At a few minutes past noon the wind in a squall shifted a point or two to the southward. Thus favoured, the chasing ships tacked, and the Latona soon found herself so near to the two rearmost French frigates as to fire several shots at them. At 4 p.m. Captain Thornborough could have weathered and would have cut off one of them, the Sémillante, had not Commodore Vanstabel, in the Tigre, accompanied by his second, bore down to prevent him. The two French 74s passed so near to the Latona as to discharge their broadsides at her ; but only two shots struck her, and they, fortunately, hurt no one. On receiving the fire of these ships, the British frigate gallantly luffed up and returned it; with so much effect, as to cut away the fore stay and main tack of the Tigre, besides doing some damage to her hull. No other ship of the British fleet was able to get near, although all the ships carried sail to that degree, that not only the fore and main topmasts of the Defence, but the maintopmasts of the Vanguard and Montagu, were carried away; and the ships were compelled, in consequence, to bear up for the Channel.

Towards evening the wind backed more round to the eastward, and, soon after midnight, shifted to east-south-east, and then east, the night being extremely dark. This alteration in the wind threw several of the advanced British ships as much to leeward, as they had previously been to windward; and, in expectation that the French ships would profit by the change and put about, or be restrained from bearing up, lest the leewardmost British ships should cut them off, Lord Howe kept his fleet upon a wind during the remainder of the night.

Towards 2 a.m. on the 19th, however, in the midst of a heavy squall of wind and rain, the French squadron bore away large to the west-south-west. * At 2 h. 30 m. a.m., on the weather clearing a little, the Bellerophon, who was now the most advanced, and quite out of sight, of all her line companions, discovered two or three sail of the enemy right ahead, and some others on her lee or larboard bow : she immediately bore away, and steered to pass between the two divisions. The return of thick weather soon shut out all the ships from her view, and at daylight none were in sight but the Latona and the 36-gun frigate Phœnix, Captain Richard John Strachan. These frigates were at first suspicious of each other, but in a little while came to a mutual recognition, and then bore up in company after an enemy's ship which had just hove in sight in the south-west, and was standing towards three others, that soon made their appearance in the west. On the Latona's making the signal, that these four ships, all of which were of the line, were superior to the chasing ships, Captain Pasley made the signal of recal ; and the

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