shattered ridge, on each side of which there was a deep ravine, that made us almost dizzy to look into. At length we came to Side Path, a narrow road cut along the side of a deep defile, which led us at last to James's Valley, where we arrived at sun-set, very much fatigued, yet highly gratified with our twelve hours' excursion.

CHRONOLOGICAL SKETCH

OF THE

MOST REMARKABLE NAVAL EVENTS

OF THE YEAR 1807.

17. OFFIC

prisoners.

JANUARY.

FFICIAL accounts of the re-capture of Buenos Ayres, on the 12th of August last, and the British troops therein made

28. Official accounts received of the capture of the town and harbour of Maldonado, in the river Plata, by the British forces under Sir Home Popham and Brigadier-General Backhouse, on the 30th of October.

FEBRUARY.

10. The Slave Trade Abolition Bill was read a third time and passed in the House of Lords, without a division.

21. Official accounts received of the capture of the Dutch island of Curaçoa, in the West Indies, on the 1st of January, by a small armament under the orders of Captain Brisbane, of the Arethusa frigate.

MARCH.

5. The Blanche frigate, of 32 guns, Captain Sir Thomas Lasic, was lost on the French coast, near Brest. The captain, all the officers, and the greater part of the crew, saved.

6, 7, 8, 9, 10. Trial and sentence of Sir Home Popham at Portsmouth. 9. Sailing of General Whitelocke, with a force from Portsmouth.

APRIL.

5. Capture of two Dutch Indiamen and a Dutch frigate, July 27.

13. News of the capture of Monte Video by storm, on the 3d of February.

14. Accounts received of Vice-Admiral Sir J. T. Duckworth, K.B. having with the squadron under his command forced the passage of the Dardanelles on the 21st of February, and afterwards anchored in the vicinity of Constantinople.

20. Intelligence received that the treaty negotiated by the American and British commissioners in London, has been rejected by the president of the United States of America,

25. Intelligence of Admiral Duckworth having repassed the Dardanelles on the 3d of March, (in which his squadron received some damage from the Turkish batteries), without effectuating his purpose.

MAY.

26. Account of the capture of the island of Tenedos by storin, by the Russian force in the Archipelago.

JUNE.

15. News of the capture and destruction of the Dutch ships in the roads of Batavia, by Sir E. Pellew, Nov. 27.

24. The Swedish minister officially informs the British government, that his Swedish Majesty has blockaded the port of Dantzic, and of course that the armistice between him and the French is at an end.

JULY.

27. Intelligence of a conflict between his Majesty's ship Leopard, Captain Humphries, with the American frigate the Chesapeake, Commodore Baron, on the 23d of June, in which six of the crew of the latter were killed.

28. Sailing of the first division of the Baltic fleet under Admiral Gambier.

AUGUST.

3. The principal division of the armament under Admiral Gambier passed the Sound-arrive off Copenhagen.

10. Account of the president of the United States of America issuing a strong and hostile proclamation, in consequence of the forcible searching the American frigate Chesapeake for deserters, by his Majesty's ship Leopard.

16. A declaration of war issued by the government of Denmark, against Great Britain, and for the seizure of British ships, property, &c.

19. The bombardment of the fortified city of Copenhagen commenced.

SEPTEMBER.

7. Copenhagen, and the navy of Denmark (18 ships of the line, and a number of lesser vessels), surrendered by capitulation to the British forces under Vice-Admiral Gambier, and Lieutenant-General Lord Cathcart.

12. Intelligence of an unsuccessful and disastrous attempt by the British forces to gain possession of Buenos Ayres, on the 5th of July, which ended in a convention for abandoning all the British acquisitions on la Plata, and the removal of our troops from South America.

23. His Majesty's declaration of the motives which dictated his late measures in the Baltic, published.

23. Intelligence of Vice-Admiral Berkeley's having caused one of the deserters taken on board the Chesapeake, American frigate, and convicted at Halifax, to be executed.

OCTOBER.

1. Intelligence of the Crown Prince of Denmark having refused to ratify the capitulation entered into by General Peyman, for the surrender of Copenhagen and the Danish fleet.

6. Ragusa and the Seven Islands given up by the Russians to the French, August 14.

10. Prussia shuts her ports to the trade of this country, Sept. 2.

16. Vice-Admiral Sir J. B. Warren, K. B. appointed to succeed the Hon. Vice-Admiral Berkeley as commander-in-chief on the American

station.

23. The British factory at Lisbon dissolved, and the merchants begin to remove their persons and effects with all possible expedition.

28. The first division of the expedition, and the Danish captured flect, arrived in Great Yarmouth Roads.

30. Louis XVIII. of France, under the title of Comte de Lille, arrives in a Swedish frigate at Great Yarmouth.

NOVEMBER.

4. Order in Council for issuing letters of marque and reprisal against Denmark and the Italian states subject to France.

7. His Majesty's counter-declaration of war against Denmark published.

13. Intelligence of the Prince Regent of Portugal having issued, on the 20th ult. a proclamation for shutting his ports against British shipping, &c. -Sir W. S. Smith sails from Portsmouth with a naval armament towards the south.

16. An Order of his Majesty in Council published for a general blockade of the ports of the enemy and their allies, &c.

25. Account of the King of Denmark having issued, on the 30th of October, a rigorous decree, prohibiting all commercial intercourse be

tween his dominions and those of Great Britain.

27. Intelligence of the Russian Mediterranean fleet under Admiral SiBiavin having got into the Tagus.

28. His Majesty's ship Boreas, Captain Scott, lost, with the commander and the greater part of her crew, on the Hannois rocks near Guernsey.

29. The royal family and court of Portugal, with the greater part of their navy, &c. sail from Lisbon for Brazil, accompanied by a British squadron under the orders of Captain Moore.

DECEMBER.

3. Official account of the Emperor of Russia having issued, on the 26th of October, a declaration of war against Great Britain.

- An embargo laid on all Russian vessels in British ports, and the Speshnoy Russian frigate of 44 guns seized by two of his Majesty's ships at Portsmouth.

19. A considerable naval and military force sail from Plymouth, under the command of Vice-Admiral Cotton and Major-General Spencer.

The counter-declaration of his Majesty against Russia, issued.

An order for letters of marque and reprisal issued by the British government, against Russia,

130

NAVAL LITERATURE.

Captain Foote's Vindication of his Conduct when Captain of his Majesty's Ship Sea Horse and senior Officer in the Bay of Naples, in the Summer of 1799. 1807. Svo. Pages 171. [Continued from Vol. XVIII. page 326.]

SECOND EXTRACT.

On the evening of the 24th of June, I did myself the honour

to wait on Lord Nelson, when his lordship was pleased to say, that he was aware I had been placed in an arduous and unpleasant situation; that he gave me all possible credit for zeal, assiduity, and good intentions; but that I had been imposed on by that worthless fellow, Cardinal Ruffo, who was endeavouring to form a party hostile to the interests of his sovereign; and his lordship desired I would give him a statement, in the form of a narrative, of the heads of my proceedings, from the time the cardinal approached near to Naples, I respectfully observed to Lord Nelson, that I had indeed been placed in a most anxious situation; having had more reason, among many disagreeable and trying circumstances, to expect the enemy's fleet, rather than that under his lordship's command, in Naples bay; that I could not be supposed to know, or even imagine, that the cardinal was acting contrary to his sovereign's interest, when I saw him retained in his very high and confidential situation; and my instructions directed me to co-operate, to the utmost of my power, with the royalists, at whose head Cardinal Ruffo was known to be placed, even before the squadron, under Sir Thomas Troubridge, had sailed from Palermo.

Lord Nelson's sending the ship I commanded to Palermo, on the 28th of June, for the purpose of embarking their Sicilian majesties, his lordship's order of the 8th of July, and very flattering letter of the 14th of September, 1799, to which I have before alluded, are, I trust, sufficient proofs, that he did not think any infamy attached to my conduct.-Thank God! my own conscience acquits me of any mean or dishonourable motive on that occasion. I did my utmost, to the best of my abilities, to promote the interests of my much-loved and respected sovereign and country, without losing sight of those of his ally, and without losing sight of a becoming moderation and humanity, always due to vanquished and distressed fellow-creatures. With respect to

their disobedience, or rebellion against their sovereign, of these it was the cardinal's province to judge, and he was more competent to appretiate their merits or demerits than I could possibly be; as, from his eminency's dignified rank, as well as high and confidential situation, I had a right to think he was fully acquainted with the wishes of his Sicilian majesty; and I am still of opinion, that a just and mild line of policy would have ensured the tranquility of the Neapolitan dominions, more effectually than rigid, severe, and violent measures.

It is possible for the most powerful to act injudiciously, by granting very favourable terms to the vanquished; but I may be again allowed to say, that, surely infamy cannot be coupled with even an excess of mercy!

There was a wide difference between my situation in the Sea Horse, with two Neapolitan frigates, and some small vessels; the land force, consisting of a few regular troops, of four different nations, and a body of undisciplined armed men, with Cardinal Ruffo at their head; and that of Lord Nelson, with seventeen ships of the line! Powerful supporters in any treaty! It was my duty to consider, that the getting possession of the castles of Uovo and Nuovo, would very much expedite the reduction of Fort St. Elmo, which commands the town of Naples, and was wholly garrisoned by French troops: besides, from all the intelligence received, I had much more reason to expect the French, than the British fleet in the Bay of Naples; and, from what is said in the last lines of the ninety-fifth page of the 13th part of the "Genuine Memoirs," it appears that Lord Nelson entertained the same idea; "his lordship determined once more to offer himself for the service of Naples, which he seems to have imagined the French intended to visit."

The two grand objects were, to restore his Sicilian majesty to his dominions, and to drive the French out of Italy. It will appear by the statement I gave to Lord Nelson, and by my letters to the cardinal and the Chevalier Micheroux, that I by no means approved of the indecision and procrastination evinced in treating with the castles of Uovo and Nuovo; and that neither his eminency's conduct, nor that of the chevalier, was, on that occasion, such as the commander of the forces of his Sicilian majesty's principal ally had a right to expect from them. But considering, for the reasons already mentioned, that, in the then situation of affairs, it was of great consequence to get possession of the castles, and still more to prevent the least appearance of disunion, I determined not