vessels remained at sea but were occasionally accompanied by naval escorts large enough to prevent their capture by Gibraltar's small Royal Navy squadron. Levant was careened on a beach at Gibraltar over Christmas 1778 and then returned to sea, but her next capture was not until 14 March 1779 when in company with Captain Rich's Enterprise she seized a French vessel, Thésée. A further victory followed on 1 April when Levant, still in company with Enterprise, took Eclair, a French xebec carrying wine and brandy from Marseilles. On 12 April 1779 Spain signed the Treaty of Aranjuez with France, setting terms for a joint military alliance against Britain. Despite the Treaty Spain delayed the formal declaration of war until June, to give time for better co-ordination of its battle fleet. In the interim Levant engaged and defeated a Spanish privateer whose crew were caught in the act of boarding a British merchant ship. A brief exchange of cannon fire holed the Spanish vessel below the waterline, sinking her; Levant rescued the majority of her crew and transported them to prison in Gibraltar. Captain Murray then took Levant on a cruise to hunt for French or American vessels off Cadiz. While pursuing this task in June 1779 he ran across the Spanish battle fleet, comprising 32 ships of the line and two frigates, heading south towards an unknown destination. Spain was still nominally a neutral power and after a brief exchange of pleasantries the Spanish fleet left Levant unmolested and continued on its way. Murray immediately set sail for England to report that the Spanish were at sea, pausing off Land's End on 17 July to capture the French privateer La Revanche. Levant finally reached Portsmouth in late July but by this time Murray's news of the Spanish fleet was out of date; Spain had already declared war on Britain and her fleet had reached Gibraltar to commence an extended siege. Final voyages Murray was ordered to take Levant back to sea immediately, departing Portsmouth on 27 July as escort to a convoy of merchant vessels bound for the Yorkshire port of Kingston upon Hull. The ageing frigate then briefly joined a small Navy squadron on patrol off Brighton before setting sail for the Spanish coast. On 5 August she took part in the recapture of a British merchant vessel, Nine Colliers. She was off Cadiz in October 1779 when she