about to retire. The captain had, however, prepared a
fire-ship, with which it was intended to have reduced the town to ashes.
This vessel was a new galliot, of about 300 tons. In the bottom of the
hold were placed above a hundred barrels of powder, covered with pitch,
tar, resin, brimstone, and faggots. Over this was a row of thick planks
or beams, with holes pierced through them in order to communicate the
fire from above, and upon them were placed 340 carcases filled with
grenadoes, cannon-balls, iron chains, firearms loaded with ball, large
pieces of metal wrapped up in tarpaulins, and other combustible matters.
This craft was sent in before the wind, and was near the very foot of
the wall where it was to be fastened, when a sudden gust of wind drove
it upon a rock, where it stuck, near the place where it was intended to
have blown up. The engineer, however, had time to set fire to it before
he retired. It blew up soon afterwards, but the carcases, which were to
have done the greatest execution, being wet, did not take fire; yet the
shock was so terrible, that it threw down part of the town wall, shook
every house in the town, and overthrew the roofs of above 300 which were
nearest. The capstan, weighing above a ton, was thrown over the wall on
the top of a house, which it beat down. A similar machine had been used
for blowing up the bridge at the siege of Antwerp in 1585.

In 1694 another expedition, under the command of Sir Cloudesly Shovel,
was sent to the coast of Flanders, for the purpose of destroying the
town of Dunkirk. Previous attacks had been made on the coast of France
of a similar character. Mr Meesters, the inventor of some infernal
machines, accompanied the expedition. He requested that a captain might
be appointed to the command of the smaller craft, and Captain Benbow was
accordingly directed to take command of the bomb-galliots and
fire-ships. Owing to numerous delays, the French having got notice of
the intended attack, had time to make preparations for defeating it,
which resulted in the loss of several ships. Dieppe, however, had been
bombarded, when 1100 bombs and carcases were thrown into it with such
success, that the town was set on fire in several places, and the
townsmen and some regiments sent to their assistance had to beat a rapid
retreat.

An infernal machine, such as has before been described, was blown up at
the pierhead. It made a frightful noise, but did little execut