John T. Duckworth until towards the close of 1805, when she accompanied that officer to the West Indies in quest of a French squadron that had sailed for that quarter. The result of the battle fought off St. Domingo, Feb. 6, 1806, is well known, and has already been related in this volume[1]. The loss sustained by the Donegal on that occasion amounted to 12 men killed and 33 wounded. After the battle she proceeded with the prizes to Port Royal, Jamaica, and from thence to England. On the passage home the ships were dispersed in a heavy gale of wind. Captain Malcolm, however, knowing the defective state of one of the prizes, le Brave, of 74 guns, kept close to her, and fortunate it was he did so; for on the weather moderating, he found that in addition to the loss of all her masts, she had ten feet water in the hold. Seeing that there was no prospect of preserving her from foundering, he determined upon removing her crew, a service attended with very great risk, on account of the heavy sea then running; but which was at length happily effected, and the ship abandoned to her fate.
Previous to their quitting the Donegal, General Carmichael and several other military officers who had been passengers on board le Brave, addressed a letter to Captain Malcolm, of which we believe the following to be a correct copy:
“H.M.S. Donegal, April 30, 1806.
“Sir,– The gentlemen who were passengers in his Majesty’s late Ship Brave, feel it a duty incumbent on them to express their most grateful thanks for being under Providence rescued by you from the impending fate of shipwreck in the midst of a tempestuous ocean, after the strenuous endeavours of Captain Boger, his officers, and exhausted crew, had been rendered abortive, and which must inevitably have terminated in a lamentable event, had it not been for that energy and perseverance which has distinguished your character not less in the professional avocations of your country’s glory than active humanity in relieving those in distress, and from which you were not to be restrained by perils and fatigue.
“In offering this tribute we are fully confident of the heartfelt gratification that must reward a benevolent mind on those occasions which have recently occurred in your arduous service.
“We beg also to acknowledge our warm sense of the hospitality and kindness we have experienced from you and the officers of the Donegal, which with their unprecedented and humane exertions has made an