On February 16th, some of Montiano’s guards from the St. Johns River came to Montiano.* They brought with them an Englishman who had appeared on the other side of the river.* The guard boat went to check him out, and the man explained that he had defected from one of the English colonies.* Montiano took a testimony from him and had it recorded.* From the man’s description of the English colonies, it sounded like very little progress was being made on Oglethorpe’s fortifications there.* Another source provided more news to Montiano.* He learned that Oglethorpe owed more than $12,000 to suppliers in New York.* None of the English colonies wanted to furnish him with any more supplies.* It seemed to them that Oglethorpe’s whole project was a bad proposition due to his cash-poor position and reputation as a negligent paymaster.* Finally, Montiano’s fear of being attacked was subsiding. In early March, he sat down and wrote a letter to Guemes to update him on the relieving news and forward the fugitive’s testimony.*