“De Clodore.”[[18]]
Immediately after sending this letter, M. de Clodoré and Hinscelin landed with the French forces; but, upon gaining the beach, they were met by a party of the English, bearing a flag of truce, and offering, in the name of the inhabitants, to give up all pretensions to this island, provided they would include Governor Fitche in the treaty.
To this proposition M. de Clodoré would not assent, but forming his troops into battle array, marched to attack the English. The result of this encounter appears to me so remarkable, that it obliges me again and again to assure my readers I give the true translation: “marching to attack the new Governor and his eight or nine hundred men, only two shots were fired by the English, one of which wounded their own sentinel, and this was the only blood spilt in this engagement; and Governor Fitche hearing that M. de Clodoré was coming up with all his troops, and four pieces of artillery, ran away in a boat with Colonel Warner and some others, saying to his soldiers only these words—“God be with me, and with you.”
Thus have I narrated the reduction of Antigua by the French, following the steps of their own historian, “Du Tertre,” who of course speaks in favour of his own countrymen. Antigua remained a French colony, although of no use to the nation, except from the plunder obtained from it, until the following year, when by the treaty of Breda, Louis XIV. restored it to the English crown.[[19]] The French appear to have ever doubted their success; and their attack upon Antigua, in the first instance, seemed only intended as a feint; but by one of those extraordinary accidents, which we often meet with in the annals of nations, the island was reduced, and in the second attack, if we may believe Du Tertre, only two shots were fired in its defence.
At the period of this conquest of Antigua, there were about 800 negroes upon the island, but of these the French could only find about 500, which they carried away with them, along with their plunder. The after fate of Colonel Carden was truly shocking. Soon after the French had abandoned Antigua, a party of Caribs landed, and cruelly treated the defenceless inhabitants. At length they proceeded to the house of the ex-governor, Colonel Carden, who treated them very kindly, and administered to their want. Upon their leaving, they requested their entertainer to accompany them to the beach, who instantly complied; but the Caribs, more treacherous than the wild beasts that haunt the desert, had no sooner reached the place where their canoes were stationed, than they fell upon their kind host, cruelly murdered him, and broiled his head, which they afterwards carried with them to Dominica. Nor were they satisfied with this horrible piece of barbarity; for, to make the tragedy complete, they returned to Colonel Carden’s house, seized his wife and children, and after telling them of the fate of their kind relative, hurried them away into a captivity worse than death.
The Bastian Baijer—whose name appears conspicuous in signing the capitulation, and in the after letters which passed between the English and the French—was of Dutch extraction, and one who emigrated to this island at an early period of its colonization. He died in London, in the year 1704, and in his will directed that his remains should be interred in the vaults of the Dutch church in Austin Friars, which was accordingly done. Many of the descendants (or rather representatives, for Bastian Baijer died without issue, and left his property to the person who assumed his name) of Bastian Baijer have resided in the island until within a year or two. The remains of one member of that family, Otto Baijer, Esq., moulders beneath the beautiful tomb, a description of which will be found in Chapter XV.; and the remaining scion of the house, a female, was shortly since united to the Hon. Owen Pell, of Antigua, and of Suwell, county of Northampton.
[[8]] It is said, that some part of Lord Willoughby’s fleet escaped the hurricane, and reached Jamaica in safety.
[[9]] It must be remembered, that at the time we are now speaking of, surgeons did not hold that respectable rank in society as they now—that is, most of them—deservedly fill. Not so very many years ago, naval surgeons in particular were very little thought of; and even in the British navy, they were required to perform the office of barber, as well as attend to the bodily ailments of the crew.
[[10]] To shew the state to which the French reduced the island, the following extract from a letter written by Count D’Estrade, ambassador from the French king to Charles II. of England, dated 26th May, 1667, and addressed to Louis XIV., is inserted:—“Il nous dit de plus que le Sieur de la Barre avat ruiné celle d’Antigoa, et en avait fait transporter tout ce qu’il avait pu afin d’être mieux en etat de conserver de St. Christophe.”