The mere fact that a French naval officer should have taken East Indiamen for line-of-battle ships is at once a proof of the stateliness and formidable appearance which the company’s ships possessed. It shows the great similarity which existed at that time between the ships of war and of commerce. But finer even than this exploit was the following brilliant achievement, which is one of the brightest incidents in the whole story of the Merchant Service. It was on January 31, 1804, that sixteen East Indiamen set forth from Canton for Europe. They were all of a size of from 1200 to 1500 tons register, their names being the _Earl Camden_, _Warley_, _Alfred_, _Royal George_, _Coutts_, _Wexford_, _Ganges_, _Exeter_, _Earl of Abergavenny_, _Henry Addington_, _Bombay Castle_, _Cumberland_, _Hope_, _Dorsetshire_, _Warren Hastings_, and _Ocean_. The senior officer present was Captain Nathaniel Dance, in the _Earl Camden_, and so was Commodore of all these ships. But it was a fleet rather than a squadron, for, in addition to the above sixteen, forty more vessels were also put under his charge to convoy them as far as their courses remained the same. A convoy of forty sailing ships! What a magnificent sight they presented, most of them carrying royals and staysails, and the massive hulls with their stern galleries and ornate figure-heads and painted ports heeling over gracefully to the wind! [Illustration: CAPTAIN HENRY WILSON, A commanding officer in the H.E. India Company, who was wrecked in the company’s ship “Antelope.” About 1788. CAPTAIN HON. RICHARD WALPOLE, Who commanded the H.E. India Company’s ship “New Houghton.” About 1805. COMMODORE SIR NATHANIEL DANCE, 1804. A very gallant mercantile officer. (See p. 98.) SIR WILLIAM JAMES, BART., Commodore in the H.E. India Company, Chairman of the Court of Directors, etc. About 1805. (_By courtesy Messrs. T. H. Parker._)] For Commodore Dance it was a most responsible task. This fleet was carrying many thousand pounds’ worth of goods. There was the danger of pirates and the possibility of falling in with the French men-of-war; and there was the ever-present danger of collision. But those were the days of seamanship, and where would you find to-day any mercantile or naval officer who could handle a fleet of forty sail? We know all too well how difficult it was to handle much smaller convoys of steamships during the recent war; and with engines it is mere child’s play compared with dependence on wind and sail. To Commodore Dance, then, I suggest the greatest compliment is due for his leadership and tactical seamanship alone. But that was not all.