At the commencement of the French revolutionary war, he again joined Captain Nelson, in the Agamemnon of 64 guns;
the history and the nature of the country had not been studied as accurately as its geography; the difficulties which occurred in fitting out the expedition, delayed it till the season was too far advanced; and the men were thus sent to adventure themselves, not so much against an enemy, whom they would have beaten, as against a climate, which would do the enemy’s work.
Five hundred men, destined for this service, were conveyed by Captain Nelson from Port Royal to Cape Gracias a Dios, in Honduras. Not a native was to be seen when they landed; they had been taught that the English came with no other intent than that of enslaving them, and carrying them to Jamaica. After a while, however, one of them ventured down, confiding in his knowledge of one of the party; and by his means the neighbouring tribes were conciliated with presents, and brought in. The troops were encamped on a swampy and unwholesome plain, where they were joined by a party of the 79th regiment, from Black River, who were already in a deplorable state of sickness. Having remained here a month, they proceeded, anchoring frequently, along the Mosquito shore, to collect their Indian allies, who were to furnish proper boats for the enterprise, and to accompany them. They reached the river San Juan, March 24th, the latter end of the dry season, and the worst time for such an expedition, the river being consequently low. About 200 soldiers, however, were embarked in the Mosquito shore craft, and in the Hinchinbrooke’s boats, and they began their voyage. Indians were sent forward through narrow channels between shoals and sand-banks, and the English were frequently obliged to quit the boats, and exert their utmost strength to drag or thrust them along. This labour continued for several days, when they came into deeper water; they had then currents and rapids to contend with, which would have been insurmountable, but for the skill of the Indians in such difficulties. The brunt of the labour was borne by them, and by the British sailors – men never accustomed to stand aloof when any exertion of strength or hardihood is required. The soldiers, less accustomed to rely upon themselves, were of little use. But all equally endured the violent heat of the sun, rendered more intense by being reflected from the white shoals, while the high woods, on both sides of the river, were frequently so close as to prevent all refreshing circulation of air; and during the night all were equally exposed to the heavy and unwholesome dews.
On the 9th April, they reached an island in the river, called St. Bartolomeo, which the Spaniards had fortified, as an out-post, with a small semi-circular battery, mounting 9 or 10 swivels, and manned with 16 or 18 men. It commanded the river in a rapid and difficult part of the navigation. Nelson, at the head of a few of his seamen, leaped upon the beach, and, in his own phrase, boarded the battery. The castle of St. Juan is situated about sixteen miles above St. Bartolomeo, sixty-nine from the mouth of the river, and thirty-two below the Lake of Nicaragua.
