Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho) 1884-1931, 1913-09-26

aboga Island.
, Spanish days will be woefully dis
| appointed by the town as 1t now Is
Romance. commerce. everything at
tractive has fled long ago from that
place and Porto Bello is nothing but
a dirty, immoral little village. full OF
low cantinas. slatternly natives and
NANCY ours. At each side of the
town ia the ruin of a Spanish fort,
its picturesqueness marTed by fisher
mems nets and the local washing
hung up to dry.
Thus the work of man has decayed.
but Nature ls as kind az ever to
Porto Bello. Its bottle-shaped har-
Dor is one OF the prettiest to be
found, with promontories guarding the
entrance, beautiful hills on both
sides and entrancing little rivers
meandering down from the noun
tains and through the jungle into
its upper end. One hill opposite the
town boasts the remains of three I'M
usually interesting Spanish forts.
One is at the waters edge, another
severa. hundred yards up the slope,
and these two were once connected
by covered stone stairway the ruins
OF which still provide the easiest
means OF ascending. On the sum
nit Of the hill is the third fort, a
mighty square tower surrounded by
a deep moat. The walls are almost
intact but the roof has fallen in and
the fortress is full OF trees and shrub
berry.
With these three forts. two others
protecting the harbor entrance, the
two at the ends of the town and an
other just above it. Porto Bello might
well seem to have been impregnable.
yet it was taken twice by the Eng
fish. Sir Francis Drake planned TO
capture It in 1896, but just as his
ships were about to begin the attack
Drake died and was buried in the
mouth of the harbor Dispirited by
the loss Of their leader, the English
sailed away. but Capt. William Parker
took up the project in 1902. With
two ships he got past the first forts
at night and after a desperate fight
captured and sacked the city, carry
ing off 10000 ducts worth of plumber.
The second taking of Porto Bello
was the first notable exploit of Henry
Morgan, the famous buccaneer. as an
independent commander of fleet.
Sailing into what is now Colon har
Dor. he took his men up a river in
canoes. landed at a place called Els
terra Tonga Lemos and marching
through the jungle. attacked the city
from the rear First capturing the
castle above the town, he shut the
garrison in one room and blew them
and the fort to pieces with gunpow-
der The governor. the citizens and
the rest of the soldiers, surprised and
we're soon driven into
one OF the other forts and for hours
they bravely withstood the assaults
Of the buccaneers until, as Esquemel-
ing tells us. Captain Morgan began to
despair of the whole success of the
Finally he had a number
Of ladders made and forced the
priests and nuns whom he had cap
tured to set them up against the
walls. Many of these poor creatures
we're killed by the defenders, but at
last the ladders were placed and the
swarmed up them carrying |
freballs and pots of powder which |
they klndled and hurled among the |
Spaniards. The garrison surrendered |
It discretion. but the gallant governor |
defended himself so obstinately that |
The English were forced to kill him |
Morgan remained in Porto Bello sew
sral weeks, plundering the place and
.orturing the citizens to induce them
20 reveal the hiding places OF their !
1ches.
Though an important place In the
of gold from the west
coast OF Sou h America, Porto Bello
never was a large town. but for sew
,ral weeks each year 1t was very
,opulous This was at the time OF
he annual fair. when the galleons
rom Spain were in the harbor wait
ng for the mule trains to bring the
yold from Panama. Then merchants
md Adventures from all that part of
he world gathered in the village and
rade was brisk in the big building
low called the custom house, whose
'uined walls still are standing. Mer-
handising, drinking and fighting divid-
ID the time until the galleons set sail
or Spain with their golden cargoes. J