On the Spanish Main
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[Illustration: CAPTAIN WILLIAM DAMPIER]
ON THE SPANISH MAIN
OR, SOME ENGLISH FORAYS ON THE
ISTHMUS OF DARIEN. WITH A DESCRIPTION
OF THE BUCCANEERS AND A
SHORT ACCOUNT OF OLD-TIME
SHIPS AND SAILORS
BY
JOHN MASEFIELD
WITH TWENTY-TWO ILLUSTRATIONS AND A MAP
METHUEN & CO.
36 ESSEX STREET W.C.
LONDON
_First Published in 1906_
THE RIVERSIDE PRESS LIMITED, EDINBURGH.
TO
JACK B. YEATS
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I
PAGE
DRAKE'S VOYAGE TO THE WEST INDIES 1
His quarrel with the Spaniards--His preliminary raids--His
landfall--The secret harbour
CHAPTER II
THE ATTACK ON NOMBRE DE DIOS 15
The treasure of the Indies--The Bastimentos--A Spanish herald
CHAPTER III
THE CRUISE OFF THE MAIN 26
The secret haven--The cruise of the pinnaces--Cartagena--Death
of John Drake
CHAPTER IV
THE ROAD TO PANAMA 55
The Maroons--The native city--The great tree--Panama--The
silver train--The failure--Venta Cruz
CHAPTER V
BACK TO THE MAIN BODY 74
The treasure train--The spoil--Captain Tetu hurt
CHAPTER VI
THE ADVENTURE OF THE RAFT 88
Drake's voyage to the Catives--Homeward bound--The interrupted
sermon
CHAPTER VII
JOHN OXENHAM 98
The voyage--His pinnace--Into the South Sea--Disaster--His
unhappy end
CHAPTER VIII
THE SPANISH RULE IN HISPANIOLA 106
Rise of the Buccaneers--The hunters of the wild
bulls--Tortuga--Buccaneer politics--Buccaneer customs
CHAPTER IX
BUCCANEER CUSTOMS 129
Mansvelt and Morgan--Morgan's raid on Cuba--Puerto del
Principe
CHAPTER X
THE SACK OF PORTO BELLO 148
The Gulf of Maracaibo--Morgan's escape from the Spaniards
CHAPTER XI
MORGAN'S GREAT RAID 168
Chagres castle--Across the isthmus--Sufferings of the
Buccaneers--Venta Cruz--Old Panama
CHAPTER XII
THE SACK OF PANAMA 197
The burning of the city--Buccaneer excesses--An abortive
mutiny--Home--Morgan's defection
CHAPTER XIII
CAPTAIN DAMPIER 218
Campeachy--Logwood cutting--The march to Santa Maria
CHAPTER XIV
THE BATTLE OF PERICO 245
Arica--The South Sea cruise
CHAPTER XV
ACROSS THE ISTHMUS 276
The way home--Sufferings and adventures
CHAPTER XVI
SHIPS AND RIGS 291
Pavesses--Top-arming--Banners--Boats
CHAPTER XVII
GUNS AND GUNNERS 298
Breech-loaders--Cartridges--Powder--The gunner's art
CHAPTER XVIII
THE SHIP'S COMPANY 311
Captain--Master--Lieutenant--Warrant officers--Duties and
privileges
CHAPTER XIX
THE CHOOSING OF WATCHES 322
The petty tally--Food--Work--Punishments
CHAPTER XX
IN ACTION 334
INDEX 341
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
PAGE
CAPTAIN WILLIAM DAMPIER _Frontispiece_
NOMBRE DE DIOS 12
CARTAGENA 26
CARTAGENA IN 1586, SHOWING THE DOUBLE HARBOUR 40
The ship in the foreground may be Drake's flagship, the
_Bonaventure_
AN ELIZABETHAN WARSHIP 49
A pinnace beyond, to the left
SHIP AND FLYING-FISH 95
A BUCCANEER'S SLAVE, WITH HIS MASTER'S GUN 114
A barbecue in right lower corner
OLD PORT ROYAL 132
PUERTO DEL PRINCIPE 142
PORTO BELLO, CIRCA 1740, SHOWING THE SITUATION AND DEFENCES OF
THE CITY 150
THE FIRESHIP DESTROYING THE "SPANISH ADMIRAL" 164
Castle de la Barra in background
CHAGRES (CIRCA 1739) 173
THE ISTHMUS, SHOWING MORGAN'S LINE OF ADVANCE 180
NEW PANAMA 195
THE BATTLE OF PANAMA 200
SIR HENRY MORGAN 210
A DESCRIPTION OF ARICA 266
A DESCRIPTION OF HILO 274
AN ELIZABETHAN GALLEON 293
AN ELIZABETHAN GALLEON 297
A GALLIASSE 310
THE "SOVEREIGN OF THE SEAS" 323
MAP OF THE BUCCANEER CRUISING GROUNDS 340
ON THE SPANISH MAIN
CHAPTER I
DRAKE'S VOYAGE TO THE WEST INDIES
His quarrel with the Spaniards--His preliminary raids--His
landfall--The secret harbour
Francis Drake, the first Englishman to make himself "redoubtable to the
Spaniards" on the Spanish Main, was born near Tavistock about the year
1545. He was sent to sea, as a lad, aboard a Channel coaster engaged in
trade with the eastern counties, France and Zeeland. When he was
eighteen years of age he joined his cousin, John Hawkins, then a great
and wealthy merchant, engaged in the slave trade. Four years later he
sailed with Hawkins on a memorable trading voyage to the Spanish Main.
On this occasion he commanded a small vessel of fifty tons.
The voyage was unfortunate from the beginning, for the Spaniards had
orders from their King to refuse to trade with any foreigners. Before
the English could get rid of their freight the ships of their squadron
were severely battered by a hurricane, so that they were forced to put
into San Juan d'Ulloa, the port of Vera Cruz, to refit. While they lay
there a Spanish fleet arrived, carrying a vast quantity of gold and
silver for transhipment to Spain. It was not to Hawkins' advantage to
allow this Spanish force to enter the haven, for he feared that they
would treat him as a pirate if they had an opportunity to do so.
However, the Spaniards came to terms with him, an agreement was signed
by both parties, and the Spanish ships were allowed into the port. The
next day the Spaniards treacherously attacked the English squadron, sank
one of the ships at her moorings, killed many of the men, captured a
number more, and drove the survivors to sea in Drake's ship the
_Judith_, and a larger ship called the _Minion_. It was this treacherous
attack (and, perhaps, some earlier treachery not recorded) which made
Drake an implacable enemy of the Spaniards for the next twenty-eight
years.
After the disaster at San Juan d'Ulloa, Drake endeavoured to obtain some
recompense for the losses he had sustained. But "finding that no
recompence could be recovered out of Spain by any of his own means, or
by her Majesties letters; he used such helpes as he might by two
severall Voyages into the West Indies." In the first of these two
voyages, in 1570, he had two ships, the _Dragon_ and the _Swan_. In the
second, in 1571, he sailed in the _Swan_ without company. The _Swan_ was
a small vessel of only five and twenty tons, but she was a "lucky" ship,
and an incomparable sailer. We know little of these two voyages, though
a Spanish letter (quoted by Mr Corbett) tells us of a Spanish ship he
took; and Thomas Moone, Drake's coxswain, speaks of them as having been
"rich and gainfull." Probably Drake employed a good deal of his time in
preparing for a future raid, for when he ventured out in earnest in 1572
he showed himself singularly well acquainted with the town he attacked.
The account from which we take our information expressly states that
this is what he did. He went, it says, "to gaine such intelligences as
might further him to get some amends for his losse. And having, in those
two Voyages, gotten such certaine notice of the persons and places aymed
at, as he thought requisite; and thereupon with good deliberation,
resolved on a third Voyage, he accordingly prepared his Ships and
Company ... as now followes further to be declared."
There can be little doubt that the two tentative voyages were highly
profitable, for Drake was able to fit out his third expedition with a
care and completeness almost unknown at that time. The ships were
"richly furnished, with victuals and apparel for a whole year: and no
lesse heedfully provided of all manner of Munition, Artillery,
Artificers, stuffe and tooles, that were requisite for such a Man-of-war
in such an attempt." He himself, as Admiral of the expedition, commanded
the larger ship, the _Pascha_ of Plymouth, of seventy tons. His younger
brother, John Drake, sailed as captain of the _Swan_. In all there were
seventy-three men and boys in the expedition; and we read that they were
mostly young men--"the eldest ... fifty, all the rest under thirty."
They were all volunteers--a fact that shows that Drake had gained a
reputation for luck in these adventures. Forty-seven of the
seventy-three sailed aboard the _Pascha_; while the _Swan_ carried the
remaining twenty-six, probably with some inconvenience. Carefully stowed
away in the holds of the two vessels were "three dainty Pinnases, made
in Plimouth, taken asunder all in pieces, to be set up as occasion
served." This instance of Drake's forethought makes it very clear that
the expedition had been planned with extreme care. The comfort of the
men had been studied: witness the supply of "apparell." There was a
doctor aboard, though he does not seem to have been "a great proficient"
in his art; and the expedition was so unusually healthy that we feel
convinced that Drake had some specific for the scurvy.
"On Whitsunday Eve, being the 24 of May, 1572," the two ships "set sayl
from out of the Sound of Plimouth," with intent to land at Nombre de
Dios (Name of God) a town on the northern coast of the Isthmus of
Darien, at that time "the granary of the West Indies, wherein the golden
harvest brought from Peru and Mexico to Panama was hoarded up till it
could be conveyed into Spain." The wind was steady from the north-east
the day they sailed, so that the watchers from the shore must soon have
lost sight of them. No doubt the boats of all the ships in the Sound
came off to give the adventurers a parting cheer, or, should they need
it, a tow to sea. No doubt the two ships were very gay with colours and
noisy with the firing of farewells. Then at last, as the sails began to
draw, and the water began to bubble from the bows, the trumpeters
sounded "A loath to depart," the anchor came to the cathead, and the
boats splashed back to Plymouth, their crews jolly with the parting
glasses.
The wind that swept the two ships out of port continued steady at
north-east, "and gave us a very good passage," taking them within sight
of Porto Santo, one of the Madeiras, within twelve days of their leaving
Plymouth. The wind continued fair when they stood to the westward, after
sighting the Canaries, so that neither ship so much as shortened sail
"untill 25 dayes after," when the men in the painted tops descried the
high land of Guadaloupe. They stood to the south of Guadaloupe, as
though to pass between that island and Dominica, but seeing some Indians
busily fishing off a rocky island to the south of Dominica they
determined to recruit there before proceeding farther. This island was
probably Marygalante, a pleasant island full of trees, a sort of summer
fishing ground for the Dominican Indians. There is good anchorage off
many parts of it; and Drake anchored to the south, sending the men
ashore to live in tents for their refreshment. They also watered their
ships while lying at anchor "out of one of those goodly rivers which
fall down off the mountain." Running water was always looked upon as
less wholesome than spring water; and, perhaps, they burnt a bag of
biscuit on the beach, and put the charcoal in the casks to destroy any
possible infection. They saw no Indians on the island, though they came
across "certain poore cottages built with Palmito boughs and branches,"
in which they supposed the Indians lodged when engaged upon their
fishery. Having filled the casks, and stowed them aboard again, the
ships weighed anchor, and sailed away south towards the mainland. On the
fifth day, keeping well to seaward, thirty miles from the shore, to
avoid discovery, they made the high land of Santa Martha on "the Terra
Firma." Having made the landfall they sailed westward into the Gulf of
Darien, and in six days more (during two of which the ships were
becalmed) they came to a secret anchorage which Drake had discovered in
his former voyage. He had named it Port Pheasant, "by reason of the
great store of those goodly fowls which he and his Company did then
dayly kill and feed on in that place." "It was a fine round Bay, of very
safe harbour for all winds, lying between two high points, not past half
a cable's length (or a hundred yards) over at the mouth, but within
eight or ten cables' length every way, having ten or twelve fadome
water, more or lesse, full of good fish, the soile also very fruitfull."
Drake had been there "within a year and few days before," and had left
the shore clear of tangle, with alleys and paths by which men might walk
in the woods, after goodly fowls or otherwise; but a year of that
steaming climate had spoiled his handiwork. The tangle of many-blossomed
creepers and succulent green grasses had spread across the paths "as
that we doubted at first whether this were the same place or no." We do
not know where this romantic harbour lies, for the Gulf of Darien is
still unsurveyed. We know only that it is somewhere nearly equidistant
from Santiago de Tolu (to the east) and Nombre de Dios (to the west).
Roughly speaking, it was 120 miles from either place, so that "there
dwelt no Spaniards within thirty-five leagues." Before the anchors were
down, and the sails furled Drake ordered out the boat, intending to go
ashore. As they neared the landing-place they spied a smoke in the
woods--a smoke too big to come from an Indian's fire. Drake ordered
another boat to be manned with musketeers and bowmen, suspecting that
the Spaniards had found the place, and that the landing would be
disputed. On beaching the boats they discovered "evident markes" that a
Plymouth ship, under the command of one John Garret, had been there but
a day or two before. He had left a plate of lead, of the sort supplied
to ships to nail across shot-holes, "nailed fast to a mighty great
tree," some thirty feet in girth. On the lead a letter had been cut:
CAPTAIN DRAKE,
if you fortune to come to this Port, make hast away;
for the Spanyards which you had with you here the last year, have
bewrayed this place, and taken away all that you left here. I
departed from hence this present 7 of July, 1572.
Your very loving friend,
JOHN GARRET.
The smoke was from a fire which Garret and his men had kindled in a
great hollow tree, that was probably rotted into touchwood. It had
smouldered for five days or more, sending up a thick smoke, to warn any
coming to the harbour to proceed with caution.
The announcement that the place was known to the Spaniards did not weigh
very heavily upon Drake; nor is it likely that he suffered much from
the loss of his hidden stores, for nothing of any value could have been
left in such a climate. He determined not to leave "before he had built
his Pinnaces," and therefore, as soon as the ships were moored, he
ordered the pieces to be brought ashore "for the Carpenters to set up."
The rest of the company was set to the building of a fort upon the beach
by the cutting down of trees, "and haling them together with great
Pullies and halsers." The fort was built in the form of a pentagon, with
a sort of sea-gate opening on the bay, for the easy launching of the
pinnaces. This gate could be closed at night by the drawing of a log
across the opening. They dug no trench, but cleared the ground instead,
so that for twenty yards all round the stockhouse there was nothing to
hinder a marksman or afford cover to an enemy. Beyond that twenty yards
the forest closed in, with its wall of living greenery, with trees "of a
marvellous height" tangled over with the brilliant blossoms of many
creepers. The writer of the account seems to have been one of the
building party that sweated the logs into position. "The wood of those
trees," he writes, "is as heavie, or heavier, than Brasil or Lignum
Vitae, and is in colour white."
The very next day an English barque came sailing into the anchorage,
with two prizes, in her wake--"a Spanish Carvell of Sivell," which had
despatches aboard her for the Governor of Nombre de Dios, and a shallop
with oars, picked up off Cape Blanco to the eastward. She was the
property of Sir Edward Horsey, at that time Governor of the Isle of
Wight, a gallant gentleman, who received "sweetmeats and Canarie wine"
from French pirates plying in the Channel. Her captain was one James
Rawse, or Rause; and she carried thirty men, some of whom had been with
Drake the year before. Captain Rause, on hearing Drake's intentions, was
eager "to joyne in consort with him." We may well imagine that Drake
cared little for his company; but conditions were agreed upon, an
agreement signed, and the two crews set to work together. Within seven
days the pinnaces had been set up, and launched, and stored with all
things necessary. Then early one morning (the 20th of July) the ships
got their anchors, and hoisted sail for Nombre de Dios, arriving three
days later at the Isles of Pines, a group of little islands covered with
fir-trees, not far to the west of the mouth of the Gulf of Darien. At
the Pine Islands they found two frigates of Nombre de Dios, "lading
plank and timber from thence," the soft fir wood being greatly in demand
on the mainland, where the trees were harder, and difficult to work. The
wood was being handled by negroes, who gave Drake some intelligence of
the state of affairs at the little town he intended to attack. They said
that the town was in a state of siege, expecting to be attacked at any
moment by the armies of the Cimmeroons, who had "neere surprised it"
only six weeks before. The Cimmeroons were "a black people, which about
eighty yeares past, fledd from the Spaniards their Masters, by reason of
their cruelty, and are since growne to a nation, under two Kings of
their owne: the one inhabiteth to the west, th'other to the East of the
way from Nombre de Dios to Panama." They were much dreaded by the
Spaniards, with whom they were at constant war. The late alarm had
caused the Governor to send to Panama for troops, and "certaine
souldiers" were expected daily to aid in the defence of the town.
Having gathered this intelligence Drake landed the negroes on the
mainland, so that they might rejoin their countrymen if they wished to
do so. In any case, by landing them so far from home he prevented them
from giving information of his being in those waters. "For hee was loath
to put the towne to too much charge (which hee knew they would
willingly bestowe) in providing before hand, for his entertainment." But
being anxious to avoid all possibility of discovery "he hastened his
going thither, with as much speed and secrecy as possibly he could." It
had taken him three days to get to the Isles of Pines from his secret
harbour--a distance certainly not more than 120 miles. He now resolved
to leave the three ships and the carvel--all four grown more or less
foul-bottomed and slow--in the care of Captain Rause, with just
sufficient men to work them. With the three dainty pinnaces and the
oared shallop that Rause had taken, he hoped to make rather swifter
progress than he had been making. He took with him in the four boats
fifty-three of his own company and twenty of Captain Rause's men,
arranging them in order according to the military text-book: "six
Targets, six Firepikes, twelve Pikes, twenty-four Muskets and Callivers,
sixteene Bowes, and six Partizans, two Drums, and two Trumpets"--making
seventy-four men in all, the seventy-fourth being the commander, Drake.
Having furnished the boats for the sea with his usual care Drake parted
company, and sailed slowly to the westward, making about fifteen miles a
day under oars and sails. Perhaps he sailed only at night, in order to
avoid discovery and to rest his men. Early on the morning of the 28th
July they landed "at the Island of Cativaas," or Catives, off the mouth
of the St Francis River. Here Drake delivered them "their severall
armes, which hitherto he had kept very faire and safe in good caske," so
that neither the heavy dew nor the sea-water should rust them or wet the
powder. He drilled them on the shore before the heat of the sun became
too great, and after the drill he spoke to them "after his manner,"
declaring "the greatnes of the hope of good things that was there, the
weaknesse of the towne being unwalled, and the hope he had of prevailing
to recompence his wrongs ... especially ... as hee should be utterly
undiscovered." In the afternoon, when the sun's strength was past, they
set sail again, standing in close to the shore "that wee might not be
descried of the watch-house." By sunset they were within two leagues of
the point of the bay to the north-north-east of the town; and here they
lowered their sails, and dropped anchor, "riding so untill it was darke
night." When the night had fallen they stood in shore again, "with as
much silence as wee could," till they were past the point of the harbour
"under the high land," and "there wee stayed all silent, purposing to
attempt the towne in the dawning of the day, after that wee had reposed
ourselves for a while."
NOMBRE DE DIOS
Nombre de Dios was founded by Diego di Niqueza early in the sixteenth
century, about the year 1510. It received its name from a remark the
founder made on his first setting foot ashore: "Here we will found a
settlement in the name of God." It was never a large place, for the bay
lay exposed to the prevalent winds, being open to the north and
north-east. There was fair holding ground; but the bay was shallow and
full of rocks, and a northerly gale always raised such a sea that a ship
was hardly safe with six anchors out. The district was very unhealthy,
and the water found there was bad and in little quantity. There was,
however, a spring of good water on an island at the mouth of the
harbour. To the shoreward there were wooded hills, with marshy ground on
their lower slopes, feeding a little river emptying to the north of the
town. The houses came right down to the sea, and the trees right down to
the houses, so that "tigers [_i.e._ jaguars] often came into the town,"
to carry away dogs, fowls, and children. Few ships lay there without
burying a third of their hands; for the fever raged there, as it rages
in some of the Brazilian ports at the present time. The place was also
supposed to favour the spread of leprosy. The road to Panama entered the
town at the south-east; and there was a gate at this point, though the
town was never walled about. The city seems to have been built about a
great central square, with straight streets crossing at right angles.
Like Cartagena and Porto Bello, it was as dull as a city of the dead
until the galleons came thither from Cartagena to take on board "the
chests of gold and silver" received from the Governor of Panama and the
golden lands to the south. When the galleons anchored, the merchants
went ashore with their goods, and pitched sailcloth booths for them in
the central square, and held a gallant fair till they were sold--most of
the bartering being done by torchlight, in the cool of the night. Panama
was distant some fifty-five miles; and the road thither was extremely
bad, owing to the frequent heavy rains and the consequent flooding of
the trackway. At the time of Drake's raid, there were in all some sixty
wooden houses in the place, inhabited in the _tiempo muerto_, or dead
time, by about thirty people. "The rest," we read, "doe goe to Panama
after the fleet is gone." Those who stayed must have had a weary life of
it, for there could have been nothing for them to do save to go
a-fishing. The fever never left the place, and there was always the
dread of the Cimmeroons. Out in the bay there was the steaming water,
with a few rotten hulks waiting to be cast ashore, and two or three
rocky islets sticking up for the sea to break against. There was nothing
for an inhabitant to do except to fish, and nothing for him to see
except the water, with the dripping green trees beside it, and, perhaps,
an advice boat slipping past for Cartagena. Once a year an express came
to the bay from Panama to say that the Peru fleet had arrived at that
port. A letter was then sent to Cartagena or to San Juan d'Ulloa to
order the great galleons there anchored to come to collect the treasure,
and convey it into Spain. Before they dropped anchor in the Nombre de
Dios bay that city was filled to overflowing by soldiers and merchants
from Panama and the adjacent cities. Waggons of maize and cassava were
dragged into the streets, with numbers of fowls and hogs. Lodgings rose
in value, until a "middle chamber" could not be had for less than 1000
crowns. Desperate efforts were made to collect ballast for the supply
ships. Then the treasure trains from Panama began to arrive. Soldiers
marched in, escorting strings of mules carrying chests of gold and
silver, goatskins filled with bezoar stones, and bales of vicuna wool.
The town became musical with the bells of the mules' harness. Llamas
spat and hissed at the street corners. The Plaza became a scene of
gaiety and bustle. Folk arrived hourly by the muddy track from Panama.
Ships dropped anchor hourly, ringing their bells and firing salutes of
cannon. The grand fair then began, and the city would be populous and
stirring till the galleons had cleared the harbour on the voyage to
Spain. As soon as the fleet was gone the city emptied as rapidly as it
had filled. The merchants and merry-makers vanished back to Panama, and
the thirty odd wretched souls who stayed, began their dreary vigil until
the next year, when the galleons returned. In 1584, on the report of
Antonio Baptista, surveyor to the King of Spain, the trade was removed
to Porto Bello, a beautiful bay, discovered and named by Columbus, lying
some twenty miles farther to the west. It is a good harbour for all
winds, and offers every convenience for the careening of vessels. The
surveyor thought it in every way a superior harbour. "Neither," he
writes, "will so many die there as there daily doe in Nombre de
Dios." By the middle of the seventeenth century the ruins of the old
town were barely discernible; but all traces of them have long since
disappeared. Dampier (writing of the year 1682) says that: "I have lain
ashore in the place where that City stood; but it is all overgrown with
Wood; so as toe leave noe sign that any Town hath been there." A thick
green cane brake has overgrown the Plaza. The battery has crumbled away.
The church bell which made such a clatter has long since ceased to
sound. The latest Admiralty Chart ignores the place.