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In the shape of wages the officers received nothing, and the crews but a few pounds a man; but there was, perhaps, not one of them who was not better pleased with the honour which he had brought back than if he had come home loaded with doubloons.
If there was one day in the year that could be said to bring him near enjoyment, it was that day when, his yearly salary saved, he went to New York to buy doubloons. One might almost say he enjoyed this.
Perhaps, too, this other spacious building adjacent to the great hall, and connected with it by a ruinous covered way, had been the sybarite's "harem"; for "Blackbeard" like that other famous gentleman whose beard was blue collected from his unfortunate captive ships treasure other than doubloons and pieces of eight, and prided himself on his fine taste in ladies.
Gambling is carried to a great extent in Manilla: the game played is Monté. We visited one of their gambling houses. Winding our way down a dark and narrow street, we arrived at a porte-cochère. The requisite signal was given, the door opened cautiously, and after some scrutiny we were ushered up a flight of stairs, and entered a room, in the centre of which was a table, round which were a group, composed of every class. An Indian squaw was sitting by the side of a military officer, the one staking her annas, the other his doubloons. I stood by the side of an old Chinaman, who staked his doubloon and lost every time. The strictest silence was observed, and nothing was heard but the chinking of the dollars, and the occasional
"Dying aye, am I! And wi' two thousand doubloons hid away as I shall ne'er ha' the spending on oh, for a mouthful o' water two thousand a pike-thrust i' the midriff is an ill thing yet 'tis better than noose and tar and gibbet yet 'tis hard to die wi' two thousand doubloons unspent oh, lad, I parch I burn already water a mouthful for a dying man "
Och, an' I ken folk mysel' that found an iron pot o' doubloons in the peat bink; but aul' Tchonie, he just takes what he will be needin', and he takes it at night when the folks are abed.
Thousands of doubloons are believed to be hidden in the canon, and thousands of dollars have been spent in searching for them. After weeks had lapsed into months and months into years, and no word came of the missing regiment, the priests named the river El Rio de las Animas Perdidas the River of Lost Souls.
"Why, as for the men, Senor, more may be had for the asking; but powder and doubloons will be hard to find, when most wanted. Then the men were poor men, accordin' to my idees of what an able seaman should be, or they never would have let their schooner turn turtle with them as she did." "We will talk of the money, Don Esteban, if you please," said the Mexican, with reserve.
Short as was the period necessary to overcome her scruples, in as short a period it dawned on the two candidates for her favour that each had a successful rival in the other, and that however potent as a reason for surrender the doubloons of the treasurer had been, the personal appearance of the commander had proved equally cogent.
Tired, knowing I would be taken sooner or later, I made up my mind that I would capture one more rich prize and then be done with my wickedness. "We captured the ship Guadalquiver. The fight was desperate and the decks ran with blood. We took ...... thousand doubloons, many pearls and jewels of price. "I knew of an island off the beaten track where there was good hiding to be found.
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