French in 1799, the
unsettled condition of Naples, the blockade of Malta, and the affairs
of Egypt, had combined to keep him in the South; while the tenure of
the Allies in Northern Italy, up to the Battle of Marengo, was
apparently so secure as to require no great support from the fleet.
Irrespective of any personal influences that may have swayed him,
Sicily was better suited then to be the centre from which to
superintend the varied duties of his wide command.

When he returned in 1803, the old prepossessions naturally remained.
In a survey of the political conditions written for the Prime Minister
when on the passage to Toulon, much is said of Malta, Sicily, and
Naples, but Sardinia is dismissed with a passing hope that the French
would not seize it. After joining the fleet off Toulon, however, he
had to realize that, if it was to remain at sea, as he purposed and
effected, and yet be kept fully provisioned and watered, it must at
times make an anchorage, which should be so far convenient as to keep
it, practically, as much on its station as when under way. In this
dilemma his attention was called to the Madalena Islands, a group off
the northeast end of Sardinia, where wood and water could be obtained.
Between them and the main island there was a good harbor, having the
decisive advantage of two entrances, by one or other of which it could
be left in winds from any quarter. A survey had been made a year
before, during the peace, by a Captain Ryves, now commanding a ship in
the fleet. As winter approached, Nelson decided to examine the spot
himself, which he did in the last days of October, taking advantage of
a moonlight week when the enemy would be less likely to leave port. He
found it admirably adapted for his purposes, and that fresh
provisions, though not of the best quality, could be had. "It is
certainly one of the best anchorages I have met with for a fleet," he
wrote, "but I suppose the French will take it now we have used it."
This they did not attempt, and the British fleet continued to resort
to it from time to time, obtaining water and bullocks.

Such a roadstead as an occasional rendezvous, where transports could
discharge their stores to the vessels, and ships be refitted and
supplied, would make the fleet as secure of holding its position as
were the cruisers that depended upon Malta and Gibraltar. Its being
two hundred miles from Toulon was not a serious drawback, for it was
no part of Nelson's p