flames, the steward having set fire to her while stealing rum out of the

after-hold. Her crew were leaping into the water, when Nelson came up in
his boats, made them throw their powder overboard and point their guns

upward; and by his presence of mind and personal exertions prevented the
loss of life which would otherwise have ensued. On the 11th of June 1779

he was made post into the HINCHINBROOK, of twenty-eight guns, an enemy's
merchantman, sheathed with wood, which had been taken into the service.

Collingwood was then made commander into the BADGER. A short time after
he left the LOWESTOFFE, that ship, with a small squadron, stormed the

fort of St. Fernando de Omoa, on the south side of the Bay of Honduras,
and captured some register ships which were lying under its guns. Two

hundred and fifty quintals of quicksilver and three millions of piastres
were the reward of this enterprise; and it is characteristic of Nelson

that the chance by which he missed a share in such a prize is never
mentioned in any of his letters; nor is it likely that it ever excited

even a momentary feeling of vexation.
Nelson was fortunate in possessing good interest at the time when it

could be most serviceable to him: his promotion had been almost as rapid
as it could be; and before he had attained the age of twenty-one he had

gained that rank which brought all the honours of the service within his
reach. No opportunity, indeed, had yet been given him of distinguishing

himself; but he was thoroughly master of his profession, and his zeal
and ability were acknowledged wherever he was known. Count d'Estaing,

with a fleet of one hundred and twenty-five sail, men of war and
transports, and a reputed force of five-and twenty thousand men,

threatened Jamaica from St. Domingo. Nelson offered his services to the
Admiral and to Governor-General Dalling, and was appointed to command

the batteries of Fort Charles, at Port Royal. Not more than seven
thousand men could be mustered for the defence of the island,--a number

wholly inadequate to resist the force which threatened them. Of this
Nelson was so well aware, that when he wrote to his friends in England,

he told them they must not be surprised to hear of his learning to speak
French. D'Estaing, however, was either not aware of his own superiority,

or not equal to the command with which he was intrusted: he attempted
nothing with his formidablearmament; and General Dalling was thus left

to execute a project which he had formed against the Spanish colonies.
This project was, to take Fort San Juan on the river of that name,

which flows from Lake Nicaragua into the Atlantic; make himself master
of the lake itself, and of the cities of Granada and Leon; and thus cut

off the communication of the Spaniards between their northern and
southern possessions in America. Here it is that a canal between the two

seas may most easily be formed--a work more important in its
consequences than any which has ever yet been effected by human power.

Lord George Germaine, at that time secretary of state for the American
Department, approved the plan; and as discontents at that time were

known to prevail in the Nuevo Reyno, in Popayan, and in Peru, the more
sanguine part of the English began to dream of acquiring an empire in

one part of America, more extensive than that which they were on the
point of losing in another. General Dalling's plans were well formed;

but the history and the nature of the country had not been studied as
accurately as its geography: the difficulties which occurred in fitting

out the expedition delayed it till the season was too far advanced; and
the men were thus sent to adventure themselves, not so much against an

enemy, whom they would have beaten, as against a climate which would do
the enemy's work.

Early in the year 1780, five hundred men destined for this service
were convoyed by Nelson from Port Royal to Cape Gracias a Dios, in

Honduras. Not a native was to be seen when they landed: they had been
taught that the English came with no other intent than that of enslaving

them, and sending them to Jamaica. After a while, however, one of them
ventured down, confiding in his knowledge of one of the party; and by

his means the neighbouring tribes were conciliated with presents, and
brought in. The troops were encamped on a swampy and unwholesome plain,

where they were joined by a party of the 79th regiment from Black River,
who were already in a deplorable state of sickness. Having remained here

a month, they proceeded, anchoring frequently, along the Mosquito shore,
to collect their Indian allies, who were to furnish proper boats for the

river, and to accompany them. They reached the river San Juan, March
24th; and here, according to his orders, Nelson's services were to

terminate; but not a man in the expedition had ever been up the river,
or knew the distance of any fortification from its mouth; and he not

being one who would turn back when so much was to be done, resolved to
carry the soldiers up. About two hundred, therefore, were embarked in

the Mosquito shore craft and in two of the HINCHINBROOK's boats, and
they began their voyage. It was the latter end of the dry season, the

worst time for such an expedition; the river was consequently low.
Indians were sent forward through narrow channels between shoals and

sandbanks, and the men were frequently obliged to quit the boats and
exert their utmost strength to drag or thrust them along. This labour

continued for several days; when they came into deeper water, they had
then currents and rapids to contend with, which would have been insur-

mountable but for the skill of the Indians in such difficulties. The
brunt of the labour was borne by them and by the sailors--men never

accustomed to stand aloof when any exertion of strength or hardihood is
required. The soldiers, less accustomed to rely upon themselves, were of

little use. But all equally endured the violent heat of the sun,
rendered more intense by being reflected from the white shoals; while

the high woods, on both sides of the river, were frequently so close as
to prevent any refreshingcirculation of air; and during the night all

were equally exposed to the heavy and unwholesome dews.
On the 9th of April they reached an island in the river, called San

Bartolomeo, which the Spaniards had fortified, as an outpost, with a
small semicircular battery, mounting nine or ten swivels, and manned

with sixteen or eighteen men. It commanded the river in a rapid and
difficult part of the navigation. Nelson, at the head of a few of his

seamen, leaped upon the beach. The ground upon which he sprung was so
muddy that he had some difficulty in extricating himself, and lost his

shoes: bare-footed, however, he advanced, and, in his own phrase,
BOARDED THE BATTERY. In this resolute attempt he was bravely supported

by Despard, at that time a captain in the army, afterward unhappily
executed for his schemes of revolutionarytreason. The castle of San

Tuan is situated about 16 miles higher up; the stores and ammunition,
however, were landed a few miles below the castle, and the men had to

march through woods almost impassable. One of the men was bitten under
the eye by a snake which darted upon him from the bough of a tree. He

was unable to proceed from the violence of the pain; and when, after a
short while, some of his comrades were sent back to assist him, he was

dead, and the body already putrid. Nelson himself narrowly escaped a
similar fate. He had ordered his hammock to be slung under some trees,

being excessively fatigued, and was sleeping, when a monitory lizard
passed across his face. The Indians happily observed the reptile; and

knowing what it indicated, awoke him. He started up, and found one of
the deadliest serpents of the country coiled up at his feet. He suffered

from poison of another kind; for drinking at a spring in which some
boughs of the manchineel had been thrown, the effects were so severe as,

in the opinion of some of his friends, to inflict a lastinginjury upon
his constitution.

The castle of San Juan is 32 miles below the point where the river
issues from the Lake of Nicaragua, and 69 from its mouth. Boats reach

the sea from thence in a day and a-half; but their navigation back, even
when unladen, is the labour of nine days. The English appeared before it

on the 11th, two days after they had taken San Bartolomeo. Nelson's
advice was, that it should instantly be carried by assault; but Nelson

was not the commander; and it was thought proper to observe all the
formalities of a siege. Ten days were wasted before this could be

commenced. It was a work more of fatigue than of danger; but fatigue was
more to be dreaded than the enemy; the rains set in; and could the

garrison have held out a little longer, diseases would have rid them of
their invaders. Even the Indians sunk under it, the victims of unusual

exertion, and of their own excesses. The place surrendered on the 24th.
But victory procured to the conquerors none of that relief which had

been expected; the castle was worse than a prison; and it contained
nothing which could contribute to the recovery of the sick, or the

preservation of those who were yet unaffected. The huts which served for
hospitals were surrounded with filth, and with the putrefying hides of

slaughtered cattle--almost sufficient of themselves to have engendered
pestilence; and when at last orders were given to erect a convenient

hospital, the contagion had become so general that there were none who
could work at it; for besides the few who were able to perform garrison

duty, there were not orderly men enough to assist the sick. Added to
these evils, there was the want of all needful remedies; for though the