She was afterwards sent to the Mediterranean, under the command of
Captain James Todd, and bearing the flag of Vice-Admiral Lord Keith.
Before entering upon our narrative, we may be permitted to apologize
for any inaccuracy, or lack of incident, that may be apparent in the
following account, by stating that the official reports of the
disaster are so vague and imperfect, that it is almost impossible to
give the details of it as fully as we could wish; and so many years
have elapsed since the event, that we cannot obtain information from
private sources.

On the 16th of March, 1800, Lord Keith, with Lieutenant Stewart, and
four other persons, having landed at Leghorn, directed Captain Todd to
proceed in the Queen Charlotte to reconnoitre the Island of Cabrera,
about thirty miles from Leghorn, then in possession of the French, and
which it was his lordship's intention to attack.

At four o'clock on the morning of the 17th, the men who were washing
the decks stowed some hay close aft to the admiral's cabin, near a
match-tub, in which it was usual to keep a match burning, for the
purpose of firing signals. At six o'clock, when the men were in the
act of removing the hay, a portion of it was discovered to have
ignited. Not a moment was lost in giving the alarm, and those at hand
used every means in their power to extinguish the slumbering element;
but the fire had been smouldering for some time before it was
discovered. The water thrown upon it from the buckets was useless--the
flames bursting forth with such violence that they baffled the most
strenuous efforts to overcome them. Such was the posture of affairs
when the captain, officers, and men, alarmed by the cry of fire,
rushed from all parts of the ship to the scene of conflagration. It
would be no easy task to describe the feelings of a number of human