Page:Royal Naval Biography Marshall v2p1.djvu/132

 above action, makes particular mention of Captain Hollis; and the commander of the Venerable, when writing to the Rear-Admiral, three days after the action says, “it was only by the great exertion of the Thames, with the boats you sent me, the Venerable was saved, after being on shore some time.”

Shortly after this event, Captain Hollis, in company with the Hon. Captain Dundas of the Calpe sloop of war, destroyed a number of the enemy’s coasters in the bay of Estapona; and on the 21st Sept. following, the boats of the Thames boarded and carried a Spanish privateer, carrying 2 four-pounders, 2 brass swivels, and 31 men. From this period Captain Hollis was employed on the coast of Egypt, and various other services in the Mediterranean, until the peace of Amiens, when he returned to England. The Thames was paid off Jan. 15, 1803.

In the ensuing autumn, our officer commissioned the Mermaid of 32 guns; and after cruising for some time in the Channel, escorted a fleet of merchantmen to the West Indies. In Oct. 1804, he was sent by Sir John T. Duckworth, the commander-in-chief at Jamaica, to reconnoitre the harbour and arsenal of the Havannah; and on the 16th of the following month, whilst lying there and preparing to entertain the Spanish officers at that place, he received information which induced him to believe hostilities with Spain were about to commence in Europe, and that it was most probable the government of Cuba were already in possession of similar information. In this situation, prompt measures only could save the Mermaid from detention, and he immediately determined to cut and run out with the land breeze; but to his mortification the night was perfectly calm. The ship, however, was unmoored without causing any alarm, and at daybreak, whilst the public authorities were deliberating on the propriety of detaining her, she warped out clear of the batteries.

There being at this time some valuable English merchant vessels in the Havannah, Captain Hollis lost no time in apprising them of their situation, and rendering them every assistance in his power to avoid the threatened danger. The Mermaid remained off the port three or four days, and in that