Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
136
The Pirates of the Caribbean
Have you heard of the Teach the Rover
And his knavery on the Main,
How of gold he was a lover,
How he lo ved all ill- got gain?
Arguably, the most not orious temporary resident of Grand
Cayman was the not orious Edward Teach, more famously
known as “Blackbeard” (1680-1718). The archetypal icon of
all C aribbean pirat es, he sailed his v
essel,
Queen A nne's
Revenge,
to loot and plunder.
He wore a big feathered tricorn and carried multiple pis-
tols, k nives, and sw ords. To intimidat e his enemies , he
placed lit matches into his enormous black beard. His beard
was twisted into Rastafarian-style locks. He was said to have
had 14 so-called wives, and he often buried his treasure. He
would take a lone sailor with him on a small boat and return
alone. The sailor's corpse was placed atop the chest of gold
to discourage excavation.
Legend has it that Blackbeard on Grand Cayman shot and
lamed Israel Hands in a gestur e to show how fierce he could
be if opposed . Crippled f or life, Hands was immor talized as
the blind Pew in Robert Louis Stevenson's
Treasure Island.
Blackbeard came to a bloody end in a duel off the Carolina
coast. He was said t o have suffered 25 wounds, five of them
by gunshot, before finally collapsing and dying. Blackbeard's
ghastly head ended up dangling fr om the bo wsprit end of
the conquering ship captained by Lt. Robert Maynard.
The death of this pirat e more or less ended pirac y along
the American coast.
6
and the blowholes. If you'd like to spend less time touring, a 2
1
/
2
-hour
sightseeing tour of the island 's highlights, including the Cayman
Turtle Farm and George Town, costs US$31 for adults and US$22 for
children 12 and under.
Janet and Geddes Hislop are the chief promoters of eco-tourism on
the island, operating
Silver Thatch Excursions
(
&
345/945-6588;
www.earthfoot.org). They provide the best tours of Mastic Trail, cost-
ing around US$50 per person. Early-morning bird-watching trips can
also be arranged.
