other amongst the assaulted English. Surcouf at once turned his ship's head to the wind, clambered on board the Triton, and took advantage of the confusion which prevailed there to send up six men into the shrouds of the mizen-mast, thence, supported by the fire of their comrades, to carry the poop. A desperate struggle then ensued. The Cartier is ranged alongside the Triton; every Frenchman gains the deck; the English, surprised, unarmed, are one by one driven below; gradually the hatches are closed up by their gratings; the port-ropes are cut, and Surcouf does everything in his power to keep the enemy below.
Many of the English had been killed at the first broadside. The remainder, recovering from their surprise, made a manful resistance. Their indignation is increased by the discovery made by some of them of the small number of their assailants. They attempt to blow up the quarter deck; but Surcouf, discovering their project, opens so heavy a fire upon them through the main hatchway that they are forced to desist. At last, finding their efforts useless, the crew surrender.
Such was the capture of the Triton — a very Triton caught by a minnow — a capture so marvellous that even the Indian journals of the day wrote of it as "an extraordinary capture."[1] Undoubtedly it was an act of piracy, for Surcouf bore no commission to attack English vessels, yet the captain of the Triton was necessarily ignorant of this deficiency in the powers of his enemy.
- ↑ Madras Courier, 16th February, 1796.
