en set
on fire. The enemy now determined to abandon all the ships, and those
which had hitherto resisted the effects of the red-hot shots were, by
order of the Admiral, set in flames.

As the gray morning dawned, the scene on the waters of the bay was
sublimely terrible; masses of shattered wreck, to which were clinging
the drowning crews, floated over the troubled waves; groans and cries
for help reached even to the walls, or were drowned in the thunders of
the exploding magazines, while the glaring flames of the burning vessels
cast a lurid light over the awful spectacle.

At two o'clock in the morning Brigadier Curtis, who with his squadron of
gunboats lay at the New Mole ready to take advantage of any opportunity
to harass the enemy, pushed out to the westward and with great
expedition formed line upon the flank of the battering-ships. This
sudden movement completely disconcerted the Spaniards, who were engaged
in removing the crews from the vessels, and they fled precipitately,
abandoning the wounded and leaving them to perish in the flames. As
daylight appeared two feluccas, which had not been able before to
escape, were discovered endeavoring to get away, but, a shot from one of
the gunboats killing five of their men, they both surrendered.

Hearing from the prisoners that hundreds of officers and men, some
wounded, still remained on board the batteries and must certainly
perish, Captain Curtis, at the utmost risk of his own life, made the
most heroic efforts to effect their rescue. Careless of danger from the
explosions which every instant scattered showers of _debris_ around him,
he passed from ship to ship and literally dragged from the burning decks
the miserable men who yet remained on board. With the coolest
intrepidity he pushed his pinnace close alongside one of the largest
batteries at the very moment she blew up, covering the sea with
fragments of her wreck. For a time the boat was engulfed amid the
falling ruin, and her escape was miraculous. A huge balk of timber fell
through her flooring, killing the coxswain, wounding others of the crew,
and starting a large hole in her bottom. Through this leak the water
rushed so rapidly that little hope was left of reaching the shore, but,
the sailors' jackets being stuffed into the aperture, the hole was
plugged, and the gallant men got safe to land. By the heroic and humane
exertions of Captain Curtis and his boat's crew three hundred
fifty-seven persons wer