[XXVII‑6] In the appendix to Carranza just quoted Parker gives 'A Table made in the manner of an Alphabett. for the easier findinge of the Streates, and chiefest Places portraited in the Drafte of Portabell, beinge in the West-Indies, standing in tenne Degrees, which was taken by Captaine William Parker, of Plymouth, Gentleman, the seaventh Daye of Februarie 1601,' etc. In Panamá, Descrip., Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc. x., the year 1602 is given on p. 105, and 1601 on p. 108. The year 1601 is also given in [Casttell]'s Am., in Churchill's Col. Voy., viii. 762. The town 'was pillaged by the English under Captain Parker, in the year 1601,' says Heylyn, Cosmog., 1086. The date of sailing from Plymouth, November 1601, is given in Harris' Col. Voy., i. 747; in West Indies, Geog. and Hist., 79; in Purchas' Pil., iv. 1243, and in Holmes' Annals Am., i. 117. The landing at Portobello is placed on the 7th of Feb. 1602. The author of West Indies, Geog. and Hist., 79-80, gives both dates, but in speaking generally of the expedition styles it of 1601, as on pp. 67, 78, and elsewhere.
[XXVII‑7] He was great-nephew of the Pedro Melendez who barbarously murdered Ribault, Landouiere, and others of the French who fell into his hands in Florida. West Indies, Geog. and Hist., 82-3.
[XXVII‑8] West Indies, Geog. and Hist., 82; Harris' Col. Voy., i. 747; Casttell's Am. in Churchill's Col. Voy., viii. 762.
[XXVII‑9] On hearing of the capture of Portobello, the governor of Cartagena is said to have sworn to give 'a Mules lading of Silver to have a fight of Captain Parker and his Company,' and as Harris remarks: 'Had they been sure he would have parted with what he had upon so easie terms as they at Porto Belo did, 'tis very likely they might have sold him that favour, but his strength being uncertain as well as his pay, they did not think fit to attempt him.' Col. Voy., i. 747.
[XXVII‑10] Deputies were to receive 400 ducats yearly. In 1608, the bonds of treasury officials were reduced from 20,000 ducats to one half that amount. In a decree of Sept. 11, 1610, the fiscal is directed to go to Portobello on the arrival of the galleons and tarry during the season; all other officials to perform their usual duties and make the requisite reports. Among other duties the fiscal was authorized to prevent improper persons landing. 'Estorbando que los cassados y pasajeros que fueron con licencia, y mulatas moriscas y estrangeras y otras personas prohibidas á pasar á estas partes, no lo hagan, executando en ellos y en los que los lleban, las penas que estan impuestas.' Panamá, Reales Cédulas, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xvii. 311-12.
[XXVII‑11] 'When I came into the Haven,' says Thomas Gage who was at Portobello in 1537, 'I was sorry to see that as yet the Galeons were not come from Spain, knowing that the longer I stayed in that place, greater would be my charges.... A kind Gentleman, who was the King's Treasurer, falling in discourse with me, promised to help me, that I might be cheaply lodged even when the ships came, and lodgings were at the highest rate. He, interposing his authority, went with me to seek one, which at the time of the Fleets being there, might continue to be mine. It was no bigger than would contain a Bed, a Table, and a Stool or two, with room enough besides to open and shut the door, and they demanded of me for it, during the foresaid time of the Fleet, six-score Crowns, which commonly is a fortnight.... I knew a Merchant who gave a thousand Crowns for a shop of reasonable bigness, to sell his wares and commodities that year that I was there, for fifteen days only, which the Fleet continued to be in that Haven. I thought it much for me to give the six-score Crowns which were demanded of me for a room, which was but a Mouse-hole.' New Survey, 444-5.
[XXVII‑12] The length of anchorage ground is about 3,000 geometrical paces; the width from 1,500 to 1,800 paces, and the average depth 17 fathoms. Large ships ride at anchor opposite Castle Santiago, while frigates can move nearer the mole. There is room for 300 galleons and 1,000 smaller vessels within, while 2,000 ships may anchor with tolerable safety without the forts. Panamá, Descrip., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ix. 118-19.
[XXVII‑13] Panamá contained in 1610, eleven streets, three squares, a cathedral, five convents, a hospital, seven royal houses, a casa de cabildo, two hermitages, court-house with jail, 332 houses covered with tiles, 40 small houses, 112 Indian huts, a meat market and slaughter-house. All but eight of the houses were made of stone. Panamá, Descrip., in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., ix. 86. The statement that all but eight were of stone seems improbable. It is certain that they were nearly all of wood about the middle of the 16th century, and that most of them were of cedar when Panamá vieja was destroyed during Morgan's raid in 1671.
[XXVII‑14] It will be remembered that Cruces was the town at which treasure from Panamá was shipped in barges for the mouth of the Chagre. The casa de Cruces was established in 1536.
[XXVII‑15] In response to frequent addresses, the king, on the 14th of August 1610, directed Governor [Mercedo] by all means in his power to develop mining operations in Panamá and Veragua. 'Para que los que tienen quadrillas do negros las refuerzen y acrecienten, y los que no las tienen las procuran.' Panamá, Reales Cédulas, in Pacheco and Cárdenas, Col. Doc., xvii. 211-12.