PANAMÁ.
1672-1800.
THE SCOTS COLONY—THEY PROPOSE TO ESTABLISH SETTLEMENTS
IN DARIEN—SUBSCRIPTIONS FOR THE ENTERPRISE—DEPARTURE OF
THE EXPEDITION—ITS ARRIVAL AT ACLA—SICKNESS AND FAMINE
AMONG THE COLONISTS—THEY ABANDON THEIR SETTLEMENT—A SECOND
EXPEDITION DESPATCHED—ITS FAILURE—CARTAGENA SACKED BY
PRIVATEERS—INDIAN OUTBREAKS—CONFLAGRATIONS IN PANAMÁ—PEARL
FISHERIES—MINING—SPANISH COMMERCE FALLING INTO THE HANDS OF
THE BRITISH—SEIZURE OF BRITISH VESSELS AND MALETREATMENT
OF THEIR CREWS—JENKINS' EARS—DECLARATION OF WAR—VERNON'S
OPERATIONS ON THE ISTHMUS—ANSON'S VOYAGE ROUND THE
WORLD—VERNON'S SECOND EXPEDITION—ITS DISASTROUS RESULT.
Yet another phase of life and restless human endeavor on the Panamá
Isthmus here presents itself. Great Britain is seized by an idea, born
of greed and nurtured by injustice; and this conception expands until
it covers the earth, and until the good people of England and Scotland
are in imagination masters of the whole world, which possession is
acquired not through any honest means, but after the too frequent vile
indirections of the day and the nation; in all which the people of those
isles give themselves and their money over to Satan.
[Sidenote: WILLIAM PATERSON.]
In June 1695 a number of wealthy Scotchmen under the leadership of
William Paterson[XXXI‑1] obtained from the Scottish parliament a
statute, and later letters patent from William III.,[XXXI‑2] authorizing
them to plant colonies in Asia, Africa, or America, in places
uninhabited, or elsewhere by permission of the natives, provided the
territory were not occupied by any European prince or state. Paterson
had spent several years in the Indies and had explored the province
of Darien. Near the old settlement of Acla he had found a port safe
for shipping. Three days' journey thence, on the other side of the
Isthmus, were other suitable harbors. By establishing settlements on
either shore, he purposed to grasp the trade whereby Europe was supplied
with the products of North and South America, China, Japan, and the
Philippine Islands, with European goods. From the Isthmus to Japan and
parts of China was but a few weeks' sail, and the products of Asia could
thus be landed in Europe in far less time than that occupied by the
vessels of the India companies. Moreover on the rich soil of Darien,
sugar, indigo, tobacco, and other articles of value could be raised.
"Trade," said the projector of the bank of England, "will beget trade;
money will beget money; the commercial world shall no longer want work
for their hands, but will rather want hands for their work. This door to
the seas and key to the universe will enable its possessors to become
the legislators of both worlds, and the arbitrators of commerce. The
settlers of Darien will acquire a nobler empire than Alexander or Cæsar,
without fatigue, expense, or danger, as well as without incurring the
guilt and bloodshed of conquerors."
Paterson was either knave or fool; having been both preacher and pirate
he may have been both fool and knave. It was impossible for him to have
explored the Isthmus as he claimed and not know that the climate was
deadly, and that to the wild highlander, fresh from the cold north, the
harbors of Darien could prove nothing but pest-holes, breeding swift
destruction. As for the people who blindly threw themselves into the
adventure, they were as sheep, and differed little from the human sheep
of the present day.
Spain had at least the right of discovery and conquest to her
possessions in the New World, even though such conquest had been
attended with cruelty almost as great as that of the English in
Hindostan. The natives of Darien were never indeed entirely subdued.
Yet even according to the European code of robbery it does not appear
that Great Britain had any more right to plant colonies in Tierra Firme
than she now has to establish them in portions of the United States
that may be infested by hostile Indians. Nevertheless in the year 1699
when, as we shall see, the scheme was on the verge of failure, the
English monarch, in answer to a petition from "The Company of Scotland
trading to Africa and the Indies and their Colony of Darien," as the
association was styled, asking that "His Royal Wisdom be pleased to
take such Measures as might effectually vindicate the undoubted Rights
and Privileges of the said Company, and support the Credit and Interest
thereof," replied, "Right Trusty and Well-beloved, We greet you well:
Your Petition has been presented to us by our Secretaries, and we do
very much regret the Loss which that our antient Kingdom and the Company
has lately sustained."[XXXI‑3]
[Sidenote: THE SCOTS COLONY.]
"To prove," says a writer of the period,[XXXI‑4] "the Falsehood of
the Allegation, That the Province of Darien is part of the King of
Spain's Domains: It is positively denied by the Scots, who challenge
the Spaniards to prove their Right to the said Province, either by
Inheritance, Marriage, Donation, Purchase, Reversion, Surrender,
Possession or Conquest." "And as to their Claim by the Pope's Donation,"
writes another author of the period,[XXXI‑5] "the very mentioning, and
much more the pleading of it, is a ridiculing, as well as bantring of
Mankind; seeing even on the supposal that the Roman Pontiffs should be
acknowledged the successors of St Peter, which as no Protestants are
forward to believe or confess, so they have never hitherto found, nor
do they think the Pontificans able to prove it: Yet this would invest
them with no right of disposing the Kingdoms of the World as they
please and unto whom they will. For Peter being cloathed with no such
Power himself, nor having ever pretended to exert such a Jurisdictive
Authority as some Popes have had the Vanity and Pride to do, how could
he convey it unto, and entail it upon others, under the quality and
character of being his Successors"? These and similar excuses, however
sorry, were all that the apologists for the Scots' colony had to offer
for thus grasping at this territory. It may be remarked that the claim
of Great Britain to her colonies is in few instances based on discovery,
and that nearly all her most valuable possessions have been gained at
the point of the sword. Might is right.
Six hundred thousand pounds were required for the enterprise and
the amount was quickly subscribed, in Scotland, England, Hamburg,
and Amsterdam. The scheme was a bold one, but the promise of returns
was vast, and as will be remembered this was the era of gigantic and
insane speculations. In Scotland alone the subscriptions summed up
three hundred thousand pounds, an amount which absorbed almost the
entire circulating capital of the country. All who possessed ready
money ventured at least a part of it in the enterprise. Some threw
in all they had; others all they could borrow. Maidens invested their
portions; widows pledged their dower, expecting to be repaid fifty or
a hundred fold. In England half the capital stock was subscribed for
in nine days, one fourth being paid in specie or bank notes, and the
rest in bills payable on demand. The total of the subscriptions from
all sources was nine hundred thousand pounds, a sum which at the close
of the seventeenth century was enormous even in the money capital of
Great Britain. Soon the success of the scheme aroused the jealousy of
English merchants, who feared that the commerce of the world might pass
into the hands of the Scotch. William III. was at heart opposed to the
scheme, although he had granted letters patent to the association; and
partly through his influence the contributions in England, Hamburg,
and Amsterdam were withdrawn. Nevertheless, another hundred thousand
pounds was raised in Scotland, thus making up a capital of four hundred
thousand pounds sterling.
Permission was given by the crown to Paterson and his associates to
fit out men-of-war, to plant colonies, build cities and forts, make
reprisals for damage done by land or sea, and to conclude treaties of
peace or commerce with princes and governors. They were also allowed
to claim the minerals, the valuable timber, and the fisheries in sea
or river, and "in the name of God and in Honour and for the Memory of
that most Antient and Renowned name of our Mother Kingdom" the country
was to be named New Caledonia. The enterprise was under the control
of a council of seven,[XXXI‑6] to whom was intrusted all power, civil
and military. Paterson was of course one of the members, but from
all deliberations he was excluded, and in the final arrangements for
the fleet he was not even consulted, his reasonable request that an
inventory of supplies be taken before setting sail being refused.
[Sidenote: INSANE EXPECTATIONS.]
The expedition had been planned and ordered in keeping with the first
subscriptions[XXXI‑7] and was the largest and most costly of any that
had yet been fitted out for schemes of colonization in the New World.
On the 26th of July 1698 twelve hundred men, among them three hundred
youths belonging to the best families of Scotland, and many veterans
who had been discharged from the British army after the peace of
Ryswick, assembled at the port of Leith. A wild insanity seized the
entire population of Edinburgh as they now came forth to witness the
embarkation. Guards were kept busy holding back the eager aspirants
who, hungry for death, pressed forward in throngs, stretching out their
arms to their departing countrymen and clamoring to be taken on board.
Stowaways when ordered on shore clung madly to rope and mast, pleading
in vain to be allowed to serve without pay on board the fleet. Women
sobbed and gasped for breath; men stood uncovered, and with choked
utterance and downcast head invoked the blessing of the Almighty. The
banner of St Andrew was hoisted at the admiral's mast; and as a light
wind caught the sails, the roar of the vast multitude was heard far
down the waters of the frith. The breeze freshened, and as the vessels
were carried seaward, cheer after cheer followed the highlanders, who
now bade farewell, most of them, as it proved, forever, to their native
land.
[Sidenote: SCOTLAND IN DARIEN.]
On the 4th of November, having lost fifteen of their number during the
voyage, they landed at Acla; founded there a settlement to which they
gave the name New St Andrew; cut a canal through the neck of land which
divided one side of the harbor from the ocean, and on this spot erected
a fort whereon they mounted fifty guns. On a mountain at the opposite
side of the harbor they built a watch-house, from which the view was so
extensive that there was no danger of surprise. Lands were purchased
from the Indians, and messages of friendship sent to the governors of
several Spanish provinces.
On the week following the departure of the expedition, the Scottish
parliament met and unanimously adopted an address to the king asking his
support and countenance for the Darien colony, but no time was lost by
the India companies in bringing every means to bear to ensure its ruin;
and notwithstanding the memorial of the parliament, the British monarch
ordered the governors of Jamaica, Barbadoes, and New York not to furnish
the settlers with supplies.[XXXI‑8] To such length did rancor go, that
the Scotch commanders who should presume to enter English ports, even
for repairs after a storm, were threatened with arrest.[XXXI‑9]
A stock of provision had been placed on board the fleet sufficient
as was supposed to last for eight months, but the supply gave out
in as many weeks, since those who had been placed in charge of the
commissariat department had embezzled the funds. Fishing and the chase
were the only resources, and as these were precarious the colonists were
soon on the verge of famine. As summer drew near the atmosphere became
stifling, and the exhalations from the steaming soil, united with other
causes, wrought deadly destruction on the settlers. Men were continually
passing to the hospital and thence to the grave, and the survivors were
only kept alive through the friendly services of the Indians.[XXXI‑10]
Matters daily grew worse with the colonists. A ship despatched from
Scotland laden with provisions had foundered off Cartagena. The
Spaniards on the Isthmus looked on their distress with complacency. No
relief came nor any tidings from Scotland; and on the 22d of June 1699,
less than eight months after their arrival, the survivors resolved
to abandon the settlement. Paterson, the first to enter the ship at
Leith, was the last to go on board at Darien. Ill with fever and broken
in spirit, his misfortune weighed so heavily on him that he became
temporarily deranged.[XXXI‑11] Of the rest, four hundred perished at
sea.
Eight weeks after Paterson's departure two ships arrived from Scotland
with ample stores of provisions and three hundred recruits. Finding
the colony at New Saint Andrew abandoned they set sail for Jamaica,
leaving six of their number, who preferring to remain on the Isthmus,
were kindly treated by the natives, and after they had lived there long
enough to satisfy themselves were safely brought away.
Not until several months after the departure of the first expedition did
the court of Spain protest against the invasion of her territory. And
no better policy could have been devised than to have thus let death do
the work; but on the 3d of May 1699 a memorial was presented[XXXI‑12] to
William III. by the Spanish ambassador stating that his Catholic Majesty
looked on the proceeding as a rupture of the alliance between the two
countries and as a hostile invasion, and would take such measures as he
thought best against the intruders.
Provoked by this interference, and as yet ignorant of the fate of their
colony, the Scotch soon afterward[XXXI‑13] despatched another expedition
of thirteen hundred men in four vessels. The ships were hastily fitted
out, and during the voyage one was lost and the others scattered. Many
died on the passage, and the rest arrived at different times broken in
health and spirit. The dwellings of the first settlers had been burned,
the fort dismantled, the tools and agricultural implements abandoned,
and the site of the settlement was overgrown with weeds. Meanwhile two
sloops had arrived in the harbor with a small stock of provisions; but
the supply was inadequate, and five hundred of the party were at once
ordered to embark for Scotland.
In February 1700 Captain Campbell arrived at New Saint Andrew with
a company of three hundred men who had served under him during the
campaign in Flanders. Intelligence had now reached the colony that
sixteen hundred Spaniards lay encamped on the Rio Santa María expecting
soon to be joined by a squadron of nine vessels, when it was proposed
to make a concerted attack on the settlement. Campbell resolved to
anticipate the enemy, and marching against them at the head of two
hundred veterans, surprised their camp by night, and dispersed them
with great slaughter. Returning, he found that the Spanish ships were
off the harbor, and that troops had been landed from them, cutting off
all chance of relief. Nevertheless for six weeks the Scotch sustained
a siege, and when their ammunition gave out they melted their pewter
dishes and fashioned them into cannon balls. At length provisions
ran short and the Spaniards cut off their water supply. A surrender
became inevitable. Campbell with a few comrades escaped on board his
vessel and made his way to New York and thence to Scotland. The rest
capitulated on condition that they be allowed to depart with their
effects,[XXXI‑14] but so weak were the survivors and so few in number
that they were not able to weigh the anchor of their largest ship until
the Spaniards generously came to their assistance. All but two of the
vessels were lost; only thirty of the men succeeded in reaching home,
and after the loss of more than two thousand lives and several millions
of money, the Scotch abandoned further attempts at colonization in
Tierra Firme.[XXXI‑15]
* * * * *
[Sidenote: CARTAGENA.]
While the Spaniards were thus annoyed by foreign encroachments in
Darien, the capital of the neighboring province was captured by
filibusters. This was in 1697. To Pedro de Heredia had been assigned in
1532, as will be remembered, a province in Nueva Andalucía; and there
had been founded the colony of Cartagena, which toward the close of
the sixteenth century had become a flourishing settlement. A hundred
years later Cartagena ranked next to Mexico among the cities of the
western world. Situated on a capacious harbor, esteemed as one of the
best in the Indies, it possessed several large streets, each nearly
one sixth of a league in length, with well built houses of stone, a
cathedral, several churches, and numerous convents and nunneries. Its
population was probably little short of twenty thousand, of whom about
three thousand were Spaniards and the remainder negroes and mulattoes.
It was strongly fortified by nature and art, and had to some extent
superseded the cities of the Isthmus as an entrepôt of commerce between
the hemispheres. Here the pearl fleet called once a year, an entire
street being occupied with the shops of the pearl-dressers, and here
was brought, by way of the Desaguadero, the sugar, cochineal, and indigo
sent from Guatemala for shipment to Spain.
Cartagena was therefore a tempting prize for the banditti who infested
the waters of the North Sea. Drake's operations off that city have
already been related. A few years after the decease of that famous
adventurer it was laid in ashes by French privateers; and now, in 1697,
it was captured by a French fleet having on board twelve hundred men,
of whom seven hundred were filibusters under command of Le Baron de
Pointis. The spoils of this raid were variously estimated at from eight
to forty millions of livres; and yet it is said that before the capture
of the city a hundred and ten mule-loads of silver were despatched to
a place of safety.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: LUIS GARCÍA.]
In 1726 the governor of Panamá gave authority to the mestizo, Luis
García, a man whose exploits had brought him into prominence, to lead
the Indians in a war of extermination against the French filibusters,
who still continued to devastate the Isthmus.
A brief but sharp campaign resulted in the death of the French leader,
the notorious Petitpied, and García, on his return to Panamá, was amply
rewarded. The Cana mines proved too great a temptation to García after
his return to his home in Darien, and finding that some of the caciques
whose territory extended to the Balsas River were in a state of mutiny
on account of grievances inflicted by the curates in the name of the
church and the king, he made a compact with them to throw off Spanish
allegiance, withdraw their forces to the mountain fastnesses, and form a
government of their own. A rendezvous was established in the Cordillera,
and García, growing more resolute, resolved on an aggressive war upon
the Spaniards and their Indian allies. The campaign opened in a frontier
town on the river Yavisa, where they killed the cura, the teniente de
justicia, a few Spaniards, and all the Indians who would not join them;
then they plundered the place. Elated by this victory, García continued
his march until he reached Santa María, where he attempted the same
system of spoliation and slaughter. He was less successful, for the
inhabitants had fled with most of their valuables. García's men entered
the town, burned it, and killed every Spaniard they could capture in
the neighborhood.
Meanwhile news of the revolt had reached the president, and seventy
picked men well officered had been sent to suppress it. This and other
attempts threw the people of Darien, now numbering twenty thousand, into
consternation, and concerted action was planned with Panamá. A large
reward was offered for the body of García, dead or alive; he perished
at last by the hands of a negro.[XXXI‑16]
Although the Isthmus was the seat of the first Spanish settlement
in America, as I have said before, the natives of Darien were never
completely subdued. The Spaniards built strongholds, gathered the
Indians into settlements, introduced missionaries, guarded the coast
with men-of-war, but all in vain. In 1745 Fort San Rafael de Terable
was built by Governor Dionisio de Alcedo on a small peninsula bordered
by the river and bay. In 1751 the natives carrying out an oft repeated
threat attacked this stronghold, and of the garrison but two or three
wounded men escaped. In 1756 the population of Yavisa, composed chiefly
of friendly Indians, was massacred by the Chucunaques. A fort was
erected in 1760 at this point, and a few years later it became the
capital of the province and the seat of the residence of the governor.
In 1768 the Chucunaques slaughtered the garrison at Port Ypelisa,
plundered the place of arms and tools, and in the same year laid waste
the banks of the Congo.
Ten years later another extensive raid occurred; but in 1774 Andrés de
Ariza, being appointed governor, dealt vigorously and skilfully with the
hostile tribes. He discovered numerous secret passes and well cut roads
from their quarters to various portions of the province; he deciphered
a system of alarm signals, and found a number of caves where the light
boats of the natives were constructed. By his efforts the Indians were
kept at bay or brought under control.
But outbreaks among the natives and the raids of corsairs were not the
only misfortunes to which the Isthmus was exposed. During the eighteenth
century the city of Panamá was thrice devastated by fire. On the 1st
and 2d of February 1737 a conflagration occurred which destroyed two
thirds of the buildings; March 30, 1756, a second fire destroyed one
half of the city; and on the 26th of April 1771 fifty-five houses were
burned.[XXXI‑17]
[Sidenote: POLITICAL MATTERS.]
While the people of Tierra Firme thus suffered many disasters at this
period of their history, and as we shall see later were frequently
subject to attack from the armaments of hostile powers, they appear
to have been remarkably free from the internal dissensions which
prevailed at an earlier date. The unseemly strife between the church
and the audiencia had now entirely ceased, and little worthy of note
is mentioned by the chroniclers. During the latter portion of the
seventeenth century, and for the first few years of the eighteenth,
records as to the succession of governors in Panamá are meagre. In 1708
the marqués de Villa Rocha was in power; but incurring the displeasure
of the audiencia, he was deposed in June of that year, and confined in
the castle of Portobello. His successor, Fernando de Haro Monterroso,
the senior oidor, who had been mainly instrumental in effecting the
downfall of the marquis, held the reins of government for about six
months when he was prosecuted for alleged outrages of so grave a
character that he was sent in custody to Spain for trial.[XXXI‑18]
From Alcedo we learn that Juan Bautista de Orueta y Irusta, alcalde del
crímen of the audiencia of Lima, succeeded to the gubernatorial office,
and ruled until 1710, when a governor of the king's appointment arrived,
and Orueta returned to Lima.
In June 1711 Villa Rocha, having been released and seeing an opportunity
of seizing the reins of power, hastened to the capital and proclaimed
himself governor. His career was short, for within twenty-four hours
José Hurtado de Amedzaga, mariscal del campo of the royal forces,
compelled him to abdicate, and he himself took possession of the
governor's chair, occupying it until 1716, by which time he had rendered
himself so obnoxious to the people that he was removed by the king's
order. The government was then placed in the hands of the bishop of the
diocese, and the authority of the audiencia was suspended. Following
Haya we find that Doctor Fray José de Llamas y Rivas, bishop of Panamá,
administered the government from the deposition of Villa Rocha to
January 1719. Authorities differ as to the order of succession of the
different governors. I have selected Haya as probably the most accurate.
This writer informs us that Governor Alderete began his administration
of Panamá on the 25th of April 1725, and that he was deposed and sent
to Spain in 1730.
The successor of Alderete was Juan José de Andia, marqués de Villa
Hermosa, who was promoted from the governorship of Cartagena to the
presidency of Panamá. In 1735, after five years' service, he was given a
generalship in the royal army of Spain, and returned there with honors.
Dionisio de Alcedo y Herrera was appointed a few years later with
authority over all the fortified cities which had been the objective
point of the English in the war which they had declared in 1739.
On the day before Christmas 1749 the governorship of Panamá was
conferred on Jaime Muñoz de Guzman; but on the same day one appointed
by the crown arrived in the person of Manuel de Montiano, who held the
office until the 11th of November 1755. Montiano was promoted to this
position from the governorship of Florida, and was a mariscal de campo.
While engaged in geodetic surveys at the Isthmus about this time, Ulloa
had an opportunity of witnessing the manner in which justice was bought
and sold. Matters had come to such a pass that the members of the
audiencia chose the most dexterous of their number and empowered him
to negotiate with rival parties as to what amount of bonus they were
respectively disposed to pay in consideration of a favorable verdict.
Panamá, in 1758 had for its governor Antonio Guill, an officer of
unusual merit, and one whose executive ability was highly prized by the
crown. He was promoted to the captain-generalship of Chile in 1761.
In the following year José Raon succeeded, and was promoted to the
presidency of Manila two years later. In 1764 José Vasco y Orosco became
governor. He died in 1767, and was succeeded in January 1769 by Vicente
Olaziregui, others acting provisionally during the interval. Temporary
appointments were made till 1779, when Ramon de Carbajal took charge,
returning to Spain in 1786.
* * * * *
Until 1718 the three provinces of the Isthmus were subject to the
viceroy of Peru, but after that they were incorporated with New Granada,
the viceroy of which resided at Santa Fé de Bogotá. The latter was
endowed with the prerogatives of royalty, the only checks upon his
authority being the residencia and the right of appeal to the audiencia
of Panamá. The audiencia enjoyed the privilege of direct communication
with the sovereign, and with the council of the Indies. Any beneficial
effect which that institution might have had was counteracted largely by
the vast powers of the viceroy and their consequent means of influencing
any and every subordinate.
In 1774 there was instituted at Panamá a new audiencia real y
chancillería, having for its limits the province of Castilla del Oro
as far as Portobello, the province of Veragua, and toward Peru as far
as the ports of Buenavista and the river Darien, the territory under
its control being bounded on the east and south by that under the
jurisdiction of the audiencias of Granada and Quito; on the west by that
of Guatemala; and on the north and south by the two oceans.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: PEARLS AND GOLD.]
It has already been stated that about the close of the sixteenth century
the fisheries of the Pearl Islands became exhausted, and that they were
abandoned for several decades thereafter. In 1697 the Italian traveller
Gemelli Careri visited Panamá, and according to his report the fisheries
then yielded pearls equal to those found near Ceylon. He mentions one
belonging to a Jesuit priest that weighed sixty grains, and for which
the owner refused seventy thousand pesos.[XXXI‑19]
About the same time the industry of gold-mining was revived on the
Isthmus. In Darien and Veragua, but especially in the former province,
mines which had been abandoned were again worked, and new ones
discovered. The operatives were slaves, free negroes, sambos, and
mulattoes, who received for their wages a certain amount of pay-dirt,
and often pilfered gold dust enough to make them as rich as their
masters. It was the delight of the negroes to give fancy balls to their
inamoratas, at which they would appear with their hair glistening with
golden trinkets, sometimes sprinkling the ball-room floor with gold
dust.
A slave of Antonio de Sosa discovered a pocket of gold which is said
to have yielded sixty thousand castellanos; and making this known to
his master, was rewarded with his freedom and that of his wife, and
presented with a house and lot in Panamá and a moderate income wherewith
to enjoy his liberty. Of a vagabond mulatto it is related that he
suddenly reappeared in the church of Santo Domingo, and attracted the
gaze of all by a remarkably brilliant rosary formed of large nuggets
of purest gold. The place of discovery was subsequently known as the
Rosario mining district. Among other nuggets unearthed was one found
at the mines of Santa María, weighing, according to Dampier, a hundred
and twenty pounds. Instances like these might be multiplied, but enough
has been said to show the value of the mines from which at this time
more gold was sent to Panamá than from all the others in the Spanish
provinces. As late as 1720 they yielded a handsome revenue to the
Spanish crown.
[Sidenote: MINES AND MERCHANDISE.]
The mines of Cana in the mountains of Espíritu Santo were especially
rich, and in the early part of the eighteenth century were so frequently
exposed to the raids of robbers that for a season they were abandoned.
In 1702 and 1712, at the former of which dates the town of Cana
contained nine hundred houses, the place was sacked by the English;
in 1724 by the French; and in 1727 by the Indians. During these and
later years other parts of the Isthmus were several times invaded by
corsairs, or by the armaments of England ostensibly by way of reprisal
for injuries inflicted on British commerce.
In 1713 Great Britain obtained an _asiento_ for supplying the Spanish
colonies with negro slaves,[XXXI‑20] and also the privilege of sending
annually to Portobello a five-hundred-ton vessel laden with European
merchandise. British factories were soon established at Cartagena
and Panamá. And British merchants, prompt to take advantage of this
license, poured in goods without limitation or restraint. Instead of a
vessel of five hundred tons they usually sent one of nearly double that
capacity, accompanied by two or three smaller ships, which, mooring in
some neighboring creek, supplied fresh bales of goods when the stock
on board the larger vessel became exhausted. The inspectors of the fair
and the officers of the revenue were bribed, and gradually the immense
commerce of the merchants of Seville was diverted, and the squadrons
that were wont to be the pride of Spain and the envy of the nations
sank to insignificant proportions, the galleons having little other
freight than that furnished by the mines and the royal tribute. In 1719
an effort was made to regain this lost ground, foreign commerce being
interdicted and increased facilities being given for domestic trade by
a cédula of December 1st.[XXXI‑21]
After the treaty of Seville was concluded between Spain and England,
complaints were frequently made of the depredations committed by Spanish
guarda costas on British commerce in the West Indies. The English
of course retaliated. Whereupon the Spaniards, not satisfied with
plundering British merchant-ships, maltreated their crews. A squadron
of four twenty-gun ships and two sloops was despatched to the Indies,
and accounts of the atrocities inflicted or permitted by the captains
of Spanish vessels were continually brought by vessels arriving from
the New World. In 1738 the house of commons determined to investigate
the matter, and to ascertain the number of ships that had been seized
by the Spaniards, the value of their cargoes, and the nature of the
alleged cruelties. An instance which was related before a committee
of inquiry appointed by the commons aroused a feeling of resentment
throughout Great Britain. One Captain Jenkins, master of a brig trading
from Glasgow, stated that his craft had been boarded by a guarda costa,
that his crew had been ill used, and one of his own ears cut off, the
captain of the vessel placing it in his hand and bidding him carry it
home to the king, whom he declared he would treat in the same manner
if he had him in his power. Discredit was afterward thrown on this
story; but whether it were true or false it was at the time believed by
the commons and the people of England. On the 14th of January 1739 a
convention was signed between the two countries, wherein Spain agreed
to indemnify British merchants for their losses, but the Spaniards
afterward refused to pay the stipulated sum. In consequence of which,
and of the maltreatment of British subjects, letters of marque and
reprisal were issued by the admiralty in July of that year, but not
until October following was war formally declared.
[Sidenote: A GENTLEMANLY ENGLISH COMMANDER.]
It was now resolved to despatch a strong squadron to the West
Indies[XXXI‑22] for the protection of British commerce, and, in
retaliation for the injuries inflicted by the Spaniards, to attack
Portobello. So strongly was this city fortified that during a debate
of the house of commons one of the members stated that it could not be
captured with less than fifty or sixty men-of-war; whereupon Captain
Edward Vernon, himself a member, happening to be present, rose and
said: "I will forfeit my life if I cannot take it with six ships."
The offer was promptly accepted; the captain was given the command
of an expedition, and being promoted to the rank of vice-admiral set
sail on the 20th of July 1739. Touching at Port Royal he obtained
a reënforcement of 240 troops, and after waiting in vain for more
land forces from England, put to sea with seven vessels, six of them
having on board 2,735 men and 370 guns; one was ordered to cruise off
Cartagena, that the commander might make good his promise to capture the
city with six ships only. On nearing the coast three Spanish war-vessels
were sighted and chased, but made good their escape, and found safe
shelter, as their captains supposed, under the cannon of the forts.
At daybreak on the 21st of November the British squadron entered the
harbor in line of battle. A brisk fire was at once opened from the
strongest fort of the Spaniards, known as the Iron Castle, and against
this point Vernon directed his attack. The _Hampton Court_, a vessel
with 70 guns and 500 men, led the way, and, anchoring almost within
a cable's length of the fort, bore for some minutes the whole brunt
of the fight. Within half an hour two other vessels came into action,
and soon the upper portion of the castle wall was battered down, when
many of the Spaniards abandoned their guns and fled. Observing this the
admiral ordered a lieutenant with forty sailors and a party of marines
to land and carry the fort by assault. He then anchored his own ship,
the _Burford_, within half a cable's length of the enemy's cannon, in
order to cover the storming party. He met with a warm reception, for
the Spaniards opened a point-blank fire on the _Burford_, and every gun
took effect. One shot passed through the fore-top-mast, another struck
within two inches of the main-mast, a third broke through the bulwarks
of the quarter-deck, close to the spot where Vernon stood, killing
two men and wounding five others. The stern of the admiral's barge
was shot away, and a large carronade on the main-deck was disabled.
But soon the flag-ship brought her starboard broadside to bear on
the castle, and at the first discharge drove the Spaniards from their
lower batteries; then swinging round on her cable she poured in another
volley from her larboard guns. The fire of her small arms commanded the
lower embrasures; the men meanwhile had made good their landing from
the boats; and soon the white flag was hoisted from the Iron Castle.
Firing was continued until dark from two other forts, which then guarded
the harbor of Portobello, but on the following morning the city, the
fortifications, and all the vessels in port were finally surrendered to
the English.[XXXI‑23]
Vernon would not allow his men to pillage the town[XXXI‑24] or molest
the inhabitants; but ten thousand pesos intended for the pay of the
garrison were found concealed, and distributed among the English
forces.[XXXI‑25] The most serviceable pieces of ordnance were placed
on board the fleet; the rest were spiked; the ammunition was secured,
and after blowing up all the fortifications of the city, Vernon, being
now reënforced by several vessels, returned to Port Royal, whence after
refitting his fleet he sailed on the 25th of February 1740 for the mouth
of the Chagre with six men-of-war, and several fire-ships, bombketches,
and tenders.
The castle of San Lorenzo which, it will be remembered, was demolished
by Morgan in 1671, had been rebuilt and strongly fortified. Vernon
now resolved to destroy it and thus strike another blow at Spain's
dominions in Tierra Firme; but first to punish the inhabitants of
Cartagena from which city the Spanish admiral, Don Blas, had sent him
while at Portobello a message which savored of insolence. The don had
accused him of fear, and remarked that "to take Cities and destroy Royal
Fortifications was an unusual and unexpected Way of making Reprisals."
This remark the British commander deemed sufficient excuse for shelling
the city, during which process the customhouse, the Jesuit college, a
church, and other buildings were laid in ruins though he did not succeed
in capturing Cartagena. The castle of San Lorenzo was surrendered with
but slight resistance; and after committing further depredations on the
coast Vernon set sail from the shores of Tierra Firme.
About three weeks after the declaration of war between England and
Spain, Captain George Anson arrived at Spithead from his cruise off
the coast of Africa and in the West Indies. He was placed in charge of
an armament consisting of six vessels with 1,510 men and 236 guns, and
was promised a force of infantry composed of several hundred choice
troops, the purpose of the expedition being to operate on the coast of
Peru, and thence to proceed northward, attack Panamá, and capture the
treasure-fleet.
[Sidenote: VERNON'S EXPEDITION.]
In 1741 Vernon, who was now at Jamaica, was placed in charge of the
largest fleet and army that had ever been despatched to the West
Indies. Twenty-nine ships of the line, with a large number of frigates,
bombketches, and fire-ships, manned by 15,000 seamen and having on board
about 12,000 troops, were here collected for a descent on the mainland.
Anson was directed to coöperate with Vernon by way of the Isthmus; and
had not these expeditions suffered a series of reverses, caused in part
by the vacillating policy of the British ministry, Spain's dominion in
the western world might now have come to an end.
[Sidenote: ANSON'S EXPEDITION.]
But in place of choice troops a number of raw recruits were placed on
board Anson's ships, the only veterans being invalids; and the departure
of his squadron was delayed until the 18th of September 1740. After
clearing the straits of Magellan they encountered a furious storm which
lasted for fifty-eight days. The vessels were parted, and on the 9th
of June in the following year the admiral's ship, the _Centurion_,
arrived at the island of Juan Fernandez with her crew prostrated by
scurvy. Here he was soon rejoined by two others of the squadron, and
after remaining a hundred and four days at the island set sail for the
coast of South America, sacking and burning the town of Paita and taking
several vessels, by the men on board one of which he was told that
Vernon had been defeated at Cartagena. It was resolved not to make any
attempt on Panamá; and after some further adventures Anson sailed toward
Manila, and captured in that vicinity a prize which rewarded him and his
followers for all their toil and suffering. This was a Spanish galleon
having on board nearly a million and a half of pesos. Anson then set his
face homeward and arrived in England by way of the Cape of Good Hope on
the 15th of June 1744, having occupied three years and nine months in
his circumnavigation.[XXXI‑26]
After his repulse at Cartagena Vernon returned to Jamaica, where he was
soon reënforced by four men-of-war and three thousand troops despatched
from England. On the 9th of March 1742 he sailed for Portobello,
intending to proceed thence to Panamá and capture that city. On arriving
at the Isthmus he found that the rainy season had already set in; his
men sickened, and a council of war being held it was resolved to return
once more to Jamaica. Hence he was soon afterward ordered home, the
remnant of his forces now mustering but a tenth part of the number that
had been intrusted to his command. Thus in disaster ended an expedition
sent to the conquest of an empire.
* * * * *
Notwithstanding the defeat of Vernon's expedition the settlements on
the North Sea had been so frequently laid waste that after 1748 there
was little intercourse between Spain and her colonies in Tierra Firme
and South America except by way of Cape Horn. The despatch of fleets
to the Isthmus was discontinued. Licenses were granted, however, to
vessels called register ships, and in 1764 a monthly line of packets was
established for intercommunication with Portobello and Cartagena. A few
years later restrictions on trade were removed by international treaty;
but long before the close of the eighteenth century the commerce of the
Isthmus declined, and the road from Panamá to Portobello could no longer
be called one of the chief commercial highways of the world. Agriculture
and manufactures were neglected; the mines were exhausted; and the trade
which had for more than two hundred years been the life-blood of Panamá
existed no more.