And in all this time not a single shot had the Spaniards contrived
to fire, so completely had they been taken by surprise, and so
swift and paralyzing had been Blood's stroke.
Boarded now and faced by the cold steel of the buccaneers, neither
the San Felipe nor the Infanta offered much resistance. The sight
of their admiral in flames, and the Salvador drifting crippled from
the action, had so utterly disheartened them that they accounted
themselves vanquished, and laid down their arms.
If by a resolute stand the Salvador had encouraged the other two
undamaged vessels to resistance, the Spaniards might well have
retrieved the fortunes of the day. But it happened that the
Salvador was handicapped in true Spanish fashion by being the
treasure-ship of the fleet, with plate on board to the value of
some fifty thousand pieces. Intent above all upon saving this
from falling into the hands of the pirates, Don Miguel, who, with
a remnant of his crew, had meanwhile transferred himself aboard
her, headed her down towards Palomas and the fort that guarded the
passage.
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