The buccaneer, Captain Henry Morgan, was now a very great personage, but
with his next expedition, which was a very important one, and in its
extent resembled warfare rather than piracy, we shall have little to do
because his exploits in this case were not performed on our Atlantic
coasts, but over the Isthmus, on the shores of the Pacific.
Morgan raised a great fleet, carrying a little army of two thousand men,
and with this he made his way to the other side of the Isthmus and
attacked the city of Panama, which, of course, he captured. His terrible
deeds at this place resembled those which he performed after the capture
of the smaller towns which we have been considering, except that they
were on a scale of greater magnitude. Nearly the whole of the town of
Panama was burned, and the excesses, cruelties, and pillages of the
conquerors were something almost without parallel.
Before marching overland to Panama, Morgan had recaptured the island of
St. Catherine, which was a very valuable station for his purposes, and
had also taken the castle of Chagres on the mainland near by, and on his
return from the conquest and pillage of the unfortunate city he and his
forces gathered together at Chagres in order to divide the spoils.
Now came great trouble and dissatisfaction; many of the buccaneers
loudly declared that Morgan was taking everything that was really
valuable for his own, especially the precious stones and jewels, and
that they were getting a very small share of the booty of Panama.
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