which he maintained his master's
right to the whole Magellanick region, and exhorted the English to
retire quietly from the settlement, which they could neither justify by
right, nor maintain by power.

He offered them the liberty of carrying away whatever they were desirous
to remove, and promised his receipt for what should be left, that no
loss might be suffered by them.

His propositions were expressed in terms of great civility; but he
concludes with demanding an answer in fifteen minutes.

Having, while he was writing, received the letters of warning, written
the day before by the English captains, he told them, that he thought
himself able to prove the king of Spain's title to all those countries,
but that this was no time for verbal altercations. He persisted in his
determination, and allowed only fifteen minutes for an answer.

To this it was replied, by captain Farmer, that though there had been
prescribed yet a shorter time, he should still resolutely defend his
charge; that this, whether menace or force, would be considered as an
insult on the British flag, and that satisfaction would certainly be
required.

On the next day, June 10, Madariaga landed his forces, and it may be
easily imagined, that he had no bloody conquest. The English had only a
wooden block-house, built at Woolwich, and carried in pieces to the
island, with a small battery of cannon. To contend with obstinacy had
been only to lavish life without use or hope, After the exchange of a
very few shots, a capitulation was proposed.

The Spanish commander acted with moderation; he exerted little of the
conqueror; what he had offered before the attack, he granted after the
victory; the English were allowed to leave the place with every honour,
only their departure was delayed, by the terms of the capitulation,
twenty days; and, to secure their stay, the rudder of the Favourite was
taken off. What they desired to carry away they removed without
molestation; and of what they left, an inventory was drawn, for which
the Spanish officer, by his receipt, promised to be accountable.

Of this petty revolution, so sudden and so distant, the English ministry
could not possibly have such notice, as might enable them to prevent it.
The conquest, if such it may be called, cost but three days; for the
Spaniards, either supposing the garrison stronger than it was, or
resolving to trust nothing to chance, or considering that, as their
force was greater,