Laperouse | Page 7

out of the
way. There was always that tough wooden wall with the hearts of oak
behind it, standing solidly in the path. It baffled Napoleon in the same
fashion when he thought out an invasion plan in the next century. The

French Admiral, Conflans, schemed to lure Sir Edward Hawke into
Quiberon Bay, on the coast of Brittany. A strong westerly gale was
blowing and was rapidly swelling into a raging tempest. Conflans,
piloted by a reliable guide who knew the Bay thoroughly, intended to
take up a fairly safe, sheltered position on the lee side, and hoped that
the wind would force Hawke, who was not familiar with the ground, on
to the reefs and shoals, where his fleet would be destroyed by the storm
and the French guns together. But Hawke, whose name signally
represents the bold, swift, sure character of the man, understood the
design, took the risk, avoided the danger, and clutched the prey.
Following the French as rapidly as wind and canvas could take him, he
caught their rearmost vessels, smashed them up, battered the whole
fleet successively into flight or splinters, and himself lost only two
vessels, which ran upon a shoal. Plodding prose does scant justice to
the extraordinary brilliancy of Hawke's victory, described by Admiral
Mahan as "the Trafalgar of this war." We cannot pass on without
quoting one of Mr. Newbolt's graphic verses:--
"'Twas long past the noon of a wild November day When Hawke came
swooping from the west; He heard the breakers thundering in Quiberon
Bay, But he flew the flag for battle, line abreast. Down upon the
quicksands, roaring out of sight, Fiercely blew the storm wind, darkly
fell the night, For they took the foe for pilot and the cannon's glare for
light, When Hawke came swooping from the West."
"They took the foe for pilot:" that is a most excellent touch, both
poetical and true.
The FORMIDABLE was the first to be disposed of in the fight. She
was an 80-gun line-of-battle ship, carrying the flag of Admiral du
Verger. Her position being in the rear of the squadron, she was early
engaged by the RESOLUTION, and in addition received the full
broadside of every other British ship that passed her. The Admiral fell
mortally wounded, and two hundred on board were killed. She struck
her colours at four o'clock after receiving a terrible battering, and was
the only French ship captured by Hawke's fleet. All the others were
sunk, burnt, or beached, or else escaped. The young Laperouse was

amongst the wounded, though his hurts were not dangerous; and, after
a brief period spent in England as a prisoner of war, he returned to
service.
An amusing rhyme in connection with this engagement is worth
recalling. Supplies for Hawke's fleet did not come to hand for a
considerable time after they were due, and in consequence the
victorious crews had to be put on "short commons." Some wag--it is the
way of the British sailor to do his grumbling with a spice of
humour--put the case thus:--
"Ere Hawke did bang Monsieur Conflans, You sent us beef and beer;
Now Monsieur's beat We've nought to eat, Since you have nought to
fear."
An interesting coincidence must also be noted. Thirty-five years later,
only a few leagues from the place where Laperouse first learnt what it
meant to fight the British on the sea, another young officer who was
afterwards greatly concerned with Australasian exploration had his
introduction to naval warfare. It was in 1794 that Midshipman Matthew
Flinders, on the BELLEROPHON, Captain Pasley, played his valiant
little part in a great fleet action off Brest. Both of these youths, whose
longing was for exploration and discovery, and who are remembered by
mankind in that connection, were cradled on the sea amidst the smoke
and flame of battle, both in the same waters.
During the next twenty-five years Laperouse saw a considerable
amount of fighting in the East and West Indies, and in Canadian waters.
He was commander of the AMAZON, under D'Estaing, during a period
when events did not shape themselves very gloriously for British arms,
not because our admirals had lost their skill and nerve, or our seamen
their grit and courage, but because Governments at home muddled,
squabbled, starved the navy, misunderstood the problem, and generally
made a mess of things. We need not follow him through the details of
these years, but simply note that Laperouse's dash and good
seamanship won him a high reputation among French naval officers,
and brought him under the eye of the authorities who afterwards chose
him to command an expedition of discovery.

One incident must be recorded, because it throws a light on the
character of Laperouse. In 1782, whilst serving under Admiral
Latouche-Treville in the West, he