Just at this time it was rumored in America that the surrender of Gibraltar and Port Mahon to Spain was impending. Declaring that Spanish possession of St. Augustine was of pernicious consequence to South Carolina, the assembly proposed that instead of West Indian colonies the equivalent demanded should be the continent as far as the Mississippi, and also St. Augustine. 24 Nicholson, who shared the provincial suspicion of the Spanish, hoped that in the next war Fort King George would provide a base for the conquest of Florida. 25 The importance which the Spanish on their side attached to the Altamaha affair appeared in the measures of the Council of the Indies and of Governor Benavides. In 1724 the latter received orders to negotiate at Charles Town, and to permit no discussion of an equivalent for the fort. 26 [Note 26 Arredondo's Historical Proof; JC, September 8, 1725.]