Hardly were these arrangements completed when the schooner tacked and made all sail in chase. At 10.15 P.M. she came up astern and fired the first shot, to which the Cornishmen replied with their full broadside. On this the action became general, and the two vessels pounded each other for three-quarters of an hour at close range without serious damage on either side. Mr. James, confident in the gunnery of his men, felt no apprehension about the result of this cannonade. What he did fear was a boarding assault, for the numbers of the enemy were far superior to his own. At 11 P.M. he perceived that the French were collecting their boarders. The moment was favourable to them. The vessels were nearing each other. The boarders were gathering in numbers sufficient to sweep the little crew of Cornishmen into the sea; and Mr. James saw with alarm that the situation of the vessels was such that for the moment he could not bring a single gun to bear. There was not an instant to lose. The Frenchmen were already clambering upon the bulwarks of their ship balancing themselves in the act of springing. In another moment the whole party would have been scrambling over the nettings of the Packet, when Mr. James, seizing the helm, jammed it hard-a-port, and laid the “Duke of Marlborough” right across the enemy’s bows. By this bold manœuvre the tables were turned. As the Packet forged across the schooner’s track, every gun in her broadside came to bear successively. Each one in turn raked the French ship from stem to stern with grape-shot and canister, and when Mr. James had leisure once more to look about him, he saw that there was confusion among the enemy, who had evidently sustained a heavy loss. The Frenchmen rallied from this blow surprisingly fast, and in a few minutes secured another opportunity of boarding. The favourable moment had gone by however. The Cornishmen were fully prepared, and not one of the boarders managed to gain the deck of the “Duke of Marlborough.” This second failure seemed to take the heart out of the attack, for shortly afterwards the Privateer sheered off and was seen to heave to with the evident intention of repairing damages. She had not yet done with the Packet, and about midnight made sail once more in chase, coming within range at 8 A.M., when a heavy fire of great guns were opened on both sides, and maintained very warmly for two hours and a half. At the end of this time, finding she had gained no decisive advantage, and having had enough of close quarters on the previous evening, the Privateer again sheered off and left the “Duke of Marlborough” to pursue her voyage unmolested.