As we have seen that the buccaneers were mainly English, French, and
Dutch sailors, who were united to make a common piratical warfare upon
the Spaniards in the West Indies, it may seem a little strange to find a
man from Portugal who seemed to be on the wrong side of this peculiar
fight which was going on in the new world between the sailors of
Northern and Southern Europe. But although Portugal is such a close
neighbor of Spain, the two countries have often been at war with each
other, and their interests are by no means the same. The only advantage
that Portugal could expect from the newly discovered treasures of the
West were those which her seafaring men, acting with the seafaring men
of other nations, should wrest from Spanish vessels homeward bound.

Consequently, there were Portuguese among the pirates of those days.
Among these was a man named Bartholemy Portuguez, a famous
_flibustier_.

It may be here remarked that the name of buccaneer was chiefly affected
by the English adventurers on our coast, while the French members of the
profession often preferred the name of "flibustier." This word, which
has since been corrupted into our familiar "filibuster," is said to have
been originally a corruption, being nothing more than the French method
of pronouncing the word "freebooters," which title had long been used
for independent robbers.

Thus, although Bartholemy called himself a flibustier, he was really a
buccaneer, and his name came to be known all over the Caribbean Sea.
From the accounts we have of him it appears that he did not start out on
his career of piracy as a poor man. He had some capital to invest in the