whether the division under Captain Mason got out, and perceiving it under sail, I parted, in hopes to make the coast of England by the evening. When I got half-channel over, I had the mortification to find the wind N.N.W. and had doubts whether the two squadrons could get out; but I have no uneasiness for the conduct of either Commodore Owen or Captain Mason, they having proved themselves deserving of my fullest confidence.
“It is my duty to draw their Lordships’ attention to the excellent conduct of Commodore Owen, in the discharge of the various and arduous duties he had to perform; and I beg, in the most earnest manner, to recommend to their Lordships’ notice, the zeal, bravery, and perseverance of the captains, officers, and seamen of the flotilla under Captain Mason, of the Fisgard; and when I get that officer’s report, I shall have great pleasure in introducing his merit to their Lordships’ particular notice.”
From this period till the spring of 1810, Captain Mason was employed as senior officer off the Scheldt; and subsequently under the orders of his former Admiral in the Baltic, where he cruised with considerable activity and success, as will be seen by the following abstract of captures made by the Fisgard and her boats previous to his return home at the commencement of the winter season: Juliana, Danish privateer, of 6 guns; a schooner of 1 gun; a French privateer of 2 guns, and fifty-six sail of merchant-vessels, captured; and the Ziska, Danish privateer, of 6 guns and 40 men, destroyed.
On his arrival in England, Captain Mason found himself confirmed in the command of the Fisgard; and in Feb. 1811, he accompanied a squadron under Sir Joseph S. Yorke to the Tagus[1]. We next find him conveying a Portuguese Ambassador to Revel, and afterwards capturing several of the enemy’s vessels in the gulf of Bothnia.
On the 25th Dec. 1811, about 8 P.M., whilst cruising off Flekeroe, on the coast of Norway, the Fisgard was hailed by a small boat, which on coming alongside was found to contain the crew of a Danish galliot, that had foundered about 5 o’clock in the morning, on a voyage from Jutland to Norway. The crew consisted of the master and five seamen; their boat, from the heavy and tremendous sea then running, was quite full of water, and one of the men had drank raw spirits
