Page:A Mainsail Haul - Masefield - 1913.djvu/151

Rh His next appearance was in June or July 1677. He was then in command of about 100 Englishmen, who had taken as their allies some three of four French captains, with commissions from Tortuga. He induced these Frenchmen to come with him to attack Santa Martha, a strong little city not far from Cartagena, which had proved too strong for the buccaneers, though it had surrendered, twenty years before, to an English squadron. Drake had been driven from Santa Martha, so that there was a certain amount of glory to be won there. It could not be approached easily from the landward, and the defences to the sea-approach were powerful. Coxon was not dismayed by the difficulties it presented. He rowed in boldly in the early morning, a little before the dawn, and carried the main fort with a rush, while the garrison were sleeping. The town was taken after a little fighting in the streets. All the credit of the capture was due to Coxon, who "did all," with his Englishmen, before the Frenchmen ventured to come ashore. At least, this was what he told Sir Thomas Lynch on his return to Port Royal. The plunder of Santa Martha was "nothing to babble about." It came