either himself, or Captain Hood, remain with the Seahorse, La Minerve,
&c. at Procida, and get the Lion from Leghorn, in exchange for one of
the small craft--To Admiral Duckworth, that he is sending him eight,
nine, or ten, sail of the line, with all expedition, that they may be
ready to form a junction with their great and excellent commander in
chief; for which purpose his lordship ventures to offer an opinion, that
it will be better for the ships to remain under sail off Port Mahon,
than in the harbour: and adds best wishes for success, as he is not
permitted to come--And, to the earl of St. Vincent, that these several
ships will be ready to obey the earl's orders off Mahon; and that,
hoping the Russians are off Malta, he has requested some of that
admiral's ships may be sent to Minorca.
"In short," his lordship concludes this last letter, "you may
depend on my exertions, and I am only sorry that I cannot move to
your help; but, this island appears to hang on my stay. Nothing
could console the queen, this night, but my promise not to leave
them, unless the battle was to be fought off Sardinia. May God
Almighty bless and prosper you, is the fervent prayer of your
obliged and affectionate
"Nelson."
His lordship also wrote to Captain Ball, desiring him, if the Russian
squadron were before Malta, to proceed with all the line of battle
ships, and the Thalia frigate, off Port Mahon, under the orders of
Admiral Duckworth; laying his lordship's letter before Vice-Admiral
Uschakoff, as well as the Ottoman admiral, should he be there, and
procuring such ships as they could both spare for Minorca: but, if they
were not with him, to send the Audacious and Goliath to Mahon.
At nine o'clock in the evening of the 13th, the lieutenant of the
Petterel arrived, by land, at Palermo. The sloop not being able to get
up, owing to strong east winds, Captain Austin very properly sent the
lieutenant on shore. He brought intelligence, that the French fleet had
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