Among those who shouted most loudly was one who pushed his way forward to Captain Morgan and said:  “If you will take care of the rest, I, with only twelve men, will agree to destroy the biggest of those ships.  I will take that vessel which we captured in the River of Gibraltar and make of her a fire ship.  However, to conceal our purpose from the enemy, we will fill her decks with logs of wood standing erect and wearing hats and caps.  We will put more of these logs at the portholes where they can be made to counterfeit cannon.  At the stern we will hang out the English colors, and so make the enemy think that she is one of our largest ships well equipped for battle.”

Everybody agreed to the sailor’s proposal, but after all they were not fully satisfied nor fully relieved of their fears, and on the next day they tried again to come to some agreement with Don Alonso.  Morgan sent him two messengers bearing the following propositions: 

First, that he would quit Maracaibo without doing any damage to the town, or taking any ransoms.

Second, that he would set at liberty half of his slaves and all the other prisoners without ransom.

Third, that he would send home freely those four chief inhabitants of Gibraltar whom he held as hostages for the ransoms which had been promised.

Don Alonso rejected these propositions instantly, considering it dishonorable to grant them.  In return he sent back a message to the effect that if the pirates did not surrender themselves voluntarily into his hands within two days under the conditions of his letter, he would immediately come and force them to do it.

Deeply angered by this message, Captain Morgan put everything in order for fighting, resolving to get out of the lake by main force without surrendering anything.  In the first place he commanded that all the slaves and the prisoners should be tied and guarded very closely.  After this his men gathered all the pitch, tar and brimstone they could find in the town, and with them stocked the fire ship, which we have spoken of before.  They mixed the powder, the brimstone and the tar with great quantities of palm leaves, and arranged everything so that it would burn quickly and furiously.  They set their counterfeit cannon in proper position at the portholes, and under each fastened heaps of powder so that they would explode with great force and noise.  In some of the portholes they fastened little native drums, and upon the decks they placed logs of wood dressed as men, wearing hats and coats and carrying swords and muskets.

When the fire ship was fully fitted out in this manner, they prepared to enter the passageway into the lake.  The prisoners were all put into the great boat, and in another they placed all the plate, jewels and other rich things which they had acquired.  In the same ship were placed the women and the wounded and suffering.  The heavy goods and bulky merchandise were distributed among other vessels, each of which was manned by twelve well-armed sailors.