Chapter I: Introduction

The story of the West Indies and Spanish Main is one to stir the hearts of many nations. The shores of the Caribbean Sea have been the scene of marvellous adventures, of intense struggles between races and peoples, of pain, trouble, and disaster of almost every description. No wonder that the romance writer has laid his scenes upon its beautiful islands and deep blue waters, for nowhere in the world, perhaps, could he find such a wealth of incident. From "Robinson Crusoe" to Marryat's genial stories, and down to "Westward Ho!" and "Treasure Island," old and young have been entranced for many generations with its stories of shipwrecks, pirates, sea-fights, and treasure-seekers. Yet with all this the field has not been exhausted, for hardly a year passes without a new romance dealing more or less with the "Indies."

Under this name of the Indies the islands and continent were first known to the Spaniards, and it was not until some years had passed that the mainland received the name of _Terra Firma_. The string of islands facing the Atlantic were the Antilles, so called from a traditional island to the west of the Azores, marked on maps and globes of the fifteenth century. This "Bow of Ulysses," as Froude called the islands, was divided into the Greater and Lesser Antilles, the latter being also known as the Caribbees, from their original inhabitants. Other divisions were made later into Windward and Leeward Islands, but these differed so much in the descriptions of different nations that it would be as well to leave them out of the question. Perhaps the best way would be to name the whole the Antilles or West Indian Islands and divide them, in going from north to south, into the Bahamas, the Greater Antilles, and the Caribbees.

When we think of these beautiful islands and shores they recall those of that other "Great Sea" which was such a mighty factor in the development of Greece and Rome, Phoenicia and Carthage, Venice and Genoa. As Ulysses and AEneas wandered about the Mediterranean, so the early voyagers sailed along the coasts of the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico in fear of anthropophagoi, amazons, giants, and fiery dragons. As the Indies were the scene of struggles between great nations and the raids of buccaneers, so also was the Mediterranean a battlefield for Christian and Turk, and a centre for piracy.

Reports of golden cities, pearls and emeralds in profusion, and wealth that passed all description, led the Spaniards to explore every island and river, until the cannibals became less alarming. Yet their sufferings were terrible. Hurricanes sunk their frail craft on the sea and earthquakes wrung their very souls on land. Starvation, with its consequent sickness and death, destroyed one party after another, but they still went on. The discovery of the riches of Mexico and Peru led them to look for other rich nations, and to travel thousands of miles on the mainland, guided by the reports of the Indians. Undaunted by suffering and failure, they would often try again and again, perhaps only to perish in the attempt at last.

The treasures of the Indies made Spain the greatest nation in Europe. With her riches she could do almost anything. Other nations bowed down before her, and she became sovereign of the seas and mistress of the world. No matter how it was obtained, gold and silver flowed into her coffers; what did she care that it was obtained by the bloody sweat of the poor Indians?

Then came envy and jealousy. Why should Spain claim the whole of the New World? England, Holland, and France began to dispute her supremacy and determined to get a share of the good things. The "invincible domination" of Spain led her to declare war against England, with the result that the hardy sea-dogs of that time began to worry the fat galleons at sea, and to pillage the treasure depots on the Main.

And here we must mention that there were two important places in the Indies where Spain was most vulnerable--the Mona Passage between Hispaniola and Porto Rico and the Isthmus of Darien. Through the first came the outward fleets with supplies, and on their return with gold and silver, while on the Isthmus was the depot for merchandise and the great treasure store. At these two points the enemy congregated, either as ships of war, buccaneers, corsairs, or pirates, and in their neighbourhood some of the most bitter struggles took place. There was no peace in the Indies, whatever might nominally be the case in Europe. Englishmen's blood boiled at the atrocities of the Spaniards, but we are afraid it was not love for the oppressed alone that made them massacre the Spaniards whenever they got an opportunity. The poor Indian received but a scant measure of justice from these very people, when as a matter of convenience they required possession of the Caribbee islands.

Other nations took possession of smaller islands, unoccupied by Spain, and from these centres continued their raids, as privateers in war, and as pirates at other times. Sometimes they were united among themselves against the common enemy, sometimes at war with each other. France and Holland against England, England and Holland against France--nothing but quarrels and fighting. Now an island changed hands, and again it was restored or recaptured. The planters were never sure of being able to reap their crops, and often had literally to superintend the estate work, armed with sword and arquebuse, while their black and white slaves cultivated the soil.

Now the West Indies became the great training ground for three maritime nations--England, France, and Holland. Spain lost her prestige, and the struggle lay among her enemies for over a century. At first the three disputants for her place were equally matched; then Holland dropped behind, leaving England and France to fight it out. The struggle was a very close one, which only ended with the fall of Napoleon, and it was in the Caribbean Sea where the great check to France took place. Here Rodney defeated De Grasse, and here Nelson and many another naval officer gained that experience which served them so well in other parts of the world.

Here also was the scene of that great labour experiment, the African slave-trade. The atrocities of the Spaniards caused the depopulation of the Greater Antilles, and led to the importation of negroes. Whatever may be said against slavery, there can hardly be any question that the African has been improved by his removal to another part of the world and different surroundings. True, he has not progressed to the extent that was expected by his friends when they paid such an enormous sum for his enfranchisement; still, there are undoubtedly signs of progress.

The white colonists in the West Indies never settled down to form the nucleus of a distinct people. Since the emancipation the islands have been more and more abandoned to the negroes and coloured people, with the result that although the government is mostly in the hands of the whites, they are in such a minority as to be almost lost. In Cuba there appears to be such a feeling of patriotism towards their own island that probably we shall soon hear of a new republic, but elsewhere in the islands our hopes for the future must lie in the negroes and coloured people.

On the mainland the original inhabitants were not exterminated as in the large islands, and consequently we have there a most interesting process in course of accomplishment--the development of one or more nations. Here are the true Americans, and as the Gaul was merged in the Frank, and the Briton in the Saxon, so the Spaniard has been or will ultimately be lost in the American. At present the so-called Spanish republics are in their birth-throes--they are feeling their way. Through trouble and difficulty--revolution and tyranny--they have to march on, until they become stronger and more fitted to take their places among other nations. Out of the struggle they must ultimately come, and it will be a most interesting study for those who see the result.

In Hispaniola we have also a nation in the course of development--an alien race from the old world. More backward than the Americans, the Africans of Haiti are struggling to gain a position among other nations, apparently without any good result. The nation is yet unborn, and its birth-throes are distressing. We look upon that beautiful island and feel sad that such a paradise should have fallen so low. As a race the negro has little of that internal power that makes for progress--he must be compelled to move on. Some are inclined to look upon him as in the course of degenerating into the savage, but we, on the contrary, believe him to be progressing slowly.

In the islands belonging to European nations the influence of the dominant power is visible in the negro even when he has no trace of white blood. The French, English, or Dutch negro may be recognised by his manners, and even features. In some places East Indians and Chinese have been imported, but these stand alone and make little impression. They are aliens as yet, and take little part in the development of the colonies.

Latterly the West Indies have sunk into neglect by Europe. Except for the difficulties of the planters their history is almost a blank sheet. Few know anything about the beautiful islands or the grand forests of the mainland. Even the discovery of gold in Guiana, which goes to confirm the reports of Ralegh, three centuries ago, is only known to a few. Ruin and desolation have fallen upon them since the peace of 1815 and the emancipation. Even the negro--the _protege_ of the benevolent--is no longer the object of interest he once was. Cane sugar is being gradually ousted by that from the beet, and hardly anything has been done to replace its cultivation by other tropical products.

Yet the islands are still as lovely as they were four centuries ago, and on the continent is a wealth of interest to the naturalist and lover of the beautiful. Now and again a tourist goes the round of the islands and publishes the result in a book of travel; but the countries are out of the track of civilisation and progress. Possibly if the Panama or Nicaragua Canal is ever finished things may be a little better, but at present the outlook is very dismal.

In attempting to compress the story of the West Indies and Spanish Main within the covers of one volume we have undertaken a task by no means easy. Every island and every province has its own tale, and to do them all justice would require a hundred books. Every West Indian will find something missing--some event unmentioned which is of the greatest importance to his particular community. This is only to be expected, yet we believe that the reader will get a fairer idea of their importance when they are comprehended in one great whole. The photo block illustrations are from negatives prepared by Mr. Thomas B. Blow, F.L.S.

CONTENTS.

I.
PAGE
THE SPANIARDS AND THEIR VICTIMS 1-22

The native Americans--The Arawak and the Carib--Their independent
spirit--Their country--The character of the Spaniard--He wants to
convert the natives to Christianity--"A ton of gold"--First Spanish
settlers in Hispaniola--They ravage the island and are entirely cut
off--The second colony oppresses the Indians--Repartimientos--Cruelties
to the Indian slaves--Decrease of the population--Slave-hunting in
other islands and on the Main--Resistance of the cannibals--Decline of
Hispaniola.

II.

THE QUEST FOR "EL DORADO" 23-47

Treasure-seeking and its dangers--Alonzo de Ojeda--The proclamation to
the Indians--Disastrous voyage of Valdivia--A cannibal story--"El
Dorado," the gilded one--The German knights--Ambrosio de
Alfinger--George of Spires--Nicholas Fedreman and others--Pedro de
Ursua and Lope de Aguirre--Pedro de Acosta--Diego de Ordas and Juan
Martinez--The quest and its dangers.

III.

"SINGEING THE SPANIARD'S BEARD" 48-67

The Papal Bull of partition--English and French seamen in the
Indies--Raids on the Spanish possessions--Master William Hawkins goes
to Brazil--The Caribs friendly to the enemies of Spain--John Hawkins
carries negroes from Africa--Francis Drake's attack on Nombre de
Dios--The Simaroons--Drake captures the Panama train--John
Oxenham--Andrew Barker--Drake's second voyage--He captures St. Domingo
and Carthagena--Last voyage of Drake and Hawkins--Death of
Drake--Exploits of other adventurers.

IV.

RALEGH AND THE FIRST BRITISH COLONIES 68-89

"Letters Patent" to Ralegh--"El Dorado" again--Ralegh's first voyage to
Guiana--Keymis and Berrie--The Dutch in Guiana--Charles Leigh founds a
settlement--Robert Harcourt's colony--Ralegh's imprisonment--He is
released to again visit Guiana--Disastrous results--Roger North's
colony--King James's want of policy--Changes after his death--St.
Christopher's and Barbados--North's colony again--The Bahamas--The
French and Dutch settlements--Rise of the Dutch--The French and English
at St. Christopher's.

V.

BUCCANEERS, FILIBUSTERS, AND PIRATES 90-112

The buccaneers of Hispaniola--Tortuga--Bay of Campeachy--Privateers
turning pirates--Pierre Legrand--Captains de Basco and Brouage--Captain
Lawrence--Montbar the "Exterminator"--Lolonois--Morgan storms and
captures Panama--He settles down in Jamaica--Van Horn--Raid on the
South Sea--Lionel Wafer's journey across the Isthmus.

VI.

WAR IN THE YOUNG COLONIES 113-136

Spanish raids--Effects of the "Great English Revolution"--The Caribbee
Islands in revolt--Cavaliers and Roundheads in Barbados--Charles the
Second declared king--Lord Willoughby arrives with a Commission from
the fugitive--Persecution of the Roundheads--Sir George Ayscue sent out
with a fleet to reduce Barbados--The island blockaded--Its
surrender--Surinam held for the king--Cromwell and Spain--The
Expedition to St. Domingo--Capture of Jamaica--Colonisation of the
island--The Council for foreign plantations.

VII.

THE PLANTERS AND THEIR SLAVES 137-159

First adventurers not agriculturalists--Slaves wanted--Negroes
imported--Sugar--Cotton--Tobacco--First plantations--Kidnapping--
Prisoners transported--English slave-trade--Comparative cost of negroes
and whites--Rebels--Story of Henry Pitman--Condition of the
bond-servants--Life of the planter--Dangers of the
voyage--Jamaica--Slavery in Africa--Treatment of the West Indian slave.

VIII.

THE STRUGGLE FOR SUPREMACY 160-183

Trade disputes between England and Holland--War--The buccaneers
employed--Repulse of De Ruyter at Barbados--Capture of Dutch colonies
by English--The French drive the English from St. Kitt's--Abortive
attempts for its recapture--Peace of Breda--The value of the buccaneers
to Jamaica--Character of the three nations now contending for
supremacy--Case of Surinam--English refused permission to leave with
their slaves--War again--Peace of Westminster and the exodus from
Surinam--Case of Jeronomy Clifford--Sir Henry Morgan represses
buccaneering--Another war--Du Casse and the Corsairs--Jacques
Cassard--Curious position of Berbice--Cassard takes Curacao--His
downfall.

IX.

THE STRUGGLE FOR THE DARIEN TRADE 184-206

Carthagena and Porto Bello fairs--The trade of the Isthmus--The
joint-stock mania--William Paterson and the Darien scheme--Caledonia
and New Edinburgh founded--Destruction of the colony--The _Assiento_
contract--The Great South Sea Bubble--Vain attempts of the English to
obtain free trade with the Spanish provinces--Attacks on the logwood
cutters of Campeachy--War with Spain--Contraband traders and their
losses--Captain Jenkins' ear--Another war with Spain--Admiral Vernon
takes Porto Bello--His failure at Carthagena--English exploits.

X.

SLAVE INSURRECTIONS AND BUSH NEGROES 207-236

Sufferings of the planters from war--Barbados alone as having never
fallen to the enemy--Internal difficulties--Ferocity of slaves and
cruelty of their punishments--The Maroons of Jamaica and bush negroes
in Guiana--Slave insurrections--Abortive plots in Barbados--Troubles in
Jamaica--Revolt in Antigua--The great slave insurrection in
Berbice--The whites driven from the colony--Haunts of the Guiana bush
negroes--Surinam in continual fear of their raids--Expeditions sent
against them--Treaties--Great insurrection in Jamaica and suppression
of the Maroons.

XI.

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF THE SEAS 237-255

Downfall of Spain--England and France--Contraband traffic of the Dutch
and Danes--Advantages of neutrality--The Jews in the islands--They
support the buccaneers--The great war--England against the
world--Admiral Rodney--His abortive fights with De Guichen--The
training of his fleet--He captures St. Eustatius and confiscates
private property--Capture of Demerara--Outcry against Rodney--British
disasters--Rodney appears again--His decisive victory over De
Grasse--Peace and its results--The great struggle with France and her
allies--British supremacy--Peace of Amiens--War again--Nelson in the
West Indies--The American war--Decline of the plantations from the
abolition of the slave-trade.

XII.

DOWNFALL OF HISPANIOLA 256-275

Results of the French Revolution--The friends of the blacks--The rights
of man--Civil disabilities of free coloured people--Agitation in the
French colonies--James Oge--Demand of the coloured people for equal
rights--Civil war in Hispaniola--"Perish the colonies"--Great slave
insurrection--The whites concede equal rights, but the Convention
revokes their original decree--Truce broken--The struggle
renewed--Devastation of the colony--The British expedition and its
failure--Toussaint L'Ouverture--Slavery abolished--It is re-established
by Napoleon--Treachery to L'Ouverture and the negroes--Dessalines and
Christophe declare the independence of Hayti--Massacre of the
whites--The Empire and Republic.

XIII.

EMANCIPATION OF THE SPANISH MAIN 276-288

Influence of the French Revolution on Spanish America--Miranda vainly
attempts to rouse Venezuela--Revolution at Caracas--Simon
Bolivar--Struggle for independence--Atrocities of both parties--Bolivar
proclaims extermination to the Royalists--Spanish successes--The
British Legion--Devastation of the country--The Columbian
Republic--Guatemala.

XIV.

ABOLITION OF SLAVERY 289-313

Agitation against slavery by the Quakers--Abolition of the African
slave-trade--Effects of this on the plantations--Condition of the
slave--Registration--Rising in Barbados--The Protestant missionaries
arrive--Opposition of the planters--Ordinance against preaching and
teaching slaves passed in Jamaica--The anti-slavery party in
England--Amelioration of the condition of the slave--Insurrection in
Demerara--Prosecution and conviction of the Rev. John
Smith--Emancipation in the British colonies--Its effect on colonies of
other nationalities--Insurrection at St. Croix--Total abolition of
slavery in the West Indies.

XV.

RESULTS OF EMANCIPATION 314-345

Ruin of the planters--Difficulty of procuring labour--Abolition of the
differential duties--Immigration--Barbados an exception when ruin fell
on the other colonies--Labour laws in French, Danish, and Dutch
colonies--Another insurrection in St. Croix--Race prejudice causes
riots in Demerara--Insurrection at Jamaica--Confederation riot at
Barbados.