emained at St. Eustatius throughout February,
March, and April. The amount of money involved, and the arbitrary
methods pursued by him and by Vaughan, gave rise to much scandal,
which was not diminished by the King's relinquishing all the booty
to the captors, nor by the latters' professed disinterestedness. Men
thought they did protest too much. Meanwhile, other matters arose to
claim attention. A week after the capture, a vessel arrived from the
Bay of Biscay announcing that eight or ten French sail of the line,
with a large convoy, had been seen on the 31st of December steering
for the West Indies. Rodney at once detached Sir Samuel Hood with
eleven ships of the line, directing him to take also under his command
the six left before Fort Royal, and to cruise with them to windward
of Martinique, to intercept the force reported. Hood sailed February
12th. The particular intelligence proved afterwards to be false, but
Hood was continued on his duty. A month later he was ordered to move
from the windward to the leeward side of the island, and to blockade
Fort Royal closely. Against this change he remonstrated, and the event
showed him to be right; but Rodney insisted, saying that from his
experience he knew that a fleet could remain off Fort Royal for months
without dropping to leeward, and that there ships detached to Santa
Lucia, for water and refreshments, could rejoin before an enemy's
fleet, discovered to windward, could come up. Hood thought the
Admiral's object was merely to shelter his own doings at St.
Eustatius; and he considered the blockade of Fort Royal to be futile,
if no descent upon the island were intended. "It would doubtless
have been fortunate for the public," he remarked afterwards, "had Sir
George been with his fleet, as I am confident he would have been to
windward instead of to leeward, when de Grasse made his approach."

The preparations of the French in Brest were completed towards the end
of March, and on the 22d of that month Rear-Admiral de Grasse sailed,
having a large convoy under the protection of twenty-six ships of
the line. A week later six of the latter parted company, five under
Suffren for the East Indies and one for North America. The remaining
twenty continued their course for Martinique, which was sighted on the
28th of April. Before sunset, Hood's squadron also was discovered to
leeward of the island, as ordered by Rodney to cruise, and off the
southern point,--Pointe des Salines.