upper sails were
visible on the outside of the island, flying along the rocks at a rate
that spoke well of his heels. He rounded the point when we were
mid-sound, but here the battery served us a good turn, for, instead of
hauling up close by the wind, the English were obliged to run off with the
wind free, to keep out of harm's way. Their presence, notwithstanding, was
probably of great service to the Dawn, for here had been a communication
between Monsieur Le Gros and the battery, by means of a small boat sent
from the latter, and we should have been very likely to have a messenger,
in the shape of a shot, sent after us, when it was seen we continued to
stand across for the main instead of tacking for the designated anchorage,
had not the men in the battery had the higher game of the frigate in view.
As soon as John Bull got within range, the gunners began to play on him,
but it was at a distance that rendered their fire next to useless.

Any one in the least acquainted with the movements of ships, will
understand the advantage we now possessed. The Dawn was beating through a
good wide passage, with a young flood breasting her to windward, and a
steady six-knot breeze blowing. The passage between these islands and the
main was about four leagues long, while that which the fishermen had
wished us first to enter was near the middle of the group. We were already
a mile from the boat, and considerably to windward of her, the tide having
done that much for us, when Mons. Le Gros saw fit to lift his kedge, and
commence a new pursuit. He had the sagacity to see that we should soon be
obliged to tack, on account of the main coast, and to stand over towards
the island, again: accordingly, instead of following in our wake, he
profited by the set of the current, and pulled directly to windward, with
a view to cut us off. All this we very plainly saw, but we cared very
little for Mons. Le Gros and his boat. The ship could out-sail the last,
very easily, in such a breeze, and it was always in our power to tack in
mid-channel, instead of crossing her, or coming near her, at all. The
frigate gave me much more trouble.

The Englishman, as I afterwards learned, was a French-built ship called
the Fortunee; or, as Jack termed her, now she had got to be designated in
the Anglo-Saxon dialect, the Fortu_nee_ which was liberally rendered into
the vernacular as the "Happy-Go-Lucky." She was an old ship, but an
exceedingly fast one, and her c