No. 23.
Extract from a Letter of Francisco Jose da Rocha to the Marquis do Lavradio.
Your Excellency,—To-morrow, which will be the 30th inst., the Pilar will sail, and I think also that Antonio João's corvette will proceed, to Saint Catherine's to fetch wood. ········ Colony, 29th December 1776.
To His Excellency The Marquis Viceroy.
No. 24.
From the Marquis do Lavradio to the Marquis de Pombal.
Your Excellency,—1st. With the greatest sorrow, as Your Excellency may imagine, I now have to announce the arrival of the Spanish Fleet at the port of St Catherine's.
I forward to Your Excellency the first letter which I received from the General of that Division. The second announcement which the said General has made to me, and which it is my duty to repeat to Your Excellency, was brought by the Captain of a small vessel, who assures me that, down to the 25th of last month, the Spaniards had not taken any action
