V.
r
k.
Chap, XIV. during the Reign of §lyeen Ann. 839
1709. Noon, they both being to the Wind-ward bore down to him, and as theypast gave him some Guns, and thenwore, as if they intended to engage thatEvening. About six, he tacked, andkeeping Sight of them all Night, be-tween seven and eight in the Morning,he came up within half Pistol Shot ofone of them, called the Mignon ; Butwas obliged to engage her to Leeward;Because he could not carry out his Lee-guns, tho’both of them did. After hehad been very warmly engaged withthe Mignon , the other Ship, called theCoventry, got on his Lee-Bow, and fired•at his Masts very briskly; But CaptainHutchins finding he had the better of theMignon, he plied her very warmly, tillhis Main-top-fail Yard was shot in two,and then they got ahead of him. How-ever, he spliced his Rigging, repairedthe Damages as fast as he could, fol-lowed them with all possible Diligence,and, about three in the Morning, per-ceived that Boats passed very often be-tween the two Ships. By Reason of
Calms, he could not come up with them 1709.till the sixth ; But, by seven, thatMorning, was close up with the Coven-try ; And then he engaged, the Mignonfiring at a Distance, but did little or noDamage. His design was to have board-ed her ; But, when he came near her, hefound site was too well man’d for himto run that ffazard; So he plied herwith his great Guns. Between ten andeleven, he brought the Coventry s Main-mast by the Board, and then, her Firedecreasing, stie struck about half an Hourafter twelve, (c)
About the latter End of May, theRear-Admiral, at the earnest Requestof the Merchants, sent the Severn, andScarborough, to England with the Trade.
Little or nothing else of Moment hap-pened during Rear-Admiral Wager’sStay at Jamaica ; And he having receiv-ed Orders to return to England, arriv-ed at St. Helen’s, the twentieth of Novem- R ear-Admi-her, leaving the Command of the Ships, Returns towhich remained at the Island, with England,Captain Tudor Trevor.
CHAP. XIV.
Naval Expeditions and Transactions of the British Nation, in Europe, with otherOccurrences, during the Tear, 1709. and 1710.
.*709*
ps/
MPl- Hist.h Europe.
vV de M.T? Gue
K Daniel.
J. Carreyffi- de Fr.
Vy oulS ’
^Muttons(fc he House^mmons.
r"iri H E Beginning of the Year,i 1709. affords very little of Mo--®- ment at home, proper or neces-sary for this History. The Par-liament was chiefly employed in exam-ining into the State of the Nation, atthe Invasion, in the Beginning of the fore-going Year. The four and twentieth ofMarch, the Commons took into Consi-deration the Accounts of what Ships hadbeen employed as Cruizers and Convoys,over and above the Ships for the Lineof Battle, and for Convoys to remoteParts; As likewise the Estimate of theDebt of Her Majesty’s Navy: TheyResolved, " That an Address be present-" ed Her Majesty, that she would be" pleased to give Directions to the pro-" per Officers, to lay before the House
(V) Her first Captain was killed, and the se-cond wounded, and about seventy Men killed inboth the Enemy's Ships, the. Mignon’& Men beingput into the Coventry, and no more left in her,than to carry her into the first safe Port. Thefirst Captain of the_A%»»» was on Board the Co-ventry, having received many Wounds aboard hisown Ship, which was so much disabled, that theyjudged she could not proceed to France, hayingnot twenty Men on Board her, besides Negroes j
" an Account of all Sums of Mony 1709.“ granted, or voted, since Her Majesty’s" Accession to the Crown,^and how far" the fame have proved deficient ’’And,
Ordered, " That the Commissioners of" the Navy do lay before this House" the Causes of the Encrease of the" Debt of the Navy '' : But no An-swer was returned to that Address.
About the Middle of May, Her Ma-jesty was pleased to constitute Sir JohnLeake Rear-Admiral of Great Britain.
Proceedings of the Lord Durfley, and 0-thers, in the Soundings, &c.
We left the Lord Durfey, in the Lord Dur-Month of November, 1708. at Plymouth, Aey cruises
D c y ■, tntheSound-
where in g S .
Which was the Cause they removed the Mony,which was aboard her, into the Coventry. Inthis Action, Captain Hutchins had no more thannine Men killed, and twelve wounded; Havingnot above two Hundred and twenty on Board,
Servants included, besides twelve Negroes, whenhe began the Attack. The Mony he found a-mounted to about twenty Thousand Pieces ofEight, a great Part of which was found about theFrench Seamen,