may exist in reference to the particular individuals composing Admiral Duncan's fleet.

Although early in the present year an order had issued establishing carronades very extensively, upon line-of-battle ships, yet, as it was restricted to ships coming forward to be fitted, the order of November 1794,* must still be our guide. The only ships out of the 16, that appear to have been armed differently from the November establishment, are the Venerable and Ardent. The latter had been ordered, in July 1795, four instead of two 24-pounder carronades for her forecastle ; and the former, in June, 1794, two 68-pounder carronades for her forecastle, and two 32-pounder ones in lieu of two of her quarter deck 9s. We have reason to think that the two 50-gun ships did not mount any poop-carronades, and shall therefore assign them none. To allow, also, for such of the other ships as may have taken on board less than their established number, or, as was often the case, had not been supplied with any carronades at all for their poop, we will fix the total amount of 18-pounders at half what it otherwise would be, that is, at 42 instead of 84.

In stating the crew of each British ship at her net establishment, we are satisfied that the amount will be rather over than under rated, We know, for instance, that the Ardent was 70, and the Lancaster 72, men short of their proper number ; and it is probable, from circumstances to which we need not recur, that few if any of the ships in Admiral Duncan's fleet had their complement on board.

The gun-force of the Dutch ships may be stated without much difficulty. Of the seven that escaped from the British this time, five were subsequently captured : hence, there remain but two of the 16, the States-General and Brutus, whose armaments have not been obtained by actual inspection.

The Vryheid and Jupiter respectively mounted, on their first and second decks, the same nominal nature of guns as an English small-class 18-pounder 74, as O, for instance, in the first annual abstract. On the quarterdeck and forecastle the Vryheid mounted, when brought into port, sixteen 12-pounders ; making, in the whole, two guns short (perhaps disabled and thrown overboard), of the number assigned to her, as well as to the Jupiter, by the Dutch admiral himself. The Jupiter arrived with ten 12, and four 8 pounders, instead, probably, of six of the latter, and 12 of the former, as afterwards found on board the Washington, of the same nominal force. The Wassenaer, Devries, and Hercules appear to have each mounted twenty-six 32-pounders, and each of the four remaining 64s, the same number of 24-pounders, on the first deck, with twenty-six 18s on the second. On the quarterdeck and forecastle, the three first-named ships carried, of 8-pounders, 14, making a total of

* See Appendix, Annual Abstract No. 3.

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