358 THE CAXNONAD?: OF CdAP. one pair of .suberb inen-of war which were pi'o- XIII. 1_ pelled by their own steam-power, ami could therefore be wielded with an ease and exactness unattainable by any towed vessel, he at once perceived these to be the two ships which could best be charged with the duty of feeling their way to the edge of the shoal, and hence en- gaging Fort Constantine. Accordingly, he re- solved to despatch Sir Edmund Lyons upon this service with the Agamemnon and the Sans- pareil.* The Agamemnon, as before, carried the flag of Lyons, and Dacres commanded the Sans- pareil. Subsequently the London, commander by Captain Eden, was added to the force thus placed under Lyoiis.t At a later hour, the Albion and the Arethusa were detached from the main division, with orders to attack the Wasp, and the
- Af,'!im(!iiinon, 91 fjuns ; Saiispaix'il, G7. 'I'lie current be-
lief at the time was, that Ijyons's atta(;k on Fort Constantine was an act of liis own free will, not deriving at all from the authority of his cliief ; but that was an error. Lyons, I believe, conveyed to his chief the suggestion spoken of in the last note ; but Dundas having seen the merit of it, and having also row learnt the exact form of the shoal, was able to define the places which the Agamemnon and Sansparcil wore to take, and this he says that he did at the morning's conference. In a private note to Sir James Graham, Dundas, after adverting to a statement which seemed to give sanction to the current belief aboe-men- tioned, writes: 'The position taken by every ship during the ' action was as defined by me in my conference with the cap- ' tains previously; but during the action I was desirous of ' strengthening the position of the Agamemnon, Sanspareil, and London, and I sent,' kc. — 27th Novemher 1854. t London, 90 guns. It was at the earnest instance of Cap- tain Eden himself that Lyons sought and obtained from Dundaa permission to take the London.
