and sails. The latter were much burnt by red-hot shot fired from her opponent ; on whose lower or berth deck, until it was thrown overboard just previously to surrender, had been a regular furnace for heating them. Notwithstanding the use of this additional means of resistance, the Lively, out of her complement of 251 men and boys, escaped with only two, Lieutenant Loftus Otway Bland and one seaman, wounded ; whereas the Tourterelle, out of her crew, as deposed by her officers, of 230 in number, had 16 officers and men killed and 25 wounded.

The Lively's guns were those of her class at F in the table at p. 91, with six brass 24-pounder carronades, or 38 guns in all. The Tourterelle mounted two sixes fewer than No. 9 in the small table at p. 54, or 30 guns in all.

Captain Montalan, in commencing the attack, either mistook the Lively for a less formidable ship, or relied too much upon the effects of his red-hot shot. In either case, he showed himself an enterprising officer ; and the Tourterelle's three hours' resistance, disabled state, and heavy loss, afforded ample proofs of his bravery and determination. The employment of hot shot is not usually deemed honourable warfare ; but the blame, if any, rested with those who had equipped the ship for sea.

The two other vessels in sight, when the action began, were prizes to the resuscitated * French corvette Espion. These, a few days afterwards, were retaken by the Lively. The Tourterelle, on her arrival in port, was purchased for the British navy ; and, although called by the French a corvette, became classed as a British 28-gun frigate. The Tourterelle did not, however, long continue as a cruiser : in the year 1799 she was converted into a troop or store ship.

The near approach to equality in the nominal force of the Lively and Tourterelle ; that is, in the rated number of guns on board, one ship, and the mounted number on board the other, has been made the basis of an attempt to raise this action far above its proper level. For instance, a naval writer says: " The Lively, of thirty-two guns, captured the Tourterelle, of thirty guns." † Now, as " of " can mean nothing else than "mounting," what is the uninformed reader to infer, but that these ships differed in force by only a sixteenth ? Suppose the writer not to have known that the Lively mounted six 24-pounder carronades in addition to her "32 guns," he still, from his professional

* See p. 301.

† Brenton, Vol. i., p. 367.

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