162 
€larke ? s travels. 
Nelson’s island, and presently saw the whole fleet of troop 
ships, transports, with all the Turkish frigates, merchant vessels, 
and other craft belonging to the expedition. It was the grand¬ 
est naval sight I had ever beheld; much more suprising in its 
appearance than the famous Russian armament, prepared 
during a former war. Innumerable masts like an immense 
forest covering theses; sw arms of sailing boats and cutters, 
plying about in all directions between the larger vessels; pre¬ 
sented a scene which it is not possible to describe. We stood 
on, for a considerable distance, to the eastward of Nelson’s 
island, iu order to avoid the shoal where the Culloden struck 
before the action of the Nile; our course being precisely the 
same pursued by the British fleet previous to that memorable 
engagement; and the fleet of transports lying at anchor afforded 
a correct representation of the position of the French armament 
upon that occasion. 
Bearing down at last upon the fleet, we passed tinder the 
stern of the Delft frigate. Unmindful of the temerity of such 
proceeding, I seized the trumpet, hailing a young officer upon 
the poop, and inquired for the situation of the Braakel. Cap¬ 
tain Castle immediately wanted us to beware of repeating the 
question; saying, that we should soon discover the immeasurable 
distance, at which the inhabitants of those floating islands bold 
t he master of a merchant smack: and so the answer proved, 
coming like thunder, in three monosyllables, easier for the 
reader to imagine than for me to express. Soon after, the quarter¬ 
master of the Braakel came alongside, in the jollyboat; my 
brother, who expected us, having surmised, as he afterward in¬ 
formed us, from our pitiful appearance and wavering track, 
that we were his visiters, and in want of a pilot. Having 
readied his comfortable cabin, we were soon introduced to the 
officers both of the army and the navy : and found, after our 
long absence from England, the society of our countrymen 
particularly grateful. We enjoyed what we had long wanted, 
the guidance of books and of w ell-informed men, concerning 
countries we were yet to explore. According to the promise I 
had made to the Capudan Pacha, I accompanied my brother 
on board his magnificent ship, and introduced them to each 
other. Several other days were employed visiting the different 
ships in search of friends and schoolfellows, some of w hom, 
particularly of those belonging to the guards, I had the misfor¬ 
tune to find desperately wounded. The sight of many of our gal¬ 
lant officers, mutilated, hacked, or wounded by shot in different 
