September, fifteen Dutch ships of the line and
two frigates set sail for Holland; and twenty-six sail, with seven
fire-ships, were assigned as guard-ships during the winter.

EXPEDITION TO THE WEST INDIES.

The French admirals, instead of pursuing Rooke to Madeira, made an
unsuccessful attempt upon Cadiz, and bombarded Gibraltar, where the
merchants sunk their ships that they might not fall into the hands of
the enemy. Then they sailed along the coast of Spain, destroyed some
English and Dutch vessels at Malaga, Alicant, and other places, and
returned in triumph to Toulon. About this period sir Francis Wheeler
returned to England with his squadron from an unfortunate expedition in
the West Indies. In conjunction with colonel Codrington, governor of
the Leeward Islands, he made unsuccessful attempts upon the islands of
Martinique and Dominique. Then he sailed to Boston in New England with
a view to concert an expedition against Quebec, which was judged
impracticable. He afterwards steered for Placentia in Newfoundland,
which he would have attacked without hesitation; but the design
was rejected by a majority of voices in the council of war. Thus
disappointed, he set sail for England, and arrived at Portsmouth in a
very shattered condition, the greater part of his men having died in the
course of this voyage.

BENBOW BOMBARDS ST. MALOES.

In November another effort was made to annoy the enemy. Commodore Benbow
sailed with a squadron of twelve capital ships, four bomb-ketches, and
ten brigantines, to the coast of St. Maloes, and anchoring within
half a mile of the town, cannonaded and bombarded it for three days
successively. Then his men landed on an island where they burned a
convent. On the nineteenth they took the advantage of a dark night, a
fresh gale, and a strong tide, to send in a fire-ship of a particular
contrivance, styled the Infernal, in order to burn the town; but she
struck upon a rock before she arrived at the place, and the engineer was
obliged to set her on fire and retreat. She continued burning for some
time, and at last blew up with such an explosion as shook the whole town
like an earthquake, unroofed three hundred houses, and broke all the
glass and earthenware for three leagues around. A capstan that weighed
two hundred pounds was transported into the place, and falling upon a
house, levelled it to the ground; the greatest part of the wall
towards the sea tumbled down; and the inha