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4  venerable fortress having been put in a state of perfect security, the Commander-in-Chief sent Rear-Admiral Digby to England with part of his fleet, and the prizes taken during the passage, and proceeded with the remainder to the Leeward Islands.

On the 23d Feb. 1780, Prince William Henry was present at the capture of the Prothée, a French 64-gun ship, and three vessels, forming part of a convoy bound to the Mauritius, laden with naval and military stores. From this period H.R.H. served with the Channel Fleet until the spring of 1781, when the Prince George was attached to the fleet sent under the orders of Vice-Admiral Darby, with supplies for Gibraltar. On this occasion 7000 tons of provisions, and 2000 barrels of gunpowder, were landed in the midst of a tremendous cannonade, the enemy having collected such a formidable flotilla of gun-boats, carrying 24 and 18-pounders, for the purpose of impeding the disembarkation, as to render it necessary for several ships of the line to anchor in the bay, for the protection of the transports. We next find H.R.H. proceeding with Rear-Admiral Digby to the coast of North America, where, preferring a cruising vessel to the inactivity of a stationary ship, the Prince George remaining principally at New York, he was removed at his 