To Sir Richard Strachan he thus sums up the situation on the 26th August: “The French fleet being perfectly ready for sea, seven of the line, six frigates, and some corvettes--two sail-of-the-line are now rigging in the arsenal--I think it more than probable that they are bound to the westward, out of the Mediterranean. Therefore, as I am determined to follow them, go where they may, I wish you, in case they escape me, to send a frigate or sloop after them to find out their route, giving her a station where I may find her, and keep yourself either at the mouth of the Straits or off Europa Point, for I certainly shall not anchor at Gibraltar.” In the middle of October he is still as uncertain as ever as to the destination of the French. Some folk favoured the Morea, others Egypt, “and they may be bound outside the Mediterranean.” “Is it Ireland or the Levant?” he asks Ball in the early days of dreary November. Think for one moment, as you sit reading this book in a comfortable room or on a little hillock in the open country, of the ceaseless vigil of Nelson as his weather-beaten vessels lay off Toulon. When a sea fog obscured his quarry he was in a fever of anxiety. “It was thick for two days,” he tells his brother William on one occasion, “and our frigates could not look into Toulon; however, I was relieved, for the first time in my life, by being informed the French were still in port.” Then there was always the possibility that the Brest fleet might escape and make its appearance at an awkward moment, and the likelihood of a visit from the returning squadron from the West Indies. He early discerned the outbreak of war with Spain. Pretending to be a neutral, that Power most assuredly exhibited the most flagrant favouritism for France. We have noted that Nelson anticipated the aid of the Dons to the French in the matter of the ships from San Domingo, help that was readily given when the vessels, evading Rear-admiral Campbell, stole into Coruña. This, of course, necessitated a strict blockade of the port, and Pellew was sent there instead of stationing himself off Rochefort as had been originally intended. References to them are frequent in his correspondence. Writing to the British Consul at Barcelona under date of the 13th September Nelson claimed “every indulgence which is shown to the ships of our enemies. The French squadron at Coruña are acting almost as they please; the _Aigle_ French ship of war is not turned out of Cadiz,[63] the French frigate _Revenge_ is permitted to go out of that port, cruise, and return with prizes, and sell them. I will not state that every Spanish port is a home for French privateers, for this is well known; and I am informed that even at Barcelona English vessels captured by the French have been sold there. You will acquaint his Excellency [the Captain-general] that I claim for every British ship, or squadron, the right of lying as long as I please in the ports