and from which they owed their escape to the hazy and tempestuous state of the weather. Considering it no longer safe to persist in steering to the eastward, the Révolution and Fraternité altered their course to south. On the morning of the 14th they made the Isle of Ré, and entered Rochefort the same afternoon.

If the ships, which did not reach or were driven out of Bantry bay, suffered so much by stress of weather, several of those that remained in it met a still worse fate. On the 30th of December the Justine transport was captured, and the Impatiente frigate cast away, on the coast near Crookhaven, with the loss of all the latter's crew and passengers, except seven. Early in January the Surveillante went on shore in Bantry bay, and a portion of her crew fell into the hands of the British : the remainder got on board some of the ships in company. On the 7th the Ville-de-Lorient transport was taken as already mentioned ; as on the 5th had been the Tortue frigate by the Polyphemus 64. On that, or the following day, the Fille-Unique transport foundered in the bay ; and two or three of the men of war which eventually escaped, were, on more than one occasion, very critically circumstanced.

Eight or nine of the ships made their appearance off the river Shannon ; but all at length quitted the coast of Ireland, and steered towards that of France. On their way thither, the Suffren and Allegro transports were taken ; also the Atalante brig-corvette. The loss of one, and the return to port of six of the line-of-battle ships, we have already noticed. On the 11th of January the Constitution, Trajan, Pluton, Wattigny, and Pégase, arrived at Brest, the latter having in tow the dismasted Résolue ; and on the 13th the Nestor, Tourville, Eole, and Cassard, reached the same port. This leaves but one line-of-battle ship unaccounted for, and to her we shall attend presently. With respect to the frigates not already mentioned as captured or lost, the whole of them arrived at Brest, either on the 1st, 11th, or 13th of January, except the Bravoure and Fraternité, one of which put into Lorient, and the other, as already stated, into Rochefort.

Among the ships which, after the failure at Bantry bay, proceeded to the mouth of the river Shannon, the second point of debarkation intended to be attempted, was the Droits-de-l'Homme, the flag-ship of Rear-admiral Bouvet, but now commanded, during his absence in the Immortalité, by Commodore la Crosse, a very able and experienced officer; and on board of which ship, as commanding officer of one division of the troops, was the famous General Humbert. On the 5th of January, when about four leagues from the mouth of the Shannon, the Droits-de-l'Homme was fortunate enough to fall in with the Cumberland, Captain Peter Inglis, a deeply-laden ship letter-of-marque, from Barbadoes bound to Liverpool. Having removed all the crew and passengers except the chief mate and cook, consisting

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