The matter was soon set at rest, when, the stranger nearing us, we observed her crippled state, and recognised her as our consort.
“She’s had a pretty tough fight of it,” said Hagger as we gazed at her. Her fore-topgallant main and cross-jack yard were shot away, her yards, rigging, and sails sadly cut up, but what injuries her hull had received we could not make out.
On closing with each other, both ships hove-to, and our third lieutenant, Mr Pellowe, whose name curiously enough was very like that of our captain (we used to call the one the Owe, the other the Ew), went on board, accompanied by Commander Israel Pellew. I was one of the boat’s crew. We found, on getting up to her, that no small number of shot had struck her hull, some going through her sides, others her bulwarks, besides which she had received other damages.
Her people told us that they had had an action, which had lasted the best part of three hours, with a French frigate of forty guns, the Sémillante; and that, though they had suffered sharply, the Frenchman had been much more knocked about.
After engaging her for two hours, they had got up to within half a cable’s length of her, when, trimming their sails as well as they were able, they ranged up alongside with double-shotted guns and gave her a broadside.
Having shot ahead, they were going about to repeat their fire, when they discovered to leeward a large ship under French colours. The Sémillante, recognising the stranger, bore up to join her, when their captain, seeing that he should have no chance of victory, considering the way their ship had suffered, and that they might be taken, hauled close to the wind, and, making all the sail they could carry, stood away from their new enemy.
If it had not been for that, they declared they would have taken the Sémillante, and of this there seemed little doubt. They had had two seamen killed, and the master and nineteen seamen wounded.
We afterwards learned that the enemy had had twelve killed and twenty wounded.
Considering the disparity of force, the action was a gallant one, and we more than ever regretted that we had been prevented taking part in it; for we should, we felt sure, have captured one or both of the French ships.
As soon as the shot-holes in the Venus had been stopped and her rigging repaired, we made sail together in search of the enemy, we hoping to have an opportunity of tackling the fresh ship, while our consort attacked her old opponent.