Mission

That will never do. You need a much more piratey name like...Mission. Never mind. Forget I said anything.

Oily Hare "Now who coulda' knowed it was my birthday? Especially when it 'taint!"

I'm a yes for the Northern Ohio event. Right now, I'd have to say probably not for the Missouri event.

Well lookee what I stumbled across while trying to figure out what a word meant! Now no one has an reason not to read this if they want to. (I highly recommend it.): The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705 Here's another fun quote that caught my eye for your amusement. "We hove to opposite Prêcheur, where the crew went ashore to spend the last of their money according to custom, for their law does not allow filibusters to take money to sea with them, so that if they have any money in their pockets they spend it in a cabaret before they sail." (Labat, p. 232)

You have all the info I have, I'm afraid. (And if you know anything at all about guns, you have more.)

I personally think we should be happy about whatever details we can find from period sources. It is impossible to write something without bias. Still, you can't throw the baby out with the bath water. As I said before, Morgan asked for certain comments about him to be removed Exquemelin's book, not comments about a gun. Exquemelin may have had a problem estimating (or recalling) larger heights and lengths, but that doesn't mean everything he said must then be suspect. If you go back over Labat, he talked about a 4' long gun. Exquemelin talked about a 4-1/2 foot gun. It's remarkably close; we probably shouldn't just dismiss Exquemelin out of hand.

Let him know we want him back. :)

Hey, are Count D' and Rosabella coming again?

Aye, sea turtles. (Why is that line so durable?)

Ah, Ralph and Sam! I love the twisted logic of everyone clocking in and out, even nature! Good ol' Jones and Maltese. (That is a really nice copy for YouTube...unlike my last. )

Lest I miss any of the major WB stars, let me offer a cartoon that also features the first appearance of Slowpoke Rodriguez: Mexicali Shmoes Friz Freleng (who created Slowpoke) hated the character because it took him so many frames to do anything that the cartoon was over before anything happened, but the fans liked him!

Aww. I was going to post an audio quote, but I can't find it on-line. I may still get it off the DVD.

This article is sort of interesting - it goes along with what Hurricane said. (I don't recall the 40' crocodiles, but that would be a factual error, I'd say.)

Just for the record, Exquemelin was only sort of a surgeon. He had received some training when he was indentured and wound up having to go to school to complete his training and get certified when he got back to Europe after his time with Morgan. Like some other resident buccaneer and pirates surgeons I've read about (Wafer comes first to mind), he was made surgeon because he had some training, not because he was really qualified. So he might easily have been both soldier and surgeon. (He talked very little about what he did as a surgeon, which greatly puzzled me when I read his book. Most surgeons go on and on about this stuff - even Wafer has more to say on that topic than Exquemelin. Upon later discovering that Exquemelin really wasn't a full surgeon made that seem to make a bit more sense to me.) Incidentally, the suit wasn't over misstated facts, it was over the idea that Exquemelin presented Morgan in an unfavorable light. In fact, they made the publishers take the offensive parts out of the English edition. (I forget what the comments were exactly, but they were, as I recall, mostly descriptive comments, not factual ones.) Besides, why would the Spanish be any less likely to twist the facts than the English? Did they state that no gun was given to them? OTOH, it could be that Morgan gave them a lesser gun to make them think it was state of the art (if that's the question here...I actually haven't read all the comments.) My impression of Morgan was as a clever, savvy and tricky character. (Which is probably why Exquemelin said what he did. Rarely are such opinions formed in a vaccuum.) Either way, the fact that he described any gun in such detail would seem to be of interest to those trying to create a buccaneer impression. On a side note, I am assuming the parts that were taken out of the early English editions over Morgan's suit were eventually put back in in the interest of completeness (although I don't know this, I just assume it). If so, I wondered how long English law would have to be upheld after the death of the parties involved. (Again, if it isn't still being upheld. It would seem silly to omit character-focused comments in what is regarded today as an historical work over a matter of vanity.) Anyone know? (I'm just curious.)

"Cheese! I just love cheese! Really I do..." Goldimouse and the Three Cats I was actually drinking something when the spoiled brat cat gave his first line about the porridge and it caused me to spit it all over the place. (Don't know why I didn't see that one coming, but you know...)

Some of us are always wondering about the Spanish and their ship-board conditions, so I thought I'd share this. It's from The Memoirs of Pére Labat 1693-1705, translated and edited by John Eaden. Labat's ship was captured by the Spanish but the French managed to convince the Spanish that he (Father Labat) was a Commissaire du Saint Office (some sort of high official given power by the King) and so he was given special treatment shipboard by the Spanish. Preserves, biscuits, and wine were served, and we discussed the events which must have surprised all Europe, and agreed war would be the result of it [when he was captured by the Spaniards].” (Labat, p. 186) “They were cooking their food on decks between the main and mizzen masts, but when they are at sea I believe that the galley is under the fo’c’sle. Each member of the crew has his own private pot, for the sailors and solider are called signores Marineros y loss ignores Soldados, and are too high and might to be fed a la Gamelle as our fellows.” (Labat, p. 186) “The first course was five dishes of fruit and the chaplain first served the Governor, and then the rest of the company. After the fruit had been removed, a large dish of sausages and tripe was served. This surprised me as it was Holy Saturday, but the __ chaplain observing this told me that at sea one did the best one could, and further that the Pope’s bull of the Crusade allowed privileges which I might also enjoy since I was their guest. Naturally I did my best to oblige my hosts and ate everything with a hearty appetite. The sausages were followed by three large boiled chickens, and these by a ragout of pork. After this we ate a dish of pigeons, then a great bowl of potato broth, and to finish we had chocolate. I found it strange that nearly every one ate cassava instead of biscuits, though it was very white, light, and well cooked. But I found it still more strange to see no one drinking, and waited for some one to begin. In the end I grew impatient and asked if I might have something to drink, for the sausages had made me thirsty. A servant at once brought me an earthenware cup holding about a pint of water. I thereupon told the chaplain that only invalids and chickens drink water in my country, but that I was a man and in very good health too. A servant then brought me a large glass of wine on a tray. But here was another difficulty, for I was not in the habit of drinking wine without water. In the end I had to call my boy, who was searching all the ship for my lost belongings [which had been taken by the Spanish soldiers when they took Labat’s ship prisoner], to come and serve me in the way I am accustomed. It was then these gentlemen’s turn to be surprised when they saw me drink my wine mixed with water, for this is quite different to their custom. They drank very little at meals __ and then only water, and when one of them drank, his neighbour would as often as not drink what remained in the cup. At the end of the meal each person was given a glass of wine and drank to the Governor’s health. As a rule but one meal a day is served, and besides this meal most of the Spaniards only ate preserves and chocolate. But so long as we were their guests we were also given a very good supper, which the chaplain and some of the officers always shared with us more for the sake of hospitality than because they were hungry.” (Labat, p. 187-9)

And you should bring your snood. Snood. Snood. Snood. You should bring that bedraggled brother of yours and his skunk, too.

Nor will you be the only one wearing a Patrick Hand original hat.

Mr. Dogge brings up a very good point.

Foghorn Leghorn, re-enacting with Egghead Jr. (I got several avatars from this cartoon.) Feather Dusted

Well since Patrick is going, I had to look into it. My flight arrives into Jacksonville around 11:30am on Friday. (If anyone happens to be be going by JAX around 12-1pm on Friday, I'd love not to have to pay a cab to get over to St. Augustine... )

I live to serve. Actually, this stuff is just so well written and of such relevance to the group that I really want to post it for those who haven't been lucky enough to read this account. (It really is one of the best period journals I've read to date.) It's not of interest for my book, so I post it here - which also makes it Google search-able for others trying to find info.

This may be the description you read, hurricane. I say this because it seems to give a lot more detail on how boucan works. I looked up the word 'gargoussier' and a lot of people say these didn't appear until the 1750s or even later. So to them. “[February, 1701] I went ashore [at the most westerly point of San Domingo] with a couple of men to ascertain if there was anything to fear, and returned with two hunters, who gave us __ fresh pork and cochon boucanné while we regaled them with wine and brandy. We made a bargain with these hunters to supply us with 1,800 pounds of smoked meat, and 300 pounds of mantegne, or pig’s fat. This mantegne is eaten by the Spanish during Lent in virtue of the Pope’s bull of the Crusade which allows them many privileges and, among others, to eat the extremities of animals such as the feet and head. They therefore cut off these extremities so that there is but little left of the animal. We were to pay for the meat and mantegne in powder, shot, and cloth, etc., and the hunters asked us to send some men to help them bring the meat to the ship. We gave them six men, and I went to choose the meat and took my boy with me to carry my hammock. The clothes of these buccaneers simply consisted of a pair of trousers with a shirt worn over them fastened at the waist by a belt of bull’s hide. A sheath containing three or four long knives and a gargoussier [a container for cartridges] are fastened to this belt. They wore a small hat with a brim about four inches wide cut to a point above the eyes. Their shoes are made out of one piece of hide, and have no seams. The guns we use in the Islands are called boucaniers after the buccaneers, and the best guns are made in Nantes and Bordeaux. The barrel is four feet long and they fire a bullet weighing one ounce. The __ gargoussier is a leather bag, ten inches long and six inches deep, and is used to carry cartridges. A wooden cylinder, the diameter of which is a little smaller than the bore of the gun, is used to make the cartridges. Paper is rolled round the cylinder and the end twisted so that it will retain its shape when the mould is removed. As much powder as the gun can stand is then measured by placing a bullet on the palm of your hand, and pouring our sufficient powder to cover it. The powder is now placed in the paper cylinder and a pullet put on the top of it, and the rest of the paper is then twisted up. These cartridges are now secured in the cartridge-bag so that they can neither be broken or bent. This is a very quick way to load the boucanier, for all you have to do is take the cartridge from the bag, tear off the end of the paper with your teeth and pour out a little powder for the priming. The cartridge is then placed in the muzzle and the weight of the ball makes the charge slide down the barrel. The butt is then banged on the ground and the gun is ready to be fired. We arrived rather late at the hunter’s boucan. They had plenty of meat dried or being dried, and two or three pigs which they had killed that day, so we made a very hearty supper. The meat is cured as follows. As soon as the pig is killed, it is cleaned and the meat cut into as long strips as possible. These strips, which are about one __ and a half inches thick, are then powdered with salt, and left for twenty-four hours. After this the salt is brushed off, and the strips are laid flat on shelves made of lathes in the boucan. The boucan is a little domed-shaped hut, or ajoupa made of leaves. A fire is lighted on the floor of the boucan, on which is thrown the skin and bones of the animal. These make a thick pungent smoke that penetrates the meat, which eventually becomes so dry that it is as hard as a board. The strips are then taken out and tied up in bundles of 100 pounds each. In former days, a bundle was worth three pieces of eight, or three piastres, or Spanish écus, which are called pieces of eight because each piece is worth eight reals (a real = about 2-1/2 d.).But while I was in San Domingo the price had risen, as pigs were not so plentiful, and a bundle containing 100 pounds was worth as much as six pieces of eight.” (Labat, p. 174-7)

How can you but love an author who admits things like this? “We set sail from Esterre on Friday, 18th February [1701]. Our barque had two cannons but only one cannon ball, and this round could not be fired, as it was used to crush the mustard we used with our cochon boucanné.” (Labat, p. 174)