[30] “Naturalis Historiæ,” lib. ix., cap. 30. A.D. 77.
[31] Lib. iii., cap. 6. De anim. A.D. 220 to 250.
[32] “Historia de gentibus Septentrionalibus.” A.D. 1555. Olaus Magnus, archdeacon, is frequently mistaken for Johan Magnus, Archbishop of Upsala.
[33] “Natural History of Norway,” cap. 8. A.D. 1754.
[34] Born 1643; died 1712.
[35] “Histoire Naturelle générale et particulière des Mollusques,” vol. ii., p. 256.
[36] “Conchyliologie Systématique.”
[37] “Hist. Nat. des Moll.,” vol. ii., pp. 358 to 368.
[38] De Montfort endeavoured to support his statements by so many inaccurate details, which by a considerable number of uneducated persons of his own nation were accepted as true, that I think some particulars of the events above referred to may be interesting. My information is obtained from Rodney’s despatches, and paragraphs of contemporary naval news published in the “Gentleman’s Magazine” of 1782 and 1783; from the “Annual Register” of 1783; and from Capt. J. N. Inglefield’s own account of the loss of his ship the “Centaur,” in a rare pamphlet of thirty-nine pages, “published by authority,” and dated “Fayall, October 13th, 1782.”
In Sir G. B. Rodney’s action with the French fleet under the Count de Grasse, off St. Domingo, on the 12th of April, 1782, the manœuvre of breaking the enemy’s line, and separating some of his ships from the remainder, was for the first time successfully put in practice. The following captures were made by the British, viz.:—The admiral’s ship, “Ville de Paris,” 104, which was a splendid present from the City of Paris to Louis XV.; the “Glorieux,” 74; “Cæsar,” 74; “Hector,” 64; “Caton,” 64; “Jason,” 64; “Aimable,” 32; and “Ceres,” 18; besides one ship of 74 guns, sunk during the engagement. The “Cæsar,” one of the best ships in the French fleet, took fire on the night of the action, and, before the prisoners could be removed from her, blew up. By this accident a lieutenant, the boatswain, and fifty Englishmen belonging to the “Centaur,” together with about four hundred Frenchmen, perished. The remainder of the prizes were sent into Port Royal, Jamaica, to repair damages, and on the 5th of May, 1782, Rodney wrote to the Admiralty announcing their safe arrival in that harbour.