him over to the doctor at last and left the cabin, there seemed to be
some slight improvement in his condition.

In the early dawn of the following morning we anchored in Carlisle Bay,
Barbadoes, and by noon poor little Fisher had been safely conveyed on
shore and lodged in the colonel's residence near Needham Point, where he
would have all the ladies belonging to the garrison to nurse him, and be
conveniently situated for frequent visits from the staff-surgeon.

CHAPTER TWENTY SIX.

A GOOD MORNING'S WORK.

Our prizes of course had not arrived, so, having seen little Fisher
comfortably bestowed, landed our silver at the dockyard, and handed over
our prisoners to the proper authorities, we weighed again that same
evening, and proceeded northward upon our cruise.

When off Martinique, which had fallen into our hands in the early part
of the preceding year, we spoke the British frigate "Blanche," steering
towards Barbadoes. Her skipper came on board the "Astarte," and, in
reply to Captain Annesley's inquiries, reported that they had done
nothing since the capture of the French frigate "Pique" in January, on
which occasion Captain Faulkner, the former skipper of the "Blanche" and
a most promising officer, was killed. Her present captain, (Watkins,
acting) expressed great disgust at the state of affairs, and, rather
cynically, ventured to hope we should have better luck than he had met
with.

Nothing worthy of mention occurred until we arrived off Guadaloupe. We
had made a thorough inspection of all the neighbouring islands,
beginning with Mariegalante, and had looked into Point-a-Pitre Harbour
on the Grand Terre without making any discovery, when, one evening,
while beating up under the south side of Desirade, we espied a schooner
at anchor near the shore and directly under the guns of a fort.
Preparations were immediately made for cutting her out; the frigate
tacking meanwhile, and reaching off the shore again in order to lull any
suspicions the Frenchmen may have had as to our intentions.

We worked up round the north-east end of the island, and it being by
that time as dark as it would be, the frigate hove-to, and the boats,
properly manned and armed, were despatched under sail. I took no part
in this expedition, as I had shared in the other, and the skipper was
anxious to give all his "young gentlemen" as far as possible equal
opportunities of distinguishing themselves. The boats sent away on this
occas