Page:Intrepid & daring adventures of sixteen British seamen.pdf/17

17 Had this been done, the handful of Englishmen must inevitably have been cut to pieces. But the Spaniards did not condescend to consume time in concerting a plan of co-operation. They pulled on in a body, to devour, as they said, the devoted Englishmen. The Englishmen, however, were prepared for them. As the flectfleet [sic] of boats, they coolly took their aim with every gun on board. The boats advanced in a dense line, each gun was brought to bear upon  parts of them, so that there should be  useless expenditure of powder and shot. The Minerva being a deep-waisted vessel, with a top- forecastle and poop, the boat’s crew did discover the preparations that had been made  their reception—so they continued pulling on  they were within pistol shot of the ship’s. At that moment Mackay, to whom all on board the MincrvaMinerva [sic] were now directed,  thing having been in perfect readiness, gave  signal to “fire.” A shower of millstones  not have been productive of more frightful. The moment before, the boats were in array, burthened with some hundreds of  hearts, inflamed with rage and revenge— next, it was as if the besom of destruction had one over them. To use a homely simile, the of heavy grape made a commotion  the boats similar to that which is produced  an unexpected shot from a well-loaded fowling  among a flock of ducks on the bosom of  pond. Instead of one such shot, however, five--twenty double shots of grape and canister sent by deliberate aim among the boats of