rd. I had taken
the book out of the hand of the deceased, and from his neck a small
miniature of a beautiful female. The brooch in his shirt I also
brought away; and when I gave an account to the captain of what had
happened, I offered him these articles. He returned them all to me,
desired me to keep them until I could see any of the friends of the
deceased, and appeared so much distressed at the accident, that we
never mentioned it afterwards; and in the course of the time we
were together, it was nearly forgotten. The articles remained in my
possession unnoticed for many years.

Two days after, we fell in with a vessel of suspicious appearance; and
it being calm, the boats were sent in chase. They found her, on their
approach, to be a xebeque under French colours; but these they very
soon hauled down, and showed no others. As we came within hail they
told us to keep off, and that if we attempted to board they should
fire into us. This was not a threat likely to deter a British officer,
and particularly such fire-eaters as ours. So to it we went, and a
desperate struggle ensued, the numbers being nearly equal on both
sides; but they had the advantage of their own deck and bulwarks. We
got on board, however, and in a few minutes gained possession, with
a loss, on our side, of sixteen; and on that of our opponent's of
twenty-six, killed and wounded.

But great was our sorrow and disappointment when we discovered that
we had shed the blood of our friends, while we had lost our own. The
vessel, it appeared, was a Gibraltar privateer; they took us for
French, our boats being fitted with thoels and grummets for the oars,
in the French fashion; and we supposed them to be French from their
colours and the language in which they hailed us. In this affair we
had three officers killed or wounded, and some of our best men. The
privateer was manned by a mixed crew of all nations, but chiefly
Greeks; and although ostensibly with a commission signed by the
Governor of Gibraltar, were no doubt little scrupulous as to the
colours of any vessel they might encounter, provided she was not too
strong for them.

After this unfortunate mistake we proceeded to Malta: the captain
expecting a severe rebuke from his admiral, for his rashness in
sending away his boats to attack a vessel without knowing her force.
Fortunately for him, the admiral was not there; and before we met him,
the number of prizes we had taken were found sufficient in