there arrived a patache,[35] coming from Porto-rico, to inform the king
of Spain that the army of England was at sea, with the design of taking
the said Porto-rico: upon which advice, the said king of Spain, in
order to succour it, had an armament prepared, of the number of twenty
ships, and of two thousand men, soldiers, and mariners; among which
ships, that named the St. Julian was retained, and my uncle was
commanded to make the voyage in it, by which I received extreme joy,
promising myself by this means to satisfy my desire: and for that
purpose I readily resolved to go with him; but whatever diligence could
be made to repair, victual, and equip the said ships, to enable them to
put to sea, when at the point of departure, there arrived news by
another patache, that it had been taken by the English; in consequence
of which, the said voyage was broken off, to my great regret, to find
myself thus frustrated in my hope.
[35] "Patache"--advice-boat.
Now, at the same time, the armament of the king of Spain, which was
accustomed to go every year to the Indies, was getting ready at the
said St. Lucar, where there arrived, by command of the king, a noble
named Don Francisque Colombe, a knight of Malta, to be general of the
said armament, who, seeing our vessel prepared and ready for service,
and knowing, by the report which had been made to him, that it was
strong and very good under sail for its burthen, resolved to make use
of it, and take it at the ordinary freight, which is one crown per ton
per month; so that I had occasion to rejoice seeing my hopes revive,
and the more so that the Provencal captain, my uncle, having been
retained by General Soubriago to serve elsewhere, and thus not able to
make the voyage, committed to me the charge of the said ship, to have
the care of it, which I accepted very willingly: and upon that we
sought the said Seigneur, General Colombe, to know if he would have it
for agreeable that I should make the voyage, which he freely granted,
with evidence of being well pleased, promising me his favour and
assistance, which he has not since denied me upon occasion.
The said armament set sail in the beginning of the month of January, in
the year 1599, and the wind blowing always very fresh, in six days
after we arrived in sight of the Canary Isles.
Leaving the said Canary Islands, we passed by the Gulf of Las Damas,
having the wind astern, so that in two months and six days after our
departure from St. Lucar, we got sight of an island named La Deseade,
which is the first island that pilots must necessarily recognise in
going to all the other islands and ports of the Indies.
This island is round and tolerably high from the sea, and is seven
leagues in circumference, full of wood and uninhabited, but there is
good anchorage on the eastern side.
[Illustration: ISLAND OF GUADALOUPE.]
From the said isle we passed to another island, called Guadaloupe,
which is very mountainous and inhabited by savages;[36] in it there are
numbers of good ports, in one of which, named Macou, we took in water,
and as we landed we saw more than three hundred savages, who fled into
the mountains at our approach, without it being in our power to
overtake them, any one of them being more quick in running than any of
our men who tried to follow them; seeing which, we returned to our
ships after having taken in some water and refreshments, such as
cabbages and fruits of pleasant taste.
[36] Guadaloupe. The first settlement in Guadaloupe was
established by the French in 1635, by Messrs. Du Plissis and
Olive.
This island is about twenty leagues in length and twelve in breadth,
and its form is shown in the following figure.
After having remained two days in the aforesaid port of Macou, on the
third we again put to sea, and passed between islands called Las
Virgines, which are in such quantity, that their number cannot be told
for certain; but although there are more than eight hundred discovered,
they are all desert and uninhabited; the land very high and full of
wood, both of palms and ramasques,[37] which are common, like oaks or
elms. There are a number of good ports and havens in the said isles.
[37] "Ramasques"--wide-spreading, branching, and bushy trees.
From these isles we sailed to the island of La Marguerite, where pearls
are fished. In this island there is a good town, which is called by the
same name, La Marguerite. The isle is very fertile in corn and fruits;
every day more than three hundred canoes leave the harbour of the said
town, which go about a league to sea to fish for pearls, in ten or
twelve fathoms water. The said fishing is done by negroes, slaves of
the king of Spain, who take a little basket under their arm, and with
it plunge to the bottom of the sea, and fill it with ostrormes, which
resemble oysters; then go up again into their canoes, and return to the
port to discharge them, in a spot destined for that purpose, when the
officers of the king of Spain receive them.
From this island we went to St. Juan de Porto-rico, which we found very
desolate; both the town, as well as the castle or fortress, which is
very strong; and the port also is very good, and sheltered from all
winds, saving the north-east, which blows strait into the harbour.
The town is very mercantile; it had been, shortly before, pillaged by
the English, who had left marks of their visit; most of the houses had
been burnt, and there were not four persons to be found there, except
some negroes, who told us that the merchants of the place had been for
the greater part carried off prisoners by the English, and the others,
who had been able to escape, had fled into the mountains, from whence
they had not yet dared to come back, on account of the apprehension
they had of the return of the English, who had loaded all the twelve
ships, of which their armament was composed, with sugar, hides, gold,
and silver: for we found still in the town quantities of sugar, hides,
canifiste,[38] honey of cane,[39] and preserves of ginger, which the
English could not take away. They carried off also fifty pieces of
artillery of cast iron, which they took in the fortress, into which we
went, and found all ruined, and the ramparts thrown down. There were
some Indians who had retired there, and had begun to reconstruct the
ramparts; the General inquired of them, how the place had been taken in
so short a time? One of them, who spoke tolerably good Spanish, said,
that neither the governor of the castle, nor the oldest men of the
country thought that within two leagues there was any place of landing,
according to the report which had been made by the pilots of the place,
who had even assured them, that for more than six leagues from the said
castle, there was no spot where an enemy could make a descent, which
was the cause that the governor kept less on his guard, and in which he
was much deceived, for at half a league from the castle, on the eastern
side, there was a place where the English landed very conveniently,
leaving their ships, which were of the burthen of two hundred, one
hundred and fifty, and one hundred tons, in the offing, near the said
spot, and took their time so well, that they arrived at night in the
roads without being perceived, no one apprehending such a thing. They
landed six hundred men, with the design of pillaging the town only, not
thinking of making any greater effect, considering the castle to be
stronger and better guarded. They brought with them three culverins, to
batter the defences of the town, and found themselves at the point of
daylight at the distance of a musket shot from it, to the great
astonishment of the inhabitants.
[38] Canifiste, from "Caneficier," the name given in the Antilles
to the cassia tree. Cassia fistula (Linn.)--the keleti of the
Caribs, producing the cassia Nigra of commerce.
[39] Honey of canes--molasses?
The said English placed two hundred men at the passage of a little
river, which is between the town and the castle, to prevent (as they
did) the soldiers of the guard of the castle, who were lodged in the
town, as well as the inhabitants who might endeavour to escape, from
entering the fortress; and the other four hundred men attacked the
town, where they found no resistance, so that in less than two hours
they were masters of it; and having learned that there were no soldiers
in the castle, nor any supply of provisions, on account of the governor
having, by order of the king of Spain, sent all that had been there to
Cartagena, where they thought that the enemy would make a descent,
hoping to receive other supplies from Spain, being the nearest port to
which their vessels came.
The English summoned the governor, and offered him good terms if he
would surrender; if not, that they would make him suffer all the rigor
of war; fearing which, the said governor surrendered, on condition that
his life should be safe, and embarked with the English, not daring to
return to Spain. It was only fifteen days since the English had
departed from the town, where they had remained a month.
After their departure, the aforesaid Indians had returned, and
endeavoured to repair the fortress, expecting the army of our general,
who caused a report to be made of the recital of those Indians, which
he sent to the king of Spain, and commanded the Indian who had first
spoken, to go and seek those who had fled into the mountains, who, on
his word, returned to their houses, receiving such contentment at
seeing the general and being delivered from the English, that they
forgot their past losses.
The said Island of Porto-rico is pretty agreeable, although it is a
little mountainous, as the following figure shows.[40]--It is filled
with quantities of fine trees, such as cedars, palms, firs, palmettoes,
and another kind of tree which is called sombrade,[41] from which, as it
grows, the tops of its branches, falling to the earth, take root
immediately, and produce other branches which fall and take root in the
same way. And I have seen these trees of such extent that they covered
more than a league and a quarter. It bears no fruit, but is very
agreeable, having a leaf like that of a laurel and a little more
tender.
[40] The town of Porto-rico was founded in 1510. It was attacked
by Drake and Hawkins in 1595, but the Spaniards, being apprised
of their coming, had made such preparations, that Drake was
forced to retire, after burning the Spanish ships that were in
the harbour. In 1598 an expedition was fitted out by George
Clifford, Earl of Cumberland, to conquer the island. He
disembarked his men secretly and attacked the town, when,
according to the Spanish accounts, he met with vigorous
resistance from the inhabitants (Champlain's account from
eyewitnesses and sufferers is very different); but in a few days
the garrison of four hundred men surrendered, and the whole
island submitted to the English. The possession of the island
being deemed of great importance, the Earl adopted the harsh
measure of exiling the inhabitants to Cartagena, and in spite of
the protests and remonstrances of the unfortunate Spaniards, the
plan was put in execution; a few only escaped. However the
English soon found it impossible to keep the island; a grievous
malady carried off three-fourths of the troops. Cumberland,
deceived in his hopes, returned to England, leaving the command
to Sir John Berkeley. The mortality spreading daily more and
more, forced the English to evacuate the island, and the
Spaniards soon after resumed possession of their dwellings.
Champlain's account of the state of the island after the
departure of the English, and of the cowardice of the governor,
is curious; there is, however, some confusion in his dates, and
as to the time that the English occupation lasted.
[41] Sombrade--from "sombra," Span.--leafy shade. "Ficus americana
maxima," the "Clusea rosea" of St. Domingo, or "Figuier maudit
marron."
[Illustration: ISLAND OF PORTO RICO.]
There are also, in the said island, quantities of good fruits, such as
plantes,[42] oranges, lemons of strange size,[43] ground gourds, which
are very good, algarobes,[44] pappittes,[45] and a fruit named
coracon,[46] because it is in the form of a heart, of the size of the
fist, and of a yellow and red colour; the skin very delicate, and when
it is pressed, it gives out an odoriferous humour; and that which is
good in this fruit is like thick milk, and has a taste like sugared
cream.
[42] Plantes--"Plantano" of the Spaniards, a species of banana,
called in the Canaries "plantano."
[43] Lemons of strange size--Shaddock?
[44] Algarobe. See forward, page 25.
[45] Pappette--"Curica papaia" (Linn.)--papaw-tree.
[46] Coracon. Anona Muricata, or Corassol, from the Spanish
"Corazon,"--heart, so called from the shape of the fruit. Some
writers derived the name from Curacoa, supposing the seed to have
been brought by the Dutch from that island. The native name was
"memin."
There are many other fruits which are not much esteemed, although they
are good; there is also a root called "cassave"[47] which the Indians
eat instead of bread.
[47] Cassava--Jatropha Manihot.
There grows neither corn nor wine in all this island. In it there are a
great quantity of cameleons which, it is said, live on air; this I
cannot assure although I have seen them many times. It has the head
rather pointed, the body somewhat long for its size, that is to say, of
one foot and a half, and has only two legs, which are in front; the
tail very pointed, the colours mingled grey and yellowish. The said
cameleon is here represented.[48]
[48] See frontispiece.
The best merchandise in the island is sugar, ginger, canifiste, honey
of canes, tobacco, quantity of hides of oxen, cows, and sheep. The air
is very hot, and there are little birds which resemble parrots, called
perriquitos, of the size of a sparrow, with a round tail, and which are
taught to speak: there are a great number in that isle.
The said island is about seventy leagues in length and forty in
breadth, surrounded by good ports and havens, and lies east and west.
We remained at Porto-rico about a month; the general left about three
hundred soldiers, as garrison in the fortress, and caused forty-six
pieces of brass cannon, which had been at Blavet, to be placed there.
On leaving Porto-rico our general divided our galleons into three
squadrons. He retained four with him, and sent three to Porto-bello,
and three to New Spain, of which number was the vessel in which I was;
and each galleon had its patache. The said general went to Terra-Firma,
and we coasted all the Island of St. Domingo on the north side, and
went to a port of the said island, named Porto Platte, to inquire if
there were any strange vessels on the coast, because no foreigners are
permitted to traffic there, and those who do go there, run the risk of
being hung or sent to the galleys, and their ships confiscated; and to
keep them in greater fear of approaching the land, the king of Spain
gives freedom to any negroes who may discover a foreign vessel and give
notice to the general of the army, or to the governor; and there are
negroes who would go a hundred and fifty leagues on foot, night and
day, to give such notice and acquire their liberty.
We landed at Porto Platte, and went about a league inland without
meeting any one, excepting a negro who was preparing to go and give
notice, but meeting with us, he went no farther, and informed our
"admiral" that there were two French ships at the port of Mancenilla;
where the said admiral resolved to go, and for that purpose we left the
said Porto Platte, which is a good port sheltered from all winds, and
where there are three, four, and five fathoms water.
From the above Porto Platte we proceeded to the port of Mancenilla, at
which port we learned that the aforesaid two vessels were at the port
of Mosquittes, near La Tortue, which is a little island thus named,
opposite the entrance of the said port, where, arriving the next day
about three o'clock in the afternoon, we perceived the above two ships,
which were putting to sea to avoid us, but too late; seeing which, and
that there were no means of escape, the crew of one of the vessels,
which was fully a league at sea, abandoned their ship, and having
thrown themselves into their boat, escaped to land. The other ship ran
aground and broke to pieces, at the same time the crew escaped to land
like the other, and there only remained one mariner in it, who, being
lame and somewhat ill, could not fly. He told us that the vessels which
were lost were from Dieppe.
There is a very good entrance to the port of Mosquittes, of more than
two thousand paces in width, and there is a hidden sand-bank, so that
it is necessary to keep near to the land on the east side in entering
the said port, in which there is good anchorage; there is an island
inside where there is shelter from the north wind, which strikes
directly into the harbour. This place is tolerably pleasant from the
number of trees which grow there; the land is rather high; but there
are such quantities of small flies, like chesans, or gnats, which sting
in so strange a fashion, that if a man were to go to sleep and should
be stung in the face, puffy swellings of a red colour, enough to
disfigure him, would rise from the sting.
Having learned from the lame mariner who was taken in the French
vessel, that there were thirteen great ships, French, English, and
Flemish, half armed for war, half with merchandise, our admiral
resolved to go and take them at the port of St. Nicolas where they
were, and for that purpose prepared three galleons of the burthen of
five hundred tons each, and four pataches. We proceeded in the evening
to cast anchor in a bay called Monte Christo, which is very good and
sheltered from the south-east and from the west, and is remarkable for
a mountain which is straight above the harbour, so high that it can be
discerned from fifteen leagues at sea. The said mountain is very white
and shining in the sun.
For two leagues round the said harbour the land is rather low, covered
with a quantity of wood, and there is a very good fishery, and a good
port under the mountain.
The following morning we proceeded to Cape St. Nicolas to seek the
aforesaid ships, and about three o'clock arrived in the bay of the said
Cape, and cast anchor as near as it was possible, the wind being
adverse to our entering.
Having anchored, we perceived the vessels of the above mentioned
merchants, at which our admiral rejoiced greatly, being assured of
taking them. All the night we did all that was possible to endeavour to
enter the harbour, and when morning came, the admiral took counsel of
the captains and pilots as to what was to be done. They told him that
the worst they had to think of was what the enemies might do to escape;
that it was impossible for them to fly, saving under favour of the
night, having the wind fair; that, in fact they would not hazard it in
the day-time, seeing their seven armed ships; also that if they wished
to make resistance, they would place their vessels at the entrance of
the harbour, anchored stem and stern, with all their guns on one side,
and their tops well fenced with cables and hides, and that if they saw
that they were getting the worst, they would abandon their ships, and
throw themselves on land. To prevent this, the admiral should advance
his ships as near to the harbour as possible, batter the enemies with
his cannon, and land one hundred of his best soldiers to prevent their
so escaping. This plan was resolved on, but the enemies did not do as
it had been expected; for they made their preparations during the
night, and when the morning came they set sail and came straight
towards our ships, by which they must of necessity pass, in order to
get the wind of us. This resolution changed the courage of the
Spaniards, and softened their rhodomontades. It was then for us to lift
anchor, and with such promptitude, that in the admiral's ship they cut
the cable at the hawse-hole, not having time to raise the anchor. So we
also set sail, giving and receiving cannonades. At last they gained the
wind on us, and we pursued them all day and the following night until
the morning, when we saw them four leagues from us, which our admiral
perceiving, he abandoned the pursuit to continue our route; but it is
very certain that if he had wished he could have taken them, having
better ships, more men and munitions of war. The foreign vessels were
only preserved by default of courage of the Spaniards.
[Illustration: A HARBOUR IN ST DOMINGO.]
During this chase, there happened a laughable thing which deserves to
be related. A patache of four or five tons was seen mingled with our
ships. It was hailed frequently, as to whence it came, with orders to
lower the sails, but there was no reply: and although some guns were
fired at it, it continued to go before the wind, which moved our
admiral to have it chased by two of our pataches, which, in less than
two hours, overtook and approached it, calling out always for the sails
to be lowered, without any answer; nor would the soldiers board it;
although no one was seen at the helm, so that the commander of the
pataches said that it was steered by a devil, and forced the soldiers,
as many as twenty, by menaces, to go on board, who found nothing; they
only brought away the sails, and left the hull to the mercy of the sea.
A report being made of this to the admiral, and of the fright that the
soldiers had shewn, it gave matter for laughter to all.
Leaving the island of St. Domingo, we continued our route to New Spain.
The aforesaid island of St. Domingo is large, being one hundred and
fifty leagues long, and sixty broad, very fertile in fruits, cattle,
and good merchandise, such as sugar, canifiste, ginger, honey of canes,
cotton, hides of oxen, and some furs. There are numerous good ports,
and good anchorage, and only one town, named L'Espaignolle,[49]
inhabited by Spaniards; the rest of the population is Indian,
good-natured people, and who much like the French nation, with whom
they traffic as often as they can, but this is without the knowledge of
the Spaniards. It is also the place where the French trade the most in
those quarters, and where they have most access, although with little
freedom.
[49] Now San Domingo.
This country is rather hot, and particularly mountainous; there are no
mines of gold or silver, but only of copper.
Leaving, then, this island, we coasted along the island of Cuba, on the
south side, the land rather high, and proceeded to reconnoitre some
small islands, which are called the Caymans, to the number of six or
seven. In three of them there are three good harbours, but it is a
dangerous passage, on account of the shallows and banks which are
there, and it is not good to adventure in it unless the route is well
known.