urloe, i. 761; ii. 54, 154, 570. Dumont, v. part ii. 106.]

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. Jan.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. June 18.]

Algiers, and extorted from that government an illusory promise of respect
to the English flag. From Algiers he proceeded[a] to Tunis. To his demands
the dey replied: "There are Goletta, Porto Ferino, and my fleet; let him
destroy them if he can." Blake departed,[b] returned unexpectedly to Porto
Ferino, silenced the fire of the castle, entered the harbour, and burnt the
whole flotilla of nine men-of-war. This exploit induced the dey of Tripoli
to purchase the forbearance of the English by an apparent submission;
his Tunisian brother deemed it prudent to follow his example; and the
chastisement of the pirates threw an additional lustre on the fame of the
protector. There still remained, however, the great but concealed object of
the expedition,--the capture of the Plate fleet laden with the treasures of
the Indies; but Blake was compelled to remain so long before Cadiz that the
Spaniards discovered his design; and Philip, though he professed to think
the protector incapable of so dishonourable a project, permitted the
merchants to arm in defence of their property. More than thirty ships were
manned with volunteers: they sailed[c] from Cadiz under the command of Don
Pablos de Contreras, and continued for some days in sight of the English
fleet; but Pablos was careful to give no offence; and Blake, on the
reperusal of his instructions, did not conceive himself authorized to begin
the attack. After a long and tedious cruise, he received intelligence
that the galleons, his destined prey, were detained in the harbour of
Carthagena, and returned to England with a discontented mind and shattered
constitution. In regard to the principal object, the expedition had failed;
but this had never been avowed; and the people were taught to rejoice at
the laurels won in the destruction

[Sidenote a: A.D. 1654. March 10.]
[Sidenote b: A.D. 1654. April 18.]
[Sidenote c: A.D. 1654. August 15.]

of the Tunisian fleet, and the lesson given to the piratical tribes on the
northern coast of Africa.[1]

The other expedition consisted[a] of thirty sail and a military force of
three thousand men, under the joint command of Penn, as admiral, and
of Venables, as general. They spent several weeks among the English
settlements in the West Indies, and by the promise of plunder allured
to their standard many of the planters, a