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Deposition of Capt. Edward Holmes. Late an inhabitant of the Bahama Islands and one of the Lords' Deputies there, he did about Aug. 27 last arrive with his own sloop in Harbor Island under that Government with his wife and some of his family, when a vessell under French colours fired a valley of small armes upon him, and at the same time another valley was fired from the shore, and imediately the captain of the said vessell, whose name was Martell (a Frenchman) with a canoe and armed men and his Lieutenant in another canoe like wise came on board in a violent manner, and took hold of deponent's wife and stript her, and the Quarter-Master presented a loaded pistoll att her breast, thereby to force her to discover deponent's wealth, and searcht her very haire of her head, and threatned to fling her overboard. Then Capt. Martell ordered them to bee carried on shore and there tyed deponent's wife fast to a tree, and one of his men struck her with a sword, deponent being then bound on shore. Next morning hee was carryed on board his own vessell and his hands seized to the mast, and the quarter-master belonging to Capt. Martell with his naked cutlass beat him on his back, as was guessed, 500 blows, untill all thought him dead, the quarter-master still continueing to push the deponent in the face with, the point of his sword upon every groane hee made. And then deponent comeing to himself Capt. Martell's gang lighted eight peeces of match about 3 inches long and tyed them betweene his fingers and burnt them about half an hour by the glass, to force him to confess his wealth, and afterwards they tyed him with his back to the scuppers and brought lighted matches to tye to his toes, and swore they would burne his privy members, and so they cruelly extorted deponent's discovery of what he had and took itt from him, and so turned him and his wife and child on shore, striped, about 8 leagues from their habitation in great necessity, and many other cruelties and barbarities Capt. Martell and his gang did then and there comitt. Signed, Edwd. Holmes. Endorsed, Recd. 12th, Read 15th Sept., 1709. Recd. with duplicate of Col. Bennet's letter of March 1st, 1708/9. 1 p. [C.O. 5, 1264. No. 74.]