1
The Pirates Own Book, by Charles Ellms
The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Pirates Own Book, by Charles Ellms
This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net
Title: The Pirates Own Book
Author: Charles Ellms
Release Date: April 29, 2004 [eBook #12216]
Language: English
Character set encoding: iso-8859-1
***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE PIRATES OWN BOOK***
E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, L. Barber, and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team
THE PIRATES OWN BOOK
Authentic Narratives of the Most Celebrated Sea Robbers.
by
Charles Ellms
1837
[Illustration: A Piratical Scene--"Walking the Death Plank."]
[Illustration]
PREFACE.
In the mind of the mariner, there is a superstitious horror connected with the name of Pirate; and there are few subjects that interest and excite the curiosity of mankind generally, more than the desperate exploits, foul doings, and diabolical career of these monsters in human form. A piratical crew is generally formed of the desperadoes and runagates of every clime and nation. The pirate, from the perilous nature of his occupation, when not cruising on the ocean, the great highway of nations, selects the most lonely isles of the sea for his retreat, or secretes himself near the shores of rivers, bays and lagoons of thickly wooded and uninhabited countries, so that if pursued he can escape to the woo