s," said Gage, "he killed two Indians on
the road to the Gulf, but by means of his money he got so easily out of
that affair as if he had killed but a dog." As Gage does not tell anything
of a prosecution for the crimes against the Negro, no actual law seems to
have been violated.[3]

The descendants of the ancient slaves have so completely become mixed up
with Spanish-Indian blood that, making exception of the valley of the
Motagua River, they have practically disappeared as a race. In 1796, their
number was considerably increased by the so-called Caribs, whom the English
deported from the Island of St. Vincent and set ashore in Guatemala. They
live now on the Atlantic coast, also on that of Honduras and Nicaragua, and
are estimated to total about 20,000. They are Zambos, but the African blood
seems to prevail.[4]

A MULATTO CORSAIR OF THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY

When on his return voyage to England, sailing down the Atlantic coast of
Costa Rica, Thomas Gage's ship was intercepted by two corsairs under the
Dutch flag, one of them being a man-of-war. The struggle of the Netherlands
for freedom against Spain had not then come to a close. The Dutch commander
was a character, of whose strange experiences Gage gives an interesting
account. Much to the surprise of the traveler the captain who had caught
them was a mulatto named Diaguillo, who was born and brought up at Habana
(Cuba), where his mother was still living. Having been maltreated by the
Governor of Campeche in whose service he had been, this mulatto in a fit of
utter desperation threw himself into a boat and ventured into the sea,
where he met with some Dutch ships on watch for a prize. He swam to and
went aboard one of these vessels, hoping to find better treatment than
among his country-men. He offered himself to the Dutch and promised to
serve them loyally against those of his nation who had maltreated him.
Afterwards he proved himself so loyal and reliable to the Dutch, that he
won much fame among them. He was married to a girl of their nation and
later made captain of a vessel under that brave and noble Dutchman, whom
the Spaniards dreaded much and whom they named Pie de Palo, or Wooden-leg.

"That famous mulatto," said Gage, "was he who boarded our frigate with his
soldiers. I lost four thousand pesos wealth in pearls and jewelry and about
three thousand in ready money. I had still other things with me, viz., a
bed, some books, pictures painted on copper,