Raleigh's El Dorado expedition
Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition | |
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Part of the Orinoco river | |
Result | English victory |
Raleigh's El Dorado expedition, also known as Raleigh's first voyage to Guiana, was an English military and exploratory expedition led by Sir
Raleigh first captured the Spanish settlement of
No gold or lost city was ever found; however, Raleigh returned to England and subsequently exaggerated his account.[5] Still, the expedition resulted in an important alliance with the natives of the region, which would have a lasting impact on future colonization of the area.[2]
Background
With England at war with Spain in 1585, English
Raleigh's fascination began when he captured Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa, the Spanish governor of Patagonia, in a raid in 1586, who, despite Spain's official policy of keeping all navigational information secret, shared his maps with English cartographers.[9] The biggest discovery was Gamboa's account of Juan Martinez de Albujar, who had taken part in Pedro Maraver de Silva's expedition to the area in 1570, only to fall into the hands of the Caribs of the Lower Orinoco.[10] Martinez claimed that he was taken to the golden city blindfolded and was entertained by the natives, then left the city but could not remember how to return, only remembering a large lake which was nearby.[11] Raleigh wanted to find the mythical city, which he suspected was an actual native Indian city named Manoa near a large lake called Parime. In addition, he hoped to establish an English presence in the Southern Hemisphere that could compete with that of the Spanish and to try to reduce commerce between the natives and Spaniards by forming alliances.[8]
Whiddon sailed to the island of Trinidad in 1594 and was greeted by Antonio de Berrío, the
Expedition
Raleigh left Plymouth on 6 February 1595, and sailed towards the Azores to take on fresh supplies before the crossing of the Atlantic. Having successfully done so Raleigh was sailing near the Canary Islands where off Tenerife a Spanish ship was captured; the cargo was emptied of which a large amount of firearms was taken.[14] A day later a Flemish ship was captured its cargo too being emptied – 20 hogsheads of Spanish wine.[15]
Raleigh arrived in the
Capture of Trinidad
Raleigh had planned to descend on the Spanish colony of Trinidad – in particular the principal settlement of
On 4 April Raleigh disembarked a hundred soldiers and seized the small stockade at Puerto de España overwhelming the small Spanish garrison before pushing inland with the intent to capture San José de Oruña.[8] After arriving just before the town surprise was well on the English side.[5] A night time assault was launched that lasted no more than an hour and the garrison of almost fifty men were put to the sword. The Spanish general Mayor Alvaro Jorge, was captured and taken prisoner but the real prize was the Governor de Berrio. He soon begged the place to be spared and Raleigh agreed and kept the town to use it as a temporary base for an exploration of the Orinoco river.[17] Raleigh also released five native Indian chiefs whom Berrio had bound with one long chain, tortured, and left to starve.[12][18]
A fort was built in case of any Spanish counterattack while his quest to find the supposed city of El Dorado was to begin.[1] Raleigh interrogated de Berrio and was told what he knew about Manoa and El Dorado, but then tried to discourage the Englishman from continuing on his quest, but his warnings were in vain.[3][8]
Orinoco River basin
On 15 April 1595, Raleigh set out from his base in the Gallego, which was cut down for river travel, with a hundred men along with two wherries.[12] They had provisions for nearly a month but they had to set out as quickly as possible – they had heard rumors of a massive Spanish expedition to the area. This rumor turned out to be true; a Spanish force led by a Captain Felipe de Santiago, one of Berrio's trusted officers, with a number of canoes set out from his base at Margarita Island and attempted to shadow Raleigh's expedition.[19] The English entered the Orinoco river basin but the waters were sometimes too shallow and thus the Gallego was modified even more to compensate; and in addition a few rafts were built to reduce weight. As they went further through the river, a myriad of waterways opened up but Raleigh and his men made their way upriver first travelling down the Manamo river.[20]
As the expedition headed further and further Raleigh and his men soon began to suffer from the heat and tropical rains. As the jungle got denser the crew had to hack their way through but a few men became bewildered, including an Indian guide by the name of Ferdinando who vanished, either having escaped or being captured by local natives.[4] Raleigh however soon came across an Indian village where they procured not only a guide but also fish, bread, and fowl.[20] He set off again and the jungle became less dense. Within a few days the savanna country of the Orinoco valley was revealed. Morale was boosted among the crew – one of them, a negro, decided to swim but was devoured by a crocodile in full view of the men.[21] Raleigh noted in horror of this event which shook the crew and then realized the river here was teeming with the reptiles and ordered his crew not to take any chances.[19]
Spanish surprise attack
On April 27, the Spanish under Santiago, who were still shadowing Raleigh's expedition, decided to surprise the English when their rear echelon became separated after getting fresh water. Having sent the four canoes they crept up on the English but surprise was lost when they became trapped in a narrow channel in a bend in the river.[19] The English, although surprised, quickly took advantage and Gifford with his boats launched a counterattack and overpowered the Spanish.[4] The Spanish had a number of casualties compared to the English, who were without loss, and the remainder fled into the woods. Gifford then took the boats as prizes.[20] Raleigh and the rest of the boats having heard shots and shouts came up and forced the remaining two Spanish canoes to disappear from sight. Raleigh sent a small force of men to chase the Spanish who also fled into the woods. The English troops caught up with three Indians whom they captured. The Indians, thinking they were Spaniards, begged for their lives, with one of the trio agreeing to be their guide.[4]
Santiago after this defeat decided to give up, and returned to his base at Margarita Island.[19] The captured Spanish canoes had much needed food and supplies which were put to good use, but also found were tools for finding various types of ores.[21]
Caroni river to Mount Roraima
A day later Raleigh's expedition soon came across a large confluence of the river. This was the
As they pushed further Raleigh noted a change on the landscape and described a
By this time the expedition had traveled nearly 400 miles (640 km) inland and the rainy season had begun. Raleigh decided he had done enough, and gave the order to turn back.[8] They returned to Topiawari's village, whose son agreed to come back to England with Raleigh, who christened him Gualtero.[29] Having joined the other crew left there, Raleigh set off back to Trinidad but on his way learnt from a cacique of a gold mine near Mount Iconuri and sent Lawrence Keymis with a small detachment to investigate. Keymis neared the place, which was actually a few miles from Santo Tomas; he observed a large waterfall (today Llovizna Falls) and though he did not see the mine, by the quality of quartz rock he saw and kept, he warranted that the place was of value.[30]
Return to Trinidad
Raleigh returned to San Jose and remarkably, apart from the crocodile attack, he had lost no men to disease; in fact his crew was fairly healthy, partly because of the native Indian diet.
On July 13, Raleigh finally met up with Preston and Somers and was told of their remarkable exploits in capturing Caracas, La Guaira, and Coro. Contrary winds forced them to abandon the idea of seeking the colony of Roanoke and all arrived in England by the end of August 1595.[30][32]
Aftermath and consequences
Raleigh arrived in England, but he was received with lackluster praise. Cecil was disappointed with the lack of booty and gold considering he had invested so much in the expedition.[31] A London Alderman had the rocks examined and considered them worthless even though they contained reliable assays of gold. He was accused by others that he had hidden the gold in remote regions in Devon and Cornwall.[30] With these claims Raleigh was infuriated and decided to then write and publish an overblown account of the expedition under the title of The Discovery of rich and beautiful empire of Guiana, a work that somewhat exaggerated the whole region.[33]
Despite this, the book became popular not just in England but France and the Netherlands. Raleigh sent Kemys back to Guyana the following year to check up on the hostages and to renew the alliance with the native Indians. He also needed to map the Orinoco, record the Amerindian tribes, and prepare geographical, geological, and botanical reports of the country. Kemys this time went much further inland along the banks of the Essequibo River and reached what he wrongly believed to be Lake Parime. He wrote about the coast of Guiana in detail in his Relation of the Second Voyage to Guiana after his return.[34]
De Berrío the same year also set out with a Spanish expedition of his own with 470 men under command of Domingo de Vera Ibargoyen to search for El Dorado.[35] As they advanced further inland however the Amerindians, now allied to England, attacked and destroyed Vera and Berrio's entire force losing 350 men. The rest tried to retreat but soon after disease and famine reduced the survivors to only a handful of men.[8]
After being released from prison by order of
In fact, Kemys had already informed Raleigh by letter of the unfolding disaster and the death of his son. He went to Raleigh's cabin to beg forgiveness, but found Raleigh unable to grant him this. In Raleigh's words "I told him that he had undone me by his obstinacy, and that I would not favour... in any sort his former follie". Kemys reportedly replied "I know then, Sir, what course to take," before returning to his own cabin. Kemys then committed suicide by shooting himself in the chest with a pistol, then when that did not prove immediately fatal, stabbing himself in the heart with a knife.[34] Upon Raleigh's return to England, King James ordered him to be beheaded for disobeying orders to avoid conflict with the Spanish.[37] He was executed in 1618.[citation needed]
In 1713, Spain and
The gold mine at El Callao (Venezuela), started in 1871 a few miles south of Orinoco River, was for a time one of the richest in the world, and the goldfields as a whole saw over a million ounces exported between 1860 and 1883.[citation needed] The immigrants who came to the gold mines in Venezuela were mostly from the British Isles and the British West Indies.[citation needed]
The Orinoco Mining Arc (OMA),[39] officially created on February 24, 2016 as the Arco Mining Orinoco National Strategic Development Zone, is an area rich in mineral resources that the Republic of Venezuela has been operating since 2017;[40][41] it occupies mostly the north of the Bolivar state and to a lesser extent the northeast of the Amazonas state and part of the Delta Amacuro state. It has 7,000 tons of reserves of gold, copper, diamond, coltan, iron, bauxite, and other minerals.
Legacy
- In 1953, a Trinidad and Tobago postage stamp featured the Discovery of Lake Asphalt by Raleigh, 1595.
- In 1976, the Republic of Guyanaissued a 100-dollar gold coin commemorating the book Discovery of Guiana 1596 and 10 Years of Independence from British Rule.
References
- ^ a b c d Nicholls & Williams, pp. 102–103.
- ^ a b c Sellin, pp. 228–231.
- ^ a b c Aronson, pp. 127–128.
- ^ a b c d e f Nicholl, pp. 156–158.
- ^ a b c d e Marley, p. 132.
- ^ Bicheno 2012, pp. 304–306.
- ^ Black, Joseph. "Sir Walter Ralegh." The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2009. 334. Print.
- ^ a b c d e f Ishmael, pp. 39–41.
- ^ Quanchi (2005). Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands, p. 221.
- ^ Elliott, p. 227.
- ^ Eliane Dotson, "Lake Parime and the Golden City."
- ^ a b c d Wallace, pp. 111–112.
- ^ a b Bradley, p. 113.
- ISBN 9781465507303.
- ^ a b Stebbing, pp. 112–114.
- ^ Sellin, p. 222.
- ^ Sellin, p. 19.
- ^ Jacob Adrien Van Heuvel, El Dorado: Being a Narrative of the Circumstances which Gave Rise to Reports, in the Sixteenth Century, of the Existence of a Rich and Splendid City in South America, to which that Name was Given, and which Led to Many Enterprises in Search of it; Including a Defence of Sir Walter Raleigh, in Regard to the Relations Made by Him Respecting It, and a Nation of Female Warriors, in the Vicinity of the Amazon, in the Narrative of His Expedition to the Oronoke in 1595, J. Winchester, 1844.
- ^ a b c d Sellin, pp. 94–97.
- ^ a b c Aronson, pp. 131–133.
- ^ a b Wallace, pp. 113–114.
- ^ a b Nicholls & Williams, p. 104.
- ^ Perez Gomez, Jose Miguel (15 November 2008). "Archaeological Site Discovered".
- ^ Sellin, pp. 162–166.
- ^ Aronson, pp. 137–139.
- ^ a b Wallace, pp. 115–116.
- ^ OCLC 253238145
- ^ "Walter Raleigh – Delusions of Guiana". The Lost World: The Gran Sabana, Canaima National Park and Angel Falls – Venezuela. Archived from the original on 14 October 2002. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
- ^ a b Aronson, pp. 140–142.
- ^ a b c d Wallace, p. 118.
- ^ a b Stebbing, pp. 119–120.
- ^ Nichols & Williams, pp. 108–109.
- ^ Long, G (1841). "The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: Primaticcio – Volume 19". the Bavarian State Library Digitized. Knight, 1841.
- ^ a b c John Knox Laughton, "Kemys, Lawrence" Dictionary of National Biography, 1885–1900, Volume 30.
- ^ Bell, Robert (1837). Lives of the British Admirals: Robert Devereux. Sir Walter Raleigh Volume 4. Longman. pp. 330–335.
- ISBN 1842124455
- National Geographic. El Dorado Legend Snared Sir Walter Raleigh.
- ^ Alexander von Humboldt, Personal Narrative of Travels to the Equinoctial Regions of America During the Years 1799–1804, (chapter 25). Henry G. Bohn, London, 1853.
- ^ http://historico.tsj.gob.ve/gaceta/febrero/2422016/2422016-4514.pdf Decreto N° 2.248, mediante el cual se crea la Zona de Desarrollo Estratégico Nacional "Arco Minero del Orinoco".
- ^ Egaña, Carlos, 2016. El Arco Minero del Orinoco: ambiente, rentismo y violencia al sur de Venezuela
- ^ Cano Franquiz, María Laura. "Arco Minero del Orinoco vulnera fuentes vitales y diversidad cultural en Venezuela". La Izquierda Diario (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 July 2017.
Bibliography
- Aronson, Marc (2000). Sir Walter Ralegh and the Quest for El Dorado. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 9780395848272.
- ISBN 9781844861743.
- Bradley, Peter T (2010). British Maritime Enterprise in the New World: From the Late Fifteenth to the Mid-eighteenth Century. Edwin Mellen Press Ltd. ISBN 9780773478664.
- Elliott, Anthony (1999). Freud 2000. Psychology Press. ISBN 9780415922531.
- Nicholl, Charles (1995). The Creature in the Map: A Journey to El Dorado. William Morrow and Company. ISBN 9780688146009.
- Nicholls & Williams, Mark & Penry (2011). Sir Walter Raleigh: In Life and Legend. Continuum. ISBN 9781441112095.
- Marley, David (2008). Wars of the Americas: A Chronology of Armed Conflict in the Western Hemisphere. ABC CLIO. ISBN 9781598841008.
- Sellin, Paul R. (2011). Treasure, Treason and the Tower: El Dorado and the Murder of Sir Walter Raleigh. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd. ISBN 9781409420255.
- Stebbing, William (2014). Sir Walter Raleigh: A Biography. SEVERUS Verlag. ISBN 9783863473211.
- Wallace, Willard Mosher (2015). Sir Walter Raleigh. Princeton University Press. ISBN 9781400879007.