Captain Adair of the marines, with the help of a sailor, endeavoured to remove the body from Nelson's sight, who had a great regard for Mr.Scott; but he anxiously asked: "Is that poor Scott that's gone ?" and being informed that was indeed so, exclaimed: "Poor fellow!" Presently, a double-headed shot struck a party of marines who were drawn up on the poop, and killed eight of them; upon which Nelson immediately desired Captain Adair to disperse his men round the ship, that they might not suffer so much from being together.

A few minutes afterwards a shot struck the four-brace bits on the quarter-deck, and passed between Nelson and Hardy, a splinter from the bit tearing off Hardy's buckle, and bruising his foot.
Both stopped, and looked anxiously at each other, each supposed the other to be wounded.

Nelson then smiled, and said, "This is too warm work, Hardy, to last long." The VICTORY had not yet returned a single gun: fifty of her men had been by this time killed or wounded, and her main-top-mast, with all her studding-sails and her booms, shot away.

Nelson declared, that, in all his battles, he had seen nothing which surpassed the cool courage of his crew on this occasion.

At four minutes after twelve she opened her fire from both sides of her deck.