CORSAIRS ON THE COAST.

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neta occurred on the 14th of November; twelve days later the news was received at the capital, and on the 17th of December following the frigate sailed. Notwithstanding this prompt action, however, nothing was accomplished, the frigate returning to Acapulco about the middle of February without even having sighted the enemy.

The corsairs still continued to hover off the coast, and a general council was held in the capital, on the 8th of May, to concert further measures for their pursuit. Twelve days later it was ascertained that they had sailed for Peru, having released all their prisoners excepting three men, one of them a Franciscan friar. Nevertheless preparations were continued; troops were again sent from the capital, and a small fleet sailed about the middle of August from Acapulco to cruise along the coast. These expeditions continued until 1692, but without other apparent result than to cause the pirates, at least for the time being, to abandon the coast.10

At this time there was not a single craft of any kind for the defence of the long coast line from Tehuantepec to Sinaloa. Before the end of August, 1692, two well equipped vessels, built in Guatemala by order of the viceroy, and intended for coast-guard service, were anchored in the port of Acapulco. During the remainder of Galve's rule, there is no evidence that the corsairs again appeared on the coast of the South Sea.

In consequence of the renewal of war with France, in 1689, the Spanish crown ordered the viceroy to take all possible means to strengthen the defenses of New Spain; and to make reprisals on the French, by confiscating their property, and banishing from the country all subjects of that nation except those engaged in the mechanic arts. In accordance with these

9 Partly in consequence of the receipt of intelligence by the viceroy that the corsairs had cut off the nose of one of the friars held as prisoners.

10 Robles, Diario, i. 506, 510; ii. 8-9, 14-15, 18, 27-8, 34, 106-7; Sigüenza y Góngora, Carta al Almirante, MS., 5.

instructions the oidores began on the 10th of September to imprison French subjects in the city of Mexico, and to seize their effects. Meanwhile Galve forwarded supplies to all military posts, on the seaboard as well as on the frontier, strengthening their garrisons, and providing for the prompt payment of the troops, this matter having heretofore been neglected. The feeble Spanish garrison of Campeche, constantly threatened by the wood-cutters of the bay of Términos, was reenforced, and received a supply of ammunition and vessels of war. Men, money, and arms were also forwarded to the governors of Yucatan and Tabasco, whose territory was constantly exposed to invasion by corsairs. After several unsuccessful expeditions they succeeded in expelling the wood-cutters before the end of 1692, but they returned a few years later." About the same time the viceroy attempted, but in vain, to drive them from the gulf of Mexico, and although the armada de Barlovento and other Spanish cruisers frequently made prizes, sometimes of considerable value, they could not prevent the corsairs from capturing, at intervals, Spanish vessels of still greater value.12

Thus while the viceroy had been partially successful in his operations against the corsairs, all his efforts to drive them from the North Sea were of little avail. Nor could any other result be expected, while, in the islands of the West Indies, their numbers increased from year to year, and no attempt was made to strike at the root of the evil. The island of Santo Domingo was a favorable rendezvous of French pirates, and the crown having resolved to attempt their expulsion, intrusted the undertaking to Viceroy Galve. Extensive preparations were begun in 1689, and the following year the armada de Barlovento, then composed of six ships of the line and a frigate, sailed from Vera

11 Robles, Diario, ii. 22, 49; Sigüenza y Góngora, Carta al Almirante, MS., 3-5; Rivera, Gob. Mex., i. 266, 268, 272; Carrillo, El origen de Belice, in Bole tin, Soc. Mex. Geog., 3a ep. iv. 260–1.

12 For details see Robles, Diario, ii. 6, 15, 17-18, 46, 79, 144-6, 169.

THE FRENCH AND ENGLISH.

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Cruz, carrying two thousand six hundred troops. Landing at the northern end of Santo Domingo, near Cape Frances, they were joined by seven hundred men from the Spanish settlements. The French, apprised of their landing, though greatly inferior in numbers, rashly gave them battle, and were routed with a loss of five hundred men, the almost impenetrable woods alone saving their force from annihilation. Having destroyed several towns, including the city of Guarico, captured a number of vessels, and taken many prisoners, the expedition returned to Vera Cruz in March 1691, avoiding the more powerful French settlements on the east coast of the island. In honor of this success a thanksgiving service was celebrated in the capital, and a full account of the expedition was soon after written and published by the celebrated Mexican author, Cárlos de Sigüenza y Góngora.

In 1695 a combined expedition of Spaniards and English, the latter having now made common cause against a mutual foe, attacked the French settlements of Santo Domingo, destroyed their forts, captured eighty-one pieces of cannon, and laid waste two settlements.13

The French were, at this time, the most enterprising foe with whom the Spaniards had to contend, and several years before the events just described had attempted to establish settlements on the mainland, which might serve as a base for future operations. As early as 1684 the Spaniards, by the capture of a vessel off Santo Domingo, had learned of the expedition of La Salle, of which mention will be made in its place, but no attempt to thwart him appears to have been made until two years later, although in 1685 the report reached Mexico that a French colony had been founded on Espíritu Santo Bay. The earlier expeditions sent in search of this colony failed to find any traces of it or of the lost vessels, but in 1687 the

13 Cavo, Tres Siglos, ii. 73-8, 85-6; Rivera, Gob. Mex., i. 265, 271-3, 278; Robles, Diario, ii. 56; Sigüenza y Góngora, Carta al Almirante, MS., 5-6. HIST. MEX., VOL. III. 15

wreck of one of La Salle's ships was discovered, though owing to its inland and secluded position the settlement escaped the search of the Spaniards. The following year, however, the arrival at Coahuila of a deserter from the colony removed all doubts as to its existence.

Accordingly in March 1689, by order of Viceroy Galve, an expedition under the command of Alonso de Leon, governor of Coahuila, set out with the Frenchman as guide, for the bay of Espíritu Santo. A month later they reached the fort, only to find it deserted. Of the twenty colonists left by La Salle more than half had succumbed to disease, or had been slain by the natives. The survivors were scattered among the neighboring tribes, and two of them having surrendered to the Spaniards the governor returned. Encouraged by his report as to the peaceable disposition of the natives, Galve despatched another expedition in 1690 under the same leader, for the purpose of establishing missions, three Franciscan friars being among the number. Two missions were founded near the river now known as the Neches, where the ecclesiastics met with a friendly reception.

In consequence of the reports of the viceroy, the crown determined on the permanent occupation of this territory, and ordered that steps be at once taken for that purpose. Early in 1691, a strong force was despatched by sea and land, and the country explored toward the north; but no settlements or missions were founded, although numerous settlers and friars accompanied the troops, and before the end of the year all returned to Vera Cruz except a few soldiers and a portion of the ecclesiastics.

The loss of crops by drought and flood; the disappearance of live-stock; the withdrawal of the native converts; the excesses of the soldiery, and the consequent hostility of the savages were among the causes which soon afterward compelled the evacuation of the country, and no further attempt to occupy this terri

THE COMING OF DESTRUCTION.

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tory was made by either Spaniards or French during the next twenty years.

14

About this time the occupation of Pensacola had been resolved upon, partly with a view to check the further encroachments of the French, and an expedition having been sent from Vera Cruz in 1693 to examine the bay and select a site, the following year troops, colonists, and supplies were landed, and the erection of a fort and town was immediately begun. In 1696 both town and fortifications were complete, and the name of Santa María was given to the bay and colony.15

Notwithstanding some drawbacks, the administration of Viceroy Galve up to 1691 had given general satisfaction, and the arrival in November of a decree extending his term of office was made the occasion for a public rejoicing. But this second term proved to be as disastrous as the previous one had been for the most part prosperous. Shortly before its commencement inundation and famine had visited the fair valley of Mexico.

Contrary to custom, on the death, in 1689, of the queen, Doña María Luisa, wife of Cárlos II., the usual funeral ceremonies and mourning were omitted,16 but not so the festivities which, a year later, were celebrated with extraordinary splendor in honor of the marriage of the king with Mariana de Neoburgo,

These brilliant festivities were, however, interrupted on the 9th of June by a sudden freshet which swept down into the valley, carrying away houses and cattle, destroying in its course the wheat crops and the flour stored in the mills, and inundating for a time the western portion of the city. With the exception of a slight rain on the preceding day the weather in the city and its vicinity had for months

"A more detailed account is given in Ilist. North Mex. States, this series. 15 Cavo, Tres Siglos, ii. 83-6; Morfi, Mem. Hist. Tex., MS., 100-11; Rivera, Gob. Mex., i. 273, 276.

16 Ordenes de la Corona, MS., vi. 80-1.