Adventure Magazine Cover — page 161: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

santa Maria At last, however, the navigation grew clearer, and presently, the river becoming broad and deep, the Indians discarded the poles with which hitherto they had guided the canoes and took to paddles and oars. And so they came at length by night within saker-shot of Santa Maria. The town stood on the river bank a half-mile be- yond the next bend. THE buccaneers proceeded to un- load their arms which were fast lashed to the insides of the canoes, the locks, as well as their cartridge-boxes and powder-horns, well cased and waxed down. Then, not daring to make a fire, lest they should betray their presence, they posted sentries and lay down to rest until daybreak. It was Blood’s hope to take the Spaniards so completely by surprize as to seize their town before they could put themselves in posture of defense, and so snatch a bloodless victory. This hope, however, was dispelled at dawn, when a distant discharge of mus- ketry, followed by a drum beating frenziedly d travailler within the town, warned the buc- caneers that they had not stolen upon the Spaniards as unboserved as they imagined. To Wolverstone fell the honor of leading the vanguard and twoscore of his men equipped with fire-pots—shallow cylindrical cans filled with resin and gunpowder—while others bore forward the sakers, which were under the special command of Ogle, the gun- ner from the Colleen. Next came Chris- tian’s company, whilst Yberville’s brought up the rear. They marched briskly through the woods to the very edge of the savannah, where at a distance of perhaps two furlongs they be- held their El Dorado. Its appearance was disappointing. Here was no handsome city of New Spain, such as they had been expecting, but a mere huddle of one-storied wooden buildings, thatched with wild cane and palmetto royal, cluster- ing about a church and defended by a fort. The place existed solely as a receiving-sta- tion for the gold produced by the neighbor- ing mountains, and it numbered few in- habitants apart from the garrison and the slaves who worked in the gold fields. Fully half the area occupied by the town was taken up by the mud fort, which, while built to front the river, presented its flank to the savannah. For further defense 155 against the very hostile Indians of Darien, Santa Maria was encircled by a stout pal- isade, some twelve feet high, pierced by loop- holes for pase tty: at frequent in- tervals. Within the town the drums had ceased, but a hum of human movement reached the buccaneers as they reconnoitered from the wood’s edge before adventuring upon the open ground. On the parapet of the fort stood a little knot of men in morion and corselet. Above the palisade wavered a thin line of smoke to announce that Spanish musketeers were at their posts with matches ready lighted. Blood ordered the sakers forward, having decided to breach the palisade toward the northeast angle, where a storming-party would be least attainable by the gunners of the fort. Accordingly, Ogle mounted his battery at a point where a projecting spur of the forest on his left gave him cover. But now a faint easterly breeze beginning to stir, carried forward the smoke of their fuses, to betray their whereabouts and invite the speculative fire of the Spanish musketeers. Bullets were already flicking and spattering through the branches about them, when Ogle opened with his guns. At that short range it was an easy matter to smash a breach through wooden pales that had never been constructed to resist such weapons. Into that breach, to hold it, rushed the badly captained Spanish troops. A wither- ing volley from the buccaneers scattered them, whereupon Blood ordered Wolver- stone to charge. “Fire-balls to the van! Scatter as you ad- vance, and keep low. God speed you, Ned! Forward!” Forth they leaped at the double, and they were half-way across the open before the Spaniards brought any considerable body of fire to bear upon them. Then they dropped and lay supine in the short gamma grass, until that frenzied musketry had slackened, when they leaped up again and on at speed before the Spaniards could reload. And meanwhile Ogle had swung his sakers round to the right, and he was hurling his five- pound shots into the town on the flank of the advancing buccaneers. Seven of Wolyerstone’s men lay on the ground where they had paused, ten more were picked off during that second forward rush, and now Wolverstone was at the breach. Over went a score of fire-balls to COMIGOOOKS (C@)