1 INTRODUCTION. 
commanded on the forecastle. Captain Cooke was mor- 
tally wounded, and Lieut. Hardyman, who succeeded to the 
comman‘, observes, “ the scene which presented itself on 
La Forte’s deck was shocking; the number she had killed 
cannot be accurately ascertained, as many had been thrown 
overboard during the action, but from every calculation I 
have been able to make, the number killed must be from 
150 to 160 men, and 70 wounded; the first and second 
captain, the first lieutenant, with several other officers, are 
included among the number killed. The Sybille had only 3 
men killed and 19 wounded, two of whom afterwards died.” 
La Forte was the largest frigate in the French navy ; she 
mounted 52 guns, 24 and 12 pounders, and had 420 men. 
The Sybille mounted 44 guns, 18 and 12 pounders, and had 
3870 men. In an action with a ship of such superior force, in 
which so dreadful a slaughter was sustained on the part of 
the enemy, the vast disparity in the number of killed and 
wounded affords a striking instance of the great advantage 
which English coolness possesses over the momentary 
ardour _of French impetuosity, and, at the same time, 
shews what may be effected by good seamanship and good 
gunnery. After this action Mr. Tuckey returned to the 
Suffolk, and received from the Admiral a new acting com- 
mission for his meritorious conduct. 
In August 1799, he was sent by the Admiral, in the Braave, 
with dispatches for Admiral Blankett, then commanding 
a squadron in the Red Sea. At the Seychelles islands 
they captured a ship proceeding to Europe with an em- 
bassy from Tippoo Sultaun to the French Directory. The 
ambassadors concealed themselves several days in the 
woods, where they were discovered by Mr. Tuckey, for 
