ntest by virtue of better ships and
the spirit of Cromwell's "Ironsides."

_Porto Farina and Santa Cruz_

Nor did the age of Blake end with the First Dutch War. As soon
as the admiral was able to go aboard ship, Cromwell sent him with
a squadron into the Mediterranean to enforce respect for the
Commonwealth from the Italian governments and the Barbary states.
He conducted his mission with eminent success. Although the Barbary
pirates did not course the sea in great fleets as in the palmy
days of Barbarossa, they were still a source of peril to Christian
traders. Blake was received civilly by the Dey of Algiers but
negotiations did not result satisfactorily. At Tunis he was openly
flouted. The Pasha drew up his nine cruisers inside Porto Farina
and defied the English admiral to do his worst. Blake left for a
few days to gain the effect of surprise and replenish provisions.
On April 4, 1655, he suddenly reappeared and stood in to the attack.

The harbor of Porto Farina was regarded as impregnable. The entrance
was narrow and the shores lined with castles and batteries. As Blake
foresaw, the wind that took him in would roll the battle smoke upon
the enemy. In a short time he had silenced the fire of the forts
and then sent boarding parties against the Tunisian ships, which
were speedily taken and burnt. Then he took his squadron out again,
having destroyed the entire Tunisian navy, shattered the forts, and
suffered only a trifling loss. This exploit resounded throughout
the Mediterranean. Algiers was quick to follow Tunis in yielding
to Blake's demands. It is characteristic of this officer that he
should have made the attack on Tunis entirely without orders from
Cromwell, and it is equally characteristic of the latter that he
was heartily pleased with the initiative of his admiral in carrying
out the spirit rather than the letter of his instructions.

Meanwhile Cromwell had been wavering between a war against France
or Spain. The need of a capture of money perhaps influenced him to
turn against Spain, for this country still drew from her western
colonies a tribute of gold and silver, which naturally would fall a
prey to the power that controlled the sea. One month after Blake's
exploit at Tunis, another English naval expedition set out to the
West Indies to take Santo Domingo. Although Jamaica was seized and
thereafter became an English possession, the expedition as a whole
was a disgraceful failure, and the leaders,