178 CAPTAIN THOMAS BROWN, CHIEF FIRE-MASTER. 
establishment till Ist June, 1690, the arrears due to Captain Brown 
could only be calculated from latter date.” This, of course, was a mean 
quibble, but money was scarce, creditors were pressing, and embark- 
ation was imminent, so Brown took what he could get, which amounted 
altogether to £142 15s. 83d., and set out for Portsmouth feeling him- 
self done brown ! 
On 9th January, 169%, the West India fleet set sail from the Isle of 
Wight with a convoy of 10 men-of-war. Sir Francis Wheeler was 
Admiral of the Fleet, and Colonel John Foulkes was Commander-in- 
Chief of all the land forces. The latter deserves special mention. He 
had fought at Sedgemoor on Monmouth’s side and had returned to 
England with William of Orange. Foulkes commanded his regiment 
at the Boyne, and was made Governor of Dublin after the battle. His 
regiment, in January 1693, had several officers of note in it, one of 
whom was Captain Holcroft Blood (son of Colonel Blood, the great 
jewel burglar), who lived to have the honour of commanding the 
English Artillery Train at Blenheim. It is a curious coincidence that 
a few days before Foulkes’ regiment sailed for the West Indies Captain 
Holcroft Blood was accused of being the person who had lately robbed 
the Portsmouth coach, and was clapped into Winchester gaol and not 
allowed to sail with his regiment. 
We are indebted to Sir Francis Wheeler’s interesting journal, lately 
printed by the Historical MSS. Commission (Report on the Duke of 
Portland’s MSS., Vol. III.), for ax account of the abortive attack on 
Port St. Pierre, Martinique, which commenced on the 1/th April, 
1693, by the combined British naval and military forces. “In this 
afternoon’s service it was judged there were 1380 men killed and wounded 
on our side,” wrote Sir Francis Wheeler, under date of 17th April, 
“ among which several officers, viz.: Major Nott received a dangerous 
wound in the groin. Captain Hawkins, Lieut.-Colonel of the sea 
battalion, escaped very narrowly, a musket shot having grazed upon his 
skull. Captains Delaval, Picket and Lyons of Colonel Lloyd’s regi- 
ment. ‘The two first were shot in the arms and the other in the body. 
Captain Brown, of Colonel Foulkes’ regiment, was shot on the thigh, 
just above the pan of the knee, very dangerously, a great loss, being a 
very good and the only bombardier and chief fire-master. Captain 
Thorne of one of the Barbados regiments was killed, and several 
subaltern officers of all the regiments were killed and wounded whose 
names I do not know.” If Captain Brown did not die of his wound he 
doubtless fell a victim to the ‘spotted fever,’ which broke out soon 
after on board the fleet and carried off Colonel Foulkes and half the 
officers in his regiment. “Six sea-captains and 700 out of 2000 
seamen” died from the same fever. Well might Sir F. Wheeler say 
in his journal anent the expedition :—“ We have made but a bad hand, 
and it will doubtless make a noise in the world.” 
