In 1774 -at the end of a long odyseey- the skipper at which I`d got hired in Africa, stranded off-shore the coast of Portugal. For months I had been fleeing from the henchmen of my king, but this is a different story.......................

Nevertheless, I was happy and endlessly thankful, that I could be of use to the captain, because I had reached an end in being poor and almost starving to death. When our skipper got stranded, I at first thought of it as of a great desaster.

Most of the sailors had drounded or had been torn apart by sharks. The rest of the crew managed to drag themselves on shore to a small hay in Carvoeiro.

There, totally exhausted, I fell into a state of a nearly unconscious sleep when I woke up with a start because of loud arguments and sable-rattlings. It was almost mid-night.

Goodness gracious, we had been stranded amidst pirates.

In the glow of a small fire they were discussing wath to do with us. What I had seen was incredible. A huge golden treasure was put on the beach. For sure, this had been only gained by blood -shed. I managed to grasp a sword nearby and fought for my life, because this I knew, they planned to kill me. I had been absolutely sure. I smashed everything in pieces around me thereby creating a terrible bloodbath. It has been a slaughter. Never ever in my whole life I had seen or been trhough such a desaster. Then, what had happened?

From a diary with the initials of. H. Sch. 4.September 1774, found on one of the pirates beatches in Carvoeiro, Portugal.