V.STROMBOLI JAN.

8, 1676.Pl.Va.POCOCK AND D'ACHE 1758.] An emotion of surprise must be felt at seeing the great Dutch admiral surrender the choice of attack on the 7th.

At daybreak of that day he saw the enemy and steered for him; at three P.M., a French account says, he hauled his wind on the same tack as themselves, but out of cannon-shot to windward.

How account for the seeming reluctance of the man who three years before had made the desperate attacks of Solebay and the Texel?
His reasons have not been handed down; it may be that the defensive advantages of the lee-gage had been recognized by this thoughtful seaman, especially when preparing to meet, with inferior forces, an enemy of impetuous gallantry and imperfect seamanship.

If any such ideas did influence him they were justified by the result.
The battle of Stromboli presents a partial anticipation of the tactics of the French and English a hundred years later; but in this case it is the French who seek the weather-gage and attack with fury, while the Dutch take the defensive.