10° 56' W., he discovered and made sail after a strange brig on his lee bow, running nearly before the wind. Observing that she altered her course to avoid him, that she frequently yawed about as the Primrose approached (with a large red ensign at the peak), and that she had neither lower studding-sail nor royals set, he supposed her to be an English vessel in the hands of a prize crew. Unfortunately her real character was not discovered, nor even suspected, until after much mischief had been done. It may here be as well to state, that the stranger was a King’s packet, named the Duke of Marlborough, commanded by Captain John Bull, and employed in conveying a mail from Falmouth to Lisbon.
On observing the Primrose bear up and make sail. Captain Bull suspected her to be an American cruiser, and made the private signal, in order to ascertain whether she was an enemy or not: the end-on position of the two brigs, however, together with their distance from each other, and the circumstance of his flags being only half the established size, prevented the possibility of making it out.
At 7-55 p.m., it being then too dark for flags of any size to be distinguished, the packet, after a bungling and ineffectual attempt to make the private night signal, opened her stern-chasers (long brass nines), shot away most of the supposed American’s head-gear, including jib and flying jib-stays, and continued firing them with considerable precision for about 20 minutes. The Primrose then ranged up on her larboard quarter, and hailed three times, but was only answered by as many single guns, followed by a whole broadside. Upon this. Captain Phillott gave her a gun or two, and endeavoured to lay her on board; but, his head-braces being shot away, he failed in the attempt, and some little time elapsed before he could again overtake her. The Primrose then commenced firing in earnest; the packet was of course soon silenced, and upon her being once more hailed, the painful truth came out. Her damages proved to be of a very serious nature; two 32-pound shot had passed through just below the water’s edge; she had between three and four feet water in her hold, and the leak was fast increasing; her masts were much injured; and her stand-
