Читать книгу The Life of Sir Henry Morgan. With an account of the English settlement of the island of Jamaica онлайн

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On October 15, Mings embarked his men and returned in the ships to the harbour's mouth, where the next four days were employed in dismantling and destroying the castle and its outworks. Of the great quantity of captured powder found there "700 barrels was spent in bloweing up the mayne castle, the rest in country houses and platforms; and truly itt was soe demolished as the greater part lyes levell with the foundation", Mings exultantly reported. The lighter guns, made of brass or copper, were carried away and the heavier iron cannon were rolled over the cliff into the sea.

The capture of the second largest town in Cuba and the demolition of this fortress, in the construction of which it was said that the King of Spain had expended a hundred thousand pounds only a few years before, was justly deemed an exploit of great importance. On October 22, the victorious fleet sailed into the harbour at Port Royal with the ships they had taken and much booty, consisting of sugar, hides, wine, silver plate, some negro slaves, some captured artillery, and even some church-bells, one of which may now be seen in the Institute of Jamaica. Four of the brass cannon then taken were sent to London, where they were exhibited as trophies in the Tower. The damage the expedition had caused to the unhappy Cubans in ruined buildings and wasted plantations was roughly estimated at five hundred thousand pounds, probably a considerable exaggeration. Only six of the men engaged had been killed in battle but twenty other lives had been lost by accident or disease.[41]