Under the Black Flag by David Cordingly

Author:David Cordingly [Cordingly, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-76307-5
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2012-12-05T16:00:00+00:00

The latter method was called “woolding,” after the word used to describe the binding of cords around a mast. It was a favorite pirate torture because it was fast and effective and only required the use of a short length of rope or cord. Some buccaneer tortures were more elaborate. Although Henry Morgan always maintained that he treated prisoners, and especially ladies, with respect, the reports from the Spanish side suggest otherwise. The citizens of Portobello suffered numerous cruelties after the capture of the town in 1668. Don Pedro Ladrón de Guevara maintained that the female prisoners were maltreated and oppressed and some were “burned in parts that for decency he will not refer to.”13 Another report describes the horrible fate of one of these prisoners: “A woman there was by some set bare upon a baking stove and roasted, because she did not confess of money which she had only in their conceit. This he heard some declare boasting, and one that was sick confess with sorrow.”14 A shipowner from Cartagena described how the buccaneers tortured Doña Agustín de Rojas, the leading lady of Portobello. She was stripped naked and forced to stand in an empty wine barrel. The barrel was then filled with gunpowder, and one of the buccaneers held a lighted fuse to her face and demanded to know where she had hidden her treasure.15

One of the most ingenious and revolting displays of cruelty was that devised by Montbars of Languedoc. He would cut open the stomach of his victim, extract one end of his guts, nail it to a post and then force the wretched man to dance to his death by beating his backside with a burning log. Exquemelin describes the prolonged torture of a Portuguese by Morgan’s men after the taking of Gibraltar. Four stakes were set into the ground, and the man was suspended between them by cords attached to his thumbs and big toes:

Then they thrashed upon the cords with great sticks and all their strength, so that the body of this miserable man was ready to perish at every stroke, under the severity of those horrible pains. Not satisfied as yet with this cruel torture, they took a stone which weighed above 200 pound, and laid it upon his belly, as if they intended to press him to death. At which time they also kindled palm leaves, and applied the flame unto the face of this unfortunate Portuguese, burning with them the whole skin, beard and hair.16

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.