The whole fleet now came to anchor in front of the “Caleta del Cabron” (Goat’s Creek), much to the surprise of the islanders, who had no idea that there was anchoring ground at that point; but, being within range of the 3 pieces of cannon on the Morrillo and of the 2 pieces planted at the mouth of the creek, they were fired upon, with the result, as became known afterward, of considerable damage to the flagship and the death of 2 or 3 persons, among them Hawkyns, Drake’s second in command.

This unexpectedly warm reception made it clear to the English admiral that the islanders had been forewarned and were not so defenseless as they had been reported.  Some launches were sent to take soundings in the vicinity of Goat Island, and at 5 in the afternoon the fleet lifted anchor and stood out to sea.  Next morning at 8 o’clock it returned and took up a position under the shelter of the said island, out of range of the artillery on the forts.

More soundings were taken during the day in the direction of Bayamon, as far as the Canuelo.  That night, about 10 o’clock, 25 launches, each containing from 50 to 60 men, advanced under cover of the darkness and attacked Tello’s frigates.  The flames of 3 of the ships, which the English succeeded in firing, soon lit up the bay and enabled the artillery of the 3 forts to play with effect among the crowded launches.  The Spaniards on board Tello’s ships succeeded in putting out the fire on board 2 of the ships, the third one was destroyed.  After an hour’s hard fighting and the loss by the English, as estimated by the Spanish chronicler, of 8 or 10 launches and of about 400 men, they withdrew.  The Spanish loss that night was 40 killed and some wounded.

The next day the English fleet stood out to sea again, keeping to windward of the harbor, which made Tello suspect that they intended to return under full sail when the wind sprang up and force their way into the harbor.  To prevent this, 2 more ships and a frigate were sunk across the entrance with all they had on board, there being no time to unload them.

As expected, the fleet came down at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, but did not try to force an entrance.  It quietly took up the same position between the Morro and Goat Island, which it had occupied the day before, and this made the Spaniards think that another night attack on the 3 remaining frigates was impending.  After dark the frigates were removed to a place of safety within the bay.

The night passed without an alarm.  The next day the English launches were busy all day sounding the bay as far as the Boqueron, taking care to keep out of range of the artillery on shore.  Night came on and when next morning the sun lit up the western world there was not an enemy visible.  Drake had found the island too well prepared and deemed it prudent to postpone the conquest.

Two days later news came from Arecibo that the English fleet had passed that port.  A messenger sent to San German returned six days later with the information that the enemy had been there four days taking in wood and water and had sailed southward on the 9th of December.