by G. A. Henty
CHAPTER XVII
ON BOARD THE "JASON"
"I won't ask you for your story till after dinner," Mr. Palethorpe said."To enjoy a yarn one needs to be comfortable, and I feel more at home inmy arm-chair in the dining-room than I do in this room, with all itsfal-lals. You see, I have taken the house furnished. When I settle down ina home of my own, I can assure you it will look very different from this.In fact I have one already building for me. It is at Dulwich, and will beas nearly as possible like my house in Jamaica. Of course there will bedifferences. I at first wished to have the same sort of veranda, but thearchitect pointed out that while in Jamaica one requires shade, here onewants light. So they are getting large sheets of glass specially made forputting in instead of wood above the windows. Then, of course, we wantgood fireplaces, whereas in Jamaica a fire is only necessary for a fewdays in the year. There are also other little differences, but on thewhole it will remind me of the place I had for so many years."
"The house will have one advantage over that in Jamaica, Mr. Palethorpe."
"What is that?" he asked.
"You will be able to go to bed comfortably without fear of having the rooftaken from over your head by a hurricane."
"Ah! that is indeed a matter to which I have not given sufficientconsideration, but it is certainly a very substantial advantage, as wehave all good reason to know."
"I never think of it without shuddering," Alice said. "It was awful! Itseemed as if there was an end of everything! I think it was the memory ofthat night that first set me thinking of going to England."
"Then I cannot but feel grateful to that hurricane, for if you hadremained out there it is probable that I should never have met you again."
"I am having a large conservatory built so that we can have greenness andflowers all the year," Mr. Palethorpe remarked presently.
"I should think that would be charming. I hope you will be settled atDulwich long before I come back from my next cruise."
"Well, I don't know that I can say the same, Will. I hope your next cruisewill be a short one."
When dinner was over, the chairs were drawn up to the fire, and Willrelated his adventures since his return from the West Indies.
"Have you heard of your two favourite sailors?" Alice interrupted.
"Dimchurch and Tom Stevens? No, I have not. I shall feel lost without themat sea, and sincerely hope that I may some day run against them, in whichcase I am sure, if they are free, they will join my ship."
"How terribly cut up they must have been," the girl said, "when they gotdown to the beach and found that you were missing!"
"I am sure they would be," he replied. "I expect the rest of the menalmost had to hold them back by force."
"Well, go on. You were hit and made prisoner."
Will went on with his story till he came to his escape from Verdun.
"What was she like?" the girl asked. "I expect she was very pretty."
"No, not particularly so. She was a very pleasant-looking girl."
"I can imagine she seemed very pleasant to you," the girl laughed; "and,of course, before you got out of the window and climbed to the top of thehouse you kissed her, didn't you?"
"Yes, I did," Will said. "Of course she expected to be kissed. I am not atall used to kissing. In fact, I only experienced it once before, and thenI was a perfectly passive actor in the affair."
The girl flushed up rosily.
"You drew that upon yourself, Alice," her father said. "If you had lefthim alone he would not have brought up that old affair."
"I don't care," she said. "I was only thirteen, and he had saved my life."
"You didn't do it again, my dear, I hope, when you met him in the streetto-day."
"Of course not!" she exclaimed indignantly. "The idea of such a thing!"
"Very well, let this be a lesson to you not to enquire too strictly intosuch matters."
"Ah! I will bear it in mind," she said.
"I can assure you, Alice, that it was a perfectly friendly kiss. She wasengaged to be married to a young soldier who was a prisoner at Porchester,and during the past week I have been employed in setting him free, as youwill hear presently. I promised her I would do so if possible, and ofcourse I kept my word."
"What! you, an English officer, set a French prisoner free! I am shocked!"Mr. Palethorpe said.
"I would have tried to set twenty of them free if twenty of theirsweethearts had united to get me away from prison."
They laughed heartily at the story of his escape as a pedlar, and wereintensely interested in his account of the manner in which he succeeded ingetting a despatch from the agent of the British Government at Amsterdam.He continued the narrative until his arrival in England.
"Now we shall hear, I suppose, how this British officer perpetrated an actof treason against His Most Gracious Majesty."
"Well, I suppose it was that in the eyes of the law," Will laughed."Fortunately, however, the law has no cognizance of the affair, at anyrate not of my share in it. I don't suppose it has been heard of outsidePorchester. As His Gracious Majesty has some forty thousand prisoners inEngland, the loss of one more or less will not trouble his graciousbrain."
He then related the whole story of Lucien's escape.
"I should have liked to see you dressed up like a pedlar, with your faceall painted, and a wig and whiskers," the girl said, "though I don'tsuppose I should have recognized you in that disguise to-day."
"It was a capitally-managed plan, Will, and had it been for a legitimateobject I should have given it unstinted praise. And so you saw him fairlyoff from England?"
"Yes; and by this time I have no doubt he is on the top of a vehicle ofsome sort, going as fast as horses can gallop to join his sweetheart."
"I wonder," Alice said mischievously, "whether she will ever tell him ofthat kiss at the window."
"I dare say she will," laughed Will, "but perhaps not till they aremarried. I sent her the gold watch I promised her, and when she holds itup before his eyes I think he won't grudge her the kiss. Still, I believethese things are not always mentioned."
"No, I suppose not," she said, with an affectation of not understandinghim. "Why should they be?"
"I can't say indeed, if you can't."
"Well, I am not ashamed of it one little bit, though I own that I neverhave told anybody. But I don't see why I shouldn't. I am sure there wereat least half a dozen ladies in Jamaica who would willingly have kissedyou for what you did for them."
"Thank you! I should certainly not have willingly submitted to theordeal."
It was late when the story was finished, and they soon afterwards went tobed.
Will spent a delightful week with his friends. Alice had grown up into acharming young woman, full of life and vivacity, and even prettier thanshe had promised to be as a girl. They went about together to all thesights of London, for Mr. Palethorpe said that he didn't care about going,and young people were best left to themselves. When the time came forparting, Will for the first time experienced a feeling of reluctance atjoining his ship. He and Alice were now almost on their old footing, andWill thought that she was by far the nicest girl he had ever seen; but itwas not until he was on the top of the Portsmouth coach that he recognizedhow much she was to him. "Well," he said to himself, "I never thought Ishould feel like this. Some young fellows are always falling in love. Iused to think it was all nonsense, but now I understand it. I do not knowwhy her father should object to me, as I am fairly well off. I must see asmuch of her as I can when I land next time. I hope she won't meet anyonein the meantime she likes better."
The _Jason_ was now lying out in the harbour, and the riggers had takenpossession of her. Will at once reported himself and went on board. Theother officers had not yet joined, but he at once took up his work withhis usual zeal, and spent a busy fortnight looking after the riggers, andseeing that everything was done in the best manner. He was, however,somewhat angry to find
that Alice's face and figure were constantlyintruding themselves into the cordage and shrouds. "I am becoming aregular mooncalf," he said angrily to himself. "It is perfectly absurdthat I can't keep my thoughts from wandering away from my work, and for agirl whom I can hardly dare hope to win. I shall be very glad when we areoff to sea. I'll then have, I won't say something better, but somethingelse to think of. If this is being in love, certainly it is not the thinga sailor should engage in. I have often heard it said that a sailor's shipshould be his wife, and I have no longer any doubt about it. But I knowI'll get over it when I hear the first broadside fired."
A week later the first lieutenant joined. His name was Somerville.
"Ah, Mr. Gilmore," he said, "I see you have taken time by the forelock andgiven an eye to everything! I only received my appointment two days ago orI should have joined before. There is nothing like having an officer tosuperintend things, and I feel really very much obliged to you for nothaving extended your leave, which, of course, you could have done,especially as, so far as I know, no boatswain has yet been appointed."
"I was glad to get back to work, sir, and it is really very interestingseeing all the rigging set up from the very beginning."
"That is so, but for all that men don't generally want to rejoin," thefirst lieutenant said with a smile. "The difficulty is to get youngofficers on board. They hang back, as a rule, till the very last moment.Well, if you will dine with me this evening, Mr. Gilmore, at the George, Ishall be glad to hear of some of your services. That they aredistinguished I have no doubt, for nothing but the most meritoriousservices or extraordinary interest could have gained you at your age theappointment of second lieutenant in a fine ship like this. I think it avery good thing for the first lieutenant to know the antecedents of thoseserving with him. Such knowledge is very useful to him in any crisis oremergency."
After dinner that evening Will gave an account of his services, thelieutenant at times asking for more minute details, especially of thecapture of the two pirates.
"Thank you very much!" Lieutenant Somerville said when he had finished."Now I feel that I can, in any emergency, depend upon you to second me,which I can assure you is by no means commonly the case, for promotiongoes so much by influence, and such incapable men are pushed up in theservice that it is a comfort indeed to have an officer who knows his workthoroughly. I hope to goodness we shall have the captain so fine a shipdeserves."
"I hope so indeed, sir. I have hitherto been extremely fortunate in havinggood captains, as good as one could wish for."
"You are fortunate indeed, then. I have been under two or three men who,either from ignorance or ill-temper or sheer indifference, have beenenough to take the heart entirely out of their officers."
On the day when the _Jason_ was ready for commission the captain came downto Portsmouth and put up at the George, and Mr. Somerville and Will calledupon him there. He was a young man, some years younger than the firstlieutenant.
"Gentlemen," he began, "I have pleasure in making your acquaintance. I sawthe admiral this morning, and he assured me that I could not wish forbetter officers. I hope we shall get on pleasantly together, and canassure you that if we do not it will not be my fault. We have as fine aship as men could wish to sail in, and I will guarantee that you will notfind me slack in using her. As you may guess by my age, I owe my presentposition partly to family interest, but my object will be to prove thatthat interest has not been altogether misplaced. I have already hadcommand of a frigate, and we had our full share of hard service. I amafraid that with a seventy-four we shall not have quite so manyopportunities of distinguishing ourselves, but shall generally have towork with the fleet and fight when other people bid us, and not merelywhen we see a good chance. There is, however, as much credit, if not asmuch prize-money, to be gained in a pitched battle as in isolated actions.I was kindly permitted by the admiral to read both your records ofservice, and I cannot say how gratified I was to find that I had two suchable and active officers to second me."
"I am sure we are much obliged to you, sir," Lieutenant Somervillereplied, "for speaking to us as you have done. I can answer for it that wewill second you to the very best of our power, and I am glad indeed tofind that we have a commander whose sentiments so entirely accord with ourown."
"Now, gentlemen, we have done with the formalities. Let us crack a bottleof wine together to our better acquaintance, and I hope I shall very oftensee you at my table on board, for while I feel that discipline must bemaintained, I have no belief in a captain holding himself entirely alooffrom his officers, as if he were a little god. On the quarter-deck acaptain must stand somewhat aloof, but in his own cabin I cannot see whyhe should not treat his officers as gentlemen like himself."
They sat and chatted for an hour, and when they left, LieutenantSomerville said to Will: "If I am not much mistaken, we shall have a verypleasant time on board the _Jason_. I believe Captain Charteris meansevery word he says, and that he is a thoroughly good fellow. He has a verypleasant face, though a firm and resolute one, and when he gives an orderit will have to be obeyed promptly; but he is a man who will makeallowances, and I do not think the cat will be very often brought intorequisition on board."
One day Will was sauntering down the High Street when he saw twocountry-looking men coming along. One of them looked at him and staggeredback in astonishment.
"Why," he exclaimed, "it is Mr. Gilmore! We thought you were in prison inthe middle of France, sir."
"So I was, Dimchurch; but, as you see, I have taken leg-bail."
"That was a terrible affair, sir, at them French batteries. When I gotdown to the shore, and found you were missing, it was as much as theycould do to keep Tom here and me from going back. You mayn't believe me,Mr. Gilmore, but we both cried like children as we rowed to the _Tartar_."
"I am indeed glad to see you again, and you too, Tom. I guessed that if Iever came across the one I should meet the other also. What are you doingin those togs?"
"Well, sir, we put them on because we did not want to be impressed by thefirst ship that came in, but preferred to wait a bit till we saw one tosuit us. I see, sir, that you have shipped a swab. That means, of course,that you have got a lieutenancy. I congratulate you indeed, sir, on yourpromotion."
"Yes, I got it a month ago, and to a fine ship, the _Jason_."
"She is a fine ship, sir, and no mistake. Tom and I were watching herlying out in the harbour yesterday, and were saying that, though we havealways been accustomed to frigates, we should not mind shipping in her ifwe found out something about the captain."
"Well, I can tell you, Dimchurch, that he is just the man you would liketo serve under, young and dashing, and, I should say, a good officer and afine fellow."
"And who is the first lieutenant, sir, because that matters almost as muchas the captain."
"He is a good fellow too, Dimchurch, a man who loves his profession andhas a good record."
"And who is the second, sir? not that it matters much about him if thecaptain and first luff are all right. I suppose she has four on board, asshe is a line-of-battle ship?"
"Yes, she carries four. As to the second, I can only tell you that he isone of the finest fellows in the service, and you will understand thatwhen I say that I am the second lieutenant."
"What, sir!" Dimchurch almost shouted, "they have made you secondlieutenant on a line-of-battle ship! Well, that is one of the few times Ihave known promotion go by merit. I am glad, sir. Well, I will go and signarticles at once, and so, of course, will Tom; and what is more, I willguarantee to find you a score of first-rate hands, maybe more."
"That is good indeed," Will said. "I will speak to the first lieutenantand get you rated as boatswain, if possible. You have already served inthat capacity, and unless the berth is filled up, which is not likely, Ihave no doubt I can get it for you."
"Well, sir, if you can, of course I shall be glad; but I would ship withyou if it was only as loblolly boy."
"The same here," Tom sai
d; "you know that, sir, without my saying it."
"Is there any berth that I could get you, Tom?"
"No, sir, thank you! A.B. is good enough for me. I am not active enough tobe captain of the top, but I can pull on a rope, or row an oar, or strikea good blow, with any man."
"That you can, Tom; but I do wish I could get you a lift too. How aboutgunner's mate?"
"No, thank you, sir! I would rather stop A.B. I should like to be yourhonour's servant, but, lor', I should never do to wait in the ward-room. Iam as clumsy as a bear, and should always be spilling something, andbreaking glasses, and getting into trouble. No, sir, I will be A.B., butof course I should like to be appointed to your boat."
"That is a matter of course, Tom. Well, I will go round to the dockyard atonce and see you sworn in, and then gladden the first lieutenant's heartby telling him that you will bring a good number of men along with you,for at present we are very short-handed."
"You trust me for that, sir. I know where lots of them are lying hid, notbecause they don't want to serve, but because they want a good ship and agood captain. When I tell them that it is a fine ship, and a good captain,and a good first and second, they will jump at it."
Dimchurch was as good as his word, and the following week persuaded thirtyfirst-class seamen to sign on.
"At the same time, sir," he said as they went towards the harbour, "Iwould rather she had been a frigate. One has always a chance of picking upsomething then, as one gets sent about on expeditions, while on abattle-ship one is just stuck blockading."
"That is just what I think," Tom said. "There are no boat expeditions, nochances of picking up a prize every two or three days, or of chasing apirate. Still, though the _Tartar_ was a frigate, we did not have much funin her, except when we were on shore. That was good enough, though itwould not have been half so good if the sailors had not done it alone. Wewanted to show these redcoats what British seamen could do when they wereon their metal. I know I never worked half so hard in my life."
"Well, I quite agree with you. It is more pleasant commanding a smallcraft than being second officer in a large one, although I must say Icould not have had a more pleasant captain and first lieutenant than Ihave now if I had picked them out from the whole fleet. I am sorry that Icannot get leave at present, for I want to make researches about myfather. According to what my lawyer said it is likely to be a long job. Ihope, however, to get it well in trim on my next spell ashore. It makesreally no difference to me now who or what my father was. I have a goodposition, and what with the prize-money I made before, and shall gain nowby my share of the sale of the frigates we took at Corsica, to say nothingof the guns and stores we captured, I have more than enough to satisfy allmy wants."
"I have done extraordinarily well too, Mr. Gilmore," Dimchurch said. "Itook your advice, and Tom and I have put all our prize-money aside. He hasover a thousand saved, and I have quite sufficient to keep me in idlenessall my life, even if I never do a stroke of work again."
Mr. Somerville, on Will's recommendation, at once appointed Dimchurchboatswain, and he soon proved himself thoroughly efficient. "He is a finefellow, that sailor of yours," the lieutenant said, "and will make afirst-rate boatswain. He has done good service in bringing up so manyhands, and good ones too, and he is evidently popular among the men."
"He is a thoroughly good man, sir. He attached himself to my fortunes whenI was but a ship's boy, and has stuck to me ever since. He and Tom Stevensare, with one exception, the greatest friends I have ever had, and both ofthem would lay down their lives for me."
"A good master makes a good man," Lieutenant Somerville said with a smile."Your greatest friend was, of course, the lady who pushed you on with youreducation."
"Yes, sir, certainly I regard her as the best friend I ever had."
"Well, there is no better friend for a lad than a good woman, Gilmore. Inthat sense my mother was my greatest friend. Most mothers are againsttheir sons going to sea. In my case it was my father who objected, but mymother, seeing how I was bent upon it, persuaded him to let me go."
Three weeks after being commissioned the complement of the _Jason_ wascomplete, and she was ordered to proceed to the West Indies, to whichplace they made a fast passage. To their disappointment they fell in withnone of the enemy's cruisers on their way. The voyage, however, sufficedto give the crew confidence in their commander. He was prompt and quick ingiving orders, and at the same time pleasant in manner. He paid far moreattention than most captains to the comfort of his crew, and, while heinsisted upon the most perfect order and discipline, abstained from givingunnecessary work. In cases where punishments were absolutely necessary hepunished severely, but when it was at all possible he let delinquents offwith a lecture. So, while he was feared by the rougher spirits of thecrew, he was regarded with liking and respect by the good men.
On their arrival at Carlisle Bay, Barbados, they found that they were intime to join a naval expedition whose object was to recover the islands ofSt. Lucia, St. Vincent, and Grenada, which had been captured by the Frenchthe previous year.
A fleet had been sent from England under the command of Rear-admiralChristian, consisting of two ships of the line and five frigates,convoying a large fleet of transports with a strong body of troops onboard under the command of Sir Ralph Abercrombie.
At Carlisle Bay this fleet were joined by most of the ships on the WestIndian station, and on the 21st April, 1796, the augmented fleet, underthe command of Sir John Laforey, sailed to Marin Bay, Martinique, wherethey anchored. On the following day Sir John Laforey resigned his commandto Admiral Christian and sailed for England. The fleet then stood acrossto St. Lucia. The troops were landed at three different points under theprotection of the guns of the fleet.
The first point was protected by a five-gun battery. The fire of theships, however, soon silenced it, and the first division made good itslanding. The seventy-four-gun ship _Alfred_ was to have led the seconddivision, supported by the fifty-four-gun ship _Madras_ and the forty-gunfrigate _Beaulieu_, but the attempt was thwarted by lightness of wind anda strong lee current. On the next day, however, a landing was effectedwith little opposition. Eight hundred seamen, under the command ofCaptains Lane of the thirty-two-gun frigate _Astrea_ and Ryves of thebomb-vessel _Bulldog_, were landed to co-operate with the troops. MorneChabot was attacked and carried that night with the loss of thirteenofficers and privates killed, forty-nine wounded, and twelve missing.
On the 3rd of May an attempt was made to dislodge the enemy from theirbatteries at the base of the mountains, but was repulsed with loss, as wasan attack on the 17th on the place called Vigie.
In the meantime the men had been busy building batteries and plantingguns, and when these opened fire on the evening of the 24th of May theenemy capitulated, two thousand marching out and laying down their arms. Agreat quantity of guns, together with stores of every description, werefound in the different forts, and some small privateers and merchantmenwere captured in the offing. Eight hundred seamen and three hundred andtwenty marines had been landed from the ships of war, and had behaved withtheir usual courage and promptitude. The manner, indeed, in which theyestablished batteries and planted guns in places deemed almostimpracticable astonished the troops, unused as they were to exercisesdemanding strength and skill.
As soon as St. Lucia had surrendered, the expedition moved to St. Vincent.The defence here was decidedly weak, and after some skirmishing, theenemy, composed chiefly of negroes and Caribs, capitulated. Our lossamounted to thirty-eight killed and one hundred and forty-five wounded.Grenada offered a comparatively slight resistance. The monster, Fedon, whowas in command there, massacred twenty white people who were in his powerin full view of the British, who were on the plain below. He and his men,however, were hotly pursued through the forest by a detachment of Germanriflemen, and the greater portion of them killed without mercy.
A detachment of British and colonial troops from the garrison of Port auPrince in St. Domingo proceeded to besiege t
he town of Leogane in thatisland. Covered by the guns of the fleet the troops were landed in twodivisions, while the _Swiftsure_, seventy-four, cannonaded the town, andthe _Leviathan_ and _Africa_ the forts. The place, however, was too strongfor them, and at nightfall the ships moved off to an anchorage, whilethose who had landed were withdrawn on the following morning. Two of thefrigates were so much damaged that they were compelled to return toJamaica to refit. An attack was next made upon the fort of Bombarde, whichstood at a distance of fifteen miles from the coast. Will and a detachmentfrom his ship formed part of the force engaged. The road was extremelyrough, and was blocked by fallen trees and walls built across it. Thelabour of getting the cannon along was prodigious.
"I must say," Will said to Dimchurch, who was one of the party, "I greatlyprefer fighting on board to work like this. We have to labour like slavesfrom early morning till late in the evening; but I don't so much mindthat, as the fact that at night we have to lie down with only the foodthat remains in our haversacks, and what water we may have saved, forsupper. Now in a fight at sea one at least gets as much to drink as onewants."
"I quite agree with you, Mr. Gilmore. It's dog's work without dog's food.I don't mind myself working here with a chopper eight or ten hours a day,but I do like a good supper at the end of it. The worst of it is, thatwhen it is all over it is the troops who get all the credit, while we poorbeggars do the greater part of the work. The soldiers are well enough intheir way, but they are very little good for hard work. How do you accountfor that, sir?"
"I can only suppose, Dimchurch, that while they get as much food as we do,they have nothing like the same amount of hard work to do."
"That's it, sir. Why, look at them at Portsmouth! They just go out of amorning and drill on the common for a bit, and then they have nothing elseto do all day but to stroll about the town and talk to the girls. How canyou expect a man to have any muscle to speak of when he never does astroke of hard work? I don't say they don't fight well, for I own they dotheir duty like men in that line; but when it comes to work, why, theyain't in it with a jack-tar. I do believe I could pull a couple of themover a line."
"I dare say you could, Dimchurch, but you must remember that you are muchstronger than an ordinary seaman."
"Well, sir, I grant I am stronger than usual, but I should be ashamed ofmyself if I could not tackle two of them soldiers."
"Yes, but don't forget they have been cooped up on board a ship for amonth, with nothing to keep them in health, and certainly no exercise,while you are constantly doing hard work. If you were to put these meninto sailors' clothes, and give them sailors' work for six months, theywould be just as strong and useful."
"Well, sir, if they are that sort of men why do they go and enlist in thearmy instead of becoming sailors. It stands to reason that it is becausethey know that they cannot do work."
"Why, Dimchurch, I have heard that in the great towns girls think as muchof soldiers as of sailors."
"Well, that shows how little they know about them. In a seaport, what girlwould look at a soldier if she were pretty enough to get a sailor for asweetheart."
"You are a prejudiced beggar," Will laughed, "and it is of no use arguingwith you. If you had gone as a soldier instead of taking to the sea youwould think just the other way."
On the next morning the march was renewed, and in the evening they reachedthe fort. They had had several severe skirmishes during the day, losingeight killed and twenty-two wounded, but the garrison, consisting of threehundred, surrendered without further resistance as soon as the place wassurrounded, and the sailors then rejoined their ships.
"Well, I am mighty glad I am back on board," Dimchurch said to Will theevening they re-embarked. "This marching, and chopping trees, and beingshot at from ambushes, doesn't suit me. There is nothing manly orstraightforward about it. Hand to hand and cutlass to cutlass is what Icall a man's work."
"That is all very well, Dimchurch, but though you may capture ships youwill never get possession of islands or colonies in that way. If you wantthem you must land and fight for them."
"Yes, sir, that is all very good, but it seems to me that the hard work ofmaking batteries and mounting guns falls on the sailor, while the soldiergets all the credit. It is not our admiral who sends the despatches, it isthe general. He may speak a few good words for the sailors, as a manspeaks up for a dog, but all the credit of the fighting, and thesurrender, and all that business goes to the soldiers. The sooner we sailaway from here, and do some fighting nearer home, where there are nosoldiers, and where the sailors get their due, the better pleased I shallbe."
"Well, Dimchurch, I hope our turn out here is nearly finished. We may haveto take part in a few more attacks on French possessions, but as soon asthat work is over I have great hopes that we shall get sailing orders forhome again."
Indeed, late in August a fast cruiser arrived with orders that the _Jason_was at once to return to Brest and join the Channel fleet. To the greatdelight of everyone the wind continued favourable throughout the wholevoyage, and after an exceptionally speedy passage they joined AdmiralBridport, who was cruising off Ushant on the look-out for the French fleetthat was preparing for the invasion of Ireland.
The French fleet, under Admiral Morard-de-Galles, got under weigh fromBrest on 26th December, 1796. It consisted of seventeen ships of the line,thirteen frigates, six corvettes, seven transports, and a powder-ship,forty-four sail in all, conveying eight thousand troops under the commandof Generals Grouchy, Borin, and Humbert. Misfortune, however, dogged thefleet from the very commencement, for the _Seduisant_, a seventy-four-gunbattle-ship, got on shore shortly after leaving Brest, and out of thirteenhundred seamen and soldiers on board six hundred and eighty were drowned.
They were noticed by Vice-admiral Colpoys' fleet, who sent off twofrigates to warn Lord Bridport, and after chasing the French for somedistance himself, sailed for Falmouth to report the setting out of theexpedition.
Admiral Bouvet, with thirty-two sail, managed to reach the mouth of BantryBay, but the weather was so tempestuous that he was unable to land histroops. After struggling for some days against this boisterous weather,the fleet scattered, and the majority of the ships returned to Brest. Therest reached the coast of Ireland, but not finding the main portion oftheir fleet there, they returned to France.
The failure of the expedition was as complete as was that of the SpanishArmada, and was due greatly to the same cause. Out of the forty-four shipsthat sailed from Brest only thirty-one managed to return to France. TheBritish frigates, by the vigilance they displayed, had done good service,cutting off four transports and three ships of war; but the stormy weatherhad dispersed the expedition, and was accountable for the loss of twobattle-ships, three frigates, and a transport. It was curious thatalthough Lord Bridport's fleet was constantly patrolling the Channelduring this time, the two fleets never came in contact.