The French interlopers carried vast quantities of goods directly from Europe into the South Seas, which till then had hardly ever been attempted by any European nation.  This was always viewed with an evil eye by the court of Spain, as repugnant to the interests of Spain, and diametrically opposite to the maxims of her government; but there were many circumstances at that time which rendered this a kind of necessary evil, and obliged therefore the people of Old Spain to submit to it.  As for the Creoles, they had European goods and at a cheaper rate, and it did not give them much concern who it was that received their money.  The town of St Malo has always been noted for privateers, and greatly annoyed the trade of the English and Dutch during the whole reign of King William, and part of that of Queen Anne; and though some allege that money procured by privateering never prospers, yet I may safely affirm that the people of St Malo are as rich and flourishing as any in all France.  Privateering has thriven so well among them, that all their South Sea trade has arisen from thence; and, during the last war, they were so rich and generous, that they made several free gifts to Louis XIV.; and so dexterous were they, that though our Admiralty always kept a stout squadron in the Atlantic, we were never able to capture one of their South-Sea traders.  The reason of this was, that they always kept their ships extremely clean, having ports to careen at of which we knew not.  In 1709, when I belonged to her majesty’s ship the Loo, being one of the convoy that year to Newfoundland, we saw and chased upon that coast a ship of fifty guns, which we soon perceived to be French-built; but she crowded sail and soon left us.  She had just careened at Placentia, and we wondered much to find such a ship in that part of the world.  We afterwards learnt, from some French prisoners, that she was a French ship bound to St Malo, having two or three millions of dollars on board, and was then so trim that she trusted to her heels, and valued nobody.  They went thus far to the north and west on purpose to have the advantage of a westerly wind, which seldom failed of sending them into soundings at one spirt, if not quite home.  Since Placentia has been yielded to Great Britain, they now use St Catherine and Islagrande, on the coast of Brasil, and Martinico in the West Indies.

This trade succeeded so well, that all the merchants of St Malo engaged in it, sending every year to the number of twenty sail of ships.  In 1721, I saw eleven sail of these together at one time on the coast of Chili, among which were several of fifty guns, and one called the Fleur-de-luce, which could mount seventy, formerly a man-of-war.  As this trade was contrary to the Assiento treaty between Great Britain and Spain, memorials were frequently presented against it at Madrid by the court of London; and the king of Spain, willing to fulfil his engagements to the king of England, resolved to destroy this contraband