n these plans was usually assigned to the Toulon fleet. According to one
project it was to give Nelson the slip, make for the Straits of Gibraltar,
combine with the Cadiz fleet in driving off or crushing the blockading
squadron before that port, sail north with the liberated vessels, fall on
the blockading ships before Rochefort and Brest, and then sweep the
Channel with the united squadrons. In other projects French fleets were to
run the blockades simultaneously or in succession, raid the West Indies,
draw off a part of the naval forces of England to the other side of the
Atlantic, and then come swooping back upon the Channel.

In the plan finally adopted the first move was to be the escape of the
Toulon fleet; the second, the threat against the West Indies. Its execution
was entrusted to Villeneuve, because Napoleon, ever since the escape of his
squadron from the disaster in Aboukir Bay, had regarded him as "a lucky
man," and luck and chance must play a great part in such a project.

Nelson did not keep up a close and continuous blockade of Toulon with his
fighting-fleet of battleships. He used Sardinia as his base of supplies,
and there were times when all the heavier ships were in Sardinian waters,
while his frigates watched Toulon. His previous experiences had led him to
believe that if the French Mediterranean fleet came out it would be for
another raid on Egypt, and this idea was confirmed by reports that
Villeneuve was embarking not only troops, but large quantities of saddlery
and muskets. The story of the saddles seemed to indicate an expedition to a
country where plenty of horses could be obtained to mount a body of
cavalry--horses, too, that when they were bought or requisitioned would not
have saddles that a European trooper was used to. Nelson did not want to
keep the French shut up in Toulon. He was anxious to catch them in the open
sea, and with his fleet on the coast of Sardinia and his frigates spread
out in a fan to the northwards he counted on bringing Villeneuve to action
if he attempted to reach the Levant.

In January, 1805, the frigates brought news that the French were out, and
Nelson at once disposed his fleet to intercept their expected voyage to
Egypt. He found no trace of them in the direction he expected, and he was
greatly relieved on returning from a hurried rush eastward to learn that
bad weather had driven Villeneuve back to his port. "These gentlemen," he
said, "are not accustomed to