332 NORTH SEA FISHERS AND FIGHTERS 



ten o'clock on the night of the 25th, nearly fifty hours 

 after the battle, she sank in the North Sea. No lives 

 were lost in her, according to Jones though Pearson 

 stated afterwards that she took a number of men with 

 her but it was impossible to save any of the stores. 

 Jones lost most of his clothes, books, and papers, and 

 several of his officers lost all their clothes and effects. 

 The Serapis, which had been fitted with a jury-mast, 

 reached the Texel. 



The killed in the Serapis numbered 61 ; the Richard's 

 list of dead was 42 ; but it was believed that the total loss 

 on each side was about the same, in killed and wounded 

 150 ; making altogether 300 a heavy butcher's bill. 



This account of the battle is based chiefly on the 

 story which Jones wrote about a fortnight after the affair 

 and sent to Franklin. A letter written to the Admiralty 

 by Pearson on 6th October, when he was on board the 

 Pallas, in the Texel, gives other details which differ 

 somewhat from Jones's story, although, on the whole, 

 that is accurate and fair. Captain Pearson related how, 

 on the 23rd, being close in with Scarborough, a boat 

 went off at about eleven o'clock in the morning, with a 

 letter from the Corporation bailiffs, giving information of 

 a flying squadron of the enemy's ships being off the 

 coast. From that moment it is clear that Pearson's 

 great object was to save his convoy, and that he 

 succeeded in doing so, for his ships escaped into Scar- 

 borough and other ports. 



When Jones was within musket-shot of the Serapis, 

 Pearson hailed and asked what ship it was. They 

 answered, in English, '^^ Princess Royal" To the 

 further question, " Where do you belong?" they gave 



