arrival was depended upon to recoup many of the disas- 

 trous losses of the past two decades. 



Beginning with the destruction of the plate fleet in 

 1715, when the entire company of ships was swept aground 

 on the Florida coast by a hurricane, the bad luck of the 

 Spanish had continued. No sooner had they contrived to 

 salvage some of the precious cargo from those of the 

 wrecked ships which were accessible, than that wicked 

 Englishman, Henry Jennings, commanding a crew of three 

 hundred men and three ships out of Jamaica, swooped 

 down upon the Spanish salvagers and made off with more 

 than three hundred thousand pieces of eight. 



In 1730, a terrifying earthquake had shaken Chile and 

 brought down the cities of Santiago and Concepcion in 

 ruins. That same year, a hurricane sweeping across Ma- 

 tanzas province and the plantations of Cuba had com- 

 pletely destroyed the homes and crops in its path. But 

 worst of all, it had caused the shipwreck of the frigate 

 Genovesa, on which the fortunes of the mainland were 

 being shipped to Spain. The wreckage of the galleon had 

 later been found on the shoals off Vibora in the Florida 

 keys. 



But now at last the fleet of 1733 was on its way, and 

 the admiral's navigators nodded with approval as the 

 strengthening southwest winds carried the clumsy square- 

 riggers on a com'se which would lead them safely past the 

 treacherous Cay Sal banks to the northeast, and well away 

 from the even more dangerous reefs along the Florida 

 keys on the western side of the Bahama canal. 



But their joy was premature, for unfortunately the 

 wind did not hold in the southwest. As the day advanced, 

 it went quickly past the west and into the northwest. By 

 evening, increasingly strong northwest winds were carry- 

 ing the ships much too close to the Cay Sal banks for 

 safety. 



The Florida Keys 81 



