Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition

A Dutch map from 1599 made as a result of the English expedition shows (the supposed) Lake Parime with Manoa on its north-eastern shore

Raleigh's El Dorado Expedition also known as Raleigh's First Voyage to Guiana was a military and exploratory expedition that took place during the Anglo–Spanish War in April 1595.[1] An English expedition led by Walter Raleigh having set out in February 1595 on an exploration of the Orinoco river on the north East tip of South America to find the fabled city of El Dorado.[2] Raleigh first captured the Spanish settlement of San José de Oruña on the colony of Trinidad along with the Governor Antonio de Berrio who was also looking for the city. After questioning De Berrio Raleigh and the English held the place and used it as a base for their exploration.[3] Despite the presence of a Spanish force shadowing him which he defeated, Raleigh successfully navigated the river and inlets penetrating some 400 miles into the Guiana highlands.[4] No gold or lost city was ever found and thus Raleigh returned to England and subsequently exaggerated his account.[5] However an alliance was made with the natives of the region which would have a lasting impact on the region.[2]

Background

Walter Raleigh

With England at war with Spain in 1585, English privateers had to set out to raid Spanish and Portuguese possessions and shipping, and conduct illicit trading. Sir Walter Raleigh had enjoyed several years of high esteem from Queen Elizabeth I, which stemmed in part from his previous exploits at sea which included the famous exploit of the Capture of the Madre de Deus.[6] Soon after however Raleigh suffered a short imprisonment for secretly marrying one of the Queen's ladies-in-waiting Elizabeth Throckmorton and bearing a child.[7] In a bid to restore his influence with the Queen Raleigh had set up and funded an expedition under John Whiddon to find the fabled city of Gold known as El Dorado following one of the many old maps. He aimed to reach Lake Parime in the highlands of Guyana (the supposed location of the city at the time).[8]

Raleigh's fascination began when he captured Pedro Sarmiento de Gamboa the Spanish governor of Patagonia in 1586 in a raid and 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 Martin de Albujar, who had taken part in Pedro de Silva's expedition of 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 couldn't remember how to return only remembering a large lake which was nearby.[11] Raleigh wanted to find the mythical city which he suspected to be an actual native Indian city named Manõa by 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 y María de Oruña (nephew of Jiménez de Quesada) the Spanish governor of the island (which had only until 1592 had been established). When questions were raised about El Dorado de Berrio got angry and ordered the execution of the small English party but Whiddon was allowed to leave to tell the tale to Raleigh.[1] Raleigh having heard the tale from Whiddon immediately organised an expedition in late 1594 and his first of which was to try and capture de Berrio who was using the island for the purpose of the exploration of the Orinco river.[5] The expedition consisted of four ships; the Lion's Whelp under captain George Giffard, a small Spanish prize named Gallego captained by Lawrence Kemys, Raleigh's own flagship under Captain Jacob Whiddon and Master John Douglas, and a small bark under Captain Cross. On board were 150 officers, soldiers as well as gentleman volunteers.[12] Another two expeditions were hoping to join in. The first expedition under Robert Dudley and George Popham had left earlier and the second under led by George Somers and Amyas Preston left a month later.[13]

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 - twenty hogsheads of Spanish wine.[15]

Raleigh arrived in the Caribbean in late March but had lost contact with two other consorts during the transatlantic crossing and failed to rendezvous with either. The first expedition under Dudley and Popham, who had waited and only departed from the area around 9 February. Between them they had captured many Spanish ships giving them an excuse to head back to England with their prizes.[1] At the same time the Preston Somers Expedition headed further West in a way to distract the Spanish from Raleigh's expedition.[15] They too were supposed to meet up but had also missed the rendezvous.[12] Instead they continued with their expedition and headed towards Coro and La Guaira where they successfully raided. Their greatest prize was when they took Caracas in a daring assault having crossed a pass through the mountains.[13]

Sir Walter Raleigh's raid on the island of Trinidad in 1595. The captured Spanish Governor Antonio de Berrio is being escorted - engraving by Theodore de Bry

Capture of Trinidad

Raleigh had planned to descend on the Spanish colony of Trinidad - in particular the principal settlement of San José de Oruña.[3] First of all he landed and explored the south of the island Raleigh found that the Indians were cultivating good quality tobacco and sugar cane. While sailing across the Gulf of Paria he reputedly smelled tar, and put into shore at Terra de Brea. The Caribs led Raleigh to a pitch lake (the largest of the world's three natural asphalt lakes) and he realized that the substance was ideal for caulking his ships. He took several barrels with him, and has since been credited with "discovering" the lake.[16] Raleigh's principal objective was to capture the Spanish governor who was also looking for the same fabled city, question him and gain as much information before he continued his expedition.[5]

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 Alcalde Alvaro Jorge, Captain of Horse 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]

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]

Quest for El Dorado

On April 15 Raleigh set out from his base in the Galego 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 rumours of a massive Spanish expedition to the area. This rumour turned out to be true; a Spanish force led by a Captain Filipe de Santiago one of Berrio's trusted officers with number of canoes set out from his base at Margarita Island and attempted to shadow Raleigh's expedition.[18] 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.[19]

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 more and more dense 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.[19] He set off again and this time the jungle became less denser and within a few days the savannah country of the Orinocco valley was revealed. Morale was boosted among the crew - one of them, a negro decided to go and swim but was then soon devoured by a crocodile in full view of the men.[20] Raleigh noted in horror of this event which shook the crew and then realised the river here was teaming with the reptiles and ordered his crew not to take any chances.[18]

Present day view of the Orinoco river

On the 27 April the Spanish under Santiago who were still shadowing Raleigh's expedition decided to surprise the English when their rear echelon of the Raleigh's 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.[18] The English although surprised, quickly took advantage and Gifford with his boats launched an attack on the Spanish, who overpowered them.[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.[19] Raleigh and the rest of the boats hearing shots and shouts came up forcing the remaining two Spanish canoes to disappear from sight. Raleigh sent a small force of men to chase the Spanish who fled into the woods. The English troops caught up with three Indians whom they captured and begged for their lives one of whom agreed to be their guide.[4] Santiago after this defeat decided to give up and return to his base at Margarita Island.[18] In the canoes were much needed food and supplies which were put to good use but also found were tools for finding various types of ores.[20]

A day later Raleigh's expedition soon encountered the indigenous Amerindians; first the Warao people and the Arawaks and after showing their victory over the Spaniards (presenting a captured Spanish canoe) the English successfully established peaceful relations with them.[21] A large village was found, ruled by an aged chieftain named Topiawari - Raleigh made friends by announcing that he was an enemy of the Spanish, who were widely detested by the natives.[22] Topiawari told Raleigh of a rich culture living in the mountains who easily convinced himself that the culture was an offshoot of the rich Inca culture of Peru and that it must be the fabled city of Manoa.[23] Raleigh left two of his men to become hostages and Raleigh took Topiawari’s son in return.[24] With this friendship an alliance was forged with them against the Spaniards.[21] Some of the ships stayed at the village to replenish for the voyage home while Raleigh and Kemys continued on with Topiawari's son as a guide. They continued up the Caroni River, sending out scouts to look for gold and mines, all the while making alliances with any natives they encountered. His scouts brought back rocks, hoping that further analysis would reveal gold ore.[4]

Mount Roraima in the Guiana highlands

As they pushed further Raleigh noted a change on the landscape and described a tepuy (table top mountain). He saw and recorded the largest Mount Roraima,[25] its 31 km2 summit area[25]:156 bounded on all sides by cliffs rising 400 metres (1,300 ft). In addition Raleigh observed around twelve waterfalls but noted the largest higher than any church spire he had seen - they disembarked and walked on foot to get a closer view and described the surrounding area as the most beautiful he had seen.[24] There could be a claim that Raleigh may have been the first European to view Angel Falls, although these claims are considered far-fetched.[26]

By this time the expedition had travelled nearly 400 miles in land and the start of the rainy season soon began. Raleigh decided he had done enough, and agve 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.[27] 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 didn't not see the mine, by the quality of quartz rock he saw and kept, warranted that the place was of value.[28]

Raleigh returned to San Jose but remarkably apart from the crocodile attack he had lost no men to disease and in fact were fairly healthy partly because of the Native Indian diet.[27] As he arrived at the fort the decision was made to return to England but before doing so however everything was taken of value from the place and was burnt to the ground despite de Berrio's protests.[5] Raleigh landed on Margarita Island and successfully plundered for supplies and then landed at the port of Cumaná, where he left Berrio ashore after he was unable to get a ransom.[28] He finally descended upon Riohacha which he also sacked and plundered.[4][29]

On July 13 Raleigh finally met up with Preston and Somers and was told of their remarkable exploits in capturing Caracas. Contrary winds forced them to abandon the idea of seeking the colony of Ranoake and all arrived in England by the end of August 1595.[28][30]

Aftermath & Consequences

Raleigh arrived in England but he was received with lacklustre praise. Cecil was disappointed with the lack of booty and gold considering he had invested so much in the expedition.[29] 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.[28] 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 area.[31] 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 renew the alliance with England but also to map the Orinoco, the Amerindian tribes and prepare geographical, geological and botanical reports of the country. Kemys went further inland along the banks of the Essequibo River, reaching what he wrongly believed to be Lake Parime but described the coast of Guiana in detail in his Relation of the Second Voyage to Guiana (1596).[32]

De Berrio the same year also set out with a Spanish expedition of his own with 470 men under command of Domingo de le Vera to search for El Dorado.[33] As they advanced further inland however the Amerindians now allied to England then 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]

Trinidad and Tobago stamp featuring the ‘Discovery of Lake Asphalt by Raleigh, 1595’

In 1617, Raleigh having been released from prison by order of King James I returned to continue his quest for El Dorado on a second expedition but avoid any conflict with the Spanish.[32] Along with Kemys and his son, Watt Raleigh they were to have another search for the supposed gold mine at Mount Iconuri. However, Raleigh by now ill stayed behind in a camp on the island of Trinidad. Watt was killed in a battle with the Spaniards as they destroyed and sacked the Spanish settlement at Santo Tomas. No gold was found and Kemys disheartened by this and feeling responsible for the death of Walter's son subsequently committed suicide.[32] Upon Raleigh's return to England, King James ordered him to be beheaded for disobeying orders to avoid conflict with the Spanish.[34] He was executed in 1618.

With the aggression of the Indians towards Spain, the Spanish never returned in force particularly and this allowed other European countries (France and Holland as well as England) to colonize the area over the next two centuries with the creations of Dutch Guyana, French Guiana and eventually British Guyana.[2]

Over time as more explorers came to the region Lake Parime's existence was definitively disproved in the early 19th century and there was a theory that the seasonal flooding of the Rupununi savannah may have been misidentified as such.[35]

Legacy

References

Citations
  1. 1 2 3 4 Nicholls & Williams p. 102-03
  2. 1 2 3 Sellin p 228-231
  3. 1 2 3 Aronson pp 127-28
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Nicholl pp. 156-58
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 Marley p. 132
  6. ↑ Bicheno 2012, p. 304–06.
  7. ↑ Black, Joseph. "Sir Walter Ralegh." The Broadview Anthology of British Literature. 2nd ed. Vol. 1. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview, 2009. 334. Print.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Ishmael pp 39-41
  9. ↑ Quanchi (2005). Historical Dictionary of the Discovery and Exploration of the Pacific Islands, page 221.
  10. ↑ Elliott p 227
  11. ↑ Eliane Dotson, "Lake Parime and the Golden City."
  12. 1 2 3 4 Wallace pp 111-112
  13. 1 2 Bradley 113
  14. ↑ Morris, Charles. Historic Tales (First 14 Volumes of 15) Volume 1. Library of Alexandria. p. 56.
  15. 1 2 Stebbing pp. 112-14
  16. ↑ Sellin p 222
  17. ↑ Sellin p 19
  18. 1 2 3 4 Sellin p 94-97
  19. 1 2 3 Aronson pp 131-33
  20. 1 2 Wallace pp 113-114
  21. 1 2 Nicholls & Williams pp. 104
  22. ↑ Sellin pp. 162-66
  23. ↑ Aronson pp 137-39
  24. 1 2 Wallace pp 115-116
  25. 1 2 Swan, Michael (1957), British Guiana, London, England, U.K.: Her Majesty's Stationery Office, OCLC 253238145
  26. ↑ "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.
  27. 1 2 Aronson pp 140-42
  28. 1 2 3 4 Wallace pp 118
  29. 1 2 Stebbing pp 119-20
  30. ↑ Nichols & Williams pp 108-09
  31. ↑ Long, G. "The Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge: Primaticcio - Volume 19". the Bavarian State Library Digitized. Knight, 1841.
  32. 1 2 3 John Knox Laughton, "Kemys, Lawrence" Dictionary of National Biography, 1885-1900, Volume 30.
  33. ↑ Bell, Robert (1837). Lives of the British Admirals: Robert Devereux. Sir Walter Raleigh Volume 4. Longman,. pp. 330–35.
  34. ↑ Drye, Willie. National Geographic. El Dorado Legend Snared Sir Walter Raleigh.
  35. ↑ 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.

Bibliography

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