the service entrusted to him was worthy of the reputation which he has long since so justly and generally established. The terms of approbation in which the Rear-Admiral relates the conduct of Captains Dacres, Talbot, Harvey, and Moubray, which, from my beingunder the necessity of passing the Point of Pesquies before the van could anchor, he had a greater opportunity of observing than I could, cannot but be highly flattering; but I was a more immediate witness to the able and ofiicer-like conduct which Captain Moubray displayed in obedience to my signal, by destroying a frigate with which he had been more particularly engaged, having driven her on shore on the European side, after she had been forced to cut her cables, from under the fire of the Pompde and Thunderer. The 64 having run on shore on Pesquies Point, I ordered the Repulse to work up and destroy her; which Captain Legge, in conjunction with the boats of the Pomp6e, executed with great promptitude and judgment.”
It will be seen by Sir W. Sidney Smith’s letter, already alluded to, that as circumstances rendered it impracticable at the moment to effect the entire destruction of the formidable battery on Point Pesquies, orders were given by that officer to Captain Moubray to remain there for the purpose of completing its demolition. This service was effectually performed by a party commanded by Lieutenants W. F. Carroll and S. Arabin, of the Pompée, and Lieutenant Laurie, R.M., under the protection of the Active.
Returning through the Dardanelles, in company with the fleet, March 3, 1807, the Active received a granite shot weighing 800 pounds, and measuring six feet six inches in circumference, which passed through her side two feet above the water, and lodged on the orlop-deck, close to the magazine scuttle, without injuring a man. The aperture made by it was so wide, that Captain Moubray on looking over the side to ascertain what damage it had done, saw two of his crew thrusting their heads through at the same moment. Had there been a necessity for hauling to the wind on the opposite tack, she must have gone down. The Active, during the whole of these operations, had only 8 men wounded, one of whom, the Boatswain, mortally.
After cruising for some time in the Archipelago where he had been left by Sir John T. Duckworth, on that officer’s departure for Egypt, Captain Moubray proceeded with his former guest, the Russian Ambassador, to Malta, where the Active underwent the necessary repairs. We next find him
