contribution. But the captains of the Pallas and Vengeance, whom Jones was obliged by his instructions to consult, would not consent, and it was late at night before they could be won over. The next morning the wind was foul, and so continued through the 16th and 17th, during which the little squadron was beating up the firth. Its character had been recognised, and the whole country round was in a state of excitement and alarm. Effective defence there could be none, and the ships were almost within gunshot of Leith when the wind in a fierce squall drove them back and out of the firth. Jones now wished to destroy the shipping in the Tyne, but his colleagues would not consent, and he unwillingly pursued his voyage towards the south.
On the morning of the 23rd they fell in with the Alliance, and a few hours later sighted a large fleet of merchant ships, which their pilot pronounced to be the trade from the Baltic. Jones had already information that this was under the convoy of two ships of war, the Serapis of 44 guns and the Countess of Scarborough, a hired ship of 20 guns. During the day boats from the shore gave Captain Pearson of the Serapis an account of the Richard and her consorts; and thus when, about half-past seven in the evening, the Serapis and the Richard came within hail, each answered the other with a broadside. The Pallas engaged the Countess of Scarborough, and captured her after a very creditable resistance. The Alliance kept aloof, and contented herself with firing wild. The real contest lay between the Serapis and the Bonhomme Richard. And of these two, the Serapis was beyond question far the superior, not only as a ship, but in guns and in men. Jones, finding that the Serapis's guns were too heavy for him, managed to close, and lashed the Serapis's bowsprit to the Richard's mizen-mast. Pearson, ignorant of this, let go an anchor, and so the two ships swung together and tailed off to the tide. The well-served 18-pounders of the Serapis completely destroyed the sides of the Richard, whose upper deck remained as an open platform. On the other hand, the Richard's musketry swept the upper deck of the Serapis, and so completely cleared it that a seaman, laying out on the Richard's main-yard with a bucketful of hand-grenades, was able to throw them deliberately into the Serapis. One fell down the hatchway, ignited on the lower deck, and exploded a number of cartridges which had been carelessly placed there. Many men were killed and wounded, and the rest so disheartened, that Pearson presently struck the colours. It was, at the time, almost a question of chance, for the Richard had lost as many men as the Serapis, and the ship was sinking. The gunner, in a panic, rushed to the stern, and bellowed for quarter till Jones knocked him down with the butt of a pistol. About one hundred prisoners that were confined below were let loose, and rushed on deck; Jones, undismayed, set them to the pumps, and kept them there for nearly an hour. The pumps were kept going through the night; the next morning the men were transferred to the Serapis, and the Richard sank about ten o'clock [see Pearson, Sir Richard].
The convoy had meantime made good its escape, and Jones, with his prizes, put into the Texel. There he found the Dutch unable to recognise the American flag; the prizes and the other ships were ordered to fly the French ensign, and Jones, taking command of the Alliance, broke through the blockade, and made good his escape to L'Orient. There Landais reclaimed his ship, and the commissioners in Paris decided in his favour. He took her back to America, and Jones, after hanging about Paris for nearly a year, was ordered to follow in the Ariel, a 20-gun ship lately captured from the English. He arrived at Philadelphia on 18 Feb. 1781.
This was the end of his service in the American navy, for though he was appointed to the America, a 74-gun ship then building, she was presented to France as soon as she was launched. In 1782 Jones joined the French ship Triomphant, bearing the flag of the Marquis de Vaudreuil, and seems to have stayed in her till the peace. Two years later he was sent to France to reclaim the value of his prizes, which had not been paid, and which he did not recover without much difficulty. He was afterwards sent to Denmark on a similar business, but the court of Denmark, finding it inconvenient to pay, bought Jones off with the patent of a pension to himself. He then went on to St. Petersburg, where the empress conferred on him the rank of rear-admiral in the Russian navy, and sent him to join Potemkin in the Black Sea. In the very decisive battle in the Liman, on 7 June 1788 [see Bentham, Sir Samuel], he was present in command of a division of the fleet, but had no active share. Before long he quarrelled with Potemkin, who ordered him back to St. Petersburg. There society looked coldly on him, and the empress gave him permission to leave the country. He retired to Amsterdam, and seems to have entertained the idea of entering the service of Sweden. The negotiation, however, fell through; so also did his en-
