Chap XX. from the Revolution, to the 7 )edth os K. William. 7 1 9

1697. miffing to follow him ; And, the sixthof June, discovering eight Privateersunder the Shoar of Sambay, he sentthe Colchester, G of port, Firgin-Prize,and Lightning-'FirQi\np, to destroy them;While he stood over for Cape Tubaron,or Petit-Guavas ; But, not being ableto fetch either of those Places* proceed-ed for Hispaniola, where, having takena Privateer of four and twenty Guns*and burnt another of twelve, he an-chored, the nineteenth of June,

ReAr-Admiral Meeze’r Expedition toPetit-Guavas.

as taken-. Sir William Pees on, Governour ofJamaicai having informed the Vice-Admiral, on the twenty-fecond of June,that it would be of great Service, if hecould destroy Petit-Guavas * he orderedRear-Admiral Meeze thither, with nineShips of the Squadron. (Jo) The eightand twentieth, at half an Hour afterthree in the Mo ruing, he landed, withColonel Kirkby, and the Captains Lytcot,Holmes , Julius, Elliot and Moore, andfour Hundred Men, a Mile Eastwardof Petit Guavas, and then marched di-rectly to the Town ; The Sloop, withsome of the Boats, which had on Boardthem about one Hundred of the Men,not being able to keep up with him*He thought the Place might, with muchmore Ease, be taken by Surprize, withthose Men he had, than by discoveringhimself, which he must have done, bystaying for the Rest, and therefore en-tering it just at the Dawn of Day, hemarched directly to, and immediatelytook the Grand Guard. When this wasdone, he sent one Hundred Men, tosecure two Batteries, of four Gunseach ; And while that was doing, most

^ of the French quitted the Town.

e i pSun der- jq Q f oon er was the Sun up, than theSailors were no longer to be kept fromPlundering ; And in a Couple of Hours*

most of them were so drunk, that theVice-Admiral was oblig’d to set Fireto the Place* much sooner than he in-tended, or he could not have dependedon fifty sober and serviceable Men. (/)And thus* both Officers and Men weredeprived of the Reward they so justlydeserved, for the Bravery, and indefati-gable Industry, they shewed on this Oc-casion*

Farther Proceedings of Vice-AdmiralNevil.

To return to Vice-Admiral Nevil, pj ce Admiralwho, having now wooded and watered Nevil joinsthe Ships, got under Sail, the nine and Kear-Admi-twentieth of June, to meet Rear-Ad- ra eeze "miral Meezes by whom being joined,the next Day, he failed for Jamaica ,that so he might get the Ships fromthence, and proceed directly fo r theHavanna, in Search of the Gallions, ofwhich he had not yet any certain Ad-vice*

The eleventh of Julys he made theIfe of Pines, the thirteenth, came upwith St. Anthony’s, the West End ofCuba, and, the sixteenth, he got abouta Range of Rocks called the Colleradoes ;

But the Men were, at this Time, verysickly, and, the next Day, Rear-Ad-miral Meeze died : As did before, andafter, the Captains Lytcot, Holmes, Bell -wood, Dyer, Stadley and Fofier, allCommanders of Men of War.

The twenty-fecond of July, theSquadron arrived at the Havanna , wherethe Vice-Admiral, in Requital for hisgreat Care and Vigilance, for the Safetyof the Gallions, was not only refusedEntrance into the Harbour, and whatWater and Refreshments he wanted* bythe Spanish Governour; But when helet the General of the Gallions, whichwere then lying there, know, that thechief Intent of his Voyage was to securethem, and to convoy them to Spain, he8 U

Death ofRear-Admi-ral Meeze,

The Squa-dron arrivesat the Hava«na.

was

III Usage ofthe Spani-ards.

(h) Before he arrived at Petit-Guavas , hemade a Detatchment offline Hundred Men, fromthe Ships, two Hundred and fifty whereof heput into a Sloop, one Hundred on Board a Fifth-Rate Frigat, and the Rest into the Boats; And,when he came within sixteen or seventeenLeagues of the Place, he left the two Ships, withOrders to their Commanders, not to appear inSight; But to get in early next Morning ; Butfinding he could not reach the Fort himself thatNight, he directed them not to come in 'till thenext Day.

(?) Mr. Meeze’s well-laid Design, to makehimself and them Masters of the Plunder was*by appointing a Captain and some trusty Men,to begin at each End of the Town, and so to havemet one another; But the Unruliness of the Sailorsprevented it, to his and their own Loss : So that*not any Thing was carried off, except a few Ne-groes, and other inconsiderable Matters ; Altho'it was reported, that, two Day's before, four Muleswere brought into the Town, loaden with Goldand Silver from the IJle of AJh , Part of what th®Privateers riffled at Carthagena,