That's a great yarn you quoted there! Reminds me of the story of a boastful traveller, regaling the yokels with an account of a ship so huge that a boy grew to an old man just walking from stem to stern. One of the local lads replied with a description of a tree so tall that a bird's nest falling from the treetop could hatch and fledge the young birds before they reached ground. When the traveller protested that such a tree did not exist, the yokel asked him, "Then where did they get the masts for your ship?"

I did not mean that five hundred men was realistic. I only said that it would appear more plausible to those most familiar with the stories of ships sailing out for plunder on the Spanish Main. I'm not sure how many sailors and marines a man-o'-war might carry when setting out to grapple with Bonaparte's fleets, or in quest of Spanish treasure-ships... but my mind simply cannot conceive of five hundred sailors in a vessel out of Quebec. No-one could accuse that fine ballad of excessive realism though anyhow.

Good luck finding the song Stevenson described.