1.58] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



also to be observeil with respect 

 to foreign vessels -and crews. 



Bolivar, the ia<]ei)en(le)it ge- 

 neral, after quitting' Carthagen;i, 

 went to tiie pa- 1 of St. Domingo 

 under the authority of Petion, 

 and there coUccted a force stated 

 at 21 armed ^essels, having on 

 board 3,r)()0 troops, of whom 

 were 1500 coloured soldiers of t lie 

 line fi'om Petion's army, which 

 sailed for Margarita. On ^May 

 9th, they discovered a large brig- 

 and schooner coming from ihc 

 land, which crowded sail to es- 

 cape. -V general chace \vas or- 

 dered, and tlie hrig, after a severe 

 action and great loss, was taken. 

 She was a king's ship of 14 guns 

 and 1-10 men. i'he .-chooner was 

 also captured. One division of 

 Bolivar's fleet was attacked close 

 to IMargarita by seven large 

 schooners, hut the assailants \vere 

 obliged to strike ; and the inde- 

 IK'iident lleet by these successes 

 w;is augmented to 3.5 sail, chielly 

 schooners from 'l to 1»» guns. 

 Piolivar soon after his arrival at 

 M;irgarita summoned tlie Spanish 

 fortress of Pampatur ; and upon 

 the ('onim;mder's refusal, carried 

 the pla-vC by stoiin, juitting the 

 whole gari'ison to deatli. Such 

 is tlic account of these transac- 

 tions received through the parti- 

 zans of independence. 



Thelirst intelligence concerning 

 l?uenos Ayres j eh-.tcs a defeat of its 

 rirmy in Peru under Gen. Ron- 

 deau, w ho, not informed of an ac- 

 cession to the royal troops cum- 

 n-.anded byPezuela, the Limage- 

 r.eral, advanced a part of his own 

 force too far, Avhieh was met by 

 sui erior nund;ors, and routed. In 

 consequence, Rondeau abandoned 

 Poto«i ; he however remaine<J in 



the province waiting for rein- 

 forcement.s. 



Cor.imodore Urown, the admi- 

 ral of the Buenos Ayres fleet 

 which had defeated the scjuadron 

 of Montevideo, after his .success 

 luidertook an expedition to the 

 eastern coast of South America, 

 and on Feb. 9th, appeared off 

 Guayacjuil, in the \ iceroyalty of 

 New Granada. He commenced 

 an attack upon a battery defend- 

 ing the shore, when, bringing his 

 t)wn vessel as near as possible in 

 order to bear upon the guns, she 

 was left aground on the ebb of 

 the tide, troops being sent to 

 board her, was obliged to sur- 

 render. The rest of his sijuadron, 

 consisting of two large corvettes, 

 tv\{) schooners, and some prize 

 vessels, among which was the 

 Consequencia of Cadiz, having 

 on board more than 800,000 dol- 

 lars, remained at anchor in the 

 road.T of La Puna. The second 

 in command of the scptadron 

 applied to tlie Spanish go- 

 vernor for an exchange of Bro\vn 

 against the firisoners he had on 

 hoard ; which proposal was re- 

 jected, unless the whole of the 

 squadron should also be given up, 

 except (iue vessel for them to re- 

 turn home in, and a large sum 

 he paid in dollars. The Com- 

 mander thereuj)on on the next 

 day fired on the town. In con- 

 clusion, Brown was sent on board, 

 on the condition of releasing his 

 prisoneis, and restoring four cap- 

 tured vessels, and paying some 

 money besides. It appears, that 

 before this occurrence the Buenos 

 Ayres squadron had obtained con- 

 siderable success, and struck a 

 great alarm on that coast. 



Of \ixe further operations of 



Bolivar 



