on the beach, and the last at anchor in the road, of Aboukir bay, the scene of their discomfiture. On the 19th Rear-admiral Nelson, in the Vanguard, accompanied by the Culloden and Alexander, sailed for Naples ; leaving Captain Hood with the Zealous, Goliath, Swiftsure, Seahorse (who had joined on the 17th), Emerald, Alcmène, and Bonne-Citoyenne, to cruise off the port of Alexandria.

The news of the loss of his fleet reached Buonaparte on the 14th of August, when on his way from Salahieh to Cairo, in a despatch from Rear-admiral Ganteaume, delivered by an aide-de-camp of General Kléber's. While reading the despatch, Buonaparte did not betray in his countenance the least trait of the extraordinary sensations which the account must necessarily have caused in his mind. He called the messenger to him, and demanded, in a loud voice, to hear the details. As soon as they were related, Buonaparte said to the aide-de-camp with the utmost sang-froid, " We have no longer a fleet : well, we must either remain in this country, or quit it as great as the Ancients." * The power which this extraordinary man possessed of disguising his feelings was as remarkable, as the facility with which he could turn a disastrous event to his advantage. Great as he was in some matters, Buonaparte could also be mean, where, by being mean, an object was to be attained. Wishing, for, some inexplicable reason, to inculpate the brave admiral who was second in command at Aboukir, Buonaparte, on the 24th of August, issued a general order, in which were these words: "The Franklin struck her flag without being dismasted or having sustained any damage." † Rear-admiral Ganteaume, as soon as he discovered this, hastened to defend the character of his brother officer, and pleaded his cause with so much effect, that Buonaparte, yielding a little, issued a second order, stating that Rear-admiral Blanquet had been wounded in the action ; but which still left uncontradicted the false assertion, that the Franklin surrendered when in a perfect state. At the instance of Vice-admiral Bruix, the minister of marine, justice was at length done by the directory to the character of that brave officer ; but we cannot discover that Rear-admiral Blanquet was ever afterwards employed.

The crippled state of the Nile prizes made it the middle of September, ere they and their escort arrived at Gibraltar. The Peuple-Souverain was in too bad a state to proceed further, and was therefore, under the name of Guerrier, converted into a guard-ship, the only service in which she could be useful. The five remaining prizes, after obtaining a tolerable repair, set sail for England, and arrived in safety at Plymouth. The British

* "Nous n'avons plus de flotte : eh bien, il faut rester en ces contrées, ou en sortir grands comme les Anciens."- Victoires et Conquêtes, tome ix., p. 73.

† "Le Franklin a amené son pavillon sans être démâté et sans avoir reçu aucune avarie."- Victoires et Conquêtes, tome ix., p. 107.

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