ship, the other Egyptian frigate hauled down her colours. The corvette,
which was roughly handled by the Rose, was driven on shore, and there
destroyed.

Before this, however, a Turkish fireship approached us, having seemingly
no one on board. We fired into her, and in a few minutes she loudly
exploded astern, without doing us any damage. The concussion was
tremendous, shaking the ship through every beam. Another fireship came
close to the Philomel which soon sunk her, and in the very act of going
down she exploded.

A large ship near the Asia was now seen to be on fire; the blaze flamed
up as high as the topmast, and soon became one vast sheet of fire; in
that state she continued for a short time. The crew could be easily
discerned gliding about across the light; and, after a horrible
suspense, she blew up, with an explosion far louder and more stunning
than the ships which had done so in our vicinity. The smoke and lurid
flame ascended to a vast height in the air; beams, masts, and pieces of
the hull, along with human figures in various distorted postures, were
clearly distinguishable in the air.

It was now almost dark, and the action had ceased to be general
throughout the lines; but blaze rose upon blaze, and explosion thundered
upon explosion, in various parts of the bay. A pretty sharp cannonading
had been kept up between the guns of the castle and the ships entering
the bay, and that firing still continued. The smaller Turkish vessels,
forming the second line, were now nearly silenced, and several exhibited
signs of being on fire, from the thick light-coloured smoke that rose
from their decks.