n hand. It was understood that it would
be far more severe than anything in which we had yet engaged. Captain
Ceaton begged leave to lead the expedition, and, Mr Bryan being ill,
Mr Fitzgerald was to be second in command. The land forces were led by
Lieutenant Fig of the marines. Though his name was short, he was not;
and he was, moreover, a very gallant fellow. The second lieutenant of
the corvette had charge of the boats for landing the soldiers. In such
exploits it is seldom that the senior captain himself commands; indeed,
they are generally confided to the lieutenants who have their
commissions to win. McAllister, to his great satisfaction, got command
of one boat, with Grey as his companion; and Mr Johnson, whom I
accompanied, took charge of another. We were to have three boats from
the frigate, and two from the corvette, the rest being employed in
landing the soldiers. My cousin was unwell, and in the evening his
surgeon sent on board to say that he was utterly unfit to accompany the
proposed expedition, the command of which was therefore claimed by Mr
Fitzgerald.

"If it was daylight, his phiz would go far to secure us the victory,"
observed Perigal, who did not hold our eccentric second lieutenant in
high estimation. "However, he can shriek, and that is something."

As soon as it was dark, we once more stood towards the land, but the
night wind came off, and we worked up at a slow rate, which sorely tried
our patience. The hours of darkness passed by; still, we had night
enough left to do the work. The ships hove-to, and the boats were piped
away. My heart beat high. I longed almost as much as McAllister to
regain possession of the Audacieuse, should the schooner prove to be
her. There was no time to be lost, lest daylight might surprise us. We
shoved off, and away we went right merrily, with muffled oars, the men
bending their backs to them with a will.

There was supposed to be a little cove outside the chief harbour, and
here the soldiers were to land and form. A rocket sent up by our part
of the expedition, as soon as we were alongside the schooner or
discovered by the enemy, was to be the signal for the soldiers to
advance and storm the works. At some little distance from the harbour's
mouth we parted from the land forces, and now still more rapidly we
advanced. On a hill overlooking the harbour we could distinguish the
outline of a formidable-looking fort, or rather castle; while clos