o
commanded a Third Rate, was the Person he first came aboard of; but how
amaz'd was he to find, in an open Boat at open Sea, the Person who had
Commission to command the Fleet? So soon as he was enter'd the Ship,
the Earl sent the Ship's Pinnace with Letters to Admiral _Leake_, to
acquaint him with his Orders and Intentions; and to Brigadier _Stanhope_
with a Notification of his safe Arrival; but the Darkness of the Night
prov'd so great an Obstacle, that it was a long time before the Pinnace
could reach the Admiral. When Day appear'd, it was astonishing to the
whole Fleet to see the _Union_ Flag waving at the Main-top-mast Head. No
body could trust his own Eyes, or guess at the Meaning, till better
certify'd by the Account of an Event so singular and extraordinary.

When we were about six Leagues Distance from _Barcelona_, the Port we
aim'd at, one of the _French_ Scouts gave the Alarm, who making the
Signal to another, he communicated it to a Third, and so on, as we
afterward sorrowfully found, and as the Earl had before apprehended: The
_French_ Admiral being thus made acquainted with the Force of our Fleet,
hoisted sail, and made the best of his Way from us, either pursuant to
Orders, or under the plausible Excuse of a Retreat.

This favourable Opportunity thus lost, there remain'd nothing to do but
to land the Troops with all Expedition; which was executed accordingly:
The Regiments, which the Earl of _Peterborow_ embark'd the Night before,
being the first that got into the Town. Let the Reader imagine how
pleasing such a Sight must be to those in _Barcelona_, reduc'd as they
were to the last Extremity. In this Condition, to see an Enemy's Fleet
give way to another with Reinforcements from _England_, the Sea at the
same Instant cover'd with little Vessels crouded with greater Succours;
what was there wanting to compleat the glorious Scene, but what the
General had projected, a Fight at Sea, under the very Walls of the
invested City, and the Ships of the Enemy sinking, or tow'd in by the
victorious _English_? But Night, and a few Hours, defeated the latter
Part of that well intended Landskip.

King _Philip_, and the Mareschal of _France_, had not fail'd to push on
the Siege with all imaginable Vigour; but this Retreat of the Count _de
Tholouse_, and the News of those Reinforcements, soon chang'd the Scene.
Their Courage without was abated proportionably, as theirs within was
elated. In these Circumstances, a Coun