To the west, three high rocks, standing like Celtic cromlechs, stood out against the moonlit sky.
To the east, against the pale morning sky, rose eight sail ranged in order, and at regular distances, in a threatening line.
The three rocks were a reef; the eight sail, a squadron.
Behind the corvette was the Minquiers, a rock of ill repute; before her, the French fleet. In the west, destruction; in the east carnage; she was between a shipwreck and a battle.
For facing the reef, the corvette had a broken hull, disjointed rigging, shattered masts; for facing battle, she had a battery of which twenty-one guns out of thirty were disabled, and the best of her gunners were dead.
The dawn was very faint, and there was still a little night before them. This darkness might even last for some time, being caused principally by high, heavy, dense clouds, having the appearance of a solid arch.
The wind which had at last carried away the low fog was driving the vessel on the Minquiers.
In her excessively weak and disabled condition, she scarcely obeyed the helm, she rolled rather than sailed, and buffeted by the waves gave herself up to their mercy.
The tragic reef of the Minquiers was more rugged then than at the present time. Several of the towers of this citadel of destruction have been worn away by the incessant undermining of the sea; the shape of the reefs is constantly changing; waves are not called lames[1] without reason; each tide is a saw-tooth. At this time, to touch on the Minquiers, was to perish.
As for the cruisers, they were the squadron from Cancale, afterwards made famous under the command of that Captain Duchesne whom Léquinio called "Father Duchêne."
The situation was critical. The corvette had unconsciously, while the cannon was loose, deviated from her course and sailed more towards Granville than towards Saint-Malo. Even if she had been manageable and able to carry sail, the Minquiers would have barred her return to Jersey, and the cruisers barred her from reaching France.
However, there was no tempest, but as the pilot had
- ↑ Lame in French means sword-blade as well as billow.
