He had the advantage of a commission under the famous de Ruyter, and fought in the Mediterranean engagement in which that great Dutch admiral lost his life.
After the Peace of Nimeguen his movements are obscure.

But we know that he spent two years in a Spanish prison, though we do not know how he contrived to get there.

It may be due to this that upon his release he took his sword to France, and saw service with the French in their warring upon the Spanish Netherlands.

Having reached, at last, the age of thirty-two, his appetite for adventure surfeited, his health having grown indifferent as the result of a neglected wound, he was suddenly overwhelmed by homesickness.

He took ship from Nantes with intent to cross to Ireland.