It has already been stated that about the close of the sixteenth century the fisheries of the Pearl Islands became exhausted, and that they were abandoned for several decades thereafter. In 1697 the Italian traveller Gemelli Careri visited Panamá, and according to his report the fisheries then yielded pearls equal to those found near Ceylon. He mentions one belonging to a Jesuit priest that weighed sixty grains, and for which the owner refused seventy thousand pesos.[XXXI‑19]

About the same time the industry of gold-mining was revived on the Isthmus. In Darien and Veragua, but especially in the former province, mines which had been abandoned were again worked, and new ones discovered. The operatives were slaves, free negroes, sambos, and mulattoes, who received for their wages a certain amount of pay-dirt, and often pilfered gold dust enough to make them as rich as their masters. It was the delight of the negroes to give fancy balls to their inamoratas, at which they would appear with their hair glistening with golden trinkets, sometimes sprinkling the ball-room floor with gold dust.

A slave of Antonio de Sosa discovered a pocket of gold which is said to have yielded sixty thousand castellanos; and making this known to his master, was rewarded with his freedom and that of his wife, and presented with a house and lot in Panamá and a moderate income wherewith to enjoy his liberty. Of a vagabond mulatto it is related that he suddenly reappeared in the church of Santo Domingo, and attracted the gaze of all by a remarkably brilliant rosary formed of large nuggets of purest gold. The place of discovery was subsequently known as the Rosario mining district. Among other nuggets unearthed was one found at the mines of Santa María, weighing, according to Dampier, a hundred and twenty pounds. Instances like these might be multiplied, but enough has been said to show the value of the mines from which at this time more gold was sent to Panamá than from all the others in the Spanish provinces. As late as 1720 they yielded a handsome revenue to the Spanish crown.

The mines of Cana in the mountains of Espíritu Santo were especially rich, and in the early part of the eighteenth century were so frequently exposed to the raids of robbers that for a season they were abandoned. In 1702 and 1712, at the former of which dates the town of Cana contained nine hundred houses, the place was sacked by the English; in 1724 by the French; and in 1727 by the Indians. During these and later years other parts of the Isthmus were several times invaded by corsairs, or by the armaments of England ostensibly by way of reprisal for injuries inflicted on British commerce.

In 1713 Great Britain obtained an asiento for supplying the Spanish colonies with negro slaves,[XXXI‑20] and also the privilege of sending annually to Portobello a five-hundred-ton vessel laden with European merchandise. British factories were soon established at Cartagena and Panamá. And British merchants, prompt to take advantage of this license, poured in goods without limitation or restraint. Instead of a vessel of five hundred tons they usually sent one of nearly double that capacity, accompanied by two or three smaller ships, which, mooring in some neighboring creek, supplied fresh bales of goods when the stock on board the larger vessel became exhausted. The inspectors of the fair and the officers of the revenue were bribed, and gradually the immense commerce of the merchants of Seville was diverted, and the squadrons that were wont to be the pride of Spain and the envy of the nations sank to insignificant proportions, the galleons having little other freight than that furnished by the mines and the royal tribute. In 1719 an effort was made to regain this lost ground, foreign commerce being interdicted and increased facilities being given for domestic trade by a cédula of December 1st.[XXXI‑21]

After the treaty of Seville was concluded between Spain and England, complaints were frequently made of the depredations committed by Spanish guarda costas on British commerce in the West Indies. The English of course retaliated. Whereupon the Spaniards, not satisfied with plundering British merchant-ships, maltreated their crews. A squadron of four twenty-gun ships and two sloops was despatched to the Indies, and accounts of the atrocities inflicted or permitted by the captains of Spanish vessels were continually brought by vessels arriving from the New World. In 1738 the house of commons determined to investigate the matter, and to ascertain the number of ships that had been seized by the Spaniards, the value of their cargoes, and the nature of the alleged cruelties. An instance which was related before a committee of inquiry appointed by the commons aroused a feeling of resentment throughout Great Britain. One Captain Jenkins, master of a brig trading from Glasgow, stated that his craft had been boarded by a guarda costa, that his crew had been ill used, and one of his own ears cut off, the captain of the vessel placing it in his hand and bidding him carry it home to the king, whom he declared he would treat in the same manner if he had him in his power. Discredit was afterward thrown on this story; but whether it were true or false it was at the time believed by the commons and the people of England. On the 14th of January 1739 a convention was signed between the two countries, wherein Spain agreed to indemnify British merchants for their losses, but the Spaniards afterward refused to pay the stipulated sum. In consequence of which, and of the maltreatment of British subjects, letters of marque and reprisal were issued by the admiralty in July of that year, but not until October following was war formally declared.

It was now resolved to despatch a strong squadron to the West Indies[XXXI‑22] for the protection of British commerce, and, in retaliation for the injuries inflicted by the Spaniards, to attack Portobello. So strongly was this city fortified that during a debate of the house of commons one of the members stated that it could not be captured with less than fifty or sixty men-of-war; whereupon Captain Edward Vernon, himself a member, happening to be present, rose and said: "I will forfeit my life if I cannot take it with six ships." The offer was promptly accepted; the captain was given the command of an expedition, and being promoted to the rank of vice-admiral set sail on the 20th of July 1739. Touching at Port Royal he obtained a reënforcement of 240 troops, and after waiting in vain for more land forces from England, put to sea with seven vessels, six of them having on board 2,735 men and 370 guns; one was ordered to cruise off Cartagena, that the commander might make good his promise to capture the city with six ships only. On nearing the coast three Spanish war-vessels were sighted and chased, but made good their escape, and found safe shelter, as their captains supposed, under the cannon of the forts.

At daybreak on the 21st of November the British squadron entered the harbor in line of battle. A brisk fire was at once opened from the strongest fort of the Spaniards, known as the Iron Castle, and against this point Vernon directed his attack. The Hampton Court, a vessel with 70 guns and 500 men, led the way, and, anchoring almost within a cable's length of the fort, bore for some minutes the whole brunt of the fight. Within half an hour two other vessels came into action, and soon the upper portion of the castle wall was battered down, when many of the Spaniards abandoned their guns and fled. Observing this the admiral ordered a lieutenant with forty sailors and a party of marines to land and carry the fort by assault. He then anchored his own ship, the Burford, within half a cable's length of the enemy's cannon, in order to cover the storming party. He met with a warm reception, for the Spaniards opened a point-blank fire on the Burford, and every gun took effect. One shot passed through the fore-top-mast, another struck within two inches of the main-mast, a third broke through the bulwarks of the quarter-deck, close to the spot where Vernon stood, killing two men and wounding five others. The stern of the admiral's barge was shot away, and a large carronade on the main-deck was disabled. But soon the flag-ship brought her starboard broadside to bear on the castle, and at the first discharge drove the Spaniards from their lower batteries; then swinging round on her cable she poured in another volley from her larboard guns. The fire of her small arms commanded the lower embrasures; the men meanwhile had made good their landing from the boats; and soon the white flag was hoisted from the Iron Castle. Firing was continued until dark from two other forts, which then guarded the harbor of Portobello, but on the following morning the city, the fortifications, and all the vessels in port were finally surrendered to the English.[XXXI‑23]

Vernon would not allow his men to pillage the town[XXXI‑24] or molest the inhabitants; but ten thousand pesos intended for the pay of the garrison were found concealed, and distributed among the English forces.[XXXI‑25] The most serviceable pieces of ordnance were placed on board the fleet; the rest were spiked; the ammunition was secured, and after blowing up all the fortifications of the city, Vernon, being now reënforced by several vessels, returned to Port Royal, whence after refitting his fleet he sailed on the 25th of February 1740 for the mouth of the Chagre with six men-of-war, and several fire-ships, bombketches, and tenders.

The castle of San Lorenzo which, it will be remembered, was demolished by Morgan in 1671, had been rebuilt and strongly fortified. Vernon now resolved to destroy it and thus strike another blow at Spain's dominions in Tierra Firme; but first to punish the inhabitants of Cartagena from which city the Spanish admiral, Don Blas, had sent him while at Portobello a message which savored of insolence. The don had accused him of fear, and remarked that "to take Cities and destroy Royal Fortifications was an unusual and unexpected Way of making Reprisals." This remark the British commander deemed sufficient excuse for shelling the city, during which process the customhouse, the Jesuit college, a church, and other buildings were laid in ruins though he did not succeed in capturing Cartagena. The castle of San Lorenzo was surrendered with but slight resistance; and after committing further depredations on the coast Vernon set sail from the shores of Tierra Firme.

About three weeks after the declaration of war between England and Spain, Captain George Anson arrived at Spithead from his cruise off the coast of Africa and in the West Indies. He was placed in charge of an armament consisting of six vessels with 1,510 men and 236 guns, and was promised a force of infantry composed of several hundred choice troops, the purpose of the expedition being to operate on the coast of Peru, and thence to proceed northward, attack Panamá, and capture the treasure-fleet.

In 1741 Vernon, who was now at Jamaica, was placed in charge of the largest fleet and army that had ever been despatched to the West Indies. Twenty-nine ships of the line, with a large number of frigates, bombketches, and fire-ships, manned by 15,000 seamen and having on board about 12,000 troops, were here collected for a descent on the mainland. Anson was directed to coöperate with Vernon by way of the Isthmus; and had not these expeditions suffered a series of reverses, caused in part by the vacillating policy of the British ministry, Spain's dominion in the western world might now have come to an end.

But in place of choice troops a number of raw recruits were placed on board Anson's ships, the only veterans being invalids; and the departure of his squadron was delayed until the 18th of September 1740. After clearing the straits of Magellan they encountered a furious storm which lasted for fifty-eight days. The vessels were parted, and on the 9th of June in the following year the admiral's ship, the Centurion, arrived at the island of Juan Fernandez with her crew prostrated by scurvy. Here he was soon rejoined by two others of the squadron, and after remaining a hundred and four days at the island set sail for the coast of South America, sacking and burning the town of Paita and taking several vessels, by the men on board one of which he was told that Vernon had been defeated at Cartagena. It was resolved not to make any attempt on Panamá; and after some further adventures Anson sailed toward Manila, and captured in that vicinity a prize which rewarded him and his followers for all their toil and suffering. This was a Spanish galleon having on board nearly a million and a half of pesos. Anson then set his face homeward and arrived in England by way of the Cape of Good Hope on the 15th of June 1744, having occupied three years and nine months in his circumnavigation.[XXXI‑26]

After his repulse at Cartagena Vernon returned to Jamaica, where he was soon reënforced by four men-of-war and three thousand troops despatched from England. On the 9th of March 1742 he sailed for Portobello, intending to proceed thence to Panamá and capture that city. On arriving at the Isthmus he found that the rainy season had already set in; his men sickened, and a council of war being held it was resolved to return once more to Jamaica. Hence he was soon afterward ordered home, the remnant of his forces now mustering but a tenth part of the number that had been intrusted to his command. Thus in disaster ended an expedition sent to the conquest of an empire.

Notwithstanding the defeat of Vernon's expedition the settlements on the North Sea had been so frequently laid waste that after 1748 there was little intercourse between Spain and her colonies in Tierra Firme and South America except by way of Cape Horn. The despatch of fleets to the Isthmus was discontinued. Licenses were granted, however, to vessels called register ships, and in 1764 a monthly line of packets was established for intercommunication with Portobello and Cartagena. A few years later restrictions on trade were removed by international treaty; but long before the close of the eighteenth century the commerce of the Isthmus declined, and the road from Panamá to Portobello could no longer be called one of the chief commercial highways of the world. Agriculture and manufactures were neglected; the mines were exhausted; and the trade which had for more than two hundred years been the life-blood of Panamá existed no more.

CHAPTER XXXII.
MOSQUITIA, NICARAGUA, AND COSTA RICA
1701-1800.

The Sambos of Mosquitia—Their Territory—A Mosquito Chieftain Crowned King—Treaties between Spain and England—The British Occupy Mosquitia—Galvez Captures an English Settlement on the Black River—An Armament Despatched from Jamaica to Mosquitia—Surrender of the Spaniards—Colonists Ordered to Leave the Coast—The Governors of Nicaragua—The British Defeated at Fort San Cárlos—They Capture Fort San Juan—But are Compelled to Retreat—Church Matters—Missionary Expeditions to Talamanca—Affairs in Costa Rica.

On the eastern coast of Nicaragua and Honduras there lived in the seventeenth century a people known among themselves as Misskitos, and called by the Spaniard Mosquitos, or more frequently sambos, the offspring probably of cimarrones and native women. They were ruled by an hereditary king, whose territory, when buccaneers first visited his domain, was of very limited extent, though the Mosquito language, which was identical with the one spoken by those of similar origin in the West Indies, spread in after years from Cape Honduras to the Desaguadero, and as far inland as Black River. They were a warlike race, and, as we shall see, could hold their own against the Spaniards. Their chief weapons were the bow and arrow, in the use of which it is said that the women were as expert as the men. The bow was of ironwood, often six feet in length, and strung with twisted bark. The arrow was of wood or reed, hardened in the fire, and tipped with fish-bone, flint, or teeth, poisoned in the juice of the manzanilla tree. They fought also with lances of cane, nine feet in length, and with javelins, clubs, and heavy sharp-pointed swords made of a poisonous wood. Their defensive armor was of plated reeds covered with tiger-skins and bedecked with feathers. Toward the close of the century the Mosquitos could put more than forty thousand warriors into the field; they selected as leader on each expedition the bravest and most experienced of their number.[XXXII‑1]

"The inner parts of the Mosqueto country are very barren," states an Englishman who was in those parts near the close of the seventeenth century and wrote his description about 1699, "but in the woods near the river sides, and by the great lagunes, are many sorts of fruits, wild beasts, and fowls, in plenty.... Plantains, and bananas, ... they have plentifully, in small plantations, in obscure parts of the woods, near the river sides.... Pine apples too ... they have enough of, and mammo, which last is a very sweet fruit ... and grows on middling low trees like apples. Saffadilla trees, which bear berries as big as sloes, of a yellowish colour, which are very pleasant to the taste and wholesome, of extraordinary virtue, ... are very frequent in their woods; as are likewise a sort of a pleasing plum tree, which grows very large, and is of a most delicious odour.... Great Indian wheat, or mais, they plant a little of to make drink with; and likewise some cocoa trees, ... but their laziness will not permit them to plant much of the last, because they can steal it ready gathered from the Spaniards, who have large plantations thereof at Carpenters river, not many leagues from them. Sugar-canes I have seen growing in old king Jeremy's plantation, much larger than I ever saw in Jamaica, but the Indians not knowing how to make sugar or rum, neglect them.... Pappaw trees which bear a sweet fruit, almost like a musk-melon in shape and taste ... are very plentiful. Cocoa-nut trees, cocoa-plums, and large grapes, growing on great trees, with large stones in them ... grow up and down near the water-sides. Monelo trees, whose fruit hangs down like french-beans, and are a very rich perfume when dried, and the best for chocolate, grow very plentiful on the banks of Black River, in this country. All the flesh that these people eat ... they get by hunting.... They have a small sort of fallow deer, like our English, with shorter horns, which haunt the inner sides of the woods, close to the Savanna.... The mountain cow, which the natives call Tilbu, is of the bigness of an English calf of a year old, having a snout like an elephant and not horned; they hide all day in muddy plashes, to escape the tigers, and in the night swim across the river to get food.... Warree and pickaree abound in great herds, and are two sorts of Indian wild hogs, having both their navels on their backs.[XXXII‑2] ... Some parts of this country are pretty well stocked with fowls.... A pretty large sort of fowl haunt their plantain walks, which the natives call quawmoes and the English corasaoes; they are a small sort of Indian turkey.... Wood pigeons ... and a sort of fat doves creeping commonly on the ground, are plentiful enough.... The woods are stocked with a variety of other fowls, most curiously painted, which are good for food.... In the fresh water rivers they have a sort of tortoise, called cushwaw, ... and on the coast abundance of large sea-tortoises.... They have great shoals of mullets, silver-fish, cat-fish, cavallies, sharks, nurses, snappers, growpers, some seal, stingrays, whiprays, and sea-devils.... Their best fish is the manatee, or sea-cow ... they are sometimes found straggling in the lagunes ... but are not suffered to increase, thro' the greediness of the Indian, who spares no pains when he hath a prospect of getting any."[XXXII‑3] Here, then, was a territory rich in natural resources, which, though discovered by Columbus in 1502, was left undisturbed by the Spaniards for some two centuries, the reason being chiefly that no gold was discovered there. The western or North American division of the coast of Central America, from Cape Gracias á Dios to the gulf of Urabá, was granted as we have seen to Diego de Nicuesa, whose disastrous expedition to Veragua has already been presented.[XXXII‑4] In 1576 the coast of Mosquitia was conveyed by royal cédula to the licentiate Diego García de Palacios, Captain Diego Lopez being appointed by the licentiate governor and captain-general of the province, and undertaking to attempt the conquest of the territory at his own risk.[XXXII‑5] But it does not appear that the captain took any action in the matter, and the natives, cimarrones and Mosquitos, were left undisturbed until the arrival of the buccaneers, who found in the intricate bays and winding rivers of Mosquitia, many places well adapted for the concealment of their light swift-sailing craft. The head-quarters of the freebooters were at Cape Gracias á Dios. Here they met to divide their booty and decide upon new expeditions; and, whenever opportunity offered, they darted thence like hawks upon the galleons that were freighted with the riches of Peru.

English settlements with which it was pretended that the buccaneers had no connection were established in this territory before 1670, and by the treaty of Madrid, signed at that date, the rights of Great Britain were recognized. The seventh article of this treaty stipulated that "the King of Great Britain his heirs and successors shall hold, and possess for ever, with full right of sovereign dominion, property and possession all lands, countries, islands, colonies and dominions whatever, situated in the West Indies, or in any part of America which the said King of Great Britain and his subjects do at this present hold and possess." In the same year an alliance, offensive and defensive, was made between Great Britain and Mosquitia.[XXXII‑6]

In 1687 one of the Mosquito chieftains was sent to Jamaica in order to place his native land under British protection. "But," says Sir Hans Sloane, "he escaped from his keepers, pulled off the clothes his friends had put on him, and climbed to the top of a tree." He was presently induced by promise of kind treatment to descend, whereupon he received a cocked hat and a piece of writing under the seal of the governor dubbing him king of Mosquitia.

In truth the action of the British government at this time admits of little excuse so far as it concerns the Spanish possessions in the Indies. The governors of Jamaica connived at the raids of the buccaneers, and as we have seen, Sir Henry Morgan, the titled buccaneer, held high office in that island; although when he became rich by swindling his fellow-cut-throats, he punished those who did not bribe him with a share of their spoils. The governors were frequently changed in order that Great Britain might remain on friendly terms with Spain, but this measure did not prevent the outrages which have been described in previous chapters.

After the conclusion of the peace of Ryswick in 1697 we hear no more of piratical raids, and in that year the island of San Cristóbal was restored to Spain. Treaties were signed between Great Britain and Spain in 1713, 1715, and 1721, in the last of which it was stipulated that commerce and navigation should be left free to the Spaniards in the West Indies, and that the limits of New World possessions should remain as they were in the days of Cárlos II. of Spain.

In 1720 a treaty was concluded between Sir Nicholas Lawes, then governor of Jamaica, and Jeremy, then king of the sambos, whereby the latter agreed to assist the English planters in capturing runaway slaves, the Mosquitos being provided with boats, arms, and ammunition, and receiving pay for their services.[XXXII‑7] But the natives thus armed and equipped took advantage of their opportunity to make raids on the neighboring Spanish settlements.

The archives of Guatemala contain the report of an alcalde mayor of Tegucigalpa, then resident in that province, and made by order of the president in obedience to a royal cédula previously issued. "The sambos," says the alcalde, "have plenty of vessels, provisions, arms, and ammunition, for they are supplied by the English of Jamaica, who egg them on to hostilities against the Spaniards. Their country is also a place of refuge for the mulattoes, negroes, and other evil-doers who flee from justice in the Spanish settlements, and who give them information of the Spanish plans, as well as join them in the execution of their own. They have had the effrontery to call their chief 'Jeremías, Rey del Mosquito.' This man gives letters of marque to his so-called vassals, who ravage the coast from Belize to Portobello, keeping the subjects of Spain, who traffic in those seas, in constant alarm—some of whom have lost their lives, others their liberty, and others their property. These people inhabit the region from the jurisdiction of Comayagua to that of Costa Rica, always near the coast. Between them and the Spanish settlements is a cordillera, for which reasons they make their incursions by ascending the rivers. Their country has a width of some six leagues between the mountains and the sea, the half nearest the sea being where they have their cultivated lands and their cattle, the other portion being useless. They live in rancherías, or in scattered houses—even in the rancherías the houses never being one near the other—so that if one house be attacked, the people of the others may have time for defence or flight. Their principal settlement is about the centre of this coast line. It is in a lagoon, and here dwell their so-called king and his principal men. The settlement is surrounded by a wall, a moat, broad and deep, and covered in such a way that the apparently solid earth gives way under the tread of the unwary stranger seeking to enter the town. There are but two entrances into the town, and these are known only to these people, to Spaniards who have been prisoners, and to the refugees."[XXXII‑8]

In this report further depredations of the natives are mentioned; and it is recommended that expeditions be sent against them by land and sea to exterminate the guilty persons. In 1740, England and Spain being then at war, the governor of Jamaica, in a letter to the duke of Newcastle, states that there were then about a hundred English in the territory and suggests that they might be used to incite the sambos to a general uprising against the Spaniards. Colonel Robert Hodgson was sent to that coast during the same year on a special mission, and winning over the sambo king and the leading men obtained from them a cession of their territory and hoisted the English flag on the shore of Mosquitia; but the failure of Anson's and Vernon's expeditions, which have already been described, and the refractory spirit of most of the natives prevented any invasion of the Spanish provinces. In 1744 Hodgson was appointed superintendent of the Mosquito shore, subject to the governor of Jamaica, and troops were forwarded, forts were erected and mounted with ordnance, the British thus taking possession of the country. The Spaniards never ceased their remonstrances against these encroachments, and in 1750 threatened to expel the intruders by force. Hodgson was then instructed to represent that his presence was merely for the purpose of restraining the natives from committing depredations on Spanish settlements. This explanation was accepted at the time, through motives of policy, but still the depredations continued, and the disputes arising in connection with England's policy in this matter helped to bring about the rupture ended by the treaty of Paris in 1763, wherein it was stipulated that Great Britain should destroy all forts that she had caused to be erected in the Spanish provinces, including the Mosquito Coast.

When England withdrew from the military occupation of Mosquitia most of the settlers still remained; and believing that Great Britain would ere long establish a provisional government on the coast, some of them purchased lands from the natives suitable for the cultivation of sugar-cane, cotton, and cacao. In 1771 eight persons joined in the purchase of a large tract on the Polloy River, said to contain gold, and extending thirty miles on either bank. Two years later a number of miners were set to work, but through their misconduct, as it is alleged, the venture met with poor success.

A new system of administration for the British settlements in Mosquitia was framed by Lord Dartmouth in 1775, and put in execution by Sir Basil Keith, then governor of Jamaica.[XXXII‑9] Hodgson was ordered home, and in 1776 Colonel Lawrie took his place. The new superintendent found the natives and settlers greatly agitated on account of the seizure by Spaniards of an English vessel on the Black River,[XXXII‑10] and the attitude of the latter toward the sambos and their allies. The colonists were in a dilemma, for the Spaniards hated them, and the English government gave them little encouragement.[XXXII‑11]

In March 1782 Matías de Galvez, the captain-general of Guatemala, left Trinidad with a flotilla well manned and equipped, for the avowed purpose of chastising the men of Mosquitia, and driving the English from the shore. Galvez had chosen his time well. After the disaster of 1780, which will be described later, the English had left Black River in a defenceless condition, and in the April following a detachment from Trujillo had scattered the few remaining colonists, pillaging and destroying their settlements. Soon afterward Superintendent Lawrie returned to Black River, with the remnant of the settlers, much reduced and in precarious health. There were stationed at that point twenty-one regular soldiers, according to the English official report, besides settlers, negroes, and several hundred natives. They were ill prepared for defence, being short of arms and provisions.

The Spanish forces advanced from the southward, with 1,350 foot and 100 horse, and from the westward, with 1,000 men. A line-of-battle ship and a frigate came to anchor in the river and under a heavy fire landed 500 men. The day after these vessels arrived Captain Douglas, who commanded the English militia, spiked his guns and while in retreat was captured by the Spaniards. A council of war was held and it was resolved to retire to Cape Gracias á Dios, which point the British and their allies reached in safety, though suffering severely from sickness caused by want of food and clothing.

Galvez soon afterward returned to Guatemala by way of Trujillo, leaving garrisons at several points on the river. These soon found themselves in a critical position on account of the numerous hostile parties who roamed the neighboring woods to intercept provisions and cut off foraging parties. By sea the winds and currents rendered supplies difficult to obtain. Moreover, heavy rains had made the roads almost impassable. At a council held July 10th it was resolved on abandonment unless relief came by the last of the month. Before that time arrived, however, a number of veterans, under one Terry, succeeded in reaching the Black River. The garrison was further encouraged by the news that an armed merchant vessel was lying at Trujillo awaiting orders from the president to operate in their behalf.

The decisive naval victory of the English over the French in April enabled the governor and admiral at Jamaica to turn their attention to the Mosquito shore. A small squadron, with a detachment of troops, furnished with arms, stores, ammunition, provisions, and presents for the natives, sailed from Port Royal, and the 17th of August arrived at Cape Gracias á Dios, the purpose of the expedition being to assist the settlers and natives in expelling the Spaniards from the neighborhood of the Black River.[XXXII‑12] Here they found the superintendent at the head of eight hundred settlers, Mosquitos and negroes, intending to start in a few days for an attack on the Spaniards.

The armament sailed from the cape on the 26th of August, Colonel Despard in command, and on the 28th landed at Plantain River, where it was joined by a number of free men and negroes in that neighborhood, and by Captain John Campbell, who, with about 150 volunteer negroes, had attacked and carried Fort Dalling, which was defended by a like number of Spaniards.

On the 29th the entire body, mustering about a thousand men, advanced to the bluff at the mouth of the Black River, and the next day encamped on the banks of the lagoon opposite the enemy. The Spanish commander then opened conference with Colonel Despard, which resulted in a capitulation, and his men, though numbering more than seven hundred regular troops, surrendered as prisoners of war.

In 1783 a treaty was concluded between England and Spain, in which the former agreed to abandon all settlements on the Spanish continent; but England would not concede that the Mosquito Coast was included in this definition.[XXXII‑13] Hence disputes arose; and three years later a supplementary treaty was negotiated, on the first article of which it was distinctly stipulated that "His Britannic Majesty's Subjects, and the other Colonists who have hitherto enjoyed the Protection of England, shall evacuate the Country of the Mosquitos, as well as the Continent in general, and the Islands adjacent, without exception, situated beyond the line hereinafter described, as what ought to be the Frontier of the extent of territory granted by his Catholic Majesty to the English."

In article II. certain territory in Yucatan is ceded to the British, of which mention will be made in its place.[XXXII‑14] Positive orders were soon afterward sent to the settlers to depart from the coast. Most of them obeyed,[XXXII‑15] though slowly and reluctantly, a few only remaining at their own risk, and carrying on a trade with Jamaica, principally in slaves.

After the treaty of 1786 the British government held no further relations with the natives of the Mosquito Coast until Spain had lost her possessions in Central America.[XXXII‑16] Meanwhile there were several attempts by governors of the Spanish provinces to make permanent establishments in Mosquitia, but without success. In 1796 the sambos captured their last settlement on Black River, and drove the Spaniards from their shore.

Of affairs in Nicaragua during the eighteenth century little need be said. The administrations of Pablo de Loyala, the first governor of whom we have any record[XXXII‑17] during this period, and of Miguel de Camargo, were uneventful. To Camargo succeeded José Calvo de Lara, and in 1721 appears the name of Sebastian de Aransivia y Sasi, who was superseded in the following year by Antonio Poveda, the latter losing his life during an insurrection of the Indians. In 1728 Tomás Duque de Estrada was appointed to office, and in 1730 Bartolomé Gonzalez Fitoria. In 1744 José A. Lacayo de Briones[XXXII‑18] was in power, and in 1757 Melchor Vidal de Lorca y Villena Vivas was acting governor.[XXXII‑19] In an official report, dated 1759, appears the name of Colonel Pantaleon Ibañez as ruler.

Among the governors of Nicaragua in this period was Alonso Fernandez de Heredia, mariscal de campo of the royal army. As to the precise year authorities differ. Juarros mentions 1760 as the date, while Pelaez states that a report of the guardian of missionaries alludes to him as acting in 1747.[XXXII‑20] Domingo Cabello was governor in 1766, as appears from the audiencia's book of sentences of December in the following year, and Manuel de Quiroga in 1780.

About this time was an eruption of the volcano Nindiri at no great distance from El Infierno de Masaya. In 1775, when the outburst occurred, a torrent of lava rolled into the lake of Masaya, destroying the fish and heating the lands adjacent so that the cattle perished. A brigadier of the royal army, named José Estacheria, was made governor of Nicaragua in 1783, and ruled until 1789, when he departed for Spain. He was afterward appointed governor of Pamplona, and eventually president of Guatemala. The last governor to whom reference is made in the eighteenth century was Juan de Ayza, probably he who defended San Juan[XXXII‑21] during the attack of the British under Polson and Nelson, which will be mentioned later.

The Desaguadero had in 1727 twelve military stations along its winding course of nearly one hundred and twenty leagues. Among these was the castle of San Juan and Fort San Cárlos, which had been captured and restored. Fort San Juan was built at a bend of the river, and could command it from above and below. The hill upon which it stood was steep and rocky, and it could be approached only on one side by a narrow tortuous path. Through this port flowed the commerce of Nicaragua with Europe and the West Indies. It was made a port of entry by royal order of the king in February 1796, and by a cédula of the month following regulations were issued for furthering the settlement of the adjacent country. In 1769 the English, with an armament of two thousand men and fifty vessels, attempted the capture of Fort San Cárlos, which they desired as a basis for future operations. Pedro de Herrera, the governor of the post, lay in the throes of death, and surrender seemed inevitable. But his daughter, a maiden of sixteen, at once issued orders from her father's death-chamber for the defence, and then placed herself at the head of the Spanish troops. Inspired by her fearless mien, the garrison fought with a courage rarely seen among Spaniards of that day, and repulsed the assailants with loss, the governor's daughter firing with her own hand the two last cannon shot at the discomfited British.

A few years later the English government decided on an expedition against Nicaragua, intending to strike a blow at the power of Spain in the heart of her possessions, and control the communication between the two oceans. The plan of operations was finally arranged at Jamaica in January 1780. It was purposed to capture Fort San Juan, take possession of the Desaguadero and Lake Nicaragua, occupy the cities of Granada and Leon, and thus sunder the Spanish provinces of Central America. Another object in view was the capture and retention of the route for an interoceanic canal, a project then dear to the heart of the English nation.