Lord Keith proceeded off Cape Spartel, and at noon on the 8th was cruising within five leagues of it. The fleet shortly afterwards stood back nearly to the entrance of Cadiz bay, and one or more of the ships were sent close in to reconnoitre the harbour. Finding the Spanish ships, now counted, as it appears, at 22 of the line, still in port ; Lord Keith steered for the bay of Gibraltar, having received on the evening of the 9th an order to that effect from Earl St.-Vincent. Admitting the number of line-of-battle ships in Cadiz to have been correctly reported, of which we have some doubt, one of the three beyond the 19 known to have been in the port, was the French 74 Censeur ; which ship had lost her fore topmast, and been otherwise disabled, in the gale of the 4th, and had since slipped in unperceived by the British fleet.

Notwithstanding the assertion of a contemporary, we confess our inability to discover, either that the French fleet of " twenty-six" sail of the line " wished to enter" the harbour of Cadiz, or that the British fleet of " sixteen" sail of the line " offered battle."* We believe it was not the intention of Admiral Bruix to enter Cadiz, but merely to show himself off each of the three Spanish ports, Ferrol, Cadiz, and Carthagena, in order that the ships within them might sail out and effect their junction. The Ferrol ships had actually quitted port with that object in view, and, by a mere accident, had missed the Brest fleet ; and, if the weather had permitted them, the Cadiz ships, or 17 sail of them at least, would in all probability have put to sea. No doubt, in such a case, Lord Keith would have been bound to make a retreat ; and there can be as little doubt that, should the British fleet have been forced to engage, all that a fleet so inferior in force could accomplish would have been effected. Beyond this it was idle to hope ; and we can only suppose that Earl St.-Vincent, when in a letter to the secretary of the admiralty he used the expression, "the French squadron. eluded the vigilance of Lord Keith by the darkness of the atmosphere," � was unacquainted with the real strength of that French squadron.

The Childers brig, immediately upon her arrival at Gibraltar from Lord Keith, was despatched with orders to rejoin immediately the Edgar 74, Captain John M'Dougall, lying in Tetuan bay. Rear-admiral Frederick, who was residing on shore at Gibraltar on account of extreme ill health, took this opportunity of hoisting his flag on board an effective line-of-battle ship. Vessels were also despatched by the commander-in-chief to Rear-admirals Duckworth at Minorca, and Nelson at Palermo, and to Captains Ball off Malta, and Sir Sidney Smith off Alexandria. Several expresses had also been sent to Lord Keith ; but, owing to the continuance of the south-west gale,

* Brenton, vol. ii., p. 475.
� Ibid., p. 858.

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