The Sun.
London, England, 1805-12-27 00:00:00

fetched Ferrol ?—A. As well as I tecollea, I shoahl
think not.
CouRT.—Q. Yon twee stated, that Yon did not
discover your bowsprit to be sprung till the 25th.
1.)o you apprehend, if you had been obliged to carry
sail upon the Repulse, in pursuit of the enemy, your
bowsprit would have borne it ?—A. The bowsprit
was not sprung till the everting of the 25th, and, as
it then went under reefed top-sails and fore-sails, I
shr,nld suppose it was not equal to carry any sail at
any time after the ktion:
Q. Was there not. much sea on the ,?,4th ?—A.
A heavy sea, and almost calm, the ship rolling very
in la.
a. Was it so all the day ?—A. In the morning,
after the breeze sprung up, about ten o'clock, the
ship did not roil so much.
Sir Robert Calder being asked jibe had any 'ques-
tions to put to this witness, said be had not.

- •
eIIAItLES BoYLE, of the Windsor Castle.

Q. Is this your report of the damages of your
ship ut the I—A. Yes.
Q. Did you myself, soon after the action,
when you were 'passing to windward *of the Prince of
Wales ?—A. Certainly.
Q. ,;;'llitt did I say ?—A. You asked me if my
fore .ioptuast could be gaup very statsll, ,Or without
loss of tittle. •
Q. What Was your answer I—A.. That every ex-
ertion should be made.
. Y Q. What Wai my reply ?-2104..'That you did not
doubt it.
Q. Was your ship in a condition to work to wind.-
ward, either in line of battle, or order of sailing, so
as to force the enemy to salon, on the 23d'Or 24th
of July I—No.
Q. Did you receive any communication from me,
that I should resullte by yout'a and that
I should always keep bet:Weep you and:the enemy,
for your prat-veto-la 1—;;A.: 'Yes.
Q. Did I tro so ?—A. Yes.
Q. Did you:sce the 'whole, or only NO otour
Squadron, on the mortiingbf the 23d at day-**)
A. I saw only part.
Q. What distance *ere you from those you did
see ?-7-}:suppose ahout four or 'five miles.
Q Could you havemode-, a junCtion with the
squadron, if I had -iireedged down ? —A. It was
hpposSible, front the state the wind was in.
2. Irow far were the Malta and frigates-to lee-
w. from you on the'Mornint of the .'oad
was, pretty nearly between our squadron and the
I\l4lLa, Tl uucierer, and prizes,'
Q. Could I have forced ,the enemy to on
the 23d Not taking the whole squao:on, we;
could not have been taken into aCtiOn without being,
towed..
Gt.' When did I part with you On the V+ th.
Q. Did you receive any order from ane to regn,
. late your cOnduilwheit I should part company with.
you Yes.

_ .
Q. Have you 'my letter ?----A. I-have not. • I,
Q. Can you tell what has become -of it ?--A. I
gave it to the Coriunander in Chief. 1-
The letter was in Court, and read, and Captain
Bterna said it was perfe&ly corret. .
Q. • Considering the Crippled state, and the relative
sheltiee of the two fleets, could' the Windsor Castle
been towed up to the enemy. so as.te have re-
newed the anion, either on the 23d or e4tlo—A.
On flit' 2.? d, taking lite day from' day-light to even-
ing, toe Windsor Castle-could have set but very little
Rail. The fishing of the lower yards, beetling a newi
forefail, • fishing the, main=top-sail yard, knotting
the Stays, the whOle of them, she could have made
but littltt s ; therdnre; the positer of a. 74, aging
upon a 1)04 like the Windsor Castle, this Coert will
judge hoc. tar it.way possible te carry her tip to an
enemy direetly to witidward.
Comer,---Q. As-to:the 24th The Windsor
Castle W3', able to mare' more sail. We got up _a
jury foretop-gallant mast for a foretopmast. We
were then in a b,:tter state ;might have been taken
in tow, and might !ewe kept our ;station lit the,.
line, but could net be carried, I fear,. to windward,
fast enougWi.-o. fetch ari 'iinemy that was inclined to •
tinttaien.. ; .
Coum—Gt. Whatirnpediment was there against,
the getting up ap. uper eactop-mast On the 24th ?
A. ,The foretop-toast wad shot away between the
cap and the trute.el-trees ; this took the cap with it,
carried away all the larboard side of.the top and Cross-
trees,';therefore when t spare cap was got up, to go
yver the mast-head, there was not a sutlicient time
to fit a top and cross4rees On-the larboard side, so as
to .4upport a proper foretop-mast. Besides, the fore-
mast was wounded in•suctil-way, that we could
not,. witheue.taking much time, , have finished it to
carry preper top-Sails, had we been able to rib the
jury crossetrees, whielvWe had not.:.
Captain 117 in. Lechmere, of the Tlttindfei cr.
• Q. Is that the
~report you made to me of the da- •
ptages youeship sUstaittcd, on the 22d of July
-A. It ia. ,
The Report waiiilltln read:
Q. Did 'the enemy ever chaec, or attempt to
,bring me to aetion- on the 244 of 24111 of July
A. NO. .
Q. Could I have forced the enemy to :alien on
the 24th of July, if they had chosen to avoid it ?
A. No. •
("4.. Did the enemy appear to you to have sus-
tained anrconsiderahle damages' in their Masts or
yards None in their masts they shifted a .
tep-sail yard or two, and that, I believe, was. The
. utmost.
Q..-Was the 13ritish krpt
the enemy and Ferrol, as long as the enemy terWili-
ed in sight Till the afternoot of th,..24tlewe
were always nearer to kerrol than the enemy was..
Q. Could they have fet,elic.4l:t.'rel ,Noe It
Was impossible.. The wind -t:vas at iti .I', ,
Captain (Vin. Brown, of tin Ajax.
Couter.--C4, Are 'the questions the Vice4dmital.
has to put to this Witness'the those- hutuedi-
ately preceding • • ,
Sir It: They are,
,Coinwk:.---There seems no necessity to exatTtille
C 8146114 Bieww, or' any'other Witnesses on the ge-
neral questions. Without-fresh matter they may be

sp3red.
CALtAtt.---T do not wish to waste the tine
of the Court, and I Wye no desire to examine
fur
then Witnesses on these general questions. But''

do wish Captain Bitowtt tO verify lid's report of
damages.
''his was accordingly done, and the report read.

Captain Alin Harvey,. of.the Agamemnon.
'O. Are those your reports .of damages They
ar ..—The reports were then read.

Captain Win.' Cumining, of the Prince" Males.
Q. As you were near my person duting the whole
time of the action of the 22d, was any part of my
cunduB to be attributed to fear, or a want of zeal
for His Majesty's service Most certainly not. •
COURT.7.---a. Captain • Cu 'what ,number
of the Brit 4 Ships appeared to you on the morning
of the 24th, incapable 'sailing in4lne of battle,'or
order of sailing ?—A. I -imagine the -whole, except
the Windsor Castle, might have been formed'in line
of battle.

Q. If the Windsor Castle had been taken in tow,
considering the relative situation of the two fleets,
could the British Squadron have renewed the aation
on the 2 4th, the enemy declining to do so A. Cer-
tainly not.
Q. Did the Vice-Admiral decline the action,
either on the .c..)3d or 24th, the enemy being in
clined to renew it ?—A. He did not.

Copt. JMu'urd Griffiths, 9f 11w _Dragon.

Q. yon know of signal-posts being ere6ted tit.;
twecu Cape Ortegal and Cape Finisterre, anyti to
Periol i—A; Yes.

Q. Did you reconnoitre the Port.of Ferrol,:aliut
the.4th of July ?—A. I did.
Had the Coinbined Squadrons then arrived
theve ?—A. No.

I. Q. Do you fetnernber our . being blown off that
Poct about the ist of !august, by a S. W. Wind. ?
A• It blew a gide of wind 4orn, the S. W. on the Ist
of Auost, and drovutisUot off the Coast but along
shore.to.the - •

Q. 'When. did we return ?—A. I cannot say pre-
cisely:' I
„have not my log-bcok nor any tninntes.
I should think we made the land two fivs after-
,
wards. We were never 46 hours without. seeing
the Jatid, iom the 28th of July to the loth of
August. . .
Q. Had the Oombined,rlecr, taken the 'advantage.
of our being blciwn off thjat Port to get in durinu'
our abSenCe I—A: Yes.; an ',saw a fleet afterwards
at anchor otiCorunna, consisting. of thirteen sail of
the line, four' frigates,- and-a ; and, at the f.atne
time, Satt, the equadrou- in Ferrol, ay they Had been
there for strany. months.- • .
. Q. Under What sail was the Windsor Castle When
you took her in tow. I cannot say exaellyi but
she'had very little sail, no head -..sail,,exCept jibs,:and,
some small after-sail..

Q. 'At' what rate did you then tow her ; and.
what sail had ;you set As, well as I reColled
we I)ad otly one single reef top-sail ; and at any:
time an thr.-. 23d, I du not think we could bait ex-
ceeded t‘,o knots.-

Q. Could- ito 'Windsor: Castle have been put in a
conditich by the of the ?4th to have made
it praCticaUe fir you to have towed her so as tolitt'sloi
sailed its order• of battle in the rear of a fleet,- to. have
pursued an enemy with any prAibility of coining.
up with thetri, if they were not inclined to batte ?
A. I should think not, the Windsor Castle being
at the best of times but a dull sailing ship it: the
enemy were inclined to avoid a battle, certainly not
Captain Citadel E,lpitinstone Veining sworn.

Q. Did you taku one of the prizes in tow after the
salon ?—A. Yes, the El Firnie.

0: In what state was' the prize when yeu took
her it, tow i—A, Her- rudder disabled, many other
ports blown off, and she made so mach water through
the shot-holes that we could just keep her free.
Q. Were you able to have towed her up to the
squadron, if I had not edged up to you
,the Egyptienne's rudder was gone, and the
prizes were disabled, so that we could malie very
little way.
Q. Diet you continue her in tow till you parted
from the squadron ?—A. No.
Q. Did the ell of the sea prevent your getting
rip jury-masts ? —:lei, there was a very heavy swell,
which prevented our getting up jury-masts.
Q. Did the prize the Syrius, in tow, also lose her
masts ?—A. Yes, all her masts were gone, except the
tbremast„, which was not fit to carry 'sail.
Q. Cot hl you have taken the prisoners and wound
ed men out of the prizes in order to de,stroy them, if
necessary'? 1 iniaded to do so, to let 'them
sink, as there was-so much difficulty to get the Spa-
niar-ls at the pumps.
Q. 'How long- was you at Rochetbrt before you
sailed with Adnitral STiat.two ?—A. I do not recol-
ha. the meat time ; I came in June, and left' in
July
- 'What was the force of the enemy in that
port Five sail of the line and five or sic fri-
gates, rfio not recollect which, and three or four
brigs. •
4;1. When 'did they sail ?—A. I do not know ; I
heard they shed the day after. I was "told by a
French In isoner. I took, I.:Ai:lcon, a I:reach corvette,
the CAptaiti of which informed me, he bad sailed
\%, tch the Rochefort Squadron the day after Admiral
STIRLING left that port in Odober last,

Lieutenant Thomas ,IVarrrn sworn.
Q. Was you my Signal Lieutenant in the month
of Judy last ?—A. Yes.
..:Did you' observe the enemy's ships on the
morning of the 2.3 d ?—A. did.
Di 4 you perceiye they bad a smaller number of
ships on the morning of the 23d than they had on
the fiaci, the day of the.aaion, besides- the two prizes
we had taken from them i—A, 1 did.

Q. Did you observe any.of the cileiny's sh;ps hd.
vance from their weather bow ?—‘l... idid ; four
sail of; the,,line, besides frigates, wemseparated from
the fleCt; Apparently In good order, . . . .
. 'CI.. Did they
,appear to have sustained Material
damage in their ntasti and 'yards ?,—A.lS'othing of
consequence. • • . • , ,
Q. What was the signal made to the Defiance on
.the morning of the ~.qth ?—A:. No. 77, to bring to.
. Q. What is the number of the signal Made to re-.
connoltre the enemy ?—A. 19. :
• Q. War that number made to the. Defiance on
that day ?,, . . .
oo RT—Was an
y_signal made to the Defiance to
look out between the British Flect and that of the