Benerson Little

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Dear Sir, Thank you for the very extensive reply regarding audacity as a virtue in war. It will prove very helpful to me indeed! Regards, D. North

Author's Reply: The phrase (I'm not sure exactly how I repeated it in the documentary) is seen in various forms throughout history in discussions of warfare, and also in some fencing texts as well. It may have originated in antiquity from Virgil, "Audentis Fortuna iuvat," which is usually translated more or less as "Fortune aids the bold." I suspect, however, that the phrase in some form has cropped up independently many times during history, as it seems to be a universal truth. The two more recent variations I'm most familiar with are French privateer Duguay-Trouin's "La fortune aidait souvent la valeur un peu téméraire," which I've translated as "Fortune often aids valor that is a bit reckless," and the British SAS's "Who Dares Wins." (Téméraire can also mean daring. I quoted Duguay-Trouin in The Sea Rover's Practice, page 27, and in an endnote mention the SAS motto. I believe some other military forces have adopted "Who Dares Wins," although the SAS was the first to do so.) Similarly, my first fencing master, Dr. Francis Zold, used to tell me thirty years ago to "Never hesitate!"--in other words, when the opportunity presents itself, be bold. As for what I said in the documentary, if it's original it's only so in my particular phrasing, and I'm not even sure of that, given that audacity as a virtue in warfare is an ancient and often repeated truth. By no means is it an original idea of my own. Hope this helps! Best regards.

In a recent History Channel show on pirates you said something along the lines of "In warfare audacity is a virtue." Please forgive me if I not quoted you exactly. Is this a phrase of your invention? If so, is it in one or your books? If not, do you know its origin? Regards, D. North

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Thanks so much. I realized after I posted that I probably could've done some research on it. Though, it's always nice to have an expert there to help. Thanks again. --M.C.

The current newsletter (March 2008) mentions that the Midway Atoll is reopening for tourism after being closed for six years. What are the reasons for its closure, and likewise, for its reopening? Were there environmental or political reasons for either or both? --M.C.

Author's Reply: According to the Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge site (http://www.fws.gov/midway/intro/default.htm), the refuge was closed due to the loss of its "coordinator" in 2002. Apparently the tour operator at that time ceased operations, and therefore Aloha Airlines stopped serving Midway as well. The US Fish and Wildlife Service recently granted the Oceanic Society, a non-profit marine conservation society, a license to run tours, and seven week-long tours are anticipated in 2008, at a cost of roughly $5000 per person.

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In Buccaneer's Realm, there are several points where it talks about the presence of cultural diversity in port/coastal cities. Would these cities have been more greatly influened culturally and, perhaps, linguistically by the ruling power at the time rather than equally among the various nations represented, or is that hard to say? --Lily Rose

Author's Reply: With a warning to you that I'm not a cultural anthropologist, my best guess, based on what I've seen in my research (and without further research into your question), is that linguistically the colony's ruling nation was the greatest influence. Witness, for example, Haiti after its revolution. Its language was, and is today, a form of French, but its culture, although heavily French-influenced, was and is African-creole. That being said, the way the language was spoken and the way it changed was certainly influenced by the variety of peoples and cultures present. On the other hand, I suspect that in the broader and more general sense of "cultural influence," and depending on the colony, culture was determined by the various peoples represented, assuming they made up a reasonable percentage of the population. For example, the culture of New England seaports in the 17th century appears to have reflected their largely Puritan population. With the exception of some Native American influences, they generally seemed to have lacked a multi-cultural aspect. Seamen, whose crews were usually multi-cultural, were transient, and African and Native American slavery were small scale. On the other hand, Petit Goave in the 17th century, with its permanent and semi-permanent international population of sea rovers, settlers, and slaves, certainly reflected a multi-cultural aspect, although there was no doubting it was French. (It would be interesting to find out the degree Haitian French has been influenced by the languages of Haiti's early inhabitants.) Modern New Orleans, for example, is an American city, yet its culture, including its spoken English, is very much French creole, Acadian (Cajun), and African. Yours is an excellent question, and you may have answered it best when you said "hard to say." Hope this rather brief answer to a complex question helps!

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On a related issue, you mention that blacking out on ascent is called both shallow water blackout and deep water blackout. Can you clarify? Thanks. --"Diver Dan"

Author's reply: Both in the mid-70s when I first learned to dive, and in BUDS and Diving Supervisor training in SEAL Team in 80s, I was taught that passing out on ascent from the change in partial of oxygen during a breath-hold dive was called "shallow water blackout" because unconsciousness occurred as the diver ascended to shallower depth. (If a breath-hold diver consumes most of his oxygen at depth, the partial pressure may still be sufficient for consciousness, but on ascent as pressure reduces, pp02 can drop too low to sustain consciousness.) However, some divers use the term to refer to unconsciousness resulting from the consumption of oxygen at shallow depth, for example, a breath-hold diver swimming underwater in a pool, who simply holds his breath too long. The same divers use the term "deep water blackout" to refer to unconsciousness from a drop in pp02 on ascent. Others call this "hypoxia of ascent" or "hypoxia during ascent" to avoid confusion. The latter term is used in the current US Navy Diving Manual.

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(More to do with the author than the works.) What draws you to this subject matter? M.C.

Author's reply: I suspect it was or is a combination of growing up around the sea, watching swashbuckling movies as a child, reading Treasure Island and Captain Blood, and having a desire to explore and, to some degree, rebel. In SEAL Team I saw many similarities, both tactical and behavioral, between privateers/pirates and naval commandos, and this helped inspire my research.

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In Buccaneer's Realm you write that Native American divers dipping back underwater to prevent "bad air" resembles decompression. How likely is it that this was actually the case? --"Diver Dan"

Author's reply: The potential for decompression sickness from arduous breath-hold diving has been long recognized, and recent studies have found that indeed divers in such circumstances are susceptible to dcs. As I noted, it may be that Native American breath-hold divers realized that their symptoms subsided when they dove back under water, as symptoms of dcs typically do. Recompression is the standard treatment for dcs, and for omitted decompression as well. (Strictly speaking, returning to the water for decompression after surfacing is considered in-water recompression.) We don't know the depth to which the divers descended, however, nor whether such practice actually reduced the incidence of decompression sickness. As for the divers on the Phips expedition, whose sickness I speculated might be due in part to dcs, we also don't know how much may have been due to the stresses of diving, or to smallpox or other diseases. The question of Native American divers ducking back under the water to avoid "bad air" requires a diving medicine specialist with experience studying breath-hold diving, and perhaps an anthropologist as well.

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