Most encomenderos were private adventurers rather than agents of the empire.

It is upon this account that joint stock companies for foreign trade have seldom been able to maintain the competition against private adventurers.

William Walker's short lived take over of Nicaragua in 1856 was the most famous and important of these private military adventurers.

The attack on Lewis was renewed by others in 1605, but the undertaking again proved too much for private adventurers.

First, the Spanish ship was sloop-rigged and clumsy, because she was fitted out by some private adventurers, not over wealthy, and glad to take what they could get.

She was sold at Deptford in 1762 to private adventurers.

And after disembarking upon the soil of that dread planet no Velantian, whether student or scientist or private adventurer, had ever returned to Velantia.

No private adventurers, accordingly, have ever attempted to trade to that country in competition with them.

But in this situation, the superior vigilance and attention of private adventurers would, in all probability, soon make them weary of the trade.

It was an ambiguous business when a private American adventurer was landed with his pieces of artillery from an American war-ship, and became prime minister to the king.