In the meantime relief arrived for the Floridians. Early in July seven heavily armed ships appeared in waters south of Saint Augustine with food, powder, and other supplies from Cuba. Risking heavy losses if they attempted to force entry at the northern entrance to the harbor, the seven ships anchored near the Matanzas entrance 20 miles to the south to await instructions from Montiano. The governor immediately sent Lieutenant Antonio Nieto de Carbajal with two launches and two small dugouts to provide the relief ships with information on the position of Oglethorpe’s cannon and to take off some food for the embattled Floridians, now reduced to a half-ration of flour and meat. Under the very shadow of an English packet boat and frigate hovering near the Spanish fleet, Nieto brought back 200 barrels of flour to Fort San Marcos. [Note 36: gov to king 8/9/1740] The arrival of the seven relief vessels from Cuba broke the English siege, just as the arrival of Cuban relief ships had broken the siege of 1702. As soon as the ships appeared on July 4, AN493 Oglethorpe began evacuating his men. (Tepaske GSF)