attack on that side. In the course of a quarter of an hour or 20, minutes, this necessary duty was performed, and the Droits-de-l'Homme, under her courses and mizen topsail, was going at the rate of five knots an hour.

As the two British ships, having lost none of their masts, were probably running a third faster, the leading ships, the Indefatigable, then between seven and eight miles of her consort, arrived, at about 5 h. 30 m p.m., within hail of the Droits-de-l'Homme astern, and shortening sail to close-reefed topsails, did not run to leeward, as the French think she ought,* but hauled up to pour in a raking fire. The two-decker, however, managed to haul up also, and a broadside was exchanged, accompanied on the part of the French ship by an immense discharge of musketry. The Indefatigable now tried to pass ahead of her antagonist, and rake her in that direction ; but the Droits-de-l'Homme defeated that manoeuvre likewise, and attempted to run the frigate on board. This the latter ; very naturally, did her best to evade, and succeeded ; not, however, without receiving into her stern a close, but, owing in a great degree, no doubt, to the violent motion of the sea, comparatively harmless broadside.

Another cause may, and indeed must, have contributed to the diminution of effect produced by the two-decker's fire: her lowerdeck ports, being nearer to the water's edge by 14 inches † than those of the generality of French 74s, were obliged to be shut almost as soon as opened, to keep out the quantity of water that was rushing through them, and which actually poured down upon the prisoners in the cable-tier. ‡ It was not merely the roughness of the sea, but the heavy rolling of the ship for the want of sails to steady her, that thus rendered her lower battery useless to her : a disadvantage of so serious a nature, as to give quite a new feature to the combat she was engaged in.

That combat continued between the Indefatigable and Droits-de-l'Homme until about 6 h. 45 m. p.m.; when the Amazon, having come up under a press of sail, poured a broadside, within pistol-shot distance, into the French ship's quarter. The Amazon then tried to pass astern of her antagonist; but, as in the

* " Alors le bàtiment ennemi le plus proche (c'était celui du commodore), qui se trouvait à petite portée de canon dans les eaux du vaisseau les Droits-de-l'Homme, serra toutes les voiles qu'il avait mises dehors pour chasser, et s'établit sous une voilure commode pour le combat. Il perdit par-là un temps précieux. En effet, s'il eût sur-le-champ prolongé le vaisseau français par dessous le vent, il eût pu le canonner sans qu'il eût été possible à celui-ci de lui riposter d'un seul coup, à cause du danger qu'il eût couru de mettre le feu aux voiles, qui couvraient une grande partie de ses canons, et dont il lui fût devenu bien difficile de se débarrasser sous le feu de l'artillerie ennemie." Victoires et Conquêtes, tome vii., p. 293.

† A British army officer, who was a prisoner on board, and whose " Narrative, &c: " is given at p. 465, vol. vii. of the " Naval Chronicle," says, " two feet and a half lower than usual ;" but the above account, as taken from the French themselves, is probably the more correct.

‡ Lieutenant Pipon's Narrative. See last note.

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