Chap. IV.
during the Reign of §lueen Ann.
1703. and at half Allowance, he took in whatBeef, Bread, Pork and Pease he couldprocure, and sailed, the seventeenth.^ He came into Mevis- Road, the twenty-
evis> third, and, having supplied the Squa-dron the best he could, sailed, the fiveJamai- and twentieth, for Jamaica, where heCa ‘ arrived the fourth of the next Month.
He immediately ordered a Survey to bemade of the Condition the Ships wereA Sur in, which finding to be but very indif-ta ken of'the ferent; (z) And besides, there beingseveral Misunderstandings between him,and some ot the Chief of the Island, (Æ)he made all possible Dispatch to put theSquadron into a Condition of returningHome, pursuant to the Instructions hehad received. (/)
The Vice- Us twenty-first of June, he failedAdmiral for Blewfields, to water, and, proceed-J v es]zmz\- ing from thence, fell in with Cape Pine,' in Newfoundland, the second of August.
As soon as they had got thro' th eGulph,the Trial-Sloop was sent for IntelligenceAnd arrives to Captain Richards, who commandedCou w ~ at St. John’s, and for Pilots for Pla-Un < 31 and. centia. (m) The fourth, there came' on a surprizing thick Fog, which lasted
thirty Days together, and obliged them,
ifivririv th “’ w * h great Difficulty, to get intoa Harbour to the Leeward of them, cal-led St. Mary's •, But the Squadron was so
^ Hrc hett.
(?) Generally speaking, they proved to bevery defective, not only in their Hulls, but intheir Masts, Stores and Rigging, and they werein as bad a Condition with Regard to Men. Storesthey had none, but what had been sent in a Bri-gantine, among which were but five Suits of Sails;And consequently, as five of the Ships detachedby Sir George Rooke, under Captain Walker , werenot fitted for Service in the Wef-Indies, theywanted much more than they could be furnishedwith there.
(k) When he came to the Plantations (faysBp. Bur net) he acted in so savage a Manner, as ifhe had been sent rather to terrify, than to protect
them. _ .
(!) He left the Norwich, Experiment , Sea-horse, and EL ar man- and Earl Gaily- Fire-lhips,together with the St.Antonio- andAcrewery-Sloops,to attend on the Island, and the Colchester andSunderlani to convoy Home the latter'Trade.
(m) The Captain was desired to come himself,not only to advise and a first, as an Engineer, butto bring some necessary Stores, which he readilycomplied with.
(n) At this Council were present, the Vice-Admiral himself, Rear-Admiral Whetstone , andthirteen Sea-Captains; And, 01 the Land-Ofiicers,Colonel Rivers, (who commanded in Chief) fixCaptains and an Engineer. They took in Conside-ration H e r Majesty's Instructions toBrjgadier-Ge-neral Columbine (who died some Time before)and those from the Admiralty to Mr. Gray ion-,And finding the Ships in a very ill Condition, asto theirHulls, Masts, Sails, standing and runningRigging, and Ground "Tackle ; That they wantedMen,and that even those they had were very fick-
A Council ofWar.
dispersed by the Fog, that it was the 1703.third of September before they couldcome together again, Captain Richardshaving in that Time {viz. the twenty-second of August ) joined them.
The third of September, a Council ofWar was called, ( n ) where all Difficul-ties and Obstructions being maturelyweigh’d, together with the good Cir-cumstances the Enemy were in, and theA distance they might have from thePrivateers and other Shipping, then atPlacentia, they were unanimously ofOpinion, that to make any Attempt onthat Place, at such a Season of the Year,was altogether impracticable, and couldhave no Probability of Success. TheVice-Admiral, therefore, took his De-parture for England, the four and twentieth of the fame Month, and met withvery bad Weather, in his Passage; (0)However, he, and the Rear-Admiral,got safe into the Downs, the twenty-second of 0 sober, with the StrombiliFire-ship only, he having before madeseveral Detachments, for different Places.
(p) The other Ships of the Squadronput in, some at one Port, and some atanother, and, all Circumstances con-sidered, it was no small Wonder they p rr - lves - inall arrived safe in England, {q) England.
Agreed notto attemptPlacentia.
The 8qua-dron leavesNewfound-land.
9 I CHAP.
ly and weak; That they were at short Allowanceof Provisions ; That the Soldiers, by drinkingWa-ter in so cold a Climate, were not only benumbedin their Limbs, but subjected to Fluxes and Scur-vies ; That the five Regiments were reduced toOne Thousand and five and thirty Men; Thatthe five Hundred Soldiers, which they Ihouldhave had from New England , were, at first, butseventy, and now no more than five and twenty,and all of them unfit for Service ; And that, bythe best Accounts from ' Placentia , the Enemywere not only superiour in Number, and conse-quently able to make a good Resistance, but thatthe Avenues to the Place were extreamly difficult,the Grounds spungy, and no Planks, or otherMa-terials, for mounting the Guns on Batteries, tobe had.
(0) The fourth of OBober, fix of his Ship'sMain-Shrouds broke, and her Main-mast beingsprung, he was constrained to bear away to save it,which occasioned his separating from the Rest ofthe Fleet ; But joining Rear-Admiral Whets one,and fix Ships more, on the fourteenth, he foundthem all in a miserable Condition; And his ownShip, the Boyne, not only made fix Foot Watera Watch, but was much disabled in her Rig-ging.
(p) Before he left Newfoundland, he appoint-ed the Canterbury, Bonaventure, and Sorlings,to convoy the Fishing-Vessels to Portugal ; And,when he came near to the Coast of Ireland, heordered the Resolution, Tarmouth, Edgar, andWindsor, to convoy the Transport-Ships thither,with what Officers and Men remained of the fourRegiments.
(q ) And this was the End of an Expedition, in
which