Among the embarrassments which the care of so many prizes brought upon
the leader of the expedition was the difficulty of finding commanding
officers for all the vessels. This difficulty was enhanced while the
flotilla lay off the Galapagos Islands; for two officers, falling into
a dispute, settled their quarrel, after the manner of the day, by a
duel. In the contest one, a lieutenant, aged only twenty-one years,
was killed, and now lies buried in the sands of the desolate and
lonely island. After this occurrence, the need for commanding officers
became so imperative that even the purser and chaplain of the "Essex"
were pressed into the service. Midshipmen twelve or fourteen years old
found themselves in command of ships. David Farragut was one of the
boys thus suddenly promoted, and in his journal has left a description
of his experience as a boy commander.

[Illustration: The Duel At The Galapagos Islands.]

"I was sent as prize-master to the 'Barclay,'" he writes. "This was an
important event in my life; and, when it was decided that I was to
take the ship to Valparaiso, I felt no little pride at finding myself
in command at twelve years of age. This vessel had been recaptured
from a Spanish _guarda costa_. The captain and his mate were on board;
and I was to control the men sent from our frigate, while the captain
was to navigate the vessel. Capt. Porter, having failed to dispose of
the prizes as it was understood he intended, gave orders for the
'Essex Junior' and all the prizes to start for Valparaiso. This
arrangement caused great dissatisfaction on the part of the captain of
the 'Barclay,' a violent-tempered old fellow; and, when the day
arrived for our separation from the squadron, he was furious, and very
plainly intimated to me that I would 'find myself off New Zealand in
the morning,' to which I most decidedly demurred. We were lying still,
while the other ships were fast disappearing from view; the
'Commodore' going north, and the 'Essex Junior' with her convoy
steering to the south for Valparaiso.

"I considered that my day of trial had arrived (for I was a little
afraid of the old fellow, as every one else was). But the time had
come for me at least to play the man: so I mustered up courage, and
informed the captain that I desired the topsail filled away. He
replied that he would shoot any man who dared to touch a rope without
his orders; he 'would go his own course, and had no idea of trusting
hims