Page:A history of the military transactions of the British nation in Indostan.djvu/536

512 gun-shot, when each ship edged to get into their stations alongside of smarter their allotted antagonists. The English squadron consisted of nine ships of the line, attended by a frigate, the Queensborough, two of the Company's ships, and the Protector converted to a fire-ship. The French were 11 sail of the line, of which four were of the navy of France, and they had three frigates under their lee. Difference of sailing, and disappointment in working, prevented the English from forming their line with as much regularity as the enemy, who were waiting for them, drawn up in order of battle.

The French line was led by the Actif of 64, one of the King's ships. She was followed by the Minotaur, another of the King's, of 74, in which Mr. D'Aguille wore the flag of Rear-Admiral, and by much the stoutest ship in the squadron, having in her lower tier thirty-two-pounders, which in the French weight is equal to 40 English; then stood three of the Company's ships, the Due d'Orleans of 54, the Saint Louis of 56, and the Vengeur of 64. These five formed the van. M. D'Aché, in the Zodiaque, hoisted his flag in the center, supported by the Comte de Provence of 74: the four others of the rear-division were the Due de Bourgogne of 54, the Illustre of 64, the Fortunée of the same rate as the Illustre, and the Centaur of 68; of which only the Illustre was a King's ship. The Elizabeth of 64 led the English line, followed by the Newcastle of 50, the Tyger of 60, and the Grafton of 68, in which was Rear-Admiral Stevens: these four were the van. Mr. Pococke, in the Yarmouth of 66, was in the center, followed by the Cumberland now mounting only 58, the Salisbury of 50, the Sunderland of 60, and the Weymouth of 60 closed the rear. The total battery of the French squadron exceeded the English by 174 guns, and consequently by 87 in action. The Grafton was the first ship up, and whilst presenting her broadside fell a-breast of the Zodiaque, whom Mr. Pococke, as in the two engagements of the last year, intended to reserve for himself. M. D'Aché immediately threw out the signal of battle, and began to fire on the Grafton, the first shot at 15 minutes after two; but Mr. Stevens waited for the signal of his admiral, which did not