e easter end
of the Market Place." He himself with the rest would pass up the broad
street into the market-place with sound of drum and trumpet. The
firepikes, "divided half to the one, and half to the other company,
served no less for fright to the enemy than light of our men, who by
this means might discern every place very well as if it were near day."
The drums beat up gallantly, the trumpets blew points of war, and the
poor citizens, scared from their beds, and not yet sure of their enemy,
stood shivering in the dawn, "marvelling what the matter might be." In a
few moments the two companies were entering the Plaza, making a dreadful
racket as they marched, to add to the confusion of the townsfolk, who
thought them far stronger than they really were. The soldiers of the
garrison, with some of the citizens, fell into some sort of order "at
the south east end of the Market Place, near the Governor's House, and
not far from the gate of the town." They chose this position because it
secured them a retreat, in the event of a repulse, along the road to
Panama. The western end of the Plaza had been hung with lines, from
which lighted matches dangled, so that the enemy might think that troops
were there, "whereas indeed there were not past two or three that taught
these lines to dance," and even these ran away as soon as the firepikes
displayed the fraud. The church bell was still ringing at the end of the
Plaza, and the townsfolk were still crying out as they ran for Panama,
when Drake's party stormed into the square from the road leading to the
sea. As they hove in sight the Spanish troops gave them "a jolly hot
volley of shot," aimed very low, so as to ricochet from the sand.
Drake's men at once replied with a volley from their calivers and a
flight of arrows, "fine roving shafts," which did great execution.
Without waiting to reload they at once charged in upon the Spaniards,
coming at once "to push of pike" and point and edge. The hurry of the
surprise was such that the Spaniards had no side-arms, and when once the
English had closed, their troops were powerless. As the parties met, the
company under Oxenham came into the Plaza at the double, by the eastern
road, with their trumpets blowing and the firepikes alight. The
Spaniards made no further fight of it. They flung their weapons down,
and fled along the forest road. For a little distance the cheering
sailors followed them, catching their feet in muskets and linstocks