Irun,
2 June. According to tidings from Cadiz, Corunna and Bilbao was off Cape St.
Vincent a small flotilla of 6 privateers sighted of which was a 30-gun vessel.
The Strait of Gibraltar was unsafe and privateers were sighted near the coasts
of Galicia and Biscay. The number of captured ships was quite considerable
although exact figured were unknown. Some privateers hoisted the flags of other
countries. The merchants at Cadiz asked for protection by the Spanish navy for
the merchant ships expecting from South America especially of Vera Cruz and
Havana. It seemed that two frigates and 3 corvettes were fitted out for this
purpose. According to one rumour was a frigate loaded with bars and piasters
some days after she left Havana was captured by American privateers.
