On the 8th, having transferred his flag to the steam frigate _Spiteful_, the Admiral proceeded up to Bruni with the _Phlegethon_ leading the way, and the _Royalist_ which was towed by the _Spiteful_. The gunboats of the ships left behind also attended, and the total number of blue-jackets and marines was 600; yet the Brunis, trusting to their superiority in numbers, and to the really efficient steps they had taken to fortify the town and its approaches, felt confident that they could successfully oppose this formidable force, and opened fire on the _Phlegethon_ as she approached the lower batteries. Fortunately the guns were aimed too high to do damage. The fire was at once returned,—guns, rockets, and muskets responding; the blue-jackets and marines dashed ashore, and the enemy, commanded by Haji Seman, not awaiting their onslaught, fled into the jungle, abandoning the guns. The squadron then advanced, silenced battery after battery, seven or eight in number, and captured the cannon in them, consisting of 68, 42, and 32 pounders, which, had they been well laid and served, would have seriously crippled the ships; and the forts were so strongly constructed and so well placed, that they would have been difficult to capture had they been manned by a less despicable foe. As it was, the loss incurred on both sides was but slight. The Sultan, his army, and the population fled, and as night fell, Bruni was an empty shell. A week was spent by Captain Mundy of the _Iris_, with whom went the Rajah, in a fruitless endeavour to capture the Sultan, but he scampered away beyond reach, and the force, after destroying his inland stronghold, returned to the ships.