them down; while the
crew of the _Timoleon_ set her on fire, and she soon afterwards blew up.
Thus, in the memorable "Battle of the Nile," the French lost eleven
line-of-battle ships, besides frigates. In this action the British lost
218 killed and 678 wounded. Among the latter was Horatio Nelson, who
was struck above his already darkened eye by a splinter; while all the
ships were considerably cut up. On board the _Orient_ fell the
Commodore Casa Bianca, as well as his gallant young son, who had refused
to quit his post; and the French commander-in-chief, Brueys, who, after
receiving two severe wounds, was nearly cut in two by a shot. While
still breathing, he desired not to be carried below, but to be left to
die upon deck, exclaiming in a firm voice, "Un amiral Francais doit
mourir sur son banc de quart."

"A French admiral ought to die on his quarter-deck."

While the ship was in flames, the boats of the British ships put off to
save the hapless crew, seventy of whom were thus rescued. The heroic
conduct of the captain of the _Tonnant_, Du Petit Thonars, deserves to
be recorded. He first lost both his arms, and then one of his legs;
even then, still able to speak, he gave his dying commands to his crew
not to surrender the ship. Of the English fleet, the _Culloden_
unhappily got on shore while going into action, and only by great
exertions did she get off, after the battle was over. That the French
fought with the utmost gallantry is acknowledged by all, while we must
rank the victory of the Nile among the most brilliant achievements of
the British Navy.

After the battle every effort was made to repair the damages the ships
had received, and to fit the prizes for the voyage to England. Nelson
sent the prisoners taken on board them on shore in a cartel, on their
parole not to serve again during the war; but Napoleon, with his usual
disregard for treaties, formed them into a battalion, which he called
the "nautic." Three of the prizes, being in too shattered a condition
to be refitted, were burnt; another, the _Peuple-Souverain_, being
considered unfit to proceed farther than Gibraltar, was there turned
into a guard-ship. The five remaining vessels arrived safely at
Plymouth; three of them being new and magnificent ships, the _Tonnant,
Franklin_, and _Spartiate_, were added to the British Navy, the name of
the former being changed to _Canopus_. Rewards were liberally bestowed
upon the victors; Sir Hor