On her passage to Europe in 1803, the Victorious was found to be in so bad a state, that on encountering a gale of wind in the Bay of Biscay, it was with the utmost difficulty she could be kept afloat till she reached the Tagus, where she was run on shore and broke up. Captain Malcolm, with his officers and crew, returned to England in two vessels hired at Lisbon for their conveyance.
In Jan. 1804, we find him commanding the Royal Sovereign, a three-decker, in which ship he proceeded to the Mediterranean; and on his arrival, removed into the Kent, of 74 guns, attached to the fleet under Lord Nelson. In the ensuing summer he joined the Renown, a vessel of similar force.
Captain Malcolm’s next appointment was March 16, 1805, to the Donegal, another third rate, the command of which he retained during a period of six years. In that ship he accompanied his gallant chief in the memorable pursuit of the combined squadrons of France and Spain to the West Indies[1];
- ↑ On the 19th Jan. 1805, Lord Nelson, then off the coast of Sardinia, received the long-hoped-for intelligence of the departure of the French fleet from Toulon, which port he had watched with the greatest patience and perseverance ever since the renewal of hostilities in 1803. Believing Egypt to he their destination, he proceeded thither, but without meeting with the object of his pursuit. Returning from thence towards Malta, he learnt that the enemy, having been dispersed in a heavy gale, had put back; and on the 27th Feb. the British squadron anchored in the Gulf of Cagliari. From this period nothing material occurred until the 4th April; when being on his way from the coast of Spain to his old station off Toulon, Lord Nelson met the Phoebe frigate, with news that M. Villeneuve had put to sea a few days before with ten ships of the line, seven frigates, and two brigs; and that when last seen, they were steering towards the coast of Africa. On the 16th a neutral gave intelligence that the enemy had been seen off Cape de Gatte; and it was soon after ascertained that they had passed the Straits of Gibraltar. In spite of every exertion which could be made, his Lordship did not get in sight of the rock till the 30th; and the wind was then so adverse, that it was impossible to pass the Gut. He therefore anchored in Mazari Bay, on the Barbary shore; obtained supplies from Tetuan; and when, on the 5th May, a breeze sprang up from the eastward, sailed once more, hoping to hear of the foe from Sir John Orde, who commanded off Cadiz; or from Lisbon. In this respect he was not disappointed. John Campbell, at that time an Admiral in the Portuguese service, the same gentleman who had given important tidings to Earl St. Vincent of the movements of that armament from which he won his title, again gave timely and momentous intelligence to the flag of his native Sovereign. He went on board
