The harbour captain reached Fox shortly afterwards , furious at the seizure of the gunboats and demanding they be returned . Malcolm received him with a tirade of near incomprehensible French and brought him to join the other captured officers in his cabin , while the boat 's crew were imprisoned below decks . Shortly afterwards , at 16 : 00 , Cooke and Malcolm hosted a large dinner for their officer captives and sent food and grog to the crew , the total number of Spanish sailors on Fox now numbering approximately 200 . Once the meal was finished , Cooke allowed all of the captives to return to their boats and row for shore without the conditions of parole , although he retained the captured gunboats .