SPANISH SEAMEN IN THE NEW WORLD 643 



Size of Ship Mariners Apprentices Boys 



100-170 Tons 18 8 2 



170-220 " 28 12 4 



220-320 " 35 15 5 



The merchant ships went armed, even to the mariners and 

 passengers. 55 And it was required that all mariners in the India 

 route should be trained in artillery practice and regulations, and 

 be examined upon the results of their training. 56 



Foreign mariners (except from the Levant) 57 were prohibited 

 from sailing in the India fleets. 58 And on the other hand, because 

 of the scarcity of Spanish seamen, Spaniards were forbidden 

 to sail in foreign vessels, unless those ships should be in the service 

 of the India trade, in which case they must be manned by Span- 

 iards. The penalty for breach of this law was four years' service 

 in the galleys. 59 Only in case of absolute necessity were mari- 

 ners to be enlisted in the Indies, and then, upon selection of the 

 best by examination, only enough, and no more, were to be 

 chosen. 60 



When it came time to enlist sailors, the general (or admiral) 

 set up his standard. To this standard men came to be examined, 

 and enrolled if found fit. No one was to be shipped as an able 

 seaman who had not served three years apprenticeship as a 



65 Recopilacion de leyes de los reynos de las Indias, 3 vols . (Madrid, 1791 ). Titulo 

 XXX, Libro IX, Ley XXXII. Hereafter cited as, Recopilacion. 



5 Ibid., Titulo XXII, Libro IX, Leyes XIII, XIV, and XX. 



67 Ibid., Titulo XXV, Libro IX, Ley XIII. 



Ibid., Titulo XXV, Libro IX, Ley XII. Haring, p. 261, citing Encinas, 

 Provisiones, cedulas, capitulos de ordenancas, 4 vols. (Madrid, 1596), I. 459, 461 r 

 says that the prohibition "soon broke down. A royal decree of January, 1590, 

 admitted any stranger of Roman faith, save only the English; another of April, 

 1595, admitted as masters or pilots in the New Spain fleet all but the English, 

 French, and Dutch; and similar decrees are frequent in the first half of the following 

 century." Of Haring's statement the writer finds no support in the Recopilacidn. 

 On the contrary, and apparently in contradiction, Ley XII, cited immediately 

 above, which debars foreigners, was promulgated in 1553, and reiterated in 1609 

 and 1631. Of course it is well known that Spanish laws and decrees for the New 

 World were often more honored in the breach than in the observance. 



59 Recopilacion, Titulo XXV, Libro IX, Ley XV. 



" Ibid., Titulo XXV, Libro IX, Ley XIX. 



