tely impregnable.

On the 28th, the order to prepare for battle was received, as usual, by
the British tars, with the loudest acclamations of joy; and they were
soon convinced, that the passage of the Sound had been at length decided
on. Nothing was now wanting to their felicity, but the appointment of a
popular leader: and, happily for their country, and even for those who
opposed them, this service was allotted to Lord Nelson; who, for that
purpose, had judged it advisable to shift his flag on board the
Elephant, commanded by his gallant and judicious friend, the Honourable
Captain Thomas Foley.

The ships were now cleared for action, with an alacrity and expedition
almost incredible: and, on the 30th, the wind having become favourable,
the British fleet weighed, and formed the order of battle, Lord Nelson
leading the van-division; and all safely passed the Sound, the
celebrated Key of the Baltic, in about four hours, without having
received the smallest damage from any of the Danish artillery. The only
casualty, indeed, of this day, happened on board the Isis; where six or
seven men were killed or wounded, by the bursting of a lower-deck gun.
It is to be observed, however, that the Swedish batteries were very
prudently silent, which afforded our ships an opportunity of keeping at
a sufficient distance from the shore of Denmark; where a heavy and
well-supported fire had commenced, from the whole line of their
positions, at half-past six in the morning, when the Monarch, which had
the honour of leading the fleet, appeared sufficiently advanced to be
nearly within their range: a compliment which was soon returned, and
with far better effect, on the town of Elsineur, by the leading ships,
as well as by some of those which composed the centre and rear
divisions.

The Danes, from a long received opinion in Europe, that the possession
of Cronenberg Castle gave them an uncontrouled command of the passage of
the Sound, have exacted, for more than a century, the undisputed right
of levying contributions on all vessels trading to and from the Baltic,
in proportion to the value of the cargoes: an imposition so sanctioned
by time, that they considered any augmentation to the works as
superfluous; and, relying on the co-operation of the Swedes, had
fortunately neglected to render the approach more difficult, by forming
a line of floating-batteries.

The channel of the Sound offers a prospect of very singular interest. On
the