that she was in a sinking state. Captain Bayntun, as quickly as possible, removed all the Englishmen, and nearly the whole of the Spaniards. It was well the Leviathan did so, for, in the gale of the ensuing night, the Monarca parted her cable and went on shore. A similar fate, a day or two afterwards, attended the Rayo ; and, of the 107 officers and men put on board by the Donegal, 25 were drowned : the remainder were made prisoners by the Spaniards.

The supposition that the Franco-Spanish squadron, which had sailed out of Cadiz on the 22d, consisted of 10, instead of five sail of the line, was doubtless the reason that as many as 10 sail of British line-of-battle ships had been ordered to cut adrift their prizes, and form in order of battle. This untoward circumstance, and the continuance of bad weather, determined Vice-admiral Collingwood to destroy all the leewardmost of the captured ships. Accordingly the Santisima-Trinidad was cleared, scuttled, and sunk by the Neptune and Prince ; but, in spite of every pains to remove the wounded by lowering them down in cots from the stern and quarter-gallery windows, 28 of them perished in the ship. The south-west gale increasing to a most violent degree, it took several days to collect and anchor the remaining hulls preparatory to their destruction. Notwithstanding every exertion was used on the part of the Defiance, the Aigle drifted into Cadiz bay on the night of the 25th, and was stranded on the bar off Port Santa-Maria.

The few remaining prizes were at length anchored between Cadiz and about six leagues to the westward of San-Lucar ; and on the 28th the body of the British fleet lay also at anchor to the north-west of Lucar, the Royal-Sovereign without any masts except jury main and mizen ones, and the Mars with main and Mizen masts only, each ship having lost her foremast in the last severe gale. Between the 28th and 30th the Intr�pide was burnt by the Britannia, and the San-Augustin by the Leviathan and Orion ; and the Argonauta was scuttled and sunk by the Ajax. Another of the hulls, the Berwick, after having anchored in apparent safety, was wrecked off San-Lucar, entirely owing to the frenzied behaviour of a portion of the prisoners who cut the cables. The Donegal, being at anchor near, cut her cable and, standing towards the drifting ship, sent her boats to save the people on board. This noble proceeding of Captain Malcolm was only partially successful, when the Berwick struck upon the shoals ; and in her perished about 200 persons.

As a practical proof of the benefit that might have been derived to the fleet and prizes by attending to Lord Nelson's dying injunctions, the Defence, accompanied by her prize, the San-Ildefonso, anchored on the evening of the action, and weathered the gale in safety. The example of these ships was followed by two other of the prizes, the Swiftsure and Bahama ; and with the assistance rendered by the Donegal and Phoebe, these also were saved. The fourth and only remaining prize,

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