32 The Beginning of British Honduras

 During 1550 to 1750 the precious metals sent by Spanish
America to Spain rose from ten to 25 millions annually. But
Holland, like Portugal, had acquired a c onial empire so
vast in Asia, Africa, America, and Australisia, that it could
not be held. The scarcity of man power was too great and
the neighbours in Europe were too jealous. The constant
raids on Truxillo and Puerto Caballos caused the Spaniards
to withdraw into the interior, and only use these places for
warehouses, employees, slaves, and guards when the trans-
ports were expected, but at such short periods there was apt
to be as much as a million dollars worth of produce awaiting
the ships. In 1655 they built Fort San Felipe on the Lake of
Ysabal to protect its then important commerce from the buc-
caneers, and from 1759 onward the Fort of San Fernando de
Omoa was built at incredible expense by the Spanish Crown,
the stone having been raised out of the sea and brought 20
leagues.
 On account of the high dividends derived from the barter
and plunder, the stock of the Dutch West India Company
was popular for a time as a bringer of great wealth, but it was
regarded by bankers as one of the most speculative items on
the Amsterdam Exchange. When it became bankrupt the
Dutch government took over the more important areas like,
New Amsterdam and Curacao, and let the others go. In the
same way as Sir Walter Raleigh took over a part of the wreck-
age of the French Huguenot experiment in Florida, so the
Earl of Warwick now took over a part of the wreckage of the
Dutch West India Company, amongst which were the Nara-
gansett Bay area in Rhode Island, the Bahamas, and the Bay
and Shore of the Mosquitos.