Throughout the 17th century the legendary wealth of the viceroyalty of Peru lured Dutch explorers, merchants, would-be settlers and even religious zealots, as well as English and French voyagers of reconnaisance and commerce, and feared buccaneers from the West Indies, all greedy for prey and plunder. This volume traces their exploits, alongside the story of their discovery and recording of new sea routes and little-known lands, in their own words. Whilst from Spanish manuscripts it describes how they appeared to their adversaries, and assesses the consequences for the local population and the Spanish Crown of their actions in the South Sea, for example in terms of interruptions to international and local trade, and increasingly costly defence requirements.
List of Maps - 'Atlantic Approaches', 'Viceroyalty of Peru (south)', 'Viceroyalty of Peru (north)', 'Isthmus of Panama'
Introduction - defining Peru, its attractions, first European conceptions (wealth, silver, myths and legends), 16th-c. English intruders, the earliest references in English to Peru, defence of Peru, the 17th-c. legacy of foreign intrusion, subsequent literature of travel
1. The Arrival of the Dutch: Jacob Mahu and Olivier van Noort (1598-1601) - Magellan Straits, Sta María I., Chonos Archipelago, Mocha I., Carelmapu, Chiloé I., Valparaíso, Huasco, Concepción
2. The Defeat of the Peruvian Fleet by Joris van Speilbergen (1614-17) - Magellan Straits, Sta María I., Mocha I., Valparaíso, Arica, Pisco, Cañete, Callao, Huaura, Huarmey, Paita, C. Sta Elena
3. Jacques l'Hermite, the 'Nassau Fleet' and the Blockade of Callao (1623-26) - C. Horn, J. Fernández Is, Arica, Mala, Callao, Bocanegra, Pisco, Puná I., Guayaquil, Ancón
4. The Expedition of Hendrick Brouwer: A Project for Colonial Settlement (1642-44) - C. Horn, Chiloé I., Carelmapu, Valdivia
5. Narborough and the Mysterious Don Carlos (1669-71) - Magellan Straits, Valdivia
6. Sharp and Company: The First of the Buccaneers (1679-82) - I. of Panamá, Gulf of Panamá, Sta María I., Pueblo Nuevo (New Spain), Gorgona I., Manta, Barranca, Arica, Ilo, Coquimbo, La Serena, J. Fernández Is, C. San Francisco, C. Pasado, Huasco
7. English and French Buccaneers: The Second Wave (1684-89) - arrived from Cape Horn and I. of Panamá, coasts of Peru and Chile from J. Fernández Is and Valdivia to I. of Panamá, Gulf of Panamá, coasts of New Spain
8. The End of an Era and the Onset of a New Phase: The Last Buccaneers, John Strong Privateer and the Arrival of the French (1686-1701) - I. La Plata, Galapagos Is, J. Fernández Is, Iquique, Arica, Ilo, Nasca, Pisco, Concepción, Magellan Straits, Valdivia, Paita, C. Blanco, R. Tumbes, Gulf of Guayaquil, Paita, Yerbabuena,
Epilogue - assessment of the above expeditions, their impact on commerce, their cost to the treasury, early 18th-c. expeditions, the speculative disaster or 'South Sea Bubble'.
Manuscript Sources - Archivo General de Indias (Seville), Archivo General del Ministerio de Relaciones Exteriores (Lima), Archivo Histórico Nacional (Madrid), Archivo Nacional (Lima), Biblioteca Colombina (Seville), British Libary (London), Biblioteca Nacional (Lima), Biblioteca Nacional (Madrid), Museo Naval (Madrid), Public Record Office (London), Real Academia de la Historia (Madrid), and Printed Books
Cover illustration - showing detail from Narborough's map of the Straits of Magellan (courtesy of British Library, London) - 'A savage woman', 'a vianaco' (guanaco), 'a grass country, savage people', 'penguins', 'an ostrage' (ostrich)
[Published by: The Macmillan Press Ltd., London, 1989, ISBN 0-333-48086-4 (out of print)]