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From the nature of the course, which was not in the direction of the open sea, for they had to double Cape Passaro, the speronaro was out of the sight of the villa in a few minutes. They rowed only till they had doubled the cape, and then set the lateen sail, the breeze being light, but steady and favorable. They were soon in open sea, no land in sight.
Learning off Cape Passaro on the 22d of the enemy's departure from Malta, Nelson made direct for Alexandria under fair wind and press of sail. He reached the port two days ahead of Bonaparte, and finding it empty, at once set out to retrace his course, his impetuous energy betraying him into what was undoubtedly a hasty move. The two fleets had been but 60 miles apart on the night of the 25th.
The proposal was immediately despatched to the court of Vienna. In the meantime, the admiral returned to Sicily, and assisted at the siege of Messina. The town surrendered; the garrison retired into the citadel; and the remains of the Spanish navy, which had escaped at Passaro, were now destroyed in the Mole.
For a quarter of a century the only important military occurrence had been the Battle of Cape Passaro, in 1718, where the British fleet in a running fight destroyed a much inferior Spanish force; and the occasion then was not one of existent war, but of casual hostilities, which, precipitated by political conditions, began and ended with the particular incident, as far as the sea was concerned.
"Just before we reached the lip of the crater the guide exultingly pointed out what he declared to be ordinarily the greatest sight of the mountain, namely, the shadow of the cone of Etna, drawn with the utmost delicacy by the newly-risen sun, but of gigantic extent; its point at this moment rested on the mountains of Palermo, probably one hundred miles off, and the entire figure was visible, the atmosphere over the mountains having become and continuing perfectly and beautifully transparent, although in the hundreds of valleys which were beneath us, from the east to the west of Sicily, and from the mountains of Messina down to Cape Passaro, there were still abundant vapors waiting for a higher sun to disperse them; but we enjoyed in its perfection this view of the earliest and finest work of the greater light of heaven, in the passage of his beams over this portion of the earth's surface.
Difference between King George and the Czar of Muscovy..... The King of Sweden is killed at Frederickstadt..... Negotiation for a Quadruple Alliance..... Proceedings in Parliament..... James Shepherd executed for a Design against the King's Life..... Parliament prorogued..... Nature of the quadruple Alliance..... Admiral Byng sails to the Mediterranean..... He destroys the Spanish Fleet off Cape Passaro..... Remonstrances of the Spanish Ministry..... Disputes in Parliament touching the Admiral's attacking the Spanish Fleet..... Act for strengthening the Protestant Interest War declared against Spain..... Conspiracy against the Regent of France..... Intended Invasion by the Duke of Ormond..... Three hundred Spaniards land and are taken in Scotland..... Account of the Peerage Bill..... Count Merci assumes the Command of the Imperial Army in Sicily..... Activity of Admiral Byng..... The Spanish Troops evacuate Sicily..... Philip obliged to accede to the quadruple Alliance..... Bill for securing the Dependency of Ireland upon the Crown of Great Britain..... South Sea Act..... Charters granted to the Royal and London Assurance Offices..... Treaty of Alliance with Sweden..... The Prince of Hesse elected King of Sweden..... Effects of the South Sea Scheme..... The Bubble breaks..... A Secret Committee appointed by the House of Commons..... Inquiry carried on by both Houses..... Death of Earl Stanhope and Mr.
We crawled out of our coop at dawn, expecting to behold Catania in the distance; but there was Cape Passaro still staring us in the face. The Maltese were patient, and we did not complain, though Caesar and I began to make nice calculations as to the probable duration of our two cold fowls and three loaves of bread.
The fleet passed the Straits of Messina on the 20th of June, and continued south, keeping close to the Sicilian shore in hope of information, until the 22d, when it was off Cape Passaro, the southeastern extremity of the island. There a Genoese brig was spoken, which had left Malta the previous day.
In this engagement, which happened off Cape Passaro, captain Haddock of the Grafton signalized his courage in an extraordinary manner.
No land was in sight; but towards noon, the sky became clearer, and we saw the southern coast of Sicily a bold mountain-shore, looming phantom-like in the distance. Cape Passaro was to the east, and the rest of the day was spent in beating up to it.
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