"This expedition," says Dr. Moseley, "was directed by General
Dalling, at that time Governor of Jamaica. The plan, wherever it
originated, was judiciously designed; and highly approved by Lord
George Germaine, then Secretary of State for the American
Department.

"The intent was, to cut off the communication of the Spaniards,
between their Northern and Southern American dominions, by El Rio
San Juan--or, the River St. John, as it is called by us--and the
Lake Nicaragua; from the interior boundary of which, to the South
Sea, is only four or five leagues, through a level country. Thus, a
connection from the northern to the southern sea, was to have been
kept up by us; a chain of posts established; and a communication
opened, and protected, with an extensive coast, and all the
richest, provinces of South America.

"Every person acquainted with the geography of the Spanish
territories, of the defenceless state of this approach to them, and
of the insurrections that had then actually taken place in Santa
Fé, Popayan, and many parts of Peru, formed the most sanguine
expectations. Happy was every man who had hopes of bearing any part
in the enterprise. Enthusiasm was never carried to greater height,
than by those who had promised to themselves the glory of shaking
Spain to her foundation. The colours of England were, in their
imagination, already even on the walls of Lima.

"And so, indeed, they might have been, had General Dalling met with
no obstacles in arranging the business in Jamaica: and, had there
been no delay in sending out the force from England; which did not