but the people in the third being refractory, a carronade was fired into her, and some small arms, which they returned by throwing spears and firing pistols.  A second gun was therefore fired, some sparks from which reached a quantity of powder which had been taken out of the prows, and blew up the after-part of the ship.  The guard ran to extinguish the flames, leaving the prisoners, who instantly seized their arms, with the spears and knives which had been thrown on board, and attacked the crew with all the desperation of their character.  The prows were immediately cut adrift, and the crew, under the direction of their officers, proceeded with admirable order and coolness, one part to extinguish the fire, and the rest to defend themselves against the murderous attack.  After half an hour’s dreadful struggle for life, for the Malays would take no quarter, eighty of them lay dead on the deck, and the rest were driven overboard.  The Victor had her first lieutenant and five men killed, and her captain and twenty-five wounded; nine of whom died shortly after.

Holland, which in reality, though not yet in name, was now a French province, had a moderately strong squadron in India.  Two frigates had been taken since Sir Edward’s arrival, the Maria Riggersbergen, by the Caroline; and the Pallas, by the Greyhound and Harrier.  The first was the unfortunate ship which, under the name of the Java, shared the fate of the Blenheim; the other was the convoy of the spice ships.  Two line-of-battle ships, the Pluto and Revolutie with a frigate and several corvettes and gun-boats, were at anchor in Batavia Road; and information had been received by the Powerful, 74, Captain Plamplin, that Rear-Admiral Willaumez, with six sail of the line, one of them commanded by Jerome Bonaparte, might be expected in the Indian seas.  To destroy the ships already at Batavia, and to intercept the French squadron, Sir Edward sailed on the 22nd of October 1806, from Madras to Trincomalee.  Here a fleet of Indiamen under his convoy was joined by other ships, and went on to Europe in charge of the Woolwich and Duncan; while the Admiral, with the Culloden, Powerful, Russell, and Belliqueux line-of-battle ships, and Terpsichore frigate, proceeded to the Straits of Sunda, where the Albion and others were to join him.  Lieutenant Owen, commanding the Seaflower brig, was instructed to disguise her as one of the expected French squadron, and to hasten on before.  On the 23rd of November, they were joined by the frigate Sir Francis Drake, Captain Pownoll Pellew; and on the same day they learnt that Willaumez had gone to America.  On the 26th they arrived in the Straits of Sunda, where they found the Seaflower, which had already communicated with the Dutch authorities at Bantam as one of the expected French force, and information was sent accordingly to the Governor at Batavia.  So completely were the enemy deceived by this step, that the squadron sailed along the coast of Java, and anchored on the 27th in Batavia Road, before its character was suspected.