to enter Cadiz, but merely to show himself off each of the three Spanish ports, Ferrol, Cadiz, and Carthagena, in order that the ships within them might sail out and effect their junction. The Ferrol ships had actually quitted port with that object in view, and, by a mere accident, had missed the Brest fleet; and, if the weather had permitted them, the Cadiz ships, or 17 sail of them at least, would in all probability have put to sea. No doubt, in such a case, Lord Keith would have been bound to make a retreat; and there can be as little doubt that, should the British fleet have been forced to engage, all that a fleet so inferior in force could accomplish would have been effected. Beyond this it was idle to hope; and we can only suppose that Earl St. Vincent, when in a letter to the secretary of the admiralty he used the expression, "the French squadron eluded the vigilance of Lord Keith by the darkness of the atmosphere," was unacquainted with the real strength of that French squadron.

The Childers brig, immediately upon her arrival at Gibraltar from Lord Keith, was despatched with orders to rejoin immediately the Edgar 74, Captain John M'Dougall, lying in Tetuan bay. Rear-admiral Frederick, who was residing on shore at Gibraltar on account of extreme ill health, took this opportunity of hoisting his flag on board an effective line-of-battle ship. Vessels were also despatched by the commander-in-chief to Rear-admirals Duckworth at Minorca, and Nelson at Palermo, and to Captains Ball off Malta, and Sir Sidney Smith off Alexandria. Several expresses had also been sent to Lord Keith; but, owing to the continuance of the south-west gale, the vice-admiral did not receive his order of recal, we believe, until the evening of the 9th. On the 10th, at 9 A.M., Lord Keith anchored in Gibraltar; as, on the same afternoon, did the Edgar from Tetuan.

Every despatch was now used in victualling the ships; and on the 11th, at sunset, Earl St. Vincent shifted his flag from the Souverain guardship to the Ville-de-Paris; as did also Rear-admiral Frederick, from the Edgar to the Princess-Royal. On the 12th, at 11 A.M., the British fleet, consisting of 16 sail of the line, weighed and bore up for the Mediterranean. On the 17th and 18th the ships encountered a severe gale of wind, but escaped without much damage. On the 20th, at noon, when off the island of Minorca, the fleet was joined by the

Brenton, vol. ii., p. 358.

On the same evening, the fleet, with the exception of the Edgar, who had run aground to the south-east of Hospital island, anchored in Port-Mahon. The Edgar remained on shore until midnight on the 21st; when, having removed all her guns into some transports, and been assisted in heaving off by the Barfleur and Defence, she floated, and anchored in the harbour.

The departure of Lord Keith from before Cadiz, on the 6th, enabled the Spaniards, by the 14th, to put to sea with 17 sail of the line, of which six were three-deckers. On the 17th, this fleet passed the Straits, and, not being in very good trim for withstanding foul weather, suffered considerably by the gale of that and the following day. Eleven of the ships were more or less dismasted by it; but, on the 20th, the whole, except one ship which arrived afterwards, succeeded in gaining Carthagena. In order to show how differently the same gale could treat an English and a Spanish fleet, the names of the dismasted ships of the latter, as officially announced in the Madrid Gazette, are here subjoined :

Gun-ship.

112

S Conception

Mexicano

Conquistador

Oriente

Pelayo

Lost her foremast, and very leaky.

Totally dismasted; four men killed, &c.
Totally dismasted.

Lost her main and mizen masts.

Ditto, and sprung her foremast.

74 San-Francisco-de-Asis Lost her foremast.

It appears, also, that the Santa-Ana three-decker made 20 inches of water per hour, and that the San-Francisco-de-Paulo and San-Pablo 74s had sprung or carried away their tillers. One of the brigs, too, had lost her foremast and bowsprit. Just a week previous to the arrival of the Spanish fleet at Carthagena, the French fleet, consisting, according to the French accounts, of 25 sail of the line, five frigates, and four or five corvettes, entered Toulon. In passing the Straits, two of the ships had run on board each other, and received considerable damage.

On the 22nd of May, at noon, Earl St. Vincent got under way from Port Mahon; and on the 23rd, at 5 A.M., the Edgar, who, highly to the credit of her officers and crew, had since early on the preceding morning reshipped and remounted the whole of her guns, weighed also, and joined the admiral off the harbour. Having now under his command 20 sail of the line and a few smaller vessels, Earl St. Vincent made sail in the direction of Toulon.

On the 26th, when in latitude 42° north, in consequence, we suppose, of information that the Spanish fleet had arrived at Carthagena, the British fleet steered to the westward, and at noon on the 27th was about 35 miles to the east-north-east of Cape San-Sebastian, waiting to intercept the Spanish fleet in case it should attempt to effect a junction with the French fleet in Toulon. On the 30th, while cruising off Cape San-Sebastian with this object in view, the admiral received intelligence of the sailing of the French fleet from Toulon three days before. On this, Earl St. Vincent, at 2 P. M., detached Rear-admiral Duckworth with the Leviathan, Foudroyant, Northumberland, and Majestic, to reinforce Lord Nelson at Palermo, and at 6 P.M. was joined by the

The British fleet, thus augmented to 21 sail of the line, steered along the Spanish coast, and at noon on the 1st of June was about 40 miles to the eastward of Barcelona. Seeing no enemy in this direction, the fleet put back to the northward and eastward under all sail. On the 2nd, when about 70 miles southwest of Toulon, Earl St. Vincent, finding his health getting worse, parted company in the Ville-de-Paris; and Lord Keith took the command of the fleet, now deprived of the use of the heaviest ship in it, by her departure upon a service for which a frigate would have answered.

On the 3rd, in the afternoon, having arrived close off Toulon, the two advanced ships of the fleet, the Centaur and Montagu, opened a fire upon a brig-corvette and several settees standing into the road, and took possession of four of the latter, which they dismantled and burnt. The French forts fired at the two

British 74s, but without effect. From the prisoners intelligence was obtained, that the French fleet, on quitting Toulon, had steered to the eastward; and to the eastward the British fleet accordingly bent its course. On the 5th, in the afternoon, when the fleet had just crossed the gulf of Fréjus, the British hired armed brig Telegraph, Lieutenant James Alexander Worth, joined company, with intelligence of having, the preceding evening, seen the French fleet at anchor in Vado bay. The British fleet immediately made all sail in that direction. On the 6th the forts on the small islands of Sainte-Margurète and LaGaroupe, near Antibes, fired at the fleet in passing, particularly at the Espoir brig, who was nearest in shore. The French papers boasted of having dismasted an English ship of the line and frigate; but it does not appear that any vessel was injured.

On the 8th, Cape Delle-Melle at noon bearing north-northeast distant 31 leagues, Lord Keith received three despatchvessels (all within seven or eight hours) from the commanderin-chief at Minorca, containing orders for him, after detaching two 74s as an additional reinforcement to Lord Nelson, to repair to the bay of Rosas, to be ready to intercept the French fleet on its way to join the Spanish fleet in Carthagena. Accordingly, after sending away the Bellerophon and Powerful to Palermo, Lord Keith, with 18 sail of the line, crowded sail to the southwest It would appear, however, that, instead of steering straight to the bay of Rosas, Lord Keith proceeded towards the south end of Minorca, probably to facilitate a junction with the Ville-de-Paris. On the 12th the British fleet was lying becalmed close off the small island of Ayre. On the 13th, Cape Mola bearing north-east half-east distant five leagues, Lord Keith shifted his flag to the Queen Charlotte, and Rear-admiral Whitshed to the Barfleur; and Captains Irwin and Barker followed their respective chiefs. On the 15th, when the fleet was within four miles of Cape Mola, the Ville-de-Paris rejoined, having left Earl St. Vincent at Port Mahon, preparing to take his departure for Gibraltar and England.

With his fleet again consisting of 19 sail of the line, Lord Keith passing round the eastern side of the Minorca, steered to the northward. On the 19th, when about 20 leagues to the southward of Cape Sicie, the advanced division, consisting of the Centaur, Captain, and Bellona 74s, and the Emerald and Santa-Teresa frigates, captured the following French ships, 33 days from Jaffa, bound to Toulon :

The whole of these five vessels were added to the British navy; but the first, a fine Toulon-built frigate of 1029 tons, was of greater value than all the others. There being a Juno already in the service, the Junon was named Princess Charlotte, and attached to the 18-pounder 36-gun class. Her name was subsequently altered to the Andromache, and the ci-devant Junon is even yet a serviceable frigate.

After capturing the squadron of M. Perrée, Lord Keith stood close into Toulon, and during the 20th, 21st, 22nd, and 23rd, cruised off that port, as if expecting that the French fleet would attempt to re-enter it. Finding this not to be the case, the viceadmiral made sail to the eastward, and on the 24th crossed Vado bay. On the 25th, some of the forts near Genoa fired several shot at the British 16-gun brig-sloop, Vincejo, but ceased when the latter hoisted Spanish colours. On the 26th, the British fleet was within six or seven miles of Genoa Mole. Hearing no tidings of the French fleet in this quarter, except, perhaps, that it had anchored in the port nearly a month ago, Lord Keith stood away towards Minorca. While the British fleet is on its way thither, we will proceed to show, as well as we are able, what course the French fleet had actually been steering.

On the 27th of May, one of the three or four days during which the British fleet, of 20 sail of the line, five frigates, and smaller vessels, was cruising off Cape San-Sebastian, the French fleet, of 22 sail of the line (the two damaged ships being still under repair, and the Censeur, as already mentioned, left at Cadiz), 11 frigates and Corvettes, and, we believe, two of the three exVenetian 64s in the port armed en flûte, and laden with provisions and military stores, sailed from the road of Toulon.

Steering to the eastward, the French fleet on the 30th or 31st anchored in the bay of Vado, and there disembarked, for the

1 In the London Gazette, owing, we conceive, to a typographical error, this frigate is described as of "22," instead of 32" guns, 12-pounders, and 300 men." A contemporary, overlooking this, has given

the "Courageux," not only no more than "22 guns," but, what he considered an adequate complement, " 160 men."--Brenton, vol. ii., p. 488