History of Central America, Volume 2, 1530-1800: The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 7Bancroft, Hubert Howe
History
History of Central America, Volume 2, 1530-1800: The Works of Hubert Howe Bancroft, Volume 7
Bancroft, Hubert Howe
Central America -- History
The expedition first shaped its course toward Spain, and after hovering
for a while on that coast, capturing many prizes, but none of value,
landed on the first of January 1586 in Española, within a few miles
of Santo Domingo. The city was taken after a feeble resistance, but
little treasure was found there, for the mines were now abandoned,
the native population well nigh exterminated, and copper money was
in common use among the Spaniards. A ransom of twenty-five thousand
ducats was at length paid, and loading their fleet with a good store
of wheat, oil, wine, cloth, and silk, the English sailed for Cartagena,
captured that city almost without loss, and retired on payment of a sum
equivalent to about one hundred and forty-five thousand pesos. By this
time sickness had so far reduced their ranks that they were compelled
to abandon the main object of their enterprise, namely, the occupation
of Nombre de Dios and Panamá, and the seizure of the treasure stored
on either side of the Isthmus. It was resolved, therefore, to return
to England.[XXIII‑24] After touching at Saint Augustine, and securing
in that neighborhood treasure to the amount of ten thousand pesos,
and coasting thence northward to the Roanoke, where the members of the
colony recently established[XXIII‑25] by Raleigh were taken on board the
fleet, Drake landed at Portsmouth on the 28th of July 1586. The spoil
amounted to three hundred thousand pesos, purchased at the cost of seven
hundred and fifty lives. One third of this amount only was divided among
the survivors, giving as the lowest share of an individual the sum of
thirty dollars.
* * * * *
[Sidenote: THE GRAND RESULT.]
The motto "Non sufficit orbis," ascribed by some chroniclers to the
crown of Spain, was one worthy of the pretensions of Philip. What
mattered the conquest of a hemisphere while the ocean was ruled by
another; while the royal banner of Castile could be degraded by licensed
bands of freebooters, and the commercial marts of the New World be held
for ransom? Such was the sentiment which lured the Spanish monarchs
to attempt ambitious schemes of conquest like that which ended in the
destruction of the great armada, in which the pirate Drake played his
allotted part.
After sharing with Sir John Morris the command of an expedition directed
against Spain in 1589, Drake was ordered by his sovereign five years
later to prepare another armament against the Spanish West Indies. In
this enterprise he associated with himself Sir John Hawkins,[XXIII‑26]
an old friend and once his patron, and among other officers Sir Thomas
Baskerville,[XXIII‑27] as commander of the land forces. On the 28th of
August 1595 a squadron of six men-of-war equipped at the expense of the
queen[XXIII‑28] sailed from Plymouth, accompanied by twenty-one vessels
fitted out by private subscription. The entire force of the expedition
mustered twenty-five hundred men.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account