wounded. Several of the French sailors leaped overboard, but were saved by the boats of the Captain, as she approached the frigate on the opposite side.

The Speedy's boats, in the mean while, boarded the two tartans, one of which, being strongly manned, slightly resisted ; * whereby her principal officer and one of her seamen were wounded. None of the British were hurt in either attack. The Modeste and tartans were brought safe off, and the frigate was purchased for the use of the British navy.

It being ascertained that another French ship, the 38-gun frigate Impérieuse, was lying in Spezzia bay, situated about a degree to the eastward of Genoa, the Captain 74 proceeded thither in search of her. On the afternoon of the 11th the Captain reached the entrance of the cove in which the Impérieuse had run for shelter, and, early on the following morning, the 12th, was towed in and moored close to the French frigate, as well as to the battery of Santa-Maria. At 8 a.m. the Captain's boats, without any opposition from the fort, boarded and took possession of the frigate, which they found had been scuttled and abandoned by her crew. In the course of that and the following day, the British succeeded in weighing the Irnpérieuse; and the latter, under the name of Unité (there being an Impérieuse already in the service), became a fine 36-gun frigate in the service of her captors.

LIGHT SQUADRONS AND SINGLE SHIPS.

Although Brest, Lorient, Rochefort, and Toulon, until the recent enlargement of Cherbourg, were the only ports in which France usually did, or perhaps conveniently could, construct and equip her ships of the line, yet there were many other ports, such as Havre, Cherbourg, St.-Malo, Nantes, Bordeaux, and a few others, from which she sent out, singly, and in squadrons, frigates of a very superior class, to make reprisals, upon the commerce of her enemies, and prevent, if, possible, any similar depredations upon her own. From those ports, also, issued forth innumerable private-armed vessels; some of which, belonging to Bordeaux, equalled frigates in size and force. It is under the head of " Light (that is frigate) squadrons and single ships," that we purpose to notice, as far as our researches will enable us, every case in which vessels, other than a fleet of line-of-battle ships (their movements falling under a preceding head), meet and engage ; or between which, from the relative situation of the parties, as to force and other circumstances, an action might reasonably have been expected. Deeming it unnecessary that the locality, or site, of the different encounters should interfere with their chronological order, we shall, in this head of narrative, take the date only as our guide.

On the 13th of March, the British 16-gun brig-sloop Scourge, Captain George Brisac (but mounting then only eight 6-pounders,

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