Aug.

1798. and supposed to be on shore, for the purpose of summoning the 74 to surrender. In the mean time the Goliath and Theseus, accompanied by the Alexander and Leander, stood towards the Heureux and Mercure; who, on quitting the line, had first anchored considerably within it, and had then run themselves on shore to the southward of the bay. These ships, after the interchange of a few distant shot, struck their colours; the Heureux first, then the Mercure. The latter was afterwards taken possession of by the Alexander, and the former by one of the other ships. On discovering the object of the Zealous, the Justice gave up her design upon the Bellerophon, (who was getting ready to give her a suitable reception,) and returned to the cluster of ships from among which she had made sail. The Zealous thereupon, by signal from the admiral, bore away to join the Bellerophon, and protect her from further molestation.

At about 11 A. M. the absence of the Goliath, Theseus, and Alexander afforded to the Généreux and Guillaume-Tell, and the two frigates Justice and Diane, an opportunity to get under way and make sail to the north-east. The Timoléon, being too far to-leeward to fetch clear, had run herself on shore, losing her foremast by the shock. The four other ships now hauled close on the larboard tack; and immediately the Zealous, who from the course she was steering happened to be the nearest british ship, hauled close on the same tack, with the bold intention of bringing this french 80 and 74 and two heavy frigates to action, and, if possible, of retarding their progress until some of her friends should come to her assistance; or, at all events, in the hope of so crippling one of the french ships, as to disable her at least from working out of the bay. The Zealous weathered the four fugitives within musketshot, and obliged them to bear away to avoid being raked; but received in return a very destructive fire to her rigging and sails. Through her mainsail

alone upwards of 40 round shot had passed; and 1798. yet no other loss was sustained by her, than one Aug. man, who had been slightly wounded by the Guerrier, killed, and one wounded. While the Zealous was endeavouring to get about in time to cut off the rearmost frigate, the former's signal of recall was made; and the french ships stretching on, effected their escape. For his gallantry upon this occasion, captain Hood received the warm acknowledgments of the commander in chief.

Of the 13 french ships of the line, one had perished in the flames, eight had surrendered, and two had escaped; and of the remaining two, one, the Timoléon, was on shore with her colours flying, the other, the Tonnant, having had her second cable cut by the fire of the Alexander, lay about two miles from the Timoléon, a mere wreck, but also with her colours up, which were flying on the stump of her mainmast. Things remained in this state until the morning of the following day, the 3d; when the Theseus and Leander approached, and stationed themselves near the Tonnant. All further resistance being utterly hopeless, the latter hauled down her ensign; and, on replacing it with a flag of truce, was taken possession of by a boat from the Theseus. The principal part of the crew of the Timoléon had, during the preceding night, escaped on shore. The remainder, at about noon on the 3d, set fire to their ship; which, exploding soon afterwards, made the eleventh line-of-battle ship lost to the French by, in their nomenclature, the battle of Aboukir, "le combat d'Aboukir," but, as the conquerors have named it, the battle of the Nile.

The damages sustained by the british ships were chiefly confined to their masts and rigging. The Bellerophon was the only ship entirely dismasted, and the Majestic the only one, besides her, that had lost any lower mast. The Defence had lost her fore topmast, and the Alexander her mizen topmast, and her fore and main topgallantmasts; and on the 3d, at 6 P. M., the latter's main topmast, from the wounds it

1798. had received, fell over the top, as, on the same Aug. morning, had the main topmast of the Goliath. The lower masts, yards, and bowsprits of all the ships that had been engaged, were more or less damaged by shot. The Vanguard, it will be recollected, went into action with a jury foremast. The Bellerophon's hull was in a very shattered state. One of the carronades on her poop was broken to pieces. Seven of the quarterdeck guns were entirely disabled; as were six of the second, and two of the first or lowerdeck guns; and the greater part of her hammocks were more or less cut. The Vanguard had been struck very heavily by shot on her starboard bow; and the Swiftsure, as she was bearing down to engage, received in her larboard bow, several feet below the water-mark, a shot from the Tonnant, which, in spite of the constant use of the chain-pumps, kept four feet water in the hold from the commencement to the end of the action. The Theseus was also hulled, in more than 70 places; and the Majestic was nearly in as shattered a state as the Bellerophon.

The loss of the British was, in the aggregate, tolerably severe. We have enumerated the loss on board most of the ships. We will now, taking the ships in the order in which they advanced to the attack, give a more detailed account. The Goliath had one master's mate, (William Davies,) one midshipman, (Andrew Brown,) 12 seamen, and seven marines killed, one lieutenant, (William Wilkinson,) two midshipmen, (Lawrence Graves and James Payne,) her schoolmaster, 28 seamen, and nine marines wounded; the Zealous, one seaman killed, and seven wounded; the Orion, one captain's clerk, 11 seamen, and one marine killed, her captain, the boatswain, (Peter Sadler,) three midshipmen, (Philip Richardson, Charles Miell, and — Lanfesty,) nine seamen, and two marines wounded; the Audacious, one seaman killed, one lieutenant, (John Jeans,) her gunner, 31 seamen, and two marines wounded; the Theseus, five seamen killed, one lieutenant, (Richard Hawkins,) 24 seamen, and five marines

wounded; the Vanguard, her captain of marines, 1798. (William Faddy,) two midshipmen, (Thomas Sey- Aug. mour and John George Taylor,) 20 seamen, and seven marines killed, the rear-admiral, (by a contusion in the head, but not reported,) two lieutenants, (Nathaniel Vassall and James Adye,) the admiral's secretary, (John Campbell,) the boatswain, (Mr. Austin,) two midshipmen, (James Weatherston and George Antrim,) 60 seamen, and eight marines wounded; the Minotaur, one lieutenant, (John G. Kirchner,) one master's mate, (Peter Walters,) 18 seamen, and three marines killed, one lieutenant, (Thomas Irwin,) one lieutenant of marines, (John Jewell,) her second master, (Thomas Forster,) one midshipman, (Martin Wells,) 54 seamen, and six marines wounded; the Defence, three seamen and one marine killed, nine seamen and two marines wounded; the Bellerophon, three lieutenants, (Robert Savage Daniel, Philip William Launder, and George Joliffe,) one master's mate, (Thomas Ellison,) 32 seamen, and 13 marines killed, her captain, master, (Edward Kirby,) captain of marines, (John Hopkins,) boatswain, (Mr. Chapman,) one midshipman, (Nicholas Bettson,) 126 seamen, and 17 marines wounded; the Majestic, her captain, one midshipman, (Zebedee Ford,) boatswain, (Andrew Gilmore,) 33 seamen, and 14 marines killed, two midshipmen, (Charles Seward and Charles Royle,) her captain's clerk, (Robert Overton,) 124 seamen, and 16 marines wounded; the Swiftsure, seven seamen killed, one midshipman, (William Smith,) 19 seamen, and two marines wounded; the Alexander, one lieutenant, (John Collins,) and 13 seamen killed, her captain, captain of marines, (John Creswell,) master, (William Lawson,) two midshipmen, (George Bully and Luke Anderson,) 48 seamen, and five marines wounded; the Leander, 14 seamen wounded: making a total of 218 killed, and 678 wounded.*

* One more in the wounded than appears in the official account, owing to the exclusion of the rear-admiral's name. The following

1798. Of the damages sustained by the captured french Aug. ships, more details, scanty as they are, have already been given, than are contained in any published account. They may now be summed up by stating, that the Guerrier, Conquérant, Spartiate, Aquilon, and Tonnant, were entirely dismasted, and, in the present state of their hulls, (the two first especially,) not seaworthy; and that the Peuple-Souverain retained but her mizenmast, and the Franklin, her foremast, with their hulls in not much better plight than those of their captive companions. As to the Mercure and Heureux, their principal damages were not from shot, but from running on shore. These table shows at one view each ship's tonnage, complement, loss, and, to the best of our power in so difficult a research, first lieutenant present in the action.