uld, as he felt pretty
certain that the attention of the ship's prize crew would be fully
occupied in watching the manoeuvres of the brigantine and the schooner;
and, trusting to this, he hauled his wind until he had placed the brig
in position the merest trifle to windward of the course that the ship
was steering, when, taking his chance of having thus far escaped
observation, he clewed up and furled everything, afterwards patiently
awaiting the development of events.

And now ensued a very curious and amusing thing, it having transpired
that the French prize crew of the ship _had_ seen the brig, and had at
once jumped to the conclusion that she was a prize to the schooner. The
curious behaviour of the _Three Sisters_ had puzzled them not a little
at the outset, but when we opened fire upon the brigantine they knew at
once that we must be an enemy; and, supposing that the prize crew of the
brig--whom they rashly judged to be their own countrymen--had taken
advantage of our preoccupation to rise and recapture their vessel, they
immediately bore down to their assistance. This lucky mistake enabled
Christie to fall alongside the ship without difficulty, when, laying
aside for the nonce his gentle, lady-like demeanour, he led his eight
men up the ship's lofty sides and over her high bulwarks on to her deck,
where the nine of them laid about them with such good will that, after
about a minute's resistance, the astounded Frenchmen were fain to
retreat to the forecastle, where, in obedience to Christie's summons,
they forthwith flung down their arms and surrendered at discretion.
Then, clapping the hatch over them, and stationing two men with drawn
cutlasses by it as a guard, Christie proceeded to liberate the
imprisoned crew of the ship,--which he discovered to be the British West
Indiaman _Black Prince_, homeward-bound at the time of her capture, two
days previously, with an exceedingly valuable general cargo,--and then
sent his own men back to the _Three Sisters_, which had all this time
been lying alongside, secured to the Indiaman by grapnels. The brig
then cast off, and the two craft forthwith bore down upon us to report,
the fight between ourselves and the brigantine being by that time over.

By the time that our own and the brigantine's damages had been repaired
it was daylight, and we were all ready for making sail once more. But
before doing so I caused the whole of the Frenchmen to be removed to the
schooner,