es of the British general were forwarded. Mail and dispatches,
alike, were promptly thrown overboard by their captors.

In the diary of a privateersman of Revolutionary days is to be found the
story of the capture of an Indiaman which may well be reprinted as
typical.

[Illustration: "I THINK SHE IS A HEAVY SHIP."]

"As the fog cleared up, we perceived her to be a large ship under English
colors, to the windward, standing athwart our starboard bow. As she came
down upon us, she appeared as large as a seventy-four; and we were not
deceived respecting her size, for it afterwards proved that she was an old
East Indiaman, of 1100 tons burden, fitted out as a letter of marque for
the West India trade, mounted with thirty-two guns, and furnished with a
complement of one hundred and fifty men. She was called the 'Admiral
Duff,' commanded by Richard Strange, from St. Christopher and St.
Eustachia, laden with sugar and tobacco, and bound to London. I was
standing near our first lieutenant, Mr. Little, who was calmly examining
the enemy as she approached, with his spy-glass, when Captain Williams
stepped up and asked his opinion of her. The lieutenant applied the glass
to his eye again and took a deliberate look in silence, and replied: 'I
think she is a heavy ship, and that we shall have some hard fighting, but
of one thing I am certain, she is not a frigate; if she were, she would
not keep yawing and showing her broadsides as she does; she would show
nothing but her head and stern; we shall have the advantage of her, and
the quicker we get alongside the better.' Our captain ordered English
colors to be hoisted, and the ship to be cleared for action.

"The enemy approached 'till within musket-shot of us. The two ships were
so near to each other that we could distinguish the officers from the men;
and I particularly noticed the captain on the gangway, a noble-looking
man, having a large gold-laced cocked hat on his head, and a
speaking-trumpet in his hand. Lieutenant Little possessed a powerful
voice, and he was directed to hail the enemy; at the same time the
quartermaster was ordered to stand ready to haul down the English flag and
to hoist up the American. Our lieutenant took his station on the after
part of the starboard gangway, and elevating his trumpet, exclaimed:
'Hullo. Whence come you?'

"'From Jamaica, bound to London,' was the answer.

"'What is the ship's name?' inquired the lieutenant.

"'The "Admiral Duff",'