Slavery -- West Indies; Spanish Main; West Indies -- History
Such was Ralegh's dream. Another Peru to be conquered, and England to be
raised to the highest point of wealth and importance. But unfortunately
he could get no assistance to carry out the grand project. Yet he was
undoubtedly sincere, for did he not send out two expeditions under
Captains Keymis and Berrie the following year, to assure the Indians
that he had not forgotten them? Keymis found one tribe keeping a
festival in honour of the great princess of the north, and anxiously
waiting for the return of Gualtero, which name, by the by, was similar
to their word for friend. They made fires, and, sitting in their
hammocks, each man with his companion, they recounted the worthy deeds
and deaths of their ancestors, execrating their enemies most spitefully,
and magnifying their friends with all the titles of honour they could
devise. Thus they sat talking and smoking tobacco until their cigars
(their measure of time) went out, during which they were not to be
disturbed, "for this is their religion and prayers which they now
celebrated, keeping a precise fast one whole day in honour of the great
princess of the north, their patron and defender."
The explorations of Ralegh and his captains were published all over
Europe, with the result that attention was generally drawn to Guiana.
Already some Dutchmen had been trading on the coast for many years, and
it was even reported that they had established a post in the river
Pomeroon, the centre of the province of Caribana. As early as 1542
Flemings had settled at Araya on the coast of Venezuela, where they
collected salt and were left undisturbed as long as the Netherlands
belonged to Spain. Ralegh seems to have purposely ignored the presence
of these people in Guiana, probably to prevent any question of prior
rights on the part of a friendly nation. But, after all, the Dutchmen
could only have been there on their own responsibility, and their
temporary occupation had no meaning from a national point of view.
Now that Guiana was made known, vessels of other nationalities went
trading along the coast, everywhere meeting with a hearty welcome from
the Indians as long as the visitors were not Spanish. They were only so
many additions to their friends--their enemies were confined to Trinidad
and the Orinoco, leaving the whole coast of Guiana to its rightful
owners. In fact, the Spaniards could no more subdue the Caribs of the
Main than they could those of the islands. Only in Trinidad, where the
Arawak was employed against the cannibal, was a settlement made
possible.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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