It was on June 21 at 7.30 a.m., when the ship was in Lat. 26° 13’ S., Long. 56° 45’ E. that _Warren Hastings_, steering W. by S. before a strong breeze from N.E. by E., under a press of sail, sighted to the south-west a strange ship under treble-reefed topsails and courses. This was the French 40-gun frigate _Piémontaise_, 1093 tons, with a crew of 385, and able to fire a broadside of twenty-three guns, against the _Warren Hastings_’ eighteen. The latter had a tonnage of 1856, but a crew of only 138. The Frenchman had twenty-eight 18-pdrs. on her main deck. She also carried eighteen other guns on her quarter-deck, a total of forty-six carriage-guns. But she also carried swivels and musketoons in her tops and along her gunwales. On each fore and main yard-arm there was a tripod to contain a 5-cwt. shell, so that if she got alongside her enemy its fusee could be lit by a man lying out on the yard, and it would then be allowed to fall on the enemy’s deck, and after its explosion the French would be able to rush on board. It was thus in idea a revival of mediævalism. The historian James even went so far as to refer to the Frenchmen as being “armed more like assassins than men-of-war’s men; each having, beside the usual boarding weapons, a poniard struck through the button-holes of his jacket.” Thus, in every respect except tonnage the East Indiaman was a more powerful vessel, and the preliminary tactics are interesting. At 9 a.m., when the Indiaman was well on her weather-quarter, the Frenchman shook out the reefs from her topsails and stood towards the merchantman, who held on her course. Half an hour later the frigate set her t’gallant sails and stuns’ls, and at 10 a.m. hoisted the British blue ensign and pendant. There was nothing wrong in this _ruse de guerre_, and often during the war of 1914-1918 British ships hoisted neutral colours _before_ opening fire on German submarines. _Warren Hastings_ suspected the frigate was not a British man-of-war, but hoisted her colours and made her private signal. For, in order that East Indiamen might be able to make themselves known on the high seas to British men-of-war, a special code of signals was always arranged by the Admiralty during war-time. This code was sent sealed to the Secret Committee of the company and then handed over to the commanding officer of each ship.