out of the boat to clew down the topsails, and a quarter of an hour passed
in taking care of the vessel. By this time the squall had passed, and it
lightened up a little. There lay the felucca, waiting for the boat; and
the men were reluctantly going into the latter again, when the commander
of the felucca waved his hand to us, his craft fell off and filled,
wing-and-wing, skimming away towards the coast, like a duck. We stood
gaping and staring at her, not knowing what to make of this manoeuvre,
when "bang!" went a heavy gun, a little on our weather quarter. The shot
passed our wake, for we had filled our topsail, and it went skipping from
sea to sea, after the felucca. Turning our eyes in the direction of the
report, we saw a frigate running down upon the felucca, carrying
studding-sails on both sides, with the water foaming up to her
hawse-holes. As she passed our stern, she showed an English ensign, but
took no other notice of us, continuing on after the felucca, and
occasionally measuring her distance with a shot. Both vessels soon
disappeared in the mist, though we heard guns for some time. As for
ourselves, we jogged along on our course, wishing good luck to the
Englishman. The felucca showed no ensign, the whole day. Our guineas were
found, some weeks later, in a bread-locker, after we had fairly eaten our
way down to them.

The other adventure occurred very soon after this escape; for, though the
felucca may have had a commission, she was a pirate in appearance, and
most probably in her practices. The thick westerly weather continued until
we had passed the Straits. The night we were abreast of Cape Trafalgar,
the captain came on deck in the middle watch, and, hailing the forecastle,
ordered a sharp look-out kept, as we must be running through Lord
Collingwood's fleet. The words were hardly out of his mouth, when Spanish
Joe sung out, "sail ho!" There she was, sure enough, travelling right down
upon us, in a line that threatened to take us between the fore and main