Spanish government. They fought many desperate battles
with the royalists, under what was then called the Patriot, or Columbian
flag. Carthagena, their largest sea-port, was taken and re-taken three
several times, and every man in it put to death.

The king of the Musquito Indians claims the sea-coast of that country
from the False Cape, lat. 15 deg. 14' N. to Port Boro Toro, lat. 9 deg. 29' N.
The government of Old Spain likewise claimed it, but never had been able
to dispossess the Indians. The sea-board of this country is very level,
interspersed with lakes, rivers and creeks. From May until November the
country is visited with heavy showers of rain. In many places I have
from time to time walked in water some inches deep to go from one house
to another. The Indian towns are mostly built some distance up the
rivers or creeks, to secure them from any attacks from the sea-board.
They have no roads inland, their whole travel being in canoes, by which
means they can visit the different tribes, hauling them across narrow
necks of land that separate one lake or river from another.

The Spanish government, under an old blockading decree had declared that
any person found trading with these Indians, if captured, should lose
his cargo by confiscation, and be sent to the mines for life. The
government of Spain likewise claimed three small islands near the
Musquito Shore, viz: Old Providence, lying in lat. 13 deg. 27' N. long. 80 deg.
39' W. This island I found inhabited by about thirty families of free
people of different nations and colors, and from five to thirty slaves
to every free person in the island. St. Andreas, lying in lat. 12 deg. 33'
N. long. 81 deg. W. It contains about seventy-five families of free people,
and about eight hundred slaves; it was lately the residence of a Spanish
Governor named Gonzales. This place had a small fort, garrisoned with
about thirty soldiers. I shall hereafter give the reader a further
description of the island, related to me by Captain Mitchell, commonly
called Mitchell the Pirate.[A] Great Corn Island lays in lat. 12 deg. 19'
N. long. 82 deg. 11' W. about forty miles from the main land. Little Corn
Island, lying about ten miles from the great one, is inhabited, and
produces large quantities of cocoa nuts and wild fruits.

[A] The only account I have ever read of Mitchell is, that he
was a partner with Lafitte, the Pirate, when they took
possession of Baratara, where t