An item reported that a tiding received from Gibraltar dated 5 August reported that the French squadron seemed to have left Tangier towards Gibraltar. Flag showing of the squadron off the Moroccan coast had been successful. A second squadron was with a mission underway to the African coasts. On 7 July seemed to be a telegram received at Toulon from Paris ordered three or four ships of the line which were prepared for departure to go immediately towards sea. The ships of the line Océan, Marengo, Neptune and Jupiter departed two days later from Toulon under command of rear admiral Parseval Deschènes. First was believed that their destination was Morocco but a ministerial paper assured that they were underway to Tunis and to be joined by a fifth the ship of the line. The order was to cruise off Tunis waiting for the Turkish fleet of seven ships of the line and some frigates coming from the Dardanelles and to prevent the landing of Turkish troops. In the last years French squadrons had dome the same and until now were never Turkish troops landed.
