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3 t8 HISTORY OP THE INDIAN NAVY. —

ainmiiiiition was almost expended, their capture would have
been certain had not the ' Antelope' come to their assistance.
Sail was immediately made in chase, and, on nearing the pirates,
a shot was fired from a brass 3-pounder boat's gun, on the fore-
castle of the cruiser, to try the range ; upon this challenge, the
pirates opened fire on the brig, and a hot action ensued.
On closing the Kishm shore, the pirate vessels wore and
stood across the ' Antelope's' bows, upon which she tacked
to engage them at close quarters. Her fire told with terrible
eifect as she neared them, and a batil was observed, after
speaking one of the baghalahs, to proceed to the others with a
message, upon which the whole squadron bore up and steered
for the ' Antelope's' main chains. It was an anxious moment
for the gallant crew of the little brig, as it was evident that
the pirates, in desperation, intended to try their favourite
manoeuvre of boarding with an overwhelming mass of men.
But the officers and men were equal to the emergency, and
worked their guns with such cool precision that, though within
half a cable's length, the enemy hauled off, having sustained
very heavy loss. Soon after they made a second attempt to
board, but were again heavily dosed with grape, upon which
they bore up for Ras-ul-Khymah.
The ' Antelope' gave chase, but, after a pursuit of five and
a half hours,. the wind being light, they escaped, two of their
baghalahs being in a shattered condition. The pirates afterwards
acknowledged to a loss of one hundred and seventeen men,
which principally arose during their attempts to board. The
relative force of the parties to this encounter, was as follows :
The ' Antelope,' twelve 18-pounder carronades and two brass
12-pounders, with a crew, all told, of seventy-one Europeans
and thirty-seven natives. One of the baghalahs, which was
considerably larger than the brig, carried eight guns and two
hundred and fifty men ; a second had six guns and two
hundred men ; the dhow had four guns and one hundred and
twenty men; the two smaller baghalahs each carried two and three
guns and one hundred men ; and the two batils had each three
guns and one hundred and fifty men ; thus making a total of
twenty-nine guns and one thousand and seventy men, and it was
subsequently ascertained that their object in carrying such
large crews, was to form a settlement in Kishm so as to com-
mand both sides of the Gulf. Thus the 'Antelope' frustrated
this intention, and rescued one of the ships and a baghalah
belonging to our ally, the Imaum of Muscat.
On Christmas morning, 1818, H.M.S. 'Eden' and the Hon.
Company's cruiser 'Psyche,' fell in with two trankies, and,
giving chase, compelled them to drop a captured boat they bad
in tow, but the trankies succeeded in effecting their escape.
During the whole of the same day the ' Thetis' continued in