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lous, they ftretched towards the fouth part of the Ifland, where they uilt the fi- 

 mous town of la Vega, from which the defendants of Cc are L ! to hai the 



titles of Dukes conferred upon them. This town prospered 1 tt n s tjer o! the 



others, and increa fed fo much, that in 1655 it 



confided of 1 >Iefstl '", houi , 



two churches, two chapels, and an abbey; at which time the £ (f. ling in 



their attempt upon St. Domingo) made a defcent upon, and conquer ' Hie Ifland. 

 But the commanders returned home \o n after, leaving a eonfiderable p . f their rcc s 

 (ejy under the command of Colonel Forte/que, to guard and cure trie place; and 

 were both, after a hearing or two, ordered to the tower for theft mil mt.i: . t Htj'pa- 



To give a more perfect account of this revolution, we mull now lookback 



m ola . 



a little time into the ftate of afi irs in England. 



Cron veil, who had railed himfclf to the hi 1 of affairs at home, where he now 

 governed almoft without controul, had no fooner fixed hjmfelf by the a£t of* gover - 

 ment, and fettled the general disturbances of the 1 .ition to his fatisi clior, t! n he 

 determined to employ fome of tho/e in whom he fnfpedtc ! h had tr I -ft realon 



to confdc, in fome remote part (f). With this view, and probably to gain the 

 more upon the nation in general, or at lean; to fcreen his private defignsthe 1 iter, 

 he ordered a fleet of feventeen men of war, with many tranfport veffels to be got in 

 readinefs, the command of which was given to Admiral Pen \ and an army of be- 

 tween fix and {even thoufand regulars, under the command of General Venabies. 

 With this armada they failed for Barbadoes, where th ftitps were ordered to rendez- 

 vous and the commanders to open their inflrudtions: t! arrived t) re about the 

 14th of February, 1654, and recruited with fuch fuccefs that they foon augmented 

 the foldiery to the number of ten or twelve thou fa nd (gf, with whi h they (ailed 

 down to Hijpaniola. They made that ifland the 10th of , 7, andfoon fter landed 

 within a few league^- to the w \ of St. Domingo, from whence they inarched directly 

 towards the town : but the foldiers being difheartened by a previous proclamation (h , 

 which deprived them of all hopes of plunder, were foon repulfed by a handful of 

 Mulatoes; and after having loft five or fix hundred men, with fome brave officers, 

 they left off all thought 01 conqueft, reimbarked, and fell down to j '.aica, where 

 they landed, (i) on the 10th of May 1655 ; but marched foflowly towa -.!• the capi- 

 tal St. Jagode/a Vega (which then was very rich and populous) that the Spaniards 

 had retired, and carried moll of their valuable effects with them to the. \\ ods (k) t 

 before the Englljh came up to the town. 



Cromwell having had eai \y intelligence of this conqueft, fent out a frefh reinforce- 

 ment of near three thoufand men (I), with twelve men of War; and refolved to 



mifs no opportunity of fupporting this new acquifitio , which m w indeed fe.ved 

 him as another Siberia; for the frequent diflurlvnces raifed by the C. : Part", 

 and the refolution with which many had denied, or refolved not to fubmittothc 

 authority of his Major Generals, put him under a necelitty of getting rid of fome of 

 them, who were frequently afterwards (during his ufuiyition) tranfpoited to this 

 Ifland, where, with the troops already flattened there, they became the firit Englijh 

 fettlers. 



The Spaniards, who had not yet deferted the Ifland, concealed themfelves in the 

 woods and inland parts ; from whence they made frequent excurfions, and killed fuch 



ftragglers and lonely perfons as they could meet with. But being at length weary ol their 



quarters in the mountains, and having no hopes todiflodge the Englijh, they retired 



(e) About 3000 men. 

 {f) See Ludlow's Memoirs. 



(g) See Ecbard's Hiftory of England \ Ludlo^-Ss Memoirs 

 late affairs of England ; Lend, printed 1682. 

 [h) See E chard i Hiftory of England. 



(/) It is thought they landed oppofite to Pcrt-Rcya! ; but I 



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tamty 



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Maior Stdpewick and Colonel Hi 



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