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Sir:
In answer to Your Excellency's letter of June 16 received through Perito, I have the honor to take up the various subjects brought up. With regard to the reports received by Your Excellency from the Negros station ship, I wrote Your Excellency by Don Philipe de Yturrieta what news I had at the time, and I now send by my letter of June 17, and the note of the 1st instant what has occurred since in respect of this matter. I can only add in this letter that the same person who gave me the news contained in the aforesaid note, declared under oath taken in accordance with his religion at the time his sloop was boarded, that eight companies of about one hundred men each, with its complement of officers, had come from England to Federico. I remark that as to this statement and that sent Devis, there is a difference of 200 men, and that whereas one says these troops went to San Jorge, the other says they went to Federico. This is all that I can now say on this subject. The, two launches are under an arbor that I caused to be raised in the dockyard for their preservation. This arbor cost me toil enough, like everything else here; for example, the work upon the castle through lack of laborers, whom I am obliged to assign in accordance with the annexed schedule.
In spite of all these drawbacks, however, the work is going forward as rapidly as possible. All the foundations on one side of the castle are nearly finished, but the arches have not been begun because we have no hewn stone. This part we cannot carry on, as we have only two oxen trained to work. Others are being broken in; an interruption since men must be employed with them. We have thrown down the parapet of the curtain on the side whose foundation is laid, as well as the interior wall forming the barracks on that same side. I have set up a lime kiln and we are pushing on everything by all available means.
Florida, July 4, 1738.

Montiano assigned eight convicts to work the lime kiln.* However, all eight of them ran away before July 18th.* Montiano wrote a letter to the commanders of the English colonies asking them to return the convicts if they show up there.* Getting the letter to them seemed like another opportunity to spy on their military buildup.* He looked around his personnel for a potential candidate for the mission.*
This time, he sent his officer, Don Sebastian Sanchez, to deliver the letter and see what he could see in the English colonies.* He told him to gather every little detail possible, try to discover their plans, and offer a reasonable reward if he met anyone who could give him reliable news.*
Officer Sanchez came back with news.* St. George was in the midst of a great smallpox epidemic.* The commanders said they had not seen the deserters, but they agreed to return them to St. Augustine if they showed up in Georgia.* They wrote letters for Sanchez to bring back to Montiano.* Montiano had Sanchez give a certified account of what he saw in the colonies, and submitted the testimony to Guemes along with copies of the letters from the commanders.*
In his letter to Guemes on August 31, Montiano says that Indians attacked Fort Pupo on the night of July 18th.

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Mont to Guemes: Work on Castillo is Slow Going* (F12)

Source: Various letters #269