1809	British and French Fleets	106

lights hoisted, and properly screened from the enemy's view, were stationed, the one near the shoal to the north-west of Isle d'Aix, the other close to the Boyart [Boyard]  shoal, in order to guide the fire-ships in their course to the attack. Each of these brigs was distant rather less than two miles from the extremity of the French line on her side.

The 11 British line-of-battle ships, which lay at a distance of from eight to nine miles from the French fleet, also unmoored, to be ready to co-operate, if necessary ; but, having unavoidably anchored in a strong tide-way, and the wind blowing hard from the north-west, the ships were again moored when the weather-tide made, in order to prevent them from falling on board of each other. Mr. Edward Fairfax, the master of the Caledonia, considered the distance of that ship and those around her from the enemy's anchorage to be only six miles ; but, when the French telegraphed from the citadel on Isle d'Aix, as they did every morning, they stated the distance at three leagues.

The wind, although in its direction as favourable as it could blow for the progress of the fire-ships, the whole of which had dropped to an anchorage about a mile nearer than the British fleet, was too violent to admit one part of the plan to be carried into effect, that of chaining the vessels together in divisions of four. Each fire-ship, therefore, was left to act an independent part ; and at about 8 h. 30 m. p.m., the night uncommonly dark, the wind even fresher than it had been, and the tide flowing at the rate of more than two knots an hour, the Mediator, and the other fire-ships that had anchored around her, cut their cables and made sail. Of the three explosion-vessels, one was swept from the stern of the Imp�rieuse by one of the too early abandoned fire-ships ; and, although the crew of the explosion-vessel were on board ready to proceed, and did afterwards set fire to the fusee [fuse], the fusee appears to have failed. In the mean while the remaining two, one of which was conducted by Lord Cochrane, assisted by Lieutenant William Bissell and four seamen, proceeded towards the road of Isle d'Aix. These two explosion-vessels appear to have been ignited when within less than three quarters of a mile from the French line : how near to it they exploded, and what effect the blast produced, the French themselves are the most competent to state. The effect that such machines were calculated to produce may be conceived from the manner in which they were prepared. Lord Cochrane's vessel alone contained about 1500 barrels of gunpowder, started into puncheons placed end-upward, fastened to each other by cables wound round them, and jammed together with wedges, having moistened sand rammed down between them, so as to render the whole, from stem to stern, quite solid, and thereby increase the resistance : besides which, on the top of this mass of gunpowder, lay between 300 and 400 shells charged with fusees, and nearly as many thousands of hand-grenades.

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