Part 1

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The Story of the Nations.

THE WEST INDIES.

THE WEST INDIES

AND THE

SPANISH MAIN

BY

JAMES RODWAY

_SECOND IMPRESSION_

London

T. FISHER UNWIN

PATERNOSTER SQUARE

MDCCCXCIX

COPYRIGHT BY T. FISHER UNWIN, 1896 (For Great Britain).

COPYRIGHT BY G.P. PUTNAM'S SONS, 1896 (For the United States of America).

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 Æneas 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 depôts 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 depôt 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 Haïti 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 _protégé_ 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 Curaçao--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 Ogé--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.

XVI.

THE ISTHMUS TRANSIT SCHEMES 346-364

Nelson's expedition to the San Juan--Miranda's project--Importance of a canal--Central America--Effects of the discovery of gold in California--The Panama railway--Canal projects--Darien again--The _Times_ and the Nicaragua project--Ship railway--Lesseps and the Panama Canal--Difficulties of the work--Its downfall--Character of Lesseps--The Nicaragua Canal.

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS.

PAGE

1.--Reception of Spaniards by Arawaks. From Gottfried's "Reisen" _Frontispiece_

2.--Reception of Spaniards by Caribs. From Gottfried's "Reisen" 5

3.--A corner of Paradise. The Victoria Regia 8

4.--_En route_ to the goldfields of Guiana. Passing the rapids of the Essequebo 10

5.--Worrying the natives with dogs. From Gottfried's "Reisen" 13

6.--A modern alluvial gold washing 16

7.--Suicides. From Gottfried's "Reisen" 17

8.--A Guiana river. The Tumatamari falls 26

9.--Inhabitants of the Spanish Main. From Colijn's "Reisen" 28

10.--"El Dorado." From Gottfried's "Reisen" 37

11.--Negro woman returning from market 53

12.--Negro barber 54

13.--Negro family on holiday 55

14.--Negresses gossiping 56

15.--Ralegh in Trinidad. From Gottfried's "Reisen" 71

16.--Gold hunting. From Gottfried's "Reisen" 80

17.--Carib attack on a settlement. From Gottfried's "Reisen" 89

18.--St. Kitt's. From Andrews' "West Indies" 118

19.--A Surinam planter. From Stedman's "Surinam" 138

20.--A negro festival. From Edwards' "West Indies" 140

21.--Voyage of the sable Venus. From Edwards' "West Indies" 142

22.--Slaves landing from the ship. From Stedman's "Surinam" 144

23.--Map of _Terra Firma_. From Gottfried's "Reisen" 197

24.--A rebel negro. From Stedman's "Surinam" 209

25.--The execution of breaking on the rack. From Stedman's "Surinam" 212

26.--March through a swamp. From Stedman's "Surinam" 224

27.--Trelawny town. From Edwards' "West Indies" 231

28.--Pacification of the Maroons. From Edwards' "West Indies" 234

29.--View of part of Hispaniola. From Andrews' "West Indies" 258

30.--La Guayra on the Main. From Andrews' "West Indies" 280

31.--The First of August. From Madden's "West Indies" 308

32.--A relic of the slavery days--old slave buying fish 310

33.--Negress, Guiana 315

34.--Negress fish-sellers, Guiana 316

35.--Chinese wood-carrier 317

36.--East Indian coolie 318

37.--East Indian coolie family 319

38.--Coolie barber 320