elves, they cared
little or nothing for the interests of their country; they were willing
to plunder the Spanish possessions because they got something worth
having; with those of the French and Dutch it was another thing. It is
evident that Cary troubled himself but little as to how a cargo was
obtained as long as Jamaica profited by the transaction.

We may here also call attention to the differences between the
characters of the nations which now commenced a great struggle for
mastery in these parts. The Dutch were, above everything else, an
association of traders, and although they could fight on occasion, they
hardly ever went out of their way to pick a quarrel. Their wars with
England were brought about by mercantile disputes, the first two, as we
have already seen, mainly on account of the Navigation Acts. The
English, "the nation of shopkeepers," were naturally rival traders, but
they did not altogether confine themselves to traffic, being rather
inclined to alternate or mix it up with something like piracy. Such
transactions as those of Hawkins were not carried on by any other
nation, the Hollander being more inclined to take advantage of the
swiftness of his fly boat than the metal of his guns. The French were
rarely traders, for even their plantations were largely supported by
buccaneering. When, after a peace, some of the rovers settled down for a
time, they were always ready to abandon their fields at the first rumour
of a war. England thus stood between the two others as a
stumbling-block; she interfered with the trade of the one and offended
the dignity of the other; thus coming in for many blows, which only made
her all the more able to resist and conquer.

The character of the Dutchman is well shown in the curious difficulty
which hastened a third breach of the peace with England in 1672. In 1667
a fleet from the Netherlands captured Surinam, and forced the
authorities of the colony to capitulate on favourable terms. By these
articles the inhabitants were at liberty to sell or transport, when or
where they pleased, all or any part of their possessions. After the
peace, a few went to Barbados, but the majority found it difficult to
dispose of their plantations, and therefore remained in hopes of a
better market on the arrival of new Dutch settlers. At that time the
Dutchmen were few and mostly poor; they had been ruined by the war, and
in many cases driven from their settlements by the English. It follo