60 Naval War of 1812 



of which was H. B. M. Tartarus, 2O 49 ). The 

 braces being cut away, the Wasp was put before the 

 wind until new ones could be rove. The Castil- 

 ian pursued till she came up close, when she fired 

 her lee guns into, or rather over, the weather-quar 

 ter of the Wasp, cutting her rigging slightly. Re 

 peated signals of distress having now been made 

 by the Avon (which had lost 10 men killed and 32 

 wounded), the Castilian tacked and stood for her, 

 and on closing found out she was sinking. Hardly 

 had her crew been taken out when she went down. 

 Counting the Wasp's complement as full (though 

 it was probably two or three short), taking James' 

 statement of the crew of the Avon as true, includ 

 ing the boat carronades of both vessels, and consid 

 ering the Avon's stern-chaser to have been a six- 

 pounder, we get the 



COMPARATIVE FORCE 



Weight 



Tons No. Guns Metal No. Men Loss 



Wasp 509 12 327 160 3 



Avon 477 u 280 117 42 



It is self-evident that in the case of this action the 

 odds, 14 to u, are neither enough to account for 

 the loss inflicted being as 14 to i, nor for the rapid 

 ity with which, during a night encounter, the Avon 

 was placed in a sinking condition. "The gallantry 

 of the Avon's officers and crew can not for a mo- 



49 Niles' "Register," vi, 216. 



