y of
Biscay and, on her way, had seen a Spanish squadron off Cadiz,
which was supposed to be watching for the convoy. This caused much
anxiety; but on the 16th a brig laden with flour arrived, with the
news that Sir George Rodney had captured, off the coast of
Portugal, six Spanish frigates, with seventeen merchantmen on their
way from Bilbao to Cadiz; and that he had with him a fleet of
twenty-one sail of the line, and a large convoy of merchantmen and
transports.

The next day one of the prizes came in, and the midshipman in
charge of her reported that, when he had left the convoy on the
previous day, a battle was going on between the British fleet and
the Spanish squadron. Late in the evening the convoy was in sight;
and the Apollo, frigate, and one or two merchantmen got in, after
dark, with the news that the Spaniards had been completely
defeated--their admiral's flagship, with three others, captured;
one blown up in the engagement, another driven ashore, and the rest
dispersed.

The preparations for relieving the town had been so well concealed
that the Spaniards had believed that the British men-of-war were
destined for the West Indies, and had thought that the merchantmen
would have fallen easy prizes to their squadron, which consisted of
eleven men-of-war.

Chapter 13: Oranges And Lemons.

There was great anxiety in Gibraltar that night, for the wind was
very light and from the wrong direction and, in the morning, it was
seen that the greater portion of the convoy had drifted far away to
the east. Soon after noon, however, the Edgar managed to get in
with the Spanish admiral's flagship--the Phoenix, of eighty
guns--and in the evening the Prince George, with eleven or twelve
ships, worked in round Europa Point; but Admiral Rodney, with the
main body of the fleet and the prizes, was forced to anchor off
Marbella--a Spanish town--fifteen leagues east of Gibraltar. It was
not until seven or eight days later that the whole of the fleet and
convoy arrived in the port.

On the 29th a transport came in with the 2nd battalion of the 73rd
Regiment, with 944 rank and file. A large number of heavy cannon,
from the prizes, were landed; and several hundreds of barrels of
powder, in addition to those brought out with the convoy. Great
stores of salt provisions and supplies of flour had been brought
out but, unfortunately, little could be done towards providing the
garrison with a supply of fresh meat. Had Admir