it under the command of Don Federico de Toledo. He was met
in the neighborhood of San Cristobal by a numerous fleet of small
craft, which had the advantage over the unwieldy Spanish ships in that
they could maneuver with greater rapidity and precision. There are no
reliable details of the result of the engagement. Abbad tells us that
the Spaniards were victorious, but the buccaneers continued to occupy
all the islands which they had occupied before.

In 1634 they took possession of Curagao, Aruba, and Bonaire, near the
coast of Venezuela, and established themselves in 1638 in San
Eustaquio, Saba, San Martin, and Santa Cruz.

In 1640 the Governor of Puerto Rico sought to expel them from the
last-named island. He defeated them, killing many and taking others
prisoners; but as soon as he returned to Puerto Rico the Hollanders
from San Eustaquio and San Martin reoccupied Santa Cruz, and he was
compelled to equip another expedition to dislodge them, in which he
was completely successful. This time he left a garrison, but in the
same year the French commander, Poincy, came with a strong force and
compelled the garrison to capitulate. The island remained a French
possession under the name of Saint Croix until it was sold to Denmark,
in 1733, for $150,000. Another expedition set out from Puerto Rico in
1650, to oust the French and Hollanders from San Martin. The Spaniards
destroyed a fort that had been constructed there, but as soon as they
returned to this island the pirates reoccupied their nest. In 1657 an
Englishman named Cook came with a sufficient force and San Martin
became an English possession.

About 1665 the French Governor of Tortuga, Beltran Ogeron, planned the
conquest of Puerto Rico. He appeared off the coast with 3 ships, but
one of the hurricanes so frequent in these latitudes came to the
island's rescue. The ships were stranded, and the surviving Frenchmen
made prisoners. Among them was Ogeron himself, but his men shielded
him by saying that he was drowned. On the march to the capital he and
his ship's surgeon managed to escape, and, after killing the owner of
a fishing-smack, returned to Tortuga, where he immediately commenced
preparations for another invasion of Puerto Rico. When he came back he
was so well received by the armed peasantry (jibaros) that he was
forced to reembark.

From this time to 1679 several expeditions were fitted out in San Juan
to drive the filibusters from one or another of the is