before the wind, as if inviting their enemies to come on and fight it out
fairly in that manner, if they felt disposed to pursue the affair
any farther.

It was time something of this sort was done, for the delay had brought all
four of the vessels so far to the westward, as to leave them within a mile
of the Dawn; and I saw the necessity of again getting out of the way. We
filled and stood off, as fast as possible. It was time something of the
sort was done, in another sense, also. When M. Menneval bore up, his
antagonists were closing fast on his weather-quarter, and unless he meant
to fight to leeward, it was incumbent on him to get out of the way, in
his turn.

Sir Hotham Ward, however, was too skilful a seaman to neglect the
advantage Mons. Menneval had given him. The instant the French kept away,
he did the same; but instead of falling broad off before the wind, he
luffed again in time, not having touched a brace, and crossed the wakes of
his enemies, giving a most effective broadside into the cabin-windows of
Le Cerf. To my surprise, La Desiree held on her course, until the Speedy
had repeated the dose. The English then wore short round, and were
seemingly on the point of going over the same thing, when Mons. Menneval,
finding this a losing game, hauled up, firing as his guns bore, and Le
Cerf did the same, with her head the other way, destroying everything like
concert in their movements. The English closed, and, in a minute, all four
of the ships were enveloped in a common cloud of white smoke. All we could
now see, were the masts, from the trucks down, sometimes as low as the
tops, but oftener not lower than the top-sail-yards. The reports of the
guns were quite rapid for a quarter of an hour, after which they became
much less frequent, though a hundred pieces of ordnance were still at work
behind that cloudy screen.

Several shot flew in our direction; and two actually passed between our
masts. Notwithstanding, so keen was the interest we continued to feel,
that the top-sail was again backed, and there we lay, lookers-on, as
indifferent to the risks we ran, as if we had been ashore. Minute passed
after minute, until a considerable period had been consumed; yet neither
of the combatants became fairly visible to us. Occasionally a part of a
hull pushed itself out of the smoke, or the wind blew the latter aside;
but at no time was the curtain sufficiently drawn, to enable us to tell to
which nation the vessel