the
sight of the privateers seemed to arouse new strength in the plucky
tars; and, without a thought of the odds against them, they dashed
forward, cheering, and calling upon the Americans to surrender. Had
the four schooners been manned by such brave men as those who defended
the "Lottery," the assailants might have been beaten off. As it was,
two vessels surrendered without firing a shot. The crew of the "Racer"
fought pluckily for a time, but were soon overpowered, and the
vessel's guns turned upon the "Dolphin." When fire was opened upon
this last vessel, her crew, affrighted, leaped overboard from every
side; and the "Dolphin" was soon in the hands of her enemies, who had
lost but thirteen men in the whole action.

Many a gallant adventure, such as this, is to be laid to the credit of
the British tars on the American station during the continuance of the
blockade. Right dashing fellows were they, at cutting out a
coasting-schooner as she lay under the guns of some American
earthworks. The lads that have won for England her supremacy upon the
seas have never been behindhand at swarming up the sides of an enemy,
leaping his taffrail, and meeting him on his own deck with the cold
steel. And as the year rolled on, and the blockade along the American
coast was made more strict, the meetings between the enemies became
more frequent. From every seaport town, Yankee privateers were waiting
to escape to sea; and they seldom won clear without a brush with the
watchful enemy. The British, too, had begun to fit out privateers,
though American commerce offered but little enticement for these
mercenary gentry. Between the ships of the two private armed navies,
encounters were common; and the battles were often fought with courage
and seamanship worthy of the regular navy.

Little glory was won by the navy of the United States during the
opening months of the year. Many ships were laid up in port; while
some, like the "Constellation," were blockaded by the enemy. The
"President" and the "Congress" managed to get to sea from Boston in
April, and entered upon a protracted cruise, in which the bad luck of
the former ship seemed to pursue her with malevolent persistence. The
two ships parted after cruising in company for a month, and scoured
the ocean until the following December, when they returned home,
experiencing little but continual disappointments. The "Congress"
could report only the capture of four British merchantmen, as