A ship, the Bengal, arrives from Owyhee (the Big Island Hawaii). With it comes confirmation that there are indeed Spanish pirates visiting King Kamehameha there. The Bengal had come from the Spanish Main — which was the Caribbean Sea surrounded by the Spanish colonies of Central America, the Isthmus of Panama, and the north coast of South American. It was the route the Spanish treasure galleons used to get to Spain, and the frequent haunt of American pirates preying on these rich Spanish ships.
Our merchant friend Mr. Hunnewell wrote in his journal about the mysterious appearance of these Spanish mutineers in Owyhee. This was big news to those in Honoruru! Although there was one popular Spaniard living on Oahu, Spaniards weren’t common in the islands. The archipelego was far north of where the Spanish headquartered in the Philippines for 300 years.
So, these Spaniards were quite a sensation. They flew patriotic colors of a new country who was the first to fight a war of independence from Spain — the United Provinces of the River Platte (future Argentina). Aside from being revolutionaries and privateers for the country, they had turned to piracy along the coast of Chile and Peru. After looting and burning towns, they’d headed across the Pacific. Somehow they knew the monarch of the Hawaiian kingdom was buying ships for his personal navy. And he had taken one of their brigs. What was up?