Page:The invasion of the Crimea Vol. 4.djvu/424

 394 THE CAN^'ONAUE OF C!HAf loss oi injury. In the Wasp 22 men were XIII w -^ '_ wounded and a gun-carriage overturned, but tliat Telegraph Battery which wrought so great a havoc in our ships sustained no harm at all in either men or material. It could hardly have been intended that the Sanspareil, the London, the Arethusa, and the Albion should remain under a fire like that to which they were exposed, without being able to answer it effectively ; and perliaps the com- parative impunity conferred upon Lyons's flag- ship by the splendid position she occupied, was in part the cause of this mischief; for an Admiral directing his squadron from on Ijoard the Aga- memnon, would not know the extent of the havoc going on in the rest of his ships, and might easily fail to perceive that they were powerless against the cliff batteries. riieRodiicy The Iiodne}' (with her satellite steamer the Jift alone 01] ,< •, r. i ,i ■% ■> ■ • ■ Uiesiioai: >Spitetul) was uow the only ship remaining in action ; and the men who stood working the guns on her main and lower decks were not slow to learn that the Agamemnon, with the rest of tlic the temiier forcc uiidcr Lyous, had sheered off ; but although of hcTinen : tlicy, it sceiiis, gi'owled a little in their lialf surly, ]i;dl' humorous way, when they found themselves left on the shoal by the departing squadron, their anger, if anger it can be called, was rather of a kind to increase than to impair their efficiency. They steadily maintained their fire ; and at the time I speak of, this duty was