der of Levasseur,
the invaders at once sailed for Tortuga and landed several hundred men
at the spot where the Spaniards had formerly been repulsed. The two
assassins, finding the inhabitants indisposed to support them,
capitulated to de Fontenay on receiving pardon for their crime and the
peaceful possession of their property. Catholicism was restored,
commerce was patronized and buccaneers encouraged to use the port. Two
stone bastions were raised on the platform and more guns were
mounted.[116] De Fontenay himself was the first to bear the official
title of "Governor for the King of Tortuga and the Coast of S. Domingo."

The new governor was not fated to enjoy his success for any length of
time. The President of S. Domingo, Don Juan Francisco de Montemayor,
with orders from the King of Spain, was preparing for another effort to
get rid of his troublesome neighbour, and in November 1653 sent an
expedition of five vessels and 400 infantry against the French, under
command of Don Gabriel Roxas de Valle-Figueroa. The ships were separated
by a storm, two ran aground and a third was lost, so that only the
"Capitana" and "Almirante" reached Tortuga on 10th January. Being
greeted with a rough fire from the platform and fort as they approached
the harbour, they dropped anchor a league to leeward and landed with
little opposition. After nine days of fighting and siege of the fort, de
Fontenay capitulated with the honours of war.[117] According to the
French account, the Spaniards, lashing their cannon to rough frames of
wood, dragged a battery of eight or ten guns to the top of some hills
commanding the fort, and began a furious bombardment. Several sorties of
the besieged to capture the battery were unsuccessful. The inhabitants
began to tire of fighting, and de Fontenay, discovering some secret
negotiations with the enemy, was compelled to sue for terms. With
incredible exertions, two half-scuttled ships in the harbour were fitted
up and provisioned within three days, and upon them the French sailed
for Port Margot.[118] The Spaniards claimed that the booty would have
been considerable but for some Dutch trading-ships in the harbour which
conveyed all the valuables from the island. They burned the settlements,
however, carried away with them some guns, munitions of war and slaves,
and this time taking the precaution to leave behind a garrison of 150
men, sailed for Hispaniola. Fearing that the French might join forces
with t