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 the loss of H.M. sloop Atalante, and maturely and deliberately weighed and considered the same, it appears to the court that H.M. sloop was lost by running on the Sisters Rocks, or the eastern ledge, off Sambro island, in a fog, having mistaken the guns of some ship or vessel for the fog-signal guns on the same island, which fog-signal guns are established for the guidance of H.M. ships on approaching Halifax harbour in thick weather; but in consideration of the ship being short of provisions, of her having despatches on board for the commander-in-chief, and of its having been the practice for H.M. ships on this station to run for the said harbour under similar circumstances of weather by the sound of Sambro island guns, the court doth acquit Captain Frederick Hickey, the officers, and company of H.M. late sloop Atalante, of all blame on that occasion.”

It was afterwards ascertained that the guns were fired by the Barrosa frigate. The following is an extract of a letter from Jeremiah O’Sullivan, Esq. of Limerick, who had recently escaped from New London, and was then a passenger on board the Atalante:–

Captain Hickey’s post commission bears date Feb. 19, 1814, He subsequently commanded the Prince Regent 56, bearing the broad pendant of Sir James Yeo, on Lake Ontario; the St. Lawrence 102, in which ship he continued until the peace with America; and the Blossom 24, on the South American station, from whence he returned home, with specie to a large amount, Aug. 8, 1819.

In 1815, when returning from Canada, through the United States, Captain Hickey was arrested at the suit of a Yankee skipper, whose schooner had been accidentally run down by the Atalante, so far back as the year 1810. The sum thus unexpectedly demanded of him was no less than 40,000 dollars, for which he was obliged to find bail before he could leave the country. On this occasion, an American lawyer most handsomely said, that a British officer should not be consigned to a gaol, under such circumstances, for want of a surety, and instantly gave his bond for the full amount of the alleged damages. In 1820, the trial took place; – Captain