CHAPTER IV.
REDUCTION OF CORSICA BY THE BRITISH .-- DEPARTURE OF LORD HOOD FOR ENGLAND .-- THE "AGAMEMNON" REFITTED AT LEGHORN.
JANUARY-DECEMBER, 1794.

AGE, 35.
By the loss of Toulon the British fleet in the Mediterranean was left adrift, without any secure harbor to serve as a depot for supplies and a base for extended operations.

Hood took his ships to Hyeres Bay, a few miles east of Toulon, a spot where they could lie safely at anchor, but which was unsuitable for a permanent establishment,--the shores not being tenable against French attack.

He now turned his eyes upon Corsica, whence the celebrated native chieftain, Paoli, who had led the natives in their former struggle against France, had made overtures to him, looking to the union of the island to the British crown.

Nelson in person, or, during his brief absence in Leghorn, his division, had so closely invested the shores, that neither troops nor supplies of any kind had been able to enter since the early part of December, nor had the blockaded vessels been able to get out.