for his spirited conduct in capturing, with the boats of the Pomone, the French privateer le Jupiter, of twelve 12-pounders and sixty-eight men. I also communicated to him (in common with the rest of the officers and crew of the Pomone) Sir Charles Cotton’s thanks for, and approbation of, his disinterested conduct in foregoing all claim to the property of Lucien Buonaparte when he was captured by the Pomone, though this property was legal prize, but taken under circumstances which the crew of the Pomone did not think it would become Englishmen to take advantage of. I likewise conveyed to him Sir Charles Cotton’s official thanks for his conduct at the destruction of the enemy’s ships and batteries in Sagone Bay; and Sir Charles Cotton, some time after this event, wrote to me, to signify his disappointment and surprise that Lieutenant Gabriel was not promoted for this service: in short, I always found Captain Gabriel, while serving as first lieutenant under my command, not only an active, brave, able seaman, but also an excellent officer, and honorable private gentleman.
The destruction of the Atalante was a service of great danger, as the breakers ran so high that Lieutenant Gabriel did not think it prudent to attempt passing through them with the large boats under his orders, and therefore went in the jolly-boat, conducting her with so much coolness and skill as to excite the admiration of every spectator, On the occasion of the loss of the Pigmy he was absent from his ship ten hours, the whole time exposed to most severe cold weather, and the fury of a tremendous gale, which, added to extreme fatigue, had such an effect upon his boat’s crew, that on their return to the Pomone only four of them could walk up her side: of the other persons then with him, fourteen in number, one lost the use of his limbs, and was never again fit for service. The cutting out of the French vessels from the Sables d’Ollone, and the destruction of three national ships in Sagone bay, have been officially described in our memoir of Captain Barrie; we shall therefore only repeat, that Sir Richard J. Strachan, on seeing the former towed out by the boats under Lieutenant Gabriel, was so delighted with the success attending the gallant enterprise, that he telegraphed to his squadron, “the Pomone has great merit.” The total number of vessels, including two privateers, captured and destroyed by the boats of that ship, under the immediate command of Lieutenant Gabriel, was forty-one; and
