frigates and sloops on the opposite side of
the bay.

My gun was on the lower deck.
Lieutenant Broke, at our quarters, drew his
sword, and told us not to fire till we had
the word.

"Point your guns sure men," he said,
"and make every shot tell!"

He threw away his hat on the deck
and told us to let the Turks hear three
cheers, which we did with a will. Then
shouting "Stand clear of the guns," he
gave the word "Fire!" and immediately
the whole tier had blazed into the Turkish
admiral–ship which lay abreast of us. After
that it was "Fire away, my boys, as hard
as you can!" The first man I saw killed
in the Genoa, was a marine, and that was
not until the Turks had given us five or six
spiteful rounds. He was close to me, and
I had just taken a sponge out of his hand.
On turning round, I saw him at my feet
with his head severed as clean off, as if it
had been done with a surgeon's knife. A
messmate at once drew the corpse out from
the trucks of the guns and hauled it into
midships under the after ladder. The firing
was now incessant, and the loud cheers,
and the dismal shrieks and screams of the
wounded, were not drowned even by the
roar of the gun. About half an hour
after the action commenced, two boys,
named Fisher and Anderson, servants to
the officers in the ward–room, were standing
on the after hatchway gratings, nearly
abreast of the gun on the lower deck where
I was quartered; they were waving their
caps and joining in the cheering. I was
busy loading a gun, and had just called
to Fisher to run to the fore–magazine for
some tubes, when I heard a shriek, and
the boy fell dead, struck by a shot on
the back of the head. Anderson was also
wounded by the same broadside: his right
leg cut across, and one of his arms hurt in
several places. It was with difficulty we
could tear him from his comrade's body,
and, poor lad, as he was being taken to
the cock–pit a splinter struck his right arm
and broke it.

Vessel after vessel of the Turks was now
blowing up, every explosion shaking our
ship to its very keelson; but our two enemies
kept playing upon us unceasingly till they
were totally disabled by having all their
masts shot away, and whole planks torn
out of their sides by the tremendous tons of
metal hurled from our guns. We were
ordered to only double shot the guns, but
we all disobeyed orders. After the first six
rounds we generally put in two thirty–two
pound shots, thirty–two pound grape,
and sometimes a canister above all, that
the Turks might try all our different sorts.
In the line–of–battle ship right abeam of
us, a great burly Turk in a red flannel
shirt, was working a gun very dexterously
at a port nearly opposite ours. One of our
marines, observing this, levelled his musket
and shot him through the head; he
dropped back and hung out of the port
head downward, but was pitched over–
board by his careless successor. From the
effect of our shots in making plum–pudding
of the finely painted Turkish vessels, we
thought they would soon haul down their
"moon and star" flag; but during the whole
engagement not one vessel struck. "Pelt
away my hearties," said the captain of my
gun, a young Irish lad, a capital marksman ;
"if they won't strike we'll strike
for them." Just then the Turkish
admiral's yacht, a frigate built for him at
Trieste, drifted past us, her cables having
been shot away. She was all over gilt,
and shone brilliantly when the sun pierced
the dense cloud of smoke that rose over
the battle. A few minutes after we had
mauled her, she caught fire and blew up,
casting pieces of the burning wreck into our
ports. It was difficult to get the men from
the guns, but by a slant of the vessel we
now got all our fire to bear on the Turkish
hulls and rigging. One of our officers who
had been wounded in both arms with
langridge shot, came aft on his way to the cockpit
to have his wounds dressed, and
begged a drink from the cask of water that
was lashed to the stanchion midships. The
sailor, as he just handed him a jug full,
fell, cut to pieces by grape shot, and the
officer was knocked down, but not hurt.

Only one coward disgraced himself that
day; that was a man at one of the lower
deck guns, who, seizing an opportunity,
slipped down into the cock–pit and hid
among the wounded. After the engagement,
a master–at–arms spying him, gave
him a kick and a curse, and sent him on
deck. He afterwards had three dozen with
the thieves' cat, the word "coward" sewn
on his jacket, and he was made to mess
on the main deck by himself.

About half–past three, the bight of the
main sheet hanging down over the port–
hole, annoying us in the working of
our gun, I and another seaman were
ordered on deck, to haul in the slack and
get the rope clear of the muzzle. I can't
say I liked the job, for I had a deep