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in the account of conditions among the Indians than the character of the informer warranted. Carondelet, having obtained the desired infor- mation, sent him to Havana, whence he was taken to Cadiz for trial, and eventually to Manila to serve out his sentence. Several years later, however, he succeeded in escaping. 32 In 1797 he was back in England where he appears to have enjoyed the friendship of the Duke of Portland. He shortly afterwards returned to the Bahamas and then to his old haunts in Florida and Louisiana. Alarming news about his activities aroused grave apprehensions in the mind of the commandant general. Nava wrote to the governor of Texas in November, 1799, that he had just learned of the recent arrival in Nassau, of a certain Mr. Bowles, said to be a Virginian, who was chief of the Indians of Florida, Pensacola, and Louisiana. According to the reports received, he had an English secretary who spoke Spanish and French fluently. The English had conferred upon him the rank of lieutenant-colonel and given him a French aide-de-camp. The ship that took him to his destination carried three thousand guns and the corresponding arnm·uni- tion. This information had been given by a Spaniard recently taken prisoner while on his way from Philadelphia to Cuba. He added that Bowles was to go to Savannah where he was to promote rebellion among the natives nearest the Spanish frontier. The rebellion could easily extend from Louisiana to Texas, Nava warned. A close vigilance of the natives was more necessary than ever. Jose Miguel del Moral dispelled the fear entertained by officials in Texas in April, 1800, by informing Elguezabal that the commandant at Natchitoches had learned that the Indians did not accept Bowles as leader. There was, consequently, no immediate danger. 33 Bishop of New Orleans warns against Americans. The pioneers who had by now filtered into Louisiana were openly expressing their designs on Mexico. Bishop Penalver wrote in November, 1799, that the province was "infested" with adventurers from the West, who had settled in the districts of Ouachita, Attakapas, Opelousas, and particularly Natchi- toches. All these areas bordered the Texas frontier. He had noticed 31 For an interesting account of this singular character, see Tlte American Historical Review, VI, 708-709; also Cox, I. J., Tlte West Florida Controversy, I798-IBI8, 140-141; Fortier, A History of Louisiana, II, 151; Lac, Perrin du, Voyage dans les deux Louisianes; Whitaker, S-panisli-American Frontier, 163-164, 166-167. 33 Nava to governor of Texas, November 20, 1799. Bexar Arcliives. Hatcher, M. A., Tl,e 0-pening of Texas to Foreign Settlement, 42.
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