more fully exposed to the latter's well-directed broadsides, soon slackened her fire and dropped astern. The Colossus was now enabled to devote her sole attention to the Bahama; who, on her mainmast falling, as it presently did, over her engaged side, showed an English jack from the hen-coops on her poop, to denote that she had struck. Meanwhile the French Swiftsure endeavoured to bear up under the stern of the Colossus ; but the latter, wearing more quickly, received a few only of the former's larboard guns, before she poured in her starboard broadside. This brought down the French Swiftsure's mizenmast At the same time the Orion, in passing, gave the French ship a broadside, which brought down her tottering mainmast; whereupon the Swiftsure made signs to the Colossus of having surrendered. In hauling up to take possession of her two prizes, the latter lost her wounded mizenmast over the starboard side.

The mainmast of the Colossus was so badly wounded, that she was compelled, during the ensuing night, to cut it away ; and her damages altogether were extremely severe. Her only remaining stick, the foremast, had been shot through in several places ; two of her anchors and three of her boats had been destroyed, and some of her guns disabled. Four of her starboard lowerdeck ports had also been knocked away by running on board the Argonaute, and her hull in every part of it was much shattered. The Colossus lost in the action her master (Thomas Scriven), 31 seamen, and eight marines killed, her captain, * two lieutenants (George Bully and William Forster), one lieutenant of marines (John Benson), her boatswain (William Adamson), one master's mate (Henry Milbanke), eight midshipmen (William Herringham, Frederick Thistlewayte, Thomas G. Reece, Henry Snellgrove, Rawden McLean, George W Wharrie, Timothy Renou, and George Denton), 115 seamen, and 31 marines wounded.

The Argonaute, the first broadside-opponent of the Colossus, although she lost none of her masts, must have suffered severely in the hull, having had, according to the French accounts, nearly 160 of her crew killed and wounded : she, nevertheless, effected her escape. Some of the French writers are very severe in their strictures upon the conduct of the French Argonaute. It appears that the Hermione frigate, in compliance with the practice of the French navy, hoisted the signal, for ships unengaged to engage, and, finding no attention paid to it, added the number of the Argonaute, and kept both signal and pendant flying for one

*  With a truly gallant spirit, Captain Morris would not go below, but. applying a tourniquet to his thigh remained at his post near the head of the poop-ladder until, to avoid the fall of the mizenmast, he descended to the quarterdeck. After the battle was over, and the Agamemnon had come down to take the Colossus in tow, Captain Morris, having become faint from loss of blood was carried below and was landed in his cot some days afterwards at Gibraltar.

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