On the second day of our being in possession of the place, several negro slaves deserted from the enemy on the hill, and coming into the town, voluntarily entered into our service.  One of these was well known to a gentleman on board, who remembered him formerly at Panama.  And the Spaniards without the town being in extreme want of water, many of their slaves crept into the place by stealth and carried away several jars of water to their masters on the hill; and though some of them were seized by our men in the attempt, yet the thirst amongst the enemy was so pressing that they continued this practice till we left the place.  And now, on this second day, we were assured, both by the deserters and by these prisoners we took, that the Spaniards on the hill, who were by this time increased to a formidable number, had resolved to storm the town and fort the succeeding night, and that one Gordon, a Scotch Papist and captain of a ship in those seas, was to have the command of this enterprise.  But we, notwithstanding, continued sending off our boats, and prosecuted our work without the least hurry or precipitation till the evening; and then a reinforcement was again sent on shore by the Commodore, and Lieutenant Brett doubled his guards at each of the barricades; and our posts being connected by means of sentinels placed within call of each other, and the whole being visited by frequent rounds, attended with a drum, these marks of our vigilance cooled their resolution and made them forget the vaunts of the preceding day; so that we passed the second night with as little molestation as we had done the first.

We had finished sending the treasure on board the Centurion the evening before, so that the third morning, being the 15th of November, the boats were employed in carrying off the most valuable part of the effects that remained in the town.  And the Commodore intending to sail this day, he about ten o’clock, pursuant to his promise, sent all his prisoners, amounting to eighty-eight, on shore, giving orders to Lieutenant Brett to secure them in one of the churches under a strict guard till he was ready to embark his men.

THE BURNING OF PAITA.

Mr. Brett was at the same time ordered to set the whole town on fire, except the two churches (which by good fortune stood at some distance from the other houses), and then he was to abandon the place and to come on board.  These orders were punctually complied with, for Mr. Brett immediately set his men to work to distribute pitch, tar, and other combustibles (of which great quantities were found here) into houses situated in different streets of the town, so that, the place being fired in many quarters at the same time, the destruction might be more violent and sudden, and the enemy, after our departure, might not be able to extinguish it.  These preparations being made, he in the next place ordered the cannon which he found in the fort to be nailed up; and then, setting fire