ten o'clock
For a time the issue was doubtful . The three English seventy-four-gun ships were matched against one of a hundred and twenty and two of eighty-four . Darkness did not put a stop to the engagement , which continued to rage with unabated fury , the battle being practically between twelve British ships and eight French ships of the line and their four frigates and gun-boats . By ten o'clock five of the French van had surrendered , and the great hundred-and-twenty-gun ship , the _ Orient _ , was in flames . The excitement of the Arabs as the battle continued was unbounded . It seemed to them that mortal men could not sustain so terrible a conflict , and exclamations of wonder and admiration rose constantly among them . The light of the burning vessel enabled the whole of the terrible scene to be clearly witnessed .