It is - as has been indicated -
in the shape of a great bottle having its neck towards the sea
at Maracaybo.
Beyond this neck it widens again, and then the two long, narrow
strips of land known as the islands of Vigilias and Palomas block
the channel, standing lengthwise across it. The only passage out
to sea for vessels of any draught lies in the narrow strait between
these islands. Palomas, which is some ten miles in length, is
unapproachable for half a mile on either side by any but the
shallowest craft save at its eastern end, where, completely
commanding the narrow passage out to sea, stands the massive fort
which the buccaneers had found deserted upon their coming. In the
broader water between this passage and the bar, the four Spanish
ships were at anchor in mid-channel. The Admiral's Encarnacion,
which we already know, was a mighty galleon of forty-eight great
guns and eight small. Next in importance was the Salvador with
thirty-six guns; the other two, the Infanta and the San Felipe,
though smaller vessels, were still formidable enough with their
twenty guns and a hundred and fifty men apiece.
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