The "Peacock" and the "Hornet." ioi 



perished, and nine of the English. Four of the English 

 managed to gain the foretop, and were afterwards 

 rescued by the Hornet's boats. The four men who had 

 been picked up off Mahaica, and had borne the tale of 

 defeat to the colony, had got into a much shattered boat 

 which was hanging at the stern of the Peacock. They 

 found great difficulty in keeping her afloat during the 

 six or seven hours that passed before they were rescued. 

 The Peacock sank off Little Courabanna Creek, about 

 twenty-four miles, as the crow flies, from the bank off 

 the Courabanna, where the Hornet had tacked in order 

 to get the weather gauge of the Peacock.* During their 

 manoeuvres the two vessels had gone thus far to the 

 south-east. 



Most of the wounded men of the Peacock were very 

 severely injured, and three of them died after being re- 

 moved. The clothes and other property of the ship's 

 company had gone down in the ship. Of the Hornet's 

 crew but one man had been killed and two been wounded. 

 Two others had been, severely burnt by the explo- 

 sion of a cartridge. The Hornet's foremast had a 

 shot in it, and her bowsprit was slightly injured. 

 Her rigging and sails were much cut, but her hull 

 received little or no damage. Lieutenant STEWART 

 was unable, from illness, to stand on deck, and 



* The Royal Gazette of March gth, 1813, says: — "The wreck of the 

 Peacock, we find, is in seven fathoms water, off Little Courabanna." 



In his Naval History, James says, Vol. VI., page 48: — *' The wreck 

 of the Peacock was visible for a long time after the action, and bore 

 from Point Spirit, which is about six miles to the eastward of the 

 entrance to Demerara River, north-east by east, distant six leagues ; 

 making the distance between the Espiegle and Peacock, during the aftion 

 nearly twenty-four miles." Point Spirit is off Plantation Lusignan. 



