 Foote removed much of the treasure and prisoners from Sensible before despatching the vessel under a prize crew to Earl St. Vincent in the Tagus . Among the goods seized from the frigate were copies of the French naval code books , as well as information about the destination of Bonaparte 's invasion fleet . Sailing immediately for Alexandria , Foote was joined soon afterwards by HMS Terpsichore under Captain William Hall Gage , who was also searching for Nelson . Together they reached Alexandria on 21 July , discovering that the French were already in the harbour although Nelson was nowhere to be seen . Observing the French dispositions , Foote and Gage disguised their ships as a French frigate and its prize , Gage hoisting French colours over British to indicate that his ship had been captured and Foote displaying the secret French recognition codes . This appears to have convinced the French that the strangers were not enemy ships , and no move was made against them , Foote and Gage free to observe the French anchorage in Aboukir Bay before striking out along the African coast in search of Nelson . The British admiral was at this time resupplying his ships at Syracuse on Sicily , and when he sailed on 25 July he passed eastwards to Morea where he learned of the French invasion of Egypt from the Turkish governor of Coron . Striking directly southwards , Nelson arrived at Aboukir Bay on 1 August without ever encountering Foote or learning his intelligence . Seahorse eventually returned to Alexandria on 17 August to discover that Nelson had fought and won the Battle of the Nile nearly three weeks earlier . 
