The Statesman.
London, England, 1809-07-29 00:00:00

. •
directed to take, the ieadtestoten 4110,111 tats that
were assembled on.board.the Cesar, but there be-
ing so math wind and sea, ftlipurefit*Jkloold nut
act with effect in sit ppriA oftle firitAfts.
fore directed tl.e Ca taro of the Cesar, about sun-
set that evening, to kv`tst theCortigander in Chief
and suggest to his Luribrhip the propriety of the
boats remaining e`rithrtiii-Cesir, I thought
they tenth Oct withl elfeet, of *Mich tib.Cordship
atiprovell,. and I selected a boat belonging th
Burp; thiebtit towing boat I coda Ihuti to dee
Ittspreeletete, and atcpsei.it Lord Cochrane of such
bitention, and desiring his itirdship to send me
wiped bark if he wanted any other asaistance, but
Utiwetither Kis MI had as to perstent them retern-
ing that night. With respect to the •hasard of the,
tligketeking, it was (truly exemplified' by one oil
the fire fillips of the Cesar : she went in before the
Weplnsion, and betere the Mediator, and un get-
ting near the French fleet, she brought to, by si;-
nal fi.otn the whets ; the Explosion blew up close
to her, killed two men, and damaged one of the
boats in which the men mere to come away. The
Men Were Much crowded in the boat in which the
men were to return to the TesFel. On their return
olte run di•ol of fatirete, and another was picked
up, who died in the bottom of the boat of the
rsi gen-brig, which drifted in so near the French
snips, the was obliged to cot her, cables.
.Q. (By the Court). As that which occurred to
An fire ...ssel did not pass under your obsfrvation,
Toe will inform the Court how yule came by a.
I.nooleige of it ? N. Front the individual and
fictutent information of every officer and man w4te
tete, neil, I have no doubt of the fact.
• Q.. Did you receive it as the official report of
t' Othter of the beat ? Ar I did,
is. wilily as I Terollect.
,Q. (try Lord GA name.) Under the circum.
AAAice a! the iirne before mentioned, was it nut
sypri,ieg that 10 large a proportion of the fire.
ship pa‘sett through the enemy's, and the smaller
nemPer failed ? . A. Every circumstance was ex-
trent, ly far ourible for the fire ships, and there.
Itlre ,1 took it fur waisted, that when Gems placed
properly, they .mast inevitably go down upon
ute caouty's ships ; this has no reference to the
tutu coming atsey ; with reference to that, it was

Erourined by the Partrover.
Q. Was lilt biAtiation of the Caesar near to the
m1%1%41°181 01 the fire ships, previous to their .be.
lug sent on the service ? A. The Crier did not
.eauga her situation before theme operations took
place ; and I do not think she.was uear them or
any Wier ship.
Q. Did) rut observe the manner in which the
fire ships a ere cundert ii generally towards the
enemy ? A. As far as my observation went, the
firoships seemed all to have answered the perimeter
atosoying the enemy ; although I did afterwards
boar several were set fire to at too eatly a period.
4. ,From your own observation did it appear to
sou that every fire ship was conducted with equal
"hilily and resolution towards the enemy ? A. It
was impossible for me or any person to form any
opinion of the conduct of every fire ship ; in the
general blase of fire, objects were so confounded
it was out of my power accurately to ascertain the
conduci of the lire ships ; therefore I cannot an-
swer that queNtion sati,faciorils to the Court.
Q. From what you really did observe, did it
appear to you that any fire ship was set on fire at
too great a distauce from the enem) 1 A. Some
were certainly set 11%1 to sooner than others ; it
appeared to me, before they had run so near as
others ; but it was impossible to observe whether
they nen, uear 1.4101411. 'lle enemy's line soon
hen :t to scatter, they coy and the shies might
have been prowl), 40ileg i.,,e one part of the hoe,
tle,u;ll improperly for another.
Q. 11:.t meet, the Periotiv mentioned in the charge
did the who% conduct of the Counnamier in Chief
ippear to you higttty meritorious 1 A. In the ge.
ueral queitiou put to me yesterday, I answered
this inquiry most fully : that answer eas then re.
t tell to, and was deemed highly satisfactory by
ale Court.
Q. In passing the nuoyart shoal in the Cesar,
at ). hat distance were you from it 1 A. About a
quarter of a mile from that part which is seen as
the water falls. The depth of water was about
eight fathoms ; and the next COW WWI on the
shoal. The fire of the batteries crossed us.on both
Odes, but more from the Isle drAis, fur about one
isle.
Q.* From the fire you observed, could a judg-
ment be formed of the force at Isle d'Aix, amine-
diately opposed to. you at passing 1 A. They did
leo tire their guns fast, they occasionally fired sin-
gle shot, and I think four mortars wort kept play.
big on us.
Mr. Spading, the Master of the Insperieuse,
was then called and examined.
Q. Did it appear to you, at the time a signal
was made by the Imperiense fur the ships,to crone
up, that there was a safe and sufficient anchorage,
without the range of shot and shells, for the line.
of-battle ships, so as to enable them to destroy
the enemy's srpradrou, on tile 12th of April,.; and
how many line of battle ships could have Mien an-
chored ther.., and what was the depth of water*?
A. On the morning that the Imperieu4e retreated
out ut. the [cub, the Varsovie and A guile° being
then on fire, we were upon the Palais, above
Where the Imperieuse was at anchor, in five fa-
thom' water. It was. high water when we,
about two o'clock, were standing towards the
blind of Aix. The soundings given by the man
1:1 the chain, to the best of my recollections,
wa, six to seven fathume, the depth might be
snore -towards the island ; as we did nit stand
in vi.ry close I could net ascertain. When we all.
*clawed, which was out of the roach of shut or shell,
we Ime in 3.1 fathoms, at low water. There was
t a, about the distance of fres 9 to 4 cables
nearer towates the Patois shoal than the Imperieuse
hiuratichohd, a good tick for th.ree or four sail of
the lilts to anchor in Si amid six fathoms deep low
wow; Tite markt for such anchor:Ago I took
leyself, which are, the stern of the wreck was on
the Palais directly oa with the square tower of
Span Plitt Island, „and the windmill ass the Bag.
!Mg of the Isle of 'Tile mesas by *MA I
0404 this lcostelodjo, , was by my Omm obese.