The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1809-08-02 00:00:00

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shore, and the signal was mane that Miff the fleet I
could deists!, the enemy, there was, ow toy part,
any neglecter unnecessary delay in taking effectual
nseasares for destroying than?—A. As far as so
eery junior au Officer as myself may presume to
judge of the conduct of the Comitimider-iii-Chicfs
I thought that every thing Was ddue that Con 10:
possibly be dente; and, had the ships gone in Sooner.
I am confident a number must have been lost.
Cooos-..Q. From the that attack on the sl4ite,
of the outlay, to the final eete.stion of hortihtiet
against them, Was every thing done that could be
dose. to effect their dertruetiou Eve'"? -thing.
Did you on the triartiitig of the fith of April
three ships that were oil share, which yon
represented AS !min • to.• far front di: itiritish
sgriadron, to he di:strayed by them ?-.A. Yes.
Q. Were they in the mune satiation in the after.
moan min the inorninz ?—A. :het' hail got off,
alld had advanced smile distance up the river.
Q. Were they, wheat von taw them iu the morn-
ing. in a to he de-aroyed, if they had
been attacked ?—A. No, certainly not.
Q, What %timid have. prcietintl their being de-
stroyed ?-s-it. The two line of battle ships a liteli
were afloat, and the depth of water preventing our
'NOS adraliClll4 .utfieteutly
Q. How long were you at anchor in the Road of
Aix A. An hour and a halt, or rather snort,.
Q. Did,you observe the state of lute forts on Vie
lohand No, I did not; the siturtion we isv
in being so critical, I was rither.vi-e token op.
RAVEN, Mister of the Caw. called its again.
Q. Lord GADIRTER-s-gail any ships of the
fine been sent into Aix Roads cm the morning of
the 13th Avail, to attack the enemy's b111:111 that
sere aground, when could they have returned ?
A. Nat during the day.
Q. Would they Mien been within the rnitge of
the abut from the ~lay', lame/its 1-41. The
greatest part must have been, particularly the
Cesar
Q. If the wind had continued RA it did on that
day, and II those ships bad been crippled in their
must hey not hare relriallled under the eiw..
my's flatteries?—:l. The greatest part insist hate
rental:led under tie bad, ries, mud, without a favour-
able wind, I think the gred:e6t pit: of them must
have been loss.
Q. Do you think any might have escaped ?
A. Not with the w.. I as it was; not eves. with An
this tide, as the wind was.
COURT—Q. %Vliether line of ships, not
havinij Wirt with any accident, could work out with
an ebb tide into Ba:igne Rrn.Js, ftein Alt Roads ?
They .may from the :otelturagt where the
French ships ley, but would he exigos,,d to the tire
from the Isle d'Aia and Olxrcii, as they worked

oat.
Lord el,seurrza...9. Whet the enemy's ships
were aground on thisq.`o,ll•s.• cud the two that were
afloat made towards. the Ajliaraute, might they
have been approtolhed by British line-uf-Little
ships or large frigates I.—A. FlO4ll tine knowledge
1 have of the 1140004 I do dam 'cooceita they could
have hero ; for Bunn. the rime‘ of mooing in,
oheerved f• the ('wear, thwy were heaving their
shot overtio.vrd frr the pis. prove of lightening them,
sod iliey hum; on the ground for several minutes
mind then Weill on N,,,,4111 j 1 ant nor so positive as to
large f.igatiro. nt,t inn .mg the depth of water.
Coes- ehst part of Aix owl ilascpee Reads you
have sounded. ..4.1 how the inforiaation you
blare ribtaiiieil agrees with the francs' charts
I have surveyed every part of Basque Roads, and
monad the depth of water materially dui...resit trout
the French cli trio ; nor could I, at toity.tioir, alumni
three proper *ogles together, when tiar ship was at
anchor. I have im knowledge of Aix Roods, he-
log only there in the- ('ajar one Hight ;.•• alter the
ship was ii-grottini,teoundeil round the ship, near-
ly a cable each %venoms' found very littlediWeri-oce
in the depth of water,:except the N.W. which was
4.1
Q. Rave you been there before, under Sir R.
Straeliat. ; nearly tea years.
Q. Did you tii.tkv any oh>teratiotts nu the stn.+
chorage of die enemy's billies with the rise sod,
fall of the ttilel—A. The eitemv was always moored
mid ley close togethe!, and t Inn, to the Isle WAIL,
On the Ist of August, t t 7, the itemy's viuJdrun
came nut for the ptirpon. of inanmovritig. and
ware pursued by tine syti.chun under Sir Richard
Strachan ; they sot into At c Roads before we could
come up with thein. It upycirs front the manner
they went in, that the audiorage was very much
confined, only going in one snip at a time, and an-
chored so close. as it was i inimesibile long to lie; other-
wise Sir R. Strachan would have attacked them ;
but from the strength of the batteries and the man-
lier the ships lay, we a orki II out again. Their
&umber was then 6 sail of the line, 2 frigates, 4
brigs. The direction they anchored was N. and S.
it) one lhie ; the rise and fall of the tide was gene-
rally is feet-1 have knowit it 19—I ineati spring
tides.
Q. Did these appear ever to take the ground at
wit !.—A. It viunsared frequently (coin the Cum-,
that they did at low waster ; and whenever it blew
from the N. W. th, y ,11.•11y11 struck their top-
masts, before the British squadron, which was in
Basque Ronde, which we supposed was to ease
the ship* from pitching and striking aground,
abaft, at the last minder ebb.
COURT-..Q. At what nine on the 12th of April
did the Cesar go into Aix [toads?—A. About six
o'clock we went in, and took the ground at seven.
Q. How was the wind ?—A. From N.W. to
N.W. and by W.
Q. At what time did the Cesar return to Basque
Roads ?—A. A little after foot the next morning.
Q. flow was the wind when she went out?—
A. S.W.
Q. Was that a fair wind to go out to Basque
Roads N—A. Yes, the course is N. and by W. out.
Captain DouotAs, of the &Ilona, called in and
sworn.
Loral GAMBIER asked—Q. Do you remember
the state of the enemy's fl. et in Aix Roads, 4/11 the
morning of the 12th of April last, at day-light ?
A. To the hest of my rroollectititi two aril of the
line were afloat ; the three-ditker and three sail
appeared to be aground., •
Q. Were you ordered by me to tole:mese towards
the Borsrt Shock on that mortiiiig Yee, in
the eithin of tile Caledonia. Admiral Stopford was
present. .
4, Had I seat is say 'ship to Aix Roads at day-

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