718 W. and M. Naval Expeditions, &c. o) the English, Book I *

1697. In the Afternoon, four of our Ships,the Bristol, Trident, Gofport and New-castle, being near them, Monsieur Pon-ti drew his Squadron into Order of Bat-tle, and fired several Shot at the Bri-stol-, But his Vice-Admiral, Monsieurde Labbe, with another of his Ships, lefthim, and made off, as the whole Fleetdid towards Evening.

frf a ^ ey Our Fleet continued the Chafe twoejcape. J) a y S anc j two Nights longer, sometimesnear, and sometimes at a greater Di-stance ; But could never reach them a-gain ; (d) Which was chiefly occasionalby our Ships, most of them, losing theirTop Masts, and splitting their Sails,with pressing the Chafe, (e) Tho’ thoseof the French stood firm. By these Ac-cidents, we lost the rich Booty, whichMonsieur Ponti had made, at the tak-Th v ssig of Carthagena. {f)

Admiral The Vice Admiral, when he lostatrives at the French, judged himself to be aboutCarthagena -‘eighteen.Leagues short of Carthagena,the appointed Rendezvous, and there-

(d) The Author of the History of King Wil-liam fays, the Englijh Vice-Admiral Nevil, reck-- oning there was no Safety for the French, but to

go before the Wind, for the Streights of Bahama,stackned his Way , proposing to get so much a-headof them as to hinder their Passage. Hereupon,the French, at the Closing of the Night, tack’dabout, and found the Success of their Working,the next Day ; For they could reckon no morethan fourteen Ships following them, in a Line,and they not so high, by far, as the Day before,which made the French continue the fame Board,'till they got within twenty Leagues of Cartha-gsna, where they were, on the nine and twentieth,and the next Day got clear of the EnglijhFleet.

(e) It seems a little odd, that our Ships should sufferthus in their Topmasts and Sails, and the French not.Mr. Secretary Burchett accounts for the former,by a Fault in the Manner of placing our Masts,which, he fays, hath since been rectified ; But,for the latter, he fays, if our Sails were made ofas good Stuff, and work'd up as well, he can feeno Reason why they should not have proved asdurable as those of the French, who, being chas’d,were obliged to put theirs to as great, or a greaterTrial.

Burnett. (y) Bishop Burnett, who makes light ofMonsieur Ponti 's Booty, fays. The Plate hadall been sent away (from Carthagena ) before they(the French) came there, But they landed and pil-laged the Place, and then gave it out, that theyhad found many Millions there, which, at first,

, seemed incredible, and was afterwards known tobe false ; Yet it was constantly asserted, at thatTime, to cover the Reproach of having miscar-ried, in the Attempt, on which they had raisedgreat Expectations, and to which many Under-takers had been drawn in. Our Squadron (con-tinues the Bishop) was much superior to theirs,vet never engaged them. Once, indeed, they cameup to the French, and had some Advantage overthem ; But did not pursue it.

fore stood in for that Place. He brought 1 69Vto, towards Evening, within Sight ofLand, where Rear-Admiral Meeze, withsix Ships more, which had likewise alltheir Sails blown away, joined him.

He anchored, the next Evening, beforeBocca Chiga Castle, at the Entrance ofCarthagena-H arbour ; Where he foundthe French, having taken the Place, haddismantled and quitted it; And that,what with Ponti’ s plundering, and theravaging of Privateers, who had beento,glean his Leavings, the Inhabitantswere in a distressed Condition, and had . rjtmostly deserted the Place. The Vice- jst r lyrJ h’Admiral let the Governour know, he the Freo^’was going, that Night, to Sea, becausehe fear’d the Gallions might be in Dan-ger ; But that, if the Wind should hangout of the Way, he would spare himwhat Necessaries he could, (jr)

The next Day, at Noon, the Windcoming Westerly, the Vice Admiralweigh’d and stood Eastwards, leavingOrders for the Ships which were

missing

The French allow, the Spajiiards had Time tofend away a Hundred and thirty Mules, ladenwith Gold, valued at Thirty Millions ofLivres (or about a Million and a half Sterling ;)

But that, notwithstanding this, Monsieur Pontibrought home eight Millions, in Silver, and aMillion in Jewels, besides Cannon, and the Bootywhich the Seamen got. But that the Spaniardsshould have Time to load so many Mules withGold, and should not take their Jewels withthem, in their Pockets, is not very proba-ble.

(g) Had the Vice-Admiral (fays Mr. Secretary Burch® £ 'Burchett) proceeded directly to Carthagena, in-stead of Jamaica, when, he first receivedAdvice from the Island of St. Thomas’s,that the Enemy, after having plundered thatPlace, were carelesly lying with their Ships inPort ; It is very reasonable to believe, he mighthave made himself Master of all the Riches theyhad on Board them. Whether he himself inclin-ed to make this Attempt, or, if so, he was diver-ted from it by the Majority of the Officers in theSquadron ; Among whom, (continues my Author)if I am rightly informed, there was no great Har-mony ; Or whether Credit was given to the In-telligence, is uncertain ; It not appearing, thatan Affair of this Consequence was, as has beencustomary, debated at a Council of War ; Buthowever it happened, this is certain, that by theEnglijh and Dutch Ships proceeding to Jamaica,before they went in Search of the French Squa-dron, they lost an Opportunity, not only of en-rl y) 1I J§ themselves, But of Performing a Service,which would have been very prejudical to theEnemy, st st indeed, worthy of Remark, especial-ly “y those, in whose Power it is to remedy it, orat least to punish the guilty, that most of our7* 1 w American Expeditions have miscarried,

Want of a Harmony among the Officers; ofwhich we have a glaring Instance above in theXVIII. Chapter.