London, 7 September. The Aetna and two other bomb galliots which served off
Algiers arrived last Thursday at Portsmouth. The letters they brought with them
described the events after the hostilities stopped. The British vice consul
Damford went on shore and was received with all honours. A request done by the
Algerian admiral to be allowed to visit the British mortar vessels with his
senior officers was refused. Except for the British captain Spencer of the
Naiad no British officers were allowed to go on shore. The Aetna entered the
Bay of Algiers approaching the batteries to a maximum distance of 3.000m but
wasn’t hit. The 30-40 Algerian gunboats each armed with 1 gun didn’t attack
her.
Last Saturday arrived the 28-gun Ranger at Portsmouth captain Fisher coming
from Algiers and laid up in quarantine. Her captain immediately departed
towards London with letters from admiral Neale.
