MALOES.
In November another effort was made to annoy the enemy.

Commodore Benbow sailed with a squadron of twelve capital ships, four bomb-ketches, and ten brigantines, to the coast of St.Maloes, and anchoring within half a mile of the town, cannonaded and bombarded it for three days successively.

Then his men landed on an island where they burned a convent.

On the nineteenth they took the advantage of a dark night, a fresh gale, and a strong tide, to send in a fire-ship of a particular contrivance, styled the Infernal, in order to burn the town; but she struck upon a rock before she arrived at the place, and the engineer was obliged to set her on fire and retreat.

She continued burning for some time, and at last blew up with such an explosion as shook the whole town like an earthquake, unroofed three hundred houses, and broke all the glass and earthenware for three leagues around.