For upwards of 15 minutes the Royal-Sovereign was the only British ship in close action. At the end of that time, when the former had taken a position upon her opponent's lee bow, and was making the best possible use of it, the Belleisle, hauling up, fired a broadside into the lee quarter of the Santa-Ana, and them bore away towards the Indomptable. Owing to some of the ships astern of the Fougueux pressing forward to support the centre while others remained with their sails aback or shivering, the Franco-Spanish line (if line we must call it) was becoming even more irregular than it had been. The slanting direction in which on account of this movement, the British lee column was obliged to advance, enabled the ships to discharge their starboard guns at the enemy's rear ; and an interchange of animated firing ensued, the smoke from which, for the want of a breeze to carry it off, spread its murky mantle over the combatants, and increased the confusion into which the rear of the combined fleet had already been thrown by the crash at its centre.

Lord Nelson had already, in a two-decker, evinced how little he dreaded coming in contact with a Spanish first-rate ; and even the towering and formidable looking four-decker at present in front of him had, on that very occasion, been driven from her purpose by his well-known prowess. But, although he directed the Victory to be steered towards the bow of his old opponent, it was not with the intention of attacking her: a Spanish rear admiral, whatever the force of his ship, was considered an unworthy object while a French vice-admiral commanded the fleet. Lord Nelson did not feel a doubt, and the sequel proved he was correct, that M. Villeneuve was in one of the two or three ships next astern of the four-decker ; and, knowing that, to fetch a ship lying to at a distance ahead, he must keep her on his lee bow, he ordered the Victory to be steered in the manner just related.

Although every glass on board the Victory was put in requisition to discover the flag of the French commander-in-chief, all the answers to the repeated questions of Lord Nelson on the subject ended in disappointment. The four-decker's flag at the mizen could be made out, and some signals were occasionally seen at the main of two or three of the ships, but no French flag at the fore . * Often did the little man himself, with his remaining eye, cast an anxious glance towards the Franco-Spanish line in search of the ship which he meant the Victory first to grapple with ; and so lightly did Lord Nelson value personal risk, that, although urged more than once on the subject, he would not suffer those barriers from the enemy's grape and musketry, the

*  It was probably signals, made when the Victory was much closer, that gave rise to the following entry in the log of the Spartiate : " Observed her bearing down between a Spanish four-decker and a French two-decker, with admiral's flags at the main".

^ back to top ^