but were driven back thither on the 7th of March. It was now decided to sail for Manila, and after taking water at Banderas they left Corrientes on the last day of March. The men murmured at the long voyage before them, but hoped for rich booty in the East Indies. The historian of the expedition naturally does not quit the coast without having his say about Californian geography and the Strait of Anian.[1]
Apart from the raids of buccaneers few incidents worthy of note occurred during the reign of Viceroy Laguna; there was an Indian revolt in New Mexico, and an expedition to the coast of Lower California, which will be related in their place. On the 8th of February 1684, the viceroy received intelligence that his term of office was extended for three years.[2] In 1686 his residencia was taken by the fiscal Bastida. The charges were trivial, and about two years later he returned to his native country, where, having made a donation of fifty thousand pesos fpr some charitable purpose, he received the rank of grandee of Spain, and his son the title of duke of Guastala.
- ↑ Dampier's New Voyage around the World, London, 1699, i. 237-78. The author, Wm. Dampier, was on the fleet, but in what position does not appear. He had left Virginia under Captain Cook in Aug. 1683, had been with Captain Davis in the south, and had come north with Captain Swan. Between 1686 and 1688 several attacks on the coast of Cumaná were repelled by Governor Gaspar Mateo de Acosta, but he was unable to expel a French colony established at the mouth of the river Guarapicheto, and the armada de Barlovento was ordered to proceed to his aid. A number of French pirates were pardoned, and one of them, named Lorenzo, appointed sargento mayor. In December 1686, three prisoners taken at Laguna de Trminos gave information that 100 men had been engaged there for several months in cutting logwood and shipping it to Jamaica. Measures were taken by the viceroy to expel them. Rivera, Gob. Mex., i. 263-4. The treaty concluded between England, France, and Holland at this period, whereby these countries were pledged to aid each other in extending their possessions in America, caused much uneasiness to the Spanish crown, and the viceroy was ordered to make vigorous preparations for defence. The forts were repaired, the armada de Barlovento was refitted, another vessel purchased, and Jacinto Lopez Gijon, admiral of the Flemish squadron in the ocean fleet, placed in command.
- ↑ During the previous year an impostor appeared in the person of Antonio Benavides, who represented himself as the marquis of Saint Vincent, a field-marshal and governor of the castle of Acapulco. He is commonly known as the Tapado. He was arrested by order of the audiencia, tried, and sentenced to death. While in prison he tried to strangle himself with a handkerchief. After his execution his head and one of his hands were taken to Puebla. The other hand was fastened on the gallows. Robles, 370 et seq.; Cavo, ii. 64; Ordenes de la Corona, MS., iii. 60-1.
