Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 1 of 2

by Robert Grant Watson

The third of the three great men who may be said to have created between them England’s position as Mistress of the Waves, and to have given the English navy the character which it bears, is Sir Walter Raleigh. Hawkins represents the old English unthinking, unreasoning, loyal, slave-hunting, religious skipper. Drake, in turn, represented a much higher phase of English sea-life. It is true that in his early days he commanded a vessel in one of Hawkins’ slave-hunting expeditions; but, to his great credit, he seems to have been so disgusted on this occasion, that he never afterwards soiled his hands by dealing in this unholy and abominable traffic. He was a corsair, but at the same time a conscientious man. At San Juan d’Ulloa and elsewhere he and his companions had suffered grievous wrongs and treachery at the hands of the Spanish authorities, wrongs for which he had in vain sought reparation at Madrid. He therefore conceived himself—and in this belief he was confirmed by a chaplain of his fleet—to be fully entitled to exact on his own account the reparation which was refused him by the Spanish Government; and it is to be noted that he sought simply reparation, and that he is, throughout his career, entirely exempt from charges of cruelty and of wanton depredation.

Hawkins and Drake were self-made men. They each rose to the rank of admiral from the manly class which furnishes our seamen before the mast. Raleigh, on the other hand, although not of aristocratic birth, and although not, strictly speaking, a seaman by profession, yet did almost everything towards the formation of the aristocratic element in our navy. It was the gifted favourite of Elizabeth who induced many a youth of the highest social circles to seek for distant ventures, and who thus created the tradition by which the noblest families of England, from that of the Queen downwards, devote one of their sons to the same toils, perils, and honours which, in degree, befall all ranks of our navy. Raleigh was ambitious for his country, for which, with prophetic vision, he foresaw its place as Mistress of the Deep. With the famous patent granted to him on March 25, 1584, to search out and take possession of new lands in the western hemisphere, we have only to deal in so far as it concerns Guyana.

1595.

Raleigh had already led the way to the planting of the English race in North America; he next directed his speculations towards the southern hemisphere, and projected an expedition to Guyana. As a preliminary measure he despatched a barque, under Captain Whiddon, to survey the coast of that portion of South America. The object he had in view was to explore and subdue Guyana, for the sake of the riches which it was supposed to possess. With a fleet of five ships, and with a gallant company of gentlemen, he sailed from Plymouth on the 6th of February 1595, and reached the Island of Trinidad, where he destroyed the new city of San Jose. There leaving his ships, he proceeded with barges, boats, and launches to explore the outlets of the Orinoco.

He toiled up the network of streams, through tropical thunder, lightning, and rain. He beheld the great river swelling like a sea between masses of luxuriant vegetation, profuse in tropical fruits and flowers, and looked down upon from a huge height by the snow-clad Andes and by the Condor; but he saw no gold, nor did he discover any mines. The setting-in of the rainy season put a period to his explorations; and, leaving behind him a man and a boy to serve as interpreters on his return, he set sail for England, taking with him a young Cacique.

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1616.

Long years were to elapse before Sir Walter Raleigh again hoisted his flag on the Atlantic. When he did so, a new order of things had arisen in England, since thirteen years before he had been committed to the Tower, from which he emerged on the 19th of March 1616. The destination of the squadron which he now organized was again Guyana. A hundred noblemen and gentlemen hastened to join the standard of the renowned commander, whilst there was no lack of mariners eager to serve under an admiral whose capacity has never been exceeded by any one in the long list of our naval heroes.

On the 11th of November 1617, Raleigh, now sixty-five years of age, reached Guyana, after a voyage which was in every way disastrous, and which had left himself in impaired health and the force at his command in diminished strength. His spirit, however, was still sanguine, as he drifted towards the Orinoco between the islands, in one of which is laid the scene of “Robinson Crusoe.” On reaching the river, it was found impossible for the larger vessels, including Raleigh’s own ship, the “Destiny,” to cross the bar, and as he was in too enfeebled a condition to lead the expedition inland in person, he had to relinquish the command to another, whilst he himself remained cruising between the Orinoco and Trinidad, being so weak that he had to be carried about in a chair.

Meanwhile, a considerable force ascended the river, under Captain Kemys and Sir Walter’s son. Guyana certainly belonged to England, if to any foreign nation, since on the occasion of Raleigh’s former expedition the Caciques, who had welcomed him as their deliverer from their Spanish neighbours, had declared their allegiance to England. But during his long absence Spanish settlements had been formed in the country.