oggeshall take his ship out of the harbor with more than
one gun--a Long Tom--aboard. Nothing daunted, he started out with this
armament, to which some twenty muskets were added, on a privateering
cruise in the channel, which was full of British cruisers. Even the Long
Tom proved untrustworthy, so recourse was finally had to carrying the
enemy by boarding; and in this way four valuable prizes were taken, of
which three were sent home with prize crews. But a gale carried away the
"Leo's" foremast, and she fell a prey to an English frigate which happened
along untimely.

The "Mammoth" was emphatically a lucky ship. In seven weeks she took
seventeen merchantmen, paying for herself several times over. Once she
fought a lively battle with a British transport carrying four hundred men,
but prudently drew off. True, the Government was paying a bonus of
twenty-five dollars a head for prisoners; but cargoes were more valuable.
Few of the privateers troubled to send in their prisoners, if they could
parole and release them. In all, the "Mammoth" captured twenty-one
vessels, and released on parole three hundred prisoners.

Of all the foregoing vessels, the "Prince de Neufchatel" was the most
famous. She was an hermaphrodite brig of 310 tons, mounting 17 guns. She
was a "lucky" vessel, several times escaping a vastly superior force and
bringing into port, for the profit of her owners, goods valued at
$3,000,000, besides large quantities of specie. Her historic achievement,
however, was beating off the British frigate "Endymion," off Nantucket,
one dark night, after a battle concerning which a British naval historian,
none too friendly to Americans, wrote: "So determined and effective a
resistance did great credit to the American captain and his crew." The
privateer had a prize in tow, by which, of course, her movements were
much hampered, for her captain was not inclined to save himself at the
expense of his booty. But, more than this, she had thirty-seven prisoners
aboard, while her own crew was sorely reduced by manning prizes. The night
being calm, the British attempted to take the ship by boarding from small
boats, for what reason does not readily appear, since the vessels were
within range of each other, and the frigate's superior metal could
probably have reduced the Americans to subjection. Instead, however, of
opening fire with his broadside, the enemy sent out boarding parties in
five boats. Their approach was detected on