"Steady, my brave lads, meet them!" cried our gallant captain. We saw
the Frenchmen hurrying along the waist, leaping up on the forecastle,
and then in dense masses they rushed down on our decks. We met them as
bravely as men can meet their foes, but already we had nearly sixty men
(more than a quarter of our crew) either killed or wounded, and,
terribly overmatched, we were borne back by mere force of numbers.
The way cleared, the Frenchmen continued pouring in on us till our
people were literally forced down the hatchways or against the opposite
bulwarks, while our cutlasses were knocked out of our hands, no longer
able to grasp them. The bravest on board must have felt there was no
help for it, and no one was braver than our captain. The British
colours were hauled down.
When I saw what had happened, I felt as if a shot had gone through me--
grief and shame made my heart sink within my bosom. The Frenchmen
cheered; we threw down our weapons, and went below. We were called up,
however, to assist in getting the ships free of each other. This was a
work of no little difficulty. Some of our people were removed aboard
the _Ville de Milan_, and she sent about forty men, including officers,
to take possession of the _Cleopatra_.
Some of the Frenchmen told us that their captain had been killed by one
of the last shots we fired. We had four lieutenants, the master, and
the lieutenant of marines wounded, as well as the boatswain and a
midshipman, though not an officer was killed. Of the seamen and
marines, we had twenty-two killed and thirty wounded. Another proof
that we did not give in while a chance of victory remained was, that
scarcely were we free of the Frenchman than our main and fore masts went
over our side, and very shortly afterwards the bowsprit followed, and
our gallant frigate was left a miserable wreck on the waters.
The French lost a good many men, and their ship was so knocked about,
that her main and mizzen-masts both went over the side during the night,
and when day broke, to all appearance she was not much better off than
the _Cleopatra_.
We at once were summoned to assist the prize crew in getting up
jury-masts, and the weather moderating, we were able to do this without
difficulty. Both frigates then shaped a course for France. Even now I
scarcely like to speak of what my feelings were when once more all my
hopes were cruelly dashed to the ground, and I found myself carried away
to become the inmate of a French prison.
I sat most of the day with my head bent down on my knees, brooding over
my grief. I certainly felt ripe for any desperate adventure; but
nothing else would, I think, have aroused me. The Frenchmen did not
like our looks, I conclude, for they kept a strict watch over us lest we
should attempt to play them a trick, and would only allow a few of us on
deck at a time. This was very wise in them, for had they given up the
chance, we should certainly not have let it slip.