nced, and brought off a Spanish privateer. The
two captains then determined to attack Oropesa, where the forts were
supported by a twenty-gun ship and three gun-boats, which had put in there
with ten merchantmen under their convoy. Cochrane had fitted out, at his
own expense, a Spanish privateer of six guns which he had captured, as a
tender to the _Speedy_, and had appointed his brother to command her; and
in broad daylight the _Kangaroo_, _Speedy_, and tender sailed in to the
attack. The _Kangaroo_ engaged the forts, while we and young Cochrane
directed our attention to the war-ship and gun-boats. It was as hot an
action as any in which I ever took part. For some hours the firing was
incessant. At the end of that time the _Kangaroo's_ fire was evidently
telling on the forts, while the fire of our antagonists was slackening.

"Just as we thought that victory was assured, a twelve-gun felucca and two
more gun-boats arrived from Valencia to assist the fort. This
reinforcement inspired the Spaniards with fresh spirit, and their
cannonade against us again became very heavy. We turned our attention
entirely to the new-comers, with such effect that we drove them off, and
then hammered away again at our old opponents, and had the satisfaction at
last of sinking all four of them, while three of the merchantmen, which
had been in the line of fire, had also gone down. The action had lasted
nine hours, and both we and the _Kangaroo_ had used up nearly all our
ammunition. The felucca and the two gun-boats from Valencia had again come
up, and we had but a few shot left. We were forced to put a bold face on
it; accordingly, the _Kangaroo_ weighed her anchor, stood in close to the
fort, and again anchored as if to pound it at close quarters, while we
headed straight for the felucca and gun-boats. Fortunately they did not
await our coming, but turned tail and returned to Valencia.

"The _Kangaroo's_ boats and ours were now lowered, and made for the
remaining merchantmen. Four of them cut their cables and ran ashore, where
they were under the protection of a large body of troops on the beach. We
could soon have driven these off had we had any ammunition left, but as it
was, we were obliged to content ourselves with the capture of the other
three ships. On our return to Port Mahon, after this really successful
action, we found to our disgust that instead of the _Gamo_ being purchased
as usual by government, she had been sold for a mere s