Attracted by Logwood 87
to the Crown of France. The Caribs had applied in 1770 to
Count d'Ennery, governor of Martinique, for assistance of
men and arms to drive the English from the island, and pro-
posed to him on their part to set fire to their settlements.
 In 1772, the Earl of Hillsborough, "had looked forward to
the eventuality of their conveyance to some unfrequented
part of the coast of Africa with great reluctance, and had in-
structed the commander on the Leeward Station, in case the
measure for their removal be adopted, to appoint a proper
convoy for the transports and take care that they be treated
with every degree of humanity their situation would admit
of, and that when put on shore they be supplied with pro-
visions and whatsoever may be judged necessary to subsist
them for a reasonable time and with such tools and imple-
ments as may enable them to provide for their future sub-
sistence."
 At great cost they were assembled and brought to Ruatan
 by British warships in 1797, but the scheme did not work as
 expected because it was made to include the holding of this
 island by the Caribs as a sort of garrison to be resident there
 with their families. The Spanish government regarded this
 forcible landing as another invasion. Amongst the Caribs
 was their young chief, Sambula, then a lad of about 12 years
 of age.
 In 1779 Nelson commanded H.M.S. sloop "Badger" at the
 capture of the castle of San Fernando de Omoa, where ac-
*cording to the report of Captain Dalrymple a tar who was
not content with one cutlass had scrambled up the walls with
two, and meeting a Spanish officer without arms had the gen-
erosity not to take any advantage, but, presenting him one of
the cutlasses, told him, "you are now on a footing with me."
Half the Europeans who landed here died in six weeks. It
was again the old idea of Sir Anthony Sherley, to cut the
Spanish American dominions in two. The next year 1780, an
expedition under the governor of Jamaica, General Dalling,
made another trial at the San Juan River, Nicaragua, the bar