with a party of men, were on board her at the time. The ship now presented a most awful spectacle, and I had quite given her up as lost. No possible assistance could be afforded from the squadron, and she had to trust alone to her own exertions; these, however, were not wanting, and by the extraordinary perseverance and coolness of the officers and men, the fire was at last extinguished, with the loss of the main-mast, and the ship of course saved to the service. I have to express my warmest thanks to Lieutenants Dickenson and Haye, and the officers and men employed under their orders, and beg leave to recommend them to the commander-in-chief. I have the honor to be, &c;
“Captain G. Eyre, &c.”
The following is a copy of the correspondence between Captain Hoste and the French commodore, alluded to in the first of the above letters:
“Sir,– The frigate you commanded in the late action with the British squadron, struck her colours to H.B. Majesty’s ship Amphion, under my command; I was not able to take possession of you at that moment, being engaged with the Bellona frigate, but I considered you as my own, and as a man of honor you must have thought so yourself; I call on the officers of your own squadron, as well as those I have the honor to command, to witness my assertion. You know, Sir, I might have sunk you, had I not considered you as having surrendered, and so might two of my squadron also. By the laws of war, the Flore belongs to me; and the purport of my present truce is to demand her restitution, in the same state as when she struck. I have the honor to be, &c.
(Translation.)
“On board His Imperial and Royal Majesty’s frigate
“the Danaé, in the Roads of Lessina.
- ↑ The French account of the action, written by an Italian Colonel, forms a most ludicrous contrast to the British Captain’s. It will be found at length in the Nav. Chron. v. xxv, p. 423, et seq., and an analysis thereof in James’s Nav. Hist. v. 5, p. 139, et seq.
