the marquess de Niza; and, on the 28th, the com- 1798. mandant of the french troops, 217 in number, in the Oct. castle of Goza, the neighbouring island to Malta, signed a capitulation, which captain Ball had previously negotiated, and lord Nelson now approved. Captain Creswell, of the Alexander's marines, immediately took possession of the castle, and the british colours were hoisted upon the walls. On the following day, the 29th, the place was delivered up in form to the deputies of the island; and the sicilian king's colours were substituted for the british, and his majesty acknowledged as the lawful sovereign. The island of Goza contained about 16000 inhabitants. In the castle were found 24 pieces of ordnance, consisting of four 6, two 12, and eighteen 18 pounders, all good; also 50 barrels of powder, shot in abundance, and 3200 sacks of corn, an article of great value in the then distressed state of the inhabitants.

Although it comports as little with our taste, as with our talents, to follow the french armies in their overthrow of states and countries, we must dip a little into the military occurrences of the latter part of the present year, in order to render the more intelligible some details of coast operations, necessary to be given before we take our final leave of the Mediterranean sea.

Encouraged by the success of lord Nelson at the battle of the Nile, the two weak monarchs, CharlesEmanuel of Sardinia, and Ferdinand IV. of Naples, began bestirring themselves to chase away republicanism from the vicinity of their respective kingdoms. The first hostile movement on the part of CharlesEmanuel was the signal for the French to enter Turin. This they did on the 9th of December, and in three days made themselves masters of the whole of Piedmont. In a day or two afterwards the dethroned king, by the permission of the french general Jonbert, retired with his family from his late piedmontaise dominions, and on the 20th of December arrived at Florence on his way to Sardinia.

1798. King Ferdinand began his hostile demonstrations by sending general Mack with a large army to drive the french general Championnet out of Rome. This was accomplished, and on the 29th of November Ferdinand entered Rome in triumph. His majesty's stay in that far-famed city was, however, of short duration. On the 15th of December the French repossessed themselves of Rome, and, after destroying the fortifications in and around the city, marched for Naples. In a few days afterwards general Championnet possessed himself of the strong fortresses of Pescara. Aware that the city of Naples would soon share the same fate, king Ferdinand, with the whole of the royal family, and their attendants and valuables, embarked, on the 21st of December, on board lord Nelson's ship, the Vanguard, and, in five days afterwards, arrived at Palermo in Sicily.

It has already been stated that general Buonaparte, when in the summer of 1797 he dissolved the venetian republic, possessed himself, on behalf of the french republic, of several of the islands late belonging to Venice in the Adriatic. These were Corfu, Paxu, Ste.-Maura, Theaki, Cephalonia, Zante, and Cerigo. To these islands were attached, as dependencies on the neighbouring continent, the fortresses of Butrinto, Parga, Preveza, and Vonizza. Early in the month of September intelligence reached general Chabot, who had succeeded general Gentili in the chief command of these islands, that a combined turkish and russian fleet was waiting in the Dardanelles for a fair wind, to enter the Mediterranean, and commence hostilities against the French.

By the early part of October a powerful army of Turks and Albanians, under Ali-Pacha and his son Mouktar, had swept away the French from all the ionian dependencies in Albania; and on the 6th of the month the turco russian fleet, composed of 10 russian sail of the line, four frigates, and several corvettes and brigs, under vice-admiral Ouchakow, and of about 30 turkish vessels, ships of the line, cara

vellas, corvettes, and brigs, under the orders of 1798. Cadir-Bey, appeared off the island of Cerigo. The turkish division had on board about 8000 troops, but the russian division very few. By the 10th of October the combined Turks and Russians had possessed themselves, with very little difficulty, the garrisons being weak and the principal inhabitants in their favour, of all the islands except Corfu. The number of killed, wounded, and prisoners of the French, at these islands and on the main land, was computed at 1500.

The time occupied by the enemy's fleet in reducing the other islands had enabled general Chabot to make the best dispositions in his power for defending Corfu. His garrison amounted to only 1500 infantry, and about 300 artillerymen. The naval force in the port consisted of the 74-gun ship Généreux, captain Le Joille, the 50-gun ship Leander, (but not in a state to be very useful,) 28-gun frigate Brune, captain Gabriel Denieport, a bomb-vessel, a brig, and four armed galleys. On the 20th the whole of the combined fleet came to an anchor in the Channel of Corfu, and in the course of a few days disembarked their troops. These commenced erecting batteries, and, when at length they were completed, began a cannonade upon the fortifications around the city. The tardy manner in which the besiegers proceeded in their operations, coupled with the skilful manner in which the french general conducted his defence, left the island still unsubdued at the close of the

In the mean while the Généreux had sailed for Ancona, and the three ex-venetian 64s, Stengel, La Harpe, and Beyrard, accompanied by some transports, had arrived off the small island of Faro, with a reinforcement of 3000 men from Ancona, intended for Corfu; but, finding how affairs in that island were likely to terminate, the commodore of the squadron steered in another direction.

The french naval force in Alexandria, off which port captain Samuel Hood, with the three 74-gunships

1798. Zealous, Goliath, and Swiftsure, and frigates Seahorse, Emerald, and Alcmène, was stationed, consisted of the ex-venetian 64-gun ships Causse and Dubois, french 38-gun frigate Junon, and 36-gun frigates Alceste and Courageuse, and ex-venetian 38-gun frigates Carrère and Muiron, and 32-gun frigates Leoben, Mantoue, and Montenotte, four brigcorvettes, and nine gun-boats, manned on the 26th of August, as officially reported in one of rear-admiral Ganteaume's intercepted despatches, with 4948 officers and seamen; the whole under the command of rear-admiral Ganteaume, and subsequently of com-' modore Dumanoir-le-Pelley.

Aug.

It will be recollected, that the above-mentioned ships, although they were armed en flûte on leaving Toulon with the expedition, brought out, and were expressly directed to equip themselves with, their full number of guns. This accounts for their crews being so numerous. The Causse, for instance, appears by her muster-roll to have had 608 men, the Junon 368, and the Courageuse 334. Even the transports could muster among them as many as 3017 officers and men. Exclusive of the force stationed at Alexandria, there were 15 heavy gun-vessels, under commodore Perrée, upon the river Nile, following the motions of the army.

On the 22d of August the 32-gun frigate Alcmène, captain George Hope, cruising off Alexandria, captured the french gun-boat Légère, charged with despatches for general Buonaparte, but which the commanding officer of the vessel threw overboard just as the Alcmène was approaching her. This act was not unperceived by two seamen of the frigate, John Taylor and James Harding; who, at the risk of their lives, the ship then going between five and six knots through the water, dashed overboard and saved the whole of them. Each of these brave fellows was afterwards rewarded by the city of London, with a pension of twenty pounds per annum.

On the 25th of August, at 1 A. M., captain Foley,

CAPTURE OF TORRIDE AND DESTRUCTION OF ANÉMONE. 279

of the Goliath, despatched the boats of that ship, 1798. under the orders of lieutenant William Debusk, to Aug. attack a french armed ketch, which was moored under the guns of the castle of Aboukir. The boats were soon alongside, and a spirited scuffle ensued. Lieutenant Debusk, for some time, fought hand to hand with the french commanding officer. At length, after an obstinate resistance of 15 minutes, the french national armed ketch Torride, mounting three long 18-pounders and four swivels, with a complement of 70 men, surrendered. Her commander, lieutenant de vaisseau Martin Bedar, and 10 of his men were badly wounded. The loss on the part of the British amounted to two wounded, including lieutenant Debusk. The Torride may serve for a specimen of the description of gun-boat attached to the french fleet at the battle of the Nile. Ten or 12 such vessels, in a calm, would give very serious annoyance to a line-of-battle ship.

On the 2d of September, while captain Hood Sept. with his squadron was cruising off Alexandria, a cutter made her appearance, standing towards the land. The Swiftsure and Emerald fired several shot at her, but the cutter persisted in not bringing to, and at length ran aground a little to the westward of the tower of Marabou. The boats were instantly despatched to bring her off; but, in the mean time, the crew of the cutter had made good their landing, and the cutter herself was shortly afterwards beaten to pieces by the high surf. The shore at this time presented, as far as the eye could reach, nothing but barren, uncultivated sands: very shortly, however, several Arabs were seen advancing, some on horseback, others on foot. The French, who had quitted the cutter, now perceived their mistake; but, for the fate of nearly the whole of them, the discovery came too late. The British in the boats pulled lustily towards the shore in the hope of saving their unfortunate enemy, but, on account of the breakers, could not effect a landing in safety. A midshipman of the Emerald,