Chap. LXVl. during the Rei
i6oi. by the strong Castle of St. Philips inwhich were fire and thirty Brass Guns,and Soldiers enough to manage them.Having some Spanijh Tongues on Board,they pretended they were Spaniardshoming'' from'- C'arthageH'di The Officerof the Castle bid them come to An-chor, which they did; But about anHour after, Captain Parker gave themthe Slip;- with' his two Boats,- and aboutthirty Men, leaving the' Pinnaces at Ari-Triana ta- chor before the Castle. With this Forceken and he went directly to the Town of Triana,hmt. a nd, tho’ the Alarm was given, landedhis thirty Men, and setting- it on Fire,left it burning, and marched into thegreat and rich Tovvn of Puerto Bel lo, towhich St riana was a Sort of Inlet.
Being entered, he marched directlyto the King’s Treasury, where he founda: Squadron of Soldiers, drawn up to re-ceive him, with two Brass Field-pieces,well mounted on their Carriages. TheFight' was long and obstinate, on bothSides, and Parker had lost the best PartOf his Men, when Captain Fugars, andCaptain Lori man, who commanded thePinnaces, hearing the Noise, cametimely to his Relief with a Hundredand twenty fresh Men. This Assistanceloon turned the Scale, and the Spani-ards began to'think of securing them-selves by Flight. A good Number ofthem got into the King’s House, wherethey defended themselves very refolute-IWtoBello jy f or four or fi ve Hours, but at Lengthy th ?English became Masters, as well of
Spain’/vVftf- that as of the wholeTown. They found,fury taken. at t p; s Time, but ten Thousand Ducatsin the Treasury, tho’ there is often sixMillions in it, and if they had been se-ven Days sooner would have found aHundred and twenty Thousand, whichwere gone in two Frigats for Carthage-na. The Spoil of the Town, which,in Mony, Plate and Merchandize wasnot inconsiderable, was given to theSoldiers; But two Frigats, which hetook farther up the River, he carriedaway with him.
Parker, after having kept Possessionof the Town two Days, generouslyfpared it, with its Churches, Buildings
’gn o/§^een Elizabeth. ^E i
and Forts from Burning, and released 1601.the Prisoners, among whom were DonPedro Melandez, the Governour, theScrivano, and several Persons of Quali-ty, without any Ransom ; satisfied with ^'ker'sCe-the Honour ot having taken, withHandful os Men, in a little Time, andwith an inconsiderable Loss, one of thefinest Towns the King of Spain had inthe Weft Indie's.
His Reason for this Generosity was,to gi ve the Spaniards an Example of ci-vil and generous Deportment towardstheir Enemies,. and the Governour hereleased, because he had fought sobravely, having received elevenWoundsin the Action. The Town had twohandsome Churches, six or seven fineStreets, three, small Forts on the oneSide, besides , the great Castle of St.
Philip , on the other; All which theymight have demolished, and have leftthe Town a Heap of Ruins: Duringtheir Stay in the Town, they had notthe least Disturbance, from any ralliedForces of th e.Spaniards, nor no Alarmgiven, only as they were failing awayagain the Enemy began to appear, andmake some lktlelStir; But it was onlythe Exchange of a few Bullets, and ta-king Leave of each other from theMouths of their great Guns.
Th us this little Fleet came in Safetyback to Plymouth- Harbour, laden with Returns toHonour, and riot without some Rewardfor their Labour, tho’ far short of whatso bold an Enterprize deserved.
The Action of taking a Town of sogreat Strength, with so few Men, bredsuch an Idea of the Englijh Valour insome of the Spaniards, that the Gover-nour of Cart hag ena , in particular,swore he would give a Mule’s Ladincrof Silver to have a Sight of CaptainParker and his Company: And had theybeen sure he would have parted withwhat he had upon so easy Terms asthey of PuertoBello had done, it is verylikely they might have fold him thatFavour; But his Strength being uncer-tain as well as his Pay, they did notthink fit to visit him.
chap.