ncing
further, the English could not recover the outpost which the Spaniards
had abandoned, and the French formed intrenchments and mounted a battery
upon it.

In spite of the continued fire which the besiegers now poured in upon
it from all sides, Lord Donegal held out bravely. The little force under
his command was much reduced in numbers, and so worn out by constant
exertion and loss of sleep that men frequently fell asleep while under
arms under the heaviest fire. The besiegers were not idle in other
directions. Several mortar vessels moved close in shore and threw shells
into the town, while the batteries poured in red hot shot. This spread
great alarm throughout the town. The people could be hardly induced to
continue working on the defenses, and many took refuge in cellars or
in the churches. Ammunition began to fail, and despair was taking
possession of the defenders, when, at two o'clock in the morning of the
21st, a galley ran safely into the harbor bearing a supply of powder and
encouraging messages from Lord Peterborough.

Three days later he managed to throw a body of Neapolitan troops into
the town, embarking them in boats at Matero, a small port a few miles to
the northeast of the town. He sent them close along the shore in order
to pass the enemy's fleet, if possible, unobserved. They found, however,
that a line of boats had been drawn across the harbor to blockade the
entrance. They attacked the boats, and after a sharp fight, which lasted
over an hour, four hundred men succeeded in forcing their way through,
and the rest returned to Matero in safety.

Peterborough now determined to endeavor to relieve the town by the
desperate expedient of attacking the enemy's camp with his little force.
In order to do this with any prospect of success it was necessary to
warn the king of his intentions, so that the garrison of the town could
issue out and attack the enemy at the same moment from their side. He
committed the dispatch to Captain Graham, who succeeded in making his
way through the enemy's lines to the city. The king agreed to join in a
combined attack, and, having arranged all his plans, gave the dispatch
to Graham to carry back to the earl.

On the way out he was less successful than he had been in entering. He
was seized upon by a body of French before he could destroy the paper.
Tesse was accordingly warned of the earl's plans, and at the hour
appointed for the attack drew up his army in order of