6 y 2 W. and M. Naval Expeditions, &c of the Eneliih, Book

1693. to Barhadoes, and the Leeward 1 /lands,with sufficient Convoys, and that theSquadron should proceed to St. Chri-stopher’s, and there rendezvous.

The great Charge/che Crown hadbeen at, on this Expedition, being con-sidered by Sir Francis, he was of Opini-on, that Guadalupe ought to be immedi-ately attack’d, and General Codrington,as well as Colonel Fowlkes, were of thesame Mind; Provided the Squadronand Army could remain there sixWeeks, or two Months; For in lessthan thatTime, it was believed, it couldnot be effected; Because the Enemy washere as strong, or rather stronger, thanat St. Peter’s. But Sir Francis inform-ing them, that the King had positivelyordered the Fleet should not continuein those Parts longer than the last ofMay , and the Forces belonging to Bar-TbeSqua- badoes being very urgent to be gone, he‘atFtew ’™ 5 ^ aVj ' n § refreshed the Officers and Men,England. bent his Course to New England, andarrived at Boston, the twelfth of June.

Sir Francis Wheeler, pursuant to theCommands he had received from HisMajesty, proposed to Sir William Phips,Governour of New England, the goingto, and attempting Hfuebeck. (f) Butthat Affair coming to nothing, on thefirst of July, the Men who were reco-vered, began to embark, and, the thirdof August, the Squadron sailed fromj Boston.

Th e Commadore was very desirousto do something, tho’ in so weak a Con-

Burchett. (f) Sir William declined it, because he hadnot had any previous Advice thereof, which hesaid, lie ought to have had four Months before,so as to have gotten all Things ready; Especiallythat Expedition requiring the Squadron’s Sailingby the first of July-, and a Strength of four Thou-sand Men, at least, which very much exceededthe present Numbers.

fgJ He was informed, that the French werevery strong there, not only in large Privateers,(for, during the whole Expedition, there was notany Account received of a Squadron of Ships ofWar) but that they had, at least, two ThousandMen, reckoning both Soldiers and Inhabitants 3That the Mouth of the Harbour (which was notabove a Ship’s Length, in Breadth) was guardedby three Cables athwart, and a strong Fort,where-' on were mounted more than thirty large Cannons,

and pallifadoed to the Land; And that the neigh-bouring Hills were also fortified.

Col. ofVoy. (ss) Before I return to the Naval Tranfac-Vol. V. p. tions of Europe , I shall take a short View of423- what was, at this Time, doing, by the English in

Africa. The Royal African Company of Eng-land, having, of late Years, been molested, intheir Trade, in the North Parts of Guinea, bythe French, did, by Virtue of Their MajestiesCommiffion, order their Agent General, JohnBooker , Esq; at James Island, in the River of

dition, before he made Sail for England, 169kand, therefore, proceeded to Newfound- The s ssgland, and arriving at Placentia, theeighteenth of August, formed a Design soundsupon that Place ; But this Project fell tothe Ground, likewise; Upon Informa-tion given of theDifficulty of it. (g) He, /

thereupon, called a Council of War, o ^the Sea-and Land-Officers, and earnest- ^/prcpPly prels’d, that the Land-Forces might ofmake an Attempt on Shoar, while the in & p ^ 3ceI>Fleet did the fame by Sea, and that tId ‘some Soldiers might be taken from theTranfport-Ships, to assist in the Ships ofWar, which had not more Men thanwere sufficient to ply one Tire of theirGuns. This the Land-Officers rejected,there being eleven of them, to six ofthe Sea, against going in with the Ships,to batter the Great Fort: However, hesent some of the Frigats, andPart cf theSoldiers, under Command of Major Ra-bistner, to destroy the French at St. Pe-ter’s, which was effectually done.

The eighth and twentieth of August,the Squadron arrived in th eBay of Bulls,on the East Side of the Island, and tookin Water and Wood, where being de-tained, by bad Weather, until the two Sjr jvafl ci5and twentieth of September, the Com- Wheels,madore then failed for England, and ar- turns * 0riving, on the eighteenth of Oflober, he gIan 'received a Commission at Portsmouth,appointing him Rear-Admiral of theRed: And thus ended this successlessExpedition. (/>)

CHAP.

Gamboa, to attempt the dispossessing them fromthose Parts; which succeeded accordingly, as ap-pears by Letters from the faidAgent, of the four-teenth of March, 1692-3. received by Way ofJamaica, an Abstract of which follows.

Having embarked myself (says Mr. Booker)with above a Hundred Men of this Island, uponthe Company’s Ships, the Ann, Capt. Leech, andthe America, Capt. Brome, with several Sloops,as an Addition to the Force then sent me ; I arri-ved at Senega- River, the thirtieth of December,

1692. with great Difficulty, and the Loss of sixMen. I got over the Bar, and whilst I was pre-paring to attack the Fort called Louis . de Bour-f’ 1 Da y of January, I received a Letter

trom M. Definoulins, the Governour, offering tosurrender, if he and his Men might have civil1 reatment;Which I readily granted, landed, andtook Possession of the Fort, the fame Day, where• °r d J fteen Cannon 5 &c. This Fort is settledin the Mouth of the River Senega, and has beenin the Possession of the French above fifty Years.

1 have now settled a Factory there, and called itby the Name of William and Mary- Fort. 1 con-tinued there ’till the five and twentieth, when Ifailed, and having succeeded so well, called aCouncil of War, at Sea, the next Day. Thereit was resolved, to attack the Island of Goeree ,the only Place remaining in the French Possession,

in