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348'
THE LAKE.
lake, when a boat mounting a"carronade in it* bow, suddenly darted from a creek, and made ttv wards them. To escape, was impossible; for their barge was too heavily laden to move at a rate ot. even moderate rapidity; and to fight, was equall/
? out of the question, because of the superiority which their cannon gave to the Americans. Thi whole party was accordingly compelled to sur*.1 render to six men and an officer ; and having' thrown their arms into the lake, their boat was' taken in tow, and they were earned away prisoners. ?	1	.	1	?v
. . i1--This, however, was the only misfortune which^
occurred. Warned by the fate of their comrades,*
- M
the reBt kept together in little squadrons, each'flt*,^ tended by one or more armed launches: and thui' rowing steadily on, they gained the shipping,; without so much as another attempt at surprisal-being made.	...	>	?	!,'i
On reaching the fleet, we found that a considerably reinforcement of troops had arrived from England.**' It consisted of the 40th Foot, a fine regiment, con-^1 taining nearly a thousand men, which, ignorant of* the fatal issue of bur attack, had crossed the InkCs,1^ only to be sent back to the ships, without so much! as stepping on shore. The circumstance, ho\v-:* ever, produced little satisfaction. We'felt that the*' coming of thrice the number could not recover?^ ..what was lost, or recall past events ; and therefore ?
T1IE LAKE.
349
rejoicing was heard, or the slightest regard paid
o	the occurrence. Nay, so great was the despond-ncy which had taken possession of men?s minds, iat not even a rumour respecting the next point f attack, obtained circulation; while a sullen ?arelessness, a sort of indifference as to what might 'appen, seemed to have succeeded all our wonted "uriosity, and confidence of success, in every un-ertaking. .j In this stnite we remained wind-bound till the th of February, when, at length, getting under veigh, the fleet ran down as far as Cat Island, his is a spot of sandy soil at the mouth of the ake, remarkable for nothing except a solitary Spanish family, which possesses it. Completely ut off from the rest of the world, an old man, liis vife, two daughters and a son, dwell here in ap-'arent happiness and contentment. Being at least me hundred and twenty miles from the main, it is seldom that their little kingdom is visited by trangers, and I believe that till our nrrival, the laughters, though grown up to womanhood, had ?en few faces besides those of their parents and rothcr. Their cottage, comjxjsed simply of a few toughs, thatched and in-woven with straw, is beautifully situated within a short distance of the vater. Two cows, and a few sheep grazed beside t, while, a small tract of ground covered with 'tubble, and a little garden well stocked with fruit-