There were other
persons, however, who stated that he reached Yucatan, where he died on
dry land in 1826.
But the end of Lafitte is no more doubtful than his right to the title
given to him by people of a romantic turn of mind, and other persons of
a still more fanciful disposition might be willing to suppose that the
Gulf of Mexico, indignant at the undeserved distinction which had come
to him, had swallowed him up in order to put an end to his pretension to
the title of "The Pirate of the Gulf."
Chapter XXXI
The Pirate of the Buried Treasure
Among all the pirates who have figured in history, legend, or song,
there is one whose name stands preeminent as the typical hero of the
dreaded black flag. The name of this man will instantly rise in the mind
of almost every reader, for when we speak of pirates we always think of
Captain Kidd.
In fact, however, Captain Kidd was not a typical pirate, for in many
ways he was different from the ordinary marine freebooter, especially
when we consider him in relation to our own country. All other pirates
who made themselves notorious on our coast were known as robbers,
pillagers, and ruthless destroyers of life and property, but Captain
Kidd's fame was of another kind. We do not think of him as a pirate who
came to carry away the property of American citizens, for nearly all the
stories about him relate to his arrival at different points on our
shores for the sole purpose of burying and thus concealing the rich
treasures which he had collected in other parts of the world.
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