THE BUCCANEERS, AND ORIGIN OF THE NAME.,

THE cruelty of the Spaniards to the native inhabitants of Cuba1 terminated in the depopulation of that fine island. The cattle at the same time multiplied in great numbers, and roved over the deserted tracts of its western districts. This, in consequence, became the victualling station for all the foreign vessels, which cruised among the Spanish settlements, whether in the West Indies or Pacific Ocean, and carried on with them a contraband 2 trade. The preparation of the meat became a regular business. Spanish hunters, called matadores or slaughterers, killed the cattle: the flesh was then dried and prepared according to the Carib method, on hurdles raised a few feet above the fire. This method of dressing their food was called by the Indians boocan,—a name which they applied to the apparatus used in the process, and to the meat itself: hence the persons, who were employed in procuring provisions for the cruisers, adopting the language with the habits of the natives, called themselves buccaneers. A large majority of the adventurers in these seas were English; and as their smuggling trade quickly degenerated into actual piracy, they took the designation of freebooters.

There was a natural alliance between the freebooters and buccaneers; they mutually depended on one another; the avocations 3 of one party being at sea, those of the other on land. It is probable that in many instances the pirate cured his own provisions, and so united both professions in his own person. But in general the hunters were distinct from the seamen; and in process of time, a number of the hunters or buccaneers

were French, while the rovers were chiefly English: yet the adventurers of these two nations whimsically thought fit to borrow the name of their profession from the language of the other; and the English called themselves buccaneers, while the French preferred the title of freebooters, often corrupted into filibustiers. All these adventurers, of whatever nation, preyed upon the Spaniards, who were the sole objects of attack. A sense of common interest bound them together, and formed them into a society which styled itself the Brethren of the Coast.

The buccaneers had peculiar customs, which obtained among them, from necessity or tradition, the authority of law. Their code of morality was such, as might be expected among men who, while they renounced a friendly intercourse with the rest of mankind, depended upon each other's fidelity. Every buccaneer had a mate, who was the heir to all his money. In some instances, a community of property existed among them. Negligence of dress, and even dirtiness, was prescribed by their fashions as best befitting a desperado.

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The association of the buccaneers gave rise to a greater number of bold navigations than had previously proceeded, in an equal space of time, from the rival states of Europe. Those who commanded in the South Seas were almost all Englishmen ; and many of them were evidently able seamen and otherwise persons of ability. In the narratives of Dampier and of Cowley, the toils and dangers of a roving life were shown combined with much to exhilarate and delight, and a voyage round the world was no longer looked upon as a wonderful achievement. Mariners grew more daring, and ceased to associate the ideas of danger and of distance.

From the time of Sir Francis Drake,5 England rose

steadily in maritime power, and continued to send forth the most skilful and intrepid seamen; and it redounds not a little to her honour, that the first expedition equipped solely for the purpose of making geographical discoveries, and without any ulterior objects of political or commercial gain, was despatched from her shores in 1699, under the command of the famous buccaneer, William Dampier, to explore the coasts of New Holland and New Guinea, and to discover new countries.

"Inland and Maritime Discovery,” by W. D. COOLEY.

1. CUBA, the largest of the West Indian Islands, discovered by the Spaniards in 1492, and still retained by them.

2. CONTRABAND, illegal; against, or contrary to ban or law.

3. AVOCATION, an engagement or business that calls for one's time and attention. (Lat. voco, to call.)

4. PRESCRIBED, appointed. (Lat. pre, before; scribo, to write.) 5. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, see Fifth Book, p. 205.

6. ULTERIOR, beyond; further. (Lat. ulterior, comparative of ultra, beyond.)

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GIBRALTAR.

WE were glad to find a steamer leaving next morning for Algeciras opposite Gibraltar. It was a lovely day and a calm sea, which was a great subject of rejoicing, for even as it was, the rickety Spanish vessel rolled disagreeably. Owing to the miserable slowness of everything, we were eleven hours on board. There was little interest, till we reached the yellow headland of Trafalgar.' Then the rugged outlines of the African coast rose before us, and we entered the Straits, between Tarifa sleeping amid its orange groves on the Spanish coast, and the fine African peaks above Ceuta. Soon, on the left, the great Rock of Gibraltar rose from the sea like an island, though

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not the most precipitous side, which turns inward towards the Mediterranean. But it was already gun-fire, and too late to join another steamer and land at the town, so we waited for a shoal of small boats which put out from Algeciras, and surrounded our steamer to carry us on shore.

Here we found in the Fonda Inglesa (English Hotel), kept by an English landlady, one of the most primitive but charming little hotels we ever entered. The view from our rooms alone decided us to stay there some days. Hence, framed by the balcony, Gibraltar rose before us, in all the glory of its rugged, sharp-edged cliffs, grey in the morning, pink in the evening twilight, with the town at its feet, whence, at night, thousands of lights were reflected in the still water. In the foreground were groups of fishing-boats at anchor, and here and there a lateen sail flitted, like a white albatross' across the bay.

On the little pier beneath us was endless life and movement; knots of fishermen in their blue shirts and scarlet caps and sashes, mingling with solemn-looking Moors in turbans, yellow slippers and flowing burnouses,8 who were watching the arrival or embarkation of their wares; and an endless variety of travellers from all parts of Europe, waiting for different steamers, or come over to see the place. Here an invalid might stay, imbibing health from the fine air and sunshine, and never be weary of the ever-changing diorama." In every direction delightful walks wind along the cliffs through groves of aloes 10 and prickly pear." Behind the town a fine old aqueduct 12 strides across the valley, and beyond it the wild moors begin at once sweeping backwards to a rugged chain of mountains.

It was with real regret, that we left Algeciras, and made the short voyage across the bay to Gibraltar, where

we instantly found ourselves in a place as unlike Spain as it is possible to imagine. Upon the wharf you are assailed by a clamour of English-speaking porters and boatmen. Passing the gates, you come upon a barrack-yard swarming with tall British soldiers, looking wonderfully bright and handsome, after the insignificant figures, and soiled, shabby uniforms of the Spanish army. Hence the Waterport Street opens, the principal thoroughfare of the town, though, from its insignificant shops with English names, and its low public-house, you have to look up to the strip of bright blue sky above, to be reminded that you are not in an English seaport.

Just outside the principal town, between it and the suburb of Europa, is the truly beautiful Alameda, an immense artificial garden, where endless gravel paths wind through labyrinths 13 of flowers, which are all in their full blaze of beauty under the March sun, though the heat causes them to wither and droop before May. One succession of gardens occupies the western base of the rock, and most luxurious and gigantic are the flowers that bloom in them; the eastern side, in great part, a perpendicular precipice, is elsewhere left uncultivated, and is wild and striking in the highest degree. On the northern side of the rock are the famous galleries tunnelled in the face of the precipice, with cannon pointing towards Spain from their embrasures.1

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Through these, or better, by delightful paths fringed with palinitos 25 and asphodel, you may reach El Hacho, the signal station, whence the view is truly magnificent over the sea, and the mountain chain of the two continents, and down into the blue abysses beneath the tremendous precipice upon which it is placed.

"Wanderings in Spain," by AUGUSTUS J. C. HARE.