September before he reached Collingwood off Cadiz; the fleet by this time having been raised by gradual accessions to twenty-three sail, with six more between Cape St. Vincent and Gibraltar.

He was even more moved at rejoining his old comrades and at their reception of him than he had been on quitting Portsmouth. As he wrote to his friends in England, "his arrival was most welcome not only to the commanders of the fleet, but to every individual in it. The officers, who came on board to welcome his return, forgot his rank as Commander-in-Chief in the enthusiasm with which they greeted him."

The combined fleet in Cadiz was far superior in number. It amounted to thirty-five or thirty-six sail of the line, and might be joined by eight more from Carthagena. But for all that he promised that, "if it were in the power of man to get at them, it should be done. He was sure that all his brethren looked to that day as the finish of their laborious cruise. The event no man could say exactly; but he must think, or render great injustice to those under him, that, let the battle be when it might, it would never have been surpassed. Nothing could be finer than the fleet under his command. For himself, his shattered frame, if he survived that day, would require rest, and that was all he would ask for. But these things were in the hands of a wise and just Providence, and His will be done.” * After a day or two

he fell back sixteen or eighteen leagues, partly in order to prevent the enemy from seeing him, and partly to avoid the chance of a westerly gale, such as might be expected at that season, driving him into the Mediterranean. As yet he had hardly as many ships' as he desired for the total destruction of the enemy; he was forced to detach the inshore squadron to Gibraltar for provisions and water, and, with a chivalrous feeling "for a brother officer in affliction," he weakened himself further by parting with the Prince of Wales, a splendid, first-rate vessel of ninety guns, which bore the flag of Sir Robert Calder. For the nation and the authorities at the Admiralty had been greatly discontented at that officer having allowed Villeneuve to escape so easily in July, and had ordered an inquiry into his conduct; and Sir Robert entreated Nelson so earnestly not to disgrace him before the fleet by sending him home in a smaller vessel, that Nelson's "heart could not stand it," and he allowed him to take the Prince of Wales home, though he feared, as he wrote to Lord Barham, that he should incur the censure of the Board for his compliance at such a moment.

He had left the Euryalus in sight of Cadiz, relying on his well-known vigilance and skill to "watch these fellows as a cat would a mouse." If they would not come out he even contemplated an attack upon them where they lay, by Congreve rockets. But on the 5th of October he learnt that they had again taken on board the troops which they had landed when they first

reached Cadiz ; and from this Nelson conjectured, with a sagacity that proved to be well founded, that their destination was the Mediterranean. Expecting, therefore, that any hour might bring the two fleets face to face, he now applied himself to drawing up a carefully considered plan of attack, of which he sent a copy to all his captains, having, indeed, already given them a general idea of it when he first arrived. Its novelty and simplicity as well as its power had struck them all, and all longed for the hour when they might prove its efficacy.

At first it seemed likely that they would not have long to wait. On the 10th Blackwood reported that Villeneuve had bent his sails, and was “all but out of the harbour," and, as the wind was fair for the Straits, Nelson expected them to sail that night. But they did not move, and another week and more passed in anxious expectation, till, on the morning of the 19th, the leading ships of the combined fleets were seen slowly moving towards the open sea. Without a moment's delay Blackwood signalled the welcome intelligence to the Admiral, sending off at the same time a fast-sailing brig to find Admiral Louis with the inshore squadron, and, if possible, to bring him back in time.

The Victory instantly made signal to chase, and, crowding all sail, the British fleet eagerly bore down to meet the enemy they had so long wished to encounter. At first Nelson, adhering to his belief that Villeneuve was bound for the Mediterranean, bore towards the Straits; but the wind was so light that it

was not till the 20th that he reached them, and learnt that the enemy had not been seen in that quarter. Presently, however, they were discovered approaching from the northward, and he therefore steered towards them with a certainty of at last bringing them to action. Thick rain came on, but Blackwood with great skill kept them in sight throughout the day and the following night. The Admiral had arranged a set of signals with great minuteness of detail, and Blackwood carried out his instructions so faithfully that every movement made by the combined fleets was accurately and instantly reported to him. They wore twice, showing a desire to keep the retreat to Cadiz open to them; and as that was what he chiefly dreaded, he stood to the southward throughout the night, in order to avoid being seen by them till morning. At daybreak on the 21st he was off Cape Trafalgar, about twenty miles distant, and the enemy was seen about twelve miles off, standing to the southward, so as to be in some degree approaching him. He pressed on with all the speed consistent with the necessity of keeping the fleet together, for some of the ships were very heavy sailers. And a little before seven in the morning the signal was made from the Victory to form the orders of sailing in two columns, and to prepare for battle.

Admiral Louis had not joined, so that we were considerably inferior in force. But to wait for him might have given the enemy a chance of escaping altogether, and that was a risk to be avoided above all others.