We had but two chances of escape in our favour; the one was, that the fog and mist might thicken, hiding our position from the frigates in chase; and the other, that, as we could haul closer upon the wind than the enemy, we might ultimately gain to the windward of them, relying afterwards upon the superior sailing of the brig for her safety, should the wind in the least lessen. In the former, we were early disappointed, for the fog cleared away rapidly, leaving a fair sight of the three frigates, before the chase had been continued an hour; and the latter hope was but poor comfort, as the wind had freshened, compelling us to take in some of our lighter sails aloft, while the frigates could still hold on with theirs, by their great strength and heavy dimensions. It was evident, likewise, that in gaining to their windward (which we were doing, and only prevented by their proximity when first hauling upon the wind) we should necessarily draw so near as to receive the fire from one of the frigates at least, if not from two, and at too short a distance to be other than extremely hazardous. This position was continued till near ten o'clock, when we put before the wind again, as in the beginning of the chase; the enemy likewise changing theirs, so as to follow directly in the wake of the brig.
The situation of the enemy's vessels in this stage of the chase was picturesque in the extreme, affording us a beautiful view of the whole of them, and at a distance where their movements could easily be discerned. The Acasta was dead astern, less than two miles distant, the Leander on her larboard, and the New-Castle on her starboard bows each at equidistant points from the centre frigate, and somewhat ahead of her — all three under as great a stress of sail as could be piled on, in such a gale and with such a sea as they were wallowing through.
It was plainly to be seen, that the frigates were gaining on us, in spite of our every exertion to facilitate the brig's sailing; the Leander and New-Castle more rapidly than the Acasta; for while our comparative light craft was rising upon the top of every wave, and pitching deep into the trough between them, the heavy frigates, with their enormous spread of canvas, plunged through all, slowly but constantly gaining on us at each moment.
The men were kept at the harrassing duty of making or lessening sail, changing and shifting the ballast, from the beginning to the termination of the chase. No sooner did the wind in the least lull, than an additional sail was added to the already overburthened masts, (only to be taken in at the first freshening of the gale), thus keeping her strained to the utmost extension of her strength, and at times nearly running her head under. Had the gale been such as to allow of our lightening the brig, her guns would have been cast overboard long before this; but we were more safe with them on deck than without them, although of no farther use than their weight to steady the brig, as the tier to leeward were most of the time under water, while those to windward could only be pointed to the clouds, by the laying over of the brig in this fury of the elements.
The frigates had occasionally been giving us a shot from soon after our putting before the wind; none of which reached the brig, however, till about twelve o'clock, when the commodore's ship, Leander, by the position she held, brought a gun to bear upon us, and threw her shot beyond. We immediately hauled upon the wind a second time, with the determination of working to the windward of the squadron at all hazard, it being now our last and only hope of escaping from their fangs. It appeared impossible that the brig could maintain her upright position, with such a sea and gale as she had to contend with. Her careening made it difficult, even for the most experienced hands, to keep the deck.
The hopes of the crew had brightened since twelve o'clock, by the clouds breaking away, with an indication of the wind abating, and which it had at times, only to blow the fiercer, however, in fitful blasts after each delusive lull. The men were still kept at their stations, in readiness the moment the wind lessened to clap on more sail, or to take in that which proved too heavy at each increased blast of the tempest. But before two o'clock the wind had visibly heightened, bringing the frigates closer, and enabling them to reach us with ease, not only with their round shot, but likewise grape and cannister, which at each discharge of their heavy cannon, at intervals of from three to five minutes, came scattering through our rigging, with a hissing and whistling, that was plainly heard above the blast of the gale.
Through the great and unceasing exertions of the men, their exhaustion became apparent — having been allowed nothing either to eat or to drink, since the day previous ; and as hope became hopeless, they did not evince that alacrity of movement, which they had displayed during the previous portion of the day, when there was a probability of escaping. The frigates in chase were, by two o'clock, in a position to sink us at their will; for one was on our larboard quarter, another on our starboard waist, whilst the third was at our stern, a little further off, yet sufficiently near, to reach us with her round shot.
The clouds had been thinning, till they rapidly passed away in sheets of fleecy vapour, leaving the hard blue sky alone above, when the sun shone through a transparent atmosphere, with an unusual brightness, enlivening the scene to the height of romantic beauty — its enchanting brilliancy only equalled by its fearful grandeur. Spread around were the convulsed waters, whose gigantic throes and sublime movements turned fear to astonishment; scattered at different points, were those well trimmed frigates, looming upon the horizon, with their prows directed to a common centre, where our brig, with her heavy crowd of canvas and bending masts, braved the danger of being engulfed, rather than yield to a pursuing foe, however superior the force, or hopeless the chance of escape. The whole combined produced a scene beyond description ; and to one like myself, who had never before seen anything of the kind, all looked like an enlarged view of some theatrical representation — nay, my half bewildered and dreamy mind strove hard to make it so, rather than to believe it the sad reality spread before me, so great had been the change of events of the last two weeks.
The frigates were of the largest class, in full rig and equipment, and so near, that the movements of their men were plainly seen by us, while going through with their various duties and evolutions, or when training any particular gun to bear upon the brig. Every rope was strained to the tension and appearance of drawn wire, as relieved by the clear blue sky beyond; their many white sails were bellying out by the force of the wind, one overtoping the other, tapering in size, to the dizzy heights of their royal-masts. They were proudly but furiously dashing through the heavy and tumultuous seas, occasionally plunging nearly bowsprit under, but to shoot upwards and mount the next, with the buoyancy, grace and ease of boats of pleasure. Whilst these huge leviathans were apparently leaping from ridge to ridge of the heaped up waters, or wallowing with a struggling effort to be freed from their chasmed gulfs, the white capped waves were continually heaving up and around them, seemingly mad at being thus checked in their onward rushings — throwing the spray, made sparkling (amid the glimpse of a rainbow), by the sun's slanting rays, to the height of the yards, showering the decks, to the discomfort of their numerous crews, who like ourselves were becoming wearied with this arduous chase. Their shot came skipping from the curling and frothy topped waves, marking their course to a great distance beyond, by the jets of spray sent slantingly up on either side, leaving a path in their rear, as distinct, as was their fierce whistle in passing our craft; and only lost to view, when plunging into some unbreasted wave, larger than the one preceding it. And our poor brig was incessantly toiling, without the possibility of escape, striving with her laborious plungings through the angry and tempestuous billows, not unlike the tired but willing steed, when taxed till his life-breath is passing away with the lengthened race, which is to end with his life, together.