d himself vastly. The
town was full of troops--English, Dutch, and Portuguese. Of an evening
there were fetes and galas of all kinds, and as the earl always attended
these, Jack and the other young officers were permitted to go ashore
either in full uniform to take part in the fetes, or to enjoy themselves
according to their fancies.

As Graham had predicted, it was some time before any conclusion was
arrived at as to the destination of the fleet. Several councils were
held, but no decision was come to. Peterborough's orders were so vague
that he could use his own discretion. He had, indeed, been recommended
to prevail upon the Archduke Charles to accompany him and to proceed
to Italy, where he was to form a junction with Victor Amadeus, Duke of
Savoy, who was sorely pressed by the armies of France.

A messenger, however, arrived by sea with an order from the queen that
the fleet should proceed to the coast of Catalonia, in consequence of
information which had been sent to the British court of the favorable
disposition of the Catalans toward the Archduke Charles. This was in
accordance with the counsel which the Prince of Hesse Darmstadt had been
strenuously urging, and his recent success in the capture and
subsequent defense of Gibraltar gave weight to his words and effaced the
recollection of his failure before Barcelona in the previous year.

The final decision rested in a great measure with the Archduke Charles,
who at last decided to proceed with Lord Peterborough and land upon the
coast of Spain and test the disposition of his Valencian and Catalan
subjects. The reasons for Peterborough's falling in with the decision to
move on Barcelona are explained in a dispatch which he dictated to Sir
George Rooke on the 20th of July.

"Upon the letter of my Lord Godolphin and the secretary of state,
the King of Spain, his ministers, and my Lord Galway and myself have
concluded there was no other attempt to be made but upon Catalonia,
where all advices agree that six thousand men and twelve hundred horse
are ready expecting our arrival with a general goodwill of all the
people. The Portuguese have entirely refused to join in any design
against Cadiz, and by a copy of my Lord Galway's letter you will find he
is in an utter despair of their attempting anything this year, and that
by our instructions it will appear that there is no other enterprise
left for our choice."

Peterborough's military force was, however, wholly in