navy, became a valuable acquisition to the class of large 38s. Shortly after his return, Captain Lavie received the honour of knighthood, and Mr. Henry Thomas Davies, the first lieutenant of the Blanche, the promotion which was due to him.

With his two remaining frigates, M. Leduc continued to harass the fisheries, unseen, though diligently sought, by the Phoebe and her consort. On the 13th of July the two French frigates put into Patris-Feorden, a port in Iceland, and, on their departure a few days afterwards, were chased, it appears, by two English frigates (whose names we cannot learn), but escaped by concealing themselves within the small island of Rodesand. M. Leduc then cruised off Cape Farewell, for ships coming out of Davis's Straits, and afterwards proceeded to the northern extremity of Ireland. Here he remained till chased off on the 28th of August. He then made sail for Cape Clear, and, after cruising there till the 17th of September, steered for a French port, On the 22d M. Leduc reanchored in Lorient ; having taken and sunk, during his six months' cruise, one Russian and 28 English merchantmen, chiefly whalers, and having lost, by capture, one 40-gun frigate and one 16-gun brig, almost half his original squadron.

On the 25th of July, in the evening, as the British 12 pounder 32-gun frigate Greyhound, Captain Edward Elphinstone, and 18-gun brig-sloop Harrier (16 carronades, 32-pounders, and two sixes), Captain Edward Thomas Troubridge, were cruising in the Java sea, four sail of ships were descried, passing through the Straits of Salayer. Chase was immediately given; and at 9 P.M. the strangers hove to, at about seven miles distant from the shore that lies between the small Dutch ports of Borthean and Balacomba. One of the ships was easily made out to be a frigate, and another a corvette, but a third had so much the appearance of a line-of-battle ship, that the two British commanders thought it prudent to wait until daylight before they bore down to examine the strange squadron. The Greyhound and Harrier accordingly lay to during the night, at the distance of about two miles to windward of the strange squadron.

The break of day discovered that the ship, which had led to the cautionary measures of the preceding evening, was a large two-decked armed merchant vessel, similar in size and appearance to an English Indiaman. Shortly afterwards the squadron, which consisted of the Dutch 36-gun frigate Pallas, Captain N. S. Aalbers, the Dutch company's ships Vittoria (the two-decker above-mentioned), Captain Klaas Kenkin, and Batavia, Captain William De Val, both officers in the Dutch company's service, and the 14-gun ship-corvette William, Captain Feteris, drew out in the order named, and formed a line of battle on the larboard tack, under their topsails.

At a few minutes past 5 A.M. the Greyhound bore up under French colours, as if to speak the Pallas, who was then at some

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