In the Wake of Buccaneers

Excerpt: 'There is no more entrancing body of water in either the Western or the Eastern Hemisphere-than the Caribbean Sea, with a fringe of lovely tropical islands on the one side and on the other the Spanish Main and its picturesque centuries-old towns and fascinating sights. Aside from its beauty, its delightful climate, and its ever-shifting scenes, the Caribbean and its shores are redolent of romance. It was the starting-point of those brave though ruthless adventurers who carved a new world for Castile and Leon. For centuries it was the treasure-house of the world and the battle-ground of the mightiest European powers. Across this sapphire sea sailed the caravels of Columbus, the Golden Hind of Drake, and the stately, plate-laden galleons of Spain. And across this same sea coursed those fierce sea-rovers the buccaneers. Of all the dare-devil spirits who sailed the Caribbean and ravaged the Spanish Main, the buccaneers were the most picturesque and romantic. [vi]Villains though they were; reddened with the blood of the innocent and helpless though their hands; black-hearted cutthroats beyond denial-yet there is something about them that appeals to all, and that, despite their ill deeds, fills one with admiration.'