litan Order of St. Ferdinand and of Merit, and a box with the royal cypher set in diamonds, as a reward for the services he had rendered to the Sicilian monarch[1].
The Swiftsure, after touching at Palermo, Minorca, and Gibraltar, proceeded to Lisbon, at which place she arrived on the 30th Nov. in company with the Leviathan, Powerful, Vanguard, and Bellerophon, the whole under the orders of Rear-Admiral Duckworth. On the 6th Dec. the squadron again put to sea, and cruized for some time, in very stormy weather, on the coast of Spain, during which Captain Hallowell captured two merchant vessels. In the month of Feb. 1800, after once more visiting the Tagus, he accompanied the same detachment to Gibraltar, where, as the Swiftsure had suffered a great deal in the late gales, it was thought necessary to caulk and repair her, for which purpose she was taken into the Mole.
We next find Captain Hallowell cruizing with Rear-Admiral Duckworth, in order to intercept a fleet about to sail from Cadiz for Lima; and on the 5th April the squadron had the good fortune to fall in with it. Two frigates and several merchantmen were captured; but the Sabina, a fine frigate richly laden, and four merchant vessels, got off. Had not the Swiftsure been sent in chase to the southward, in all probability not one of them would have escaped. The prizes had quicksilver on board, to the amount of 140 tons, which was intended to work the mines of Peru and Mexico. Five days after this event, Captain Hallowell took a Spanish schooner from Malaga bound to Vera Cruz, which had taken shelter under the guns of the Moorish Castle of Larache, but put to sea again as soon as the remainder of the squadron left the African coast on their return to Gibraltar. The Swiftsure subsequently received the flag of Sir Richard Bickerton; who after blockading Cadiz for some time, proceeded in her to Alexandria, where he removed into the Kent, of 74 guns.
Although the Swiftsure had been in a very leaky condition
- ↑ The Order of St. Ferdinand and of Merit was instituted by the King of the Two Sicilies, in compliment to his English allies. His Majesty placed himself at the head; Lord Nelson was created a Knight Grand Cross; and Captains Troubridgc, Louis, Ball, Hood, and Hallowell, Knights Commanders; and what rendered this flattering mark of distinction more gratifying, the King at the same time wrote a letter to each of those officers, expressing the sense he entertained of their services.
