Nelson declined any further intercourse with him.

While lying in the Downs, he learns that sixteen British seamen are detained by force on board a Dutch Indiaman.

He requires their delivery to him; and when their effects were withheld, on the alleged ground of their being in debt to the ship, he stops all intercourse between it and the shore, sending an armed cutter to enforce his order.

"The Admiralty," he wrote, "have fortunately approved my conduct in the business," and added grimly, "a thing they are not very guilty of where there is a likelihood of a scrape." When entering the harbor of Fort Royal, Martinique, the principal French island in the Lesser Antilles, the officer at the citadel neglected to hoist the colors, a ceremonial observance customary when a ship of war approached.

Nelson at once demanded an explanation and received ample amends; the offending party being placed under arrest.