arious measures that had been carried out by
the admiral. As he might have had to wait for a long time before the
fire-ships arrived from England, Cochrane obtained from Gambier several
craft which he fitted up as fire-ships. The others, however, arrived from
England, and Cochrane wanted to make the attack on the night they joined,
before the French could gain any knowledge of the nature of the attempt
that was going to be made against them. But Lord Gambier refused to
consent, and the result was that the French did get notice of our
intentions and were prepared.

"In order to avoid the danger, the enemy's ten men-of-war struck their
topmasts and got all their sails on deck, his four frigates alone
remaining in sailing order. These were placed half a mile in front of the
men-of-war, and lay in shelter of an immense boom, specially designed to
arrest the approach of an enemy at night. In addition to the fire-ships,
Cochrane had prepared two or three vessels as what he called
explosion-ships. These were intended not so much to damage the enemy as to
terrify them, and to prevent their sending boats to divert the course of
the fire-ships. A solid foundation of logs had been first laid on the
keel, so as to form an extremely solid floor and to give the explosion an
upward tendency. On these were placed a large number of empty spirit and
water casks set on end. Into these fifteen hundred barrels of powder were
emptied; the space around them was filled in with timber and sand, so as
to form a solid mass, and over the powder casks were laid several hundred
shells and some three thousand hand-grenades.

"The French deemed their position impregnable. Their men-of-war were
ranged close together in two lines, and the frigates and guard-boats they
considered would be sufficient to divert any fire-ships that might make
their way round the boom. Half a gale was blowing on shore. Cochrane
himself went in the explosion-ship that led the advance.

"The night was dark, and when Cochrane reached what he thought was the
vicinity of the advanced ships of the French he lit the fuse, and with the
officer and four men with him took to the boat and rowed away. They made
but little way against the wind and sea, and the fuse, instead of burning
for fifteen minutes as intended, only burned half that time. This,
however, was really the means of saving the lives of those on board the
boat. She was nearly swamped by the effect of the explosion; but a