stern dropped clear of the
ship. To estimate the perils of their position, it should be borne in
mind, that the fire had been communicated by these fearless men to the
near neighborhood of both magazines of the Philadelphia. The Intrepid
herself was a fire ship, having been supplied with combustibles, a mass
of which, ready to be converted into the means of destroying other
vessels of the enemy, if the opportunity should offer, lay in barrels on
her quarter deck, covered only with a tarpaulin.

With destruction thus encompassing them within and without, Decatur and
his brave followers were unmoved. Calmly they put forth the necessary
exertion, breasted the Intrepid off with spars, and pressing on their
sweeps, caused her slowly to withdraw from the vicinity of the burning
mass. A gentle breeze from the land came auspiciously at the same
moment, and wafted the Intrepid beyond the reach of the flames, bearing
with it, however, a shower of burning embers, fraught with danger to
a vessel laden with combustibles, had not discipline, order, and calm
self-possession, been at hand for her protection. Soon this peril was
also left behind, and Decatur and his followers were at a sufficient
distance to contemplate securely the spectacle which the Philadelphia
presented. Hull, spars, and rigging, were now enveloped in flames. As
the metal of her guns became heated, they were discharged in succession
from both sides, serving as a brilliant salvo in honor of the victor,
and not harmless for the Tripolitans, as her starboard battery was fired
directly into the town.

The town itself, the castles, the minarets of the mosques, and the
shipping in the harbor, were all brought into distinct view by the
splendor of the conflagration. It served also to reveal to the enemy the
cause of their disaster, in the little Intrepid, as she slowly withdrew
from the harbor. The shot of the shipping and castles fell thickly
around her, throwing up columns of spray, which the brilliant light
converted into a new ornament of the scene. Only one shot took effect,
and that passed through her top-gallant sail. Three hearty American
cheers were now given in mingled triumph and derision. Soon after, the
boats of the Siren joined company, and assisted in towing the Intrepid
out of the harbor. The cables of the Philadelphia having burned off, she
drifted on the rocks near the westward entrance of the harbor; and then
the whole spectacle, so full of moral subl