Before they reached a spot to take effect;
The match was lit too soon, and no assistance
Could remedy this lubberly defect;
They blew up in the middle of the river,
While, though 't was dawn, the Turks slept fast as ever.[387]
XXIX.
At seven they rose, however, and surveyed
The Russ flotilla getting under way;
'T was nine, when still advancing undismayed,
Within a cable's length their vessels lay