he augmentation of her navy, seemed to inspire a hope of being able,
with the assistance of Spain, now forced into a war which that
unfortunate court had so much reason to dread, at length, in the
confidence of superior numbers, to hazard an encounter with the British
fleet. This, however, was by no means to be rashly ventured: it would be
necessary, they well knew, first to effect a junction of their united
force; which was not easily accomplishable, while they were watched with
such diligent circumspection by our indefatigable hero. The first
operation, by which they sought to elude his vigilance, was that of
risking a small squadron from Rochfort, under Rear-Admiral Missiessi;
which, having got out unobserved by our cruisers, arrived safely in the
West Indies, with the double view of pillaging our colonies, and
assisting to relieve St. Domingo. In the mean time, another, but far
more powerful squadron, was ready to seize the first convenient
opportunity of slipping out from Toulon.

On the 15th of January, while Lord Nelson, who had no desire to restrain
the enemy from putting to sea, was busily engaged in observing the whole
line of the Italian, French, and Spanish coasts, from Palermo, Leghorn,
Toulon, and Barcelona, to the Straits of Gibraltar, and picking up all
the French and Spanish vessels which his cruisers could meet with in
that wide extent of ocean, Admiral Villeneuve, with a formidable
squadron, consisting of eleven sail of the line and two frigates,
suddenly pushed out of Toulon harbour. The Seahorse, Lord Nelson's
look-out frigate, accordingly, narrowly escaped being taken: and the
Venus sloop of ten guns, with his lordship's dispatches, was actually
captured; having, however, previously thrown the dispatches overboard.
The Seahorse, instead of watching, at a safe distance, the course of the
enemy's fleet, till their destination should have been in some degree
ascertained, hastened to acquaint his lordship that they had sailed,
without being able to afford the smallest additional information. This,
indeed, was sufficient to call forth our hero's energies; but he was, at
the same time, checked by the dread of proceeding in a wrong direction.
Strong circumstances induced his lordship to suppose, that another
attack on Egypt might possibly be intended by this armament; which,
indeed, was the current report. He deemed it likely, however, that they
might first, as they formerly did at Malta, make an insiduous