Indeed, coincidence may be defined as the very tool used
by Fate to shape the destinies of men and nations.
Observe it now at work in the affairs of Captain Blood and of some
others.
On the 15th September of the year 1688 - a memorable year in the
annals of England - three ships were afloat upon the Caribbean,
which in their coming conjunctions were to work out the fortunes of
several persons.
The first of these was Captain Blood's flagship the Arabella, which
had been separated from the buccaneer fleet in a hurricane off the
Lesser Antilles. In somewhere about 17 deg. N. Lat., and 74 deg.
Long., she was beating up for the Windward Passage, before the
intermittent southeasterly breezes of that stifling season, homing
for Tortuga, the natural rendezvous of the dispersed vessels.
The second ship was the great Spanish galleon, the Milagrosa, which,
accompanied by the smaller frigate Hidalga, lurked off the Caymites,
to the north of the long peninsula that thrusts out from the
southwest corner of Hispaniola. Aboard the Milagrosa sailed the
vindictive Don Miguel.
Pages:
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351