By your Royal dispatch of May 25th of last year, 1721, you commanded me that taking advantage of the suspension of arms and the friendly relations I had observed with the English of the Carolinas since then; that your request at the Court of London had been granted. That under all these circumstances I should go in my official capacity to the Governor of Carolina and arrange with him to observe strictly the Treaty, that the vexation among the Indians who were allied to the two nations should cease. I immediately complied with your order and sent the Contador, Don Francisco Menendez, accompanied by other officials, from this Garrison, with the commission of having a firm agreement with the Governor of Carolina to make the Indians attached to his nation and to cease aggravating those with us, and thus live in peace and tranquility, pursuing agriculture. This peace being as important to one nation as the other, for, should war be declared, there would be no end to it. To this proposition and others as certified in the accompanying letter which I take this occasion of sending you, the Governor and Parliament of the Carolinas replied that they had received no such orders from the King of Great Britain, but that notwithstanding he would try to enforce peace during the suspension of arms. Immediately upon the arrival of Don F. Menendez in the Carolinas he was notified that the English had constructed a wooden fort on the tongue at the mouth of Talauje Province on your Majesty’s territory, where, for many years the Indians and Guajas were settled and by reason of the siege this nation put on this Garrison, they had retired to where they still are. Don Francisco Menendez hearing this, considered it wrong for them to trespass upon your Territory, and so stated it to the Governor, and also that he feared harm would result from it. The reply given was: that the King of Great Britain had ordered them to strengthen his dominions with fortifications in any form they deemed expedient. Under different pretexts the “Contador” tried to have them show the order, but they refused to do so, saying it was sufficient that they said they had the order, and the Governor of Florida had nothing at all to do with it. From which I infer, your Lordship, that with the arrival of this new Governor in these colonies, not only will he complete the building of this Fort and settlement, but that he will also settle all the islands belonging to this jurisdiction, thus making the Carolinas impregnable and reducing this Garrison to a more lamentable state than it is in today on account of its easy access to the Indians who would immediately come to possess themselves of the ammunition and arms which it is the very heighth of their ambition to obtain. So Menendez learned that provision had been made by the English Government to equip this Colony, and they were awaiting, at any moment, vessels with supplies and arms. Then, at a moment’s notice, they will invade this Castle, it being their great ambition, and the only and sole aim of it, to capture this Fort for the protection of the New England, and the great use they could make of it in capturing your Majesty’s vessels coming through the Bahama Channel. In giving you this information I feel that I not only comply with my royal duty, but also discharge the debt to my conscience in showing you the danger of this Province. With this intelligence you can act as most agreeable and convenient. May God preserve your Royal personage for many years.
Antonio Benavides.
St. Augustine, Fla., Apr. 21st, 1722.
The letter accompanying it:
St. Augustine, Fla., Feb. 11th, 1722.
Finding myself with an order from the King of Spain, my Lord and Master, for security with this and that government of reciprocal relations regarding the hostilities which on one and the other side has been completed, for the welfare of the Indians, I resolved to send to the Carolinas the “Contador” Don Francisco Menendez Marques, with other officials accompanying him, to confer with his Excellency and the Lords of Parliament for some agreement by which the annoyances of the infidel Indians toward those attached to our nation, might cease, and they be allowed to continue their agricultural pursuits without further disturbances and incentives—and not forgetting the agreement with Don Francisco Menendez Marques that during the suspension of arms, they try not to hostile the Indians of this Nation. That I, for my government, will keep them in subjection as I have done ever since the news of suspension of arms arrived, but that, if they should in any way fail in their agreement, they might rest assured that I shall take vengeance, and nothing shall deter me but their absolute subjection to our agreement. I shall make all necessary provision and watch with zeal, as I am fully persuaded that the keeping of this reciprocal agreement is the only foundation for tranquility and peace. Your Excellency will acknowledge receipt of this, and the agreement reached with Señor Menendez Marquez, that I may report to our King and Master.
Antonio Benavides.
To the King From the Governor of Florida.
Sire: