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KERGUELEN’S VOYAGE TO THE NORTH. 799
Spanifh veflels commanded by Spaniards, was attacked about four hours after leaving
the jettys, by nine Dutch men of war, which furrounded and engaged the St. Vincent ;
his two companions made their efcape. Jacobfon maintained the unequal fight for
thirteen hours, funk two of the veflels, and did great damage to the others, but, reduced
to two or three men, the reft being either killed or wounded, he was boarded by fifty
of the enemy, when he fet fire to the magazine, and blew them up with himfelf: the
explofion was fo violent, that one of the Dutch veflels was difmafted, and another was
in great danger from the falling of fome heavy pieces of brafs cannon which had been
blown up, and alighted on the deck; all the reft were in a fad plight. The enemy in
this engagement loft more than four hundred men. ‘This lofs, far from difpiriting the
Dunkirkers, only inflamed them with a defire to revenge their companions. ‘The
Sieurs Wandewalle, father and fon, equipped eighteen veflels, which, in conjunction
with others, made more than fix hundred prizes, of which fix were veflels of war of
the largeft fize; from the prizes captured by four veffels only of Wandewalle, the tenth,
which belonged to the king of Spain, came to more than a hundred thoufand florins ;
and in fpite of the blockade of the town, which the Dutch maintained continually, the
cruizers ruined their fifhery and their trade. In 1625 the profits of the privateering
were eftimated at more than 10,000,000 f. In 1629 the Dunkirkers made prize of
ninety-one veflels richly laden ; without including ranfoms, and fhips which they burnt:
in Norway and other places.
Matthew Rombout, a Dunkirker, vice-admiral of the Spaniards, fought Admiral Peter
Hein; the latter loft his life. He was much regretted by the Dutch. Tired at length
with their continual loffes, after depriving Admiral Drop of his commiffion, who com-
manded before Dunkirk, they augmented their fleet to eighty fail, in order to blockade
the place entirely ; but, getting too clofe to Maerdyck, the cannon from the fortrefs.
played on them with fo well direéted a fire, they were fain to retire, after fuftaining
confiderable damage.
War being declared in 1635 between France and Spain, the Dunkirkers made prize
of fourteen French fhips at once, laden with wine; and fome days after, Captain
Nordman captured eleven others. Admiral Colaert, a Dunkirkman, commanding fe-
venteen veflels of war, burnt more than a hundred and fifty Dutch buffes, convoyed
by afquadron; the admiral’s fhip itfelf was deftroyed, and the vice-admiral was carried
prifoner to Dunkirk. One of the moft confiderable prizes was that of the famous
French pirate Loutre; fhe mounted eighteen guns, had made prize of feventeen veflels,
which had been funk after taking out their moft precious effects ; there was on board
this veffel feventeen thoufand florins, fix thoufand piaftres, one hundred and twenty-two
pounds of filver in ingots, a coffer full of filver plate, and a great quantity of precious
itones.
In 1636 the fame Colaert took and conduéted to Dunkirk the Dutch admiral Haute
Been, or Wooden-leg. This Colaert was in the Spanifh fervice for thirty-fix years, took
from the enemy one hundred and nine veffels, and twenty-feven fhips of war, bearing
colleflively more than one thoufand five hundred pieces of cannon ; he died at Dun-
kirk in 1637. ‘The great number of prifoners brought into the town caufed a plague,
by which numbers of perfons perifhed. The owners. of privateers made fortunes not-
with{tanding Van Tromp commanded the blockade of the port. In 1640 the circum-
ference of the lower town was enlarged, in order to furnifh dwellings for the increafed.
number of inhabitants ; fo greatly did the equipments from the place attra population.
It was in 164 that Don Pedro de Leon, governor of Dunkirk, obliged Vice-admiral
Matthew Rombout to go out of port: with. his fquadron to aflift the Spaniards again{t
6 the
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