From this severe fire several men were wounded, and one officer very severely,--Mr R. Turner, midshipman,--and two killed. The boats were also almost riddled with shot, and nearly half the oars were broken; it seems, indeed, surprising, considering also their crowded state, with the mill-stream rate of the current, that a greater number of casualties did not occur. In this exposed position, often appearing to be quite stationary, they had to pull one hour and forty minutes before they were enabled to pass the batteries sufficiently high to drop down to the landing-place previously mentioned. By this time nearly all the boats were up, and Captain Loch gave the order to land, he himself leading the way. The boats' crews, with a British cheer, leaped on shore, and gallantly charged the enemy. The Nicaraguans withstood them for some time, but the cutlass and pistol soon did their work; and in ten minutes they had taken to flight, and the British flag was hoisted on the fort. One of the first on shore was a seaman of the _Vixen_ (Denis Burke, stoker), who quickly fought his way up to the enemy's colours, and captured them. As the enemy fled, the British pursued them into the thick woods; but after they had been chased for about thirty minutes, Captain Loch, considering that they had been sufficiently punished, ordered the recall to be sounded. The English then destroyed the stockades, spiked the guns, broke the trunnions, and threw them, together with all the muskets and ammunition left behind, into the river. The force was next embarked, when the whole of the defences were set on fire. From the dangers to which the party were exposed, and the difficulties they overcame, this affair may well be considered as one of the most gallant among those we have to record. CHAPTER EIGHT. THE DESTRUCTION OF LAGOS--26TH DECEMBER 1851. The town of Lagos, built at the mouth of the river Ogun, which debouches in the Bight of Benin, is a healthy place, and well situated for trade. It is the seaport also of Abbeokuta, a town of considerable dimensions, sixty miles inland from it, and which it is hoped will become a very important place, now that Lagos is open for legal commerce. The more immediate cause of the attack on Lagos was in consequence of an application made for assistance by Akitoye, the lawful chief of Lagos, to Mr Beecroft, the British consul for the Bight of Benin, residing at Fernando Po.