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vial, from our ships having constantly directed their fire at the enemy’s hulls. This was, un­ doubtedly the slowest method of disabling an adversary ; yet it was the surest, and cer­ tainty is, at all events, preferable to chance. Considering the exposed situation of our men* on board, it was a matter of real sur­ prize, that so few, comparatively, suffered from the immense quantity of shot which had been poured in upon them. Had every ball that struck our masts, wounded our hulls, there would, in all probability, have been no prisoners of war. At two o’clock the Nyeborg, prame, having her main, mizen masts, bowsprit, and foretop mast shot away, and the captain perceiving her almost ready to sink, ordered the cables to be cut, and the foresail to be set, that they * On those of our ships which were cut down, it is ob­ vious, that the men stationed on the upper deck must have been uninterruptedly annoyed from the grape shot, which, to ward off, no other means had been contrived than the precarious shelter of hammocks stowed in the netting.