to join his fleet.

A year later, in 1613, he appears to have joined the English pirates who had established themselves at Mamora on the Barbary coast.

EATON, EDWARD.

Of Wrexham in Wales.

One of Captain Harris's crew. Hanged at Newport, Rhode Island, on July 19th, 1723. Age 38.

ECHLIN.

An English pirate, of the _Two Brothers_, a Rhode Island built vessel, commanded in 1730 by a one-armed English pirate called Captain Johnson.

EDDY, WILLIAM.

Of Aberdeen.

One of Major Stede Bonnet's crew. Hanged at White Point, Charleston, South Carolina, on November 8th, 1718, and buried in the marsh below low-water mark.

ENGLAND, CAPTAIN.

Sailing in 1718 as mate in a sloop from Jamaica, he was taken prisoner by the pirate Captain Winter. England joined the pirates, and was given the command of a vessel. In this s.h.i.+p he sailed to the coast of West Africa, and the first prize he took was the _Cadogan_ snow (Captain Skinner), at Sierra Leone. Some of England's crew knew Skinner, having served in his s.h.i.+p, and, owing to some quarrel, had been handed over to a man-of-war, and deprived of the wages due to them. These men afterwards deserted the man-of-war and joined the pirates. On Captain Skinner coming aboard England's s.h.i.+p, these men took him and bound him to the windla.s.s, and then pelted him with gla.s.s bottles, after which they whipped him up and down the deck, eventually one of them shooting him through the head. This brutal treatment was none of England's doing, who was generally kind to his prisoners.

England's next prize was the _Pearl_, which he exchanged for his own sloop; fitted her up for the "pyratical Account," and christened her the _Royal James_. Captain England was most successful, taking a number of prizes, which he plundered. One s.h.i.+p he captured so took the eye of England that he fitted her up and changed into her, naming her the _Victory_. This he did in the harbour at Whydah, where he met with another pirate, called la Bouche. The two pirates and their crews spent a holiday at this place where, according to the well-informed Captain Johnson, "they liv'd very wantonly for several Weeks, making free with the Negroe Women and committing such outrageous Acts, that they came to an open Rupture with the Natives, several of whom they kill'd and one of their Towns they set on Fire." Leaving here, no doubt to the great relief of the negroes, it was put to the vote of the crew to decide where they should go, and the majority were for visiting the East Indies. Rounding the Cape of Good Hope, they arrived at Madagascar early in 1720, where they only stopped for water and provisions, and then sailed to the coast of Malabar in India. Here they took several country s.h.i.+ps, and one Dutch one, but soon returned to Madagascar, where they went on sh.o.r.e, living in tents, and hunting hogs and deer. While on this island they looked for Captain Avery's crew, but failed to discover them. While the pirates were here they managed to take a s.h.i.+p commanded by a Captain Mackra, but not without a desperate fight. The pirates were for killing Mackra, but, owing to the efforts of Captain England, he managed to escape.

The pirates had several times complained of the weakness, or humanity, of their commander towards his prisoners, and they now turned him out and elected a new captain, and marooned England and three others on the Island of Mauritius. The captain and his companions set about building a small boat of some old staves and pieces of deal they found washed up on the beach. When finished they sailed to Madagascar, where, when last heard of, they were living on the charity of some other pirates.

ERNADOS, EMANUEL.

A Carolina pirate who was hanged at Charleston in 1717.

ESMIT, ADOLF.

A Danish buccaneer, who afterwards became Governor of the Danish island of St. Thomas, one of the Virgin Islands. The population of this island consisted of some 350 persons, most of whom were English. Esmit did all he could to a.s.sist the pirates, paid to fit out their s.h.i.+ps for them, gave sanctuary to runaway servants, seamen, and debtors, and refused to restore captured vessels. Adolf had taken advantage of his popularity with the inhabitants to turn out his brother, who was the rightful Governor appointed by the Danish Government.

ESs.e.x, CAPTAIN CORNELIUS. Buccaneer.

In December, 1679, he met with several other well-known buccaneers in four barques and two sloops at Point Morant, and on January 7th set sail for Porto Bello. The fleet was scattered by a terrible storm, but eventually they all arrived at the rendezvous. Some 300 men went in canoes and landed about twenty leagues from the town of Porto Bello, and marched for four days along the sea-coast.

The buccaneers, "many of them were weak, being three days without any food, and their feet cut with the rocks for want of shoes," entered the town on February 17th, 1680. The buccaneers, with prisoners and spoil, left the town just in time, for a party of 700 Spanish soldiers was near at hand coming to the rescue. The share to each man came to one hundred pieces of eight. In 1679 Ess.e.x was brought a prisoner by a frigate, the _Hunter_, to Port Royal, and tried with some twenty of his crew for plundering on the Jamaican coast. Ess.e.x was acquitted, but two of his crew were hanged.