ir fire. She suffered very much. More than a
hundred of her people were killed--a severe loss, yet small compared to
what it must have been, from the crowded state of her decks, and the
unprecedented length of the action, if the darkness, the heavy gale, and
the consequent motion of the ships, had not made the firing slow, and
the aim uncertain.

It was nearly eleven hours from the commencement of the action, when
Lieutenant Bell, who was quartered on the forecastle, and who had kept
the ship's reckoning through the night, satisfied himself that they were
near the French coast, and ordered one or two sailors to keep a good
look-out. One of these men thought he saw land, and reported it to his
officer; who, perceiving it distinctly, went aft, and told the captain.
Immediately the tacks were hauled on board, and the _Indefatigable_
stood to the southward, after making the night-signal of danger to the
_Amazon_, which, with equal promptitude, wore to the northward. The
enemy, who did not yet see the danger, thought they had beaten off the
frigates, and poured a broadside into the _Indefatigable_, the most
destructive she had yet received. Seven shot struck her hull, the three
lower-masts were wounded, and the larboard main-topmast shrouds were all
cut away close to the seizings of the eyes at the mast head. It required
extraordinary activity and coolness to save the topmast, the loss of
which, at that time, would have made that of the ship inevitable. Under
the direction of Mr. Gaze, who immediately sprang aloft, the captain of
the main-top cut away the top gallant-yard; while Mr. Thompson, acting
master, got up the end of a hawser, which he clinched around the
mast-head. Thus they saved the main-topmast, and probably prevented the
mainmast itself from being sprung. Mr. Gaze, who received a master's
warrant a few weeks after, continued with Lord Exmouth to the last day
of his command. He was master of the fleet in the Mediterranean, and it
was he who carried the _Queen Charlotte_ in such admirable style to her
position at Algiers.

None at this time knew how desperate was their situation. The ships were
in the Bay of Audierne, close in with the surf, with the wind blowing a
heavy gale dead on the shore, and a tremendous sea rolling in. To beat
off the land would have been a difficult and doubtful undertaking for
the best and most perfect ship. The _Indefatigable_ had four feet water
in the hold, and her safety depended on