f the island, but with a garrison
insufficient to complete the subjection of the fanatical blacks. General
Whyte found the conquest of the Dutch settlement of Demerara a far
easier task than its retention. Abercromby then relieved St. Vincent and
strengthened the defences of Grenada, that island having been recaptured
by General Nicols. Abercromby and his comrades thus saved those
possessions from the most imminent danger. His services were almost as
great in the quarters as on the field. He adapted the cumbrous uniform
to the needs of the tropics, and, by abolishing parades and drills in
the noontide heats, and improving the sanitary conditions of the camps,
sought to stay the ravages of disease, of which the carelessness or
stupidity of officials had been the most potent ally. On 21st April 1796
Sheridan moved for a return of the troops who had succumbed to disease
in the West Indies. He asserted that several of them, on landing, were
without shoes and stockings, that hospitals crowded with sick were
without medicines or bandages, and that in one case a hundred patients
had to spend the night on the bare beach. Dundas's reply was virtually
an admission of the truth of these charges.

The declaration of war by Spain in the autumn of 1796 brought about a
new situation. The Republicans and their black allies regularly took
refuge and found their supplies in the central parts of San Domingo now
ceded to France; but when the British sought to follow and attack them
there, they were assured that it was neutral territory. The British
Government warmly protested against this duplicity. Either the island
was Spanish, or it was French. If the former, then Toussaint and his men
had no right to retreat thither. If the latter, the British could attack
them. In point of fact, plans for the transfer of San Domingo to France
were at that time dragging slowly along at Madrid: and when the French
General, Rom, failed to bend that Court to his terms, he departed for
the island under the convoy of a Spanish squadron. This incident was
typical of the recent policy of Madrid. In every possible way it
favoured France. Early in 1796 seven French warships underwent extensive
repairs in the royal dockyard at Cadiz. Merry, secretary of legation at
Madrid, further reported numerous seizures of British merchantmen by
French privateers which brought them into Spanish harbours. Twelve ships
were thus brought into Alicante in the winter of 1795-6; an