No Time having been lost in preparing to put to Sea; _January_ the 22d, Sir _Chaloner Ogle_ sailed with his Division out of _Port-Royal_ Harbour; Commodore _Lestock_ the 26th, and Vice-Admiral _Vernon_ the 28th: The three Squadrons, having join'd _January_ the 31st, made Cape _Tiberon_, on the Coast of _Hispaniola_, _February_ the 7th; the same Day Captain _Dandridge_ came into the Fleet. _February_ the 8th, the Admiral made a Signal for General and Flag Officers, and communicated to them the Report he had received from Captain _Dandridge_,[2] _viz._ "_That he had_, January _the 30th, look'd into_ Port-Lewis, _where he had seen nineteen Ships of War; that one of them carried a Flag at the Main-top-mast Head, and another a broad Pendant_;" which Report being taken into Consideration, it was resolved to steer directly to the Isle of _Vache_; where the Fleet arrived _February_ the 12th, and cast Anchor at about two Leagues to the Westward of _Port-Lewis_. The same Day Captain _Laws_ was sent in the _Spence_ Sloop a-fresh to reconnoitre the Harbour of _Port-Lewis_, who return'd in a few Hours with a Report, "_That he had there counted sixteen Ships of War, and that one of them carried a broad Pendant_." _February_ the 13th, the Admiral, accompany'd by the General, went in his Barge into the Bay between the Isle of _Vache_ and _Hispaniola_, where there was found sufficient Depth of Water for the large Ships, and good Anchorage for the Transports. _February_ the 14th, a _French_ Officer came off with a Message; but the Admiral declining to see him 'till late in the Evening, he return'd without having deliver'd it. The Admiral went further up the Bay to a small _Kay_ (Island) with an Intention to reconnoitre the _French_ Fleet, and was there join'd by the General, who perceiving it to be impossible thence to look into the Harbour, desired, that he might in Person go in with the _Spence_ Sloop, and that Captain _Knowles_, being a good Draughts-Man, might accompany him; to which the Admiral consented. As soon as the Sloop open'd the Harbour, Capt. _Laws_ declared, that the Ships there lying at Anchor were _French_ Men of War, and pointed to one, as having a white Flag at the Main-top-mast-Head; but the General, not being fully satisfied, order'd the Sloop to stand within Gun-shot, when it appeared, that the Ships in View were Merchant-men, most of them unrig'd; excepting one Frigate of forty Guns, whose Main-top-mast-Head lying in a Line with the white Gable-End of an House, occasioned the Mistake about the Flag.