Though disappointed of the reinforcement promised him, Grasse was still much stronger than Hood. He could collect twenty-nine sail, while the English officer could only hope to muster twenty-two—until Rodney returned from Europe. On the 5th January 1782 he left Fort Royal on an expedition against the British islands, St. Christopher and Nevis. Hood at Barbadoes was informed on the 8th that the French were at sea. Scouts were despatched to observe their movements, but it was not till the 14th that a letter from General Shirley, Governor of St. Christopher, told Hood that they had been seen off Nevis, and that their destination became clear. Hood sailed at once for Antigua. He had twenty-one sail of the line with him, but expected to be raised to twenty-two by the junction of the =President=. With this force, inferior in number as it was to the French fleet, “I beg you will assure their Lordships,” so he wrote to Sandwich on the 20th January, “I will seek and give battle to the Count de Grasse, be his numbers as they may.” The promise was given on the 20th January. On the 21st, Hood was at Antigua. On the 22nd, he embarked General Prescott with a detachment of troops, and sailed in search of the French. The little island of Nevis lies directly west of Antigua. To the north, and separated from it by the shallow strait appropriately called the Narrows, is the larger island of St. Christopher, commonly called St. Kitts. The capital of St. Kitts, Basseterre, is on the south-western side of the island. Here Grasse had anchored on the 11th January and had landed soldiers, who drove Governor Shirley and General Fraser, the officer in command of the troops and island militia, to take refuge on Brimston Hill, close to the shore north-west of Basseterre. During the night of the 23rd Hood rounded the south point of Nevis, running before the easterly trade. It was his intention to fall on the van of the French at daybreak on the 24th, and crush it at anchor. But during the night a careless officer of the watch in the =Alfred= ruined himself and the admiral’s plan by running into the =Nymphe=. The =Alfred= was damaged, and delay was caused by the necessity to repair her. Before Hood could approach the anchorage of Grasse he was seen, and the Frenchman put to sea with his twenty-nine sail of the line. Hood, whose first object was to land =Prescott=, anchored his fleet on the tail of a bank to the south-east of the position just left by Grasse. As his ships stood in they were attacked by the French in a half-hearted way. The operation was carried out on the 25th, after a day and night of weary manœuvring, in which Hood kept the advantage of position, and Grasse put his fingers to the plough as if he thought it would burn them. On the 26th he made two feeble attacks on Hood, and then stood off. Reinforcements came in and raised his force to thirty-six sail of the line, but he did not come on again. He only remained cruising and watching till the 14th February.