Empire
In 1804, Surcouf went into business as ship-owner, and equipped 14 privateers in the Indian Ocean (among them his brother Nicolas Surcouf and his cousin Joseph Potier). Their achievements, however, were somewhat less impressive than Surcouf's own: four of the corsairs were captured by British warships, and 5 campaigns turned a deficit.
Read more about this topic: Robert Surcouf
Famous quotes containing the word empire:
“The trouble with Freud is that he never played the Glasgow Empire Saturday night.”
—Ken Dodd (b. 1931)
“To found a great empire for the sole purpose of raising up a people of customers, may at first sight appear a project fit only for a nation of shopkeepers. It is, however, a project altogether unfit for a nation of shopkeepers, but extremely fit for a nation that is governed by shopkeepers.”
—Adam Smith (1723–1790)
“To Americans I hardly need to say,—
“Westward the star of empire takes its way.””
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)