had he given orders to do so, than a shot struck him on the lower jaw
and passed through his tongue, rendering him incapable of further
exertion. A second volley of musketry riddled the boat, so that she
began to fill with water, and finding that they had no alternative but
to surrender, the English made a signal to that effect, which was
either unobserved, or purposely disregarded, as the firing did not
cease till the arrival of the officer in command of the French, when
the little party were all made prisoners. Upon Lieutenant Thomas being
carried on shore, he found that he had fallen into the hands of a
Capitaine de Frigate, who commanded a detachment of fourteen boats and
a hundred and sixty men. As soon as the captives were landed, a party
of the French troops proceeded to the wreck of the Grappler, and made
prisoners of the men who were on the adjacent rock, and after seizing
all the stores and provisions, they blew up the remains of the brig.

When Lieutenant Thomas had partially recovered from the faintness and
insensibility caused by his wound, he handed his pocket-book to the
French officer. After reading the orders of Sir James Saumarez, which
it contained, this officer expressed much regret that Lieutenant
Thomas had been so seriously wounded, and alleged that the troops had
fired without his orders. Such was the apology of the French
commander, but it certainly does not tell well for the discipline of
his troops, nor is it easy to understand how so large a body of men
could be left without a commissioned officer even for a moment, much
less how they could have kept up a continued fire, which this seems to
have been. Perhaps, however, it is not fair to comment too severely
upon the conduct of the French on this occasion; the signal of
surrender might not have been observed, and as the English had
commenced the attack, the enemy may naturally have supposed that a
larger force was shortly advancing to the support of their comrades.