the 21st, having assured the French captain that the ship in sight, however formidable in appearance, was nothing but an Indiaman, the Preneuse, disguised still as an English frigate, stood for the road of Tellicherry. In his way thither Captain L'Hermite fell in with another Indiaman steering for the same anchorage. The Preneuse now reduced her sails and yawed about, so as to let this ship enter the road first. At about 2 h. 30 m. p.m., while this manœuvre was practising, a thunderstorm came on and at 3 p.m. the Preneuse was struck with lightning. The electric fluid entered at the frigate's main truck and, running down the mast into the hold, re-ascended to the main deck, killed one man, and wounded 15 or 16, and then passed out at one of the ports. Towards 4 p.m., just as the Indiaman had cast anchor within about 100 fathoms of the one already in the road, the Preneuse steered between the two, and changing her colours to French, fired a broadside into each. The ship that had just anchored fired a broadside in return, cut her cable, and loosed her sails, with the intention of running on shore. The other ship, owing to her position, could only return one or two guns: in short, the two vessels were captured. One proved to be the Woodcot of 802 tons, Captain Andrew Hannay, the other the Raymond, of 793 tons, Captain Henry Smedley ; both armed, and the latter, with a detachment of company's troops on board.

Having taken of the commandant of Tellicherry a receipt for his prisoners, 600 in number, and the half described as Europeans, Captain L'Hermite manned his two prizes and despatched them to the Isle of France, and then proceeded on his mission to Mangalore. Here the frigate arrived on the 24th of April, and, quitting the road on the 26th, steered for Java. At Batavia Captain L'Hermite arrived in the middle of June, and found there Rear-admiral Sercey ; who had recently arrived in the Brûle-Gueule, with the intention of making the Dutch island his temporary head-quarters.* We will now see how far the Vertu and Régénérée, with their valuable charge, have got on their voyage home.

Before we quit the eastern hemisphere to accompany the French frigates Vertu and Régénérée on their voyage to Europe, we will give some account of a very melancholy ship-loss, with which the Straits of Banca were this year visited. On the evening of the 23d of July the Resistance, which ship we mentioned as making her appearance off Manilla, anchored in the Straits, to await the approach of a Malay sloop, which Captain Pakenham had detained, on a suspicion that she was Dutch property, and which he was now about to restore to the Malay captain. On the 24th, at 1 a.m., the sloop joined, and dropped anchor under the stern of the ship. It appears from the

* Victoires et Conquêtes, tome viii., p. 304.

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