inding him of
the capture of the Pomone, said 'Vous etiez tres mechant. Eh bien!
your government must not blame you for the loss of the Alceste, for
you have taken one of my frigates.'[16]

Captain Maxwell was nominated a C.B. in 1815, and received the honour
of knighthood in 1818.

He died in June, 1831.

THE DRAKE.

The Drake, a small schooner, under the command of Captain Charles
Baker, had been despatched by the commander-in-chief on the
Newfoundland station, upon special duty to Halifax.

Having accomplished the object of her mission there, she set sail
again to return to St. John's, on the morning of Thursday, the 20th of
June, 1822. The weather was unusually fine, the wind favourable, and
everything promised a short and prosperous voyage.

Nothing occurred to retard the progress of the vessel until Sunday
morning, when the increasing thickness of the atmosphere betokened the
approach of one of those heavy fogs which so frequently hover over the
coast of Newfoundland.

There are few things more perplexing to the mariner than to find
himself suddenly enveloped in one of these thick mists: it is
impenetrable gloom; night and day are both alike; the sails, saturated
with the watery vapour, hang heavily, and flap against the masts with
a sad foreboding sound, whilst every heart on board feels more or less
oppressed by the atmospheric influence, and every countenance
expresses languor or discontent. But these discomforts are minor evils
compared with other attendants upon a Newfoundland fog. It often
happens that, in spite of every precaution on the part of the men on
the look-out, the bows of the vessel run across some unfortunate
fishing boat; and before a single voice can be raised in warning, a
sudden shock, a smothered cry, a gurgling of the waves, tell the sad
tale! One moment, and all is silent; the ship pursues her course, and
no trace is left of the little vessel and her crew, for whom many days
and nights will anxious love keep watch; but those objects of a
mother's tenderness and of a wife's affection will never more gladden
the eyes of the watchers, till 'the sea shall give up her dead.'

Would that such calamities were of less frequent occurrence. There is
one curious characteristic of these fogs, which in some degree
mitigates the evil of them: they sometimes do not extend beyond a few
miles, having the appearance of a huge wall of dense cloud or mist. A
vessel, after beating about for