as from the Governor of the city of Cartagena, and was addressed to
"His Excellency Don Martin Enriquez, Viceroy of his Most Catholic
Majesty's Province of Mexico, etcetera, etcetera, etcetera," and was to
the effect that, news having reached the writer from Lima that an
epidemic of sickness had broken out among a large body of soldiers due
to return home with that year's plate fleet, the sailing of the Lima
contingent had been postponed, to allow time for the epidemic to exhaust
itself; and that therefore the departure of the convoy from Cartagena
had likewise been postponed. The object of this letter, the writer went
on to say, was to acquaint His Excellency with the fact of, and reason
for, the delay, that he might not be rendered unduly anxious, through
the non-arrival of the convoy; and to request that on no account should
the plate ships be allowed to proceed to sea until the arrival of the
convoy under the protection of which they were to make the homeward
voyage. Which meant, as George pointed out to his officers when he
translated the document to them, that upon their arrival at San Juan de
Ulua, they would assuredly find a certain number of plate ships in the
harbour, laden with treasure, and quite defenceless, save for such
protection as the shore batteries might be able to afford. It was the
chance of a lifetime, _if_ they could but render those shore batteries
innocuous; and an informal council of war was at once held in the great
state cabin of the _Nonsuch_ to decide how this most desirable end might
be achieved.

To start with, Dyer, who was the only man among them who had ever been
in the harbour of San Juan de Ulua, was furnished with pencil and paper,
and commanded to draw a chart of the place, to scale, as nearly as he
could, from memory; and after half an hour's arduous labour--for chart
drawing was not one of Dyer's strong points--he produced a sketch that,
rough as it was, promised to be of the utmost value to the adventurers.
For it showed how, owing to the conformation of the land, Hawkins, with
his small squadron, had, a year ago, been able to keep the whole of the
Spanish fleet from entering the harbour until he had concluded an
agreement with the treacherous Viceroy to permit them to do so; and how
a small, well-found fleet outside might, if not driven off by bad
weather, effectually blockade the port and prevent the escape of all
shipping from it. Further than that, it disclosed to the mo