ortunately, a breeze coming off the
land, the captors with their prizes were enabled to stand off the coast,
just in time to save themselves from being attacked by four large ships,
which came out of Vigo. While the English frigates were preparing to
receive the enemy, the four ships put back into port. The prizes were
found to have on board a cargo of specie, besides other merchandise, to
an amount which gave each captain upwards of 40,000 pounds, each
lieutenant 5000 pounds, each warrant officer upwards of 2000 pounds,
each midshipman nearly 800 pounds, each seaman and marine 182 pounds.
Even the seamen and marines might have been well contented with the gold
pieces they had to chink in their pockets; though in too many instances
they were probably all dissipated before they had been many days on
shore. Yet complaints were general of the uneven way in which
prize-money was distributed. It was a common saying among sailors, that
when the pay-clerk went on board ships to pay prize-money, he clambered
with his money-bags into the main-top and showered down the money at
random; all which remained upon the splinter-netting (a coarse rope
netting spread as a kind of awning) was for the men, and all that went
through for the officers. The captain of a ship not under the admiral's
flag received three-eighths of the net proceeds. In this instance the
three-eighths were divided among the four captains who assisted in the
capture of the two Spanish frigates. On the treasure being landed, it
was escorted in sixty-three artillery waggons, by horse and foot
soldiers, and armed seamen and marines, attended by bands of music, and
a vast multitude, to the dungeons of the citadel of Plymouth, whence it
was afterwards removed, much in the same style, and deposited in the
Bank of England.

Still more fortunate, a few years later, was Lord Cochrane, when, in
command of the _Pallas_, he captured three rich prizes in succession, of
which the value could not have been far short of 300,000 pounds. As,
however, he only took one fourth, his share amounted to about 75,000
pounds. As it was, however, he nearly lost not only a large portion of
his booty, but his liberty, as, while returning home after he had taken
the last prize, three of the enemy's line-of-battle ships were seen.
The wind freshening to half a gale, the _Pallas_ was standing on,
carrying all the sail she could, when it was found that the enemy were
gaining on her. In th