instructions the oidores began on the 10th of September to imprison French subjects in the city of Mexico, and to seize their effects. Meanwhile Galve forwarded supplies to all military posts, on the seaboard as well as on the frontier, strengthening their garrisons, and providing for the prompt payment of the troops, this matter having heretofore been neglected. The feeble Spanish garrison of Campeche, constantly threatened by the wood-cutters of the bay of Términos, was reenforced, and received a supply of ammunition and vessels of war. Men, money, and arms were also forwarded to the governors of Yucatan and Tabasco, whose territory was constantly exposed to invasion by corsairs. After several unsuccessful expeditions they succeeded in expelling the wood-cutters before the end of 1692, but they returned a few years later.[1] About the same time the viceroy attempted, but in vain, to drive them from the gulf of Mexico, and although the armada de Barlovento and other Spanish cruisers frequently made prizes, sometimes of considerable value, they could not prevent the corsairs from capturing, at intervals, Spanish vessels of still greater value.[2]
Thus while the viceroy had been partially successful in his operations against the corsairs, all his efforts to drive them from the North Sea were of little avail. Nor could any other result be expected, while, in the islands of the West Indies, their numbers increased from year to year, and no attempt was made to strike at the root of the evil. The island of Santo Domingo was a favorable rendezvous of French pirates, and the crown having resolved to attempt their expulsion, intrusted the undertaking to Viceroy Galve. Extensive preparations were begun in 1689, and the following year the armada de Barlovento, then composed of six ships of the line and a frigate, sailed from Vera
