Arturo received the knife in his own heart before Gasparilla could come to his
aid. The diary told of a terrible revenge on the murderer. Gasparilla, deeply
mourning his friend, gave him the best funeral possible.

In 1819 the United States, made war upon all piracy along the
Gulf of Mexico. Pursuit of this outlawry was so concentrated that many
pirate bands dissolved. A few of Gasparilla's group struck out for
themselves, but Gasparilla and the others continued their depredations
for two more years.

In September 1821, Gasparilla, captaining a sloop of war, with 14
mounted guns, attacked the ship Orleans, of Philadelphia. She was a
large heavily armed vessel bound from New York to the West Indies.
The crew of the Orleans, overawed by the ferociousness of the attack
made little resistance, and goods to the value of $40,000 were taken.
When Gasparilla offered the men the choice of piracy or death, the crew,
mostly Spaniard, Portuguese, and Negroes, joined him.

After robbing the ship, Gasparilla wrote a note in French to a
United States officer, a passenger aboard:

At sea and in Good Luck.

Sir:
Between buccaneers, no ceremony; I take your dry-goods, and in
return, I send you pimento; therefore we are now even. I entertain no
resentment.