Early in April 1798 Nelson sailed from England, joined St. Vincent at Cadiz, and immediately went on into the Mediterranean, with three ships of the line, to reconnoitre. He was reinforced by nine more under Troubridge, and Lord St. Vincent had orders from home to follow with the entire squadron if it should prove necessary. Nelson searched for Bonaparte in the Mediterranean, and missed him twice. The French seized Malta for the sake of getting their supplies through, but the British as promptly blockaded it. At last, on August 1, Nelson came upon the French fleet anchored in Aboukir Bay, and the Battle of the Nile was fought. The situation now created can be briefly summarised. Bonaparte was in Egypt, cut off from all communication with France, and however determinedly he might turn his face towards Africa or Asia his position was a serious one. Turkey almost immediately declared war against France. Malta was still closely blockaded by the British. Nelson had established himself at Palermo, on friendly terms with the King of Naples, who had taken refuge in Sicily. The news of the Battle of the Nile had spread far and wide, and France had good reason to fear that the tide had turned against her. Early in 1799 Bonaparte attacked Acre, and Sir Sydney Smith was sent to harass his forces, and to compel him, if possible, to raise the siege. At this time occurred one of those events which show how a slight advantage, properly used, may decide the final issue. Matters were in this critical state; every British ship in and near the Mediterranean was employed at some important work, when that happened which might have been the cause of serious disaster. Admiral Bruix got away from Brest with a fleet of twenty-five sail of the line and ten smaller ships. The blame of this mishap is not at all easy to attach. Lord Bridport was still in command of the Channel Fleet, but the Admiralty seemed to prefer to keep him in touch with headquarters off the coast of Kent, rather than to allow him to maintain a position whence he could more easily keep watch on the French fleet. Now ensued an exciting time. No one knew where the French fleet was, much less whither it was bound. They had escaped in a thick fog, being seen only by _La Nymphe_, one of the British frigates, whose officers, owing to the density of the fog, imagined that they saw the fleet bring to under the land, and signalled accordingly to Lord Bridport. When the fog lifted the French fleet was no longer in sight. Of course the first idea was that they had gone to Ireland, and off went Lord Bridport to pursue them. A little later news was received that they had sailed southward, and a correspondent at this time writes: “Lord St. Vincent will have a fine field to exert his talents if the French fleet join the Spanish, after capturing Lisbon.”