In Porto Rico; a part of greater America . , laden with goldand silver, had taken refuge in the harborof San Juan. Desirous of capturing so rich a prize, theEnglish admiral anchored off the entranceto the port, with the design of carrying theplace by a boat attack the next day. The rocky headland at the entrance ofthe harbor was then, as now, crowned bythe Morro Castle, which opened fire on theEnglish ships with disastrous effect. Oneshot entered a port of the flag-ship, andpenetrating Drakes cabin, knocked thestool on which he was sitting from underhim, and killed two officers who weresitting
In Porto Rico; a part of greater America . , laden with goldand silver, had taken refuge in the harborof San Juan. Desirous of capturing so rich a prize, theEnglish admiral anchored off the entranceto the port, with the design of carrying theplace by a boat attack the next day. The rocky headland at the entrance ofthe harbor was then, as now, crowned bythe Morro Castle, which opened fire on theEnglish ships with disastrous effect. Oneshot entered a port of the flag-ship, andpenetrating Drakes cabin, knocked thestool on which he was sitting from underhim, and killed two officers who weresitting at the table by his side. On this occasion, at least, the Spaniardsproved themselves by no means deficientin marksmanship; and in the boat attackon the following day they gave an equallygood account of themselves. The Eng-lish assault, although made with the 14 PAST AND PRESENT. characteristic courage and persistence ofAnglo-Saxons, was checked and provedineffective. The treasure which had beenconveyed to the Morro was so sturdily CABRAS. SAN JUAN HAF defended that after three days Drakesfleet withdrew, unsuccessful. But although the Spanish have held un-disputed possession for three hundredyears, about the only noteworthy thing theydid for the island was to lay out the finemilitary road that runs diagonally acrossit, from Ponce to San Juan. Fortunatelythey could not deprive it of the natural PAST AND PRESENT. 15 resources that make it the most beautiful,the most healthful and the most productiveisland of the Antilles. Somebody has aptly said that Porto Ricois the only island in the world that isshaped like a brick. If is thirty-five mileswide, ninety-five miles long, and has anarea of about thirty-seven hundred squaremiles, making it five-sevenths as large asthe State of Connecticut. Of its eight hundred thousand inhabi-tants, three hundred thousand are of Africandescent, whose ancestors mostly came fromJamaica. There are about two hundredand twenty inhabitants to the square
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