The Puritan Colonists


Old Providence and Henrietta, the cayes off Cape Gracias a
Dios. the Bay Islands of which Ruatan is the largest, and the
Cockscomb Coast. From the Puritan point of view it was
correctly named, taking its name from the cape which was
the most conspicuous landmark to their seamen, as the Cape
of Good Hope gave its name to a vast area in South Africa.
 For the trading stand the coast was selected which lies at
the foot of the Cockscomb Mountains in the Bay of Honduras
and is protected by the barrier-reef. Silk-grass grew there in
great abundance in the creeks and lagoons where some Mos-
kito Indians lived. There was nothing casual in this selec-
tion. It was a direct result of the various reports made by the
Elizabethan captains to the statesmen, nobles, and bishops in
the homeland who sponsored, protected, and financed their
expeditions to the Bay. The three main objects of Captain
Camock were to trade with the Spaniards from a fortified
stand or depot he would establish, to gather silk-grass and
plant tobacco on a greater scale with his colonists, with whom
he identified himself completely, knowing that their success
would be his and their failure would also be his. The third
object was to have a safe base from which to undertake pirat-
ical raids on Spanish shipping because a colony must be self-
supporting. Old Providence and Cape Gracias a Dios were
right in the track of the Escuadra de Barloviento and needed
too much outlay in fortification.
 Thus the history of British colonization in the Bay began
in 1629 with the privateers of the Earl of Warwick. It began
with silk-grass and tobacco. This area is over 300 years in un-
broken British occupation. They clearly gave the position as
between 10 and 20 degrees north latitude, and 290 and 310
degrees of longitude, which of course was not computed from
Greenwich but from Ferro, and puts Old Providence, Cape
Gracias a Dios, and the Cockscomb Coast within its area,
with the 20th parallel passing at Tortuga. The privateers
used to sail from Old Providence, pass Colson Bay on the
windward side of Ruatan, then to the reef which bears the
the Providence company to Captain Billinger of the "Expec-