And now, before I entirely quit the account of our transactions at this place, it may not perhaps be improper to give a succinct relation of the booty we got here, and of the loss the Spaniards sustained. I have before observed that there were great quantities of valuable effects in the town, but as most of them were what we could neither dispose of nor carry away, the total amount of this merchandize can only be rudely guessed at. The Spaniards, in their representations sent to the Court of Madrid (as we were afterwards assured) estimated their whole loss at a million and a half of dollars, and when it is considered that no small part of the goods we burnt there were of the richest and most expensive species, as broad cloths, silks, cambricks, velvets, etc., I cannot but think their valuation sufficiently moderate. As to ourselves, the acquisition we made, though inconsiderable in comparison of what we destroyed, was yet far from despicable, for the wrought plate, dollars, and other coin which fell into our hands, amounted to upwards of £30,000 sterling, besides several rings, bracelets, and jewels, whose intrinsic value we could not then determine; and over and above all this, the plunder which became the property of the immediate captors was very great, so that upon the whole it was by much the most important booty we met with upon that coast. There remains still another matter to be related, which on account of the signal honour which our national character in those parts has thence received, and the reputation which our commodore in particular has thereby acquired, merits a distinct and circumstantial discussion. It has been already observed that all the prisoners taken by us in our preceding prizes were here put on shore and discharged, amongst whom there were some persons of considerable distinction, especially a youth of about seventeen years of age, son of the vice-president of the Council of Chili. As the barbarity of the buccaneers, and the artful use the ecclesiasticks had made of it, had filled the natives of those countries with the most terrible ideas of the English cruelty, we always found our prisoners, at their first coming on board us, to be extremely dejected, and under great horror and anxiety. Particularly {190} this youth whom I last mentioned, having never been from home before, lamented his captivity in the most moving manner, regretting, in very plaintive terms, his parents, his brothers, his sisters, and his native country, of all which he was fully persuaded he had taken his last farewel, believing that he was now devoted for the remaining part of his life to an abject and cruel servitude. Indeed his companions on board, and all the Spaniards that came into our power, had the same desponding opinion of their situation. Mr. Anson constantly exerted his utmost endeavours to efface these terrifying impressions they had received of us, always taking care that as many of