The above eight sail of the line, four frigates, and four smaller vessels, comprised the whole of the Portuguese navy, except one 74, the Vasco-de-Gamo, under repair and nearly ready, and another 74, and 64, and five frigates and corvettes, that were unserviceable. As a proof that the efficient ships of that navy, with the royal family and loyal inhabitants on board, had not been too precipitate in their retreat, on the 30th, which was the very day after their departure, General Junot, with the advanced division of the French army, entered Lisbon. Having accompanied the Portuguese fleet to latitude 37° 47' north, and longitude 14° 17′ west, and waited till the ships had reassembled, after a severe gale of wind, Sir Sidney, on the 6th of December, detached Captain Moore, with the Marlborough, London, and Bedford to attend the fleet to the Brazils, and, with the remainder of his squadron, parted company. One of the Portuguese ships of the line, being deemed unfit to proceed on the voyage, bore up for England. The remainder, escorted by Captain Moore, pursued their voyage, and on the 19th of January landed the prince regent at Bahia. Captain Moore, with the British and Portuguese men-of-war, then proceeded to Rio de Janeiro,

The object of Sir Sidney in parting company was to watch the motions of the nine Russian sail of the line under Vice-admiral Seniavin; who, finding it dangerous to proceed further to the northward, had anchored in the Tagus. This step on the part of England was rendered necessary by the menacing tone which Russia had recently assumed. On the supposition that this Russian squadron was still in the Mediterranean, Sir Sidney had been ordered to detach the Foudroyant, Conqueror, and Plantaganet, as a reinforcement to Rear-admiral Purvis off Cadiz; but he now, of course, kept those ships with him, and with his five sail of the line cruised off the mouth of the Tagus.

After Sir Sidney had been a week performing this duty, Commodore Peter Halkett joined from England, with, besides his own ship, the Ganges, the 74s Defence and Alfred, Captain Charles Ekins and John Bligh, and the 64s Ruby and Agamemnon, Captains John Draper and Jonas Rose. These ships had sailed from Portsmouth on the 6th, just four days after the Emperor of Russia's hostile declaration against England had been received by the British government. Of this declaration, and of that which speedily followed it, we shall reserve any remarks we may have to make, until the next year's operations in the Baltic come under our notice. It may suffice to state here, that the Russian squadron, under Vice-admiral Seniavin,

remained safe blocked up in the Tagus on the last day of the present year.

Light Squadrons and Single Ships.

On the 6th of January the British 38-gun frigate Impérieuse, Captain Lord Cochrane, while passing the basin of Arcasson to the southward of the Gironde, on her way to join the squadron of Commodore Keats off Chasseron lighthouse, detached her boats, under the orders of Lieutenant David Mapleton, assisted by midshipmen the Honourable William John Napier and Mr. Houston Stewart, and assistant-surgeon George Gilbert to bring out of the basin whatever vessels might be found there. As a preliminary step, Lieutenant Mapleton attacked and carried Fort Roquette, which was intended for the defence of the entrance to the inlet. A large quantity of military stores was there destroyed, four long 36-pounders, two field-pieces and a 13-inch mortar spiked, the platoons and carriages burnt, and the fort laid in ruins; and, as a proof that this enterprise was as judiciously as it was gallantly conducted, not a man of the party was hurt. In his letter on this subject Lord Cochrane mentions the capture or destruction of several French merchantvessels, but it does not appear that any were found in the basin of Arcasson.

On the 21st of January, at daybreak, the British 18-pounder 32-gun frigate Galatea, Captain George Sayer, cruising off the coast of Caraccas on the Spanish main, discovered from the mast-head a sail in the south-east, steering for La Guayra; but which sail soon altered her course for Barcelona. At noon, the frigate then nearly becalmed, the stranger was made out to be an enemy's man-of-war brig, and was, in fact, the French brigcorvette Lynx, mounting fourteen 24-pounder carronades and two long eights, with a complement of 161 men and boys, commanded by Lieutenant de vaisseau Jean-Mathieu Fargenel, from Guadaloupe, bound to the Caraccas with despatches. At this time, having the advantage of a light land wind, and assisted by her sweeps, the Lynx was fast leaving the Galatea; so much so, that at 2 P.M. the brig's topgallantsails, as viewed from the frigate, were scarcely above the horizon. Still, shut in as the brig was between the frigate and the coast, Captain Sayer conceived that he might obtain possession of her by the assistance of his boats.

Accordingly, at a very few minutes past 2 P.M., six boats, containing five officers, 50 seamen, and 20 marines, 75 in all,

and placed under the command of first Lieutenant William Coombe (left leg of wood), pushed off from the ship in the following order, each boat taking the one next to her in tow: short gig, commanding officer's name unknown; long gig, master's mate John Green; green cutter, third Lieutenant Robert Gibson; pinnace, second Lieutenant Henry Walker ; barge, Lieutenant Coombe; and launch, master's mate Barry Sarsfield. The brig, at this time, was to the eastward of Cape Codera, which bore from the frigate south-east distant about four leagues. At 3 P.M. finding that the boats gained very little on the brig, Lieutenant Coombe directed them to separate and make the best of their way, with the exception, that no boat, without orders, was to row ahead of the barge. At 6 P.M. the Lynx bore east-southeast distant about four leagues. Mr. Green in the long gig now advanced ahead to reconnoitre, with orders by all means to keep sight of the brig, and, in the event of its growing dark, to hoist a light.

At 8 h. 30 m. P.M. Lieutenant Coombe's boat, having got within musket-shot of the chase, lay to on her oars, that the men might arm, and in order to give the sternmost boats time to come up. The long gig now joined, with a confirmation of the warlike character of the enemy, and that she was under all sail, with sweeps out. In 10 minutes more the sternmost boats, except the short gig, got up, and began also to arm and prepare for the attack: which was to be made in two lines; the lee line, consisting of the barge, pinnace, and long gig, was to board on the starboard quarter, and the weather line, consisting of the green cutter and launch, on the larboard quarter; and the boats of both lines to steer close in between the sweeps and the brig's sides.

In this order, the five boats (the short gig left behind) undauntingly advanced. At 8 h. 50 m. Lieutenant Coombe, being within pistol-shot of the Lynx, then with a light land wind going about two knots an hour, hailed her twice, but received no answer. The British instantly gave three cheers, and in another five minutes were close alongside the French brig. The latter, having trained her guns aft in readiness, repulsed the assailants with a heavy fire of cannon and musketry, wounding, among others, Lieutenant Coombe, by a musket-bullet which passed through the muscular part of his left or legless thigh. A second attempt was made to board, with no better success than the first. The boats now dropped and poured through the brig's stern and quarter-ports a destructive fire of musketoons

and small arms, which cleared the deck of many officers and men who had crowded aft to repel the boarders.

Having succeeded thus far, the boats again dashed alongside. After an arduous struggle, in which Lieutenant Walker fell dead of his third wound, the British gained the brig's deck. The latter now became the scene of a most desperate and bloody conflict, which, in about five minutes, terminated in favour of the boarders; but not until they had strewed the deck with dead and wounded Frenchmen, and driven the remainder, some upon the bowsprit and jib-boom, and others up the shrouds and down the hatchway. Thus, in about 15 minutes from the first attempt to board, were the Galatea's boats in possession of the French brig-corvette, in chase of which they had been seven hours pulling, part of the time under a burning sun. Just as the action was over the short gig joined.

The loss sustained by the British in achieving this truly gallant exploit was very severe. The killed consisted of Lieutenant Walker, five seamen, and three marines; the severely wounded of Lieutenant Coombe, master's mate Sarsfield, one petty-officer, five seamen, and three marines; and the slightly wounded, of master's mate Green, one petty-officer, eight seamen and one marine: total, nine killed and 22 wounded; including four out of the five officers who had commanded the boats, and comprising nearly half the number of British present in the action. The short gig, it will be observed, was absent, with at least five men, and one to keep each remaining boat would leave 65 for boarding the brig.

The loss among the Frenchmen was also severe. The Lynx, out of a complement, as acknowledged by themselves, of 161 men and boys, had her third-lieutenant (late captain of the Buonaparte privateer, and since restored to his former rank in the French navy), 13 petty-officers, seamen, and soldiers killed, her captain, first-lieutenant (both badly), four other officers, and 14 petty-officers, seamen, and soldiers wounded, the greater part of them badly; total, 14 killed and 20 wounded.

Having secured the private signals and the magazine, Lieutenant Coombe gave orders to get the wounded off the deck, the dead hove overboard, and the studding-sails hauled down. The sweeps were then brought in-board, and the boats veered astern. By this time a light breeze had sprung up from the south-west, of which immediate advantage was taken, and the brig stood to the northward, in expectation of falling in with the frigate. The prize then hoisted two lights vertical at the mast-head, and fired

VOL. IV.

R

several blue-lights, to indicate her situation. Such, however, had been the distance of the Galatea at the period of the attack, that the latter did not make her appearance until 2 A.M., on the 22nd. Signals of recognition having been exchanged between the two vessels, Lieutenant Gibson, at 3 A.M., was despatched to Captain Sayer with information of the successful result of the enterprise; and at 5 A.M., the Lynx and Galatea were within a few fathoms of each other.

When all the circumstances of this boat-attack are taken into consideration, no one will dispute that, although in a few instances it may have been equalled, it has never been surpassed. The distance which the boats had to pull, the shutting in of day, and the loss of sight of their ship, the great force of the enemy, his determined resistance, and the heavy loss which it inflicted on the assailants, required a considerable share of courage to sustain, and of skill and valour to overcome. The prize, too, was not an armed merchant-vessel or privateer, but a national brig of war, fully manned, mounted, and equipped, and, no slight advantage, under sail and going two knots through the water when the British attacked her. Nor did the difficulties end with the contest. There were less than 50 British to overawe and keep in subjection, during an anxious period of nearly six hours, more than 120 Frenchmen. The Lynx, being a fine vessel of 337 tons, and only two years old, was purchased for the use of the British navy. A Lynx, however, being already in the service, the name of the prize was changed to the Heureux; and her first commander was he who had the best right to her, the gallant William Coombe.

On the 27th of January, at daylight, Soramme river on the coast of Guayana bearing south by east distant 26 miles, the British 12-pounder 32-gun frigate Jason, Captain Thomas Cochrane, descried and chased a ship and brig, evidently cruisers, about six miles upon her weather-beam. At 10h. 15 m. A.M. the Jason brought the ship to action, and presently compelled her to haul down her colours. The prize proved to be the late British sloop of war Favourite, mounting 16 long 6-pounders and two 12-pounder carronades on the main deck, and eleven 12-pounder carronades on the quarter-deck and forecastle; total, 29 guns, all English caliber, with a complement of 150 men, commanded by Lieutenant de vaisseau Gabriel-Etienne-Louis Le Marant-Kerdaniel. The brig in her company, when first chased, was a corvette of 14 brass 8-pounders and 120 men.

On the 26th of January, late in the evening, the 18-gun ship