ate found in the place. After blowing up the fortifications, and
destroying two guarda costas, he returned to Jamaica. He next, being
joined by Sir Challoner Ogle with a large body of troops, attacked
Carthagena; forcing a beam which had been laid across the harbour, the
fleet entered and blew up a considerable number of forts, great
gallantry being shown by the commanders of the ships of war and their
crews. The British troops, however, were repulsed with great slaughter
in their attempts to storm Fort Saint Lazare. In consequence of
sickness, it became at length necessary to raise the siege, and the
admiral returned to Jamaica. The establishment of a settlement on the
island of Rattan and an attack on Cuba were designed by Admiral Vernon,
but this and other plans were thwarted by the commander of the land
forces, General Wentworth--showing the inconvenience which, in nearly
all instances, arises from a division of command. Probably, had the
whole power been vested with Admiral Vernon, his plans would have
succeeded. Soon after his arrival in England, in consequence of a
disagreement with the Admiralty, he was deprived of his command in 1746,
after which he did not again go to sea. Probably in consequence of
observing the ill effects of undiluted spirits among his crews in the
West Indies, he was the first to order a sailor's allowance of rum to be
mixed with water, to which the name of grog has since been given.

During this war the English merchants lost a number of their vessels in
the British Channel and the German Ocean, the prizes being carried into
Vigo, Bilboa, and San Sebastian, where the poor sailors suffered
inexpressible hardships, being driven barefooted a hundred or two
hundred miles up the country, lodged in damp dungeons, and fed only on
bread and water. On hearing of this treatment, the British Government
allowed to every prisoner sixpence a-day, which was regularly paid to
them. On the other hand, the English ships of war and privateers took
several valuable prizes from the Spaniards, and destroyed many of their
privateers; while the masters of the merchant-ships bravely defended
themselves, and were never taken but by a superior force. One of these
actions is worthy of being recorded. On the 27th of December, the
_Pulteney_ privateer, a large brigantine, mounting 16 carriage-guns and
26 swivels, with 42 men, commanded by Captain James Purcell, was
standing into the Bay of Gibraltar after a