L JO N 
Jng Cape Corfe, he fell in with a French frigate-built' 
ftore-(hip and a corvette. On doling with them, the 
former veffel (truck, and proved to be the Merinos, com¬ 
manded by M. Honore Coardonan, captaip of a frigate, 
and a member of the legion of honour; the (hip quite 
new, of 850 tons, pierced for thirty-fix guns, but carry¬ 
ing only twenty 8-pounders, with 126 men. She was 
bound to Sagona for timber. The Apollo buffered no lofs, 
though expofed for four hours to batteries on-lhore. The 
corvette made her efcape with the afliftance of boats from 
the fliore. 
Capt. Talbot of the Vidorious, fenior officer of the 
upper part of the Adriatic, in company with the Wea- 
7.1e (loop, deferied, Feb. 21,-a large (hip with feveral 
fmall ones proceeding from Venice to Pola in Iftria. 
A lignal for chafe was made, the enemy being in a line 
of battle, with two gun-boats and a brig a-head of the 
large (hip, and two brigs aftern. The Weazle, Capt. 
Andrews, was direded to bring the brigs aftern of the 
commodore to aftion, in order to induce him to Ihorten 
fail, which had the intended effed. At half pait four in 
the afternoon, the Vidorious commenced action with the 
line-of-battle (hip the Rivoli of 74 guns, at the diftance 
of half-piftol (hot, neither Ihip having hitherto fired a gun ; 
and, the water being fmooth, every (hot told, and the car¬ 
nage on both iides was dreadful. At five, one of the 
brigs engaged with the Weazel blew up, and that veffel 
went in chafe of the reft; but was recalled by captain 
Talbot, who thought that, as they were in only feven fa¬ 
thoms water, one or the other of the great (hips might get 
aground, and want afliftance. Capt. Andrew, on being 
recalled, placed his brig on the bow of the Rivoli, and 
raked her. with three broadfides. That (hip, for nearly 
two hours, had been rendered perfectly unmanageable, and 
had been able to keep up only a very flow fire. At nine 
o’clock (he (truck, and was taken poffefiion of. She bore 
the broad pendant of commodore Barre, the French com- 
mander-in-chief of the Adriatic, who difplayed great (kill 
and valour in the aiflion. He loft 400 killed and wounded, 
including his captain and 1110ft of his officers, out of 862 
perfons with whom he entered into action. The Vifto- 
rious alfo fuftained a fevere lofs of men. She had at the 
commencement only 506 actually on-board, of whom 
60 were on the fick-lift. Of the French brig engaged with 
the Weazel, which blew up, only three men were faved : 
the Weazel did not lofe a fingle man. Few actions in any 
year have afforded more convincing proof of the fuperio- 
rity of Britifh feamanffiip. 
A fpirited action on a fmall fcale was reported in March 
by Mr. Harvey, commanderof the (loop Rofario, off Dieppe. 
On the 27th of that month, in the morning, he obferved 
an enemy’s flotilla, confiding of twelve brigs, and a lug¬ 
ger, (landing along-fhore; and immediately made fail, 
with the intention of cutting off the leewardmoft. The 
flotilla formed into a line, and engaged the Rofario as (he 
pafled ; and, when (lie luffed up to attack the llernmolt, 
they all bore up to fupport her, and endeavoured to clofe 
with the (loop. The commander, not cpooling with his 
fmall force to. run the ri(k of being boarded, bore away To 
a brig in the offing, which proved to be the Griffin, cap¬ 
tain Trollope, and made the fignal for an enemy, which 
was anfwered. He then immediately hauled his wind, and 
.pUrfuing the flotilla,which was making ail fail for Dieppe, 
began to harafs the rear, and at length dallied into the 
mi<lft of them, receiving and returning their whole fire. 
He difabled fome, and ran others on-fnore, before he was 
joined by the Griffin, which could not come up fooner. 
Capt. Trollope gallantly contributed his part; and the 
refult was, the capturing three of the enemy, driving two 
on-(hore, and much damaging, the others. This flotilla 
was proceeding from Boulogne to Cherbourg: each brig 
carried three long brafs 24-pounders and an eight-inch 
brafs howitzer, with 50 men; and they were affifted 
by batteries on-fliore, keeping up a conftant fire of fnot 
DON. 311 
and (hells. The lofs on-board the Rofario was, however, 
only five wounded. 
The account of a fuccefsful attempt to intercept two 
French frigates and a brig off l’Orient, was communicated 
in a letter dated May 24th, from captain Hotham, of the 
Northumberland, to rear-admiral fir H. B. Neale.*—The 
writer (fates, that, having, according to orders, proceeded 
off l’Orient with the Growler gun-brig in company, the 
French veffels were deferied on the morning of the 22d, 
crowding all fail to get. into the port of l’Orient. The 
enemy, after fome confultation, at length bore up in a 
clofe line with every fail fet, and made a bold attempt 
to run between the Northumberland and the Ihore, under 
cover of the numerous batteries with which it is there 
lined. Cr.pt. Hotham bore up, and (leered parallel to them 
at the diftance of two cables length, giving them broad¬ 
fides, which were returned by a very briik fire from the 
(hips and batteries, highly deftruflive to the Northumber¬ 
land’s fails and rigging. It was captain Hotham’s objedb 
to prevent them from parting on the outfide of a dry rock ; 
and the French (hips, attempting, as the only alternative, 
to fail between the rock and the fhore, all grounded. 
During the falling tide, the Northumberland was em¬ 
ployed in repairing damages ; (lie was then brought to 
anchor with her broadfide bearing upon the enemy’s (hips, 
which had all fallen over on their (ides next the (here as 
the tide left them. A continued fire was kept on them 
for more than an hour; when, their crews having quitted 
them, their bottoms pierced with (hot, and one of them 
completely in flames, captain Hotham got under fail, leav¬ 
ing the Growler to prevent by its fire tiie return of the men 
to their veffels. In the evening, the firft. frigate blew up 
w ith a dreadful explofion; and foon after, the fecond ap¬ 
peared to be on fire : (lie alfo blew up during the night; 
and a third explofion, heard cn the next day, was doubt- 
lefs that of the brig; and thus the work of deftruftion 
was completed. Captain Hotham was informed that thefe 
veffels were l’Arianne and l’Andromache, of 44guns and 
450 men each; and the Mamaluke brig, of 18 guns and 
150 men; and that fince January they had been cruifing 
in various parts of the Atlantic, and had deftroyed thirty- 
fix veffels of different nations, the mod valuable parts of 
the cargoes of which they had on-board. 
On July the 7th, Capt. Stewart, of his maje.fty’s (hip 
Difrator, with the Calypfo armed brig, being off Mardoe, 
on the coaft of Norway, obferved the inaft-heads of a Da- 
nifli fquadron over the rocks. The Calypfo, Capt. Weir, 
led the way through a paflage of twelve miles among tho 
rocks, in (ome places fo narrow that there was fcarcely 
room for fetting out their ftudding-fail booms, till at 
length they came within reach of the enemy, who had 
been retiring before them under a prefs of fail. Tliefe 
confided of the Nayaden frigate of 38 guns, but mount¬ 
ing 50, three (font brigs, and twenty-five gun-boats, lying 
anchored clofe together in the fmall creek of Lyngoe. The 
Difftator ran her bow on the land with her broadfide to 
the enemy ; and, being feconded by the Calypfo, their fire 
was fo powerful, that in half an hour the frigate was bat¬ 
tered to pieces, and flames were leen burfting from her 
hatchways; the brigs had ftruck, and moft of the gun¬ 
boats were beaten, and fome funk. At three in the after¬ 
noon, the Dictator, Calypfo, and prize-brigs, were return¬ 
ing through the paffages, when they were aflailed by a di- 
vilion of gun-boats fo placed behind the rocks, that no 
gun could be brought to bear on them. In this fituation, 
the prize-brigs ran aground, and it was necefiary to aban¬ 
don them in the (late of complete wrecks,humanity forbid¬ 
ding fetting them cn fire, on account of the many wound¬ 
ed they had on-board. In this bold enterprife, the Eng- 
lifli fquadron fuffered a lofs of 50 in killed and wounded ; 
that of the Danes was at lead joo. 
Of minuter fucceffes, one 1110ft worthy of notice was 
communicated by Capt. Jofias Rowley, of the America, 
in a letter dated off Languiilia, May 10. It (fates, that 
s thft 
