made a proposition to the Government to send Captain Keymis to find the
rich gold mine which had been pointed out to him by an Indian. If Keymis
should live to arrive at the place and fail to bring half a ton or more
of that rich ore of which he had shown a sample, Ralegh himself would
bear all the expense of the journey. "Though," said he, "it be a
difficult matter of exceeding difficulty for any man to find the same
acre of ground again, in a country desolate and overgrown, which he hath
seen but once, and that sixteen years since--which were hard enough to
do upon Salisbury Plain--yet that your lordships may be satisfied of the
truth, I am contented to adventure all I have (but my reputation) upon
Keymis's memory."
This proposition was rejected, and the poor knight lingered on in the
Tower, attended during part of the time by two Guiana Indians, Harry and
Leonard Regapo. In 1616, however, he at last recovered his liberty on
condition that he went to Guiana and brought back gold, but at the same
time the king refused to pardon him. Nevertheless he took up the matter
with an amount of enthusiasm which showed his entire confidence in its
ultimate success. All his own money and as much of his wife's as could
be spared was spent in fitting out the expedition, and he also got
contributions from many of his friends. The king even went so far as to
give him a commission to undertake a voyage to the south parts of
America, or elsewhere in America, inhabited by heathen and savage
people, with all the necessary rights of government and jurisdiction;
yet with all this the old sentence hung over his head.
The expedition of fourteen vessels started in March, 1617, but even from
the commencement the voyage was disastrous. First a gale was
encountered, which drove the fleet to take refuge in Cork Harbour, where
it lay until August. This seems to have put a damper on the commander,
who now began to realise how much depended on his success. He was
twenty-two years older than when he went on his first voyage to Guiana,
and most of those years he had spent in captivity. Is it any wonder that
when the excitement attendant on his release had gone off he became sick
and utterly prostrated? Such was his condition when the fleet arrived at
Cayenne, where he went to look for his Indian boy Harry, who had gone
back to his people and was now wanted as interpreter.
So low was Ralegh's condition that he had to be carried ashore, and
although he soon became a little better under a course of fresh meat and
fruits, he never wholly recovered. So great was his weakness, both of
mind and body, that he deputed Keymis to lead the party up the Orinoco,
while he rested at Cayenne; in a few days he would go on to Trinidad and
wait there until they returned. Keymis accordingly went on, accompanied
by young Walter Ralegh, a number of other gentlemen, and four hundred
soldiers. They arrived at the site of the supposed gold mine without
accident, but found that since the first expedition some Spaniards had
built "a town of sticks, covered with leaves," and this stood in the way
of their approach to the mine. Possibly Keymis now thought of his
master's expression in regard to St. Joseph, and did not care to "savour
of an ass" by leaving the enemy to interfere with his work. He therefore
attacked this town of St. Thome, and set it on fire. Unfortunately young
Ralegh was killed in the fight, and the thought of how he could tell
this bad news preyed upon the mind of Keymis until all relish for
gold-seeking was lost. The Spaniards took to the bush, from whence they
sallied forth on any small party of the English, and ultimately put them
into a state of confusion. The mine could not be found, the adventurers
began to complain that they had been fooled, and Keymis was so troubled
that he seemed neither to know nor care anything about treasure-seeking.
Ralegh had meanwhile arrived in the Gulf of Paria, where he received the
news of the burning of St. Thome and the death of his son from some
Indians. Presently Keymis arrived, utterly dejected, to find his master
broken down and more woe-begone than himself. Ralegh said he was undone,
and that Keymis was entirely to blame. Not even a sample of ore--the
king would believe him a liar and a cheat. Then, this attack on a
Spanish town! Did not Keymis remember that these were not the days of
the virgin queen, when to "singe the Spaniard's beard" was worthy of
praise? Did he not know that James was friendly with the king of Spain
and wanted to get from him a princess for his son Henry?
[Illustration: GOLD HUNTING.
(_From Gottfried's "Reisen."_)]
Keymis had been the intimate friend of Ralegh through all his troubles.
He had remained faithful even when threatened with the rack at the time
of the trial. As a kind of steward he had administered the prisoner's
estate, and was a trusted friend and confidant of the family. He had
seen young Walter grow up to manhood, and now through his fault the
youth had been killed. For the first time the bereaved father was angry
with his captain; perhaps if Keymis died the whole blame would be laid
upon his shoulders, and Ralegh be exonerated. He went to the cabin
allotted to him, loaded a pistol, shot himself, and then, as he feared
the wound was not mortal, finished the suicide by driving a long knife
into his heart.
Thus died poor Keymis, but unfortunately this did not make any
difference to his master. If Ralegh had been prepared to throw all the
responsibility on his lieutenant, the king could only be satisfied with
treasure. Even if James had been inclined to over-look the affair, the
Spanish ambassador would not condone such an offence. He is said to have
rushed into the royal presence with the cry of "Piracy! piracy! piracy!"
at the same time demanding the immediate capture and punishment of the
raiders. It followed, therefore, that Ralegh was arrested immediately on
his return, and finally executed under the old sentence, but by
decapitation instead of hanging.
His last days were passed with resignation and fortitude. His old spirit
was entirely broken, and although he petitioned the king for grace and
pardon, he did so in a hopeless way. He had many sympathisers, and to
satisfy them the king's printers issued a little book entitled "A
Declaration of the Demeanour and Carriage of Sir Walter Raleigh,"
obviously inspired by the king himself. Here was a thing unheard of
before or since; a sovereign excusing himself for his actions! If
anything were required to prove the prisoner's innocence, this was
sufficient. Did James want to salve his own conscience, or was it
intended to satisfy those who clamoured on account of the injustice of
the execution? No doubt many of the old sea dogs who had served under
Drake and Hawkins were still living, and remembered when Plymouth bells
rang at the news of fresh arrivals from the Indies. "But now, forsooth,
you must not burn down a thatched hovel without a great to-do being
made." If Spain wanted peace, why did her people murder a ship's company
in cold blood a little while before? Out upon it! The good old days had
passed and England was going to ruin.
However, even King James's sneaking friendship for Spain could not keep
back colonisation altogether. Something like moderation was introduced,
and only pirates pure and simple kept up the old traditions. As for the
king he hardly knew how to steer, what with the petitions for reprisals
from English seamen on the one hand, and complaints of the Spanish
ambassadors on the other. The result of this want of policy is well
shown in the case of Roger North one of the adventurers in the last
expedition of Ralegh, who, in 1619, wished to re-establish the colony in
the Oyapok, which had virtually sunk to nothing. An association called
the Amazon Company was formed, and, notwithstanding Spanish protests,
the king granted "Letters Patent," under which North got up an
expedition in four vessels. Then the Spanish ambassador began to storm,
and the weak king revoked the patent, calling upon the members of the
Company to renounce their rights. North, who had been warned that
something was going on, hurried up his preparations, and was off so
quickly that he sailed on the 30th of April, 1620, fifteen days before
the proclamation revoking his license was published.
On his return in January following he was arrested and sent to the
Tower, where he remained until July. Meanwhile his cargo from Guiana was
seized on the ground that it had been obtained from Spanish possessions,
but with all his willingness to oblige Spain the king could not get the
case proven. It followed, therefore, that North was released, and his
goods restored, but as the cargo was mainly tobacco it had become much
damaged by neglect.
This detention of North, and the consequent delay in sending out
supplies to the Oyapok, led to the downfall of the infant colony.
Hearing nothing from England the settlers became disheartened, and if it
had not happened that Dutch traders arrived there occasionally they
would have been starved. Even as it was one left after another until few
remained, and when, six years later, "the Company of Noblemen and
Gentlemen of England for the Plantation of Guiana" was formed, the
settlement had to be commenced anew. However, some of those who left
carried the English flag to the island of St. Christopher's, where a
settlement was commenced in 1624 by Thomas Warner. Thus, as Ralegh was
the father of English colonisation, so his beloved Guiana became the
parent of the British West Indies.
James the First died in March, 1625, and with him went the English
subservience to Spain, never to be restored. During his reign British
enterprise had been kept back; now it broke down all obstructions. True,
New England and Bermuda were settled during his reign, but they owed
little to him or his government. As soon as the Royal obstructionist was
dead, colonisation schemes came to the front. Before even a month had
passed, on the 14th of April, John Coke came forward with a proposition
to incorporate a company for the defence and protection of the West
Indies, for establishing a trade there, and for fitting out a fleet to
attack the Spanish settlements. About the same time, also, the
Attorney-General made some "notes" on the advantages derived by the
Spaniards and Dutch from their West Indian trade, showing that it was
neither safe nor profitable to England for them to remain absolute lords
of those parts, and suggesting that the new king should entertain the
matter and openly interpose, or else permit it to be done underhand;
then if it prospered he could make it his own at pleasure.
What was done in these particular cases does not appear, but that a new
policy was introduced is certain. In September following the case of
St. Christopher's was brought before the Privy Council, which apparently
confirmed what had been done, in taking possession of the island. In the
"information" laid over it was stated that Thomas Warner had discovered
that island, as well as Nevis, Barbados, and Montserrat, and had begun
the planting and colonising of these islands, until then only inhabited
by savages. King Charles was asked to take them under his royal
protection and grant Thomas Warner their custody as his lieutenant, with
the usual powers of jurisdiction.
The result was not altogether to the liking of the petitioners, Ralph
Merrifield and Thomas Warner, for in July, 1627, a grant of all the
Caribbees was made to the Earl of Carlisle. This was sweeping enough,
however, to suit those who wanted English colonies, however it ignored
the rights of the first settlers in St. Kitt's and Barbados, which
latter island had been settled a few months after the first.
Now, also, Roger North came forward with his story and got the revoked
patent renewed, so that he could go on with the settlement in the
Oyapok. For a time it did very well, but the tide had turned in favour
of the islands, and Guiana was soon abandoned to the Dutch and French.
The most important of the two islands first colonised was Barbados,
which, fortunately for her comfort, never suffered from such calamities
as befel the sister island of St. Christopher's. As far as the English
were concerned Barbados was discovered by a vessel going out to Leigh's
settlement, in Guiana, in 1605. A pillar was erected with the
inscription, "James, King of England and this island," but nothing was
done in the way of a settlement until immediately after Warner commenced
planting in St. Kitt's. The most intimate connection existed between
Barbados and Guiana from the earliest times, as in fact it does to the
present day, for Captain Powell, the commander of the little company of
pioneers, sent to his Dutch friend, Groenwegel, in Essequebo, for a
party of Arawak Indians to teach the new-comers how to plant provisions,
cotton, and tobacco.
In 1630 another group of islands was added by the granting of a patent
to the "Governor and Company of Adventurers for the Plantation of the
Islands of Providence, Henrietta, and the adjacent islands." Under this
charter possession was taken of the Bahamas, but little was done in the
way of settling them for about a century. Thus West Indian colonisation
was commenced, and claims made to all the smaller islands on behalf of
England.
But it is not to be supposed that France and Holland were going to let
everything go by default--on the contrary, they soon began to settle in
some of the very islands which had been granted to the Earl of Carlisle.
The Dutch, as we have seen, were traders from the beginning, preferring
the so-called contraband traffic with the natives and Spanish colonists
to anything like the raids of English or French. Yet, in their plodding
way they went on steadily, and as early as the year 1600 took possession
of the island of St. Eustatius. When the Spaniards awoke to the fact
that the Dutch were injuring their trade, they began to enforce all the
old prohibitions and seized the smugglers. But the Hollander commenced
to feel his power, and gave his enemy several lessons, which made him
feel that the United Provinces with their symbol of a bundle of darts
were not to be despised.
In 1615 the Dutch took the capital of Porto Rico, and in 1621 their West
India Company was formed with territorial and trading rights over all
the unoccupied countries of Africa and America. Suddenly as it were the
despised Hollander became a power in the West Indies, and the Company
was soon strong enough to conquer Brazil, which it must be remembered
was, with Portugal and all her colonies, then in the hands of Spain.
About the year 1627 Piet Heyn destroyed a Spanish fleet in Mataca Bay,
Cuba, the booty from which was something enormous. Altogether, the West
India Company was said to have captured 547 vessels, mainly off the
coast of America, the prize money from which amounted to thirty million
guilders (L2,500,000), while the damage to Spain was at least six times
as much.
Now also the French began to claim their share. In 1625 Mons. d'Enambuc
went on a piratical expedition to the Caribbean Sea, but without any
intention of founding a colony. However, off the Cayman's islands he was
attacked by a Spanish galleon of much superior force, and although he
succeeded at last in driving her off, his vessel was so crippled that he
had to put into St. Christopher's for repairs. Here he found Warner
already established, and with him a few Frenchmen. On account of his
condition and the beauty of the island, he became inclined to settle,
and as the English and French were then on good terms, Warner saw no
objection. The consequence was that St. Kitt's became divided between
the two nationalities, with results in the future most disastrous to
both.
At first, however, the assistance of the French was very welcome. The
Caribs were still a power in the smaller islands and gave a great deal
of trouble to the young colony. At first they were friendly, but when
the settlers wished to oppress them by taking away their lands and
compelling them to supply provisions, open war began. Hearing from an
Indian woman that a conspiracy was forming to destroy all the white men,
Warner determined to be beforehand with them. He massacred a hundred and
twenty of the men, took the women as slaves, and drove the remainder off
the island. But these powerful savages were by no mean conquered, for
those who escaped soon came back with three or four thousand of their
friends from neighbouring islands, and at first it appeared as if the
whites would have been utterly exterminated. By a supreme effort of both
French and English, however, this great invasion was repelled, the
defenders killing about two thousand, and capturing fifteen large
periaguas, with a loss to themselves of about a hundred, most of whom
died from poisoned arrows. This was a bond of union between French and
English, and Warner and d'Enambuc amicably divided the island between
them.
[Illustration: CARIB ATTACK ON A SETTLEMENT
(_From Gottfried's "Reisen."_)]
[Illustration]
V.
BUCCANEERS, FILIBUSTERS, AND PIRATES.
Now that settlements were commenced the old system of piracy was
somewhat discountenanced by the home governments, and many of the
adventurers began to become a little more civilised. But there was still
a large number of them who became known as buccaneers, filibusters,
freebooters, marooners, and brethren of the coast, who continued to
worry the Spaniards, and even to attack other nationalities on occasion.
They had taken to the trade, and, when no longer able to carry it on in
a quasi-legitimate manner, did so on their own lines.
The claim of Spain to the whole of America was the great cause of
offence. Had she been content with what her people could occupy, there
would have been little trouble, but the "dog in the manger" policy could
hardly be recognised by other nations. It followed, therefore, that when
complaints were made to France and England of the ravages on the Spanish
coasts, the sovereigns told the king of Spain to protect his own shores,
disclaiming on their own parts any responsibility whatever.
The earliest accounts of the buccaneers are confused with those of the
French corsairs, of which mention has been already made. They sailed
along the coast from one island to another, trading a little, capturing
Spanish vessels, fighting the guarda-costas, and now and again repairing
to some out-of-the-way place to put their ships in order or even to
assist the Caribs in their raids. The advantages of combination were
soon felt, and with these also the necessity for places of rendezvous.
Even the English adventurers became accustomed to obtain wood and water
from Dominica, but this island was not conveniently situated for the
French corsairs. They wanted an uninhabited place near enough to
Hispaniola and the track of the Spanish vessels for them to be quickly
pounced upon and for the corsairs to as quickly escape. Then there must
be a food supply, and on the great island of Hispaniola were countless
herds of wild cattle which ranged over a wilderness utterly depopulated.
The palmy days of the Hispaniola planter were over, and although he
imported negro slaves to some extent, he was virtually ruined. One after
another left for the newly discovered countries on the Main, and for
Peru and Mexico, leaving the island to a few merchants and wealthy
planters, who found it to their interest to remain. Hispaniola was
little more than a house of call on the road to the treasure countries,
which meant that although the port of St. Domingo was fortified, the
greater portion of the island was open to any one who chose to occupy
it.
Salt was a scarce commodity in those times, but it could be obtained in
some of the smaller islands, notably Tortuga, which for that reason
became the resort of the buccaneers. But the Indians had learnt how to
preserve meat without this useful substance, by smoking it over a fire
of green branches and leaves. Even Europeans knew something of this
process, although we believe they never preserved their beef and bacon
entirely without salt as did the Indians their game. The process was
very simple. Four sticks with forked ends were pushed into the ground,
and on these uprights a sort of rack of other sticks was laid to make an
open platform, where the pieces of meat were laid above a fire until
well dried and impregnated with smoke. This stage was called a boucan,
or barbecue, and from their using it to prepare supplies for their
voyages the corsairs became known as buccaneers.
There were no tinned provisions in those days, nor had the proper means
of keeping food on long voyages been yet perfected. It followed,
therefore, that a food supply in the Indies had to be provided, and the
Spaniards unintentionally did good service to their enemies by placing
hogs on most of the islands to breed and be available in emergencies.
It is obvious that the hunting of semi-wild animals and curing their
meat required time, and for that reason a division of labour was
initiated. While one party went cruising in search of Spanish vessels,
another ranged the country to capture and prepare the supplies against
their return. Thus a rendezvous became necessary, and in time
plantations were established in this neighbourhood to gradually develop
into a settlement. Now and again the Spaniards discovered these places,
but as they were generally of little value, their loss was of no
importance; if destroyed the buccaneers could easily escape to another
locality. When the enemy burnt their vessels, they easily built canoes
with which they soon captured others and became as strong as before. The
hunters grew to like their hardy life with its perfect liberty, and
became so inured to the climate and open air as to be utterly unlike the
effeminate planters. They were even little subject to the diseases of
the country, and could live for months at a time on nothing but meat. As
for clothes, they made these from the skins of animals, and all they
really required from outside was powder and lead for their firearms.
They became known as the brethren of the coast from their custom of each
choosing one comrade as a bosom friend and brother. Everything gained by
either was common to both, and the company were very strict in enforcing
their law against unfaithfulness in a companion, or unfair dealing in
any way among themselves. Sometimes they marooned a culprit by leaving
him alone on some small island to die of hunger, or perhaps to become a
"Crusoe" for many years. The wounded received compensation according to
a fixed tariff, from the common stock or from contributions; thus the
loss of an arm was valued at five hundred crowns, and other mutilations
at corresponding rates.
As the attacks of the Spaniards became more common, the small bands
united, and division of labour became more exact. Some were hunters of
wild boars, others of cattle, a few became planters, but the main body
were always sea rovers. At first the hunters were on good terms with the
Spanish planters and entered into engagements to supply them with meat.
A party would go off into the interior and stay away for months at a
time, eventually returning with large supplies borne on the backs of
their horses. During all this time they lived in rough shelters which
could be erected in an afternoon, and were much exposed to the
vicissitudes of the weather. Now they made up for their long term of
privation by carousing to their hearts' content, and when drunk, often
fought and killed each other. In the settlements there were generally a
few women, and these often became the cause of contentions; there were
also bond-servants who were treated most cruelly.
Sometimes they made incursions on the Spanish settlements, which led to
stronger efforts for their extermination that at last considerably
reduced their numbers. In fact, had it not been for the continual
accessions they would soon have died out, or have given up their trade
and settled down as planters. Hispaniola became at last almost
untenable, for the Spaniards, unable to find any other way of putting
them down, organised several hunting parties with the view to utterly
destroy the wild cattle and thus deprive them of their means of living.
Not that this was easily done, for it took many years, during which the
hunting parties from both sides fought and killed each other, committing
enormities which made the quarrel all the more bitter.