making a voyage to Spain in order "to acquire and cultivate
acquaintance, and make a true report to His Majesty (Henry IV) of the
particularities which could not be known to any Frenchmen, for the
reason that they have not free access there." He left Blavet at the
beginning of the month of August, and ten days after he arrived near
Cape Finisterre. Having remained for six days at the Isle of Bayona, in
Galicia, he proceeded towards San Lucar de Barameda, which is at the
mouth of the river Seville, where he remained for three months. During
this time he went to Seville and made surveys of the place. While
Champlain was at Seville, a _patache_, or advice boat, arrived from
Porto Rico bearing a communication addressed to the king of Spain,
informing him that a portion of the English army had put out to sea with
the intention of attacking Porto Rico.

The king fitted out twenty ships to oppose the English, one of which,
the _Saint Julien_, was commanded by Provençal, Champlain's uncle.
Champlain proposed to join the expedition under his uncle, but Provençal
was ordered elsewhere, and General Soubriago offered the command of the
_Saint Julien_ to Champlain, which he gladly accepted.

The armada set sail in the beginning of January, 1599, and within six
days, favoured by a fresh breeze, the vessels sighted the Canary
Islands. Two months and six days later the armada drew near to the
island called La Désirade, which is the first island approached in this
passage to the Indies. The ships anchored for the first time at Nacou,
which is one of the finest ports of the Guadeloupe. After having passed
Marguerite Island and the Virgins, Champlain proceeded to San Juan de
Porto Rico,[1] where he found that both the town and the castle or
fortress had been abandoned, and that the merchants had either made
their escape or had been taken prisoners. The English army had left the