e place, Lieutenant Brett, with the boats
under his command, put off, and arrived at the mouth of the bay without
being discovered; but no sooner had he entered it than some of the people
on board a vessel riding at anchor there perceived him, who instantly put
off in their boat, rowing towards the fort, shouting and crying, "The
English! the English dogs!" by which the whole town was suddenly alarmed;
and our people soon observed several lights hurrying backwards and
forwards in the fort and other marks of the inhabitants being in great
motion. Lieutenant Brett on this encouraged his men to pull briskly up to
the shore, that they might give the enemy as little time as possible to
prepare for their defence. However, before our boats could reach the
shore, the people in the fort had got ready some of their cannon and
pointed them towards the landing-place; and though in the darkness of the
night it might be well supposed that chance had a greater share than
skill in their direction, yet the first shot passed extremely near one of
the boats, whistling just over the heads of the crew. This made our
people redouble their efforts, so that they had reached the shore, and
were in part disembarked by the time the second gun fired. As soon as our
men landed they were conducted by one of the Spanish pilots to the
entrance of a narrow street, not above fifty yards distant from the
beach, where they were covered from the fire of the fort; and being
formed in the best manner the shortness of the time would allow, they
immediately marched for the parade, which was a large square at the end
of this stree, the fort being one side of the square and the Governor's
house another. In this march (though performed with tolerable regularity)
the shouts and clamours of three-score sailors who had been confined so
long on ship-board, and were now for the first time on shore in an
enemy's country--joyous as they always are when they land, and animated
besides in the present case with the hopes of an immense pillage--the
huzzahs, I say, of this spirited detachment, joined with the noise of
their drums and favoured by the night, had augmented their numbers, in
the opinion of the enemy, to at least three hundred; by which persuasion
the inhabitants were so greatly intimidated that they were much more
solicitous about the means of their flight than of their resistance. So
that though upon entering the parade our people received a volley from
the merch