1810. stern-on to the Bellone's broadside A most severe Aug. raking fire followed. To avoid this, and bring her starboard broadside to bear, the Néréide cut her

perrê

small bower cable, and, letting go the best, succeeded so far in her object. At about 10 P. M., or a little Capt. afterwards, a piece of grape or langridge from one Du- of the Néréide's guns cut captain Duperré on the wound-head, and knocked him senseless upon the deck. As ed and the fire of the Minerve was now completely masked ceeded by that of the Bellone, captain Bouvet removed by captain from the former on board the latter and took the Bouvet command.

suc

Severe wounds

lough

by.

Since the early part of the action, captain Wilof capt. loughby had been severely wounded by a splinter Wil- on the left cheek, which had also torn his eye completely out of the socket. The first lieutenant lay mortally, and the second most dangerously wounded; one marine officer, and the two officers of foot and one of artillery, and the greater part of the remaining crew and soldiers were either killed or disabled. Most of the quarterdeck, and several of the maindeck, guns were dismounted; and the hull of the ship was shattered in all directions and striking the ground astern. His ship being in this state, and five hours having elapsed since the commencement of the action without the arrival of a single boat from any one of the squadron, captain Willoughby ordered the now feebly Néré- maintained fire of the Néréide to cease, and the few

ide

ceases

survivors of the crew to shelter themselves in the herfire. lower part of the vessel. He then sent acting lieu

tenant William Weiss, with one of the two remaining: boats, on board the Sirius, to acquaint captain Pym with the defenceless state of the ship; leaving it to his judgment, as the senior officer, whether or not it was practicable to tow the Néréide beyond the reach of the enemy's shot, or to take out the wounded and set her on fire: an act that would have greatly endangered, and might have been the means of destroying, the Bellone herself, as well as the whole cluster of grounded ships, the situation of which cannot be better expressed than in the words of captain Pym

himself, "the whole of the enemy on shore in a 1810. heap."

Aug.

lough

to quit

hailed

cease

At about 10 h. 45 m. P. M. a boat from the Sirius, Capt. with a lieutenant of that frigate, also lieutenant Davis Wilof the engineers and Mr. Weiss, who had left his by reboat behind, came on board the Néréide, with a kind fuses message from captain Pym, requesting captain his Willoughby to abandon his ship and come on board ship. the Sirius. But, with a feeling that did him honour, Belcaptain Willoughby refused to desert his few sur-lone viving officers and men, and sent back word that the repeatNéréide had struck. Shortly afterwards a boat from the edly to Iphigenia came on board, to know the reason that the herfire. Néréide had ceased firing. At 11. P. M. captain Willoughby sent an officer in a boat to the Bellone, who still continued a very destructive fire, to say that the Néréide had struck; but, being in a sinking state from shot-holes, the boat returned without having reached the french ship. At about 30 minutes past midnight the mainmast of the Néréide went by the board. At 1h. 30 m. A. M. on the 24th several of the Néréide's ropes caught fire, but the flames were quickly extinguished. At about 1h. 50 m. A. M., after having been repeatedly hailed without effect by one or the other of the 20 french prisoners who were on The board the Néréide, the Bellone discontinued her fire. ceases. The Iphigenia and Magicienne, a portion of whose fire had already dismounted the guns at the battery de la Reine, then ceased theirs; and all was silent. At daylight the Bellone reopened her fire upon Belthe Néréide. To put a stop to this, french colours were lashed to the fore rigging; but still the french her fire frigate continued her fire. It was now surmised, and Nérévery naturally too, that the cause of this perse-desvering hostility was the union jack at the mizen top-mast gallantmast-head. That could not be hauled down; with for, by one account, it had been nailed there, and, by another, which we hope is the more correct, the away. halliards had been shot away, as well as all the rigging and ropes by which the mast could be ascended.

firing

lone re

sumes

until

colours

are cut

Aug.

ac

1810. As the only alternative, the mizenmast was cut away, and the firing of the Bellone instantly ceased. Capt. Captain Pym, speaking in his official letter of the Pym's loss on board the Néréide, says: "Sorry am I to say, that the captain, every officer and man on board of loss are killed or wounded." This information probably board reached the Sirius by some of the men, about 15 in Nere- all, who took the opportunity, first of the Néréide's

count

on

Néré

ide.

A

mount

crew.

boat, and then of the boat of the Sirius, to escape the horrors of a french prison: they naturally would make the case appear as bad as possible to excuse, what might be considered, a desertion of their commander and comrades. But, even then, the expression is to be taken figuratively; being meant to except all who, from the duties of their station, and in a frigate they are no small number, were attending below. In the statement we formerly gave, as gleaned from the ship's muster-book, that the killed amounted to 35, we were decidedly wrong, and shall now proceed to show, upon such authorities as have since come to hand, that the killed amounted to nearly three times that amount.

The Néréide's established complement, deducting her three widow's men, was 251 men and boys: of of her this number, on quitting the Cape in the preceding April, she was 23 men short. In skirmishes with her boats, the ship had lost, in killed and invalided out of her, 10 men; and had away in a schooner tender a master's mate and 15 men. This left her with 202 officers, men, and boys of her proper crew. But the Néréide had since received, as her quota of prisoners obtained at Port-Louis in exchange for those she captured at Jacolet, 10 raw recruits going to India, and had also on board, 69 officers and men of the 33d and 69th regiments and Madras artillery; making a total of 281 in crew and supernumeraries on board the Néréide when she commenced her action with the Bellone.

Of those 281 men and boys, the Néréide had her first lieutenant, (John Burns,) lieutenants Morlett of

loss in

the 33d regiment, and Aldwinkle of the Madras 1810. artillery, one midshipman, (George Timmins,) and Aug. about 88 seamen, marines, and soldiers killed; her Her captain, second lieutenant, (Henry Collins Deacon,) actual one lieutenant of marines, (Thomas S. Cox,) her the master, (William Lesby,) lieutenant Needhall of action. the 69th regiment, her boatswain, (John Strong,) one midshipman, (Samuel Costerton,) and at least 130 seamen, marines, and soldiers wounded; total, in killed and wounded together, about 230 out of 281. Nor will 130 be considered a large proportion of wounded to 92 killed, when it is known that, in consequence of the Néréide's upperworks being lined with fir, the splinters were uncommonly numerous. Captain Willoughby received his dreadful wound from a splinter, and lieutenant Deacon was wounded by splinters in the throat, breast, legs, and arms.

board

and

The loss on board the only two remaining british Loss on ships that suffered any was of comparatively slight Iphiamount. The Iphigenia, out of a crew on board genia of about 255 men and boys, had five seamen killed, Magiand her first lieutenant (Robert Tom Blackler) and cienne. 12 seamen and marines wounded. The Magicienne, out of a complement the same as that established upon the Néréide, had eight seamen and marines killed and 20 wounded. A portion of the Magicienne's loss, as here enumerated, was, we believe, sustained on the 23d. The Sirius, having, as it would appear, grounded out of range of shot, did not have a man of her crew hurt, nor, we believe, a rope of her rigging cut. We speak doubtfully of the situation of this frigate, owing to the statement in captain Pym's letter in the gazette, that the Sirius lay "within shot of all the enemy's forts and ships," and was only able to "return their fire with two guns." With an excellent french chart of the harbour before us, we find the situation of the Sirius, as marked out by one of her officers, to have been at least a mile and a quarter from the french van-ship; and, it will be recollected,

Loss on

french side.

1810, the Minerve cut or slipped almost at the commenceAug. ment of the action. With respect to the "forts," we know of none except the battery de la Reine, mounting three or four guns, and situated a little to the eastward of the town. We believe, however, that some works were afterwards thrown up, and a few guns mounted, to annoy the grounded british ships. The loss on board the french ships, according to the official statement of commodore Duperré, amounted to 37 killed, including two lieutenants of the Bellone and one of the Victor, and 112 wounded. Nearly the whole of this loss, we believe, was sustained by the Bellone; but we cannot help thinking it is underrated, chiefly because M. Duperré mentions the necessity he was under of receiving on board the Bellone fresh supplies of men from the Minerve, during the latter ship's state of inaction already adverted to. With the detachment acknowledged to have been received from the Manche and Entreprenant at Port-Louis, the complement of the Bellone could scarcely have been fewer than 400 or 420 men, and none were wanted to attend to the sails. However, the admitted loss, considering that it must nearly all have been inflicted by the Néréide, was highly creditable to the skill and exertions of that ship's officers and crew.

Iphi- At a few minutes past 4 A. M. captain Lambert, genia having previously sent a boat to the Sirius for orders, mences was directed by captain Pym, who had then conwarp siderable hopes of getting the Sirius afloat, to warp

com

ing.

out of gun-shot. The Iphigenia immediately commenced warping by the stern with the stream and kedge anchors, and sent the end of her best bower cable on board the Magicienne, for her to endeavour to heave off by; thereby leaving herself with only Magi- one bower anchor and cable. At daylight, when cine the Bellone, as already mentioned, recommenced herfire. firing at the Néréide, the Magicienne renewed her

renews

fire at the french shipping and the shore; but the Iphigenia, being then in the act of warping, could not