,
to submit to the house of Austria; but that officer answered he would
acquit himself honourably of the trust reposed in him by the king. On
the fifteenth the duke of Ormond landed with his forces in the bay of
Bulls, under cover of a smart fire from some frigates, and repulsed
a body of Spanish cavalry; then he summoned the governor of Fort St.
Catharine's to surrender, and received an answer, importing, that the
garrison was prepared for his reception. A declaration was published
in the Spanish language, intimating, that the allies did not come as
enemies to Spain, but only to free them from the yoke of France, and
assist them in establishing themselves under the government of the house
of Austria. These professions produced very little effect among the
Spaniards, who were either cooled in their attachment to that family,
or provoked by the excesses of the English troops. These having taken
possession of Fort St. Catharine and Port St. Mary's, instead of
protecting, plundered the natives, notwithstanding the strict orders
issued by the duke of Ormond to prevent this scandalous practice; even
some general officers were concerned in the pillage. A battery was
raised against Montagorda fort opposite to the Puntal; but the attempt
miscarried, and the troops were re-embarked.

SPANISH GALLEONS TAKEN and DESTROYED.

Captain Hardy having been sent to water in Lagos bay, received
intelligence that the galleons from the West Indies had put into Vigo
under convoy of a French squadron. He sailed immediately in quest of sir
George Rooke, who was now on his voyage back to England, and falling in
with him on the sixth day of October, communicated the substance of what
he had learned. Rooke immediately called a council of war, in which it
was determined to alter their course and attack the enemy at Vigo. He
forthwith detached some small vessels for intelligence, and received
a confirmation that the galleons and the squadron commanded by Chateau
Renault, were actually in the harbour. They sailed thither, and appeared
before the place on the eleventh day of October. The passage into the
harbour was narrow, secured by batteries, forts, and breast-works on
each side; by a strong boom, consisting of iron chains, top-masts, and
cables, moored at each end of a seventy-gun ship, and fortified within
by five ships of the same strength lying athwart the channel with their
broadsides to the offing. As the first and second rates of the