commodore Perrée, upon the river Nile, following the motions of the army.

On the 22d of August the 32-gun frigate Alcmène, Captain George Hope, cruising off Alexandria, captured the French gunboat Légère, charged with despatches for General Buonaparte, but which the commanding officer of the vessel threw overboard just as the Alcmène was approaching her. This act was not unperceived by two seamen of the frigate, John Taylor and James Harding ; who, at the risk of their lives, the ship then going between five and six knots through the water, dashed overboard and saved the whole of them. Each of these brave fellows was afterwards rewarded by the city of London, with a pension of twenty pounds per annum.

On the 25th of August, at 1 a.m., Captain Foley, of the Goliath, despatched the boats of that ship, under the orders of Lieutenant William Debusk, to attack a French armed ketch, which was moored under the guns of the castle of Aboukir. The boats were soon alongside, and a spirited scuffle ensued. Lieutenant Debusk, for some time, fought hand to hand with the French commanding officer. At length after an obstinate resistance of 15 minutes, the French national armed ketch Torride, mounting three long 18-pounders and four swivels, with a complement of 70 men, surrendered. Her commander, Lieutenant de vaisseau Martin Bedar, and 10 of his men were badly wounded. The loss on the part of the British amounted to two wounded, including Lieutenant Debusk. The Torride may serve for a specimen of the description of gun-boat attached to the French fleet at the Battle of the Nile. Ten or 12 such vessels, in a calm, would give very serious annoyance to a line-of-battle ship.

On the 2d of September, while Captain Hood with his squadron was cruising off Alexandria, a cutter made her appearance, standing towards the land. The Swiftsure and Emerald fired several shot at her, but the cutter persisted in not bringing to, and at length ran aground a little to the westward of the tower of Marabou. The boats were instantly despatched to bring her off ; but, in the mean time, the crew of the cutter had made good their landing, and the cutter herself was shortly afterwards beaten to pieces, by the high surf. The shore at this time presented, as far as the eye could reach, nothing but barren, uncultivated sands : very shortly, however, several Arabs were seen advancing, some on horseback, others on foot. The French, who had quitted the cutter, now perceived their mistake ; but for the fate of nearly the whole of them, the discovery came too late. The British in the boats pulled lustily towards the shore in the hope of saving their unfortunate enemy, but, on account of the breakers, could not effect a landing in safety. A midshipman of the Emerald, Francis William Fane, with a noble spirit of humanity, threw himself into the water, and swam through a

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