Earl St. Vincent having given up the command of the fleet to Lord Keith, was at this time at Gibraltar, with his flag in the Argo, waiting for wind to sail to England. The Channel fleet, under Sir Alan Gardner, had formed a junction with the Mediterranean fleet, and had gone up the Mediterranean in pursuit of the combined fleets of France and Spain. While the Speedy was undergoing repair, and was keel out; the combined fleet was seen approaching the straits from the eastward; and a cutter sent out to reconnoitre, was captured by them, in consequence of a partial breeze favouring a Spanish frigate while the cutter was becalmed. Earl St. Vincent ordered the Speedy to be immediately righted, and to prepare for sea. Copper was nailed over the defective parts; and by the assistance of the Argo, she was ready to proceed on the following evening, with orders to look for Lord Keith, and to communicate to him the information, that the enemy had left the Mediterranean. He fell in with his lordship off Cabrera, in the course of a very few days, after leaving Gibraltar. He had already received the intelligence from some merchant vessel, that the combined fleet had been seen near the straits, steering to the westward, and was in pursuit of them. The day was beautiful when the Speedy fell in with the Admiral; and the immense fleet of thirty-two sail of the line sailing in two divisions, formed a most magnificent spectacle. Lord Keith sent the Speedy to Minorca with dispatches, with orders to resume her station off Oporto on her return. He continued his pursuit; but the enemy had got far too much start of him, and reached Brest, long before the British fleet could get up with them. The following letter from Captain Brenton to his father may here be introduced as carrying on the narrative. “SPEEDY, OFF CAPE DE GATTE, JULY 17th, 1799. “MY DEAR SIR, “Since my last off Lisbon no opportunity whatever occurred for my writing, I had scarcely time to reach Oporto, Lisbon, and Gibraltar, before our quarantine expired; we were ordered instantly into the mole, to heave down. On Sunday, the 8th, the Speedy was keel out, having her copper repaired, and on Tuesday was at sea, on her passage to join Lord Keith, with the intelligence of the Spanish fleet, in conjunction with the French, having passed the straits of Gibraltar to the westward; the particulars you will have, long before you receive this, as the Haarlem, and other vessels, were instantly dispatched for England.