66 The Beginning of British Honduras
the word patacaa" or "patacones" for pieces of eight was not
general throughout Central America, just like casina for
sapodilla. This was Sunday 20, August, and all that day the
flies sucked and swelled the priest's face and legs, for the
pirates had taken away all his clothes and left him only a pair
of underclothing.
 The Indians from Bacalar were given a dozen lashes with
manatee hide. Then the pirates became playful after having
loosed the priest through loss of blood, and this made him
ask them for food. They laughed, and gave it to him. One
night they got drunk, and the captives thought of doing away
with them, the priest to attend to a Moskito Indian who had
been especially obnoxious, but they gave up this plan. After
three days the pirates took them to Cayo Casina where their
captain, Bartholomew Sharpe, was well-disposed and asked
Father Delgado the number of Spaniards, arrows, spears, and
wild Indians he had with him. He was satisfied with the re-
ply, ordered their release, issued letpasses for use in case
they met others, and on the ninth day turned them loose on
the beaches where they gathered amber. In the night the flies
were so numerous that they buried their bodies in the sand.
They did not know that their lives were spared because Cap-
tain Bartholomew Sharpe was very religious. Later he had
a ship named the "Most Blessed Trinity."
 That Earl of Carlisle who was governor of Jamaica from
1678 to 1681 had given Captain Sharpe letpasses to go into
the Bay of Honduras to cut logwood. Captain Dampier and
Justo Sierra say that in those days when the privateers met
no prizes at sea it was their common practice to steal the log-
wood from the enormous piles at Champoton and Playa San
Ramon until the Spaniards stationed soldiers there. After-
wards Captain Sharpe, called Betcharpt by the French and
Barte Charpa by the Spaniards, went with Captain Coxon
and Basil Ringrose by way of Panama for an extensive cruise
in the Pacific. In 1684 Basil Ringrose had been supercargo
under Captain Swan of the "Cygnet" of London, a ship of