About noon
The same night he saw two strangers further out at sea , and chased them until three in the morning , when , getting pretty nigh , he surmised that they must needs be vessels of his own squadron , which , previous to his entering the Firth of Forth , had separated from his command . Daylight proved this supposition correct . Five vessels of the original squadron were now once more in company . About noon a fleet of forty merchantmen appeared coming round Flamborough Head , protected by two English man-of-war , the Serapis and Countess of Scarborough . Descrying the five cruisers sailing down , the forty sail , like forty chickens , fluttered in a panic under the wing of the shore . Their armed protectors bravely steered from the land , making the disposition for battle . Promptly accepting the challenge , Paul , giving the signal to his consorts , earnestly pressed forward .