to issue to the respective Pursers, pound for pound, the same as beef; and as Frigates are frequently detached from the Squadron to the different places in these seas, where fresh provisions can be had upon much more reasonable terms for ready money, than by bills of exchange, it is also my directions that you supply their Captains with such a number of dollars as I may think proper to order, taking proper receipts for the same. NELSON AND Bronte. TO THE PRINCIPAL OFFICERS AND COMMISSIONERS OF HIS MAJESTY'S NAVY, LONDON. Gentlemen, [Letter-Book.] Victory, Madalena Islands, 10th February, 1804. I have this day received your letter of the 9th September last, communicating to me the directions you had given the Naval Storekeeper at Malta, respecting the Cordage lately made at that place, and his means for making it, and whether any articles are wanted for the purpose of making cables and cordage, and likewise to let you know what supplies of other Naval Stores can be procured in that neighbourhood, and to what extent, &c. In answer thereto, I have some time ago directed the Naval Officer at Malta, to use every means in his power for making Cordage, &c., with the hemp lately purchased up the Adriatic; but, I very much suspect, from Mr. Taylor's account of the transaction, that our purchases and supplies from that quarter will be very limited. I have, however, transmitted him an account of the prices of Cordage and other Naval Stores to be procured at Smyrna, in the event of our being obliged to have recourse to that quarter for any future supply. I am, &c., NELSON AND Bronte. TO MR. JOHN GRAY, SURGEON OF HIS MAJESTY'S NAVAL Sir, HOSPITAL, MALTA. [Letter-Book.] Victory, Madalena Islands, 10th February, 1804. I have received from Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton your letter of the 21st January last, with the one from Mr. Higgins, Contractor for Victualling the Naval Hospital therein mentioned, on the subject of supplying milk to the Patients in their tea, morning and evening; and as it appears that article has not been provided for in the Contract entered into by the said Mr. Higgins, I am to desire you will request him to supply the necessary quantity of milk for the purpose abovementioned, and so soon as Doctor Snipe, Physician to the Fleet, has returned from Gibraltar, I shall direct him to take the same into consideration, and make such allowance for it as shall by him and the said Contractor be deemed equal to the additional expense incurred by such supply. I am, &c., NELSON AND Bronte. TO HIS EXCELLENCY HUGH ELLIOT, ESQ., NAPLES. [Autograph, in the Elliot Papers.] My dear Sir, Victory, February 10th, 1804. I have had no opportunity of sending my letter of the 30th ultimo. We have been off Toulon, in most terrible weather, and are drove in here. My accounts from Gibraltar lead me to suppose that the Ferrol Squadron is destined for the Mediterranean. The L'Aigle 74 at Cadiz is ready to join them. But I hope to intercept them; and if they join, which is very possible-for I dare not go so far from Toulon to take a proper station for intercepting them-we must look them in the face. I received on my arrival here, on the 8th, your Excellency's letter of January 18th, which is very interesting. I only hope that the French Army in Naples will not act until the arrival of the Russians; but the Northern Powers are slow, and I would rather see a Russian Army than a Russian Fleet in Italy. Your story of Lucien Buonaparte is curious. Reports say, that he is come into Italy to negotiate with the King of Sardinia for an exchange of Sardinia for Parma and Piacenza. If the French get Sardinia it requires not the gift of prophecy to say, that sooner or later Sicily will belong likewise to France: therefore, no countenance must be given to such an exchange. I hope the Galleys will be stationed here-it may be useful; but when you talk of the Militia acting in Sardinia, and a body of Infantry, I recollect there are no Troops in the Island worth mentioning, and no money to put any Militia, if they were inclined to move, in activity. Entre nous, it is not the interest of the Sardinians to remain as they are. The Peasantry are oppressed with small taxes, and the Nobles are detested. I shall answer Mr. Jackson's letter, and send it open for your perusal; and I shall only repeat that I am ever, my dear Sir, your most obliged friend, NELSON AND Bronte. TO NATHANIEL TAYLOR, ESQ., NAVAL STOREKEEPER, MALTA. Sir, [Letter-Book.] Victory, Madalena Islands, 10th February, 1804. I have received your letter of the 23rd ult., together with the several papers and documents from Mr. Leard, forwarded by the Kent, as therein mentioned, which I shall give due consideration to; but I am hopeful, as the summer season is approaching, that supplies from the Adriatic will not be wanted at least, for this considerable time, and trust the Hungarian Schooner with the cordage and tar for the stores under your charge, will soon arrive. I herewith transmit you an account of the prices of cordage and other Naval stores at Smyrna, and desire you will compare it with the prices paid for the like articles in the Adriatic, and send me your remarks thereupon. I am, &c., NELSON AND Bronte. TO CAPTAIN RYVES, H. M. SHIP GIBRALTAR. [Autograph, in the possession of his son, Captain George Frederic Ryves, C.B.] Victory, Madalena, February 10th, 1804. My dear Sir, It is with the sincerest sorrow that I am to be the bearer of such news as will distress you very much, but, for the sake of your dear children, you must bear up against the heavy misfortune. To attempt consolation at such a time is, I know, out of the question: therefore, I can only assure you of my sincere condolence, and that I am, your most faithful friend, NELSON AND BRONTE. TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR JOHN ACTON. [From a Copy in the Elliot Papers.] My dear Sir John, Victory, Madalena, February 10th, 1804. Since my letter of January 30th (which has never left the Ship) I have been off Toulon, but it blew such a violent storm of wind and snow, that I was obliged to bear up, and passing round Cape Corse, was glad to get here again, and shall sail the 13th at furthest. I am now rather led to believe that the Ferrol Squadron of French Ships will push for the Mediterranean. The French Ship at Cadiz is ready to join them. I shall try to intercept them, but I cannot go so far to the Westward as is necessary; What a most for I will not lose sight of the Toulon Fleet. zealous man can do to meet all points of difficulty, shall be done. My Squadron is the finest for its numbers in the world, and much may be expected from it; and should superior numbers join, we must look it in the face. Nil The desperandum! God is good, and our cause is just. assemblage of Troops at Nice is going on; and, although Sardinia, Naples, and Sicily, may be some of the objects, yet I have no doubt but Egypt is the favourite and ultimate object of the Corsican tyrant. I beg you will assure their 6 The death of Admiral Ryves's first wife, Catherine Elizabeth, youngest daughte of the Hon. James Everard Arundell, third son of Henry, sixth Lord Arundell of Wardour. She died on the 27th of December 1803. 7 L'Aigle. Majesties that Nelson is Nelson still, and most zealously attached to their service; and I am, my dear Sir John, your Excellency's most faithful friend, NELSON AND BRONTE. P.S.-I send two letters from Dumourier. Your Excellency will judge from his character whether he could at any period be useful to Naples: I have a very high opinion of his abilities. I had, to December 29th, letters from Lady Hamilton, who desires me to present her best compliments to your Excellency, and to Lady Acton. N. AND B. TO WILLIAM LAWSON, ESQ., MASTER-ATTENDANT, MALTA. [From a Copy in the Nelson Papers.] Victory, Madalena Islands, 10th February, 1804. Sir, Rear-Admiral Sir Richard Bickerton having transmitted to me your letter to him of the 11th ultimo, acquainting him that the five and six-inch rope, sent out in the Ellice Transport, for the Fleet under my command, was not manufactured at Malta, but at Trieste, and sent from the last-mentioned place in June last, by Mr. Leard, to the stores under your charge. I am very glad to find that the rope above-mentioned was not manufactured at Malta, and also, much pleased with the improvement you are making in the manufacture of cordage at that Yard, as stated in Sir Richard Bickerton's letter on the subject. I am, &c., NELSON AND Bronte. TO REAR-ADMIRAL SIR RICHARD BICKERTON, BART. Sir, [From a Copy in the Nelson Papers.] Victory, Madalena Islands, 10th February, 1804. His Majesty's Ship Juno being ordered upon very important service, and must not on any account be detained from carrying the object of my instructions into execution, I am, therefore, to desire, if the accidental circumstance of her being for the moment forced to her present anchorage, inter |