ll round the compass.
They had come nearly within gunshot, when a light puff from the
northwest enabled the Frenchmen to draw away and approach their own
ships in the channel.

The farther the English van advanced, the fresher grew their wind,
until they fairly opened the channel of the Saints and felt the
trade-wind. De Grasse signalled to the convoy to put into Guadeloupe,
which order was so well carried out that they were all out of sight to
the northward by two in the afternoon, and will appear no more in the
sequel. The two French ships, already spoken of as fallen to leeward,
not being yet out of danger from the English van, which had now a
commanding breeze, and the latter being much separated from their rear
and centre, De Grasse ordered his van to bear down and engage. This
was obeyed by the ships signalled and by three others, in all by
fourteen or fifteen, the action beginning at half-past nine A.M., and
lasting with intermissions until quarter-past one P.M. Hood was soon
forced to heave-to, in order not to increase too much his separation
from the main fleet; the French kept under way, approaching from the
rear and passing in succession at half cannon-shot to windward (Plate
XX., Position I.). As each ship drew ahead of the English division,
she tacked, standing back to the southward until in position to resume
her place in the order of attack, thus describing a continuous
irregular curve of elliptical form, to windward of their opponents.
The brunt of the attack fell upon eight or nine of the English, this
number being successively increased as one ship after another, as the
baffling airs served, drew out from the calm space under Dominica; but
the French received similar accessions. While this engagement was
going on, part of the English centre, eight ships with Rodney's flag
among them (Position I., a), by carefully watching the puffs and
cat's-paws, had worked in with the land and caught the sea breeze,
which was felt there sooner than in the offing. As soon as they had
it, about eleven A.M., they stood to the north, being now on the
weather quarter[203] both of the English van and its assailants
(Position II., a). The latter, seeing this, tacked, and abandoning the
contest for the moment, steered south to join their centre, lest
Rodney's eight ships should get between them. At half-past eleven the
French again formed line on the starboard tack, most of their ships
being now clear of the land, while the