• B RENT 0 N-^-SPLEND1D VICTORY. - 405

.must; have-done; muchi.damage.to'the'Spartan, for I couldsee their-shot ricocher—tip—tip—tip—upon the water and.plunge ,into ,her; bows 1 at every ; round. , The’ Neapolitansquadron .was -making; the best; of;its way towards Naples.,During the heat.of - the ’engagement, King Joachim went inhis barge from ship-to .ship encouraging the, crews. Heescaped,unhurt,- but was'completely drenched by the water.driven up,by the shot.which fell, like hail, around him. TheSpartan ..not, having wind enough, (as it seemed to me) torun; down, the gunboats rwhicli continued to hit her at long• shots, -,was .content" to . carry, off the . brig. .The gunboatsfollowed her .a short distance with-, their- oars, and had thevanity to'think that they had driven her. away.' Before theNeapolitans got to 'anchor under;the 'batteries,-1 went onboard ' theVfrigate, and' also' the corvette., Certainly thecarnage was most dreadful. Seventy-eight .killed on. boardthe one,) and sixty-two ; in , the other.. Troops "had 'beenembarked) in" the hopes of boarding the Spartan. Fromthe'water’s ; edge ;to the'.main-tops .of These" vessels,' it 'wasimpossible:to lay . one’s hand; on a space: where some-kind ofprojectile or.other—shot, grape, or musket balls —had notstruck. ; When the order arrived for the squadron to attack,the commander iof the cutter,'whose, nahie'was Vincent;was breakfasting in-.company with his brother, a Captainin the guards, .who had come to visit'him on .board. -. Thelandsman .volunteered to go out "with his’sbrother, and hadthe luck to lose a:leg. ■■ A'similar circumstance :(I am told)occurred on boarddhe Spartan, which was,’ that : Sir-GeorgeHoste,-being passenger, lost an arm in the engagement.

*’ Most ridiculous;and: disgusting it was' to :read. in theNeapolitan and! French : newspapers- the . account: of theaction, which had taken place before the eyes of the public,as though - exhibited:in a vast naumachia.! The Spartan, “ acut: down seventy-four,”-was beaten hollow—but, some how