red flag of defiance, and kept up a
smart fire on our boats. Fortunately we escaped, but those from the
_Alarm_ had the lieutenant and three men wounded. Our boats were the first
alongside of her, when I hauled down the red flag and her colours, and
threw them into one of our boats, but the senior lieutenant claimed the
former. This I refused, because as I was first on board and hauled it down
I considered myself entitled to keep it. He said he should refer it to his
captain, who was the chief officer. "So be it," I replied. On our boarding
the enemy's vessel we found the crew had abandoned her, and were firing at
us with muskets from the bushes. They had scuttled her, and she was full
of water. We turned her guns on them, which soon dislodged them, and they
scampered off as fast as their legs would carry them. More than half of
our boat's crews had landed and were under my orders. We soon perceived
about thirty horse soldiers in a full trot towards us. We formed in a body
two deep, and when we were near enough gave them a sailor's salute with
our muskets and three cheers. We knocked one off his horse, and set the
others on a full gallop back from whence they came. They discharged their
carbines at us, but they were too much alarmed to take good aim, and we
escaped unharmed.

As it was impossible to get the gun-boat afloat, we tarred her sails and
set fire to her. We should have blown her up had not her powder been under
water. She mounted a long eighteen-pounder on a traverse, and six long
six-pounders on her quarter-deck. She was of great length and a formidable
vessel, and we much regretted our not being able to get her afloat, as she
would have answered for the Service. She had also four brass swivels
mounted on her gunwales, which we took in the boats. After waiting until
she had nearly burnt down to the water's edge, we returned to our ships,
taking with us the wounded Spanish dragoon. Soon after we were on our oars
the martello tower began blazing away at us. It had hitherto been silent,
but we supposed that when the run-away dragoons perceived we were
withdrawing, they returned and mounted the tower to give us a parting
salute. They might have spared themselves the trouble, as it had only one
gun, and that badly served. We were on board our own ships before they
fired the fourth shot. "Well," said the captain, on my reaching the
quarter-deck, "you were not able to get the vessel off." "No," I replied;
"she was sc