London, 18 April. Letters from Gibraltar dated 29 March reported that that morning a French convoy coming from the Mediterranean the Strait passed and which was in the afternoon off Cape Spartel. The convoy consisted of 9 ships with ballast escorted by a brig of war. The commanding officer of the latter asked the steersman of a Spanish vessel if he heard anything dealing with a French ship of the line and if he knew of Spanish privateers active at sea. According to rumours departed a Spanish ship of the line and a brig Cadiz for cruising. An Algerian squadron of 1-60 gun ship, 1-50 gun ship and 1 goelette and a corvette belonging to the Pasha of Egypt left 4 April Algiers destined for Alexandria. The original source was the newspaper The Sun.
