On 5 August he sighted a Spanish fleet astern, consisting of several merchantmen and two warships as escort.

In the evening of 7 August Trelawney Planter passed ahead of the fleet when a frigate, later reported to be Roussillon, of 36 guns, and under the command of Captain Don Francisco Vidal, came up and ordered M'Donald to come aboard.

Vidal sent two officers and seventeen men, including a Black man to act as interpreter, to Trelawney Planter to search her.

[1] The Caledonian Mercury reported in November 1802 that Trelawney Planter had put into Bantry Bay while sailing from Tobago to Leith.

[2] Trelwaney Planters, Simmonds, master, was lost near Cape Breton early in December 1811.