Eleven of such fleets arrived at Vera Cruz during the last twenty years of the century, carrying back to Spain the accumulated treasures of the New World.[1] The expense of equipping and maintaining such a large number of vessels was sometimes so great that all the treasure carried would not pay expenses. Occasionally it would happen as with an armada despatched from Seville in 1593, having a capacity of 9,500 tons, with 3,500 men. It was commanded by Francisco Caloma, but never reached its destination, being obliged to convoy back the fleet of Álvaro Flores from New Spain, with which it had fallen in on the high sea.[2]
The unloading of ships at Vera Cruz was tedious, expensive, and generally attended with the loss of many lives from disease. The time usually occupied for discharging was four months, and nine or ten months elapsed before the ships were again despatched. For this reason many vessels were damaged or lost; freights were excessive, and passage rates high.[3] Ships for Europe at this time sailed from San Juan de Ulua for Habana, which occupied some twenty-
- ↑ This subject will be more fully considered in my next volume on New Spain. See also Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i. tom. x. 455; Arróniz, Hist. y Cron., 327-8; Alaman, Disert., iii. app. 20.
- ↑ The cost of Caloma's subsequent expedition, in 1594, exceeded 800,000 ducats, which was much in excess of the ultimate amount realized. Vazquez, Apunt., in Col. Doc. Inéd., lii. 535-6. In the same year Prince Juan Andrea Doria, in a letter to the king, accused the India Council of incompetence in this matter, and recommended that treasure should be conveyed to Spain in faster vessels than those of the English. He thought the transportation too dangerous in 'galeones de armada,' however well they might be equipped; if they engaged in combat, success was doubtful, and, even if favorable, there was no certainty that while fighting one or the other of the treasure-ships might not go down. Doria, Carta al Rey., in Col. Doc. Inéd., ii. 171-2. In 1591 a large fleet on its way to New Spain was destroyed by the enemy, and another at Cádiz, when about to sail. Vazquez, Apunt., in Col. Doc. Inéd., lii. 537-65. The losses at sea were severe and continued, in addition to which, as the king said, 'hauiendome encargado (sin poderlo escusar) dela defensa de toda la christiandad demas dela demis Reynos.' This, among other original cédulas, signed Yo El Rey by Philip II., with royal seal attached and countersigned by the secretary Joan de Ybarra, may be found in Órdenes de la Corona, MS., ii. 132.
- ↑ Goods were kept a long time in launches and barges; large quantities were stolen or smuggled, and the crown lost much of its dues. Mansilla, Carta al Rey, in Cartas de Indias, 156-8.
fleets, their outfit, and the manner in which the sailors and even passengers were obliged to go armed. Ordenanzas, Casa de Contratacion, 60.
