given to DeRuyter seemed
to him more and more probable. "I am sure if I were in their case, I
would do it," he finally declared, and therefore he again advised
Bennet to have Sir John Lawson watch DeRuyter closely.[118]

The news of Holmes' success at Cape Verde had stirred up extraordinary
activity in the Royal Company. In September, 1664, the company was
busily enlisting factors and soldiers for the Guinea coast. A number
of ships, several of which belonged to the king, and some of which the
company hired, were being prepared for the voyage to Guinea.[119] To
add to the company's bright prospects, a vessel from the Gold Coast
arrived in England at the end of September,[120] bringing the account
of Holmes' capture of Cape Corse and other factories on the African
coast. The Royal Company now saw itself master of West Africa. Pepys
declared that the news from Holmes would certainly make the Dutch
quite "mad."[121] It did indeed create a very great impression in
Holland, where many had believed that Cape Corse was impregnable.
Downing, of course, rejoiced exceedingly. Oftentimes in the past he
had supported the Danish and Swedish claims to Cape Corse, but now he
found no difficulty in showing Carisius and Appleborne, the Danish and
Swedish representatives at The Hague, that their claims were as
before, against the Dutch. Omitting to say anything of the English
claim to Cape Corse, Downing explained to them that since the Dutch
had been in possession of Cape Corse, Holmes had seized it together
with other places on account of the numerous injuries done to the
Royal Company. "They both replied that they took it so."[122]

In London, VanGogh lost no time in obtaining an interview with Charles
II concerning Holmes' latest activities. Again the king asserted that
Holmes' violent actions on the African coast were without his
knowledge, especially the affair at Cape Verde, which place he
declared was of no importance and not worth one hundred pounds.[123]
Regarding his responsibility for the capture of Cape Corse he
refrained from committing himself so definitely, but he assured the
Dutch ambassador that Cape Corse belonged to the English; that their
claim to it would be satisfactorily established; and that he intended
to preserve these new acquisitions by sending Prince Rupert with a
fleet to the coast of Africa.[124] On the 28th of October, after
learning of Holmes' capture of New Amsterdam, Charles II boldly threw
aside hi