Of Finisterre, Villeneuve was met by the British admiral sent to intercept him, Sir Robert Calder.
The principal port on the western coast is that formed by the deep and sheltered bay of Vigo, but there are also good roadsteads at Corcubion under Cape Finisterre, at Marin and at Carril.
Still farther east, the plateaus of the Finisterre ranges are highly cultivated and artificially irrigated by a comparatively fair people.
He sailed on the 29th of December 1779 with the trade for the West Indies under his protection, captured a Spanish convoy on his way off Finisterre on the 8th of January, defeated a smaller Spanish force near Cape St Vincent on the 16th, relieved Gibraltar on the 19th, and left for the West Indies on the 13th of February.
The last remnants of its maritime power were shattered in the battles of Cape Finisterre and Trafalgar, and the English seized Buenos Aires.