THE 17TII OF OCTOBER. 383 the ruin of the Lattei'ies on the top of Foit chap. Constantine, the guns in the casemates, though '__ not so absolutely powerless against the Agamem- [;°pJJ|iu*' non as General de Todleben believed, were still a'ti'.neby"'" of but moderate efficiency, and the much more |,,?,„^i^*n. formidable power of the little cliff batteries was in a great measure absorbed for a time by the other vessels of the iu-shore sqnadron. But in proportion as the rest of the squadron got to bo discomfited, the Agamemnon suffered more and subsenncnt 11 lAi 1 lAii- change in more ; and when the Arethusa, when the Albion, tins resjicct. when the London had all of them hauled out, one after the other, and when also the Sanspareil had moved away from her original position, the Agamemnon began to undergo a heavier cannonade than before. She was set on lire by a shell. Whether it was that Lyons still entertained a persistence hope of reducing Fort Constantine, or that he was ° ^°"*' governed by the instinctive reluctance of a brave man to abandon a strife once begun, he could not yet bring himself to haul off; but he became somewhat anxious.* He sought to obtain rein- uismoa- forcement. He signalled to the London to take obtaiiiing ,,• . ei- 1 i-i~>n -1 reinfnrce- station astern oi hnn, and to the jjellerophon 'nents. (which did not form part of his squadron) ho made an appeal for support. Knowing that his signal might be interrupted by smoke, he de- spatched his flag -lieutenant in one of the Aga-
- Soe tlip pnssaije of Lyons's despntch, quoted in the text, ' I
' havu seM'jiu li;ul my iniinl more relieved,' &c., jw;;!, p. 381
