APPENDIX to the CHRONICLE. 437 



Return of officers, seamen, and ma- 

 rines, killed, tvoujided and mis- 

 sing. 



Two officers, 8 men killed; 9 offi- 

 cers, 26 men wounded, a man mis- 

 sing. Total 4:6. 



Gambier. 

 A Leiterjrom a Lieutenant of Ma- 

 rines in Basque Roads. 

 " Our fire-ships arrived the 10th 

 instant, and were sent in the next 

 night, each ship conducted by alieu- 

 tenant and five men ; the ships 

 were 16 in number, and some very 

 heavy ships ; when they got in, the 

 French ships cut and slipped, and 

 nine sail of the line got on shore on 

 the isle of Aix, and the next morn- 

 ing we discovered them ; the fire 

 ships having done little good, the 

 small craft and frigates were order- 

 ed in to attempt to destroy them. — 

 The place where they lay was like 

 their being in Portsmouth harbour, 

 under the fire of two batteries, each 

 of which had three tier of guns of 

 29 each, all heavy metal ; the navi- 

 gation to get at them was very diffi- 

 cult, in some places there being 

 only four fathoms water. Just as we 

 were sitting down to dinner on 

 board the llevenge, our signal was 

 made to go in and assist the gun 

 and mortar vessels ; our ship was 

 clear for action in fifteen minutes, 

 and in half an hour we were along 

 side of three sail of the line, when 

 we opened a dreadful cannonade on 

 them, which continued for an hour 

 and a quarter, when the Warsaw, a 

 fine 80 gun ship, and the Aquilon, 

 struck to us ; we were now in a 

 very critical state ourselves, being 

 in only five fathoms water, which 

 was ebbing very fast ;thebatteries on 

 shore having got our length, struck 

 us almost every shot for the last 

 quarter of an hour ; luckily a breeze 



springing up we got off' into deeper 

 water, and out of reach of their guns, 

 when we anchored again, and sent 

 our boats, and took out the prison- 

 ers, and set them on fire about seven 

 p. Ri. At nine they were all in 

 flames, and at two in the morning 

 they blew up with a tremendous ex- 

 plosion ; the French set fire to the 

 Tonniere, and the Imperieuse to 

 the Calcutta; three other ships of 

 the line are on shore very much 

 mauled by the frigates and bomb- 

 ships, some of them are on their 

 beam- ends, and but little chance of 

 their getting off again. The capt. of 

 the Warsaw is on board our ship: he 

 says, they were bound out to relieve 

 Martinique with troops and provi- 

 sions. I went on board his ship af- 

 ter she struck, and the decks were 

 strewed with dead and wounded; a 

 most dreadful slaughter. We also 

 lost several killed and wounded, and 

 our ship is much cut up in sails and 

 rigging, which makes it probable 

 that we shall be sent in to refit." 



The singular coincidence of fa- 

 vourable occurrences which led to 

 the destruction of the ships in the 

 Basque R,oads is unknown to the 

 British public, and deserves notice. 

 The trite adage, that " fortune fa- 

 vours the brave," was never more 

 fully verified than in the present in- 

 stance; and the reason for the max- 

 im, though obvious, is in fact found- 

 ed in nature : for the brave, the 

 energetic, the active (such as are 

 British seamen) arealvt'ays in a state 

 of readiness and preparation to 

 take advantage of any desirable 

 turn of fortune that may offer, and 

 may so far be said to be " favoured 

 by fortune." We have been given 

 to understand, then, and from as 

 good information as can be had in 

 such a case, that it was at first the 



intention 



