Drake had found the island too well prepared and deemed it
prudent to postpone the conquest.
Two days later news came from Arecibo that the English fleet had
passed that port. A messenger sent to San German returned six days
later with the information that the enemy had been there four days
taking in wood and water and had sailed southward on the 9th of
December.
It is said that when Drake afterward learned that his abandonment of
the conquest of Puerto Rico had made him miss the chance of adding
2,000,000 pesos in gold and silver to the Maiden Queen's exchequer, he
pulled his beard with vexation.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 38: Drake and his Successors. The Edinburgh Review, July,
1901.]
CHAPTER XVIII
OCCUPATION AND EVACUATION OF SAN JUAN BY LORD GEORGE
CUMBERLAND--CONDITION OF THE ISLAND AT THE END OF THE SIXTEENTH
CENTURY
Puerto Rico and his Majesty's treasure were now safe. When there was
no longer any fear of the enemy's return, haste was made to reembark
the money and get rid of General Sancho and Tello and their men who
were fast consuming the island's scanty resources.
Two years after Drake's ineffectual attack on the island another
English fleet, with a large body of troops under the orders of Lord
George Cumberland, came to Puerto Rico. A landing was effected at
Cangrejos (the present Santurce). The bridge leading to the capital
was not then fortified, but its passage was gallantly disputed by
Governor Antonio Mosquera, an old soldier of the war in Flanders.
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