The Privateersman | Page 7

ran us on board, and poured in his men; but we were well
prepared, and soon cleared our decks of the intruders. In the mean time
the Spaniard, by cutting away our rigging, in which his bowsprit was
entangled, swung clear of us, and fell away to leeward. The Frenchman
perceiving this sheered off, and springing his luff, shot ahead clear of
us. Such was the first act of this terrible drama. We had as yet sustained
little damage, the enemy's want of skill, and our good fortune combined,
having enabled us to take them at such a disadvantage.
But, although inspirited by such a prosperous beginning, our inferiority
in men was so great that our captain considered it his duty to make all

sail in hopes of being able to avoid such an unequal combat. This our
enemies attempted to prevent by a most furious cannonade, which we
received and returned without flinching, making a running fight of it,
till at last, our fore-yard and foretop-mast being shot away, we had no
longer command of the vessel. Finding that, although we were crippled
and could not escape, our fire continued unabated, both the vessels
again made preparations for boarding us, while we on our part prepared
to give them a warm reception.
As we knew that the Frenchman, who was our most serious opponent,
must board us on our weather-bow, we traversed over four of our guns,
loaded to the muzzle with musket-balls, to receive him, and being all
ready with our pateraroes and hand grenades we waited for the attack.
As he bore down for our bows, with all his men clinging like bees,
ready for the spring, our guns were discharged and the carnage was
terrible. The men staggered back, falling down over those who had
been killed or wounded, and it required all the bravery and example of
the French captain, who was really a noble fellow, to rally the
remainder of his men, which at last he succeeded in doing, and about
forty of them gained our forecastle, from which they forced our weak
crew, and retained possession, not following up the success, but
apparently waiting till they were seconded by the Spaniard's boarding
us on our lee quarter, which would have placed us between two fires,
and compelled us to divide our small force.
By this time the wind, which had been light, left us, and it was nearly a
calm, with a swell on the sea which separated the two vessels; the
Spaniard, who was ranging up under our lee, having but little way, and
not luffing enough, could not fetch us, but fell off and drifted to
leeward. The Frenchmen who had been thrown on board, and who
retained possession of our forecastle, being thus left without support
from their own vessel, which had been separated from us by the swell,
or from the Spaniard, which had fallen to leeward, we gave three cheers,
and throwing a number of hand grenades in among them we rushed
forward with our half-pikes, and killed or drove every soul of them
overboard, one only, and he wounded in the thigh, escaped by
swimming back to his own vessel. Here, then, was a pause in the

conflict, and thus ended, I may say, the second act.
Hitherto the battle had been fought with generous resolution; but after
this hand-to-hand conflict, and the massacre with which it ended, both
sides appeared to have been roused to ferocity. A most infernal
cannonade was now renewed by both our antagonists, and returned by
us with equal fury; but it was now a dead calm, and the vessels rolled
so much with the swell that the shot were not so effective. By degrees
we separated more and more from our enemies, and the firing was now
reduced to single guns. During this partial cessation our antagonists had
drawn near to each other, although at a considerable distance from us.
We perceived that the Spaniard was sending two of his boats full of
men to supply the heavy loss sustained by his comrade. Captain
Weatherall ordered the sweeps out, and we swept our broadside to them,
trying by single guns to sink the boats as they went from one vessel to
the other. After two or three attempts, a gun was successful; the shot
shattered the first of the boats, which instantly filled and went down.
The second boat pulled up and endeavoured to save the men, but we
now poured our broadside upon them, and, daunted by the shot flying
about them, they sought their own safety by pulling back to the vessel,
leaving their sinking companions to their fate. Failing in this attempt,
both vessels recommenced their fire upon us, but the distance and the
swell of the sea prevented any