A F I C A. S7 
to give examples of bravery and lionour, 
llioulcl fail in fo difgraceful a manner, at a time 
when in a minute only they might have diffi- 
pated every alarm, and made the paltry pri- 
vateer which harafled us appear as -nothing, 
whilft, on the contrary, children fcarcely old 
enough to haul in a cable, Ihewed a thoufand 
proofs of zeal, firmnefs, and intrepidity ? What 
chiefly raifed my indignation, and yet diverted 
me at the fame time, was, that next morn- 
ing they were fully perfuaded they had funk 
the Englifh veffel, as it had difappeared. I 
could not without murmuring hear the reci- 
procal compliments they paid one another on 
account of the gallant manner in which they 
had defended their velTel the evening before. 
As for me, being firmly perfuaded that the 
lenemy had not received one of our fhot, I 
could not help fhewing a little pleafantry on 
the occafion ; and telling the chief pilotj Van 
Groenen, that he behaved worfe than any of 
the reft during the adion, and that he then 
fhewed the greateft fhare of pride and vanity. 
The failors laughed in their fleeves, and the 
pilot perceived it ; but the greater part of them 
|iiot being able irx confcience to ftand up in his 
^ defence^ 
