44 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. I02 



109. The town of San Antonio de Monte de Plata is lo leagues 

 away, and the town of Higiiey is 30 ; this is the home of Our Lady of 

 High Grace (Alta Gracia), Patroness of the island; Our Lady of 

 Holy Waters (Aguas Santas) is 10 leagues away. The other locali- 

 ties existing on the northern coast of the island were abandoned 

 under the presidency of Don Antonio Osorio, as a consequence of 

 raids by enemies and for other reasons which made it seem desirable. 



110. The city of Santo Domingo should be very wealthy and im- 

 portant, and the whole island with it, thanks to the richness of its 

 soil and its animal and vegetable products, and also to the excellent 

 harbor it possesses, visited by many ships from Spain bringing in 

 varied merchandise and exporting local products ; but since it is so 

 deserted and abandoned, without the defense of a navy to protect 

 its coasts, all the ships arriving loaded with merchandise, run seri- 

 ous risks from enemy freebooters, lying in wait in their inlets or 

 pirate rendezvous to plunder them when they start up the Saona ; 

 this has happened to numerous ships that they have plundered, leav- 

 ing the residents of Santo Domingo, business men and shipowners, 

 impoverished and ruined, since there is no protection and the ships 

 arrive defenseless. 



111. This happened, e.g., in the year 1626 to Captains Juan de 

 Paternina and Juan Vazquez ; they had served His Majesty for 

 many years; in the previous year, 1625, Capt. Juan Vazquez had 

 fought with two Dutch vessels and routed them, and had sunk a 

 Turkish galleon with 280 Turks ; in this year 1626 the ship Candelaria 

 left port, belonging to Capt. Domingo de Zuiiiga, with Pedro 

 Enriquez de Almeida and Gil Lopez de Almeida, merchant, who 

 owned a share in the ship Capitana, which was of more than 900 

 tons burthen ; Almeida was chosen General, and the Candelaria, 

 Admiral's vessel, with Capt. Juan de Paternina as Master, and ac- 

 companying him, Capt. Juan Vazquez and Francisco Vazquez his 

 brother. In the Saona on Good Friday morning they were attacked 

 by three Dutch Navy vessels, which began firing on our ships ; Pedro 

 Enriquez' Capitana let go a broadside from its nine cannon on the 

 enemy, and immediately spread sail and fled. It is said by those who 

 were present that the reason was protests from the Portuguese Gil 

 Lopez, and Andres Sanchez his brother-in-law who was acting as 

 Master, and another Portuguese Diego Mendez, and the pilot Fran- 

 cisco Rodriguez ; the sailors did not want to hoist sail but wanted to 

 aid their companions ; however, the cowardly sentiments of the ship's 

 staff prevailed, and they turned tail, with great inhumanity and 

 cowardice, abandoning their Admiral vessel, saying that theirs was 



