cables, and ran on shore in every direction,
with the exception of the flag-ships of the admiral and rear-admiral,
which lay at their anchors, and could not move till high-water; it was
then first quarter flood, so that they had five good hours to remain. I
refer my readers to the court-martial for a history of these events:
they have also been commented on, with more or less severity, by
contemporary writers. I shall only observe, that had the captains of
His Majesty's ships been left to their own judgment, much more would
have been attempted; but with what success I do not presume to say.

My captain, as soon as he could see his mark, weighed, ran in, and
engaged the batteries, while he also directed his guns at the bottoms of
the enemy's ships, as they lay on shore on their beam-ends. Isle d'Aix
gave us a warm reception. I was on the forecastle, the captain of which
had his head taken clean off by a cannon-ball; the captain of the ship
coming forward at the same moment, only said, "Poor fellow! throw him
overboard; there is no time for a coroner's inquest now." We were a
considerable time engaging the batteries and the vessels near them,
without receiving any assistance from our ships.

While this was going on, a very curious instance of muscular action
occurred: a lad of eighteen years of age was on the forecastle, when a
shot cut away the whole of his bowels, which were scattered over another
midshipman and myself, and nearly blinded us. He fell--and, after lying
a few seconds, sprang suddenly on his feet, stared us horridly in the
face, and fell down dead. The spine had not been divided; but with that
exception, the lower was separated from the upper part of the body.

Some of our vessels, seeing us so warmly engaged, began to move up to
our assistance. One of our ships of the line came into action in such
gallant trim that it was glorious to behold. She was a beautiful ship,
in what we call "high kelter;" she seemed a living body, conscious of
her own superior power over her opponents, whose shot she despised, as
they fell thick and fast about her, whilst she deliberately took up an
admirable position for battle; and having furled her sails, and squared
her yards, as if she had been at Spithead, her men came down from aloft,
went to their guns, and opened such a fire on the enemy's ships and
batteries as would have delighted the great Nelson himself, could he
have been present. The results of this act