would otherwise have swamped her. The officer who accompanied
me steered the vessel, and I held the match in my hand. We came upon
the boom with a horrid crash; he put the helm down, and laid her
broadside to it. The force of the tide acting on the hull, and the wind
upon the foresail, made her heel gunwale to, and it was with difficulty
I could keep my legs; at this moment the boat was very near being
swamped alongside. They had shifted her astern, and there the tide had
almost lifted her over the boom; by great exertion they got her clear,
and lay upon their oars: the tide and the wind formed a bubbling short
sea, which almost buried her. My companion then got into the boat,
desiring me to light the port-fire and follow.

If ever I felt the sensation of fear, it was after I had lighted this
port-fire, which was connected with the train. Until I was fairly in
the boat, and out of the reach of the explosion--which was inevitable,
and might be instantaneous--the sensation was horrid. I was standing on
a mine; any fault in the port-fire, which sometimes will happen; any
trifling quantity of gunpowder lying in the interstices of the deck,
would have exploded the whole in a moment: had my hand trembled, which I
am proud to say it did not, the same might have occurred. Only one
minute and a half of port-fire was allowed. I had therefore no time to
lose. The moment I had lit it, I laid it down very gently, and then
jumped into the gig, with a nimbleness suitable to the occasion. We
were off in a moment: I pulled the stroke oar, and I never plied with
more zeal in all my life: we were not two hundred yards from her when
she exploded.

A more terrific and beautiful sight cannot be conceived; but we were not
quite enough at our ease to enjoy it. The shells flew up in the air to
a prodigious height, some bursting as they rose, and others as they
descended. The shower fell about us, but we escaped without injury. We
made but little progress against the wind and tide; and we had the
pleasure to run the gauntlet among all the other fire-ships, which had
been ignited, and bore down on us in flames fore and aft. Their rigging
was hung with Congreve rockets; and as they took fire they darted
through the air in every direction, with an astounding noise, looking
like large fiery serpents.

We arrived safely on board, and reported ourselves to the captain, who
was on the hammocks, watching the progress of the fire-ships.