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The Royal Mail: Its Curiosities and Romance
·
James Wilson Hyde
83
But
though
the
mail-packets
were
intended
to
rely
for
safety
mainly
upon
their
fine
lines
and
spread
of
canvas,
and
were
expected
to
show
fight
only
in
the
last
resort,
we
may
be
sure
that,
when
the
hour
of
battle
came
upon
them,
they
were
not
taken
without
a
struggle.
Nor,
indeed,
did
they
always
get
the
worst
of
the
fray,
as
will
be
seen
by
the
following
account
of
a
brilliant
affair
which
took
place
in
the
West
Indies,
copied
from
the
'Annual
Register'
of
1794:--
"The
'Antelope'
packet
sailed
from
Port
Royal,
Jamaica,
November
27,
1793.
On
the
1st
of
December,
on
the
coast
of
Cuba,
she
fell
in
with
two
schooners,
one
of
which,
the
'Atalanta,'
outsailed
her
consort;
and
after
chasing
the
'Antelope'
for
a
considerable
time,
and
exchanging
many
shots,
at
five
o'clock
in
the
ensuing
morning,
it
being
calm,
rowed
up,
grappled
with
her
on
the
starboard
side,
poured
in
a
broadside,
and
made
an
attempt
to
board,
which
was
repulsed
with
great
slaughter.
By
this
broadside,
Mr
Curtis,
the
master
and
commander
of
the
'Antelope,'
the
first
mate,
ship's
steward,
and
a
French
gentleman,
a
passenger,
fell.
The
command
then
devolved
on
the
boatswain
(for
the
second
mate
had
died
of
the
fever
on
the
passage),
who,
with
the
few
brave
men
left,
assisted
by
the
passengers,
repelled
many
attempts
to
board.
The
boatswain,
at
last
observing
that
the
privateer
had
cut
her
grapplings,
and
was
attempting
to
sheer
off,
ran
aloft,
and
lashed
her
squaresail-yard
to
the
'Antelope's'
fore-shrouds,
and
immediately
pouring
in
a
few
volleys
of
small
arms,
which
did
great
execution,
the
enemy
called
for
quarter,
which
was
instantly
granted,
although
the
French
had
the
bloody
flag
hoisted
during
the
whole
contest.
The
prize
was
carried
into
Annotta
Bay
about
eleven
o'clock
the
next
morning.
The
'Antelope'
sailed
with
27
hands,
but
had
lost
four
before
the
action
by
the
fever,
besides
two
then
unfit
for
duty:
so
that,
the
surgeon
being
necessarily
in
the
cockpit,
they
engaged
with
only
20
men,
besides
the
passengers.
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