s from the two smaller vessels rallying about
the larger one, he got out his sweeps and began moving his vessel inshore,
so as to get under the guns of the decrepit fort, with which Portugal
guarded her harbor. At this, four boats crowded with men, put out from the
side of the British ship, and made for the privateer, seeing which, Reid
dropped anchor and put springs on his cables, so as to keep his broadside
to bear on the enemy as they approached. Then he shouted to the British,
warning them to keep off, or he would fire. They paid no attention to the
warning, but pressed on, when he opened a brisk fire upon them. For a time
there was a lively interchange of shots, but the superior marksmanship of
the Americans soon drove the enemy out of range with heavy casualties. The
British retreated to their ships with a hatred for the Yankee privateer
even more bitter than that which had impelled them to the lawless attack,
and a fiercer determination for her destruction.

It is proper to note, that after the battle was fought, and the British
commander had calmly considered the possible consequences of his violation
of the neutrality laws, he attempted to make it appear that the Americans
themselves were the aggressors. His plea, as made in a formal report to
the admiralty, was that he had sent four boats to discover the character
of the American vessel; that they, upon hailing her, had been fired upon
and suffered severe loss, and that accordingly he felt that the affront to
the British flag could only be expiated by the destruction of the vessel.
The explanation was not even plausible, for the British commander,
elsewhere in his report, acknowledged that he was perfectly informed as to
the identity of the vessel, and even had this not been the case, it is not
customary to send four boats heavily laden with armed men, merely to
discover the character of a ship in a friendly port.

The withdrawal of the British boats gave Captain Reid time to complete
the removal of his vessel to a point underneath the guns of the Portuguese
battery. This gave him a position better fitted for defense, although his
hope that the Portuguese would defend the neutrality of their port, was
destined to disappointment, for not a shot was fired from the battery.

[Illustration: "STRIVING TO REACH HER DECKS AT EVERY POINT"]

Toward midnight the attack was resumed, and by this time the firing within
the harbor had awakened the people of the town, who c