miss the
French, thanks to false information, and learn too late that they were
returning to Europe. Villeneuve had paid only a flying visit to the West
Indies, leaving Martinique on 5 June, the day after Nelson arrived at
Barbadoes, and steering first north, then eastwards across the Atlantic.
Nelson followed on 13 June, and reached Gibraltar without once sighting his
enemy.

He had, however, taken the precaution of dispatching a fast sailing brig to
England with the news that the French fleet was returning to Europe. This
ship, the "Curieux," actually got a glimpse of the enemy far off in mid
ocean, and outsailed him to such good purpose that the Admiralty was able
to order the squadrons blockading Brest and Rochefort to unite under the
command of Sir Robert Calder and try to intercept Villeneuve on his way
back. Though inferior in numbers to the allied fleet, Calder brought it to
action in thick, foggy weather on 22 July, some ninety miles off the
Spanish Cape Finisterre. The battle, fought in semi-darkness, was a
desultory, indecisive encounter, and though Calder cut off and took two
Spanish ships of the line, the feeling in England, when the news arrived,
was not one of satisfaction at his partial success, but of undeserved
indignation at his having failed to force the fighting and destroy the
enemy's fleet.

Villeneuve took his fleet into Vigo Bay. According to the plan of
campaign, now that he had shaken off Nelson's pursuit, he should have
sailed for the Channel, picking up the Brest and Rochefort squadrons on his
way. Napoleon, at Boulogne, was ceaselessly drilling the Grand Army in
rapid embarkation and disembarkation, and hoping each day for news of his
admiral's dash into the Channel. But Villeneuve, who knew Keith had a
squadron in the Channel, and had a vague dread of Nelson suddenly making
his appearance, had a better appreciation of the small chance of the scheme
giving any result than the imperious soldier-Emperor, who had come to
believe that what he ordered must succeed. From Vigo, Villeneuve wrote to
the Minister of Marine, Decres, that his fleet was hardly in condition for
any active enterprise. It had met with trying weather in the Atlantic. His
flagship, the "Bucentaure," had been struck and damaged by lightning. All
the ships needed a dockyard overhaul. There was sickness among the crews.
He had to land hundreds of men and send them to hospital. He wanted
recruits badly, and Vigo afforded only t