Epervier, and two Guinea ships that had been captured in the passage, approached the town of Sierra-Léone under English colours, and, unmolested, drew up before it in such a manner as to command every street.* The ships then exchanged their colours to French, and commenced a heavy cannonade upon the inhabitants ; who, being without any naval or other force to protect them, hauled down the British ensign from the flastaff on which, out of compliment to their supposed friends, they had previously hoisted it.

Regardless of this unequivocal symbol of submission, the Vengeance and Félicité continued, for nearly two hours, raking the streets with grape-shot, and thereby killed two and wounded five men. �

At length the French landed from the ships, and immediately proceeded to plunder such houses as remained standing, and which the owners had very wisely abandoned. Just as the relentless invaders were preparing to involve the whole town in one blaze, several of the maroon settlers from Jamaica and Nova-Scotia returned to it, and solicited the preservation of their dwellings. The French commander granted their request, observing, that his vengeance should be confined to the British settlers : he then caused the church, the company's warehouses, and the houses of all the English residents, to be set on fire and destroyed.

After the performance of this most cruel act, by which 1500 poor settlers were left destitute, one of the frigates proceeded up the river to the island of Banca ; which, for two days, the French ship cannonaded without success, the garrison of the small fort at the town making a resolute defence. On the third day the second frigate arrived to reinforce her consort ; when, the inhabitants having withdrawn their property, the garrison retired from the fort, leaving their colours flying : a well-planned ruse, as it imposed upon the enemy the idea of resistance, and gave to the few troops and inhabitants a full hour's unmolested retreat.

The French continued at Sierra-Léone until the 23d of October ; during which time they wooded and watered, but never proceeded into the country, nor injured the plantations. The crews, indeed, were already so weakened by the disease of the climate, that two well-manned British 38-gun frigates, and one 20-gun ship would, in all probability, have made prizes of the whole squadron. After having captured or destroyed eleven vessels belonging to the company, the squadron of M. Allemand

* Mr. James has given a vast importance to Sierra-Leone, by speaking of its streets. In 1810 it had but one ; and no poetical imagination could sufficiently picture the misery of this insignificant, unimportant, and unworthily denominated town.-Ed.

� The population of this sink of wretchedness must have retired to the woods (not their log-built houses), or the slaughter occasioned by two hours firing from large frigates must have been very ineffectual.-Ed.