The seventeen soldiers, reinforced by any that might be in the town,
were thus deprived of the power to do any mischief except in a
hand-to-hand fight. If the place was not actually captured, it was
practically lost to the enemy. The next business of the expedition was
to examine the bay, and ascertain what vessels were at the landing
place. The boats shoved off, and pulled around the point.
CHAPTER XXIV
CAPTAIN LONLEY OF THE STEAMER HAVANA
The two twelve-pounders in each boat were believed to weigh about six
hundred pounds each, while the ordinary bronze boat gun of the same
calibre weighs seven hundred and sixty pounds. The four guns, therefore,
were rather too heavy a burden for the size of the cutters. But Christy
was unwilling to throw the two without carriages overboard, for the
water in this locality was so clear that they could have been seen at a
depth of two or three fathoms. They were useless for the duty in which
the expedition was engaged, and the commander of the expedition decided
to land them on the Seahorse Key till he had completed his operations in
the bay, when they could be taken off and transported to the Bronx as
trophies, if for nothing better.
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