^4p. XXXIV. from the I. of James I. to the Revolution.

*655. that so no Embezzlements might bemade.

At Barbadoes, Venables thought it^ r _ necessary to hold a Council of W ar, of

H'arofj lo f } k-he Land Officers, to consider of theOfficers. an State of the Army ; And it was thereresolved to make the following Propo-sals to Penne, among several others,viz.

1. " Th a t as the Officers of the Ar-" my had resolved not to desert the" Fleet, he, with his Officers, would" reciprocally resolve not to leave the" Army, at least, not ’till such Time* c as their expected Supplies arrived" from England.

2. " That it should be proposed to“ the Commiffioners, that 2 fittingtr Quantity of Shipping might be tak-" en up for transporting the Forces.

3. " That they might not proceed" on Service, with less than twentyte Tuns of Ball, and that they might" likewise be furnished from the Fleet," with two Hundred Fire-Arms, six" Hundred Pikes, besides, Pistols,* c Carabines, and two Hundred half" Pikes.

To this, Venables received no satis-

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factory Answer from Penne, and theStores not arriving from England, he a-gain desired to know from him whatArms, Shot, Match, and other Neces-saries he could furnish from the Fleet;General Desborow having assured him,when in England, that the Commiffionershad Power to dispose of what might beon Board the Ships, to the necessary

Use of the Army; But to this Penne re- 1655.turned him an Answer, that fifteen Shota Man, and a few Tuns of Match, wasall he could spare j To these, he, atLength, prevailed with him to add afew half and quarter Pikes, which gaveOccasion to one of the Commiffioners tolet fall some Words, as if he doubtedthey were betrayed.

Behdes all these Disappointments, sand the Badness or the rrovnions rent a tfort Ai-from England, yet even of that, the hwance ofSoldiers were put to short Allowance, Prisons.while the Seamen were at whole, whichoccasioned no little Discontent, and ren-dered them very sickly and weak. And,as the Commiffioners were empoweredand required to dispose of all Prizesand Booty taken, towards defraying theCharge of the Expedition, and only aFortnight’s Pay was ossered to the Offi-cers and Soldiers, in Lieu of whateverBooty should be taken at St. Domingo(whither they were first designed fromBarbadoes ) it very much encreased theDissatisfaction of the Army, for most ofthe Officers, when they set out on thisExpedition, were in Hopes of betteringtheir Fortunes very considerably.

At Length, General Venables pre- pi e Soldiersvailed with the Officers and Men to ac- restrainedcept of six Week’s Pay, instead of their f mnPlunder, and thereupon himself andPenne issued out Orders, to restrain allPersons from pillaging without Licence,or from concealing any Thing, on Painof Death, and Forfeiture of their Pay;

But altho’ the Officers were willing to

submit

In March, the Portsmouth Frigat, and the Three Frigats met with eight and forty SailConstant Warwick, met with Beach, the Admiral of French Ships, fell in among them, shot theiros the Brest- Pirats, and pursued him 'sill Night, Admiral, Vice-Admiral and Rear-Admiral, andwhen the two Frigats were parted. spoiled them. The Rear-Admiral and another

The next Morning, about six o’Clock, the sunk, and they took five more of them, withoutWanvick met with Beach again, and sotight him the Loss of a Man.

'till two in the Afternoon, when Beach and his The Warwick brought in another Pirat.

Men called for Quarter, and had it. His Ship Ix May and June, several French Prizes were

was a fine new Vessel of two and forty Guns, and brought in.

two Hundred Men, twenty of which were killed. Two Brest- Men of War assaulting a Fleet of

There were taken with him nine Captains, besides Englfi Ships, leaden with Coals, Captain Gaw-

himself and several Gentlemen. This Beach had den , with a small Ship of four Guns only, rescued

lived at Brest like a petty Prince, and had done them, and, having fought singly with them some

great Mischief to the Englifi Merchants. It was Time, obliged them to fly.thought he would not have surrendered so soon, In July, a Brest-Mm of War, with several o-hut that his Ship was in Danger of sinking, hay- ther French Prizes, were brought in.ing five Foot Water in the Hold. She was, how- In August , five Englfi Frigats met with a

ever, brought safe into Plymouth, with Beach and Fleet of French laden with Salt, sunk their two

his Company., Convoys, and carried away the other Ships, with

In April, not long before the Ratification of the their Lading, to Plymouth.

Peace with the Dutch, Captain Stayner and Cap- A Swedish and a Hamburg Ship, bound for

ta in Smith took a Dutch East-India-Ship, of eight France, with prohibited Goods, made Prize.

Hundred Tuns, outward-bound, laden with fe- The four last Months of the Year, 1654.

Venty-siye Tuns of Goods, and four Chests of were remarkable for nothing at Sea, but the tak-

Silver ; Several other Dutch Prizes were taken ing and bringing in a Brest-M. an of War, and fe-^fout the fame Time. veral other French Prizes.