midnight
Double guards were set round the fort each night , and the native chief was compelled to sleep within its walls . Morning after morning the Spaniards awoke , surprised to find that the hours of darkness had brought no sudden assault on the fortress . The natives freely visited the ship with fruit , flowers , and meats , and the English sailors spent hours ashore , wandering in the near forests or fraternizing with the natives on the beach . The Spaniards imagined their own midnight extermination was being planned , and therefore was the chieftain compelled to sleep within reach of a Spanish sword , and his subjects were given to understand that the first sound of tumult in the darkness would end Ayatlan 's life . The commandant apparently forgot that the great admiral had sacked towns three times the size of San Joseph with a less capable force than the crew of the _ Golden Boar _ . Truth to tell , Captain Drake had never once contemplated any attack on San Joseph ; he valued the place at less than a scratch on an Englishman 's skin . His stay in the harbour was dictated solely by a desire to glean information concerning the Orinoco and the land of gold that he sought .