238 General Sir Richard Church's Narrative of the [March, 



they, and God is with us !" My countenance must have shewed my 

 full confidence in these brave fellows, who by this time had seized their 

 oars, and were rowing with all their might out of the line of fire. A 

 system of defence was now adopted, and everj^ one took his post ; the 

 sailors of my boat, perceiving that entire reliance was placed in them, 

 cheered loudl} at everj^ stroke of their oars, and defied the three boats 

 with shouts. To the menaces of the Palermitans they answered with 

 insults, and every infamous epithet that Sicilian wit and rage could 

 invent, and the threats on the other side were certainly of the most 

 merciless nature. I stood up on the stern seat facing the Palermitan 

 boats, and watching the movement of their guns, directing the helms- 

 man of my own boat, so as to keep her, as much as possible, out of the 

 line of fire of all the three boats by whom she was pursued. The 

 officers and myself had each a sabre and a couple of muskets near us; 

 four men, besides La Rocca and the officers, assisted in putting our 

 gun (a twelve-pounder) into a position for action, while the others assi- 

 duously worked at the oars. The boat v/ as soon in a fighting state, and 

 every one on board seemed really anxious for the combat, however 

 unequal between one boat and three, or rather four, as there was an 

 armed boat in company, with those from Palermo. 



It v/as nearly calm when this scene first commenced, but the wind 

 now sprung up, and the sailors again cheering, hoisted their sails in an 

 instant, and soon gained on their pursuers ; the sailors assured me that 

 their boat sailed better than any in Sicily, and that none of those fol- 

 lowing could come near her. The Palermitans pursued with all the 

 velocity that sailing and rowing together could give, for more than 

 three hours ; at the end of which time, considerable wavering was 

 observed among their boats, while that of La Rocca got at. length 

 beyond the reach of their fire. The Trappani boatmen at my request 

 gave up rowing, and kept under easy sail, and by my orders the boat 

 stood directly out to sea, keeping the course most contrary to either 

 Palermo or Trappani, and quite off the coast. This I did to deceive the 

 captains of the other boats, who could not v'^k themselves out to sea, as 

 they were in want of provisions ; a fact ascertained when they commu- 

 nicated with me. The cause of their not firing their artillery was, their 

 having but two or three rounds of ammunition for cannon on board after 

 leaving Palermo, from whence they had fled without being able to 

 replace the shot they had fired away there. The pursuit still lasted, 

 but in an undecided manner, my boat waiting the approach of the others 

 when they appeared to advance sufficiently beyond the line, to give a 

 prospect of contending with one or two at a time. At last all gave up 

 the pursuit and returned to the coast, no doubt greatly enraged at the 

 fidelity and courage of their ov/n countrymen, who preferred risking their 

 lives to betraying their trust. 



This danger being removed, the captain prudently proposed to con- 

 tinue the same course till night concealed from our enemies the direc- 

 tion the boat might afterwards take. This proposition was readily 

 agreed to, as the minds of the mariners were possessed with an idea 

 that some treason would still be attempted during the night on the part 

 of the Palermitan gun-boats, in the event of their knowing the direction 

 the boat had taken, and the wind not being favourable, or there bemg 

 but little of it. 



This was on the 19th, and as soon as night had set in, the wea- 



