52 The Beginning of British Honduras
the island of Barbadoes was jointly occupied by the English
and the Dutch, the former planting tobacco and the latter
sugar-cane. The two brothers Captains John and Henry
Powell brought English colonists who planted tobacco, and
they brought roots and seeds from the Dutch trading stations
in the Essequibo area. In 1627 the Powells captured Por-
tuguese sugar ships valued at ten thousand pound sterling,
and about 1640 sugar-cane planting from Brazil financed by
Dutch capitalists salvaged Barbadoes from the tobacco failure.
 In September 1629 the Plate Fleet of some 35 galleons and
14 armed merchantmen under Don Fadrique de Toledo
drove out the English and French from St. Christopher and
Nevis. Those on Nevis were taken by surprise, and when
their leaders attempted a defense the indentured servants
threw away their arms. This is the island where Nelson mar-
ried Mrs. Nesbit and where the American statesman Alexan-
der Hamilton was born. On St. Christopher they were warned
by boats escaping from Nevis, and so they dug entrenchments
at the landing place and defied Don Fadrique for a week.
When their resistance collapsed English and French accused
each other of cowardice. Captain Hawley of Barbadoes was
made prisoner and Captain Vallett was amongst those who
fled in panic. Don Fadrique was kind to those who surren-
dered, and as soon as the Plate Fleet was out of sight the Eng-
lish and French returned to St. Christopher, also called St.
Kitts.
 In 1631 the Providence-Henrietta company established a
colony on Tortuga which they re-christened Association.
This English occupation lasted until 1636 when they and
their governor, Wormeley, were driven away by a Spanish
expedition from Santo Domingo. Then French adventurers
occupied this island, and sometimes English adventurers oc-
cupied it in part. In 1638 the Spaniards again threw them
out, but left no garrison there as one might expect them to
do, but their empire was too vast to patrol against three gov-
ernments. On April 20, 1635 instructions were issued from