The Fighting Fame of the King's Ships. By Edward Fraser.
(Hutchinson and Co. 6s.)—Needless to say, Mr. Fraser finds plenty of material,—fights that are little known, and others that will bear retelling. The story of Blake's attack on the Spanish galleons and treasure-ships at Santa Cruz in Tenerife may well be rehearsed. For a real seaman to attempt a serious fight with the certain knowledge that he would have to take his fleet out against a steady on-shore breeze when the action was over, and his ships possibly crippled, was to risk much. He did it; and it is counted as a greater achievement than the fight with the batteries and the "galleons of the Indian Guard." But it is the daring of the right man ; the wrong man, however courageous, might have led the squadron to hideous disaster. Among the glories and stirring episodes that we associate with the names of certain battleships are some sad and pathetic ones. Nelson's 'Agamemnon' was lost off the river Plate in 1809. The
equadron was protecting the Portaguese Royal Family, then in Brazil, and was making for Maldonado Bay for shelter. Captain Rose signalled that he could take the fleet in, but his offer- was refused. Later the Admiral signalled: "Ships indiscriminately to put into port"; and the 'Agamemnon,' being nearest the land, took the lead, and rounding the island, went ashore almost at once. The scene when the men and "old Jonas Rose" parted from each other and from their ship, as related by an eyewitness, was heart- breaking. It serves to remind us of the reverse of the medal, —the penalties attaching to the errors of the best seamen. In conclusion, let us add that Mr. Fraser is the best of historians of naval traditions; he brings up things new and old, and he tells them as they should be told, with an eye to effect, but never losing sight of the details which make the story so real.
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