of burning the piratical fleet. The
night being extremely dark, the commodore despatched Lieutenant Shovel
with all the boats of the fleet to destroy the ships in the mole.
Lieutenant Shovel first seized the guard-boat, then entered the mole,
and burnt four large armed ships, without losing a man. The Dey,
terrified by these unexpected proceedings of the English, sued for
peace; but, according to time-honoured eastern custom, delayed the
fulfilment of his engagements, on which Sir John sailing in, cannonaded
the town, landed a party of men, burnt some stores, and finally brought
him to terms. One of the pirate ships carried 50 guns, one 30, one 24,
and another 20 guns. These powerful rovers were indeed a match for any
ordinary merchant-vessel, and often contended desperately with
men-of-war. In 1677 the 26-gun ship _Guernsey_, Captain James Harman,
fell in with one of them, an Algerine called the _White Horse_, carrying
50 guns, and 500 men, while the crew of the _Guernsey_ numbered only
110. A fierce action ensued, when at length the Algerine, taking
advantage of the _Guernsey's_ disabled state, sheered off, these pirates
always fighting for booty rather than for honour. The gallant Captain
Harman received three musket-balls in his body, and a severe contusion
from a cannon-shot. He still fought his ship till he sank from
exhaustion, when Lieutenant John Harris took command. The _Guernsey_ in
the action lost nine killed and many wounded, besides the captain, who
three days afterwards expired.

A still more successful action was fought between the 40-gun ship
_Adventure_, Captain William Booth, and an Algerine ship of war called
the _Golden Horse_, of 46 guns, commanded by Morat Rais, a notorious
Dutch renegado, who had a crew of 508 Moors and 90 Christian slaves.
During the action a stranger hove in sight under Turkish colours; but
night coming on, the Algerine drew off, when Captain Booth, having a
fire-ship in company, gave orders to burn her or the new-comer.
Fortunately, the fire-ship failed to reach either one or other, and in
the morning the stranger hoisted English colours, and proved to be the
40-gun ship _Nonsuch_. The _Golden Horse_ being dismasted, and 109 of
her crew killed and 120 wounded, and having six-feet of water in the
hold, surrendered.

In the same year a 42-gun ship, Captain Morgan Kempthorne, beat off
seven Algerine corsairs, after they had made several desperate attempts
to board her