Biography of French Pirate François L’Olonnais

Franà §ois L’Olonnais (1635-1668) was a French buccaneer, pirate, and privateer who attacked ships and towns – mostly Spanish – in the 1660s. His hatred for the Spanish was legendary and he was known as a particularly bloodthirsty and ruthless pirate. His savage life came to a savage end: he was killed and reportedly eaten by cannibals somewhere in the Gulf of Darien. Franà §ois L’Olonnais, Buccaneer Francois LOlonnais was born in France sometime around 1635 in the seaside town of Les Sables-dOlonne (the Sands of Ollone). As a young man, he was taken to the Caribbean as an indentured servant. After having served his indenture, he made his way to the wilds of the island of Hispaniola, where he joined the famous buccaneers. These rough men hunted wild game in the jungles and cooked it over a special fire called a boucan (hence the name boucaniers, or buccaneers). They made a rough living by selling the meat, but they were also not above the occasional act of piracy. Young Franà §ois fit right in: he had found his home. A Cruel Privateer France and Spain fought frequently during L’Olonnais’ lifetime, most notably the 1667-1668 War of Devolution. The French Governor of Tortuga outfitted some privateering missions to attack Spanish ships and towns. Franà §ois was among the vicious buccaneers hired for these attacks, and he soon proved himself an able seaman and fierce fighter. After two or three expeditions, the Governor of Tortuga gave him his own ship. L’Olonnais, now a captain, continued attacking Spanish shipping and acquired a reputation for cruelty so great that the Spanish often preferred to die fighting than to suffer torture as one of his captives. A Close Escape L’Olonnais may have been cruel, but he was also clever. Sometime in 1667, his ship was destroyed off the western coast of the Yucatan. Although he and his men survived, the Spanish discovered them and massacred most of them. L’Olonnais rolled in blood and sand and lay still among the dead until the Spanish left. He then disguised himself as a Spaniard and made his way to Campeche, where the Spanish were celebrating the death of the hated L’Olonnais. He persuaded a handful of slaves to help him escape: together they made their way to Tortuga. L’Olonnais was able to get some men and two small ships there: he was back in business. The Maracaibo Raid The incident fanned LOlonnais hatred of the Spanish into a blaze. He sailed to Cuba, hoping to sack the town of Cayos: the Governor of Havana heard he was coming and sent a ten-gun warship to defeat him. Instead, LOlonnais and his men caught the warship unawares and captured it. He massacred the crew, leaving alive only one man to carry a message back to the Governor: no quarter for any Spaniards LOlonnais encountered. He returned to Tortuga and in September of 1667 he took a small fleet of 8 ships and attacked the Spanish towns around Lake Maracaibo. He tortured the prisoners to make them tell him where they had hidden their treasure. The raid was a huge score for LOlonnais, who was able to split some 260,000 Pieces-of-eight among his men. Soon, it was all spent in the taverns and whorehouses of Port Royal and Tortuga. L’Olonnais’ Final Raid In early 1668, L’Olonnais was ready to return to the Spanish Main. He rounded up some 700 fearsome buccaneers and set sail. They plundered along the Central American coast and even marched inland to sack San Pedro in present-day Honduras. In spite of his ruthless questioning of prisoners – on one instance he ripped out a captive’s heart and gnawed on it – the raid was a failure. He captured a Spanish galleon off of Trujillo, but there was not much loot. His fellow captains decided the venture was a bust and left him alone with his own ship and men, of which there were about 400. They sailed south but were shipwrecked off of Punta Mono. The Death of Franà §ois L’Olonnais L’Olonnais and his men were tough buccaneers, but once shipwrecked they were battled constantly by the Spanish and the local natives. The number of survivors dwindled steadily. L’Olonnais attempted an attack on the Spanish up the San Juan River, but they were repulsed. L’Olonnais took a handful of survivors with him and set sail on a small raft they had built, heading south. Somewhere in the Gulf of Darien these men were attacked by natives. Only one man survived: according to him, L’Olonnais was captured, hacked to pieces, cooked over a fire and eaten. Legacy of Franà §ois L’Olonnais LOlonnais was very well known in his time, and greatly feared by the Spanish, who understandably loathed him. He would probably be better known today if he had not been closely followed in history by Henry Morgan, Greatest of the Privateers, who was, if anything, even harder on the Spanish. Morgan would, in fact, take a page from LOlonnais book in 1668 when he raided the still-recovering Lake Maracaibo. One other difference: whereas Morgan was beloved by the English who saw him as a hero (he was even knighted), Franà §ois LOlonnais was never greatly revered in his native France. LOlonnais serves as a reminder of the reality of piracy: unlike what the movies show, he was no noble prince looking to clear his good name, but a sadistic monster who thought nothing of mass murder if it gained him an ounce of gold. Most real pirates were more like LOlonnais, who found that being a good sailor and charismatic leader with a vicious streak could get him far in the world of piracy. Sources: Exquemalin, Alexandre. The Buccaneers of America. Online edition from the Harvard University Library.Konstam, Angus. The World Atlas of Pirates. Guilford: the Lyons Press, 2009

corporate finace solutions Essay - 1010 Words

BUSS384 - Corporate Finance - Problem Set #1 Due by Wednesday, 15 October 2014 1. [10 points] Sydney Industries, Inc., is considering a new project that costs $30 million. The project will generate after-tax (year-end) cash flows of $8 million for five years. The firm has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25. The cost of equity is 12 percent and the cost of debt is 7 percent. The corporate tax rate is 40 percent. It appears that the project has the same risk of the overall firm. Should Sydney undertake the project? 2. [10 points] Here is some data for three firms in the restaurant industry: Firm #1: $100 million in debt, $200 million in equity, current estimated equity beta of 3.0 Firm #2: $200 million in debt, $200 million in equity,†¦show more content†¦There are 2 million shares outstanding. How many shares would you need to hold to be certain that you can elect at least one director assuming that (a) [5 points] Spartan has straight voting (b) [10 points] Spartan has cumulative voting 5. [15 points] Consider two firms A and B that are identical in all respects except capital structure. Firm A has $160 million in equity outstanding and $40 million in bonds outstanding. Firm B has $200 million in equity outstanding and $0 million in bonds outstanding. (a) Suppose an investor has an $8 million investment in the stock of firm A. What alternative $8 million investment that includes firm B’s stock will give the investor the same cash flow payoff in future years as his current investment in firm A’s stock? (Hint: I am looking for the amount of cash you would invest in firm Bs stock and the amount of cash you would either invest in other securities or borrow from other sources so that $8 million comes out of your pocket today and you get the exact same cash payoff down the road as the current $8 million investment in firm A’s stock.) (b) Suppose an investor has a $16 million investment in the stock of firm B. What alternative $16 million investment that includes firm A’s stock will give the investor the same cash flow payoff in future years as his current investment in firm B’s stock? (Hint: I am looking for the amount of cash you would invest in firm As stock and the amount of

What We Talk About When We Talk About Love Free Essays

Justin Goings Debra Dockter English Composition October 12th 2012 â€Å"The definition of love may be unique to the individual, if it can be defined at all† The feeling you have when you first look upon your new born child, the radiant warmth in your face when you say â€Å"I do† at the altar, or the divine feeling in your chest when you pray. Every one of these situations could be used to describe love. Its an emotion so richly embedded into our minds, that every single one of us can say they’ve experienced it in their lives. We will write a custom essay sample on What We Talk About When We Talk About Love or any similar topic only for you Order Now Some might even say they’ve molded their existence around it. However, while we are all familiar with love, the situations in which we encounter it are so diverse that the definition has become unique to the individual person. â€Å"What We Talk about When We Talk about Love† does an amazing job of forcing the reader to wonder what this feeling really means to them. What starts out as a normal conversation between four friends almost turns into a harsh debate on the elusive nature of love. Of the four people in the story the person that appears to struggle with the topic the most is Mel. The author seems to use a bit of symbolism in his story by making Mel a cardiologist. Almost as if saying because he is a heart doctor, he would have plenty to say about matters of the heart. Mel’s original position is that real love is nothing less than spiritual love, but he quickly becomes unsatisfied with his original answer. Seeing the affection between Nick and Laura makes him analyze the question even further. He eventually goes into a story about an elderly couple that was gravely injured in a car accident and it looks like he is going to have a strong point, yet somehow he can’t exactly describe what it is. Despite Mel’s knowledge though, he still struggles to find a clear answer. My favorite example in the story is when Mel is trying to explain sentimental love. He explains that he and Terri say that they love each other, yet they would both say that they have loved other people before them. That the â€Å"saving grace† is when one of them dies, the other might grieve for a while, but will eventually love again. All of their love would just be a memory, if it was even that. This helps to illustrate that love is such an important part of people’s lives because that we are able to move on nd love again after tying such important emotional feelings with someone. But in relation to the story it leaves you feeling as if love has no meaning. Regardless of it being the saving grace he says it is, the thought seems to disturb Mel because at this point on he displays obvious aggression towards his wife. Nick, the narrator of the story, doesn’t seem to have to many vo cal opinions on what love actually means to him, but it’s his observations or actions that really seem to give away his stance. For example throughout the story he is constantly making gestures to his wife. Such as resting his hand on his her thigh, or kissing her hand. He is always showing his affection, leading you to believe that love for him and Laura is strictly sentimental. It’s the only points in the story where I feel love was actually expressed and felt. It almost seems like the author is trying to say that even though they may never reach an agreement on what love is, actions are the only thing that matters in the end. The only character that touches on the fact that love is different from person to person is Mel’s wife, Terri. She explains that her ex-husband loved her so much that he tried to kill her. Everyone else seems mortified by her story and they try their best to convince her that abuse is not love. However her opinion is important in explaining the diversity of the emotion, because even though her ex husband expressed it in a very unhealthy manner, all the characteristics of love were there. Even though no one else shares her feelings with the example, she’s the only one with a solid idea of what it means. Nick and Laura only show what they feel about love by touching each other gently, or by saying â€Å"I love you†. And Will talks like he has a lot of ideas on what the definition is, but by the end of the story you realize he’s just as confused as everyone else. Terri is the only person that can actually express a view of love from personal experience. The sun setting in the story, in combination with the drinking seems to bring a loss of clarity on the subject as the friends continue to talk. Nick notes in the beginning that â€Å"sunlight filled the kitchen from the big window behind the sink† and the general mood of the party seems to be pretty happy. However as the conversation becomes a bit more complex and dark, Nick notes that the light in the kitchen is fading. The guests even seem to become more content to letting Will rant on. By the end of the story it is nighttime and no one is left talking. You’re left with an almost hopeless feeling and begin to wonder if any of them actually really love each other. What We Talk about When We Talk about Love† was a story that I actually enjoyed reading a few times to try and understand. I believe that it illustrates the true diversity of the emotion and is a story to really make you think. Even though by the end you feel like love is almost hopeless, it is after a bit of reflection that you begin to realize the complexity of the word. It might not have an exact definition, and maybe it’s because of the inadequacy of the human language, but everyone will have a special example of what love really means to them. How to cite What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Essay examples