the French fleet at anchor in the road of Isle d'Aix. In the first place, we ask, Is it necessary that an attack by fire-ships should take place in the night ? * It is clear that, if the officers commanding those at Basque roads had had daylight to steer by, fewer of them would have failed in their object. To destroy the French boats at the boom, one or more explosion-vessels were admirably calculated ; but, if no boats were assembled at the boom, the blast, however great, could have produced little or no effect, as is evident from the Indienne's escaping comparatively unhurt, although not above 110 yards from the vessel that exploded ahead of her. Had it not been for the accidental employment of the Mediator as a fire-ship, it is probable that the boom would have been unbroken, and then all the ships, as well as the explosion-vessels, would have expended themselves outside of it. The existence of a boom should have been presumed ; and one heavy fire-ship, or explosion-vessel if deemed preferable, should have been sent considerably ahead of the others, to break it down and open a channel for them. The remaining fire-ships, chained in twos or fours, might then have proceeded, with almost a certainty of taking effect, admitting, as we before suggested, that daylight had been the time of the operation. Another question presents itself, applicable to either a day or a night attack. Supposing the attack to have been delayed until the tide had flowed two hours more, would not the French ships have grounded upon the harder parts of the shoal, as well as the shallower at low water, and have been therefore less likely to get afloat at the return of the tide ?

The next point for consideration is the attack upon the grounded ships. It must here in justice be stated, that Lord Gambier had not such an effective force in vessels of a light draught of water, as, according to the nature of the service, he ought to have been supplied with. In most navies a gun-vessel means a small vessel, carrying from one to four heavy long guns, capable, from the manner in which they are mounted, of being used on either side, and from the extent of their range, of annoying an enemy at a considerable distance ; but in the British navy a gun-vessel, or gun-brig, is a vessel that carries on her broadside five or six 18-pounder carronades, whose effective range is scarcely two-thirds that of a long gun of the same caliber Lord Gambier had five of this description of small-craft : he had also, except just as the affair ended, one, and only one bomb-

* Mr. James has asked this question as a landsman, and it is easily answered : had the attack taken place by daylight, the fire-ships would most probably have been sunk by the well-directed fire of the French ships ; the effect of the attack would have been destroyed by the danger being visible, and night, and its darkness and horrors, adds more to the fear of fire than the inexperienced can imagine ; by daylight, the French ships if they out their cables, might have run without grounding, into security ; whereas by night, the marks could not be seen, the danger could not be avoided.-Ed.

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