to obtain possession of two French frigates, a corvette, and a captured Indiaman, lying in the harbour of Sud-Est, opposite to l’Isle de la Passe; the particulars of which will be found in our memoir of Captain Samuel Pym, who commanded on the occasion. This unfortunate business ended in the unavoidable destruction of the Sirius and Magicienne frigates, and the surrender to the enemy of the Iphigenia and Nereide, the latter after a glorious resistance, almost unparalleled even in the brilliant annals of the British navy.
“A momentary superiority thus obtained by the enemy was promptly and decisively crushed by the united zeal, judgment, perseverance, skill, and intrepidity of Captain Rowley, who, in the Boadicea, almost alone and unsupported, but by the never-failing energies and resources of his active and intelligent mind, under circumstances, as may be easily imagined, of extreme anxiety, mortification, and disappointment, in a few hours not only retook two of the King’s ships that had also fallen into the hands of the enemy, but captured the largest frigate possessed by the French in the Indian seas, and thus restored the British naval pre-eminence in that quarter, which his talents had long so successfully contributed to maintain[1].”
On the morning of the 12th Sept., 1810, Captain Rowley sailed from St. Paul’s Bay, in company with the Otter sloop and Staunch gun-brig, in order to attack two French frigates, (the Astrea and Iphigenia) which were then in the offing to windward. As he stood out from the anchorage, he had the satisfaction of recognizing the Africaine frigate, which joined him in the chace. By superior sailing, and having the same breeze as the enemy, that ship was enabled to close with them before dark; and led by her signals, the Boadicea was gaining fast upon them, when at 3 A.M. a heavy firing was observed about four or five miles a-head of the latter. Captain Rowley concluded that it was Captain Corbett’s intention merely to attempt crippling the enemy; but unfortunately at that moment the winds became light and variable, and the Africaine becoming unmanageable under the fire of both ships, (one in a most destructive raking position), after a very gallant, though unequal contest, was obliged to surrender, and
- ↑ See Vice-Admiral Bertie’s official letter, Nav. Chron. v. 25, p. 158.
