) I observed all these people leave the pumps. It was a
saint's day, and they would not work. I ran into the Captain's cabin to
state the circumstance; he in a moment came out in his dressing-gown,
with a drawn sword, chased the Portuguese round the gangways and
forecastle, made them to a man lay in at the pumps, and kept them at it
till the pumps sucked.

"In order to ascertain whether both sides of the ship had been injured.
Sir Edward resolved to examine the bottom himself; and to the
astonishment and admiration of everybody who witnessed this heroic act,
he plunged into the water, thoroughly examined both sides, and satisfied
himself that the starboard side only had been damaged. This saved much
time and expense; for had not Sir Edward hazarded the experiment, the
apparatus for heaving down must have been shifted over. The
_Indefatigable_ was docked on her arrival at Plymouth, early in August,
and it then appeared how accurately he had described the injury. She had
twenty-seven of her floors and first futtocks broke, and the Portuguese,
in repairing her, had put in seventeen feet of main-keel. The frame of a
regular-built frigate could not have stood the shock.

"A few days after the submarine inspection, the gun-room officers
invited Sir Edward to dinner, to commemorate the 10th of June, the
_Nymphe's_ action, on board the _Principe Real_, a Portuguese 80-gun
ship, used as a hulk by the _Indefatigable's_ crew, while their ship was
repairing. In the evening, some of the crew took Sir Edward on their
shoulders, carried him all over the hulk, and swore they would make him
an admiral."

In her next cruise, the _Indefatigable_ nearly lost her gallant captain.
On the 31st of August she had strong gales and squally weather, the wind
flying round from W. by S. to N.E., S.E., and S.W. In the afternoon the
weather moderated. The ship had been hove to under a close-reefed
main-topsail, with the top-gallant yards down, the sea running very
high, and the ship pitching much. It was Sunday, and the captain was at
dinner with the officers, when a bustle was heard on deck. He ran
instantly to the poop, and saw two men in the water, amidst the wreck of
a six-oared cutter. One of the tackles had unhooked, through a heavy sea
lifting the boat, and the men had jumped into her to secure it, when
another sea dashed her to pieces. The captain stepped into the gig,
which was carried over the stern above the cutter, and ordered it to be