In reply to the demand of the _Drake's_ captain, Jones gave the name of his vessel and expressed the pleasure it would give him to engage him in battle. The American was astern of the _Drake_, and, to show his earnestness, Captain Jones ordered his helm put up and let fly with a broadside. The _Drake_ replied and then the battle was on. There was little manoeuvring, the contest being what is known as a square yardarm and yardarm fight. The comparative strength of the two vessels was as follows: The _Ranger_ carried 18 guns and 123 men, the _Drake_ 20 guns and 160 men, a number of the latter being volunteers for the fight, which lasted one hour and four minutes, at the end of which time the _Ranger_ had lost two killed and six wounded and the _Drake_ forty-two killed. The latter was so badly damaged by the well directed fire of the American that the captain called for quarter. Ceasing her firing, Captain Jones lowered a boat and sent it to the _Drake_ to take possession. As an evidence of the effect of the fire of the _Ranger_, the following words may be quoted from Jones's official report: "Her fore and maintopsail yards being cut away and down on the caps, the topgallant yard and mizzen gaff both hanging up and down along the mast, the second ensign which they had hoisted shot away and hanging on the quarter gallery in the water, the jib shot away and hanging in the water, her sails and rigging cut entirely to pieces, her masts and yards all wounded and her hull very much galled." The damages to the _Ranger_ were so slight they were repaired by the close of the following day, when she got under sail with her prize. Despite the swarm of cruisers that were hunting for him, Jones passed unscathed through North Channel, along the western coast of Ireland and arrived at Brest, in France, within a month of the day he left the port, his cruise having been one of the most remarkable in naval history. CHAPTER VI. One of the Most Memorable Sea Fights Ever Known--The Wonderful Exploit of Captain Paul Jones. I have taken Paul Jones as the highest type of the infant American navy. There were others who fought with great bravery and did much to aid in the struggle for American independence, but none combined in such perfection the qualities of perfect seamanship, cool but dauntless courage and skill in fighting. Of course, no matter how daring our cruisers, they did not always escape disaster. At the close of the Revolution there had been twenty-four vessels lost, carrying 470 guns. Several of these met their fate through shipwreck. Contrast with this the loss of Great Britain, which was 102 war vessels, carrying in all 2,624 guns. The total vessels of all kinds captured from the English by our cruisers and privateers was about 800.