mmanded by Sir Robert Holmes to accompany
these ships. The preparation and departure of the fleet was short and
remained a close secret with the officials immediately concerned.

The king instructed Holmes to protect the company's agents, ships,
goods, and factories from all injury; and to secure a free trade with
the natives. Also, he declared, "If (upon consultacon with such
commandrs as are there present) you judge yourself strong enough to
maintaine the right of his Matie's subjects by force, you are to do
it, and to kill, sink, take, or destroy such as oppose you, & to send
home such ships as you shall so take." If the two ships "Golden Lyon"
and "Christiana," the first of which was the chief assailant of the
company's ships "Charles" and "James" in November, 1662, were
encountered. Holmes was instructed to seize them. All other ships
which had committed such injuries on the vessels of the Royal
Company[62] were likewise to be seized and taken to England. On his
arrival at the mouth of the Gambia River in January, 1664, Holmes
discovered that since his visit in 1661 the relations of the Dutch and
English had been anything but friendly. The English commander on
Charles Island had given Petro Justobaque and other Dutch factors from
Cape Verde permission to trade up and down the river. Holmes heard
that they had endeavored to stir up the native king of Barra against
the English in December, 1661.[63] On the 21st of June, 1662,
Justobaque with a ship again appeared on the Gambia. In order to
compel him to recognize the English rights on the river, the English
commander at James Island fired at the ship. The Dutch ship paid no
heed to the demand of the English and returned the fire until it was a
safe distance away. A few days later when returning to Cape Verde the
English shot away the main mast of the Dutch ship, but Justobaque
managed to escape.[64]

Although these incidents had happened more than a year and a half
before Holmes' arrival at James Island, he was incensed at the actions
of the Dutch. When it was reported to him that a large Dutch vessel
had arrived at Cape Verde, he assumed that it was the "Golden Lyon"
which had sailed from Holland about the same time as he had departed
from England. Several English ships were expected on the Gambia and
for fear of their capture by the "Golden Lyon," Holmes sailed at once
for Cape Verde where, according to his statement, without any
provocation he was fired upon by