s sword to the
first lieutenant, informed us that the ship was the _Reynard_, when we
found that she was not only of larger size and carried four more guns
than we had, but had commenced the action with upwards of two hundred
men more than we mustered. The French captain, Monsieur Brunet, who had
really fought his ship very gallantly, shrugged his shoulders,
exclaiming, `It is the fortune of war!' as he delivered up his sword,
and was requested, having packed up his personal effects, to go on board
the _Wolf_, in a boat sent for the purpose. The boats of the French
frigate were too much knocked about to float, and it took us some time
to remove the prisoners and send a prize crew on board. It was night,
therefore, before we were ready to make sail, when we steered a course
for the north-west, to avoid the French fleet, which was supposed to be
off the coast of Spain or Portugal.

"The scene on board the prize made me very glad to get back to my own
ship. Though we had gained the battle, we were not allowed to sleep on
beds of roses. Our prisoners considerably outnumbered our own crew, and
our boatswain, who spoke French, having been taken during the earlier
part of the war, overheard some of them discussing a plan for
overpowering us and regaining the prize. As we could not put them all
in irons, we had to keep a strict watch over their movements.

"The weather remained fine, but there was a thick mist which prevented
us from seeing far ahead. It had just gone two bells in the morning
watch, when, as I was forward, I heard a tinkling sound. I listened
attentively. Again the sound distinctly struck my ear. It came borne
along the surface of the water from some distance. I reported the
circumstance to the officer of the watch, and he immediately sent to
inform the captain. He soon reached the deck, and after listening for a
while, announced it to be his belief that the sounds proceeded from the
French fleet. He immediately ordered the ship's course to be changed to
the westward. In another hour we again hauled up to the northward.
When morning broke, the look-out from the mast announced a fleet in
sight to the south-east. All the sail we and our prize could make was
set. We soon discovered, however, that several large ships were in
chase of us, but our captain was not the man to give in while a stick
remained standing. We continued our course, hoping that a change of
wind or some other chance might enabl