GALLEON OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY.
"Years and years before New England and New York were settled the Spaniards were traversing this route with long trains of beasts of burden, laden with the treasures of the East. If you want to know what they carried, read Bret Harte's poem of 'The Lost Galleon:'
"'In sixteen hundred and forty-one
The regular yearly galleon,
Laden with odorous gums and spice,
India cotton and India rice,
And the richest silks of far Cathay,
Was due at Acapulco Bay.
"'The trains were waiting outside the walls,
The wives of the sailors thronged the town,
The traders sat by their empty stalls,
And the Viceroy himself came down.
The bells in the town were all atrip,
Te Deums were on each father's lip,
The limes were ripening in the sun
For the sick of the coming galleon.
"'All in vain. Weeks passed away,
And yet no galleon saw the bay;
India goods advanced in price;
The Governor missed his favorite spice;
The señoritas mourned for sandal
And the famous cottons of Coromandel;
And some for an absent lover lost,
And one for a husband tempest-tossed;
"'And all along the coast that year
Votive candles were scarce and dear.'
"A thousand mules and donkeys were required for the transport of the freight of one of these galleons; a cargo was often valued at $2,000,000, and the return one to the East was of equal worth. The return cargo consisted mostly of silver, cochineal, cocoa, and other Mexican products, together with European goods from Spain. The cargoes from Asia were taken to the city of Mexico, and whatever did not find a market there was sent to Spain by way of Vera Cruz. The old chroniclers say that the Mexicans had the first selection of the goods, and often aroused the jealousy of their friends in Spain in consequence.