General Sancho Pardo y Osorio having taken his departure from the Havana for Spain on the 10th March of this year, in command of the Capitana of the main-land fleet, under convoy of the armed fleet of Don Francisco de Coloma, and having, in the course of the gale which blew in the chops of the Channel on the 15th of the same month, in latitude 23° 30´, found himself without a main-mast, and with tiller broken, while the ship, leaking much, and separated from the others, was no longer in a condition to prosecute the voyage, for the purpose of saving the lives of the three hundred people who were on board, as well as two millions of gold and silver belonging to His Majesty and to private individuals; with the advice and consent of the supercargo, Martin Vomero de Caamaño, and of the pilots and other persons of most experience on board, made for Puerto Rico, where he arrived, by a miracle, on the 9th April, and there he landed the bullion, and deposited it in the fortress of the town. The aforesaid general despatched immediately first and second advices to His Majesty, making known his arrival, in order that instructions might be sent to him as to what he should do. And it appears that Divine Providence (to whom many thanks are due), for its secret ends, permitted the orders, which might have come beforehand, to arrive just at the time to save not only the bullion, but the island itself, and perhaps all the Indies, as will be seen further on. A few days after the aforesaid letters were despatched, the governor of this island, Colonel Pedro Suares, received those of His Majesty, whereby he was informed that a great fleet was fitting out in England for the purpose of seizing on this island in the course of the winter, as it was thought that at that season the inhabitants would be less upon their guard. When the general and the aforesaid supercargo learned the contents of these despatches, they joined in consultation with the governor and Francisco Cid, captain of the infantry of this garrison; and having taken into consideration and discussed the precautionary measures which ought to be adopted for the safety of the place and of His Majesty’s treasure, in order that, if the enemy should come, it might be out of his power to make himself master of the whole, they all agreed on reconnoitering the positions and accessible points from which the enemy might approach, so as to throw people ashore; and also that the general should give orders for planting some of the guns of his ship in the positions which he judged best, and for laying the vessel athwart the channel of the port, so that she might be sunk on the arrival of the enemy, and thus bar the entrance; as this was the quarter where there seemed most likelihood of attack and most risk, and where it was necessary to keep the people well on the watch. These arrangements being made, the general remained in expectation of His Majesty’s order to proceed on his voyage.