PART III_Tales of an Old Sea Port A General Sketch of the History of Bristol, Rhode Island, Including, Incidentally, an Account of the Voyages of the Norsemen, So Far as They May Have Been Connected with Narragansett Bay: and Personal Narratives of Some Notable Voyages Accomplished by Sailors from the Mount Hope Lands

JAMES DE WOLF AND THE PRIVATEER YANKEE

1--JAMES DE WOLF

The story of the life of James De Wolf reads like a chapter of wild

romance. Without any advantages of birth, fortune or education his

indomitable energy and his commanding abilities won for him a seat in

the greatest deliberative assembly in the world, the Senate of the

United States, and also secured for him one of the largest fortunes

in America.

He was born in Bristol, March 18, 1764, the seventh son of Mark

Anthony De Wolf, clerk of the Prince Charles of Lorraine, whose raid

upon the coast of French Guiana under the leadership of Simeon Potter

has already been set forth in this book. He was born of American

parents upon the French island of Guadaloupe. The sudden fancy of

Captain Potter rescued him from a possible life of obscurity upon

that island that his children might rise to influence and power and

wealth in America.

Mark Anthony De Wolf married a sister of Potter and became master

of one of his brother-in-law’s vessels. More than a very moderate

income he never enjoyed, and his sons were compelled to earn their

own living at an early age. Following the natural trend of Bristol

boys of that period they took up their father’s calling. All who

reached manhood became shipmasters, and nearly all of them attained

large riches. One of James De Wolf’s descendants, the Rev. C. B.

Perry, tells in his book “The De Wolfs” this story of his ancestor’s

entrance upon a seafaring life: “Several of them [the De Wolf boys]

who had been sweating in the corn rows one summer day flung down

their hoes, declaring they would no longer hoe corn when they knew

they could get places on their Uncle Sim Potter’s privateer about

to sail from Providence. So off they trudged upon the road to that

city. As after their long dusty walk they emerged from Seekonk Woods

near the old ‘Red Bridge,’ James, the youngest but one of the party,

becoming conscious of the dilapidated condition of his hat, and

with the vanity of a handsome lad less resigned than his father to

his appearance, cried out, ‘Boys, I’m not going through Providence

like this,’ and flung the crownless brim--or was it a brimless

crown?--into the wayside bushes. Bareheaded he presented himself with

his brothers to his no doubt astonished yet sympathetic, bluff old

Uncle Sim Potter. They secured the coveted places on the ship and

thus began that life of devotion to the sea which the sea was soon so

richly to repay.”

Twice in his early seafaring life James De Wolf was captured; for

many weeks he was held a prisoner on the Bermuda Islands. His zeal

and ability speedily won for him promotion. Having entered the

employ of John Brown, the leading ship owner of Providence, he was

made master of a vessel before he had completed his twentieth year.

His earliest voyages as captain were made to the coast of Africa as

master of a small slaver. No stigma whatever was attached to the

slave trade at that time. It was regarded as a perfectly legitimate

business and was known to be more than ordinarily hazardous because

of climatic conditions and the dangerous nature of the coast. The

captains engaged in it had to be men of unusual force of character

in order to be successful. Before he was twenty-five years old De

Wolf had accumulated a fortune large enough to keep him in ease and

even luxury for the remainder of his life. But he could not be idle.

He was continually branching out into new ventures in which he was

almost invariably successful. Everything seemed to turn to gold in

his hands. His aim was always to be first in a new field. After he

had skimmed the cream from a market he was content to leave for those

who followed him the moderate, though perhaps surer gains.

As long as the slave trade remained legal he continued in it, not

infrequently going to the southern ports to supervise the sale of

his cargoes. This was the case in 1804 when the Legislature of

South Carolina opened the ports of that State for the importation

of African slaves. One day one of his townsmen, a sailor on a new

arrival from the African coast, was walking along the principal

street of Charleston, in charge of a party of slave girls that had

just been sold, each dusky maiden being picturesquely though not

sumptuously attired in a short cotton chemise. As he was passing

the leading hotel, he heard a well known voice call out: “Benjamin!

Benjamin! Where are you going with those girls?” and down from the

veranda came “Captain Jim” to greet his fellow Bristolian and to

talk over his voyage with him. During the four years that followed

two hundred and two vessels, carrying nearly forty thousand slaves,

entered the port of Charleston.

Sixteen years afterward Mr. De Wolf was elected a member of the

United States Senate, where his large business experience and his

special knowledge of industrial and commercial conditions gave him

great influence. Like most of the Senators from the Northern States

he opposed the admission of Missouri as a slave State. Public opinion

in the North concerning slavery had greatly changed since 1808. In

that year the African slave trade was prohibited by law, and very

soon after all the leading nations of the world united in efforts

to suppress it. But because it immediately became more profitable

than ever before, men still continued to engage in it. Then came the

“horrors of the Middle Passage” (i.e., the voyage from Africa to the

West Indies) at which all the world shuddered. Those who had engaged

in the earlier trade were covered with an obloquy which they did not

deserve.

Public opinion concerning slavery as practiced in the South also

changed, but not so quickly in South Carolina, the leading slave

State, as elsewhere. There the planters who formed the governing

class had only come to draw a distinction between the men who brought

the slaves from Africa and the men who used them after they were

landed in America. Even today, in the North as well as the South,

the same subtle distinction is drawn. The fact that the men who

brought slaves faced innumerable dangers in their voyages counted for

nothing in the judgment of those who, in ease and safety, enjoyed

the fruits of slave labor. Senator Smith of South Carolina was the

exponent of the Southern idea. In an impassioned speech he reflected

severely upon the bitterness the people of Rhode Island had lately

shown against slaveholders, and especially against the admission of

Missouri as a slave State. “This, however, he believed could not

be the temper or opinion of the majority, from the late election

of James De Wolf as a member of the Senate, as he had accumulated

an immense fortune by the slave trade.” He went on to say that, of

the two hundred and two vessels whose names he gave, “ten and their

African cargoes belonged to Mr. De Wolf,” and he closed his speech

with a recapitulation tabulating the facts given in the following

paragraph:

From January 1, 1804, to December 31, 1807, inclusive, two hundred

and two slave ships entered the port of Charleston. Seventy of

these vessels were owned in Great Britain, three in France, one in

Sweden, sixty-one in Charleston, fifty-nine in Rhode Island and

eight in other American ports. Of the two hundred and two consignees

ninety-one were natives of Great Britain, eighty-eight of Rhode

Island, thirteen of Charleston and ten of France. Altogether, 39,075

slaves were brought in. More than half of them, 19,949, came under

the British flag. French ships brought 1,078. The fifty-nine vessels

hailing from Rhode Island brought in 8,238, as follows: Bristol

ships, 3,914, Newport 3,488, Providence 556, Warren 280. As is

evident from the cargoes the American vessels engaged in the trade

were much smaller than the foreign craft. The seventy British slavers

averaged almost two hundred and eighty-five slaves each. The French

average was three hundred and fifty-nine plus, while the fifty-nine

Rhode Islanders averaged not quite one hundred thirty-nine and a

half. The foreign vessels were probably full rigged ships, while the

Narragansett Bay craft were for the most part brigs and schooners of

two hundred tons or less. Even so they were larger than the Newport

slavers captured by the enemy in the early years of the “Old French

and Indian War,” a part of the Seven Years War in Europe, 1756-1763.

Those vessels had “live cargoes” varying from forty-three to one

hundred and thirty head. The Caesar of Newport, a full rigged ship,

carried only one hundred and sixteen. Of the vessels mentioned in

these Tales the Yankee’s tonnage was one hundred and sixty tons. The

Juno was a full rigged ship of two hundred and fifty tons, one of the

finest vessels sailing from Bristol in her time. The cargo of twenty

Junos could easily be stowed in the holds of one of the five masted

schooners that bring coal into the port of Providence today. The

tonnage of the Prince Charles of Lorraine is not known.

Study of the statistical tables on which Senator Smith based his

remarks[40] shows that Mr. De Wolf was interested in four other Rhode

Island ships besides the ten credited to him by the Senator from

South Carolina. These hailed from Rhode Island and were consigned

to Christian & De Wolf. He may also have been the owner of three

other Rhode Islanders which on their first voyage were not consigned

to him. The statistics show that the voyage to Africa and return

must ordinarily have taken more than a year. During the year 1804

but three Rhode Island slave ships entered the port of Charleston,

and the total number of slavers was twenty, of which seven hailed

from Charleston itself. The next year the number of arrivals had

increased to thirty, six of which were owned in Rhode Island and five

in South Carolina. In 1806 the number of arrivals was fifty-six,

thirteen being Rhode Island vessels, and the same number hailing

from Charleston. In the last open year, 1807, the arrivals leaped

to ninety-six, thirty-seven of them belonging in Rhode Island and

thirty-three in South Carolina. Of the Rhode Island vessels, two,

the Neptune and the Hiram, made three round trips each, while ten

others brought in two cargoes. Two of the sixty-one Charleston ships

made three voyages, and five accomplished two. Nine of the vessels of

Great Britain made two voyages each; no British vessel made three.

The four big Frenchmen entered the harbor but once. Apparently small,

swift ships were more profitable than large ones. Necessarily a

large part of the trip was consumed in securing a cargo, and the

dangers of the “coast fever” were greatest in the case of a large

ship.

The African trade was but one of the commercial avenues in which

Mr. De Wolf’s ships sailed. His larger vessels had already visited

Chinese ports when the smaller craft turned their prows toward

Africa. While the little Hiram was gathering cargoes of naked

negroes, the full rigged ship Juno was filling its hold with the furs

of the frozen “Northwest Coast.” How exceedingly profitable that

venture was we have already learned from the account of “Norwest

John.” Until the year 1812 the chief obstacle to the development of

American commerce was the constant interference of British warships

and their illegal impressment of American sailors on the pretence

that the men impressed were not Americans but Englishmen, and

therefore subject to the British Crown. As a large ship owner Mr.

De Wolf had suffered great losses. Of these he had kept a careful

account and he longed for the day of retaliation to come. To most

of the New Englanders of that day the act passed on June 18, 1812,

declaring war between the United States and the United Kingdom of

Great Britain and Ireland seemed the death blow to their commercial

prosperity. Not so did it seem to James De Wolf. He saw in it the

opportunity to regain from captured merchantmen all that he had lost

at the hands of British men-of-war. Not for personal reasons alone

did he rejoice at the commencement of hostilities. He believed that

the interests of the whole country demanded it; all his sympathies

were enlisted in it; all his resources he confidently staked upon

the final issue of the struggle. He caused the banks in which he

owned a controlling interest to invest all their available capital

in United States bonds, and when the national credit was lowest he

advanced from his own purse money to build a sloop of war.[41] Mr.

De Wolf early grasped the fact that the only vulnerable part of

Great Britain, as far as the United States was concerned, was its

merchant marine. He foresaw that the American privateers would drive

the English commerce from the ocean and he at once proceeded to

perform his part in accomplishing that result. Not the United States

war vessels, marvellous though their achievements were, but the

privateers that sailed out from Bristol and Baltimore and many ports

of New England, brought the War of 1812 to an end.

Besides the Yankee Mr. De Wolf was the principal owner of three other

privateers, the Water Witch, the Blockade and the Macdonough. The

Water Witch was the only one of these to send a prize into Bristol

harbor. She was a little coasting schooner of more than ordinary

speed. Her owners procured for her a privateer’s license that she

might seize the slower craft that furnished the British fleet with

supplies. Her one prize was a flour laden schooner which netted a

profit to its owners of about $5,000, a sum which paid for the

Water Witch several times over. The Blockade sailed from Bristol on

a four months cruise November 19, 1812. It had been planned that she

should sail in company with the Yankee but that little hermaphrodite

brig[42] was too fast for her. She took a dozen or more vessels, but

all her prizes were recaptured and she proved to be only a bill of

expense to her owners. From the Macdonough great things were hoped.

She was much the largest and fastest of the Bristol ships but she

entered the contest too late. She found an ocean swarming with the

sails of warships when she sailed out from Narragansett Bay. Her

wonderful speed prevented her capture and she was able to take many

prizes but all her prizes were retaken. Oliver Wilson, successful

captain of the Yankee on two of her cruises, was her commander on

her one cruise, so it goes without saying that she was well handled,

but she proved to be a losing investment. She was built by Captain

Carr at Warren in the last year of the war, and after the struggle

was ended was placed in the Cuban trade. Once she made the voyage

from Havana to Bristol in six days notwithstanding the fact that she

was lying becalmed for a whole day. After the slave trade had been

declared illegal and hence required the very swiftest vessels for its

service, she was sold to Cuban parties who fitted her for a slaver.

Her career as such was not long. Having a cargo of slaves on board

she was chased one day by a warship, and, running for shelter into

the harbor of Matanzas, struck upon a reef on which she was soon

pounded to pieces. Her crew were saved to a man. Not so the slaves;

they all perished.

Eleven days after the Declaration of War was proclaimed Mr. De Wolf

sent to the Secretary of War this letter:

BRISTOL, R.I., June 30, 1812.

The Honorable WILLIAM EUSTIS,

Secretary of War:--

Sir; I have purchased and now ready for sea, an armed brig, (one of

the most suitable in this country for a privateer) of one hundred

and sixty tons burden, mounting eighteen guns, and carries one

hundred and twenty men, called the Yankee, commanded by Oliver

Wilson. Being desirous that she should be on her cruise as soon as

possible, I beg that you will cause a commission to be forwarded

as soon as practicable to the Collector of the District, that this

vessel may not be detained.

I am very respectfully, Sir,

Your obedient servant,

JAMES DE WOLF.

The commission of the Yankee was issued July 13, 1812. Her owners

were James De Wolf and John Smith, the latter owning but one-quarter

of the vessel. The Articles of Agreement under which the privateer

sailed were as follows:

ARTICLES OF AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE OWNERS, OFFICERS AND COMPANY OF

THE PRIVATE ARMED VESSEL OF WAR, YANKEE.

1st. It is agreed by the parties that the Owners fit the Vessel

for sea and provide her with great guns, small arms, powder, shot

and all other warlike stores, also with suitable medicines and

every other thing necessary for such a vessel and her cruise for

all of which no deduction is to be made from the shares, for which

the Owners or their substitutes shall receive or draw One Half the

nett proceeds of all such Prizes or prize as may be taken, and the

other half shall be the property of the Vessel’s Company to be

divided in proportions as mentioned in the 15th article, except the

cabin-stores and furniture which belong to the Captain.

2d. That for preserving due decorum on board said vessel, no man

is to quit or go out of her on board any other vessel, or on shore

without having first obtained leave of the Commanding officer on

board, under the penalty of such punishment or fine as shall be

decreed by the Captain and Officers.

3d. That the Cruise shall be where the Owners or the major part of

them shall direct.

4th. If any person shall be found a RINGLEADER of any Mutiny, or

causing disturbance, or refuse to obey the Captain, or any Officer,

behave with Cowardice, or get drunk in time of action, he or they

shall forfeit his or their shares of any dividend, or be otherwise

punished at the discretion of the Captain and Officers.

5th. If any person shall steal or convert to his own use any part of

a prize or prizes, or be found pilfering any money or other things

belonging to this Vessel, her Officers, or Company, and be thereof

convicted by her Officers, he shall be punished and forfeit as

aforesaid.

6th. That whoever first spies a prize or sail, that proves worth 100

dollars a share, shall receive Fifty Dollars from the gross sum; and

if orders are given for boarding, the first man on the deck of the

Enemy shall receive Half a share to be deducted from the gross sum

of prize-money.

7th. That if any one of the said Company shall in time of action

lose an eye or a joint, he shall receive Fifty Dollars, and if he

lose a leg or an arm, he shall receive Three Hundred Dollars to be

deducted out of the Gross sum of Prize-money.

8th. That if any of said Company shall strike or assault any male

prisoner, or rudely treat any female prisoner, he shall be punished

or fined as the Officers shall decree.

9th. That if any of the said Company shall die or be killed in the

voyage, and any prizes be taken before or during the action in which

he is so killed, his share or shares shall be paid to his legal

representatives.

10th. That whoever deserts the said Vessel, within the time

hereinafter mentioned, shall forfeit his Prize-money to the Owners

and Company of the said Vessel, his debts to any person on board

being first paid out of it, provided it does not amount to more than

one half the same.

11th. That on the death of the Captain, the command to devolve on

the next in command and so in rotation.

12th. That no one of said company shall sell any more than one half

his share or right of claim thereto of any prize previous to her

being taken.

13th. That the Captain and Officers shall appoint an agent of said

Vessel’s company for and during the term of the said cruise.

14th. That all and everyone of said Company do agree to serve on

board of said Vessel for the term of four months, conformable to the

terms herein mentioned, beginning the said term at the time of her

departure from the harbour of Bristol.

15th. That One Half of the Nett proceeds of all prizes taken by the

said Vessel which is appropriated to the Vessel’s Company shall be

divided among them in the following manner (viz) To the Captain

sixteen Shares and all such privileges and freedoms as are allowed

to the Captains of Private armed Vessels of War from this Port.

To the First Lieutenant nine Shares. To the 2d and 3d Lieutenants

and Surgeon eight Shares each. Prize masters and Master’s Mate

and Captain of Marines six Shares each; Carpenter, Boatswain and

Gunner four Shares each. Boatswain’s Mates two and one half Shares

each. The residue to be divided among the Company in equal Shares

excepting Landsmen or raw hands who draw one and one half Shares

each, and boys who draw one Share each. Ten Shares to be reserved to

the order of the Captain to be distributed by him to such as he may

deem deserving among the Vessel’s Company.

The Yankee was immediately and immensely successful. In this respect

she was unlike the other privateers of the “War of 1812.” It is a

mistake to suppose that the business of privateering was, as a rule,

a successful one. Most of the vessels engaged in it barely paid

their expenses. To very many the cruise resulted only in a loss.

Much depended on the sailing qualities of the ship, and the way

in which she was handled; but much more depended upon sheer luck.

The privateers, as a rule, did an enormous amount of damage to the

shipping of the enemy without reaping any corresponding advantage

themselves. The Yankee, however, not only inflicted enormous damage

upon the enemy but was also enormously profitable to her owners.

Her officers on her first cruise were Oliver Wilson,[43] captain, and

Manly Sweet, James Usher, 2d, and Thomas H. Russell, lieutenants.

She carried a crew of 115 men (they must have been packed like

sardines), and made for the coast of Nova Scotia. One of her first

prizes was the Royal Bounty, a full rigged ship of 659 tons (about

four times the size of the Yankee, but manned by a crew of only 25

men). The Bounty was taken after a running fight in which three

Americans were wounded, while two of the English were killed and

seven wounded. The boldness of Captain Wilson in attacking a vessel

so much larger than his own was remarkable, but the end justified his

conduct. As a rule the privateers avoided engagements with ships of

superior size, remembering that, primarily, their object was not to

fight battles for the glory of the flag, but to capture ships for

their own pecuniary advantage. They could and did fight bravely and

successfully upon occasion, but, ordinarily, deemed it wiser to show

their heels to a superior foe. Nine other prizes were taken on the

first cruise of less than three months, the most valuable of which

was the ship Francis whose cargo netted more than $200,000 to her

captors. That first cruise paid for the brigantine several times

over, and resulted in a dividend of more than $700 a share.

Small wonder then that the Bristol sailors almost fought for a place

on her decks for her second cruise, when she sailed again from the

harbor on the fifteenth of October. The journal of that second cruise

is hereinafter published in full. Captain Wilson’s instructions this

time were to scour the west coast of Africa and to come home in the

track of vessels sailing to Europe from Brazil and the West Indies.

One hundred and fifteen days after the Yankee had sailed out from the

harbor two boys were “shinning up” the masts of two vessels tied up

at a wharf, in the good old Bristol way already described (p. 30). As

the victor in the contest placed his cap upon the cap of the topmast

he saw something which caused him, leaving his cap where it was,

to slide down mast and shroud regardless of damage to trousers and

hands, and to go running up the street crying out at the top of his

voice, “The Yankee is coming up the Bay with a prize on each side of

her.” It was even so. The prizes were the Shannon, a fine brig of 200

tons, and the letter of marque schooner Alder. The dividend for each

share in the second cruise was $338.40.

On May 10, 1813, the brigantine was commissioned for her third

cruise. Elisha Snow was her Captain. The Lieutenants were Thomas

Jones, Samuel Barton and George A. Bruce. British war vessels were

swarming along the coast. Captain Snow learned that a frigate and a

fourteen-gun brig were waiting for him near Block Island. Choosing

his time with care he sailed from Newport on May 20 and steered

joyfully for British waters. His instructions were to “take enough

prizes to make up a handsome cruise, calculating one-half the prizes

to be retaken.” Three months later he was again lying at anchor in

Bristol harbor. Seven prizes were taken on this cruise but most of

them were recaptured. The most important of them was the “snow”

Thames, of 312 tons burden, with 287 bales of cotton on board. Vessel

and cargo were valued at $110,000. The prize money for each share was

$173.54.

The fourth cruise was almost a failure. A new set of officers was on

board. They were Thomas Jones, captain, and Thomas Milton, George

Eddy and Sampson Gullifer, lieutenants. All told there were 109

persons on the ship. Among the crew we still see the names of Jack

Jibsheet and Cuffee Cockroach enumerated as cabin boys. They seem

to have been steadily attached to the vessel. Almost all the names

of the ship’s crew were British. It is very likely, however, that

the two cabin boys, notwithstanding their pure Anglo-Saxon names,

may have been of African lineage. The instructions this time were to

cruise “on the track of homeward bound vessels near the Grand Banks.”

Prizes were to make for Nantucket Shoals and to get into the first

port on the Vineyard Sound, avoiding Boston. But two prizes reached

port, and the dividend for each share was only $17.29.

There was no competition for berths on the fifth cruise. Indeed,

some of the sailors swam ashore before the privateer left the harbor

of Bristol.[44] All the probabilities seemed to point rather to a

prison in England than a profit in America. Elisha Snow was again

in command. His Lieutenants were Samuel Barton, John Smith and

Francis Elliott. Thomas Jones, the captain of the voyage before,

was second captain. The cruise was not finished as planned because

the Yankee was driven into New Bedford by an English man-of-war and

the crew deserted almost to a man. Four prizes only were taken,

three of which were of no value whatever. But the fourth reached

Portland, Maine, in safety. She was a full rigged ship, the San Jose

Indiano,[45] and, with her cargo, sold for more than half a million

dollars. The voyage that had been undertaken with the greatest

hesitation was the most profitable of all. The two gentlemen of

color, Jibsheet and Cockroach, received respectively $738.19 and

$1,121.88 as their dividends. Captain Snow’s “lay” was $15,789.69,

and the owners realized $223,313.10. It was the luckiest cruise made

by any privateer during the war. Naturally resulted a season of

great hilarity in the home port. Imagine the effect upon a little

town of less than 3,000 inhabitants today if a million dollars were

suddenly and unexpectedly poured into the pockets of its people!

Notwithstanding the immense risks there were volunteers enough for

the sixth cruise--which was to be the last one. The sailing orders

for this cruise were issued October 1, 1814.

Captain Snow had apparently decided to let well enough alone, for

William C. Jenckes was the new captain. The second captain was

Benjamin K. Churchill, “a fellow of infinite humor” as we shall

presently see. A. B. Hetherington, Henry Wardwell and Samuel Grafton

were the lieutenants. The times had become most strenuous as may

be judged from this section of the sailing directions: “You must

depend principally upon the goods you take on board to make your

cruise, as the prizes you man will be very uncertain.” In the private

instructions issued to Captain Jenckes special attention was paid to

the definition of “neutral” property. The American privateers had

inflicted so much damage upon English shipping that the merchants

of England had been forced to conceal their property under neutral

flags. The captain of the Yankee was instructed to send in a neutral

if he had destroyed any papers, or if he had fired upon him. “If

any one of a House shipping property resides in England, or in an

English colony, that share of the shipment is a good prize of war.

Notwithstanding he may have been born a neutral, and lived in a

neutral country all his life; if he is now domiciled in the enemy’s

country, it is sufficient to condemn his property.” The cruise lasted

105 days. Five prizes were taken and reported to the owners in a

letter written by Second Captain Churchill. Only one of these brought

money to their captors. This was the brig Courtney, which with its

cargo sold for $70,000. One was the General Wellesley, an East Indian

teak built ship of 600 tons, in which its captors at first thought

they saw a second San Jose Indiano. Her value was estimated at upward

of $200,000. She was ordered to make for the port of Charleston, S.

C., but, with two of her prize crew and 52 of her original crew of

Lascars, was lost on Charleston Bar. Captain Churchill ended his

letter as follows:--“P. S. I have lost one of my legs on this cruise.”

Less than three years was the Yankee upon the seas as a private armed

vessel of war. In those years she captured British property of the

value of more than five million dollars. She sent into the town of

Bristol a million dollars as the profit from her six cruises. No

other privateer sailing from an American port ever established such

a record.

In the year 1812 when to most men the shipping business seemed likely

to continue to be the most prominent in the country Mr. De Wolf

foresaw the immense development of manufacturing industries. In that

year he built in the town of Coventry, R. I., a site chosen because

of its water power, a cotton factory, the Arkwright Mills. These he

continued to own and direct until his death. As has been already

stated he placed some of his vessels in the whale fishery, continuing

in that business only as long as his ships made profitable voyages.

He seemed to judge unerringly concerning business possibilities. All

this time he was cultivating the arable portion of the nearly one

thousand acres of land which he owned in and near Bristol. He built

for himself a stately mansion, on a little hill always spoken of by

Bristol people as “The Mount,” in which his descendants continued to

reside until its destruction by fire a few years ago.

Inevitably he came to take a leading part in political matters. For

almost thirty years he represented his native town in the Rhode

Island Legislature, laying aside the gavel of the Speaker of that

body in 1821 to become a member of the United States Senate. As a

Senator his immense business experience made him the recognized

authority in commercial matters. He was a strong “protectionist”

and was the first in the Senate to propose the “drawback” system

which has since been so largely adopted in the United States and

elsewhere. He was one of the few Senators, perhaps the only one from

New England, who were accustomed to ride to Washington in their own

coaches. Happily this relic of the luxury of a hundred years ago

still remains in the possession of a descendant of Mark Anthony De

Wolf, Colonel Samuel Pomeroy Colt of Bristol. Mr. De Wolf’s life at

Washington was not pleasing to him. The progress of Congressional

legislation was too slow for his active mind, and his constantly

increasing business demanded all of his attention. He therefore

resigned from the United States Senate long before his term expired

and joyfully resumed his old position as a representative of Bristol

in the Legislature of Rhode Island.

James De Wolf died at the residence of one of his daughters in New

York City, December 21, 1837. The tidings of his death crushed the

town in which he was born. No man had ever done so much for Bristol

as he. He had always made its welfare his own, had loyally advocated

every scheme for its advancement, had gladly contributed to every

worthy project put forward by its people. When he died there was no

one to take his place. Never was any Bristolian more sincerely or

more deeply mourned.

2--JOURNAL OF THE YANKEE

JOURNAL OF THE PRIVATE ARMED BRIGANTINE YANKEE, OLIVER WILSON

COMMANDER--COMMENCED ON THE 15TH OCTOBER, 1812.

(Kept by Noah Jones, Captain’s Clerk).

Thursday, 15th October, 1812.

At 4 p. m. Capt. Wilson, accompanied by his Lieutenants, Master,

Surgeon and Clerk, came on board. All hands were piped to muster, and

on inspection the Commander found his crew consisted of ninety-five

as prime fellows as ever went to sea.

N. B. The _Yankee_ is completely equipped with arms, ammunition,

provisions and other necessary articles for a six months cruise. She

mounts 14 guns at present--8 twelve pound carronades, 4 long sixes,

and two long fours--has one long double-fortified twelve pounder (a

beautiful piece) in her hold, to be hereafter mounted,--with 60 stand

of arms and a large quantity of pistols, cutlashes and boarding pikes.

Friday, 16th October 1812

The Commander quartered the officers and seamen at their several

stations in time of action, regulated the Messes, fixed the allowance

of provisions, water, etc., ordered a regular Bill of Fare, and

pointed out to every officer and man his duty on board the _Yankee_.

At 9 a. m. Lieutenant Hardiman of the Army came on board to enquire

for a deserter. Capt. Wilson immediately ordered the Boatswain’s

Mate to pipe all hands on deck and requested Lieutenant Hardiman to

examine them man by man, to discover his deserter. He did so without

success.

At 2 p. m. the wind coming suddenly round to the N. W. Captain Wilson

gave orders to loose the foretopsail, send up the foretop-gallant

yard, fire a gun, and set the signals for sailing. At 4 the wind

shifted to the N. E.--dark and cloudy with appearance of bad weather.

At 5 clewed up the foretopsail and got the barge in upon deck.

Saturday, 17th October 1812

At daylight sailing orders were issued by the Commander. Loosed

square foresail, foretopsail and mainsail, fired gun, and set our

colours. At 6 a. m. unmoored and got underway; when abeam of the

Private Armed Schooner _Tom_ of Baltimore, Thomas Wilson Commander,

the officers and company of the _Yankee_ gave them three cheers which

was immediately returned. Fired a salute of three guns as we passed

Fort Walcott. Wind N. N. W. fair weather and extremely pleasant. At 7

passed R. I. Light. At ½ past 7 gibed ship to the S. S. E.--set all

drawing sails--considerable swell. At ½ past 9 a. m. Block Island

bore west, distant 5 leagues;--from which we take our departure on

our cruise. At meridian discovered a sail at a great distance--could

not distinguish what she was. Lat. 40°56′.

1st Day--Sunday 18th October 1812

First part light winds and hazy weather. 2 p. m. discovered a

schooner ahead standing to the westward. At 3 saw a large ship,

also standing to the westward. At 4 p. m. piped all hands to

quarters and exercised the seamen and marines at the great guns and

small arms. The Commander found them well disciplined and fit for

immediate service. 5 a. m. discovered a sail 2 points on the lee

bow. Took in the studding sails on the stabbord side and hauled up

to the eastward. 6.30 a. m. saw another sail right ahead; took in

larboard studding sails and royal, and brought her close upon the

wind--heading N. E. At 9 a. m. having lost sight of the sail kept

away to the S. E. and set studding sails. Latter part gentle breezes

and hazy weather. At meridian no sail in sight. Course S. E. b S.

Lat. Obs. 39°51′.

(For several days the Journal chronicles mainly the condition of the

weather and the necessary changes in the sails. The fact was quickly

established that the vessel was “perfectly staunch and strong

and a most excellent sea boat.” The brigantine was always a most

remarkable sailor. She answered the helm readily and scudded over

the waves while other vessels were still courting the capricious

winds. After the war, when she was simply a merchant vessel plying

between Bristol and the Island of Cuba, she made some runs between

the Moro and Block Island light in shorter time than that scheduled

for the regular trips of the steamship lines. With a man o’ war’s

crew to handle her, her speed must have been marvellous. Only the

more important portions of the Journal will henceforth be printed.

The total number of persons on board when the “Muster Roll” was

called on the second day was one hundred.--_Ed._)

2d Day--Monday October 19th

The log ends with the following paragraph. “The Surgeon has been much

indisposed with seasickness since he left Newport. He finds the best

remedy to be sleep. There is only one person (John Briggs) with a

sore thumb on the Surgeon’s list.”

(Apparently an epidemic of sore thumbs had been feared.--_Ed._)

3d Day--Tuesday October 20th

.... 7 p. m. Shipped a heavy sea abaft the beam which stove in all

three of the Arm Chests, and capsized the musquets, bayonets,

cutlashes, pistols, armourer’s tools etc. into the lee scuppers. The

Carpenter repaired the damage as soon as possible and replaced the

arms.... No sail in sight.... The Surgeon still indisposed. John

Briggs and the Cook on the Doctor’s list. Lat. Obs. 36°15′.

4th Day--Wednesday October 21st

.... The officers of Marines, Armourer and his mates busy in cleaning

arms from the rust contracted during the bad weather, oiling them,

and stowing them in the arm-chests in good order. John Briggs, Cyrus

Simmons and Ned Ingraham on the Doctor’s list.

5th Day--Thursday October 22d

.... At 4 p. m. all hands piped to quarters. The Commander again

pointed out to every man his station; appointed Lieutenants Barton

and Jones to lead the 1st and 2d Divisions of Boarders, and

distributed the swords, cutlashes and pistols among the seamen. The

officers then exercised the seamen and marines at the great guns and

small arms, going through the usual manouvres during an engagement.

After which all hands were summoned aft and the Commander read over

certain Instructions regulating, under severe penalties, the conduct

of the officers and crew, upon all occasions, particularly in time

of action, or when on board an enemy’s vessel.... The Surgeon still

indisposed and ate no dinner. Briggs, Simmons, Ingraham and Angell on

the Doctor’s list with trifling complaints. Lat. Obs. 35°24′.

(From this time forward Lieut. Barton is very much in the

foreground. He was a near relative of Col. Barton of “The Rhode

Island Line,” who in the Revolutionary War had distinguished himself

by his daring capture of the British General Prescott within the

Enemy’s lines. It goes without saying, therefore, that he was quite

devoid of fear. In after life he still followed the sea even though

he had become extremely corpulent and had acquired an abdominal

development which compelled universal attention if not admiration.

Once he was chased by a French Privateer. A shot which happened to

strike the ship’s cat scattered her entrails all over the deck. The

cabin boy cast a startled glance at the dead cat, then looked at his

Captain and was immediately doubled up with laughter. “Well,” said

the Captain, “what are you laughing about now?” “Nothing,” said the

boy, “only I was thinking what an awful mess there would be if one

of those balls should strike you in the belly.”--_Ed._)

6th Day Friday October 23d

.... At 6 a. m. the man at the mast head called out a sail bearing

N. b E. distant about two leagues. 6.30 a. m. piped all hands to

quarters, loosed the guns, and cleared for action. 7.20 a. m. fired

a gun without shot, upon which the sail hove to.... At 8 a. m. ran

under the lee of a large copper-bottomed American ship and sent the

barge on board. Found her to be the _Ariadne_ of Boston, Captain

Bartlett Holmes, from Alexandria bound to Cadiz with a full cargo

of flour, 17 days out. Capt. Holmes informed us that on the 11th

inst. he was boarded by an officer from the United States, Commodore

Decatur. (The _President_, _Congress_ and _Argus_ were in company

standing to the eastward.) The _Ariadne’s_ crew having mutinied Capt.

Holmes requested Com. Decatur to take four of the ringleaders on

board the frigate, which he did accordingly. Capt. H. mentioned that

his ship had sprung a leak, and being short handed, with a disorderly

mutinous crew, he was bound home again in distress. The Commander put

a letter on board, directed to the owners, informing them of the good

health and spirits of the crew, and our situation in Lat. 25° N. and

Long. 56° W....

7th Day Saturday 24th Oct.

.... Lat. 36°9′ ...

8th Day Sunday 25th Oct.

.... Briggs, Simmons, Lewis and Angell on the Surgeon’s list with

light complaints. Lat. Obs. 35°15′. Long. pr, lunar Obs. at 12

Meridian 53°3′.

9th Day Monday 26th Oct.

Fair weather with strong gales from the westward. Scudding before

the wind under square-foresail, fore topsail and foretopmast

staysail. At 5 p. m. discovered from the deck (owing to the

negligence of the man at the foretop) two large sail in our

wake, distant about three leagues, standing after us with their

topgallant sails up. Immediately hauled up to the S. E. and set

square-foresail, single-reefed mainsail and fore and aft foresail.

The sails astern frequently luffed up and yawned off and when we

saw them last stood to the N. E.... Frequent squalls with rain and

a tremendous sea. Course S. E. b E. under three-reefed mainsail

close-reefed square-foresail, and double-reefed foretopsail, with the

foretopmast-staysail. Same persons on the Surgeon’s list. Shipped

a great deal of water upon deck, the comins of the sea frequently

coming on board and penetrating every part of the vessel. Lat. 34°40′.

10th Day Tuesday 27th Oct.

.... No sail in sight and nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 33°26′. N.

B. It is something singular that since we left port we have had only

one pleasant day. There has been a continual succession of gales of

wind from all parts of the compass, attended with torrents of rain,

squalls, whirlwinds, thunder and lightning, and a tremendous sea

frequently breaking on board and occasioning considerable damage;

carrying away several spars and staving the arm-chests. Indeed it may

be said that our vessel has sailed thus far under but not over the

Atlantic Ocean.

11th Day Wednesday 28th Oct.

.... Middle and latter part of the day stiff gales with a high sea.

Shipped a great deal of water upon deck. Lat. Obs. 32°5′.

12th Day Thursday 29th Oct.

During these 24 hours strong gales with frequent squalls of wind and

rain, and a very high sea frequently breaking on board. Lat. Obs.

30°27′. Lunar Obs. at 23 M. past Meridian 41°55′41″. Cyrus Simmons,

John Briggs, Amos A. Allen, James Angell, Ebenezer Byrum and William

Redding on the Surgeon’s list.

13th Day Friday 30th Oct.

(A delightful change.) At meridian the weather began to moderate.

1 p. m. fair weather with a clear horizon and the sea going down.

Let all the reefs out of the mainsail and square-foresail, sent up

maintopmast, rigged out the jib-boom and set the jib. At 9 p. m. took

a single reef in the fore-topsail and mainsail. During the night

fresh breezes and clear weather. Lat. Obs. 28°43′. Long. per Lunar

Obs. at 18 m. past 10--40°11′.

14th Day Saturday 31st Oct.

Lat. 29° N. & Long. 40°20′ W. At 6 a. m. discovered a sail from the

masthead at a great distance bearing W. S. W. Light breezes from the

north inclining to a calm. Piped all hands upon deck, set all drawing

sails, in chase and got out the sweeps. 9 a. m. found we came up

rapidly with the chase which appeared to be a brig standing to the S.

W. At meridian spoke the Portuguese Brig _Henriette_, Capt. Jenkins,

from Madeira, 18 days out, in ballast, bound to Philadelphia. Capt.

Jenkins informed us that on the 21st he spoke an American ship and

brig bound home; on the 22d he was boarded by an officer from a

British Frigate. Captain Jenkins left at Madeira several American

vessels bound home with full cargoes; also two English ships loading

with wine for the West Indies. Shortly before Capt. Jenkins left

Madeira an English brig loaded with wine sailed for the West Indies,

likewise three English East Indiamen with full cargoes, under the

convoy of a British Frigate as far as Palmas. There were no King’s

vessels at Madeira. An American Privateer, owned at New Orleans, was

cruising off Madeira and had taken several prizes!! Capt. Jenkins

being short of bread our Commander supplied him with this necessary

article, and received in return some vinegar, fish and fruit.

Permitted the _Henriette_ to proceed.... Lat. Obs. 27°40′. (Wrote a

letter to the Owners by the _Henriette_, Capt. Jenkins, informing

them of our situation and of the good health of our Officers and

Company.)

15th Day Sunday 1st Nov.

.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 27°14′ N. Long. 38°28′ W.

16th Day Monday 2d Nov.

At 4 p. m. piped all hands to quarters and the Officers examined them

man by man, to discover whether they were neat and clean in their

persons and dress--according to the Commander’s instructions--to

prevent fevers and the scurvy during a long cruise. The crew

were then summoned aft, and the Captain’s Clerk read the General

Instructions to the Officers and Company, regulating their conduct

upon all occasions during the cruise. From 8 a. m. till 4 p. m. the

Watches employed about ship’s duty; the Carpenter and his Mates busy

about making new arm-chests; sail-makers in repairing ring-tale;

Officers of Marines and Armorer in cleaning arms, and numbering

muskets and cartridge boxes, and seamen and marines in mending

rigging, drying sails, and other necessary duty.... The Surgeon is

quite indisposed with the headache, loss of appetite and low spirits.

Lat. Obs. 20°16′.

17th Day Tuesday 3d Nov.

.... The watch only employed on ship’s duty. Samuel Boynton and Ned

Ingraham on the Surgeon’s list. Lat. Obs. 25°3′.

18th Day Wednesday 4th Nov.

.... Several tropic birds in sight.... The Prize-Master,

Quartermaster’s Mates, inferior officers and nearly all hands busy

in repairing the nettings, bulwarks and side-cloths.... Lat. Obs.

23°44′ (The Commander issued particular written instructions to his

Officers, prescribing their respective duties upon all occasions

during the cruise. These instructions were drawn according to the

customs and usages of the British and American navies.)

19th Day Thursday 5th Nov.

At sunrise discovered a sail bearing 2 points on the larboard bow.

Jibed ship to the E. N. E. and set all drawing sails in chase. At

8 a. m. found the strange vessel to be a brig with her starboard

tacks on board, standing to the westward. 9 a. m. fired a gun to

windward, upon which the sail luffed up and showed Spanish colours,

and then bore down to us. Took in all the light sails and then hove

to. At 10 a. m. the sail came under our lee and we sent our barge on

board. Found her to be the Spanish _San Jose_, _alias_ _El Pajaro_,

Captain Miguel Burgas, from Cadiz, 20 days out, with a full cargo of

red wines, aguadiente, fruit, sweet oil, soaps, olives, stationary,

(_sic_) musical instruments and ladies’ veils. When two days out

Capt. Burgas saw a Spanish schooner standing for the Canaries. The

_San Jose_ left at Cadiz several American vessels bound to sea under

Spanish colours; also several English men of war, and transports.

Capt. Burgas informed us that on the 25th of August the French army

raised the siege of Cadiz, and retreated with great expedition,

having previously destroyed their artillery. It was reported at

Cadiz that there had been several skirmishes between the French and

Russian armies but no decisive battle. Having examined the papers

of the _San Jose_, and found the vessel and cargo to be _bona fide_

Spanish property, permitted her to proceed on her voyage.... Lat.

Obs. 22°49′. Long. D. R. 20°57′ San Jose Long. 25 d. Cadiz. Surgeon’s

list. James Angell, Cyrus Simmons, John Briggs, Samuel Boynton,

Joseph Lewis and John Koster.

20th Day Friday 6th Nov.

At 1 p. m. being in Lat. 22°49′, the Crew of the _Yankee_ preparing

to celebrate Old Neptune’s ceremonies on passing the Tropics.

Accordingly the old Sea God, attended by his Lady, barbers and

constables, dressed in the most fantastic manner, with painted

faces, and swabs upon their heads, hailed our brig, came on board,

were received with a salute and three cheers, demanded of Captain

Wilson whether he had any of his sons on board, and welcomed the

_Yankee_ into his dominions. On being answered in the affirmative

he asked permission to initiate the marines and raw hands into the

usual mysteries on such occasions. He then examined the Surgeon and

being convinced that he came to sea to take care of his children

when they were sick, he excused him from being shaved with an iron

hoop, and from passing through the other disagreeable parts of the

ceremony. After which Neptune and his companions went forward and

regularly initiated about one fourth of our crew into all the curious

forms requisite to make them true sons of the ocean. The several

candidates for a seaman’s character were properly painted, slushed,

shaved, ducked, questioned and sworn. Their singular questions and

answers excited infinite laughter and merriment. After the ceremony

concluded, the Commander, Officers and whole crew joined in a Ducking

match, which aided in great good humour and pleasantry. The remainder

of the day and evening were devoted to fencing, boxing, wrestling,

singing, drinking, laughing, and every species of mirth and fun. Lat.

Obs. 21°58′.

21st Day Saturday 7th Nov.

.... Nothing remarkable.... Same persons on Surgeon’s list. Lat. Obs.

21°34′.

22d Day Sunday 8th Nov.

.... Cleaned out the cabin and got all the baggage and trunks on

deck. Examined the Officers and crew, man by man, and found them neat

and clean. At 10 a. m. the Commander and Officers attended prayers in

the cabin. The Marines employed in singing psalms and the sailors in

washing and mending their clothes. Lat. Obs. 21°16′. Lunar Obs. at

5-20 was 31°17′. Same persons on the Surgeon’s list.

23d Day Monday 9th Nov.

.... James Angell, Cyrus Simmons, John Briggs, Samuel Boynton,

Joseph Lewis, John Koster and James Crawford on the Surgeon’s list

with various complaints--none dangerous. Lat. 20°4′. A singular

circumstance occurred to day. On opening a dolphin which one of the

Prize-Masters caught we found a pistol ball in him which had been

discharged about an hour before.

24th Day Tuesday 10th Nov.

.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 20°19′.

25th Day Wednesday 11th Nov.

.... At 10 a. m. all hands were exercised in firing with the musket

at a target. Found most of the crew to be excellent marksmen....

Observed the water to be considerably colored. Sounded with 100

fathoms. No bottom. Lat. Obs. 19°11′. Same persons on Surgeon’s list;

none incapable of duty.

26th Day Thursday 12th Nov.

.... At 4 p. m. the Marines trained to the Manual Exercise; also

to several new manouvres _a la mode de Francais_. The Boarders

amuse themselves with fencing and the rest of the crew act as

spectators.... Lat. Obs. 18°19′. Long. per Lunar Obs. at 2 p. m.

28°53′30″. Crawford and Koster struck off the Surgeon’s list. The

rest recovering fast.

27th Day Friday 13th Nov.

.... At 4 p. m. the Commander exercised the Officers,--and the

Captain of Marines his men and the Boarders,--to the use of the

musket according to the French system of loading and firing without

using the ramrod.... At ½ past 11 a. m. Captain Wilson called out

“Land ho! right ahead!!” ... At meridian found the land to be, by an

observation of the sun, the Island of St. Anthony, one of the Cape

de Verds, situated in Lat. N. 17°20′ and 24°59′ W. Long. Lat. Obs.

17°15′. The island bore when first we made it S. E. b E.--distant

about 5 miles. Cyrus Simmons, James Angell, James Thomas, Watson

Morris, Aaron Mason, Samuel Boynton and Ned Ingraham on the Surgeon’s

list; none incapable of duty. On examination the Commander finds

Master Snow’s lunar observations to be very correct, and that the

dead reckoning could not be depended on. THUS in 27 days we have run

a distance of 3,500 miles, notwithstanding occasional head winds and

a great deal of light calm weather. Nothing very remarkable occurred

during our passage.

28th Day Saturday 14th Nov.

(Variable winds and frequent changing of sails. Strong gales and

heavy squalls). No land in sight. Lat. Obs. 16°20′.

29th Day Sunday 15th Nov.

(Sighted several of the Cape Verde Islands) Hazy weather and frequent

squalls. Made and took in sail occasionally. Lat Obs. 16°21′.

30th Day Monday 15th [sic] Nov.

Fresh breezes and cloudy weather. At 4 p. m. came to in a wide bay at

the south end of the Island of St. Nicholas; out with the barge and

the Commander, Surgeon and Captain of Marines went on shore unarmed.

Found the Island to be mountainous, barren and uncultivated. Saw only

a few small huts near the shore inhabited by blacks who led us to a

well of water, brackish and sulphurous. They told us we could fill

only three barrels a day, and that there was no anchorage except

within cable length of this iron bound coast. We saw the wreck of

a large armed ship which was cast away there a short time before.

They informed us there was a town or village two leagues distant,

situated in a fine valley producing corn, grapes, fruits, etc., where

the Governor resided, but that wood and provisions were very dear.

Capt. Wilson therefore concluded it would not be advisable to anchor

there, purchased a few pigs, returned on board, and set sail with a

fair wind for the Island of St. Jago.... At meridian having run down

the west side of the Isle of May, and looked into the port where

there were only two small Portuguese boats, we wore ship and stood

over for St. Jago. The Isle of May appears more fertile than any of

the Cape de Verdes we have seen yet. Habitations are scattered over

every part of the Island and salt works appear along the beach. There

is a small town composed of 15 or 20 houses at the south end of the

Island but no fortifications that we could discover. Isle of May Lat.

S. W. pt. 15°4′ N. Long. 22°46′ W. Joseph Antony, Henry Mitchell, and

George Schoonerson added to the Surgeon’s list.

31st Day Tuesday 17th Nov.

The Officers and Company feasted most sumptuously on the pigs they

bought at St. Nicholas. At 1 p. m. came to anchor in the harbour of

Port Praya, Island of St. Jago. We ran from the Isle of May to that

place in 1¾ hours, a distance of 30 miles, having a fine breeze from

the N. N. E. and all sails set. At 2 p. m. the Commander, attended

by his Surgeon and Clerk, went on shore. He reported himself to the

Governor-General and Intendant as the Armed American Brig _Yankee_,

and requested permission to obtain a supply of water, wood and

fresh provisions. This permission was immediately granted, and the

Governor expressed much satisfaction, and some degree of surprise,

at seeing an American armed vessel in this distant part of the

world. He inquired very particularly concerning the events of the war

between America and England, and regretted that this circumstance

had deprived these islands of the American commerce. He said they

were in great want of flour, bread, rice, etc., and offered a supply

of every article our vessel wanted in return for those articles. He

informed us no English vessel had touched at this island for some

weeks past, but that there was an old British brig on the south

side of St. Anthony loading with salt for the Brazils. The Governor

further mentioned that the Private Armed American Ship called the

_Alfred_, Captain Williams, touched at this island a short time since

and obtained a supply of water and provisions. The _Alfred_ had taken

and manned two valuable prizes, and was then bound on a long cruise.

On taking leave the General told Capt. Wilson that he should expect

the customary salute which would be returned. 6 p. m. the barge

returned on board. At 8 a. m. we fired a regular United States salute

of 17 guns which was immediately returned by an equal number from the

town. Part of the Officers and men employed in filling water and the

remainder about ship’s duty.

32d Day Wednesday 18th Nov.

4 p. m. got all our water on board. 8 a. m. the Intendant-General,

Dr. Madina, came on board with the Governor-General’s compliments on

our arrival. He remained and took breakfast with us, and appeared

pleased with the appearance of the _Yankee_. 9 a. m. Capt. Wilson

went on shore with part of the crew and such articles as he had

agreed to exchange for fresh provisions. On examining the Intendant’s

book of entries find that two English brigs from London, bound to

the Cape of Good Hope, touched here for water on the 29th ult. and

also the Sloop of War _Morjiana_, Capt. Georges, with despatches for

the same place. The Officers and Company have caught a great quantity

of fish of different kinds since we came to anchor.... William

Redding and Preserved Atwood added to the Surgeon’s list.

33d Day Thursday 19th Nov.

First part of these 24 hours got all our wood and fresh stock on

board. The Commander and several of his Officers dined with the

Intendant. At ½ past 9 p. m. they returned on board. Immediately got

under way with a fresh breeze.... N. B. The harbour of Port Praya

is spacious, secure and of easy entrance, with good anchorage in 10

fathoms water. The town, also called Praya, is situated on the top

of a mountain, or rock, and encloses an extensive plain, the houses

forming nearly a circle. There is a small stone church and four

other decent buildings. Both the port and town are well fortified,

mounting at least 70 pieces of cannon. The garrison however is most

miserable, being composed entirely of blacks without discipline,

arms, or even decent clothing. It is a singular fact that most of

their musquets are without locks. We have not the least hesitation

in saying that with thirty men we might have surprised and taken

the town. The officers of the _Yankee_ feel much gratified with the

politeness and attentions they received from the Governor General Don

Antonine Cortine Del Ancastra, and from the Intendant De Madina. They

have obtained a sufficient supply of wood and water for at least two

months, and as much live stock and fruits as they wished to take on

board. These articles were purchased at a small expense. Port Praya

Lat. 14°52′ N. Long. 23°30′ W. Same persons on the Surgeon’s list.

34th Day Friday 20th Nov.

.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 14°37′.

35th Day Saturday 21st Nov.

.... No sail or land in sight. Lat. Obs. 14°22′.

36th Day Sunday 22d Nov.

(Cape Verds again in sight). Lat. Obs. 14°26′. Surgeon’s list--James

Thomas, Lemuel Baker, George Gunnerson, John Briggs, Lyman Peck, Asa

Switchell, William Redding, Ned Ingraham, Joseph Lewis, James Angell

and Gibsheet. None disabled from duty but Redding.

37th Day Monday 23d Nov.

½ past meridian the Island of Goree hove in sight distant about 2

leagues to windward. 1 p. m. saw a schooner under full sail standing

out of Goree harbour towards us. Piped all hands to quarters. 2 p. m.

the schooner tacked to windward; immediately tacked ship and set all

sail in chase. At 3 passed within 5 miles of Goree.[46] Discovered

a large English Brig and several small craft at anchor under the

fort.... Finding we came up rapidly with the chase, and believing

her to be an armed vessel, again piped all hands to quarters and

cleared for action. 9 p. m. hoisted a light on our fore rigging, and

discharged several muskets as a signal for the chase to heave to; not

obeying these signals fired a shot under her stern; still continuing

her course fired one of the bow guns, well loaded, directly into

her; upon which she immediately bore away, and ran down close

under our lee. As she passed us Capt. Wilson hailed her with the

usual questions, and by the answers found her to be “His Britannic

Majesty’s Schooner _St. Jago_, from Goree bound to Senegal.” After

which the British Commander hailed us and was told we were “The Armed

American Brig _Yankee_”; after which he demanded “How we dared to

fire into His Majesty’s schooner and ordered us to send our boat on

board.” Captain Wilson replied “I will not, strike your colours or

I will sink you.” Instantly His Britannic Majesty’s Schooner wore

upon her keel, and luffed up close on the wind, to prepare (as we

supposed) for action. Not thinking it advisable to engage a King’s

vessel, without knowing her force, at close quarters during a dark

night, we resolved to wait until daylight, and therefore stood

after her under easy sail. At 11 p. m. the _St. Jago_ fired a shot

which passed over us; we returned the compliment by giving him Long

Tom--doubly charged with round and langrage. We thus returned shot

for shot until 1 p. m., when the Commander and Officers thinking it

inadvisable to engage a government vessel, where we should only get

hard blows, and probably lose some spars and men, ordered the Master

to make sail and stand to the W. S. W. to deceive the Enemy as to our

cruising station. At 2 p. m. lost sight of him astern. The Officers

and men remained at quarters upwards of 5 hours and displayed great

resolution and courage.... Lat. Obs. 14°2′.

38th Day Tuesday 24th Nov.

.... Land in sight.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 11°40′.

39th Day Wednesday 25th Nov.

.... At 4 p. m. Edward James, one of the seamen, received 12 lashes,

in the main rigging, in presence of the whole crew, as a punishment

for stealing a shirt from one of the Marines.[47] John Koster struck

off the Surgeon’s list--the other invalids recovering fast--none

incapable of duty. Lat. Obs. 8°53′.

40th Day Thursday 26th Nov.

.... Nothing remarkable.... No Obs.

41st Day Friday 27th Nov.

.... At 6 a. m. Jonathan Whitmarsh saw a sail bearing N. b E. distant

about 3 leagues. Set all sail in chase.... 7 a. m. discovered the

sail to be a sloop.... 9 a. m. piped all hands to Quarters. 10 a. m.

cleared for action and fired a gun without shot, upon which the sail

bore down for us. 10.30 she came under our lee with English colours

flying at her main peak. Captain Wilson hailed her and ordered her

to strike her colours instantly, which she did accordingly. Sent

the barge on board. Found her to be the Sloop _Mary Ann_ of London,

Stewart Sutherland, Master, 70 & 21/95 tons burden, copper-bottomed,

armed with 4 carriage guns and navigated by 9 persons, trading upon

the coast, with a cargo of sundries. She was last from Dick’s Cove,

bound to Sierra Leone. Upon examining the _Mary Ann_ and cargo it

was not advisable to send her as a prize to America, but to take

out of her the most valuable part of her cargo and then set her on

fire. Accordingly we received on board the _Yankee_ a quantity of

gold dust (value unknown), some ivory, trade muskets, a few Calcutta

goods, and sundry small articles of no great value. We then set fire

to the _Mary Ann_ and made sail on our course. The probable value

of the _Mary Ann_ and her cargo might be $12,000. Lat. Obs. 7°29′

N. Surgeon’s list James Angell, George Gunnerson, Asa Switchell,

Joseph Butman, Anson A. Allen, John Briggs, & Samuel Boynton. Slight

complaints, none disabled from duty. The weather becomes remarkably

hot, with almost continual calms, light winds, thunder, lightning and

rain.

42d Day Saturday 28th Nov.

.... All hands employed in stowing away the ivory.... Lat. Obs. 7°33′.

43d Day Sunday 29th Nov.

.... Nothing remarkable.... Invalids recovering fast.... Lat. Obs.

7°13′.

44th Day Monday 30th Nov.

.... Nothing remarkable.... (Sail sighted but lost) Lat. Obs. 6°47′.

The weather becomes insufferably hot. Almost continual calms, with a

vertical sun.

45th Day out--1st Dec. 1812

.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 6°45′.

46th Day Wednesday 2d Dec.

.... At 7 a. m. Abner Midget saw a sail right ahead distant about

5 leagues. Got out all the sweeps. 8 a. m. observed several water

spouts under the lee--squally with flying clouds and rain. At 11 made

out the chase to be a schooner standing to the eastward. At meridian

still in chase of the schooner distant about 2 leagues. Lat. Obs.

6°55′.

47th Day Thursday 3d Dec.

At meridian continued in chase of the sail ahead. ½ past 12 got out

the boats to assist the sweeps by towing. Found we came up rapidly

with the chase. 2 p. m. fired a gun; hoisted English colours; not

answered. ½ past 2 p. m. gave her a gun, upon which the chase showed

English colours. 3 p. m. being distant about 1½ miles hoisted

American colours and commenced firing Long Tom, towing the Brig all

the time with the boats. 4 p. m. got the boats astern, piped all

hands to Quarters and cleared for action. Light airs and a smooth

sea. Being now within good gun shot commenced a brisk cannonade on

the starboard side. The chase returned the fire with 4 guns, the shot

frequently falling near and one shot wounding the jib. At 20 minutes

past 4 p. m. the Enemy fired a stern-chaser, double-charged, and

instantly blew up, occasioning a tremendous explosion. Observed the

Enemy to be on fire and several men swimming alongside. Immediately

ceased firing (although her colours were still flying) and sent out

boats with Lieut. Barton and Master Snow on board to save the lives

of the Enemy, and extinguish the fire. They took up the swimmers

and then rowed alongside. The scene that now presented itself to

their view was shocking beyond description. The vessel was still

in flames, the quarter-deck was blown off, the Captain was found

near the mainmast--naked, mangled and burnt in the most shocking

manner, one of the seamen lay near bruised and burnt almost as bad, a

black man was found dead on the cabin floor, and five others around

him apparently dying. All these wounded men were sent on board

the _Yankee_ and there received every possible attention from the

Captain, Surgeon and Officers. Dr. Miller dressed their wounds and

gave them the proper medicines but found the Captain and several of

the blacks in a most dangerous condition. The Captain had received

two deep wounds in the head which penetrated to the skull (probably

from our langrage shot), his arms and legs were much bruised, his

skin nearly all burnt off and his whole system greatly injured by the

concussion. A small black boy had a most singular yet distressing

appearance. This boy was literally blown out of his skin and for some

time after he came on board we thought he was white. The sufferings

of these poor fellows seemed very painful and excruciating. Lieut.

Barton extinguished the fire, sent all the prisoners on board

together with a boatload of sundry articles taken out of the cabin

which had not been consumed. Finding the prize no ways injured except

in her quarter deck the Commander ordered Lieut. Barton with a chosen

crew to remain on board and to keep company with us during the night.

On examination of the Schooner’s papers and log-book we found her to

be the _Letter of Marque_ Schooner called _The Alder_ of Liverpool,

(owned by Charles B. Whitehead) formerly called _La Clarisse_ and

taken from the French, commanded by Edward Crowley, 77 tons burthen,

mounting 4 carriage guns, and navigated by 10 men, besides 11 African

crewmen. She left Sierra Leone 9 days ago bound to the Leeward on

a trading voyage, with an assorted cargo of Bafts,[48] gunpowder,

muskets, bar-lead & iron, beads, flints and sundries. The _Adler_

appears to be about 4 years old, is copper-bottomed, measures 67

feet in length, but her sails are very poor and she does not sail

well. The probable value of this prize in America might be $5000; but

her nett value could not exceed $3000. At 8 p. m. one of the black

seamen died and was thrown overboard. 25 minutes past 2 a. m. Captain

Crowley notwithstanding every medical assistance departed this life

in the greatest agony. For some hours previous to his dissolution

he appeared to suffer excruciating torments and when informed of his

approaching end did not seem sensible of his situation. His body was

committed to the waves with as much decency as was practicable. At 9

a. m. the boy before mentioned also died and had a watery grave. The

white seamen and three other blacks are just wavering between life

and death and we fear can not recover.

The Boatswain related to us the accident which led to the horrid

catastrophy. He said the Captain stood at the helm steering the

vessel and giving his orders; that himself and several of the seamen

were stationed at the gun aft; that the instant it was discharged

the gun capsized with great violence, broke one of the quarter deck

planks, threw the wadd--all on fire--directly into the magazine

which was situated abaft the cabin, and the vessel instantly blew

up. (Himself and another seaman leaped into the sea when they saw

the gun dismounted and thus saved themselves.) It is supposed the

Captain was thrown from the helm into the air and then fell into

the main rigging. The blacks who were so dreadfully mangled were in

the magazine filling cartridges. Sent the carpenter with materials

to repair the prize. At 4 a. m. came on one of the most tremendous

tornadoes ever witnessed. It blew, rained, thundered and lightened in

a truly terrific manner. Took in all sail and kept the vessel before

it. The lightning was unusually vivid and struck several times close

on board. Having no conductor every mind was filled with apprehension

and alarm. Latter part very light airs inclining to calm. The

prisoners inform us there are several vessels of war at Sierra Leone,

to wit, a new frigate, 2 sloops of war, a gun-brig, and several

smaller vessels, all bound out on a cruise. They also tell us of two

fine brigs which lately sailed from that place and are trading to the

leeward--one of them owned by the late Captain of the _Alder_. The

_Alder_ has several shot in her sails, rigging, boat, etc. but none

in her hull.[49] Our invalids recovering fast. They all appeared at

quarters except Goff who had a large swelling on his right arm. Lat.

Obs. 5°53′.

48th Day Friday 4th Dec.

During the greater part of these 24 hours calm with occasional light

airs. At 4 and 6 p. m. the two other black seamen who were blown

up on board the schooner died and were thrown overboard, making

altogether six persons who have perished by this most unfortunate

accident. The white seaman is still in a most dangerous state, but

the Surgeon gives us hopes of his recovery.

We were much surprised on examination of the _Alder’s_ colours to

discover a _Pirate’s_ flag and pendant. This circumstance lessens our

compassion for the deceased Captain Crowley as it indicates a hostile

disposition toward all mankind.... On a consultation of officers

it was deemed advisable to man our prize, put on board of her the

muskets, bafts, iron, etc. we took out of the Sloop _Mary Ann_, send

her to Loango to dispose of her cargo for gold dust, ivory, dyewoods,

or other valuable articles, and then proceed to America. Accordingly

the Commander commissioned Daniel Salisbury as Prize-master,

together with Edward Jones as Mate and four seamen to navigate said

prize on her intended voyage. Made out a prize commission, letter

of instructions, invoices, etc. and gave the Prize-master all the

schooner’s papers. We sent on board of her every article we had

taken out of the sloop or schooner, together with provisions and

various other necessary articles. All hands employed in despatching

the prize. Lat. Obs. 7°.

49th Day Saturday 5th Dec.

.... The wounded foreigner recovers fast and is considered out of

danger. All invalids recovered. Lat. Obs. 6°53′.

50th Day Sunday 6th Dec.

At ½ past 4 p. m. saw the land.... Being Saturday night the crew

drank a health to all sweethearts and wives and amused themselves

with various diversions. The marines chanted psalms and hymns, the

sailors sang “Old Tom Tough,” and “Old Tom Bowling,” and the officers

listened with pleasure to the merriment of the crew.[50] Sounded

frequently during the night in 40, 30, 21 & 15 fathoms of water.

At daylight saw Cape Mount.... Two canoes came from the shore with

blacks. They informed us there were no vessels of any description at

the Cape, upon which we up helm, squared the yards and bore away to

the leeward.... Lat. Obs. 6°38′ N.

51st Day Monday 7th Dec.

At 4 p. m. two canoes came along side from Cape Little Mount and

informed us of a schooner loading with rice at Trade-town, and also

of a large brig that sailed from Monserrada this morning bound

to leeward. During the night, not wishing to pass by Monserrada,

stood off and on under easy sail until daylight when we saw Cape

Monserra distant about 7 leagues. 10 a. m. another canoe came off who

confirmed the news relative to the brig and also mentioned (Which

we regret to hear) that a sloop of war passed down to leeward 6 days

ago. Bought a few plantains and cassadas of these natives but did not

suffer them to come on board. These Africans came off the distance

of 3 or 4 leagues in small bark canoes and were entirely naked; they

most of them spoke some English. The foreign invalid seems worse

to-day, owing no doubt to the excessive heat. Lat. Obs. 6°15′ N.

52d Day Tuesday 8th Dec.

.... At 6 a. m. saw a sail right ahead distant about 4 leagues. Set

all sail in chase. 9 a. m. made out the chase to be a brig standing

in shore....

53d Day Wednesday 9th Dec.

CAPTURE OF THE ANDALUSIA

Lat. 5°35′ N. Trade Town bearing N. E. distant about 4 leagues.

Commences with light airs inclining to calm. Continued in chase of

the sail ahead. We now discovered her to be a large armed brig,

showing 8 ports on a side, with English colours flying at her main

peak, apparently preparing for action. At ½ past 1 p. m. the enemy

commenced firing, heaving every shot over us. 2 p. m. he made sail

and began discharging his stern-chasers. At ½ past 2, being within

half cannon shot, we commenced firing our Long Twelve. ¼ past 3

p. m., having approached within half-musket shot, we opened our

whole battery upon the enemy and continued the action (the enemy

keeping up a well directed fire from his cannon and musketry) till

20 minutes past 4 p. m.,--when observing that the Enemy’s colours

had been shot away in the early part of the engagement, and that his

fire became very faint, the Commander gave orders to cease firing,

and hailed her, enquiring if she had struck. The enemy answered “I

have.” Sent Lieut. Barton on board and found her to be the English

Letter of Marque Brig called the _Andalusia_, Anthony Yates Kendall,

Master, 210 tons burthen, mounting 10 carriage guns, 6 twelve pound

cannonades, & 4 long French nines, with small arms, ammunition etc.,

navigated by a Captain, Supercargo, and 17 white seamen, besides

81 free Africans who served as marines. The _Andalusia_ is owned

at Gibraltar, and was last from Sierra Leone bound to the Leeward

with a cargo of sundries on a trading voyage. It appears from her

Log that she captured an American brig called the _Two Friends_ off

Port Praya, and carried her into Sierra Leone. The action lasted

nearly three hours from the time the first shot was fired until the

Enemy struck. We engaged him 45 minutes within pistol shot. Captain

Kendall and his Boatswain were both slightly wounded; the remainder

owed their safety to their excellent bulwark. On boarding the prize

we found her mainmast and foreyard badly wounded; one shot under her

fore-chains, which passed through and lodged in the opposite timbers;

another which entered the cabin and lodged in the Captain’s bed;

nearly all her sails, braces, standing and running rigging shot away,

and every part of the vessel more or less injured. All the white

prisoners were sent on board the _Yankee_ and Lieut. Barton with a

strong watch remained on board the prize to guard the blacks. At 6

p. m. we made sail standing in shore, our prize in company, and came

to anchor in 20 fathoms water. At daylight piped all hands to duty,

sent part of the crew on board the _Andalusia_ to repair damages and

employed the remainder of the officers and crew in mending our sails,

splicing our rigging, cleaning the arms, landing the black prisoners

on their own shore, and other necessary duty. On examining our

vessel after the action found we had received one 12lb shot through

our bulwarks which passed out the lee side without any material

injury, 4 balls through the main-sail, 6 shot in the foretopsail, one

grape-shot lodged in the mainmast, and the weather forebrace, and one

of the shrouds shot away. No person wounded.

At 7 a. m. we discovered a schooner in shore, standing to the

northward. Weighed anchor and set sail in chase. 9 a. m. being nearly

calm sent Master Snow with an armed boats’ crew with orders to take

possession of her and then to set sail for the _Yankee_. At meridian

Master Snow not returned. Lat. Obs. 5°35′ N.

54th Day Thursday 10th Dec.

At 4 p. m. Master Snow came to anchor under our lee with his little

prize and gave the following account of his adventure. He said that

on approaching the vessel he observed her boat attempting to land on

the beach. That she struck on a rock, was capsized, throwing every

article into the sea, and the Captain and crew swam on shore. That on

going on board he found her entirely deserted, as he expected, and

stripped of every valuable article, except a quantity of rice stowed

in bulk. He immediately made sail and stood for the privateer. The

prisoners inform us that the schooner is called the _George_, and

owned by Mr. Carr of Sierra Leone; that she is an American pilot boat

and was taken in the Gambia about six months ago. She appears to be

60 or 70 tons burthen, has very poor sails and foul bottom. No doubt

if coppered, with new canvass, she would sail remarkably well, at

present she is very dull. As soon as she came to anchor we sent all

our boats to take out the rice. We supplied our vessel and the other

prize with as much of this article as was wanted, and then Captain

Wilson made a present of the vessel to Captain Sutherland, late of

the _Mary Ann_, as he had been the greatest sufferer by the capture

of his vessel, and moreover had been 15 days a prisoner on board of

the _Yankee_.

At 11 a. m., having taken the parole of all the white prisoners on

board (giving them duplicates) we supplied them with every necessary

article for their voyage to Sierra Leone and gave them all their

clothes, baggage, private property etc., bade them farewell, sent

them on board the schooner, and then made sail in company with our

prize, standing down the coast. Captains Sutherland and Kendall, Mr.

O’Connor, and all the prisoners, expressed their gratitude and thanks

for the kind treatment they had received on board the _Yankee_.

Indeed they could do no less. For the captains lived in the cabin

with the officers, the mates in the wardroom, and the sailors were

well treated by our crew. In fact our instructions require that

we shall treat our prisoners with kindness and humanity. N.B. The

supercargo of the _Andalusia_ estimated the vessel and cargo at

$19,000, but I am confident they will not sell for $9000 in America.

The _George_ with her rice might be worth $800. Lat. Obs. 5°30′ N.

55th Day Friday 11th Dec.

Having landed the Africans and dismissed the white prisoners

(amounting altogether to 145 persons) we made preparations for

sending home the _Andalusia_. Made out commission, prize instructions

and other documents for Captain Robert Tompenny, who was appointed

Prize-master, together with William Child as Mate and 7 seamen to

navigate said prize to America. Also wrote a letter to the owners

giving them an abstract account of our cruise up to the present

period. At 4 p. m. gave our prize three cheers, bade them adieu, and

made all sail, standing down the coast. During the night light winds

and hazy weather. This morning a great number of canoes along side

with fish and other articles. Exchanged some tobacco, bafts, iron

etc. for ivory and fresh provisions.... John Carter, the Captain of

Long Tom, broke his arm on board the prize in jumping into the hold.

The Surgeon set it. We have at present no invalids on board. Two or

three of the marines are troubled with bad boils but none disabled

from duty. The Surgeon thought it best to send the poor fellow who

was blown up on board the _Alder_ to Sierra Leone under the care of

Captain Sutherland. Lat. Obs. 4°59′ N.

56th Day Saturday 12th Dec.

At 6 p. m. came to anchor in 15 fathoms of water in a sandy bottom,

opposite the town of Settakroo (about 60 miles to the windward of

Cape Palmas) at the distance of about three miles from the shore....

At daylight piped all hands to duty and sent both our boats, with a

number of canoes, to fill our water. We are told this is the safest

place to water from Goree to Cape Palmas, as the anchorage is good,

the landing easy, and the water most excellent. His Majesty the King

of Settakroo came on board. He is an old man and wears a mantle. His

subjects are entirely naked. His son called Grand Loo, whom we took

out of the _Andalusia_, has been of great assistance to us in our

traffic with the natives for ivory and fresh stock. There are upwards

of a hundred canoes alongside, dressed in the robe of Paradise, who

talk and chatter and scream like a set of monkeys or parrots. Lat.

Obs. 4°42′.

57th Day Sunday 13th Dec.

These 24 hours filled our water, bought two fine bullocks, five

goats, and a quantity of fowls, yams, plantains etc. At 7 p. m.

unmoored and made sail, standing down the coast.... At sunrise calm

and no land in sight. Killed one of the bullocks. A number of fishing

canoes alongside.... Lat. Obs. 4°42′.

58th Day Monday 14th Dec.

.... At 5 p. m. hove to off the town of Grand Sisters, distant

about 3 miles. Sent our barge on shore to land Tom Wilson, whom we

had taken prisoner on the _Mary Ann_. This fellow, son to the King

of Grand Sisters, has been of great assistance to us in filling

our water, and trading with the natives for live stock, ivory etc.

He speaks good English and is an honest, intelligent negro. When

our barge landed we observed a vast collection of the natives on

the beach. Grand Sisters appears to be a large town, composed of

a great number of huts, situated in the midst of palm groves and

rice fields. The adjacent scenery has really a very pleasing and

picturesque appearance. This town is at war with little Sisters,

their neighbors and the natives showed great apprehension in coming

off to our vessel.... The canoes alongside say no vessels have passed

here this month. At meridian Cape Palmas in sight.... This Cape has

no distinguishing appearance except a small rise in the land & trees.

Watch employed in painting the ship. Thermometer 106 in the sun. Lat.

Obs. 4°17′.

59th Day Tuesday 15th Dec.

.... Killed the other bullock. At meridian sailing the Bay of St.

Andrews. The land here rises considerably and is covered with trees

to the very top. No appearance of cultivation. Lat. 4°38′. Carter

recovers fast; the other invalids recovered.

60th Day Wednesday 16th Dec.

As you approach the Bay of St. Andrews the land gradually rises to a

considerable height, and is covered with lofty trees to the summit.

There are no towns visible.... Running down the Gold Coast with great

velocity in hopes of capturing several vessels which we understand

are trading at Cape Lahore. At 8 a. m. a canoe came off from

Picininni, Cape Lahore, who informed us a brig, mounting 6 guns, and

a sloop unarmed left Grand Cape Lahore 7 days ago, bound down to Cape

Corse Castle. This is bad news. These natives brought off gold dust

and ivory but would receive nothing but powder and iron. Therefore we

did not trade with them.... Thermometer 112° Lat. Obs. 4°58′ N.... We

have now been at sea two months being one third of our cruise. During

this time we have taken four prizes, 18 carriage guns, 250 stand

small arms, 145 prisoners, and property to the value of $60,000. Our

Officers and crew are all healthy and in good spirits. And we have

water and provisions for at least three months on board.

61st Day Thursday 17th Dec.

At 2 p. m. Antonio, King of Cape Lahore, attended by 13 of his

nobility came off in a war canoe. His Majesty confirmed the news we

received this morning relative to the brig and sloop. These natives

are as black as ebony, remarkably stout, well made, of a ferocious

aspect, and their hair and beards platted in the most fantastic

style. They wished to exchange gold and ivory for powder, rum and

muskets, but we did not trade with them. After King Antonio had

got as drunk as David’s sow we were obliged to force him and his

cannibals to go on shore. Cape Lahore has no distinguishing mark from

the neighboring coast which is flat and sandy. Lat. 5°5′ N.

62d Day Friday 18th Dec.

.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 5°5′.

63d Day Saturday 19th Dec.

.... At 20 minutes past 9 a. m. Samuel Pickens discovered a brig at

anchor ... supposed to be under Fort Apollonia.... All sails set....

At meridian the Fort bore right ahead, distant about six leagues.

64th Day Sunday 20th Dec.

Lieut. Barton piped for volunteers to man the barge and cut out

the brig mentioned in yesterday’s journal. Nearly the whole crew

volunteered. From whom Mr. Barton selected 21 of the most able and

experienced seamen, who were properly armed for the purpose. At 4

p. m. piped to quarters and cleared for action. It was understood

that the _Yankee_ should run in under English colours until she came

within half-cannon shot of the brig, then send our barge on board

the brig with the Lieutenant, another officer, and 6 bargemen only

visible, the remainder being concealed under the sail. Accordingly

at ¾ past 4 p. m. we rounded to within musket shot of the enemy and

sent off the barge. In 6 minutes she had possession of the prize

and immediately made sail, standing out to sea close on a wind.

The _Yankee_ did the same, previously firing the two shot directly

into the Fort; which (strange to tell) was not returned. Lieut.

Barton mentions that when he came alongside, and jumped on board

with the whole boat’s crew completely armed, the Captain instantly

surrendered himself and his vessel. We find our prize to be the

English copper-bottomed brig called the _Fly_ of London, late Captain

Jonathan Tydeman, 91 52/92 tons burthen, mounting 6 carriage-guns,

long sixes, with ammunition, small arms etc. and navigated by a

Captain and ten seamen beside negroes. The _Fly_ was formerly a

French privateer, built in the Isle of France, and condemned at the

Cape of Good Hope. She is a handsome new vessel, sails remarkably

well, and has a valuable cargo of gold-dust, ivory, gunpowder and

drygoods. She captured on the 29th October last a Portuguese sloop

called the _New Constitution_, (supposed to be American property)

with 8 slaves on board, and sent her to Sierra Leone for trial. The

invoice of the _Fly’s_ cargo at the time she left London amounted to

£6810, 2s, 5d, but her cargo is not calculated to sell in America.

The prize and cargo, including the gold-dust, may be reasonably

estimated at $15,000. Captain Tydeman states that altho the Castle at

Apollonia mounts 50 heavy cannon, yet it has no garrison, but is the

residence of several factors. Capt. T. says he supposed us to be an

English man of war and therefore made no preparations for defending

his vessel. During the night stood out to sea, our prize in company.

At daylight piped up all hands & made preparations for sending home

the prize. Took the paroles of all prisoners, giving them duplicates.

At 8 a. m. being in sight of land, we sent the prisoners on shore

(according to their own request) in their own long boat--giving them

all their clothes, baggage and private property besides several

presents. Took out of our prize some gunpowder, rum, porter,

livestock and various small articles, supplying her with water and

sundries for her voyage. Made out Prize Commission, Instructions,

wrote a letter to the owners and sent Capt. Thomas Milton Prize

Master of said brig, and at 11 p. m. bade him adieu and made sail on

our course. Lat. Obs. 4°41′ N.

65th Day Monday 21st Dec.

At 7 p. m. passed our prize, gave them three cheers, and finally took

leave of them.[51] ... The Commander thinks it advisable to leave the

coast as no doubt there are men of war in pursuit of us both from the

windward and leeward. Lat. Obs. 4°23′.

66th Day Tuesday 22d Dec.

.... We are now running for Annabona for the purpose of watering

and then proceeding on our cruise. Andrew Holden and several seamen

indisposed and on the Surgeon’s list. Carter gets better fast. Lat.

Obs. 3°31′ N.

67th Day Wednesday 23d Dec.

.... Nothing remarkable.... Lat. Obs. 2°55′ N.

68th Day Thursday 24th Dec.

.... Nothing remarkable.... Lat. Obs. 2°18′ N.

69th Day Friday 25th Dec.

.... Killed the fatted calf, or more properly the fatted goat, gave

the crew a pudding with extra allowance of grog, to keep a Merry

Christmas. All hands in good health and fine spirits. Thermometer 88°

in the cabin. No doubt our friends in Bristol are now shivering with

the cold under the icicles and snow banks of their frozen climate.

Lat. Obs. 1°45′ N. Long. Lunar at 9 a. m. 3° E.

70th Day Saturday 26th Dec.

.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 1°25′ N.

71st Day Sunday 27th Dec.

.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 1°21′ N. Lunar Obs. at 10 a. m.

5°20′ E.

72d Day Monday 28th Dec.

.... At 2 p. m. discovered a sail bearing two points on the lee

bow. 4 p. m. spoke the Portuguese schooner (or boat) 14 or 16 tons

burthen, called the _Antonia de Santa Rosa de Lima_, Capt. Felix, 5

days out from St. Thomas’ bound to Princes’ Island, with 27 slaves on

board. The captain and crew, 9 in number, were all black.[52] He said

there were no vessels of any kind at St. Thomas’ and he has seen none

since he sailed.... Lat. Obs. 1°7′ N.

73d Day Tuesday 29th Dec.

.... Nothing remarkable. Lat. Obs. 34′ N. Lieut. Vinson

indisposed.[53]

74th Day Wednesday 30th Dec.

.... Surgeon’s list. Lieut. Vinson, Mr. Andrew Holden, N. A. Slocum,

Jas. Holden, John Carter, etc. None dangerous.[54] Lat. Obs. 30′ N.

75th Day Thursday 31st Dec.

As you approach the Island of St. Thomas from the westward, the land

gradually rises from the northern and southern extremities till

it forms a high mountain in the centre covered with clouds. This

island appears to be covered with trees except on a few level spots

where there are green fields. At the northeast point there are two

hummocks, which on approaching you find to be the Island of Anna de

Chaves. At ½ after 6 p. m. came to anchor in 20 fathoms of water.

[Here follow some of the “ranges” taken.] At 8 a. m. the Commander

and clerk went on shore, waited upon the Governor and Fiscal; were

received with attention and politeness; obtained permission to fill

their water, and were promised a supply of live-stock, vegetables

and fruit. The Governor invited them to dine on shore but Capt.

W. declined, wishing to return on board to expedite the watering.

The Governor had no information of the war between England and

America. A British vessel touched at St. Thomas’ lately, who said

all differences were settled between the governments. He informed

us of a large English Letter of Marque Ship, mounting 18 guns, with

45 men, loading with camwood in Gaboon River. He says the _Amelia_

Frigate is expected at the island, and that most of the men of war on

the coast touch at the island for supplies. Both the officers spoke

in high terms of America, were pleased to find that our governments

were still on amicable terms, and expressed the greatest indignation

against British Power, Pride, Injustice and Insolence. They were

rejoiced that we had met with success on our cruise, and appeared

entirely friendly in every respect. Surgeon’s List. Mr. Holden Lieut.

V. and Slocum recovered and struck off the list.

76th Day Friday 1st January 1813

Tales of an Old Sea Port A General Sketch of the History of Bristol, Rhode Island, Including, Incidentally, an Account of the Voyages of the Norsemen, So Far as They May Have Been Connected with Narragansett Bay: and Personal Narratives of Some Notable Voyages Accomplished by Sailors from the Mount Hope Lands · 第 4 / 5 章