To stay where we were was to wait to be caught between the two fires of the ships and the fort.

We must get out of the bay somehow, and to do it we must make a desperate effort to silence the fort.
Two boats were ordered out, each in charge of a midshipman and a petty officer.

Twenty men were told off for each boat.

Our instructions were, as soon as night fell, to put off for shore, land at two different points a mile apart, and approach the fort from opposite sides.

The _Diana_, meanwhile, was to slip her cables and attempt the perilous feat of warping out of the bay, so as to be ready for the French ships.
Much depended on the promptitude and success with which the expeditionary force tackled the fort.