“What boats have we, Berry?” inquired the Admiral, when he staggered up in the midst of his own agony. Now that his execrated French were helpless, the prey of the fire or the deep, he had only one thought and that was to save them.
“We have only a cutter, sir.”
“Lower away, first Lieutenant in charge; and you, Trinder, go with him and steer.”
Oh God! it was a sickening sight. The sea was covered with struggling sailors; our boats under a tremendous fire, which the guns, that had been left loaded as the men scrambled up for their lives, sent forth, were full to sinking. At length we came to the point when we could not take one more; and it was all we could do, by putting on a racing stroke, with the sharp fall of the oars rendering it unsafe to approach, to keep ourselves from being pulled under.
Under the stern of the burning ship, to get away from the shot of the 120 guns, were to be seen hundreds of men swimming and floating on spars: the other French ships had all gone too far off to help, giving a wide berth to the expected explosion of the magazines; but as fast as they could come, the boats from the English ships, regardless of all danger, loading with the swimmers, dashed into the very mouth of destruction to receive those who were unable to swim, and hung on to the blazing ship to the last. The flames now shot high above the masthead, reminding me of the picture of Vesuvio worked in silk by one of the foretopmen, which hung in the Admiral’s state-room. It was very terrible, joined to the cries of the young, the groans of the wounded, and the shouts and yelling of the burning. I think the shrieks will ring in my ears for ever; and the darting of the forked flames from yard to yard and mast to mast, until they soared above the clouds and illuminated the most minute object, making all as distinct as the meridian sun, and the numberless sinking and struggling sailors, made up a veritable pandemonium.
About ten o’clock the great ship, that gave an idea of a world in conflagration, blew up. There was an awful pause and deathlike silence for about three minutes, when the wreck of the masts, yards, and so on, which had been carried to a vast height, fell down into the water and on board the surrounding ships. A port-fire fell into the main-royal of the Alexander, but the fire occasioned by it was extinguished in about two minutes by the active exertions of Captain Ball, who, meaning all along to stand by, had been sluicing his decks and rigging. After this awful scene the firing was recommenced with the ships to leeward of the centre till twenty minutes past ten, when there was a total cessation of firing for about ten minutes; after which it was revived till about three in the morning, when it again ceased. After the victory had been secured in the van, such British ships as were in a condition to move had gone down upon the fresh ships of the enemy, which occasioned these renewals of the fight, all of which terminated with the same happy success in favour of our flag.
At five minutes past five in the morning the two rear ships of the enemy, Le Guillaume Tell and Le Généreux, were the only French ships of the line that had their colours flying. At fifty-four minutes past five a French frigate, L’Artemise, fired a broadside and struck her colours; but such was the unwarrantable and infamous conduct of the French captain that, after having thus surrendered, he set fire to his ship, and with part of his crew made his escape on shore. Another of the French frigates, La Sérieuse, had been sunk by the fire from some of our ships; but as her poop remained above water, her men were saved upon it, and were taken off by our boats in the morning. The Bellerophon, whose masts and cables had been entirely shot away, could not retain her situation abreast of the Orient, but had drifted out of the line to the leeside of the bay a little before that ship blew up. The Audacious was in the morning detached to her assistance. At eleven o’clock Le Généreux and Le Guillaume Tell, with the two frigates La Justice and La Diane, cut their cables and stood out to sea, pursued by the Zealous, Captain Hood, who, as the Admiral himself has stated, handsomely endeavoured to prevent their escape; but as there was no other ship in a condition to support the Zealous she was recalled. The whole day of the 2nd was employed in securing the French ships that had struck, and which were now all completely in our possession, Le Tonnant and Le Timoléon excepted; as these were both dismasted, and consequently could not escape, they were naturally the last of which we thought of taking possession.
On the morning of the 2nd, although the time and attention of the Admiral and all the officers of his squadron were very fully employed in repairing the damages sustained by their own ships and in securing those of the enemy which their valour had subdued, yet the mind of that great and good man felt the strongest emotion of the most pious gratitude to the Supreme Being for the signal success which by His Divine favour had crowned his endeavours in the cause of his country; and, in consequence, he issued the following memorandum to the respective captains of the squadron:—
“Vanguard, off the Mouth of the Nile,
“2nd August, 1798.“Almighty God, having blessed His Majesty’s arms with victory, the Admiral intends returning public thanksgiving for the same at two o’clock this day; and he recommends every ship doing the same as soon as convenient.”
At two o’clock accordingly on that day, public service was performed on the quarter-deck of the Vanguard by the Rev. Mr. Comyn, the other ships following the example of the Admiral, though perhaps not all at the same time. This solemn act of gratitude to heaven seemed to make a very deep impression upon several prisoners, both officers and men; some of the former of whom remarked, “that it was no wonder we could preserve such order and discipline, when we could impress the minds of our men with such sentiments after a victory so great, and at a moment of such seeming confusion.” On the same day the following memorandum was issued to all the ships, expressive of the Admiral’s sentiments of the noble exertions of the different officers and men of his squadron:—