56 To the River Plate and Back 



the form of thousands of hogsheads of sugar and ship- 

 loads of hides that the coffers of the Dutch West 

 India Company were enriched, and the Directors were 

 able to send him out on an expedition to the Caribbean. 

 In the fall of the year 1628 he captured in the Bay of 

 Matanzas the great treasure-fleet of Spain carrying 

 cargoes appraised at nearly fifteen millions of florins, 

 and dealt a deadly blow to the sea-power of that country, 

 which so long had been trying to strangle the liberties 

 of the Dutch. 



From 1623 until 1647 the Dutch were more or less 

 securely intrenched at various points along the Brazilian 

 coast from Cape St. Roque to Bahia, and at one time 

 it seemed that they would be left the masters of the 

 situation; but political changes in Europe, mistakes in 

 the administration of the Dutch West India Company, 

 and the revival of the power of Portugal, led to their 

 final overthrow. There are still many people who 

 to-day express regret that the Dutch did not perma- 

 nently occupy the country, and a prominent citizen of 

 Bahia, with whom I conversed, said to me that in his 

 judgment it would have been a great blessing for the 

 land had the States General of Holland been by a 

 kindly Providence assigned the task of developing the 

 region and its institutions. It was, however, ordained 

 otherwise. 



