Narrative of a Voyage to the West Indies and Mexico in the Years 1599-1602

by Samuel de Champlain

From the said isle we passed to another island, called Guadaloupe, which is very mountainous and inhabited by savages; [ [36] ] in it there are numbers of good ports, in one of which, named Macou, we took in water, and as we landed we saw more than three hundred savages, who fled into the mountains at our approach, without it being in our power to overtake them, any one of them being more quick in running than any of our men who tried to follow them; seeing which, we returned to our ships after having taken in some water and refreshments, such as cabbages and fruits of pleasant taste.

This island is about twenty leagues in length and twelve in breadth, and its form is shown in the following figure.

After having remained two days in the aforesaid port of Macou, on the third we again put to sea, and passed between islands called Las Virgines, which are in such quantity, that their number cannot be told for certain; but although there are more than eight hundred discovered, they are all desert and uninhabited; the land very high and full of wood, both of palms and ramasques, [ [37] ] which are common, like oaks or elms. There are a number of good ports and havens in the said isles.

From these isles we sailed to the island of La Marguerite, where pearls are fished. In this island there is a good town, which is called by the same name, La Marguerite. The isle is very fertile in corn and fruits; every day more than three hundred canoes leave the harbour of the said town, which go about a league to sea to fish for pearls, in ten or twelve fathoms water. The said fishing is done by negroes, slaves of the king of Spain, who take a little basket under their arm, and with it plunge to the bottom of the sea, and fill it with ostrormes, which resemble oysters; then go up again into their canoes, and return to the port to discharge them, in a spot destined for that purpose, when the officers of the king of Spain receive them.

From this island we went to St. Juan de Porto-rico, which we found very desolate; both the town, as well as the castle or fortress, which is very strong; and the port also is very good, and sheltered from all winds, saving the north-east, which blows strait into the harbour.

The town is very mercantile; it had been, shortly before, pillaged by the English, who had left marks of their visit; most of the houses had been burnt, and there were not four persons to be found there, except some negroes, who told us that the merchants of the place had been for the greater part carried off prisoners by the English, and the others, who had been able to escape, had fled into the mountains, from whence they had not yet dared to come back, on account of the apprehension they had of the return of the English, who had loaded all the twelve ships, of which their armament was composed, with sugar, hides, gold, and silver: for we found still in the town quantities of sugar, hides, canifiste, [ [38] ] honey of cane, [ [39] ] and preserves of ginger, which the English could not take away. They carried off also fifty pieces of artillery of cast iron, which they took in the fortress, into which we went, and found all ruined, and the ramparts thrown down. There were some Indians who had retired there, and had begun to reconstruct the ramparts; the General inquired of them, how the place had been taken in so short a time? One of them, who spoke tolerably good Spanish, said, that neither the governor of the castle, nor the oldest men of the country thought that within two leagues there was any place of landing, according to the report which had been made by the pilots of the place, who had even assured them, that for more than six leagues from the said castle, there was no spot where an enemy could make a descent, which was the cause that the governor kept less on his guard, and in which he was much deceived, for at half a league from the castle, on the eastern side, there was a place where the English landed very conveniently, leaving their ships, which were of the burthen of two hundred, one hundred and fifty, and one hundred tons, in the offing, near the said spot, and took their time so well, that they arrived at night in the roads without being perceived, no one apprehending such a thing. They landed six hundred men, with the design of pillaging the town only, not thinking of making any greater effect, considering the castle to be stronger and better guarded. They brought with them three culverins, to batter the defences of the town, and found themselves at the point of daylight at the distance of a musket shot from it, to the great astonishment of the inhabitants.

The said English placed two hundred men at the passage of a little river, which is between the town and the castle, to prevent (as they did) the soldiers of the guard of the castle, who were lodged in the town, as well as the inhabitants who might endeavour to escape, from entering the fortress; and the other four hundred men attacked the town, where they found no resistance, so that in less than two hours they were masters of it; and having learned that there were no soldiers in the castle, nor any supply of provisions, on account of the governor having, by order of the king of Spain, sent all that had been there to Cartagena, where they thought that the enemy would make a descent, hoping to receive other supplies from Spain, being the nearest port to which their vessels came.

The English summoned the governor, and offered him good terms if he would surrender; if not, that they would make him suffer all the rigor of war; fearing which, the said governor surrendered, on condition that his life should be safe, and embarked with the English, not daring to return to Spain. It was only fifteen days since the English had departed from the town, where they had remained a month.

After their departure, the aforesaid Indians had returned, and endeavoured to repair the fortress, expecting the army of our general, who caused a report to be made of the recital of those Indians, which he sent to the king of Spain, and commanded the Indian who had first spoken, to go and seek those who had fled into the mountains, who, on his word, returned to their houses, receiving such contentment at seeing the general and being delivered from the English, that they forgot their past losses.

The said Island of Porto-rico is pretty agreeable, although it is a little mountainous, as the following figure shows. [ [40]—It is filled with quantities of fine trees, such as cedars, palms, firs, palmettoes, and another kind of tree which is called sombrade, [ [41] ] from which, as it grows, the tops of its branches, falling to the earth, take root immediately, and produce other branches which fall and take root in the same way. And I have seen these trees of such extent that they covered more than a league and a quarter. It bears no fruit, but is very agreeable, having a leaf like that of a laurel and a little more tender.