Chapter D: O. M (8)

Additional interest attaches to the Liberty Hill mound from the fact that clay from which some of this pottery was made is to be found at Lime Hall hard by, where there was in recent times a pottery in operation, and also from the fact that in the St. Ann’s Great River, which runs bordering the property to the east, are to be found stones from which aboriginal hatchets were made, and alongside a supply of sandstone which the Arawâks conceivably used for the shaping and polishing of their implements. A slab of stone was found on the midden itself, suggesting that perhaps Liberty Hill may have been the site of a factory of both earthenware bowls and stone hatchets. But it would seem that its greatest interest lies in its possible close association, during a twelvemonth, with the life of the great Columbus.

Other kitchen middens have been discovered at =Moneague=, on the hotel grounds; at =Friendship=, near by; at =Belle Vue=, on the banks of the White River; at =Retreat=, at =Orange Valley=; and at =Cranbrook=. Further investigations would doubtless reveal others.

There are Arawâk rock-carvings in a cave at Coventry.

On September 12, 1492, Columbus, after encountering oppositions and difficulties which would have deterred all but very resolute men, was the first European to set foot in the New World—landing on that day at Guanahani (Watling Island) in the Bahamas. The important discovery of Cuba and Hispaniola was made on his homeward voyage.

On May 4, 1494, while on his second voyage of discovery, he was the first European to land in Jamaica, running his lateen-rigged caravel, the _Niña_, and her two consorts into =Dry Harbour= Bay on the north side of the island.

On April 24 he had left his new-founded city of Isabella in Hispaniola, and started on a further voyage of discovery. He sailed westward along the north coast of Hispaniola, and, leaving the point we now call Cape St. Nicholas, stood across to Cuba, and anchored in a harbour (Guantanamo), to which he gave the name of Puerto Grande. Leaving on May 1, he coasted along the southern shores, admiring the beauty of the landscape, noting the rivers, and receiving visits from numerous Indians in their canoes, with whom he exchanged beads and hawks’ bells for cassava bread, fish and fresh water. But soon, on the advice of his Guanahani guide (whom he had taken to Spain on returning from his first voyage) he stood due south in order to visit a large island of which the natives spoke. As he neared the island a number of carved and painted canoes, one nearly ninety feet in length, crowded with Indians, came out to meet him a league’s length from the shore. After giving them presents, Columbus sailed on and dropped anchor in a place which he named Santa Gloria, on account of its extreme beauty. Passing the night there he sailed westward to find a closed port in which he might careen and caulk up his vessels. About four leagues further on he found a very singular port, to use the words of Bernaldez, or, as Fernando Colombo describes it, resembling a horseshoe in shape, which he named Puerto Bueno. Here two canoes full of Indians met him, but after six or seven of the natives had been wounded by bolts from the Spaniards’ crossbows they retreated.

On anchoring Columbus saw “so many Indians that the earth was covered with them,” all painted, chiefly in black, wearing nothing but plumes on their heads and aprons of leaves round their waists. Wishing to assert his authority and instil a fear for the arms of Castile into the hearts of the natives, Columbus, as the caravels could not reach the shore owing to the shallowness of the water, sent three boatloads of men, who, aided by the pioneer of those hounds which afterwards did fearful execution amongst the poor Indians, drove them off so that there was not a man or woman left in the neighbourhood. On the following day six Indians came as ambassadors from the caciques or chiefs, begging Columbus not to go away; and later on the caciques themselves and many followers came and brought provisions, which probably consisted of cassava, arrowroot, guavas, naseberries, cocoa-plums and star-apples. During the time they were there the Spaniards had everything in abundance, and the Indians were very pleased with the objects (hawks’ bells, beads and the like) which the admiral gave them. When the vessels had been repaired and the crews were rested, Columbus left Puerto Bueno after a three days’ stay, and skirted the northern shore, being visited from each village by canoes full of Indians, who exchanged native products for hawks’ bells and beads, till he came to Point Negril, which he named “Cabo del Buen Tiempo.”

Owing partly to contrary winds and partly to the impression that there was “no gold in it, or any other metal, although the island was otherwise a paradise and worth more than gold,” Columbus now left Jamaica and returned to Cuba.

The historians of Jamaica and the West Indies generally have thrown but little light on the subject of the Jamaica landing. For a time the honour was about equally divided between St. Ann’s Bay and Port Maria. So far, however, as the somewhat scanty information warrants one in coming to a conclusion, it may be assumed that Columbus’s Santa Gloria was probably St. Ann’s Bay and that his Puerto Bueno was what is now known as Dry Harbour, for it is said that he called the first port he touched at Santa Gloria; that he stayed at Santa Gloria in 1504; that Sevilla arose near Santa Gloria, and Sevilla, we are told, was near St. Ann’s Bay. The horseshoe shape of Puerto Bueno, as well as other evidence, points to Dry Harbour as the place of Columbus’s first landing in Jamaica. It may be mentioned that the identification of Puerto Bueno with Dry Harbour was dealt with by the present writer at greater length than is possible here in “The Story of the Life of Columbus and the Discovery of Jamaica” (Kingston, 1894). There was a Fort Columbus at Dry Harbour in and about 1783.

It is not here necessary to follow Columbus in his further voyaging—through “The Queen’s Garden,” as he named the islands off the southern coast of Cuba, back to Jamaica, where on the south side he had, as we have seen in the account of St. Catherine, an interview at Old Harbour with an important cacique, thence to Isabella, on the north coast of Hispaniola, and so home. But Dry Harbour was once again visited by the admiral on his fourth and last voyage.

On his way back from the continent of America, which he saw for the last time on May 1, 1503, while making for Hispaniola for succour, as his two worm-eaten caravels the _Capitana_ and the _Santiago de Palos_ were in no fit state to cross the Atlantic, after passing the Cayman Islands, which he named Las Tortugas, and encountering a storm at the west end of Cuba, he ran for Jamaica and reached Dry Harbour on June 23, 1503; when, finding no water there, he went on to Puerto Santa Gloria (St. Ann’s Bay) and ran his caravels on the beach in a cove, possibly in that which is still called =Don Christopher’s Cove=. Why another cove in St. Mary received the same name is not evident.

Being unable to keep the ships afloat any longer he stranded them as best he could, one near the other, and propped them up on both sides so that they could not move.

The lower parts soon filled when pumping ceased, and cabins had to be built on deck thatched with straw to supplement the accommodation now only found in the cabins under the poops and forecastles. There, in the words of Mendez, they were “not without considerable danger from the natives, who were not yet subdued, and who might easily set fire to our habitation in the night, in spite of the greatest watchfulness.”

Don Christopher’s Cove
]

The natives, however, soon showed that they were inclined to be friendly, and Columbus endeavoured to see that nothing was done to abuse their confidence. They brought in provisions such as cassava, fish and birds, which they willingly exchanged for cheap ornaments; and we are told that Columbus’s youthful son, Fernando, took great interest in these barterings, which were organised on a large scale by Diego Mendez, who had ever been a good and faithful follower of the admiral.

The following is Mendez’s account[11] of what he did:

It was there that I gave out the last ration of biscuit and wine; I
then took a sword in my hand, three men only accompanying me, and
advanced into the island; for no one else dared go to seek food for
the Admiral and those who were with him. It pleased God that I found
some people who were very gentle and did us no harm, but received us
cheerfully, and gave us food with hearty goodwill. I then made a
stipulation with the Indians, who lived in a village called
Aguacadiba, and with their cacique, that they should make cassava
bread, and that they should hunt and fish to supply the Admiral every
day with a sufficient quantity of provisions, which they were to bring
to the ships, where I promised there should be a person ready to pay
them in blue beads, combs and knives, hawks’-bells and fish hooks, and
other such articles which we had with us for that purpose. With this
understanding, I dispatched one of the Spaniards, whom I brought with
me, to the Admiral, in order that he might send a person to pay for
the provisions, and secure their being sent. From thence I went to
another village, at three leagues distance from the former, and made a
similar agreement with the natives and their cacique, and dispatched
another Spaniard to the Admiral, begging him to send another person
with a similar object to this village. After this I went further on,
and came to a great cacique named Huareo, living in a place which is
now called Melilla, thirteen leagues from where the ships lay. I was
very well received by him; he gave me plenty to eat, and ordered all
his subjects to bring together in the course of three days a great
quantity of provisions, which they did, and laid them before him,
whereupon I paid him for them to his full satisfaction. I stipulated
with him that they should furnish a constant supply, and engaged that
there should be a person appointed to pay them. Having made this
arrangement, I sent the other Spaniard to the Admiral with the
provisions they had given me, and then begged the cacique to allow me
two Indians to go with me to the extremity of the island, one to carry
the hammock in which I slept, and the other carrying the food.

In this manner I journeyed eastward to the end of the island, and came
to a cacique who was named Ameyro, with whom I entered into close
friendship. I gave him my name and took his, which amongst these
people is regarded as a pledge of brotherly attachment. I bought of
him a very good canoe, and gave him in exchange an excellent brass
helmet that I carried in a bag, a frock, and one of the two shirts
that I had with me; I then put out to sea in this canoe, in search of
the place that I had left, the cacique having given me six Indians to
assist in guiding the canoe. When I reached the spot to which I had
dispatched the provisions, I found there the Spaniards whom the
Admiral had sent, and I loaded them with the victuals that I had
brought with me, and went myself to the Admiral who gave me a very
cordial reception. He was not satisfied with seeing and embracing me,
but asked me respecting everything that had occurred in the voyage,
and offered up thanks to God for having delivered me in safety from so
barbarous a people. The men rejoiced greatly at my arrival, for there
was not a loaf left in the ships when I returned to them with the
means of allaying their hunger; this and every day after that, the
Indians came to the ships loaded with provisions from the places where
I had made the agreements; so that there was enough for the two
hundred and thirty people who were with the Admiral.

Footnote 11:

Mendez wrote in 1536.

In spite of Mendez’s efforts, it was evident to Columbus that the present state of affairs was highly unsatisfactory. Neither of the caravels could be made fit for sea, and it became necessary to seek aid from Hispaniola. After a conversation with the admiral, and when no response had been made to an appeal for volunteers for such a risky journey, which appeal Columbus had made publicly at Mendez’s suggestion, Mendez offered to go, saying:

“I have but one life, and I am willing to sacrifice it in the service of your lordship, and for the welfare of all those who are here with us; for I trust in God, that in consideration of the motive which actuates me, he will give me deliverance, as he has done on many other occasions.”

It was decided that he should be accompanied by Bartolomé Fiesco, in a second canoe, who was to return and announce Mendez’s safe arrival in Hispaniola, while the latter was to go on to Spain and let the sovereigns know of the results of the voyage, and for that purpose Columbus entrusted Mendez with a long letter descriptive of the voyage.

In the meantime hope of assistance deferred, their crowded quarters on shipboard, and want of occupation and exercise began to have their effects upon the health and spirits of the little settlement at Santa Gloria. Discontent led to open rebellion. The brothers Porras (Francisco the captain of the _Santiago_, and Diego the accountant) led the revolt, followed by Juan Sanchez, the pilot Ledesma, Barba the gunner, and some fifty others, who were moved to rebellion by Porras’s false representations. On January 2, 1504, when Columbus was confined in bed by gout, Francisco de Porras burst into his small cabin and accused the admiral of having no intention of returning to Spain. Remonstrances were useless, and, to quote the “Historie”:

“Porras replied, that it was not now time to talk, and that the Admiral must either embark immediately or stay there by himself; and turning his back upon the Admiral he called out in a loud voice, ‘I am bound for Spain with those that are willing to follow me.’ On this all his followers who were present shouted out, ‘We will go with you! we will go with you!’ and running about in great confusion crying, ‘Let them die! let them die! For Spain! for Spain!’ while others called on the captain for his orders, they took possession of the poop, forecastle, and round tops.

“Though the Admiral was then so lame of the gout that he could not stand, he yet endeavoured to rise and come out upon deck on hearing this uproar; but two or three worthy persons, his attendants, laid hold upon him and forcibly laid him again in bed, that the mutineers might not murder him; they then ran to his brother, who was going out courageously with a half-pike, and wresting it from his hands, they forced him into the cabin beside the admiral, desiring Captain Porras to go where he liked, and not commit a crime for which they might all suffer; that he might be satisfied in meeting no opposition to his going away, but if he killed the Admiral he must lay his account with being severely punished for what could not possibly be of the least benefit to his views.”

The rebels seized some stores and ten canoes which Columbus had purchased at Maima, a native village near where the caravels were grounded, and which perhaps stood by Mammee Bay, and made several futile attempts to follow Mendez to Hispaniola; proving themselves such wretches, it is said, as to force into the sea when the waves ran high, in order to lighten the canoes, those poor Indians whom they had taken with them to navigate their canoes.

Foiled by their own cowardice and want of enterprise from leaving Jamaica, they ran riot throughout the island, ill-treating the natives, and thereby upsetting the reputation for kindness and fair dealing which the admiral had carefully been building up. The result was that the natives, not able to distinguish between the followers of Columbus and his renegades, began to change their regard for their visitors; the consistent and steady labour necessary for the due supply of food also was unusual and proved irksome to them, and the Spanish trinkets with their loss of novelty lost much of their value in their eyes. Supplies therefore were not now forthcoming, and Columbus found himself and his companions, many of whom were with him owing rather to sickness than to loyalty, in danger of starvation. Once again his resourceful nature stood him in good stead, and he made use of an approaching eclipse to bring them to reason in the manner related by Mendez.

But Columbus’s troubles were by no means over. In March, just as discontent amongst his followers was again becoming formidable, a caravel hove in sight, and all hearts were raised in thanksgiving in anticipation of being removed from their disagreeable position. Bitter must have been the disappointment when, the ship anchoring outside the bay, a boat put off, and Escobar, the messenger sent by Ovanda, handed a letter to Columbus, with a present of a bottle of wine and a piece of bacon; and it was found that the letter contained merely condolences for their sufferings, and regret that no vessels could be spared for the purpose of bringing them from Jamaica. It was a sorry jest on Ovanda’s part, and there seems reason for believing that Escobar had been sent rather in the hope of finding that the admiral was dead, than to render succour. Still Columbus’s dignity and courage did not desert him. He sent an answer asking for assistance, consoling himself with the reflection that Mendez was safe, and that sooner or later succour would come: and Escobar left that same night.

At this time Columbus endeavoured to pacify the rebel party by sending to tell them of the arrival of Escobar, giving them a piece of the bacon as token; and he offered, if they returned to obedience, to give them a free pardon and a passage to Spain. Porras persuaded his followers to decline this offer and to demand permission to reside where they liked in the island and a promise of half the room on ship board and half the stores when help should arrive. On being told that these demands would not be complied with, they said they would take them by force.

Hearing that Porras and his mutineers were marching in open rebellion upon Maima, Columbus entrusted to the adelantado the task of pacifying them or defying them. Bartolomé gathered together what men he could, about fifty in all, and, after overtures had been rejected by Porras, who calculated on his superior numbers to gain him an easy victory, prepared to receive attack on May 19. Porras and six others made a dead set at the adelantado, for they thought if they could kill him, the rest would be easy. But the bold Bartolomé was not dismayed. His first three blows disposed of the powerful Sanchez the pilot, Barba the gunner, and Ledesma, who, however, recovered from his wounds in spite of the fact that he fell into a ravine and was not discovered till the next day. Then he received on his shield a fierce blow from Francisco de Porras, who, his sword sticking in the shield, was overpowered and bound. His followers fled, and the formidable revolt was quelled by the courage and strength of one man. The adelantado lost but one soldier. This miniature battle had been witnessed by the natives drawn up in battle array, and after the fight was over they marvelled to find that the strangers from the skies were but mortal like themselves. Columbus, with his usual clemency, granted the pardon asked for by the rebels, and even spared the lives of the two Porrases, whom he, however, kept in custody.

At last, about the end of June, the long looked for help arrived in the shape of two caravels, one sent by Mendez under the command of Diego Salcedo, and a second sent as an ostensible aid to Columbus by Ovando, who, now that he found that the admiral could get assistance without him, thought it well to take part in the relief.

On June 28, 1504, after a sojourn of twelve months and four days in the island, Columbus and his followers, accompanied by Salcedo, left Jamaica, which could have had but unhappy memories for the great mariner.

Four years later the town of =Sevilla Nueva=, later known as Sevilla d’Oro, was founded under the authority of the admiral’s son and successor Diego, near the spot occupied by the wrecked caravels.

Sloane on his expedition to the north side visited Sevilla Nueva. He says:

I observed the ruins of the town called Sevilla, among which a church
built by Peter Martyr of Angleria, of a sort of freestone (to be had
near this city) and bricks. A pavement was found two miles from this
church; the city was so large it had a fortified castle, the walls of
pebbles and bricks, four feet thick; it was and is a good port....
This town is now Captain Hemmings’ plantation. The church was not
finished; it was thirty paces broad and thirty paces long. There were
two rows of pillars within; over the place where the altar was to be
were some carvings under the ends of the arches. It was built out of a
sort of stone between freestone and marble, taken out of a quarry
about a mile up in the hills; the houses and foundations stand for
several miles along. The ground towards the country is rising. Captain
Hemmings told me he sometimes found pavements under his canes, three
feet covered with earth, and several times wells, and sometimes
burialstones finely cut. There are the beginnings of a great house
called a monastery, but I suppose the house was designed for the
Governor. There were two coats-of-arms not set up—a ducal one, and
that of a count, I suppose belonging to Columbus’s family, the
proprietors of the island. There had been raised a tower, part brick
and part hewn stones, as also several battlements on it, and other
lower buildings not finished. At the church lie several arched stones
to complete it, which had never been put up, but lay among the canes.
The rows of pillars within were for the most part plain. In the time
of the Spaniards it was thought the Europeans had been cut off by the
Indians, and so the church left unfinished. When the English took the
island the ruins of this city were so overgrown with wood that they
were all turned black; nay, I saw a mammee, or bastard mammee tree
grow within the walls of the tower, so high that it must have been a
very large gun could kill a bird on the top of it, and most part of
the timber fell’d off this place, when it was planted, was sixty foot
or more long. A great many wells are on this ground.... The west gate
of the church was a very fine work, and stands very entire; it was
seven feet wide, and as high before the arch began. Over the door in
the middle was our Saviour’s head with a crown of thorns between two
angels; on the right side a small round figure of some saint with a
knife struck into his head; on the left a Virgin Mary or Madonna, her
arm tied in three places, Spanish fashion. Over the gate, under a coat
of arms, this inscription:—Petrus Martir ab Angleria Italvs Civis
Mediolanen. Prothon. Apos. hvivs Insulæ Abbas Senatus Indici
Consiliarivs Ligneam privs Ædem hanc bis Igne consvmptam Latericio et
Quadrato Lapide primus a Fundamentis Extruxit.

This Long thus translates:—

Peter Martir, of Anghiera, an Italian citizen of Milan, chief
missionary and abbot of this island, member of the Council of the
Indies, first raised from its foundation, with brick and square stone,
this edifice, which formerly was built of wood, and twice destroyed by
fire.

This Peter Martyr must not be confounded with his namesake, Pietro Martire Vermigli (1500–62), of Florence, who at Cranmer’s instance went to England, and for six years occupied a professor’s chair of theology at Oxford. Our Peter Martyr was Pietro Martire of Anghiera (1455–1526), a native of Arona in Italy, apostolic protonotary, and a member of the Council of the Indies to Charles V. and first abbot of Jamaica. He was a prototype of the absentee proprietor; he never set foot in the island. He is best known by his work entitled “De Orbe Novo,” commonly called “The Decades.” The “some saint with a knife struck into his head,” mentioned by Sloane, was the Dominican saint of the thirteenth century, well known to students of mediæval Christian art, especially by reason of Titian’s world-famous painting of his martyrdom, and the saint after whom the two sixteenth-century Peter Martyrs were named.

At the time that Long wrote (1774), nearly a century later than Sloane, several fragments of carved work in stone “that would be thought no mean ornaments in an European church” were still to be seen there, and the ruins of two edifices, one said to have been a castle and the other probably the collegiate church, were still remaining, separated by about half a mile. The walls were compacted with a very hard cement, and were several feet in thickness. But he mentions that these walls were being every day diminished for the sake of the materials, which were used in repairing the buildings on the estate, so much so that the remains of the castle were then below the surface of the earth. In 1764 he tells us there were dug up two pilasters of about seven feet in length, “of no particular order, but somewhat resembling the Ionic,” on which were “some carvings in alto-relievo.” Four or five coarse images were likewise found, one of which resembled a sphinx, another an alligator, and the rest creatures of the mason’s fancy. Long says that the Spaniards abandoned Sevilla Nueva because the south side ports were more convenient for the galleons and other vessels passing between St. Domingo and Cartagena.

The usual derivation of the name of =Ocho Rios=, one of the most beautiful spots in the beautiful parish of St. Ann, as meaning eight rivers, is probably wrong. The word is most likely a corruption of _chorréra_, a spout, having reference to the waterfall near by. In Long’s time it was called Chareiras, and as late as 1841 William Rob wrote: “Ocho Rios called to this day by the old inhabitants ‘Cheireras,’ its early and appropriate name, ‘the bay of waterfalls.’” It is interesting to note that there is a Chorréra River in Cuba, near Havannah.

In 1657 a letter from Bayona, the governor of Cuba, to a certain Spanish serjeant-major in Jamaica, making arrangements for an attack on Jamaica to be aided by the whilom Spanish slaves in the island, was intercepted. Immediate steps were taken by the resourceful Doyley; and Arnoldo Sasi, the Spanish governor, who having yielded up Jamaica to Penn and Venables had re-landed on the north side from Cuba, was signally defeated by Doyley in person at Ocho Rios, whither he had sailed round from Passage Fort.

The following is the account which Doyley himself gave to Cromwell in “A Narrative of the Great Success God hath been pleased to give his Highness Forces in Jamaica, against the King of Spain’s Forces. Published by His Highness Special Command. London, 1658.”

Right Honourable,

Since my last to Your Honour, the First of _October last_, I have had
intelligence, that the Galleons with Plate, I then mentioned to be at
_Carthagena_ bound for_ Spain_, were cast away by a _Hirecane_; and an
evident token thereof, the _Burmudans_, our Informants, being in a
small Shallop, brought in hither about Twenty thousand pieces of
_Eight_, which they had taken in the Rack. And according to my former
to the Committee for _Jamaica_, having by a Prisoner notice, that
about Five hundred of the Enemy were landed here, and that the
Governour _Don Christopher Arnaldo Sasser_ [_sic_] was fortifying
himself at St. _Anne_ about Thirty-five miles from us, I was resolved
to give him time to fortifie so much, that he might think himself
secure enough to stand us (that we might not perpetually be put to the
toyl of hunting them in the Woods), and yet so that he might not be
able to give us any strong resistance: which accordingly being done, I
sent a Party of Stout, Well and Willing men, under the command of
Major _Richard Steevens_ to whom about Sixty of our Officers joyned,
Volunteers, exceedingly desirous of action (after so long a cessation)
who advanced to the place, very strongly situated on a Rock; as soon
as the Enemies Centinels discovered them, they threw down their Arms,
gave the Allarm to the Governour, who with the rest fled to the Woods,
leaving behinde them all their Arms and Ammunition; so, finding the
vanity of following them in the Woods and Mountains, we left them.

Before our Party came in, our Ships brought in a _Portugal_, running
into _Cuba_, who examined, told me that there were Five hundred landed
about the middle of _July_, that they had marched up the Countrey, and
finding the scarcity of provisions (contrary to what was told them)
were almost starved, had endeavoured to mutiny; and that about Three
hundred of them were by the _Spanish_ Commanders returned to a place
called the _Chareras_, in the _North_, over against _Cuba_, where they
first landed, where was their Magazine and Provisions, and more men
and Provisions dayly expected, where likewise they were fortified and
received their relief, which he had twice carried them.

Upon this intelligence, I met the Party coming home, and dismissing
about a hundred to their plantations (which wanted them) I shipped the
rest under the same command, on board the _Indian_, and went myself
with them for the better carrying on and expediting the business.

The 24 of _October_ we set sail from Cagway Point, and the thirty
stood over against the place. Early in the morning we spied a Sail
from _Cuba_ running into the place we were bound for, who had come
with relief, but told them he could not unlade himself because he saw
Ships at Sea. Our Party landed Six miles below the place intended,
there being no place nearer, and marcht on; who ere they had marched
Two miles, were saluted with a round Volley out of a wood, at which
ours, prepared for before by their Orders, never made stand, but fired
in boldly at the Ambuscade, in which the Enemy had Four wounded, we
One; the Captain with the rest made hast to their Fort, and ours so
fast after them, that onely the Captain and Four of the forty could
get in.

Our Party found them very well prepared with Matches lighted in the
Stockadoes (for that is the manner of their fortification, with great
Trees and Flankers) ours leaving a Third for a reserve, without any
gradual approaches, presently ran up to their Work, and with their
Musquets possest as much advantage, as the Enemy (the Work being not
at all Lined) between whom for the Space of near Three quarters of an
hour was a stiff dispute, till some of ours with the help of Hatchets
(which they were ordered to carry) made a Breach and entred; as soon
as the Enemy saw that, they betook themselves to run over the Rocks,
leaping into the Sea, and shifting for themselves (though the Officers
endeavoured to rally them) yet made not such hast, but that they left
One hundred and twenty, or thereabouts dead on the place, and many
wounded, amongst whom were most of the Officers; _the Mastre del Campe
Don Francis De Prencia_, by means of a Prisoner of ours, whom he kept
by him, got quarter, and some others whom we found in the Rocks whom
(though we had received barbarous usage from them) we could not kill
in cold blood.

We took here Thirty-three barrels of Powder, with Match and Bullet
proportionable, and good Store of Bread and Salt, and likewise their
Musters, their Commissaries book; which Powder, and what we took
before from the Governour, within less than Two Barrels did ballance
the Commissaries Accompt, so that they were wholly deprived of that.
And that which did more indear our Success; we had onely Four men
killed, and about Ten wounded, some whereof I have sent home, and
humbly and earnestly desire they may be provided for.

After I had refresht the men, I put them aboard again, and with small
Parties in several little Boats, Scoured all the Coast, and left them
that fled neither Boats nor time to get away; since which time some
are come in to us almost starved. The _Negroes_ formerly their Slaves,
using them roughly, and denying them Provisions, so that I saw a
Letter from _Don Francis de Liva_, the Deputy-Governor, to one of his
former Slaves, wofully bemoaning the condition of his Majesties
Infantry, and giving him the title of Worship at every word; to such a
necessity are they reduced, and we have not been idle to pursue them
in all quarters, though we now lie still for want of Shooes, if there
should any more of the Enemy come, which we have reason to expect; for
that I find by Letters, that the Governour of _Cuba_ _Don Peter de
Bayona_ being an old Souldier in _Italy_, doth not onely heartilie
solicite it, but makes a great benefit by it, having received money
from the _Vice Roy_, for the payment of Three Moneths to the
Souldiers, according to their Kings express command, whereof they
never received any; and since that, hath received Twenty thousand
pieces of _Eight_ from the _Vice Roy_ for levying more men. I shall
not fail in my endeavours to prepare for their coming, and doubt not,
but that the King of Spains lessening his Garrisons, may in time
produce good effect to our Nation.

I have sent the _Mastre del Campe_, the Colours, some Paper and
Letters; he is the onely man hereabouts, and hath chiefly advised in
this relief, and therefore I hope shall not be released till we are
better settled. I had almost forgot to acquaint your Honour that the
enemy at their first coming, sent a Lieutenant and two more, to
scatter Papers amongst our Souldiers signifying that who would come to
them, should have fair quarter and transport; who being met withall by
some of our Hunters, were all kil’d, and so that hopefull design of
theirs had no effect: And that the Governour of _Porto Rico_, having
set One hundred men to demand some _English_, living in new _Turtola_,
a Coloney of the _Dutch_, being refused to have them delivered up, was
in his return cast away by the _Hericane_, one onely _Mulatto_
escaped. The King of Spains Affairs do very much fail in these parts,
and his Trade is almost brought to nothing, by the many private Men of
War of _English_ and _French_ and ours are still abroad to annoy them.

All I have more is, onely to intreat your Honour, and all our Friends
with us, to magnifie the goodness of God, who hath given yett by his
glimmering, some hopes, that he altogether hath not forgotten us, but
doth, and will at length continue to own his Servants, who trust in
him, and to subscribe myself,

Your most Obedient and
Faithfull Servant,
EDWARD DOYLEY.

_Cagway, Feb. 3, 1657._

In spite of the fact that Doyley felt aggrieved at having been twice superseded by Cromwell in military command (by Sedgwick and by Brayne, both avowed followers of Cromwell) and at not being appointed actual governor, and showed his resentment by asking to be allowed to return home, he loyally did his best for the infant colony which fate had more than once entrusted to his care; and it was owing to the wise and prompt methods he pursued that the last serious attempt made by the Spaniards to retake Jamaica was frustrated.

In the May of 1658, Spanish reinforcements of troops from Spain, consisting of thirty small companies making in all about one thousand men, landed at the mouth of the =Rio Novo= in St. Mary, where they erected a fort of some strength on a rocky eminence near the sea and not far from the west bank of the river.

The account of the occurrence given by Long, which is relied on by later historians, is taken from the letter which Doyley sent home; and it is better, therefore, to give the description in Doyley’s own words, which, though not printed in the “Calendar of State Papers,” are given by Thurloe:

Right Honourable,

RIO NOVO
]

The 8th of May last the Spaniards made good my intelligence to your
honour, by landing thirty captaines, thirty alferes, and thirty
companyes of foote, at a place called Rio Nova, in the north of this
island, who were there about 12 days, before they were discovered; at
which tyme our ships playing up and downe, saw three sayle of Spanish
in that bay, and made an attempt to have boarded them; but being
becalmed could not effect it. That night the Spaniards stole away, and
a ship came out to acquaint me therewith. I immediately called a
counsell of warr, as the affair did importune; and we debated, whether
it were most advantageous to assault them presently, or let them
partake of the distemper and want of the country; and when sickness
had weakened them, to attempt them then, though much might have beene
and was urged, how invaders were to be used with delayes, &c., the
exceeding desire of the officers and soldiers to be doing with them,
cut of all debates, and termed a sudden resolution to fall on them,
before they were fortified; so I comanded out 750 officers and
souldiers; and on the 11th of June last, wee set sayle from this
harbour towards them, and on the 22d in the morning wee attempted the
landing on a bay, which was defended by 2 companies and 2 captains
within half shott of their cannon playing from their fort. Our
forelorne went on with such gallantry, and kept into the water with so
much chearfullness, that perswaded the enemy they would not be denyed
entrance, and so they ranne, leaving one of their captaines and about
23 slaine; the other were took wounded, who dyed since. Then we made
all the hast, and in a hour landed our men, their cannon playing all
the while with little successe. That day we spent in playing upon
their fort from our ships, though the place being of so vast an
height, they could bear to doe them little harme. The next day
understanding their numbers to be more than ours, we were at a stand
how to attempt them, having fortified themselves and having 6 pieces
of ordnance, and a river to passe, the depth whereof we knew not.
Wherefore after our ladders were made, and other things fitted as well
as we could, in the evening I sent a drummer, partly to discover the
depth of the river he was to passe, with this summons:

Sir, being here with the forces of the mighty prince, the protector of
England and the dominions thereunto belonging, I doe, in his name and
for his use, require and summon you to deliver up the fort of Rio
Novo, with the ordnance and amunition therein; assuring you honourable
termes and transport to your country; which, if you shall refuse, I
shall be acquitted of the bloud shall be shed. I expect the returne of
my drummer in an hower, and am,

Your very humble servant,
E. D.

For Don Christopher Arnoldo Sasi,
Commander in chiefe of the Spanish Forces.

Who was very civilly treated; the generall gave him twenty-five pieces
of eight, and sent me a jarr of sweate meates, and this answere:

Lord generall don Christopher Arnoldo & Sasi, Governor for his
majestie the king of Spayne, my lord of the island of Jamaica,
answering to your letter, wherein you require me to deliver the fort
of Rio nova, and what else is therein, I say, that his majestie, whom
God preserve, hath appointed me for governor of this island, being his
owne property, and hath remitted me unto it a regiment of Spanish
infantry, and twenty foote companies to defend it. The forts and
castles of his majestie are not yielded with so much facility
hitherto. I have received noe batteries, nor have you made any
advance. I want noe powder, ball, provisions, nor gallant men, that
know how to dye before they be overcome. God keepe your honour many
years in those commands that you desire.

Don Christopher Sasi Arnoldo.

To the generall Mons. Doyley,
governor of the forces of England, these.

Wee made noe more demurrs, but resolved to march the morrow morning:
soe I ordered two of our vessels to set sayle leeward, to perswade
them. We intended to stand on that side of them; the other ships to
warpe as neere as they could, and play in them, while wee fell on the
other side. Wee marcht as so’on as it was light, haveing two arches to
goe being through a wood on the back side of them. About a quarter of
a mile from their fort wee mett a party on a worke on a high hill,
prepared to obstruct our goeing over the river, who onely gave us a
fruitless volley, rann to their fort, and told them all the world was
comeing. Wee clymed that hill with much adoe, refreshed our weariness
and advanced. When wee came in sight of their fort, we found, to our
exceeding joy, that the work on that side was not finished to that
height, as that to the leeward. Wee ordered our business with our
forlorne ladders and handgranades, and without any further dispute
received their shott, and rann up to their flankers, which in a
quarter of an hower wee gained. Many of them made shift to runn out of
the works, and ours followed their chase about three or four miles,
doeing execution. The seamen likewise seeing of them runn along the
rocks, came out with their boats, and killed many of them.

In this fort, wee took about ten double barrels of powder, shott great
store, six peices of ordnance, great store of provisions, wyne,
brandy, salt, oyle, and other provisions for eight months, as they
termed it. There was slayne about three hundred persons, diverse
captaines, two priests, and their serjeant-major, about one hundred
taken, and six captaines, which we have sent home; the king of Spayn’s
standard and ten collours. The rest, especially the strangers, that
are in the woods, must of necessity perish. Though this mercy was very
great, yet our joy had some abatement, by the losse of capt. Wiseman,
capt. Meers, capt. lieutenant Walker, capt. lieutenant Robinson, and
ensign Ferror, men for their gallantry rather to be admired than
comended, about some twenty-three private souldiers killed, and
thirty-fower wounded, whereof some are since dead; some other of our
officers slightly wounded with stones. Thus hath the Lord made knowne
his salvation. His righteousness hath He openly shewed in the sight of
the heathen. I have sent this short narration, because it comes by
colonell Barry, who was an eye witness, and principal actor herein,
and rest

Your honour’s faithful servant,
EDW. DOYLEY.

Cagway in Jamaica the 12 July, 1658.

To the Colonel Barry, the first name mentioned in the list of Doyley’s first Council elected in 1661, reference has been made in the chapter dealing with Kingston.

In this action we can imagine that the soldiers played their part. William Burough, the steward-general, wrote home on July 15, 1659: “The ships in his Highness’s service here are the _Marston Moor_, _Grantham_, _Cagway_, _Blackmore_, _Hector_, _Pearl_ and _Dolphin_, with upwards of 650 men all in good health. Three were slain in their late expedition to Rio Novo. Their stay aboard was near six weeks, the soldiers about 700, who made a great hole in the stores.”

On the 16th he wrote:

This comes by the _Martin_ to communicate our good news which he
desires may be kept from the press well knowing the Commander-in-Chief
sends a fuller account. Several letters of private persons here have
been inserted in the weekly prints “which is judged to be popularity
and a matter of great offence here.” Has seen a great deal of bloody
work in his time both by land and sea, but never saw any action
carried on with so much cheerfulness as this was, the
Commander-in-Chief, Colonel D’Oyley, telling the soldiers that a great
deal of England’s glory lay at stake, and therefore hoped they would
consider it and carry themselves accordingly, going himself from party
to party, and following the rear of the forlorn in a very signal
habit. His gallant behaviour was answered both by officers and
soldiers with a silent cheerful obedience, and through God’s gracious
goodness there was found such a joint unanimous willingness to the
work that the truth is it was of God and it hath exceedingly endeared
us one to another since we came here.

Doyley evidently had difficulty in beating round Port Morant, for he mentions incidentally (on another occasion) that the Nevis settlers there quartered 400 men for a week _en route_.

Among those who took part in the expedition was Captain Sibada, who had joined Penn’s fleet from Antigua, and acted as pilot of the flagship.

The army evidently had to do its work on short commons. Burough wrote home in November: “Stores almost spent, occasioned by entertainment of soldiers on board the fleets in two expeditions, one to Rio Nuevo with 700 men, equal to the number of the fleet for six weeks, and 300 men in the late expedition to find out the Spanish fleet, ten weeks. If they had not pinched the army the fleet and garrison on the island must have been starved.”

Hickeringill tells us that Doyley at Rio Novo made amends for the loss of British honour at Hispaniola:

to whom our Nation in some measures stands indebted for the Reprizal
of the Honour at Rio Novo which was so shamefully Lost under the
Debauch’d conduct of General Venables in Hispaniola: the Spaniards
till then having so mean and despicable Thoughts of English Courage,
that upon the Onset at Rio Novo they upbraided our Men with the
opprobrious mention of Sancto Domingo, till the repeated Assay of
their Valour, disicplin’d them into better manners.

For though the number of the Spanish Forces at Rio Novo doubled the
English (being sent from Cuba to reinforce and settle the Island) and
those strongly Entrenched, yet such was the enraged earnestness of the
Soldiery to redeem their wounded Honours, that (regardless of all odds
and disadvantages) they storm’d them in their Trenches with a
resolution as undaunted as the success was prosperous. Hereby not only
retrieving the Prestine Fame of their Country-men; but also hitherto
frustrating all hopes in the Spaniards of further Attempts to regain
the Island.

Sir Hans Sloane, in his account of his visit to the north side of Jamaica in 1688, says: “I went from St. _Anns_ towards St. _Georges_, where I crossed the river called _Rio Nuevo_. I saw the old _Spanish_ Fortifications, whither the Spaniards retreated and kept themselves till they were carried to _Cuba_, where they, for the most part, settled about a place called _St. Jago_. Colonel _Ballard_, who was present at the taking of the Island, assured me that the _Spaniards_ (who inhabited the Island to the number of Five thousand, with as many Blacks) retired to the North-side, where Seven hundred fortified themselves very well, but were beat in their Forts by so many _English_. The Governour was an old decrepid Man, who was brought to them in an _Hamaca_, his name was _Don Juan Ramires de Arellano Cavalero del Habito de S. Jago_. They held it out in this North-side for some time.”

In the beginning of the year 1660, Long tells us, Doyley was informed by the friendly negroes that his old opponent Sasi, unwilling to resign his pretensions to the government so long as he could maintain the least party or show of authority, was lying _perdu_ on the north side of the island. Doyley ordered out a detachment under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Tyson, consisting of eighty officers and soldiers, and twenty-one of the revolted Spanish blacks; which, after a tedious march across the mountains, found Sasi in a swampy place, now part of =Shaw Park=, with one hundred and thirty-three men. Sasi himself was then old and infirm, but his second in command was an experienced soldier, who had served in Spain and had engaged in this new service in consideration of double pay, and a promise of succeeding to the chief command after the governor’s death.

The English advanced upon them with intrepidity, and at the first onset the Spanish lieutenant-general received a lance-wound, of which he died in two hours. On the loss of this able leader, upon whom all their hopes had been fixed, the whole of the little army was panic-stricken. Sasi was one of the first to retreat, and “ran so nimbly as to save himself from being taken.” Several, however, were made prisoners, and about fifty officers and soldiers slain on the part of the Spaniards, without any loss to the victorious side. The negroes were extremely active and dexterous in catching the fugitives. Long goes on to say:

The unfortunate old Governor, being now reduced to the last extremity,
and studious only for the preservation of life, sent commissioners to
treat on his behalf; and was permitted to retire to Cuba.

After this exploit the English proceeded to Chereiras Bay, where a
vessel lay at anchor, which the Spaniards had formerly taken and
employed to bring them monthly supplies of provision from Cuba, such
as cassada-bread, sweet-meats, chocolate and other conveniences. The
better to secure her from being surprised they kept several scouts at
some distance from the shore, to reconnoitre the country, and give the
alarm upon the approach of any enemy. Colonel Tyson had intelligence
of this caution; and disposing his men on different ambuscades, found
means to secure all the scouts one after another; after which he
concerted his measures so well as to make himself master of the
vessel, on board of which he found twenty officers and soldiers, who
were all taken prisoners.

The few remaining Spaniards who had eluded the search of the English
forces, embraced the first convenient opportunity of making their
escape from the Island, leaving about thirty of their negro slaves
behind, who secreted themselves in the mountains and afterwards
entered into alliance with other unsubdued banditti.

It is to be regretted that Tyson, who acquitted himself so nobly on this occasion, shortly afterwards gave occasion to Doyley to have him shot, as has been described in the chapter dealing with St. Catherine.

In his account Bridges says that “The British troops pursued him [Sasi] to a little bay about eight miles to the westward of the ruins of Seville; thence he escaped in a Canoe and ended his days in the bosom of peace and Christianity, by retiring to a monastery in Spain.” The spot from whence he embarked still retains the name of =Runaway Bay=.

In Modyford’s “View” of 1664 there is no reference to St. Ann. It first appears in the same governor’s “Survey” of 1670; the other new parishes being St. George, St. Mary, St. Elizabeth and St. James.

The parish is said to have been named after Anne Hyde, wife of James Duke of York. If Roby is right in this, the correct spelling of the name of the parish would be St. Anne, as indeed Long and others spell it.