After this the chronicles are so scanty that not even the diligent researches of Friar Abbad's commentator enabled him to give any reliable information regarding the government of the island. It remained the almost defenseless point of attack for the nations with which Spain was constantly at war, and this small but bright pearl in her colonial crown was preserved only by fortunate circumstances on the one hand and the loyalty of the inhabitants on the other.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 35: Protectors or protégés—literally, "godfathers.">[
CHAPTER XVI
DEFENSELESS CONDITION OF THE ISLAND—CONSTRUCTION OF FORTIFICATIONS AND CIRCUMVALLATION OF SAN JUAN
1555-1641
San German disappeared for want of means of defense, and if the French privateers of the time had been aware that the forts in San Juan were without guns or ammunition it is probable that this island would have become a French possession.
The defenses of the island were constructed by the home authorities in a very dilatory manner. Ponce's house in Capárra had been fortified in a way so ineffective that Las Casas said of it that the Indians might knock it down butting their heads against it. This so-called fort soon fell in ruins after the transfer of the capital to its present site. There is no information of what became of the six "espingardas" (small ordnance or hand-guns) with which it had been armed at King Ferdinand's expense. They had probably been transferred to San Juan, where, very likely, they did good service intimidating the Caribs.
In 1527 an English ship came prowling about San Juan bay, la Mona, and la Española, and this warning to the Spanish authorities was disregarded, notwithstanding Blas de Villasante's urgent request for artillery and ammunition.
[Illustration: Inner harbor, San Juan.]