uld gain the shore.
He despatched the smaller of the two boats to the north of the port to
set fire to the vessels, whilst he led the remainder of the party to the
more hazardous duty of securing the fort, which was situated on a hill
to the south. It was a cold morning, and the sentinels little aware that
an enemy was so near, had retired into the guard-room for warmth,
affording Jones an opportunity to take them by surprise, of which he did
not fail to avail himself. Climbing over the shoulders of the tallest of
his men, he crept silently through one of the embrasures and was
instantly followed by the rest. Their first care was to make fast the
door of the guard-room, and their next to spike the cannon, thirty-six
in number. Having effected this without bloodshed, they proceeded to
join the detachment which had been sent to the north; and finding that a
false alarm had deterred them from executing their orders, Jones
instantly proceeded to set fire to the vessels within his reach. By this
time, however, the inhabitants were roused, and the invaders were
obliged to retreat, leaving three ships in flames, of which one alone
was destroyed.

On the same day with this adventure, another memorable occurrence took
place, which contributed, for a time, to add greatly to the odium which
the first had brought on his name in Britain, but which, in the end,
enabled him to prove that he was possessed of the most heroic qualities.
In cruising off the coast of Galloway, it occurred to him, that, if he
could get into his power a man of high rank and influence in the state,
he should able, by retaining him as a hostage, to ensure to the American
prisoners of war more lenient treatment than was threatened by the
British government. Knowing that the Earl of Selkirk possessed a seat at
St. Mary's Isle, a beautiful peninsula at the mouth of the Dee, and
being ill-informed with regard to the political connections of that
nobleman, he destined him for the subject of his experiment. With that
view, he landed on the Isle, about noon, with two officers and a few
men; but, before they had proceeded far, he learned that his lordship
was from home. Finding his object frustrated, he now wished to return;
but his crew were not so easily satisfied. Their object was plunder; and
as they consisted of men in a very imperfect state of discipline, and
with whom it would have been dangerous to contend, he allowed them to
proceed. He exacted from them, how