I
1.On November 8th，1810，when we were lying in that splendid harbour the Cove of Cork，an order came for us to proceed to sea instantly，on a week‘s cruise off Cape Clear，in quest of an enemy’s vessel reported to have been seen on the west coast.Off we went，but it was not till the 11th that we reached our appointed station.Towards evening it fell dead calm，at which time there were two strange sails in sight-one of them a ship which we supposed to be an American，fromthe whiteness of her sails；the other a very suspicious，roguish-looking brig.
2.As the night fell a light breeze sprang up，and wemade all sail in the direction of the brig，though she was no longer visible.In the course of the middle watch we fortunately got sight of her with our night-glasses，and by two in the morning we were near enough to giveher a shot.The next instant her boomswere riggedout and her studding-sailsset.The most crack shipin His Majesty‘s service could hardly have made sail more smartly.For our part，we could set nothing more，having already spread every stitch of canvas.
3.The two forecastle guns-long nine-pounders-were now brought to bear on the brig ；and orders were given to fire at the sails，which，expanded as they now were before us，offered a mark that could not well be missed.Nevertheless，the little fellow would not heave to for all we could do with our forecastle guns.How ithappened that none of her yardsor masts were broughtdown by our fire was quite inexplicable.
4.About half-past four the breeze began gradually to die away，after which the chase rather gained than lost distance.By five o’clock it was almost entirelycalm，and the chase thrust out his sweeps，as they are called-huge oars requiring five or six men to each.These give a small light vessel an advantage over a large ship when there is little wind.In less than an hour he was out of shot.As soon as he had rowed himself fromunder the relentlessfire of our guns，he was busilyemployed in bending a new suit of sails and repairing his damaged spars.By noon next day he was at least ten miles ahead of us，and at two o‘clock we could just see his upper sails above the horizon.
5.In the course of the afternoon we perceived from the mast-head，far astern，a dark line along the horizon-the first trace of a breeze coming up.Soon the sails were filled，and as we raced along we had the malicious satisfaction of observing that the poor littleprivateerhad not yet got a mouthful of the charmingwind which was setting us all a-skipping about the decks.In the spot where the brig lay there was a belt of clear white light，within which the calm still lingered，with the privateer sparkling in its centre.Just as the sun went down，however，this spot was likewise ruffled by the wind，and the brig，like a hunted hare roused，sprang off again.
6.It was not till about two o’clock in the morning that we once more came within good shot of the brig.
She appeared，however，to possess the same invulner-abilityas before；for we could neither strike her hull，soas to force her to surrender，nor bring down a yard，nor lop off a mast or a boom.It was really a curious spectacle to see a little bit of a thing skimming away before the wind，with such a huge monster as the Endymiontearing and plunging after her，like a voraciousin pursuit of a flying-fish.
7.At last our captain became impatient：he gaveorders for the whole starboardbroadside to be gotready；and then，giving the ship a yaw，poured thewhole discharge，as he thought，right into his wretched victim.
Not a man on board the frigate expected ever to look on the poor brig again.What，then，was our surprise，when the smoke blew swiftly past，to see theintrepidlittle fellow gliding away more merrily thanbefore！There was a general murmur of applause at the Frenchman‘s gallantry.Next instant，however，this sound was converted into hearty laughter，when，inanswer to our thundering broadside，a single small gun，a six-pounder，was fired from the brig’s stern.
8.Instead of gaining by our manoeuvre，we hadallowed the privateer to gain several hundred yards upon us ；and his funny little shot，which had excited so much mirth，passed through the lee foretop-sail yard-arm.Had it struck on the windward side，where the yard was cracking and straining at a most furious rate，the greater part of the sails on the foremast might have come down quicker than we could have wished，for we were now going at a great rate，with the wind on the quarter.
9.Soon another shot cut through the weathermaintop-gallant sheet；and so he went on，firing awaybriskly，till most of our lofty sails were fluttering with the holes made in them.His own sails，I need scarcely add，were by this time so completely torn up by our shot that we could see the sky through them all；but still he refused to heave to，and by constantly firing hissingle stern-chaser，he showed that he meant to loseno possible chance of escape.Had one or two of his shot struck either of our topmasts，I really believe he