could not consent to so important a stipulation without his authority.
Exmouth granted a delay of three months accordingly, and himself lent a
frigate, the _Tagus_, to convey the Dey's envoy to Constantinople.

Meanwhile, however, the Dey committed an unpardonable atrocity. A coral
fishery at Bona worked under the British flag was suddenly and
treacherously destroyed by an attack of the Algerines. The fishermen
engaged at their work were, without warning of any kind, almost
annihilated by artillery fire from the fort and by the musketry of 2000
Algerian infantry, their houses and goods were given over to the looting
of the soldiery, the company's stores and magazines were rifled, and
their boats either seized or sunk. This atrocity, of course, put an end
to all negotiation, and the Admiral, who had sailed for England, was at
once directed by the British Government to complete the work which he
had initiated, and to exact the most ample satisfaction and security for
the future. He was offered any force that might be necessary, and
surprised the naval authorities by his opinion, which was the result of
observation upon the spot, that five line-of-battle ships, with
frigates, bomb vessels and gun brigs, would be sufficient for a
successful attack on the formidable defences of Algiers. In less than
two months Lord Exmouth commissioned, fitted, manned and trained his
fleet, and on August 14, 1816, the expedition, including his own
flagship the _Queen Charlotte_ of 120 guns, the _Impregnable_
of 98, three vessels of 70 guns, the _Leander_ of 50, four smaller
frigates and several armed vessels of lesser tonnage, sailed from
Gibraltar. One of these, a gunboat, towed by the _Queen Charlotte_
from that port, was placed under the command of Charles Yorke, who had
just completed his seventeenth year. The English admiral's force was
joined at Gibraltar by a Dutch squadron of five frigates and a sloop
under Admiral Baron von de Capellan.