During this year the English took from the French and Spaniards six hundred and forty-four prizes, among which were one Spanish and seventeen French men-of-war. The English vessels, including one man-of-war and a fire-ship, taken by the French and Spaniards, amounted to five hundred and fifty-one. The Royal Navy of Spain was now reduced to twenty-two ships of the line, and that of France to thirty-one; whilst the Navy of Britain amounted to one hundred and twenty-six sail of the line besides seventy-five frigates. THE LOSS OF H.M.S. _NAMUR_. BY JAMES ALMS. On July 15th, 1747, Captain Boscawen was made rear admiral of the blue, and placed at the head of a large military and naval expedition dispatched to the East Indies. In 1749 soon after the peace of Aix-la-Chapelle had put an end to hostilities. The fleet was lying in the road of Fort St. David, when on the 12th of April it began to blow most violently from the north-north-west. The following day the fleet encountered a terrible storm in which the flag-ship the _Namur_, seventy-four guns, foundered; the admiral, captain, and several of the officers being fortunately on shore. The _Pembroke_, of sixty guns, was also lost in this storm. Mr. Alms, of the _Namur_, gives the following account of the loss of that ship, in a letter to Mr. Ives:-- "We were at anchor in the _Namur_, in Fort St. David's road, Thursday, April 13th, 1749. In the morning it blew fresh, wind north-east. At noon we veered away to a half cable on the small bower. From one to four o'clock we were employed in setting up the lower rigging. Hard gales and squally, with a very great sea. At six o'clock the ship rode very well, but half an hour afterwards had four feet of water in her hold. We immediately cut the small bower cable, and stood to sea under our courses. Our mate, who cut the cable, was up to his waist in water at the bitts. "At half-past seven we had six feet of water in the hold, when we hauled up our courses and heaved overboard most of our upper-deck and all the quarter-deck guns to the leeward. By three-quarters after eight the water was up to our orlop gratings, and there was a great quantity between decks so that the ship was water logged; when we cut away all the masts, by which she righted. At the same time we manned the pumps and baled, and soon perceived that we gained upon the ship, which put us in great spirits. A little after nine we sounded, and found ourselves in nine fathoms of water: the master called, 'Cut away the sheet-anchor!' which was done immediately, and we veered away to a little better than a cable; but, before the ship came head to the sea, she parted at the chesstree. By this time it blew a hurricane. It is easier to conceive than to describe what a dismal, melancholy scene now presented itself--the shrieking cries, lamentations, ravings, despair, of above five hundred poor wretches verging on the brink of eternity!