vade the minds of the volunteers, as though they had been invited to grace the purlieus of the Court, rather than attend the solemn invitation of Death.

"In the evening, the sky still assuming its lowering aspect, the cutting-out squadron was directed to be on board of Capt. Lawrence's ship, where for some time each Commander of the six remaining boats, was directed and redirected, as to his specific duty. About half-past six, every preparation made, the expedition prepared to pull out of the Morro; and being fully manned, before it was well nigh dark, it had gained the headland; and rounding the Bluff, which would open to us the Bay, in which lay the enemy, the boats pulled beautifully, and it appeared as though they glided through the water without the use of oars, so perfectly quiet did they work. The night too was dark, accompanied by a gentle rain; and we were ardent in our expectations that Don Joào' would be our prize, before the rising of another sun. Of this we had no question, if once on board of her. The wind, however, had veered round some points, so as not to favour us so much as we had anticipated in the morning; yet no doubt existed in our minds, and under the darkness we still kept gliding into the harbour. Not a light was to be seen; and keeping right up the Bay, in the fair way, we were sure of coming up to the Don.

"About one o'clock in the morning, we had passed Fort St. Antonio, whose sluggish centinals, either were dozing at their posts, or did not observe us in the darkness by which we were surrounded; and in about another half-hour we saw the shipping, looming large in the distance. Gently using the oars, we continued to steal along ---not a breath was heard :- the boats in capital stations; and every thing satisfactory to our ambitious minds. We soon began to close upon the fleet, and could now plainly see them, so as to separate the Admiral from the less-sized vessels by which he was surrounded. We had passed two heavy transports, within half-gun shot, and all was breathless anxiety:-we were drawing close to the intended victim, and not a voice or step was heard

on board of her; and while you could plainly discover that each of our men was preparing for the murderous attack, in adjusting his weapons ready for the slaughter -not a sigh escaped the lips of any-all was silent as death. We had closed in upon the vessel to within pistol-shot, when-my stars! such a volley of musketry came pouring in upon our little barks, as made us stare again. The death-like silence was changed in a moment of time, to loud calls from Capt. Lawrence, (which seemed in power to drown the report of the musketry,) to pull out to the southward, and make clear of the Fort. It was evident to him that the Portuguese Admiral was too much upon the alert for us; and all the fleet being by this time alarmed, we were in double danger, to make our way through the vessels we had passed in coming in. The Admiral could not, however, get his guns to bear upon us; and we were only subject to the heavy and burning fire of musketry, which kept upon us incessantly, not only from the Flagship, but now from two brigs and the heavy transports before referred to, which kept firing the shot upon us like peas.

"Lawrence's retreat was indeed capital, and reflected the highest credit upon him; for whenever we came broadside on to one of the enemy, he sheered his little squadron round upon the opposite quarter from that where lay the other ships; so that they could not open their fire upon us, without subjecting their own shipping to a more galling musketry than that to which we should have been subjected; and thus preventing them altogether from bringing their great guns to bear; though not a few of these made large holes in the water around. Providentially none struck us With our well-manned and smartly-pulling boats, we were nearly half an hour before we got clear of this heavy assault; and what seemed to perplex our men more than any other circumstance was, that they could not return a single shot; the enemy had it all their own way, and pretty slaughter they committed: of eightynine who went into the Bay, we found, when clear of it, thirty-five were killed or wounded; of the former, there

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were seven; and five of the latter died from the wounds they received. It was well it was no worse, for on boarding our ships it seemed matter of miracle how a single soul had escaped. Our fleet had heard the firing, and concluded from the heavy shower of musketry that we were defeated; and, crippled as we were, were not a little glad to see us again entering the Morro. The Admiral had throughout the business told us the fate that awaited us, assuring us that the Portuguese would not forget his formidable cutting-out of the 'O'Higgins,' in Callao Bay, and would be watching for some movement of this sort; but his arguments had been set aside, and every man seemed bent upon the attack. However, bad as it was, the enemy was not long permitted to exult in the victory. A very short time showed them that Britain could put forth her prowess even over numerical strength and size, as the sequel will exhibit in the engagement which took place a few weeks after this fatal occurrence."

[To be continued.]

HEALTHFUL INFLUENCE OF THE SEA. [From The Sea," by Robert Mudie, Esq.]

"Besides the lessons of instruction, and hours of pleasure and profit, which have to be sought for by the careful study of the sea, there are many which it communicates at sight, or even forces upon our notice. When we are weary and worn with the fatigues of our inland professions and occupations, we repair to the margin of the sea, in order to recruit the strength of our bodies, and restore the tone of our minds; when the elasticity of the system has given way, and our hours pass heavily, we plunge into the renovating tide, and, in brief space, we become new creatures. If the appetite is gone, and the food, which should bring health and strength to our bodies, is seen with loathing, we quit the land, and have not been long on the sea till we become as hungry as ravens; and in very many deranged states

of the body, under which there is neither health nor hope upon the land,—a voyage over the sea, careering fleetly before the wind, and rocking buoyantly on the healthful tide, is our last and our only resource; and, if we take it in time, it is frequently as certain as it is pleasant.

"There are, in this respect, some very remarkable properties about the sea. When, in what may be called the living water—that which has full and free communication with the waters and currents of the ocean, the tide retires, and leaves a portion of the beach dry, there is never any of that offensive taint of putridity which pollutes the air, offends the nostrils, and is injurious to the health, when land floods assuage, or when stagnant waters leave their beds dry. There is a delightful, though peculiar, freshness on the beach, unpolluted by man and his accumulations, which proves that the bottom of the sea, like its waters, is always clean. It is worthy of remark, too, that the air from the uncontaminated sea, is always wholesome, and never damp; that its breezes are ever healthy, and, that if the land suffers under any extreme, whether of heat or of cold, there is always a mitigation in the sea, if its waters are unchained by frost.

Then, even if the feeling is dull, there is nothing so well calculated for arousing it as the sight of the sea. It matters not what the state of its waters may be at the time, the air may be motionless over it, and it may in itself be as placid and smooth as a mirror; or all the winds of heaven may be contending upon its surface.— that surface may be swelled into waves, and the short twitches of the fitful gusts may cause the crests of those waves to reek, as if each of them were a furnace; but in all states, from the one extreme to the other, there is an almost equal feeling of exultation in the contemplation of the sea.

"If we love tranquility, where can we behold it more exquisitely complete than in the unruffled surface of the glassy sea, as it lies still and waveless within its shores? and on the evening of a fine summer day, when

the sun has nearly reached the horizon in the west, and the sea breeze has died away in the offing, and the land breeze not begun to blow, and the whole surface is golden light, fading off into delicate tints of purplish green, which cannot be imitated, or even correctly named; and even when the orb of day has declined, and the russet and the grey are contending which shall make the landward part of the pasture the more soft; there is not the wail of a sea-bird, the rustle of a wing, the murmur of a rolling pebble, or the gurgle of a ripple against the rock."

HOME DEPARTMENT.

PROJECTED NEW WORK.

An enlightened and benevolent friend to the cause of seamen, conceiving that an important and useful Tractate might be written on the prevalence and injurious effects of intemperance in both the Royal and Merchant Navy,—and that valuable information might be obtained and set forth on the discontinuance of the spirit ration, both in British and American vessels, so far as the change has taken place, has generously offered to be at the expense of its publication, and has committed the work to the hands of a gentleman who is officially connected with one of our Institutions.

It is in this way the work is to be done. If each will only choose a department, and apply his energies and influence to the execution of the object he contemplates, the results would stand out with prominence, and make a deeper impression on the public mind, than the most thrilling eloquence.

METROPOLITAN SAILORS' CHAPEL.

In our last number we intimated, that a merchant in the City had generously offered, as one of twenty, to give £50, that so £1000 might at once be raised, and