When the San Juan Bautista left Luanda with a full underbelly, Don Manuel Mendez de Acuna had captained the Spanish ship for less than a year. With 350 bound Africans and an ample crew, the Spanish galleon was heavily burdened. The galleon type was not built to carry human cargo, and the quarters were unusually tight. Within no time, much of the Bautista’s enslaved were ravaged by the harsh conditions of the journey. Inevitably, filth and dysentery took hold, and sickness soon threatened the San Juan Bautista’s entire haul. After sailing nearly fifty-six hundred miles and with the loss of one-third of his cargo, Captain Mendez de Acuna decided he could sail no further. He made port in Jamaica for medicine and enough supplies to sustain his withered cargo to their destination. The treatment and provisions didn’t come cheap as the Spanish captain exchanged twenty-four African boys in trade, before setting sail on the final leg of his journey – an additional thirteen hundred miles to the Spanish port of Veracruz, New Spain.

From the Jamaican port, the San Juan Bautista headed west-northwest. After weeks of travel and within miles of its destination, in the early hours of the morning with a heavy fog lingering beneath the dark rain clouds, the thunder of a cannon was heard. Two English warships fired upon a stagnant Spanish galleon. Under normal circumstances, a Spanish galleon carried adequate defenses to protect the Crown jewels and important documentation it transported to and from the Spanish mainland. A Spanish galleon was high on the list of targets for any privateer, and this galleon, albeit with a full underbelly of enslaved Africans, was ripe for the taking. Roaming the seas for weeks, the Treasurer and White Lion had finally found their prey. The galleon, operating as a slaver, was caught defenseless just miles from its destination of Veracruz.

In the summer of 1619, in the Bay of Campeche off the coast of Veracruz, piracy was committed. Unbeknownst to all involved, this single act of piracy would alter the New World forever. After the initial assault and with the imminent threat of an overtaking, the Spanish captain quickly surrendered. As the two captains boarded the galleon, Captain Mendez de Acuna quickly declared what remained of the cargo he had purchased in the port of Luanda. In disbelief of his declaration, the privateers took hold of the ship, pushing off the captain and his crew in a pinnace, and descended into the underbelly of the Bautista. Consumed by the gaseous stench, they found nothing more than the enslaved Africans the captain had declared. The two English captains, in need of realizing some type of treasure, chose sixty of the healthiest captives. After ample discussion, the decision was made to sail for Virginia, where they believed they would find a safe haven.

As they rounded the coast of Spanish La Florida, the two ships, the Treasurer and the White Lion sailed north into rougher seas. From the south came a mighty storm with damaging wind and heavy rains, which firmly challenged the vessels. When the winds subsided, and the sea calmed, the While Lion had managed to prevail, while the damaged Treasurer floundered behind, and one had lost the other.

Running from the storm, the White Lion was blown off course. With the experience of her pilot, the White Lion turned northward, where he knew they would sail upon the Somerset at the South-west tip of Bermuda, and where they anchored. Concerned with the dire condition of the famished Africans, the White Lion’s captain decided to send four of his crewmen along with the two of the Africans inland to see if they could find relief. With no word from his crew, each passing hour would have lingered like days. Finally, the word came: It was reported they offered 14 of the Africans aboard in exchange for enough victual for the White Lion to sail on to Virginia. Subsequently, the White Lion’s crewmen, along with the Africans, were detained, and their request to enter the harbor denied. Under a fit of rage, the captain announced, “he would just as soon throw the Africans overboard” than watch them wither.

When the White Lion left Bermuda under duress, the ship must have met the Englishman Kirby. Kendall, the interim Governor of Bermuda, entered into the record – he had traded the Englishman Kirby the Company’s on-hand corn for 14 Africans “he found floating upon the seas.” Whether the White Lion’s captain traded the Governor the Africans for victual, or the Governor purchased them from Kirby, we may never know.

Facts: On August 12, 1619, an English ship carrying a Dutch marque is documented in Bermuda, discussing the piracy of a Spanish galleon of which their African captives were pillaged. Along with the confession was the acknowledgment of the White Lion’s consort, the Earl of Warwick’s privateer, the Treasurer. Within two years, Kendall would file suit against the Earl of Warwick in the English courts – demanding his 14 Africans.