Benito Soto Aboal (April 22 1805, Pontevedra - January 25 1830, Gibraltar) was a Spanish pirate, and captain of the Burla Negra ("Black Joke" in spanish). Benito de Soto was the most notorious of the last generation of pirates to plunder shipping in the Atlantic. De Soto served on an Argentinian slave ship before leading a mutiny off south-west Africa in 1827. When 18 of the crew declined to participate they were cast adrift in an open boat and eventually drowned. Having renamed the vessel the Burla Negra, de Soto crossed the Atlantic, where he sold stolen cargo of slaves, and then sailed south, attacking Spanish ships along the east coast of South America. The Black Joke then ventured eastwards into the Atlantic to intercept vessels returning from India and the Far East.
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Atrocities
He proved to be one of the most bloodthirsty pirates of any age, murdering crews who fell into his hands and sinking their ships. When a captured seaman helped pilot the Black Joke into a Spanish harbour de Soto thanked him-and then blew his brains out. The most infamous episode in de Soto's career came on 19 February 1828, when the Black Joke happened upon the Morning Star en route from Ceylon to England. After killing some of the passengers and crew with cannon-fire, de Soto murdered the captain with his cutlass and took possession of the ship. Many of the captured crew were killed, while women passengers were raped before being locked in the hold with the rest of the survivors. De Soto then scuttled the ship, thinking to leave no evidence of the attack, but the prisoners managed to escape and prevent the Morning Star from sinking.
Death
De Soto's crimes caught up with him after the Black Joke was wrecked off Spain. When he and his men arrived in Cadiz they were recognized and taken for trial in Gibraltar, where de Soto was hanged. His head was then stuck on a pike as a warning to others.
External links
References
Pickering, David. "Pirates". CollinsGem. HarperCollins Publishers, New York, NY. pp-96-97. 2006
