1813	Light Squadrons and Single Ships	162

set herself on fire. The schooner continued discharging her guns for about half an hour longer. Lieutenant Scriven then ceased firing, and sent his boats to endeavour to save the vessel, whose crew had already reached the shore in their boats. The schooner's boat got on board ; and so, it is believed, did some boats from the Challenger and Constant, but too late to save the Flibustier ; which at about 8 h. 10 m. p.m. exploded, in sight of the English and French armies encamped on the east side of the Adour. The Telegraph had not a man hurt, nor, as it appears, a spar or a shroud shot away.

For his gallantry in advancing to attack a force so much superior to his own, Lieutenant Scriven was promoted to the rank of commander ; and the Telegraph, by his continuing to be captain of her, became a sloop of war. Lest we should appear to have underrated the force of the Flibustier, we are bound to state, that the official account of her destruction assigns her a force of 16 carronades and two nines, with a brass howitzer, and four brass 3-pounders. The swivels and howitzer she may have mounted ; but we doubt if the Flibustier carried more than 14 carronades, chiefly because we know not of a single instance (the Abeille, as already stated, had been a foreign-built vessel * ), in which a regular French brig-corvette mounted more than 16 guns, similar to the Oreste, and a great many others that have appeared in these pages. Moreover, very little time was allowed for the British, to take an accurate account of the force of the Flibustier.

On the 30th of September the two Franco-Batavian 40-gun frigates Trave and Weser, Captains Jacob Van-Maren and Paul-Roelof Cantz-Laar, put to sea from the Texel, on a cruise off the Western Isles. On the 16th of October a violent gale of wind dismasted both frigates, and separated them from each other. On the 18th, towards 1 a.m., latitude 47� 30' north, longitude 9� 18' west, the British 18-gun brig-sloop Scylla, Captain Colin Macdonald, fell in with the Weser, then with the loss of her main and mizen masts and fore topmast, steering east by north ; on her way to Brest. After hailing the frigate several times, the Scylla received a broadside from her. On this the brig made sail ahead. At daylight both vessels hoisted their colours ; but Captain Macdonald judged it not prudent to attack a ship that, although crippled in her masts, was so decidedly his superior in guns and men ; especially, as the Scylla might herself get crippled, and, in the severe state of the weather, be thereby prevented from keeping sight of the frigate : a service on which the brig now assiduously employed herself.

On the 19th, at daylight, having passed the night in burning blue lights, firing guns, and throwing up rockets, to indicate that she was in chase of an enemy the Scylla found herself alone,

See vol. v., p. 368.

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