about 7 a.m.
Thus we kept manoeuvring for two days , till , to our great disappointment , we lost sight of the French fleet during the night of the last of May . We had been standing to the westward , when at daybreak on the first of June , latitude 47 degrees 48 minutes north , longitude 18 degrees 30 minutes west , the wind a moderate breeze , south by west , and the sea tolerably smooth , we descried the French fleet , carrying a press of sail about six miles off on our starboard or lee bow , and steering in a line of battle on the larboard tack . At 5 a.m. our ships by signal bore up together and steered north-west . At about 7 a.m. , we having again hauled to the wind on the larboard tack , plainly saw the French fleet , consisting of twenty-six sail of the line , the whole , with the exception of one or two , complete in their masts and rigging . Shortly after this we saw the welcome signal flying , ordering us to breakfast , and as soon as it was over , the still more welcome one to bear down on the enemy . The next signal thrown out was for each ship to steer for and independently engage the ship opposite to her in the enemy 's line , the _ Caesar _ leading the van . The _ Bellerophon _ , or Billy Ruffian , as she used to be called , followed her ; next came the _ Leviathan _ .