900 Geo,I. Naval Expeditions , &c. of the English, Book VI

I727.Is obliged ,fy the Sick-ness of theMen, 7oFoft Jamaica.

The twenty-third of February, of theensuing Year, the Lords of the Admi-ralty received Letters from the Vice-Admiral, dated at Jamaica, the four-teenth of December, with an Account;

That by Reason of the great Mortalityand Sickness, on Board the Ships, theyhad been obliged to repair to that Island,where the sick Men had been put onShoar; But that, by the Vigilance andCare of the Vice-Admiral, seconded bythe hearty and zealous Assistance of thePresident and Council, the Squadronwas so far recruited, that he would putto Sea again, with the greatest Part ofit, in six or seven Days. \F)

Sails again. Letters of the fifteenth of February,from Jamaica„ brought Advice, that theSquadron, under the Command of Vice-Admiral Hojier, (/) was ready for sailing,the Ships being victual’d for four Monthswhole, and six Months shot t Allowance.O)

Prizes tak- About the Middle of June, the Vice-

en > Admiral brought into Kingston, in Ja-

maica, a small Spanish Sloop laden withHides and Tallow, (n) About the sameTime, Captain Solegard, of the Grey-hound Man of War, brought into the

same Place, a Spanish Ship, commanded 1727*by Captain Sanches Carta, with tenCarriage Guns, ten Swivel Guns, andseventy Men, bound from the Havannato Ken er iff, having several Passengerson Board, and a Cargo of seventy Thou-sand Pieces of Eight, seventy Tuns ofSnuff, some Hides, Sugar and Tallow. p -The fifteenth of July, Vice-Admiral Frederick,]Hojier was lying off of Cart hag ena, and other(where the Spanish Gal lions, with theirConvoy, still remamed ,) with nine Men a Vds.of War. (0) The eighth of August, aShip arrived at the Havanna, fromSpain , with Orders for making Repri-zals on the Ships and Effects of the Eng-lish, which was done accordingly there,and at La Vera Cruz, where the PrinceFrederick, a Frigat, and four Packet-boats were seized, with all the South-Sea Company’s Effects. Admiral Hojier p „. .went thither, with four Men of War, to demanded i*demand the Restitution of them, but it vain.

was refused him. Death oft

Soon after, viz. the twenty-third of jdm.Hoh-Augujl, 1727. the Vice-Admiral died, er.on Board his Ship, being returning fromhis Cruise; His Body was embalmed,and buried in the Ballast of the Ship, in

Order

(k) It was of no small Assistance to the Vice-Admiral, in recruiting his Men, that he found, atJamaica , a great Number of Seamen out of Em-ploy, who had belonged to several Ships, lostthere, some Time before, in the most terribleHurricane, that ever was known in that Island.

(/) This Squadron was now distinguished un-der two Divisions, as follows ; Under the Vice-Admiral were one Third-Rate, the Breda ; TwoFourth-Rates, the Rippon and the Leopard ; Andthree Sixth-Rates, the Greyhound, the fVinchelsea,and the Spence : And under Commadore EdwardSt. Loe, four Fourth-Rates, the Super be, Notting-ham, Dunkirk and Dragon ; One Fifth-Rate, theDiamond; And one Sixth-Rate, the Happy. TheAdmiral's Flag was hoisted in the Breda, andCommadore St. Loe’s in the Superbe. The Ber-zuick and Lenox, two Third-Rates, which wereexpected, were to be added to that Division,which Admiral kept under himself. This

Division was made upon the Vice-Admiaal’s receiv-ing new Instructions from England, and Advicefrom Puerto Bello, that such of the Gallions, aswere able to put to Sea, were gone from thenceto Carthagena, that so he might bloek up bothHavens at once.

(m) I shall continue my Relation of the Tran-sactions of Vice-Admiral Hopes & Squadron, to theDeath of that Commander, tho’ I shall therebyexceed, by some Months, the Limits of Timeproposed for this Chapter.

(a) One of his Lieutenants boarded her, witha Pinnace; But, before they could come up withher, the best Part of her Men got on Shoar, andcarried their Mony with them. They were brisk-ly followed, but could not be overtaken.

Bv Letters of the fourth of June, from Bar-ladoes, our Merchants had Advice, that a ErenchMan of War had taken, at Santa Lucia , twelve

Sail of English Vessels, and carried them to Mar-tinica , where, it was said, they would be condemned, for carrying on, what they called, an il-licit Trade ; Tho’ this is the first Instance of theFrench taking Vessels for trading at Santa Lucia.

(0) The Breda, Superbe, Rippon , Nottingham,Dunkirk, Tyger, Portland , Diamond and Grey-hound. He left at Jamaica , the Berwick , whichhad been damaged, but was repaired, and the Le-nox. The Leopard he had sent to convoy home-ward-bound Ships, thro’ the Windward Passage.

I must not here omit, tho’ foreign to this Ex-pedition, the Loss of the Luxborough-G ally, a Shipin the Service of the South Sea Company, the Cir-cumstances of which were as follows: The fiveand twentieth of June, 1727- in the Latitude offorty-one, about a Hundred and twenty Leaguesfrom Land, the said Ship took Fire- The Master,with one and twenty of his Crew, had just Timeto hoist out their Yawl, (not being able to get outeither of their other Boats) to make their Escape,leaving fourteen Men on Board, who perished inthe Flames. They lay in Sight of their Ship, tillthey saw her blow up, and disappear. They hadnot one Drop of Drink, nor Morsel of Victuals,no Compass, Masts or Sails, but what they madeof their Shirts. In this miserable Plight, the Boatreached the Harbour of Great St. Lawrence, inNewfoundland , on the seventh of July, twelveDays after the unhappy Accident, seven of thesemiserable Wretches only surviving, viz. WilliamKellaway the Commander, William Boys, Mate,aphonias Schrim/haw , Surgeon, William Ballen,Boatswain, William Gibs , Carpenter, G. Moulder ,Sailor, and Robert Kellaway, a Boy, the former ofwhich died a few Hours aster hegotashoar. Theysubsisted by sucking the Blood, and eating theFlesh of their dead Companions.